Chapter Twenty-Four - Tri and Pi, Part 1 of 3
Day 15, Monday morning around 10am-ish. Lilycove Stadium...
The mid-morning crowd erupted into a long chorus of rowdy applause as the final ten contestants of the tournament were levitated a few inches above the stage on flat disks. Animations of confetti exploded on the screen of the glass stage until finally returning to the historic symbol of the original red pokéball. The ten contestants stepped off the disks and looked up at the crowd in appreciation as the host waltzed up the staircase.
"Good morning Lilycove Stadium!" said Aika, grinning widely at the 360-crowd. "Welcome to day 2 of the tournament, where our 40 contestants have dwindled down to 10! Please give a round of applause to Lord Lucas, Lord James, Blacksmith Paru, Sir Nicolas, Madame Imogen, Knight Amber, Lord Jun, Prince Kai, Madame Kari, and King Brett!" The crowd was so loud that the names sounded like garbled up welsh.
"The battles for this morning are—wait for it—Knight Amber and Lord Lucas! Lord James and Sir Nicolas! Madame Imogen and Blacksmith Paru! Madame Kari and Prince Kai! And lastly, Lord Jun and King Brett!"
The ten looked among each other; it was obvious that Brett held a superior air to all of them, and it was Jun's turn to face him later. They could only hope that Brett was taken down a peg so they wouldn't have to face anything ferocious later on for the 5-on-5 battles. Aika repeated the battle schedule again for anyone who wasn't paying attention, giving the first two contestants another half hour for preparations before they squared off. After a final cheer from the crowd, everyone was released.
"You and Lucas are first." Imogen said lightly to Amber as they climbed off the stage, struggling to balance in ridiculously high heels. Behind them, Kai and Jun talked as Lucas and Brett had a stare down. Paru and Nicolas were already prancing off in their own directions and James just sucked on a sustenance pack as he tried to estimate the number of people moving in the stands by sight. Kari was pulling on Brett's arm, requesting for "alone time".
The two strange haired ladies maneuvered through the stadium hallways until they reached the main middle chamber. Nearby were the hallways that led to outdoors, across to the courtyard, and then reaching the lobbies.
Amber finally decided to answer as she yawned. She didn't get enough sleep last night. "I'm not scared. I'll beat the fresh meat."
"He's not a freshmen." Imogen pointed out.
"Oh, I know. He's a fresh man. Boy-man."
"Oh ha-ha. Your attempt at humor is just sad."
"You can't expect me to be violent 24-7." Amber shrugged in response.
"And then you slide your light saber out of your...where did you just pull that out from?"
"Do you really want to know?" Amber replied, giving her a look. Imogen rubbed her face in dismay and shook her head.
"It's not my business." Imogen muttered, giggling lightly. "I'm going to go look for Sherry before she finds herself on top of another scoreboard." She turned around and walked off, disappearing into one of the elevators. Amber placed her light saber into one of the inconveniently placed pockets on her knight outfit and strolled out to the courtyard, stopping at the railing to see over the whole thing.
She was fidgety and tired at the same time. Trying to cure late night gaming with a heaping load of pixy sticks seemed like a crappy solution now. It was hard to keep her eyelids open and hard to stop rocking on her heels. Her eyelids fluttered closed for a second...
"Ow! Quit it Elliot!"
"Useless! You are useless! You lost so early in the tournament! USE-LESS!"
"What about you? You lost in the first round!"
Another slap perked Amber's ears. She was a stickler for drama, but it seemed wrong to eavesdrop on this one. She was familiar with the shrill voice, and something inside of her twisted into a tiny lump of concern.
"Will you quit frakkin' hitting me?" Shrieked Kay. Amber opened her eyes and located the troubling young couple. All she saw was Elliot's darkly tanned back covered in a blue shirt behind a Cyprus tree. The rest of he and Kay were hidden behind the thick amount of branches and pine needles. Kay's shriek of surprise when she was pushed into the stabbing front of the Cyprus tree had Amber instinctively reaching for the hilt to her saber.
She dropped her hand. What am I doing? Hell, I'm not a hero. It's her problem. She turned around, but their loud idiotic conversation was hard to ignore and there was no one else around to intervene.
"Will you two shut up!" She yelled behind her shoulder.
"Ahk!" Kay shrieked as another slap sounded from behind Amber. There was a sickening crunching sound now. "Elliot! You broke my glasses!"
"Good. Now everyone will see the scars of your failures." He said smugly.
"You mean the stuff that you did?" Kay replied even angrier. Amber shook her head. The treatment would stop if she quit replying.
"You want another black eye to match the other one? I can make you look like a Spinda." Elliot said. Somehow he managed to say it with a force of cruelty and seductiveness. Amber scoffed in disgust.
"Get off me." Kay ordered in a lower voice now. The conversation continued in whispering tones, and Amber strained her ears to hear. The concern built up now. Was her ex-competitor still breathing? She didn't know why she cared. The battle yesterday hardly meant anything to her.
No, she thought. It was something. She looked down at the pokéballs magnetically sitting on her belt. If she hadn't forfeited, I probably would've lost. Admitting this to herself angered her. And where was Imogen and Sherry? But that thought left her mind as quickly as it had come. She was thinking of other things now, like that Elliot jerk and what he was possibly doing behind that tree.
She came around the side of courtyard and climbed down the stairs, saber already prominent in her swinging hand. She took a glimpse of what was across from her. Kay had immediately noticed her presence and seemed to shrink like a dehydrated sponge. What was happening was embarrassing, and her confidence depleted. Elliot held her sides, but from the way she was cringing Amber could tell he was probably pinching.
"Get off." Kay repeated again, quieter again.
"Scared now? Want to cry and call your ugly mom-unit?" Elliot taunted, releasing her sides and standing up fully, towering over her. Kay scowled and said nothing. "Weak. Useless. That is what you are Kay, you and your bland friends."
"Why are you being so mean? I thought we were friends." Kay spat.
