The first round of the Pokeathlon Competition preliminaries is getting intense! Will's Beldum managed to evolve, and he's back in the race! But what about the students jockeying for first? It seems surprising that three freshmen would be in the lead for this competition, and not someone who's been doing Pokeathlons for years, like Ayame. I guess we'll just have to see how things go for them, won't we?

KedharS: Yeah Will's been in a lot of complicated situations, I think he deserves a reward for helping out Misato all the time and giving her that present. It's too bad he doesn't have a real girlfriend, he's clearly very doting (even if he's kind of an ass about it a lot of the time).

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1292

Nikita tensed as she watched the results playing out on the screen. Everyone was jockeying for different positions, trying to get ahead of everyone else. And at the front of the pack were Blake, Sango, and Cynthia, all forcing their way forward in order to succeed.

"I'm surprised," Elaina said, her eyes wide. "To think that three people we know are in the lead positions!"

"…That is how it appears to you, is it?" Alcea's voice was cold and it made Elaina shiver.

"Th-That's…"

She glanced at Alcea and Callie. Both girls' faces were stony masks.

"What's wrong?" Nikita asked warily.

Callie sighed. "Does it seem like a good thing that Sango and the others are in the lead right now?" She asked, staring into Nikita's eyes.

"Well, yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Nikita asked. "Isn't it good to come in first?"

Callie shook her head. "Don't you remember the rules of this preliminary?" She asked. "It doesn't matter if you're in first place or not. As long as you're in the top 100, then you'll advance to the next stage. That's the only thing that really matters."

Nikita gasped. That's right! It doesn't actually matter what position they're in, the only thing that matters is that they're in the top 100!

With that in mind, the three-way struggle for first looked rather childish in comparison.

"Your name is Nikita Willow, correct?" Alcea asked. Her face was gentle even though her eyes were serious. "Forgive me for not knowing you very well."

"No! That's fine!" Nikita gasped, flushing a little. The fact that Alcea even knew her name at all was something to be proud of. "…A-And, yes, I'm Nikita…"

Alcea smiled slightly. "You're aiming for the Research Course, then?"

Nikita nodded rapidly. "Yes, that's right!"

"So then you have no real consideration for the amount of effort that goes into a long tournament event like this one, is it?" Alcea's cold words dropped on Nikita like a stack of bricks.

"…Uh… um…" Nikita stared in muted shock. Alcea's words weren't exactly rude, but they certainly didn't improve her mood. Rather they cut to the heart of the conversation. She had been in the Winter Tag Team Tournament, but other than that, no, she wasn't the sort of trainer who entered into serious competitions. She focused her efforts on studying.

Alcea was happy to elaborate. "You as well," she said, turning to Elaina. Her face was still cold. "Although you fight in tournaments, I would argue that you've weaponized the decline in your mental endurance, is it?"

Elaina stared shamefully at the ground.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Nikita asked, still not following the conversation. "What's this got to do with mental endurance?"

Callie sighed. "Considering how much brainpower you spend on your studies, it may come as a foreign concept to you. But when it comes to massive tournaments, there's a serious cognitive load that goes with it. Winning and losing, doing your best, I've been dealing with that since I was a kid. Trust me, it's how I know that something like this is going to be incredibly difficult."

"Difficult… how?"

"There are three different activities just today alone," Callie explained. "Have you ever heard the saying 'it's a marathon, not a sprint'?"

Nikita nodded.

"…Well, that's it, that's everything," Callie said, raising her eyebrow. "Look at the placing of the students in the Caretaking Course. They're all taking their time and pacing themselves. They're doing their best to remain in the top 100, but they're not wasting their mental energy trying to overcome the higher spots or get to first place. Because they recognize that it doesn't really matter who gets first. All that matters is being in front of the 101st person that crosses the finish line."

Alcea nodded to the screen. "Blake and the others are all expending their mental strength on this competition. But can they really keep up that cognitive load, is it? The possibility is certainly there, but when it comes to results… I can't say my confidence is that high, is it?"

Nikita shivered. She hadn't considered any of that.

