Chapter Eleven
Nicole and I faced each other across the floor, the light of battle in our eyes. This was it, the battle to decide who would be the Rosewood Queen this year. I did not want to lose, especially since my opponent was my biggest rival; I had to win this as a matter of pride. After all, I'd started this journey to prove I could beat Nicole, to try and take her down a peg or two, to prove that you didn't need to have a Pokemon Master for a dad to be a good Pokemon trainer. My own dad was never a trainer and my mum was one for a few months before she gave it up and became a Pokemon healer instead.
Anyway, I stood facing Nicole, both of us waiting for the signal to begin our battle. When it came, both of us threw our Poke Balls simultaneously, sending the red-and-white spheres spinning through the air, where they opened to reveal the Pokemon within.
"Go, Absol!" called Nicole, watching as the Pokemon her dad had given her materialised before her.
"Poliwhirl!" I shouted as I released my frog-like Pokemon. "Let's do this!" I'd guessed, correctly as it turned out, that Nicole would use Absol in this battle, so, mindful of the fact that he knew Ice Beam, I'd decided not to use Deerling. Instead, I'd chosen Poliwhirl, who, being a Water Pokemon, was strong against Ice. I just hoped Nicole hadn't taught Absol any Electric Attacks; if she had, Poliwhirl and I were pretty much screwed. But it was too late now; this was a one-on-one battle and I'd already chosen which Pokemon I was going to use.
"So your Poliwag evolved," Nicole said, sounding mock-impressed. "Not that it matters, of course; I'm still going to beat you." As if to back her up, Absol tossed his head and adopted a fighting stance.
"We'll see," I said. I would have said a lot more, but, before I could do so, the referee raised her arm.
"Let the battle begin!"
Nicole said she was in one of her "generous moods", so I could have the first move. Her tone, if not her words, clearly said that it made little difference to her which of us started the battle; she was still going to come out on top. Well, not if I could help it. I turned to Poliwhirl. "Do your best, OK," I told him, ignoring the snort of laughter from Nicole, who clearly thought "do your best" was loser's talk. "Use Water Gun!" I shouted, pointing to the Absol standing poised for battle directly opposite Poliwhirl and myself.
A jet of water shot out of the spiral on Poliwhirl's belly, but, before it could hit, Nicole acted. "Absol! Dodge it and use Razor Wind!" And Absol leapt into the air, out of range of Poliwhirl's Water Gun, storing up power as he did so. Then, he unleashed that power in the form of a gust of wind which seemed to tear through me like knives; I guess that's why they call it Razor Wind. Seeing Poliwhirl struggling to stay on his feet, I told him not to give up, that we weren't going to concede the battle so soon, especially not when our opponent was my biggest rival. It was a matter of pride for both of us.
"Are you done with your little pep talk?" Nicole called across to me.
I chose not to answer that. "Poliwhirl, Double Slap!" In response, Poliwhirl leapt at Absol and, before the Dark Type Pokemon could react, slapped him across the face, first with one hand, then with the other. Now that he had hands, his Double Slap was more powerful than it had been when he was a Poliwag and only had his tail to slap his opponents with. In any case, I'd managed to land the first blow, which should give me an edge in this battle. Not that I expected Nicole to let me keep it for long; knowing her, she was going to fight back at the first opportunity. Sure enough . . .
"Absol! Thunderbolt!" ordered Nicole. Even from across the floor, I could see the smirk on her face; she must have given that order knowing Poliwhirl was weak against Electric Attacks. If he got hit, he would take a lot of damage, eliminating the small advantage I'd gained. But I wasn't about to let that happen. In the seconds before Absol fired off his Thunderbolt, I countered by having Poliwhirl use Protect, a move I'd taught him via Helen's Move Guide. An invisible barrier appeared in front of him, causing Absol's Thunderbolt to bounce off harmlessly. Protect is a handy move to have on your side, but you can't keep relying on it because it doesn't work if you use it too often. As Nicole was quick to point out.
