Author's Notes: Well, it took some time, but Chapter 7 has finally arrived. Bella finally gets her chance in the spotlight as she competes in her first contest. No poll at the end of the story today. And I apologize for my last poll because I noticed it hadn't gone through. Thats getting annoying. Anyways, don't forget to read and review. It is comments from viewers like you that make it all worthwhile. That, and all the spare time I eat up working on this XD.
Will lightly tapped his foot as he waited for his mother to pick up the phone. At the moment he and Bella were in the Amarillo City Pokémon Center, and Will realized he had forgotten to call home about his gym match success. Besides, he also wanted to show off his newly evolved Wartortle, who was currently munching happily Pokefood alongside the rest of Will's Pokémon.
Eventually the screen popped up and, and just like the last time he called home, Jigglypuff had answered.
"Jiggly?" It asked, before it recognized Will and let out a small squeal of joy. Will smiled slightly and asked if his mom was home. The pink Pokémon nodded yes, and called out towards an off-screen figure. Within a moment, Will's mom was on the phone.
"Oh, I was starting to wonder if you were going to call again, honey. So tell me, how did the gym battle go?"
"You tell me," Will replied with a grin as he pulled out the badge from the Verde Town gym, making sure that it was visible to his mom.
"Honey, that's wonderful!" His mom exclaimed in congratulations.
"That's not all. Squirtle just evolved into a Wartortle earlier today. Hey Wartortle, let my mom get a good look at you," Will called out to the Turtle Pokémon, moving aside to let his mom get a good view. Wartortle just continued to sit and munch his food, though he did give a small wave to say hello.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you're taking good care of your Pokémon. If you weren't, Grandpa would probably come and beat you down." She said with a small laugh, even if they both knew that would have been the result if Wartortle and the others weren't taken care of.
"So then, your Grandpa tells me you're traveling with a girl named… Bella was it?" She asked, and Will's face started blushing. He wasn't sure that his mom approved or disapproved of his travelling with Bella, so he just nodded a yes.
"While I'm not to sure if you should be doing that, you're old enough to make up your own mind. Besides, your Grandpa said she looked like a nice girl, although I don't have complete faith in his taste of women."
Will was so hoping that Bella wasn't hanging around the phones listening to this conversation. His mother and he exchanged a few more small comments, with him letting her know where he was and how he was doing while she nagged him about eating right, being hygienic, and all the other stuff moms bug their kids about. Eventually Will finished talking with her, and after a quick round of 'I love you' he hung up.
"So Bella, anybody you want to call, or are you good?"
Will glanced over to his friend when she refused to respond - silence the only answer that was to come from her. His brow furrowed when he saw her sitting at a dining booth only about three feet away, using her fork to play with her food, but never taking a bite. He moved over to the table and slid into the booth opposite of her. "Hey, are you okay?"
Bella sighed, resting her hand on her cheek and looking at the plate of food with lack of appetite. Eevee, who was sitting on the faux leather booth next to her, looked up at his trainer with wide worried eyes at her lack of response and hunger. "Nervous, I guess," she mumbled, finally answering him. "The prospect of the Contest tomorrow is making me feel nauseous."
"But, you've been in Contests before, haven't you?" Will asked, feeling slightly confused as he leaned over the table to look at his friend better. "In Kanto, I mean. Sure, this is your first Contest here, but you've got the experience it takes to win. Besides, I've seen you battle and your combinations are really good. Team Twilight never could have predicted your next move yesterday."
She sighed again, still rolling the food around on her plate with her fork. "Thanks, I guess," she murmured. Not really looking at either Will or Eevee, she abruptly stood up and took her plate full of food in hand to throw the remains in the trash bin. When she returned, she took her seat again and stared down at her folded hands, sitting on the surface of the table.
"Have you decided which of your Pokémon you're going to use yet?" Will asked, feeling curious. At first, he believed she would make her appeals with Eevee, since he was the most experience. But as she moved to work with her other Pokémon, he became uncertain. Heck, there was even a possibility in his mind that she would use her new Trapinch.
"I'm going to compete in the appeal round with Vulpix," she said after a long pause. Next to her, Eevee narrowed his eyes and looked away at her decision. "But I'm going to use Eevee in the battling round. I can trust him to get us all the way to the winning round. Besides, he's had the most practice, in appeals and in battling."
Upon hearing that Eevee's glare softened, and he gently nuzzled Bella's side. Will, on the other hand, wasn't too sure about the choice.
"But are you really sure using Vulpix is a good idea? I mean his trainer just recently abandoned him. I would think that would cause some lack of self-confidence." Will replied.
"Just earlier today you were all hopped up on the 'We can do' feeling, and now you're second guessing abilities? What's with the change in heart?" Bella asked, a bit confused by Will's switch in attitude.
Will wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had noticed the apparent flip-flop, but at the same time he wasn't that sure what caused it. It was possible he had been a bit overconfident in facing Team Twilight, since he had run into them before. Or maybe winning a Gym badge had just caused an emotional high that caused his logic to be faulty. Either way, there was a contradiction.
