Now that we've gotten a good look at the events of the Power Course, it's time to see what the pokemon fighting in these events will be! Block C consists of Dakota, Nick, Serefina, and Sylvia, which should be a pretty interesting matchup. Callie's going to be cheering for Nick with everything she has, but against one of the Caretaker Course's stars, a girl who is part Mew, and Sylvia fucking Driscoll, does he have a prayer?

Arbiter8991: It will definitely shake things up, that's for sure. And Sylvia loves getting an edge over her opponents with stuff like that.

KedharS: Yeah, some of these events are definitely complicated, that's for sure. But at least there won't be a ton of math like the Jump Course!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1322

"Alright, everyone!" Lila cheered. "Let's meet the teams that will be competing in Block C!"

"That sounds good to me, Lila!" Darla grinned. "Let's start with our first competitor of Block C, the Red Team, with Dakota Evans!"

"Really, could it be anyone else?" Akira sighed, rolling his eyes. "Makes sense that she's the Red Team captain."

"Although she has pink hair now," Julia noted. She turned to Akira. "What's up with that, by the way? Why the hair change?"

Akira just shook her head. "It's a long story," he vaguely answered, keeping the truth of what happened to Dakota to himself.

Dakota walked out into the stadium to a chorus of boos and jeers, which was to be expected from her reputation. It didn't seem to faze her, though, and she strolled out with a shit-eating grin on her face, waving at everybody.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she groused, stretching. "Come on out, team!"

With a flick of her wrist, she sent out the three pokemon she was going to be using for the competition, Tsubame, Bolt, and Pumpernickel.

"For Dakota's team, she'll be using Swellow, Manectric, and Gourgeist," Lila noted. "Wow, that's the second Swellow we've seen today, Darla!"

"I'm not surprised, Lila," Darla nodded. "Swellow are very fast pokemon, with good jumping ability and a lot of power as well. It's a smart decision for her to make!"

"She's just copying me!" Cynthia accused. "Don't think you're free from trademark infringement just because your hair is pink now, Dakota!"

Reiner rolled his eyes.

"Hush up! All of you!" Callie snapped. She was squirming in her seat with excitement. "Nick's up next! Come on, come on!"

"Okay, and our next competitor is Nick Elwood!" Lila announced. "…Whoever he is."

"WHAT?!" Callie's scream could be heard even over the murmurs of the crowd. It seemed that not a lot of people were very aware of who Nick was, to Callie's chagrin.

"Well, let's not waste a second and get meeting him!" Darla said, quickly salvaging the situation as best as she could. "Nick Elwood and the Blue Team!"

Nick walked cautiously out onto the battlefield, and Callie felt a little disappointed that he wasn't holding his head up higher. But apparently he was letting his pokemon do the talking for him right now, because his team was solid.

Abby walked proudly beside him, as well as Nidorino and Mankey. They all seemed to be bursting with power.

"The Blue Team consists of Absol, Nidorino, and Mankey," Darla noted. "A very balanced matchup! Those are some powerful pokemon!"

"You're damn right they are!" Callie crowed. She expected everyone would be gushing over Nick, because why wouldn't they?

Which is why it came as quite a shock when they moved on from him immediately, focusing on the next team.

"Next, from the Green Team," Leanne said, smiling. "A woman who needs no introduction, because she's one of the Caretaker Course's rising stars! Serefina Kagefusa!"

Contrary to the reception Dakota got, which was booing, and Nick received, which was rather ambivalent (if not confused) Serefina walked out into the stadium to a chorus of applause and cheers. Mostly from the boys, though. It seemed like every guy at the school was cheering her on, and a few of the girls, too.

Most notably, Cynthia.

"Oh man! Look at those things squeezed into that tracksuit!" Cynthia groaned, squirming in her seat. She couldn't believe how hot Serefina was in something like that. "Oh, why couldn't she be in the Speed Course?! I would have loved to see those things bounce around when she was running!"

"…This is why she doesn't like you," Julia said, giving her an icy stare. "And I can't say I blame her, either."

Cynthia stuck out her tongue in response and Kitty winced.

"Come on, guys," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "Let's not lose focus. Look at the pokemon Serefina is using!"

