"On the green side, we have Ivy, a young trainer from Pallet Town!" the voice of the referee boomed. I've had this referee before, Ryan reflected. He sounds like the guy from my second match. "This is her third year competing in the tournament! Previous finishes include top 64 and top 128! Certainly, she will finish in the top 8 this year, and I'm sure her aspirations are even higher than that!"

The sun was bright that summer day, fresh as a burning poker in the cloudless sky. There were banners for her, flags and all sorts of things, with her name, pictures of her Pokémon, and cringe emotional quotes that would have made Rahul wet himself. They like her a lot. That didn't scare Ryan. He hadn't been the most popular contestant in many of his matches so far. He was anxious to start, to debut his Ghost Pokémon in this tournament. And hopefully get a little revenge for Kelly. He hoped desperately that she was at least watching this on TV.

"And on the red side, Ryan from Acapulco is challenging Ivy! This is his first tournament, even though he's already fourteen years old, and he's on a hot winning streak…"

Ryan didn't know a lot about Ivy. He had watched her beat Kelly because of a - let's be real - cheap move. Kelly was a better trainer than her. She outplayed Ivy and got unlucky. He didn't like Ivy. Ryan was loyal to Kelly. He wanted to beat this girl, and badly. Maybe that's what it'll take…

Ivy wore a black hood, and dark clothes were draped around her, obscuring the form of her body. She was short, though. That much he could tell. The crowd was cheering something in the background. They're always cheering something. Ivy flicked her neck back, and her hood fell to her shoulders. Dark was her hair, pale was her flesh. Her face was dressed in makeup, though she had used much more care than Rotunda had. Her lips were so red, it looked like she was bleeding. In the light of day, she looked unreal, almost like a drawing that had sprung off a page.

"Oh my goodness whee!" Ryan moaned. "The girl got hot!"

"A reminder to the trainers… several rules have been changed now that we have reached the quarterfinals," the referee spoke into the microphone. "All battles from now on will be six on six. You may now switch out Pokémon as you wish, and doing so will not result in a technical knockout. Putting an opponent's Pokémon to sleep will also not result in that Pokémon being disqualified." Yeah, great. If only that rule had been in effect for Kelly. "All of the other rules still apply. Are there any questions?"

Ivy and Ryan shook their heads.

"Begin!" the referee shouted from the stadium floor, raising both flags, and suddenly, in reflex, Ryan was throwing his Poké Ball. Out of it came his Gengar. The onlookers gasped and whooped. Yeah, I know. You're in for a real show now.

Across from Gengar was a Wigglytuff. "Alright, that's okay," Ryan breathed. "Hypnosis, Spectre!"

"Gengaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"

Wigglytuff was a little puff ball, like those furballs Persian used to leave on the couch at Ryan's parents' house. It didn't have a chance. Spectre flew up to it with the energy of a freshly-evolved Pokémon and began to swing his favorite little pendulum thingy in front of the Wigglytuff's eyes. Wigglytuff's eyes grew large and unfocused, and a moment later, the Balloon Pokémon collapsed, fast asleep. But it's not knocked out anymore. Gotta remember that. It annoyed Ryan that the rules had been changed now, a little more than halfway through the tournament, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

Ivy shouted, "Return!" and threw another Poké Ball. This one housed a Seadra.

"Thunderbolt!" Ryan ordered his Pokémon.

"Hydro Pump!" came lil makeup-face's command.

Gengar was faster. Way faster. Spectre was like lightning, shooting towards his quarry. Ryan had never seen such a fast Pokémon before. The electricity was in between his claws, growing like a small sun, before he threw it at the Water Pokémon. The Seadra was revving up its own attack - it had nowhere to dodge, no way to hit Gengar first. The electricity washed over it like a wave, causing Seadra to shriek. Damaged though it was, it hadn't managed to get KO'd by that devastating blow.

Hydro Pump sent Gengar flying back, covered in water. He looked none too pleased. He's hurt, but not too bad. "Okay, finish it off with another Thunderbolt!" he told Spectre, and his Pokémon repeated his previous attack to perfection. Once again, Spectre's speed was something to behold, enough to take the breath away. Ryan realized his hand was shaking and tried to stop it, grasping the metal railing of the trainer platform to calm himself. He'll do fine. I'm okay. I got this.

