The battle between Gabrielle and Alcea has been intense, and the two have given everything they have in order to defeat their rival. But will it be enough? Only one person will come out of this match the victor. Will Alcea and Venus have the strength to defeat Gabrielle's brutal Baxcalibur, or will they be overwhelmed by its incredible power? We'll have to find out when this battle comes to its thrilling conclusion!

KedharS: Oh yeah, I'm sure Olivia will take it just fine, she seems like the kind of person who doesn't hold a grudge.

Hyphenman: It was a pretty long battle for sure, but that length was definitely necessary to convey everything about Gabrielle that needed to be conveyed.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1173

Gabrielle glanced around the blossoming battlefield and a shadow crossed her face. This was exactly what she didn't want to happen.

I knew that not being able to learn ice spinner would be a disadvantage for Baxcalibur, but I'd hoped that if I used it enough times in the beginning of the fight she would assume my other pokemon knew it as a matter of course… Gabrielle thought, narrowing her eyes. I see… she had to make sure, and that's why she baited me into coming in close to test it… so the problem was rooted with Glaceon from before, then, I see…

When Alcea had seized the advantage over Glaceon by using grassy terrain, and Glaceon didn't reset it, she knew then that not all of Gabrielle's pokemon knew the move. If that little slip-up hadn't occurred, then it may have never occurred to her that Gabrielle's other pokemon didn't know the move either. But she'd managed to uncover the truth, that Gabrielle's trump card and final pokemon was incapable of learning the move that could nullify Venus' greatest advantage, and now Gabrielle found herself in this state.

Well… it could be worse. With grassy terrain active, our health will slowly recover… and with the amount of damage Baxcalibur can dish out, a little passive healing won't make much difference either. But more relevantly… There was something else that grassy terrain did besides boost the power of Grass type moves and passively heal a bit of health from all pokemon on the ground. It was something that not every trainer would necessarily know, but Gabrielle, who had spent so much time studying Alcea's strategies in order to develop the ice spinner technique she'd used as a countermeasure, knew what the secret was.

Certain Ground type moves, like earthquake, bulldoze, and magnitude, were weakened by the cushion of grass. Which meant that if Alcea tried to order her Venusaur to use one of them, it would deal a lot less damage.

Because Baxcalibur can resist Grass type moves, she can't use those recklessly even with all the boosts. Which leaves Poison type moves like sludge bomb, and earth power as her only viable offensive options now that she can't use bulldoze or earthquake. Gabrielle narrowed her eyes. As well as weather ball, I suppose…

It was rather ironic. The snow that Gabrielle had fought so hard to maintain had turned into a liability now that it boosted the power of Venus' weather ball to base 100 while keeping it a neutral hit. That was the risk Gabrielle took on by using a Dragon type pokemon, she supposed.

I have to keep a watch out for those three moves, they're ones I have to worry about, as well as any status she might use. It's unfortunate that our tailwind has petered out, but more concerning… grassy glide. Gabrielle would have to be a fool to have forgotten that move. On grassy terrain like this, Venus' grassy glide gave her speed comparable to quick attack or ice shard. It was a rather frustrating move that gave her quite a bit of trouble before. But on that subject…

"Baxcalibur, use ice shard!" She ordered.

"Baxcalibur!" Baxcalibur fired a blast of ice at Venus, hoping to strike the Grass type pokemon before he could respond. But Alcea would not be conquered by a move of that level.

"Venus, use grassy glide," she ordered.

"Venusaur!" Venus dodged to the side with speed unbefitting a pokemon of her build, using the advantage of being on her home turf. She dashed towards Baxcalibur and slammed into the Ice type pokemon, knocking him backwards. But a move of that level wasn't enough to get him to lose his balance, and he responded by striking back with a dragon claw. It was only due to Venus' nimble footwork that she was able to dodge the strike.

"Sludge bomb!" Alcea ordered.

"Venusaur!" Venus lowered her flower and fired a blast of toxic sludge at the Baxcalibur.

Just as we thought! Gabrielle smirked. "Ice beam!"

"Baxcalibur!" The freezing pokemon opened his mouth, releasing a burst of cold air with just his breath. He fired a beam of ice at the toxic sludge, and froze the gunk into a solid chunk of ice. It fell harmlessly into the grass, rendered completely inert by a barrier of ice surrounding it.

