All's Fair at the Fair:
Part 4:
Rei the Champion?
The specifics of the battle ran again in Rei's head afterwards, over and over...
"Pidgeotto, go!" Jerry yelled, and Pidgeotto flew from his Pokéball.
"Alright Venonat, I'm counting on you..." She replied, releasing her own Pokémon.
"Pidgeotto gust attack!" Jerry yelled. Pidgeotto flapped its wings, kicking up lose dust and sand, and
repelling the Venonat, who barely stood her ground.
"Hang in there Venonat!" Rei yelled, clenching her fists tensely.
"Quick attack!" Jerry yelled, throwing his hand down. Pidgeotto dove forward and barreled into Venonat,
knocking the smaller bug type backwards, rolling across the arena in a little ball, "Good, now finish it with
another Quick attack!" Pidgeotto circled up, high into the air, and began to plummet to the ground.
Rei closed her eyes and whispered, "Please Venonat... I need you now more than ever... DISABLE!"
Suddenly Venonat's eyes began to glow, and Pidgeotto's own eyes grew wide as it found it could no longer
maneuver, "Venonat get outta there!" Rei yelled and Venonat waddled aside just as Pidgeotto hit the ground
with a thud, and after a few twitches, stopped moving, save its shallow breaths.
"Return..." Jerry said, disappointed, his Pokémon disappearing in a flash of red light. There was an awed
hush in the crowd, even the announcer was quiet, "Bellsprout!" Jerry's Pokémon, a small plant with a bell like blossom with eyes, emerged from the flash, the audience resumed its uproar.
"Vine whip!" Jerry yelled, and Bellsprout's roots shot forward, guiding along the ground, towards their prey, which was too slow to avoid them. Bellsprout's vines began to contract around the small insect Pokémon, and began to pull it in, "Good, pull it in Bellsprout, wrap attack!"
Venonat screeched in pain and Rei clenched her eyes shut. She needed to be strong, Venonat needed to be
strong. Bellsprout had the advantage, but everything had the advantage over Abra, and they were unbeatable.
She just needed to think, use her head. As she watched, Venonat continued getting crushed by Bellsprout's
vines.
"Venonat, Leech Life!" She yelled desperately, unable to think of an alternative to an all out attack. Suddenly
Venonat flashed, and the light carried through Bellsprout's vines, and then surrounded Bellsprout. The light
died and the vines loosened from Venonat.
"Wrap again! Get it!" Jerry yelled angrily.
"Venonat, jump! Get out of the vines!" Venonat jumped just as the vines wrapped tighter again, tangling
together around nothing, "Good, tackle!" She yelled. Venonat landed softly on the ground and charged
Bellsprout, barreling into it at surprising speeds for the unimpressive looking Venonat, throwing Bellsprout
back, vine tangles and all.
"Bellsprout, Vine Whip!" Jerry yelled, throwing his arm down again. Nothing came, "I said VINE WHIP!"
He looked down and noticed that Bellsprout was still desperately attempting to untangle itself, "Bah,
RETURN!" He said, pulling out a Pokéball, "That's it, no more kid games, Wartortle, I chose YOU!" He
yelled, pulling out a new Pokéball and releasing a small turtle Pokémon, about 3 feet tall, with large rudder like
ears and a bushy squirrel like tail.
Rei gulped, "Well, we can do this Venonat!" She said, putting her Pokédex back, then she looked down,
"Venonat?" Venonat was lying on the ground, gasping for breath, "Great... you did a great job Venonat,
return!" She returned Venonat to its Pokéball. She reached to her belt and stopped. Poliwag was a water
type, it would be somewhat resilient to Wartortle's water attacks, but in return, Wartortle would be resistant to
his, not to mention that Wartortle had to be at least twice the level of Poliwag, so the only logical choice for
this battle was Abra. She sighed, "Abra, I'm counting on you." She released her slumbering friend, who
yawned and looked around.
"Wartortle, bite!" Wartortle dove forward, jaws wide, ready to take a piece out of Abra.
"Teleport!" She yelled, and Abra disappeared, and reappeared behind Wartortle. Wartortle, though, still
dove, and got a mouthful of dirt.
"Come on Wartortle, tackle! Get it! It can't even fight back!" Wartortle stood and angrily spat out rocks
and sand, and rushed again at Abra, who, again teleported aside, leaving the angered turtle to dive into the
ground.
"WATER GUN!" Jerry yelled angrily.
