Gabrielle's unleashed her trump card, a powerful Baxcalibur that's running rampage over Alcea's team! But all hope isn't lost just yet! Alcea's got a team of her own ready to fight, and she's counting on her Tropius' Dragon type moves to make up the difference! Will it be enough? Does she have a chance of taking down Gabrielle's ace? Or will she be overwhelmed by the destructive power of a pseudo-legendary?
KedharS: Yep, facing off against this Baxcalibur is really rough for her!
Arbiter8991: If Alcea could just rely on Shaymin for all her battles there isn't much to get invested in.
Venoms Cross 2: That's the joy of this story, I can make pokemon much more powerful than game mechanics allow them to be.
Hyphenman: They're certainly going to try their best, that's for sure. And don't worry, this isn't the climax of the fight yet.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1171
Baxcalibur received a jump in power and speed from the dragon dance, the snowy sky was crackling with energy. But even with the dragon dance boost, he couldn't compete with Kanna in terms of her flying speed.
"Tropius!" Kanna roared, circling overhead in preparation for an attack. Alcea recognized how cautious they had to be though. That Baxcalibur's attack stat was massive before, and now it was even stronger. She had to worry if Kanna could even take ONE hit from the brutal pokemon.
We need to be careful about this, she acknowledged. But we have to discourage her from using more dragon dances too.
If Gabrielle's Baxcalibur kept getting faster and stronger, then when Kanna eventually slipped up and was defeated, all she'd have left was Venus. And if Venus had to face off against a Baxcalibur whose attack and speed were maxed out, she was probably going to lose.
"Kanna, use dragon pulse!" Alcea shouted.
"Tropius!" Kanna fired a blast of draconic energy at Baxcalibur, who dodged out of the way. The icy dragon let out a roar, stomping on the ground in outrage.
"Icicle crash," Gabrielle ordered. Baxcalibur roared again and summoned massive icicles out of the ground, which he fired at Kanna.
Alcea could tell, they'd need a lot more than aerial superiority to avoid a wave of attacks like that. Luckily, Kanna was a skilled mixed attacker.
"Aerial ace," she ordered. Kanna disappeared before the icicles could strike her, moving at high speed towards Baxcalibur. With the tailwind on her side she was able to get in close before he could even react, and she took his back, raising her tail.
She struck sharply with her tail and slashed him in the back, right beside the massive spine sticking out between his shoulders. Thanks to her attack boost from dragon dance it was a powerful hit. But Baxcalibur was powerful too.
"Baxcalibur!" He roared furiously, more angered than wounded by the attack. He leapt backwards, trying to skewer Kanna with the giant blade on his back, but Kanna was able to duck out of the way in time.
"Nicely done!" Alcea complimented her Tropius. "Now, dragon pulse!"
"Tropius!" Kanna fired a dragon pulse at close range, and even with a speed boost there was no way Baxcalibur was dodging that. The fire and lightning struck him directly and he threw back his head in a roar.
"Aaargh!" Gabrielle shouted, feeling her own flesh burning from the force of the attack. Even with how powerful her pokemon was, there was only so much she herself could withstand. Samarra suppressed her pain, but it was still apparent through her connection to Baxcalibur that he wouldn't be able to put up with these attacks for very much longer.
And frankly, she was getting a little sick and tired of her pokemon getting hit.
"Scary face," Gabrielle hissed.
A look of utter loathing crossed Baxcalibur's face, and he glared furiously at Kanna with a gleam in his eye so dark it froze her better than any Ice type move could have. She began to shake, no longer feeling the same freedom of movement as before in the face of such an intimidating look.
"With scary face, her speed's been reduced," Ross noted. Alcea scowled.
So that's as far as she'll go, then, is it? She recognized. Kanna was fast and strong, but in her present condition there wasn't a lot she could do. Baxcalibur was faster now, and by the time he got off another attack, everything would be over.
So with that in mind, the only thing Alcea could do was have Kanna cause as much damage as she could before she went down.
"Kanna!" She shouted, willing her pokemon to give it her all, "use outrage!"
That was it, the chance to cut loose!
"TROPIUS!" Kanna roared, as draconic energy crackled around her. Kanna was swallowed in a tornado of destructive power that raged around her, burning the snow up around her and building up the center of the storm. With a flap of her wings she soared across the battlefield towards Baxcalibur like a giant missile of destructive energy.
Even with the speed reduction, at this close of range Baxcalibur didn't have the chance to counterattack. He could do nothing but let out a painful roar as the pseudo-dragon collided with him, overwhelming him with the power of one of the strongest Dragon type moves possible.
More burning. It was like Gabrielle didn't have a moment when she wasn't on fire. But she couldn't let herself lose to this. She was almost there. Just a little more and she'd have everything she could ever want!
"Baxcalibur!" She roared over the destructive surge. "Use glaive rush!"
"BAXCALIBUR!" As the flames from Kanna's outrage burned him, Baxcalibur lowered his head, filling his own body with power. Then he lunged forward. Clinging to the ground he shot towards Kanna with the blade on his back raised like the fin of a Sharpedo sailing through the water. Kanna was too busy letting her anger take control for her to even think about dodging.