Callie sighed. "But then again, this is Cynthia we're talking about here… that girl has a massive amount of emotional endurance."

"Oui," Alcea nodded. She didn't even know Cynthia all that well and she could tell that.

"Sango has it too," Elaina asserted. "That girl spent hours upon hours training with me, someone who would rightly terrify most other people. Someone like that… her emotional resolve must be quite massive indeed."

It hurt Elaina to acknowledge the reality of the situation like that, but she couldn't deny it.

"…Blake, on the other hand…"

Blake had expended a great deal of mental energy before the tournament had even begun, during the fight with his brother. On top of his pokemon being woefully underprepared for competing in a Pokeathlon Competition, there was the fact that he was dealing with the mental stress that came from his situation with Ayame as well.

And now he was struggling for first in a fight he didn't even need to win. It was a pointless exercise in futility, and even as the finish line drew nearer and nearer for them, it was clear to Nikita that this was completely fruitless.

You wouldn't notice that by looking at the determination etched into his face, however.

"Come on, Weiss!" He shouted over the sound of Weiss's fluttering wings. "Just a little more and we'll be able to win!"

The finish line was getting so large so fast it was a wonder he didn't plow right into it. Sango and Cynthia were right beside him, both trainers and the pokemon they were using desperate to cross first.

"Whoa!" Lila gasped.

"It's a three-way photo finish!" Darla let her mask slip for a second, completely amazed.

Leanne said nothing, staring carefully at the screen.

"So who made it across first?" Nikita asked, leaning in curiously. Of course, she already knew it didn't matter. But she couldn't help herself. She was just that interested. Besides, all that hard work deserved SOME sort of acknowledgment.

Nick and Sango dismounted their pokemon immediately, glaring at each other for a second. They were so lost in the heat of the moment they couldn't even consider the other party a friend at this point, they were fundamentally a rival first.

Both turned and ran to the pink-haired attendant for the next stage of the preliminaries.

"Who was it!?" They both shouted. "Who won?!"

Cynthia followed behind after them, just as curious. But she didn't make a huge deal about it. All three of them were eager to hear, though.

Carrie, the pink-haired part-timer who had somehow gotten roped into being one of the attendants for this little event, looked a little flummoxed. "W-Well… there was actually…"

She glanced to the side, drawing the attention of the trio, and the camera, to Sylvia, who was doing stretches.

"…Oh, hey!" She greeted them with a smile. "You guys finally made it, huh? Took you long enough to get here."

"Foul!" Sango exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Sylvia. "I call foul! There's no way you could have gotten here before us!"

Sylvia smirked. "Making outrageous claims like that is just rude," she said. "Don't blame others for the fact that your own pokemon came up short."

She paused.

"…No, wait, they're not your own pokemon, are they?" She snickered. "I almost forgot. You've been borrowing your pokemon from Elaina Bishop, isn't that right?"

Sango didn't respond to the taunt. She just glared at Sylvia.

"How did you get here, then?" Blake demanded, narrowing his eyes. "If it wasn't cheating, I mean. How did you do it?"

Sylvia smirked. "I don't see how that's any of your business," she replied, turning to the attendant. "Now then, I believe you said the course was almost ready for me?"

"Y-Yes!" Carrie nodded frantically. She just wanted this to end. Why did all the problems in her life have to result from this specific group of people? It wasn't fair!

"Yeah! Perfect!"

Before Sylvia could get going, though, Ayame pulled to a stop on the back of her Wooloo. She flashed a grin at Carrie. "I made it!"

Ayame had come in fifth. Which considering that she was pacing her mental strength and not focusing on winning like Blake, Sango, and Cynthia, and didn't (maybe) use cheats like Sylvia, it was a clear testament of how much skill she had at competing with her pokemon.

Carrie sighed. More people were starting to cross the finish line. Her job as an attendant was about to get way more hectic.

While she explained the rules to the students as they arrived, meanwhile, Lila and Darla were filling in the audience as well with the help of Leanne.

"As we said before," Darla explained, "when a student arrives at the beach, then they'll begin the next leg of the preliminaries."

"What does that mean, Darla?" Lila asked, feigning curiosity.

