Author's Note:
Here it is, the introduction to the best rival of any companion... period. Okay, maybe he's not as tough or as prominent as some but he is a lot of fun. He is appearing earlier than canon... but that's because I can't wait to write him... It's Harley, in case you couldn't guess based on the title. Oh, and May gets to compete in a second contest. That's cool. But most important is Harley. I hope I caught his pettiness correctly. I also want to say that all of May's rivals will have full teams by the grand festival. Unlike in the canon, and with our special guest today, I've tried to make all of them fit his... theme... of creepiness. Oh, and the couple chapters between now and the next gym battle will may focus. Oh, and we get an at the lab scene but I'm really excited to write Harley, if you couldn't tell so let's stop wasting time. Don't forget to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin.
Chapter Twenty-seven: Verdanturf Contest: Harley Fair
Feebas smiled as she leaped out of the water. Whilst she prefers the stronger salt waters of the open oceans, these lakes at the lab are really nice. Soaking in the warm, mild, Kantonian sun, she looked around to see who she could make out.
Some sort of scaley orange dragon with small wings, at least compared to their actual body size stood in the lake. Seeming to converse with a Lapras. She only knew of that species because of her father's stories whilst they were in the eggs. Having heard of some of the Pokémon, she'd guess their Ash's. Serena suggested Lapras might make a good pseudo sister but... she's also heard less positive things about the dragon so maybe she'll hold off on meeting them.
Her eyes caught sight of a large blue turtle in black sunglasses with canons sticking out his shell. He appeared to be failing at impressing some females.
Not wanting to get caught up in that, she started swimming around the edge when two Pokémon caught her attention. One she easily recognized as Quagsire. While she never met one, Serena showed her pictures of all her team. Smiling, she remembered the words from her trainer, "sure. He can be a bit of a goof ball, but he has a good heart. And will make friends with anyone so if you need something, he'll be the one to go to."
Making her way towards him, she took in the sight of his playmate. Some sort of blue, crocodile Pokémon. They were splashing around in the water, knocking a big red ball between themselves. She swam her way up to them, a little unsure how to get their attention, "h-hello?"
"Oh hi!" Quagsire smiled wide, turning to face her head on. Seeming to forget it was his turn to hit the ball, it bounced off his head. She could've sworn she saw mini-Psyduck's spinning around his bald head as he swayed back and forth in an exaggerated manner.
She struggled to stifle a little laugh at the silly Pokémon.
"Sorry Quag!" the other Pokémon apologised, turning towards her, "and hi! I'm Croconaw! Who are you? Oooh, are you the Corphish my trainer caught?"
"Erm, no," she muttered, "but I'm guessing since your trainer caught Corphish, that means you're on Ash's team?"
"Yep! That I am!" he smiled, puffing his chest out, "so who are you if not Corphish?"
"I'm Feebas... a-and Serena is my trainer," she explained.
"Nice! I have a trainer called Serena too!" Quagsire seemingly recovered, "maybe they could become friends."
"I-erm-I actually think that we have the same Serena trainer," Feebas replied, "y-you see. She told us back in Hoenn about her friends at the lab and showed us pictures. So... I guess I wanted to get to know some of her other Pokémon... like yourself."
"Cool, cool, cool, cool!" he cheered, "wait. Feebas? Jigglypuff mentioned wanting to run through a routine with you."
"Serena mentioned her too," she nodded.
"I can show you where they are but if you swim up the stream to the smaller lake north of here then you'll find her," he smiled, "I think she's rehearsing with both Kingdra and Dewgong at the moment."
"Right..." she murmured, "she also said our performance was a routine with them. I-I think I can find the rest of the way. Thanks for the direction."
"Okie-dokie-Ariadosie!" Quagsire smiled, "but if you need anything else then you know where to find us. Right Croconaw?"
"Right!" the pure water type gave her a claw up with an equally wide smile.
Feeling one take over her own lips, she gave a small nod to the duo and turned around swimming away. Sighing in relief as she located the stream up to the second lake, she doubled her efforts. Serena sure was right about Quagsire, which means she must've been right about all her team. She heard nice things about all of them. The worst being Beedrill and Kabutops who were a bit of train-o-holics... or Gengar but she thinks Serena was just trying to scare them.
Reaching the lake, she felt the water rushing towards her, but it wasn't much. Doubling her efforts, she set off up stream, soon making it to the less crowded secondary lake. Looking around, she saw two Pokémon in the water performing some sort of routine, which prevented her getting a good look.
Seeing the pink round Pokémon on the land, she recognized her from Serena's stories as well. Her teams choreographer, who has had a hand in most of the routines they've come up with. Heading over, the normal fairy she must've noticed her as she walked around the edge to see her.
"Sorry but we're a little busy practising up here," she explained, "there should be plenty of space to swim down in the main lake."
"Erm-actually," she stuttered, "I've come to practise too. Y-you see, Serena and I... well we've been practising, and she told me about you... and how you help with choreographing at the ranch... I'm Feebas, by the way."
"Oh," she looked side to side with her big round eyes, a long pause after the exaggeration, "your Feebas?"
"Is... something wrong?" she hesitantly asked.
"No, no," she shook her head. Pulling out some sort of clip board from behind her, she flicked through a few pages. Taking out some sort of marker pen to start writing down on the paper, "it's just she told me you evolve into a Milotic. We saw one at the Wallace cup, so I got excited with ideas for routines... I'mma need a couple hours to re-plan out a routine for something more your style. Kay?"
She didn't even wait for an answer before walking away. Despite not outright saying it, she could feel the judgement from her supposed team-mate.
Serena said she had a bit of an attitude but had mellowed out a lot since taking on the role of choreographer... hopefully Kingdra and Dewgong will be nicer.
May smiled as she scanned the grassy field where her team was training. Over the last few days more and more coordinators arrived at Verdanturf, and she moved her sessions to the outskirts for space. Which was exactly what they were working on right now.
