The Speed Course has come to a close. But who managed to win? Did Ange get that last flag, winning her just enough points to get ahead of Ayame's score? Or did Ayame retrieve it and cement her victory, maintaining her lead from the last event? Heck, maybe Kate managed to collect so many flags that she actually got a higher score than both of them! Or Daryl, maybe he did something. That would be a first! Well, whatever the answer is, we're about to find out!

KedharS: Well, my money's on Ayame or Ange. But you never know, Kate did so well in that game she might have gotten just enough points to win!

Hyphenman: If Ange had been in real danger, she might not have even collapsed there, that's the scary part. That girl's willpower is absurd.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1314

Ayame and Ange both hit the ground grasping for the flag, kicking up sand into the air. Because of that, when the timer ran out, nobody could see who had grabbed the last flag for a about a second. It was one of the tensest seconds the Pokemon Academy had ever seen.

Then, when the dust settled, everyone could see.

Ange's hand stretched out in front of her. Her fingers grasped nothing but air.

The flag was locked firmly in Ayame's grip.

Ange stared wide-eyed at her foe, unable to believe what she was seeing. Not even Ayame could believe it herself for a moment. Then she smiled with triumph.

"That's time!" Lila announced. Her eyes immediately shot to the scoreboard to see what the final result was, in terms of flags captured.

"Let's take a look at the results!" Darla declared.

The numbers were displayed on the screen.

Kate – 62 flags

Ange – 51 flags

Ayame – 49 flags

Daryl – 47 flags

"Look at how many flags Kate got!" Callie gasped in amazement.

"I'm surprised as well," Alcea agreed. "She's come quite far, is it?"

"Still, even with results like that… it might not be enough," Akira frowned. "I think what really mattered in the end was that last flag Ayame got."

"You're not wrong," Nikita agreed. She had already done the math in her head. "If Ange wanted to beat Ayame's current point total, she needed to get at least four more flags than she did. If she'd been able to make it to that last flag, then she would have been ahead in points, but she didn't. So Ayame beat her in the end."

Ange knew that as well. She let out a frustrated roar, pounding her fist against the sand. Her body felt heavy and she struggled to stand. Now that it was over, and she had lost, all her energy left her and she barely held onto consciousness.

"Persian…" Mami came up to her and nuzzled her gently with her nose. Maybe if Ange was in a better place, she would have been appreciative. But right now, the pokemon's actions were ignored as Ange glared spitefully at Ayame.

Ayame glanced at her with a look that seemed to be a confusing mixture of pity and frustration, and got up to brush the sand off of her. She stood with her head held high as the audience cheered.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ayame reached out to Ange, but Ange swiped her hand away.

"I don't need your mercy," she spat, pulling herself to her feet. Her legs were trembling and they gave out again, sending her back into the sand. She loathed kneeling before her foe, but she didn't have a choice, she couldn't get up.

I lost…

If this were the wilds of Hisui, Ange would have been devoured. She'd gone head to head with her opponent and been the weaker party. That meant death. But of course, Ayame wasn't a pokemon. She was never in danger.

The only wound she sustained was to her pride.

"Well, that was a really intense round, don't you think, Darla?" Lila asked her partner.

"You can say that again, Lila. I'm worried about Ange." Darla glanced at the sandbox. "She looks like she took some damage from that. Maybe we should call the paramedics?" She glanced at Leanne to see what the professor thought.

"NO!" Ange roared. She wouldn't take even more pity. She summoned what strength she had left and managed to stand once more. This time, her willpower kept her from collapsing.

Ayame took a tense step back. She knew from what the Empress had told her that Ange had helped them in the battle against Samarra in the Orre Region. But Ayame had been controlled for most of that battle, and with how scrambled her memories were, she didn't really know much of anything about the other girl.

But the wild look in her eye was unnerving.

