Ice kissed the back of my neck as I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what waited on the other side of the large, stone door. I still didn't fully understand why The Boss wanted me to do this. I fought for power and to put wannabe punk trainers who have grown too big for their pants in place, not for the entertainment of a crowd. I didn't train all those years to be a performer. I didn't work my way up from poverty to Pokémon Champion for anyone but myself. 'This is so stupid,' I kept thinking.

I felt a hand fall upon my shoulder and turned to see Clark's big brown eyes staring into mine. His kind face overflowed with compassion and I couldn't help but smile as well. "Don't worry," he said to me in a hushed whisper. "You'll do fine." He squeezed my shoulder in a friendly, comforting way.

I wasn't worried about doing badly; I was the most powerful trainer in the Felora Region, after all. Clark could hold his own in a battle and had certainly earned a spot in the Elite Four, but I was far more powerful and experienced. I was Nicole Young, the Scarlet Arrow—Pokémon Champion and leader of the Felora Region Elite Four.

With one last breath, I pushed open the doors in front of me. I turned around to see Clark smiling and giving me a thumbs up. I pressed forward and the sound of the roaring crowd echoed in my ears. I tried my best to smile as I walked onto the stage, but it felt fake and contorted. I waved at the crowd and caught a glimpse of The Boss sitting on the front row, taking a long drag from a fat cigar. I still remembered his words from earlier in the day: "This is all a fundraiser. People are paying to see you beat the socks off of a few novice trainers. Don't let me down, kid."

'Yeah, Boss. Whatever you say…'

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," the announcer said into his microphone, "give it up for Nicole Young, the Scarlet Arrow!" I didn't think it was possible, but the crowd's cheers magnified to an ear-busting volume. I had to restrain myself from covering up my ears, assuring myself that it would be over soon. "And her challenger," he continued, "straight from Opalicity, Alex Ferril!"

The crowd cheered again but not quite as loudly, obviously not nearly as enthused about this boy I had never heard of. I saw him walk onto the stage. He looked young, maybe eighteen, and had the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen. "It's an honor to meet you, Miss Young," he said as he firmly shook my hand.

I smirked at him and tilted my head ever so slightly to the right. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Ferril. Are you ready for this?" He nodded. "Then let's begin." We went to our respective sides of the arena. The announcer shouted for us to begin and we reached for our Pokéballs. "Go, Roselia!" I shouted and summoned her onto the field. She opened her arms and her rose hands glistened with morning dew.

"Go, Charizard!" Alex said and summoned the mighty behemoth onto the battlefield. It snarled and roared at Roselia, but she kept her composition, mimicking her calm and collected trainer. He grinned smugly, knowing his fire-flying type Pokémon would have the upper hand against a grass-poison type like Roselia. "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

The dragon took a deep breath and spewed forth a stream of fire, incinerating all the oxygen it touched and making the air thick and hazy. Roselia put her petal hands in front of her body and the fires dissipated upon striking them. "Roselia, counter with Petal Dance."

A smirk feathered across the tiny Pokémon's face as she spun amidst the assaulting blaze. Several petals ejected from her queenliest hands and fluttered carelessly around her delicate body. She came to a stop, but the indigo and pink petals continued to dance around her, spiraling like a small twister. The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the dazzling spectacle.

I brought my fingers together at my side and rubbed them against each other, creating a small pocket of heat in my palm. Then, faster than the fluttering of an eyelash, I snapped. The sound was so quiet that I almost didn't hear it myself, but I knew Roselia had heard it. Because, at that moment, she let out a small cry and sent the twirling petals flying at Alex's Charizard.

The petals cascaded over the Pokémon, slicing through his skin, and he swatted furiously to alleviate himself from the floral torture. "Charizard, use Fire Spin!" Alex shouted and the dragon obeyed. It curled up into a flaming ball and spun, dissipating the petals and freeing itself from the assault. Alex grinned and said, "Now use Rock Smash

Charizard flung himself at the small Pokémon and wound up his fist, preparing for the attack. Roselia stood completely still, like a florid statue, and watched as the dragon approached. I chuckled lightly to myself and whispered, "Toxic Spikes."