Darla was happy to explain. "What that means is they'll be choosing two pokemon to go with for this event, subbing the other one out. They'll need a pokemon for crossing water, and another pokemon to aim at the targets!"

"That's right," Leanne nodded. "The final score isn't determined by how fast you complete the obstacle course, though there IS still a time limit." She shook her head. "No, the important factor is how many targets the student and their pokemon are able to break!"

Darla and Lila both looked at each other and grinned. No one wanted to address the elephant in the room that was how Sylvia got to the finish line without anybody seeing her (the cameras would have picked up if her pokemon used a move) so they focused on the next event, instead.

As the person who got there first, Sylvia was free to go first as well.

"Runja!" She shouted, tossing her pokeball into the air and sending out her Jellicent. The squishy, buoyant pokemon landed in the water, bobbing up and down. Sylvia got on her head, using her as a ferry to get her through the obstacle course.

Then she sent out her next pokemon. "Magia!"

Sylvia's second pokemon, her target-breaker, was her Mismagius. A good move on her part, as moves were now on the table. And when it came to shooting down targets, there was no substitute for Magia's magical leaf.

Sylvia and Runja took off through the water, with Magia flying beside them. She was already glowing all the colors of the rainbow, preparing leaves to strike at the balloons and cut them to shreds. Ruthless and efficient and not at all like the Sylvia everyone had grown accustomed to.

"I'm surprised, she's doing really well," Lila mumbled, not addressing the blatant (possible) cheating in the slightest.

Darla nodded, looking a little wary herself. "Yeah, should be interesting."

"I don't get it!" Nikita scowled. "How did she get there so fast? I didn't see her pokemon at all in the race!"

"She must have cheated!" Callie asserted. It was a fairly serious accusation to come from a member of the Eight Leaders, especially aimed at another member. But Callie wasn't known for being a tactful person.

"You do not know that," Alcea said gently, even if she personally agreed with the other girl's assertion. "It could simply be that she had a method for getting there that fell in line with the rules of the tournament, is it?"

Even as she said that, Alcea doubted the voracity of her words. After all, the only way that would be possible would be if Sylvia had a pokemon capable of summoning portals with just a thought, and she certainly didn't have one of those.

A pokemon like that didn't even exist as far as Alcea was aware.

There was no cheating coming from Sylvia now, though. She brazenly sat on Runja's back with her head held high, allowing Magia to break through the targets as she passed. The moment she did, the targets replaced themselves, to allow the next student to get the chance to shoot them down.

And according the photo finish, the next student was Blake.

"I can't believe this," Sango seethed, glaring at her friend's back. She had been anticipating going next, damn it!

"Cory, Maria," Blake said, deciding on his two pokemon. He needed Cory to travel through the water, and when it came to attacking targets, he could trust that a Water type pokemon like Maria would be the best bet for not being distracted by the fact that they were riding on the back of the large lobster pokemon.

There was only one problem with his suggestion, and it made itself immediately clear.

"Marea!" Maria leapt onto Blake, digging her poisonous barbs into Blake's leg.

"Maria!" Blake exclaimed, trying to pry his leg free from the poison pokemon's painful puncturing. But Maria held onto him tightly, enjoying stabbing him more than a pokemon really should as far as their trainer was concerned.

Fortunately she managed to get off as soon as she got on, and Blake climbed onto Cory's back. He had a renewed sense of gratitude for Marion's help in raising Cory until the Corphish evolved into a Crawduant; he never would have been able to sit on Cory's back in his old form.

Speaking of Marion, the fishing enthusiast practically crashed through the finish line thanks to Clawz' propulsion. It was one of the issues with her strategy; she could get there face, but when it came to steering, it was a lot harder to do.

But she'd still made it.

Meanwhile, Blake had just gotten into the water. But because he had taken so long to prepare with Maria, Sango and Cynthia were all ready to go as well.

"Come out, James!" Cynthia sent out her Loudred, getting on the large pokemon's back. Like Blake, she planned on having her pokemon carry her to the other side.

And she'd even chosen another Water type pokemon to strike down at the targets with.

