Lugia… I have a Lugia… his name is Sin. :is happy: Actually, I have two. I'm keeping one Shadowfied for the moment because it looks uber spiffy.

Well, I was planning not to go to Region Competition, but, my band directors forced me. Booo…

Price for Freedom

Chapter 25

Opening Ceremony

After my little… moment… with Tai, we slowly made our way to the lobby, where Kaiyou, Illauna, and Shayla were sitting on various furniture. My Lord was simply eating cereal (Captain Crunch if I wasn't mistaken) and watching TV impassively, Illauna was reading a crusty book on Rayquaza, and Shayla was bouncing her leg up and down nervously. She kept making jerky glances to her watch and some sheet of paper in her hand. She saw us and then rushed to her feet.

"Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed happily. "I was hoping you two would be okay. The Grand Opening Festival is in an hour!"

The fact that we were at the Hoenn League dawned in my head. In the midst of Hicha's death and… Tai… I had forgotten about the competition completely. The jolteon to my left bounced up and down.

Shayla smiled softly at his enthusiasm, leaned down and said, "Sorry, boy. I'm happy you're excited, but I don't want you battling this one. Kazu, Amburna and Kaiyou can handle this match." Tai stopped bouncing and began to whimper pitifully. I rolled my eyes and made my way to my Lord, who was sitting on the couch. When I sat down near his leg, he scratched the place under my scythe.

Shayla stood up and said firmly, "You're not battling! You took a hard beating yesterday -I'm not going to let you push yourself!"

Tai groaned. "But these guys are pushovers! Shmucks! I can take them with one leg!" To prove his point, he began shaking a hind leg, but then fell over from bad balance.

Shayla shook her head again and Tai sulked to the corner where Illauna was. Apparently, he didn't notice whom he was sitting by and then looked up, saw the mighty trainer staring at him from behind her opaque sunglasses, then shrank off. If he had had a long enough tail, it would have been between his legs.

I shook my head and leaned happily against Kaiyou's legs. It was good to have Tai normal again. I opened my eyes at the memory of the moment with Tai that had just happened. Did he really mean what he said? I looked to the jolteon, who was now grooming his front left leg, and let my eyes scrutinize the yellow dog. He seemed honest enough. But did I want to take the offer?

I sighed and then let my head plop back to my Lord's leg. His hand came down and began to scratch my neck absently.

"Something wrong?" he asked softly; I could barely hear him. I looked up at him and saw him reading a book titled Candide, (he finished his cereal) then lowered my gaze again.

"…No…" I replied simply. I heard a soft chuckle, then a turn of a paper page.

"Your face says otherwise," he said knowingly. I looked back up to him, a coy smile on his pale face. A chuckle went through his chest again and he looked up at the beginning of a new page. His eyes went down to mine, and he patted my white head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I jerked my head out of his hand. For some reason, his content attitude irritated me. "There's nothing to talk about," I muttered. He was a little surprised by my answer, but the smile returned to his face soon enough.

"All right," he said as his golden gaze returned to the page. "If that suits you."

I got to my sore feet and walked out of the pokemon center to see a fading dusk. The stadium in which the competition was being held was illuminated by brilliant lights, bathing the structure in a pure, white light. I looked to my left and saw Kuvai and Yasille sitting quietly -but comfortably- beside each other. Yasille's happy gaze was straight in front of her, but Kuvai seemed to realize that I was there, and looked at me quizzically. I flinched and then took my eyes to my paws.

I heard a ruffle of shoes on concrete, then Kuvai's void of scent come closer. Oh, crap…I realized, He's coming to me! Before I could find a way to escape the encounter, he sat beside me and said, "How are you?"

I gulped and turned to him slowly. I did NOT want to have this conversation. "Fine…" I replied shakily. His dark eyebrow inclined, and he "hmmed". He stared at me for a minute, which seemed hours, and then leaned back on his hands.