Ange dragged her way through the sand, not even leaving footprints just two long trails behind her feet. She managed to make it into the blue box, where she would have collapsed immediately if not for the support of her pokemon keeping her standing.

Leanne knew that the other girl should seek medical attention. Or at the very least get some much-needed rest. Everyone had seen how far Ange had pushed her body, and nobody thought this was the right thing to do.

But the tournament must go on.

"Now then, it's time to calculate the scores!" Leanne cleared her throat. "Starting with the highest number of flags captured in the event, Kate Nomia! With a total of 62 flags! Since each flag is worth 3 points, that means the number of points the Yellow Team got from this round is 186!"

"Yeah! Alright, that's awesome!" Kate cheered, pumping her fist into the air. The audience gasped with shock. That was the highest single point score that anyone had accumulated from an event in the entire course!"

"She really did her best, is it?" Alcea smiled, feeling a little misty-eyed as she watched her friend's success.

But unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough.

"Up next, Ange Moonshadow, with 51 flags captured!" Leanne continued. "That means her team will be receiving 153 points!"

Ange didn't have any reaction. It didn't matter how many points she got at this point. It wouldn't change what she already knew to be true.

"Following that, right on her heels, is Ayame Toujou! Her team captured 49 flags, so they'll be receiving 147 points!"

Ayame grinned. She listened to the cheers, recognizing that she had this round in the bag.

"And finally, Daryl Thorne, and the Green Team! They captured 47 flags, bringing their total score up to 141 points!" Leanne finished.

Akira smirked. "Well, it's almost 151, anyway."

Daryl didn't seem to mind the coincidence, or the fact that he'd lost. He just smiled calmly, accepting his place. He was proud to have come as far as he did, especially competing against an opponent of Ayame's caliber.

"So who won the Speed Course?!" Lila asked eagerly. "I'm not so good with numbers… Darla, do you know?"

"Well, let's take a look!" Darla grinned. "If we take the points the teams have already accumulated and add the new points to them, the answer should be obvious!"

Red Team – Ayame – 353 Points + 147 Points = 500 Points

Blue Team – Ange – 343 Points + 153 Points = 496 Points

Green Team – Daryl – 302 Points + 141 Points = 443 Points

Yellow Team – Kate – 288 Points + 186 Points = 474 Points

"And there you have it, folks!" Lila grinned. "With a total of 500 Points, the winner of Block A is…"

"Ayame Toujou and the Red Team!" Darla finished.

The crowd went wild and Olivia sighed in relief, sinking back in her seat. This had been an incredibly stressful experience, especially with the Mankey wrench that was Ange being thrown in. Ayame had predictably dominated, if not for that little issue.

"Five points…" Ange muttered, clenching her fist and glaring at Ayame. "By just five points…"

Ayame stepped forward with her head held high. Her pokemon followed proudly behind her as Darla and Lila came to congratulate her.

"That was an amazing match!" Lila gushed.

"I'll say!" Darla agreed. "You really kept us on the edge of our seats the whole time!"

"Well, it was touch and go there for a little bit," Ayame admitted. "The only event I got the most points in was the Hurdle Dash, after all!"

"Yeah, but you got really high scores in all three events!" Darla reminded her. "That's really impressive, and the audience certainly agrees."

"I agree too!" Lila nodded her head vigorously. "Seeing you try that hard was so inspiring! No wonder you're moving on to do this professionally!"

"They're right, Ayame," Leanne nodded, coming up and giving her own congratulations to her student. "A score of 500 in a Pokeathlon is something to be proud of. Not a lot of people can achieve that, you know. Not even professionals who have been training for years. You deserve praise for that, young lady."

"…Yeah," Ayame admitted, her cheeks turning a little red as she smiled. "I know."

She felt so proud. 500 Points. It was something that she had aspired to ever since she'd watched her sister compete. Ayame's sister had been great in her time, but had never broken the 500 Point barrier on any course.

But Ayame had.