Clamperl was working with Minun, both putting the finishing touches on her own appeals performance and helping the energetic cheering Pokémon with one of her own. As Beautifly helped Mawile work on a separate appeals performance. In front of her was Torchic, as they faced off in a battle against Poochyena. A series of scorch marks burnt away the grass around the dark type, he crouched low, growling threateningly.
He pounced. Dark type energy foaming out of his mouth with fangs flaring.
"Quick Attack into Ember!" she shouted.
Her starter disappeared in the blink of an eye. Re-emerging underneath the canine, his beak opened wide, shooting out a barrage of embers.
The fire balls struck the underbelly of her Bite Pokémon and knocked him into the air. Landing on his back, his tongue flopped out of his mouth to the side.
"Awesome job, Torchic! We're gonna get that second ribbon for sure!" she declared, running over to her starter, "just keep doing what you have been, and we can't lose!"
"Tor Torchic!"
A groaning sound came from behind and she turned to see Poochyena still in his overturned position. Smiling, she kneeled next to him and roughly rubbed his belly in a playful manner. Letting out a howl of affection, she picked him up as he showed his own gratitude by licking her.
"Hahaha, stop!" she cried, "that tickles!"
Falling onto her behind, she landed flat on her back as her pure dark type continued to show his affection as she felt another weight landed on her stomach, jumping up and down. It didn't take her long to guess it belonged to her pure fire type.
A shadow covered her face and she turned to the side. The vague figure of a person stood over her but with the sun directly behind them, she couldn't quite make out any details yet. With her two Pokémon stopping, she stood up with Poochyena in her arms, as Torchic took guard by her feet.
"Excuse me," a voice drew her attention. Turning towards the source, she found a boy, probably a few years older than herself walking towards her. He was dressed in a light green jacket with dark diamonds design down the sleeves. A dark blue undershirt which had another diamond shape revealing his pierced belly button. With the same colour and design trousers to match his jacket. Long purple hair could be seen hanging as two bangs on either side of his face with a darker shade green, pointed hat, "but that last move you pulled off with your Torchic was fabulous! Tell me you're entering the Verdanturf contest?"
"Thanks," she replied, "we are planning to enter."
"I guess that makes me pretty smart," he replied, "me too."
"Hey, that's great!" she smiled, "I'm May."
"It's nice to meet you, May," he smiled, taking out a Pokéball, "I'm Harley. And you can say hello to my partner. Cool, calm and collected, Cacturne!"
In a flash of light, a tall humanoid Pokémon appeared, stood on two legs. It was slightly shorter than Harley himself but taller than May. She couldn't help but notice some striking similarities between this Pokémon and Serena's Cacnea, such as the same green coloured skin and dark shade for spikes. It's face had two eye holes, through which yellow eyes could be seen, and six smaller holes representing a grinning mouth. Numerous spikes covered the body, along the length of their arms, legs, and neck. A pattern of rhombi extended down the front of their body, which were three dark green shapes in a row. There was a triangular, dark green feature on top of their head that resembled a hat with a spiky tip... Glancing between the coordinator and his Pokémon, she couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between his Pokémon and his outfit.
"Oh, a Cacturne?" she muttered mostly to herself, pulling out her Pokédex:
Cacturne, The Scarecrow Pokémon. The final evolved form of Cacnea. If a traveller is going through a desert in the thick of night, Cacturne will follow in a ragtag group. The Pokémon are biding their time, waiting for the traveller to tire, and become incapable of moving
As she points the device away, she turned her attention towards the male coordinator. He seemed slightly stiff, with a straightened spine. His lips were curved down in a frown with half-narrowed eyes. It was only for a split second as he blinked, the same wide smile taking up most of his face.
"A dark type, huh, just like you Poochyena," she smiled, glancing down to the canine in her arms. He gave a cheerful howl of agreement, "even just standing there, Cacturne's so impressive it's kind of scary."
Turning back to the purple haired boy, whose face had fell once more. Although it was probably just her imagine as a second later, a wide smile took back control, "yeah, I guess. Oh, by the way. Would you care for a cookie, May? I just baked them myself today."
"Awe, I'd love one, thanks," she replied, reaching into the small bag he pulled out his pocket. Giving the chocolate-chipped treat a quick glance, she smiled and took it in with one bite. Quickly breaking it down, she swallowed it, "hey, you know what. These cookies aren't half bad."
Her eyes must be playing tricks on her as his face, for a nano-second flicked to the disgruntled look. It seemed the more aware of the apparent change, the shorter it actually lasts. Maybe she's just been training so hard since arriving in Verdanturf that this is her head's way to say it needs a break.
"Tor Torchic!" her starter jumped up and down by her feet.
"Huh, you want one too, Torchic?" she asked.
"Chic Tor-Chic!"
"Okay, we'll take one more cookie, Harley!" she smiled, glancing back to the teen-dressed-in-green... but he was no-where to be found, and neither was his Cacturne, "erm... Harley? Well... that was weird."
She glanced down to Torchic, who shrugged his wings. Turning back to where they were stood, she blinked again.
"I wonder why he took off," she mused, lasting on it for about thirty seconds, "all well. Maybe he wants to do some last-minute practise. Oh, and his Cacturne was the evolved form of Cacnea so what do you say Torchic. Wanna go find Serena to battle Cacnea instead?"
"Torchic Tor!"
"Alright!" she smiled, setting the dark type down to turn towards her other Pokémon, "come on guys, we've gotta get going!"
Walking over, she picked Clamperl up in her arms, knowing the water type struggled to move around by herself on land. As her Beautifly landed on her head with a friendly humming. Torchic lead the way with a strong, straight posture. While Poochyena and Minun, ran together, playing some sort of tag. Mawile walked by her side, carefully watching the world pass by as they made their way back into the hill-top town.
