Alcea is putting up as good of a fight as she can, but she's facing quite a fearsome foe! Will she be strong enough to defeat Gwen? Or will she lose against the other girl's harmonia? The battle for the fate of Agate Village and the Grass Oracle comes to a conclusion!

The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a couple of people who have voted so far! Please, make sure to get those votes in! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!

Nominated: Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Chloe, Cynthia, Donoma, Elaina, Kate, Maddi, Marion, Misato, Ryoko, Sango, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: I hope she will.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 965

In the clearing of the Relic Stone, Rui sat cross-legged with Shaymin in her lap. She petted the small green pokemon absentmindedly, her mind on the fight her daughter was no-doubt going through. It made her heart ache.

She wished she could be there. How many times had she stood on the sidelines, watching her husband combat evil organizations, wishing that she could do something to help? This was just another of those times, with someone else she loved going off to fight, and her only able to wait and pray that they would be okay.

But she couldn't go. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Her daughter was right, someone had to be here to look after Shaymin.

"Be safe, Victoria…" She whispered as she stared up at the sky.

"You don't have to worry," Mason mumbled, adjusting his glasses. He'd recovered from exhausting himself and now was sitting against a tree. He still had the sour expression that he always did, but Rui was surprised to hear him talk. He'd never really seemed the type to be so… expressive, not when she led the group.

"R-Really?" Rui asked hopefully. Perhaps those trainers weren't as strong as the boy had made them out to be, then?

"Vic and Alcea… are strong trainers," Mason muttered, averting his eyes. It was like social contact was poisonous to him. Which meant that it was really something, to hear him try to comfort her like this. "They'll be able to handle those two girls in a fight."

Rui sighed with relief. "That's good, then."

He coughed and stared at the ground. "…Probably."

Well, so much for that.

"Uraaaaah!" Gwen screamed, another shockwave of harmonia exploding out of her. Lancelot shot forward, his body practically glowing. He sliced into Anastacia's waist, cutting her down before she could even react.

"Anastacia!" Alcea cried.

"Ts… Tsareena…" Anastacia panted, rising to her feet. She clutched her side painfully, barely able to remain standing. But there was no hope of her being able to fight back, unfortunately, Lancelot was too fast for her.

"Gallade," Lancelot said calmly, turning on his heel as his arm began to shine with rainbow light. A swing of his wrist sent a blade of psychic energy shooting out of his sword, slashing straight down Anastacia's chest, knocking her back.

"No!" Alcea gasped, seeing her Tsareena fall. She didn't stand back up.

"It was the same with me," Callie mumbled. "Her Gallade… he's too fast, and too strong."

But Alcea wasn't going to be deterred. She recalled Anastacia back to her pokeball, and moved onto her next pokemon.

"Venus. I… I need you. Please." Alcea closed her eyes and clutched Venus's pokeball, praying that she would be enough. She sent out her Venusaur, the large pokemon emerging in a swirl of flower petals with a roar.

"Venusaur!" Venus absorbed energy from the sunlight, empowering her.

While Alcea was distracting Gwen, Tommy and Ross exchanged a look. Everyone's attention was on the fight. But right now, there were more important things to be concerned with, namely the fact that two members of their group were laid out on the ground.

Between Keya and Maddi, Keya was in better shape. He was still conscious, for one, even if he was unresponsive, struggling on the ground. He was clenching his eyes shut and mumbling under his breath to try and block out the harmonia that was overwhelming him. Ross, the less muscular of the two, picked the smaller boy up.

Maddi was in much worse shape, though. Whatever had happened to her, she was unconscious, and it didn't look like the reason was because she'd just passed out from shock, either. Her face was pale and twisted with agony, like something had happened to her. Tommy lifted her up into his arms, and the two boys shared another nod.

They needed to take these two to a hospital, or at least get them away somewhere safe, while they had the chance.

Val had other ideas.

"Oh, no you don't," she said coldly, glancing over her shoulder at the boys. Her fingers danced over her belt warningly. "I didn't give anyone permission to leave. You stay and watch, do I make myself clear?" The menacing look in her eye was even more frightening than Gwen.