The two pokemon collided, and in an overwhelming display of power Kanna was knocked backwards, crashing to the ground in a heap.
Just as Alcea and Gabrielle both predicted, Kanna couldn't last for longer than a single attack. The Tropius crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"No!" Olivia gasped in horror. That was two of Alcea's pokemon now that had just been destroyed by Gabrielle's ace. And even if Kanna had been able to put up a much better fight than Anastacia, it didn't change the facts that the Baxcalibur was a monster.
"Return," Alcea said, recalling Kanna to her pokeball. She seemed far less worried than Olivia did. She was thinking. Very, very hard.
It was simple, of course, she only had one pokemon left, her Venusaur. She would have to send Venus out to fight.
But there was something stopping her. Something she was curious about.
Baxcalibur hadn't gotten up from where he was collapsed in the snow.
"What's up with that Baxcalibur?" Tommy asked, confused. "Why's it just lying there? Shouldn't it be getting back up?"
They could all tell that Gabrielle's pokemon still had a lot of fight in it, Vic and Amarillo most of all thanks to their harmonia. But there was something strange…
"Why isn't your pokemon moving?" Alcea asked, narrowing her eyes. "Aftereffects from that move… glaive rush, is it?"
Gabrielle blinked. "…I see. Perceptive as always. That's right. Glaive rush is a very powerful move, but that power comes with a drawback. When it's used, the pokemon who uses it can't move for a little while, and until its able to do so, any attacks directed their way are guaranteed to hit, and will always do double damage when they do."
"Wow!" Olivia gasped. "That's perfect! Alcea, this is your chance! Send out Venus and have her use the most powerful attack she knows!"
That was the consensus with the others, but Alcea didn't make a move to do that yet. She just stared thoughtfully at her opponent.
There was a reason Gabrielle was volunteering that information. It was a form of challenge. She was telling Alcea that it didn't matter if she knew about glaive rush's drawback and tried to take advantage of it. She was that confident that her Baxcalibur could withstand whatever Alcea had to throw at him and come out the victor.
Alcea admired Gabrielle's courage and confidence. It almost made her smile.
But there was something more important.
"…I can wait," she said, lowering her pokeball, much to Gabrielle's (and everyone else's) shock.
"What?! Why would you do that?!" Olivia cried. "Alcea, don't you see?! This is your chance!"
"A chance, oui, but a chance for what, is it?" Alcea asked, not taking her eyes off Gabrielle. "The way I see it, now that your pokemon is stuck for a little while… now is the perfect opportunity to finally have a talk."
Gabrielle blinked, shocked.
"Wh-What?" She was stunned for a moment, and then her expression turned sour. "Are you… looking down on me?" She snarled.
Alcea shook her head. "No," she denied. "I am simply not going to seize the advantage you've handed me. Like you, I fully believe that Venus can take whatever your Baxcalibur has to offer, and I don't need charity from you, either."
It was a sign of respect from one trainer to the other. Gabrielle was forced to accept it.
"…Fine," she muttered. "I can't make you send out your pokemon."
"Tell me, Gabrielle, what is it that you want out of this?" Alcea asked. "You said before that Samarra can fill in the void within a person's heart with her friendship, and give them whatever they want. The strength to be themselves. That's why you're so different now, is it? So what changed you? What was it she gave you that you couldn't get by yourself?"
Alcea was desperate to know. Olivia might not have understood why Alcea was wasting a chance like this, but to Alcea getting to understand Gabrielle and what was driving her was almost as important as defeating her in battle.
Gabrielle stared coldly at her, her expression twisted with shadows.
"Someone like you… would never understand," she muttered, glancing aside. "What would even be the point?"
"I could try to understand, is it?" Alcea asked quietly.
"No, you couldn't!"
Alcea didn't expect her to raise her voice, or to see the surge of frustration in her eyes. Suddenly feeling defensive, she took a step back out of reflex.
Gabrielle shook her head. "Alcea… you just don't get it. Someone like you… a person that everyone flocks to and gathers around… someone with the respect of the entire school… you wouldn't understand what it's like to be in my position."
"You… don't think you have respect?" Alcea couldn't understand how Gabrielle could feel that way. She was a member of the Eight Leaders, one of the most respected and admired trainers on campus! She made it to the top 8 of the Miss Pokemon Academy Competition! So to hear that she didn't think she was respected just didn't make sense to her.
"Look at you," Gabrielle said, her voice carrying notes of bitterness. "You're the strongest female trainer in school. You've got an entire club full of fans, a wealthy family that can give you whatever you need, friends who care about you…" Her eyes shifted to Olivia for a split second. "…Even a lover."
Alcea felt her cheeks pinken slightly, but she remained firm.
"Gabrielle, that's-"
"I've never had anything like that before." Gabrielle refused to give Alcea a chance to speak. Her glare was fierce. "You know the kind of person I am, Alcea. You must be aware of my reputation around school."
Alcea nodded cautiously. It would be hard not to. Gabrielle did command respect from her peers, but at the same time, there was a distance between her and the other students.
