Chapter 15 - Tendon


"Have you decided on your team for today?" Seshiru asked. Yurie, Seshiru, and Maleah were all preparing. Maleah was uncomfortable with having Logan sleep in the same room with them, so he was forced to get his own room.

Yurie finished tying the red sash around her waist. She looked at herself in the mirror, making sure that the orange dress really went with her form. "Yeah, but I want to keep it a little bit of a secret. I don't want to ruin any surprises."

"I'm so excited to see a contest! I've only ever heard about them!" Maleah exclaimed. "Do your best, Yurie!"

Saffron's contest hall was one of the biggest that Yurie had ever been to. It reminded her a lot of the grand festival, and the audience that turned out was roughly the same size. Hundreds of tourists from around the world would be watching her today, and for the first time in months, the nerves got to her.

She sat in the back room and watched on the television as people poured in, and no matter where she looked, she couldn't find Logan and the other two.

"Welcome everyone, to the Saffron City Autumn Contest! We have hundreds of audience members and dozens of competitors, but only one person will be taking home this!" the announcer yelled as she held up a ribbon with gold and red lace. "As usual, we'll start with the appeal rounds! One by one, every contestant will show off what their Pokémon can do in a dazzling or dramatic fashion! This will give us a sense of the trainers and their style! Let's begin!"

There were only about thirty competitors this time around, and not a lot of them stuck out to Yurie. But there was one boy that caught her eye. He appealed with what appeared to be a fully evolved Pokémon. It was large and green with a flower around the bottom of its long neck. It used simple Grass-type attacks, and although it had a sense of grace to its movements, there was never any doubt that it held a deeper power.

The boy was popular too. He had a nice smile with perfect white teeth. His hair was pitch black and cut neatly, and he was thin. His face was attractive, and when he gave his Pokémon their commands, the crowd swooned. He wasn't Yurie's type, but the other girls in the backroom were clearly infatuated with him. Once he finished his appeal and returned, they greeted and cheered for him as though they were cheerleaders rather than his competition.

Yurie couldn't pay it much mind though, as her name was the next one called. She ran down the hallway, and the lights dimmed as she came out onto the stage. They lit up, and the crowd started to cheer loudly for her. She still couldn't see Logan and the other two though.

"Alright, then," she said. "Go, Squirtle!"

She threw her Poké Ball into the air, and it exploded open. Squirtle emerged from the light, and he dove forward. At the last moment, he exited his shell and did a handstand before flipping forward and landing on his legs. He grinned as he took in the crowd's applause.

"This is our first appeal together! Let's do our best!" Yurie said. Squirtle simply nodded in response. "Use Bubble into the air!"

Squirtle started to spin around as he released bubbles from his mouth. The bubbles surrounded his body and then shot upwards. They formed a line straight up, but as time went on, they started to separate.

"Withdraw!"

With a soft pop, Squirtle absorbed himself into his shell.

"And now, Iron Tail!"

Only Squirtle's tail emerged from the shell, now covering in a metallic energy. With a quick flick against the ground, Squirtle flung himself upwards. One by one, he popped against each of the bubbles. He continued, constantly increasing in elevation until one last pop; all of the bubbles had been destroyed.

"Water Gun!"

Squirtle turned his body, and released a stream of water from his shell. It blasted against the stage, keeping Squirtle in the air. Slowly, he descended back to the ground, and the crowd cheered as he made his final pose.

"Good job, Yurie! What an appeal!" the announcer yelled into the microphone.

Squirtle turned and ran back to Yurie, and then the two returned to the hallway. When they entered the backroom, they didn't receive the same praise as the boy from before. Yurie didn't mind though, and she took her seat as she waited for the other appeals to finish. She watched them intensely, trying to take mental notes of all of her possible opponents.

"You're not bad," a voice said from the side, breaking her focus. She turned to find the attractive boy from before. He was standing with one of his hands on his hips and his other hand out. "The name is Omori. Kitahara Omori."

"I'm Yurie. Kawahara Yurie."

"I know who you are. You're Little Miss Yurie. You're one of the top prospects from Hoenn. I've been looking forward to meeting you, but I was hoping that we'd meet in the grand festival. Can I take a seat?"

