Chapter 9: Emerald vs. Avery
After Ruby and Dawn's match had ended, the two returned to the waiting room again where a very excited Emerald was quick to congratulate them both.
"That was one awesome fight you two!" Emerald exclaimed, "I could hardly catch my breath throughout that battle! Well done on your victory Dawn!"
"Thank you Emerald!" Dawn said appreciatively, "I guess this fight shows that Ruby's better at battling than me but I'm better at contests than her!"
"True that considering the way you beat one another." Emerald agreed. She turned to Ruby solemnly, "Sorry about your loss, Ruby. I imagine it must've been hard for you as you've never really lost any battle before."
"It's OK Em." Ruby said reassuringly, "Weirdly enough, I strangely don't really care that I lost. Granted that might be because it didn't matter who won as long as one of us did but still…it kinda felt good to lose for a change."
"How so?" Emerald asked in confusion.
"Well when you're Champion like me and just keep winning all the time, it can kinda lose its appeal." Ruby explained, "It's nice to lose for a change as it's a reminder I'm not invincible and that I'm not the best thing ever. Also it prevents me from getting a swelled head and I REALLY don't want to get one of those!" she chuckled.
"Too right." her sister agreed, "Last thing we need is for you to end up like Avery."
Although she'd meant it as an insult, the girls chuckled at Emerald's remark. That was one thing they could all agree on: nobody wants to be like Avery! The blonde boy just huffed in annoyance.
"Would it kill you lot to say anything other than petty insults regarding me? They're getting real old." he muttered.
"Maybe when you stop being such an egotistical blowhard, we might have nicer things to say about you!" Ruby retorted.
"You may call it egotism, but I just see it as me being aware of my natural talents." Avery gloated, "My superior coordinator skills are the reason I got as far as I have after all."
"You're lucky to even be here." Dawn reminded, "Remember how the judges felt about your performance rounds? If your qualifier act hadn't been as unique as it was, you wouldn't even have made it into the show itself!"
"Whereas WE got here because we're ACTUALLY good at what we do!" Emerald put in, "So I think that tells us WE'RE the talented ones here!"
"Believe what you want, you'll only change your tune about me when I make it to the final and win the contest." Avery sneered.
"Yeah right, with the way Dawn kicked my arse out there, I doubt you'd survive five seconds in a contest battle with her, let alone five minutes!" Ruby scoffed.
"Dawn only beat you because you're more used to traditional battles than contest battles." the Psychic trainer sneered, "Once she goes up against a REAL opponent, she won't be so lucky."
"And it won't be you because I'll wipe the floor with you!" Emerald declared.
"Really?" Avery sneered, "You're barely even worth the effort as far as I'm concerned."
"Underestimating me will only make you lose even harder!" Emerald said with a smirk on her face.
"It sure will." Ruby agreed, "And another thing Avery: Why do you still want to win the contest at this moment? You remember what me and the others are fighting for, don't you? I suppose you don't care and are just going to keep the money for yourself when you win, right?" she asked coldly.
Emerald scowled at Avery. Ruby had raised an excellent point here. Was this stuck-up git just going to take the money and let Tony die? Not even he could possibly be that heartless, surely?! Avery shook his head.
"Not so." he confirmed, "Even if I win, you girls may have that worthless cash prize. I was never in it for the money anyway. Besides, do you REALLY think I'm that cruel as to let an innocent trainer die? I'm Psyshocked that you'd even tease such a thought!"
Emerald stared at Avery in astonishment. That was not the answer she'd expected to hear! So Avery clearly had some kind of conscience. A very small one, but one nonetheless.
"Y-y-you're…going to give us the money…if you win?!" Emerald exclaimed.