"Uh, well, I'm not to sure. I guess I just wasn't thinking straight earlier, and now that I've calmed down some my head is a bit clearer?" He said, rubbing the back of his head, an unconscious act acknowledging his own confusion. Bella just gave him a suspicious look, possibly catching onto his own confusion, before leaning on the table.
"Well, whether or not you're thinking straight, I'm going to use Vulpix tomorrow, and I know we are going to win."
Upset with her friend's obvious lack of confidence in her choice, Bella let her emotions get the better of her as she stood up from the table and began to walk out of the cafeteria. She paused in walking, and without looking back, she said, "I'm tired, and I'd like to get some sleep for the Contest tomorrow so I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." And with that, she continued with the short trek to her room.
As his trainer continued to walk to the trainer rooms, Eevee jumped to his paws, looking startled. She had never just left him behind before. Without a second glance at Will, he quickly stood up and jumped off the seat's edge of the booth to follow Bella. He paused, much like his trainer. He, however, turned around to send Will and apologetic glance. "Uree!"
Will watched Eevee follow his trainer out of one of the main rooms of the Pokémon Center with a glum look. Bella had never acted much like this with him before, and to say he was worried was an understatement. He sighed, as he too stood up from his seat to make his way to his own room. At least his friend had the right idea - it was getting late, and he didn't want to fall asleep during Bella's appeal tomorrow. It was time for bed.
Bella was almost sick to her stomach as she waited backstage at the contest hall in Amarillo City. She could hear the roaring crowds that were eagerly awaiting the appeals to begin. Eevee was snuggling up against her, trying to calm his trainer down a bit, even if he was a bit nervous himself.
Will had made his way backstage to talk to Bella before the show. He had woken up a bit late, and had missed her that morning so he was trying to make up for it. The only problem is that he had no clue where to start looking. He couldn't see her usual black newsboy cap anywhere. It was because of this that he jumped a little when he heard someone call his name.
Will looked over the girl's clothing. It was a medium length white dress, ruffling a bit near the bottom. The sleeves were really short, barely going past the shoulders. They too were ruffled. She was also wearing a black vest as well as a pair of black ballet flats, and it was those two things that made Will realize who he was looking at. That and the Eevee that was currently glaring at him, subtlety of course.
"Bella? I'm sorry I didn't recognize you earlier. I didn't recognize you without your hat," he commented.
"It's not that big of a change is it?" Bella replied nervously. She had really liked the dress, but if Will couldn't tell the difference between her normal clothes and her coordinator outfit, would anyone else in the region?
"No, no, I'm just really oblivious at times. I was trying to locate you by your cap… Anyway, how are you holding up?" Will asked, trying to shift the subject away from his failure to recognize Bella.
"I'm doing fine for the most part. I'm a bit nervous though. The crowds are a bit bigger than I thought they would be for my first contest in the region."
"Well, Amarillo City is the largest city in the region. Heck, even the Grand Festival gets held here every once in awhile," Will replied, realizing that the statement probably wouldn't help her that much, "but I'm sure that you'll do great. You've already competed in Contests in Kanto, so it's not like you'll be surprised by anything?'
"That's true, but even with that in mind I can't help but be nervous. I'm sure once I'm out there on stage I'll be fine… and so will Vulpix," Bella added, remembering their conversation from the night before.
Before Will could get a reply, the crowd began to go wild, and the announcer began to speak.
"Welcome everyone to Amarillo City, where coordinators from all around the Perslas Region compete to win this ribbon, and once they have gotten five of them they will qualify for the Grand Festival. Now then, let's introduce our judges…"
"So then, I guess I should get going then?" Will said as the announcer continued on with her introduction to the show, "See you after the show then."
With that Will left to go find himself a seat, and Bella nearly jumped out of her skin when the Contest announcer began to talk into the microphone once again, "Alright, now our first contestant is here all the way from Kanto, give it up for Bella! It's her first Contest here in Perslas, but she's competed in many Contests in Kanto, so this should be a treat for you all!"
Bella took a sharp intake of breath as she grabbed Vulpix's Pokeball and gently slid it into a ball capsule that she had bought the day before. Eevee's eyes narrowed as he noticed that his trainer's hands were trembling as she placed a fire-seal over the front of the ball capsule. She turned to look at him with nervous eyes.
"Wish me luck, Eevee," she said, her voice trembling slightly. Minding her dress, she knelt down carefully to get the Evolution Pokémon's head. "You stay here while I make my appeal. I'll meet you in the back when I'm done, okay? Or you can go hang out with Will in the audience."
Bella lifted herself back onto her feet with another nervous intake of breath. Her eyes slid shut for a moment as she concentrated on only her breathing. Her eyes snapped back open, and Eevee was surprised at the confidence and determination in her eyes. Taking one last glance at her Pokémon, she stepped out onto the stage and into the spotlight.
"Center stage, Vulpix, let's show them all what you can do!" Bella exclaimed with a new burst of confidence and smiling all the way, and she tossed the Pokeball into the air to release her Pokémon. "Use Sunny Day!"
Vulpix emerged from her Pokeball with a burst of flames, a seal Bella clearly picked to show off her Pokémon's abilities. The Fox Pokémon landed on the ground, only to spring up from it like she was on a trampoline. She somersaulted in mid-air as her whole body became enveloped in a bright light, signaling her use of Sunny Day. As Vulpix landed and the light that encased her body faded, the Contest stadium became bright with light from the sun. The rays of light cascaded down on Vulpix, enhancing the red-gold highlights in her fur.