This time, Seadra could not withstand the biting electricity. It snaked up and down the water dragon's body before exploding and sending the beast skidding across the stage. The referee's red flag went up, and the crowd roared in answer. Ryan let out the breath of air he realized he'd been holding in his chest. He thought of Alex's advice, of the type advantages and disadvantages, and tried not to let his mind slip as the crowd grew with anticipatory energy around him.

Next came Ivy's Machamp. Four-armed and tall was it, covered in rippling muscles better suited for a statue than a living being.

"What the heck…" Ryan muttered, taking out Dex. "How does she have such a cool Pokémon?"

"Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon," the Poké Dex stated plainly. "One arm alone can move mountains. Using all four arms, this Pokémon fires off awesome punches."

"Th-that… that description is exaggerated, right? Right?!" he said in panic, turning to Alex.

From the bench below, Alex shrugged. "Machamp are extremely powerful. Just wait till you see the Mega Machamp I made. Watch out. Do what damage you can, and beware of Earthquake, if he has it."

"Right."

"Thunderbolt, yeah!"

"Try Earthquake this time!"

Oh great. She knows what she's doing. Maybe he had underestimated her. Spectre's energy bolt hit Machamp in the chest, bringing the four-armed fighter to its knees. It cried out and its skin grew charred around the impact site, but once the effects of Gengar's attack faded, it stood up, without so much as a hint of sluggishness, and slammed its four arms down upon the ground. The Earthquake that arose was so fierce that Ryan nearly fell off his trainer platform. Spectre was banged around as the stage split and cracked and bits of rocks jutted upwards. When it was over, the Gengar was deflated, like at least 98 of the red balloons. He's done.

"Hang in there, Spectre!" Ryan cried. "Don't give up!"

From behind, Alex stood up, folding his arms. "It's time, Ryan."

"Huh, time?!"

"Your new move."

"Oh… yeah!" Ryan returned his attention to his Pokémon, who was struggling to find his way back over to Machamp. "Spectre, Explosion!"

"Earthquake it, Machamp, hurry!" Ivy's voice rose over Ryan's.

The two Pokémon suddenly rushed forward again, their speed returning to them. For a moment, Spectre looked to be as fast as he had been earlier. He landed behind the Machamp, who was preparing to start another Earthquake (Ryan grabbed onto the railings real tight just in case). That was when Spectre conjured up a flaming spire of white light. It rose up over his head at least twenty feet, so bright it made Ryan's eyes water just looking at it. The crowd's energy rose tenfold.

"Feel dat fire!" the boy shouted recklessly, channeling his best Jun Baba-o impression.

Gengar let out a yell and released the energy, sending it in all directions. Spectators and referees up to the third rows of the stands went diving for cover, as did the friends and family of both trainers. Luckily, Ryan was on an elevated trainer platform, and all of the energy flowed under him like a churning sea. That's it, Spectre. You did good. I'm proud of you.

The light cleared. The crowd waited with baited breath. Machamp and Gengar both stood upright, still as leaves on a dead tree. They looked cooked, though - charred black. Each let out a hoarse breath before falling over. The nearest referee raised both flags and spoke, "Both Pokémon are unable to continue battling!"

Two dots were gone from the green legion under Ivy's pretty digital portrait. Ryan had five red dots, burning out in pixelized paradises. I can't forget her Wigglytuff's asleep. We'll have to deal with that, soon.

He had more pressing matters than that, such as deciding which Pokémon to use next. I have no idea what she'll pick. I know she has a Slowbro and a Clefable. But what else? What are the other three? He shook his head, knowing he would never figure out the answer to this puzzle and decided to just get it over with.

"Myrrah, it's your turn!"

Ivy's Poké Ball revealed a Raichu. Uh oh.

He already knew what Ivy would order her Pokémon to attack with. Thunderbolt. Okay, well Myrrah should be able to take a couple hits. She has that hard shell and everything. "Blizzard, Myrrah!" Ryan ordered her.

The Cloyster rolled through the shattered brown stone stage, summoning her patented Blizzard attack as she moved laboriously. Raichu was faster - much faster. It pounced from one broken rock to another until it landed in front of Myrrah. The Cloyster's Blizzard wasn't ready yet. Raichu giggled a "Raiiiiiiichuuuuu!" before unleashing a torrent of electrical apocalypse upon the poor Water/Ice Pokémon.

