The New Kids on the Block: Chapter Ten

Celeste- "Not By a Long Shot"

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The Moonbeam City Gym

Moonbeam City, Silver Millennium

May 27, 2028

I wistfully stared at the crystalline figure that was cradled in the palm of my hand. Flit had evolved, yes, and what a great surprise that was; but, he was out of the count now. He'd done all that he could and more, which is much more than any pokémon, or human, could do at times. I was proud of him.

But now it was my pal Fuzz's turn to fight. I knew that he had a type advantage, which put me at a possible advantage, but I knew better than to rely on just that. That first match with Collin had taught me that type advantage wasn't everything. It didn't mean that you would win hands-down. So, I figured that since Fuzz had had a bit more experience than Flit, after all, he did fight Raja and helped me capture Flit, that we had a higher percentage of actually winning.

If I lost now, then it was all over. I would have to train harder and request a rematch, and if there was one thing I hated, it was messing up and having to redo it. I preferred to do it right the first time.

So I called forth my pokémon. He came out poised, ready for my command. For some reason, I felt so much more grave, so much more serious, so much more in control. It was as if I knew the gravity of the situation, even if it just was a Gym Match.

Instinctively, I glanced at my ring; it was a comfortable shade of sapphire. Completely and utterly placid, the ring was, not swirling or glowing when Collin was near. Naturally I assumed that he was far away from here.

I hoped he was far away from here.

"I choose you Zubat!" Taylor yelled as he tossed out a pokéball. He must like them more than the new pokécrystals. No matter, I had a match. And I had to win it, or else...I wouldn't leave Moonbeam City until I did.

The pokémon was a bright shade of blue, much like turquoise, and its wings were a soft shade of lilac. Its mouth was contorted into an awkward circle and it had little dots for eyes. Seemed to be an easy win...but you can't judge a pokémon by its looks.

"Why don't you use the first attack Miss Briarcliffe?" Taylor offered.

He must be feeling very lucky today, thinking that I needed an advantage like that. Humph, I'm a competitor. And I was feeling particularly lucky today also...well, except for that scuffle with Char, but as you know, that was quickly resolved.

"If that's what you want," I said with a careless shrug.

I knew that Zubat could emit a very penetrating noise from that mouth; but I also knew that Fuzz could too. Perhaps if Zubat would happen to use that attack, I could use Fuzz's growl to counter his attack. Maybe that would work.

"Fuzz, let's start things off with a tackle attack," I said. We'd might as well start things off slow and light.

Fuzz pawed at the ground before charging at the presently grounded Zubat. His little legs gracefully moved back and forth, picking up speed. A determined smile was on his face.

Fuzz came to a skidding halt when Zubat had quickly leaped out of the way and hovered in the air. He had to put all of his weight down to lessen his inertia. Hopefully he would recover before getting hit by some powerful attack.

"Use the razor wind attack," Taylor said calmly.

Before Fuzz could even regain his bearings before the Zubat spread its wings as far as he could and clapped them together, making a loud whooshing sound. The white marks produced from his wings sliced through the ear and towards Fuzz.

Fuzz was blown back several feet, falling to his knees. I was glad that there was grass instead of cement, or else he would've been sure to have some bruises.

"Your Mareep isn't too fast is he? Not as fast as my Zubat!"

"He is fast," I returned, rather weakly. "But he has more than that."

"What?"

I saw Fuzz stare at me sideways as if saying, "do I?" "I didn't know that." Maybe I was just bluffing in Taylor's eyes, but I do genuinely believe that each pokémon has something special inside of them. Even that beast, Kao. I guess it comes from being raised by parents who are actively involved with pokémon.

I mouthed to him that he did.

"Fire up a thunderbolt, Fuzz," I told him.

The static crackled all along his voluminous blue coat as it channeled to his ears, which began to glow a bright yellow. Blue electricity was shot at the flying bat, but he quickly dodged it by veering to the right.

He was fast.

"Try it again," I said, but I quickly reprimanded myself. Unfortunately, Fuzz was already charged up and he had shot another unsuccessful thunderbolt. "Try to save your energy Fuzz. You'll need it for later!"

He shook his head.

The once voluminous fur had decreased in volume, not drastically, but steadily, and once it lied flat, then no more electricity for us. I scratched my chin, trying to recall all of his attacks.

"Use your screech attack!"

"Counter it with yours, Fuzz." This was our chance.

Fuzz's fur shook as he waved his head from side-to-side, releasing the most high-pitched squeal that I had ever heard. It was much like the one that he did when I first captured him. And, with another equally powerful cry, the sound was unbearable.