"I don't see what the big deal is," Callie grumbled. "Nick is so much cooler. He's going to win this for sure, and then it will be 'Serefina who?' just you watch."

Callie may have had a chip of her own on her shoulder comparable with Lila, given her spite for people who were taller and prettier than her. And Serefina was certainly both of those things, not to mention the huge rack on her chest.

The team Serefina had picked out were the same three pokemon she had used during the final round of the preliminaries. She'd chosen Trunks, her Phanpy, Tortimer, her Torkoal, and Leek, her Sirfetch'd. All three pokemon were brimming with power.

"For the Power Course, the Green Team consists of Phanpy, Torkoal, and Sirfetch'd," Leanne announced. "A very well-balanced team for these events! Serefina has certainly chosen her pokemon quite well, that's for sure."

"Of course you're sucking up to her," Lila muttered. She didn't have much fondness for the other girl. "And it's no wonder someone like her is so popular in the Caretaker Course, when you look at those melons she has…"

"Lila, I don't think that matters very much," Darla mumbled, not sure she liked the direction Lila's spite was going. Lila could definitely be a shallow and vain person (and hated not being the center of attention) but this was a little much even for her.

"Serefina's team does look pretty strong," Callie had to admit. "But Nick's going to kick her butt, just you watch!"

"Lucky Nick, then," Cynthia sighed wistfully, shaking her head. "I wish I could be the one kicking that butt…"

She was very tempted to root for Serefina just in the hope of going up against her in the next round of the competition. Was that such a bad thing to hope for?

"Cynthia, aren't you trying to keep your ulterior motives buried?" Kitty asked, glancing at her friend. "Stuff like this is why she doesn't like you in the first place, right?"

Cynthia had to acknowledge the truth of that.

"Calm down everyone," Alcea said, using her commanding presence to urge the others to settle down. "The next person will be very important. There's only one team left, after all."

And everyone know who that was.

Akira narrowed his eyes.

"Sylvia."

"And finally, the Yellow Team!" Lila tried to sound excited, she really did. It was her job to remain positive and upbeat, after all. But she just couldn't. Not with someone like Sylvia Driscoll. She was just too annoyed by the other girl.

"That's right, let's take a look at Sylvia Driscoll and her team!" Darla was a little better at compartmentalizing her emotions, and managed to sound excited to cheer on Sylvia as the other girl walked out of the preparation area.

For once, Sylvia actually wasn't wearing black. Not even her tracksuit was black, which was something people had expected given that was the case with the one she'd worn to the preliminaries. No, she'd actually gone to the trouble of wearing the proper colors to her team, which was so natural it actually caught everyone by surprise.

That was the kind of person Sylvia was, as could be determined by the smirk on her face. She enjoyed manipulating people's expectations like that, and occasionally doing something unexpected by doing the thing other people would expect from anyone else.

Combined with her golden hair, she actually looked rather bright, stepping out into the stadium. Not to mention the grin on her face. She seemed excited to be here, which wasn't something anyone anticipated, but should have been very worrying.

Dusk floated ominously behind Sylvia while Letty waddled next to her, and Runja loomed behind them all, looking around, her tentacles twisting in anticipation.

"For Sylvia's team, she's chosen Dusknoir, Golett, and Jellicent," Leanne noted, nodding at the ghostly pokemon following Sylvia. "Those are pretty unique picks for a competition like this, wouldn't you agree, Darla? Lila?"

"Um, yeah, unique," Lila said, shaking a little. She didn't like ghosts. "Darla? What do you think? Are these, um, good pokemon?"

"Well, I'll say this much," Darla said, frowning. "Sylvia doesn't do predictable things."

"Ghost pokemon are indeed very unpredictable," Leanne agreed. "Especially when it comes to Pokeathlons. I have a feeling this is about to get very interesting, for better or worse."

She wasn't the only one who felt that way. An ominous wind blew through the stadium as Sylvia stepped up beside Serefina.

"Be careful," she whispered to the brunette as she stood on the Yellow Team's square. "Things are about to get very unpleasant."

Serefina felt the chill more than anyone else, but didn't let it shake her.

"I don't mind about something like that," she replied calmly. "Come at me with everything you have. I'll be happy to take you down with my pokemon."