Cloyster fell over with a thick thud. The crowd groaned in surprise. "Cloyster is unable to continue battling!" the referee declared, and a second dot faded from Ryan's side of the board.

No… he thought, get up, girl. I know you can take more! But she wouldn't. That became clear soon enough.

"It must have been a crit!" Alex shouted from below. "Unlucky!"

Ryan sighed and bowed his head. "So typical…" Alright here we go. He threw another Poké Ball, and out from this one came his Tauros. Fresh off the sweep yesterday, NaVorro was ready to prove he was Ryan's second strongest Pokémon. You have a lot of competition… but I don't mind you trying to show me why you're so powerful, buddy.

NaVorro started off by Body Slamming Ivy's Raichu. Raichu gave him a mean Thunderbolt, and that hurt pretty bad, so far as Ryan could tell. The Tauros followed that up with a devastating Earthquake attack that sent Raichu and Ivy flying (although Ivy caught herself before she fell off the trainer platform). When the dust settled, the referee declared Raichu unfit to continue battling.

That's a little better, he thought. Yeah, we have a chance. His opponent was down three Pokémon and had a fourth set fast asleep. Ryan still had three Pokemon in reserve, plus his noble, but worn out Tauros. Ivy finally brought out her Slowbro, whom Ryan had been long expecting. Spectre might've been good against Slowbro, but this is okay.

"Body Slam it!"

"Neieieiahahahahhhh!"

Body Slam was a powerful move, but against Slowbro, who was as sturdy as an old pickup truck, the massive collision only seemed to rattle it a bit. This guy's got a lot of health. We're at the disadvantage. NaVorro can't afford to take too many more hits.

Interrupting Ryan from his thoughts was NaVorro sailing through the air as a purple Psychic attack hit the bull right in the chest. When NaVorro stood up again, he looked to be quite damaged. Running on fumes. That's okay. Let's go out with a bang, NaVorro.

The Hyper Beam charged just like the one NaVorro had used against Ronny's Lapras. NaVorro, sluggish and tired, sprinted down the broken stage towards his quarry, readying his strongest attack. The crowd was screaming in hysteria. Ryan swallowed and heard only his heartbeat. Please be enough, Ryan hoped.

"Do a Surf attack!" said Ivy.

NaVorro's energy released from his mouth, flaming over the Slowbro. Slowbro was too dumb to realize what had happened and just fell over, letting itself get cooked up. It seemed to be heavily damaged by this, as it was going on. When the attack ended, however, Slowbro shook its head, sat up, and hopped back on that wave it had been riding towards NaVorro.

The splash that soon followed was sickening to hear; it echoed through the stage like chime bells, and even the crowd went momentarily silent. Yet, when the referee raised his green flag and noted that Ryan's Tauros had indeed failed, the spectators grew raucous again. Chants of 'Ivy, Ivy, Ivy!' pervaded the hall. Their banners were many; Ivy's supporters seemed to be a majority of those in attendance. Where are my banners, he thought? Where are my fans?

He took his next Poké Ball out of his pocket. This one wasn't like the last three. It wasn't part of his plan or strategy. This was a whim, a gut feeling. Ryan hadn't expected to face Slowbro this late in the match. But here Slowbro was, severely damaged, but very much still in contention. Slowbro was slow, though. Anything faster could probably take it out in one hit. You beat one Water Pokémon already. You can beat another.

Ryan's Poké Ball flew through the air, breaking open on a cracked line of stone below. From the white light materialized a fully-rested male Charizard. "Fire Blast that thing back to whatever cesspool it crawled out from!" Ryan shrieked.

Aegon roared in approval. His leathern wings flapped, and into the sky he went. The Charizard's most powerful flame attack started cooking between his teeth. He was putting on a show for the spectators, Ryan soon realized, for Aegon took his sweet time flying around that stadium charging up his attack.

From below, Ivy had ordered her Slowbro to use a Surf attack. Too bad Slowbro's way slower than Charizard. Aegon soared gracefully around the stage, the sun shining off his healthy orange flesh. Then, the Charizard turned and went into freefall. Streamlining his body, Aegon fell to the earth, making sure he landed behind the Slowbro. Poor little Slowbro was just beginning to form up its wave to ride upon when dragonfire licked at its neck and back. The beast cried out in pain, absorbing the fire, and fell over, off its wave, into a mess of broken rock. The referee once again ran over to check on a Pokémon, and once again his flag was raised. "Slowbro is no longer able to battle!"

