Stepping up to the podium, Kumiko and Reina certainly did not expect this result.
After facing Nozomi and Mizore in the finals of the Double Battle invitational, they had somehow emerged as the victors despite facing opponents of greater skill through a combination of luck, planning, and the timely evolution of Orpheus and Eurydice into Kirlia.
Though part of them doubted whether this victory was truly hard-earned or just a fluke, they were overall pleased that events had turned out in their favor. While Kumiko was just content with the whole state of affairs, Reina was internally ecstatic at the chance of getting her first real taste of power.
With two of the prizes for this competition being three Z-Crystals and a Z-Power ring for each winning participant, along with a Double Battle against two Elite Four members, Reina could now finally get the strength she needed to challenge those at the top, which was also something she could do immediately.
Approaching Nakaseko and Saitou, Reina noticed that aside from the two envelopes containing tickets to the rock concert (which she didn't really care about) and the case most likely containing the Z-Crystals with Z-Power Rings, there was another smaller case on the side of the table with the prizes. While she didn't expect that there would be an additional prize, Reina hoped that it would be something good.
"Congratulations on winning, Ms. Kousaka, Ms. Oumae." Nakaseko addressed them, handing the envelopes to Kumiko and Reina. "Here are the tickets for a rock concert next week."
Though she was confused as to why this supposed 'main draw' of the invitational got so little attention from the presenters, Reina decided to pay no attention to this fact, choosing instead to focus on what she originally entered the tournament for.
Getting the case from the table, Aoi opened it and showed the contents to Kumiko and Reina, who were attracted by the radiance of the six crystals and two wristbands inside. Though they were unsure what types of Z-Crystals they were, Kumiko and Reina hoped that at least one of them could give their Pokémon's moves a boost.
"Here are the six Z-Crystals, along with two Z-Power Rings," Aoi explained. "The Z-Crystals are Grassium-Z, Fightinium-Z, Electrium-Z, Icium-Z, Psychium-Z, and Fairium-Z, all selected at random by the sponsor. Please choose three each, and I hope the ones you choose will prove themselves useful on your journeys ahead."
"Maybe too useful." Reina thought to herself. Despite what Saitou said about the Z-Crystals being randomly picked, their typings matched those of her own and Kumiko's Pokémon, with the exception of the Fightinium-Z. Was there some match rigging going on behind the scenes?
Shaking her head at that ridiculous thought, Reina chose the Icium-Z, Psychium-Z, and Fairium-Z to suit her Pokémon, while Kumiko picked up the others. Reina was slightly confused as to why Kumiko had chosen the Fightinium-Z, but remembered that Orpheus could evolve into Gallade, which was a Fighting-type.
After they put the Z-Crystals in their bags, Kumiko and Reina equipped the Z-Power Rings on their left wrists, the black and white stone bands gleaming in the afternoon sun.
"They look good on both of you." Aoi commented. Kumiko wondered why an Elite Four member would make such a remark, then realized that she was speaking as a childhood friend. Putting back the case on the table, Aoi turned to Nakaseko, who had a hint of a smile on her face.
"Before we move on to the exhibition battle, there's one more gift we'd like to give to you two." Nakaseko announced. "This present is from Asu-Ms. Tanaka of the Elite Four, who arranged for you two to receive it after previously impressing her."
Nakaseko got the smaller case from the table and opened it in front of Kumiko and Reina, who gasped upon realizing what the Elite Four member had given them. Inside the case were four multicolored spherical stones in it, the two on top larger than the two below.
"These are Mega Stones, which can give certain Pokémon a tremendous boost in power mid-battle. The top left stone is a Gardevoirite, and the top right stone is a Galladite." Nakaseko pointed to the respective stones. "The two stones at the bottom are Key Stones, which can be attached to the bottom of your Z-Power Rings."
"What? Asuka actually went that far for us?" Kumiko thought to herself, eliciting stares from Reina, Aoi, and Nakaseko before realizing that she spoke out loud again.
"Well, she works in mysterious ways," Nakaseko admitted with a blush on her face. "Even I don't know what happens inside her head, and I'm the one that's closest to her. Anyways, she said that you two better use them well when your Pokémon evolve, or else don't think about even challenging her."
"We will." Reina bluntly stated as she accepted her gift. Unless there was yet another surprise, every prize had already been handed out, which meant that it was now time for the main event: the exhibition battle against Saitou and Nakaseko.