The atmosphere shook, literally. I had to grip the railing for support, I felt Raja's trunk gripping my leg. I was starting to sink down to my knees. Maybe it wasn't the best idea after all.

Neither pokémon was affected...my plan had worked.

"S—T—O—P I—T! P—L—E—A—S—E!" I cried in slow motion. My voice was all deep and manly, like something was playing my voice backwards on a PC's Sound Recorder program.

Fuzz stopped screaming like a wild banshee and so did Zubat.

Thank goodness.

"Maybe you're smarter than I thought you were;" Taylor nodded as he said so.

I half-smiled.

"Don't ever do that again Celeste! Are you nuts?" Charlize yelled from behind me.

"I can't. It might come in handy again," I replied.

"Well I hope that it doesn't come in handy again any time soon," I instinctively guessed that she crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the right: another one of those idiosynchrasies.

I'll never get any sleep, Purin pouted.

If only I knew what she had said.

Celeste my ears are ringing, Raja told me. I waved his ears back and forth to get the sound of them. I smiled. He's so adorable.

"Use agility!"

The Zubat answered his commands immediately and began to flap its wings, causing him to propel himself into various places throughout the ring. Maybe this would tire him out if he kept on going.

"Just stay still Fuzz, we have this covered."

He waited eagerly.

Suddenly, a random idea popped into my head. "Fuzz! Use your cotton spore attack: that should slow him down!"

Fuzz nodded his head and let out a cute squeal as the part of the topmost layer of his wool began to fragment. They were lifted directly above his body. Hm...he could use at least one energy attack after this.

"Fire those in all directions!"

The cotton balls flew all over the place, making sure that wherever Zubat might be, a cotton ball would always be there. It was the perfect attack. I smiled as I watched the balls land on target. Excellent. Zubat remained suspended in midair, just high enough for Fuzz to reach...

"Tackle him!"

Fuzz bleated his reply as he charged forward, springing into the air, head first, with a lot of momentum. Zubat was a goner.

"Move Zubat."

But it was too late for that, Zubat was much too stunned to move. Instead, he was rammed to the ground by Fuzz's powerful head.

"Great job Fuzz! You did it!"

Fuzz smiled in satisfaction as he pranced around the ring, his head held high.

"Return Zubat."

"Pokécrystal, release and absorb."

"This is the final round and the scored is presently tied. Whoever wins this round will be the victor. Third match, be—"

Taylor held up his hand and simply pronounced the word, "recess," and walked off the battlefield, making me rather confused and a bit disappointed. I was really getting into this whole Gym Match thing.

"Come on Raja, guess we'd best get some lunch while we wait for the match to continue."

Once I descended the stairs and lifted Raja from the stand, I approached my spectators, my friends, or rather, my family.

"What type of bullshit is he trying to pull?" Charlize demanded. "Things were getting so intense out there and he goes and randomly stops the Match. I tell ya..."

I laughed.

"That was an impressive battle," Quinn told me.

All eyes fell on him. "What? I can't compliment my sister's strategy?"

"I thought that you were just a hater, Quinn. Didn't think you were capable of actual compliments."

"Let's not go there again," I barged, "you remember what happened the last time you guys started dissing one another."

"Very well," Quinn said as he stared Charlie deep in the eye.

Her gaze was just as relentless.

"Come on guys," Blake said. "I don't feel like seeing you get played again Charlize. I mean, come on, Quinn really had you there. You couldn't even have a good comeback."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just said that it was over; I wanted to finish my drink."

"More like you wanted to recover from the blow," he mumbled as he walked up close to me, so he could stare at the two wits about to clash.

I observed the 12-inch height difference between them. He made her look like a little kid.

"Why can't you just get along like me and Blake?" I said with a laugh as I hugged him from behind, my chin resting on his shoulder. Pip jumped from his normal perch and unto a newer one, my head.

Blake smelled like Ivory soap. He smelled good.

Anyways...

"God, go get a room," Charlize said, disgustedly throwing her hands up in the air as she stormed over to a vending machine. She put in a few coins, starlettes (worth 25 cents each in American, and the same in petals.) (A/N: I honestly forgot what I called them before; I'm a failure as an author ;-_-;...j/k) depressed the icon that she wanted and retrieved the bottle of blue liquid and yanked open the top. She stooped down and gave Selene some of it before finishing the rest on her own.

"Uh...why are you staring at me?" she asked as she looked around nervously.

"I don't know," I answered.

I didn't know. It wasn't because of what she told us to go do. I just stared at her for no apparent reason. How random.