Four down. Two to go.

Her Wigglytuff came next, fast asleep. Ryan's mind was humming with the constant low roar of the crowd. His palms were slicked over with sweat. Aegon proceeded to give that Wigglytuff a good wiggle (aka Earthquake), a nice sauna experience (Fire Blast), and the big tamale for the finale (Hyper Beam). All throughout the attacks, Wigglytuff never woke up. It was great.

One dot. One Pokémon. Ryan had three dots left. Alakazam and Thurnax are in reserve… two of my strongest Pokémon. It has to be over. There's no way she can get through my remaining Pokémon.

"Clefable, this is your shot!" Ivy's voice carried across the stadium like gossamer on the wind.

"That's it, that's the alien!" Alex shouted from below. "Ask it about the Queen of Blades! Do the Clefable know about the Zerg?"

"No, Alex, stop it! I'm not doing it!" Logan whined.

Ryan ignored them."Earthquake!"

"Clefable, Sing!"

"Oh, no! Aegon, dodge it! Go into the air!"

But Aegon was already banging on the ground, ya'know? He was just so excited, see. Clefable went flopping around, losing about 47% of its health, if the damage calculators are to be believed. That was a great sight, definitely something for the kids. You get your money's worth with a good thrashing. Indeed, it's stunning to realize that Clefable got up. That thing had bulk. Like when Kelly's Tauros Body Slammed it… it still got up. That was crazy. Ryan was seeing the same thing happen to him. Now came the Sing move - a notoriously inaccurate attack. Ryan knew well what this move could do, and he had, of course, ordered Aegon into the air. Thus, Aegon flew again, and Sing did not reach his ears.

Around, the spectators, referees, and everyone else within range of Clefable's Sing had put on some ear plugs, except for a few who didn't want to listen to the referee's warning or who had faulty ear plugs - those guys just fell asleep and didn't get to see the thrilling conclusion to this battle.

On the next round, Charizard tried a Fire Blast attack, but Clefable rolled out of the wave, letting the fire scorch the stones around it. Then, it shot a Blizzard at Aegon. And because Aegon is a Flying Pokémon, that attack hurt really bad. The Flame Pokémon nearly dropped out of the sky when the Blizzard hit him. When the snows finally cleared, he let out a cry of pain and jubilation that the cold had fled.

His next attack was another Earthquake - always reliable - and soon after, he had to endure a second Blizzard. That attack ravaged the Charizard, sending him crashing into the rocky ground with a thud. Briefly, the referee had run over to Aegon to inspect him, but had deemed the Pokémon still able to fight, so he had stepped away. Charizard sat up, shaking ice off his wings, and looked to his trainer. A puff of fire exuded from Charizard's mouth as the Pokémon breathed hard.

"Hyper Beam!" Ryan bellowed, and Charizard obeyed his master. Hyper Beam was becoming Ryan's Kamehameha, it appeared. But that was okay. So long as it gets the job done. He already knew it was over; but watching it didn't make that taste of victory any less sweet. Charizard, too tired to fly, stumbled over to the weakened Clefable, and blasted it with a bright beam of energy. Clefable flew back, hitting one of the outer walls of the arena, and slumped over, unconscious.

"He did it, he did it! Ryan, from Acapulco, has beaten Ivy to advance to the semifinals of the Indigo League!"

A chill fell down Ryan's spine. He looked up, his eyes misty and wide, at the crowd around him, the thousands upon thousands of them. All of them were looking at him. All of them were cheering him. I'm in the top 4, he realized. I'm one of the top four trainers in Kanto. The starkness of that accomplishment blew his mind, and he couldn't appreciate what he had done fully - not here, not now. Looking for pink hair in the masses of people seated in ascending rows on all sides of him, Ryan turned about, scanning. He found no one looking like her. Maybe she saw it on TV.

Descending from the trainer platform, Ryan made the familiar return to his friends and family. He wanted to look them in the eyes, to relish in what they had to say, but he couldn't. Not this time. He looked down, felt their words tumble over him like water, so he wouldn't have to face his father. I haven't brought out your Abra yet… not since you've been here. And maybe I won't have to. He feared what would happen if his father saw with his own eyes that Abra had evolved - not just once, but twice.

