Hey hey hey, remember me? Ha ha ha. I know I've been neglecting poor Diana.
It's just that so much stuff has been going on in my life and I've been
feeling uninspired to write more of this. But just yesterday I reserved my
Sapphire game and BOOM!
One things I was doing while not updating this fic was drawing, and I drew this really kawaii picture of Diana, April, and a Dragonair (oooooh is it Mystic? Such suspense ~_^). To see go here:
There are a few little mistakes, like both of their hair is supposed to be darker and Diana's hair should be a little shorter. But otherwise I think it turned out pretty good ^_^
Oh and Meep, who says all of these Ponytas are average Ponytas? Plus Ash was riding a Ponyta in that one episode, and that's where I got the idea for Diana to have a Ponyta.
Whatever. I know you're all getting bored of reading this sooo. . .FINALLY, after three (? I can't count ^_^;;) months. . .
~Chapter Six~
A week later, I was at the Maven's house at six-thirty in the morning. It was going to take about four hours to get to Ecruteak City, and the competition started at one. We were going to make it early, but that was good-it would give Princess a chance to check out what she would be jumping.
"Oh, good, Diana, you're here," Danielle said, and yawned. "Come on, let's worry about Princess's tack first, and then her." She pointed a very large trailer that had been parked on one of the rings. "Put the tack in the boxes in there."
"That trailer's kind of big," I commented, walking to the shed to get Princess's tack and brushes.
"Oh, it's not just for Princess. Shane's jumping on Mars."
I nearly tripped. "What?" I asked, trying not to sound completely surprised. He hadn't said anything to ME about it.
"Yup. So hopefully Princess won't be too nervous."
"Yeah."
"I think she'll do fine. You've been working wonders on her ever since you bought her."
I grinned and walked inside the shack and retrieved Princess's brushes, her saddle, the girth, her new fancy bridle with a little nameplate on one side of the cheek piece, and a halter and lead rope.
"Whoa!" Danielle laughed, and took some of the stuff I was juggling.
"Thanks," I laughed.
We hurried up the ramp into the trailer and put all the stuff in the appropriate boxes, except for the halter and lead rope. I held those in my hand and ran to my Ponyta's stall.
"Oh Princess," I cooed. She had been eating some hay, but now she looked up and whinnied.
"You know today's a big day," I whispered, putting the halter on Princess. "In mere hours, we're going to be showing off our skills to lots of people!"
Princess neighed as I lead her out of her stall and into the trailer. She walked the ramp like it was nothing.
"Good girl," I said. I saw Shane walking out of Mars's stall, leading him with a lead rope. Shane quickly walked him up the ramp and into the trailer.
"Diana, why don't you go home and get your family ready," Danielle said. "Shane and I just have to pack up some hay and water and you guys's helmets, then we're leaving. It'll take about twenty minutes."
"Okay," I cried, running home. I dashed up to my room and quickly put in clean jodhpurs, socks, and the fancy, white, collared T-shirt Danielle had given me the day before into a bag. I slipped on my boots. I ran downstairs to the car and threw the bag into the backseat. I would change in the Pokemon Center or something.
"Hey Mom!" I cried when we were back in the house. "We're leaving in about twenty minutes!"
Mom appeared in front of me somehow and nodded. "Okay," she said.
I noticed a little bulge coming from her pocket, but I didn't get a chance to say anything about it because Dad suddenly came thundering down the stairs. He picked me up and spun me around.
"It's Diana, the world-famous show jumper about to enter the very best event in her life!" he cried.
"Daddy," I complained with a smile.
He put me down and grinned. "I can't wait to see you jump," he said. "I've just seen you jump the pathetic fences by the Maven's, but now I get to see you REALLY jump."
I smiled. His enthusiasm was rubbing off on me, despite how tired I was. I never woke up at six-thirty in the morning on ANY Saturday.
I walked outside and saw Danielle slamming the door shut to the trailer. She noticed me and smiled. "We're leaving now," she said.
"Okay!" I called back, just as I saw Shane get into the car. Danielle hitched the trailer to the car and I ran back inside.
