"C'mon, Jowtom! Hurry!" called Cameron.
"I am hurrying. I'm right behind you!" replied Jowtom as they squeezed through the crowds.
They barely had room to breathe but they didn't care, all they cared about was getting to the front, this was their first Pokémon Champion Parade that had occurred during their lifetime, a rare occasion that only happened every time a new champion was crowned. It was a glorious ceremony that everybody of the Goyawa region loved to celebrate, the atmosphere of the event was truly remarkable and brought everybody who gathered there a wonderful feeling that felt like no other. Whether it was the chance to see spectacular Pokémon, brilliant trainers or being surrounded by thousands and thousands of others who all share a common love, Pokémon.
The young, innocent pair finally made it to the front and were overwhelmed with excitement.
"We made it!" exhaled Cameron as he grabbed onto the ribbon at the front to assert his place at the front of the crowd.
"Wait a sec," Jowtom hesitantly pondered "where's Kibbu?"
"Forget about me?" shouted a high pitched voice from behind them.
Both of the mischievous boys turned to see what it was.
It was a young girl roughly the same age as them, standing there, arms crossed to match the stroppy look on her face.
A surprisingly long silence occurred as Kibbu maintained her moody stare whilst Jowtom and Cameron half tried to think of words to lessen the strop, half trying not to burst out laughing. Jowtom finally broke the silence.
"Our bad, I guess," Jowtom chuckled which slightly lightened her expression "at least you made it."
"And just in time too" Cameron said as he pointed towards an oncoming float.
Their jaws dropped, eyes widened and their hearts thumped in an almost supernatural synchronisation as they waited for the first member of the Elite Four to pass.
The approaching float seemed to be nothing more than an abundance of multicoloured flames but everybody knew there was more to come.
Then, as if out of nowhere, a well built figure of a man catapulted from the heart of the flames and landed on a platform. Stood there was a large, dark skinned man who stared straight ahead into the distance, seeming to be concentrating to an immense level.
"That's Axel, the fire type trainer of the Elite Four. In battle he keeps all his power hidden within flames so his opponent doesn't see what's coming." explained Kibbu, not breaking her gaze into Axel's deep, hazel brown eyes that remained unmoved.
"I hear that he trained in the fiery depths of Mt. Dycinda from dawn till dusk everyday in order to become a great trainer." Cameron said with an enthusiastic smile on his face.
Jowtom dare not spare a moment to think of something to say to reply to Cameron and Kibbu or he might miss a second of this wonderful event.
"Look who's next!" Cameron yelled pointing towards a float shaped like a huge, purple serpent with its upper body risen and glowing eyes glaring at the crowd.
"It's Arbok," Kibbu chimed in "the cobra Pokémon." The Arbok's head rose even further, now fully exposing the patterns on its belly used for intimidation. A purple fog poured out of the side of the float, concealing all but the glaring eyes of the Arbok. Shivers flowed through the spines of the young children as they watched on, enthusiated by the prospect of what was going to happen next.
The mouth of the now intimidatingly large figure slowly opened as a lighter shade of purple fog shot out accompanied with a silhouette of a woman in the indigo and violet mist.
More shivers shot through the children as a loud hysterical laugh boomed through the streets followed by the words; "Here's Harley!" as a woman exploded onto the scene, smiling from ear to ear.
"That's Harley," informed Cameron despite it being quite obvious, "she trains poison type Pokémon."
"She battles in a unique way, by mixing intimidation, sweetness and a hint of crazy." exclaimed Kibbu.
"A hint?" Cameron scoffed, "Mate, she's looking at a hint of crazy in the rear view mirror."
Jowtom finally broke his concentration to giggle at his friend's witty remark.
Unlike Axel, Harley embraced the audience, waving and blowing kisses at the crowd, still laughing as they took in her quirky nature and the float continued to leave.
The third float was oncoming, a lot simpler than the two that had came before it, just a stack of planks of wood balanced inbetween two poles in front of a woman of average height, staring intensely at them.
"I am Donatella," a voice called out and boomed through the streets, pumping the hearts of the people watching to a thrilling pace.
"It's Donatella." Kibbu spoke up but soon regretted it as Cameron's eyes opened wider as did his painfully sarcastic mouth.
"Really? Please educate us more."
Kibbu lightly pushed Cameron as he laughed and pushed her back just a bit harder.
"I hate you so much." Kibbu joked with an angered smirk. Jowtom let out another chuckle watching their usual
quippy banter.
She pushed her upper body forward whilst simultaneously lifting her legs higher in the air above the rest of her body.
The crowd were amazed as she seemed to defy gravity by moving so gracefully by almost floating several feet above the ground.
Then grace turned to a furious passion as her left foot struck down and sliced through the planks as if her foot were a steel blade. This was followed by an astonishing array of combat, almost guaranteed to impress anyone who viewed.
Donatella had finished her performance with a wide mouthed, toothy grin and a friendly wave to the crowd.
There was only one member of the Elite Four left to come, and the excitement was only growing.
"So that's Axel, Harley and Donatella done, who's left?" Kibbu asked.
"I don't know, I can't see anyone," Cameron replied "maybe this is it?"
"Of course, the Elite Four has only three members" Kibbu stressed with a giggle as a little comeback to Cameron's prior sarcasm.
It was met with a dis-amused look from the young boy, but she expected nothing less.
The long wait had broken Jowtom's concentration again, and he turned to see what his friends were up to. Bickering as usual.