"Ever since I was little… I've known that I'm a little different from other people," Gabrielle said, wiping the snow from her face. "It probably started around the time when I realized that my mother was incapable of loving me."
Her words sounded like a punch to the gut.
"When I was young, she just… left us. Without a single explanation, she just cut herself out of our family and went her own way," Gabrielle said quietly. "It was just me and my dad after that. And he… he tried, but… he couldn't make up for that loss, no matter how much he loved me."
Olivia flinched. She stared down at the ground. She knew how Gabrielle felt more than she cared to admit.
Alcea had nothing she could say, given her own loving parents.
"I wasn't really able to make friends after that," Gabrielle said. "Whenever I tried, I always ended up driving people away. I was firm and spoke my mind, and because of that, I hurt people. And people don't want to be your friend if you hurt them."
A sinking feeling appeared in Alcea's chest. What Gabrielle was describing sounded a lot like a certain ratty-haired brunette she cared for.
"…So in the end, I thought it was better if I just said nothing at all." It was painful. Not being able to speak her mind or share her thoughts. "I believed… I thought… that if I just kept quiet, if I didn't drive people away… then maybe… maybe I could have them too. Friends. But it didn't help at all. People called me cold and hostile. That's how the rumors go, right? Gabrielle Breaux is a cool beauty who keeps her distance from others, an aloof ice princess, isn't that so?"
That was certainly her reputation, anyway.
"I'm sorry, Gabrielle," Alcea murmured, her eyes wet. "I always thought you didn't care about things like that."
"Of course you did." Gabrielle wiped her eyes again. Was she crying? Alcea couldn't tell from this distance. But her voice remained firm. "It's not like I ever reached out and tried. That's the sort of person I was. Because I couldn't… I couldn't do it. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to change."
Now she was starting to quiver.
"My pokemon… my pokemon…" her voice cracked. "They were always there for me. My friends. I knew I could count on them. Unlike my mom, they wouldn't… they wouldn't…!"
Then it broke.
"Was it my fault?!" She cried. "Was I the reason my mom left?! Because… because I was too much?! Because I couldn't tell her how much I loved her?!"
Alcea clenched her fist tensely. "That… that isn't…"
She caught herself before she said another word. What the hell was she thinking? Who was she to speak up on behalf of Gabrielle's mother? Whatever cheep platitudes Alcea gave, they would just be that, platitudes. Gabrielle would see right through those lies and know that she was just trying to make her feel better.
Because at the end of the day, maybe that WAS the reason he mother abandoned her.
Which was the saddest thing of all.
Gabrielle had finally regained her composure. She was no longer the ice princess, but just a trembling girl overwhelmed by her emotions. "I lost myself in my pokemon because I knew I could trust them," she whispered. "But even so… I still… I wanted friends too! Human ones!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "It isn't FAIR! You… you're cold, too! Even though you're kind, you're still as aloof as I am, so why?! Why is it that everyone loves you, but me, but me…"
Even as she said it, Samarra, who could see into Gabrielle's heart, saw that Gabrielle already knew what was different between the two of them. And it wasn't that Alcea was the stronger trainer, no matter how much she believed that to be true.
Alcea was capable of reaching out to others and Gabrielle was not. That's all there was to it.
"I wanted friends, so I joined the Gym Leader Training Club," Gabrielle mumbled. "But that all fell apart, because I tried to defeat Gerard. I needed to defeat him, and yet…" She sighed. "The Phantom was the same way. I wanted friends, I wanted them so much, so I… but he just used me. No one there really cared about me."
She raised her head and stared into Alcea's eyes from across the battlefield. She was shaking.
"And then there was you. The person I always wanted to beat… the person who could have everything I couldn't have… I just… I wanted… I thought, maybe… maybe you… when you and Kate were kind to me, then maybe even I could finally have friends, but…"
She lowered her head. "…It never happened. And then you chose someone else."
Alcea blinked. There were a lot of things Gabrielle had said that were confusing, but that one was even moreso.
"Chose… someone else is it?" She asked. "What do you-"
"To love," Gabrielle bluntly stated. "Ayame Toujou heard it all, everything the two of you did. She was your enemy, and yet the two of you…"
She stared daggers at Olivia as more pieces began to fall into place.
Alcea turned red. "W-Wait, do you mean that you…?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," Gabrielle muttered, shaking her head. "It's not like I ever had a chance in the first place. Someone like me can't make friends. I couldn't even make you turn my way. So it doesn't matter anymore. With Samarra, I can have friends. She finally understood me for who I was, do you understand how much that means to me? And with her… you and I can finally be friends as well."
Alcea was still a few pages back, on the "Gabrielle Breaux had feelings for me" section of the chapter.
It was Olivia who spoke up.
"Oh, fuck you!"
…Aptly put, Olivia, we can always count on the Empress to handle situations like this with tact. So it's finally comes out, how Gabrielle really felt. She's been harboring these insecurities for a long time now, and we'll have to see just what will come from it. Meanwhile, Alcea's starting to come to terms with the fact that she's inadvertently formed a female harem.