Now that we're moving onto the Coolness Competition, we find ourselves facing a problem! And that problem is that Sango doesn't have any pokemon capable of fighting! What will she end up doing?! We'll have to find out!
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I wonder what physical activity it could be?
KedharS: She definitely should.
Pokemonking0924: Problem is, Marion's already long-gone, off doing other stuff for her work. So she won't be much help.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 748
There was another brief intermission for the girls to choose which pokemon they were going to use. It was short, though, only ten minutes, so unfortunately no one had the time to go get pokmeon for Sango. Not that that stopped Cynthia, of course, who had immediately booked it to get back to her room.
Blake sighed. That was just like her, he had to admit.
Blake himself wondered if Sango would be able to find a pokemon to use in time for the match. He found that he was in a rather strange position honestly. After all, the first match was going to be Aya fighting against Sango.
Honestly, he should be rooting for Sagno to not find a pokemon, so Aya would get an easy win. But where Kate pointed that out to him, he felt a little sick to his stomach, and let her know with a cold glare just what he thought of that idea.
He may have been in love with Aya, but Sango was still his friend. He wasn't going to root for her to be in a bad position just because it would give Aya better odds at victory. And that certainly wouldn't be what she wanted, she would want to fight to her fullest, and being in a position like this, getting a win by default, wasn't her style.
But unfortunately, with Sango unable to get ahold of a pokemon, it looked like that was going to be the result anyway.
The curtain rose on the stage, and the lights dimmed, signaling that it was time for the Coolness Competition to begin.
Blake glanced at the seat next to Maddi, still empty. Cynthia hadn't made it back. He could hope that meant she was getting to Sango just in time, but he wasn't that naïve. He knew full well that he never could have gotten to the dorm and back in time, and Cynthia was no athlete. Oh, well, that was just how it went sometimes.
The judges were all seated, and even Ian was looking rather serious. When it came to pokemon battles, they were going to pay full attention.
"Hello, everyone! Welcome back!" Lukas greeted the audience, walking onto the stage. "We're now going to begin the first round of our Coolness Competition! Our first match will be Ayame Toujou vs. Sango Akana! Before we begin the matches, though, let's go over our bracket once again!"
Lukas gestured to the screen, where the bracket popped up. "Let me explain to you how points work for this competition," he said. "We're going to be judging the girls based on the number of wins that they get; that will determine how many points that they receive! If a girl gets no wins, that is to say, she's knocked out in the first round, she'll be given 4 points. If a girl makes it to the second round, that is, she gets one win, then she'll get 6 points. If she gets two wins and makes it to the final round, then she gets 8 points, and the overall winner, defeating three of her competitors, will get 10 points!" Lukas explained. "Does that make sense?"
Blake nodded, that made sense to him. The roars of the crowd showed that they felt the same. Hearing that, Lukas nodded in agreement. It was time for the match.
"Good, that's what I like to hear!" Lukas grinned. "Then without further ado, let's get these matches started! Let's meet our competitors! First, we have Ayame Toujou!"
Ayame walked onstage with a confident grin on her face. Much to Blake's disappointment, she had in fact changed out of her maid costume and back into her previous outfit as she had stated was her intention to do.
"And her opponent, our lovely Pokemon Ranger Sango Akana!" Lukas said, gesturing to the other side of the stage. Unlike Ayame, Sango was still wearing her ranger outfit, and she was also wearing an exhausted and confused expression on her face, like she couldn't believe what was happening. Considering the situation she was in, that made sense.
Floating beside Sango was her Castform, Silver, which made Blake seriously wonder for a moment if she was actually going to use him in battle.
"Now, ladies, are you both ready to give us a cool battle?" Lukas asked, turning to the girls in turn.
"You got it," Ayame grinned, giving him a thumbs' up and nodding eagerly.
"That's the spirit!" Lukas grinned, turning to Sango. "Sango? What about you?"
Sango let out an exasperated sigh, and forced a smile to her face. "Well… it's definitely going to be an interesting match, that's for sure…" She mumbled, not going into more detail than that. She still looked troubled by something.