Amber continued to walk towards them, but Elliot was turned around and didn't see her. She walked so quietly that her heels didn't click. She revved up the saber. The light materialized out, the green heat instantly radiating near her legs. It emitted a soft buzzing sound equivalent to the inside of a refrigerator.
"Why would I want to be friends with a sap like you?" Elliot retorted.
"That's a good question!" Kay replied, ready to make twist his words and blow it back in his face. "Why don't we split? You seem to be having the worst time!" Behind her expression, she was biting her lip.
"Why? So you can run into the arms of your multiple men friends? Minx." He accused. Kay instantly gasped.
"Friends! So I'm not a...a m—minx!"
As he raised his hand to swing again, Amber span the saber and sliced.
WOWM. Hissssss.
From the elbow down, his arm fell clean off, plopping onto the stone ground. Kay screamed in horror and Elliot stared back and forth. The pain didn't register until a few seconds later when his pink tissue muscles glittered, and he could see the bone of his arm.
Amber smirked in satisfaction and turned off the saber.
"MY ARMMM!" Elliot howled. He made a run for the lobby, holding his profusely bleeding arm, until remembering that he left something behind. He shook his head and continued running, leaving the limb on the ground in front of Kay.
Kay stayed frozen, staring at Elliot's old forearm and fingers.
"I—I—" She tried to say, but she shut her eyes and stepped around the arm.
"You're welcome." Amber said.
"You can't just cut people's arms off when you want!" Kay shouted, gesturing to the arm. Amber stepped back in surprise. Why wasn't she happy? Now he has one less hand to hit her with. "Oh my God, I have to help him!" She shrieked, picking up her smashed glasses from the ground. She hesitated, reaching for the severed limb, but the idea of touching it seemed gross to her and she left it there.
Amber shrugged and walked away from the scene whistling nonchalantly.
"Hn. I try to help people and they still yell at me." She muttered, exiting the courtyard.
Jun Kirman I know he was mean...to many of us...but I feel we should have a memorial service. For his arm.
3 people like this
Lexi Redstone Huh? Who?
James Lopreo This is a bad idea :l
Lucas Taylor wth do you want to help a guy like him? Should I haul in the flashbacks?
Jun Kirman He may be bad, but...he had some good in him.
Lucas Tayler Prove it.
2 people agree
Lexi Redstone I'm still confused
James Lopreo Elliot Jildred was rushed to the infirmary. His left arm was sliced in half.
Lexi Redstone OMG O_O how?
Jun Kirman some people are saying a pokémon attack :l
Lexi Redstone What about the cameras?
James Lopreo All of the cameras aren't working, and trust me I've tried
Lexi Redstone likes this
Imogen Yale I think I know who did it :[ it's seriously the worse thing they've ever done. Even if it was for a just cause.
Jun Kirman You know who did it? :O who?
Imogen Yale I can't say :l
Lucas Taylor lol I think it's pretty obvious anyway. She's hawt ;)
2 people like this
Sherry Brogan Talking about me again? ;3
4 people accuse Sherry Brogan of trolling
Serena Valliya I found a pretty red button outside :P
3 people like this
Paru Hi. Could you refrain from spamming my news feed? Yeah. Thanks.
Ashka Storme likes this
Serena Valliya Well geez, sorry, I just thought it was cool.
Paru frak, there are hundreds of red buttons on my friggin' remote. It's not that amazing.
Serena Valliya another man's trash is another man's treasure
Paru You're getting a sex change? Hn didn't know you rolled like that
Serena Valliya I'm not! :[ where would you get that from?
Paru honestly you'd make a believable dude
Lucas Taylor agrees that even his rack-spotting binoculars wouldn't help
Serena Valliya Why are you being a jerk? :[
Paru I'm not the one who stole the plot of March of the Prinplups! -.-
3 people like this
Serena Valliya –n–whenever I talk to you I lose brain cells
Lexi Redstone likes this
Nicolas Wolfe tlmkswjdsf ljkawcjks
Lexi Redstone o_o?
James Lopreo Maybe it's something to decode...
Amber Hendrix Get your hands off the keyboard -_-
Nicolas Wolfe ffffffffffffffffffffffff
2 people like this
"Why's Paru messing with you so much on Facebook?" Lexi asked as she and her brunette friend sat in the lobby watching the screensavers on the TV fade by. Serena shifted uneasily, her lips pulling into a frown and her arms slightly crossed. She absently pulled up the top of her strapless shirt to cover her cleavage.
"I don't know." She finally answered in a grumble. "He's never really liked me."
"But he's nice." Lexi whined. "How could anyone so nice have it out for someone as sweet as you?"
As endearing as she sounded, Serena didn't feel better. A sweet person wouldn't be brainstorming twenty ways to creatively drown the sideburns-possessing fellow. "A nice person wouldn't say I was a transvestite." Serena pointed out.
Lexi shook her head in dismay and leaned her head on her hand, her elbow on the arm rest. "He was just playing."
"Where is he, anyway?" Serena muttered, looking around.
"Game room..." Lexi said wistfully. Serena hopped up and started walking. "Wait! Where are you going?"
"Game room!" Serena replied, quickening her pace. Vengeance was flurrying in her stride, so fiery that people she passed were intimidated and flattened their selves against the wall so there would be no possibility of being touched. The petty argument online wasn't what had gotten Serena stirred up—she was usually calm in situations like these—but he had just reposted the video of her battle with him and listed out all the negatives. His commentary was both raunchy and critical. And still Lexi somehow had a thing for him.
If I weren't so careful about who I froze...she thought, taking a rough left turn into a neon-blue tunnel. Two long rods ran in the middle of the wall on parallel sides, and she passed vending machines and robots and even Ashka and Gerard who were playing Bingo on one of the leisurebots.
The tunnel led downwards. To the left was the teleportation station where she assumed Lucas was preparing, and to the right was the way to some bathrooms and the game room. She turned to the right and passed through, unaware that the last thing she touched, a doorknob, froze on contact. It dropped onto the ground with a crack, only to be quickly tended by a robot with a vacuum arm.