Sylvia smiled, but it was an icy smile. She didn't even try to come across as affable. That ship had sailed long ago, and the only thing that mattered now was taking down the woman she had grown to despise over the past few days.

"Now then!" Leanne began. "As these students will be competing in the Power Course, we'll start things off with the first event! Come on over, everyone, to the Block Smash!"

The girls (and Nick) followed her direction and headed over to the first event area, the raised platform where the tiles had been amassed.

"Now, as I explained before, you'll each start with your first pokemon," Leanne explained. "And try to smash as many blocks as possible! Fortunately, you get to move the first ten blocks onto the podium before the timer starts."

Well, that was a relief at least. That would save some time. The camera caught Nick sighing in relief, much to Callie's irritation.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She snapped, frustrated. "Catching a moment like that? You're supposed to be recording everyone at their best you know!"

"It's not the camera's fault if he was sighing, Callie," Nikita said gently. But Callie wasn't going to do something stupid like listen to reason.

"It's still not cool!" She grumbled.

"Perhaps. But it shows he's human, oui?" Alcea asked, and Callie couldn't help but acknowledge that. She sighed and sank into her seat.

"Nick's gonna prove everyone wrong, just watch," she promised.

"As long as he takes Dakota down, I don't really care," Akira replied. He wasn't even paying attention to the feud between Serefina and Sylvia, all of his focus was spent on Dakota and praying for her downfall. She'd been trying to make amends during lunch, but he was in no mood to do so. He was still upset with her, and channeling his frustration like this was a lot easier than getting genuinely upset and bitter. Everything would be fine between them as soon as this little tournament was over, he was sure of that at least.

"Whew! These things are heavy!" Dakota chuckled, setting down a stack of blocks on the podium. She'd managed to carry all ten.

"I'm surprised she can carry that much weight," Kitty said, amazed. Dakota didn't seem like she was in very good shape. "Especially considering how skinny she is."

"I know I couldn't," Nikita said, amazed. "And I assumed she spent more time in front of a computer than I do!"

"…She's probably been doing some strength training or something along those lines," Akira replied, not wanting to let on that the reason for Dakota's strength could probably be traced back to how her DNA had been mutated and now she might technically be considered a pokemon.

"Well, I'm not surprised Sylvia can lift that much," Reiner said. "Given what we know about her capabilities."

Indeed, Sylvia looked just as skinny as Dakota. And yet while everyone was surprised that Dakota could carry those blocks, no one batted an eye when Sylvia did the exact same thing. After all, she was just the kind of person where you expected her to be capable of something like that.

"Of course Nick can do it," Callie boasted. Like Sylvia and Dakota, Nick was carrying all ten blocks as well, though he was struggling a little to do it. "He's carried way more weight than that before!"

"Oh? So he's carried you before?" Cynthia joked. Callie stared at her with a blank expression on her face, though the murderous aura radiating off of her spoke volumes.

Cynthia winced.

"C-Callie, I was just joking…"

"Oh, really?" Callie narrowed her eyes, and more ominous aura began to radiate off of her.

"Ahem. Well, look at Serefina!" Cynthia quickly changed the subject. "See how much she can lift? What did I say? It's because she has to carry those huge breasts everywhere she goes!"

Indeed, Serefina was also carrying the tiles just fine. She set them down on the podium and wiped the sweat from her forehead, which had the added bonus of making her chest bounce in her tracksuit, to the pleasure of the audience.

"That can't be the reason," Kitty said, shaking her head. Her pale cheeks were glowing with embarrassment. "Something like that… no way!"

"You said it, Kitty!" Callie nodded in agreement. "Lugging around huge boobs like that can't do anything for your actual strength, no way!"

Elaina blushed and glanced down at her feet. "A-Actually… it may not be so unrelated…" She admitted, her cheeks heating up.

Callie and Kitty both looked at her in shock while Reiner burst out laughing. Nikita smacked him in the arm with a scowl.

"That's not funny!" She chastised, feeling a little self-conscious about her own curvy figure. She wasn't as stick-thin as Serefina, though, so she thought maybe the muscles involved in lifting stuff like that were different. It was the only explanation she had that made sense.

