We've given our competitors the opportunity to take a little break, but now it's time to get to the action! The main Pokeathlon Competition is beginning! Let's get everyone ready to go, and see what these events are going to entail! Don't forget, there will be a lot of matches today, since the students will be going through four different courses!

KedharS: The craziness is going to be crazy, that's for sure. But who knows there might be a little bit more coolness in this chapter.

Arbiter8991: Who knows?

Hyphenman: She's not really working "with" the Phantom as much as other people are, she's more of an independent contractor. Still willing to win for money though, like any good athlete with a sponsorship would.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1309

When Will woke up the next morning, he was actually relieved that he'd been eliminated from the Pokeathlon Competition.

The reason for that was simple- he was even more sore than he'd been last night! His body ached all over and every time he moved it felt like his limbs were going to fall off. He wouldn't even have gotten out of bed to watch the main competition if not for the fact that someone had come to get him.

"Misato? What are you doing here?" He groaned, looking up at the Mechadoll that acted the role of his "girlfriend".

"I have come here to escort you to the stadium," Misato responded. "I determined that watching a sporting event together is an adequate example of a date, and one that we have not had the opportunity to experience."

Will stared at her, resisting the urge to sigh. Just listening to her suggestion made his entire body start to ache again.

"Come on, do we have to?" He complained.

"Negative. Attendance is not mandatory," Misato answered. Will couldn't be sure, but for a second it looked like she was disappointed. But he was probably reading too much into it.

"However, I would still prefer it if you were to come."

He sighed. Somehow Misato could make the stilted, robotic words coming out of her mouth sound like they were dripping with emotion, it really didn't make sense. I must be going crazy, that's the only explanation for this, he thought, slowly getting out of bed. His sore muscles made doing so a laborious task.

Misato stared at him as he started to get changed. He had almost removed his pants when he realized that she was still in the room.

"G-Get out!" Will exclaimed, covering himself. "Can't you even let me change in private?!"

"There is nothing to be concerned with," Misato replied. "I am a Mechadoll. It is not as if you are changing in front of a real woman."

Will stared at her incredulously. "So NOW you're playing the 'I'm not a real girl so you don't need to be considerate of me' card?" Where was that when she practically ordered him to buy a welcome back present for her?

"Affirmative," Misato replied.

"Leave."

"Affirmative." Once again, for a second, she looked disappointed. But Will ignored that because he was too focused on the embarrassing situation. It took him longer than he expected to get changed because every movement hurt, but he managed it. Finally, he let Misato back inside.

"Okay, we can go," he winced, grabbing his backpack.

"Are you all right?" Misato asked.

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm fine, I- ow!" Even turning back to her hurt.

"Negative. The amount of time it took for you to get changed exceeded the statistical average of your changing time by 5 minutes 34 seconds. Furthermore you are displaying signs of muscle fatigue and physical stress. The only conclusion that can be drawn with any amount of reasonable certainty is that you have received physical strain from your activities yesterday and your body has not fully recovered," Misato stated.

Will took a second to process that.

"How do you know how long it takes for me to get changed!?" He exclaimed.

"My records are thorough," was the only answer Misato had to give him. It didn't exactly comfort him very much.

"Well, stop!"

"It is not advisable for any data to be deleted from this unit, so I am incapable of complying with your request."

Will stared at her, and she stared back. And since only one of them was a machine, it was obvious who was going to come out the victor of this little impromptu staring contest.

Will sighed and hung his head. "Whatever, fine, you're right. I'm still feeling really sore from yesterday, that's why I didn't want to go watch the matches with you in the first place, are you happy now?"

"Happiness is an emotion. It would be more appropriate to say that I am satisfied with the thoroughness of your response."

"Well gee," Will said, rolling his eyes, "people must tell YOU that all the time."

"Negative," she replied. "It does not occur with any degree of frequency."

"I can't imagine why…"

"Would you like my assistance?" Misato asked. Will stared at her in surprise.

"Your… assistance?" He clarified, not sure what she was asking him.

"Affirmative. I am capable of alleviating your physical fatigue if that is what you would prefer," Misato clarified.

