Our competitors are certainly giving it their all in the Pokeathlon preliminaries! Sango and Sylvia both got amazing scores of 49 points, and Marion wasn't too far behind them! But Ayame wowed everyone with her perfect score! It just goes to show the level of skill difference between a trainer Pokeathlete and a regular trainer who just focuses on battles! But the question remains, what will Blake and Cynthia's scores be? Will they be able to hit the last target? What about everyone else who's competing?

KedharS: That's right, and they're only going to get crazier!

Hyphenman: It definitely seems like those two are focusing more on competing with one another than they are on their focus and accuracy. We'll just have to see. Maybe Ayame will be the only perfect score in this round.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1294

The crowd watched with baited breath as the two attacks flew towards the targets…

…And were promptly deflected by the shields.

Cynthia clicked her tongue. Damn it! She thought as James swam past. So much for her hope of a perfect score.

"Oh, they were so close…" Nikita sighed in disappointment.

"Wait, what the hell?!" Callie exclaimed.

She wasn't the only one who was shocked.

"What's going on?!" Lila gasped.

"I-I have no idea," Darla stammered, just as confused.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Blake Harker… has just turned off the course!" Leanne announced, sounding just as stunned as everyone else.

"What's he doing, that fool?" Alcea demanded.

"Blake?!" Cynthia looked over her shoulder to see Blake had completely changed direction.

"He's… making another run at the target?" Sango gasped.

"That fool. He doesn't have time!" Ayame muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Oh, this is stellar!" Sylvia cackled.

"Come on, Cory! Maria! We're going to try one more time!" Blake shouted. As Cory swam for the target Cynthia passed the finish line, checking her time. She'd fallen just within the deadline. There was no way this was going to work, right?

"I don't get it!" Callie groaned, pulling at her hair. "He has 49 points! Why's he risking it all so he can get that last target?! It's crazy town!"

"Because he's that sort of person."

Elaina stared calmly at the screen, startling everyone with her unusual composure.

"Wh-What?" Nikita asked, flummoxed.

"Blake is the sort of man… where if he has resolved to do something, then he will," Elaina said, matter-of-factly. "He isn't the sort of person who would give up under such a scenario."

"But it doesn't even matter," Callie protested. "It's just recklessness, plain and simple!"

"Perhaps," Alcea agreed. "But then… perhaps he's trying to reach someone, is it?" She understood what Blake was going for now. This wasn't just about frustration at not getting all the targets. He was aiming for a perfect 50 points because that's what Ayame had gotten.

He must be trying to say "if you're capable of doing that, then I'm capable of reaching you myself", is it? Alcea wondered. But still, to try something so reckless…

"Blake doesn't give up so easily," Elaina agreed. "After all… he refused to give up on me," she added in a whisper.

"Yeah, but something this insane…" Callie understood the benefits of passion and drive, but this was pushing the limit. Blake was running the risk of sacrificing his chance at making it to the next round by going over time.

"It is honestly… terrifying." That was the only word Elaina could use to describe it. Even if she wasn't afraid of Blake, that unwavering drive of hers… it still scared her.

"You understand him quite well then, little miss."

Elaina flinched and whirled her head around, going pale as she saw who was sitting next to her.

"Ka-Kanone Harker?!"

The entire crowd reacted immediately with shock, seeing Kanone sitting in the seat. He had somehow managed to keep his presence hidden until now. But there he was, sitting next to Elaina, staring intently at the screen.

He didn't seem at all bothered by the murmurs around him, he kept his eyes fixed on his little brother.

"It makes sense that Blake would try something like this," Kanone said. "My little brother isn't a normal person."

"And you consider yourself one to talk, is it?" Alcea asked, raising her eyebrow.

Kanone didn't laugh. "I won't deny that my talent as a trainer is unordinary. But that just applies to my level of skill. What Blake has… it can't be quantified in terms of skill. It can't even be thought of as simple determination. My brother… is the kind of person who refuses to give up. That more than anything is what sets him apart from other people."