"Absolutely." Avery crooned, "Like I said, the money means nothing to me. Proving my superior skills in this contest is all I need. And as I said, I may not like your friend but even I'm not so cruel as to just let him die. Goodness me, I would never be so heartless! However…" his voice dropped to a cruel sneer as he spoke, "…it will give me much pleasure knowing that I'll have beaten you in two different ways: one in battle and in saving your friend. You'll not only live your life knowing you're inferior to me, but you'll have to owe your friend's life to me! Tell me little Emerald, would that be a huge blow to your pride knowing that you have to thank me for saving your friend?"
Emerald felt as if she'd been slapped across the face. Just when she was ready to give Avery some kind of credit, he turns around and proves to be an even bigger jerk than she already thought! Her fists quivered in rage. She was seriously tempted to punch Avery right now. But what good would that do? She'd probably get disqualified anyway and that'd just give the pompous prawn even more of a reason to gloat! The Galarian girl instead just gave a heavy sigh and looked back at Avery. To the boy's surprise, she was somehow smirking at him. Avery felt uncomfortable. How could she still be smiling after what he'd said?
"Well Avery, I must thank you…for showing what a colossal prick you are!" Emerald exploded, "Just when I thought you might have at least some kind of conscience, you just throw it all in my face! You're nothing more than a sad, pathetic little boy who has no friends and only his own arrogance to make himself feel anything of worth. And that just makes me happy, happy that I'm not like you! When all is said and done, I'll still have my friends and family and all my Pokémon right behind me to keep supporting me for all my future endeavours! And what will YOU have? Nothing but your own ego telling you how special you are! That to me makes you the biggest loser in Galarian history, and even if you beat me today, you'll still be a loser in my eyes! I'm proud of the kind of person I am. What do YOU have to be proud of?"
Ruby and Dawn stared at Emerald, completely speechless that someone like her could've come out with such a venomous dissection of someone like Avery. It certainly wasn't like Emerald to tear into someone like that and give them such a well-earned and well-thought out dressing-down! Ruby imagined that her experiences as a Pokémon trainer and time with her had made Emerald tougher than she thought. Avery was left stunned at what Emerald had said. He wasn't even sure how he could respond to that. Emerald could swear that Avery looked as if he was trembling as if what she'd said had touched several nerves in him. That was good. Maybe she'd cracked through his fragile ego and got him to see just what a pathetic excuse for a human being he was! She didn't dare hope that she'd taught him a valuable lesson, but it would be nice if she did.
Before anything else could happen, a stagehand suddenly came out and called for the remaining semi-finalists to come forward.
"Emerald, Avery, your battle's ready to start! We need you pronto!" he called.
"Oh boy, we're on!" Emerald piped, "Watch me teach this arsehole a lesson girls!"
"I'll be amazed if he can even compete with how much you've shaken him with that speech!" Ruby laughed, "You'll beat him easily Em, mark my words!"
Emerald nodded agreeably. She ran out into the arena while Avery toddled behind. Even the way he entered the arena was noticeably less confident and full of himself than before. He looked as if he was just going along with the moment and that he didn't have much of a reason to be confident. Emerald's words were still burning in his mind. In the end, the girl was right. What did he have to be proud of when all was said and done? Even if he won the contest, it wouldn't feel that satisfying as no one really supported him and once word got out on what he'd said to Emerald, he imagined what little fans he had would quickly turn on him. He'd be nothing but a pathetic wreck, unwanted and unloved by anyone. He may not have much to be proud of…but he'd still take some kind of pleasure in defeating Emerald today! Putting that little brat in her place would make him feel happier at least! It'd teach her a lesson for breaking his stride and making him doubt himself!
Emerald and Avery took their places in the arena with the crowd cheering for them. To no one's surprise, more people were cheering for Emerald than Avery. For any Avery fans in the audience, they may as well be trying to make themselves heard over rushing traffic with the kind of deafening noise Emerald's fans were making. Emerald took out a Pokéball, the very Pokéball containing Tony's beloved Alcremie. Holding it in her hand made her think back to her love, the very person she was fighting for. She kissed the ball softly, imagining that she was giving it to Tony right now.