Wartortle reared its head back and took in a deep breath, and let a hard stream of water fly towards the
small Abra... who again teleported, leaving Jerry right in the path of the stream.
"Noooo..." was all that could be heard from Jerry as the water struck him. When Wartortle finally realized
what it had done it stopped and stared forward in horror. Jerry was out cold, and very, very wet...
She smiled to herself just thinking of the upset and how good it felt to have people cheering for her. Suddenly she felt someone barrel into her and hold her tight.
"Way to go!" Keji said enthusiastically, hugging her tightly.
She giggled, "Thanks, I was surprised myself!" Keji smiled and let her go, especially after noting how red the two of them were.
"I told you that you could do it! I wasn't at all surprised!" Keji said, his grin covering his face, ear to ear.
She sighed, her mood suddenly darkened, "Well one down, but I still have 4 more battle left! I mean, Regis and Darren are still out there, and I'm sure they're acing their own battles..."
"Well, Darren won his next one... I think you're fighting Regis next..." He sighed, "You can do it, I know you can."
"How can I Keji?!" She said, looking at the ground, "Regis beat John, and John is so good! Even if I do manage to beat Regis, I don't think there's any chance of me beating Darren!"
"Rei don't get down! If you start thinking like that you really have lost!"
"But I've lost already anyways!"
"REI HITAKI AND REGIS LORENCE ARE THE NEXT MATCH IN THE SECOND ROUND!"
She sighed, "I'll do my best Keji... for you."
Keji shook his head and hugged her one last time, "No, do it for yourself Rei. I'll be rooting for you!"
She nodded and rushed quickly to her starting area, where her Pokémon would be waiting, fully restored.
"Rei!" Taylor said, rather loudly, as she approached the arena. He had in his hands, her three Pokéballs.
"Hi Taylor, are they all ready?" She asked in return, casting him a friendly smile.
"Yep, ready and waiting." He nodded and handed them to her. She smiled and he looked her up and down, "You know, I was really surprised when I saw you win, no offense or anything." He smiled, "You really use some unconventional tactics..."
She smiled, "Thank you Taylor, we'll see how well I do against Regis..." She sighed loudly and headed up the small stair case to the raised Arena.
Taylor sighed as well and muttered, "Good luck." He quickly headed off, back to his booth, where he knew the last two competitors would be waiting with their wounded Pokémon.
Rei, on the other hand, had her mind on only one thing, how to beat that Sandslash. She hoped that was his most powerful Pokémon, for it would be difficult to imagine beating anything harder than that. The Sandslash itself would take up all her Pokémon's strength. Poliwag was her only chance. Water had the advantage over ground, and, even though that Sandslash must've been a very high level, there was no way she could afford to go with anything else.
The announcer coughed slightly when Rei entered the arena, "Rei Hitaki versus REGIS LORENCE."
Rei looked around. She had taken a lot of time getting to the arena, but Regis still wasn't here.
"REGIS LORENCE! IF YOU DO NOT COME TO THE ARENA NOW, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!"
Rei looked around again. The audience began mumbling amongst itself, not knowing where the opponent was. Five minutes turned quickly into ten, and the audience became more restless, some even began to leave the stands.
"WEEEEEEEELL, LOOKS LIKE REI HITAKI WINS BY DEFAULT!" The announcer said, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster given the circumstances.
Rei smiled. She was a little disappointed herself about winning by default, but a win was a win. She walked back down the stair case to her waiting area. 3 more battles to go.
"Machop, GET UP!" Ami yelled. Her Machop merely twitched, as it had fallen prey to Venonat's disable attack, "Return..." she said, disappointed, returning the paralyzed Machop to its Pokéball.
"AND MACHOP IS OUT! WHO'LL AMI CHOSE NEXT?!" The announcer said. He seemed to be taking a great interest in Rei's battles, as everyone had, cheering a rooting for this new comer.
"Spearow!" Amy hurled out her next Pokéball, releasing a bird Pokémon, barely bigger than a Pidgey.
Rei analyzed the Spearow, again, a bird type would have an advantage over Venonat, but she beat a Pidgeotto with her, so this should be even easier, "Venonat, sleep powder!"
Venonat began to shake violently, releasing a fine bluish powder from its scraggly fur, which drifted towards the newly emerged Spearow.
"Spearow! Fury Attack!" Spearow cawed angrily, and burst out of the cloud, not affected by the powder at all, and began to wildly peck at the small Venonat, who was helpless to defend.