While that Harley guy seemed nice, she wasn't about consider him as anything more than a friend. Her radar is pretty accurate, and she is sure she's not his type... so to speak. If she's right, he'll be more interested in Ash or Brock. Not that she has an issue with that, he was really friendly, after all.
It'll be nice to have a friend competing in contests... like a friendly competition.
May shuffled back and forth over the floor. Her hands clasped together in front of her as her fingers wrapped around each other. She kept glancing up at the clock in the waiting room. Beside her stood Brock, arms crossed and his foot lightly tapping the floor.
"I can't believe Max isn't here yet," she groaned, "what if he's lost or-"
"Ash and Serena have both gone to find him," Brock replied, "and he said he was going to the restroom. Maybe your over-reacting."
"After what went down at the carnival, can you blame me?" she asked, pausing, she took a deep breath, "sorry. It's just. I'm his older sister s-so it's my responsibility to keep him safe... This is why I didn't want him to come journeying."
"Okay... deep breath," Brock instructed, "your parents left me in charge of him. You just need to focus on the upcoming contest."
"How can you be this calm, Brock?" she asked, "what if-"
"Firstly, I don't consider what if's," he cut her off, "doing so leads down a million Nidoran holes. It'll only leave you confused and upset. I wait until I see evidence something is wrong before trying to solve any sort of issue. Heh, if I didn't, I wouldn't be much use as a doctor, even one in training."
"But-"
"I'm coming May!" Max's voice came from behind, echoing, and strained. Cutting her off once more.
"Hope we're not late!" Harley's voice followed. Soon both boys came around the corner and stopped right in front of her, the older one only seemed slightly winded as her little brother panted heavily, leaning against his legs. Harley stood up, his hand over his heart as his chest raised and lowered, "man, I just about broke my neck running here."
"Hey Harley," she smiled, turning her gaze downward along with her smile, placing hands on her hips, "and where have you been young man? I was worried."
"Wait. You really shouldn't be mad at Max," Harley interjected, "you see, I tend to get super nervous before a contest and was having a spot of tea to calm my nerves. That's when I bumped into your little Maximus. And when I learnt he was your brother, May, well I insisted he come along with me."
"And then he brought me this hugh ice cream sundae with sprinkles and sauce and everything!" Max exploded, holding his arms out for emphasis.
"You see, my darling Cacturne has a bit of a sweet tooth for good ole rawst berry ripple. So, I always get him one before we compete together," Harley continued, "just our little pre-show ritual. You know how it is. And I couldn't very well let this little sweetie go without, you see."
"That was nice," she smiled, turning her attention back to the teen-in-green, "thanks Harley."
"No problemo," he smiled, "your brother is really quiet a gentlemen. He'll make some girl very happy one day... or who knows, maybe some boy."
"Well, I think we should go and find our seats, come on Max," Brock mentioned, leading her younger brother away. She smiled as they disappeared out of sight, sighing in relief.
"So how are ya'll doing May?" Harley asked, "sorry for running of yesterday but I just remembered my little cutie whose gonna be in the appeals round needed picking up from Nurse Joy. I'm such a scatterbrain, I'd swear I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on."
"Oh, it's no problem, Harley," she smiled, "in fact-"
"Calling Harley Hayden," a stagehand popped their head out of a nearby door, "you'll be performing first."
"Guess that's my cue," he smiled, "ooh, wish me luck. Will you May-kins."
"Of course, Harley," she smiled as he walked over to the assistant, holding his hand up as he disappeared from sight.
Sighing, she turned to the television screen, which was still showing adverts. She's just glad that it was Harley he ran into and not some sort of creep. At least this contest is turning out better than the first one. It's nice not having some hostile coordinator critising her every move. Shaking her head, she tried to forget about the cute boy with green hair as the screen played the opening title sequence for all broadcast contests.
"Ladies, gentlemen and Pokémon of all species. Our lovely Verdanturf contest is about to begin," Vivian announced as the television screen cut to a face shot of her, "we have a wide selection of coordinator's from all over, who have come to compete for this. The Verdanturf ribbon."
She held up a contest ribbon with the fabric being a dark green colour on the inside with a lighter shade around the edges. A golden centre held it together.
"A coordinator needs to earn five ribbons in order to compete in the Grand festival, where they'll compete to earn the title of top coordinator," she continued, with the crowd cheering in the background, "and deciding who'll make it through will be the work of our judges. Head of the contest committee is Mr Contesta."
A light appeared overhead, revealing the older man from the Slateport contest, in the same red blazer, "a pleasure as always to visit this sunny town."
"Next we have the president of the Pokémon fan club," she continued. With another light appearing over the middle seat, revealing the shorter guy in the same navy-blue suit, "Mr Sukizo."
"I look forward to seeing all the remarkable performances we have lined up," he smiled.
"And finally, Verdanturf's own Nurse Joy!" Vivian announced as the last seat lit up to reveal the head of the Pokémon centre, "now without further ado we'll welcome our first contestant to the stage! From Slateport city we have Harley Hayden!"
The teen-in-green walking out onto the stage, with the shadow of his cap covering his eyes. An eerie silence fell over the crowd as he stopped in the centre.
"It's my turn?" he asked, one hand on his hip as the other held his Pokéball, "come on out my nimble, narrow and, noble Ninjask!"