The game room was much like a casino—purple rug with orange triangles in it, the sounds of drunken laughter and slot machines, and an explosive bass that made the floor rumble. RPG stations with mobile gear were hooked to the north walls and northwest were the cluster of TVs. Serena instantly spotted blonde sideburns and made her way to him. He was alone watching a medical drama, and she knew she'd get nothing out of him with that blinkless trance.
She slinked behind the thin wall where the TV was perched and took a look at the single clear wire connected to the screen. Making sure no one was watching, she took it in her stubby fingers and blew onto it. The spot froze at once, spreading throughout the entire fiber wire. She twisted the wire and froze it again. It was all too easy.
Paru blinked awake as his favorite show cut off. "HEY! What happened to my program? HE WAS GIVING HEART SURGERY!" While he was looking around for a 'bot, Serena ran out from behind the wall and came behind him on the couch. She tapped his shoulder. He shrieked in surprise.
She lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh. It's you." His surprised demeanor fell and he became calm and unimpressed again. "Did you want something?"
"Why did you say my Jigglypuff's Sing cracks plexiglass? And you said I was the easiest thing you've ever fought! Did you forget that I was the reason you even won?"
"All you did was underestimate me." He shrugged. Actually, her estimation was correct. I was just lucky. He wanted to add, but he didn't intend on being nice and friendly to Serena. If it was Lexi, then sure. He'd attempt to be the nicest guy on the island.
"I gave you a pep talk! And then you soak it up like an arrogant frak!" She retorted.
"You're only calling me that because you don't have anything intelligent to say." He replied calmly. She glared, wishing greatly to rip off his sideburns. She whipped around and left for the hall, aware that the first battle of the day would be starting soon. Paru was one of the few left in the game room and went behind the wall to see what was with the TV. He picked up the wire and analyzed it in disbelief.
"Weird..." He sang, and attempted to use his hot breath to melt it.
Flygon soared over the ever-present fog deep in Mossdeep city. Its smallest passenger pointed at the tall tower with red lights flashing at its top levels and the giant observatory behind it at the edge of the island. Megan shouted the directions into her pokémon's ears, trying to be heard over the rush of wind.
The three landed at the foot of the entrance. A camera sitting at the corner of the ceiling zoomed in on them.
"Why are we here?" Megan asked, looking around. She didn't know what to think of this place. It doubled as a space station and a laboratory. This was where Daniel's dad worked, and she wasn't enthusiastic to run into him. She and him weren't on good terms. It had something to do with that on-and-off relationship that he didn't approve of.
Ross plucked the compacted telescope off her utility belt and extended it all the way. "They are installing the special new lens into their telescope today." She said, pointing the lavender lens to the sky. The clouds were like tuffs of lilac cotton candy. "The head ranger wants us to show them the coordinates tonight."
"If I'm free until tonight, can I take the rest of morning off?" Megan asked hopefully. "I'd really like to watch the tourney battles of my campers live."
Ross lowered the telescope and stared blankly at the sidewalk. She was thinking how nice it was to have something to look forward to. To be wanted for attention and praise. She bared a grin and looked up to Megan. "That sounds like a reasonable request." Ross said, nodding slowly. "Just come in with me and meet the scientists before you go."
Megan agreed enthusiastically and took the lead into the building, returning her pokémon with a quick flick of the pokéball while doing so. Ross's Joltik scampered behind them and clung to its trainer's back. The females were directed up a flight of escalators and across an outdoor bridge before coming upon the observatory where the giant telescope was sticking out of the glass-domed roof.
The main chamber included the ginormous tube in the middle of the room going through the ceiling and the cluster of dashboards in an O-shape below it and flat screen monitors that moved the holographic windows throughout the screens. As they were walking inside the tube was beginning to lower, and the sound was so loud and powerful that the floor moved and cut off any verbal messages anyone could have shouted.
Several people were in the room, many with white and black lab coats and some with the Sohjay jumpsuits. Megan wondered what they were doing here while Ross felt uncomfortably claustrophobic of their presence. A middle-aged man with a wonky nose came up to them, rubbing his hands together warmly. Megan grimaced.
"Megan!" Mr. Bay smiled warmly to her. "I haven't seen you in the longest time! How's my son?"
"He's doing fine." She said quickly. She didn't really know, actually. She hadn't spoken to him in days. Ross shyly stood to the side. "Oh, and this is Ross." Megan said, gesturing to the thin blonde one. Ross kept her eyes down and nodded at Mr. Bay.
"Ah. I was alerted you two were coming for the unveiling of the updated telescope. I presume you have something to show me?" He said, his tone playful as if they were children.
Ross lifted her head and said in a serious voice, "Yes. It is imperative that you install the new lens quickly so we show you the coordinates."
Mr. Bay blinked. "Big words...right...let's get to it." He left them in that spot in the outer shell and barked at the workers to haul the lens in. Megan watched curiously as the similar lavender glass was wheeled in, almost a thousand times bigger than the one Ross was harboring.
Wasn't he working on a different project? Wondered Megan. I thought he did genetics and pokémon mutations. Why is he on an astronomy project?
Mr. Bay returned with glasses of ice cold starf berry lemonade that a robot was coming around with. He offered a glass to both, but only Megan took one. Ross went off to explore and watched them replace the telescope lens up close.
Now alone, Megan probed. "What happened to the mutant?" she asked.
His ears perked. "Excuse me?"
She knew he was playing dumb. The experiment was on the down low, and technically, she wasn't supposed to know about it. Fortunately, Daniel was a blabber when he was drunk. She learned a lot, and with a cringe, some things she had no business being aware of. She said, "I know about your project. What happened to the person you melded pokémon DNA with?"
He sighed. The project was over, so there wasn't any risk he was taking by discussing it. "Eh, she ran away. And then she came back. And I released her for good."
"But isn't that dangerous?" She asked. "You know, with a little x-woman on the loose?"
"She's tame. There's no worry on that." He chuckled. He turned around at the sound of a crash. "HEY! CAREFUL WITH THAT GLASS!"