Despite not being an ardent fangirl like Yuuko, Reina still admired Nakaseko's steely resolve and iron-hard defense during battle, which had won her many matches that seemed impossible during the moment, earning her the nickname of 'Iron Maiden'. Her also being a skilled trumpet player didn't hurt either, and that was what made Reina interested in her in the first place.
Nakaseko's main strategy was to use Pokémon with a high defense to wall out attacks from opponents, all the while stalling them out with moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed. Because of her battling style, her specialty was in using Steel-type Pokémon, which resisted a lot of types and usually had high defensive stats.
Perhaps this was another reason that Reina looked up at her. Her own battling style completely contrasted Nakaseko's, with hyper-aggressive maneuvers and high-risk high-reward gambits being what she was good at. Seeing someone with a completely different approach to battle succeed was quite eye-opening for her.
Now she would be able to experience this power firsthand.
Since there was still some time before their exhibition match against the Elite Four members actually begin, Reina decided to run down the conditions of the battle with Kumiko in the preparation room.
"The rules are exactly the same as the invitational." Reina explained. "It's going to be a Double Battle where we can only use one Pokémon each, and the first team to have all their Pokémon knocked out loses. Since it would be absolutely unfair for the Elite Four to be facing us with one of their regular Pokémon, they will be using newly hatched Pokémon instead."
"Won't that be unfair to them instead of us?" Kumiko asked, sensing a possible weakness in this set of rules. "Our Pokémon would be much stronger than theirs in this sort of matchup."
"It won't be," Reina clarified. "Half of how good a Trainer is relies on how well their Pokémon have been trained, and the other half depends on their skills at planning, strategizing, and adapting to the opponent's moves, so I don't think that we'd win that easily. In fact, I'd say it's more or less an even match now."
"So back to the main point," Kumiko refocused. "Who are we using in this battle? We know that Aoi uses Ghost-types and Ms. Nakaseko specializes in Steel-types, so use should choose Pokémon that have super-effective moves against those types."
"I'm thinking of using Orpheus and Eurydice again." Reina answered. "While they may be weak to both Steel and Ghost-type moves, Orpheus can use Fire Punch and Eurydice can use Shadow Ball, so they're our best bet. We have to strike first and strike hard if we want to win, since their Pokémon can also do the same to us."
Seeing as she couldn't think of a better plan than what Reina had laid out in front of her, Kumiko agreed by default, hoping that their Pokémon's superior power could prove a match for Aoi and Nakaseko's battling skill and experience. After a few more minutes of agreeing on specifics, the room attendant informed them that it was now time to battle.
Going out back to the battlefield again, Kumiko and Reina were surprised to see that there were more people filling out the stadium's seats this time around. Reina speculated this was because they wanted to see the two Elite Four members show off the skills that earned them their positions, rather than watching yet another run-of-the-mill Double Battle tournament.
Seeing their opponents facing them from the other side, Reina reminded herself that even though they were two of the most powerful Trainers in the region, thus obstacles she would have to overcome at some point, the performance they would put on here was just a mere fraction of their true abilities.
Still, to get a taster of how they battled would prove to be invaluable in her eventual conquest, so Reina decided to suck it up and enjoy this unique opportunity, regardless of this battle's outcome.
Meanwhile, Kumiko was slightly shaking in fear at the prospect in front of her. Though she knew that one of her opponents was her childhood friend, there was no telling just how much Aoi had improved in the year since they had last seen each other, especially after hearing about her impressive feats.
With Aoi battling alongside another member of the Elite Four, who was at least if not better than her, Kumiko was uncertain what the outcome of this battle would be, even when their opponents had already given themselves a massive handicap.
Sending out Orpheus and Eurydice, Kumiko and Reina watched as Aoi sent out a Duskull and Nakaseko sent out a Ferroseed. The referee confirmed that all four Trainers' Pokémon were on the battlefield and started the match. "Battle begin!"
"Orpheus, Fire Punch at Ferroseed!" Kumiko commanded, while Reina played Danse Macabre on her trumpet, signalling Eurydice to begin charging up Shadow Ball and direct it towards Aoi's Duskull.
As they saw their opponents about to attack first, Aoi and Kaori decided to let them have the first strike advantage, knowing that whatever they pulled could be countered later on. Just when Orpheus Teleported close to Kaori's Ferroseed, Aoi decided to react first. "Duskull, Will-O-Wisp!"