"Tony…this is for you. I won't lose." she swore, "Flossy, let the fun begin!" she yelled, throwing her ball.
"Slowking, teleport into action!" Avery called, throwing his own Pokéball.
The two Pokémon appeared in a flash of light and took their places in the arena. Flossy stood where she was, small but determined to win at all costs while Slowking stood with his head to one side, looking dopey as if he had no idea where he was. Emerald took this in with worry. In a straight match, Slowking had the advantage due to being half-Poison type. She imagined Avery might exploit that to score a lot of points. But she wouldn't let that bother her. She remembered how Tony used Flossy's skills in the performance round and she'd use them against Avery for this match! She could feel her heart pounding and her palms sweating despite the match not starting yet. This easily felt like this was going to be the most important match of her life. This wasn't just about defeating Avery, but it was about saving Tony. Once she was there in the final with Dawn, he was as good as saved.
"Pokémon coordinators ready…and go!" Nessa called.
"Alright Flossy, let's make this a quick one!" Emerald declared, "Use Dazzling Gleam!"
The mint-cream Pokémon held up her hands and created an array of bright fairy lights that shone and danced around Slowking. The lights were so bright that Slowking could hardly see and was left screwing his eyes shut to stop the lights from hurting them. At the moment, he was stunned and losing points as a result of being unable to fight back for now. Avery frowned.
"Don't let yourself get bested by a puny light show!" he exclaimed, "Fight back with Sludge Bomb!"
Slowking held his head back and the coughed up balls of filthy sludge towards Flossy. The Alcremie gasped in horror as the Sludge Bombs came towards her. But Emerald was ready for that.
"Catch them with Psychic and throw them back!" Emerald yelled.
Flossy closed her eyes and conjured up powerful psychic energy that lifted up from her body and caught the Sludge Bombs as if this match had become a game of volleyball and she was going to knock it back to Slowking. Flossy circled her hands around and around to make the Sludge Bombs spin, more to impress the audience than for any practical reason. It worked too as Avery was losing more points now Emerald's Pokémon was using his Pokémon's attack to make her's look better. The Sludge Bombs formed a circle as Flossy made them spin. Then she thrust her hand forward and threw the Sludge Bombs back towards Slowking. Avery was already on hand to counter by ordering his Pokémon to use Eerie Spell. Slowking closed his eyes and began a strange chant that conjured up balls of psychic energy that formed a protective ring around himself. The bombs hit the psychic balls and exploded into colourful sparkles upon impact. What resulted was a miniature fireworks show and the audience was impressed at what they'd seen. Emerald cursed herself for not thinking straight. Of course Avery would've countered that and now she'd made Slowking look pretty! She glanced at the scoreboard, glad to see that she still had more points left than Avery at the moment. She was winning, but she couldn't get too excited. There were still four minutes left of the match and those four minutes could turn upside down if she lost focus for even a minute.
"Use Mystical Fire!" Emerald called.
Flossy sucked in deeply and then blew it out again. A huge wave of colourful fire shot out from her mouth as if the tiny Alcremie had just become a fire-breathing dragon. The fire threatened to consume Slowking and burn him alive, but Avery was ready for that.
"How sad. She really thought that'd work?" he sneered, "Use Surf!"
Emerald gasped in shock. Damn, how was she supposed to know his Slowking just happened to have a Water-type attack! Slowking threw his arms up as if he was mighty Neptune himself commanding the sea to rush up and greet him. A giant wave of water shot up behind Slowking and then swept towards Flossy's Mystical Fire. Slowking rode on top of the wave, standing tall and proud with his hands behind his back as if riding a wave was no trouble for him. Who needed a surfboard when he could use his psychic energies to keep himself stable? The wave put out Flossy's fire and continued its way towards the creamy Pokémon. Flossy cried out in panic.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm about to be swept away by an ocean wave!" she whimpered.
"No you're not! Use Psychic to propel yourself over the wave!" Emerald ordered.