"You don't need to be so scared of me; I don't bite," he stated. I knew that he meant me well, but the fact that he was undead made me nervous, and no amount of reassurance could convince me otherwise. I gave a little nervous laugh at his comment, and tried to shuffle further away from him on my butt.

He sighed, and then said, "Are you at least feeling better? I know that you won't be battling in the first match, but you aren't sore?" I shook my head and tried to further scoot away from him when suddenly, Yasille sat down on the other side of me. She smiled amiably and said, "So, it doesn't hurt when I'm around you?"

Dismayed that my escape route was now blocked, I shook my head. I did feel a little tingling, but it tickled more than hurt. She bounced in her seat and exclaimed something happily in the Light language, and I saw Kuvai's arm reach over my head to Yasille's shoulder to calm her down. She pouted a little at the fact that she couldn't celebrate properly, but then a small squirrel caught her attention and she followed it with her eyes happily. She really was an absent-minded person…

Kuvai nudged me in the side and said, "Pay no mind to her. She does that -zones off. You get used to it eventually…" I looked back to the Light wolf and saw her sway from side to side, humming a foreign lullaby to herself. When she noticed that all other eyes were on her, she smiled again and patted me on the head, then went back to her daydreaming. Kuvai sighed and then stood up, about to leave.

"I hope…" he began uncertainly, "…that you do well in your competition." He nodded to Yasille, who stood up as well and patted me on the head again. They went around the corner of the pokemon center together, and I couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. Being around the ghost was too much for my nerves.

……………….

The stadium -which was actually a dome- was full of people, (Kuvai, Yasille and Illauna included) as we waited in the air lock with the other trainers. There were about 500, of which I saw ages range from eleven to fifty. The trainers were allowed two pokemon on either side of them to march out with them in the opening ceremonies, and Shayla had chosen Tai and me.

The jolteon was more than excited. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that he could have catapulted himself into space from all of the energy he had. Shayla did nothing to try and calm him down, as most of the younger, newer trainers were attempting to do. She merely looked down at him with some annoyance, but then shook it off as the jolteon pulled off a back flip.

Since I was on the other side of the overexcited electric dog, I had to lean in order to see his face. I did so, and then said in a hushed, annoyed tone, "Will you stop that? Try and preserve SOME dignity."

He stopped just long enough to ask me, "Don't tell me you're lacking so much emotion that you don't feel excited. I know you want to try it. Act crazy for once!" He then began to run around, chasing his tail. I simply growled my annoyance; if he didn't stop when the ceremony started, he would become roadkill on the highway. I was about to ask Shayla to calm him down, but she had left to talk to a trainer a ways away. I pouted; it seemed I would have to handle Tai on my own.

"I see someone's excited," a smooth, masculine voice said from behind. I turned to see an absol, my age, eyeing Tai and me. He nodded towards the jolteon, who had stopped dead in his tracks, and said, "This your first time?"

The jolteon suddenly took a practiced, regal stance -which made him look much older- and said defensively, "No, my third. And you?"

I was a little startled by his sudden change in demeanor and wished that the other absol was around all of the time to keep the yellow dog in line. The male absol simply shrugged off the jolteon's answer and then turned back to me. "You are a lovely lady…" He stepped towards me and began sniffing. "With an equally lovely scent to match." He looked up at me to see my reaction, which was a flattered laugh.

Although I liked this absol -since he had such a wonderful head on his shoulders- Tai did not approve. I could hear growling coming from him, and when I looked at him, he looked as if he was about to launch a pin missile attack at the absol. The other absol simply smirked, then turned back to me, completely ignoring the jolteon.

"What is your name?" he asked smoothly, cocking his head as he did so. Before answering, I debated on which name -my real name or my nickname? I decided and replied with a pleasant smile, "Ayako. My name is Ayako." A louder growl came from Tai's direction, but I paid no heed to it.

He leaned back, pleased. "Beautiful. I should have expected as much. My name is Arden, but my trainer calls me Phantom." He studied me again and said, "You look as if this is one of many competitions you've been to. Are you a veteran?"

