Disclaimer: If I owned pokémon, I wouldn't have dumbed down FrLg to an insulting level.
Author's Notes: This is my first shot at a pokémon fanfic in years. Nonetheless, my muse has been using my brain as his bukakke (Hint: Look that up) bitch, so I've been unable to ignore the urge to take up writing one. This is combining some elements from the manga, and familiar aspects of the games.
Full Potential - Chapter One: God of Clichés
"So. The Pokémon League, huh?" The charizard offered no speculation, just tilted his chin up as Sydney Getz rubbed his jaw. "It's taken us six years to get here," she mumbled softly. The charizard grumbled as she pat his neck and pulled away to get dressed.
Sydney pulled on a collared tee-shirt and jeans that were too long in the leg.
Charizard adjusted his wings as she pulled on her sneakers and mumbled to herself about having to choose her three pokémon for her upcoming battle that day. He watched absently, his tail flame crackling quietly against his chest and away from furniture in the bedroom, while Sydney checked the balls on her belt, decided all was well, and detached his own pokéball. "Return!" The red beam gripped the fire-type's form and pulled him back into his ball.
The seventeen-year-old sighed deeply, readying herself for the days' events. She was already registered; she had done that the night before, upon arriving at the Plateau. After pulling on her plain black hoodie (her mother hated that she wore it because of its sheer size compared to her small frame), she left the room and made her way out with the numerous other trainers.
She noticed, as she walked, that she seemed to be at least a few years older than some of the other first-time trainers. This didn't surprise her in the least, however; it had taken her, between school, traveling, and family, a good number of years to get some of her pokémon, let alone train them. But, she supposed, it was well worth it.
The lines for getting your position in the preliminary rounds were long, but not terrible. Sydney knew she would be going during the afternoon, so she would have a little time to wander around the Plateau, maybe grab some food, or try to get some looks at other trainers' pokémon. She might have been confident, but she was fully aware that she was the (or one of the many, really) underdog here.
As the line shortened steadily, she began to grow anxious, half-expecting to run into an old rival somewhere along the way. How cheesy novel-cliché.
"Sydney!" But clichés were clichés for a reason, she supposed.
"Hi, Liz." Liz Terri, the prim-and-proper daddy's-little-angel-gone-bad. Her hair was cut short and dyed a platinum blonde, and she wore honey coloured contacts. Sydney noted, gratefully, that her style had toned down; while they had traveled together for a brief time, she had liked to show off her body for attention. Now, however, she wore a long sleeve black shirt with an orange jacket over it—the sleeves of the jacket were shorter than those of the shirt, which fell past her wrists—and a pair of form fitting jeans which fell around her sneakers at the hems—a push towards flattering modesty, and it looked brilliant on her, Sydney decided.
Liz embraced Sydney passionately, kissing her cheek in a manner to imply they'd always been best of friends. Despite popular belief, Sydney and Liz had developed their relationship only so far as rivalry.
Cheesy novel, indeed.
"So how've you been?" Liz enquired, pulling off of Sydney and settling back in line. Sydney brushed some of her own long, dark blonde hair from her face as she spoke.
"Fine," she answered. "Training's been great."
"Oh, that's all you think about," Liz teased. "Daddy hired people to train my team for me before I got here."
"Really? Has your team changed any?"
"Of course. It's been three years. Daddy and I went all around the world looking for the strongest pokémon." Liz, a dark trainer as Sydney knew her, had some good choices for "strongest" then. If she still was a dark trainer, that was, or went by actual strength, instead of looks.
"Well, that sounds ... fun," Sydney started, rubbing her shoulder. It was a bad habit she'd developed when she was nervous or intimidated. Liz knew this, and liked to use it to her advantage.
Only ten people stood between the girls and choosing their opponents, and the rather cliché meeting with Liz suggested they would be battling soon, if not first.
"Oh, totally fun," Liz answered, shifting her weight onto one foot. "You know, with my luck, we'll only be able to watch each other battle from the sidelines." Liz's full lips pulled into a pout.
"Somehow I doubt that," Sydney mumbled.
"Getz, Sydney?" She looked away from Liz's gaze, the curiosity in her rival's eyes making her strangely attractive in an intriguing, emotional aspect. She pulled away, approaching the desk. The woman running that line's registration smiled sweetly at her.
"Good morning," she chirped. Sydney just nodded back. "If you'll pick a ball from the box, we'll pair you with your opponent for your battle this afternoon."
She pushed her hand into the lidded box and fished around for a little bit, as if waiting for a divine nudge that would point her to the "right" ball. Finally, she gripped one of the ping pong balls and pulled it out to stare at its numbers.
"Well?" the woman prompted.
"T-four-seven-five-nine," she answered.
"Lovely! Liz Terri is your opponent!"
"Awesome!" Liz squeaked, nearly pouncing on her rival. Sydney squirmed at this, but did nothing to push her off. On the screen above the desk, her picture popped up, next to Liz's.
"Well, you two will be battling on the Plane Field, at three o'clock this afternoon," the registry woman continued, handing a ticket with all of the information to each of them. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Sydney murmured under her breath.
"Let's go grab something to eat, huh?" Liz offered, tugging Sydney along.
"Yeah, sure." They would have a lot of catching up to do.
Liz Terri brushed a strand of hair behind her ear lazily as she munched on a French fry. If she knew Sydney, and she fancied she did, the other girl had been doing nothing but analyzing her own pokémon and the other trainers' pokémon.
There had been a couple arguing over which pokémon to use in their battles, and both teens had put down their cheeseburgers to analyze and comment on how poor any of their choices were.
Liz mused how that was quite possibly the closest they'd ever been. "You asked me about my team," she started. "So how about yours?"
"Hmm?" Sydney looked up from her burger. "Oh. I've traded out some old members, but I'm not telling which ones." Liz frowned. As far as she knew, "some" could have meant "all but one." That didn't help; however, she hadn't expected cautious Sydney to answer in a way that would expose any secrets.
"Still obsessive over dragons?" she prompted, sucking some of her soda through her straw.
"You could say that," her rival answered, cracking a half-smile.
"Oh?" Sydney nodded, but didn't elaborate. Liz shrugged and stretched out her legs as she looked at the clock. "It's almost three," she announced. "I'll get the bill."
"Welcome trainers! This looks like it will be a great battle. We have Sydney Getz from Pallet Town in the red box, for her first time in the Pokémon League. In the green trainer box, we have Liz Terri from Rustboro City in the Hoenn Region! This is her second appearance in the League; let's see how far she can get this year's competition!"
Somehow the announcer (and the burger from lunch) did nothing to calm Sydney's nerves. If nothing else, they made her rub her shoulder uncomfortably and tremble under the gazes of thousands of fans in the stadium; she didn't even want to think about the fans (including her family) watching this battle on live television.
Liz, on the other hand, looked perfectly at home surrounded by eager trainers and pokémon lovers alike. She grinned and waved joyously, looking into television cameras and at small children in the crowd. Sydney couldn't take her hazel eyes from Liz's confident composure, pondering how she possibly managed it.
The judge decided then to speak: "Trainers ready? This will be a three-on-three battle, with no time restraints. Begin!"