As the audience 'ohh' appropriately, Bella smiled widely; things were all going according to plan. "Okay Vulpix," she said, again, ready to call out another move to Vulpix to beautify. "Kick start this with Fire Spin!"
Vulpix, however, was no where near as order-ready and confident as she was before. Her tawny eyes were wide and unblinking as she stared at the audience with what could only be described as fear in her eyes. The Fox Pokémon's body began to tremble as the enormous size of the audience continued to intimidate the fire-fox.
"Vulpix? Vulpix, are you okay?" Bella said worriedly with a glance at the audience, who had gone oddly quiet with random murmurs here and there at the frozen Pokémon. "Vulpix, we don't have to do this… Um, we can leave at anytime if you're not ready. But you know what, the audience isn't something to be afraid of – they want to see you perform! That's what they're here for, but if you want to leave…"
At the sound of Bella's defeated voice, telling her that they could leave and that it didn't matter, Vulpix snapped out of her frozen state. Not bothering to look at her trainer, she tilted her head up and blasted out a spiral of flames from their mouth that reached higher and higher into the air. "Pix!" she cried, knowing exactly what she was supposed to do since they had practiced their routine the day before.
Soon, however, the flames from the Fire Spin attack became so large that they actually gradually developed into an actual spinning vortex. Vulpix finally stopped shooting the spinning flames from her mouth, and let the vortex wrap around her so that she was unseen and trapped inside of it.
Bella grinned, feeling proud that Vulpix actually got over her stage fright on her own. She would have left and forfeit the Contest if Vulpix wasn't feeling up to it. She wasn't one to force her Pokémon to do something they didn't want to. "Great job, Vulpix," she exclaimed, "Could you please finish this up with a Will-O-Wisp?"
"Vuuul…" The center of the vortex emitted a soft blue glow in the shapes of Vulpix's eyes signaling the beginning of a Will-O-Wisp attack. Four other small glows suddenly appeared above what was thought to be the Fox Pokémon's head, signalizing that the small blue flames of the attack had been formed.
The audience awed once more, but this time from fascination rather than the beauty or appeal of the combination as the four blue flames began to move around in a circular motion from within the still-spiraling vortex of flames. The Will-O-Wisp moved outward each time the flames completed a loop, where they finally broke through the tornado – completely shattering it.
Embers fell down from the sky like rain from the now-demolished fire vortex, and Vulpix showed off her speed as well as dodging the small flames by using a Quick Attack. The trail of sparkles mingled with the falling embers, creating another beautiful scene for the audience to admire.
Their appeal ended as the flames and sparkled finally died down, and Vulpix bounded over to her, nimbly jumping into her trainer's awaiting arms. Bella giggled, hugging her Pokémon close as the crowd went wild. Even though they had a rocky start, they still pulled it off at making a beautiful appeal. Vulpix jumped out of Bella's arms, allowing her to courtesy to the audience before they both headed backstage to allow the next coordinator to perform.
Up in the audience, Will had been eyeing the performance with a tinge of envy. It was a beautiful sight, and in battle the vortex would be an excellent shield. He was a little miffed he never thought of doing something like that. This was, however, Bella's day, and he quickly got such thoughts out of his head. He looked next to him at Wartortle, who he had let out to enjoy the show. A small laugh escaped from him as he noticed the turtle Pokémon looked absolutely enthralled by the Vulpix's show.
"Bella, you need to stay out her for a moment so the judges can give you a score," the announcer said, motioning for Bella to return to the stage. Bella rushed back over, her face turning red as she blushed in embarrassment. She apologized for forgetting, and then stood nervously in anticipation of the judges' scores. "Now let's here about Bella's performance from our judges; first up is our very own Nurse Joy from Amarillo City!"
"That was an excellent performance, Bella," she said truthfully. "Although, I do suggest that you work on improving your Vulpix's confidence. Stage fright is a terrible thing for a Pokémon to have in the middle of a Contest. You were very sensitive in knowing your Pokémon's limits. Maybe it wasn't quite ready for its Contest début?"
"Wow!" the announcer exclaimed as Nurse Joy finished up her comments on Bella and Vulpix's appeal. "That was some great praise and advice from our very own Nurse Joy! Now let's move onto our next judge, president of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"
"Well, I'd have to say that the two started off a little shaky," the small bald man began hesitantly, hands folded together on his lap. "But the appeal afterword was truly remarkable! A beautiful sight to see indeed."
At Nurse Joy and Mr. Sukizo's praise, Bella was feeling a little more than relieved. She knew Vulpix's limits, especially which it had just gone through a traumatic event in its life. While she knew the Fox Pokémon had already done a great job, she was glad to see that its small moment of stage fright hadn't ruined everything.
There was, however, one more judge left to go, and this one Bella didn't know. The man was dressed a bit strange, with a yellow jacket with red spots on the arms being paired up with a pair of dark jeans. His head was topped off with a messy mop of red hair, but Bella was more interested in his face. At the moment, his hands were propping it up, and he was staring at her and Vulpix intensely. It was kind of disturbing, and she had a feeling the guy wasn't going to be giving a good score.
