After a stunning turn of events with Nick's Mankey evolving into Primeape, break time is over! It's time to get the Power Course back in gear, with the second event, the Circle Push! Right now, Serefina's in the lead in terms of points with Sylvia pretty far behind; can she manage to come from behind and deal with her foe? What scheme does she have planned?

The Nomination Round for the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Competition has begun! Here are the current nominees! We've got fourteen girls so far, which is quite a good number already, and this is just day one! If there is anyone else that hasn't been nominated yet, be sure to nominate them!

Currently Nominated: Alcea, Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Callie, Cynthia, Elaina, Gabrielle, Joyce, Maddi, Nikita, Sango, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: Yeah, he's come quite a long way.

Hyphenman: Yeah, Nick's Mankey has been one of those slow burns that I'm really glad is getting some proper payoff considering all the hard work he's put into him! Makes sense, given that Nick's dating Callie, a Fighting type expert!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1324

"Okay everyone!" Leanne called into the microphone. "There seems to have been quite a large upset over the break! The Blue Team's Mankey evolved into a Primeape! I suppose that's something we can expect considering how much effort he put into smashing those blocks! But this is just the beginning! There are still two more events to go, and the next one is the Circle Push!"

"The Circle Push sure sounds fun!" Lila giggled. "How does it work?" She was asking that question even though it had recently been explained.

"It's pretty simple, Lila," Darla replied. "The trainers send out all their pokemon, and their pokemon try to remain in the circle for the entire round."

"Yes…" Sylvia murmured, glancing at Serefina. "It should be very fun…"

The trainers stood on the four corners of the stage, and sent out all their pokemon. A large spotlight appeared overhead, projecting a big circle onto the mat that covered nearly all of the arena in a bright pink light. The number "1" was emblazoned in the center of the circle.

"The first round is very simple," Leanne declared as the trainers sent out their pokemon. "There's plenty of time on the clock, and the circle is more than large enough to hold all the pokemon inside of it! This should be fine for getting an easy point!"

Indeed, the pink circle was big enough for everyone's pokemon to comfortably stand inside. There wasn't much pushing and shoving as everyone packed their pokemon into the large ring and waited for time to count down.

"Well, this is boring," Cynthia pouted. She had expected something a little more engaging than just a bunch of pokemon sitting around.

"It's going to get more interesting soon," Callie promised. "Just watch."

She had no idea how right she was going to turn out being.

With no conflict, it felt like the timer was counting down incredibly slowly. But that didn't mean it was okay to let down your guard.

Sylvia smirked. "Now!" She shouted, startling everyone.

"Jellicent!" Runja lashed out her tentacles, wrapping around Leek and Trunks. With a flick, she sent both of them flying out of the circle, and the entire ring itself.

"What?" Serefina gasped in shock. She hadn't expected that.

"Whoa! It looks like Sylvia's not letting her competition rest that easily!" Lila gasped.

"I can't believe she's getting this aggressive this early!" Darla marveled. It was just a few points. And while Sylvia, behind as she was, should certainly be trying to pull ahead, Darla never would have imagined she'd get this aggressive about it.

And Sylvia wasn't done, either.

"Letty, Dusk, it's on you!" She shouted to her remaining two pokemon as the timer kept counting down even faster.

"Golette!"

"Dusknoir!"

Letty charged at Tortimer, going in low. He kicked the tortoise's legs out from under him, causing the heavy pokemon to stumble, which made it easy for Dusk to shove him out of the circle.

"T-Tortimer!" Serefina shouted as her Torkoal struggled to force his way back inside. But Letty and Dusk were able to hold him out long enough for the timer to run out.

"A-And that's the round!" Lila announced. "All pokemon in the circle get one point!"

That applied to every pokemon except for those on the Green Team.

Serefina's jaw dropped and she turned to Sylvia in shock. The blonde just glared wickedly at her.

"That's right… we couldn't overpower your pokemon in the Block Smash," she said, her tone filled with bile and mockery. "But that's because we didn't even try. We conserved our strength for this event, and the next one."

Sylvia curled her fingers into a gun and pointed it at Serefina. "I told you already. My goal here is to ruin you."

Serefina bit her lip and glared back. "You… you just caught us off-guard!" She snapped. "It won't be the same for the next rounds!"

