Serefina, Nick, and Dakota are all in a really tough position! None of them want Sylvia to win, so they're all going to have to find some way to defeat her! Can they work together and kick her ass? Or is she just so smart that she can account for everything? The final event of the Power Course is here, and hopefully, the good guys manage to win! Please review!

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, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: She really is quite the piece of work, huh?

Hyphenman: That's the thing. Sometimes, Sylvia is so charismatic it makes you forget how much of a petty, spiteful bitch she is.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Shadow Pokemon definitely have their downsides, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1327

The timer counted down to zero, and the 15 minute break was over. The competitors reluctantly approached the field of the final event, except for Sylvia, who walked at a jaunty pace with a big smile on her lips.

Dakota tugged on Serefina's arm.

"Seri…"

"Yes?"

"You're sure about this?" She asked.

"It's the best option," Serefina nodded.

"Yeah, okay… but do you think… if we want to win, should we take whatever options we can, you think?" Dakota asked nervously.

"We'll just do our best," Serefina replied. "That's all we CAN do."

"…Right. Okay, then," Dakota nodded, swallowing her anxiety and returning to her bright smile. "Yeah, let's do this!"

"This is the last event of the Power Course…" Lila sighed. "And yet, why do I get the feeling that power won't have anything to do with who wins?"

"I think that's a reasonable expectation," Darla nodded grimly.

"We're about to begin the final event of Block C," Leanne announced. "The Goal Roll! Because this event is so complicated, we're going to take a moment to go over the rules again. It is, in essence, a game of football."

"Soccer," Darla muttered under her breath.

"The four teams will each get a corner of the field. The trainer will stand in their box and give directions to the pokemon. Remember, it's against the rules for any pokemon to enter the colored territory of a team that does not belong to them!"

The four competitors were all standing in front of their goals. The grass had been colored the same shade as their respective teams (with Serefina's grass being a darker shade of green) to make it clear where the pokemon couldn't go.

"Each time will consist of the three pokemon, who will try to kick the ball into the goals of the other teams," Leanne continued. "For each goal scored, your team gets one point. And not only that, the team whose goal you scored in will lose a point. Is that clear? The goal, of course, is to get as many points as possible within the time."

"Professor, I believe you said last time that there was a special rule when it came to scoring?" Lila reminded the professor.

"That's right, Lila. The scoring for this event is a little more complicated than most events. To start, each team gets a bonus of 60 Athlete Points just for participating. After that, they will get an additional 5 Athlete Points for each point they scored. From there, the points given will depend on your ranking compared to the other trainers. If you score higher than exactly one opponent, you get 10 Athlete Points. Higher than two opponents, you get 20 bonus points, and a higher score than all opponents will get you 40 Athlete Points!" By the time Leanne finished her explanation, Lila's brain had started to short-circuit.

"Well, that's… really something," she mumbled. "I see…"

"It's a pretty complicated game, but I think it'll be simple once the teams start getting some points," Darla assured her. "Don't you agree, professor?"

"We'll see," Leanne nodded. "Now, everyone have your pokemon ready?"

Everyone nodded. Out of everyone, Nick looked the most resigned, much to Callie's confusion.

"What's up with Nick?" She frowned. "He looks like he's already lost! Come on, Nick! Pick it up, you can do it!"

Nick glanced her way, and even though it should have been impossible to make her out in the crowd, Callie was certain that he was looking right at her. His eyes were deep and wet, and he looked almost apologetic.

"No way…" She mumbled. "Wait, you can't be!"

"Can't be what?" Nikita asked.

"That jerk!" Callie wiped her eyes. "Did he think I'd be happy with something like this?! Jerky… JERKFACE!"

"What's going on?" Elaina asked. Everyone was starting to get confused.

Then Cynthia gasped. "Wait, is he planning to…?"

"What? What is it?!" Julia demanded.

"It's a strategy I thought of," Cynthia said, frowning. "It's not necessarily a strategy for winning… but it's a strategy that's almost unbeatable when it comes to beating a specific person. Serefina and the others must have come up with it… oh, poor Nick…"

"Why won't anyone tell us what's going on?" Kitty wailed, starting to get worried.