In a flash of light, a small bug Pokémon with two pairs of wings flying in place. It's body was mostly black with accents of yellow and grey. Most of its head was yellow, but there was a solid band of black between its gleaming red eyes. The band expanded in circular pattern around it's forehead, between two pointed crests on the sides of its head. The underside of it's head was grey and segmented, making it somewhat resemble a veil. With the camera rotating around it, she saw the back, which was a patch of black with a stretch of yellow. Most of its carapace and abdomen was black, but there was a ring of yellow near the tip. Its grey insectoid arms extended from its chest and had its small, yellow claws turned inward. There was a similar pair of black legs. It had large, veined wings with triangular, red tipping's. With a constant, low buzzing which slowly quietened the audience. She pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it towards the screen:
Ninjask, The Ninja Pokémon. A final evolved form of Nincada. Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that it cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible
"It's not even done anything yet, but the audience seems totally mesmerised by it," she muttered to herself, putting the device away. It also seemed like he was a completely different person on stage, but she figured that could just be some sort of performer persona he puts on, "unreal."
"I'm glad to see you understand I don't allow talking within my performance," Harley smiled, giving a slight head nod to the audience, "Ninjask Scary Face!"
The bug flying type vibrated in place, the buzzing growing into a loud, ear bursting pitch. A red outline surrounded the body.
"And Harley instructs Ninjask to use a move it's species can't actually learn," Vivian announced, "one thing is for certain, he has this audience on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what's next!"
Ninjask shot out of place, a red outline trailing behind. It seemed to travel all over the stage as the red markings created jagged corners in weird shapes.
The tele cut to an overview as a small tint of green appeared within the colour. Slashes were made, cutting up the red lines, like a painting in motion.
It was only a matter of seconds but soon the stage was covered with a single image. Two sharp, jagged eyes were on top of the stage with the bottom half being a creepy, zigzagged, smile, with slight tilts upwards. The small bug shot above the image, vibrating in place.
An outline of green energy shot out like a wave. It struck the stage, causing the image to implode like a fire work of red and green.
With the ninja Pokémon returning to their trainers side, floating in place, "and what a performance to open up our contest today? In less than twenty second, Harley and his Ninjask completely stole this audience and took us on a wild wide! So, let's see what our judges thought."
"While your Pokémon of choice are known for their speed, this surely takes that to another level," Mr Contesta gave a slight nod, "expertly done."
"It was remarkable!" Mr Sukizo added.
"The skilfulness and precision show a high level of care and training," Nurse Joy praised, "just the kind of thing I like to see in Pokémon."
Harley smirked and gave a single wave of his hand towards the audience. The sort of wave you'd expect to see from royalty or nobility. Walking off the stage with his bug flying type flying beside him, not a single sound had been uttered by the audience.
"Now let's move on with our second coordinator!" Vivian jumped back onto the stage, "Janet Megumi from Rustboro city!"
Serena frowned as she watched the teen-in-green walk off the stage. Even if she can't put her finger on it, something about that guy just seems off. Granted, she's not met him face to face yet but from how May described their meeting and Brock's story of how he took Max for ice cream... it just sounded like he was trying too hard to be nice and friendly. Not to mention, his creepy performance was too convincing to be the act persona he was putting on.
"Man, Harley is a lot better than I thought," Ash muttered, taking a drink from his Slaking sized soda, "hope May will be alright."
"Yeah," Brock added, "with that sort of opener, it'll put all the other coordinator's on edge. I bet he's already made his way through to the battle round."
"How many coordinator's are competing?" Max asked.
"Somewhere around thirty, give or take... it's only a small contest hall," Serena explained, "so her chances are good. At least for moving on."
"As long as she can stay focused," Ash added.
"Hey Ash, not to sound rude or anything but..." Max paused, "how are you? I mean, you should barely be able to walk and-"
"Hehehe, what can I say, Max?" he chuckled nervously. Turning her gaze back towards the stage, she inwardly sighed. The young boy is far from stupid, and her boyfriend hardly sounded convincing, "maybe I've just got a high pain threshold... or I heal fast."
"Uh huh," the boy's unconvinced call echoed. Not that she blamed him, it was a pretty weak argument from her chocolate-eyed boyfriend.
"So Max, wanna tell us what you were doing with Harley?" she asked, trying to cut Ash some slack and change the topic.
"Well... nothing much," he replied, "he matched May's description and I kinda got intrigued by his Pokémon. He had both Ninjask and Cacturne out. Going over to see them, we got talking and I realised he was the one May mentioned. Then we went to get the ice cream and he said he was nervous so-"
"Now welcoming our next coordinator to the stage!" Vivian's announcement cut him off, "May Maple from Petalburg city!"
His voice died in his throat as they all turned towards the stage, just in time to see the young coordinator run out with a real spring in her step. A single spotlight followed her, and she stopped centre stage, tossing a Pokéball high into the air, "Clamperl! Take the stage!"
Her bivalve Pokémon materialised in the centre of the battlefield which made up the stage. Her blue shell opened up, revealing the smiling faced pearl.
"You know what to do, Clamperl!" May hallowed.
The clamp shut tight and rolled backwards. A jet of water shot up, sparkling under the stage lights. Spinning on her back joint, the pure water type became enveloped in sphere of water. A mystic healing light shimmered over the Pokémon within the water display.
Opening her shell, she seemed to cry although it was difficult to make out from under the water. Which spread out like a sort of rapid whirlpool around her.
A massive get of water sprouted from underneath the bivalve Pokémon. Launching her high up into the air, she spun around, shimmering with a metal coat.
Making a complete hundred-and-eighty-degree turn she blew out a pale blue breath. In struck the rapid water display below, freezing it in place.
Clamperl fell and turned once more, landing atop the frozen pillar. Her shell opened revealing the same, happy, pink face from before.
"And now to finish it off!" May declared, "shell smash into dive!"
Closing her shell again, several red cracks formed over her body. With a small leap, she crashed into the ice display. Still completely visible.
Some sort of swirling vortex formed within the ice. Soon it broke apart in a whirlpool of water with May's Bivalve Pokémon at the centre.
"And finished," she declared.
"What a lovely display of water and ice by May and her captivating Clamperl!" Vivian announced, "reminiscent of Hoenn's own contest star Wallace! One has to wonder if she's planning on visiting Kanto for this year's Wallace Cup but for right now, we need to find out what our judges thought."