"Gosh, it's been raining for the longest now," Blake said as he grasped my hands and dragged me along to a seat.

Ooh, we're moving fast! Pip pointed out. I love moving fast! Fast, fast, fast!

Whatever it was that he said it sounded cute enough. Raja paraded along at my heels. If my arms were free I would've pet him on the head. Raja...my pokémon...my friend. I sighed.

"Why are you looking so dreamy all of a sudden?" Blake asked.

"Nothing in particular."

"It must be because you're in the company of a stud like myself," he joked as we sat down in the vacant chair. Instead of laying on him, like I usually did, I decided to just lean up against him. (I do have some decorum...even if I am a flirt! ) He put a comforting arm around me.

I'm excited about the next round Celeste. I can't wait, Raja chirped as he found his way to my lap.

Quinn once again became the all-important translator.

"Really? I thought that you would be kind of scared, considering that you're at a type disadvantage. I'm cheering for you no matter what."

Uh huh, he proudly beamed.

I scratched him behind his ear, causing him to cringe, in the good way, under my stroke. That tickles!

I chuckled.

"You should really hook up," Charlize said with an approving nod of her head.

"Who?" I asked before looking at Blake in disbelief. "Us? Blake and me?"

"Who else would I be talking about? You know, I wonder about you at times Celeste." She stared me earnestly in the eyes. "You can get professsional help, you know."

I laughed. "I wonder about your relationship sometimes."

"My relationship?" She looked around. "What relationship?"

"With Quinn, Char. You know that you've had the biggest crush on him since the 7th grade," I taunted.

"Get the fuck out of here!" she yelled incredulously as she stared at Quinn, who looked seemingly unaffected. He bore a plain face.

Language! Purin scolded.

"Whatever you just said, I'm sure it wasn't nice, so I'm just going to ignore you," Charlize told her.

With an angry—Puff!—Purin practically flew to the chair that she was sitting in. Her body inflated to a tremendous size and she positively glowered at Charlize. I think I saw her begin to shrink back.

Hey! Selene whined as she batted Purin out of the way with, what I think was, a well-aimed scratch attack. Purin fell to the floor and landed on her back, swirls in her eyes.

Purin, knocked out by Selene?

Selene knocked Purin out?

Whoa.

I bolted upright to inspect the damage. The gleaming claw mark had just begun to fade away and Purin began to come to, rubbing her face with her small hand.

What happened? Oh yeah—you're going to pay! she yelled as she jumped to her feet and stomped her way over to the cowering Selene. Her pink hand was raised in the air, her eyes murderous.

Poor Selene.

Just before Purin could swing off, Selene placed the index claw to her mouth and tilted her head, creating the most adorable image I had ever seen her make. How could anyone hurt a pokémon so angelic?

Purin stopped dead in her tracks.

I'm sorry. Let's be friends again! Selene walked over to her and gave her a big hug.

Okay! Purin agreed as they coddled.

"I want a hug!" I found myself saying after they were done.

"Snap out of it Lest, that was a charm attack," Quinn said.

"Oh yeah," I answered as I rubbed my head. "Go Selene."

"Well," taking on an buisnesswoman tone, "back to business. Like I said, you two should hook up. I mean, you practically groping on her already Blake. Who knows what that might lead to."

"I'm not—" Blake began.

"Groping?" I interrupted. "He never touched my br—"

"Not in that way. Look, he's groping you right now!"

I glanced at Blake's tame hand that was around my waist. I groaned.

"Like I was saying, you should really do something about that crush. I mean, you're older now. He's older now. You've developed since then. I suppose that he's developed. Why don't you both put your tools to work?"

"What the hell?" Quinn questioned me.

"That's what I was thinking. She's gone whacko, your sister. I told you that she needs help. Me and you—ridiculous. Never."

"Never say 'never'," I said matter-of-factly.

"Oh boy," she sighed.

"Yeah, that'll be your first child," I ridiculed, "His name could be Quinn Jr., or Carlton. Those would be cute names for a cute baby. You're both good looking."

"Enough," she fumed.

"Oh, and he wouldn't be the only one," I continued, savoring the looks on their faces. "You seem like the fertile type, like our mothers. I would say that at least five or seven more would follow, you know, keeping with tradition and everything."

"Celeste, don't say another word. The thought's making me sick," Quinn warned.

"You would spend more time in the bed than out, making sweet, passionate—"

"Enough," she hissed, her voice startlingly even.

I laughed out loud, Blake joining in soon after.

"Don't make me even begin to talk about you and Blake," Charlize cautioned.

"Is that a threat?"

