I couldn't sleep.
I was horribly aware of this fact as I lay inside the tent that night at the end of Route 39. We had pitched camp near a local Milktank farm. The people there had been so hospitable to us, bringing us out fresh MooMoo milk for no charge at all, and giving us a space on their land to camp. They said they didn't get visitors all too often anymore, so they were more than happy to help us out.
However, as much as we loved the farmers' hospitality, we weren't overly fond of their herd of Milktank. We had had one scare with a particularly rowdy Milktank as it took a shine to the tent and almost collapsed it in its attempts to scurry inside it. Thankfully, we had eventually managed to shoo away the giant heifer by throwing a pile of Oran berries at it, as far away into the field as we could. We then watched as every single Milktank in the herd tore apart the field looking for the berries. We decided not to say anything to the people owning the farm if they asked us why their farm was in such a terrible state.
I could hear people murmuring in their sleep, tossing and turning as time ticked slowly on. Time had a horrible habit of doing that. Racing forward like a Rapidash when you wanted nothing more for it to slow down, or crawling along at a snail's pace when you wanted it to speed up. It was slowly driving me insane.
As well as the intolerably slow passing of time, there were several other things all threatening my sanity that night. It was uncomfortably hot and cramped in that tent with six people squashed into what was probably only a four man tent. I could barely breathe, and I could feel hot beads of sweat form and drip down my back. I couldn't even move around, let alone have a hope of slipping out carefully to get some fresh air. I was stuck where I was. And even worse, my mind was going into overdrive. Things were running through my mind, memories of the past adventure I had had. Fragments of memories returned to me, in a strange mish-mashed order.
"My, my, my…I haven't had the chance to see my two girls together in a long time…"
"Sootopolis City has been ravaged by him already…"
"Legendary Pokemon aren't meant to be caught!"
"You traitor, Cal! You traitor! This is all your fault!"
"He's… destroyed Sootopolis?"
"Now, blast open this cave! Rayquaza awaits!"
"You're the real leader of this organization, aren't you Nathan? It wasn't my dad, was it?"
"I wanted those legendary Pokemon and the power Nathan said would come with them. I didn't have anything else in my life apart from what he promised me!"
"Sienna… I'm… I'm sorry…"
I wanted to cry with confusion. And as I lay there, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, I thought about, really thought about what had happened to me. I'd saved the world once! I really had. Well, kind of…. Arceus had really done most of the work… if not all of it. All I had managed to do was bring the Arceus out of its rage. It had done everything else. When I thought about it… in comparison to what Arceus did… I did nothing. He had been the one to destroy the Pokeballs that ensnared Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza… he had been the one to inspire the fear in my father to stop him…
"But you made that possible..." a tiny voice piped up in the back of my mind. "You brought Arceus out of its rage to make it do those things…"
I found myself chuckling as another bizarre thought struck me. "It can't really get much more clichéd than what happened, could it?" I pondered to myself. "It really is the stuff of kid's books and lame cartoons. I was prophesised to save the world… jeez… it's like the overused plot of a bad movie."
As I thought that, bored, and desperate for something to do to keep my mind occupied, I brushed the Pokeballs that were sitting idly near me. I found myself picking up Meloi's. I knew it without even having to look at it. It was your ordinary, standard-issue Pokeball, exactly the same model that housed Aurora, Monty and Kiba (Cairo and Indigo lived in Safari Balls), but I could easily tell it from the others. It felt warm and heavy, the metal feeling almost staticy, like when you ran your hand over a television that had just been switched off. As I held it, I began idly minimizing it and maximizing it in my hand. I eventually pressed the centre button releasing my Ampharos. She looked at me with blearily with sleepy eyes.
"Amph?" she murmured slowly.
"Shhh…" I whispered, suddenly afraid she would wake up the others. I sat up and held out my arms. "Come here."
She cocked her head to one side and looked at me quizzically. But she still shuffled up to me and cuddled into my arms. I lay back again, feeling Meloi squeeze herself as close as she could. It felt strangely companionable feeling the gentle rise and fall of Meloi's chest, hearing her slow breathing. I pulled her as close as I could. It gave me comfort, having Meloi here. Having her gave me comfort and made me feel safe in a way that Mum, my friends or even Elliot couldn't give me. She was my Pokemon, my partner; the one person in the world who I knew for a fact would always be there for as long as she was able.
I was finally able to fall asleep with Meloi in my arms.
