Now, time for the battle between Blake and Alcea!
Aeromenca: I answer reviews in order of getting them.
Sonofthetrigod: She didn't think she was doing anything wrong.
The Bloody Seje: Yep, she's pretty petty.
Duskzilla: Why? If she's got it, she should flaunt it, that's what I say. Also, you shouldn't be reading this. My stories are too immature for someone 18 years or older.
Mightymareep98: Good.
ShadeZyro: She doesn't know.
DeviouslyNormal: Well, Alcea is a grass type trainer, so that's pretty good. What kind of ploy are you thinking?
Daozang: I figured she would.
My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Oh, definitely.
Regiinator: Yes, this battle should be very interesting.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 12
"It's not fair!" the brown haired girl from before exclaimed.
"Huh?" Blake asked.
"Our Highness shouldn't have to waste her time dealing with someone like you!" the girl, Kate, cried.
"Highness?" Cynthia asked, confused.
"Our Highness, the Queen of Roses!" Kate declared. "A lady of beauty, grace, and a refined elegance!"
"Kate that is enough," Alcea said, turning to her.
"No, she's right!" another girl said.
"What's so impressive about her anyway?" Cynthia asked.
"Shut up!"
"You're just copying her Highness with your stupid red hair!"
"She's right, there's a lot of redheads in this school…" Julia said, frowning.
"Her Highness is amazing!"
"She's done so many great things!"
"When a storm was coming she ran out into the rain to hang tarps over the garden!"
"And when it was pouring out, she gave me her umbrella to use, not minding that she got soaked!"
"She always gives me advice on how to train and raise my pokemon!"
"She can be really strict, but she always makes sure to help her underclassmen when they're falling behind!"
"She always lets us read her romance novels and is always excited to talk about them with us!"
"She helped me out with my love life even though the amount of time she's been single is equal to the number of years she's been on this earth!"
"She-"
"Ahem, that's enough," Alcea coughed, her face reddening. "Please, let us continue with our battle."
"So, how many pokemon are we each using?" Blake asked.
"…Very brave, yes?" Alcea asked, walking towards the center of the clearing, where a battlefield was set up in the grass.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked.
"You only have six pokemon. One of them is too weak to fight right now, another you cannot control. That leaves four. We shall use one pokemon each."
"One?" Blake asked.
"Of your party, only one of them is strong enough to stand up to any of mine," Alcea said. "I will not dishonor you or look down upon you with a statement such as 'use your entire party, I will only use a single pokemon.'"
"Oh?" Blake asked.
"Do you think I am so arrogant?" Alcea asked, smiling. "Or so foolish? We shall use one pokemon each. No more, no less. If I were to use my entire party against your entire party, that would not make for much of a competition. This way, mon cher, I can see how strong you truly are."
"…Okay, one pokemon each," Blake said, nodding. He walked onto the other side of the battlefield.
"Then, commencons."
Alcea held up a pokeball, tossing it into the air.
"Venus, laissez-nous danser!"
The pokeball opened in a flash of light, a Venusaur emerging from within with a tornado of red and black flower petals.
The large plant pokemon stomped its feet, the petals drifting around it and disappearing in a flash of light.
"What was that?" Blake asked.
"A ball capsule and seal, is it?" Alcea declared. "Developed in the Sinnoh Region, a tool for improving the beauty and grace of a pokemon in battle."
"What kind of thing would that be for?" Cynthia asked, confused.
"I believe that pokemon battles, like everything in life, should be both beautiful and graceful. Just as a flower blooms beautifully within a garden, my grass pokemon are the same, blooming beautifully on the field of battle."
"A grass pokemon user, huh?" Blake said. "Weiss!"
Weiss emerged, snapping his pincers.
"Oh yeah, Blake's got this one in the bag!" Reiner cheered.
"Magnifique," Alcea said, smiling warmly. "Blake, truly you are like a flower."
"Enough flirting!" Cynthia jeered.
"When I first saw your battle against that sophomore… It disgusted me."
"Um… what?"
"You are not weak. But you are not strong, either. You are simply… average. A bud in the dirt, trying desperately to grow. But your battle, it was utterly lacking in elegance and beauty. While you might have talent, you let that talent go to waste."
"Hey, he is so talented!" Cynthia stated.
"If you cannot refine yourself and your pokemon, then you will stand no chance," Alcea ignored Cynthia, continuing her statements. "And that would make me weep, for I always feel pity when a bud withers and dies before it can bloom. That is why I requested a fight with you. Please show me if you can refine your style."
Her words tone was polite, and her words were neither insulting nor rude, but they still stung. Thankfully, Blake was able to keep a cool head. If he got angry there was no chance. He could see that that Venusaur was at a level well above his Scizor, and had fought many more battles. If he wasn't able to keep a cool head and think things through, then even Weiss's type advantage might not be enough.
