Pokémon Online

by Jeptwin

Jake is an SAO survivor. He is one of the only American survivors. An outcast. As far as he is aware, most of his friends died in SAO. He never wants a repeat of that, so when his boss, the head of Nintendo decides to make a VR of Pokémon, he quits in order to enter the game. He knows something is up. So when it turns into another deathgame, what will happen? SYOC

11. Chapter 10: Contest Clash!

Hey guys! Didn't get as many reviews as I would have liked for my last chapter, but hey! That's okay! Besides, I got enough, so I'm posting a brand new chapter this week! I'm making this my bigger story! Also, the death count it now at 20,000,000 out of 411, 374, 500 people. And I got 2 votes for the contest, and 1 for the mall, so I'm able to fill this up. Here goes!

Jake's POV

"Finally. Why does Celadon have to be so far?" Lisbeth groaned as she slid off of her Rapidash she had recently caught. We had all taken to riding the Pokémon we caught, as it was faster. However, as a group we tried to level a lot more than most people, both out of necessity and simplicity. I got off Luxray, patting him gently, with Volt hanging on my neck again. "It's not that it took so long. Only a month. We just kept on getting stopped by CPU's and wild Pokémon. And practice battles, alchemy and magic practice, quests…" Will started. "Okay, okay, I get it!" She laughed. "So what do we want to do in Celadon aside from the Gym?" Silica asked. "Oh! I've always wanted to do a Pokémon Contest!" Leafa offered, holding up the flyer Spinner found. Ruby immediately squealed, grabbing it. "There's Pokémon contests here? Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was going to have to wait for the Hoenn region and I was not going to be happy and-" He started, before Red cut him off. "Really? But Pokémon contests are so boring!" He groaned.

"Hey!" Ruby protested, glaring at him. "I think they're cool. I'm up for it!" I commented. "Did I say boring? I meant totally awesome!" Red immediately backtracked. Most of the others sweatdropped, as I giggled. "Foot, meet mouth." Will commented. "Got that right!" Gold chuckled. "Okay. So we're definitely doing Contests today, but who's participating?" Green interrupted before Red could embarrass himself more. "I am." Kirito spoke up. "Me too!" Asuna agreed. "Definitely me." Lisbeth said. "Sounds like fun!" Silica offered. "I want to do everything and anything in this world!" Sinon exclaimed. "Contests aren't really my thing…" Will trailed off. "Oh, come on! Live a little!" Sky protested. "Eh. Why not? Could be fun." Crystal decided. "I'll do it." Yellow spoke up. "I'm definitely doing it!" White offered. "Okay, so we have Blue, Ruby, Leafa, Will, Sky, Kirito, Asuna, Jake, Lisbeth, Silica, Sinon, Yellow, Platinum, White, and Crystal. Anyone else?" Gold asked. Suddenly, a hand went up in our group. I looked towards the source, and started laughing when I saw the flustered face of Green with his head down and his cheeks red!

"You?" Red asked, laughing. "Yes, me!" Green snapped. "Big bad serious Green wants to do a contest?" Gold chuckled. "It's been my dream since I was a kid." He muttered under his breath. "Aww, baby boy wants to fowwow his dweams?" Gold chuckled. Green snapped his head up to glare at Gold, who held his hands up immediately. "I'll stop." He said. We all laughed as we officially entered Celadon, and made our way through the city to get to the Contest Hall. When we entered it, we immediately walked over to the Pokeblock machine. "Okay. Who wants to make pokéblocks?" Platinum asked. Diamond, Sky, Asuna and I all raised our hands. "Okay. Before we choose what berries we want to use, we should choose which contest we want to do." Ruby pointed out. "You're right. Okay. What Pokémon is each person using?" Kirito asked.

"I'm using Volt!" I spoke up. "I'm going to use my Horsea!" Asuna said. "I'm using Bonee." Crystal offered. "I think Chuchu would be good for this." Yellow decided. "I'm using Jiggly." Blue exclaimed. "Definitely Fofo." Ruby declared. "Considering I haven't found a Dawn stone to evolve her yet, in using my Snorunt." Platinum spoke up. "I'm going to use Lilipup." White said. "I'm gonna use my Flaaffy." Lisbeth told us. "I'm thinking I'm gonna use Rufflet." Will decided. "Definitely Vulpix." Sky offered. "I'm taking Whismur." Sinon offered. "Vanillish." Leafa simply said. "I'll go with Litleo." Silica chose. "And I'm taking Teddiursa." Kirito finished, smiling. "You have a Teddiursa?" Asuna asked. "I found her in the bushes on route 8." He explained.