"We have to go now!" I exclaimed. My whole family walked sleepily to the car. Dad got into the driver's seat, Mom in the passenger seat, and Grandma sat in the back with me.
"Let's go," Dad announced when he saw the trailer pull out and drive onto the road.
The first hour was boring because we always go into Cherrygrove City and Violet City. Dad works in Violet, and I go to school in Cherrygrove. But two hours later, we had reached Azalea Town, and we took an extra half hour driving through there. There were Slowpoke EVERYWHERE.
"What's with the Slowpoke?" I asked.
"People in Azalea Town think Slowpoke bring them good luck," Mom answered. "About four hundred years ago, there was a very long and hard drought here. But one day, a Slowpoke yawned and it started raining."
I laughed. "That's pretty funny."
"It is," Mom agreed.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
Mom looked uncomfortable for a minute before saying, "I have my ways," and stared out the window as we finally drove into Goldenrod City.
I saw the trailer stop near a Pokemon Center, so we parked next to them, and I got out of the car.
"We're going to eat lunch here," Danielle announced when she hopped out of her car. "There's a really neat restaurant on top of the Goldenrod Mall."
"Cool," I answered, and followed my parents and Danielle and Shane to the HUGE mall. There were six floors, so we took the elevator to the top.
"What kinds of stuff do they sell here?" I asked, awed.
"Mostly items for traveling trainers," Mom answered.
"People actually WALK this far?" I said, wrinkling my nose.
Mom laughed, kind of sadly. "Yes," she sighed as we approached the restaurant.
We were immediately seated in two tables that had been pushed together. The waitress asked what we wanted to drink. I decided just to have water. I was suddenly very nervous-the championship was only a few hours away. I did want whatever I ate or drank to come up again.
We were served our drinks quickly and ordered our food. I got a plate of French fries. I don't think my stomach could have taken anything else.
Shane, however, ordered mass amounts of food and inhaled. Danielle, who was sitting next to me, leaned over and whispered, "He's a human vacuum cleaner."
I snorted, and water almost came shooting out of my nose, but I managed to hide it.
Eventually, we finally finished eating and were back on our way. We still had another hour to go before we finally reached Ecruteak City.
~*~*~
Finally, an hour later, I was able to get out of the car and stretch.
"Ugh," I complained as I stood in front of the Pokemon Center. "I've never spent that long in a car before.
Grandma laughed.
Mom handed me my back with my clothes in it. "Here," she said. "Change now. And stay here. Your father and I have to go somewhere."
"Where?" I asked, taking the bag.
"Just. . .somewhere," Mom answered, and rushed hand-in-hand with Dad. I saw Shane out of the corner of my eye walking in the same direction.
I sighed and found a bathroom in the Pokemon Center and quickly changed.
"That's Diana. My professional jumper," Grandma winked.
Danielle got up from her seat and jogged to me. "Oh good," she said. "The stadium where the championship is is about a block away from here. I need to you help me get Princess and Mars settled."
"Where's Shane?" I asked.
Danielle shrugged. "As soon as we stopped, he ran right out of the car. Didn't even say where he was going." She shrugged again and opened the door to the trailer.
Princess was snorting and pawing the floor of the trailer. I knew she was dying to get out, so I got inside, found her halter and a lead rope, and led her out.
Danielle clipped a halter on Mars, and she followed me out.
~*~*~
There was a small paddock where the Ponytas could run around and graze. We decided to leave them there for about a half an hour, then get them brushed and tacked up.
"I still have to find Shane," Mrs. Mavens sighed. "He KNOWS he supposed to be helping me here. . ." she muttered.
"Yeah," I added. "Mom and Dad disappeared too."
"We'll find them," Danielle said, and walked out of the arena.
~*~*~
Half an hour later, there was no sign of Mom or Dad, but Shane had showed up at the paddock about five seconds before Danielle was about to scream.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked Shane. He was ghostly pale and his hands were shaking.
Shane shook his head and got out Mars's brushes.
"That's what you get for caring about Shane Maven," I muttered to Princess and I started grooming her. She paid no attention to my complaints and closed her eyes, enjoying the little massage of the currycomb.