After another quick few minutes the robots had installed the glass and the telescope was elevated back through the roof. Everyone joined in the inner shell of the super computer and waited for the telescope to start up. Ross ran over to one of the outer glass walls, perched herself on top of one of the closest tables, and pointed her miniature telescope at the sky.
"Is she always like that?" Mr. Bay inquired.
"She's a cute little monkey." Megan clarified.
"Ah, like Pita?"
"Yeah, except not as blue."
Ross's stomach twisted and untwisted and retwisted into knots and whirlpools. Her small breakfast was calling to her. She could see them, the ships. They were now close enough that they were hiding in the clouds. They were so close that other spacecrafts could crash into them if they weren't careful. It was still too high for a pokémon to reach, but she had a feeling they were going to get closer soon.
Joltik sensed the erratic beating from Ross's chest and sent a mild shock through her. Ross shrieked, her back straightening. She climbed down from the table and ran back to Megan and Mr. Bay.
"They are getting closer." She whispered frantically. The two strained their ears to hear her quiet voice.
"Is that an Orrean accent I'm detecting?" said a very impressed Mr. Bay.
"You can see them through the blue sky?" Megan inquired incredulously.
"They are not in space!" Ross said desperately, fingering a strand of blonde hair that escaped from her bun. "You must look!"
"Yeah, that's Orrean." Nodded Mr. Bay. "Wait—whosa whatsit? Who's they?"
"The aliens!" Ross said.
"Right..."
"It is true! Stop thinking I am crazy!" She shrieked. Megan thought it was funny how she was blowing her top. She was still so short and her voice so mousy.
"Mr. Bay, I think you should take a look at the telescope." Megan said, directing him to the screens that had finished loading. "Ross and I were investigating the foreign spacecrafts that were clustering up the skyway."
"Hey, I was one of those kids once." He replied, shrugging and still non-believing. "I had rigged up my grandpa-unit's hovercycle and took it for a spin at 2000 miles above sea level. Wasn't registered for flying at that altitude, heh. Wasn't supposed to be in the skyway at all."
"Fascinating." Megan said nonchalantly. Ross politely pushed between the scientists on the dashboards and typed in the coordinates that were on her telescope into the bigger one above them. With an echoing crack! the telescope began to shift northwest. The images coming up were tinted in purple. Ross navigated them deeper into the clouds until they were in space. It was a black mat glittered with red, blue, and white stars so far away but so close with today's technology.
"Activate the cloak eliminator." Mr. Bay said. On voice command the computer started moving. Outside the color of the telescope's lens began to swish around slowly like molasses. On the screens new things seemed to come up, as if grime had been washed off the lens. Mr. Bay took off his glasses and rubbed it against his shirt. He said, "Are those...tortilla ships?"
"Look closer." Ross said, focusing the magnification. They zoomed onto one of the closest ships. They could see into the glass windows of the triangular-shaped ship.
"Are those people?" One of the scientists asked.
"They're blue!" said another one.
"ALIENS!" Shrieked another person, throwing papers up in the air dramatically. "The world has reached its end! It's 3012!"
"OH shut up!"
While the three scientists argued over the finding, Megan and Ross watched as Mr. Bay analyzed the screen. He placed his finger on his recently shaved mustache and felt it, wondering if it was still there. For all he knew, his mustache could be an allusion, just like those things on the screen. He's worked with hundreds of mutants—seeing blue skinned trumpet-eared people wasn't that surprising.
He began to speak and the two perked their ears. "I need one of you..." He paused for dramatic effect. "To catch me an AWOL half-human, half-Kyurem."
Ross seemed visibly startled at the sound of this combination while Megan looked impressed. She was more impressed that the experiment worked and that the person was still alive more than what it was composed of.
"I will not do it." Ross whispered, taking a step back. "I will not take someone's freedom like that."
"I'll do it." Megan said without hesitation. Ross looked at her with betrayal darkening her eyes.
"Fantastic." Mr. Bay said, clapping his hands together. "With her back, she'll be able to help us fight the impending doom."
"Who is it?" Megan asked.
"I think you're familiar with her." He said, smirking devilishly. "She's innocent little tube top-sporting Serena Valliya."
Serena Valliya Sufficient line break. Hello.
Manchuria Grey likes this
Paru fail. How dare you break the 4th wall
Lexi Redstone Who's Manchuria? O.o
Lucas Taylor them writers let anyone in a story these days
Paru the world shall end. Now.
Sherry Brogan I found a glue stick! ;) will that fix it?
The two strange haired teens glared each other down as they stepped into the teleportation tubes. Amber was confident, as always, that she would crush this punk into the ground. Lucas was weary that she was strong and that she had no morals when it came to battles. He wasn't willing to lose, but he also wasn't willing to stoop down to her level to take down her pokémon. With a flash of light, they both materialized at opposite ends of the glass battlefield.
"This is a 1-on-1 battle between Lord Lucas Taylor of Castelia City, Unova and Knight Amber Hendrix of Driftveil City, Unova. The time limit is 8 minutes. Stage assessing." A sharp cracking sound caused many to flinch, including Lucas. From all four corners of the field, tall silver rods rose and gave off a blue aura. Both trainers began to levitate off their feet.
"Oh hell! What's this?" Amber shrieked, fumbling around in the air with her legs and arms kicking in futile. Lucas found it easy to move, as if he were in an antigravity pod, and easily pulled down to the ground and then pushed off again, soaring high off the stage. He was like a graceful ballerina compared to how Amber fared. Two robots that were unaffected by the change in gravity came and collected the two trainers and pulled them back onto the ground, then acted like an anchor.
"Begin." Said the judgebot.
"Ariados, go!" Amber shouted, chucking the pokéball forward. Instead, it flew straight upwards, and the light shot out in a looping motion, unsure where to stop. Ariados formed, head smacking into the pokéball. It tittered in annoyance and used string shot to pull itself onto the ground. Amber pressed a button on her belt, and the magnetically attracted pokéball returned.