"That's bullshit," Callie scowled. "Lots of trainers I know have the guts and willpower to not give up! It's something anyone with the drive to win can achieve! Blake's not that special."

She realized how mean her words sounded, downplaying Blake like that. But at the same time, she firmly believed that she was correct. As strong as Blake might have been, there was no sense in downplaying the skills and determination of other people the way Kanone was.

But Kanone was unshaken by Callie's declaration. He didn't even look her way, he focused solely on his brother moving towards the target, ordering his Mareanie to take aim.

"What I'm talking about isn't simple determination," Kanone said, shaking his head. "For Blake… it's different. He's a different kind of person. There's something about him that's almost inhuman in his drive forward."

"What do you mean by that?" Nikita asked curiously.

"Let me ask you something." For the first time, Kanone turned away from the screen, staring directly into Nikita's amber eyes. "Has there ever been a point in your life where you ran up against a wall that you thought was impossible to overcome? Some obstacle, some problem, something so difficult that you knew that no matter what you did, you would never be able to overcome it?"

Elaina winced. Memories of her struggles flooded into her mind. She remembered all the times she'd given up on herself and accepted her fate, knowing there was nothing that could be done.

"Oui, of course I have," Alcea nodded. "Such a thing… it is simply natural, is it? No matter how skilled one is, there are things that simply cannot be done."

"That's right, that line of thinking is normal, even reasonable, for a person to have," Kanone agreed. "It's a good skill to learn. Accepting there are things you can't do is an important step of growing up and maturing."

He sighed.

"But Blake doesn't have that."

"What?" Callie gasped.

"What I'm saying is… when it comes down to it, Blake is not the sort of person who believes 'nothing can be done'," Kanone explained. "That's different from just stubbornly refusing to give up when the odds are stacked against you. For example, a normal trainer, when faced with an opponent who simply overwhelms them in strength, will probably say to themselves 'well, there's no helping it. There's no way I could have won'. Blake won't rationalize that way. Whatever challenge he faces, he goes in with his head held high, refusing to accept that there's no chance of success."

"But wait, I've seen Blake give up before," Callie said.

"Oui, he seemed resigned to marrying me," Alcea agreed.

"That's because he's not consciously aware of this side of him," Kanone said. "He's only human, after all, even if he is a monster of one. He has doubts in himself like anyone else does, and isn't always sure if what he wants is really correct or not. So he hesitates. But once he's set his mind to something, once he's decided that he's going to do something, there's no way to discourage that guy that what he's after is impossible."

Elaina nodded, her mouth falling open and her eyes widening in understanding. Of everyone here, she recognized that trait in him the most. "No matter how much I pushed him… no matter how hard I tried to drive him away… he never gave up," she whispered. "I couldn't believe someone could be that stubborn. Even after I hurt him, struck him with everything I had…"

"He wanted to help you," Kanone nodded. "From the minute he made that decision, he gave up on the possibility of 'there's nothing I could do'. He kept trying, doing everything he could think of to succeed, because the possibility of failure didn't exist. He knew there had to be some way to reach you, and he refused to stop until he found it. And it's the same thing we're seeing here."

Kanone turned back to the screen, face as serene as a painting.

"Even if he should lose here, that wouldn't stop him. He wants to reach that girl… Ayame Toujou. So trying to discourage him with something like 'there's not enough time' or 'you'll still miss it on the second attempt, so why bother' is pointless. He'll try no matter what, because he doesn't believe it's impossible to bring back her memories. He's simply that sort of man."

Alcea stared in amazement at Kanone. He was actually shaking.

…If I were in Blake's position… challenged as he was, to defeat Kanone's Samurott with just the pokemon he had… could I have done so? She wondered. Her heart wanted to say yes, but she hesitated. Seeing how much strength Sammy had, the way she had brutally taken down so many of Blake's pokemon while shrugging off everything they'd done to her, evoked a primal response in her heart that made her uneasy.

