Have you ever had a big test or project for school and because of the nerve of presenting it in front of a group of people or because the test was on a subject you weren't proficient at, it made you nervous the closer and closer to the deadline it got?
I was currently experiencing that as Amber and I walked to the park where we had been training the past few days.
Still, I knew better than to keep training when you get like this. All it does is tire you out and you can never really concentrate. So long as you had studied prior to the big day, any more cramming could just become a detriment and you'll end up second guessing yourself.
Tomorrow was Saturday, both the day that Looker will declare his efforts were naught, and the day of the tournament.
Though I was nervous, it was more at the prospect I was going to have to give to Amber more than anything.
After our little talk in the diner Amber had been like a woman possessed and she immediately started deferring to me for the various strategies we would use, while she focused on getting our Pokémon's execution on point. It was honestly a very effective regimen as we would spend the last hour and a half to finally put what we practiced into use.
We had even left the hotel earlier than usual yesterday to get even more training in, and it appeared today wasn't going to be much different.
I knew burn out when I saw it.
So, when we arrived in the park, before Amber could open her mouth to ask me for more strategies, I beat her to the punch.
"I think today we should take a break." I looked over to Amber to see a shocked look on her face, mouth mid-open to speak.
"What? But the tournament is tomorrow! We should be doing more sets!" Amber was slowly becoming more and more indignant as she gave her opinion, and I could even see Sneasel nod her head in approval in the corner of my eye. "We need to—"
I was going to have none of it. And I had made sure to talk with Dusk before we got here so she wouldn't try to give me that sad puppy-dog look when I brought up the idea.
"And we should use this time to relax and unwind our nerves." I Interrupted. "I can tell you've been working yourself ragged. I'm not gonna stop you from doing some training by yourself. We'll most likely be put in a situation where we can't rely on our partner anyway, but you should also take a break today and relax with Sneasel." I explained in a tone that brokered no argument.
I turned around and began to head to the shopping district of Jubilife.
"But…" I heard her speak in a defeated tone.
"Think of this as a way to boost morale. Trust me, it'll be better in the long run." I looked back with a casual wave.
I could still see an unsure expression on her face, but I was sure she'd use the sweat of a bit of training to wipe it away. I could only hope she followed my advice. I would stay to make sure she followed it, but she needed some alone time with Sneasel in my opinion.
That poor thing was locked up in a ball all day while she worked. She had informed me it was because most people had a low opinion of dark-types. To not cause any issues, her father reluctantly made sure she didn't allow Sneasel to be seen by their guests.
I shook my head to clear it when I recalled this fact. Knowing humanity, I'm sure it applied to more than their guests.
Dark meant it had to be evil right?
Because they used smarmy tricks to survive more than pure brawn that meant they had no morals, right?
Pfft, get real.
It was best to not think about it when one was trying to de-stress…
I looked around my surroundings as I walked in the shopping district. The weather was clear and bright because of how early we went out today, so the streets were bustling with activity.
I knew I technically wasn't supposed to be by myself during this time, as Looker still worried about my faux memory loss, but I really wanted to stretch my legs and have some alone time.
I looked down at Dusk as she trotted along beside me, a contented smile on her face.
Well, as alone as a trainer can get anyway.
I picked her up and carried her because of how crowded it had become on the streets. I definitely didn't want to lose her, being my life line in this world…
It helped she was adorable on top of it all.
I stopped walking when I found what I was looking for.
I examined the bright blue building before me. It was a simple establishment with a sterile looking design. It was about the size of a small shop that you'd see owned by a mom and pop. Above the door was a sign that was simply labeled "Pokémart".
I walked through the automatic doors to find a few people milling about, looking at the various items in stock.
A woman with a Chatot perched on her shoulders was looking at an aisle that was filled with Pokémon kibble that I remembered Amber feeding her Sneasel.
A freckled boy with messy blonde hair, wearing a baggy blue shirt and white pants combo, was looking through the glass counter at the front of the store. A Piplup was beside the boy, doing its best to jump to see what he was looking at. He was no doubt a trainer who had just started his journey.
A girl with long brown hair that reached the small of her back was sifting through some bottles on a shelf in the middle of the store, a Zigzagoon yipping and zipping in-between her feet. I could see some of the labels from here had to do with fur-care.
This peaked my interest as I remembered my promise to pamper Dusk, which made me feel very excited to see her reaction when I brushed her fur.