"Hey you guys!" Danielle suddenly cried. "We're going to start getting into position in ten minutes! You gotta tack up now!"
"Eeeeee!" I screeched, causing Princess to jump a little.
"Save your jumping for the fences!" I cried, and grabbed Princess's saddle pad and saddle. I quickly put the saddle on, and then her fancy new bridle.
"You look like a princess. . .Princess," I grinned.
"ATTENTION!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "WILL CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE PLEASE REPORT TO THE FRONT OF THE ARENA."
"What number am I?" I asked Danielle.
"You're number three," she answered. "Shane's number two. You just go right after him."
"Okay," I answered, put on my helmet, and rubbed Princess's neck.
"HERE IS CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE IN THE YOUNG JUMPER'S CHAMPIONSHIP!" the announced cried. "THIS IS NICOLE SNALVE, AGE THIRTEEN, RIDING HER PONYTA GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!"
I heard the audience clapping and grinned. In a matter of minutes, they would be clapping for me!
I adjusted my helmet and tapped my foot. I hope this Nicole person finished soon. . .
"AND GREAT JOB NICOLE, WITH FOUR MINUTES AND FIVE SECONDS, TWO FAULTS!"
The audience cheered some more, and I heard some loud people shouting, "WOO- HOO! GO NICOLE!" I assumed these people were her parents and grinned. I hoped Mom and Dad came back from wherever they are.
"NEXT CONTESTANT IS SHANE MAVEN, AGE TWELEVE, RIDING HIS PONYTA MARS FLAMETHROWER!"
My grin got wider. I hope Shane did good, but I knew he wouldn't do as well as me!
"We're the perfect team," I whispered to Princess, and scratched her behind her ear. She whinnied.
I looked out from the little stable I was standing in, and saw the tiniest glimpse of Shane. None of the fences were knocked down, and he was going pretty fast. I looked a little closer and saw his face was still pale. Was it from nervousness?
Shane finished his course quickly and walked Mars around while the announcer blared out more stuff.
"GREAT JOB, SHANE, WITH THREE MINUTES AND ONE SECOND, AND ZERO FAULTS!"
I heard Danielle cheering so loud, I wouldn't be surprised if people in Kanto heard it. That WAS a very good a very good run. I hoped I could do better, or at least match up.
"CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE IS DIANA TAMER, AGE TWELEVE, RIDING HER PONYTA PRINCESS FLAMEMIGHT!"
I took a deep breath. "This is it!" I whispered, and walked out to the area. I looked up at the audience and saw Mom and Dad sitting in the first row of bleachers. I grinned as I mounted Princess.
Some man was standing on the edge of the arena. He had a stopwatch in his hand, so I assumed he was the timer.
"On the count of three. . ." he called to me. "One. . .two. . .THREE!"
On three I dug my heels into Princess's sides and she took off at a canter. A fence was coming up. I stood up in the stirrups, threw myself forward, and we cleared the jump. And the next. And the next.
It seemed like five seconds later, but after Princess and I cleared the last jump, I looked at the stopwatch and saw two minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
"EXCELLENT ROUNTED DIANA!" the announcer cried. "TWO MINUTES AND FIFTY-NINE SECONDS, WITH ZERO FAULTS! DIANA IS CURRENTLY IN FIRST PLACE!"
I dismounted and smiled. I led Princess to a little area in the back, away from the arena.
To my surprise, Mom and Dad were there. Mom's face looked a little wet, and her eyes were red. Her whole body was shaking and it seemed like she was having trouble breathing.
"Mom?" I asked in alarm.
"Gre . . .Great job honey," Mom whispered, and burst into tears.
"Mom?" I cried.
"Something happened," Dad whispered to me, putting an arm around her shoulder. "We'd rather not talk about it. And great job," he smiled, but it was an afraid smile.
I decided not to worry, but something was nagging me in the back of my mind. I wanted to find out what happened and fix it.
But I couldn't.
About a half an hour later, all of us jumpers reported out to the arena. A man in a suit and tie was holding a piece of paper. Behind him were three large trophies and envelopes.