I smiled and shook my head. This absol, Arden, is amazing! I thought excitedly. Smart, strong and so… darn… good-looking… woo! I shrugged my shoulders playfully and said, "No… actually, this is my first time…"

He seemed genuinely shocked at my answer. "I would never have guessed," he said with a twinge of awe. "You hold yourself with utmost respect and strength, something that comes from years of training. I would not want to be your opponent on the battlefield."

My smile grew wider. "Nor I you." His own smile -a charismatic, witty grin- grew and was about to reply, but then a myriad of brass instruments sounded from inside the dome, and his expression sobered a bit. He looked back to me and said, "It seems our time has been cut short. I hope to see you again, Miss Ayako." He nodded, which I returned happily, and he walked away to his trainer, who happened to be the person Shayla was talking to.

I sighed happily and situated myself on the concrete, reflecting on Arden, when a hard object ran into my side. It turned out to be a sour Tai, who was glaring at the direction that Arden went. I cocked an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

He turned back to me, his chocolate eyes hiding fits of emotions. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he sighed, looked at his paws, then replied softly, "Nothing." He turned and went back to his spot for the ceremony. I was now quite worried; what had gotten his panties in a twist? Then, recent events with Arden and how the jolteon had kept growling came to my mind and my worry disappeared. He was just jealous.

How could he be jealous? I raged in my mind, Arden is one of my own kind; it's nice to be able to do talk to one once in a while. If he had met a female jolteon, I'm sure he would all over her… And why do I care? I can do what I want. Why should I worry if Tai approves or disapproves? I snorted my temporary malcontent for the jolteon and stared fiercely ahead at the airlock doors, wishing for something to tear my teeth into. Shayla returned to her post, and then, the airlock doors began to open.

The first thing that greeted me was a wall of rushing air, then the overwhelming sound of cheers from thousands of people. The brass began to play again and we started forward towards the center of the empty concrete field. We were near the front of the procession, so I could see a trio of men ahead of us, already shaking the first of the trainers' hands. I wonder who they are?

When they came to Shayla, one of the men, a young, brunette man, shook her hand very enthusiastically. "I hope you do really well, Miss Kyerson. Represent the Kanto region and win the contest!" She thanked him happily, then moved onto the other two men, who merely nodded their heads amiably to her. We then walked to the other side of the field and stood, waiting for something to happen. I looked down the field to see the rest of the procession: a gargantuan line of trainers with their various pokemon, some rare, some strong, some both. I looked to the crowds to see if I could find our little troupe, but among the plethora of bodies, faces were indistinguishable.

After all the trainers had shaken hands with the three men, an announcer's voice boomed, "There you are, folks, your Hoenn League's 45th Annual Competition's contestants!" The roar grew to an almost ear-deafening volume. "Let's begin the festivities!" Another roar from the crowd, and then the three men formed a small arc in front of the line of trainers, each with a microphone in their hands.

The one that had cheered Shayla on spoke first. "I am the president of the Kanto Pokemon League, and I wish to thank Mr. Karron for such a wonderful stage for this competition, not only for those trainers from my home region, but for all trainers. I wish all trainers and their hard-working pokemon the best of luck!" The crowd cheered, and suddenly his personal encouragement made sense. What would that say about Kanto -or Hoenn for that matter- if a Kanto trainer won the Hoenn League? I looked at the man, a coy smile playing my face. Didn't it always come down to politics?

The second man, the Johto head, said his own thanks and hopes, (which sounded much like the Kanto head) and then the Hoenn head spoke. He was an older, bald-headed man. He had a good build for a human, and a worn, weary look in his blue eyes. He raised his free hand and said, "Thank you all for coming here! Without you fans, we wouldn't have such a phenomenal battlefield for this wonderful competition." Another roar. "Let us now show our support for these fine trainers who have battled their way through eight, vigorous badges, fought through stormy winds, blazing hot suns, cold, dark nights, and days without the comforts of home all to reach this field!" A louder clamor sounded and the crowd stood, creating a strange wave of human bodies.