Lucas threw the pokéball in the air—it arced downwards and skipped like a stone—"Triumph Pachirisu, go!" a small white mousey-thing rolled out of the pokéball and kept on going, crashing right into Ariados. The force knocked both of them up into the air, but in the brief moment that Pachirisu and Ariados were sharing gazes, it received a poisoning glare. Pachirisu squealed in fright and curled itself into a ball, rolling endlessly backwards.
Lucas looked at the two drifting pokémon in dismay. Antigravity sucks. This battle is going to look ridiculous. A thought came to him and he smirked. But if I'm off my game, then most likely so will Amber.
With both pokémon losing momentum, Amber immediately started and commanded, "Ariados use Shadow Sneak!" Ariados became a shadow and lunged into the ground, unaffected by the gravity as if it were attracted downwards. Its shadow made a move towards the spot directly below Pachirisu.
"Pachirisu, roll and use Thunder Wave!" Lucas said, crossing fingers that his random strategy would work. Pachirisu closed its eyes and forced itself to go along with the sickening tumbling motion, creating more and more friction and going so fast that it became a blurry blob in the air. Blue electricity cackled around it, shielding it.
"Now! Hit it!" Amber yelled. Ariados's shadow shot out of the ground like a rocket, a black elongated blur that missed—or rather, was only able to hit Pachirisu's side, and both were sent flying in different directions again—Ariados, up and tumbling with electricity, and Pachirisu, out of control and towards the ground.
CRASH. Lucas grimaced. Oh, that had to hurt. Pachirisu face planted onto the glass and kept spinning like a glass bottle. Once the spinning finally stopped, Pachirisu's eyes started tearing up. It was so embarrassing, and everyone was laughing. Pachirisu was making a big fool of itself, always tumbling and fumbling on the antigravity field.
Time for offense, Lucas thought. Ariados was now floating nonchalantly, the last traces of Thunder Wave leaving it. He said, "Pachirisu use Discharge!" Pachirisu shook its head feverishly. It refused to embarrass itself any more. Lucas looked at it angrily and shouted, "Come on! We've only got 6 minutes left on the clock! We've got to win!" When he said it out loud, he sounded so full of it.
"Ariados use Signal Beam!" Amber said. Ariados attempted to push itself forward, but realizing that it was pointless, quickly charged its mandibles and released a bright yellow-green beam downwards. The force of the beam pushed it backwards, bouncing into one of the gravity walls, and ending up rebounding downwards. The beam spiraled out of control, nowhere near Pachirisu. Amber grit her teeth and yelled at Ariados to get it together.
"See Pachirisu, they're having trouble too!" Lucas said. "Come on! You can do it! Discharge!"
It didn't seem as reassuring, but Pachirisu was having great regret from disobeying its trainer and wanted to fix that ASAP. Plus, Ariados's out of control flying was heading near them. Pachirisu bunched its muscles, gathering electricity—it flipped, striking the ground with its tail, erupting lightening in every direction. Ariados was hit within seconds, sent in the direction of another wall and rebounding into the ground.
"You're getting your bug guts all over the ground, Ariados!" Amber yelled. Ariados scowled at its trainer. "Another Signal Beam!"
"Dodge!" Lucas said. Pachirisu pushed off the ground, soaring skywards while Ariados grounded itself with string shot. It pointed its face at the sky and gathered energy—the yellow beam sliced through the air again, searing Pachirisu's tail. Pachirisu squealed in surprise and started ricocheting westwards towards a transparent wall. The gasps from the crowd only made it more nervous.
Amber checked the clock. Five minutes remaining. "Finish this now! Go after it with Bug Bite!" she commanded. Ariados sighed and jumped off the ground into the air, the strings snapping under it. Ariados's fangs glinted in the morning light. Pachirisu cried out in fright and pulled its tail to its face, bracing for impact.
"It's just a bug, Pachirisu!" Lucas said reassuringly. "Go after it with Hyper Fang, head on!"
Pachirisu held onto the wall, wanting nothing but to be relaxing in its trainer's arms. Headbutting a pokémon that was coming at you with sharpened teeth was nothing in its comfort zone. What's more, it had to dodge the oncoming attack and sink its teeth into it. Time was slipping away, and Ariados was getting closer.
"Pachirisu, now!" Its trainer pleaded. Pachirisu grimaced, glancing down at Ariados who was three seconds way—shoved off the wall with its tail, heading towards it paws first—it's getting close!—tumbled, smashing its tail into Ariados's head, shutting its mouth, and caught onto Ariados's back as it crashed into the wall. Pachirisu opened its mouth wide, its fangs expanding twice its size, and chomped down. Ariados cried in pain and used Shadow Sneak to lung into the ground. Pachirisu didn't phase into the floor as its opponent did and hit the ground, sliding forward.
It's just like that frakkin' Sableye. Too much stamina, not enough power. Amber thought. Ariados's next move needs to knock that rat out of the ring. "Ariados use Shadow Sneak!" Ariados quickly jumped out of the ground, although its hitting range was far off to the side and Pachirisu flew up diagonally, crashing into the wall again. Pachirisu blinked as the metallic sound rang in its head.
"Back at it with Spark!" Lucas said, checking the clock again. 3 minutes remaining. Pachirisu nodded determinedly, launching off the wall and gathering electricity in its microfiber fur. Ariados flailed its exoskeletal legs, still resulting in nowhere—Pachirisu tackled it into the ground, and the electricity caused Ariados to freeze for a second before flailing again. As the clock ticked down to 2 minutes, the antigravity rods lowered down. Lucas and Amber both felt their normal weight again.
Pachirisu rolled backwards and cutely cocked its head to the side. Was play time over?
"Get up Ariados!" Amber yelled. It couldn't. It's legs hurt too much to get up. The red scanning beam ran over the stage. Amber continued to yell, and Lucas was embarrassed for her because she didn't realize it was over.
"Ariados is unable to battle. Lord Lucas Taylor wins." Said the judgebot.