However, when morning came around, Meloi decided she had had enough of being sentimental and cosy with me. Either that or I was simply squeezing her too hard in my sleep. Either one was a distinct possibility. Whatever the reason, that morning, my pleasant sleep was rudely disturbed by a blast of electrical energy surging through me. I let out a shriek, sat bolt upright and saw everyone else also screaming and shooting to their feet. As I looked upwards, the smell of burning tickled my nostrils and I saw parts of the tent charred, blackened and…
"Holy—! The tent's on fire! The tent's on freaking fire!"
"My tent… my poor tent…" I moaned, holding the shredded, charred and burned remains of my tent in my hands.
Meloi was looking at me sheepishly, scuffing one of her feet against the ground. She looked genuinely upset and sorry at what she had done. I had to admit that it probably had been an accident, plain and simple. I let out a long sigh. "Oh well… I guess it can't be helped…" I said mournfully. "Nothing I can do now…"
"Don't worry about it." Elliot told me cheerfully. "We can get another one. Goldenrod city has a big department store, I'm sure they'll sell them cheaply."
"Guess so…"
I looked back towards Meloi who squeaked as I laid eyes on her. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you." I assured her, watching her face slowly come over with a sense of relief. "You didn't do it on purpose, right?"
She shook her head. "Amph…"
"Did I squeeze you too tight or something? Did you get a fright?"
"Amph! Amph!"
"I'll take that as a yes," I said, pushing myself back onto my feet, balling up the charred remnants of my tent and stuffing them in a plastic bag. "We should probably just get a move on. How long till we get to Goldenrod?" I asked no-one in particular.
"Two days, if we make good time." Christian cut in, holding Nikki's hand tightly.
"I hope you two navigators know where you're going," I said, looking pointedly from Elliot to Christian in turn.
They were the only two that had ever been in Johto before. Elliot, in his youth, had refused to take part in the Kanto League Circuit when he first left Pallet Town. Instead, he looped once around the region, collecting Grass and Dark Pokemon and then departing for Johto to take on the Johto Gyms. He then went to Hoenn, competing in Hoenn Gyms, then Sinnoh, doing the same process and then finally looping back around back to Kanto. Fair to say, he knew Johto fairly well.
As for Christian, he had spent all his life in and out of all the various regions. It was also fair to say he was well acquainted with Johto as well.
The two boys had eager grins spreading across their faces. "Of course!" They chorused gleefully.
I sighed, and chose not to pursue it. "Lead on then."
The routes leading up to Ecruteak City were surrounded with high hill and dotted with trees. Tall grasses that I knew were the perfect habitats for Pokemon sprung up all over the place. I even saw plenty of small, harmless Johto Pokemon scampering around being enthusiastically chased by young trainers and their starters. Basically the route was pretty overrun with Pokemon and foliage, and none of us were keen on hacking our way through it and disturbing anything. Thankfully, we found a small earthy path that snaked through the tall grass and the trees, leading us straight through the route.
We reached Ecruteak City by nightfall and it was too cold, too late and too dark for us to even think about dawdling to take in the sights. So we ran straight for the Pokemon Centre, got rooms and collapsed on our beds.
That was the end of the fifth day travelling.
On the morning of the sixth day, we stopped off very briefly in Ecruteak to eat before heading down to Goldenrod. It wouldn't take us long at all, only a few hours walk. It was a bizarre route to take to Goldenrod. We had to thread our way through a thick expanse of trees and then, after emerging into a clearing, turned west. After walking for a bit longer, we emerged in the most beautiful park I had ever seen. Sprawling grassy knolls, huge oak trees and a glorious water fountain… I took in everything hungrily, savouring the beauty. There were lots of trainers running around, families with small children and bug Pokemon
"This here is the National Park." Christian announced, like a well-practiced tour guide. "They hold Bug Catching contests here every week."
I shuddered at the thought. "Why would anyone want to make a competition outta catching Bug Pokemon? Ew!"
"Come on, the Pokeathlon dome is up ahead."
I heard Nikki let out a sad moan at this. "Do you really have to go?"
"I'm afraid so," he said, planting a small kiss on her forehead. "Not unless you guys want to compete in the Pokeathlon alongside me?"
I frowned. "What's the Pokeathlon when it's at home?"
"It's…" Christian murmured to himself before explaining further. "It's this big competition that trainers compete in with their Pokemon. They have five different courses, Speed, Jump, Power, Stamina and Skill and the trainer competes with their Pokemon on three separate challenges."
"What kind of challenges?" Scott asked, sounding interested.
"All sorts!" Christian said excitedly. "I'm competing in the Speed course today, so I'll be doing the hurdle dash, relay run and pennant capture. You try and get as many points as possible in each event and then the person with the most points wins."
"What do you win?" Elliot asked, sounding interested.