"So then Duke, what do you have to say about Bella's flaming performance?" the announcer asked, completely interested in the man's answer. All eyes were on the man, and up in the stands Will's head perked up at the mention of the name. He thought the man looked familiar, but he'd talk to Bella about it after the judging.
"Sorry about that," he said suddenly with a low chuckle as he straighten up in his seat. "I was only trying to raise the tension. It makes things more fun." Duke cleared his throat in attempt to bring a more serious atmosphere into the hall. "Well, I'd have to say that Bella's handling of Vulpix's stage fright wasn't very impressive at all. Although she didn't panic, she offered to quit instead of pushing through it. Quitting should only be a last resort in any situation. The performance afterword was brilliant though. Her combinations were well thought out and displayed."
"Wow, what as well thought out answer from Duke!" the announcer cried into her microphone. "I would expect nothing less from him." She motioned for Bella to head backstage as she turned back from the judges to the audience. "And now, let's move on to our next contestant!"
Bella sighed as he moved through the backstage area to where the other Coordinators were waiting for their own turns. As soon as she plopped down into a bench, minding her dress of course, Eevee jumped out from beneath it and sat next to her. Mimicking Eevee's actions, Vulpix jumped up onto the bench on Bella's other side, nuzzling her hand and looking apologetic.
"Didn't Vulpix do great, Eevee?" she asked to her shiny Pokémon, looking down at him with a look of pride on her face. Her eyes narrowed suddenly. "Duke didn't think so, though. But then again, he doesn't know what Vulpix has been through either. I suppose he has a right to think things like that."
Both Eevee and Vulpix didn't know how to answer, so silence ensued in the backstage room of the Contest hall, save for the chatter of other Coordinators and the announcer's voice through the speakers of the TV that was provided to allow Coordinators waiting backstage to watch the competition.
Time passed, and Bella kept herself busy throughout the rest of the appeal round by watching the other Coordinator's performances on the TV with mild interest, looking down at her Pokémon or glancing around the room every so often. There was an appeal, however, that really began to make her nervous.
From the audience, Will worriedly stared at the performance that was happening right in front of his eyes. The Coordinator's name was Lily, and she and her Espeon were in perfect sync as she asked it politely for a Psybeam attack, and then to follow up with Psychic. The Sun Pokémon complied, making different multicolored pictures in midair by controlling the flow and shape of colors from the previous Psybeam attack.
Bella had to be getting worried by this point, Will presumed as the judges commented on Lily and her Espeon's marvelous appeal, saying nothing but good things about the Sun Pokémon's performance. But then, however, it was time for the final count for Coordinators who made it into the second round.
Pictures of Coordinators appeared on the screen one by one, and Will searched nervously for a picture of Bella. Scanning through the faces of ten or so Coordinators that made it through the first round, Will nearly fell of his seat as he sighed in relief, finally spotting a picture of Bella in the last couple of photos.
Before he could get up to visit Bella before the next round, the pictures began to be rearranged into pairs in order to show who would be battling who in the next round. Upon seeing Bella being placed up against the Lily girl, Will hoped that Bella wouldn't get nervous.
Backstage, Bella watched the same pairing up of trainers, and her stomach sank as she saw she was placed up against Lily. Eevee, who at that point had almost collapsed due to boredom, perked up upon sensing Bella's unease. He looked up at the screen, remembering the girl and her Espeon from earlier, but he quickly huffed as if she was nothing. Sure, the Espeon knew some fancy tricks with a Psybeam, but he was an expert at coordinator battles.
Bella heard the little fox's huff, and had to laugh a little as she ruffled his fur. "You sound pretty confident, Eevee. Guess I should take a bit of a lesson from you."
"Uree," Eevee replied, giving Bella a bit of a toothy grin to show that he understood what she had meant by the comment; the pleasant feeling of her hand messing with his fur also helped.
"Vulpix," the other fox Pokémon cried, cuddling up next to Bella to try and get into the scene. Bella used her free hand to pet her, and soon she started to feel better herself. She didn't really care if Duke didn't enjoy her performance, or if Lily was a good coordinator. Her Pokémon were not going to let her down, and that was all she was going to need to win this contest.
Just then Will made his way into the room and made a beeline for Bella. He still thought she would be a bit depressed, but he breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her happy and surrounded by her Pokémon. "So, I guess you're not too bummed out by Duke and Lily?"
"At first I was, but it's kind of hard to be sad when these two are cuddling up against you," she replied with a laugh.
"They are pretty adorable," Will said, rubbing his hand across Eevee's head. He pulled back though when he heard the Pokémon growl. "I guess he still doesn't like me that much."
"He's just being overprotective. I'm sure he'll get over it soon, riiight Eevee?" Bella said, looking down on her partner. He just looked up at her innocently, but the sound of the speakers turning on drew everyone's attention.
"Bella and Lily, your presence is requested on the field."