"Whilst impressive in scale and execution, it lacked originality," Mr Contesta informed, "Hoenn, more than most regions, have plenty of water specialists so imitating them is the last way for any coordinator to make a mark all of their own. Second contest or not."
"I felt like it was remarkable," Mr Sukizo smiled.
"Clamperl certainly seemed happy and performed without much instruction," Nurse Joy added, "a sign of good training and rehearsals."
"Well now it's time to move onto the next coordinator!" Vivian announced, "from Foretree city it's Ethan James!"
Serena sighed and relaxed in her seat as the next coordinator took the stage. A pool of guilt formed in her stomach. While she knew they were easier on newer coordinators, it seems Mr Contesta isn't taking that approach and the only reason she can think off as to why, is because she's acting as a mentor.
"Man, I hope May will be alright," Max muttered, dragging her out of the thought.
"I wouldn't worry too much, Max, that Contesta guy likes to criticise everyone so it's harder to guess who'll go through," Ash smiled, "right Serena?"
"Huh?" she mumbled, "yeah. I'm sure May will be just fine."
As the coordinator's continued to perform appeals performance, the group lingered in and out of conversation. While a few performances caught their eye, none ended up matching the original display from Harley... and none received quiet the same audience reaction either. Soon they entered an intermission break whilst the judges decided upon who'll be moving through. While Serena certainly had faith in her friend, she had to admit May faced tough competition.
"Sorry about the wait everyone but our judges have finally decided which of our coordinators will be moving onto the top four to battle it out for our elegant Verdanturf ribbon, and they are!" Vivian gesture up to the screen above her.
The first image to appear was Harley, not that she was surprised. Regardless of her gut feeling about him, he had done a great job in his performance. The second image appeared, and it appeared to be a boy around May's age, but she couldn't quiet place his performance in her memory. May's picture appeared in the bottom left corner, right under the teen-in-green. Smiling she barely noticed the final coordinator appear as she relaxed back in her seat.
"And there you have it!" Vivian announced, "our final four are, Harley Hayden, Zack Montague, May Maple and Janet Megumi! Now let's see how our top four battles shall be facing each other!"
The images on the cards turned over to a simple Pokéball design. Piling on top of each other, two split off upwards to the top halve of the screen while the remaining two went downward. The top two turned over, revealing Harley would be facing off against the boy named Zack. With the final two images flipping to reveal May would be facing the Janet girl.
May sat on the bench in the waiting room. Torchic on her lap with her arms wrapped around as both looked up to the television screen.
It was turned to the current contest and Harley's battle in the top four. His Cacturne was facing off against some sort of floating bug type, it appeared to be closer to Dustox rather than her own Dustox. Although it hardly mattered as the teen-in-green easily lead the battle. Dismissing half his opponents points in less than two minutes. It was clear these two coordinator's were on two separate levels.
A loud buzzer sounded. The screen cut to the result board as Vivian gestured towards it, "and our first finalist is none-other than Harley and his Cacturne!"
Sighing as the screen turned to some sort of advert, she shook her head. There was already a stagehand at the door. Knowing they were waiting to lead her to the stage, she unclipped her starter's Pokéball from her belt. Clenching it tight, she made her way over.
The walk was quick, quicker than she would've liked. While she knows how hard the little guy has been working to compete today, she can't help but feel apprehensive. After all, even if they win, they'll need to face Harley in the final. He is certainly nice and friendly but if his first battle proved anything, along with that surreal appeals performance, it's that he can't be taken lightly. He might be the most talented coordinator she's seen... granted, that isn't a long list.
Stopping at the edge of the stage, below the staircase which lead up. She could barely make out the proceeds... at least visually.
"And now folks, it's time we move onto the second top four battle!" Vivian announced, "both of these coordinator's already won a ribbon each! First from Petalburg city we have May Maple! And from Rustboro city we have Janet Megumi!"
She felt her heart stop as the loud applause echoed through the building. Shaking her head, she made her way up the stairs. On the opposite side of the stage stood a women closer to twenty with medium length brown hair. They each made their way to their respective boxes on the battlefield.
"This will be a one-on-one contest battle between May and Janet!" Vivian explained, "for those of you who don't already know, a contest battle is one where the aim is to show off your own Pokémon whilst battling! Our judges will be removing points as applicable until either side hits zero! Of course, they could also win through running out the five-minute time limit, in which case the coordinator with the most points remaining shall win! So, let's see who'll be battling! A quick reminder that each coordinator registered their selected Pokémon beforehand and are now unable to switch!"
"Torchic! Take the stage!" she shouted, tossing her Pokéball forward.
Her fire starter materialised on the field with a low crouch. His eyes narrowed and one of his talons scrapped across the floor. He's really been looking forward to competing and seeing his commitment pushed out the last bit of anxiety she might've had.
"You're up Beautifly!" Janet shouted.
In a flash of light, her bug flying type appeared in front of them. It might just be her imagination because she's facing it, but she could've sworn it was larger than her own Beautifly. It floated around in a circular pattern with the large eyes locked on her starter.
Torchic let out a loud, anger-filled cry, at their opponent. His determined cry filling her with excitement.
"May has gone with her Torchic, while Janet has her Beautifly! While it's clear May holds a type advantage, the fact that Beautifly has fully evolved could push the battle in either direction!" Vivian announced, "only one way to find out, so let's get down to this battle!"
A beep sounded across the stage. The flicker of lights from the screen indicated the same screen from the Slateport contest but she focused ahead.
May verses Janet: Top Four
She smiled as Torchic let out a battle cry. Launching out a barrage of fire balls across the stage.
Beautifly swooped out of the way, hardly disturbing the dance pattern. With a mighty flap of the sparkling wings, a gust dazzling with bug type energy blew against her fire starter, who gritted his beak, wincing.