Yurie patted the bench that she sat on and nodded. "Go ahead."

Omori sat down and crossed his legs. He never took his eyes off of Yurie though. She turned her attention back to the screen, which physically upset him.

"Um, so how do you like Kanto? I'm from Johto actually, so the culture isn't too different."

"It's fun so far."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Yurie didn't respond. She kept her eyes on the screen, and Omori wasn't quite sure what to do. The other girls kept staring at the two of them. Some of them appeared jealous that he had chosen to talk with Yurie over them.

"So-" Omori started, but something didn't fire correctly in his head, and he was unsure of what to say.

"That concludes the Performance Round!" the announcer yelled, breaking Omori's trail of thoughts even more. "We'll now reveal the four coordinators that will be moving onto the finals!"

"I bet we made it," Omori said. "You're pretty awesome, and I'm… well… pretty awesome."

As Omori said this, his picture appeared on the screen, and the girls squealed with excitement, not realizing that their chances of moving on were now reduced. The second person revealed was a girl who almost fainted upon being chosen. And then it was Yurie's face. The last trainer was a boy named Takumi Ito from Kanto, and the Battle Round was set.

"Let's do our best," Omori said. "If we both win, then we'll battle each other in the finals. It isn't the grand festival, but a battle of that much importance belongs on a stage this big, at the very least."

"You talk a lot," Yurie said with a smile.

Omori looked as though he had been stabbed, and he hung his head low as the announcer's voice echoed throughout the stadium, "We will now go into a fifteen minute intermission! Everyone, get your snacks, because it's about to get intense!"

"We should prepare. Good luck!" Yurie exclaimed. She picked up Squirtle into her arms and then stood up before going to the hallway. Omori never once took his eyes off of her. Upon filing out into the hallway with the coordinators that had lost, Yurie saw Logan from down the hallway. He ran quickly, Mightyena at his side.

"Not a bad start! Not surprised that you made it either! I'm so glad that you taught Squirtle Iron Tail. It'll come in handy," Logan said. He lightly punched her in the arm. "Do you have any good strategies going into the next round?"

Yurie sighed. "I'm taking a little bit of a risk, and I'm going to battle with Oddish. I know that we haven't done much, but she's surprisingly strong. I'm going to try using strategies I haven't used before."

"I'm excited to see what you do!" Logan exclaimed. "Seshiru said that she's getting tendon for our snack. I don't know what it is, but she said it's fried!"

"It's delicious!" Yurie yelled. "I kind of wish I could eat with you guys…"

"Hey," a voice called from behind. Yurie turned to find Omori at the doorway. His arms were folded. "Who's this guy?"

"Hello," Logan said. "I'm Logan."

Omori looked him up and down as he walked forward. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

The two trainers looked at one another. With the exception of Haruto, people would bring up that kind of question when they were separate, but never together.

"Um. No," Logan said.

"We're just friends."

Omori grinned. "Good. Because I think that Yurie and I would make a great power couple. It'd be good for our coordinator image. I think that we could make a decent brand from it. Little Miss Yurie and Almighty Omori."

"Power couple?" Logan wondered.

"What are you talking about?" Yurie asked.

"We can work out the details later," Omori said. He blew a kiss. "You keep on preparing. We have a date in the finals." He turned back around and walked into the backroom.

Logan was now in stunned silence. He was unsure of what to say to Yurie at this point, and from the look on her face, she wasn't quite sure how to process what just happened either.

"I'm gonna… prepare," she said.

"Yeah," Logan replied. He smiled and lightly punched her in the arm again. "Go beat your new boyfriend!"

Yurie jolted up straight, but before she could say anything, Logan had already turned around and started running down the hallway. When he was out of sight, she stamped her feet down and huffed.

"He's not!" she yelled. But Logan couldn't hear her.

The fifteen minutes were up quickly. During the entirety of the break, Yurie stewed in anger. She wasn't sure if she was angry at Omori for having a big mouth or angry at Logan for teasing her like that. But no matter, she was angry.