Flossy beamed happily. Yes, that was a great idea! She was certainly glad Tony had entrusted her with Emerald! She really seemed to know what she was doing! The Fairy-type Pokémon used Psychic and levitated above the floor as Slowking's Surf came towards her. The wave of water missed her and Slowking was beginning to reach the end of the wave as Flossy floated. He looked stunned to see that he'd missed. Even Avery was at a loss for words. How could his Pokémon's attack had failed to hit Flossy?! As soon as Slowking was in range and most of the water had gone, Emerald commanded Flossy to use Dazzling Gleam again. She did so and Slowking winced as the blinding lights hit him again and because he was distracted, he couldn't stick the landing after Surf and was left falling over himself as the wave ended. He landed with a thud on his stomach and gave a dopey groan of pain. Avery grumbled in annoyance.
"I will not be defeated by a puny cream puff!" he whined, "Slowking, get back up and stop making a fool of yourself!"
"Come on Avery, is that any way to treat your Pokémon?" Emerald said in disgust, "You won't get anywhere talking to them like that."
"You shut up you little brat!" Avery snarled.
"Or what? It's not my fault you're losing." Emerald taunted, "Getting mad like that won't do you any favours so if anyone needs to stop making a fool of themselves, it's you and not your Slowking!"
"I'M NOBODY'S FOOL!" Avery exploded, "By the time this fight is over, YOU will be the fool everyone's laughing at! Slowking, use Sludge Bomb again!"
Slowking picked himself up and coughed up another Sludge Bomb attack. This time, Flossy was too slow to react and she was bombarded by the exploding toxic sludge balls. She cried out from each one that blew up upon impact. It felt as if she was in the middle of a mud shower, only the mud exploded instead of splattering her. Emerald watched with worry as Flossy was sent flying back by one last Sludge Bomb explosion. She crashed down on her back and came to a painful halt just in front of her. Slowking gave a dopey smile that suggested he was very pleased with himself. Flossy lay still, groaning in pain from the super-effective blow she'd received.
"Flossy! Are you alright?" Emerald asked worriedly.
Avery was concerned. Had his Pokémon overdone the attack and knocked Flossy out? He would be disqualified if that was the case! He wanted to beat Emerald fair and square! Getting himself disqualified wouldn't prove he was better than her, even if he'd successfully knocked her Pokémon out! Flossy grunted as she rolled over onto her stomach and pushed up, using whatever strength she had left to try and get back up. Nessa watched with baited breath. She wanted Flossy to get up as much for Emerald's sake as anyone else's. She also didn't want to have to call for a disqualification, not when her contest had been a clean show with no disqualifications so far. The audience watched with a tingling feeling in their stomachs. Could Flossy get up? Ruby and Dawn clenched their fists with anxiety.
"Come on, get up! Please get up!" Ruby whispered to herself.
"You can do it!" Dawn cried encouragingly.
It seemed that Ruby and Dawn had managed to get their words to be heard despite watching the match through the TV screen in the waiting room. At that moment, Flossy managed to push herself back up. She panted heavily but otherwise looked ready to carry on in spite of everything. She turned to Emerald and gave the thumbs up.
"Ungh…it'll take…more than that…to keep me down!" she grunted.
"Well done Flossy! You're up again!" Emerald cried.
The audience cheered. Such determination to keep on fighting from a little Pokémon like Flossy was worthy of an applause. This might have to be one of the most incredible things they'd seen in this whole contest so far. Avery sighed with relief. At least he wouldn't be disqualified and Emerald's suffering could continue!
"How fortunate, I didn't score a knock out after all." Avery purred, "Now I can continue taking points off of you! Use Ice Beam!"