Lukas blinked, not sure what to make of that. "…Well, okay then," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Then, let's get this match started! When both trainers have sent out their pokemon, the timer will begin!" Lukas nodded up to the viewing screen, where a large five minute timer popped up for everyone to see.
"Sounds good! Come on, Sango, let's do this!" Ayame said. "Snows, come out!"
Ayame threw her pokeball into the air, sending out her trusty Glalie. Blake grinned, nodding in agreement. Snows was the perfect pokemon for Aya to use, because of who else was in the tournament. From the Phantom Cup, it was clear that Aya's two greatest rivals were Alcea and Darla. Alcea used Grass types and Darla used Dragon types, and her Glailie was the perfect counter to both. Now it came down to what pokemon Sango would use.
She had found one, hadn't she?
Sango let out a sigh, and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry about this," she apologized weakly, wincing as she held up the pokeball. "Sammy… go."
Blake blinked. What she'd just said… no, that couldn't be, but…
Sango tossed the pokeball, and from within it the pokemon emerged, a deep sea blue Samurott with shiny shells and a fierce light in her crimson eyes.
For once, Lukas was at a loss for words. The audience went silent as well.
"Samurott!" Sammy stood up on her hind legs and let out a roar, extending her shell blades as she prepared to strike. The timer began counting down.
Akira and Ian both turned their attention to Kanone in disbelief.
"…I thought it would be rather unfair for that girl to get disqualified due to not being able to use any pokemon to fight," Kanone explained to them, smiling coyly. "So I thought it would be fine to lend her one of mine."
Blake shook his head in disbelief. There were limits to something like that, Kanone had seriously just messed with the results.
Sango's expression said it all. She really wasn't sure what to make of the situation.
Ten minutes ago…
Sango was wracking her head for ideas about what to do, where could she get a pokemon? She considered calling her friends, but that just felt kind of tacky. And she didn't want to drag their pokemon into this mess and get them hurt, not if she could help it. So what was she going to do? She had to think of something…
As she was trying to come up with an idea, a knock sounded on the door, shaking her out of her thoughts. Curious, she wondered if one of her friends had come to her, first, or maybe it was Olivia again, come with a pep talk. After all, the older coordinator wasn't a pokemon battler herself, maybe she had some advice?
"Come in," Sango called, interested in seeing who it was. But when the door opened and the figure walked in, she was taken aback. It certainly wasn't anyone she was expecting.
"Hello there, Sango Akana," Kanone said, greeting her with a wave as he walked into the room. "How are things going?"
"Kanone Harker?!" Sango gasped in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to say hello," Kanone said, walking over to her and sitting down on the couch next to her. "I think we have a lot to talk about, in fact."
They did? Sango wasn't sure what they had to talk about at all, in fact, she wasn't sure if she'd ever spoken to him once. What did he want with her?
"R-Really?" She asked, confused.
"That's a nice look on your face," Kanone laughed. "You look so perplexed. But don't worry, it's nothing to worry about. I just wanted to extend my gratitude for being Blake's friend. The way I hear it, you've done a lot for him, especially when he went missing not too long ago."
Sango paled. Just remembering that incident made her feel sick to her stomach. "That's… yeah, I mean… I don't know, I was just being a good friend," she stuttered, still not sure how she was supposed to react to Kanone's words.
"I'm sure, I'm sure, but there's also something else we need to talk about," Kanone said, waving his hand absentmindedly. "There's still some important business between the two of us. About… Guinevere."
Sango gasped, her eyes widening. Gwen…
"The way I've heard it, you've had more than your share of run-ins with my little sister," Kanone murmured. The look in his eyes was a haunting one, filled with pain and desperate for understanding. It was a look that hurt Sango's heart to see.
"…Yeah," Sango said, nodding.
"Then you know, don't you?" Kanone murmured. "About her… circumstances."