I shook my head. That could wait until I actually had money first.
As a whole, the store was an utterly average sight that was completely unique to me. Seeing Pokémon and people coexisting so casually was a sight I only got from watching the anime.
Gazing upon it in person was another matter entirely.
I looked towards the glass case at the front to see a bearded man operating the cash register as the boy had picked something out from the glass case. The man handed the Piplup trainer a brown disc in a see-through case.
I made my way over to the glass case and looked at what was on display. I could see various Pokéballs, drugs, and various colored discs like the one the trainer had bought.
Right, these were TMs.
I looked for the one the boy purchased to see it was a Dig TM priced at 500 Pokédollars. I looked at a normal Pokéball to see it cost fifty, a mere fraction of the amount.
I remember the menu for room service at the hotel being similar to the exchange rate from back home, so it was a no brainer to figure out that being a trainer was expensive work…
"Thanks, my guy, have a nice day-o!" The trainer let out cheerily, his Piplup letting out a chirp as it tried to look at the TM in his trainer's hand.
I cringed when I heard the 'my guy' leave his mouth.
"Of course, be sure to come back if you need anything else." The man handed the boy back what looked like a tablet device the size of your average smartphone.
Before he could pocket it, I could see that on the back it had the words Pokédex inscribed onto it. The boy and his Piplup ran out of the shop in a hurry, muttering something under his breath about getting some training in before dinner.
At least the Pokédexes didn't look like a Nintendo console… Sure, they're fine when you're just playing games, but they looked very unwieldy to operate for other uses…
I looked around the store a bit more to see more exorbitant prices on potions, cookware, and even some traveling bags that were advertised to have almost unlimited space similar to the technology used by Pokéballs.
That's some horse garbage technology if I've ever seen it…
Unsurprisingly, the only reasonably priced item in the store was the kibble, probably because more than just trainers would need to buy them.
I left soon after, my curiosity sated.
I looked at the sky as I walked to see the hints of dusk creep upon the sky. I'd head out to eat somewhere if I had a wallet… or money…
"Okay, Dusk, before we head back to the hotel I wanted to discuss one final strategy…" I put Dusk back on the ground being that there were less people in the street.
I was given a baleful look and a low sounding growl, her red orbs showing clear disappointment in them. I tilted my head to the side in reaction, confused at her sudden hostility.
Wait…
"Are you mad because you think I'm being a hypocrite right now?"
She nodded her head with a woof.
Right, Pokémon were sentient and definitely able to understand human speech.
"I know I told Amber to take it easy, but this is something that needs to stay between us." I gestured my hand back and forth between us, the hyena continuing to look at me uncertainly. "It's also something we don't really need to train for. It's just another code word for you to remember, okay? We might not even use it if we're lucky." I put out a hand and stroked the top of her head to ease her worries.
She eventually melted under my touch with a yip as she acquiesced to my demand by sitting her lower half on the ground, patiently waiting for me to teach her.
"Okay…" I began with a breath. "When I say 'go all in' you're going to…"
I arrived back to my hotel room to find a busy looking Looker tapping away on a laptop, his paper work haphazardly shuffled to the sides to make room. A couple of papers that didn't quite make it were littered on the floor.
I hadn't seen the man since I talked with him about entering the tournament with Amber. I assumed he did come back to the hotel room a couple of times. Since when I would wake up in the morning the papers on the desk would be placed differently. Meaning he came in while I was asleep and left before I awoke.
I could see he looked very tired, a frown marring his face as he looked at whatever was displayed on the laptop.
He didn't seem to notice me when I entered the room, clearly too engrossed with his laptop.
I made a cough to get his attention.
Nothing.
I snapped my fingers.
Still nothing.
"Yo." I greeted with a wave, and received nothing back in reply. I gazed at Dusk to see her looking between me and Looker, her tail wagging.
I picked her up and slowly placed her head right next to Looker's ear. She turned back towards me in confusion, but I merely gestured my head towards Looker's own.
She seemed to get the picture, and nodded her head excitedly.
Without hesitation, or a hint of remorse, she pointed her maw at Looker.
"Ruff!" Dusk barked out and began to lick the side of his face.