Sylvia smirked. "We'll see. Come on, on with it already!"

"That's so dirty!" Kitty gasped, aghast but not surprised that Sylvia would do something like that.

"You're not wrong," Julia agreed. "But I can kind of see where she's coming from. Serefina is the one in the lead right now, and Sylvia's at the very bottom. If Sylvia wants to win this thing, then the best way to do that is to keep Serefina from getting points."

"Yeah, but that's not what she wants," Cynthia grumbled. "Didn't you hear her? She wants to 'ruin' Serefina! That's totally different!"

"Indeed," Alcea nodded. "That woman is making her decisions out of spite and malice, no strategy, is it?"

"Actually, knowing Sylvia, it might be a bit of both…" Akira winced. She was the sort of woman who could easily make her spite work for her as a strategy.

"Okay, well, that was certainly surprising," Leanne said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice so she could still come off as impartial. She had never seen someone get so aggressive in the very first round of the Circle Push. "But let's move on to the next round! Round 2!"

The lights changed, and the large circle was replaced by two smaller ones. The larger of the two was aquamarine and worth two points, while the smaller one was magenta and worth three points.

Sylvia snapped her fingers. Dusk and Runja each claimed one of the circles, with Dusk hovering above the three point circle and Runja crowding into the two point circle along with Letty. The other pokemon were just as fast to respond, though.

"Manectric!" Bolt growled, leaping up and charging into the two point circle. There was plenty of room for him. Tsubame, in the meantime, shoved her way into the three point circle, without actually having to shove. It seemed like Dusk wasn't going to put up a fight.

Things went differently when Serefina tried to get her pokemon in, though.

"Trunks, go for the three point circle," she instructed. Her small Phanpy should be able to squeeze his way inside, maybe even if he had to muscle out a pokemon or two. She wasn't the only one thinking that, either. Nick gave the same instructions to Abby, while sending Primeape and Nidorino to do the same for the two point circle.

Sylvia just smirked.

"Dusknoir!" Dusk swatted at Trunks, knocking him out of the three point circle. But in doing so, he got a little too close to the edge.

That was exactly what Serefina was aiming for.

"Leek! Now's your chance! Shove out that Dusknoir!" She ordered. "Tortimer, make your move for the two point circle as well!"

"Serefina's directing her pokemon well," Darla noted.

"Yeah, even though she's behind, she's really focusing on getting those points!" Lila said, nodding encouragingly.

If only it were that easy.

"Sirfetch'd!" Leek bellowed, charging at Dusk with his shield raised. The Dusknoir didn't even look at him. The bird pokemon lunged at Dusk, pushing out his shield to try and shove the spectral pokemon out of the circle.

But all that ended up happening was that he fazed right through the Dusknoir and came out the other side.

"What?!" Serefina gasped. "But how?!"

"Of course!" Callie groaned, slapping her forehead. "How could we have not seen that coming? They're Ghost types, for crying out loud!"

"Oh, no!" Cynthia gasped. It had completely slipped her mind as well.

"The Yellow Team's Dusknoir has just phased his body out of corporeality!" Darla exclaimed, her jaw dropping.

"Uh… I don't know what those words mean, but he made that Sirfetch'd go right through him!" Lila gasped. "That… that's not fair! You can't have a ghost just… DO that!"

They both looked at Leanne, who bit her lip.

"It's… not technically against the rules," she was forced to admit. "You're allowed to use the natural benefits of a pokemon… so long as you do not have them use any moves. A Ghost pokemon's ability to phase through solid objects is not, in strictest terms, using a move, so… it's allowed."

"But then how are the others going to win?!" Lila exclaimed. "You can't push a Ghost type pokemon out of the circle!"

"Oh, yes you can!" Dakota narrowed her eyes. "Go, Pumpernickel!"

"Gourgeist!" Pumpernickel flew towards Dusk, shoving him hard. She tried to force the Dusknoir out of the circle, but before she could, the timer ran out.

"Okay then, here are the point totals!" Leanne declared, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice any longer. Only Dakota had managed to keep all three of her pokemon inside a circle. Nick's Nidorino had been muscled out by Letty, while Abby had been knocked out by Dusk. And Serefina still hadn't managed to get a single pokemon in a circle yet!