Sango nodded. "Her harmonia…"
"Yes, but it's more than that," Kanone said. "Gwen has… her own share of troubles. She has her issues, and the way she grew up made them worse. I'm just glad she didn't hurt you."
Sango felt like now wasn't a good time to tell him that Gwen had in fact hurt her, even if her wounds weren't that serious.
"I want to apologize for my sister," Kanone continued. "And to tell you that honestly, she is a good girl, even if she's a little lost right now. From what Blake's told me, you've encountered her three times, already?"
Sango nodded.
"This is my phone number," Kanone said, scribbling something down on a notepad and ripping the paper off, handing it to Sango. "If you run into her again, then you don't need to go through Blake. Just call me, okay?"
"R-Right," Sango said, nodding. She glanced down at the phone number and for a brief instant her human desires kicked in and she considered selling such a hot commodity online. Kanone's phone number would make her quite a little nest egg.
But those thoughts of greed were quickly banished with a shake of the head. "Kanone… your sister, she… she's dangerous, you know that, right?"
Kanone pinched his lips into a tight scowl, and nodded. "Yes," he admitted, his voice tired. "She is dangerous. But still… she's my sister." He shrugged, giving her an exasperated expression like he was asking "what are you going to do?"
Sango didn't know how to respond to that. "I know that Gwen means a lot to you and Blake," she agreed. "So yes, if you need me to, I guess I can give you a call. I just hope you'll be able to help her," she added.
"I hope so, too," Kanone nodded. "But enough about that now, we have other things to focus on for the moment."
Sango blinked. Other things? What other things were those? She looked at Kanone in confusion, but his smile revealed nothing.
"You need a pokemon, don't you?" Kanone grinned. "After all, that Castform of yours certainly isn't the kind of pokemon meant for pokemon battles. One look at him, just hearing it in his voice, that would be more than enough to tell that."
"Uh…" Sango was a little confused about what he was talking about, until she remembered that Kanone had harmonia, duh. He had spoken with Silver directly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighed, slumping down a little. "I need to fight with another pokemon, but it's not like I have any. I don't have any pokemon other than Silver, and even if I did, I wouldn't want them to get hurt, either, my pokemon aren't suitable for battles."
Kanone raised his eyebrow. "Really? So you've never battled before?" He asked.
"No, I have," Sango quickly corrected him. "I've fought with pokemon before, just not mine. I borrowed pokemon from my friend."
"Oh, perfect!" Kanone said, smiling. "That's great! So you have borrowed other people's pokemon before, so that shouldn't be a problem at all, then, right?"
Sango wasn't sure what he was talking about. "But… I don't have any pokemon," she reminded him. "I mean, I guess I could ask one of my friends, but to do that so suddenly, I don't know if they have any on hand, or if they would be ready to battle."
"Ah, no need to worry about that," Kanone said, laughing, reaching onto his belt and taking off a pokeball. Before Sango could say anything, he tossed it to her and she caught it.
"Wait, what?" Sango asked, looking at the pokeball in her hands. "What are you doing?"
"This is Sammy, one of my pokemon," Kanone chirped, giving her a broad smile. "She's been getting a little impatient, and she wants to fight! She should be a fine partner for you to fight beside, don't you agree?"
"Uh…" Sango's eyes bugged out of her skull. Even she, an amateur at pokemon battles at best, knew about Kanone and his Samurott, Sammy. Sammy was his strongest pokemon. And he wanted her to fight with it? Was he kidding? Had he gone insane? That made absolutely no sense, and also… "isn't this… kind of not okay?" She asked, a little worried.
Kanone blinked, giving her an innocent smile. "Oh? What do you mean?" He asked cheerily.
Sango sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're a judge! You can't give me a pokemon!" She protested. "That's not fair, won't that be bias? You know, because I'm using your pokemon to fight the tournament?"
"Not at all!" Kanone laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "After all, I'm more than a fair judge. And don't think this will be a walk in the park just because Sammy is so powerful. She knows exactly how much strength to put out, and is a good pokemon for anyone to build their skill as a trainer. She'll follow your commands and limit her strength to match, so you don't have to worry about being given an unfair advantage!"