"Now, before we begin the competition," he said to calm the crowd down, "let us remember that the trainers who do not win are not losers. The people out on this field have been through trails that make them all winners in life." The throng of people cheered again, and my sarcastic self almost had me laughing. I had to bite my tongue to keep it in. Could you get any cornier? I looked to Shayla, who was doing the same thing.

We were then dismissed, and we filtered out of the four exits of the dome into separate lobbies. There, Nurse Joy's were stationed with the sorting machines and the results of the drawings were shown. We looked for Shayla's picture, which was paired with a middle-aged man, around the middle. We were the 75th battlers. Ugh.

Tai groaned. "We have to wait THAT LONG to kick this guy's butt? The battle'll be tomorrow!" I looked to Shayla for her reaction, which was a simple shrug and sigh.

"Then we'll have to wait. At least we're not last. Or first." Nonetheless, the jolteon was quite put out. We then left the dome for a large, purple-roofed building. The letters "H-M" were on the side, and beside it, I saw a simple white sign, "Trainer Housing". Confused, I looked up to Shayla, who had the look that this was merely routine. We weren't going to stay in the pokemon center? I relayed my question to Tai, who hesitated in answering.

"Yeah, trainers for large competitions like these get to stay in prepared apartments that the League provides. The Heads like to have all of the trainers in one place, and it's a sign of gratitude; the Heads wouldn't be getting all of this money without us, so it's polite to return the favor."

I nodded -it made sense. I looked back to Tai to talk to him about the horribly corny "winners in life" bit, but he had a somber expression on his face; I lost my train of thought upon seeing it. What's with him?

We walked into the apartment building to see an already huge gathering of trainers watching a large screen TV, which displayed a pokemon battle underway. Shayla ignored them and went to the elevator, a furnished, maroon pocket of space, and pressed the 14 button. Silently we ascended, and I looked to Shayla to see if she was mad or not. Surely she would want to talk to us. But her face was weary, exhausted. The elevator chimed, and we found our way to our room, room 1492.

The door came open with a little card Shayla held, and we entered. Shayla let everyone out of their balls, and Kaiyou quickly turned to his human form before his colossal form broke something in the small suite. He sat on the sofa, leaned back, and asked, "So I assume we're not battling tonight?" At Shayla's slow shake, he replied softly, "Thank God."

My trainer yawned and said, "I'm getting that bed over there-" she pointed to one bed in a small, separate room, "Kaiyou, you can take the other-" she pointed to another bedroom adjacent to hers, "and the rest can sleep wherever you want. Goodnight, I'm going to bed." She tottered over to her room and shut the door with a soft click. Kaiyou stretched, stood, then scratched the small of his back. He looked to me and asked, "Are you gonna sleep in here or with me?"

I trotted towards his room and he muttered, "With me, then," and followed. I was personally not tired; I was quite excited actually. So when Kaiyou flopped onto the bed face down, I asked, "Why are you tired? You didn't do anything." He shrugged and rolled over.

"I don't know," he replied with a yawn, "I just want some sleep. I guess Illauna's endless training sessions are starting to catch up with me. In any case, I'm tired." I cocked my head and hopped onto the bed with him.

"What do you do in those 'training sessions?'" I asked, "Are they really that hard?"

He laughed and then sat upright, staring at the pale gray wall. "Yeah, they're pretty brutal. And they were separated by too little sleep. But I don't want to go into details right now…" He patted my head absently as he removed his shoes, socks, and shirt. He threw them carelessly to the floor and snuggled under the warm, quilted covers on his bed. "'Night, girl."

"Goodnight," I replied, pawing out a place for me to sleep. I ended up against the lump that was my Lord's middle, and prepared myself for the battle that would occur the next day.

…………………

Woo! I finished!

So how did you all like Arden? Just wondering. And to all of you BOA people out there, "WE'RE ALL WINNERS IN LIFE!"

Woot. Behold the redundant corniness of BOA.

Ja!