"Venonat!" Rei yelled, worry and fear in her voice as Spearow relented, and let the wounded and bruised Venonat fall to the ground, twitching, "Return!" she yelled, almost immediately, returning Venonat to its ball, "Abra, go!" She yelled, releasing her slumbering friend. Rei sighed, "Uh... wake up Abra..."
"Spearow, leer!" Spearow landed in front of the Abra and stared at him, his own eyes glowing a deep red. Abra yawned, and stayed asleep, "OK, uh... Drill Peck!" Spearow reared its head back and drove its beak at Abra, its aim strait and true, and it missed. Abra still sat in the exact spot, and it missed, "AGAIN!" Ami yelled, and again Spearow attacked with deadly accuracy, and again, it missed. It seemed to strike Abra right on, but only struck air, even though Abra was right there. Rei sighed. She finally saw what her friend was doing, "DRILL PECK SPEAROW! HIT IT!" Spearow cawed and again struck at Abra, and again missed. Finally Spearow cawed angrily and began to fly away from the arena, "SPEAROW! COME BACK!" Ami yelled and rushed after him.
"AMI! DO NOT LEAVE THE ARENA!" But it was too late. Spearow had flown out of the arena area, and Ami chased after her friend, "AND REI WINS AAAAAAGAIN!" Thunderous applause followed yet again, Rei blushed, it looked like there was hope! She didn't have to worry about Regis!
"THE NEXT BATTLE IS KAY HINE VERSUS BELL WEISS!" The announcer said happily.
Rei hurried off so as to give the next battlers their fight.
"Rei!" Keji yelled happily, having waited by the stairs. She smiled from ear to ear and rushed up and hugged him tight, almost knocking the wind out of him.
"I won again!" She said, almost yelling, she was so happy.
"I know! I saw it! What did Abra do?"
"It teleported to the same spot! It did it so quick that Spearow though Abra wasn't real or something, and it didn't wanna fight that battle!"
"Way to go! I'm impressed!"
"THAT'S ONE DOWN FOR BELL!"
"So, do you think I can go all the way? You been watching the other fights?"
"Well," Keji started, looking at the ground and shuffling his feet, "That Kay out there now is really good, he's the expected to win... he's your next fight I think..."
"What about Darren?" She asked, wringing her hands.
"Yeah, he's still in... looks like I have something to be proud of..." Keji said, coughing slightly.
"What's that?" Rei asked, frowning.
"I'm the only one that downed that Rhyhorn... no one else even seemed to phase it... He hasn't even had to use any other Pokémon yet..."
She sighed, "It's hopeless... I can't beat THAT thing!"
"OOOOOOOH! ONE DOWN FOR KAY!"
Keji shook his head and looked at her, "Keep the faith, and remember, no matter what happens I..." he suddenly stopped, his face bright red.
"What?" She asked, smiling a bit.
"I... well I think you've done great already!" He said, scratching his head and laughing nervously.
She sighed, "Oh... thank you..."
"AND KAY LOSES ANOTHER ONE!"
"Yeah..." He sighed as well and looked up. Kay was down to his last chance, and he was using a Bulbasaur against Bell's Butterfree, "So, what Pokémon do you think you'll use on Darren?"
"I don't wanna think about it..." She gasped as Kay's Bulbasaur fell, knocked out cold by Butterfree's stun spore, "I need to worry about this next fight too... Bell looks really good..."
"AND BELL WINS! ANOTHER UPSET! WHAT A TOURNEY! NEXT IS DARREN HIRO VERSUS RUFUS TIKA!"
Suddenly Keji was knocked over by the huge form of Darren as he shoved his way past him to get to the Arena, "Watch it kid!"
"Hey! I was here first!" Keji yelled angrily, getting to his feet and brushing himself off.
"Hey!" Darren said, laughingly, "You're the kid with the Scyther that wouldn't fight!" He chuckled aloud, "Great job raising THAT one!"
"If I could of used my Oddish I would have wasted you!"
"Oh, is that so!?" Darren growled, "Where'd you get the Scyther? Your rich snobby parents buy it for you?"
"What makes you think he's rich?!" Rei piped in.
"I wasn't TALKIN to you... oh, hey, you're Rei Hitaki! I can't wait to waste you! Your cheap tricks won't mean a THING against my Rhyhorn!"
"We'll see!" She growled.
