After narrowly winning the first round of the Pokémon League, Choco joined her friends back at the Pokémon Center, waiting while her pokemon healed.
"So…I guess we have the day to relax. The new postings for the next battles don't come out until tonight," said Chris, carefully examining the guidebook in which they had been given upon entering.
"Hm, I guess I need a break," said Choco, placing her hand on her chin as she thought, "I'll be right back."
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Kari as she watched her friend get up from the soft, plush couch.
"Just a walk around," was Choco's nonchalant reply.
They watched as the youngest member stuffed her hands into her pockets and hum a small tune while heading towards the glass doors, her Eevee trailing behind in confusion.
"Don't you think Choco's been acting a little weirdly lately?" asked Sakura after a moment of pondering.
There was no reply as the four sat in silence.
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'If I've gotten this far, then of course…Oak has too. I wonder… are we going to battle each other…?' as Choco mused in her own thoughts, she surprised when the lake she had been watching suddenly started to bubble.
Almost immediately, a Vaporeon jumped out of the lake, sending glistens of water as it 'flew'. Choco watch in awe as it landed on the bank without trouble, until she noticed there was also a rider.
"HELLO!" greeted the girl, known as Alice, that Choco had seen fall from the sky, "I've seen you before!"
A little scared by the over-enthusiastic girl, Choco merely sweatdropped as she nodded slightly,
"Yeah, I think so. I'm Choco Ketchum."
"Ah! You're the daughter of the Kanto Pokémon Master!" said Alice with starry-eyes. "I'm so glad to meet you! I'm Alice Kaho!"
Confused, Choco replied,
"But during the battles, it said you were Alice Dong?"
"That's my official name, but I absolutely hate that last name, so I changed it to my mom's last name!" said Alice happily.
"Um, ok…" said Choco, unsure of what to make of the situation.
"So, I saw you battle with my cousin, and I thought it was quite impressive!" said Alice, striking up a conversation as the two started their way back from Pokémon Center.
"Eh, Jerohkai's your cousin?" asked Choco in surprise.
"Heh, I bet you never guessed!" said Alice proudly, although there was nothing much to be proud about.
Suddenly, her smile turned upside-down,
"You looked a little troubled back there, was something wrong?"
Choco gave a wry smile,
"Is it that obvious?" Upon Alice's unhelpful, yet enthusiastic nod, she continued, "I guess I'm a little worried about the League. One of my old rivals joined, and if we both win a few of the matches, I'll end up facing her sooner or later."
Alice clicked her tongue as she smiled at Choco,
"Everyone eventually has to face their fears. Jerohkai used to beat me every time we battled, and every time I lost, I would train harder. It eventually paid off why I finally beat him a few years ago had have beaten him since. You just have to go with the flow, that's how life is."
Choco raised an eyebrow slightly,
"Thanks, but I feel like I just got a long lecture from my parents…"
Alice stuck her tongue out,
"I'm just used to being the older cousin of Jerohkai. I've probably done this a million times or so."
"Anyways, thanks!" said Choco.
Alice returned to original hyper state as she boarded her Vaporeon,
"I'll see you in the semi-finals!" she called before jumping back into the lake (to scare the next person walking by).
Choco shook her head as she continued her walk,
"I still can't believe her and Jerohkai are even close to being related, but I do find her helpful."
Suddenly, she stopped,
"Did she say the semi-finals? I still have to win the next two battles before I get there…" she shrugged, "I probably didn't hear right."
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"My cousin told you that?" asked Jerohkai, before sighing, "I am going to kill Alice before she can spill more."
"No, actually, I found it helpful!" said Choco quickly, "I wanted to ask you to give these to her as a late Christmas gift."
She handed him a carefully wrapped present and he took it reluctantly, "I guess I could take the detour…"
"Thanks! By the way, Sakura wanted to see you somewhere!" said Choco running away to join Trina and the others at the dining hall.
Jerohkai glanced at the gift before him, "That must be the first time someone's asked me to deliver something to Alice."
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"The battle listings are out," said Sean, eating his spaghetti from the cafeteria carefully, "We checked it for you, you're next opponent is someone named Honda Hugo."
"Ah! I've heard of him!" chirped Sakura quickly, "He's supposed to be feared by most because of his high leveled fighting pokemon. I heard he easily slid into the finals of last year's League."
"Wow," replied Choco, clearly amazed, "I'm not getting much of a break, am I?"
"That's the Pokémon League," said Chris, "Kanto's supposed to have the most competition ever since they closed a gym here."
"Hm…"
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"I know tomorrow's going to be a hard day," said Choco lightly her pokemon, "but you guys can pull it off. We checked his pokemon used for the first round, and it seems that he has a small habit of underestimating his opponents. We should be able to win the first round, and it is going to be a necessity, but we can't reveal too much until the end."
After she received a nod (or a few), she went into her regular exercises to improve her pokemons' reflexes. It was soon late, and she was startled to hear Sean open the back door of the Pokémon Center.
"It's almost twelve, get some sleep for tomorrow," he said while rubbing his eyes.
"Is it that late?"
With one look at her digital watch, she quickly returned her pokemon and dashed past Sean,
"No kidding! Thanks!"
Sean rolled his eyes as he sleepily followed his friend towards the elevators. Tomorrow was another day, and he hoped that he wouldn't fall asleep in the middle because of this.
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"Welcome to the next round of the Kanto Pokémon League. Our first battle between Choco Ketchum and Honda Hugo will start now!"
Choco stepped onto the field, facing a muscular man in his twenties. He enlarged a pokeball before letting it out with a bored expression,
"Go Hitmonchan!"
"Let's do this Crystal!"
A mighty Dragonite stood against the macho Hitmonchan. It narrowed its eyes at Crystal as Choco called out the first attack,
"Crystal, start this off with Rain Dance!"
Honda narrowed his eyes at the useless rain pouring and called out his attack,
"Hitmonchan, ignore it! Send in a Mach Punch!"
Brushing the rain from its eyes, the punching pokemon rushed in at super speed in hopes of landing a straight hit on the dragon, in which it did, but Crystal shook it off immediately.
"Now, Aerial Ace!"
On command, Crystal took flight, and disappeared, only to reappear behind the confused Hitmonchan and send a critical hit. Hitmonchan staggered off balance as Choco took full advantage of it,
"Crystal, Dynamic Punch!"
Though the attack had a low chance of hitting, the Dragonite found the target frozen for a second, and took it, sending the punching pokemon in a confused daze.
Honda glared, obviously not expecting that much from a newbie of the League,
"Hitmonchan, Focus Punch!"
Chris nodded,
"That's a good choice of moves. It focuses the pokemon and gets ready to attack the opponent."
"Don't give it a chance! Crystal, end it with Shock Wave!"
It was only one second for the huge lightning bolt to strike from the clouds. Though it was not as powerful as Thunder, it had enough power to knock out the already confused Hitmonchan.
"The first round goes to Choco Ketchum," said the referee.
However, Choco was not the least bit relieved as she watched Honda's eyes narrow. She clutched Crystal's pokeball tighter,
"Now it begins."
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Pokebunny: I'm so so so sorry for leaving it untouched for 4 WHOLE months! As a result, I have decided to write the next few chapters as fast as possible and post them!
Chocolate: Thank you Dragonluvr1993 and my friend for finally getting me to write this!! We have decided to post the next chapter as soon as five reviews come in.