Slowking pointed at Flossy and fired a beam of ice cold energy towards his opponent. Avery was hoping that if his Pokémon froze Flossy alive, she'd be immobilized and unable to fight back and then he'd be able to keep launching attacks to deduce points from Emerald's score. But he only just realized why Ice Beam was the wrong move he could've called as Emerald simply countered it by ordering Flossy to use Mystical Fire. Flossy blew flames and the colourful fire melted Slowking's Ice Beam with ease. To make up for his blunder, he ordered Slowking to use Eerie Spell again. Let's see Flossy block that! Slowking conjured up his spell and sent the psychic energy balls hurling towards Flossy. Avery smirked, feeling certain his attack couldn't fail. But then Emerald surprised both him and everyone else by ordering Flossy to use Mystical Fire again. The Alcremie blew flames at Slowking's Eerie Spell. The flames swept over the psychic spheres and broke them up, creating a very colourful wall of lights that shone brightly in the centre of the arena. The resulting effect was so astonishing that Avery ended up losing a lot of points from just how beautiful Flossy was looking in creating that effect. The score now showed Emerald with half a circle left while Avery only had a quarter of a circle left, and there were only two minutes of the match left. It seemed like the match was sealed and Emerald was going to win!
Avery was determined to snatch back the victory. He wasn't going to let this little twerp defeat him! He ordered Slowking to use Surf. The Poison/Psychic-type Pokémon conjured up a huge ocean wave again and rode atop it straight towards Flossy. The wave seemed to be coming in faster than before, almost as if Slowking was desperate to land a hit before Flossy could dodge it. But to Avery's surprise, Emerald had other plans. She ordered Flossy to use Psychic again…but not to dodge the wave. Instead, Flossy used Psychic on the wave itself. Psychic energy coated the water just underneath Slowking's feet and then with a wave of her hands, Flossy moved the water away from Slowking. With no water underneath him anymore, Slowking could only flail helplessly as he plummeted to the floor. He crashed down heavily on his back and the remainder of the wave crashed down over him. The audience burst into laughter as Slowking was soaked by his own Surf. The whole thing had become a hilarious comedy moment like what they'd see in a cartoon and they loved it. Even Ruby and Dawn were clutching their sides with laughter at what had happened.
"Trust Emerald to think of something like that!" Ruby snorted between laughs.
"What a way to humiliate her opponent and give the audience some entertainment!" Dawn agreed.
Slowking lay on the arena floor dazed and confused. He had no idea what had happened. Avery fumed in annoyance. How was this bratty little girl making a complete fool out of him?! He wouldn't stand for this, not by a long shot!
"Nobody makes a clown out of me and gets away with it!" Avery growled.
"I agree. You do that well enough on your own!" Emerald jeered.
Avery's face went redder than an enraged Darmanitan. Emerald had insulted him for the last time! He ordered Slowking to use Eerie Spell once again. Slowking conjured up its spell and launched the psychic balls towards Flossy. He scored a direct hit but Flossy took the hits with little effort. It seemed that Slowking's attacks weren't having the effect that Avery was hoping for. Maybe he was getting weaker from all the punishment he'd been receiving from Flossy and it was effecting how powerful his moves were. After Slowking's attack had finished, Flossy fought back by using Psychic. Psychic wouldn't do much to Slowking, but Emerald wasn't aiming to do damage. Flossy waved her arms around, sending Slowking into a dizzying spin as she lifted him up and spun him round with Psychic. Slowking let out a cry as he was whirled around like clothes in a washing machine. Flossy spun him around and around faster and faster until he became a pink and purple blur above the arena floor. The audience giggled. Avery could only watch helplessly as Flossy spun Slowking around. His Pokémon was right where Flossy wanted it and he couldn't do anything about it!
"Slowking, do something! Anything!" he whimpered desperately.