"Play ball!" Leanne declared. The center of the field opened up, and a soccer ball (NOT a football, no matter what Olivia insisted it be called) rose out from the hole.

"Go!" Dakota shouted, and Bolt charged forward with blinding speed.

"Orion is very fast," Reiner said, smiling. "So of course, a Manectric must be even faster!"

The Manectric did move at frightening speed. He wasn't the only one, either. Dakota had two pokemon that were aces in terms of speed.

"Swellow!" Tsubame flanked Bolt, keeping an eye out for opponents coming their way. Not that an interloper like that would make a difference.

Sylvia had a much more conservative playstyle. She kept her Jellicent back on defense, taking advantage of Runja's massive frame to swat away any balls coming their way. From there, she had Letty take the midfield, while Dusk charged to attack.

As a Ghost type pokemon, it was a simple matter of phasing through pokemon that tried to get in his way. Tsubame made for a pitiful defense as Bolt dribbled the ball.

Pumpernickel was slightly more effective, however.

"Gourgeist!" The pumpkin pokemon hissed, blocking off Dusk from attacking.

"Look at that all-out attack from Dakota!" Lila gasped. "She sent all three of her pokemon out on the offensive! Doesn't she have any plans for defending?"

"She's not the only one, Lila!" Darla said, amazed. "Take a look!"

Nick and Serefina's teams had also abandoned defense. Rather than have any pokemon left behind to guard the fort, they gathered around Bolt. But they weren't trying to get the ball. It was almost like they were defending him.

Bolt, in the meantime, charged ahead, right for Nick's goal.

"Manectric!" Bolt dodged around Abby and headbutted the ball, sending it flying towards the Blue Team's goal. Nick didn't even aim to block it. The ball hit the goal and sunk into a divot in the field, disappearing below.

"That's one point for the Red Team!" Leanne announced as the next ball emerged from the bottom of the field.

"Phanpy!" Trunks was already on it. While Tortimer waited near the middle of the court, so he could get back to Serefina as needed, and Leek pressed the attack, Serefina had sent her little Phanpy to get the ball, because she knew Dakota would make that goal.

Just as she knew Trunks would make the next one.

"Dusknoir!" Dusk tried to go after Trunks, but Pumpernickel and Leek blocked him off. At the same time, all three of Nick's pokemon, Abby, Nidorino, and Primeape, put themselves between Letty and Trunks as well.

"What's the Blue Team doing?" Lila asked, confused. "The Green Team's Phanpy is heading right for their goal! They need to get back there to defend it!"

"Oh, so that's what they're doing," Darla said, smiling. She'd figured it out already. "Very clever strategy there."

"What? What are they doing?" Lila asked. "Look! The Green Team just scored a point!"

"Is Nick crazy?!" Reiner exclaimed. "He's just letting those two score points off of him! What's he doing?!"

"Yeah…" Callie sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Yeah, he is."

"That's the strategy," Cynthia said. "You might think that the best way to beat someone in this game is to have all three teams gang up on them. And I guess, in a way, that's what they're doing. But trying to get a point off of Sylvia would be risky. So instead what they'd doing is ball hogging, so they can get the advantage."

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked.

"Look," Cynthia said, pointing at the court. Another ball had already appeared, and Bolt had been waiting for it. "Sylvia only has three pokemon. Altogether, they have nine. That's enough to make sure either Dakota or Serefina have control of the ball, get it? So they can aim it wherever they want. They COULD go after Sylvia, but her Jellicent might deflect it. Instead, they're trying to beat her by getting the ball as far away from Sylvia's pokemon as possible… and scoring into Nick's goal."

"And he's just letting them?!" Julia sputtered. "But he's going to lose that way!"

"He is," Callie sighed glumly. "That's the point, right, Cynthia?"

"Exactly," Cynthia nodded. "In a game like this, collusion is a very powerful tool. It's not that three of them are teaming up to score on Sylvia. They're teaming up so that Dakota and Serefina can score points off of Nick's goal."