"Don't expect that to work all the time," she told me. "Protect won't protect your Pokemon if you keep on using it." Then, before I could retort that I already knew this, she added: "Absol! Use Slash!"
Absol moved so fast that Poliwhirl had no time to dodge or counter. Using the blade on his head, he Slashed my Water Pokemon, causing him to utter a pained: "Poliwhirl!" Luckily, he didn't take too much damage and was able to keep battling. As Absol moved in for another Slash, I told Poliwhirl to dodge and use Water Gun. This time, the jet of water hit Absol full on the flank, knocking him back several feet. But the battle was far from over and I barely had time to congratulate Poliwhirl before he was hit by a Shadow Ball.
"Can you keep going?" I called to Poliwhirl as he was knocked off his feet.
"Poliwhirl!" he said, leaping up and adopting a fighting stance.
The battle continued for a few more rounds, with Absol and Poliwhirl both taking damage. In the end, however, it was Poliwhirl who struck the decisive blow; after narrowly avoiding Absol's Thunderbolt, he suddenly unleashed a barrage of blue orbs, a Bubblebeam, the most powerful Water Attack after Hydro Pump which the Poliwag line can learn naturally. Absol tried to stay on his feet, but the blue orbs pounded him relentlessly and he was soon on the floor, struggling to get up. Nicole yelled at him to keep fighting, even though he was clearly too exhausted to continue; she really couldn't stand losing to me.
In the end, the referee had to step in. "Absol is unable to battle! The winner of the battle, and this year's Rosewood Queen, is Poliwhirl's trainer, Juanita Taylor!"
Nicole scowled, but the referee's decision is final in a Pokemon battle, so there was nothing she could do except recall her fainted Absol and march out with her nose in the air. But, before she left, she paused long enough to say: "Don't think this is over, Neet! We'll meet again and next time I'll beat you!" I had no doubt that we would meet and battle again, but whether Nicole would beat me remained to be seen. For now, though, it was time for me to be crowned this year's Rosewood Queen.
Throughout all the Pokemon battles, a barrier had divided the auditorium into two, with girls battling to be the Rosewood Queen on one side and boys vying for the title of Rosewood King on the other. Now, this barrier - which was clearly soundproof since I hadn't been able to hear any of the boys' battles - was pulled aside to reveal a brown-haired boy of about the same age as Aidan and myself. A Tangela stood at his feet, looking for all the world like a ball of blue yarn that had grown a pair of stubby legs. Luckily, I had no time to mention the comparison out loud before Mr Blair stepped forward, followed by two children, each of whom was carrying a crown on a cushion.
Mr Blair said a few words, in which he named the boy with the Tangela (whose name, I learned, was Paul) and myself as this year's Rosewood King and Queen. Then, he took a crown from one of the two children and placed it on Paul's head, before placing the other crown on my head. As the audience cheered, I felt an overwhelming sense of elation, matched only by the moment I won my first Gym Badge. Of all the girls who had competed to be this year's Rosewood Queen, I was the one who had come out on top. Could anything surpass this moment? Winning the Edo League, perhaps. But, if I was to stand any chance of doing that, I would have to earn six more Gym Badges, so, first thing tomorrow, Aidan and I would leave Rosewood Town and continue our journey to Arborton City.
For now, though, it was time to celebrate. Paul and I, along with all the Pokemon we had with us, were to be the guests of honour at the annual Rosewood Festival Banquet.
I won't bore you with the details of what happened at the Banquet itself, so I'll just say that I found myself sitting in one of the two most ornate chairs in the room, with Paul sitting in an identical chair next to me. Our Pokemon were out of their Poke Balls: my Deerling, Vespiquen, Poliwhirl, Vulpix, Ekans and Geodude, plus Paul's team. As well as Tangela, he had a Marowak, a Blitzle, a Swellow, a Monferno and a Quagsire. He had, I learned, started his journey with a Taillow, which had evolved into the Swellow now seated on a perch which had been brought in especially. And Paul already had four Badges, which he showed off to me during the Banquet, though none of them were the ones I had earned.