Omori's battle was first, and it wasn't a very long one. He used a small yellow Pokémon. It was cute, which he used to play up to the crowd. The combination of an attractive young male and an adorable small mouse Pokémon really resonated with the crowd.

Yurie scanned the Pokémon with her Pokédex. It looked familiar, but she wasn't quite sure.

"Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon. It is still inept at retaining electricity. When it is startled, it discharges power accidentally. It gets better at holding power as it grows older," the Pokédex chimed.

Yurie compared the Pokédex's picture to the Pichu that she saw on the television screen. Omori's Pichu had small tufts coming from the tip of its left ear. And despite what the Pokédex said, this Pichu seemed to have no problem with its power. He won with a few electric combinations, and soon enough, Yurie and her opponent were called to the stage.

Yurie's opponent was Takumi Ito. He appeared to be younger than Yurie, and during their walk through the hallway, he refused to look at her. He wore a simple red t-shirt, blue jeans, and walking shoes. His arms shook nervously, but before Yurie could say anything to try to calm him down, he ran out onto the stage.

"Trainer's, you know the rules!" the announcer said. "You either win by knocking out your opponent's points, making their Pokemon faint, or by having more points when the timer goes off."

The two trainer's nodded.

"Begin!"

"Go, Oddish!"

"Spearow!"

The two Pokemon emerged on the stage. Oddish jumped into the air and let the leaves on her head twirl around playfully. She then looked at her opponent, noticing that it was one of her natural predators. The bird Pokemon scratched at the stage with her claws and cawed while she prepared to battle.

"Don't hold back! Oddish, use Razor Leaf!" Yurie ordered.

Oddish leapt forward and twisted her body. She released the leaves from the top of her head before shooting them across the field.

"Double Team!" Takumi yelled.

Before the leaves could make contact with Spearow, she screeched and then multiplied. The leaves blasted straight through one of her clones, and then she encircled the Grass-type.

"I hate Double Team," Yurie muttered to herself.

"Aerial Ace!" Takumi commanded.

In a sudden flash, all of the clones disappeared, and the real Spearow shot forward, a white energy exploding off of her beak.

"Acid!" Yurie ordered out of desperation.

Oddish belched and then turned around. She took the attack directly, but the force of the blow caused her to spit up her attack, dousing Spearow in the back. The Flying-type screeched as the poison did its damage, but with a fast enough movement, she was able to shake the attack off of her before any damaging ailments could happen.

Takumi appeared nervous. He shook as he prepared for his next attack. "Use-use Steel Wing!"

I won't be able to directly counter with Acid like before if Spearow is covered in that metallic energy, Yurie thought.

Spearow shot forward, her wings turning into an iron-like color.

"Dazzling Gleam!"

Before Spearow could get much closer, Oddish jumped and twisted around. She released a beam of pink light from her mouth. It flashed across the stage, making direct contact with Spearow, but the Flying-type managed to simply sliced through it like butter.

"Oh no!" Yurie exclaimed. "Grab it!"

Spearow finally made contact, but before she could get away, Oddish lashed out. She grabbed ahold of Spearow and held on tightly. Spearow squawked, but she couldn't get away, leaving Yurie to make her next order.

"Sleep Powder!"

Oddish shook, letting a powder come off of her body. It slowly floated back to the ground, and it doused Spearow. The squawking started to come out less and less, and soon, Spearow was snoozing in Oddish's leaves.

The crowd awed as Oddish rocked Spearow back and forth gently, letting her sleep peacefully. Oddish smiled happily as she held what she now considered to be her baby in her leaves.

Takumi looked up at his points, noticing that they were being depleted with every passing second, and panic started to set in. "Spearow, wake-wake up!" he ordered. But it was useless; the Pokemon was fast asleep.

And then, the buzzer sounded. Everyone turned their attention, taking note that Takumi's points had been drained completely. The trainer's shoulders slumped before he returned his Pokemon. Yurie tried to catch his attention as the two returned to the hallway, but Takumi avoided her, taking off before she could say anything.

"How odd," she muttered to herself.

