Now that we've gotten a look at what the events for the Speed Course entail, it's time to see our trainers in action! Block A means Ayame, Ange, Daryl, and Kate! Who will be the winner? What pokemon will they use? And will any of the others be able to match Ayame in terms of speed and physicality? Her pokemon were raised to be in top condition, after all! It might be the case that the others can't even give her a good run for her money!
KedharS: Yeah, it should be pretty fun.
Hyphenman: She probably did some more intense training off-screen than just running around in the sewer. And yes, that being Misato's book says quite a lot more about her developing "personality" than most of her speeches.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1310
Lila and Darla stepped back, and gestured to the waiting room. Unlike other stadiums on campus, Sky Stadium didn't have a dedicated building structure or a backstage; it was, essentially, a large set of bleachers surrounding an amphitheater where trainers fought. Because of this, trainers did their preparation work in a building off to the side of the stands. A long path led through the center of the bleachers, where trainers and their pokemon could walk through to be presented, almost like a walk of glory.
"Presenting our first competitor!" Lila announced. "Ayame Toujou!"
Ayame walked through the overhang with her head held high. The three pokemon she'd chosen for the competition followed behind her. Her Wooloo, Foof, her Eldegoss, Dana, and her Voltorb, Roll. A very fast team of pokemon.
"Ayame has brought her Wooloo, Eldegoss, and Voltorb for this match!" Darla declared. "A trio of pokemon that she likely relied on her expertise to judge most suited for the Speed Course! I can't wait to see what she'll do with them!"
Ayame grinned and took her first slot in the red bracket.
"Up next, a girl we don't see around here very much!" Darla continued. "Evangeline Moonshadow! Or, as she likes to be called, Ange!"
"I wonder why she doesn't take part in school activities very much?" Lila mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Why do you think, Darla?"
Ange walked out with a glare on her face, and three pokemon following behind her. Among the most menacing was her Zoroark, Luci. The massive ghostly pokemon towered over her small frame, and radiated an ominous red aura. She was flanked by her Persian, Mami, and her Lopunny, Asmo. Altogether, trainer and pokemon made for an intimidating group.
"…I think that's not any of our business," Darla decided. "As we can see, Ange has brought three pokemon with her! A Persian, a Lopunny, and what looks like a Zoroark, but not any Zoroark I'VE ever seen before!"
Frankly response to Ange's Zoroark should have elicited a similar response to seeing Zera, or the Hoopa Sylvia relied on. But it didn't. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves while that frightening figure stalked in front of them.
Ange walked up and took her space on the blue line, glancing sideways at Ayame and glaring at her. Ayame didn't glare back, but she didn't back down, either, staring coolly at her opponent.
"Following, our third participant!" Lila chirped. "He is… um… he's… uh…"
She checked her notes, confused. "Wait, this guy's in the tournament? Freaky. I completely forgot about him."
"You bet he is, Lila!" Darla said, resisting the urge to laugh. That would be a little too mean to the poor guy. "Presenting our third member of A Block, Daryl Thorne!"
Daryl walked out onto the field, keeping his head down. Three of his pokemon followed behind him. A Braviary named Falco took care not to fly, instead walking proudly like the bold bird that he was. Beside him slithered his Accelgor, Ezio, silent and watchful and taking care not to show off his speed too early. The final member of Daryl's team was his "trustworthy" Sableye, Amethyst, who suppressed a cackle as he walked through the grass. Daryl didn't say a word, he just silently walked over to the green section of the field.
"Daryl's got a team of pokemon that look pretty fast," Lila said. "What do you think, Darla?" She turned to her partner, who shrugged her shoulders.
"He should definitely be able to accomplish a lot, that's what I think," Darla agreed. "The question is whether or not he'll be able to compete with the other girls in Block A! Because we've got one more right here! Presenting, last but not least, Kate Nomia!"
Kate slogged out onto the battlefield with a grim expression on her face. She didn't receive much applause, but she didn't let it bother her. She was followed by Crow, her Croagunk, Puu, her Stunky, and most impressively of all, her massive golden Arbok, Ari. The hulking serpent hissed and raised her head, crimson eyes washing over the field. She made contact with Luci, Ange's Zoroark, and the two pokemon snarled at each other.