"I'm going to Masonbury for the Pit Badge next," he told me. "What about you?"
I told him Aidan and I were heading for Arborton City, so that I could try for the Leaf Badge, the Badge which Nicole had already won; no doubt, she was on her way to her fourth Edo League Gym even now and I still didn't know how she had managed to get to Arborton and back so quickly. Had she flown on the back of a Pokemon? If so, what kind? As far as I knew, the only Flying Pokemon she had was her Noibat, which wasn't capable of carrying human passengers, but there was no telling what she had caught since our encounter in Brightspring.
After the Banquet was over, a space was cleared for dancing. Since Paul and I were the Rosewood King and Queen, we were expected to get up and dance with each other before anyone else joined us on the dance floor. I went through with it, but it turned out that, while Paul might be a decent Pokemon trainer, he was a rubbish dancer. Finally, after having my toes stepped on once too often, I left him to it and went to join Aidan, who was standing around the edge.
"Hey," I said to him.
"Hey yourself," he replied. "Had enough of dancing?"
"Not really. It's just that I've seen Psyducks who were better dancers than him." I nodded towards Paul, now attempting to dance with one of Mr Blair's assistants. Attempting being the operative word . . .
Aidan laughed and told me he was no good at dancing either; that was why he'd been watching from the sidelines rather than joining in. The two of us ended up spending the rest of the evening discussing our plans for the rest of our journey. Our immediate goal was to reach Arborton City, after which we could either head east to Bellford City, north to Frostopolis City or west to Starfall Town. But deciding where to go after Arborton could wait; right now, my mind was on the Arborton City Gym and the Leaf Badge which was waiting for me there. Taking part in the Rosewood Festival had been an interesting diversion, but I was keen to get back to winning Badges as quickly as possible. The last thing I wanted was for Nicole to get even further ahead of me.
Aidan and I slept late after the Banquet, so it was gone mid-morning by the time we set off. It was a beautiful summer's day, the sort with soft white clouds in a clear blue sky, the sort where the temperature was pleasantly warm, neither too hot nor too cold. As we walked, I let Deerling, green in her summer colouring, out of her Poke Ball to walk alongside us. Looking at her, I found myself thinking about everything that had happened since I found her, with an injured leg, just outside Greenvale. She and I had come a long way since then, both literally and metaphorically; now, we were just over halfway to Arborton City, the place where I would battle for my third Edo League Badge.
How long had it been since I set off on this journey? I tried to work it out, but the days seemed to merge into each other. About two months, I guessed, and it would take several more months to complete this journey, longer if Aidan and I stopped off somewhere for any length of time. And, if I earned eight Edo League Badges, I would be eligible to compete in the Aurora Falls Conference, the tournament at which the best trainers in the Edo region battle each other for the coveted title of Champion. But I was getting ahead of myself; at present, I only had a quarter of the Badges I needed.
That afternoon, Aidan and I found ourselves crossing a beautiful, flower-filled meadow, an ideal place for Grass Pokemon like Deerling. I remembered reading about a place like this in Sinnoh, though its name escaped me for the moment. It was something along the lines of Florama. Anyway, the meadow Aidan and I were crossing was carpeted with all kinds of flowers, which naturally meant it was home to a variety of Bug and Grass Pokemon. Before the day was over, a Gloom, a Kricketune and a Bulbasaur had joined my Raticate and Dunsparce at Professor Cartwright's lab.
Another two weeks of travelling brought us to the outskirts of Arborton Woods, the maze of trees we must negotiate in order to reach Arborton City. Before entering the Woods, we had to pass through a gatehouse where a man of about the same age as my parents was standing guard, a Herdier at his side. The black-and-brown dog eyed Aidan and myself, but the man kept a firm grip on it, preventing it from bounding over to us. "Hey!" he called. "Are you kids going through Arborton Woods?"
"Yes, we are," said Aidan. I nodded to back him up.