They were praising him, embracing him. His mother was ruffling up his hair and telling him how proud she was of her only son. He was sure his father had said something too. Ryan didn't focus on it. He clutched Alakazam's Poké Ball in his hand, felt his hand shaking, and bit his lip. I won. I did really good. Why doesn't it feel good to win? Why am I not feeling anything at all? I'm in the top 4…

But still, the hand that clutched the ball shook, even if ever so slightly. And Ryan couldn't stop it.

When they returned to the check-in station, Ryan learned that Awabi the Sundance Child had defeated a girl name Penny-lope to advance to the semi-finals as well. He'll be my opponent for a spot in the finals. The teal-haired trainer's stomach churned. I'll have to watch his last battle tonight to see if I can figure out how to beat him.

As idle Chansey moved about, sweeping the floors, and Nurse Joys at reception desks talked with travelers and trainers alike, Ryan looked to the other side of the bracket, where Rahul and Julia were. Neither had done their quarterfinals match yet. Rahul's is in fifteen minutes.

Rahul was fighting a boy named Jhaqa; Julia was matched up against a girl named Lucy. Behind Ryan, Alex was coaching up Rahul, though the big man might not have been paying attention. All those Nurse Joys are pretty distracting.

Taking out his yellow-speckled blue-green Pokémon egg, Ryan presented it to the nearest Nurse Joy at a help desk and asked her which Pokémon was inside.

"Oh, wow, I've never seen a Pokémon egg like this before!" Joy sang sweetly. "Are you sure this is a Kanto Pokémon?"

"No, I don't know what kind it is. That's why I'm asking."

"I wonder… how exactly did you get this egg?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Oh, well I beat another trainer, and that was what he bet to win the match."

"I see." She eyed him suspiciously.

"Hey, we're losing focus on what's really important here! I just wanna know what kind of Pokémon I've got inside this thing, okay?" Ryan said, holding up the egg.

Nurse Joy shrugged. "You can always wait until it hatches…"

Great idea. That'll solve everything. "Thanks," he said stiffly and returned to the group.

"How was she?" Rahul asked eagerly.

"Do you even know what I went to ask her, Rahul?"

"No."

They were off to Indigo Stadium soon after, just as the sun was beginning to set in the distant sky. The roads were clogged with vendors selling cheap trinkets, and Ryan had half a mind to sell one of them his Pokémon egg. At one wooden stall, a red-haired child was selling baby Meowth, and Ryan bought two of them for his last 200 Poké Dollars. That's just perfect, he thought, after sending the fresh Poké Balls to his parents' house via his Poké Dex. Now I'm truly broke. Why can't I help myself?

Inside the stage, they met up with Rahul's other friends (his family was not there) and everyone sat down to watch the big man try to fight his way into the top 4. Aside from Logan, Ryan, and Alex, an assortment of weird people Ryan had only heard of - one named Nashon and another named Nick, and others still who Ryan couldn't even be bothered to learn the names of - were congregated.

Sitting down on the bench, Ryan asked Alex, "How good is his team, really? Is he good enough to win it all?"

"Probably," replied the Chinese boy who was busy grinding away on his 3DS. "He could win it all, who knows. There's always luck involved. I once got a museum in China to fix its fossil display that said alligator instead of saltwater crocodile."

"Wew, I'll tell ya, I'm tired," Logan complained, nudging up against Ryan to sit on the edge of the bench. "All these matches to watch… it gets really hard for the spectators, like me," he declared. "I need a vacation!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ryan said, annoyed. "We'll all go to Sevii if I win, I promise you that."

"Woo!" Logan punched the air. "Remember I have your autograph, Ryan. A real vintage one, before you became a big star!"

"Here," Ryan said, handing Logan his Pokémon egg. "If you're so tired of all these Pokémon matches, why don't you go find out what kind of Pokémon is in that egg."

Logan looked at the little thing dubiously. "What do I win if I find out?"

"You don't win anything." Ryan pushed the other boy to his feet. "You just get to go do something else right now."

"But…"

"Hurry up," Ryan urged the other boy, sticking the egg in his hands. "Find out quick, and I'll give you an extra special prize!"

"What kind of prize?"

"The kind that doesn't exist. You'll see."

With that, Logan was off, to settle the terrible mystery that had befallen Ryan. The teal-haired boy turned back to Alex, for he had no one else to talk to. "Have you seen Kelly at all?"