"Well, would you look at that, Lila!" Darla chortled. "It looks like we've got some sparks flying already! Things are already looking mighty tense between our competitors, I bet that means we're going to have a really exciting match! Don't you think?"
She turned to look at Lila, who was making an effort to smile. Yesterday she'd come off as too critical and judgmental of Poison type pokemon, and even though that was part of her character (and a fundamental part of who she was) she didn't want to come off that way again.
So even if it made her feel queasy, she kept her personal bias in check and just nodded robotically along with whatever Darla said.
"You bet," she grinned through clenched teeth. "Really exciting…"
Kate sighed and took her place at the end of the line, in the yellow corner.
"Now then, our competitors will attempt these three events, to test their pokemon for their speed!" Lila announced. She and Darla took a bow and exited the stage, moving over to the announcer's box. "That's exciting, don't you agree, Darla?"
"You said it, Lila!" Darla nodded in agreement. "I'm particularly excited for the first competition, the Relay Run! Leanne, why don't you tell the audience how we'll be grading our Pokeathletes for this competition?"
"I'd be happy to, girls!" Leanne smiled, leaning in to the microphone. "The Relay Run is very simple, as far as Pokeathlon Events go. As you explained earlier, the number of points given will depend on how many laps the trainer and their pokemon are able to complete! Remember, it doesn't count as a lap unless both trainer and pokemon cross the finish line!"
Lila tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Points? Can you go into a little bit more detail about that?" She asked.
"I'd be happy to!" Leanne nodded. "You see, even though every pokemon at a Pokeathlon tries their best, there can only be one winning team. And that winning team is determined by which group of pokemon manages to accrue the most points over the course of three events!"
"Wow, so even if you don't win any of the events, as long as you get a high enough score in all three of them, you still have a chance of winning?" Darla clarified.
Leanne nodded again. "Exactly!" She said. "To start with, let's look at the Relay Run! For every lap completed within the time limit, the team gets 10 points. But even if the team doesn't finish a lap by the time the timer runs out, they'll still get points for the amount of distance they managed to go," Leanne explained.
"Can you go into a little more detail about that?" Lila asked, scratching her head. "I'm not too sure I get it…"
"Certainly!" Leanne agreed. "Let's say that you and your pokemon have already completed 10 laps. That's 100 points right there. But before you can finish the 11th lap, time is called. When that happens, our high-tech computer software will determine what percentage of the lap you were able to complete, and add that to your point total. So if you only complete 10 and a half laps, you would get 105 points! Make sense?"
"I think so," Lila nodded. "But how do they determine how much you've completed? What if your pokemon is, like, really far ahead, but you're only at the halfway point?"
"Then it will depend on who is further back," Leanne said matter-of-factly. "It might not seem fair that a slow trainer is penalized for not being as fast as their pokemon, but remember, this is a team activity! It's important to coordinate with your team and make sure you're right there with them so you can swap out your pokemon before things get too serious."
"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense," Darla agreed. "So we shouldn't see too many scenarios where a trainer sends their pokemon way far ahead of them. And even if we do, like Leanne said, it's a team event. Which means that the team will be graded on the performance of their lowest-ranking member, even if that person happens to be the trainer!"
Ayame didn't say anything because it wasn't her place, but the situation was a lot more complicated than that. For one thing, unlike the pokemon, who could rest in their pokeballs, the trainers had to make every lap for themselves.
"So how much time will there be?" Lila asked curiously.
"The clock for the Relay Run is a half-hour," Leanne said.
Lila gasped. "Running for a whole half-hour?! For real?!"
That sounded like torture.
Kate looked like she was going to be sick. Of course, that was completely normal for her, but it merited pointing out because she actually had a reason for being nauseous this time. She loathed physical exertion, which probably wouldn't play well in a situation like this. Ayame was fine, in contrast, because she loved to run; a half-hour was nothing for her. Daryl seemed to be a little wary himself, but he was willing to give it a try.
Ange's face was completely unreadable. If she had a problem with the arrangement, it was impossible to tell.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" Darla shouted. She could tell that the audience was getting antsy, and wanted to get to the action already.
