Thank you to Ketchum Kid for reviewing!
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Chapter 8-
I sit down to lunch with the gang, all of whom are sweaty and dirty. All four of Team Horizon's trainers had spent the whole morning busy practicing for tomorrow's battle. I had sat back and watched each of them do their own special training.
Evan was all over the place, having not decided which of his pokemon to use in his battle. He was currently training with all of them, running back and forth between each of them doing attacks and sparing with each other as he was fixing their technique and giving them pointers on how to improve. It was interesting to watch him interact with his pokemon- for as sarcastic as he was with people, he treated his pokemon with such care. Schuyler was nervous since he was in the one on one. He knew he only had one shot in the barrel. He was working with his Umbreon and Mightyena, unsure which one to choose for the match. He had them racing against each other to see who was faster, then had them practice different attacks to see who was stronger.
Greg and Meriah were much more relaxed in their practicing. Both were in the same boat as Evan, having not decided which pokemon they would be using. Greg was mainly working with his water types to figure out which two he was going to take. He wasn't really pushing them that hard, just putting them through their paces. It looked to me like he was focusing on their non-water moves, to see which would give him an additional edge over Team Guardian's trainers. He was also chatting with Meriah the while watching his pokemon. She was very laid back in her practicing. I guess five years under your belt will give you that confidence. She already had narrowed down her selection to three of each type. It looked to me like she was going with two of each of her fire and psychic types. She had a Ninetails, Arcanine, and Quilava out practicing against each other, and an Espeon, Gardevoir, and Girafarig practicing with each other. Even though she was chatting with Greg, she had a sharp eye on what her pokemon were doing, and occasionally shouted out a command that was followed instantly. I hope to be that good someday. Meriah and Greg headed in before Evan and Schuyler were done, apparently satisfied with what they had accomplished. Both made sure to talk to each of their pokemon and thank them for doing so well.
"So how do you guys feel about tomorrow?" I ask as we all start to eat.
"I'm going undefeated tomorrow." Evan says proudly.
"To be honest, I feel the same way." Greg says. Evan looks at him in surprise.
"I feel pretty good." Schuyler says, though I can see in his eyes that he is less than sure about that. Meriah apparently sees it too.
"You'll be great, Schuyler. Two days from now, we're going to be celebrating a Horizon Team victory!" she says raising her glass.
"Cheers!" everyone says in agreement.
"So what's in store for the rest of the day?" I ask.
"Not much, just getting ready for tomorrow." Greg says. "I like to mentally prepare for a battle for a few hours the day before."
The others agree that they have their little pre-battle day routines that they like to do. Meriah says that she likes to take a good long run around the town to clear her head. Evan says that he doesn't do that much, just looks over the film some more and think about strategy. Schuyler says that he likes to lie down and listen to some music. I decide to just stay out of everyone's way for the rest of the day. I know that I did not like to be bothered when I was preparing myself for a match.
After lunch is finished, everyone goes their separate ways. I head up to my room and lie down on the bed, trying to figure out what to do. Vikki is sleeping at the foot of the bed. I could take her outside later and do some training with her if she's up to it. Right as I start to think about the different training techniques I can practice with her, Delia knocks on the door.
"Hey Kasey, I figured you would be bored with everyone else doing their pre-battle prep sessions. I thought I could finally get around to cutting your hair so you look nice for tomorrow." she says.
"That would be great!" I say. I've been meaning to take her up on her offer to cut it for a while now but it kept slipping my mind. I follow her downstairs to the kitchen, where she has a chair set up and her hair cutting stuff out. I sit down and she puts a cloth around me.
"I was thinking the first thing we need to do is get rid of all this black dyed hair. You're going to look so much more handsome without it. Then I can play around with the length of the blonde hair and put some gel in it to make it look great. It's really going to make your eyes stand out more- they're such a pretty shade of green. I can already picture the look- you're going to like it." she says happily and starts getting to work. I sit and watch as long strands of black hair fall onto the floor. It's like watching the last strings attaching me to my life before getting here falling away. It feels good, finally putting the period on a rather miserable chapter of my life.
"So how is Vikki doing?" she asks after a couple of minutes of just telling me when to tilt my head and in what direction.
"She's doing well. I was actually thinking of doing some training with her when you came and got me for this. I think I'll do it later."
"That's great- she's really taken a liking to you. I think it's always nice for someone to have a pokemon that they can always rely on and be friend's with." she says, still snipping away. "I used to have a Pikachu that was with me all the time. She and I were inseparable. She died a few years ago, but I always treasure that friendship." she says, with a hint of sadness. As much as she mothers all the trainers and people in this house, I can see her just loving having a Pikachu to nurture and take care of. They are cute, easy to take care of, and fiercely loyal- perfect for someone like Delia.
"So what have you been up to? I haven't talked to you in a couple days." she asks.
"I'm good. I liked the strategy meeting last night. It was interesting seeing everyone getting ready for the battle tomorrow. I'm excited about going out there tomorrow to watch everyone for the first time."