Before Orpheus could land his attack, Aoi's Duskull drifted close to him and blasted out blue orbs of ghostly flame. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Kumiko decided to counter her predicament logically. "Redirect your Fire Punch at the flames!"
His fist impacting the orb closest to him, Orpheus found that instead of his move absorbing the flames, the Will-O-Wisp instead converted the fire burning on his arm to their own spectral blue as the other orbs bombarded him. Seeing that Kumiko's Pokémon had successfully fallen for her move, Aoi decided to seize this opportunity. "Use Hex!"
Her Duskull shot the Fire-type move towards Orpheus, dealing double the damage now that he was burned. As Kumiko was struggling to deal with the situation at hand, Reina wasn't having much luck either.
After seeing that Orpheus was now battling Aoi's Duskull, Reina was about to tell Eurydice to fire out her attack and hit the unsuspecting Pokémon when Nakaseko moved first, seeing her other opponent currently stuck in a state of inaction. "Gyro Ball!"
Nakaseko's Ferroseed skidded across the arena's floor as it spun on its bottom spike like a top. Reina tried to attack it, but her attack missed as Ferroseed just avoided it by performing a loop before it continued on its original trajectory to attack Eurydice. Knowing that her Pokémon was about to be hit with a super-effective move, Reina gave the first command she could think of. "Eurydice, Teleport!"
Eurydice disappeared before Ferroseed could make an impact, and immediately reappeared above where she was just standing. Seeing her opponent in such a vulnerable and defenseless position, Kaori decided to exploit this fact. "Thunder Wave!"
Ferroseed launched a wave of lightning at Eurydice, who was currently still dropping from midair. Unable to dodge, she was directly hit with the paralyzing attack, and found that she could not move upon landing. Once she confirmed that her opponent's Pokémon was successfully Paralyzed, Kaori took advantage of this state. "Leech Seed!"
Several of Ferroseed's top spikes popped off and implanted themselves onto Eurydice, sprouting into saplings as the missing spikes were filled back in with replacements. Eurydice could feel her strength being sapped by the move, and could barely bring herself to stand with this and the Paralysis combined.
Kumiko could see the pain that Eurydice was in as Orpheus was fighting against the Burns inflicted on him, his power growing weaker. Gnashing her teeth, she decided to go in for another blow again. "Fire Punch!"
Teleporting closer to Nakaseko's Ferroseed, Orpheus was about to deliver a repeat attack when Aoi's Duskull phased through its teammate and intercepted the attack with a Substitute, the original Duskull having phased through the floor.
Frantically trying to determine where her opponent would emerge from, Kumiko was about to tell Orpheus to use a wide area Confusion on the ground when she saw that Duskull had somehow swapped places with its Substitute and attacked Orpheus again with Hex.
As Orpheus was sent flying back from the powerful attack, Reina was preparing to attack Saitou's Duskull with Shadow Ball, but Eurydice's Paralysis and her strength being drained by Leech Seed caused her movements to be slower, which meant that mustering up enough energy to charge up an attack had allowed Nakaseko's Ferroseed to move into position to block it with a Protect, even with its normally slow speed.
Reina continued to order Eurydice to fire off more Shadow Balls, but her slow charging speed meant that they could easily be blocked by Ferroseed, who Duskull was hiding behind.
With the battle dragging on, Kumiko and Reina found that no matter how they tried to attack their opponents' Pokémon, they would either block or dodge the attacks. All the while, Orpheus and Eurydice's health was worsening from the status conditions that had been afflicted on them.
Eventually, Eurydice collapsed first from exhaustion, followed by Orpheus shortly after, all without their opponents doing much else during that time. Seeing their condition, the referee looked at them and made a decision.
"The challengers' Pokémon are unable to battle. The winner of this exhibition match is Aoi Saitou and Kaori Nakaseko of the Elite Four!"
Walking out of the stadium, Kumiko thought that Reina was behaving much unlike her usual self. With her face all scrunched up and her footsteps loudly audible on the pavement, the icy cold aura that normally surrounded Reina had now completely melted, replaced by a scorching-hot fire that burned within her.
"Reina, what's wrong?" Kumiko asked, worried about Reina's current condition. After their battle with the Elite Four members, Reina hadn't said a word at all, leaving the stadium in complete silence.
"Don't you understand?" Reina questioned Kumiko, who slightly recoiled back in fear at her special one's sudden outburst. "That battle was humiliating! We didn't even get to do much and still lost! I hate facing stall tactics!"