"Forget Block A!" Callie cupped her hands in front of her mouth and shouted. "Get to Block C already, you jerkoffs!"
And some people wanted to skip the action entirely.
Darla ignored them all. It was time for the match to begin!
Each trainer got their own line on the track to run on beside their pokemon. Ayame, in the red team, was closest to the inside. But it didn't matter as far as the pokemon went. Because they would have to dodge obstacles, there was no sense in staying in the lines like a traditional race. The track wasn't even split up in that way.
Darla raised the starting pistol, but Lila snatched it from her.
"Ooh, let me! Let me! I want to do it!" She begged.
"No, Lila, I get to do it!" Darla protested.
"Ladies."
Leanne cleared her throat, and the idols turned to her. The professor did not look amused.
"Yes professor?" They both asked innocently.
"We have a sound system to play the sound of a starting pistol," the blue-haired teacher reminded her co-announcers. "Why did you bring a starting pistol here?"
Both girls looked away awkwardly. Neither could readily admit they just wanted to experience the thrill of firing a gun.
Leanne sighed. She opened her tablet and pressed a button. The sound of gunfire rang out through Sky Stadium.
"Begin!" She declared, and the pokemon were off.
"Whoa! Look at Ayame move!" Callie gasped in surprise. She knew, of course, that the track and field star was, well, a track and field star, but knowing wasn't always the same as seeing. Ayame took off like a bullet, moving without wasted motion as she tore across the track. And because their trainer was so fast, her pokemon didn't need to worry, either. Foof rushed alongside her, taking a quick start.
But Ayame wasn't who surprised everyone.
"Look at that Ange girl!" Nikita gasped. "It looks like she's… no way!"
"Is she really keeping up with Ayame Toujou?" Julia asked, surprised.
Ayame was startled by what she saw on the screen out of the corner of her eye. She didn't risk looking back to verify, because she frankly didn't have the time. Because of how the track was oriented, she'd started behind Ange, and quickly passed her when the starting gun fired. But that gap wasn't getting any wider.
Ange didn't even look that ready to run. She may have worn the Pokeathlon track suit everyone had gotten for signing up for the tournament (the Empress made it a point to always take the opportunity to celebrate fashion and distribute clothes to the masses) but from her slender figure she didn't seem like she'd be all that athletic.
She quickly proved that was not the case. Whoever Ange was, it was clear that she had a lot of experience with running.
As if I'd lose to someone like you, Ange thought, glaring at Ayame's back and leaking incredible malice. The air around her seemed to chill. Someone who only runs for the fun of it, and enjoys competition? You couldn't hope to compete with my speed!
Ayame was fast, there was no doubt about that. But compared to a charging Alpha Rapidash she might as well have been standing still.
Ange didn't compete in races. Her childhood had been spent in life or death scenarios, dodging charging pokemon. If Ayame lost, she'd get upset, go get some water, and resolve to try better next time. If Ange lost, it meant potentially being gored, trampled, burned, torn to shreds, or devoured. In terms of who had more motivation to move their feet, the answer was obvious.
And that was reflected in their pokemon as well. Foof was nimble on his feet, easily dodging around the obstacles. But Luci was relentless. The Zoroark let out a roar that chilled the stadium, tearing across the dirt on all fours as a red aura wafted off her in waves.
"Arbok!" Ari growled.
Luci wasn't the only Alpha Pokemon in the competition, though. Kate may have been lagging behind (and she was already out of breath) but her Arbok was so long it didn't really matter. The serpent hissed and spat as she slithered after her prey, glaring fiercely at Luci.
"We can already see a lot of tension and hostility between these trainers!" Lila noted with barely-restrained glee.
"You can say that again, Lila!" Darla nodded. "I'm surprised by just how capable Ange and her pokemon are! For a while it seemed like no one had even heard of her before, and now here she is, keeping pace with Ayame Toujou, of all people!"
Leanne smiled. "Ange has always been a bit of an odd duck. But I can attest that her skills as a caretaker are second to none! She's raised her pokemon quite well, and you can tell they're in peak condition, just like Ayame's!"