"What makes you think I'm rich!" Keji interjected, wanting to help Rei out and change the subject back.
Darren looked back over his shoulder at Keji, "Cause you went to PU! They're all a bunch of rich snobs!"
"It just so happens I won this from their dean by beating their top trainer!"
"Yeah right, I'll bet you had to steal it or somethin."
"LAST CALL FOR DARREN HIRO!"
"That's me kids, I'll see YOU" he pointed to Rei, "Later babe."
"Hey!" Rei yelled at being called "babe", but Darren had already walked up the short stair case to the raised Arena floor, "Ooooooh, I HATE people like that!"
"Don't let him get to you Rei, just try your best, you've already done way better than Victor and John thought you would, if nothing else, you've proven to THEM that you can do it!"
"Yeah... but Keji... you were always behind me... thank you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing to Taylor's booth to get her Pokémon rejuvenated, "Now go watch the fights! I need you to tell me about the trainers!"
He nodded, a bit dazed, "Yeah... OK..." and stumbled slowly to the bleachers.
Bell twirled playfully, "Go Golbat!" Out of the Pokéball flew a bat Pokémon with a huge, gaping maw. It was approximately 2 feet tall and flew gracefully and quickly.
"Poliwag go!" She yelled, and as soon as Poliwag was out of his Pokéball, she pulled out her Pokédex.
Golbat
This bat type Pokémon feeds on the energy of its opponents until it is often too fat to fly, easily able to completely drain a Rapidash of all its strength.
Rei gulped, "OK, watch out Poliwag!"
"Bite!" Bell yelled, and Golbat dove at Poliwag, who began to shake with fear.
"Watch out Poliwag!" Rei yelled with fear and worry in her voice, unfortunately it was too late, and Golbat bit down hard on Poliwag.
"Now drain all of its energy!" She laughed. Golbat began to glow, as did Poliwag, but Poliwag's glow started to fade quickly.
"No! Poliwag return!" Rei yelled and returned her wounded friend, then pulled out another Pokéball and expanded it, "Venonat, GO!" Venonat burst out and faced the gaping maw of her opponent.
"This'll be a breeze Golbat, Supersonic attack!" Golbat fluttered up and reared its head back and released a piercing sound. The entire audience covered its ears, as did Bell and Rei, but Venonat seemed unaffected. It glared at the screeching Golbat and suddenly it dropped out of the air as a rainbow colored beam flashed from Venonat and struck Golbat down.
"Yeah!" Rei yelled when she could finally take her hands away from her ringing ears.
Bell looked like she was about to cry, "Return..." She said and drew a new Pokéball, "Butterfree go! Let's show 'em who's boss!" She opened her Pokéball, her energy and enthusiasm renewed, and out burst a very colorful Butterfree, with glimmering shiny wings.
"Venonat, sleep powder!" Rei yelled and, just as before, Venonat shook violently, releasing a fine mist of blueish powder, and Butterfree dropped from the air, asleep.
"WHAT?!" Bell screamed angrily, "No fair! Return!" She returned her Butterfree and pulled out her last Pokéball, "Parasect! GO!" Out burst a large beetle like Pokémon with two small pincers, not quite the size of a Krabby's.
"Parasect? That's an evolved Paras... Venonat, Psybeam!" She said and Venonat nodded, glaring at the Parasect.
"Sect!" It yelled and suddenly a burst of gas burst from the insect and blew towards Venonat, who began coughing in a weak, squeaky voice, interrupting the Psybeam attack.
"Poison Powder! Venonat! No!" She yelled, "Return!" And Venonat was retrieved from the battle field by the flash of light, "Abra, come on!" She said, releasing Abra to face Parasect.
"Parasect, Stun Spore!" Bell yelled and the air around them burst with the cloud, but when the dust cleared, Abra was behind Parasect and in front of Bell.
"Sect!" Parasect yelled angrily.
"NO PARASECT, NOT NOW!" Bell yelled, but it was too late, Parasect had released its Sleep powder into the air around it, knocking Bell out cold. Of course, Abra was no longer in the proximity of the attack.
"AND BELL IS OUT COLD! I GUESS THAT MEANS REI IS GOIN ON TO THE FINALS!" The crowd burst into a thunderous applause and Rei left quickly, feeling a bit feint at the idea of going on... to battle Darren... she sighed. How would she ever beat him?!
"Darren's so tough... What am I gonna do...?" She asked herself, releasing another sigh.