"Okay, so then clearly we're going for Cute Contests, and we'll have to perform in groups if we don't want to use an entire day. I'll go with Asuna, Crystal and Blue, Yellow and Ruby, Lisbeth and White, Will and Platinum, and the other eight can go separately, as I doubt that they want to lose, even to each other. Works?" Kirito asked. We all nodded. "Wait. Green, what Pokémon are you using?" Red asked. Green shot him a glare, but Red didn't back down. Finally, Green backed down. He opened his Pokéball, revealing a Growlithe! "Aww. He's so cute!" Sky squealed. Her vulpix jumped out of her arms and barked at Growlithe. "Vul!" Growlithe started wagging his tail immediately. "Lithe!" He replied. "aww. They're playing!" Leafa cooed. "Okay. Let's start making Pokéblocks, people!" I exclaimed. Diamond, Asuna, Sky and I all walked over to the machine, where we each took out a berry.

Asuna and I both took out Kee berries, while Sky and Diamond took out Magost berries. "These should make some high level Pokéblocks." Diamond determined. He hit the start feature, and the machine started up. We added flour and milk, and then ground the berries into a paste in the blender. We mixed the dough and paste together, before shaping them into blocks and putting them in the oven. When the timer dinged a second later, there were sixteen Pokéblocks on the tray, all bright pink and fluffy. "Wow. Those look really good." Gold commented, drooling a little bit. He reached for one, but I hit his hand with a spoon. "No touching!" I told him, as he groaned in pain and rubbed his hand. "Hey! Look! Our Pokéblock making skills went up." Diamond commented. He was right! Under our cooking skills, our Pokéblock skill had gained 60 points.

"Cool! What level are the blocks?" Will asked. "48. Everyone take one!" Diamond replied. We all grabbed one for our Pokémon, and Volt happily took mine from me. "Ele! Kid." He exclaimed. "I think he likes them." I laughed. "Let's go register." Kirito decided. When we got to the desk, the attendant turned towards us, before gaping at our large group. "I assume you don't want to be put in the same round?" She asked. "How do they work?" I asked. "Well, there are three rounds: The appeal, the move contest, and then battles. It's tournament style blocks, with each the worse half of each group getting eliminated. During the battle portion, a final half are eliminated, and the rest win. However, that only applies for the normal contests. The super contest, only eight make it into the battle and the four with the highest scores win. Hyper contest, only four make it, and two win. And then in the master rank, only one person wins per competition." She explained.

"Cool! So this round we can have four per group!" Kirito decided. "Okay. So who's participating?" The attendant asked. Kirito started talking in detail with her, as I looked up the rules to the contest. "Apparently we have 30 minutes to accessorize and beautify our Pokémon before the appeals." I offered. "But none of us have accessory kits!" Lisbeth protested. "They're given to you in there. As you rank up your skill and your Pokémon's skill, and the contest they're in, you can use more and better accessories." I explained.

"Okay! The contest starts in seven minutes! Kirito, Asuna, Sky, and Sinon, you're first up!" The attendant declared. We walked into the audience doors while the four of us participating entered the contestant entrance. About half an hour later, an announcer popped up from the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today's Celadon city normal rank Cute contest!" She declared. "Today we have 20 people participating in the contest! And first up is Sally with her Duder!" A sixteen year old blonde rose up with a geodude with sparkles covering him. It actually hurt to look. We all clapped politely for her, before they went back down.

"Next up is Sky with Pixie!" The announced declared. Our group all cheered for her as she came up with her Vulpix, who had bows on all three of her tails and one on her head. We all awwed at her, and it was clear she was a shoe-in for the battle portion, especially with Sky's contest outfit. She was wearing a sky (just like her name) blue dress with pink lace going from her shoulders and curling around her waist, and ruffles on her shoulders. When she went down, I nudged Red, who was sitting next to me. "What do you think I should wear?" I asked, smiling. "He wants you in all spandex and sitting on his lap." Blue giggled. Immediately, both Red and I blushed the color of his namesake as I hit her and the others laughed.

We mostly ignored the other acts until it was finally only Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon left. "Next up is Kirito with Ursa!" The announcer called. "Ursa?" Green asked, his eyebrow raised. However, when Kirito came up, we all immediately focused on him. Because it was practically impossible not to! He was wearing his traditional jacket, but underneath was a glittering black shirt with ruffles, complete with black tights and a top hat! "Oh." I started. "My." Lisbeth followed. "God." Leafa finished. At the sight of his outfit, we all were laughing hysterically, him glaring at us until he got sent back down. "He so does not portray Cute!" I giggled. "Next up, Asuna and Seasea!" The announcer declared. At this, most of us perked up. We were excited to see what the serious girl of us would bring to the table.