Red Team – 11 Points

Blue Team – 5 Points

Green Team – 0 Points

Yellow Team – 11 Points

"It's a good start," Sylvia smirked. The circles disappeared and the pokemon scrambled while the lights rearranged themselves in preparation for the next round. She snapped her fingers. "Dusk, Letty, 15-5! Runja, 13-2! Her pokemon suddenly began moving with intention.

The lights projected the circles once again. This time, Letty and Dusk were both standing in exactly the spot the three point circle was projected on, while Runja was in the two point circle.

"Look at that!" Callie gasped.

"All of Sylvia's pokemon started the round inside of circles!" Nikita had to adjust her glasses to make sure she was seeing things properly. "But that's… how?!"

Sylvia chuckled. "It's all so boring and predictable…" She muttered under her breath.

"How did her pokemon know where to go?" Lila demanded. "She must have been cheating, it's the only explanation!"

"The circle projections are supposed to be randomized," Darla said, glancing at Leanne. "Isn't that right, professor?"

"Yes," Leanne nodded, just as upset as the two of them. "The lights are constantly reorganizing themselves until the very last moment to keep trainers from being able to follow where they'll be projected next."

Oh please. As if something like that would work on someone like me, Sylvia thought, snickering. Any randomization algorithm has a discernable pattern, and you folks didn't even try to make it hard to determine. Even a Slowpoke could have figured out where to go just by keeping an eye on the projectors' movements!

"Rrgh! Quickly, everyone!" Serefina shouted to her pokemon, even though she doubted there was a point. Sylvia was determined to tear her down in this round no matter what. If I could only get a few points… then I could turn things around in the third event, but…

"It's pointless," Sylvia chuckled. "You can't force out my ghosts. They'll keep phasing through whatever you do."

"Like I said, don't get cocky!" Dakota snarled. "We have a ghost on our side, too!"

"Gourgeist!" Pumpernickel nodded, glaring at Dusk and Letty. They were her best bets for forcing her way into the circle, but it was two against one.

"Swellow!" Tsubame flapped her wings and flew into the three point circle, roosting there. She couldn't do much to shove out the two ghosts, but then, they couldn't do much to her, either.

"Ah, that's one method!" Darla nodded. "Ghost type moves have no effect on Normal type pokemon, so maybe Dakota is looking to counter!"

"It seems like this has quickly become everyone versus Sylvia," Lila noted. "Not that I'm complaining. Someone who flouts the rules like that isn't cool!"

"It won't matter," Sylvia smirked. "Letty, deal with that bird!"

"Golett!" Letty wound up their fist and slammed it into Tsubame's chest. At the same time, Dusk began shoving back against the Gourgeist, who was trying to force him out of the circle.

"Primeape!" Nick shouted. He'd been keeping his head down this whole time. "Go for that Golett, now! You too, Abby!"

"Prime!" Primeape nodded. He barreled towards the three point circle, lowering his arm for a shoulder tackle.

Cynthia groaned. "What's he doing? Serefina tried that already! She'll just have her pokemon phase right through him!"

"No, he's really using his head!" Callie giggled. "Go for it, Nick! Show her what your pokemon are made of!"

For the briefest moment a look of discomfort flashed across Sylvia's face.

Then the unbelievable happened. Primeape slammed into Letty, and the Ghost type pokemon actually stumbled back. It wasn't enough to knock him out of the circle, but it threw him off-balance, which was enough for Abby to seize the initiative.

"Absol!" Abby raked the Golett with her claws, forcing him all the way out. Not only was he knocked out of the circle, but Primeape took the initiative to hit him with everything he had, knocking Letty clear out of the ring and out for the round. Both pokemon claimed the circle for the Blue Team, as Pumpernickel forced Dusk back as well.

"How did that happen?!" Lila asked, confused.

"It's because of Golett's nature," Leanne informed her. "Golett aren't like regular spectral Ghost type pokemon. They're spirits inhabiting a physical object, in this case, a golem made out of rock and clay. Which means their bodies can be affected by tangible things, because they're actually solid. Normal and Fighting type moves won't harm them in battle, but you can still push them out the way those two pokemon did."

"That means this isn't the end for everyone!" Darla grinned. "Sylvia's pokemon CAN be pushed away! Look what that Gourgeist is doing!"

"Gour!" Pumpernickel managed to knock Dusk out of the ring. Now Sylvia only had one pokemon left in a circle.