"It looks like our final round is set! Little Miss Yurie will be taking on the Almighty Omori!" the announcer called. The sound of their two names together like that made Yurie angry. She stomped her way back to the backroom, kicked open the door and glared at her next opponent. He smiled and then clapped his hands together while the announcer said, "We'll be taking a five minute intermission!"

"You hear that?" Omori asked. "The crowd is going to eat it up! This is going to be a star making performance for the both of us! Let's do our best!"

"What is your deal?" Yurie asked. It was now only the two of them, so she wasn't afraid to make a scene. "I'm not your girlfriend."

"I know you're not my girlfriend," Omori said. "But contests aren't just about the Pokémon, ya know? The best coordinators out there are fashion icons. They're models. They're idols. You have to strut your stuff, and I think there's a market out there for a couple in the coordinator world!" He motioned to the necktie that he was wearing. It was tucked into his vest, but the red still stuck out in contrast to the black of his other clothing. "I'm even wearing a red tie which matches your red sash. And it wasn't on purpose! We just think alike."

Yurie had never put too much thought into her image before. She always went onto the stage, did her appeals, battled her hardest, and then went to the next city. But since she met Seshiru, she was told that she should dress the part. And now Omori was trying to convince her to try to become some sort of idol. She was unsure of it all.

"You don't gotta be my girlfriend in real-life," Omori said. "But how about we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"Yeah. If I win, then we become a coordinator couple. It can be our thing. We'll gain hundreds of fans. They'll love it," he said.

Yurie thought about it for a moment. She didn't love the idea of faking a relationship. "What if I won? What could you offer me?"

"Your friend, Logan, right? I'll teach you the secrets that'll make him love you."

"What?"

"You like him, right?"

Yurie was stunned silent.

"If you win, I'll teach you what guys like. I'm a guy. I know guys."

Yurie was quiet for a little bit longer. Everyone was telling her about her feelings towards Logan, and it was starting to get on her nerves. She understood that she liked him, but the fact that everyone else seemed to understand as soon as they saw them together irked her. What bothered her even more was the fact that Logan seemed too oblivious to notice it himself.

"Deal."


"And now onto our finals! Both of our coordinators today have each won one ribbon in Kanto so far! They're looking to add a second one to their collection which will put them one step closer to the Kanto Grand Festival!" the announcer yelled as the two walked onto the stage. "And would you look at that, they have matching accessories!"

The cameras focused on Yurie's sash and Omori's necktie. He smiled and winked at her before they took their positions in their trainers' boxes.

"Begin!"

"Pichu, go!"

"Oddish, let's do this!"

The two Pokémon exploded from their Poké Balls, and they appeared onto the stage. Pichu cocked his head and smiled while Oddish was hungry for battle.

"If I remember correctly, Logan had a Raichu. Did you ever own a Pichu?" Maleah asked.

Logan, who was trying to balance holding Yurie's egg and eating fried vegetables, looked at her. "It was the first Pokémon that I caught in Alola, actually."

"Use Thunderbolt!"

"Start with Acid!"

Pichu unleashed electric sparks from his body, but Oddish was fast. She belched, throwing up a green liquid into the air. It collided with the surge of electricity, cancelling it out immediately. The air was then filled with green smoke, and Pichu started a small coughing fit.

"Razor Leaf!" Yurie's voice called.

Oddish ran forward into the green smoke, and then, without much warning, leaves exploded from the other end. They raced towards Pichu, but he and his trainer were insync.

"Thunder Punch!"

Both of Pichu's fists crackled with electricity, and he began to swing wildly. Every leaf was torn to shreds as he blasted through them with ease. The Grass-type attack quickly finished, and then Pichu ran forward, ready to jab into the smoke.

"Dazzling Gleam!"

What Oddish was doing could not be seen, but suddenly, the green smoke started to shift and blow. A mix of green smoke and pink energy swirled together, and they blew at Pichu. The Electric-type was lifted into the air, and he flew backwards, landing on his behind in front of Omori. The Pokémon huffed and then stood back up.

"Sleep Powder!" Yurie ordered. Her commands were relentless and quick. There was no time for her to lose.

"Defensive Surf!"

"What?!"