"Well, be careful not to get lost in there; those trees are like a maze. Still, you should be OK if you stick to the path." With that, he walked over to a door at the far end of the room, unlocked it and waved us through. "Good luck," he told us, as we walked through the door and entered Arborton Woods. I glanced back just in time to see him go back inside, followed by his Herdier, before turning to Aidan.
"Straight on, do you think?" I asked.
"Sounds a good plan," he agreed. And so we began to make our way through Arborton Woods, following a clearly defined path through the trees. It was the perfect day for a walk in the woods with the sunlight filtering through the canopy to form dappled patterns on the ground. As we walked, I kept an eye out for the Pokemon which lived among the trees, a habit I'd developed since starting this journey. So far, however, I hadn't seen anything that I thought was worth catching.
I found something eventually. Hearing a hooting sound coming from a nearby tree, I looked up to see a handsome Noctowl perched in the branches. The Noctowl eyed me curiously, rotated its head until it was upside down, then hooted once more. Slipping into trainer mode, I quickly ran through the Pokemon I had with me, trying to decide who I should send out to battle the brown owl. Definitely not Deerling or Vespiquen; they were both weak against Flying Pokemon. Which left me with a choice of Poliwhirl, or Vulpix, or Ekans, or Geodude.
I made my choice. "Ekans, I choose you!" I called, sending out my purple snake. "Use Wrap!" Ekans slithered up the tree and along the branch until he reached the Noctowl, at which point he began to twine himself around the Flying Pokemon's body. The Noctowl tried to fly away, but it was too late; it was trapped in the coils of my snake Pokemon's body. Ekans slowly squeezed the Noctowl, weakening it, but the Noctowl wasn't about to give up without a fight. Its eyes started to glow as it stared intently at Ekans; it was using Hypnosis, a move which can send a Pokemon to sleep or at least cause it to hallucinate. Remembering when Poliwag (now Poliwhirl) used the same move against Deerling, I called to Ekans.
"Don't look at its eyes! Just keep using Wrap!" I couldn't tell Ekans to close his eyes because snakes don't have eyelids; if he was to avoid being affected by Hypnosis, the most he could do was avoid looking the Noctowl in the eye. Even I had to be careful, since it's not unknown for Hypnosis to affect humans as well as Pokemon, even causing them to start acting like Pokemon in extreme cases. Fortunately, that rarely happens, but the last thing I wanted was to start swinging through the trees like an Aipom, splashing about like a Magikarp, or any of the umpteen other things I might end up doing. So I tried to avoid making eye contact with the Noctowl while it was using Hypnosis.
Presently, the Noctowl realised its Hypnosis wasn't working and changed tactics, giving Ekans a sharp Peck. Ekans retaliated with a Bite, which weakened the Noctowl quite a bit, then followed through with a Poison Sting, opening his mouth and spraying the Noctowl with dozens of tiny needles, most of which missed completely. However, a few found their target and the Noctowl began to look decidedly woozy. It had been Poisoned.
Wasting no time, I pulled out an empty Poke Ball and threw it up into the tree. It struck the Noctowl on the head, drawing it into its core, then fell to the ground at the base of the tree, vibrating as the Pokemon within fought to escape. After a few seconds, I heard the ping which told me the capture had been successful, that I now had a Noctowl. Of course, because I already had six Pokemon with me, it got transported straight to Professor Cartwright's lab to join the five Pokemon I already had there. I made a mental note to call the lab when I got to Arborton City, then prepared to recall Ekans.
But, before I could do so, he started to glow. And, within that glow, I could see him changing. His body, already over six feet long, grew to nearly twice its original length, a large hood appeared round his neck . . . Then, the glow faded, revealing another Pokemon where Ekans had been only moments before. An Arbok.
With my newly evolved Arbok back in his Poke Ball, Aidan and I continued our journey through Arborton Woods. By following the advice given to us by the man at the gatehouse and keeping to the path, we managed to avoid getting lost and I was sure we would get out of here by this evening, tomorrow at the latest. But fate can be fickle and so it proved on this occasion. Because, just when Aidan and I were sure we were nearing the end of this maze of trees, we found our path blocked by an impenetrable tangle of thorns.