Wes frowned. This wasn't good. It was clear that all of them were hostages. The only reason Val hadn't made any threats was probably because she was amusing herself seeing Alcea struggle like this. He'd met people that were twisted like her before.

And he wasn't far from the truth. Sure, Val would have liked to use her pokemon to threaten the other students, maybe force Alcea to surrender, but that… well, it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable, would it? Because of course, Alcea would do whatever it took to keep the others safe. So she would either surrender immediately, which would be boring, or try to attack Val instead, which would also not be much fun.

She wanted to see Alcea flounder a little before giving in, so it was much better to let Gwen work off some of her aggression on the redhead, while Val watched with a front row seat. Especially since she doubted that anyone would stand a chance against Gwen in her present condition.

Val wasn't sure why she had been chosen as Gwen's partner on this mission. The explanation she had gotten was because, as a Dark type specialist, her pokemon would have the advantage over Gwen's Psychic types. But when she asked why she wasn't assigned to be Gwen's partner on ALL their missions, then, the only answer she'd received was that there was something different about the Orre Region when it came to the girl.

"There's a significant chance that she could snap. Possibly even worse than when she was in Galar. And if that happens, you need to be there to pull her back from the ledge, by force, if necessary."

Well… pull her back from the ledge, or give her a nice good kick off of it, anyway. Still, there was nothing like watching the fireworks!

"Venusaur!" With the boost to her speed from the sunny day and her Chlorophyll ability, Venus was actually able to keep up with Lancelot, much to the Psychic type pokemon's surprise. Venus swung her vine and knocked Lancelot back, making sure to handle him carefully.

She could have grabbed him and try to slam him into the ground, but that would be dangerous. After all, Lancelot's swords were still sharp. Venus and Alcea might not have harmonia, but they still had very good instincts, and they were both on the same page when it came to handling the Gallade.

"Venus, use grassy terrain," Alcea ordered.

"Venusaur!" Venus began to glow green, and released a pulse of light into the ground. The grass of Agate Village, already lush and fertile, was imbued with even more vitality, growing thicker and longer as the terrain of the battlefield changed. Now they were fighting on Venus's territory, and the Grass type already felt herself getting stronger.

But Gwen didn't care about that, and neither did Lancelot.

"Raaah!" Gwen wasn't even issuing attack orders. She was just screaming madness as her thoughts were conveyed to Lancelot, who shouted along with her as he prepared another attack. He teleported behind Venus, startling her, and swung with all his might at her left leg.

"Venus!" Alcea cried. The blow was strong enough that her Venusaur was actually knocked off her feet, tumbling through the grass.

"Now… now…" Gwen muttered, trembling. Tears and blood rolled down her face. "NOW!"

Lancelot began to glow. He leapt into the air, and a wave of psychic blades rained down upon Venus from above, slicing into her as she tried to stand. The attacks weren't enough to stop her, but the pressure cutting into her certainly slowed her down.

Hmm… it seemed she's reached the end of her rope… Val thought, smirking. What a pity. So even Alcea's strongest pokemon was only worth this much, hmm?

"Venus…" Alcea said, trying to keep her voice strong. She couldn't let this happen! Venus couldn't fall so easily. Lancelot landed in front of her, raising his sword again, aiming straight for Venus's face. It was only by a miracle that she managed to dodge out of the way.

It's not enough. We have to… we have to… wait, what?

Alcea glanced down at her chest, and the green light emanating from it. The Oracle was glowing, brighter than ever before.

Val leaned forward, her eyes widening with interest. As the Oracle began to glow, Venus began to glow as well. A bright green aura wrapped around her, and even Gwen could tell that her opponent had just received a major power boost.

"What the fuck?!" Vic sputtered in disbelief. "What's happening?!"

"I don't… I don't know…" Callie said, shaking her head. "But that light, it's so… it's so bright…"

The answer came from Gwen, of all people. She clutched her skull to block out the throbbing pain, struggling to resist the call of the green stone.

"It's the Oracle," she muttered.