"You're gonna fight, and win Rei." A quiet, almost sad voice said, causing Rei to twirl around.
"Uncle Victor..." She said, her voice a mix of anger, hatred, and confusion.
"Listen, I came to... ah... apologize for the things I said... I was really surprised to see you fight." He said, shuffling his feet. Were a complete stranger to see this, they might confuse Victor for the child and Rei for the adult, the way he acted, despite their apparent age differences.
"Thank you." She said, a little taken aback.
"Yeah well... it's the least I can do... I wronged you, and for the longest time I saw that, well, that I had to protect you," He sighed aloud and sat hard on a nearby chair, placed for trainers on deck to wait for their turns, "I know I may have shown it odd, but I wanted to, I don't know, just keep you out of this whole Pokémon mess..."
"But you sent my father off to die!" She practically yelled, finally gaining the courage to face him, seeing he was opening to her. She wasn't about to let this chance to tell him off, "How could that be protecting me?!"
"Maybe I did send him to die, but I honestly didn't know it was that dangerous! I... well... we always competed Rei, you know that," he sighed yet again and cleared his throat, obviously the subject was a bit touchy, "I found something I could do, and I figured I could brag. I didn't know he'd try it too. I barely survived where I went, I never thought he'd try..." he looked at the ground.
"Why didn't you try and stop him?" She sat on the ground by him, a little calmer, but now her voice had acquired a bit of a shaky sound, like she was about to cry.
Victor sighed aloud, his own voice a bit shaky, "I did... but your father was a proud man. He did it to prove to himself more than anything, but he also..." he coughed, "he wanted you and your mother to see him as a hero. He was never one that wanted to disappoint his family. It would have hurt his honor if he didn't try."
Rei looked down, feeling tears welling up in her eyes, "I... I would have never..."
Victor saw her begin to cry, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "If I would have known this would happen, I wouldn't have said a thing to him... I never wanted this for you."
Rei looked up at him, a little confused at the show of affection, "I... I guess I knew that... I just never thought about it, it hurt too much... it still does."
"Why do you think I hide behind my care-free exterior? I don't like to think about it either, it's a hard subject... I killed my brother."
Rei shook her head, "No... no one's to blame here... it's... what's done it done, nothing can change it..." she sighed and stood, facing him. He stood as well, looking her over with a new respect, "but I can stop living in the past. I'm sorry Uncle, I never tried to see your side of this whole mess..."
He nodded, biting his lip, trying desperately not to cry, "Rei, I always tried to treat you like a daughter..." he chuckled weakly, "I guess I'd make a horrible father."
She suddenly burst into tears and hugged him, "No... I was a bad daughter Uncle..." He couldn't hold back his own tears any longer either and the two, Uncle and niece, or perhaps father and daughter, cried in each other's arms.
They stayed that way for a few minutes before they heard a bit of a cough and broke, looking around.
"Uh... Darren won, ten minutes and you fight him Rei..." Keji said, looking a little confused, 'You think you're ready."
Victor smiled a bit, his eyes still wet, and nodded, "I know she's ready, she's tough... like her father."
She looked at the ground, hiding her own teary eyes from Keji, "And my uncle..."
He smiled a bit and hugged her one last time, "You can do it Rei. I have faith in you..." he held her at arms length and smiled, "You're still representing Victor's Cafe!"
She laughed aloud, "I won't disappoint you Uncle Victor."
Keji raised an eyebrow, then finally threw his arms up, "Ok, whatever."
Rei and Victor looked at each other and laughed a bit.
Keji smiled a bit, "Anyways Rei, you looked really good in your last fight, just keep your head. You can't rely on power like your opponents, you've gotta use your head," He smiled, "but you've been doing that the whole tourney, so you don't need me to say anything, eh?"
She smiled, "Thank you Keji..."
Keji smiled and turned to go, then stopped, as if he forgot something, "So, uh, Victor, you gonna stay and watch the fight?"
Victor smiled knowingly, "I've been here the whole time."
Keji turned a deep red, "So you... uh, I mean... uh, you saw me..."
Victor mearly nodded and chuckled, "Come my boy, let's go wait for Rei's fight." He turned to Rei, "Good luck dear, you have your father's strength in you."
She shook her head, "Yours too uncle." she said, and gave him another quick hug, "I'll win it, for all of you."
Keji smiled, "Do it for yourself Rei, it's all for you now."