With that brief message, Bella knew that it was time to get moving. She had a battle, and therefore a contest, to win. She said a brief goodbye to Will, who headed back to the audience to watch the battle. He had never really watched a contest battle before, and he was very interested to see how they differed from gym battles. Bella headed towards the stage, and took her spot on the field soon after she recalled Eevee into his Pokeball.
From here she could get a much better look at Lily then she could have on the television screen. Her dress was sparkly, medium-length blue one that just forced you to pay attention to her. At the moment her long, blond hair was draped over her shoulder, but in preparation for the battle she was currently moving it behind her. As for her eyes, Bella could tell by the determination in them that Lily wasn't going to be a push over. This was going to be match to remember.
"Alright you contest fans; it's time for the second round Field Battle to begin. Our first set of contestants is Bella and Lily!" the announcer exclaimed with much rigor, pumping a fist up into the air with excitement. "The timer is set for five minutes! Now… begin!"
"Center stage, Eevee!" Bella exclaimed with a flick of her wrist as she tossed Eevee's capsule covered Pokeball into the air. The silver-fox appeared with a somersault through a flurry of golden stars that flew out from his Pokeball with him due to the star seal that Bella had previously placed on it.
"Curtain call, Espeon!" Lily exclaimed as she tossed her Pokeball into the air with grace, spinning around with a small twirl as she did so. The Pokeball cracked open, tossing confetti all over the place as Espeon emerged through it, landing on her feet as gracefully as a cat. "Start off with Psychic and then use Iron Tail!"
"Espeee…" The Sun Pokémon hummed as her eyes brightened with a blue glow. From across the field, Eevee struggled against her Psychic hold as he was outlined in the same blue glow, and lifted into the air. Once Eevee was immobile, Espeon dashed forward, the Psychic attack still holding strong, and her tailed glowed white.
"Wait for it… wait for it," Bella muttered to herself under her breath as she watched Espeon dash forward with calculating eyes. Finally, when Espeon jumped into the air to attack the still petrified Eevee with her Iron Tail, she used her chance. "Use Bite, now, Eevee!"
Instead of Espeon's Iron Tail making contact with Eevee as an attack, the Evolution Pokémon clamped his fangs around her tail, making sure that he had a strong hold. Espeon screeched in pain, and her Psychic hold was finally shattered, and the two fell to the ground. Eevee landed gracefully on his feet, while Espeon toppled to the ground on her back. Her tail still in his mouth, he spun around and flung the Sun Pokémon.
Espeon was thrown to the ground with a thud, causing Lily to gasp at her Pokémon's dazed state. "Espeon, stand back up and use Quick Attack!" Lily ordered. "And then use Psybeam to cloak yourself while using Quick Attack!"
"Spee spee spee!" Espeon said as she used her Quick Attack as soon as she was standing on all four legs again. Sparkles and a flash of light trailed around behind her, and as soon as she gained considerable speed, she used a Psybeam and the rainbow-colored beam encased her whole body as she dashed forward, making it almost as if it were a Flame Wheel or Volt Tackle.
"Shadow Ball, Eevee!" Bella ordered, knowing exactly what she was doing, since that had just perfected the combination prior to that day. Eevee followed his trainer's command, and he opened his jaws as a sphere of black energy grew at the back of his throat. Snapping his jaws shut, the Shadow Ball took off and hurled itself toward the oncoming Espeon.
Eevee had a feeling he knew what Bella was thinking, so there was no need for an exchange of words or orders between the two. Espeon was moving too quickly to dodge the attack, and the shadowy sphere slammed into her, effectively breaking the Psybeam and stopping her Quick Attack all at once as she took the hit. Still recovering from the blow, she didn't even have time to blink as Eevee flew toward her, clamping his jaws around one of her forelegs with a Bite attack.
The Espeon struggled to free itself of Eevee, shaking its leg with as much force as possible. Eevee's hold proved to be too much, however, and it soon gave up on that. Tired out, it collapsed on the ground.
Up in the stand, Will had been watching the entire battle with interest. Eevee had many advantages over the Espeon. The Bite and Shadow Ball attacks were great against Psychic attacks, and Eevee seemed to move much faster than Espeon. The poor thing never even got much of a chance to attack. The circle next to Lily's picture on the television screen showed all of this as her points began to rapidly deplete.
With Espeon down, Eevee decided to finally let go and began to walk back towards Bella. Bella, meanwhile, was filled to almost bursting with excitement. She had been so worried about the match, and her she was winning it with her points almost completely filled. It had been easy, though she had this nagging feeling that it was almost too easy to believe.
A few seconds later, she found out why she had that feeling. Eevee yelped as a blast of Psybeam hit him straight in the back. Everyone gasped with confusion, but turning towards Espeon they found that the Pokémon had gotten back on its feet, eyes glowing a deep blue. The Psybeam was covered with a blue aura, and was currently pummeling Eevee.
As the Psychic-led Psybeam continued to attack Eevee over and over, Bella noticed that it was slowly raising Eevee into the air.
"Eevee, try and pull off a Shadow Ball and break loose."
But the order proved vain as every time Eevee had a moment to collect the necessary energy, the Psybeam would return to pummel him. Eventually the attack began to fade as the Psybeam's energy drained, but not before a large chunk of Bella's points were dropped. She was about even with Lily now, but she knew it wasn't over yet.