"That… that would be… what, are you just going to give me a massage or something?" Will asked, not sure what she was implying.

"Negative. An electrical impulse to the point where your spine connects to your brainstem would be an adequate stimulant to overwrite the damage to your muscles and stimulate your recovery," Misato replied.

"Uh…" Will stared at her in shock as he tried to piece together what she was offering. "So, wait, you're going to… what? Shock me with electricity?!"

"Affirmative. It will alleviate your physical discomfort," Misato confirmed. She held up her hand and Will could swear he saw electricity crackling between her fingers.

"Um… no, I don't think I want that…" Will said, shaking his head. He winced. Even shaking his head hurt now.

"Understood. However I will assure you that the process, while not painless, will conclude within a period of three seconds. If you are concerned about any lasting impacts, there is no cause to be alarmed because the current will mitigate any damage done to your muscle or brain tissue." Misato's words sounded like they were comforting, but Will didn't feel the same way.

Still, he wasn't exactly looking forward to walking all the way to the stadium on sore knees.

"Fine," he sighed, relenting to her request. "Just do what you gotta do…"

He realized he was putting a lot of trust in Misato; more than he really should have, if he was being honest. But at the same time, he knew that if there was someone he could trust to precisely treat his wounds, it was a Mechadoll like her.

After all, Misato didn't lie.

"Turn around," Misato ordered. Will did so, exposing his collar to her.

She reached up and began to massage his neck. It actually felt pretty good at first, feeling her fingers caress his skin. He was reminded again just how much care and effort must have gone into creating a Mechadoll like Misato; her hands felt the same as anyone else's.

And then she released a jolt of electricity through his body, something nobody else would have been able to do.

"YOW! Ouch!" Will jumped into the air, feeling the skin on the back of his neck burning. Pain blossomed out through his body for a few seconds as the world turned black for a few moments. Then feeling below his head returned, and he realized he felt completely fine. His muscle aches were gone, along with the pain from the electrocution.

"Hey, what… whoa!" Will couldn't believe how good he felt. "Misato, you're amazing! I feel totally fine! No pain at all!"

"I am appreciative of your gratitude," Misato replied. "You are very welcome."

Staring at her expressionless face, Will wished she would smile. But there was nothing he could do about that.

"Okay then, should we go?" He picked his backpack back up, a much easier thing now that bending over didn't make him feel like his spine would snap in two.

"Affirmative," Misato agreed. "But before we proceed it is imperative that I provide you with something." She set down her own backpack with the fluidity of a well-oiled machine and took something out, a hardbound book. She presented it to him.

"Uh… what's this?" Will asked, taking the book from her and glancing at it. "Don Quixote? Why are you giving me this?"

"It is recompense," Misato replied. "As repayment for the flash drive you gave me as a welcome home present, I found it necessary to… negative. Insufficient. Substituting… I wanted to give you a present in return."

Will was surprised that she'd corrected herself. He had no idea what subroutine was involved with that. Why wouldn't she just choose the correct words in the first place? Could she have been playing along with her role as his "girlfriend" by correcting herself? That was the only way he could make sense of what just happened.

What he couldn't make sense of was why she'd given him a book in the first place. "Hey, you didn't have to do this," he said, giving her the book back. "I didn't give you that present expecting anything in return for it."

I gave it to you because you practically made me…

"Negative. It was a necessary gesture," Misato stated. "I received a gift from you. Therefore common courtesy dictates that I must give you something in return."

"…Okay, but then by that reasoning, wouldn't I have to then give YOU something back?" Will sighed. "If we just trade present for present then it'll never end. Your computer brain has to be able to tell you that, right? We'd just give presents to each other forever."

Misato stared at him, refusing to take the book back. "Your terms are acceptable."

"Very funny." He pushed the book towards her again, but to his surprise, she pushed it back at him. He stared at her, confused.

"Misato…"

"I would like for you to have it." Her voice sounded as emotionless as ever, but part of it sounded sincere. "It is my favorite."

THAT caused Will to drop the book completely.

"Your… your what?"

"My favorite book," she repeated. "Don Quixote."