"I-I see…" Nikita's eyes widened in amazement. "Yes, that's brilliant! With this, they can just keep getting free points, and shoot above Sylvia's score easily! What an amazing plan!"

"I see… that is quite a strategy…" Alcea said, amazed.

"But it requires a fall-guy," Akira noted. "If they keep scoring off of each other's goals, then they'll just total out to zero points. So Nick's going to be left at zero points, while those two get their scores pumped up. Dakota had to have something to do with this… it's exactly the sort of devious strategy she'd come up with!"

"And Nick's just the guy to go along with it," Callie said wistfully. "He worked so hard… he trained to do his best… and he's going to give all that up, just so that one of them can beat Sylvia."

Callie fell in love with him all over again.

"I don't think it's fair," Julia scowled, punching her hand. "Why does Nick have to be the one to sacrifice himself?! That bitch Dakota already got what she wanted out of this by kicking Akira's ass out of the competition, she should be the one jumping on the grenade here!"

"Hey!" Akira exclaimed, whipping his head around and glaring at Julia.

"Julia!" Kitty whined, tugging on her friend's arm. "She's still Akira's girlfriend, you can't just call her a bitch!"

"What? No, yeah, that's fine," Akira said, shaking his head. "I said 'hey' because she did NOT kick my ass!"

"Yeah, dude, she totally did," Cynthia snickered. "She got you good!"

"Dakota was probably chosen over Nick because of her pokemon's speed," Reiner noted, frowning. "That's all there is to it. Her Swellow and Manectric are faster than his other pokemon, even his Absol. They'll make it easier for her to score. Not to mention her Gourgeist can run interference if Sylvia DOES manage to turn things around an go for her goal."

"That's probably why Serefina is the other scorer," Callie said, nodding glumly. "If Sylvia manages to get the ball, then her Sirfetch'd can defend their goal against the Ghost types. And just scoring on Nick won't affect the point fluctuations very much, since Serefina and Dakota won't lose points if she does that anyway."

"I-I'm amazed!" Lila couldn't believe her eyes.

"So am I," Darla nodded. "The Yellow Team's pokemon haven't even been able to touch the ball yet, even though they're Ghost types! Meanwhile, the Red Team and the Green Team have both gotten up to 5 points each!"

"It's quite an interesting strategy," Leanne noted. She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "But still… it doesn't feel like a Pokeathlon Event, if you ask me."

Sylvia didn't seem fazed by their tactics in the slightest.

"5 points apiece…" She murmured. "Yes, that should be enough of a handicap. Now then, Runja? If you would please?"

"Jellicent," Runja nodded, lumbering forward. She raised her tentacles, and then slammed them down into the ground.

The appendages sank through the grass.

"Look at that!" Lila gasped. "The Yellow Team's Jellicent has entered the fray next! The Yellow Team seems to be forgoing defensive tactics as well!"

Bolt was still running straight towards Nick's goal. He lowered his head and slammed the ball right at the opening.

Runja's tentacle emerged from the ground, just outside the zone of fair play, and swatted the ball away from the goal, right towards Dusk.

"No!" Dakota cried.

"Fair ball!" Leanne announced.

"Runja's tentacles stretch very far," Sylvia purred. "Now, Dusk!"

"Dusknoir!" In normal football/soccer/whatever, it was against the rules to use your hands. But when it came to pokemon, some pokemon only HAD hands as appendages, and Dusknoir was one of them. The spectral pokemon opened his palm wide and smacked the ball, sending it flying towards Serefina's goal, where it promptly landed in.

Sylvia took one of Serefina's points and added it to her own score.

"Now, that's more like it!" She purred.

The center of the field opened up again, and Serefina's pokemon were waiting for the next ball to come. Unfortunately, something new had come.

Now there were two balls.

"Your tactics work fine when it's one ball to account for," Sylvia smiled. "But what happens when there's two? What do you do then?"

"Jellicent!" Runja lunged for one of the balls with her tentacles, and Leek leapt in front, deflecting the strike with his shield. But that just opened things up for Dusk to come in again.