"How do you feel about not being able to be on the battlefield?"
"It's going to be a little weird. You know, I always get this swooping nervous feeling in my stomach whenever I'm about to battle. I hate that feeling at the time, but at the same time, it's a good feeling. It lets me know I have a chance at winning, and who wouldn't be excited about that? I'm not going to have that feeling tomorrow. I think I'll still have fun cheering everyone on. And it'll definitely be nice having the fan girls swooning over me like when I dressed up in those idiotic outfits. I probably won't even be recognized by anyone with the new haircut and normal clothes. That should be a nice change."
"Me, you, and the professor will have fun in the team owner's box. And you can tell me about what's going on. The professor is always too busy analyzing the pokemon to explain to me about all that's going on."
She continues cutting as I sit there thinking about what tomorrow is going to be like. I can picture Pewter arena in my mind. Not the biggest of arenas, but it looks kind of like an ancient coliseum thanks to the expert stone builders they have out there. It's one of the prettiest arenas around and battling there makes you feel like a gladiator. I'm snapped out of my thoughts when Delia starts to put the gel in my hair. She plays around with it for a minute, before stepping back and taking a look at me.
"You look fantastic!" she exclaims. "Better than I imagined."
She goes to the counter and picks up a mirror. She holds it up to me so I can get a look at myself. I'm surprised by the person staring back at me. I haven't had my natural color hair in a while, and it's been a very long time since it has been this short. But with the styling that Delia has put in it, it looks good. It goes well with my skin color (training out in the sun a lot helps the tan) and like Delia predicted, it does bring more attention to my eyes. I look up at her and nod. She has a victorious grin on her face.
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I wind up not getting any time to train with Vikki as I spend the rest of the afternoon helping Delia getting everything ready for the battles tomorrow. I help her get the team's uniforms ready, get the pokemon supplies and food packed up, get food for the team together, and get all the necessary paperwork filled out and ready. After everything's done, I go up to my room to wash up before dinner. I look at my reflection and smile. It's going to be a fun day tomorrow.
I head down to dinner after I'm done in my room. Everyone is already there ready to eat. Almost all of them do a double take at my new appearance.
"Something's different about you Kasey, but I can't put my finger on it." Evan teases.
"You look completely different without the black hair." Schuyler says.
"Yeah, you look great Kasey!" Meriah says.
"Thanks guys." I say, feeling heat in my cheeks- I know I'm probably blushing. I'm not used to being genuinely praised for my physical features- just the 'you look hot' from people at battles. "All credit goes to Delia though."
The rest of the dinner passes with idle chatter about the battle tomorrow. The issue has been so thoroughly discussed though that no one has much to say. I get to repeat my conversation earlier with Delia when Meriah asks how I'll feel about not competing tomorrow. Evan laughs when I mention the fan girls.
"Are you serious? You had fan girls?" he asks.
"Yeah, it was crazy. There were regular crazy girls, then there were a lot of older women, and then there were a lot of goth/punk/metal/I don't even know what, girls." Evan laughs again.
"Well, no surprise you had goth girls following you given what you used to wear. What did they do, ask you to sign the knives they cut themselves with?"
I immediately feel a frown on my face form at the statement as I clutch my thigh. "They did not." I reply curtly. "I'm done." I say, getting up and putting my dish in the sink and walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs. As I leave I hear Greg admonishing Evan. I walk into my room and shut the door. How dare he just talk about a subject like that so casually! He has no idea. It's not just that he slighted my fans, even though that upsets me too. His remark is like a personal insult. I go into the bathroom and sit on the edge of the bathtub and draw up my shorts and look at my scars. Evan cannot even begin to describe what people like me go through. I trace the longer scars with my fingers remembering the feeling of the blade against my skin for a couple minutes. My thoughts gradually drift to the pocketknife that formed those scars. I start to reach for it.
"Kasey!" I hear at the door. I immediately cover my legs back up, then slowly head over to the door and open it. Greg is standing there.
"Hey dude, are you okay?" he asks
"I'm fine." I reply.
"Are you sure? You don't look okay."
I sigh. "I just felt very…insulted by what Evan said down there." I say, knowing the dual truths to that sentence. We both sit down on the bed.
"I know. He's probably just jealous of you." What?
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"Well yeah, you have girls fawning over you at your battles, you've been in those girl magazines before, people have asked for your autograph. None of us have that kind of personal following of fans. I mean Meriah is fairly popular, and I have a bit of local following." he says with a hint of pride. "But he doesn't, and he's clearly jealous of you for having it. I'm sure he would like to have that kind of attention, even if he won't admit it."
"I didn't even think of that." I say, surprised to say the least.
"Don't let him get to you. You're stronger than that." he says, patting me on the back and getting up leaving the room. I think about what he says, but only feel slightly better.