The sudden assault on his senses had done the trick as he practically bounced out of the chair, flying across the room towards the balcony. Without me even noticing, he held a Pokéball in his hand as he looked back towards me with an alarmed expression from the floor. His training probably prepared him to be ready to react to an attacker at any moment or make a run for it outside of the window. He was breathing heavily from the adrenaline boost, making his heart beat a mile a minute from the jump scare.
Normally I might smirk or let out a chuckle, but the way he reacted left me feeling unsettled… He looked on edge like he was prepared for the worst possible scenario right now.
"Y-Yo." I stuttered out a greeting to him. I silently cursed when I heard the nervousness creep into my voice.
I could see him visibly relax when he finally noticed it was just me and made to get off the ground, trying to subtly pocket the Pokéball in hopes I didn't notice him holding the equivalent of a gun at me.
I wondered with morbid curiosity if they even had those here…
I heard Looker let out a tired sigh before I could ponder further.
"A-ah, Aster… Please don't do that again. Someone could have seriously gotten hurt." Looker gravely admonished me as he smoothed out his clothes.
"Right… Sorry about that. You seemed pretty distracted by what you were looking at…"
I looked towards his laptop. Now that his body wasn't obscuring the screen I was able to get a good look at the subject of his interest. I saw various pictures of male teenagers and the words 'MISSING' at the bottom of each one.
I widened my eyes at this in astonishment. This guy was really going through this much effort to help me find my home? I had figured he would merely delegate the matter to someone else while he worked on whatever case had brought him to Jubilife in the first place.
The guilt from my prank was starting to settle in now...
Looker was truly a good, altruistic guy. The ideal example of someone who worked on the side of justice and what most people would consider to be naïve. I, however, thought it was comforting that a guy like this was part of the organization whose job it was to keep the peace.
It was such a shame he found a rotten person like me to waste his efforts on.
Could I have possibly fabricated some other lie to prevent him from wasting so much time on me?
My lie was definitely the most simplistic for getting what I wanted, and it was impossible for me to predict what the government would have done if I came up with an even more convoluted lie…
Then again, I never asked to be sent to this world in the first place.
Life is just unfair like that I guess.
I turned back to see Looker rubbing the back of his head in thought. When he noticed my staring he stopped with a sigh.
"I'm sorry to tell you this," Looker began with a solemn tone. "But I don't believe we're going to get any results from your blood sample tomorrow…"
For my part I only kept silent, not wanting to give up the ruse by saying anything. After all, this wasn't really news to me. It would be best if he just explained his reasoning without my provocations.
Seeing as how I wasn't going to say anything, he walked over to the desk and sat back down in his chair, keeping his body perpendicular to the laptop so I could still see the screen. He began to scroll through it bit by bit.
"This is the fourth time I've perused the missing persons database and found nothing." He looked very serious when he said this as if he were a doctor delivering bad news to his patient.
I wasn't sure what exactly that explained. A person going missing when they were allowed to roam free at a young age wasn't all that surprising to me. It's not out of the question, even if my lie were true, that simply no one would have reported it, especially if I wasn't traveling with anyone.
"I don't understand…"
Looker looked confused for a moment before he hit his hand against his forehead with a scowl.
"Right, amnesia…" He recovered quickly and put up a professional façade. "The Pokémon League takes missing persons cases very seriously. They closely monitor the activity of trainers through their Pokédexes and are put up for a potential missing persons case when their logs aren't updated after one week of time. It could be something as simple as a visit to the Pokémon Center to be enough to keep you off the database or even notifying the registry that you were fine with a simple ping to the server when given notice by your Pokédex."
I guess this world had to make sense in that regard somehow. Letting ten year olds do whatever they wanted sounded like a recipe for disaster.
Just to humor him I gave my own opinion.
"Couldn't someone just be using my Pokédex to ping the server then? I wouldn't register in the database at that point."
Looker nodded as if he were expecting the question.
"Yes, that is true, but that would mean you are a registered trainer. I'd be able to easily find you in the trainer database based on your appearance alone. That's even assuming you were a Pokémon trainer before you lost your memories." He paused to let the information sink in. "But we even use a similar system with credit chips here in Sinnoh. Unless you never owned one, you would still show up in the system after a week of inactivity. Most everyone your age has a credit chip at least, if not a Pokédex."
"You didn't have one of these—" He rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a thin rectangular red device. "—on your person, did you?" He shook it for emphasis.
I shook my head no.