When she came up, however, we were all stunned by her gorgeous outfit. She was wearing a beautiful plain white silk dress, and ballet flats, with only her red ribbon in her hair. "Wow." Will commented. "Wow is right. The last time she looked this good was for valentine's day with Kirito!" I agreed. And Seasea had bubbles covering her tail, and finished the look with a couple rhinestones on her 'wings'. When they went down, we were all still in shock. "And finally, Sinon and Whisper!" The announcer declared. Simon rose up with her Whismur, who was somehow holding a balloon, and had bows and fluff on its ears. "Aww. So cute!" White squealed. "I know!" Yellow agreed. And Simon didn't look bad either. She was wearing a stunning ruby colored dress, her hair was put back and long, she had her special Siren's tear pearl necklace on and her meteorite bracers to complete the look.

As she blew a kiss to the crowd, she started going back down, before the curtains closed. "Ladies and gentlemen, a brief intermission while our judges determine who stays and who goes." The announcer said. Ruby was furiously grooming Fofo while we waited, but the rest of us were getting busy talking. "Think Kirito's gonna make it?" I joked. "With that costume, I think he might be laughed out by the girls!" Will chuckled. "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please! The Moves portion of the contest has now begun!" The announcer called, the curtains opening with all of the remaining ten contestants. However, as they did so, Kirito appeared to be one of them.

"First up is Sky and Pixie!" The announcer said. Sky smiled as she stepped up. "Pixie! Disarming voice!" She started. Vulpix let out a sharp cry that had us all melting over just how cute it was. "Follow it with growl, play rough, and rest!" Sky declared. Vulpix let out a soft growl before jumping up, and finally curled up into a circle and laid her head down. "So cute!" Blue squealed. "She's gonna be impossible to beat." I chuckled. "And Sky earns full points!" The announced declared. "Next up is Lizzy!" He called. A girl with brown hair and a caterpie stepped up, prompting our disinterest. "So if there's ten now and only five make it to the next round, what do you think is gonna happen with that fifth person?" Red asked. "Either they'll battle a robot, or they'll automatically win a ribbon." Green spoke up. "You're probably right." Blue agreed. "And that's it for the moves portion! The judges have decided!" The announced called.

"Wait, what? Over already? We missed the others!" I groaned. "Well, we didn't miss the battle!" Red offered. The others and I all sweatdropped. "Of course that's what you care about." Leafa sighed, smiling exasperatedly. "The people moving on are Sinon, Asuna, Tracie, and Ollie!" The announcer explained. "Aww. Poor Sky." I commented. "And the player who had perfect scores in both the showing and move segments, who has officially gotten first place is Sky!" The announcer finished. Immediately, we stood up cheering, as the crowd roared. I could hear Sky squealing from across the stadium, as she ran and hugged Asuna, who was laughing excitedly. "Good for her." Lizbeth commented.

"The players fighting will be Ollie and Sinon, and Asuna and Tracie!" The announcer declared. "This should be interesting." Silica commented. As the stadium split in half for each battle zone, Sky joined the judges' panel and Kirito sat down next to Will and I. We all laughed at him, as he glared at us. "You know that costume is your permanent costume, right?" I chuckled. He grabbed me, his eyes wide. "No joke? You're kidding!" He protested. I giggled, shaking my head. "No!" He moaned. I just smiled back at him, before someone tapped him on the shoulder. We both turned around to see who it was, before Kirito broke into a smile. "Nishida!" He exclaimed. "Long time no see, kiddo!" The old man chuckled. "Is this the fisherman you told me about, Kirito?" I asked. "Yeah. This is Nishida. He caught the King of the Lake on floor twenty two of Aincrad!" Kirito told me. "You certainly helped." Nishida chuckled. "And you must be Jake. I've been told a lot about you as well. Though you've both grown since I last was in contact with you!" He finished.

I smiled. "You worked at the internet security company, right, ToTo Highspeed?" I asked. He nodded. "Unfortunately, after the disaster that was SAO, we got shut down. But as the head of security, I got quite a pretty penny before singing my swan song! Gave most of it to my family, of course." He chuckled. "Well it's great that you don't have to worry anymore." Kirito offered, smiling. "Well, I wouldn't say that, kiddo! I'm still an old man! But right now the only things I have to fear are heart attacks and the possibility that I might one day get a Dragonite at the end of my reel!" He chuckled. We both laughed at this, causing him to smile. "You know, lately nothing makes me happier than putting a smile on people's faces. I guess in a way that's why I've continued playing VR's after SAO." He chuckled.

I smiled. "That's a great goal. I bet a lot of people could use you." I told him. He nodded. "Yup! That's gonna be my goal here while you all are off getting us out. I don't really care which one of you wins the tournament and faces each elite four, because I know you'll win. But just remember that there's more to life than completing the game." He told us. Kirito placed his hand on his chin in thought, before seemingly coming to a decision. "Nishida, would you like to be the first member of our new guild?" He asked. Nishida's eyes practically bugged out of his face at that! "You made a guild? Wow! Definitely!" He agreed. Kirito and I smiled at him, before Kirito sent him the invite. He immediately clicked yes, before the announcer came back. "Well, looks like I'd best be going now. But whenever you need advice on a water Pokémon, I'm your guy!" He told us, getting up.