"Reina, calm down." Kumiko tried to console her desired, whose eyes were starting to form tears of anger and denial. However, mere words could not stop the force of nature that was Reina Kousaka, who grasped her hands and looked her directly in the eyes.
"Kumiko, witness my vow." Reina addressed her, her voice brimming with fury and determination. "I promise to myself that I, Reina Kousaka, shall defeat Kaori Nakaseko in my Elite Four challenge. No matter how long it takes to get there, I will be more than a match for her once I face her again!"
"Uh… Reina?" Kumiko was starting to get frightened at Reina's heightened intensity. "You don't have to be so dramatic when you make a promise."
"I have to." Reina countered. "It's the only way that I'll ever make it to the top. People who don't commit to their promises will never have the chance to ever become special, and I don't want to be that type of person."
"Well, OK…" Kumiko wasn't sure how to respond to Reina after her abrupt declaration, but her inaction was thankfully interrupted by footsteps coming from behind her. Turning around, Kumiko saw Aoi approaching them, and her face conveyed a feeling of urgency, making Kumiko feel uneasy about what she was about to say.
"Kumiko, Ms. Kousaka, I have something to tell you." Aoi began. "There's something suspicious about the tournament, and I think it has something to do with you two."
"What?" Kumiko was surprised at this sudden allegation. Just what had transpired behind the scenes today? With all their wins and an eventual victory, had someone been rigging the matches in their favour?
"I first began to doubt the tournament's legitimacy when I saw the typing of the Z-Crystals." Aoi explained. "The organizer confirmed with us before the tournament that the Z-Crystals were selected at random from all eighteen types, but I found out after our battle that with the exception of the Fightinium-Z, all the Z-Crystals match the typings of your Pokémon."
"I noticed that as well." Reina added. "But surely that isn't grounds for any sort of accusation against us. Are there any other reasons to suspect this?"
"I'm not saying that you two were involved in this tournament." Aoi responded. "But it seems that the organizers have taken a special interest in you two." She took out her smartphone and showed Kumiko and Reina an unfamiliar webpage. "Did you use this site to register for the tournament?"
"No," Kumiko answered. "We got our passes from a lottery stall on the shopping street two days ago. Now that I think of it, the only reason we decided to give that a go was because Reina found the exact amount of change needed on the floor."
"Then that confirms my suspicions." Aoi continued on. "Registration for this tournament began a week ago on this site, with the lucky participants chosen at random. However, two pairs of passes were withheld from the selection. The first pair was confirmed by the organizer to have been given out four days ago, and you'll never guess who got both of them."
"Let me try. Shuichi?" Kumiko asked, causing a look of shock to appear on Aoi's face. "He told me that he received them after being accidentally kidnapped by two people who dressed like roadies."
Aoi sighed at Kumiko's remark. "...I'll never know why Shuichi always manages to get himself tangled up in such bizarre situations. Anyways, the second pair of withheld passes were only given out two days ago to you two, but the organizer never did confirm or deny this fact, making it all the more suspicious."
"In short," Aoi concluded. "It seems that whoever is behind this tournament has developed an interest in you two for an unknown reason. As this tournament was registered through several proxies, I'd advise you two to up your guard, especially since we don't know their identities."
"I think I may have an idea." Kumiko offered. "The lottery stall we went to was operated by a girl who looked like me if my hair was in a ponytail, and Shuichi also mentioned receiving his passes from someone with a similar hairstyle. Could she be somehow related to this?"
Aoi's eyes widened at what Kumiko had just told her. "Your description reminds me of a person I was helping to investigate who was in this city during the timeframe you got your passes." Taking out her smartphone, Aoi fiddled with it for a moment before showing them a familiar face. "Is is this girl?"
"Yes, that's the girl we met!' Reina exclaimed. "What does she have to do with all this?"
"The girl you saw has something to do with the leader of Death Devil, the speed metal band/unlawful organization who escaped from me several months ago." Aoi answered. "Two weeks ago, an informant sent the Pokémon League a short clip of them walking out of a building together, talking about something. While we couldn't hear much of what they said, we did learn that the girl's name was Ui."
"Ui, huh…" Kumiko pondered. "That's an uncommon name. Anything else you want us to know about?"
"Nothing so far, but the people working with me on this investigation say that we're close to a breakthrough." Aoi responded. "With this new piece of evidence, I'm sure that this will finally reveal who we're targeting after all this. Thanks to you two for helping me confirm this."