"Alright then Espeon, let's finish this up. Use Quick Attack to gain some momentum, and then hit him with hard with an Iron Tail."
Espeon quickly dashed forward, using the power of Quick Attack to gain the momentum and speed matched only by Bella's racing heart. Eevee was too injured from the Psybeam's to defend himself, so when Espeon spun around to smash him with Iron Tail, he took it full blast. In a moment it was all over as Eevee landed on the ground out cold. Espeon land a moment afterwards, and sat in the middle of the stage triumphantly. The rest of Bella's points disappeared.
"And that's it!" the announcer exclaimed as the buzzer sounded and the screen from the battle was replaced with the picture of the winner and their Pokémon. From the audience, Will looked disappointed, it was a great battle and all, but… "Our winner is Lily and her Espeon!"
"We did it Espeon!" Lily exclaimed to her Espeon as the cat Pokémon jumped happily into her trainer's arms, both clearly happy with their accomplishment. "Espe epse!" The two laughed, hugging each other close as the judges motioned her forward to take a bow and then head backstage to await her next battle in the Contest.
Bella's shoulder slumped, looking downcast and her eyes lowered and watery. Feigning bravery, she flashed Eevee a smile as he shook himself out of his daze. He crept toward her, body close to the ground and ears splayed. He crooned an apologetic sound as he reached her feet, and was surprised when she scooped him into her arms.
"You did a wonderful job, Eevee," she said, scratching the back of his ears. "I couldn't have asked for you to perform better." Eevee, however, would not take it upon himself to actually enjoy her attention. Instead, he was confused, why wasn't she sad? They had just lost a Contest for crying out loud! "Let's go backstage now, m'kay? They're going to want to start the next battle soon.
With the silver-fox Pokémon in her arms, Bella headed through the doorway to the backstage as the judges began to comment on their previous battle. She didn't really want to hear what they had to say, so she ducked her head and hurried back into the room where the rest of the Coordinators were.
"That was a remarkable battle!" Mr. Sukizo exclaimed, nodding his head. "Lily really showed off her Espeon's Psychic-type with those moves. Especially keeping its Psybeam in place using Psychic. Eevee preformed remarkably well, too, though. Though it didn't use as many special moves like Espeon did, its physical attack combinations were well thought out. Brilliant for a battle between evolutions."
"I'm going to have to agree with Mr. Sukizo," Nurse Joy said. "Both Coordinators showed off their Pokémon wonderfully; it's a plus that battle between evolutions are always quite interesting. Bella did a good job in keeping her Eevee on his toes. Any trainer knows how hard it is to battle an evolution of their own Pokémon."
Duke was currently lying back in his chair, eyes lazily looking up at the ceiling. "Well, it was a good battle," he said. "Lily showed an excellent use of special attacks and abilities in her combinations. Bella showed she knows the more physical aspects of attacks, and I must say she was more comfortable in this match then the last. I would suggest she teach that Eevee to not be so arrogant though as it kind of cost them the battle."
"And that's it!" the announcer said as soon as the judges were finished commenting the battle that just took place before them. "Now let's move onto out next battle! This time around it's…"
Will didn't stay in the audience long enough to hear whatever else the announcer planned on saying. As soon as the comments were over he grabbed Wartortle's hand and dragged him out of the benches and to back stage. He blinked in confusion when he finally found Bella talking to all four of her Pokémon, planning what they were going to do for the next Contest.
"Vulpix, I'm not going to push you anymore; it was my fault that in the appeals, I should have known you weren't ready for anything like this, so you're going to take a small break from any Contests for a while," she said as Vulpix bowed her head sadly, ears drooping.
"Pi! Pi pichu! Chuuu!" the Tiny Mouse Pokémon squeaked rapidly, so fast that Bella could barely tell it was saying its own name. One of Pichu's arms was lifted into the air, and it was waving it back and forth. It reminded Bella of a small child at school who knew the answer and eagerly wanted to be picked on.
Bella laughed, and leaned down to pat Pichu's head gently, and the Tiny Mouse immediately calmed down. "I think I know what you want," she giggled. "You want to take Vulpix's place in the appeal round, don't you?" Pichu nodded eagerly. "Alright then, but we'll have to do some extra special training, because I'm not quite sure what we can pull off with your moves."
"Uree?!" Eevee demanded, looking upset and… really mad? He glared up at her, his blue eyes shining in frustration, and in that instant Will knew exactly what it was saying: 'What about me?!' Trapinch, hearing Eevee's demand, joined in with an irritated, "Pinch?!"
"Okay, okay," she said, holding her hands up in front of her to show her innocence. "I haven't forgotten about you two, really I haven't." Eevee huffed and looked away, while Trapinch just grew silent. "You two are going to battle in the finals rounds… That is, if we even get past the first one…"
Will felt his heart clench as he saw his friend's eyes water once again, and she stared down silently at her hands folded in her lap. Taking that as his cue to appear and try to cheer her up, and he stepped deeper into the backstage room, Wartortle following behind him. Bella's Pokémon looked up instantly, recognizing his presence.