"Really?" Lila actually found that hard to believe. "You're serious, Ange's really a good caretaker? I thought she was in the Research Course, though?"
It was a bit of a stereotype around campus that students in the Research Course didn't have as strong of a relationship with their pokemon as students in other courses. The joke was, "five students find a small pack of Poochyena. The Battler trains theirs to be strong, the Coordinator styles theirs to look beautiful, the Ranger guides theirs to make use of their skills, the Caretaker nurtures theirs like their own child, and the Researcher jabs them with a bunch of probes and turns them into a lab experiment."
It was, of course, a stereotype, as far as Nikita was concerned. Her pokemon were precious to her, just as so many other students in the Research Course's pokemon were precious to them. So seeing that a student in the Research Course had shown so much care and dedication to raising their pokemon well actually warmed her heart.
Ange may not have had a lot of people rooting for her, and most of the student body probably didn't even know who she was before today.
But she did have one fan, at least.
Problem was, Nikita was still rooting for Ayame.
"Come on, Foof! That's enough!" Ayame and her Wooloo had completed three laps, and were about to complete the fourth. But she didn't take a chance on it. Kate had already called back her Arbok as well and replaced Ari with her Stunky, while Daryl had swapped Amethyst in for Falco.
Unlike them, however, Ayame showed exactly why she was the favorite to win this tournament. Kate and Daryl had both needed to pause in order to properly aim their pokeballs, but Ayame needed no such thing.
With a skilled set of hands, she took two pokeballs from her belt without dropping her speed at all. With one she recalled Foof to her pokeball, and with the other she sent out Dana.
The Eldegoss took her place on the track, and immediately dashed forward, pushed by the wind.
Darla was amazed. "Thanks to Ayame's skillful technique, she was able to make a flawless swap without losing any speed at all! There's a reason why she's the prince of the track team!"
"Yeah! It was so amazing!" Lila swooned. "I think I'm falling for her stylish moves!"
That earned a laugh from Darla, but Lila was only half-kidding.
Ange clicked her tongue in frustration. She'd been hoping that when Ayame recalled her Wooloo, she would at least slow down. But the girl still remained steadfastly ahead of her by a few paces, ribbon bobbing overhead.
Who do you think you are? Ange thought, glaring a hole in Ayame's back. Do you think I'm running this race for fun, or something?
Ayame had no idea what was at stake here. Ange needed to win this competition and get the Oracle prize. It was imperative.
Unfortunately, her opponent was a remarkable athlete, who had trained in Pokeathlons since she was a kid.
If it were anyone else, Ange was confident she would have easily dominated and made it to the final course. After all, these other students were just students. Even Ayame didn't know what it was like in the wilds of Hisui.
She might have been the "Prince of the Track Team" or whatever, but titles like that were meaningless to Ange.
The only thing that mattered was victory. Victory meant survival. Weakness meant death. Therefore, weakness was a sin that could not be tolerated.
"I'm amazed at Ange, though," Lila said. "She's kept her starting pokemon out longer than anyone! She's almost finished five laps!"
"You're right, Lila," Darla nodded. "And not only that, her Zoroark hardly looks tired! It's one thing to push your pokemon past their limits out of recklessness, but it's clear that's not what she's doing. Her pokemon just has insane endurance to keep this up for so long!"
"The Relay Run isn't just about speed," Leanne noted. "It's one of the events for the Stamina Course as well, and this is why. Because trainer and pokemon both push themselves to the limit. How well they can withstand that limit will show their capability."
Ange smiled. No one could match her and her team when it came to speed and endurance. They'd survived the wilds for as long as they did for a reason, after all.
And she felt this confidence validated as she saw that Ayame was starting to slow down. Ange was a step closer now, and not even winded yet.
She'd catch up and pass the other girl for sure at this pace.
Oh no! It looks like Ayame is in trouble! She's got a pretty difficult matchup for this course! Ange spent her childhood surviving in the Hisuian Frontier, which is an incredibly deadly place to live. It's no wonder that her and her pokemon are fast and resilient! Will Ayame have enough strength in her to overcome that challenge? What about the other two? Will Daryl and Kate do much of anything, or will this fall down to just Ayame vs. Ange?