As Kumiko and Reina waved Aoi goodbye, Kumiko heard two pairs of footsteps and saw Hazuki and Midori running up towards them. Stopping in front of them, Midori looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion, but Hazuki looked none the worse for wear.
"Hiya, Kumiko! Hiya, Reina!" Hazuki energetically greeted them. "So, how are you two feeling after getting to face the Elite Four in battle? Was it exciting? Daunting?"
"Well, it was kinda amazing even though we lost." Kumiko told her. "I mean, the way they defeated my own and Reina's Pokémon without much effort was what I expected from powerful Trainers like them. But Reina…" Kumiko trailed off after looking at how the mere mention of the battle caused Reina to lapse back into her angst once again. "She isn't taking such a cheap defeat well."
"Oh, OK then." Hazuki nonchalantly waved that off. "By the way, me and Midori are planning to challenge the Gym here first thing tomorrow, seeing how it's getting dark and our Pokémon aren't in the best condition right now. But after that, would you two mind travelling with us to Subdomi City? That's where we're planning to get our fourth Gym Badge."
"We'd like to." Reina promptly responded, then turned to Kumiko and explained her reason for agreeing. "Aside from Eigve City, Subdomi City is one of the only two cities to have a land link to Ongaku Stadium, which is through the Leger Line. Since we got the two tickets to see a rock concert there from the tournament, we could go watch it after we finish our Gym Battle there."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Kumiko nodded her head in approval. "So, where are we meeting up tomorrow once you two finish you Gym Battle?"
"Midori suggests meeting up back here before noon," the shortest girl in the group piped up, finally having recovered from catching up with Hazuki's sprinting. "It's the one location in this city we all know how to get to, so it should be convenient for all of us."
"That's good. See you then." With Reina's parting words, she and Kumiko left for the Pokémon Center, wanting to get in some training with Orpheus and Eurydice after they had evolved.
After their friends left, Midori handed Hazuki a Rage Candy Bar. "Here. Midori forgot to give you this before the competition, Hazuki-chan. Midori's parents wanted to give you this, so they mailed it to Midori a few days ago."
"What? A Rage Candy Bar?" Hazuki was shocked. "I thought they were only sold in Johto! How did your parents get one?"
"Midori's parents just came back from a trip to Johto, and they bought one for you as a souvenir in Mahogany Town since they knew you liked sweets. They hope that you'll enjoy it!"
"Thanks a lot, Midori!" Hazuki said with a huge grin on her face, unwrapping the Rage Candy bar and prepared to stuff it into her mouth. However, as she was walking while doing so, Hazuki tripped over herself, starting to fall Rage Candy Bar-first towards the ground.
A hand grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her up, causing her to let go of her Rage Candy Bar in recoil. Thankfully, another hand swooped in that direction and caught it in midair, then handed it back to Hazuki.
"Th… thanks a lot." Hazuki stammered out in gratitude, then looked up at her saviour. Even though she didn't know his name, Hazuki remembered that he was one of Kumiko's opponents in the first round of the tournament. Tall and lean, his lanky build and light brown hair made him look cool in Hazuki's eyes.
As he was about to walk away, a sudden thought struck Hazuki. "Can I have your phone number?"
"Uh… why?" Shuichi was confused. The girl he saved from falling was now asking him for his phone number? What was the logic behind that?
"Oh, nothing." Hazuki sounded sheepish. "Just in case I wanted to return that favor someday, y'know?"
"OK, sure." Taking out his phone and swapping phone numbers with the girl he had just met, Shuichi suddenly realized that he had forgotten to ask something. "By the way, I'm Shuichi. What's your name?"
"H-Hazuki." For some reason, Hazuki really liked Shuichi's down-to-earth and kind nature. Though his appearance made him look quite plain, there was this feeling around him that made her feel comfortable in his presence.
She smiled at that thought.
"Heh. I'd never thought that us four would wind up together in the same place again. Guess fate must be playing some trick on us."
Sipping on her drink, Natsuki walked alongside Yuuko, Nozomi, and Mizore as they walked out of the stadium. It had been almost a year since she and Yuuko had seen their old friends, so meeting them here by pure coincidence was a pleasant surprise, especially since they had just participated in the same tournament.
"Whatever the case, I'd never thought we'd see each other this quickly after graduation." Nozomi laughed. "I'd thought I'd have to wait until our weddings for that!"