"We have our winners," the man said. "In third place is Amanda Hinelo, with her Rapidash Angel Wings!"
A tall, pretty girl held the reins of her graceful Rapidash and walked up to the man. He handed her the small bronze trophy and one of the envelopes.
"In second place is Shane Maven, with his Ponyta Mars Flamethrower!"
A small smile flickered on Shane's face, but it quickly disappeared. Mars and Shane walked up to the man and got a silver trophy and another envelope.
"Our first place winner. . .with an impressive time. . .is Diana Tamer, with her Ponyta, Princess Flamemight!"
My mouth dropped open. I stood there, feeling and looking stupid until Princess nudged my shoulder, almost as if she knew what was happening. I walked up to the man and received my huge gold trophy and the last of the envelopes.
"In six months, the winners will report back here and compete with the three winners in Kanto! Then, those three winners will again compete against each other to win the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!" he explained, bellowing out the last two words.
"Cool," I muttered. I wondered what the grand championship meant, but I decided to let it go for now.
The people who didn't win sadly left the arena to trailers, probably to go home to wherever they lived. Mom walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
"Congratulations, honey," she said. "I'm so proud of you."
"We all are," Grandma grinned.
~*~*~
It just took ten minutes to untack, brush, and load the Ponytas into the trailer. Mom went into the Pokemon to use the bathroom, Grandma was sitting in the backseat, and Dad was carefully loading my trophy into the trunk.
I started walking to the car when someone touched my shoulder. I gasped and spun around. Shane was there.
"Hi," he said.
"Oh. Hi," I said.
"Um. . ." he stuttered, and stared at his feet. "Well, congratulations. I mean, good job. I mean. . ."
I smiled. "Thanks. You didn't do too bad yourself. Second place is excellent."
Shane looked up from his feet. He stared me intently, and I couldn't blink. We stared at each other like that until Shane blinked about fifty times in a second and did a little jump.
I frowned. "What?" I asked.
"See you. . .whenever," Shane called, running to his car.
I sighed and got into the backseat. It was going to be a lo-o-o-ong ride home.
~*~*~*~
Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah! Don't worry, I'll continue to update this more. . .if you leave reviews *cough* ~_^
One things I was doing while not updating this fic was drawing, and I drew this really kawaii picture of Diana, April, and a Dragonair (oooooh is it Mystic? Such suspense ~_^). To see go here:
There are a few little mistakes, like both of their hair is supposed to be darker and Diana's hair should be a little shorter. But otherwise I think it turned out pretty good ^_^
Oh and Meep, who says all of these Ponytas are average Ponytas? Plus Ash was riding a Ponyta in that one episode, and that's where I got the idea for Diana to have a Ponyta.
Whatever. I know you're all getting bored of reading this sooo. . .FINALLY, after three (? I can't count ^_^;;) months. . .
~Chapter Six~
A week later, I was at the Maven's house at six-thirty in the morning. It was going to take about four hours to get to Ecruteak City, and the competition started at one. We were going to make it early, but that was good-it would give Princess a chance to check out what she would be jumping.
"Oh, good, Diana, you're here," Danielle said, and yawned. "Come on, let's worry about Princess's tack first, and then her." She pointed a very large trailer that had been parked on one of the rings. "Put the tack in the boxes in there."
"That trailer's kind of big," I commented, walking to the shed to get Princess's tack and brushes.
"Oh, it's not just for Princess. Shane's jumping on Mars."
I nearly tripped. "What?" I asked, trying not to sound completely surprised. He hadn't said anything to ME about it.
"Yup. So hopefully Princess won't be too nervous."
"Yeah."
"I think she'll do fine. You've been working wonders on her ever since you bought her."
I grinned and walked inside the shack and retrieved Princess's brushes, her saddle, the girth, her new fancy bridle with a little nameplate on one side of the cheek piece, and a halter and lead rope.
"Whoa!" Danielle laughed, and took some of the stuff I was juggling.
"Thanks," I laughed.
We hurried up the ramp into the trailer and put all the stuff in the appropriate boxes, except for the halter and lead rope. I held those in my hand and ran to my Ponyta's stall.