"No!" Amber's shriek mimicked a Luxray's roar. She screamed and she stomped, and even one of her heels broke under her. Lucas stifled a giggle and instantly stiffened when she sent a glare across the field. Both pokémon were returned as their trainers returned underground. Lucas could still hear the crowd cheering his name, chanting 'Lucas, Lucas'.
He stepped out of the tube, fondling his Pachirisu's pokéball preciously. It had won against a real monster, and that's something. He only hoped he'd have that kind of courage in the pie battles against Brett. He knew that Jun wouldn't make it to the next round. Everyone knew. Just like Irene, he'd be beaten under a minute.
He looked over to Amber who was scowl central. Her eyes burned a hole into the floor as she stepped out of the tube, half stumbling from the broken shoe. She muttered something, arms crossed. Lucas strained his ears but couldn't interpret with her teeth together like that.
"What was that?" He said, but her scowl only deepened because she thought he was mocking her.
"I said,...good job out there." She said more clearly. Her face was flushed and tinted red. "You beat me...fair and square. Good going junior." It was obvious she wasn't one to hand out compliments and he accepted it gratefully. And being that he rarely won battles, it just made the victory even more sweeter.
"Hey, you did radical too." He said.
"Don't push it." She snapped. With a flick of her blonde/green-streaked hair over her shoulder, she waltzed out of the station—or at least the best she could without looking ridiculous from walking on one heel. Lucas released his Pachirisu, who immediately took form on top of his spiky hair.
"Pach!" it squeal, tail tickling the hairs on his neck.
"You did outstanding, my friend. Guess who's getting treated out to dots ice cream? YOU ARE!" He cheered. Pachirisu yipped in hoorah. Nothing screams victory like ice cream from the past.
Jun Kirman Lucas, get over here. YOU'RE GETTING A HUG :D
Lucas Taylor and 4 other people like this
Kaisei Arcan You defeated the beast ;]
Gerard Eckhart There are several beasts in this tournament. Elliot, Amber, Brett...
Jun Kirman I agree with you on that :l but I'll try my best.
Lucas Taylor -_- JUN I told you to stop with this lovey brother crap
Jun Kirman Why? T.T
Lucas Taylor Because it's flamboyant
Jun Kirman Is it different if I say I love Kai too?
Kaisei Arcan #loveyoutoobro
3 people like this
James Lopreo you can just feel the love here :3
Sherry Brogan Just saw a nice new arm. Oh hot damn ;)
Imogen Yale ...please...just stop.
Lucas Taylor Troll.
Sherry Brogan Elliot has a new arm ;)
Amber Hendrix that fast?
Paru it doesn't take that long to hook a prosthetic arm onto a patient. Just click and drill
2 people like this
Lexi Redstone Aaaa stop...the images :S
Manchuria Grey likes this
James Lopreo If Lucas and Amber got the antigravity stage, what will Nicolas and I get?
Manchuria Grey dislikes this
Serena Valliya ice?
Lexi Redstone it's probably something they've never done before.
Lucas Taylor says 'no duh'
Imogen Yale Did they already do prairie farms?
Amber Hendrix They should do urban blight. WUT.
James Lopreo How would they do that?
Lexi Redstone a constantly spinning stage?
Serena Valliya don't give them ideas. It's already making me dizzy
2 people agree
James arrived at the tunnel station relatively on time, seeing as Nicolas and his female crew were already there and waiting for their cue to go. The screens nearby were broadcasting the construction outside. A giant steel cage top was being placed over the stage, like a giant colander. It was worrying to see what he'd have to battle in.
James came upon the four, waving nervously. The three girls acknowledge them in their own manner—Amber, grunting, Sherry, winking, and Imogen just smiling warmly. Nicolas said nothing as he was consumed on a riveting game of bingo on his 'Gear. He was trying to beat Ashka and Gerard's score, most likely. The three girls though continued to surround him for moral support. With them there, they knew he'll at least attempt to be sane.
Wish I had my own cheerleaders, James thought wistfully as he took a seat on the cold, plastic blue bench. The grate texture was uneasy on his buns and he shifted around a bit to get comfortable. Finally he found it relaxing at the edge, nowhere near Imogen who had plopped on the edge beside him. He became even more nervous than he already was. The beautiflies were spiraling in him.
"How does it look?" She asked. James looked up. She wasn't talking to him, but to Sherry who took a seat beside Nicolas and crossed her legs.
"What, the arm?" Sherry said. "Looks sexy. I like a man with see-through limbs."
"Does that mean you think Mr. Valacio is sexy?" Amber inquired in disgust. Sherry paused to think on it.
"I feel sorry for him." Imogen sighed, leaning back. James turned away. "I can't imagine losing any of my arms. Or legs. It would be too difficult to do anything."
"Eew, she's trying to go all farm-y backstory-y again!" Sherry wailed, covering her ears. Imogen chuckled and shook her head in dismay.
Nicolas looked up. "Pickles?" The three girls cooed over him and ushered him back into his little world.
James grimaced and checked the time again. Watching Nicolas eating up all that attention was sickening. He was envious and jealous at the same time. Although, if all he had to do was give up a few hundred brain cells to be as loved as Nicolas, he wasn't sure if he could do it.
Didn't I already go over this? He thought, closing his eyes. If those three clung to him as tightly as they did Nicolas, he knew he'd be in heaven. They all had the potentials of being great friends—each had their own quality that could serve him. Amber was a flat stomached wall of meat that would protect him from bullies like Lucas. Sherry was the teaser who could make him laugh and feel awkward at the same time. Imogen...well, he wasn't sure what she would do.
I mean, look at her. He sighed. She was perfect and gorgeous to him. She had nice, managed pink hair and a calm, soft personality. She worked hard, too, and pulled her weight along with others. She even dragged Amber and Sherry on a mattress with string down the hall once because they were too lazy to walk to the cafeteria. He dreamed of being with a girl like her. But he knew she'd never like a guy like him.
"Good luck out there, hm?" Imogen turned at him with those captivating plain green eyes. James stared but the locomotive didn't move. It took him a second to realize that it was time for the battle when he saw Nicolas get forced into the tube by Amber—but he was being strange and was squirming.