Roselia lifted her rosy hands by her sides and let out a high-pitched sigh before an uncountable amount of prickly thorns rapid fired from her body at the flaming dragon sailing at her. His eyes widened at the threatening display that was rapidly approaching him and came to an abrupt halt. He wrapped his wings around himself in an attempt to shield his body, but to no avail. The poisonous needles, while individually no larger than a toothpick, rained down on the Charizard. They sliced him relentlessly, leaving pinprick sized markings all over his orange skin.

After the spiky storm petered out, Charizard unfurled his wings to reveal his entire body battered from the attack. He lifted his leg to take a step forward, but collapsed to the hard earth like a mighty oak tree.

The crowded roared into applause once again and I took a deep breath, feeling my chest expand with the inhale of oxygen. I looked around the crowd—searching for The Boss—and found him with his fat thumb slightly more elevated than his other fingers. I smiled and turned back to the announcer, who was praising my victory. I watched as Alex called his Charizard back into its Poké Ball and left.

Ever since I was a little girl, I would try to put stories behind people, even if I barely knew them. My theory about Alex was that he was just another wannabe trainer who thought he could take me on. Knowing that I put him in his place should have brought me joy. But there was something in his eyes that couldn't evoke that familiar feeling; some nagging feeling that I should've went easier on him. But I cast the thought away and basked in my victory.

"Great job, Nicole!" I turned to see Clover cheering me on from the stands. Her bouncy blond curls bobbled on head as she hopped and punched the air. I found myself smiling and mouthed the words 'thank you' to her. Despite her childish disposition, Clover was a powerful and well respected member of the Elite Four. Aside from Clark, she was my best friend.

I turned back to the battlefield so see another boy walked on the stage. I smiled, ready and willing for another battle.

I easily defeated the lad, as well as the all of the other trainers who followed him, with my powerful Pokémon. I lost track after twelve, but I was certain that the oncoming girl was the last challenger. She had long twilight hair and piercing green eyes, and the announcer informed the crowd that her name was Annalisa from Garne Town.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Annalisa," I said with an unusual twinge of genuine kindness in my tone while extending my hand. She shook it loosely and rolled her eyes past mine.

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled and went back to her side of the arena. The announcer shouted for us to begin and the crowded cheered once again. By now, my ears had adjusted to the thunderous clamor and I reached into my handbag for Blissey's Poké Ball. I pulled it out and summoned the Happiness Pokémon onto the arena. She spun in an elegant circle and pulled the large white egg out of her stomach pouch, twirling it around like a basketball before returning it to its home.

Annalisa sighed and threw a Poké Ball onto the field. Upon bouncing off the ground, the ball spawned a Pokémon that I hadn't seen before. It was a dark, feminine creature with a long black dress adorned with white bows. Its hair greatly resembled four disks protruding from either side of her purple head and a snowy lace tied around the top. She had white bands around her skinny wrists and a pair of large blue eyes decorated her face.

'What is that thing?' I wondered, racking my brain of all the Pokémon I'd ever seen before. I had no memories of any that even slightly resembled it, but I guessed that it was a dark type, just from the coloring and design. I smiled, remembered my type-matchup lessons. 'Dark is weak against fighting and bug, neither of which Blissey is, but she knows a fighting type move.'

"Gothitelle," Annalisa began, "use Fake Tears." The unknown Pokémon's lower lip quivered before she burst into tears. She rested her face in her palms as the tears streamed down to the ground.

Blissey—the Happiness Pokémon, one that can't bear to see another Pokémon sad or distressed—was instantly filled with concern and compassion for the weeping Pokémon. Without even looking to me for confirmation, Blissey took off at Gothitelle. "Blissey!" I called. "Don't you dare." But she ignored my commands, overcome with sympathy. Upon reaching the sorrow-filled Pokémon, Blissey consoled her and offered her the egg from her pouch.

Gothitelle looked up at Blissey, but her face wasn't one of sadness; instead, it was painted with an expression of devious mischief. Her tears had evaporated and she lifted her slender arms, her hands radiating an eerie dark aura. Before Blissey had time to react, Gothitelle smashed her hands into the Pokémon's side, sending her sailing across the arena. 'Faint Attack,' I thought, 'a move that catches Pokémon off guard.'

"Good job, Gothitelle," Annalisa cheered.

I brushed a lock of hair out of my face and pointed at her Pokémon. "Blissey, use Brick Break!" I ordered.