As he left, the announcer declared Asuna, Sinon, and Sky the winners, prompting our applause. When they were all done, we rushed backstage. "You three were great!" I immediately praised them. Sky squealed excitedly, hugging Kirito. "I'm so happy! I got first place!" She exclaimed. "You have a serious talent for these. Ruby better watch out, because I think that you're a real contest star in the making." Sinon chuckled. Ruby glared at her, but she just smirked in reply. "Asuna, you were absolutely stunning! You need to enter in the beauty contests the first chance we get! Because you will dominate." I offered. "You really think so?" She asked. I smiled. "Have I ever been wrong about this sort of thing?" I asked her. "Well there was that one time against the dragon when you claimed that Kirito could use Excalibur to fight against the flames." Lizbeth offered, smirking. I pouted.

"How was I supposed to know that you needed a certain level of mastery to use unique sword skills it offers?" I protested. Kirito winced, rubbing his shoulder. "You know, I'm still feeling the effects of that blast. Constant pains in my back." He grunted. "I could realign your spine with a hammer." I offered, glaring at him. He immediately put his hands up, laughing nervously. However we all just laughed at his behavior, before the bell rang for the next contest to start preparing. "Guess we have to go." I commented. "Lizbeth, Crystal, Green, Silica!" The attendant called. I patted Green on the back for comfort as the rest of us made our way back to our seats.

Red's POV

Most of the contests droned on and on for me, and a few times either Jake, Ruby, or Blue would hit me so I would wake up. However, I did keep track of who won ribbons: Green (surprisingly), Crystal, Asuna, Silica, Sinon, Lizbeth, Sky, White, Platinum, Leafa, Ruby, Yellow, and Blue all earned ribbons, with Platinum, Ruby, Sky, and Silica taking first place. Will and Kirito were the only ones who lost, Kirito for his hilarious costume and Will because he apparently wasn't big on Contests to begin with. But finally, Jake was up in the last round of the day. It was 5:00 P.M., and there were 16 people in the round. But I was waiting patiently for Jake right until the end when he was called last for presentation. "Think Red's finally found his motivation for watching a Contest?" Will joked. I hit him lightly, but didn't take my eyes off the stage. "Finally, it's Jake and Volt!" The announcer declared. As they rose up from the center, I blushed bright, well, red, as I noticed that Jake had actually taken Blue's advice to some extent.

He was wearing a fire red vest with a white skintight spandex shirt, and bright red spandex tights, complete with black shoes. Even his hair was spiked up like flames, which was a very hot look on him. And Volt was holding a balloon in one hand, and with the other he had a small stuffed doll, of what I couldn't see, and Jake had completed the look with a red and white cap. "Wow! So adorable! Look at that Elekid!" The announcer gushed. "I don't think Red can tear his eyes off Jake to look." Leafa joked. "I can still hear you." I pointed out. "Oh, we know. And we can see you." Sinon commented wryly. I blushed once more, immediately crossing my legs in an attempt to hide my embarrassment as I pulled my cap lower to try and hide beneath it. "Careful. We don't want to make him mute again." Green got in on the fun. "Green! You made a joke!" Blue gasped. "I do have a sense of humor, you know." He replied.

"Clearly." Black chuckled. "Aww, come on, guys, don't be so mean to Red. It's not his fault he can't talk to Jake about his feelings. He's a guy!" Yellow pointed out. "As a guy, I'm offended, but also as a guy, Red, at the very least I'm seriously jealous of what you're packing away." Gold spoke up. Immediately, both Sinon and Crystal slapped him. "Oww! Why did both of you have to slap me?" He whined. "Because that was even worse than your usual pervertedness." Crystal replied. "Eh. I'd give it a seven on the scale. You should hear some of the things he says before we go to sleep." Pearl commented. At this, most of the girls and a few of the guys glared at Gold. He just chuckled nervously, before the announcer caught our attention once more.

"Next up for the moves portion are Jake and Volt!" He declared. Jake smiled, waving towards us as he and Volt stepped up. "Captivate, followed by attract and confide!" He called. Volt waved his arms at the audience, before touching them together over the left part of his chest, followed by him calling out, "Ki kid!" "Now! Return!" Jake declared. Elekid buzzed softly, charging forward before slamming into a target. He finished it by jumping onto Jake's shoulder, as they hugged each other. "Now that's a performance!" Gold cheered, while the rest of us clapped. However, when I heard a couple wolf whistles from the audience, Yellow and Leafa had to push me down so I didn't get up and find who did it. On stage, Jake just blushed as he walked back to his place in line.