A smile wrapped across Alcea's lips as she felt the power from the stone. She didn't know what it meant, but she felt… stronger. Not in a normal way, but also not in any other way she could recognize. It was strength that she couldn't put her finger on, but it was shared with her partner.

"Venus!" She shouted. "Solarbeam!"

"Venusaur!" Venus bellowed, taking in the energy from the sunlight. She released the energy out of her in a massive beam of green light, the strongest solarbeam she'd ever fired, right at Lancelot from point-blank range.

From the clearing, Rui's head shot up to see the bright green light filling the sky. "What the…" She whispered, stunned. That light… it was the Oracle, wasn't it? It had to be. She could sense the energy from all the way over here.

"What was that?!" Mason exclaimed. He'd seen too much shit today to keep his cool at this point, he didn't know what he was supposed to think.

"It is the Oracle," Ryoko confirmed, staring up at the light. "This is why I permitted Alcea to remove it from this place to begin with. Because she, more than any other, would be able to make use of its power."

"Shaymin…" Shaymin stared up at the bright light, her eyes wide with wonder. She could feel the vitality flooding through Agate Village from the Oracle.

"Shaymin?" Rui asked, surprised by the fact that Shaymin had crawled from her lap. She was looking much better now. "What's going on?"

"It is starting," Ryoko calmly replied, turning and gazing back at the Relic Stone. She could finally see the full picture. Alcea had provided the final piece of the puzzle.

There was another green light shining in the clearing, and this one caught Rui's eye. She turned, confused, and saw what the source was.

It was the flower that Alcea had brought with her, resting forgotten beside the bush. Nurtured by waters from another dimension and cared for by Alcea's green thumb, it had absorbed Shaymin's life-sustaining energy, the vibrant pulse running through Agate Village, and it had grown, larger and larger, until it was fully prepared to bloom.

Then, finally, it did.

Rui gasped in amazement as she saw the petals of the flower open up, all six of them. It was the most beautiful flower she had ever seen, bright pink and filled with life, calling out to her almost as it would a pokemon.

The light from the flower transferred over to Shaymin, and Rui's harmonia went crazy. As Shaymin started to glow, she was overwhelmed by the vitality she felt emanating from the small pokemon, like the pain and fatigue that had been plaguing her all these years was nothing but a distant memory. It had all been wiped clean.

When the light from the solarbeam died down, for a moment Alcea thought that the attack had been so powerful it had reduced Lancelot to dust.

But to her horror, the pokemon had simply teleported out of the way.

"Venusaur?!" Venus gasped in disbelief as she felt Lancelot land on top of her, the pokemon straddling her flower with ease.

"Psycho cut." Gwen was almost serene as she gave her order, as if the harmonia that had been plaguing her the entire battle was completely gone.

But the effects of the power were plain to see. Lancelot's entire body began to glow, not just his arm. And when he struck down upon Venus's back, the force that traveled through her body was far greater than any ordinary psycho cut attack.

"VENUSAUR!" Venus roared in pain, struggling to stay conscious. But even with the boost from the Oracle, Lancelot was stronger still.

"Venus…" Alcea weakly cried as her pokemon crumbled, losing consciousness. She couldn't believe it. She had other pokemon, certainly, but seeing Venus fall like that from a single blow, after all the power she'd just witnessed, it had been a shaking blow to her confidence. She wasn't "Alcea Vermeil, Queen of Roses" right now, she was back to that scared little girl with a broken leg.

As I thought, Val mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. She managed to use the Oracle's power, but because she didn't have any experience with it, she couldn't awaken it to its fullest potential. What a pity, that could have changed the entire situation. But it looks like Gwen's rage won out in the end, after all.

"Okay, Gwen!" She called. "You can finish Alcea off now and take the Oracle! She won't need it anymore!"

"N-No!" Callie cried, trying to stand.

"Not a chance!" Vic exclaimed, rushing to the battle and reaching for her pokeballs.

Alcea, however, was just numb. The Oracle was still glowing, she could still feel its power, but beyond that, she felt something else, as well. Something she couldn't quite identify.