"Hey," he said when Bella was too oblivious to took up, and her head snapped up in shock. He inwardly cringed when he saw tears pricking at her eyes. He tried to take a step forward, but Eevee bounded between him and his trainer, eyes narrowed and an almost inaudible growl at the back of his throat. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine!" she exclaimed, trying to stop the tremor from entering her voice. She jumped up into her feet and wiped away her tears as fast as she could, hoping that Will hadn't seen them. "See? Perfectly fine. It's just… Y'know, I really need some air. I'm going to go for a quick walk around the grounds. Could you watch my Pokémon for me?"
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Will replied as he took a seat on the bench, watching as Bella headed out into the night.
The next few minutes were relatively silent, with Bella's Pokémon just sitting there looking at Will and Wartortle. That is, all of them but Eevee. He was more interested in the door, and by the looks of it he wanted to follow Bella. Will, however, wasn't going to let him. Bella needed some time to think on her own, to just get away from it all.
This proved to not be a good option, however, as Eevee eventually sulked over to the door and kept trying to get at the knob. Will tried to ignore it, petting Vulpix and chatting with the rest of Bella's Pokémon and Wartortle. By the time he heard the soft moaning of Eevee, however, he knew he had to help the poor guy.
"All right you four, I'm going to take Eevee out and look for Bella. Stay here and be good alright. We'll be back in a minute."
Getting up, he walked over to Eevee, was by this point was sitting down in frustration and glaring at the door. Will grabbed the handle, and had to smile at the sudden perkiness Eevee had when the door opened. He started to look around for the source of it, but the joy disappeared when he saw that it was Will who had done it. A low growl escaped from his throat, but Will just rolled his eyes at it.
"You know, I'm glad to see that you care about Bella Eevee but for once can't you stop with the jealousy and just let me help. Right now you and I have the same goal of helping Bella. But if you're going to be such a grouch, I'll just shut this door and…"
Will stopped speaking as Eevee's ears splayed and he looked down at the ground. Since it seemed his attempt at shaming the little fox worked, Will started to head out into the night after Bella. Eevee followed right behind, perking up a little bit now that he could find Bella.
It was a bit odd the contest had taken that long, and it was getting pretty dark outside. On the bright side, there was a full moon out. Between that and the streetlights, there was plenty of light for them to see. Will placed his hands in his pocket and slowly walked down the street, eyes darting around trying to catch sight of Bella.
Will couldn't help it when his mind wandered to ghosts as he and Eevee trekked through the dark and creepy alleys of the city. He looked down at the silver fox and was surprised when there wasn't a trace of fear in his blue eyes, which seemed to be glowing in the night; he was completely comfortable in the dark.
"Do you… do you like the dark?" Will questioned nonchalantly to the shiny Pokémon as he shoved his hands awkwardly into his pockets. What? He was compelled to ask a simple question! Eevee glanced up and him with twinkling eyes and nodded. "That's good, I guess, since I'm not too fond of, um… ghosts."
Eevee snorted in contempt, tossing his head back as he held back a snicker. He had to give some kind of attempt to get along with his trainer's friend, and he supposed this was a start. After all, he had brought him out to search for Bella, when he could have just kept him locked inside.
"So, uh…" Will began, not really sure what to say to Bella's partner, especially since he knew that Evolution Pokémon wasn't too fond of him. "How long have you been with Bella on her journey? I'm not exactly sure what to guess myself since she's travelled in Kanto before this."
"Ureeeeeee!" the silver fox howled lowly, dragging out the syllable of his answer to show just how long he and Bella had been travelling together as partners. "Uraaaaaa!" He shook his head as he narrowed his eyes; this wasn't exactly telling him how long they had been together, especially since…
"Oh, that's right!" Will said suddenly when he remembered what Bella had told him on the first day they met. "Bella hatched you from an egg that her dad's Vaporeon had, didn't she?" he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I forgot about that for a second there."
Eevee had to laugh at the embarrassed expression on Will's face; it wasn't his fault it was hilarious! "Ureee –" The Evolution Pokémon's laughter suddenly cut off as he stopped dead in his tracks, his ears pricked and his eyes dangerously narrowed. Will was about to ask what was wrong when a sudden feminine scream echoed through the alley.
Will looked down at Eevee, who immediately met his gaze. Tearing his gaze away from his trainer's friend, he took off through the alley toward the location of the sound at full speed, and Will followed along as fast as he could behind him, calling out Bella's name frantically.
No more than a minute later, the two crashed into a small lot in the city. A sudden gasp caught their attention as they tried to catch their breath, and a voice calling their names snapped them back into reality. "Eevee! Will!" Bella exclaimed in relief, and they could hear the watery tone to her voice, signaling that she had been crying.
Will looked up from catching his breath from his position on the ground, only to be met by the sight of Bella caught in a huge spider web! "You have to get out of here," she rushed on, her words not that coherent. "They'll come back again, so you two have to get out of here or you'll be trapped too!"
"Who are 'they'?" Will asked, eyes darting quickly throughout the area trying to see this invisible threat.
"The Ariados," Bella replied, with the usual mix of fear and anger that accompanied any mention of Bug Pokémon by her.