Oddish danced around, and a powder fell from her body. She twisted her body around, shooting the powder forward. It swirled through the air directly towards Pichu, but the Electric-type was more than prepared. He focused his energy, and from out of nowhere, water exploded around him. He span around, and the water surrounded his body. It absorbed all of the powder, easily washing it away.

"And now Thunder Punch!"

Pichu, as though he was surfing, raced forward using the water that he created. One of his fists surged with electricity, and he lunged forward, knocking Oddish directly in the mouth. Oddish flew backwards and landed hard on the ground. She rolled slightly before she was able to find her footing, and she used one of her leaves to help balance her.

A move like Surf coming from such a small Pokémon is amazing. Not only that, but Pichu doesn't look like he should be able to use Surf at all. He has the perfect counter for my Sleep Powder. And if I'm not careful, every attack could be absorbed like that, Yurie thought.

"I was thinking that when we become a couple, we should go get headshots taken. There's a professional photographer here in Saffron. I'm sure we'd look great," Omori said.

"That's not going to happen!" Yurie said. "Use Razor Leaf!"

"Defensive Surf!"

As Oddish formed the leaves for her attack, Pichu focused his energy. The water reappeared, and it started to surround him once again.

"Combination Dazzling Gleam!"

Before Oddish could unleash her attack forward, her eyes started to glow pink. She let out a soft cry and released the leaves and pink energy. The attacks barraged against Pichu's defensive maneuver, and to his surprise, a few of the leaves broke through. They sliced into Pichu, and the water energy dissipated.

Omori observed the scene. His Pokémon was weakened by the attack, and he was now struggling to get up. They had no other options but to use their strongest attack. "Volt Tackle!"

Yurie knew what was coming, and she was unsure if Oddish could handle it. She had battled with a Raichu that used Volt Tackle before, and it was one of the strongest attacks that she had witnessed.

Pichu stamped his small feet to the ground as electricity started to spark off of his body. He got down onto all fours, and then, like a bolt of lightning, he burst forward. Electricity exploded off of him, and every moment, he got closer and closer.

"Sleep Powder!" Yurie yelled at the last moment.

Pichu collided directly with Oddish and there was a burst of smoke from the single attack. The smoke covered the two Pokémon, hiding the results of the powerful strike. But soon, it all faded away, and only one Pokémon remained standing. Oddish breathed heavily while Pichu was in a sitting position. His eyes were closed, and he was left snoring.

"What?!" Omori screeched. "That should have finished it!"

Yurie laughed nervously. "I guess my strategy paid off!"

The crowd awed as they observed the adorable spiky-ear Pichu doze off. But Yurie wasn't swayed. She looked up at her points, seeing that she was below Omori. She only had one option.

"Razor Leaf!"

Now at close-ranged, Oddish unleashed the storm of leaves from her body, and they ripped against Pichu. The Electric-type flew through the air, and he crashed down hard in front of Omori. He was no longer snoring away, but was rather in a state of complete unconsciousness.

The buzzer sounded.

"We have our winner!" the announcer yelled. "After one intense battle, it'll be Kawahara Yurie who will be walking away with the Saffron City Autumn Ribbon today!"

Omori picked up his Pokémon and held him tightly in his arms like a baby. The crowd awed as the cameras zoomed in on them. Yurie walked to the middle of the stage where she would meet with the announcer and get her ribbon.

"Congratulations, Yurie! You've earned this ribbon!" the announcer said while she held up the red prize. She tried to hand it over, but then Omori lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ma'am, if I may, can I give the ribbon to her?" he asked.

The announcer blushed and then gave Omori the ribbon. He held it lightly in his hands before getting down on one knee and holding it in the air. The crowd all shrieked and girls started to squeal.

"He's so cute!"

"She's so cute!"

"They're so cute!"

Yurie was furious, but she kept a straight face. She took the ribbon from Omori and then held it up into the air with one hand. Omori then stood next to her, grabbed her other hand, and held it up. He smiled as she grew red with anger.

"You're blushing."

"You're dead."

"So, a deal is a deal," Yurie said.

The two were now in the backroom, and they were gathering their belongings. Once again, it was just the two of them.