"Get on the move and try to shoot her down!" May instructed.
Her chic Pokémon took off from his starting position, easily moving out of the way of the silver wind. Opening his beak, he shot out a swirling fire spin.
Janet's fully evolved bug type ended her attack and rose up high above the field. Flapping her wings with more strength, it blew into the flames.
Both attacks collided centre field and imploded against each other. Embers rained down over the stage as each side stared the other down.
"Quiver dance and move in close!" Janet shouted.
The bug flying type began to glow, shimmering under the stage lights. Speeding up, she swooped down over the stage.
May's chic Pokémon barely had time to jump to the side. Stumbling as he landed after dodging, a thick string shot landed on his back.
Beautifly ascended once more, dragging her starter with her. Stopping under a bright light. With a flick of her head, she pulled the pure fire type up to her eye level, cutting her string shot. The large eyes glew blue and a wave of psychic type energy shot out, engulfing her starter.
"Torchic!" she cried out.
With the psychic hold around her fire starter, their opponent had a dark green energy wave radiate out of her. The two attacks created quite a surreal display.
A bright white light formed at the centre of the blue and green light show. Fiery red added to the display with a fire ball engulfing both. Beautifly flew out of one side as Torchic landed on the stage, still glowing brightly. He slowly stood up with his form changing drastically.
As the glowing stopped, a new Pokémon landed beneath where Torchic was being held. He still stood on two legs, but most of his upper body was yellow, while his lower body was the same orange colour which covered his pre-evolution. An orange pointed design adorns the centre of his waist at the dividing line of the two halves. He had orange eyes and a short, wide beak. He had a feather crest on top of his head with three orange points. A small and pointed tail was barely visible behind. With three sharp claws at the end of each arm, and scaly, grey legs with well-developed thighs covered in shaggy feathers. May pulled out her Pokédex to scan her newly evolved Pokémon:
Combusken, The Young Fowl Pokémon. The evolved form of Torchic. Combusken battles with the intensely hot flames it spews from its beak and with outstandingly destructive kicks. This Pokémon's cry is very loud and distracting
Type: Fire / Fighting
Ability: Blaze
Hidden Ability: Speed Boost (Note: This hidden ability is currently locked)
Gender: Male
Nature: Rash (Note: This could change when/if this Pokémon evolves)
Move(s): Scratch, Growl, Peck, Ember, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, Flame Charge, Fire Spin, Double Kick, Slash, Focus Energy
"What a surprise! May's Torchic evolved mid-battle!" Vivian announced, "but with less than two minutes left, we have to wonder if it's too little, too late."
A thick golden-yellow powder began raining down over the stage. May gasped, "use fire straight up!"
Combusken looked up with a glint in his eye. With a mighty cry, he let out a loud cry, a stream of flames followed through. Spinning around, the flames consumed him as it blocked the surprise stun spore.
Leaping up from the position, his arms were spread out downward with glowing claws. Flames trailing behind as he easily covered the upper area of the stage.
Slashing both claws in front of him, he was able to deliver two swift blows. Grabbing a hold of the weakened butterfly Pokémon, he spun around.
Shooting down a quick barrage of embers, he sent the bug flying type down into the stage. Falling shortly after, he spun around with his clawed talons glowing with an orange tint. Landing directly on top of their opponent, he delivered two powerful kicks.
As he walked away from the collision. The butterfly Pokémon glew and raised up off the stage behind him, eyes glowing blue.
"Look out!" she cried.
With a swift spin on his heels, he launched out a large spinning flame. It easily broke through the psychic and consumed the fully evolved Pokémon.
A tornado of flames spun around. After nearly ten seconds, it faded, revealing the bug flying type on the ground. Swirls replacing her eyes.
"With twelve seconds left on the clock, Combusken made a surprise knockout victory!" Vivian announced, "meaning May will be the trainer facing Harley in the final for a Verdanturf ribbon. We'll take a short break to clean the stage and give our finalists a chance to recuperate so stay tuned!"
Serena made her way down the corridor and turned towards the waiting room. Stepping inside she found May sat on one of the benches, fiddling with one of her Pokéballs as she nervously watched the screen. Catching a glance of the television, she saw it playing a couple highlights from today's contest.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, approaching the young girl. May turned to face her and relaxed with a smile on her face as she took a seat next to the budding coordinator.
"Nervous," she muttered, "I don't know why but... this is a lot worse than Slateport."
"It's because you've seen what Harley can do," she replied, "not just in appeals but his battle. You never saw Drew battle before you faced him."
"Oh, nononono," a voice pierced through her ears. A purple haired boy in green ran into the room and stood between them, facing May, "I can't have you feeling the hibijibes because of lil ole me. We need to fight with everything we have to give 'em a good show out there."
"You must be Harley," she greeted, raising her voice. He paused, turning towards her.
"Hello darling, you must be friends with little Maykins here," he greeted, a wide smile on his face, "tell me, are you her special friend? I don't judge."
"Leave her alone, Harley," May instructed with a happy undertone, "she has a boyfriend."
"A boyfriend, huh, I'll need to meet him sometime," he winked, "I never had much luck in landing a hunk myself. Maybe you could give us a little tip, just one girlfriend to another. Kay hun?"
"Erm," she blinked. Unsure what to say to the eccentric boy, especially as images of Miette flashed in front of her mind.
"Oh sweetie," Harley pouted, "we're all girlfriends right. I just want me and Maykins to have fun in the final."
"Uh huh," she mumbled, not believing a word. Something about him just rubs her the wrong way, it was a similar feeling she got around Miette, like someone trying too hard to be nice. It's like a dead give-away to having something to hide.
"Okay sweeties, I'll leave you bff's for a little pre-battle pep talk," he smiled, "I've got to powder my nose. Toodles!"
She watched him walkway with the emphasis in his hips wobbling. While he's certainly eccentric and not afraid to show it
"You still don't like him?" May asked.
