Chapter 14
Kokoa and I both waited patiently backstage until it was our turn to perform. It was the day of the contests and both of us were determined to win.
As out turns came up, we both flew by the preliminaries, Amber and Kira winning with ease as well as Kokoa and Ginger and Ruru.
Soon, it was time to battle. We both glared at Takuya, who refused to cheer for us as we competed. Before I knew it, I was hurled into a battle against Kokoa. The winner would take home the Riko ribbon.
Kokoa smiled at me evilly. "I won't show any mercy just because we're friends."
I smiled. "I wouldn't want you to. Let's make this a great match!"
As Kokoa nodded, the five minute count down began. She quickly called out Ruru and Pilot, who came out in a shower of glitter.
"Go Amber and Kira!" I called out. Both Pokémon came out in colorful puffs of smoke.
I decided to take this opportunity to make the first move. "Torchic, tackle Riolu and Kira, toss Ducklett around with psychic!"
Amber plowed into Riolu, but the Pokémon soon pushed the fire chick away. Kira tossed Ducklett around for a while, but it soon broke free of her grasp. Kokoa was definitely an experienced coördinator.
Kokoa smiled. "Ducklett, use watergun on Torchic! And Ruru, use aura sphere on Kirlia!"
I growled. "Amber dodge! Kira, try to hold back the aura sphere with your psychic!"
Amber tried to dodge, but was hit with a good amount of water. Kira was fortunately able to break the aura sphere before it could hit. Both of our points went down.
Kokoa frowned a bit. I was ahead of her by a few points. "Pilot and Ruru! Combine water gun and force palm!"
Ruru's palms lit up, surrounded by Pilot's water. It looked so cool! Ruru struck both of my Pokémon with it, doing a large amount of damage to Amber.
I hissed. "Kira! Amber!Combine psywave and ember!"
Kirlia shot out rainbow colored waves, surrounding by Torchic's shimmering embers. It was gorgeous!
It struck Ducklett hard, but only grazed Riolu. I looked up at the points. Eve though I'd made such a decent combo, Kokoa was a bit ahead. I never expected her to end things so quickly.
Kokoa smirked. "Ok guys! Let's wrap this up! Pilot, use scald and Ruru, come at them with brick break!"
Pilot used scald on Torchic, causing her to faint almost instantly. Ruru then pounded Kira repeatedly with brick break until she was also done. A buzzer beeped, signalling the battle was over.
"And Kokoa is the winner! Congrats!"
I clenched my fist, body shaking. I called Kirlia back into her Pokémon before it could sense my emotions. I then turned to Torchic and picked her up. I walked off the battle field dejectedly.
Against my will, I started to cry. I wasn't a little kid. I was 16 dammit! Why'd I have to go and cry? I'd always been a cry baby.
I felt everyone stare at me backstage as I walked in crying. I ignored them and stepped out into the contest hall.
I heard Takuya and Kokoa calling for me, but I didn't turn to meet them. Instead, I ran off, still crying. I heard someone running after me.
Kokoa grabbed my wrists, slowing me to a stop. I couldn't look at her. I was still a sobbing mess. She spun me around, forcing me to look at her.
She sighed. "This is your first time losing a contests...I guess I forgot you'd never lost before."
I sniffed. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't cry over it..."
Kokoa shook her head. "No. This is normal. Even I cried a little when I lost for the first time. It's really hard to lose."
I nodded, still crying. "What do I do now?"
Kokoa smiled. "You pick yourself back up and win the next contest! I here there's one coming up in the next town, so you're in luck. And do you wanna know the best part?"
I wiped my tears. "What?"
"It's gonna be a special contest called a Twin contest. It's wear two coordinators battle against two other coordinators. It makes it so that two people can win. Each coördinator can choose one Pokémon to use. It's a bit hard though because you have to get along well together."
I then thought of something. "We could unite Kira and Ruru! Ruru can sense aura and Kirlia feels emotions. They'd make a great combo!"
Kokoa laughed. "So you want to enter it with me!"
I nodded vigorously. "Hell yeah! Sign me up!"
Kokoa laughed again. "Looks like you're alright. You aren't crying anymore."
I smiled. "You're right. There will be other contests. Just get ready to win the next one with me!"
Kokoa smiled sweetly. "It'll be in Ceila Village. It takes about a day to get there. Are you ready for this?"
I nodded. "We just need to work on a few contest moves together!"
Kokoa clenched her fists. "Yeah! We'll beat anyway who stands in our way!"
I then heard someone cry for help. It was Takuya. When we turned around, we found him surrounding by a mob of girls. They were literally trying to rip his clothes off. Kokoa growled.
She walked over there and punched one of the girls right in the face, giving her a bloody nose. "Oi! If you want to live, then back away from the guy! Don't think I'll hesitate to beat you all to a bloody pulp!"
The girls immediately receded, allowing Takuya to once again have his personal space. He sighed in relief.
"Never leave me alone again. These girls are crazy."
Kokoa rolled her eyes. "You should be able to get them away yourself."
Takuya shrugged and I smiled. Takuya and Kokoa looked kind of cute together. Sure they argued a lot, but I thought they could become a couple.
Kokoa turned over to me. "Hey Ichigo! Are you coming? We're heading to Ceila right away."
I nodded and ran over to them. "Ok! Let's go!"
Takuya looked at me funny. "Is something wrong? You were staring and Kokoa and me weird."
I snickered. "Oh. It's nothing. Let's just go to Ceila now!"
They both eyed me suspiciously, but I ignored them and marched over to Route 20. A new form of contest awaited me in Ceila and I was determined to win. With Kokoa by my side, I couldn't go wrong.
The only thing I was worried about was Team Millennium. I didn't know when they'd strike again. I didn't know what they planned to do with Kokoa. All I knew was that if they arrived, there would be trouble. I just hoped they didn't show up too soon. Especially not that Ishi jerk...