It was proof that she wasn't just as good as her sister, she had the potential to become even better. Even if it was just a fluke (which she knew it wasn't) she knew that she had accomplished something she'd always dreamed of.

She didn't just feel proud. She felt exuberant. She was overflowing with joy, and wanted to share that with someone.

Olivia, her best friend, should have been the first person to come to mind when she thought about who she wanted praise from.

But she wasn't.

For the briefest of moments, Blake's face flashed in front of her eyes, and she had to shake her head to clear those thoughts away.

"Well, if there's one thing I want everyone to take away from today, it's how fun Pokeathlons are," Ayame told the audience. "Competing beside your pokemon to push yourselves to your physical limits is something to aspire to! And I know I speak for everyone when I say that I'm really looking forward to how the next rounds go!"

Ayame's passion for her favorite hobby had certainly been reignited. Now if only there were people who could take things as a positive, and not… not react so poorly to what had happened.

She glanced wistfully at Ange, who was already leaving. She needed the support of her pokemon, but she managed to get out of the stadium. The sight of the blonde's retreating figure made Ayame's shoulders droop.

She really never cared for the event at all, Ayame thought sadly. At first, Ayame had been thrilled that she'd had an opponent that could give her a run for her money. But the more events they went through, the clearer it became that Ange wasn't the right person for this. She was willing to destroy her body for the sake of victory.

That wasn't the kind of athlete Ayame wanted to be.

"You need to take care of your body. There's nothing more important than that. You can worry about winning afterwards."

Ayame gasped. Buried memories whispered in her ear like a promise. But when she tried to remember the source of those words, she couldn't find them. Whoever it was, they'd been wiped from her mind completely.

Was that Blake? She wondered briefly, thinking she'd received yet another instance of support from him. But that thought passed as quickly as it came. She didn't care if it was Blake or not, she had more important things to think about right now, like sending her pokemon for a nice, long rest.

"Well, I better be going," Ayame told her idol companions, recalling her pokemon to their pokeballs. "My team needs a long rest for the match tomorrow."

"Of course," Lila nodded.

"You rest up. And don't forget to catch the next courses, right after these messages!" Darla winked to the camera.

There would be another fifteen minute break before the next round started. Block B was up next, and it was the one Nikita was waiting for.

"Reiner's up next!" She said, squirming in her seat.

Julia scowled. She wasn't going to enjoy this one bit. But then, Reiner might end up face-planting in the sand like Ange did. That could be amusing. She smiled a little.

"And don't forget about Cynthia," Callie reminded her. Two of their friends were going to be competing head to head in this next round. It was going to be exciting!

"I hope they're not too nervous," Kitty murmured. She was feeling pretty tense herself, and she wasn't even competing!

At that moment, Cynthia was sitting in her waiting room.

"AAAAARGH! Come on!" She groaned, kicking her feet up in the air and flopping back on the couch. "Fifteen minutes?! Just let me go now!"

…Clearly, "nervous" was about the furthest thing from her mind.

While this was happening, Ayame left the Sky Stadium to go to the Pokemon Center. She could catch the matches there while her pokemon were healed.

But she ran into the last person she expected.

"Blake?" Ayame stuttered in confusion. She was too exhausted to deal with him right now, her emotions had been drained from that match and she just wanted to relax. "What are you doing here?" She grumbled. "Don't you have an event to prepare for?"

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "But it's the last event of the day, remember? I'm in Block D."

"…Fair enough, fuck," Ayame sighed. "Fine. What do you want? You're in the way of me getting my pokemon healed.

Blake followed Ayame down the path leading to the Pokemon Center.

"I just wanted to congratulate you," he said. "You really did your best out there. Seeing you move like that, trying your hardest…"

"Yeah, well, of course I did good," she tersely replied. "Who do you think I am? Speed Courses were designed for my pokemon and I, you know?"

"Yes, of course I know that," Blake nodded. "But see… I still think you deserve some congratulations. After all, this has been a goal of yours for a long time, hasn't it? Getting 500 Points in a Pokeathlon, I mean."