"Wow! I had no idea that Jake was good at contests!" Silica commented. "You kidding? I remember when we were little, he insisted on having every member of his party get every possible ribbon. He managed to get a Torterra a master cute ribbon!" Blue replied. "How do you know these things?" Will asked. "I have my ways." She replied, smiling sneakliy. "Pesky woman." Green muttered. "And now for the battle portion! Jake will be fighting Rhiannon, and Sylvia will be fighting Axl!" The announcer declared. We all turned towards the battlefields, and saw Jake in the corner closest to us. He was up against a girl with a Clamperl, and while normally this wouldn't be an issue, most electric attacks in contests were labeled as Cool or Tough. "Magnet rise!" Jake started it off with making Elekid immune to ground type moves. "Follow it up with Charm and Attract!" He called. "Clamperl, aqua tail, quick! Then use confide and return!" Rhiannon countered. Clamperl rose up in a tide of water, smashing into Elekid, where he batted his eyes and smiled at her. The Clamperl opened its shell, and Elekid put his head near it so he could seemingly hear a secret.

However, Clamperl smashed its shell down on him, as he stated trying to shake it off. When he finally did, Jake called out, "Rest! And follow it up with sleep talk!" Elekid lied down as he fell asleep, and just as Jake opened his mouth once more, Rhiannon spoke up. "Mimic, then snore!" She called. "Sleep talk!" Jake shot back. Clamperl closed its shell before a rumbling could be heard from it, causing it to rattle and blast Elekid back. However, Elekid responded with a spark jumping from him into Clamperl with a massive CRACK!

Clamperl spun a couple times, before finally opening up once more. "And time's up!" The announcer called. "Let's add up the scores! In fourth place, Axl! In third place, Sylvia!" He started. At this, both Jake and Rhiannon cheered and hugged each other. "In second place, Rhiannon! And in first, Jake! Rhiannon and Jake, please go to the front desk to accept your ribbons!" The announcer declared. When they contestants had all walked off, we got up and went to the front desk to meet Jake. "You were so great! No wonder you wanted to do this!" Asuna commented. "Thanks!" Jake chuckled. "You really were! You were handicapped since you couldn't use electric attacks, but you still found a way to win and defeat me!" Rhiannon agreed from behind us. "Thank you. But you came pretty damn close to beating me!" Jake responded. "I'm just happy I got a ribbon." She chuckled.

He smiled, walking up to her and holding out his hand. "Friends?" He asked. "But definitely rivals in Contests." Rhiannon agreed. "Done." He agreed, before she grabbed his hand and they shook. They both got the message that the other had agreed to be their Friend, and Rhiannon smiled one last time (1), before leaving. "She was nice." Jake commented. "Wow. You know, I'd make a joke that only gay guys win contests, but I think you kind of proved my point!" Blue chuckled. "Hey!" Green protested. "I still say it's debatable." She replied, grinning. He growled, lunging at her, as Blue laughed and ran away. "Guys! Not again!" Yellow protested, running after them. "I guess we should follow?" Kirito asked, with me and Jake nodding.

When we finally caught up to them, they were panting in front of the Celadon City mall. "Really, Blue?" Crystal sighed. "Well at least now we're at the mall." Sinon offered. "Good point! Let's go in!" I decided, stepping in. As we walked in, we all stared at the massive inside of the mall! There were stores everywhere, a food court, even a Battle arena! As we were walking by, a woman came up to us with a flyer. "Hi! Have you heard about the Poké-X run?" She asked. We stared at her blankly. "No." Will spoke up. "Oh, you'll love it! The winner gets a shop right in the front of the mall!" She started. "Well, that's okay, we don't really want-" Kirito started, before Lizbeth slapped her hand over his mouth. "Continue." She spoke up. The woman laughed. "It's a race from here to Fuschia city! It goes through all eighteen type biomes, and you can use all of your Pokémon. The only rule is you can't attack other players, and you can't use moves on yourself." The woman explained.

Lizbeth's and Jake's eyes lit up. "We have to do this!" Jake replied. "Of course! Just click here!" The woman replied, gesturing to the flyer. "Wait! Jake, take my Empoleon!" Asuna interjected. "Thanks, Asu!" Jake replied, taking Empoleon's Pokéball. Jake and Lizbeth both clicked on the flyer, before vanishing. "Would you like to watch? It's just P15!" She offered. We all smiled, nodding. "Of course! Just hit the back of the flyer." She commented, flipping it over. On the back, instead of a trail map, it said in big letters, WATCH. We all clicked it, me being the final person, as we teleported to a screening room. "One of the advantages of the virtual world." Kirito chuckled.

