Chapter 18: Ready For Showtime!

The Contest Hall!

The place where all Pokemon Contest took place. Various contest halls were scattered across Hoenn! A Pokemon Coordinator must obtain five ribbons to earn entry to the Pokemon Grand Festival! The place where only the top Pokemon Coodinators gather to prove who was, indeed, the best!

And Viki hoped that she would become one of them!

As she walked though the open door, Viki could hardly wait until she had her contest pass in her hand. As far as she was concerned, the sooner she could start her training, the better. As she looked around, she saw various coordinators and their Pokemon posing for pictures as a few spectators were examining promotional posters. Most noticeably a man holding his arms in the air with his Pokemon perched above: A Beautifly on one arm, a Butterfree on the other. The huge bolded words that were in black cursive handwriting above read, "Believe…"

Viki nodded. Her thoughts exactly! If she were going to get far in her career path, then she would have to believe in herself and her Pokemon! And now that she had gained the will and the determination to go on… It was time to register.

J.C. was not one who would even be seen in a contest hall, let alone standing the registration line. It wasn't that he hated Pokemon Contests and that they were a waste of time. It was that it all seemed…well… unnecessary. So the Pokemon do a few fancy attacks, big whoop! It was all just boring to him! Still, Viki enjoyed it a lot so for her sake, and his for that matter, he didn't express his true opinions about Pokemon Contests. The last thing he needed was to hear the girl rant at him, giving him a "You just don't understand" speech.

Anyway, in the meantime, he could think about more important matters. Like a strategy on how to capture that Medicham, if…no, when he finds one. Escape would be futile with the determination and focus he'll have when the time comes. But unfortunately, focus and determination could only help so much. It's the attacks that were an issue. His Hitmonlee was skilled enough to get close to most of the Pokemon he's faced in the past, but let's face it. Medicham was a Psychic Pokemon, and like all Psychic Pokemon, they have the ability to stop a Fighting Pokemon in their tracks before they could even land a punch. That means that he would have to toughen up their special defense and increase their speed so that they'll be fast enough to touch Kadabra before he could use Psybeam and Kinesis against them. Nevertheless, beating a Psychic Pokemon with a Fighting Pokemon would be a challenge indeed.

Pokemon Center (Lavaridge Town)

Pokeballs…Check.

Pokedex just incase Flannery had any new Pokemon other than Torkoal and Camerupt…Check.

Game face…Definitely check.

The sliding door opened as Rex walked out of the Pokemon Center, mentally preparing himself for his destined encounter with Flannery. Whether it was a change of plans in Pokemon lineup or a last-minute strategy! Luckily, it wasn't going to be a double battle, but even if that were the case, it wouldn't change a thing at all! With as much on the line as it was, Rex was not going to lose this battle! Not to Flannery Moore. Not again.

The walk from the center to Lavaridge Gym wasn't that long, but it fell like an eternity. It's already been a few days since he arrived in Hoenn with his little sister and his best friend and he had managed to win one Gym Badge. And now he was going to win Badge Number Two. This time it was a more personal matter, to avenge a loss, a bit humiliating, from years ago.

His Pokemon Team was drafted specifically to conquer the attractive redhead's fire monsters. Edge was still trying to get used to its body as a Feraligatr, but Rex was confident that his newly-gained strength was enough to conquer Flannery's Camerupt. With Edge's Hydro Pump and with his prior experience taking on a Camerupt before, Rex already had an advantage. Which left her Torkoal, Magcargo, and Houndoom. At least to his knowledge from what Aurora said.

Matching Fury against the dark fire Pokemon was without question, despite the obvious type disadvantage. As he saw first hand when Darkstone-Influence Pokemon were hit with super-effective attack, they act as if it wasn't that effective in the first place. Needless to say, in this situation the best way to defeat those kind of Pokemon was with one of your own.

Lash, having learned hard-hitting moves such as Earthquake and the powerful-yet-unpredictable Magnitude, was a very good choice against Torkoal. Torkoal's defense was high, but so was Lash's attack. Also, for once, Lash would actually have a speed advantage against the turtle-like Pokemon.