Victor nodded, "Yes, this will be your victory, don't let anyone take it away from you."
She sighed and nodded. Keji and Victor turned, and left her to ponder about her last, and most difficult battle.
"THE BATTLE WILL NOW COMMENCE! REI HITAKI VERSUS DARREN HIRO!"
Darren walked slowly up his steps to the arena, now light by many blazing torches surrounding the competitors.
"THIS SHOULD BE AN OUTSTANDING FIGHT! BOTH COMPETITORS ARE AT THEIR PRIME AND READY TO FIGHT!"
Rei approached slowly, feeling a bit queezy, but trying her best to smile and make it seem like she was in control of the situation, even though she didn't feel it.
"WHICH OF THESE TRAINERS WILL TRIUMPH?!"
The cheers made it hard for Rei to hear a thing. They were louder than she had heard before, and she couldn't tell who they were rooting for. She couldn't make out Keji, she couldn't make out Victor, the whole crowd was a blur in the torch light. She looked around frantically, she felt trapped in the sound and dancing torch light. She shook her head, she couldn't let this deter her, she had to keep focused.
"LET THE FINAL BATTLE BEGIN!" The announcer said, louder and more enthusiastic than he had been all day.
"I think Rhyhorn's had enough, I'll start with Kingler!" Darren said with a snicker, "He'll be more than a match for you!" He hurled out his Pokéball, releasing the crab Pokémon.
She sighed, she didn't predict he would do this, which Pokémon should we use?
"Abra!" She yelled, throwing out Abra's Pokéball, releasing the small, slumbering Pokémon.
"Crab hammer!" Darren yelled almost immediatly. Kingler darted at Abra with such speed and guile that Abra had no time to react and teleport before Kingler's twin claws bore down on the much smaller Pokémon, knocking it backwards, "Vice Grip!" Abra was immediately caught in mid air with the larger of Kingler's two claws, "Good, squeeze it!" He yelled, laughingly.
"Abra!" Rei yelled, tears welling up in her eyes at seeing her long time friend in such pain, "Teleport! Get out of there!"
"Aaaaabra!" Abra yelled, trying to teleport, but unable to focus the energy needed in the current situation.
"No! Return!" She yelled, calling back Abra into his Pokéball.
"Well, there goes your trump card! Wanna give up or do I need to mutilate your Venonat and Poliwag too?!" Darren laughed aloud.
Rei glared at him angrily and pulled out a Pokéball, "I don't care what happens, I accomplished something much greater than winning in this tournament... and I won't give up... my Pokémon won't give up! Venonat, GO!" She yelled, throwing the ball out and releasing her Venonat.
Darren watched her quietly for a moment before shrugging, "Kingler, bubble attack!" Kingler opened its small mouth and began to shoot bubbles at the small Venonat, who agilely leapt from the stream with surprising speed.
"Good! Psybeam!" She yelled. Venonat stared at the Kingler and the familiar rainbow colored beam of light flashed between the two, striking the Kingler, who reared back in agony, "Good, again!"
"Humph, return. I don't need to drag THIS out... I'll finish that mop with my Pinsir!" he hurled out another ball, releasing a huge bug with two large horns that it clamped together a couple times to show off their power, "Vice Grip!"
"PIIINSIR!" Pinsir bellowed, charging head long at Venonat, who dodged just before she was either trampled or broken in two by the deadly pincers.
"Stun Spore!" Rei yelled. Venonat shook its entire body, shedding a purple mist into the air, which wafted over to the monstrous Pinsir, which shook its stubby head and charged yet again, unaffected by the spores, "Venonat, look out!" She yelled, but it was too late, Venonat had been hefted into Pinsir's deadly grip, and it had begun squeezing.
"I'm putting the squeeze on you Hitaki! Whatcha gonna do? Pull out that wussy Poliwag?"
She gasped. She couldn't afford to throw out Poliwag, he was too inexperienced, and she still had to worry about Rhyhorn, but even if Venonat DID win this battle, there was no way she could continue fighting against that Rhyhorn, Rei would have to recall her and send out Poliwag anyways... she had to continue, she didn't have time to think, she had to act and react, "Venonat... please... I need you now more than ever!"
"Naaaaaat!" Venonat screeched in agony. Pinsir's spike encrusted pincers were digging into Venonat more and more, soon it would be all over. Suddenly, it stopped closing its pincers... and actually began to open them slowly! Anyone watching closely though, would see a dim light surrounding Venonat, and this light was pushing outwards against the Pinsir's pincers. Then, they flew open quickly, bending them painfully outwards, causing the Pinsir to roar in pain.