"No action, is it? Then the first move is mine. Venus, use razor leaf."
Leaves shot out from the plant on Venus' back, shooting straight at Weiss. They were faster than Weiss had expected and he was unable to dodge, but they only did a fraction of damage.
"Grass type moves don't do much against Scizor's double resistance!" Sango cheered. "Give it to 'em!"
"Weiss, bullet punch!" Weiss shot forward like bullet, releasing a flurry of punches at the Venusaur.
Suddenly, however, Weiss was stopped. A vine had shot out from the plant on Venus' back, wrapping tightly around his arm, stopping him cold.
"A move of that caliber is no problem for my Venus," Alcea said. "If you wish to settle this with speed, at use a move with comparable speed to an ice shard from Gabrielle's Weavile."
"Huh?" Blake asked.
"My dear Gabrielle," Alcea said. "The term rival, is it? She who has mastered the ice type and I who use the grass type. Even with such a weakness, I can still defeat her."
Everyone who had fought against Gabrielle the week previously froze in fear a little. If she could be beaten by this girl, then could Blake even hope to win?
"So do you think he has no chance?" Nick asked.
"No, Scizor has a great advantage over Venusaur, he'll totally win!" Cynthia said adamantly.
"Maybe so…" Reiner said, frowning. "But steel moves are not that effective against grass/poison, either… Neither one of them has the upper hand in type advantage… what we're likely to see is a long, drawn out battle of the two of them chipping away at each other."
"Yeah, but in that situation, Scizor has the advantage!" Cynthia said.
"It seems that way…"
"Venus, fling him onto the ground, if you would."
Venus lifted Weiss into the air with her vine, slamming him roughly down onto the ground. In this moment, however, Weiss fired a flash cannon from his pincer straight at Venus, hitting her in the forehead and forcing her to break the hold. Weiss flapped his wings and flew back away from Venus.
"Oh, a battle at a distance, is it?" Alcea asked. "We can do that as well. Venus, use sunny day."
Venus' body was covered in an orange light, which shot up into the air and intensified the light from the moon.
"Such moves are sadly more effective in the day, but oh well," Alcea said. "Solarbeam."
Venus charged light energy into her flower, firing it in a beam of light at Weiss.
Weiss just barely managed to dodge the attack, but Venus turned and swung it into him, Weiss crying out in pain as he plummeted to the ground. In spite of that, however, the attack didn't do much damage, to Blake's relief.
If we get to close it'll grab Weiss with vines, but if we stay away it'll hit him with a beam… Blake thought, frowning. Is getting damage in impossible?
"Giving up, is it?" Alcea asked.
"Of course not!" Blake said. "Weiss, fly into the air!"
Weiss flapped his wings and flew into the air, diving down towards the Venusaur.
"Solarbeam once more," Alcea ordered. Venus fired another beam of light at Weiss, but this time he didn't try to dodge it.
"Steel wing!" Blake ordered. Weiss' body was coated in a silver aura and he slammed head first into the solar beam, causing it to shatter and fly into random directions as the steel type pummeled through it. Weiss slammed into Venus head on, Venus crying out in pain as Weiss jumped back into the air to do the same maneuver again, just barely dodging the vines reaching for him.
Weiss did take damage with that attack, but I think the Venusaur took more… Blake thought. If I continue attacking like that, then maybe…
"'Maybe I can win, is it?'" Alcea said.
"Huh?"
"Is that something along the lines of what you were thinking? If you continue to do something like that you'll be able to win through attrition?"
She smiled.
"Don't be so foolish. Venus, use synthesis!"
Light shone down on Venus' body, restoring a lot of her health. Soon, she was almost at full.
"No way…" Blake said, shocked.
"Grass types absorb energy from the sun to remain strong and healthy," Alcea said. "Surely you've learned this by now?"
"…Weiss, use iron defense!" Silver energy flowed around Weiss' body, reinforcing his defenses.
"Now, agility, followed by swords dance!"
"So, while I'm healing you hope to boost your defenses, as well as your speed and power? Impressive."
"Weiss, let's try and focus this into a single strike, okay, Weiss?" Blake asked, Weiss nodding his head. The Scizor shot forward at an even higher speed than before, to the point where he almost couldn't be seen. Weiss was nothing more than a red blur as he shot towards Venus.
"A powerful blow…" Alcea said, frowning. "…Provided it connects."
A barrier of green light appeared around Venus, blocking the attack completely.
"Protect," Alcea declared. "That move was absolutely ineffective."
"Boo! What a cheap move!" Cynthia exclaimed.
"Then, if you're done, solarbeam."
Venus fired another solarbeam attack, hitting Weiss in the stomach. It did a little bit more damage, knocking him backwards, but Weiss still hadn't taken much.