"A deal is a deal," he replied. He put his hand to his chin. "But I'm not sure if I want to honor my side of it, because…"

"Because?"

"Well, Yurie. The way that you battle, it honestly is to be admired. I think I'd like to ask you on a real date. I can't give you advice for other guys. I want you to be my girlfriend. My real girlfriend."

"What?! I don't know you!"

Omori grinned. "Then, I guess we'll have to go on a date to get to know each other. I'm a busy boy though, so I probably won't see you for awhile. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Are you not listening to me?"

"Of course I'm listening!" Omori exclaimed. He took Yurie by the hand. "Don't worry, dear. I promise you. I'm a great boyfriend. I may be popular with the ladies, but my eyes are only for you."

Logan stood in the hallway, and that's all that he needed to hear.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Omori is based off another one of my tea club friends. I think I need a character to express their feelings for Yurie. But as I was writing Omori, I still don't know if his feelings are genuine or not. Anyways, time to bring back an old friend!

Also, thanks to wisdom-jewel for Takumi. He may be making a return at some point, but maybe he's too shy.

REVIEWS:

wisdom-jewel - "I do think Logan has his work cut out for him. Snorlax and Charmander aren't going to listen because they don't think he's good enough or they are too shy. So he must really work on both of them in order to make them into powerhouses. Maleah seems to be a good trainer. It would be interesting to see all of her Pokemon." - Maleah won't reveal any of her other Pokemon for awhile (doesn't want to give Logan the advantage), but I really like the team I made up for her.

CrescentApple - "Hehe. This reminds me of the time I traded my lvl 70 Charizard from original Red to Blue, where I still only had one badge. He lost to a lvl 10 Clefairy. Amusing Logan thought Kanto Meowth looked off, while Seshiru thought an Alolan Persian looked strange. Great battle in which i expected Snorlax to have been the winner. You said you are trying to show the complicated side of a trainer raising his Pokemon and its working. Logan's team is literally all over the place. And even though he' only a few badges in, it feels like he lost more battles in Kanto and is struggling far more here than he did in Hoenn. There is literally no balance. It's a fresh new idea and I'm okay with it." - He's winning more, but also struggling a lot more too. It's an interesting balance, but I enjoy writing it this way. Only his Mightyena is reliably strong, but as he's mentioned a few times, he's overusing him.

The Imprisoned of Hell - "That Snorlax seems a little untamed. But that to be expected sometimes with newly caught Pokémon. Hopefully later on Logan will be able to get through to her and she'll become a powerful member of his team." - Right now, she's the most powerful member. But once she learns to work with Logan, she'll become even more dangerous.

pokemonking0924 - "Maleah seems like a good trainer with lots of energy, it also looks like she is a fan of Logan too. Her Alolan Persian was quite powerful and had a great variety of moves. Logan lost but due to some of the issues with his current team. Snorlax didn't do anything Logan said and her power really tore up the battlefield, hopefully this loss will cause Snorlax to rethink somethings. Nidorino did put up a good fight but lost due to a lack of experience and maybe a lack of a powerful move, maybe Logan can use a TM on the poison type. Maybe a move like Sludge Bomb, Shadow Claw, or Venoshock (if ability is Poison Point)." - I... haven't put much thought into the special abilities. I have some free time today, so I'll get on that. As for TM's, Logan will bust them out again soon.

SkillCheat7 - "Nidorino might be a tough battler but he needs new moves, Logan should teach him at least one TM. Hopefully after this lost Snorlax will begin to have an attitude adjustment, or her behavior will get worse" - I wonder what would make a more interesting story...

xZyrkon - "Yay. Someone from Alloa. And also yeah, i think maybe Logan should get a Gigantamax charizard? Idk. Also yeah if he doesn't he could trade for a gigantamax Lapras maybe? Anyway Nice story! uwu" - uwu to you too. I've been thinking about how I'd write Gigantamax, if I ever got there. I'm going to stick to the lore than Pokemon has set out for us, so Gigantamaxing won't be happening anywhere by Galar. But I've put some thought into it. Favorite Gigantamax is Snorlax though.