Then, a green light shot up from the mountain, and everyone turned to see what it was.

"The fuck?!" Val spat, jumping up in surprise.

"That's… where the Relic Stone is…" Vic mumbled.

The light arced down towards them, and as it drew closer Alcea could just barely see a small form, right at its center. The shape moved faster and faster and struck down in the center of the field with a burst of verdant energy, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

Everyone except Alcea. She looked on in wonder as the light faded into a green aura, wrapped around a pokemon she'd never seen before, and yet could swear that she knew.

The pokemon stood on four legs like a deer, her fur white as snow. A tuft of grassy hair sprouted up between two long, flat ears that resembled wings, and from her neck two large red flower petals emerged like a scarf. But what Alcea recognized were her eyes. They were kind and green and familiar, but glowing with a strength that she'd never seen.

"Shaymin…?" She whispered in disbelief.

"Shay!" Shaymin nodded, smiling sweetly at her friend.

"Wh-What?!" Vic gasped. "Is that really little Shaymin?"

"What's going on?" Callie asked, confused. "What pokemon is that?"

"Well, that's quite a trump card," Val said, a shaky smile crossing her face. She had no idea what pokemon that was, she'd never seen anything like it. But she couldn't deny the power the pokemon was exuding. Even with her tiny form, it was clear that this "Shaymin" wasn't a pokemon to be trifled with.

Not that Gwen cared, of course.

"Don't understand!" She spat, shaking. "Don't understand! Lancelot!"

"Gallade!" Lancelot, loyal as always, raised his blades and charged at the glowing pokemon, the unconscious Venus forgotten.

"Shaymin, watch out!" Alcea cried. "Be careful!"

Shaymin's eyes snapped towards the Gallade and she disappeared, dodging his slash.

"What?!" Gwen gasped.

"Shaymin!" Shaymin reappeared behind Lancelot, stunning him with her incredible speed. She swung her head to the side, slicing into the Psychic pokemon with a blade of air that struck him in the back, sending him flying forward.

"That's air slash!" Alcea noted. "Shaymin, are you part Flying type now?"

"Shay!" Shaymin nodded. She spread her ear-wings wide, and sent another barrage of air slashes at Lancelot, forcing him back on the defensive.

Alcea couldn't believe her eyes, and neither could anyone else. After spending so much time terrorizing everyone who got in his way, Lancelot was being forced on the defensive. His speed couldn't match the smaller pokemon, and the energy within her attacks was too powerful to overcome.

"No… NO!" Gwen couldn't let this happen. She couldn't let Lancelot fall! He couldn't, not her Lancelot! She concentrated her harmonia, trying to gather as much strength as she could. But it wasn't enough. She'd already burned through so much energy by this point she was barely conscious, her thoughts a painful blur.

And Shaymin was just getting started. She leapt back, her body glowing bright green.

Bright pink flowers sprouted from her white fur, covering her entire body. They mixed with the aura and began to glow green as well. Shaymin took to the sky, replacing the sun as the brightest thing in Agate Village as the flowers grew brighter and brighter, until they were blinding.

Then, the power she built up erupted. Beams of light shot from every flower on her body, but they didn't destroy. Everywhere they touched was infused with the power of life. Flowers sprouted up in patches, nurtured by Shaymin's gentle glow. Agate Village was more beautiful than it had ever been before.

It was a Grass type move Alcea had never seen before. And yet, when the words left her lips, they sounded correct. "Seed flare," she whispered.

A gentle, caring move that brought light and life to everything it touched. With one sole exception. The beam that struck Lancelot carried no such blessing, the Gallade roaring in agony as the light burned into his chest. Gwen shouted with him, desperately trying to save her partner even as she could feel him slipping away from her, until finally her harmonia snapped and he lost consciousness.

Gwen fell to her knees, her jaw dropping. She couldn't understand what had just happened. How? How could Lancelot have fallen?

"No, no, NO!" She shouted, slapping her head. "Not possible, not possible! This simply ISN'T POSSIBLE! I don't understand! Big brother! Big brother, help me! Help me, please, they're hurting me, I can't… I don't understand!"