I think… even I would hesitate and doubt myself in that situation, is it? She was forced to accept. But Blake… he fought without hesitation, because he refused to accept that, even against a trainer of his brother's caliber, there was something he could do to emerge victorious, is it? And in the end, he succeeded…

She recalled that first night when she'd challenged Blake with her Venusaur. That fierce look in his eye, refusing to back down or be intimidated, had intrigued her.

Even as far back as back then… he didn't believe it was impossible for him to win. He fought with everything he had, and even though he lost… he kept fighting.

Alcea was a stronger trainer than Blake. 9 out of 10 times, 99 out of 100 times, she would be the one to emerge victorious.

But what Kanone described was something far more frightening than simple battling skill.

"Hearing you say that… it sounds crazy," Callie admitted. "But… I can't deny it, either. Blake, he's… he's really amazing."

"I don't know for sure what happened to him before my family took him in," Kanone said quietly. "But that refusal to accept a no-win scenario… no, the rejection of reality itself… that trait was already present, even back then. It's that unbelievable tenacity that shook me to my soul. He was just a child, and yet…"

"No way!" Lila exclaimed.

"He did it!" Darla gasped. "He broke the target!"

"But it's not over yet," Leanne reminded the girls. "He still has to cross the finish line before he runs out of time!"

"Nice work, Maria!" Blake shouted as Cory picked up speed. The line was right ahead of them. Could they make it?! He had no idea how much time he had left. Somehow, in spite of the long conversation between Kanone and the others, he hadn't run out of time.

"Everyone has those walls," Kanone continued. "They have that tendency to acknowledge their own shortcomings and recognize that they can't succeed at something. And when that happens, two paths appear in front of them. They can give up because they can't envision themselves succeeding, or they can train to get better."

No one was listening to him anymore. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Cynthia's hands were clasped tightly in prayer.

Sango was praying too. She wanted to beat Blake, but not like this. She still wanted to compete with him.

Ayame, on the other hand, had no idea what to think. It was like the world had frozen around her. Blake refused to give up. He kept pressing through. He'd tied her score, even though he and his pokemon hadn't gotten any practice in. They'd been so focused on battling Kanone that they hadn't given consideration for the Pokeathlon at all.

So why did she feel a shiver of fear? Why, for just a second, did she doubt that she'd be able to defeat Blake?

Why did she feel overjoyed when she saw Cory finally cross that line?

"But Blake isn't like that," Kanone finished. "He doesn't accept that there's some wall he can't overcome. If he loses, then he'll get back up and try again without hesitation. And he'll keep trying, until he can succeed. So the thought of that first option, of giving up and accepting that he can't succeed, is no option at all."

Cory had been swimming so fast that he was practically a blur. When he crossed the finish line, he was going too quickly to slow down, and ended up slamming into the shore. The sudden stop threw Blake off his balance, and he went careening through the sky.

Ayame had gotten so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't see him until he crashed into her.

"What happened?!" Sango shouted. She didn't even care that Blake had just collided with another contestant. She'd been too focused on the time.

"Are you guys okay?!" Cynthia exclaimed, running over to the two of them. Blake had Ayame pinned down in the sand. They were staring into each other's eyes, at a loss for words.

"G-Get off me!" Ayame shouted, kicking Blake in the stomach to push him off her, scrambling back through the sand. "What were you thinking?! Doing something that reckless! Do you have any sense at all?!" She demanded.

"Sorry…" Blake panted, rising to his feet. Cory and Maria rushed over to him. Sango sighed in relief when she saw he could stand under his own strength he was okay. "I just… I needed to… get that last point, that's all."

"Then you're a fool!" Ayame spat. Her eyes were filling with tears and she didn't know why. But she felt overwhelmed with emotion at the thought of what had just occurred. "You could have gotten seriously injured! You might have died! Are you fucking insane?!"

Blake winced, unable to withstand Ayame's harsh words. Sango and Cynthia sighed and glanced at each other.

Marion cleared her throat.

