Long time no see, right? It's certainly been a long while. The good news is, I've started writing again. The bad news is, college is starting in a month and I have no idea how much time I'll have. But anyways, I have a short oneshot here, and then I'll have the sequel to "Plagued" written and uploaded within a couple of weeks.

Read and review, please, although there isn't much to review. And as always, enjoy~

Pika~

Reality Check

The pinnacle of every trainers' dreams, the Pokemon league. To defeat the Elite Four and to emerge victorious against the champion- to obtain eternal glory in the hall of records. From the moment every young trainer laid hands on their first Pokeball, all through that first battle, up until they either achieved their goal or lay at the merciless hands of defeat, the thrill of weaving their own destiny enraptured them, as it always does. But the end to their story is never certain, and the tide can change in an instant, to pull you under or wash you to gentle waters.

"Explosion."

Two seconds, that was it. Two seconds for the Golem to release an unmeasurable amount of energy from within its core and release it. The attack devastated the room, causing massive damage to the floor, ceiling, walls, and the opposing Gyarados. The debris-filled shock wave hit the Golem's trainer and sent her long brown hair flying as she watched Blue's Gyarados faint, a satisfied smirk on her face. Using Explosion in the champion's room during that final battle was technically against the rules, but Kristy Solana knew that Blue wouldn't report it. After all, there were plenty of questionable things he had done.

Calling back her Pokemon, Kristy motioned to the Absol at her side, "Wycliffe, go."

The Absol leapt onto the ruined field, ready to fight. Kristy clenched her fists, but showed no other signs of emotion. Blue had two Pokemon left and she only had Wycliffe, but she would take him down as she had all the others.

"Well, sorry your journey is about to end," Blue said, lazily bringing out one of his remaining Pokeballs. "But at eighteen you really should be starting college. It was a good match, but you're just not good enough." He flicked his wrist, sending the Pokeball spinning through the fluorescent light of the room, letting it unleash the monster it contained.

As the Exeggutor emerged, Kristy revealed a small smile and pulled her hair into a ponytail. "Wycliffe, Night Slash."

Wycliffe slowly loped forward, his claw draped in an evil black energy and a malicious smirk across his face. This was an easy round, no need to expend too much energy.

"Teleport."

Exeggutor's eyes glowed bright blue and there was a blinding flash of light. Moments later, it fell, just one more of Wycliffe's victims. As it hit the ground, a cloud of ash was sent soaring into the sky. There was no more challenge room, just the stark view of a volcano top, an ominous red glow emerging from its crater.

Surveying the change of environment, Kristy started to sweat, possibly because jeans and leather riding boots weren't the coolest of clothes, or possibly because of a sudden attack of doubt. Blue was on the other side of the crater, and he motioned for his opponent to step forward. Hesitantly, the teen did so and saw giant stone pillars in the lava, reaching up to the top of the crater. Blue called out to Kristy as she realized where she was- the pit in her stomach confirmed her worst fears better than Blue's words did.

"Surely you remember Blaine's gym. Well, I like to borrow it for the close matches, it ensures that I don't lose," he said, pulling out his final Pokeball and hurling it into the sky. "Go, Charizard."

As the giant fire lizard appeared, Wycliffe jumped into the arena, still familiar with the treacherous terrain and ready to fight.

"Charizard, Blast Burn."

Kristy didn't have time to react as Charizard released the inferno at her Absol. The all-consuming flames swallowed Wycliffe and torched him to a crisp in their red and white jaws. A few seconds, and then it was over.

Blue didn't even look at his fallen opponent. He called Charizard over, jumped on and flew away, leaving the broken trainer to her own devices.