Yuuko sighed. "Well, we'd see at least another of us there. Looking each other directly in the eyes, even."
Decoding the subtext of what Yuuko meant, a blush formed on Mizore's face as she hid her face in her hands. Oblivious to how Mizore was feeling, the other three girls continued to walk along the street until Natsuki recognized a nearby building.
"Hey, that's Lebhaft Game Center!" she noted. "It's the biggest arcade in all of Octiva! Why don't we go in and take a look?"
"Sounds good to me," Nozomi replied. "I've wanted to try out the latest DDR for a while now. What do you think, Mizore? Are you interested?"
"Where you go, I'll go…" Mizore quietly spoke, wanting to stay by Nozomi's side. Getting to play video games there didn't hurt either.
"Sheesh," Yuuko muttered. "Seeing as you dorks are all agreeing to go there, I have no choice but to join you as well. Of course, trying out Guitar Hero there seems like a good idea."
Entering the arcade, Mizore was immediately bombarded by all the flashing lights and loud noises from the cabinets there. Unable to cope with the sensory overload, she put her hands over her ears before reaching for her earbuds in her pocket and slipping them in, while also putting on a slightly tinted pair of glasses.
"You look nice in glasses, Mizore." Nozomi commented. "Why don't you wear them more often?"
Mizore blushed at the compliment. "Don't really need to. I only wear them when it's too bright."
"Well, OK then." Nozomi replied. "I'll go and check out the DDR cabinet! See you!"
With that, Nozomi ran off in her own direction, and Mizore was left truly alone after Natsuki and Yuuko went to the Guitar Hero cabinets.
Walking around the arcade on her own, Mizore looked around for games that she might be interested in playing, when she saw a peculiar sight near a Smash Brothers cabinet.
Sitting at the cabinet was a blue-haired girl with a strand of hair poking out of her head surrounded by two purple-haired girls and a pink-haired girl. Mizore wasn't too concerned about their abnormal hair colors, but at the huge pile of 500 Pokédollar coins on their side of the cabinet.
"Kona-chan, don't you think it's time to stop?" she overheard one of the purple-haired girls say. "You've been hogging this cabinet for 12 hours straight. Get some rest."
"Not now, Tsukasa," the blue-haired girl replied. "I'm only 5,000 Pokédollars away from getting four front-row seats at Aya Hirano's upcoming concert. Besides, I still haven't found someone who I can offload the spare HTT tickets to. Why is everyone such a noob here?"
Mizore recalled something that Natsuki had said to her back in middle school about wanting to see HTT, and approached the four girls at the cabinet. "What was that you said about HTT tickets?"
"Well, it's like this." the blue-haired girl explained. "I've got these four tickets to see HTT from a lucky draw, but I'm not a fan and you can't resell the tickets. I also want to see a Aya Hirano concert, so I'm raising funds by charging people 500 Pokédollars to defeat me by using the HTT tickets as a reward. Want to play against me?"
"Sure." Mizore answered. While she mostly played rhythm and strategy games, she had previously dabbled a bit in Smash Bros. after Natsuki encouraged her to. Since it was Natsuki who had introduced her to this game, this was the least she could do to pay her friend back.
Sitting at the other end of the cabinet, Mizore picked up a controller before the other girl stopped her. "Wait wait wait, pay up first! 500 Pokédollars please!"
Mizore opened up her wallet only to find a single 10,000 Pokédollar bill inside. Realizing that she would need to go somewhere else in the arcade to get some spare change, Mizore was about to leave when she heard a familiar voice. "Mizo-senpai will be using this Togepi Egg as collateral for the time being! I'll help her get some spare change!"
Looking up, Mizore saw Ririka Kenzaki and her friend, whose name she couldn't really remember (was it Kaede? Canada?). Surprised to see her, Mizore stood up and faced Ririka, who smiled at her. "Ms. Kenzaki? Why are you here?"
"I was planning to come see you at the invitational, but Kanade-chan and myself ran into some troubles on the way here, so we got delayed," Ririka explained. "But enough about that, I'll leave this Egg here until I've got some change for you!"
Knowing that she could trust Ririka, Mizore handed her the bill as she placed the egg down next to the pile of coins and scampered away with her friend. Taking up the controller once again, Mizore moved around the joystick until she picked her main Falco, noticing that her opponent had chosen Ryu.