"So, uh… do you guys not want to know what time he got?" She just wanted this over with. Then she could get back to fishing.

Everyone turned to her, surprised. In the heat of the moment and Blake's crash, the notion of time had completely slipped their minds.

Sylvia leaned back in her chair, drinking a bottle of water she'd got from the canteen. Her nonchalance was because she'd followed the events perfectly.

Lila, Darla, and Leanne were all discussing.

"…Upon deliberation, reviewing the footage," Leanne cleared her throat to announce the results. But she needn't have bothered. Darla's smirk and the way Lila's face was glowing with excitement was answer enough.

"Coming in at just .37 seconds within the limit, Blake Harker's score of 50 points out of 50 is considered valid," Leanne declared.

The stands went wild.

"Yes! Yahoo! I knew he could do it!" Callie cheered, lying seamlessly as if she hadn't just been doubting the possibility of such an event occurring.

"That shaved a few years off my life," Nikita nodded, sinking back into her seat.

Elaina smiled, overjoyed that Blake had managed to skate by just in time.

Alcea was the most composed of them, keeping a small smile on her face, but it was clear that even she was proud.

"Not bad at all," Raizer cackled, punching his fist into his palm. "Damn, that kid's got me crackling with energy! I want to fight him myself!"

He'd been listening in on Kanone's conversation the entire time. A battle with a trainer who refused to accept that victory was impossible sounded right up his alley.

But if the stands were going wild, it was the response of the other competitors in the waiting box that were the most surprising.

Blake was still kind of shocked. He'd fought hard, refusing to just give up and live with 49 points. Even if that had been enough to place, he knew that he couldn't live with it. He needed to win. He had to at least get as good of a score as Ayame, to show he was serious about this.

So he had. It had taken him another go at the target that had nearly cost him the entire thing, but he'd managed to succeed.

He felt completely drained. That last moment had taken all of his mental stamina, and he still had one more leg of the preliminaries to complete. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he'd be able to manage it in his present condition.

Then to everyone's shock, Ayame leapt forward and pulled him into a tight hug.

"You did it!" She cheered. "I can't fucking believe it, you actually managed to get in! Way to go!" She actually managed to lift him in the air for a second before setting him down.

Blake stared at her in shock.

Sango stared at her in shock.

Cynthia stared at her in shock.

Marion stared at the ocean, scratching the rash on her arm as she went through fishing withdrawal.

When Ayame let him go, it took a second to process what had happened.

"B-Back off!" She shouted, pushing him into the sand. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What am I doing?" Blake couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're the one who hugged me, though!"

Ayame stared at him, her face growing redder as she pieced together the sequence of events. She hadn't even been thinking. It had felt completely natural for her to hug Blake like that, and her body had simply done so.

"Sh-Shut up!" She screeched. "Shut the fuck up! You… you don't know nothing! 'Bout anything!" Her face was as red as a Cheri Berry.

Kanone smiled, looking down at his brother as Ayame gave him a hard time down the beach.

Even Balke… will have times when he gives up. That monstrous willpower of his… he can still doubt himself at times. And when that happens… it would be best if he had someone at his side. Someone who can lift him up when he needs it, and help him remember who he is, and what he's capable of.

Kanone leaned back in his chair and stared up at the sky.

Blake and I… we're different. I gave up on helping Samarra. I thought there was nothing I could do other than lock her away. But perhaps… perhaps if it had been you, instead of me, little brother, things could have been different. Maybe you could have reached her, like you reached Gwen.

He lowered his head sadly. Unfortunately, as nice as that sounded, it was too late for that now.

We'll have to make do with what we can.

Well, that was certainly something! Blake fought like mad to get that last point, and even jeopardized the entire preliminaries! But he managed to get a perfect score, even if he had to make another pass. He's lucky Cory's so fast, and that Maria managed to hit the target this time! Now, we just have to see how everyone else did. Hopefully everyone we know will be able to pass this part of the competition as well, although I doubt they'll do as good as Blake and Ayame.