"Then whoever put you in this situation is a very dangerous person. They know what they're doing, and they are covering their tracks far too well for it to be the work of an amateur." He put the credit chip away and turned back towards the laptop in thought. "Based on their profile and your memory loss, a powerful psychic-type Pokémon is very likely under their command. We could try to unblock the psychic stopgap in your memories, but I'm afraid that they could have put in a failsafe."
What in the world was a failsafe in this instance?
"Failsafe?" I questioned, furrowing my brows in confusion.
It certainly didn't sound good…
"To put it simply, if we probe into your mind, we could trigger a trap set by the psychic that will completely obliterate your cognitive functions. In other words, you'll become a husk," He began with an intense gaze. "And that's a risk I'm not willing to take."
I could feel myself pale when I heard this. That… that was a very scary thought!
Seeing my expression, he tried to steer the conversation back to a lighter path.
"Other than my latest comment, you've actually been rather calm about your situation, Aster." Looker noted, crossing his arms with an impressed look on his face.
Would an actual amnesiac even be worried in a situation like this? They wouldn't be able to remember much, and that could be stressful, but they wouldn't know what was missing to be able to, well, miss it.
"I've been able to distract myself with a cute pooch." I lied, again.
"And the tournament, right?" Looker gave me a smile. "The Jubilife Doubles Saturday Smash if I recall correctly. That was certainly a good idea to enter it, being a broadcasted event."
I shrugged off his compliment with ease. I mostly entered it to get out of this hotel room, not to aid in the investigation.
"That and for the money. If you can't find out my origins I'm gonna need some money." I explained with a grimace. "I can't rely on putting all of my finances on your job expenses."
It was probably the one thing I was most worried about. No money meant no food.
I put Dusk down on the bed, my arms growing tired.
And I had another mouth to feed now on top of it all.
I heard the shuffling of papers as Looker looked around on his desk.
"I actually brought some paperwork you can fill out to help with that."
I blinked and sat down on the bed, Dusk crawling into my lap.
Wait, such a convenient thing was real?
"Until we can find out more information on where you came from, we'll have to label you as an orphan," Looker began, picking out papers seemingly at random and putting them into piles."So long as you become a Pokémon trainer, you'll receive a stipend of money every month. It's not a lot, but it should be enough to let you live comfortably."
He looked on the floor to see the deserters I had spotted earlier and picked them up. Having sorted through the paperwork, he got up and came over to me.
He handed me the pile with a smile.
I glanced through the pages with a frown, it definitely looked like paperwork.
Joy.
"Normally, you'd also need some prior credentials from a school," He rummaged through his jacket and pulled out a metal pen with a click. "But considering how well you've taken care of that Poochyena, I have no issue putting in a good word for you." He finished his explanation by handing the utensil to me.
He walked over and sluggishly sat back down in the uncomfortable looking chair and turned his back to me, beginning to sift through the database again.
"If you fill it out tonight I can turn it in for you when I go to receive your results." Looker informed me with a yawn.
I flinched in guilt when I saw this.
This guy was far too nice for his own good. Did he do this for all his cases? I initially thought he was just doing his duties as an Interpol agent. To spend this much time and effort on me was…
"Why?" I softly asked in disbelief.
I didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the severity of his altruism baffled me. I couldn't imagine doing this much for someone I barely knew.
Had he not even considered I could have been lying?
He made a noise of confusion as he turned to me with questioning eyes.
"You're… you're putting in so much work on my behalf, too much even. So, why are you doing this?" I asked, skepticism clear in my tone, eyes wide with curiosity.
No normal person did something like this without an ulterior motive.
He turned back to his laptop and sat back in his chair. We sat there in silence long enough that I figured he wasn't going to give me an answer.
I didn't deserve to be given one anyway.
I readjusted where I was sitting on the bed and used the nightstand next to it as a hard surface to fill out the forms.
The information they wanted were the basic ones you'd find on any other boring paperwork you'd find at home. I wished I had the option to do this digitally as I rubbed my cramped wrist after the first page was filled.
I wanted to get this done so I could head off to bed early for the tournament tomorrow.
"It's because good things should happen to good people, and bad things should happen to bad people."
I stopped scribbling when I heard him speak up suddenly, a trace amount of melancholy hidden in his tone. Whether or not he meant for me to sense it was irrelevant.
I had heard it all the same.
"That's why I do what I do."
It was a straightforward concept, an ideal so simplistic in nature that it was the cornerstone for much of the laws that are written in a modern society.