"How do you know that?!" Ayame exclaimed, turning to him in shock.

He just stared at her, his expression seeming to say "come on. Don't you know?"

Ayame winced and backed down. She turned red. Of course he knew. No-doubt, they had talked about her goals and dreams many times before. She just couldn't remember them.

It frustrated her terribly that there was someone she knew, who knew things about her that not even she could remember.

"Well, whatever," she spat, turning around and storming off. It was a bit of a pain to do given how much she'd pushed herself, but unlike Ange, Ayame was well aware of how much strain her body could take, and kept herself from even getting close to that point.

It stung, treating him like that. But what was she supposed to do? Let him pretend that there was nothing wrong? That everything was fine?

She couldn't do that. She wouldn't. They had their own lives, and she wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

"I'm still proud of you!" Blake called after her, and Ayame had to pretend that didn't make her feel happy.

She sighed and stopped in place.

"Good luck on your own match," she muttered so softly he could barely hear her. "Maybe we'll go up against each other in the finals."

Blake stared at her in shock, not sure if he'd heard her properly.

"Ayame…"

"Fuck off!" She spat, turning around and flipping him off. She tore down the path, her face burning with emotions she couldn't even begin to identify.

Blake watched her leave and sighed. There was nothing he could do about it, in the end. If Ayame didn't want him here, that was that.

For now, he just had to be content to let things go, and continue doing things the way he was supposed to.

Olivia had a plan. Maybe he could bring back Ayame's memories, maybe he couldn't. But he would need to get past this first round before he found out.

Deciding against pursuing her any further and taking her "fuck off" to heart, Blake returned to the Sky Stadium just in time to catch the beginning of the next event.

"Phew!" Lila and Darla were in their seats again, along with Leanne. Lila had cracked a bottle of water and was fanning herself, clearly not giving a damn about the physical condition of the trainers and pokemon competing in this event.

"You said it, Lila," Darla nodded. "That last round was really steamy! But we're back! After the conclusive match of Block A, it's time to move on to our next course! Block B is coming up next, and they'll be competing on the Jump Course!"

"The Jump Course?" Lila asked excitedly. "That sounds like a blast! What sort of events are we going to be seeing in the Jump Course, Darla?"

"Well, I could give you all the details," Darla said, glancing over at Leanne. "But I think it would work best if we have Leanne do the explaining, don't you agree?"

"I think that's a great idea, Darla," Leanne nodded. "For the Jump Course, our competitors will be competing in three specific, exciting events!"

"Ooh, this is so much fun!" Nikita squirmed giddily in her seat. She never thought that she'd actually get this excited watching sports.

It must be because Reiner is competing… she recognized. After all, if he was giving it his all, that meant the world for her.

Maybe he would even win.

"The three events for the Jump Course are the Lamp Jump, the Disc Catch, and, last but not least, a returning favorite of our Block A champion, the Hurdle Dash!" Leanne said, gesturing out at the field. "Take a look at what changes we've made to our events!"

The Hurdle Dash, of course, looked exactly the same. But in the fifteen minute break, with the help of pokemon and the students from the Ranger and Caretaker Courses, new areas had been uncovered on the field for the students to compete on.

In one section, a massive trampoline had been installed in front of a wall with enormous lamps affixed to it on a patterned grid.

The other area was in the water. A large platform raised out of the sea, with different colored sections painted on it.

The students looked curiously at these new arenas as Leanne began her explanation of the rules for the two new events.

So the Speed Course comes to a close with Ayame as the victor! She really did her best, didn't she? It was close, but Ange didn't manage to win. But the real surprise of the event, in my opinion, was Kate! Look at how many points she scored in that last round! Who knows? If she'd been a little quicker, a little more physically-able, she might have been able to get enough points to even beat Ayame! I think there's a lot to be proud of there!