"The buses don't go where you 2 live, do they?" Jowtom joked and watched as they both turned on him. He put his hands up in defence, smirking innocently.
Tired of waiting, Cameron put forth a troublesome idea, "Wanna get a better view?" He nodded towards a roof nearby, with several large obstacles beside it, making the difficult climb somewhat more possible.
"What? You can't be serious," Kibbu exclaimed
"I will if you do." Jowtom replied, ignoring Kibbu and making eye contact with Cameron.
"I wouldn't do that if I were-" Kibbu nagged before being interrupted by the 2 boys sprinting away, as Kibbu sighed.
They made it to the building and without hesitation, Jowtom started scaling the building. Whereas Cameron took a moment to analyse the climb first.
After a few slips and slides, Jowtom made it to the top, and Cameron followed not long after.
Jowtom stood proudly with hands on hips at an achievement he knew wasn't that impressive whilst Cameron dusted himself off as a float approached.
"Here it is," Cameron exclaimed "took it's bloody time."
Jowtom fell back into his giddy trance, waiting for the next member of the elite four to arrive whilst his comrade teased Kibbu from above and in retaliation received the shaking of her head.
The next float finally came into view, surrounded by a low wall made of point cut feathers. A tall man with slicked back black hair with shaved sides stood in the centre of it. He awkwardly laughed through a smile, scratching the back of his head.
"Erm, sorry I'm late, I had a thing." he hesitated before taking a deep breath in and raising his chest. This was followed by an abrupt stop.
"Oh wait, I forgot, I'm Cassidy." Cassidy mentioned. He then repeated the process, took in a deep breath and rose his chest. Cassidy stood tall and held out his arms.
Whilst Cassidy recovered from what he thought was an embarrassing slip up, the mischievous lads watched on, loving the trainer's cheeky entrance.
Cassidy let out a loud and short whistle before his eyes wandered over to the roof building. He saw the 2 boys standing there and smiled.
Of course the boys noticed and were swept of their feet by this, and ironically, this was not just metaphorical as a powerful gust of wind flew past them. Jowtom lost his balance flew forward whilst Cameron fell to the ground, clinging to the roof with one hand and swinging out the other to try and catch his endangered friend.
This attempt was in vain as Jowtom started plummeting to the ground. Although, all hope was not lost as Cassidy was watching in the distance.
"Swellow, there!" Cassidy commanded and leaped into the air pointing towards Jowtom. Cassidy was caught in the air by a massively sized swallow like bird and soared in the direction of the falling child.
The crowd fell silent as they realised the events that were taking place. The Swellow and his trainer flew at a tremendous speed, staring down their target.
Jowtom was too panicked to scream, all he could do was look at the ground, at his inevitable fate, as it grew closer and closer and...
"Hyaah" Cassidy cheered as a huge roar came from the crowd. Swellow had caught Jowtom by his backpack and launched him up into the air before catching him again, this time behind Cassidy, on its back.
"Close call there, eh kid?" Jowtom had briefly fell out of consciousness for a moment, he was unable to respond. Cassidy looked back and chuckled at him.
"Let's drop you off then." he insisted as Jowtom nodded politely, finally caught up on the situation, "but first let's pick up your friend."
Jowtom smiled with delight as Cassidy picked up Cameron. Swellow glided around the area first though, showing off its terrific flying skills.
"Down to the float then, Swellow." Cassidy declared. The 2 boys turned to each other, eyes widened, filled with excitement.
Cameron and Jowtom stood proud on the float, waving to the all the faces in the crowd. Including one from Kibbu, expressing her shock and dis-amusement at their dumb luck.
They had returned to their place in the crowd, still smiling from ear to ear, ecstatic at what had just happened.
"You know if you were to fall off of another roof that would never happen again?" Kibbu fretted.
"Do not need it to, Kibbu." Jowtom said rather smugly "Do not need it to."
The best was saved until last, a brand new champion had been crowned. This was it, the children had no idea who was coming, but they did have an idea of how big this would be. You could feel it in their hearts and they could feel it in the air.
The final float approached. A circular, darkened curtain stood centre. Hiding our region's champion.
The curtain fell.
Fireworks flew from around, spelling out the word "Neo" in a rainbow of shades. Not many could get a clear view of our region's prize until the podium from beneath his feet spiralled upwards. He was revealed.
Jowtom let out a small gasp, followed by a giddy vibration of clenched fists raised to his chest.
A bulky man with fair, matte black hair stood, hands behind his back like a soldier, smiling a small, modest grin towards the Pachirisu standing on his shoulder. His stance showing more than was visible.
"So that's our champion, eh?" Cameron reported, "He fits the role."
"He has a quality to him," Kibbu reckoned, "he looks strong."
"Neo? I like that name." Jowtom thought aloud without realisation.
Neo looked to his Pachirisu and nodded. Pachirisu hopped onto Neo's head, leaped into the air, placed its hands on its lips and let out a sweet kiss, before using discharge on the heart, which allowed the heart to multiply into thousands of charged pieces, blessing each and every crowd member with a buzz of glee. This forced some laughter out Neo.
"I am Neo, and I am overjoyed that the people of the Goyawa region have given me the opportunity to be their champion. I will forever try to be a integral, fortuitous member of this region."
And that was that, the end of the ceremony which felt as though it was sure to mark the start of a great generation of trainers bonding with the many, many Pokémon of this world, forever adventuring on new and exciting journeys. This one was just the first of a long series of our young heroes adventures, a long series of Jowtom's Journeys.