"We expected that move!" Gabrielle shouted. "Now Baxcalibur, use ice beam again!"

"Baxcalibur!" He turned his beam of destructive ice towards Venus next, drawing a line of frost over the grass until he hit her.

"Venusaur!" Venus cried in pain, but she powered through it just fine. Baxcalibur was a physical attacker, after all, his special attack was very low. She could take a few more of those, even if they were super-effective.

"Venus, use energy ball!"

It was a strange order coming from Alcea, and Gabrielle wasn't sure she heard it properly the first time. But surely enough, Venus formed an orb of green energy she gathered from the grass beneath her feet, and fired it at the large dragon.

"Ice shard!" Gabrielle ordered, blasting it away with a burst of ice. "What's with that move, Alcea? Even with the boost from this terrain, we won't be overcome with a Grass type move!"

Alcea smiled. "Oui, we'll see. Now Venus, use sleep powder!"

"Venusaur!" Venus sent a wave of sleep powder out over the battlefield towards Baxcalibur. But Gabrielle had already had her pokemon put to sleep once today, and she couldn't say she was eager to have it happen again. Even without factoring in how big a disadvantage it would be in this battle, when a pokemon with harmonia is put to sleep, the backlash the trainer goes through is nothing to scoff at either, and she'd rather avoid that, if possible.

"Blizzard!" Gabrielle shouted. She'd been holding back on this move because Baxcalibur was a physical attacker. But now that she was dealing with a pokemon like Venus who had the advantage of terrain, she would be more than happy to overwhelm her with it.

Baxcalibur roared, and a wave of ice and snow blew over the battlefield. The powerful winds blew back the sleep powder, and pushed on to strike at Venus directly.

But Alcea had a storm of her own available.

"Petal blizzard!" She ordered.

"Venusaur!" With the boost from the grassy terrain, Venus began to glow green, and she released a cloud of swirling flower petals up into the air. They spun in a tornado towards the blizzard of snow, and the two attacks struck in the middle of the battlefield, canceling each other out.

"…It appears we're evenly matched, is it?" Alcea murmured with the faintest of smiles. Gabrielle scowled.

"No, we're not," she snapped. "That move of yours was boosted by the grassy terrain, and not only that, it was against Baxcalibur, who isn't even a special attacker! If that's what you consider 'evenly matched' then you must be watching this fight with your eyes closed! Baxcalibur, use icicle crash!"

"Baxcalibur!" Baxcalibur stomped on the ground and thudded his tail, conjuring large icicles from the snow falling around him. He fired them at Venus.

"You've already used that technique, and we defeated it," Alcea reminded her foe. "Grassy glide once more, Venus, then use power whip!"

"Venusaur!" Venus shot across the grass, easily evading the falling icicles. As she did, a long vine extended from the plant on her back, and she cracked it against Baxcalibur's chest with a powerful strike.

"Urgh!" Gabrielle clutched her stomach as she felt the wind get knocked out of her lungs. But she didn't lose her balance. "Avalanche!"

Reeling from the strike, but not truly injured, Baxcalibur grew enraged, putting all the pain he'd gathered from that blow into a wave of ice sent rolling towards Venus.

"Protect!" Alcea ordered. Venus blocked the falling snow with a barrier of light, but still ended up buried alive.

That was the opportunity Gabrielle had been waiting for.

"Baxcalibur, use dragon dance!" She ordered. They were fighting on roughly equal footing with Venus at the moment, but a suitable boost to speed and attack would mitigate that. And they should have some time while Alcea waited for the protective barrier to drop and for Venus to dig her way out of the snow bank.

The sky around Baxcalibur crackled and burned, and the snow disintegrated as it got too close. Baxcalibur was pumping himself up with draconic power, getting stronger and fiercer so he could destroy his opponent.

"Venusaur!" Venus burst out of the snow just in time to see a massive icicle flying towards her.

"Seed bomb!" Alcea shouted, thinking fast on her feet. Venus opened her mouth and fired a giant seed at the icicle, exploding on contact. The sudden blast was enough to destroy the tip of the icicle and break it into pieces, but unfortunately not enough to stop the momentum of the move entirely. She managed to spare herself from getting skewered by a spear of ice, but the remaining chunks still slammed into her, and the force of the attack was enough to cause massive damage.