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The next morning, everyone is up, dressed, fed, and in the van by nine. It's funny seeing the four trainers dressed up the same. The uniforms are pretty cool. The team's colors if I haven't mentioned are red and black. The pants are all black with a red stripe up the outside and are made of a loose material like you'd wear to the gym. The top is a form fitting black short sleeved shirts with a V-neck and raised collars .Also there is a red stripe along the side that starts skinny at the sleeve and swoops wider as it gets to the bottom, and there's a semi circle of red on the front around the neck area. The team logo is sewn onto the right sleeve. The trainer's name is on the back of the shirt in white letters. I enviously look at them knowing all I'm wearing is a black t-shirt with the team logo on the front.
The van drives us to the small airport in Pallet Town, where we load into the Professor's private jet. Inside, there are seats in pairs on both sides of the aisle, as well as a bigger seat in the back, sort of like a bus, but of course these seats were way nicer. We all take a seat and get ready for takeoff. The flight is an uneventful hour. Evan and Schuyler have fallen back asleep, Meriah is reading a book, and Greg is looking out the window, while the Professor and Delia sit in the front and talk. No one seems to be in the mood to talk, so I just sit back and watch the scenery go by. As we go over Viridian City, I catch a glimpse of the giant Viridian Stadium. The memory of my last battle flashes through my mind, as well as its messy aftermath. After almost an hour has passed, Pewter City comes into view. After we land and grab all the necessary stuff, we pile into another van that takes us to the arena.
Once we get there, the four trainers and the Professor go to the registration area, while Delia and I wait in the lobby just watching all the people go past. I had decided to wear a hooded sweatshirt over the t-shirt and sunglasses today to reduce the chance of someone recognizing me- just in case. After about 10 minutes, the five return to where we are with their ID tags on. The professor gives and Delia and I guest passes. Then we head to the team's box seat for the day. Our battle isn't until 3 in the afternoon, the customary time for the D-3 match. Most arenas start their scheduled battles at noon, with a D-1 match, and then go up the ladder until getting to the D-5 match of the day, if there is one, with it happening in primetime under the lights. If not, they just have a lower division match during the day in its proper place. They allot an hour per battle and thirty minutes between to reset the field. The professor hands me a program of events for the day and I flip through it. There is a D-5 match later- I hope we stay for it.
As I look at the teams on the schedule for the day, some of the names are familiar to me. In the D-2 battle, Team Senescence is battling- that's the first team when I was in D-2 that I beat, and they are going against Team Anomaly, which is a team that I had a fierce rivalry with. Bunch of weirdoes is all they are. In the D-5 battle, the Moon team is going against the Fuchsia team. That should be a good one.
We don't have to wait long before the opening ceremonies for the day start. There's a concert by a local rock band that isn't too bad. Then they do a preview for the day on the screens around the arena- the promo for the Horizon Team is pretty good, focusing mainly on Greg and Meriah, I guess since they're the vets. Then there is the presentation of the Kanto flag (what, Johto isn't good enough?), followed by a preacher leading everyone in a prayer for the safety of the trainers and pokemon. Then they have someone sing the Kanto national anthem (I still don't know all the words to it). Finally we get around to battling time.
The D-1 battle is fairly boring. Since those are small teams in that division, it's usually only one battle. In this case, it is one two on two battle. The one team sends out a Sandslash and a Stantler, while the other team sends out a Seel and a Breloom. The Seel rapidly eliminates the Sandslash and almost the Stantler as well, but the Breloom finishes the job. The winning is called the Bonanza team (wow).
After that battle, our four have to head down to the trainers room to get ready. Delia gives each of them a hug and a wish of good luck, I shake each of their hands and also wish them luck, and the Professor just nods to each of them. They head off, looks ranging from excited to calm to nervous. They'll do fine, I can tell.
The D-2 battle is interesting to watch for me. It's an unusual battle format: beta-2-2-alpha-1, two doubles battles and a one on one. I of course secretly root for Team Senescence to win. Delia is interested in the doubles battle format so I explain to her how teamwork is key to winning this battle type and how it takes a lot of concentration by the trainer to focus on their two pokemon as well as the opponent. The battle winds up being a real nail-biter. Team Senescence wins the first double battle, but the idiot team winds up taking the second, so it comes down to the one on one to see who wins. The moron brigade sends out a Lombre, while my new best friends send out a Haunter. The battle is fierce and goes on for a good fifteen minutes. Finally, the Haunter gets in a good Lick attack and the battle ends with the Lombre knocked out. I let out a loud whoop before quickly sitting back in my chair, embarrassed by the confused stares the Professor and Delia were giving me.
It takes the field crew a little while to clean up the field and repaint the lines. Finally after about twenty minutes, it's time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it's now time for our Division 3 battle. Today, the Horizon team of Pallet Town will be going against a team from right here in Pewter City, Team Guardian!" the announcer says as the crowd goes wild. Here we go!
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A/N- My longest chapter ever. Battle next time. Reviews?