"Do pokémon have to have sex to make those eggs?"

What's sex? all of the pokémon chirped as they looked to us for an answer.

I slapped my hand onto my forehead and shook it from side to side.

Oh, God.

The question was obvious, they were all young.

"You'll learn about it sooner or later," I finally said.

Ooh! Sex, sex, sex! I want to have sex! Me want to have lots of sex! Pip cried.

I smirked at his innocence. Poor thing.

My head sunk into my hands and I shook it again; whatever he said could not have been good.

I threw up my hands in surrender and leaned over to punch her playfully on the shoulder, "you know that I'm just joshing ya. No hard feelings?"

"Don't play like that," she scolded me. "I'm seriously thinking about throwing up that drink I just had."

"Quinn?"

"Whatever," he said plainly, looking off to the side.

"Anyways," Charlie began, "why don't you guys just kiss for me, just once. I left my pornos at home," she joked. "I need some stimulation."

Quinn shifted in his seat. I think I saw him give Blake the death glare out of the corner of his eye.

I shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it. It's just a kiss."

As a flirt, one must have good composure when it comes to things such as this.

"Just a kiss?" Brian queried.

"That coming from a player? I didn't know that you were such a romantic, Blake."

"Who said that?"

"I can read between the lines, you know. I'm not a dumb blonde. I'm not even a blonde. I'm a...blue..."

"You're right, it's just a kiss." He shifted his position. He leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek, completely platonic: the type of friends we were. "Enough sexual stimulation for today?"

She groaned, "not nearly enough. Tongue, people, use your tongue, or at least on the lips."

I nodded, "I didn't even get any from that. That was a kindergarten kiss. Learn from a pro," I joked as I leaned forward, cupping his angular face and kissing him full on the lips.

For that moment we were almost as one. I could've sworn that I felt Char staring at us rather intensely.

"All right, all right; break it up," Quinn directed as he began to rise from his chair. He did not look at all friendly.

I felt his hand begin to cup my face and his tongue begin to poke at the corners of my mouth, but I pushed him away and shook my finger at him. "No, no, no." I felt weird afterwards but I didn't show it.

He grinned. Was that a reddish tinge on his cheeks?

"Yahoo! That was perfect!" She pretended to wipe sweat from her brow. "Is it suddenly hot in here or is it just you two. Hey Quinn, we better go somewhere to give them some alone time."

"I wouldn't go anywhere with you alone," he flatly replied. "Much less if I knew if anything was going on between those two. What type of brother would I be? Knowing that my sister was about to get knocked up or something...use your brain Charlize." His tone wasn't anything less than condescending.

Charlize didn't have a retort ready, so she just ignored him.

"Gosh dude, snap out of it," Charlize said as she waved her hand in front Blake's face. I hadn't realized that he had a dreamy look in his eye or that that reddish tinge had become a full-on blush.

"She put you in a gaze," she joked once he came-to. I looked at him, his gaze was downcast.

"Do you get like that everytime that you kiss some poor, innocent girl?" I asked him with a grin.

"Yeah."

That was weak.

I couldn't stand him not looking me in the eyes. That meant something. Especially if I could look him into the eyes. Maybe the kiss was d—nah, it couldn't be... I lifted his chin with my four fingers, keeping it steady with my handy thumb.

His eyes locked onto mine.

"Well?"

"You're a good kisser. I'm never kissed an agressive woman before," he admitted. "I liked your agressiveness." A sly smile covered his lips.

How could I ever think that—Blake?—he felt no more affected than I did.

"There's more where that came from," I said flirtaciously. "Just let me know when and where."

His eyes brightened just the tiniest bit.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It'll be very soon, believe me. I don't know if the Silver Millennium girls will be as easy as you are..."

I punched him in the arm. "I may be a flirt, a shameless flirt even; but I am not easy. Remember that or die."

"Whatever you say, girl," Char sighed.

I ignored them both.

"Recess is over."

It was time.

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"Good luck Raja; it's your turn now. I'm counting on you. You can do this!" I cheered as I gave him a lucky kiss and a pat on the head. I scratched behind his ear.

He needed all of the encouragement that he could get.

His eyes were all over the place. He was afraid, I just knew that he was. I would like to believe that it was because he was concerned about doing a good job for me. I hope that it was.

But little does he know that as long as he does his best, I'm satisfied. I think that is all that matters. It should be a universal truth, if you ask me.

But you didn't.

"Go Raja!" Blake, Charlize, and the other pokémon cheered. When Raja looked back I think I saw Quinn give him an encouraging nod. I hoped that he didn't feel too pressured.

