Chapter 11: Stage Fight
The screen in the contest lobby flashed the line up for the matches of the first round that would soon begin the eliminations. The first pair that would soon battle was that of Sulfur and another contestant. Topaz once again handed back Rico as she turned to face Sulfur.
"Well, looks like it's all you and your Pokémon, Sulfur. Better make this battle count if you want to get closer to the finals." Topaz said.
Sulfur nodded. "I have prepared as best I can but whether or not I win has yet to be decided. And by the way, I'm going to need you to take Ren." Sulfur said picking his Ralts off his head and holding her out to Topaz.
"You're kidding, right? Why can't you just put her in her pokéball?" Topaz asked, crossing her arms.
"I want her to get a feel for how a contest looks on the outside looking in. Also, I can only have one Pokémon out at a time or I will be accused of cheating, doesn't help that she is a psychic type either." Sulfur reasoned handing over the annoyed Ralts.
"C'mon, Paz, you're great with Ralts. What makes cute, little Ren any different?" Cyan said, supporting Sulfur's case. Topaz held out Ren at arm's length.
"There's a difference between Ren and Rico where that Rico doesn't act unreasonably when I'm holding him." Topaz argued back. Topaz began to demonstrate her point as she tried to hold Ren the way she held Rico moments ago. Again, Ren began to squirm and cry as she tried to reach over to Sulfur with waving arms. "See?!"
Sulfur walked over to Ren and picked her up before placing her back down on Topaz's head. Sulfur gave Ren a stern look before she gave a defeated sigh.
"There." Sulfur said. "She will not struggle again." Topaz shrugged and gave out her own defeated sigh as there was no escape.
"Fine. I was having a bad case of bedhead anyways. I'm heading back." Topaz said as she walked out the lobby.
Sulfur smiled and looked back to the screen, attempting to remember everything he and Walter practiced yesterday. During the last training session, Sulfur battled with Cyan and though Sulfur still won, it was clear to Sulfur that simple strategy wasn't going to cut it this time. There was so much more in this battle type to take into account. Not only will Sulfur have to plan a way to win, but also to do it in a way that is appealing to the audience.
"You know, it's kind of nice to have someone like Topaz to help you out. I don't think she's ever done so much for a person before. I guess you're pretty lucky to have her around." Cyan spoke up, interrupting Sulfur's thoughts.
"Oh, it is useful to travel with companions." Sulfur said looking down to see his Turtwig looking up at him.
"Well sure but that's not what I meant. Topaz might have given some advice to a beginner for something in return but she actually made you an entire outfit, and by the sound of it, also gave you some pointers. I'm just surprised by her. I'm her best friend and she's never done anything big for me. I bet she made that little accessory too for your Ren, right?" Cyan asked.
Sulfur nodded before responding. "Yeah, she has been a lot of help getting me prepared for this contest."
The T.V. once again garnered everyone's attention as Sulfur was called out to the stage. Everyone looked ready to take
"It appears as if my time to battle has come." Sulfur said.
Sulfur made his way from the lobby to the backstage where he prepared to make his appearance. After his battle with Cyan, Sulfur realized that defeating his opponent would not be enough to win. He would have to find a way to make the battle appealing, more so in his favor than his opponent. Sulfur only needed to put his new knowledge into play.
Putting his worries aside, Sulfur made his way to the battlefield. He was determined to focus on the battle at hand and worry about his outcome later. Once Sulfur's opponent was ready opposite of the field, the hostess began to speak.
"Alright everybody! The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived! With this battle, we will be starting off the contest battle round! Now, with five minutes on the clock, let the battle begin!"
"Go! Bidoof!" The opposing coordinator cried as a Bidoof burst out if its pokéball ready to fight.
"Walter!" Sulfur said calling out his Turtwig.
Sulfur's opponent wasted no time and immediately launched on the offensive.
"Bidoof, use headbutt!" Bidoof charged at Turtwig, launching itself a short distance before crashing back down on to Walter.
"Steady yourself Walter! Use absorb!" Sulfur commanded.
Walter stood his ground as the Bidoof smashed into Walter's skull. While the Bidoof attempted to recover, Walter used his red beam to begin absorbing the life force of his opponent. Not leaving any time to recover, Walter smashed his entire body into Bidoof, launching him back to his side of the field.