"Oh Princess," I cooed. She had been eating some hay, but now she looked up and whinnied.
"You know today's a big day," I whispered, putting the halter on Princess. "In mere hours, we're going to be showing off our skills to lots of people!"
Princess neighed as I lead her out of her stall and into the trailer. She walked the ramp like it was nothing.
"Good girl," I said. I saw Shane walking out of Mars's stall, leading him with a lead rope. Shane quickly walked him up the ramp and into the trailer.
"Diana, why don't you go home and get your family ready," Danielle said. "Shane and I just have to pack up some hay and water and you guys's helmets, then we're leaving. It'll take about twenty minutes."
"Okay," I cried, running home. I dashed up to my room and quickly put in clean jodhpurs, socks, and the fancy, white, collared T-shirt Danielle had given me the day before into a bag. I slipped on my boots. I ran downstairs to the car and threw the bag into the backseat. I would change in the Pokemon Center or something.
"Hey Mom!" I cried when we were back in the house. "We're leaving in about twenty minutes!"
Mom appeared in front of me somehow and nodded. "Okay," she said.
I noticed a little bulge coming from her pocket, but I didn't get a chance to say anything about it because Dad suddenly came thundering down the stairs. He picked me up and spun me around.
"It's Diana, the world-famous show jumper about to enter the very best event in her life!" he cried.
"Daddy," I complained with a smile.
He put me down and grinned. "I can't wait to see you jump," he said. "I've just seen you jump the pathetic fences by the Maven's, but now I get to see you REALLY jump."
I smiled. His enthusiasm was rubbing off on me, despite how tired I was. I never woke up at six-thirty in the morning on ANY Saturday.
I walked outside and saw Danielle slamming the door shut to the trailer. She noticed me and smiled. "We're leaving now," she said.
"Okay!" I called back, just as I saw Shane get into the car. Danielle hitched the trailer to the car and I ran back inside.
"We have to go now!" I exclaimed. My whole family walked sleepily to the car. Dad got into the driver's seat, Mom in the passenger seat, and Grandma sat in the back with me.
"Let's go," Dad announced when he saw the trailer pull out and drive onto the road.
The first hour was boring because we always go into Cherrygrove City and Violet City. Dad works in Violet, and I go to school in Cherrygrove. But two hours later, we had reached Azalea Town, and we took an extra half hour driving through there. There were Slowpoke EVERYWHERE.
"What's with the Slowpoke?" I asked.
"People in Azalea Town think Slowpoke bring them good luck," Mom answered. "About four hundred years ago, there was a very long and hard drought here. But one day, a Slowpoke yawned and it started raining."
I laughed. "That's pretty funny."
"It is," Mom agreed.
"How do you know that?" I asked.
Mom looked uncomfortable for a minute before saying, "I have my ways," and stared out the window as we finally drove into Goldenrod City.
I saw the trailer stop near a Pokemon Center, so we parked next to them, and I got out of the car.
"We're going to eat lunch here," Danielle announced when she hopped out of her car. "There's a really neat restaurant on top of the Goldenrod Mall."
"Cool," I answered, and followed my parents and Danielle and Shane to the HUGE mall. There were six floors, so we took the elevator to the top.
"What kinds of stuff do they sell here?" I asked, awed.
"Mostly items for traveling trainers," Mom answered.
"People actually WALK this far?" I said, wrinkling my nose.
Mom laughed, kind of sadly. "Yes," she sighed as we approached the restaurant.
We were immediately seated in two tables that had been pushed together. The waitress asked what we wanted to drink. I decided just to have water. I was suddenly very nervous-the championship was only a few hours away. I did want whatever I ate or drank to come up again.
We were served our drinks quickly and ordered our food. I got a plate of French fries. I don't think my stomach could have taken anything else.
Shane, however, ordered mass amounts of food and inhaled. Danielle, who was sitting next to me, leaned over and whispered, "He's a human vacuum cleaner."
I snorted, and water almost came shooting out of my nose, but I managed to hide it.
Eventually, we finally finished eating and were back on our way. We still had another hour to go before we finally reached Ecruteak City.