"VENUSAUR!" Venus roared in pain as she skidded backwards, beaten away by the power of Gabrielle's move.

"No! Venus!" Olivia wailed.

"…Phew," Gabrielle panted, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She was getting exhausted, expending her energy with harmonia like this. But it would all be worth it in the end, when she defeated Alcea and her Venusaur. That last attack had been decisive, and she couldn't see any chance of Venus recovering enough to put up a fight.

And yet… the look in Alcea's eyes wasn't devoid of hope. She was still glaring adamantly at her, as if there was nothing to be concerned about.

That's right… it's those eyes… those are the eyes I grew enamored with… Gabrielle thought, a pang of fondness striking her. Alcea's eyes were clear and unwavering, they always saw straight ahead, never looking away.

Compared to Gabrielle who had turned her eyes away from the truth so many times, who had only seen what she wanted to see and blamed others for her own shortcoming, such honest eyes were both vexing and intoxicating.

I wanted to be just like you… but that's not enough anymore. Now what I want… is to defeat you! Gabrielle hardened her resolve and boosted Baxcalibur's power even further with her harmonia, dedicated to beating Alcea once and for all.

"Baxcalibur!" Baxcalibur roared, throwing back his head and conjuring more icicles to fire at the stunned Venusaur.

"Venus, dodging will no longer be good enough," Alcea instructed. She'd managed to judge Baxcalibur's speed quite well from that last attack, and knew it wasn't enough to try and use grassy glide to avoid the icicles, not with the sun being covered to nullify Chlorophyll. But it wasn't as if they could use any attack at all to counter, either, the previous strike had confirmed that. With the boost to his speed and power, Baxcalibur had risen to a level above Venus.

Well, she'd just have to raise her own pokemon to an even higher level, then.

Of course, she knew such a thing was impossible. There was no such miracle that would grant Venus a massive boost of power in the middle of the battle.

And yet… Alcea herself was glowing, and Venus was as well.

"Urgh… this light…" Gabrielle shielded her eyes momentarily as Baxcalibur fired the attack.

"What is this?!" Olivia asked, confused and excited by the sudden change.

"It… no, it couldn't be," Vic muttered, shaking her head. For a second, she thought that Alcea's Venusaur was transforming the same was Corin did back at the Battle Tower. But no, Venus' body wasn't actually changing. She was just glowing, as if she were triggering Overgrow. But her health was still too high, and she didn't have that ability in the first place.

Besides, Overgrow didn't make the trainer glow too. No, this was something else. Something…

"Ah!" She gasped in realization.

"That girl…" Amarillo squinted behind her mask, realizing what was happening as she stared at the light on Alcea's chest. She could sense it the same way Vic could.

And Samarra could sense it too. Not just through Gabrielle, but her actual body could sense all the way across town what was happening, and it was confused.

This feeling… this power… what is it? She turned in the direction that the light was coming from, seeing a faint green glow in the distance, beneath the gathered clouds of snow on the other side of the village. It was calling out to her harmonia.

"Venus, use energy ball!" Alcea ordered. She had no way of knowing whether or not what was going on would allow her to use solarbeam, so she decided that energy ball would be enough. And judging by the size of the one Venus fired at the incoming icicle, she was more than correct.

The icicle was pulverized into powder and the energy ball barely slowed down, flying across the field and colliding with Baxcalibur. The force of the blast was enough to knock the heavy dragon off of his feet and he fell back into the grass, his blade digging deep into the ground.

Gabrielle was knocked away by the shockwave herself.

"This… won't be enough to break us!" She snarled from where she lay in the grass, shooting a glare fiercer than any Alcea had seen from her before. "Baxcalibur, end this now! Use glaive rush!"

"Baxcalibur!" From his position in the grass, Baxcalibur was actually set up perfectly to strike. He tilted his head forward and fired a blast of frozen air from his mouth, propelling him across the field on his blade like a slot car on a race track.

The mighty scar his sharp blade carved into the earth only grew larger as he got closer to Venus, picking up speed and power as he threatened to finish off what remained of Venus' health. Again, at this speed, and with his control over his blade, there was no chance of Venus dodging.