James nodded and quickly got into the tube, trying his best not to look at her again. He didn't like the idea of having a mental kryptonite. Whenever he had crushes, he tended to distance himself, hence why he and Lexi haven't been communicating as much. Amber finally managed to get the door shut and Nicolas banged on the soundproof glass, demanding to be freed.
With a blinding flash of light, both were gone.
Imogen sighed loudly. He doesn't like me, huh?
Sherry caught on. "Oh no! Depression! What is it? Middle class problems? Boy problems?"
Imogen ignored the middle class part. "Why's James acting so...weird?"
"That's how he always is." Amber deadpanned.
Imogen shrugged. It'd be nice if he liked me, she thought. But he's more into those spunky, naturally beautiful types like Lexi. He'd never like a girl with guns. She chuckled and traced her biceps as the two guys appeared on the stage.
James studied the steel cage surrounding the stage. The squares were large, large enough to see through to the audience, and a bit too large for a human to climb across. It definitely wasn't your average jungle gym. He imagined a pokémon with strong arms could climb it, but a pokémon with perfect balance could walk along the beams like a tightrope. Dangling from the steel silver beams were ropes, and at the end were circular hand and footholds at various lengths. Nicolas cowered under the shade of one of the bars.
"This is a 1-on-1 battle between Lord James Lopreo of Black City, Unova and Sir Nicolas Wolfe of Driftveil City, Unova. The time limit is 8 minutes. Stage assessing." The judgebot said. A second passed with no change because the stage was already built. "Begin."
James had the whole thing calculated. "Let's go! Skarmory!" He threw up the pokéball. The metallic bird materialized on one of the rings, using its robust claws to steady itself on the wire. He had doubts whether to use Skarmory or not. He hadn't had much training or bonding with it since it arrived on the route after Lavaridge. He could only hope that Nicolas wouldn't pull what he did with Elliot.
Nicolas pulled up a pokéball and held it out in front of him, cherishing it like a glorious chalice. "If we're going to fight..." he whispered, "It'll be with you. Go, Cryogonal." He tossed up the ball, and his weak voice still irritated him. The light shot out, forming into a mixture of a giant snowflake and African mask.
Dammmn...uh...James looked up at the creature in awe. It was both spooky and magnificent. And it would crush Skarmory in seconds. But he had observed Nicolas up to this point, and knew that he was emotionally weak. In battles he was more dejected. James figured he'd have to use intimidation to his advantage. For a second he almost knew what it felt like to be Elliot on the field. He is just a little kid. Said a demonizing Orrean-accented voice in his head. If anyone deserves to be ahead in this game, it is you—not him.
"Skarmory use Steel Wing!" He started, knowing that he had the type-advantage here. Skarmory flexed its gleaming wings and zipped off the ring with a heavy clap, diving for Cryogonal.
To everyone's surprise, the Nicolas who was afraid of his own shadow commanded a deadly move that was seldom ever used. "Cryogonal!" He cried out. "Use Sheer Cold!"
And Cryogonal's reaction time was brilliant. In a matter of nanoseconds all the jewels on its blue striped body became agleam like Christmas lights. Cryogonal opened its mouth, a blue mist steaming out like solid smoke—
"Skarmory quick dodge!" James wailed. Skarmory brought its wings up to its head, plunging downwards and missing Sheer Cold. Cryogonal closed its mouth and waited. If it was recuperating, it was hard to tell by only its heavy breathing. Skarmory fluttered its wings again before it hit the ground. It sent a narrow-eyed glare at its opponent.
Panic flashed across Nicolas's face. That move usually worked. Why didn't it work? What does he do now? Can he do anything?
"Steel Wing!" James called. Skarmory moved fast as lightening this time, zipping into the sky with metallic feathers and diving towards Cryogonal. Nicolas oohed at the wings. So pretty, so glittery. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be battle? He focused back on Cryogonal—AH! Oh! Skarmory's Steel Wing had Cryogonal losing its footing—err, levitating hold—and it slid across the floor, spinning like a dish bowl.
"Cryogonal, please get up!" Nicolas cried out. James sighed. He felt like he was battling a kid fresh out of elementary school who thought it would be a good idea to start his pokémon journey at ten years old.
Should I be a jerk and attack while it's getting up on its...knees? Thought James. His eyes flashed to the scoreboard, where the time ticked down to 6:59:10. It's not personal, boingo and I need to get to the next round! "Skarmory use Air Cutter!" he commanded. Skarmory jumped off from the ring it was swinging from and flapped its wings rapidly—
"Cryogonal, use, uh...Reflect!" Nicolas said. A transparent wall of light enveloped Cryogonal, but the orb of slicing winds merrily phased through it and smacked it in the face, and the current whipped it upwards into the nearest bar, nearly smashing its skull. "Ice...beam?" Nicolas was too scared to continue anymore. Cryogonal looked terrible.
"Skarmory, up to the top! Autotomize!" James said. Skarmory flew to the nearest concaving bars and sped up the rest, using its claws for excellent balance. As the Road Runner sped to the top, Cryogonal looked around weakly for some kind of plan. Its trainer bit his nails impishly. Both squinted, as did the rest of the crowd, as Skarmory's whole body shone brighter than any star in the sky.
Blink. Blink. James swore he saw something flash in response in the clouds.
Skarmory's beacon was also a perfect target. "Cryogonal use Ice Beam!" Nicolas finally said, spitting out crescent shaped bit off nails. Cryogonal's eyes stung but it was situated at a perfect angle to attack. It gathered the energy within it—
"Dodge!" James said. Skarmory clawed across the top of the cage with enhanced agility. Ice Beam's lights tore through the bars, freezing upon contact, and moved to try and hit Skarmory. In all its brash fleeing Skarmory ended up slipping on a frozen bar, smacking its beak on a bar and falling through the wide gaps. Cryogonal fired one more time, dinging Skarmory in the wing. Its entire left wing was frosted white and couldn't move, and Skarmory attempted to slow its decent with its other wing.