Jake's POV

"The race begins in 1 minute!" The announcer called. I smiled at Lizbeth. "No matter who wins, we share the property?" I asked. She nodded. "Jake? Lizbeth?" A woman spoke up. We turned to her, before I burst into a smile. "Sakura! Alicia! What are you doing here?" I asked. "Alicia Rue and I are racing to win a fusion nursery/berry store!" Sakura replied on top of her Gogoat. "You really think you'll beat us?" Alicia asked from on top of her Salamence. I smiled from on top of my Luxray. "The first zone may be forest, but there are electric, ice, and dragon zones in there! Good luck!" I chuckled. She just smirked at me. "10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!" The announcer called. At this, we all took off. Alicia flew above the trees while Gogoat sped up in his specific terrain with Sakura on his back, Luxray, Lizbeth, Rapidash, and I right behind Sakura.

Lizbeth took care of the grass and big types as Luxray and I guided her safely through. However, the next zone was Electric, complete with bright yellow rocks and a massive storm overhead. Luxray immediately sped up when he touched the electrified ground, with Gogoat not being particularly affected, and Rapidash having a little more trouble. However, the people behind us were all having a lot more, and Alicia was the only trainer wit a Pokémon with high enough speed and agility to dodge the lightning bolts in the air. However, immediately after Electric was Dark, which was quite literally a pit of black! "Lizbeth! Stay behind me, and stray close to Luxray!" I called. Sakura, thinking smart, also got close to us as we entered the pitch black void. Almost everything was totally dark, while Rapidash was able to give off enough light for Sakura and Lizbeth to follow Luxray and I, as Luxray was able to see in the dark.

We jumped over crags and rocks, until finally we saw a wall of black! We kept on racing through, finding ourselves in a massive burning forest! Rapidash ran ahead of both Luxray and Gogoat, Gogoat being significantly slowed by the burning terrain. We were jumping over burning trees and flames, until Sakura and I both heard a CRACK! And saw a tree falling right in front of us! "Bulldoze!" Sakura called. Gogoat raced ahead of me, slamming into the tree and destroying it! Afterwards, it slowed down to Luxray's speed once more. "Nice!" I called. She just smiled at me, before we saw that we were literally almost out of the woods! In front of us was a giant expanse of ocean!

I grabbed Empoleon's Pokéball, throwing it out and jumping from Luxray as we crossed zones, landing on Empoleon as I returned Luxray. "Surf!" Sakura called. As Empoleon sped down the Ocean path, I gaped in shock as I saw Gogoat running on top of the water! "I thought you couldn't teach Pokémon HM moves in this game?" I asked. "You don't have to." She replied, smirking. "Impressive." I commented, as we caught up to Lizbeth on Floatzel and Alicia Rue in the lead. "Hey Alicia! Now would be a good time to take out a different Pokémon." I chuckled. "And why's that?" She asked. "Because we're about to hit the ice zone." I replied, pointing towards the ice floes appearing more and more. She gasped, returning Salamence and throwing down a Dewgong, who barked happily as he swam to catch her. "Talk about being forced onto level ground with the rest of us." I chuckled.

"Not for long." Sakura replied, sending out Lapras as we hit the Ice zone. "Why not?" I asked, Empoleon and Dewgong sliding with Floatzel and Lapras. "Because of that!" Sakura pointed to an avalanche heading right for us! "Ice beam!" I called. Empoleon started blasting a beam of ice up off the ground as the others followed my lead and created a path above the massive wave of snow. However, right beyond the Avalanche was the Earth zone! Complete with a biting sandstorm and dunes. "Torterra!" I called, right before we touched ground once more. Sakura threw out a Hippowdon as Alicia threw out Rhyperior, and Lizbeth took our Tyranitar! Our Pokémon all barreled through the sandstorm with ease, barely stopping when they hit the Rock zone, a massive cave! However, when we got to the end, avoiding falling stalactites, all I saw was an expanse of sky! And Alicia was about to fall through since Rhyperior got an advantage from the rocks!

"Flying Zone up ahead!" I called. Alicia shrieked as she returned Rhyperior, being flung into the vast sky before she took off wit Salamence! I threw out Staraptor, while Lizbeth threw out Pidgey, and Sakura called out Togekiss! We all were laughing and cheering as we explored the vast sky around us, before I noticed something up ahead. "What… is that?" I asked, pointing to a castle in the sky. "That must be the fairy zone!" Sakura replied. When we got closer, we saw a picturesque scene right out of a fairy tale, as Togekiss sped up dramatically! When we got close to the castle, however, inside the gates was a nightmare come to life! We entered them, going into a massive expanse of dead woods, shrieking wind, stormy skies, and thousands of gravestones! "What is this?" Sakura shrieked, as the trees suddenly came to life and started trying to grab at her! "It's the Ghost zone! Togekiss is part fairy, the natural enemy of ghosts!" I replied.