Quickly noting that the chosen rules were a 3-stock 7-minute match, and the stage was set Battlefield, Mizore initiated the battle and waited for the three second countdown to end before making her first move.
However, her opponent got the first strike, trapping Mizore in an impressive combo that left her at 60% damage when it ended. Breaking free, Mizore struck back with a combo of her own that did 42% damage, then strung another combo which dealt 28% damage, putting her in the lead.
That advantage only lasted for a short moment, since Mizore's opponent knocked her offstage with a forward smash, then jumped off stage and launched her further with a Hadouken. Mizore tried to recover, but she was so far from the stage that despite using both Falco's side and up specials, she couldn't recover at that distance, and quickly lost a stock.
Upon being able to fight again, Mizore knocked her opponent up in the air, knowing that her chosen character couldn't really do much there. Using two up aerials then an up special, Mizore K.O.'d her opponent through the top of the screen, leaving them both even now.
At this point, there was a small crowd gathering around them to see the spectacle unfolding in front of them. With a little difficulty, Ririka and Kanade squeezed in and plinked down a 500 Pokédollar coin, took back the Egg, and dropped the rest of the change at Mizore's side, with both sides too focused on the game to notice.
When her opponent dropped back down, Mizore decided to rack up some damage first by using Falco's blaster to stun her opponent with a few shots before rushing in for another combo. Just when she was about to land the combo-starting move, her opponent countered it with a Focus Attack that left her helpless, and began another elaborate combo that almost got her past the maximum distance she could recover.
Before executing it, Mizore silently hoped that her next maneuver could work. Slamming her control stick in the direction of the stage and pressing the special button, Mizore decided to use Falco's side special to recover and bounce her opponent off the stage's underbelly at the same time. Impacting her opponent, Mizore's plan played out as she expected, her opponent falling to the depths below as she recovered upwards.
Now in a stock lead, Mizore could afford to play more recklessly, though she refrained from that option, knowing that could be her downfall in this sort of scenario. Instead, she continued her reticent playstyle, waiting for her opponent to make more mistakes, though there were none to be seen.
It seemed that Mizore's opponent had caught on to what Mizore was doing as well, tightening her own gameplay and playing more cautiously to avoid being defeated by a careless mistake. With both sides on the defensive and unwilling to budge, the action significantly diminished, prolonging the battle.
Starting to lose her edge after playing for half a day straight, Mizore's opponent wanted to get this battle over with, even though the person she was facing gave her the hardest challenge of the day. Impulsively firing out a Hadouken, hindsight smacked her in the face as she forgot that Falco had a reflector, which Mizore used to deflect the projectile back at her.
Getting her opponent in a disadvantageous state, Mizore quickly seized this opportunity, starting a combo that knocked her opponent off the stage. Seeing that her opponent played a character with horrible recovery, Mizore saw no need to deal a finishing blow now, leaving her opponent to drop to her doom.
With a shout of 'GAME!' from the in-game announcer, Mizore stood up to thunderous applause from the assembled crowd. Looking at her opponent, the other blue-haired girl took out four tickets from her pocket and handed to Mizore, and shoved the Egg back over.
"Good game! That was the best I've had all day!" she conceded, handing the tickets to Mizore before outstretching her other hand in a gesture of goodwill. Accepting her 'prize', Mizore gingerly shook her opponent's hand, not wanting to touch another person for too long.
Once the audience dispersed, Mizore took back her change, and found that she was left with Ririka and her friend. Currently cradling Ririka's Egg for some reason, she was still confused about one thing. "Why did you bring an Egg with you all the way here?"
"...I was planning to give it to you after the competition." Ririka sheepishly confessed. "So, uh… do you still want it?"
Seen just how devoted the younger girl was to her, even putting her gift on the line, Mizore just couldn't say no. She liked that type of person. Besides, having such and adorable face didn't hurt either.
"I'll take it and raise the Togepi inside well. Thank you very much, Ririka." Mizore answered, putting a huge smile on Ririka's face.
"Once she comes back, I'll also get Nozomi to raise it with me. She'd make a great mother." Mizore thought, smiling to herself as Ririka and Kanade wondered why the normally stoic girl had such a weird expression of joy on her face.
Now that the tournament arc has concluded and to commemorate this fic getting 1000 hits on AO3, I've decided to host a Q&A session! Drop your questions about anything in this fic down in the review section, and I'll try to answer all of them (except for those related to future events and spoilers). No question is a stupid question!