~*~*~
Finally, an hour later, I was able to get out of the car and stretch.
"Ugh," I complained as I stood in front of the Pokemon Center. "I've never spent that long in a car before.
Grandma laughed.
Mom handed me my back with my clothes in it. "Here," she said. "Change now. And stay here. Your father and I have to go somewhere."
"Where?" I asked, taking the bag.
"Just. . .somewhere," Mom answered, and rushed hand-in-hand with Dad. I saw Shane out of the corner of my eye walking in the same direction.
I sighed and found a bathroom in the Pokemon Center and quickly changed.
"That's Diana. My professional jumper," Grandma winked.
Danielle got up from her seat and jogged to me. "Oh good," she said. "The stadium where the championship is is about a block away from here. I need to you help me get Princess and Mars settled."
"Where's Shane?" I asked.
Danielle shrugged. "As soon as we stopped, he ran right out of the car. Didn't even say where he was going." She shrugged again and opened the door to the trailer.
Princess was snorting and pawing the floor of the trailer. I knew she was dying to get out, so I got inside, found her halter and a lead rope, and led her out.
Danielle clipped a halter on Mars, and she followed me out.
~*~*~
There was a small paddock where the Ponytas could run around and graze. We decided to leave them there for about a half an hour, then get them brushed and tacked up.
"I still have to find Shane," Mrs. Mavens sighed. "He KNOWS he supposed to be helping me here. . ." she muttered.
"Yeah," I added. "Mom and Dad disappeared too."
"We'll find them," Danielle said, and walked out of the arena.
~*~*~
Half an hour later, there was no sign of Mom or Dad, but Shane had showed up at the paddock about five seconds before Danielle was about to scream.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked Shane. He was ghostly pale and his hands were shaking.
Shane shook his head and got out Mars's brushes.
"That's what you get for caring about Shane Maven," I muttered to Princess and I started grooming her. She paid no attention to my complaints and closed her eyes, enjoying the little massage of the currycomb.
"Hey you guys!" Danielle suddenly cried. "We're going to start getting into position in ten minutes! You gotta tack up now!"
"Eeeeee!" I screeched, causing Princess to jump a little.
"Save your jumping for the fences!" I cried, and grabbed Princess's saddle pad and saddle. I quickly put the saddle on, and then her fancy new bridle.
"You look like a princess. . .Princess," I grinned.
"ATTENTION!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "WILL CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE PLEASE REPORT TO THE FRONT OF THE ARENA."
"What number am I?" I asked Danielle.
"You're number three," she answered. "Shane's number two. You just go right after him."
"Okay," I answered, put on my helmet, and rubbed Princess's neck.
"HERE IS CONTESTANT NUMBER ONE IN THE YOUNG JUMPER'S CHAMPIONSHIP!" the announced cried. "THIS IS NICOLE SNALVE, AGE THIRTEEN, RIDING HER PONYTA GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!"
I heard the audience clapping and grinned. In a matter of minutes, they would be clapping for me!
I adjusted my helmet and tapped my foot. I hope this Nicole person finished soon. . .
"AND GREAT JOB NICOLE, WITH FOUR MINUTES AND FIVE SECONDS, TWO FAULTS!"
The audience cheered some more, and I heard some loud people shouting, "WOO- HOO! GO NICOLE!" I assumed these people were her parents and grinned. I hoped Mom and Dad came back from wherever they are.
"NEXT CONTESTANT IS SHANE MAVEN, AGE TWELEVE, RIDING HIS PONYTA MARS FLAMETHROWER!"
My grin got wider. I hope Shane did good, but I knew he wouldn't do as well as me!
"We're the perfect team," I whispered to Princess, and scratched her behind her ear. She whinnied.
I looked out from the little stable I was standing in, and saw the tiniest glimpse of Shane. None of the fences were knocked down, and he was going pretty fast. I looked a little closer and saw his face was still pale. Was it from nervousness?
Shane finished his course quickly and walked Mars around while the announcer blared out more stuff.
"GREAT JOB, SHANE, WITH THREE MINUTES AND ONE SECOND, AND ZERO FAULTS!"