We all were racing as fast as we could to get or of the awful zone, but when we finally got to the house, it suddenly melted away! And we became surrounded by pools of bubbling smog and toxic air! "Oh! Ugh! The poison zone!" I warned, switching to Magnezone, who was not in the least bit affected by the horribly toxic environment. Lizbeth swapped out for Gloom, and Alicia took out Arbok! Sakura swapped out for Nidoqueen, grimacing. "I love my Queenie, but I never want to see this again!" She groaned, Queenie rumbled in agreement, as we suddenly reached a massive factory! The others quickly swapped out their poison types, Lizbeth back for Rapidash, Sakura for an Aggron, and Alicia for a Skarmory! "You chose a Skarmory?" I asked, surprised.

Alicia nodded. "I think she looks so cool!" She replied. "Well I guess, but I figured if you had a bird Pokémon you'd have a Swanna or something similar to help against Salamence's weaknesses." I explained. "Look out!" Lizbeth called, pointing at a steel beam swinging right at us! "Steel wing!" Alicia called. Skarmory's wings shined, before it sliced through the metal like it was hot butter! "Woah." I commented. "Did I forget to mention that I trained her really well?" Alicia chuckled. "Exit dead ahead!" Sakura called. We all looked towards the exit of the factory, as things got brighter and brighter, before we were suddenly flying with the ground above us! There was a crystal ceiling below us, and all kinds of sharp, warped turns. "This must be the psychic zone!" Sakura commented.

"It's so strange!" Alicia spoke up. "Bubble!" I called, magnezone swerving to avoid the strange blue-tinted orb. More bubbles kept on popping up as we dodged the sharp turns and crystal spikes appearing at random. "We're gonna have to go through some!" Lizbeth warned. "Mirror Coat!" I called. Magnezone buzzed and beeped, before shimmering orbs appeared around each of us. We passed through the bubbles unharmed, before one expanded and turned papery! As we watched, it slowly turned into a massive beehive! "Bug Zone!" Alicia called. As she said it, we each got swept up into separate tunnels!

Combee started swarming around me as I screamed in fright. "Discharge!" I screamed. Magnezone made a whining sound, before letting loose a massive burst of electricity that fried all the Bugs around me! When we finally got out, I was shivering and hugging myself. "Girls?" I whispered, as Magnezone flew quietly over the dark crags covered in blue flames. "JAAAAKEEE!" Lizbeth screamed from behind me. I snapped out of my funk, turning around to see the three girls being chased by a Dragonite! Lizbeth was now on Pigeot once more, and Sakura was on Togekiss. "Use Moonblast!" I yelled to Sakura. She slapped her forehead, before turning Togekiss around and having her fire a bright pink blast at the Dragon, who fell out of the sky quickly after. "We're almost through. Only Fighting and Normal left." Sakura called. "What could fighting possibly be?" Alicia asked, confused. Suddenly, the canyon rumbled, before shooting up to surround us!

"What?" I asked, confused. However, as Lizbeth opened her mouth to reply, rocks started shooting at us! "This is the Fighting Zone! What are rocks doing here?" Sakura cried out. "Maybe it has something to do with them!" Alicia replied, pointing to the hordes of Fighting Pokémon at the top of the cliffs! "What are we going to do about them? Eventually one of us is gonna get hit!" Lizbeth asked, as we dodged the various boulders being shot at us. "Hurricane!" Alicia Rue spoke up. Skarmory started flapping her wings with incredibly force, before the wind was slicing the boulders into shards that were blown back at the Pokémon! One by one, they fainted as Skarmory cawed in triumph!

"The end of the canyon's coming up! Be prepared!" Sakuya warned. "Now's when the race really begins!" I spoke up. "Yeah! Let's do this!" Alicia Rue replied. As we exited the canyon, we were flying over grassland and were now able to see Fuschia city up ahead of us! When we entered the city, we saw everyone cheering below us as we raced by them. We all smiled brightly at them as they called out our names, cheering us on. "I see the finish!" Lizbeth called. I smiled, tapping Magnezone twice. "Zoone." It told me, speeding up. "Oh no you don't!" Sakuya retaliated, speeding up to catch me! However, someone flashed in front of both of us, snapping the finish line in half! "Yeah! I won!" Lizbeth cheered happily from Pidgeot. "Aww." Alicia groaned, as we slowed to a stop in front of the line. "Nice going, Liz!" Asuna cheered, high fiving Lizbeth. "We won!" I cheered excitedly.

"Congratulations, Lizbeth! Will you be setting up your traditional Blacksmith's shop like in Alfheim online?" The woman who first approached us asked. She smiled. "Actually, I'm going to give my shop space to Sakuya and Alicia Rue!" Lizbeth replied, smiling. I smiled, nodding encouragingly. "Well then, here you go!" The woman walked up to Sakuya and handed her the deed. Sakuya smiled, as she and Alicia both hugged Lizbeth. "And now that the race is over, you have the option of returning to Celadon. Would you like to?" The woman asked. We all nodded, getting sent back to the front entrance, where Alicia tapped the deed to the empty plot across from the entrance. Sakuya opened the door for us, gesturing us in.