An eye for an eye is a common phrase.
His viewpoint was slightly more nuanced than that I think. Locking a villain up for misdeeds was definitely more his style, leaving them to suffer in solitary confinement to reflect on their actions, and possibly to redeem themselves.
Yes, that sounded more like his character, a true ally of justice.
Karma was probably a more apt term for Looker's outlook.
That the actions one takes in life has a variable consequence or benefit depending on the moral alignment of the deed. To reward those who do good and to punish those who would do bad. The brutality of the phrase 'eye for an eye' was simply too grotesque at its core to be an idea that would sound comforting to Looker.
Such a viewpoint was unhealthy in my mind.
Crime never sleeps, and that meant justice had to stand ever vigilant. Looker took the extra step and made sure to help those affected by tragedy pick up all the pieces that were once their life.
I let out a depressed sigh.
I knew burn out when I saw it.
"Hey Looker," I spoke up to get the agent's attention. "Whenever you're done with… whatever you're doing tomorrow. You should take a break and come by to watch the tournament…" I finished lamely, inviting him to an excuse to get away from work.
That was the only apology I could offer him for wasting his time on me.
He let out an airy chuckle in response.
"I'll think about it."
I nodded my head, knowing that was all I'd get from him.
I was sure such a determined man wouldn't be able to take comfort in taking it easy.
"It's because good things should happen to good people, and bad things should happen to bad people."
I heard his voice again in my head as I looked down towards the files on the nightstand, the papers an invitation towards my future.
The illusion of choice was obvious. Yet my hand moved regardless.
I wondered then what side of the scales of karmic justice I fell under…
Hype is a very powerful tool. Just about anyone or anything could use it to set a person's expectations absurdly high to the point of delirium. Show some glamorously styled art, advertise some nice sounding features, or even throw some buzz words into the mix like 'immersive' or 'faithful' and you could have the masses eating out of the palm of your hand in an instant.
And, before they realize it, they have already bought what you're selling and are complaining online about their unmet expectations the very next day.
At the end of it, as long as you get sales, do whatever you can to sell it! Such was the brutal way of the marketing world.
So when I stood next to Amber looking at all the contestants that would compete against us with a discerning eye, trying to pick out the toughest competitors on our road to battle Whisper…
I was expecting a lot more people…
It was finally the day of the tournament as we stood under the bright luminescent lighting that illuminated the dome stadium that we would be fighting in. A set of bleachers were a fair distance away from a dirt arena the size of an indoor pool, its borders drawn with chalk. A stylized white Pokéball was drawn in the center to show its purpose.
I tried to imagine Whisper ruthlessly defeating an army of opponents on the field, a grin filled with bloodlust. Gore and mayhem splattered onto the field in brilliant displays of combat as the brown dirt became coated in a river of crimson red.
Yet, despite all the advertisements I had seen around town, an easily counted eight teams had shown up to do battle. Quick napkin math showed only sixteen people had entered the tournament.
The crowd who had shown up to watch was just as 'impressive'…
"Hey, Amber…" I whispered under my breath to grab her attention. Her pose was that of complete neutrality, waiting for the announcer to begin the opening ceremony.
Said announcer was currently walking out into the middle of the field, wireless microphone in hand and a picture perfect smile on his face. A crew of cameramen were behind us, the competitors, capturing us in the shot with the mustached man.
"Yeah?" She said this in a bored tone, the announcer greeting the audience and beginning his hype speech.
Either she was used to this sight or completely uncaring.
"Not to, well… ruin the moment or whatever..." I began uncertainly. "But where are all the other entrants?"
"Welcome, Jubilife City, to the biweekly Doubles Saturday Smash! A tournament that is hosted by the city and sponsored by local chains to encourage up and coming trainers! This time, I am proud to announce, that this week's tournament will be broadcasted on…" The mustached man proudly began his speech.
I looked at Amber intently as the man continued his attempts at energizing the crowd. I could see Amber's eyes take a faraway look before she sighed in exasperation.
"This is the expected turnout when people find out Whisper is entering." She began with agitation. "The only people who enter when she's around are either young kids, or trainers from out of town who don't know any better."
Geeze, Whisper really had that kind of reputation around here?
I suppose you see someone win enough times it becomes the norm, discouraging others from even dreaming of competing against her. It was an understandable feeling, and one people were all too prone to give in to.
