0 – The Fate of Many Trainers
"Are you scared?"
The cheering in the stadium and the pounding of Milo's heart nearly drowned out the question completely.
"I mean, I would be." Kio smiled at the sky, serenely ignoring the sick look on Milo's face. The summer wind blew his hair wildly, sticking it up and outward and into his eyes, and he did nothing to fix it. "It's the Pokémon League, you know. There are thousands upon thousands of people watching you, and you'll be on TV and everything. And I think most of your competitors are much more experienced that you are. And half your age..."
As Kio prattled off reasons to run screaming from the stadium, Milo stared past his face to that of a girl sitting next to him. Her intense eyes concentrated not on the waving flags and banners of the crowd, but on the empty field below them. Her hand rested lightly on a bag on the empty seat beside her.
"...your Pokémon could get hurt, you know. Competition at this level? There's bound to be some devastating attacks. And even if you somehow managed to get past preliminaries, do you really think you could -"
"He'll be fine."
The girl turned her head to meet Milo's gaze with the faintest trace of a smile. "You'll be fine," she repeated gently. The echo of Milo's heartbeat quieted just a little.
"Well, after everything we've been through," Kio said with a loud laugh, "you'd better win."
Ah, the prologue of a thoroughly-exhausting 2010 NaNoWriMo Pokemon-flavored "novel". We all know I own nothing Pokemon, but this was a challenge I just had to take. Enjoy!