"Pinsir?!" Darren yelled, surprised. Venonat fell to the ground softly, still glowing, still staring strait forward, almost comatose, "Pinsir, slash that thing! Get it over with!"
"Siiiiiir!" It roared in rage and dashed forward for a couple steps, then stopped dead in its tracks. Rei brightened suddenly.
"Yeah Venonat! Psychic attack NOW!" Pinsir was immediately thrown out of the ring, several feet behind Darren, who gawked in amazement, then smiled.
"You are the only one to ever get me down to one Pokémon," he snickered, "But that's cause I didn't use Rhyhorn first... now you'll get it!" He threw out his last Pokéball, releasing the rock Pokémon, which landed hard on the arena floor with a thud, shaking the area around it.
"Nat..." Venonat fell to the ground from the strain of the attack, but stood again slowly and stared its opponent down angrily.
"No Venonat, you can't go on, you're too weak!" Rei said, pulling out a Pokéball, "Return!"
"Nat!" Venonat jumped aside, slowly, but fast enough to avoid the beam of light.
"I really hate pounding a defenseless Pokémon, but take down Rhyhorn, I wanna get this over with quickly!" Rhyhorn dashed forward and slammed into Venonat, knocking it back towards Rei.
"Return Venonat! You can't go on!" She yelled, aiming the Pokéball again. Venonat struggled, but was caught in the beam. Rei sighed. She had already lost. Poliwag wasn't tough enough, she turned, "I... can't go on... I can't throw Poliwag into this... he's..." Suddenly as she turned to the arena, she could see Keji and Victor watching, anxious, waiting to see how it ended, and she knew that no matter what, if she gave up she REALLY lost, "Poliwag... go... you can d it!" She threw out her last Pokémon, the small, blue, frog like Pokémon known as Poliwag.
"So, you decided to give your Pokémon a death sentence?" Darren sighed.
"No! Because I have faith! Up to the end, my Pokémon and I won't give up!"
"Rhyhorn, let's go, tackle attack." Darren said, unenthused.
Rhyhorn pounded towards Poliwag, who was too frightened to move, save its gentle trembling, and was in no way able to move in time to avoid the stampeding Rhyhorn. It was struck and fell to the arena floor, twitching slowly.
"Poliwag! I shouldn't have... no... return, I can't let you stay out there." She pulled out her Pokéball just as a tear fell from her eye. Poliwag looked up slowly, as much as it could muster with the strength it had remaining.
"Wag...?" It croaked, watching the tear fall, as if in slow motion. He knew that wasn't a tear about losing, it was a tear because she was afraid for his life, and he also knew if she lost she would still love him... that's why he couldn't lose...
"Wha...?" Darren said, his smug expression gone, only bewilderment, mimicking the entire audience.
"What is going ON down there?" the announcer wondered aloud through the loud speaker.
Poliwag was glowing.
"P... Poliwag?"
"WHIRL!" It yelled, leaping to its feet and throwing out its newly formed arms, spraying a powerful stream of water at the bewildered Rhyhorn, who was helpless to do anything but be struck by the powerful blast.
"Rhyhorn?!"
"IT LOOKS LIKE POLIWAG HAS EVOLVED INTO POLIWHIRL! WOW WHATTA BATTLE!" The announcer screamed, causing feedback to pipe over the loudspeaker.
"Yeah Polio... Poliwhirl!" Rei yelled happily, catching herself, "Go!"
"WHIRL!" It bellowed and dashed at the wet and confused Rhyhorn.
"Hoooooorn?!" Rhyhorn said, shaking its soggy head.
"Alright Rhyhorn, play time's over, stomp that frog into the ground!":
"Rhyhooooorn!" Rhyhorn bellowed, and leapt high into the air. Poliwhirl quickly cartwheeled out of the way just as Rhyhorn landed with a echoing thud, and cracking the Arena around the landing spot.
Rei looked up from her Pokédex, which she had in hand since Poliwag evolved, looking up his potential attacks, "Hypnosis!" She yelled, throwing her arm down like she'd seen so many other trainers doing before.
"Whiiiiiiiirl..." Poliwhirl said softly, throwing its own arms strait out to the side, exposing its swirling stomach, which slowly began to twirl.