"Ah, a ground type. This match can go either way," Taylor commented with a thoughtful chin-scratch. "It's going to go my way though; I do not plan on losing."

I didn't reply; he could very well be right.

"For this round I am going to choose my most loyal pokémon, Doduo."

Doduo? That pokémon was so extremely fast. I hoped little Raja would be able to keep up with it. And he didn't even know the rollout maneuver...hey! What am I doing being pessimistic? We could get around that minor implication!

"This is the final round between the Challenger, Celeste Briarcliffe, and the Gym Leader, Taylor. It is Raja, the Phanphy vs. Doduo. Final round, begin!"

That was my signal.

"Tackle them Raja!"

Raja replied hesitantly before he began to set off at a good pace for his size and stature. Doduo remained completely still. They were obviously well-trained indeed.

"Agility."

They were like a blur, that Doduo. Gosh, I'm so confused on whether I should refer to it as 'them' or 'him'. Why can't there just be one head like a normal pokémon?

Doduo quickly evaded the attack and started advancing straight towards Raja, who was visibly trembling.

"Don't be afraid Raja, you have to keep your composure!"

He tried to perk up.

"How endearing...the baby elephant is scared. You had better do what you can because Doduo is no loser. Doduo, go into a quick attack."

Doduo was already going fast before, you can only imagine how fast he was going now. Raja had to move out of the or else...I shuddered at the thought. I think that I was hurt whenever I saw another pokémon getting hurt, much more with my pokémon.

Within an instant, Raja's plump little body was hurled into the air, an expression of pure pain displayed on his face. It hurt so much right then. I couldn't help but call out his name:

"Raja!"

"A trainer must always be strong. At all times," he scolded, matter-of-factly.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Do it again."

Sadly, the same thing repeated itself.

I had to think. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much if he performed a defense curl. Yeah, that was the way! "Defense curl now!"

Raja, with as much strength he could must, jumped into the air and tucked his limbs into a neat sphere: the size of a basketball. Doduo hit him into the air but Raja still looked to be all right. This was a good sign.

Doduo prepared for another attack, I noticed that it was slightly panting. It was getting winded. He must be getting tired. One of the heads began to droop in melancholy. Poor thing, it was worn out.

The attack didn't even hit Raja directly. As a matter of fact, it just clipped him a bit, causing him to spin rapidly in his place on the field. He looked like a globe spinning on its axis. Something about that was oh so familiar and a bit strange. He was spinning much longer than one would expect which must mean that he'd learned a new technique. That just had to be a rapid spin attack!

I hummed...but that is mainly a defensive technique...

I'm tired. Let's take a break, the sad head told his counterpart.

What do you mean that you're tired? the mean one shouted.

I'm tired. I'm not going to use my side of our body.

Like hell you won't, the other declared.

The pair commenced to argue and snap at one another.

This was the perfect diversion.

"Raja," I began to explain. "If you know how to do a rapid spin attack, then you just have to know how to use rollout. It's the only logical thing I can think of. So just roll forward and I guess that everything should come to you naturally."

Whatever you say Celeste. I trust your judgement, he replied as he tilted the slightest bit, causing him to spin retrograde, like Uranus. The dirt from the bouncy grass began to fly into the air as the attack was powered up. Then, he let fly and thundered across the field, just a bit off though.

"Swerve over to the left Raja," I directed with my hands.

Raja veered to the left and slammed into those long, spindly legs, causing the bird to topple to the ground. They squawked in surprise. (Taylor's head sunk into his hands. )

"Finish them off with one more," I was going to win this!

Raja turned in a sharp arc before colliding back into Doduo, causing the bird to fly several feet across the width of the field.

Raja was such a little beast.

"Return," Taylor said as the ball sucked Doduo back into his home.

"The winner is the Challenger, Celeste Briarcliffe of Hydrangea Island!"

With a complacent shrug, Taylor tossed two shiny objects into the air. "Here's the Tornado Crest and the Moonbeam Emblem. The Crest is proof of your victory and the Emblem is a secondary badge that allows you to get into tournaments and to participate in other events. Good Luck."

I fingered the silver funnel with glitter sprinkled onto it and at the crescent moon with clouds encircling it. The proof of my victory.

Wow.

I won.

We won!

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Sorry for the delay my most cherished fans but I was out of town this weekend; so naturally I couldn't finish it by the weekend. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to those who offered the encouraging words as far as my rambling goes. I have a long journey ahead of me... I'm signing off. Wish me luck on my essay on The Allegory of the Cave— The Duke of Briarcliffe