"I can't say for certain but-" she paused.
"You could just read his mind," she shrugged, "maybe that would show you he's just a nice guy, trying to be friendly."
"I'm not going to just invade someone's space like that," she grumbled, "even if I think they're up to something."
"I know he's going to be tough competition and this battle will be arguably my toughest yet," May reassured, "but that's just how the battles have fallen. I can't complain if he wins because he's more experienced and we shouldn't be judging him because he'll likely win."
"That's not my reason for distrusting him," she shook her head, "but I guess we'll just need to wait for something to happen. Part of me hopes I am wrong."
"May Maple, we need to get ready for the final match," the stage hand informed. She turned to look at her and Serena couldn't help but feel a massive rush of pride fill up her body. She may have only met her a couple months ago, but she has really grown in confidence.
"Go get 'em," she encouraged as her friend walked towards the door. She turned back with slightly narrowed eyes, filled with a flame of determination. Giving a small nod, she turned back and doubled down, disappearing through it.
Smiling, she turned around set off back towards her seat. She made it back to her friends with relative ease. Ash leaned over and pecked her cheek.
"How is she?" he asked, as their hands locked together.
"Nervous but that's to be expected," she replied, "but that Harley..."
"You don't like him?" he asked.
"I can't quite explain it," she mumbled, "just something about him rubs me the wrong way."
May stood at the bottom of the stairs. Her heart thumping against her chest as she vaguely looked up to the stage.
"And now folks it's time we move onto our final match of the day!" Vivian's voice echoed, "both of our final coordinator's have proven to be talented as both have won at least one other ribbon from another contest! So first of, we have May Maple from Petalburg city!"
She made her way up the stairs and across the stage with the lights still blinding her. It didn't take her long to reach the trainers box as her eye glanced across the cheering crowd. It was funny, whilst still nervous they weren't the source of her anxiety like at the Slateport contest. No, she knew her feelings were all because of her next opponent. Even knowing she has a massive type advantage doesn't do anything to quell these feelings.
"And second we have Harley Hayden from Slateport city!" she continued.
The applause erupted once more and maybe it was her imagination, but it felt like he received a lot more attention. Then again, after the surreal appeals performance and utter domination of his first battle, it was likely he was the favourite to win.
She took a deep breath, thinking, "we're both friends. As long as we give it our all, we can be happy regardless of who wins."
Her attention focused on the other side of the stage as Harley appeared with a narrowed gaze and smirk on his lips. With a hard swallow, she realised he must still be using that stage persona. Hopefully it won't be enough to distract them since she knows how he truly is when off the stage.
"This will be a one-on-one contest battle between our two finalists!" Vivian explained, "both trainers have already registered their Pokémon and its whichever one reduces their opponents points to zero first shall be declared the winner! So, let's see who'll partake in this final match today!"
"Combusken, take the stage!" May shouted, tossing her Pokéball up.
Her newly evolved fire fighting type landed on the field, with one taloned foot in front of the other. Both arms spread out in some sort of fighting stance with narrowed eyes. Looking closely, she also made out the faintest smirk spread across his beak. It seems the evolution gave her starter a much-needed confidence boost.
"Come on out Cacturne and show 'em who rules!" Harley declared, tossing his own Pokéball.
In a flash of light, his grass dark type appeared in front of him. Arms crossed, the head piece barely covered his eyes with the downward angle, as a dark, threatening aura seemed to radiate off him. Like the dark alley in the street which makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
"So, the final match will be between Combusken and Cacturne, two evolved Pokémon!" Vivian announced, "while May has a clear type advantage, we've seen stranger things decide the outcome of contests so it's anyone's guess which of our finalist will be victorious! With five minutes on the clock, we'll begin!"
With her eyes set forward, she saw a flicker of light to the side, where the screen was. Although she was completely focused on the impending battle.
May verses Harley: Final
Serena narrowed her eyes as she watched the battle begin. Combusken wasted no time in letting out a high-pitched cry, shooting out a stream of flames across the field. Only a matter of seconds had passed since he started his assault, clearly a little more confident now he's evolved.
Cacturne raised both arms and a small shield of sand surrounded him. It struck the flames and swirled it around him without making contact.
"What move was that?" Max asked.
The flames and sand parted, harmlessly revealing Cacturne with a menacing glare. A chunk of May's points falling on the screen behind.
"Sandstorm," Brock informed, "but it's different than normal."
"Right," she nodded, "it must've taken them a lot of time to get that sort of control over it. That's not good for May."
"If fire spin won't hit, let's get moving and use a rapid-fire ember!" May shouted.
Combusken took off over the field, claws extended to the side. Shooting a fast barrage of fire balls towards the stationary target.
Their opponent, however, hardly moved. Holding his arms out, the needles glew white. A series of stingers shot out, easily countering the ember. Piercing through the fire balls centre they continued towards the fire fighting type, leaving a trail of flames in their tailwind.
May's stater ducked and dodged out of the way but had to avert his course. Taking a circling route around the grass dark type, he let out a second barrage.
Harley's partner simply spun on the spot. Continuing to shoot out his pin missiles in opposite directions. Not only did it stop the ember but from this height created a sort of flower display over the field. Knocking Combusken back from the numerous blasts, he came to a stop, taking more of May's points.
"And Harley has already depleted a third of May's points whilst May and Combusken struggle to find a good footing," Vivian announced.
"This isn't good," she mumbled, "Harley seems completely prepared for anything they try. It's like he has a list of counters ready to go."
"It doesn't help that May has no idea how Combusken will battle now he's evolved," Ash added, "he really seems like a close quarters fighter, like Primeape and his aggression is also new. That'll just make it harder for them to take control as they try to learn to work with each other."
"So, May's already lost?" Max asked.
"We didn't say that," Serena reassured, "the fact she has a massive type advantage helps. And it's still early so anything could still happen."