"Come on, Blake, break that stupid protect!" Sango shouted.
"I cannot use protect repeatedly, unfortunately. Give it your best."
Weiss shot forward again, Blake expecting Venus to dodge, but the attack struck beneath her jaw at full force, knocking her into the air. Weiss appeared above the Venusaur and struck her again, knocking her into the ground.
Venus quickly rose to her feet and began healing, Weiss jumping backwards.
"Okay, Weiss, I have an idea," Blake said, grinning. "We haven't perfected it yet, but try it out, okay?"
Weiss nodded, and shot towards Venus once more, moving around so he was at her side, before shooting forwards.
"Protect."
A green barrier appeared around Venus, Weiss lifting his claw and striking.
The barrier shattered, Alcea's eyes widening as the pincer hit Venus in the side, badly injuring her.
"What was that?" Cynthia exclaimed.
"Feint, is it?" Alcea asked, smiling. "Magnifique."
"Awesome!" Blake cheered. "You got it! Way to go!"
Weiss jumped back, before the counterattack could come at him. Weiss charged at Venus, using bullet punch this time.
"Well, it looks like I'll have to start taking this seriously," Alcea said, smiling. Weiss threw a bright red flashing punch at Venus, who disappeared.
"What?" Blake asked, shocked. A beam of light hit Weiss in the back, Weiss crying out in pain, falling to the ground. Venus had appeared across the battlefield, behind Weiss.
"How did you…"
"No way something that big could be so fast, cheater!" Cynthia shouted.
"No, it's…" Julia said, frowning.
"Chlorophyll, is it?" Alcea said, her lips curling up into a smile. "Have you heard of it?"
"That's the thing that raises a pokemon's speed in the sunlight…" Blake said, frowning.
"Yes," Alcea said, nodding. "Slightly weaker at night, but it still lets my Venus outspeed your Scizor."
"Fine then," Blake said, frowning. "Weiss, use agility!"
Energy moved around Weiss as his speed began to increase. However, Venus shot towards him like a bullet, tackling Weiss head on and knocking him backwards.
"Now, for my hidden weapon," Alcea declared, Weiss rising to his feet and charging at Venus. "Use it."
Venus' body began glowing with orange energy, releasing it into a shockwave of orange orbs of flame. The orbs struck Weiss, badly injuring him. Weiss cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground.
"Was that a fire move?" Blake asked, shocked.
"Hidden power, is it?" Alcea said. "Fire type."
"A fire type hidden power…" Cynthia said, shocked.
"What a trump card…" Julia said.
Weiss coughed, trying to rise to his feet.
"And finally, the coup de grace," Alcea declared, holding her hand out. "Venus, use frenzy plant!"
Venus' body began glowing with green energy, which surged into the ground with a stomp of her front feet. Thorny roots jutted out from it, striking Weiss roughly and squeezing around his body, wrapping tightly and squeezing until Weiss lost crumpled. The thorny roots retreated into the ground, Weiss plummeting to the ground, unconscious.
"Fin," Alcea said, returning Venus to her pokeball.
"…Return…" Blake said, returning Weiss to his pokeball.
"Blake…" Sango said, frowning.
Alcea walked up to him.
"It was enjoyable."
"Huh?"
"The battle," Alcea said, smiling a little. "It was enjoyable."
"Really?"
"You might have lost, but you've shown great potential. I am looking forward to seeing your growth."
"Huh?"
"A bud, growing slowly from the dirt. Will you bloom into an amazing flower, or will you wilt on the vine?"
Alcea turned, her hair whipping around and flicking Blake in the face, Blake catching the faded scent of roses.
She returned to her posse and turned back to Blake, thanking him for the battle and curtsied once more, before the pack of girls left the garden.
"…She was pretty…" Kitty said, her pale face turning a light pink.
"Sorry about your loss," Julia said, patting him on the back.
"No problem!" Cynthia said, frowning. "You'll kick her ass next time, or I'll do it for you!"
"Didn't you lose to Blake?" Sango asked.
"…Shut up," Cynthia said, frowning.
"She was pretty…" Nick said, agreeing with Kitty.
"Alcea Vermeil, huh?" Blake said, smiling. "She was strong… I can't wait to fight her again…"
"Oh GOD…" Cynthia said, frowning. "You are NOT falling in LOVE with her!"
"What? No!"
"I mean, I get it, with that awesome body and that silky red hair, but you can't! You'll make Sango cry!"
"Wait, what?" Sango asked.
"Do you want that on your conscience? Breaking the heart of a poor maiden?"
"Why would that break my heart?"
"Out of your deep emotional love for Blake, of course! …Or something."
Sango leveled a glare at Cynthia, who hid behind Julia in fear.
"Don't drag me into this," Julia said, moving out of the way.
So, Blake lost against Alcea, but that was to be expected.