It was a wonder that Amber still strived to push herself to win despite it.
"Without further ado, let's get this party started!" The announcer had finally finished his info dump and pointed behind us at a gigantic LCD screen that was above an open hallway.
As one, we turned around to see a bracket with our faces appear on it. A quick look through of it saw Amber and I battling first. Whisper, and a guy that I recognized, the Piplup trainer I had seen at the mart, were at the farthest end of the bracket. We would need to win two straight battles to make it to the finals to face off against Whisper.
I followed Amber's lead as she walked over to one side of the large battlefield. The rest who weren't currently going to be battling made their way down the large hallway, below where the LCD screen was displayed.
Amber and I stood about ten feet or so from each other as we both pulled out our respective Pokéballs.
I looked across the way to our opponents to se—
The duck?
I stared bewildered at the blue haired boy I remembered seeing at the park with his Wooper. His partner was a girl with green hair in a ponytail. They couldn't have been older than eight years old… literally half our age.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't underestimate them…
I was sure a Wooper could somehow kill me under the right circumstances, even if it was an embarrassing way to go.
But I had only seen the boy several times at the park merely playing with his Wooper, and nothing else.
They most definitely hadn't been training.
"Give it all you got, Bradley, Clarice!" I heard encouragement shouted from the bleachers.
I looked over to see an older looking man and woman with similar colored hair to the boy and girl.
Brother and sister then…
I scanned the bleachers for a familiar face and found no one I recognized.
Good, I wasn't sure I wanted him to see this…
"Alright, if all the trainers are ready, let's begin!" The announcer eagerly shouted from the sidelines. It appears he would be refereeing our matches. "This is a double multi-battle. The side left standing will be declared the winner. Trainers, if you would please release your Pokémon!"
With several pops, four Pokémon materialized onto the field. I looked over at the LCD Screen to see our Pokémon's pictures were already being projected on it under the faces of their respective trainers. Amber had told me that the Pokémon we registered was the only one we could use throughout the tournament, not that it mattered in my case…
Dusk let out a loud bark, while Sneasel crossed her arms with confidence, an Amber trademarked foxy smile on her face.
On our opponent's side of the battlefield stood a blinking Wooper and a relaxed Budew.
I took a glance at Amber to see a half-lidded bored expression on her face.
"It should, uh, probably go without saying we aren't gonna use that strategy…" I said this low enough to where only she could hear me.
She looked over at me with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Really now? With your eyes you look like the kind of guy who would like to bully children."
"Says the girl who's probably done this more times than she can count." I mocked right back with a roll of my insulted eyes.
"Grk!" Amber blushed, a very unladylike noise coming from her mouth.
It only stood to reason that if she entered the tournament so frequently that she would have come across opponents like these often.
The announcer raised one of his arms up.
"Without further ado, let the battle between Amber Rose of Jubilife City, Aster of… Loverboy City?"
I blushed and began to grind my teeth in frustration as I narrowed my eyes at Amber. Her response was to stick her tongue out at me with a smile on her face. I could even hear Sneasel snickering from the battlefield, clearly having known about it.
Dusk just looked completely ignorant and was probably the only one taking the battle seriously.
I paled in horror as I realized something.
Wait, this event was being broadcasted!
Remind me to never let that vile girl enter me into an event ever again!
The announcer didn't linger on it for very long as he merely chuckled.
"And Bradley and Clarice of Jubilife City… BEGIN!"
The announcer threw down his arm to signal the start of the match.
I was far too embarrassed to notice this and the kids across from us gave the first orders.
"Wooper, Bubble!"
"Budew, Growth!"
I quickly recomposed myself when I heard their squeaky shouts, only to be greeted to a peculiar sight.
The Budew's body had started to glow an ethereal green as it grew a fraction of an inch.
The Wooper on the other hand was having the time of his life…
"Woop bloop woop bloop woop bloop woop bloop woop bloop…" The Wooper made sounds that reminded me of a radar, the noise slightly hypnotizing.
He spun on his head, blowing out miniscule streams of bubbles. The small watery orbs popping not even an inch away from his face.
I instantly relaxed when I saw this, my shoulders slumping in astonishment. Dusk mirrored my reaction and tilted her head with a woof.
Bradley had the decency to palm his face with a groan.
"Brad, you said you had been training him!" His sister shouted accusingly, stomping the ground with her foot in frustration.