"Get back up Bidoof and use defense curl!" Bidoof got back on his feet and quickly rolled up into a tight ball.
Using the opening, Walter quickly ran towards the Bidoof, attempting to land a tackle. Before the attack had a chance to land, the trainer called out another surprising command.
"Now, Bidoof! Substitute!" The Bidoof uncurled its body and stood still as Walter rammed his body into his opponent. Upon the direct hit, the still Bidoof poofed into white smoke, confusing Walter greatly.
"What? Where did it go?" Sulfur called out confused.
"Alright, Bidoof! Let's keep this up with roll out!" The opposing coordinator called out. The small beaver Pokémon was in the air above the battlefield. It again rolled up and allowed gravity to strengthen its attack towards Walter.
"Intercept it with razor leaf!" Sulfur called out.
Walter launched a razor leaf attack on the Bidoof. Blade after blade hit the Bidoof but failed to stop it in neither its attack nor point gainage. Walter was sent flying back losing a great many points.
"Alright, Walter use razor leaf and chain it with absorb!" Sulfur commanded.
With that, Walter launched a coil of razor leaf before sending an red beam through the center. The Bidoof was bombarded with more leaves as it had its energy drained. At the end of the attack the Bidoof stood tall looking powerful as ever.
"What?" Sulfur questioned. "That attack should have ended it!"
The opposing coordinator laughed. "Do you really think some lame combo was going to beat us? Let's end this, Bidoof! Use headbutt!"
The Bidoof did not move, however, and collapsed to the floor.
"Bidoof, no!" The coordinator called out to his fallen friend.
Topaz let out sigh.
"Well, Sulfur really got lucky with that last combo. Call it a really lucky and anticlimactic win." Topaz said. Topaz looked up at the Ralts still on her head who was clearly happy and cheering for her trainer and friend.
The hostess spoke up. "And the winner by knockout is Sulfur!"
The crowd cheered for Sulfur as he was attempting to process what just happened. Sulfur decided to just let it go and embrace the moment as he picked up his Turtwig and waved to the crowd. The other coordinator returned his Bidoof and ran off stage.
As Sulfur entered the lobby he was approached by Cyan.
"Nice win there, Sulfur. But again, I think you could've used that combo and others from the very beginning. You lost a lot of points out there." Cyan said.
"I guess I got caught up in the moment." Sulfur replied. "I'll take that into consideration in the future." Cyan let out a sympathetic chuckle.
"Alright, and keep in mind your razor leaf attack. It's a move that can greatly benefit a trainer in battle. Whether or not that trainer is you."
Just then Topaz walked in with a cheering Ralts on her head.
"Just because I have bedhead don't mean your little Pokémon can dance around on it and make it more messy." Topaz said as she handed over Ren to Sulfur. "By the way, you got extremely lucky there at the end."
"So I've heard." said Sulfur as his Ralts climbed its way to his head.
"Well, let's hope your next opponent won't be that hard to beat. That was too close of a call." Topaz said as she crossed her arms. Cyan looked over to Topaz and chuckled to himself.
"Nice green gloves there, Paz. They really match that purple shirt of yours." Cyan said as he smiled. Topaz looked down at her arms and quickly hid them behind her back like an embarrassed child.
"Well, of course they don't match. These aren't my usual gloves. I had to make new ones from the extra fabric I bought for Sulfur's shirt. I used my old ones for the dumb accessory I made for Ren. Besides, why are you so worried about my gloves? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your battle?" Topaz angrily asked.
"Alright, alright, I get it. No more teasing, I'll go. But, hey, wish me luck!" Cyan laughed happily as he left the lobby.
Sulfur and Topaz gave a wave goodbye as Cyan made his way to the stage.
"Well, I might as well go back to the stands. Do you want me to keep babysitting Ren or wait until the semifinals?" Topaz asked Sulfur.
"Let us wait until the semifinals." Sulfur answered. "I am very interested to see Cyan perform."
Cyans performance was well planned and well executed. In the end, Cyan eliminated his opponent by depleting their points gauge. Clearly, Cyan was more experienced competing in contest. Sulfur was going to have to learn more if he was to compete with the best.
With the preliminaries done and over with, Sulfur would have to work harder to make to the finals.
The stage lights shown down on Sulfur. Once more, he stood in front of his next opponent, a timid looking coordinator and her Pokémon Buneary. As unintimidating as they may be, it did not stop Sulfur from his planning.