But it was no use. Slowking couldn't fight back as he was now. Flossy then thrust her hands upwards, which sent Slowking rocketing up into the sky as if fired from a cannon. He flew straight up and plummeted straight down. Desperate, Avery called for Slowking to use Eerie Spell to cushion his fall. The Poison/Psychic Pokémon cast its spell and formed a bunch of psychic balls where he was about to land. He hit the balls and to everyone's astonishment, they actually managed to hold and successfully cushion his impact! It was an impressive landing and that had taken off more points from Emerald. But she was still far in the lead and with only one minute left before the fight was over, it seemed too late for Avery to turn the fight around. His circle was nearly completely empty. If Emerald scored another successful counter, his points would be gone completely while she still had more to spare. Avery would have to settle with knocking off the rest of Emerald's points while he still could.
He ordered his Pokémon to use Eerie Spell again. His Pokémon launched the attack but Flossy was able to counter with Mystical Fire once more. However, once Flossy burnt up the psychic energy balls, Avery immediately called for Slowking to use Ice Beam. Flossy was too slow to react after already blocking another move so she didn't have time to use Mystical Fire to counter the Ice Beam. She was hit by the beam and ice started to form around her. She shivered from the cold. Talk about becoming a literal example of ice-cream! Emerald gasped. If Flossy froze solid, she'd be helpless to fight back! She had to act fast! But what could she do? Then Emerald had an idea. Hopefully this would work! Just as Flossy was about to be frozen entirely, Emerald ordered her to use Psychic again. Flossy was just able to react. The Psychic energy that formed around her caused the ice to break as quickly as it was forming around her. Slowking wasn't able to keep up his Ice Beam forever and in the end, he had to give up. Flossy's Psychic carried on and successfully broke her free from the ice. The act was so impressive that the audience exploded into applause. What a creative way to use Psychic that was! It seemed that Nessa thought so too for all of a sudden, she called for the battle to stop.
"And that's the match!" she announced, "Avery's points have dropped to zero, which means that Emerald Silverlock wins the match and will progress to the final along with Dawn Hikari!"
The audience exploded into cheers for the Silverlock girl. Last year's Champion Cup runner-up had won and made it to the final just as they'd hoped for! Emerald glanced over at the scoreboard and saw that Nessa wasn't joking. Her circle was still a quarter full while Avery's was completely empty. She knew she would beat the arrogant trainer, but she hadn't expected to beat him so soundly to the point his score had dropped to zero! This match had been more amazing than she'd thought and she couldn't have asked for a better victory!
"YIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Hallelujah! We won, we won, we won!" Emerald squealed at the top of her lungs, "Oh Flossy, you were absolutely incredible out there!"
She scooped the Alcremie up in her arms and spun around merrily with Flossy giggling heartily. She was as thrilled as Emerald was that she'd managed to win the battle. Her trainer was as good as saved now!
Avery was left in stunned silence. He stared at the scoreboard in total disbelief. The empty circle under his picture stared back at him, a mockery of his humiliating defeat. How could he have been beaten so easily?! He shouldn't have lost in such a spectacular fashion! He shouldn't even have lost at all! How did this puny, skinny shrimp of a girl possibly defeat him?! He collapsed to his knees, his eyes still wide with shock.
"Inconceivable…utterly inconceivable!" Avery blubbered, "This defies all logic and reasoning! I'm the superior trainer and coordinator! How is it even possible that I could've lost this match?!"
He was so distraught and full of disbelief that he didn't even realize that some people in the audience had taken their phones out and were filming his little tantrum. They were so putting this up on social media later! It'd be good for a laugh at least! Emerald ran back to the waiting room with Flossy still in her arms. Upon arrival, Ruby and Dawn were quick to congratulate her. Their faces were matching masks of pure joy.
"You totally smashed him out there! It was no contest at all!" Ruby congratulated, "Way to go Em!"
"You were very creative with how you used Flossy's moves out there! Avery had no chance!" Dawn applauded, "Congratulations on making the final!"
"Thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!" Emerald cried graciously, "I knew I would win, but I'm still so glad that I did! I feel so happy that I could explode right now!"
"Don't go to pieces just yet, Em." Ruby teased, "You've got a final to win first."