"Way to go, Nick!" Callie cheered.

"Nice work, you two!" Nick called to his pokemon. Nidorino was doing a good job of staying in the two point circle as well, making sure to stick to the outside edge so he could force his way in whenever he needed to.

"Ah, but it won't be that easy!" Dakota chortled. "Tsubama, get those two out! We're claiming this just for Seri and me!"

"Swellow!" Tsubame nodded, lunging at Abby and Primeape. Abby raised her scythe to block Tsubame's beak, while Primeape raised his fist punch the bird.

But he didn't get the chance.

A pink tentacle wrapped around his ankle, yanking him out of the three point circle.

"Primeape!?" The monkey pokemon thrashed about in surprise.

"Jellicent!" Runja bellowed.

"Sylvia's Jellicent just grabbed Primeape from the other circle! Can she even do that?!" Lila asked in disbelief.

"Grabbing isn't against the rules," Darla said, scowling. Clearly she wasn't the biggest fan of that, though.

And Sylvia wasn't done, either.

"Runja, let's put him to use!" She cackled. The Jellicent swung Primeape at Tortimer, knocking the Torkoal out of the two point circle and Primeape went with him. Then she got to work trying to force the other pokemon out of the two point circle.

"Sirfetch'd!" Leek raised his shield, trying to deflect the tentacles. But he didn't see Dusk coming. The Dusknoir had given up trying to claim the three point circle and had turned to the two point circle instead, slamming into Leek from behind and knocking him out of the ring.

The timer was counting down fast, and a lot of pokemon had been shoved out.

"Trunks!" Serefina shouted to her Phanpy. "The three point circle is open! Go for it, now!"

"Phanpy!" Trunks cried, curling up into a wheel and rolling into the three point circle, startling Tsubame. The Swellow was pushed out to make room for the Phanpy just as the timer reached zero.

"Whoa, that was way too close!" Lila said, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I didn't expect this match to get this brutal this fast!"

"You said it, Darla, those trainers are really giving it their all! Let's take a look at those point totals, everyone!"

Red Team – 16 Points

Blue Team – 10 Points

Green Team – 3 Points

Yellow Team – 15 Points

"Yes! Would you take a look at that?" Cynthia cheered. "Serefina's on the board!"

"Yeah, but she's only got three points," Julia noted. "And everyone else is at least in the double digits. That's not a good spot for her."

"She can take it back, I'm sure," Cynthia said confidently. "And don't forget, she's in first place, too, so something like that should be fine!"

Cynthia was confident Serefina could make this work. But Serefina herself was a lot less confident about her own chances.

I'm pressed into a pretty bad situation… I'm so far behind in points… all because that bitch keeps targeting me!

She bit her lip. This was going to be difficult.

"Alright folks! Time for Round 4!" Lila announced. The lights began to shift again, and once again Sylvia shouted out instructions.

This time, though, the others picked up on it.

"Bolt! Tsubame! Pumpernickel!" Dakota shouted. "Follow her lead! Go where her pokemon are going, now!"

Dakota's pokemon all complied. When Sylvia's team split up to go to different parts of the field, they all split up as well, and they weren't the only ones.

Right now, we need to focus on getting points, Serefina thought. She considered going for the big point scores, but that was risky. We need to just increase our score. Even by a few points should be enough. That's the biggest focus right now. Because it was difficult for her team to force our Sylvia's pokemon, they had to go for holding circles instead. Only Sylvia made that difficult, because her pokemon always knew exactly where to go.

That just left one option for Serefina.

"Trunks! Tortimer! Leek!" She shouted. "All of you, go after that Golett!"

Letty was Sylvia's only pokemon who could be forced off a circle. That made them the perfect target. All three of her pokemon would knock the golem away, and claim the circle for the Green Team!

Unfortunately, when the projector displayed the circles, the one Letty was standing in was only worth two points.

But two points was more than zero.

Well, Sylvia's put her plan into work, and it's working pretty good! Thanks to the relentless targeting of Sylvia's Ghost types, her score is way far behind the others! And yet, surprisingly, Dakota of all people is actually doing pretty well! Winning, even! Who would have imagined that from our little reporter? Things are really getting interesting! Will Serefina be able to overcome Sylvia's terrible methods and come out victorious? Or is this where she fails?