"Is… is that even possible? I mean, you're a Mechadoll, right? So I totally get it if you have a book that is 'most preferable' because of the way that the words are sequenced, but… favorite? Really?" To Will, that sounded a lot like she was expressing an emotion.

"Yes," Misato said firmly. "Favorite."

Well, when she put it like that, Will would feel like kind of a jerk if he turned her down. So he picked the book back up and slid it into his backpack, and then they headed off to the stadium together to watch the main competition.

The stands were even more packed with excited students. Nikita was lucky that she could get such a good seat. There was a reason for that, though, one she felt a little giddy about. Like yesterday, she'd be watching the match with Alcea and Callie. Evidently, as members of the Eight Leaders, they had a bit of authority when it came to reserving spots, and so seats for her and her friends were reserved.

There were a few more people this time. Julia and Kitty had both been knocked out of the tournament, and so they joined her with Elaina. That made four, and another surprising factor was that Akira was sitting with them as well.

Kitty had taken her loss fairly well. Akira and Julia clearly had not.

"I can't believe you knocked me out of the tournament," Julia muttered. "You could have targeted Reiner or Nick, but you had to pick me?"

"I'm sorry…" Kitty was positively down in the dumps, the poor thing. "I just wanted to have fun, and you were right there, so I just… I'm sorry…"

Julia sighed. Her little friend looked like she was about to cry. She patted the white-haired girl on the shoulder.

"It's fine," she said. "You're not the one I'm upset with. I'm upset that Reiner and Nick get to move onto the main tournament, but I don't."

It was a sting to her pride; the last time this had happened was the Fall Festival Tournament. Reiner and Nick had both gotten into the top 16, but Elaina had knocked Julia out of the competition before she had reached that point.

The thought of her elimination still burned Julia. But since getting mad at Elaina seemed unreasonable (and also not a very smart idea, given what she was capable of) her ire was aimed at the two boys instead.

Callie wasn't having any of it, though. "Get over yourself!" She sniffed. "So you lost! Big deal! Don't blame your friends! Nick and Reiner did the best they could, too! It's not their fault that Kitty knocked you out!"

Kitty winced, her white skin turning even paler.

"O-Oh, I didn't mean to suggest it was YOUR fault, Kitty!" Callie gasped. "It's just, well… you know how these things happen…"

Kitty nodded glumly. Julia sighed.

"Whatever. Fine. It's not their fault," she grumbled. "But don't expect me to root for them, either. Not happening."

Callie put her hands on her hips. "Oh, yes you are! You better be cheering for Nick at the top of your lungs, missy!"

Julia scowled. "Fine. But when it's Reiner's turn, I'm going to be cheering for Cynthia."

Callie nodded. "I'm fine with that, so will I."

"Me too," Nikita nodded in agreement.

Everyone stared at her in shock. She snickered playfully.

"I'm not rooting for anybody," Akira said darkly, glaring at the center of the stadium. Instead of a battlefield, several different activities had been set up for the trainers to compete on. "More specifically… I'm rooting against someone."

Dakota sneezed in her dressing room. Someone was talking about her.

"That bitch thinks it's funny to knock me out of the tournament like that?!" Akira growled, radiating the energy of a vengeful spirit. "She deserves to taste dirt!"

"Sounds good!" Callie said, flashing him a thumbs up. "Welcome to the 'root for Nick' party, Akira! With our support he'll take Dakota down but good!"

Today's portion of the main competition would be split up into four brackets over the course of the day. Block A would go first, in the morning, and finish all their events, and when they were finished, Block B would go next. Then they would break for lunch, and Block C would go after that, and then Block D would go last.

"Blake has it pretty good this time, is it?" Alcea mused. "All of Block D is fortunate. After all, they have the longest amount of break time between yesterday and their matches today."

"Yeah, you're right!" Callie gasped. "Not fair! That's not fair! Nick's in Block C! He should be going last instead!"

"I really don't think it matters that much…" Julia sighed, shaking her head.

Before anyone could talk further, the day began! The screen flickered on and a boom rang out over the loudspeaker.