And last, but not least: One of her two Slugma. They were pretty slow, but then there was their Flame Body and Magma Armor. Magma Armor basically protects them from being Frozen, but Flame Body was the bigger, worse threat: When contact is made, they have a chance of burning a Pokemon. Shellshock would be the ideal Pokemon to take against him. However, there was a possibility that Flannery was expecting him to come with Water Pokemon, let alone Edge and Shellshock. But there wasn't much to worry: The only moves that were super effective against Water-types were Grass and Electric, and last he checked, Slugma couldn't learn any of those kind of moves. In theory, Rex pretty much had this Pokemon battle in the bag. But then again, Flannery may have some surprises for him…

He had finally arrived. Rex was now in front of the Lavaridge Gym as he looked down to his Pokeball-filled belt. Within a simple nod Rex made his way to the field, which was basically a ground-type field. It was then when he saw her. Her split-ponytail hairstyle, her ruby eyes, her great body….

Rex mentally slapped himself. Why was he thinking about her this way? She was his opponent after all! Or was it because he couldn't get that damned bikini out of his memory. Oh what he wouldn't give for him to have short-term memory right now. Then again, he'd be a lucksacking trainer who relied on one-hit wonders rather than use his experiences and applying them into his battles. Damn his hormones, damn them… Why couldn't she have been fat? Why couldn't she have been ugly? Why couldn't she have been old? Hell, why couldn't she have been a he, for that matter? Why couldn't she have been anything, anything other than the way she was now? If they were there, Viki and Racquel would be teasing him (With Racquel never letting him live it down.) and J.C. would just get on his case about it. Why all of a sudden was he thinking about Flannery as a girl instead of another Gym Leader?

"You ready…" Rex said, focusing all that he could into keeping a serious face, but Flannery just smiled at him… more like grinned, anyway. But by the way she was dressed wasn't doing Rex any favors. What was she wearing? 'At least she wasn't wearing that damned Bikini again…' However, upon closer inspection, underneath her black belly shirt and her jean cut-offs, he did see the same two red strips coming from her crotch forming a "V" as Rex realized that underneath her clothes, she was wearing that damned Bikini again!

Flannery sighed, "Already? Don't you wanna talk for a bit?" She sighed as she fanned herself. "Haven't you felt this heat wave? I mean it's so hot outside! I'm surprised you're not wearing shorts! Aren't you even hot?"

Rex clenched his teeth together as he muttered. "No, I'm fine…"

"But aren't you the slightest bit thirsty?" She asked again. "We do have some juice inside."

"No thanks, I've…" Rex stopped as he remembered what his mother used to say to him about etiquette. When the host or hostess offer food or a beverage, it is polite to accept. Case in point: Rex would have to accept Flannery's offer, even if she was playing mind games. "On second thought, I am a bit thirsty…"

"Awesome!" Flannery cheered! But stopped with a glare towards someone else who had just arrived.

"Rex, don't you have a Gym Battle?" Aurora asked, glaring at Flannery. "Why are you letting her catch you off guard?"

'I'm the one who's ready to turn her down and she's saying that I'm being caught off guard?' Rex silently thanked whatever god that was watching him that he and the Moore sisters lived in different regions. Racquel already made him at times want to pull his hair out without them driving him crazy with their mind games. He quickly regained his composer as he looked towards the multi-ponytailed redhead. "I'll take a raincheck on the drink Flannery, right now we have a Pokemon battle to focus on."

Flannery nodded, "True… I do have to beat you – again!"

That comment alone caused Rex to narrow his eyes, "That was a fluke…" He mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Er… I said, you got the duke, last time! But that was then, this was now! You'll have to rely on single battles now!"

"Well then…" The redhead's eyes narrowed as she smiled. "Since you're so anxious to battle, let's go!"

Rex nodded with a grin of his own. "Let's get this over with!" All attractions aside, he was growing tired of the mind games, from Flannery and Aurora! The sooner he could beat them, the sooner he'll finally truly take a break from them both. And perhaps his sanity and rationality would recover as well…

Contest Hall (Verdanturf Town)

"Here is your Contest Pass Viki!" The receptionist chirped, as Viki received her pass in her slender hand.

"Wow! Thanks!" She cheered! "So when's the first contest?"

