The sun was rising, reflecting off the glass ceilings of the Pokéathlon Dome, as Heather finished her warm-up jog with her Pokémon at Johto's National Park. Reaching back to adjust her long and dark brown, windswept hair, she approached the building confidently.
This was the tenth time Heather would be competing in the open-class Pokéathlon. By winning this Pokéathlon, she would be allowed to compete in the Pokéathlon's Supreme Cup. Usually, Heather spent her time competing on the Power or Speed Courses, but today, a special tournament was being held, pushing trainers through a five-day competition containing all ten the Pokéathlon's events. Not only would she gain access to the Supreme Course, but she would have her name forever engraved into a plaque inside the dome's trophy room and be remembered as a champion.
Heather was greeted with smiles and waves as she entered the Pokéathlon Dome. As a quickly rising rookie, she was becoming quite well-known at the Johto Pokéathlon. The woman at the front desk, Elle, who was around Heather's age, greeted her cheerily as well. The Pokéathlete retrieved her ID from the light-yellow drawstring-bag strapped to her back and slid the card across the counter to Elle. In turn, Elle made small talk while scanning Heather's Pokéathlete ID to register her for the tournament.
"Earling morning, huh?" Elle said, yawning as she greeted her friend.
"Not for me," Heather smirked, feeling wide awake because of nerves.
"Are those new shorts?" Elle squealed, admiring the aqua, mesh athletic shorts Heather wore. "Did you get those for today? They totally match your head honcho," Elle continued, referring to Heather's Feraligatr who was continually her team's point leader.
"Yeah, they are! Thanks," Heather blushed, feeling self-conscious and pulling her short shorts down an inch.
"I'm rooting for you today—don't tell anyone!" Elle whispered before laughing loudly. She handed Heather's ID back to her over the counter.
"Thanks, Elle. At least someone is. I hear Lilith has been waiting to take me out as soon as I get into the Supreme Cup," Heather replied. "She's had some kind of problem with me ever since I defeated her at Professor's Elm lab seven years ago when we first got our Pokémon."
"Lilith is all talk! She thinks she's special because she's a gym leader now. It doesn't give her any superiority over anyone else in this competition," Elle sighed, turning to her computer and typing something into a form.
"Are you two going to chat all day, or are you going to do your job?"
Heather turned around on the spot to see who the rude comment had come from. She had never spoken to the boy who stood behind her, only seen him competing on some of the Stamina and Power Courses with her. He was also her age, around eighteen, and had shoulder-length red hair that was pulled back into a slick ponytail. The boy was slim, but had broad shoulders, which a black t-shirt stretched over.
"Excuse me, sir," Elle sneered sarcastically, "but we employees at the Pokéathlon reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
"I just need to register for the tournament, please," the boy scoffed, sliding his ID over the counter. Heather glanced down at it, trying to find his name before Elle pulled it away.
"Ah, Spade Deno," Elle mumbled, recognizing his name. "Can't remember you being so rude any other time I've registered you."
"Usually you're doing your job," Spade grumbled, looking away from Elle. She slapped his ID back on the black marble counter, and he snatched it up, hurrying to the locker rooms.
"Some people," Elle grinned, watching as Spade slipped into the back hallway. "He's such a cutie, though."
Heather shook her head at her friend's antics, giggling to herself. "Yeah, if you say so, Elle. I better get going so I'm not late when they call us into the stadium."
"Good luck!" Elle called after as Heather made her way to the women's locker room.
"Thanks, again!" Heather turned to wave, before dashing down the hallway Spade had recently disappeared down.
Heather was ambushed by two blondes as she pushed through the girl's locker room door, her friend Clover, and cousin, Trina. Clover was shorter than Trina by about a foot, and younger than the cousins by a year. Clover wore her hair down while Trina had hers in the same fashion as Heather. They crushed her in hug, both talking animatedly about the competition.
"My brother is competing today!" Heather was able to make out of Clover's squealing, while from Trina, she managed to hear, "I'm scared! I heard there is a former Pokéathlon Tournament champion from Hoenn competing today!"
"Guys, chill," Heather gasped, forcing her friends to release their grip on her. "First, Clover, I'm glad to hear your brother is competing. He hasn't participated in a competition here for a while. Trina—calm down. We just all have to do our best, no matter who we're up against."
"Oh, Heather, you're so inspiring," a girl jeered sardonically, approaching the other three. "I'm sure you're giving your pathetic friends lots of hope."
"Lauren," Heather said curtly, turning around slowly to face the chimp-faced girl. Her hair was pulled back in the same fashion as Heather's—a high ponytail. Heather fingers instantly itched to remove her hair from its binding.
"Wow, you look great today," Lauren continued in the same tone of voice, looking Heather down from head to toe. Heather pulled down on the hem of her red t-shirt nervously and straightened her shorts.
"Too bad I can't say the same for you," Heather muttered, feeling pathetic. She was looking steadily down at the ground.
"Attention all Pokéathletes! Attention, all Pokéathletes!" Elle's voice rang over the building's PA system. "Please report to the main stadium with your first three Pokémon for the first event. That is all!"
"Guess I'll see you out there," Lauren smirked, turning on her heel, and marching out the locker room door into the stadium.
Heather sighed, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and running her fingers through her hair to smooth it. She then grabbed her bag that contained her Poké Balls and turned back to her friends. "Let's get out there."
"Don't worry, Heather! We'll all show her!" Clover cheered, grasping her friends' arms and dragging them out onto the field.
"Yeah, you'll do great," another snide voice said sarcastically. Heather grunted, but did not respond as Lilith bumped Heather's shoulder hard while passing her to enter the field.
The crowd roared as the Pokéathletes entered the stadium. Some held pink or green fluorescent posters with names of Pokéathletes and their Pokémon, cheering them on to victory. Heather grinned as she spotted several sporting her name, surrounded by the names of her beloved Pokémon.
"You see that, Heather?" Clover asked, pointing out one of the signs. "People know you're someone worth cheering for. You always do great in these competitions."
"Thanks," Heather muttered meekly, giving a quick hug to her younger friend.
"But that's not to say that I won't beat you!" Brogan, another one of Heather's friends, laughed, approaching the two with a grin. Her hair, recently dyed a pinkish-violet color, was pulled into a tight ponytail, half her bangs draping over her tanned face. With a toss of her head, her bangs were thrown back.
"Brogan!" Heather exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"Neither did I," Brogan shrugged. "That is, until Aerodactyl flew me here on a whim."
"I wish I had a Pokémon to fly on," Clover sighed dreamily. "But Shelgon and Swablu are yet to evolve."
"Clover, I told you not to worry about that!" Deka finally made his appearance, coming up behind his sister. "Hey, Heather—Brogan. You guys seen Trina?"
"She came out here with us, but—"
"Wooper!" A boy, the same age as Heather and her friends, pushed through their social circle, chasing a small, blue Pokémon that ran through the feet of the Pokéathletes.
"Woopa!" the Pokémon cried back, diving in between the legs of Lauren, who shrieked loudly.
Heather watched the brown-haired boy run. A grin tugged on the corners of her mouth as the boy dived for his Wooper, knocking over Rachael, another rather obnoxious competitor. "There sure are some idiots in the competition. But then again, there's a Hoenn champion competing this time—he must be great."