"Well, it depends on how many points from the competition you get…" Christian said. "At the end of the competition, they turn however many points from the competition into Battle Points which they put on this little card you get. And then you can use that balance to buy whatever prize you like."
"What kind of prizes?"
"Well I'm saving up for a Moon Stone." Christian said with a shrug. "But you get all sorts there. All kinds of evolutionary stones, TMs, stat-enhancing things…"
"So why are you competing?" I interrupted before anyone else got a chance to ask.
Christian shrugged at my question. "My agent seems to think it's a good idea to make a name for myself in places that aren't Sinnoh." He said with a sigh. "Even though I'm pretty well known in the contest circuit, he claims it isn't enough…"
Nikki looked stricken. "You should really take a break sometime…"
"I will, I will…" Christian said with a grin. "I'm thinking of taking a little vacation from the contest circuit anyway."
"What? When!" Nikki cried eagerly.
"After this year's circuit."
Nikki visibly deflated.
"I'm already involved in this one, I can't drop out now!" he replied sheepishly.
As Nikki and Christian bickered behind me, Elliot led us through National Park. We reached the end of it within a few minutes and came out into a small building. The building was overrun with people and we had to thread our way through to reach the desk at the middle.
"You guys can leave if you want," Christian said airily. "I gotta head up to the Pokeathlon Dome up past here anyway."
"Oh no!" Nikki's eyes started to well with tears.
"No, wait." I cut in. "I'd… I'd like to see this Pokeathlon thing. Can anyone compete?"
This question flummoxed Christian. "Well… well yeah! Anyone can! I mean, they're always encouraging new people to take part for more competition."
"Great." I nodded. I surprised myself when the next thing that came out of my mouth was "I want to enter."
I swear to God that the five people standing around me almost dropped to the ground in a comical anime-style fall.
"You want to enter?" Christian sounded shocked.
"Yeah. And?" I folded my arms and gave them my best impression of an authoritative look. "I still have time to kill. And the Pokeathlon sounds really interesting. I want to give it a go, is that so bad?"
"No… I guess not…"
Everyone exchanged looks for a few seconds and then Elliot suddenly stepped forward. "All right. I'm gonna enter too."
Quick as a flash, before anyone had time to digest that information, Scott also took a few steps forward. "Me too."
Determined not to be left out, Jasmine called out "I'll enter too. I'm not gonna let you guys have all the fun. Or all the glory."
That only left one. We then all looked expectantly at Nikki who just squeaked. "Um… no… I think I'll just watch… I think I'm better suited to contests anyway."
"Fair enough," I said flippantly and then turned to Christian. "So, lead on Christian. Let's go to the Pokeathlon."
It was simple to get signed up for the Pokeathlon. After only a few minutes of chatting to the attendant at the main desk, and after signing a form I was issued a battle points card. While the others got signed up, I debated what circuit to enter. Christian decided to give me some insider info on some of the courses. I had to admit, the speed contest sounded the ideal one. It fitted my Pokemon best. I knew Cairo could fly really fast. Both Meloi and Monty were fast too, especially with their Quick Attacks. Kiba was pretty fast too. After a long time debating, I chose to enter Meloi, Monty and Cairo.
Only problem was, I'd be up against Christian.
After everyone signed up, our standings looked like this. Christian and I were participating in the Speed Course, Elliot had gone for the Skill Course, Scott had gone for the Power Course and Jasmine had opted in to the Stamina Course. Before we entered, I was given the colour red to wear and also red scarves to tie somewhere around my Pokemon. While Meloi and Cairo were happy enough to take the scarves, Monty put up a fight. A vicious fight. A full five minutes, too many cuts to count and a Persian with a dented ego, I finally got the damn thing on him.
Unfortunately, after spending so long getting Monty to wear his stupid red scarf and explaining to my Pokemon what we were about to do, I had managed to miss finding out what Pokemon Christian was using, or what Pokemon anyone else were using. By the time I had everything straightened out, I was too late.
"Can all those please competing in the Speed Course please make their way down to the track?"
I cursed. Just my luck.
"That's us." Christian looked at me. "We go onto the track now. We get to meet the other contestants and get to grips with the track before they let the audience in."
"Great," I said but my bravado was starting to fail me. Was this really a good idea? Was this really a good idea for me, hapless and luckless as I already was to compete in a sport competition! My forte was in cooking for God's sake! I was already starting to regret my decision…
The others bade us good luck and scurried off to find seats, whilst Christian and I headed on to the track. I admit, I had to gasp when I caught sight of the stadium. It was huge. Build in a perfect circle, with a bright red track running around the entire length of it, and rows and rows of seats sat like Sharpedo teeth build up around the track.