I heard Danielle cheering so loud, I wouldn't be surprised if people in Kanto heard it. That WAS a very good a very good run. I hoped I could do better, or at least match up.
"CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE IS DIANA TAMER, AGE TWELEVE, RIDING HER PONYTA PRINCESS FLAMEMIGHT!"
I took a deep breath. "This is it!" I whispered, and walked out to the area. I looked up at the audience and saw Mom and Dad sitting in the first row of bleachers. I grinned as I mounted Princess.
Some man was standing on the edge of the arena. He had a stopwatch in his hand, so I assumed he was the timer.
"On the count of three. . ." he called to me. "One. . .two. . .THREE!"
On three I dug my heels into Princess's sides and she took off at a canter. A fence was coming up. I stood up in the stirrups, threw myself forward, and we cleared the jump. And the next. And the next.
It seemed like five seconds later, but after Princess and I cleared the last jump, I looked at the stopwatch and saw two minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
"EXCELLENT ROUNTED DIANA!" the announcer cried. "TWO MINUTES AND FIFTY-NINE SECONDS, WITH ZERO FAULTS! DIANA IS CURRENTLY IN FIRST PLACE!"
I dismounted and smiled. I led Princess to a little area in the back, away from the arena.
To my surprise, Mom and Dad were there. Mom's face looked a little wet, and her eyes were red. Her whole body was shaking and it seemed like she was having trouble breathing.
"Mom?" I asked in alarm.
"Gre . . .Great job honey," Mom whispered, and burst into tears.
"Mom?" I cried.
"Something happened," Dad whispered to me, putting an arm around her shoulder. "We'd rather not talk about it. And great job," he smiled, but it was an afraid smile.
I decided not to worry, but something was nagging me in the back of my mind. I wanted to find out what happened and fix it.
But I couldn't.
About a half an hour later, all of us jumpers reported out to the arena. A man in a suit and tie was holding a piece of paper. Behind him were three large trophies and envelopes.
"We have our winners," the man said. "In third place is Amanda Hinelo, with her Rapidash Angel Wings!"
A tall, pretty girl held the reins of her graceful Rapidash and walked up to the man. He handed her the small bronze trophy and one of the envelopes.
"In second place is Shane Maven, with his Ponyta Mars Flamethrower!"
A small smile flickered on Shane's face, but it quickly disappeared. Mars and Shane walked up to the man and got a silver trophy and another envelope.
"Our first place winner. . .with an impressive time. . .is Diana Tamer, with her Ponyta, Princess Flamemight!"
My mouth dropped open. I stood there, feeling and looking stupid until Princess nudged my shoulder, almost as if she knew what was happening. I walked up to the man and received my huge gold trophy and the last of the envelopes.
"In six months, the winners will report back here and compete with the three winners in Kanto! Then, those three winners will again compete against each other to win the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP!" he explained, bellowing out the last two words.
"Cool," I muttered. I wondered what the grand championship meant, but I decided to let it go for now.
The people who didn't win sadly left the arena to trailers, probably to go home to wherever they lived. Mom walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
"Congratulations, honey," she said. "I'm so proud of you."
"We all are," Grandma grinned.
~*~*~
It just took ten minutes to untack, brush, and load the Ponytas into the trailer. Mom went into the Pokemon to use the bathroom, Grandma was sitting in the backseat, and Dad was carefully loading my trophy into the trunk.
I started walking to the car when someone touched my shoulder. I gasped and spun around. Shane was there.
"Hi," he said.
"Oh. Hi," I said.
"Um. . ." he stuttered, and stared at his feet. "Well, congratulations. I mean, good job. I mean. . ."
I smiled. "Thanks. You didn't do too bad yourself. Second place is excellent."
Shane looked up from his feet. He stared me intently, and I couldn't blink. We stared at each other like that until Shane blinked about fifty times in a second and did a little jump.
I frowned. "What?" I asked.
"See you. . .whenever," Shane called, running to his car.
I sighed and got into the backseat. It was going to be a lo-o-o-ong ride home.
~*~*~*~
Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah! Don't worry, I'll continue to update this more. . .if you leave reviews *cough* ~_^