"Gourgeist!" Pumpernickel flew to intercept Dusk as well, but she was knocked aside, to Dakota's shock and horror.

"How?!" She gasped.

"You and your pokemon have been expending energy all day," Sylvia purred. "Especially that Gourgeist, trying to compete with my Dusk. Have you ever heard of the saying 'it's a marathon, not a sprint'? Well, there's a reason I conserved my pokemon's strength in the first event, while you tired all of your pokemon out. Dusk's ready to go, with plenty of stamina, and even though your Gourgeist could have matched him at one point… now, she's far too tired to do so. Dusk, if you would?"

"Dusknoir!" Dusk flung the ball at Dakota's goal next, then reached for another one. But this time he was too slow.

"Don't forget!" Nick shouted. "With two balls, you've got to keep track of both!"

"Absol!" Abby growled, dribbling the ball far away from the Ghost types.

"Fair enough, fair enough," Sylvia acknowledged. "Well, what are you going to do now, boy? Come over to my goal! Sink a shot here, please!"

She held out her arms wide and smiled gleefully.

Nick scowled. Sylvia still had her Jellicent close enough to the goal that she could defend. At the same time, he couldn't exactly try to get points off of other people, because that would hurt their overall plan to win.

"Golett!" Letty jogged towards Abby, aiming to get the ball. Of course, Abby was skillful enough to evade them, but she still didn't have many good options.

"Jellicent!" Runja's tentacle was the next thing the Absol saw. The pink appendage whipped out, snagging the ball away from the Absol. Leek could only defend against so many phantom limbs, after all, it was impossible to get all of them.

Serefina bit her lip in frustration. "Trunks! Tortimer! Get back, defend!"

"Bolt, Tsubame, same with you!" Dakota ordered.

"The Yellow Team has the ball," Leanne noted. "And because of that, the other trainers are getting defensive!"

"It's a good strategy," Darla noted. "Jellicent can throw the ball at one of their goals, but if she does that, then their pokemon can intercept the shot. On the other hand, if she goes in to score points using the fact that she's a Ghost type as an advantage, then that will open the Yellow Team's goal to being attacked."

"Whoa, you could think of all that?" Lila asked, amazed. Even though she wasn't as stupid as she pretended to be, that was still some really impressive analysis by Darla.

"Still, the Yellow Team has control of the field now," Darla noted. "The Jellicent can give the ball to Dusknoir, who can do the same thing without sacrificing defense."

"You make very good points!" Sylvia nodded, applauding Darla's analytical ability. "But… I don't feel up for that. Runja? If you would, please?"

"Jellicent," Runja nodded. She flung the ball to one of her teammates, but not the one that Darla had predicted.

"Golett!" The ball landed in front of Letty as all of Nick's pokemon converged on the small little mud golem.

Letty didn't pay them any mind. They wound up their foot, turned, and kicked the ball right at the Blue Team's goal.

"Holy-!" Nick had to jump out of the way to keep his head from getting torn off. The ball traveled faster than he ever could have imagined, shooting through the air like a missile and slamming into the goal so hard the field shook.

"There, now that's more like it!" Sylvia applauded her Golett. "Nicely done, Letty! This is the Power Course, after all, brute force is what the audience wants to see!"

She turned to Nick. "Scoring off you is so fun!" She giggled. "I can see why everyone else wants to do it! But too bad for your little girlfriend… I'm sure Callie would have wanted to see you at your best."

Callie glanced at the score on the screen.

Red Team – 4 points

Blue Team – 0 points

Green Team – 4 points

Yellow Team – 3 points

She winced, and wiped her eyes again. This was horrible.

The field opened up again, and deposited more balls. Two of the regular ones, of course, but there was another ball, this one shiny and gold.

"Ooh," Sylvia giggled. "Now that looks nice!"

Well, things are really getting intense! Serefina, Dakota, and Nick came up with an excellent strategy, even if it will result in Nick's loss. What a nice guy, agreeing to something like that! But in the end, it might not even matter, because Sylvia is simply that much better than everyone else. Will they be able to defeat her anyway? Or will she maintain her lead, and win the event? Can anything catch her off-guard?