With Lancelot gone and her harmonia wreaking havoc, Gwen had reverted to the helpless child she used to be. But that only lasted for a moment. Without a proper focus in her Gallade, and without the state of mind to switch to another pokemon, her harmonia had nowhere to go but out. She rose to her feet and it came off of her in waves, a curtain of psychic energy that flattened the grass and pushed everyone and everything away from her.

"Well, this isn't good," Val noted with a smirk.

"No, it is certainly not."

Ryoko had appeared on the field. Had she walked up? Had Celebi teleported her? Nobody knew. But she was here, and she was approaching Gwen.

"Destroy… destroy it all…" Gwen fumbled for her pokeballs. If Lancelot had fallen, then she would just use the rest of her pokemon to defeat everyone here.

"Ryoko, what are you doing?!" Wes demanded.

"Hello, Guinevere," Ryoko said, stopping in front of the crazed child. "I would say that it is a pleasure to see you again, but it pains me to see you in this condition."

"Who… I don't… GO AWAY!" Gwen shouted, flinging her harmonia out at Ryoko. It ruffled her hair a little, but she didn't budge.

"Please leave this place, Guinevere," Ryoko calmly said. "Your duty here has finished."

"No… NO! Need to… need to make them hurt… make them PAY!" Gwen was completely lost in the storm of her harmonia, she refused to listen to reason at this point.

A pained expression crossed Ryoko's face.

"I see. Then it appears I have no choice. Please forgive me." Before Gwen could react, she raised her hand and placed two fingers on the other girl's forehead.

"Remember."

Gwen froze. Her eyes widened.

"NO! NO NO NO NONONONOONONO! STOP! DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T COME INTO ME! STOP! PLEASE! NYAAOOOOOHHH!" Her screams shook the village as she fell to the ground, thrashing madly and scraping at the grass. She rolled and wailed and practically tore herself apart.

"What the hell?!" Alcea exclaimed, running for the girl. Ryoko stopped her before she could get too close. "What have you done to her?!"

"From a young age, that girl has experienced torment beyond imagining. To protect her, I sealed away those memories behind a barrier. Now I have returned them to her." Ryoko's voice sounded cold, but Alcea could hear the pain in her voice. Seeing Gwen pathetically crawling on the ground like that was terrifying.

"I think now it's time to go," Val said, stepping between the two girls and Gwen. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"You can't be serious," Wes growled. "After everything you've done, you think you can just walk off like it's no big deal?!"

"Well, I'm up for a battle if you are," Val said coldly, reaching for her pokeball. "But I'm not as easy to handle as Gwen is. And that pokemon of yours, that Shaymin? Do you really think she'll be able to keep this up for much longer?"

Alcea glanced at Shaymin. She did look a lot more tired after using that seed flare attack. And given her previous condition, Alcea didn't want to exhaust her any further, that was true.

"Besides," Val said, glancing over at the screaming Gwen, "if I leave Guinevere in this condition, she'll break. And I don't think any of us want that."

"No way!" Vic shouted. "Not after what you've done, not a-"

"Go." Ryoko coldly cut Vic off, glaring at Val. "Your time here has finished."

Val smirked, picking up Lancelot's pokeball and recalling the defeated Gallade. She turned to Gwen and called out her Honchkrow, the large bird pokemon scooping the crazed girl up in its talons. Val climbed aboard and turned to Alcea, smirking.

"It's a pity I didn't get to test my trump card against yours, Alcea!" She called. "Maybe next time! …Oh! And please, tell Kate that I can't wait to see her again! I'm just dying for another playdate! Au revoir, mon couer!" With a wink, she blew Alcea a kiss, and then flew off into the sunset before anyone could stop her.

With a little help from Shaymin, Alcea was able to drive Val and Gwen away. But what are the consequences of that? What will happen to Gwen, after Ryoko gave her back her memories? And what memories are they? Only time will tell. Right now, we should be happy that Shaymin has awakened to her brand new form!