"Spheal!" Chris chirped. Cynthia got on James' back and the two were off, joined by Sango who had sent out her pokemon as well.

"Braviary!" Raiver squawked.

"Good choices you two!" Sango called as she got on the massive bird's back. "But you won't be able to outpace us!"

"It's not a race this time, Sango!" Blake called up from his Crawdaunt.

Sango smirked. "I know that! The point of this competition is precision!"

Elaina smiled. Now was the moment their training paid off.

"And no one's got better precision than this guy!" Sango declared, sending out the other pokemon she was using for the round.

"Decidueye," Mukuro said with a glare, appearing on the back of Raiver as the bird pokemon shifted suddenly to account for the weight.

"Excellent move on Sango's part," Alcea nodded in approval. "Decidueye have excellent marksmanship. It should be able to shoot down those targets easily."

"Don't worry," Elaina said confidently. "Mukuro will shoot them all down, just you watch."

Callie nodded in approval. Things were really starting to get intense now!

More trainers were arriving at the finish line and transitioning to their next batch of pokemon. And most of those trainers were in the Caretaker Course.

"It's going to be a bit difficult," Alcea judged. "In fact, I would say that this is the match where the non-caretakers have the greatest chance of victory.

"Because they're actually using their pokemon to attack, right?" Nikita guessed. It was a safe assumption for sure. After all, as pokemon trainers, they were quite used to their opponents aiming their attacks at each other. Shooting at a harmless floating target was nothing special.

"Okay! Let's do this!" Ayame shouted. "Rhox! I'm counting on you as always!" She sent out the strangest pokemon for this competition; a Golem. No one would have ever thought to use a Rock type in this contest.

But those who knew Ayame and her track record knew what her pokemon were capable of. That wasn't just any ordinary Golem; for the sake of being able to use his brute strength in the water, Rhox had learned how to withstand his weakness and guide his trainer to victory.

And that was just what Ayame was after now.

"Dana! It's on you, too!" She said, sending out her Eldegoss to use as her sniper. While the Grass type didn't have quite the same level of precision as Mukuro, it couldn't be denied that she was prepared. Ayame had judged her condition last night and everything.

Dana's Skill stat was the highest it had been in quite some time.

While Ayame clung onto Rhox's back, Dana floated beside her, summoning leaves the way Magia did and turning them onto the targets, cutting them all down.

Marion couldn't wait anymore. It was first come, first served, right? So she had more than enough time to enjoy things with her fish friends!

"Okay! We'll show them who the real queen of the water is!" Marion bragged, holding her fingers to her lips and letting out a high-pitched shriek of a whistle.

"Are you crazy?!" Carrie shouted, shielding her ears. "Why did you need to do that?! Why couldn't use jut toss out a Dive Ball like a normal peron would?!"

Marion shrugged. "I need my Dive Balls for when I want to bring my fish friends somewhere far away. But here on this island? It's their natural habitat!"

She was about to whistle again, only to prove she didn't need to. A shadow appeared in the water in front of her, and the pokemon that emerged from the shadow was one that anybody who knew Marion even a little bit would expect her to use.

"Mantine!" Mana chirped, staring up at her partner with big eyes.

"Okay, and what's your other pokemon?" Carrie asked as Marion got on the back of Mana like she always did.

Marion turned to look at Carrie, confused. "What do you mean? My other pokemon is right here. Show her, Mana!"

"Mantine!" Mana nodded, lifting her flipper to reveal a Remoraid attached to the underside.

"This is Rema!" Marion introduced the little Remoraid. "Mana's a generous girl, so she doesn't matter if he gets attached to her and siphons food. But anyway… enough about that! Let's focus on the match! Right, Mana?"

"Mantine!" Mana chirped, and they shot off through the water, fully embracing the fact that it was probably going to be one heck of a day!

So we all knew what pokemon Marion was going to ride on, right? Nobody was surprised? Well, there was ONE surprise about the tournament so far, and that surprise is how Sylvia made it to the finish line so fast, and without passing anyone. Could Alcea be right? Did she summon a portal or something like that? We'll have to see!