The receptionist looked on the screen as within a few keystrokes… "The contest is set to begin in one hour."

"Say what!" Viki blinked as she began to panic. "…I-I gotta get ready! My Pokemon need to rehearse… I need to-Whahh!" From all of her panicking, she couldn't see that she had just bumped into another contesting.

"Oww…Sorry!" The person replied as she dropped a box on the ground.

"I'm so sorry…" Viki cried as she quickly dropped down and picked up the boss. "…I-I just wasn't watching where I was going! …I-I should've paid much more attention!"

"It's okay… Mistakes happen!" She said as she placed a hand through her long, flowing blue hair. "First time?"

Viki nodded, "Yes, sorry about that. So, are you going to enter the Contest?"

She nodded, "I'm going to enter my Snorunt! It's really cool!"

Viki raised an eyebrow, "A Snorunt?" She asked.

Her blue eyes narrowed, "You mean you don't know what a-" She stopped, "Let me guess, you're not from Hoenn, right?"

"I'm from Johto, actually…" Viki extended a hand. "I'm Viki, nice to meet you!"

She shook the hand with a smile. "I'm Bulla!" She chirped. "And good luck in the contest!"

"Thanks!" The dirty-blonde girl smiled as she proceeded to skip off towards the exit as she opened the door. She sighed with a smile, "Are you that against entering the contest hall?"

JC placed the three Pokeballs he was juggling back inside of his pocket as scoffed, "I just needed to think, that's all!"

"Needed to think?" Viki mocked, "Come on, it's not that bad! What if Rei all of a sudden wanted to become a Pokemon Coordinator? Would you just coincidentally 'need to think' and stay outside?"

"Don't you have a contest to prepare for in an hour?" He glared towards the girl. "Have you even worked on a routine with Vivi yet?"

Viki instantly froze as her eyes went wide. Throughout all of her excitement and her determination to prove that Vivi could win contests, she not even for a moment had looked up her attacks, let alone come up with a routine for them to use! "…"

JC sighed, "It's simple, you have to come up with a routine that shows off your Pokemon's moves the best." He explained as Viki still remained in her frozen state. "I mean, you do know Vivi's attacks, right?" No response… "…Right?"

"…Well… I…"

"Viki, you mean to tell me that you don't know what moves the freakin' Pokemon has?" JC slapped his hand onto his forehead. "This is really stupid! You only have one hour and you're deciding on working with a Pokemon that you don't even know what kind of moves it has?"

Viki collapsed on the ground as she covered her eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry okay! I…I was just caught up into the excitement when it never occurred to me to figure out what kind of moves Vivi knows!"

JC watched as the young girl began to cry, "Look Viki, don't worry, I'll…" He stopped as he shook his head. "No, you're on your own this time…" He coldly said.

Viki blinked, "But JC, come on…" She cried.

"No Viki, you're gonna have to do this yourself!" JC crossed his arms. If he stepped in and helped Viki, she wouldn't learn how to be responsible and it would happen again! It would then be the same old crap over and over and over again!

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Viki had already a lot going against her, with her being inexperienced and all! And now, having all but confirmed that she was going to use Vivi in the first contest. And now more than ever she needed JC's help and support in this, but he wasn't having any part of that. Now she had no other choice…

JC looked down as she saw that face. That face all younger sisters knew how to do, the face all older brothers dread, including Rex. Yes, it was the behated Puppy Dog pout! "I'm not Rex, I won't cave in to that face you're making!" He stated as her lower lip began to shake. "No Viki, you're gonna have to deal with it yourself! You made you bed, now you have to lie in it!"

"Please…"

"No!" JC knew that it was cruel of him, but sometimes called for tough love. Rex and Racquel were too soft and easygoing on her while she was basically Daddy's Little Girl. It appeared it would be up to him to teach the youngest Connelly sibling that sometimes, there wasn't a such thing as a happy ending. And that she would have to deal with the harsh but trueconsequences of her actions, or negligence rather…

Pretty harsh of JC wasn't it? Now with an hour away, what will Viki do? Will she use Vivi, or will she have to make a substitution? Also, the Gym Battle/Rematch between Rex and Flannery begins, what will happen? Will Rex win his 2nd badge or will history repeat itself?