Pushing himself up, the newly evolved Pokémon used a quick attack to close the distance. In an instant he was face to face with the grass dark type.
With glowing claws, beak, and feet, he entered a skilful flow of slash, peck, and double kick. The flow from one attack into the next being impressive.
Cacturne stumbled back from the first too blows, raising his arm to block the incoming foot. Matching his flow, they entered a stalemate of close combat.
"Fire Spin!" May instructed.
A bright flame engulfed both Pokémon. Combusken went flying backwards, landing on one knee with a glint in his eye. As their opponent went flying in the other direction. Landing flat on his stomach he pushed himself up with narrowed eyes... Showing the first sign of emotion since the battle began.
"Cacturne, get up!" Harley cried.
"Let's keep up this momentum Combusken!" May hollered, "use-"
"Yeah, my sister May use to be really afraid of Pokémon," Max's voice rang across the stadium. She turned to the young boy, whose eyes were wide and filled with horror but lips not moving, "there's this great story about when we went to the beach back when we lived in Unova, and she went swimming in the water with a float ring. She ended up surrounded by a whole bunch of Tentacool!"
"No!" May's voice cried over sound. She dropped to her knees with tears dropping onto the stage, "not that! I'll just die!"
"Hey Max, what's going on?" Brock asked.
"T-that was when I was talking to Harley," he mumbled, "he must've been recording me."
"It just so happened that, that day she was wearing a blue swimsuit with a matching blue swim cap," Max's over voice continued, "meaning she looked just like the Tentacool and when she called out for our parents... well, our mum mistook her for one and tried to catch her!"
The audience burst of laughing as more tears dripped from May's face. Max sunk into his seat, unable to look towards anyone, whispering an apology to his sister. Closing her own eyes, she sent out a weak pulse of ESP to her friend on stage, setting up a mental link.
"May listen, it wasn't Max. It was Harley, he recorded him," she informed her.
"You!" she growled, standing up from the floor, glaring directly at Harley. Both their Pokémon standing up once more, "it was you."
"Hahaha, that's pretty funny," Harley laughed overzealously, "but you need to be careful about throwing around accusations! Slander is a real crime."
"Surely that has to be against the rules," May yelled towards the judges, "how could you just let Harley get away with something like that?"
"If we can prove it was him, of course," Mr Contesta stood up, "but we'd need to see some tangible evidence before any sort of judgement."
"But-"
"It sure didn't sound like my voice. And I've been stood here the entire time," Harley added, "you really need to lighten up May... or should I say, Ms Tent?"
"With two minutes remaining on the clock, we'll restart this battle!" Vivian announced.
Combusken stamped his feet on the floor, covering himself in a cloud of dust. Burst out of the front, covered in flames as he ran across the stage.
Cacturne crossed his arms over his chest. A green energy shield appeared in front of him, absorbing the blow from the flame charge.
Leaping forward, his arms glew white with a hint of green. Spinning them around, he sent the fire fighting type flying. Without letting up, he continued to follow the starter as he knocked him around a little more.
Glowing, his claws extended, and he tried to retaliate with a slashes. Harley's grass dark type blocked each one with a needle arm, matching move to move.
Once in a position, he launched out a series of pin missiles. Sending May's starter flying backwards.
"This isn't good, Combusken isn't even trying to make his moves flashy," Serena mumbled, "he's solely focused on trying to hurt Cacturne."
"Guess he feels protective of May," Brock shrugged.
"I think it's more than that," she uttered, "like he's acting out. Remember how Sandslash would lash out?"
"That's the last thing May needs right now," Ash sighed.
Cacturne formed a glowing ball of green and blue between his arms. With a mighty toss he launched it high into the air. With a deep breath, a series of yellow seeds shot out of his mouth and struck the energy ball. Exploding above them, a rain of grass type energy covered the field.
Slowly the young fowl Pokémon stood up, grimacing from the combination. In no condition for what came next.
Harley's grass dark type glew purple, or at least his spikes did. A series of small pins shot out in all directions. The purple bounced of the raining colours, creating a sort of creepy display, reminiscent of a haunted forest.
A loud buzzer sounded over the stadium. Looking towards the screen she saw the last of May's point disappear as Harley's image took over.
"Despite Combusken's best efforts, he couldn't power through against Cacturne!" Vivian announced, "and having depleted his opponents points to zero makes our winner and the coordinator who'll receive the Verdanturf ribbon none other than Harley!"
Courtney sighed as she leaned against a rock. Sliding down into a sitting position, her breathing was jagged as her chest raised a lowered. A trail of sweat covered her forehead. Casting a glance around the corner, she overlooked the previous battle zone, now swarming with police.
Turning back around. She ran her hand over the six Pokéballs. All her team accounted for.
Using the explosion for cover, she quickly made her way. With meteorites raining down over them, she no-longer required the wish maker. Collecting a few samples as she found her defeated starter after his bout with that fossilized hunter, she made her way to safety.
Which is where she is now. Somewhere in the wild with the police hot on her tail. Barriers set up all around this area. With no escape.
Normally she'd fly off on Flygon but she's in no condition to help. She doesn't even have her research uniform to try and disguise her way out whilst passing the roadblocks. All she can do is wait for them to give up and remain hidden. Survival in wilderness is something she's theorised about but never put into practise. She can't even find some back up, Tabitha forced his way out to the North and is long gone, but due to her battle, she lacks the fire power for that.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out one of the meteorites she collected. A downward gaze on the space rock with half-closed eyes.
Despite having cooled considerably, she felt the energy surgy around inside. Had she still been a young student, even feeling this sort of power would've made her feel out-of-this world but thanks to the professor's lessons, she knows better than to let an emotional attachment control her field of view.
He'll be so proud of her when she returns with this power source.
Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. Don't forget to vote in the polls. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...