"No, I-I did… uh…!"
"Then explain that you ass!" She pointed at the object of her ire.
And Wooper just kept spinnin'.
Woah! Were they even allowed to say that on TV?!
"Clarice!" I heard their mother gasp in dismay.
"I-I did, I swear!" Bradley defended himself, his eyes looking left and right.
Well, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was lying, regardless if I had seen him at the park multiple times goofing around…
Not that I'd blame him. I'd goof off too if I had a Wooper at his age.
"You…" Clarice muttered, her face growing extremely red at the obvious lie.
"You! You! YOU LAZY SON OF A—"
The cascade of expletives was enough to make even a sailor blush. I wasn't exactly sure where a girl her age would even hear some of the things she was saying!
I looked over at Amber, my mouth wide open in surprise, only to see her stare at the scene with a hand over her mouth from what looked like shock.
But the crinkles at the corners of her mouth, that her hand couldn't quite hide, were all too visible.
She was clearly enjoying the show.
I could even hear the camera crew farther away from me make some shouts to cut the feed.
"Snrk!" I snorted and quickly covered my mouth before a full blown laugh could escape me.
This… This was beyond ridiculous! The Wooper had even stopped spinning and was now having some sort of conversation with Dusk.
"Woo-Wooper!"
"Ruff R-Ruff!"
The Wooper smiled with a nod and bounced over to Dusk. Dusk merely yipped and tilted her head to the side with an open mouth.
With surprising tenderness, she took Wooper's body into her jaw and began to carry him around like he was a chew toy.
It was quite the charming sight to see nothing but a cute blinking Wooper head sticking out of the side of her mouth.
During this, Budew patiently watched on, bored, as she waited for a command from her cursing trainer, being the only trained Pokémon on their side of the field.
Dusk trotted over to the arena's sides, tilted her head, and gently placed the Wooper down outside of the borders like a fragile package being delivered.
She then turned her body to me, puffed out her chest, and let out a proud bark.
What a good girl! I was surprised she even remembered that rule!
"3… 2…" The announcer began counting down with a raised arm. "…1! Wooper has gone out of bounds and is thus unable to battle! Bradley, please return your Pokémon!" The announcer chopped the air and declared his judgment
This stopped Clarice's tirade as she looked back to the battlefield in shock. Bradley sighed and shakily returned his Wooper, finally getting a reprieve from his sister's wrath.
"Fine then! I'll just do it myself! Budew, Absor—"
"Ice Punch."
Amber gave the command before Budew's name could even be spoken. She didn't even shout it, but rather stated it with unflinching authority.
Sneasel immediately stopped sharpening her claws, an act she had been doing since the little girl's rant had begun.
Hearing Amber's voice, Sneasel took off like a rocket. She dashed across the field, a white trail hounding her as she used a Quick Attack to close the distance. One of her claws became cloaked in an icy frost as she neared her target.
And before Clarice could even finish giving her command, Sneasel brutally slammed her icy claw into Budew's middle, causing the baby Pokémon to double over with a pained cry.
With that the battle was over before it even began.
What a fantastic mess…
"Budew is unable to battle! Amber Rose and Aster are the winners and will be advancing to the next round!" The announcer remarkably played it straight.
No one cheered.
Neither side approached the other for any sportsman-like conduct.
Clarice stormed off after returning her Budew. While a reluctant Bradley followed after her, his Wooper bouncing up to his side.
I felt something poke into my side and looked down to see Amber had elbowed me, our two Pokémon already by our feet and looking up at us with a smile.
"Well, that was fun." Amber cheekily said with a smile.
"Bullying kids is fun now?" I tried to keep myself from laughing after picturing Wooper in Dusk's mouth.
"Hey! You helped too!" Amber crossed her arms with a pout as we walked towards the hallway the other contestants had gone to.
"Hardly. I didn't give a single command that entire fight. Right, Dusk?"
I received a happy bark in reply as she puffed out her chest.
"She was going to fight back!" Amber defended herself. "I'm the one who dealt with the actual threat of the two!"
"Whatever lets you sleep at night…" I grumbled my reply, not interested in her excuses.
"Tch!" She clicked her tongue and turned her head away from me with a huff.
I was about to say something else, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see that lusterless faraway look in her eyes again as she stared in front of us.
I heard Sneasel let out a low whine that only I noticed.
That face really bothered me.