Lila and Darla took the center of the field, while Leanne waited behind in the announcer's box. Unlike the idol duo, she had no interest in making herself the center of attention.

Fortunately, Lila and Darla had enough energy to account for that, and then some.

"Good morning, everyone!" Lila greeted the crowd with a wave, acting as if they had come here to see her, and not the competition.

"Good morning to you all!" Darla agreed, waving as well. "What a brilliant day to continue with our Pokeathlon Competition, wouldn't you agree, Lila?"

"I absolutely would, Darla!" Lila chirped. "I for one can't wait to see all the exciting events we have in store! Just take a look!"

She gestured around the wide-open expanse in front of the bleachers.

"Our first course today will be the Speed Course," Darla announced. "We have three activities set up on our field!"

"Oh? What activities are those, Darla?" Lila asked, feigning curiosity.

"The first activity is the Relay Run," Darla explained, gesturing to a large track covered in obstacles. Students and their pokemon had been up all night assembling it. "Here's how it works! Each trainer will choose one of their fastest pokemon to run laps around the track! For each lap both trainer and pokemon manage to complete, their team will earn one point!"

"Wait, the trainers run WITH the pokemon?!" Lila gasped. "But isn't that dangerous?!"

"Not at all!" Darla laughed. "You see, there's an inner track, built for the trainers to run." She gestured towards a thinner section of the track, inside the center. "You see, a Pokeathlon isn't just about raising the best pokemon, it's also about working out together with your pokemon! If your pokemon can compete the race but you can't, well, that just won't do!"

Alcea winced. Kate would have some difficulty with this.

"But that's just the beginning!" Darla continued. "You see, there's a reason this event is called the 'Relay Run'. That's because the trainers won't just be relying on one of their pokemon! At any point in the relay, if it looks like their pokemon can use a break, they can switch it out for another member of their team! This race is completed as a group, after all!"

"Oh, that's so fortunate!" Lila gushed, nodding emphatically. "Now nice!"

"It's also good strategy," Darla nodded. "Trainers don't want to exhaust their pokemon too early! After all, we have two more events following this one! And the next is the Hurdle Dash!"

Darla shifted the camera's focus away from the large circular race track to a long strip of clay. Large hurdles were set up at multiple intervals along the track.

"The Hurdle Dash is pretty self-explanatory," Darla said. "Trainer and pokemon will run together, taking the hurdles as a team. It's very important to synchronize well with your pokemon, since you'll be jumping together! And, like the Relay Run, it's important to know when to switch out your pokemon so they don't get tired!"

"But the trainers don't get to switch out? Yikes," Lila winced. This much exercise sounded like torture.

"And finally, the last event! The Pennant Capture!" Darla declared, turning the focus to the final area of the field, which was a large sandbox. Obstacles and parasols were set up through the sandbox, and tiny red flags jutted out of the sand.

"Ooh! That looks like fun!" Lila gushed.

"You bet it is!" Darla grinned, nodding in agreement. "For the Pennant Capture, trainers will choose one of their pokemon to enter the area with and gather as many flags as possible before coming back! You don't want your pokemon to get tired and drop all their flags. So when they return to the line, their flags are deposited, and a new pokemon is chosen!"

"But what happens when they run out of flags?" Lila asked, counting them up. "There's a bunch, but what if they all get taken?"

"That's fine," Darla assured her with a wave of her hand. "The flags get replaced after a few seconds. The goal of this event is just to get as many flags as possible within the time allotted, even if you've gotta take 'em from someone else!"

"Oh! But that's so mean!" Lila gasped, scandalized at the suggestion.

"You bet it is, Lila!" Darla nodded, grinning darkly. "These games are mean, tough, and brutal! Only the best Pokeathletes will be able to emerge the victors! Now… let's meet our competitors for the Speed Course, and see what pokemon they've selected!"

Well, we know who's going to be on the Speed Course. Block A, Ayame, Ange, Daryl, and Kate. But what pokemon will they use? And how will the events go? Ayame seems like she has this in the bag due to her general advantage, but Ange's pretty tough, too! And Kate's gone through some super-intense training! And Daryl… is there…