"Nope."

"I don't think she's left her room since she lost."

"She had to. She has to get food after all. Right?" Alex still didn't look up from his game.

"I suppose so."

"Don't worry about it, Ryan. She'll get over it eventually."

But what if she doesn't?

The battle commenced between Rahul and Jhaqa, and it was really interesting. Ryan barely paid attention. About halfway through, as Rahul was trying to preserve a ridiculous Charizard sweep that had already resulted in the KO'ing of a Nidoking, a Pidgeot, and a Poliwrath, something interesting finally happened. Just at that moment, another person strode into Rahul's visitor area - a boy Ryan recognized at once. Charlie. What's he doing here?

"Sup," the brown-haired boy said coolly, walking up to the bench. He took one look at the battle and then turned back to face the others.

"You again?" Alex's voice was incredulous. "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting you, whiny-face." Charlie was wearing a nice fancy suit, and he began dabbing, screaming, "I won the debate, woo yeah!" Charlie pointed at one of Rahul's friends - the one who wore all the sagging clothes and had peach-colored skin. "You're the one I'm beating today."

"Oh yeah?!" the guy got up and flexed his muscles and stared at the other boy from behind his sunglasses. It was really intimidating. "A punk kid like you couldn't beat me at anything!"

"Only a Pokémon battle."

"Why, yooouuuu!" the other guy shouted, taking a Poké Ball out of his pocket. He threw it, revealing a Magmar.

Charlie smirked and threw his own ball, which produced a shrimpy Bellsprout.

"Haha, are you serious?!"

"Fortnighticate, use Solar Beam."

"Ember, Magmar!"

Charlie stepped back. His Bellsprout absorbed the sun and was covered in flames. For a moment, the other trainer let out a whoop of glee before noticing that Bellsprout didn't seem to be damaged all that badly. This is ridiculous. Not only did that Bellsprout survive a fire attack, but it moved first… meaning it's faster than a Magmar.

On the next turn, Charlie's Fortnighticate went solar, shooting its viridian-tinged beam towards Magmar. The Fire Pokémon absorbed the attack confidently, and then fell over unconscious. Wow. It didn't expect that puny Bellsprout to hurt it at all.

"I demand a rematch!" the other trainer complained. "That was outrageous!"

"Nah, save it!" Charlie said calmly, shaking his head. Then, he grabbed a wad of one Poké Dollar bills and started throwing them over the fainted Magmar. As he did this, the boy sang, "Broken hearts, make it rain! Broken hearts, make it rain! Broken hearts, make it raaaaaaaaiiiiiiiin!"

He threw like three hundred Poké Dollars on that unconscious Magmar. Ryan would have thought he had gone overboard, but the boy was too concerned with all that free money on the ground. I'm broke. I need that. So Ryan lunged forward, grabbing at the paper bills ravenously. Ahead, the crowd burst into cheers, and the referee cried:

"That's it, folks! Rahul has beaten Jhaqa for a spot in the top 4! Truly wonderful stuff! My goodness, his Charizard is a monster!"

Rahul was twirling around, beaming and waving like the sheep he truly was. He had a hard time descending the ladder down to the floor, but once he did, everyone showered him in golden praise. Everyone except Ryan. Ryan was too busy crawling on the floor clutching at Poké Dollars, trying to capture all that Charlie had made rain.

This is the life, he thought. I'm in the top 4 of the Indigo League, and I have to crawl on the ground for a small bit of cash. Man, things have gone downhill.

Over with the group, Charlie said with a sharp smile, "You're very good Rahul. I'm sure you'll win the tournament."

"Haha, thanks buddy!" Rahul said, slapping the fugitive on the back.

Everyone's laughing. Everyone's happy. Ryan wondered what Kelly would think of him and Rahul now. She had always teased them about being bumbling fools unable to win against decent competition. Well look at us now, Kelly. We're both in the top 4, and at least one of us is gonna get a medal.

It'll be me, Ryan thought. I didn't come this far just to get screwed over by the big man again!

Whether it would be in the finals or the third place match, Ryan knew he would beat Rahul, should it come to that. Laugh now, Rahul. But you have no idea what I'm planning for you, Ryan thought sinisterly. Then he remembered that he had to pick up all the money, and quick (others were surely coming for the fine spoils), so he dove back at the ground and all that Charlie had thrown upon it.