"Hoooooorn?" The Rhyhorn who's head was spinning, as its head slowly dropped and raised quickly, then dropped, then raised again, its eyes closing slowly.
"Now, Water Gun!" She yelled. Poliwhirl's swirl was suddenly filled with water as the familiar stream of water blasted at its opponent, the Rhyhorn out cold. It didn't even have a chance to react before the powerful burst sent it flying... right into Darren.
"Noooooo!" Darren yelled, being crushed under Rhyhorn's weight, who was completely unconscious, and not moving.
Suddenly the arena was filled with sound. The audience erupted into cheer and bellows of glory for Rei.
Rei's eyes were opened wide, "I... I... WE WON!" She yelled, then she looked at the audience, and her knees buckled under her.
"Rei!" Keji yelled, pushing his way through the crowd, having lost track of Victor long ago. He quickly made his way the raised arena and leapt atop it, rushing to his fallen friend, "You ok?!" he knelt to her and leaned her head on his lap, hugging her gently.
She nodded dreamily, "Yeah... I am... did you hear Keji... I won..." She smiled wearily and kissed him gently on the cheek.
He blushed and nodded in response, "Yeah... I heard."
"THIS IS A BATTLE THAT WILL BE SPOKEN OF FOR YEARS TO COME! REI HITAKI HAS DEFEATED THE FAVORITE, DARREN HIRO! WE WILL NEVER FORGET REI'S... hey! Give that..."
Suddenly Victor's voice piped over the loud speaker, "REI HITAKI IS THE OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON OF VICTOR'S CAFE! EAT THE REI SPECIAL TODAY AND GET YOUR OWN POLIWHIRL DOLL! WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!"
Keji shook his head, "I wonder how he's gonna supply that many Poliwhirl dolls..."
Rei merely snuggled closer to him, fainted now from all of the noise and excitement, which continued for a long time after she was out.
"You kids take care now! You sure you don't wanna stay awhile and help with the rush?! This is a mess!" Victor yelled over the angry, waiting customers.
"Nah, you dug your own hole Victor, get yourself out of it!" Keji laughed.
Victor chuckled, "Well then, have fun!" he winked at Rei, "But not TOO much fun..."
Rei chuckled, but only to hide the deep crimson that she and Keji had taken in their faces.
"Come on Rei, Victor has work to do..." Keji said, wanting to get out of the embarrassing situation.
Rei nodded and rushed to Victor, hugging him, feeling the familiar tears in her eyes and lump in her throat, "Take care Uncle..."
"You too kid..." Victor said, doing well to hide his own tears.
"I promise I'll write whenever I get the chance." She said, wiping the first of her tears.
"Hey, call me collect, with THIS many customers I KNOW I'll be able to afford it." He chuckled.
"Good-bye Victor." Keji nodded, smiling warmly.
"Yeah Keji... good luck... work on that Scyther and Sandshrew... they need some good ol' fashion discipline." Victor laughed.
Rei giggled a bit, "I'll keep his nose to the grindstone."
"Odd! Oddish!" Oddish bounced on Keji's shoulders.
Victor chuckled, "Looks like Oddish'll help you out a bit Rei!"
Keji groaned, "Oh goodie..." He chuckled a bit and turned. Rei smiled a bit, tears still in her eyes, which she quickly wiped.
Victor smiled to himself. He felt better about his relationship with Rei now... he still had the guilt of her father, but he could better handle it knowing Rei had forgiven him, his smile broadened as he remembered something, "Don't forget to keep Oddish away from the popcorn!" he yelled laughingly.
Keji shook his head and forgot about what Victor just said. Oddish merely grunted and grumbled a bit. He turned to Rei and noticed she was staring at the ground. He gently nudged her, "You OK?"
Rei snapped back to reality and nodded a bit, biting her lip, "Yeah... I... I just feel like I'm leaving home..."
Keji nodded and looked forward.
"But you know what Keji?" She said, looking at him.
"What?" Keji looked at her, and their eyes met for a brief moment as she said:
"I think it's worth it..."
He smiled, "I'm glad you feel that way... I think it's worth it too..."
Victor smiled yet again as the rapidly diminishing couple walked farther away from him... hand in hand.
WOW! Who would have guessed that Rei could win that? My my my... has she come a long way, and now she has a brand new Poliwhirl! Watch out Keji... she just might start getting better than you... you better keep your nose to the grindstone and not get TOO distracted.
Catch all the action at Keji's Pokémon Gym!