"I know!" Emerald giggled, "And I'm glad it'll be against Dawn. Unlike Avery, she'll be a real opponent to face!"
"And I promise ya Em, we'll have a battle that'll end this show on a high note!" Dawn declared.
The girls high-fived each other. This was a final that both of them were going to have fun with, and now they were both in the final together, they no longer had to worry about Tony. Whoever won this match, the money would be his regardless and that would at least take some of the pressure of their shoulders. Ruby smiled brightly. She was so happy that her little sister had proven herself better than her rival and was going into the final with her friend and mentor in Pokémon coordinating. She couldn't have asked for a better turn out.
Their victory celebrations were cut short as Avery trudged back into the waiting room. He had a look of pure defeat on his face. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth was a straight line that could've been drawn by a pencil. He barely even seemed to acknowledge the girls as he walked past them. It was so satisfying for the trio to see the egotistical trainer look so downtrodden and defeated. Maybe that would teach him a lesson for being such a jerk! Avery stopped and glared in Emerald's direction.
"Don't expect me to congratulate you, twerp." he muttered, "You won by pure luck, nothing more. Next time we meet, I'll defeat you soundly!"
"I wouldn't even think about a next time." Emerald sneered, "Given what a complete fool you've made of yourself in throwing that big tantrum, you'll be nothing but a laughing stock. No one will ever take you seriously again! You'll be better off just disappearing and doing something more worthwhile with your life. Instead of being a stuck-up git, you could try changing your attitude and striving to better yourself. You need to learn that Pokémon battles aren't just about winning, it's about having fun and forming close bonds with your Pokémon and the trainers you meet. If you do that, then things might actually look up for you."
Avery just rolled his eyes.
"Spare me your sanctimonious garbage. I don't need a lecture from you." he growled.
"Clearly you do, dick-face, because Em's trying to help you and you're just being an ungrateful little shit!" Ruby snarled, "She's absolutely right! If you don't change your attitude, you'll only keep making a fool of yourself and all you'd end up doing is setting up an embarrassing legacy for yourself! Is that what you want?"
Avery recoiled. He knew far better than to pick a fight with the Champion herself. Ruby pointed at him sharply.
"I'm warning you Avery, you will stay away from my sister from now on. We're to never hear from you again." she said coldly, "You go home, rethink your life and change for the better! If you don't…then we don't want to know about it. If you even think about coming near Emerald again…well, just remember what happened to Bede when he messed with me! Do I make myself clear?"
Avery gulped. The last thing he wanted was to experience what happened to Bede! He sighed and nodded.
"Crystal clear." Avery muttered.
"Good. Now go home and rethink your life!" Ruby ordered, "Maybe then, you'll become a better person and then you'll really have something to be proud of."
The Psychic trainer did as he was told. There was no point fighting any longer, not when he'd already made a complete fool of himself. He left the waiting room without another word to anyone. Emerald watched, glad that this would be the last she'd ever see of her rival. Good riddance too! Ruby sighed contently.
"Glad that's over with." she said, sounding much calmer and happier, "Now then, let's get a good rest before the final begins. I believe we have an hour before then."
"I'm ready for a break!" Emerald agreed, "I don't want to be battling Dawn unless I'm at my best."
She turned to her friend.
"May the best coordinator win, am I right?" she said sweetly.
"No need to worry Em!" Dawn said with a wink, "Let's just focus on giving a good show and having fun rather than winning, OK?"
Emerald nodded agreeably. She liked the idea of that. That would make the final much more fun for both of them. In an hour's time, she and Dawn would battle it out…and only one of them would be taking home the contest crown…
Looks like Avery won't be laughing for a while. Emerald has vanquished him and is now in the final with Dawn! With both of them as finalists, Tony is as good as saved as no matter who wins, he'll get the money! But who will be the coordinator queen of this show? Who will emerge victorious in this final to end all finals? Tune in next time as the contest comes to a titanic close with "Emerald vs. Dawn"...
Trivia: None for this chapter.