The hostess again began spewing excitement to the crowd. "Welcome to everybody to the semi finals! The conclusion to these next few battles will determine who will compete for the Floaroma ribbon! Now without anymore delay! With five minutes on the clock, let's begin!"
"Turtwig! Razor leaf!" Sulfur called out quickly.
But the Buneary quickly counter attacked with an ice beam freezing the attack in mid flight. As the frozen leaves continued to fly towards the Buneary, one of Buneary's arms began to glow white. Before the leaves could hit Buneary, it swung its glowing arm and a white glowing blade destroyed the frozen leaves, leaving sparkles behind to shine over Buneary's successful attack.
"Damn it!" Sulfur said to himself. The other coordinators must have taken note of Sulfur's use of razor leaf and planned around it.
"Now, ice beam on the ground, Buneary!" The Buneary quickly jumped off the ground and froze the ground with a light blue beam. The Buneary landed back down with perfect balance while Walter lost all balance, slipping around on the ground. The coordinator took this chance to continue.
"Now use quick attack, Buneary!" The Buneary moved quickly towards a slipping Walter and even more quickly with the ice. The Buneary looked like it was skating quickly over the ice. The attack landed, along with many others.
"Walter, withdraw!" Sulfur responded quickly.
The Turtwig did as commanded and retreated into its shell. Escaping the damage, the Buneary began sliding him around like a hockey puck. Sulfur, however, was not about to be shown up and used this to his advantage.
"Walter! Razor leaf!" Sulfur yelled.
Walter began to release a hurricane of razor leaves from every direction. Not even the swift Buneary could escape the blows. Walter regained his footing and charged at the buneary full force knocking it back.
"Walter! Razor leaf and follow it with absorb!" Sulfur said, unleashing his new taught combo move.
Turtwig launched the coil of razor leaf followed by the absorb beam through the center.
"Protect, Buneary!" Buneary stretched out both ears and crossed them, quickly forming a green bubble around its body. The combo move was destroyed upon contact with the green bubble, making Walter lose more points.
"Now let's go with a double pound attack!" Both of the Buneary's arms began to glow white. With one arm, Buneary broke its own bubble, creating shattered like glass that turned into sparkles behind it. With its second arm, Buneary quickly moved towards Walter, determined to land its attack.
Walter, however, was able to move out of the way just in time to dodge the attack. The ice shattered sending chunks flying in every direction. Walter again attempted a tackle only to miss as the Buneary jumped out of the way to safety.
"Buneary, quick attack!" Buneary moved quickly towards Walter a final time with the little ice that was left. The was able to land its attack before the timer went off.
"Wait, what?!" Sulfur said confused as he noticed the battle had reached its time limit.
"And the winner is Buneary!" The hostess spoke.
The large screen did not lie, Sulfur looked up to see that he had indeed lost. His points had been nearly depleted, while his opponent had barely lost any. The crowd cheered for his opponent but Sulfur felt crushed. No amount of planning had prepared him for this. Clearly he was simply out matched. Sulfur picked up his confused Turtwig and left the stage.
Back at the lobby Sulfur sat contemplating at his loss, he didn't notice his friends walking in. Topaz walked over to Sulfur and placed Ren on his head.
"I'm sorry you lost, Sulfur. I probably should've helped more with battle practice than making you a dumb outfit. This was your first contest." Topaz apologized as she looked down at the ground.
"It was my first contest, I was bound to lose anyways. I really appreciate the help you've given me recently, it really helped." Sulfur replied.
"But you made it to the semifinals! And contests are nothing more than simple strategy, which is what you're good at. I mean, you tried to help me back at Oreburgh when I had no chance at winning." Topaz argued back.
"Well in any case, I wouldn't have made it to where I am now without your help, right, Ren?" Sulfur said. Ren grabbed her headband and smiled at Topaz as if to say thank you.
"Well, if we're gonna be stuck together on this journey, I can't leave you hanging." Topaz replied back with a smile. "If you want, we can go to the Pokémart and the sandwiches are on me, along with Ren's candy."
"Sounds like fun." Sulfur said simply leaving the lobby with Topaz and a cheering Ren on his head. "I cannot shake the feeling that I am forgetting something though? Eh, it's probably not that important anyways."
With that, both trainers left to the Pokémart, with Sulfur leaving his pokédex behind.