"It's not like that," Julia said, shaking her head. "It's the feed, you morons."

"Huh?" Everyone looked at her in confusion. Julia rolled her eyes.

"Pokemon Feed? You know, for feeding pokemon? Have you guys ever carried one of those bags before? They're incredibly heavy! I know because I used to help Marion with her fish tanks for a while, carrying those things is back-breaking. Considering Serefina's in the Caretaker Course, it makes sense that she would have the muscles to carry those tiles.

That made sense. More sense than the "she has to carry big boobs" explanation (although that one made sense in its own way).

"Well, whatever. Let's get to the action already!" Cynthia said, grinning with excitement.

"Now remember!" Leanne said. "Each trainer may use one pokemon at a time! You can substitute your pokemon at any time, and the total points your team gets will be determined by the amount of blocks your pokemon are able to smash! Now… begin!"

The starting gun went off and all four trainers sent out their pokemon first. Dakota chose Tsubame, Nick chose Abby, of course, Serefina chose her Phanpy, and Sylvia went with Dusk.

All four pokemon got to work on smashing through the tiles.

"Absol!" Abby raised her head and swung down with her scythe, smashing through nine of the blocks in one swing.

"Look at her go!" Callie cheered.

"Yeah, but look at that Phanpy," Cynthia pointed out. Trunks had raised his trunk and slammed it down on the blocks, and to everyone's surprise, he managed to smash through all of them in one hit.

"Whoa!" Lila gasped.

"Look at that power! Where does he get it from such a tiny frame?" Darla asked, amazed.

Sylvia just smirked. Dusk wound back his fist and smashed through the blocks in a single punch, which made for three of the four teams ready for more blocks once Abby finished off the last one.

"Tsubame! Go!" Dakota cheered. Her Swellow raised her head and drove her beak down into the blocks, smashing through them one after another. An easy victory for Dakota, that was for sure.

Then the trainers all went and rushed more blocks in front of their pokemon. They all got to work breaking through them again, keeping up the pressure.

"Who's winning?" Lila wondered. It looked like everyone was pretty much even.

"I don't know, Lila," Darla said, shaking her head. "The scores are all about the same. Though I guess Serefina is a little ahead? Nope, wait, Sylvia's ahead now.

"It's hard to tell at this point," Leanne explained. "All the pokemon are able to break all the blocks put in front of them almost immediately, so it's clear that none of them are really hurting for power. Meanwhile, the trainers are rushing blocks to their pokemon at a great speed, so it's hard to tell from that, either."

"So what does that mean?" Lila was still confused.

"It means that this match is probably going to come down to stamina, isn't that right, Leanne?" Darla asked, getting a good idea of what the older woman was getting at.

"Precisely," Leanne nodded. "Because they're all moving at a fairly even pace, the trainer who's starting pokemon can go the longest without having to switch out will have an undoubtable edge in this match, you'll see."

The question became a matter of who that was going to be.

"Come on, Nick!" Callie shouted as Abby smashed through another tower of cement blocks. "You can do it! Go, go, go!"

Sylvia smiled as Dusk smashed through six blocks. It was clear that the ghost pokemon was slowing down. That should be good enough. "Come back, Dusk!" She said, recalling her Dusknoir to his pokeball. "Now, Letty, it's on you!"

Quick as a whip, Sylvia sent out her Golett to finish what Dusk had started.

"And Sylvia's made the first substitution!" Lila gasped.

"That's an interesting decision," Darla said, curious. "It sure looked like her Dusknoir was slowing down; but can Ghost type pokemon even get fatigued? I would think their stamina would be limitless, right, Leanne?"

"That's a common misconception," Leanne said, shaking her head. "Ghost type pokemon, like any other pokemon, do not have a bottomless well of stamina. They might be ghosts, but for whatever reason they are just as capable of running out of energy as any other pokemon."

Lila stared at the professor. "That makes absolutely no sense."

I agree completely, Lila. It doesn't make sense that Ghost type pokemon, who are dead, can run out of energy. I mean, they're dead. What do they need stamina for? It just makes no sense. But whatever the reason, it's clear that Sylvia's fallen behind… or has she? Will she be getting her revenge on Sylvia? What about Nick and Dakota? The Power Course has just gotten started!