"This is only the Speed Stadium, believe it or not." Christian said with a laugh. "They have whole other separate stadiums for the other events."
"How big is this thing!" I remarked in shock at that comment.
"Pretty big," Christian said airily. "Oh, look. They're setting up for Hurdle Dash."
I turned my attention towards a couple of uniformed officials heading up the separate segments of the tracks, setting up hurdles. They were quite high hurdles, I realised nervously.
"Okay, kids. This is how it's gonna work." I heard someone say behind me. "Simple as anything. You're gonna walk out onto the middle of the track, release your Pokemon and you'll be introduced. Then the events will start! You'll be given instructions before each event, but I'll go over them just now for the benefit of the newbies here. For Hurdle Dash, all you have to do is instruct all three of your Pokemon to run down the tracks, jumping over the hurdles. Two trainers will run at a time, before the next two take on the circuit. Your time will be recorded and submitted. However, if you knock down any hurdles, you will receive a five second penalty. The winner is the trainer with the smallest total time."
"Eeek…"
"Now, for the Relay Run. Each of your Pokemon takes it in turn to run around the track as many times as they can in the allotted time. You are free to recall and substitute your Pokemon as you like, however each Pokemon must take a turn on the track at least once. The person that manages the most laps, wins."
"Makes sense…"
"Finally, the Pennant Capture." The announcer concluded. "A selection of flags will be placed all around the track. You have three minutes to gather as many as you can. Your Pokemon will be rotated in a specific order to take a turn. Each of your Pokemon must take a turn at capturing flags otherwise you will be disqualified."
I let out a nervous sigh. I was really beginning to regret this…
"So, if you could all take your place next to your allotted markers, we'll get the people in and we'll start the Speed Pokeathlon!"
A sick, twisty, churned up feeling gurgled in the bottom of my stomach and Christian gently pointed out my marker, which I stood at. I was at the end of the line, with Christian beside me. Two other girls stood along the line, making a mere four total competitors. I swallowed nervously as people began milling in. I looked down at the red track whilst everyone got settled. Soon enough, the buzz and excitement settled down as the announcer cried into the microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Speed Course of the Pokeathlon! Now, let's introduce the competitors! First, we have our challenge veteran: Summer!"
The girl at the end of the line suddenly threw three Pokeballs out in front of her. Out burst a Linoone, a Furret and a Scyther.
"She's here competing with Furret, Scyther and Linoone! With a record as unblemished as hers, can any of these challengers hope to take her down?"
The crowd was going wild now. My nerves were jangling and stretched to breaking point. I really did not want to do this anymore…
"And our next competitor is the lovely Kate!" the announcer carried on regardless.
The second girl also threw her Pokeballs. Out burst three Flying Pokemon, a Staraptor, a Pidgeot and a Swellow.
"She's here with her trusty team of Flying Pokemon! Pidgeot, Swellow and Staraptor! A formidable force!"
The girl smiled sweetly into the face of the applause.
"Next, we have a very reputable opponent! A regular contest winner of Sinnoh and Hoenn, a champion, and something of a celebrity, in his native region! Please make some noise for Christian Hart!"
The screaming that erupted when Christian's name was called almost deafened me. And it was primarily women's screams.
"Easy there, ladies… he has a girlfriend!" the announcer cried, amid furious boos. I had to fight not to laugh. I could just imagine Nikki's reaction up there in the crowd…
Christian then deftly loosed three Pokeballs, revealing a Grovyle, Staraptor and a Jigglypuff.
"With his trusted team of Jigglypuff, Staraptor and Grovyle!"
The crowd cheered again and this time it was my turn.
"And we have a new challenger taking on the Speed Course for the first time! Please welcome first-time competitor Sienna!"
I waved nervously at the cheering crowd. No-one knew who I was, thank God. But then again, I think the only people that knew explicitly what went on two years ago were the Kanto Gym Leaders and Elite Four, and the Hoenn Gym Leaders. Thankfully, the general public of Hoenn and Kanto weren't privy to the same information… So far as I knew, the people of Hoenn knew that attempts had been made on Kyogre and Groudon, but that was it. I wasn't too sure if people from Johto, Sinnoh and Unova knew what had happened… I doubted it, but you could never be completely sure.
I swiftly released my three Pokemon. Each burst out of their Pokeballs and thankfully stayed still and didn't go running off.
"She's here competing with Ampharos, Persian and Vibrava!"
Meloi loved the applause and she immediately took the opportunity to play up to it, gambolling about and sending out sparks of electricity. I watched her display, mortified. Cairo just looked around terrified and Monty simply looked bored.