"Woah." I breathed. The inside of the building had turned into a giant orchard, with a penned in area past the front desk with multiple biomes! "Wow!" Silica commented. "I know, right?" Alicia cheered, doing a little happy dance. "So why would you give it to us?" Sakuya asked. "Well, you can help a lot of people with it, and we can help you. As two of the leaders of the clans of Alfheim, you have a lot of sway. We're going to need that soon." Lizbeth explained. "Why?" Alicia asked. "Well for starters, you guys can train other people's Pokémon with this, which is great considering the 20,000,000 deaths due to hordes, but more importantly, if we are going to defeat Team Darke, we're going to need your help." Kirito offered. They nodded. "Too many people have died. We'll do anything we can to help." Sakuya agreed.

"In that case, we need to trust you with something very important." Sinon spoke up. Will immediately shut the windows, as he and Leafa stood guard next to the door. Sinon pulled out her sniper ball and released Mewtwo, who yawned softly. Sakuya and Alicia gasped. "You caught Mewtwo?" Alicia asked. "Yes. But you can't tell anyone!" Asuna explained. "Of course. But why did you need to show him to us?" Sakuya asked. "Because he gave us this." I explained, pulling out the Jaboca Berry and handing it to Sakuya. "This is an ultra rare berry! They barely grow and deliver almost no harvest!" Sakuya whispered. "I designed part of this system. This is a grandmaster class shop, reflecting both of your skill levels in it. You can handle it." I told her. She nodded. "Of course." She replied. "However, I'd recommend finding a combee colony with a Vespiquen to improve the harvest." I offered. She nodded, laughing.

"Of course you would." She commented. As we pulled the blinds back up, Lizbeth and I locked eyes, before she nodded. "Also, Alicia?" I called. She turned towards me from where she was setting up. "Yeah?" She asked. "Have you maxed out your alchemy and blacksmithing skills yet?" I asked. "Only Blacksmithing. But Sakura's maxed out her Alchemy skill." Alicia offered. I nodded, smiling. "Well, Lizbeth and I are planning on getting the store plot next to this and we're wondering if you could take care of it along with Flora and Fauna?" I explained. The two girls smiled. "Of course!" Sakuya agreed. We smiled, going out of the shop and walking to the empty lot the next store over. "What do you want to name it?" Alicia asked. "Hmm. How about Pen and Sword?" Lizbeth asked. "I love it!" I agreed. Lizbeth and I pressed our hands to the For Sale sign, before it vanished, and a shop sign appeared in its place.

We walked in, marveling at the shelves of potions and spell scrolls, and even books, as in the back were various pieces of equipment Lizbeth had already been developing. We smiled at each other, before turning to the others. "When someone has a specific order, feel free to get us. We'll come right away." Lizbeth told them. "Great. Don't worry, your shop is in good hands!" Alicia told us. We hugged them each. "Thank you!" I replied. "Oh! One last thing!" Alicia stopped us before we exited. "What?" I asked, turning around. "Have you found anyone yet?" Alicia asked me. I stared at her, confused, as Sakuya hit her lightly. "What?" I asked. Alicia snickered. "Oh, come on! You're really that innocent? Have you found a boyfriend yet?" She asked me. My mouth fell open at that. "Alicia!" I protested. She smiled even wider. "Cause I know a few boys who would like to be your first!" She finished. My eyes widened, as everything faded to black.

Red's POV

I glared at Alicia as Lizbeth caught Jake's unconscious form. She laughed as Sakuya and Will sweatdropped in exasperation. Alicia marched over to me confidently, giving me a look. "You better snatch him up while you can, because I wasn't joking. I know quite a lot of guys who are gunning for him, so don't make the mistake of waiting too long. I've never been wrong about love, and you two are perfect for each other. Neither one of you will be happy without the other." She told me. I laughed, confused. "What are you talking about? Jake and I are like brothers! Dating him would be all kinds of strange!" I protested. At this, the others just sighed. "What?" I asked, confused. Green just chuckled, patting my shoulder. "Whatever you need to tell yourself." He told me.

"Seriously, What?"

Will's POV

As we packed into the Royal Lotus hotel in Celadon, booking a private suite for all of us, I put Jake, who was now awake but quite groggy from his experiences, to bed, as Silica and Leafa did the same for Lizbeth. I smiled as he changed sluggishly, climbing into bed with Volt. "Get some rest. You'll need it in the morning." I told him. "Please. Tomorrow we fight Erica. I have-" he started, before yawning. "More than enough Pokémon to take her on." He finished. I smiled. "I know you'll do well." I replied, turning off the lights and writing in my journal before going to sleep myself.

Hey guys! What did you think of my fluff chapter? Fun? Boring? Please review!

-Jeptwin