He sounded convincing, but Sango wasn't convinced in the slightest. She looked at the pokeball in her hands, wary of using her in this competition.
But then… she didn't really have any other options, did she? It was either use Kanone's Samurott, or just give up.
She sighed, and shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, I guess," she murmured, even though she didn't feel all that convinced. This whole thing stank, but again, there wasn't anything that she could do about it, was there?
"Sounds great!" Kanone smiled. "Just think of it as a thank you for taking such good care of my little sister, and also an apology for all the trouble that she's put you through, okay?"
Sango didn't really need an apology or a thank you for what she'd done, and she also wasn't sure that this was an appropriate one, but she was too blown away by what was happening to reply, nodding dumbly as Kanone laughed to himself, turned, and walked out of the dressing room, leaving her alone with her tornado of thoughts.
And now here she was, standing onstage and fighting beside one of Kanone Harker's strongest pokemon.
"Well, that's… quite something," Ayame said, more than a little stunned herself. "Well, I can say, Sango, I really didn't expect something like that! But don't worry, we aren't going to give in to anything, we'll give you guys a good fight! Snows, ready?"
"Glalie!" Snows said, bobbing up and down eagerly.
"That's right!" Ayame grinned. "Let's show those two that our condition is amazing as always, now use freeze-dry!"
"Glalie!" Snows opened his mouth and sent a blast of chilling icy wind across the field, freezing up Sammy with the cold breath.
"Samurott!" Sammy grimaced, bracing against the ice.
"Not a bad strategy," Kanone noted. "Freeze-dry is an Ice type move, but it's also super-effective against Water type pokemon like Sammy! I wonder how Sango's going to handle that!"
Neither Akira nor Ian had any comments to add to Kanone's observation. They were both still trying to process the fact that the trainer had loaned out one of his master-level pokemon to a total battle novice with basically a shrug and a "do your best!"
But thankfully, Sango wasn't a total novice herself. She knew strategy and tactics, even though she wasn't all that used to pokemon battles. "Sammy!" She called. "Use swords dance!"
"Samurott!" Sammy nodded, shrugging off the chill and taking an offensive stance. She held her shell swords out and twirled them in her hands, running forward and heightening her attacking power as she approached the floating pokemon.
"As expected, she's coming in hot!" Ayame called. She could tell that the Samurott was in amazing condition, because of course it was. She was Kanone Harker's pokemon, after all, it made sense that he would have trained his pokemon to be balanced and strong. "Okay, Snows, let's use double team!"
"Glalie!" Snows said, creating multiple replicas of himself. As he did, Ayame studied him closely.
Excellent! She noted, beaming eagerly at her Glalie. Snows' physical defense just received the boost from his ability, which should more than offset that Samurott's physical buff. "Now, Snows, use freeze-dry again!"
"Glalie!" Snows bellowed, sending a blast of chilling air at Sammy to freeze the Water type pokemon solid.
"Not happening!" Sango said. "Sammy, use protect!"
"Samurott!" Sammy raised her swords, spinning them around her body and conjuring a barrier of blue light. The cold air struck off the surface of the force field, deflecting the freezing attack and protecting her completely.
"Oh! So she knew Sammy has protect?" Kanone noted with surprise. "Interesting, because that's not a usual part of Samurott's movepool."
"I studied Kanone's fighting style way back when," Sango said. She might not have been a fan of fighting, but she still liked watching battles. She knew quite a lot about Kanone's Samurott, but she was still surprised that the water pokemon was listening to her so readily. It made her feel rather confident, in fact.
Sango cracked a smile. "Okay, Sammy! Let's go on the offensive now!" She called.
"Samurott!" Sammy bellowed, raising her swords and charging forward.
So, Sango's received quite a large boon for the Coolness Competition! Will she be able to make use of the silver bullet Kanone gifted to her? Or will her inexperience end up overwhelming her? We'll have to find out!