We could nullify the damage with protect, Alcea reasoned, but if we do that…

Protect was a useful move for blocking attacks, but it came with some downsides. For one, the pokemon couldn't leave the barrier to attack for a short while. More than enough time to nullify glaive rush's significant downside. It would keep Venus safe absolutely, but it wouldn't change the situation much, and it would Gabrielle a chance to strike back.

No… no, that wasn't okay at all. If Alcea was to win this, she couldn't play things safe. She was never the type to hide in safety when she could take a risk that might pay off. That's why she didn't bother struggling over the weather, or stubbornly keep setting up terrain in the face of Gabrielle's countless ice spinners.

Alcea was a woman who would take risks. Since the day she was stranded on that island and learned just how fragile her world truly was, she knew that she had to make the most of it. That was the critical difference that made her path diverge from Gabrielle's.

And it was that difference which brought the two girls to this moment.

You were never willing to step out of your shell… you were too afraid of what would happen if you tried… well, I'm afraid as well… oui… afraid that if I lose here, that I will be turned into someone I'm not, and forced to fight and enslave those that I care for… but I won't let that fear take over me. I'll keep fighting, no matter what!

"Venus!" She shouted, the green aura around her growing brighter. "Use outrage!"

They were going to take this fight straight to Gabrielle and Baxcalibur and power on through, even if it meant they would lose.

"Outrage?!" Gabrielle's eyes bugged out in shock. "You… you know that move?!" She couldn't believe Alcea's Venusaur was capable of something like that.

"Someone I care for very much once fought me with a dragon of incredible power," Alcea said softly, keeping her eyes on Gabrielle. "Venus did not have the strength to defeat her, and I was forced to rely on a miracle."

Olivia gasped. "That's…"

"The fact that I couldn't rely on my own strength to save her infuriated me… and Venus as well. We have not been sitting idly by in Agate Village, waiting for Samarra's attack," Alcea growled. "We have been training, all of us, so that we wouldn't have to rely on another's help ever again! So that if someone else we cared about was lost and needed saving, then we could do it ourselves! That is the anger contained in this attack!"

"Venusaur!" Venus charged at Baxcalibur, and green flames kicked up around her as she did. Green lightning crackled as she let loose all the power she'd gathered from the Oracle around Alcea's neck, and she collided with Baxcalibur in a massive blast.

Both pokemon were knocked into the sky by the force of the explosion and both hit the ground hard. But Baxcalibur hadn't fainted just yet, even in the face of such a powerful attack. Gabrielle wouldn't let him. She ignored the pain, ignored how much she felt like she was going to die, and put everything into keeping her pokemon conscious. She could have severed the connection to spare herself the pain, but she didn't. She could have allowed him to faint, thus severing the connection automatically, but she did not. She would win this. Even if it might take time for him to recover from the backlash of using glaive rush, he would still be able to fight.

The sacrifice she made for her pokemon ensured it.

No way could Venus have withstood that… it was our strongest move… with three attack boosts… Gabrielle squinted through the smoke, certain she'd see the defeated figure of Venus when it cleared. She didn't have the strength to stand, but if she won… she wouldn't need to.

"Venusaur!" Venus' roar shattered every last hope she had left.

"How… HOW?!" She demanded, slapping her palm against the grass in fury. It was all she had the strength left to do.

Venus was still standing. She was injured beyond belief, practically a corpse, but she was still standing, and energy was still crackling around her.

"Venus was given grassy seeds before this match began," Alcea said quietly. "A special item that raises her defense when grassy terrain is set. This entire fight, since the grassy terrain returned, Venus has had a slight boost to her defense. It may have been small, but… enough to keep her from falling to your final attack, is it?"

There was no need to determine a victor from here, that last attack had ensured it. Even though Baxcalibur still had the strength to keep fighting, the energy he'd expended with glaive rush meant that whatever move Venus used next was guaranteed to hit, and with twice the damage.

And there was only one move she could use.

"This time, we'll save your ourselves," Alcea promised. Venus roared, charging across the grass, and unleashed the draconic energy raging around her in a single tackle that knocked Baxcalibur unconscious, shattering Gabrielle's connection with Samarra in an instant.

Phew! That was an intense one! Gabrielle fought with everything she had, pushing herself to the point where she couldn't even stand, but Alcea managed to win in the end! It's a good thing, too, that was about to get really tough! But hopefully now that she's free from Samarra's control, Gabrielle can become real friends with Alcea, and other people as well!