"Sheer Cold!" Nicolas commanded. He was hoping the timing was right here. Skarmory was nearly incapacitated.
James checked the time. How did it get to 4 minutes already? Cryogonal's freezer cold mouth was opening— "Skarmory, Steel Wing! It'll defrost your wings!" Skarmory did as told, holding out its wings as they warmed up to shine a brilliant white. Cracks of light found its way through the ice—Skarmory took a running start and launched into the air—
The solid stream of white smoke shot towards Skarmory—
Skarmory soared above Sheer Cold, dodging it, and looped around the cage, the ice melting from its wings. Cryogonal turned around, tackled with Steel Wing—both pokémon went crashing down onto the ground, hitting a hanging ring on the way down. Skarmory jumped back up, completely unharmed, while Cryogonal lay defeated.
Nicolas's face fell to his hands.
"Cryogonal is unable to battle. Lord James Lopreo is the winner." Announced the judgebot. Skarmory and James embraced victorious, enveloping in the loud amount of cheers from around the stadium. Nicolas smiled glumly, returning his Cryogonal.
"I'm glad it's over..." Nicolas muttered with a shy smile.
Lexi Redstone I knew you could do it :) magnificently done, James.
Manchuria Grey likes this
James Lopreo thank you :3 you're a true friend
Lexi Redstone ty
Manchuria Grey likes this
Lexi Redstone the hell...who is he or she?
James Lopreo I could do some background work if that makes you feel better
Lexi Redstone yay :P
Daniel leafed through the messages that pinged on his screen. None were from Megan, unfortunately. He knew that whenever she was working, she disconnected herself from the world completely. Trying to reach her was like throwing an old school phone across the ocean and hoping she'd pick it up. He wondered what was keeping her. How long would she be gone?
Beside him, Serena reclined back in her seat with a pamphlet covering her eyes from the sun's rays. Further down in the seats, Lucas was trolling on the forums, Jun was watching, Paru was watching TV on his 'Gear, Lexi was playing Berry Ninja, James was doing extensive research on some random person, Gerard was sharing nachos with Ashka, and Ashka herself was trying to create a random sculpture out of the nacho chips. Anyone else who wasn't there was probably around the stadium.
Serena felt a twinge in her fingers. The pamphlet fell from her nose, exposing her eyes. In surprise her hands jerked back—she quickly covered the arm rests with her arms. She had frosted them.
Above in the sky, triangular shaped items were coming closer. They froze above another layer of clouds and reassessed their positions. Radiations from their fuel tanks sprinkled to the stadium.
Serena nonchalantly scraped the ice from the armrests with her fingers and dusted them onto the floor. Now she felt extremely hot when it was barely 90 degrees out here. She felt little green particles sticking to her skin like an extra layer of freckles, but the colors were her imagination. Or were they? She blinked again. Was it raining green flecks?
A cold chill ran through her. That worried her greatly. She never got cold chills. At least, not unless her powers had gone through the wrong pipe. Her eyes widened, realizing how far this "energy" had traveled—she shot out of her seat, alarming Lucas whose drink almost spilled—she dashed down the corridor, taking a right and disappearing inside the stadium.
Lucas and Jun swapped glances. Jun shrugged, but he made a face that translated into go after her. Lucas shrugged and stood up, following the path that Serena had went.
His head twisted to the side as he got further. Were those footprints of ice?
Serena nearly screamed. Her limbs were freezing over and she had no idea why! She still ran through the empty corridor, camera lenses following her direction, and she forced open the first double doors she saw and embraced the warmth of outside. She ran down the cement-stepped ledges, all the way to the edge where the railing stopped and the waves crashed almost silently.
What is going on! She thought, rubbing her hands together. This has never happened before! My powers have never been out of control like this! Her hands started trembling and within the green spots in her vision she saw her delicate cream skin morph into leathery, ugly grey skin of a monster she refused to become anymore. Before she could realize it, her other hand had changed too.
"Serena!" Called a voice from the double doors. Her eyes widened in fear to whoever would see her. She instantly recognized the voice to be Lucas's. She couldn't have him see her, not like this. She could jump into the water, but that was a fools decision. Maybe she could fly away—
And without thought, her wings burst forth from her back, long and outstanding and a rocky grey color as her skin. Half of her face was covered in a light blue colored rock, leaving only her blue eyes to be left of her humanity.
She heard his footsteps nearing, and she knew it was too late. He had seen too much. She half turned—the half with the ugly monster face—and his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets at the sight. She cursed. He saw her as an abomination—an ugly miscreation of science or God or whoever ran things around here—and she jumped, her wings slapping the ground ungracefully at once to take off.
Lucas had reached her before she could get anywhere, and he went for her hand to pull her down—or whatever that grotesque, scaly thing with claws was. When he felt it it was ice cold. She had pulled away from his grip at once, now at the mercy of the winds, and flew off into the clouds before she could be seen anymore.
Lucas looked up to the clouds, lost in whatever just happened.
And yet, he replied with a laugh and, "...Wow."
Hola! I finally got things done :D Okay...well...no. I'm kinda behind a lot. Hence why this chapter was split into 2 or possibly, if it doesn't wrap up next chapter, 3 parts. Either way the story is getting to its ending point soon, I just hope the ending isn't lame
For the Valentines picture... -_- I am so behind. I've only got half of one couple finish. I think it'd be easier if I only do one picture; I've redone the polls, so whoever hasn't voted since January 17th or so needs to revote :D we're down to 4 couples! The most voted gets a picture!...As opposed to the others that I've given up on
ALSO! WolfefUmbreonWarrior (AKA Ashka Storme) has drawn Daniel and Megan :D much epicly I should say. I was very impressed with how it came out. If you'd like to see it, the link is on my profile. Kudos to her :D
Anyway, I'm not sure when the next update will be. My writings are getting fuzzy nowadays with all this cruddy school work loaded onto me. But that is no excuse, and I will try my best to get it done by hopefully next week :D Thanks for reading! Any kind of view is greatly appreciated!