"Well, they aren't here now, so we'll get you out of here quick and make a run back to town. You'll be safe there," Will said as he took a step towards the giant web. Bella started to protest the rescue as she didn't want them to be trapped as well. Will just told her it was a bit of nonsense, and began to tear at the various parts of the web.
Eevee started to come over to help as well, but stopped when he thought he heard clicking sounds. His ears perked up, and he started to look around nervously. He didn't see anything, but he had a feeling that something was out there.
Bella noticed his nervousness, and started to panic. "Will, you might want to hurry. I think Eevee hears them coming."
"I'm going as fast as I can, but these Ariados seem to have built some very good webs here. They're a bit harder to break than I thought."
Will kept trying, but Eevee began to bark as the clicking sounds got louder. It was getting annoying, so Will told him to stop in case it alerted the Ariados to their presence, and this just made Eevee mad. He ran over to Will's leg and bit him, causing the trainer to turn around.
"I thought we talked about being… nice?"
Will had a good reason to stop the argument before it began, because in front of them was an Ariados. Will gave a quick apology to Eevee, but the Evolution Pokémon didn't really care. It just growled at the spider Pokémon, hoping to scare them off.
"Ariadossss…"
The tone of the Ariados's voice showed it wasn't in the mood to play around, and both Eevee and Will knew they were going to have to take it down if they wanted to get out of here. "Hey Bella, is it alright if I help Eevee through this battle?" He asked.
"Go right ahead Will, but please hurry. All these Bug Pokémon are starting to give me a bit of a heart attack."
Will rolled his eyes at the exaggeration, and then quickly moved his attention to the Ariados. He stood firm and ready to go, but before he got an order out he noticed Eevee had moved, and was racing at the Long Leg Pokémon with a Quick Attack.
This lack of cooperation caused Will to sweat drop, but he decided to try and see if he could command the Evolution Pokémon in any way. "Alright Eevee, once you ram into it with Quick Attack, try and see if you can get a hold of one of it's legs with a Bite. Just be careful of the fangs."
However, he was ignored, and Eevee just ran at the spider, but stopped in its tracks when the Bug Pokémon disappeared. Eevee just looked around, confused, a sentiment shared by Will. The mystery was solved when Ariados appeared from the shadows, striking at Eevee and sending him rolling across the ground.
"A Shadow Sneak attack," Will said to himself through gritted teeth. "This might be a bit harder than I thought. Eevee, see if you can get at it with a Shadow Ball, okay?" The Evolution Pokémon shook his head as he struggled to stand up, wincing as he did so. "No? What do you mean no?"
Eevee finally struggled onto his feet, regaining balance as the Ariados finally revealed themselves through the darkness. "Uraaa!" he cried as his body was enveloped by a bright glowing light. Slowly, his form changed shape into that of a bigger Pokémon, and a bright blue glow shattered the bright light that had enveloped his body only moments before. "Breon!"
"You… you evolved!" Bella squealed in excitement. If it wasn't for the webs keeping her trapped, she would have run over and hugged the newly evolved Pokémon. "That's brilliant, um… Umbreon!"
"And it's probably a good thing. Wonder if you've learned any new attacks. Eev – I mean Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"
Ariados, temporarily blinded by the glow that had been created during Umbreon's evolution, didn't see what Umbreon was doing. Opening his mouth, he began to focus its energy into a pulsating blast of dark energy. However, all that happened was the normal gathering of it into a dark, spiraling sphere of a Shadow Ball.
Even though he was disappointed that he hadn't learned a new attack, Umbreon still took the chance to fire a shot at Ariados. Just as it regained its sight, it was hit face first by the dark sphere. It rolled on the ground for a second before waving its legs in the air. The momentum eventually succeeded in getting him right side up, but instead of continuing the fight it decided to leave them alone. It wasn't worth all this trouble to get Bella. There were much easier targets to go after, like a Caterpie or a Magikarp.
Umbreon followed the Long Leg Pokémon out of the alley for a few seconds, but once he was sure the Pokémon wouldn't returned he plopped down on the ground. Between the battle and the evolving, he was tired. Besides, the moonlight felt so good and relaxing that he had to stay. As he did so, he began to gain a slight glow, and for some reason he felt that his energy was returning to him.
Will, meanwhile, and finally succeeded in getting Bella out of the web, but she was too distracted by the sight of her new Umbreon to thank him. Her eyes twinkled with joy as she noticed the power the moon was having on her Pokémon. She rushed over to the peaceful Pokémon, and almost crushed him in a hug. He struggled for a second, thinking the Ariados had returned, but upon seeing it was Bella began to lick at her face.
"Umbreon, I think you were using Moonlight! Oh, that will work perfect in the appeal stage. There are so many combinations we could do with that. You have no idea how much better this makes me feel. Next Contest, we're going to win for sure."
"Well, if that's your plan, I suggest that we get back to the Hall and pick up the rest of your Pokémon. You might need them," Will replied with a slight tinge of sarcasm in his voice. He had just remembered that the rest of Bella's Pokémon were still all alone.
"You're right," Bella agreed as she scooped the newly evolved Umbreon into her arms. "We better get them before we call it a night. Besides, I'm sure they can't wait to see what's happened to Eevee – Umbreon, I mean! Man, its going to take a while to get used to that."