Blissey stood and dusted herself off before shooting Gothitelle an evil glare. She ran at the Pokémon with her fist raised, no longer worried about her well being. Blissey's fist caught a direct hit against Gothitelle's left cheek, but the Pokémon didn't even flinch against the wall-shattering attack. I felt a gasp escape from between my lips. "I don't understand, fighting should be super effective against dark types," I mumbled.

"Gothitelle's not a dark type," Annalisa explained. I looked up at the sound of her voice to see the girl smirking at me. "She's a psychic." She turned to her Pokémon. "Prove it with Psybeam!" The psychic type—as I know realized—lifted her petite hands into the air and fired a rainbow entwined psychedelic ray at Blissey, dispersing upon contact with her pink fur. She braced herself against the magical attack, squinting her left eye shut from the pain.

"Blissey, are you alright? Do you need a Softboiled?" I asked. She shook her head no and awaited my command. "Okay, well use Egg Bomb!" At my behest, she took the egg from her pouch and flung it at Gothitelle like a football. 'Wow,' I thought to myself, 'Blissey would be good at sports.' Were the situation different, I might have found myself laughing at the absurd joke, but right now I was only worried about winning this battle. It had been a while since I actually did that: worried about a battle.

The large, snowy egg landed at Gothitelle's feet and exploded, causing a cloud of dust to arise in front of her, shielding her from my view. When the brume cleared, the psychic type was gone. Blissey careened her body, searching for Gothitelle, but she was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, without warning, Gothitelle appeared next to Blissey and attacked her with Faint Attack, sending her to the ground. She stood over Blissey arrogantly to gloat, but was met with a face full of Egg Bomb and was sent hurtling backward. Blissey hopped to her feet, already holding another egg, tossing it softly upward and catching it before pitching it like a baseball at the already stunned Gothitelle.

"Good job, Bliss!" I cheered her. "Go ahead and eat a Softboiled." I've never been able to figure out how, but Blissey was somehow able to regenerate her eggs. Even if she was munching on one or using it as weapon, there always seemed to be another resting in her pouch. She gobbled up the egg and I watched as her scratches and scuffmarks slowly vanished from the nutritious diet.

Gothitelle rose to her feet and regained her composure, lightly brushing off some gravel on her shoulder. "Gothitelle, you're losing it!" Annalisa reprimanded. "Come on, you have to be able to win! That man promised us we would!" The slightly weary psychic type lifted her hands high above her head and a strange rush of energy ran to them. The psychic energy was so powerful that it sent chills down my spine and caused the hairs on my nape to rise.

"That's right, Gothitelle!" Annalisa egged her on. "Use Psycho Boost!"

The name of the move struck fear into my soul. Psycho Boost was one of the most powerful moves I had ever come in contact with. This Pokémon was strong enough as it was, but with a move like that, Blissey could be instantly knocked out. But then I remembered…

Gothitelle pointed her palms at Blissey and a powerful surge of psychic energy sped at my Pokémon. A confident grin grazed across my face as I yelled out my command. "Protect!"

Psycho Boost was a powerful move, but it required so much energy to use that it left its user very weak afterward. If Blissey could block the attack, then it wouldn't take much effort to beat Gothitelle.

The surge of energy kept spiraling through the atmosphere as Blissey raised her hands to form the protective shield. A bubble like barrier fabricated around the Pokémon and she took a step forward to give it extra support.

But, on that small feather-like step, Blissey tripped. Losing her concentration, the bubble vanished and the energy wave crashed into her, pushing her backward until she smashed into the stadium wall. The crowd gasped and I found myself doing the same.

After the smoke where Blissey crashed into the wall cleared, every saw that she was knocked out. Her body slumped over flaccidly and her eyelids neglected to twitch.

My plan had failed, the attack had landed, and the battle was over.

The announcer regained his composure and spoke wearily into the microphone. "Well, it seems that Annalisa is the winner." The crowd hesitated, but soon everyone was cheering. I knew they were celebrating her win, but it felt like they were rejoicing in my loss.

I cast my gaze up to where The Boss had been sitting to find him walking away from his seat, eyes closed, shaking his head in shame. I looked to Clover and found her looking away from the arena, avoiding eye contact with me.

I, Nicole Young, the Scarlet Arrow, had lost.