"Well, let's get ready for the first event! Could Kate and Summer please make their way to the track for the Hurdle Dash?"
I barely even heard what the announcer was saying as he described the course. I could only wait in anticipation to see exactly what I was expected to do. As the starting pistol went off, I was able to see better what was going on due to a giant, flat screen television screen showing the track in an overhead view. Six Pokemon were rampaging down the track, running almost impossibly fast and leaping over massive hurdles.
"Eeek." I said softly.
Within less than a minute, the first Pokemon, a Furret had crossed the finish line. A nail biting six seconds later, it was followed with a whole scrum of Pokemon all crossing the line. It was impossible to tell which Pokemon took second, third, fourth or anything. The only thing that was certain was the last place Scyther who scuttled over the line a full five seconds after its counterparts.
The announcer boomed that Kate had taken away a total time of one minute and twenty seconds, whilst Summer had just edged ahead with a total time of one minute and seventeen, giving her the first place so far.
"How?" I asked Christian, confused. "Summer's Scyther came last."
"Yes, but her Furret and Linoone took first and second," Christian explained. "Furret was ahead by a full six seconds, and Lioone was ahead by another second. That meant it negated the fact Scyther came in last."
"How do you know that?" I asked in awe. "You must have been really paying attention!
Christian grinned and pointed at the overhead flat screen television. There was a list of every Pokemon's time flashing and blinking back at me. I laughed nervously. "Okay, fair enough."
"And now, let's have the second competitors, Christian and Sienna!"
I swore.
I took as much time as possible to trudge up to the starting point, dragging my heels and scuffing my shoes as I followed Christian. The applause from his fans were deafening. I could barely hear my ownthoughts let alone anything else. Christian however took it in his stride, like it was an everyday occurrence.
But then again, with Christian it probably was.
"Sienna?" he ventured as we took our markers.
"Yeah?"
"Good luck." He smiled.
"Yeah, you too."
I took a few moments to explain what was going on to my Pokemon. Whilst Meloi looked eager and excited at the prospect of the glory from winning a competition, Monty looked disgusted and Cairo looked horrified. I very quickly had to resort to bribery to convince Monty and Cairo to participate. A plate of Poffins sealed the deal for me.
Christian was standing away from me calmly giving instructions to his team of Grovyle, Staraptor and Jigglypuff. While I knew that Grovyle and Staraptor by default were wicked fast, I wasn't so sure about his Jigglypuff. Between you and me, I was already tickled pink at the mere thought that Christian even owned a Jigglypuff. That little roly-poly ball of pink cuteness didn't seem to suit Christian at all. And could the thing even run? Jigglypuff were by nature heavy, rounded things. Did he really expect to win?
"Competitors! On your mark! Get set…"
I tensed horribly. My Pokemon were also tense, getting ready to spring into action.
"Go!"
"Everyone! Use Quick Attack!" I bellowed, letting out a stream of agitation in one fell swoop.
I fully expected them to stay stock-still. But to my extreme delight and surprise, my Pokemon immediately began to speed away into the distance, following the track. As I watched them go, tailing onto Christian's team, I let out a juddering sigh.
"This really isn't going to go well…"
Author's Note
Filler chapters! I'm so sorry... I really wanted to give Christian some air time before he leaves at the end of the next chapter! BUT Sienna meets her father again at the end of Chapter 8 :)
An announcement: At the request of one of my DeviantART readers, and after the idea being favourably recieved by other readers, Spirited (and its sequel and expansion) now has its own dedicated DeviantART group! The link for which is on my profile. Anyone who likes this story, please join the group if you can. I'm gonna be holding contests, one reader is writing a fanfiction and drawing some fanart! Please join if you can!
WarriorSwift: Yeah, not much happens in the intermittent chapters. But they're good for learning about the characters and the dynamics!
Sniper Mudkip: I really honestly don't know what to do with Kiba. Kyaaah! And I am still reading your fanfiction by the way!
ArchXDeath: Yes! I called you kohai! Yeah, Elliot likes to drink. Haha! :) What you said about the casualness of the conversations and relationships was really sweet, I totally understand what you were getting at.
May and Dawn are the best: hee hee, Nikki and Christian = SQUEEE! Cute!
TwewyReaperGirl: MARSHMALLOW-RICEKRISPY TREATS! Nom nom nom nom nom! :)
Padfoot Arcanine: Thank you very much! Your reviews are always a pleasure to read.
Aeorga: Thank you so much for all the reviewing! :) It really makes my day.
Manser77: LOL! That made me laugh. An Abork... Scott would meet his match with an Arbok!
WildCroconaw: Yes.. it is interesting... :)
Please R & R!
