Effie quickly hops into the water, and I jump onto her back, gripping her fin tightly as she takes off.
She starts out so fast that I almost lose my grip, and slip off my feet so i'm sitting on her back now, but she growls happily and goes faster.
I take a peek behind me, and see Rayna pulling ahead of the group that has barely left the beach. Her Primarina, Aria, slides into the water gracefully, and she hops onto its back, and they take off as well.
I turn back around, and see that we are already halfway to the island!
I give a whoop, but I'm quickly silenced as something jumps out of the water ahead of us.
"FRILL!" It screams, sending an IceBeam at us.
It barely misses me, as Effie effortlessly dodges, but I hear a yelp behind us, and the sound of a body splashing into the water. I pray it wasn't Rayna, until I hear her voice behind me.
"Slow down! I have an idea!" She pulls up beside us as Effie slows, and Rayna leans over.
"Nowhere in the rules did it say we couldn't battle the same trainer multiple times, so lets go with that!" She yells over the ocean air rushing past us, and I nod.
We make it to the island, and I quickly jump off Effie's back, as she runs aground and keeps her speed, swimming through the sand.
Rayna lands quickly after me, and I risk a glance behind as we run towards the line of trainers.
The entire first half of the race is pandemonium. There are wild pokemon bobbing all over the track, and they are ruthlessly spewing attack after attack at the other contestants. I watch as the girl who helped us before, Deanna, is thrown off the back of her large penguin pokemon, and is set back almost a hundred yards. I also notice a younger boy, who's arm is frozen in a solid chunk of ice, and I wince guiltily.
We make it to the trainers, and Rayna runs down the line, starting with the far end as I start with the closest.
It's an older man, with white hair and a white beard, and he stands like a sumo wrestler. He releases his pokemon, which is a crab looking pokemon, but it has boxing gloves on.
"Effie, Ice Fang!"
Effie darts forward, slamming her fangs into the pokemons claw, and throwing it into a nearby tree, instantly unconscious.
"Ohoho! Your a strong one, aint you!" The man laughs, returning his pokemon and handing me a small bracelet with three beads on it.
"Next!" I shout across the field, and his eyes go wide, but he nods, releasing a Mankey.
Another Ice Fang and the poor pokemon is frozen solid, also unconscious.
He returns it, handing me another bracelet with two beads.
"Next!" He shakes his head, chuckling at the scenario, and releases a small chubby pokemon, also with boxing gloves.
Effie makes quick work of the poor fighting type.
"Well, that was interesting!" He shakes my hand, handing me a third bracelet, this one with only one bead on it.
I look behind me, and see the rest of the contestants are finally reaching the island. I also see that Rayna has just finished her first battle.
I look between the two of them, and run for Ray, Effie close behind me.
"Rayna! I got my three, I'm heading back!" She nods, as Primarina gets slammed into the ground by her opponents Leaf Tornado.
"Go! I got this!" She winks at me, and turns her attention back to the battle.
"Aria, Oceanic Opperetta!" I don't stay to find out what that move is, but I can sure hear it.
I hop onto Effie, as the ear-splitting note comes out of Primarina, rendering three of the line of trainers' pokemon unconcsious.
They all hand her beads, but I turn back, in time to see a large pink head surface ahead of us.
Jellicent's body rises, until she's floating well above the water.
"OOOOOOooh." She moans, daring us to pass.
Effie stops, and Rayna quickly pulls up beside us.
"We got the most amount of beads, everyone else is screwed!" She laughs, but her eyes are glued to the giant pink ghost water type in front of us.
"What do we do?" I ask quietly, and she shakes her head.
"I doubt I could outrun her... but..." She looks at me, then shakes her head again.
"I could." I finish, and she nods.
"I have an idea..." I explain m plan to her and Aria quietly, and they nod.
"Are you sure, babe?" She asks, and I nod.
"A hundred percent. Wait for my signal." Effie shoots forward, and my burn stings at the sudden on-burst of salty air.
I hiss through the pain, as we pass under Jellicent.
She whips around, a dangerous look of glee in her eyes, and gives chase.
She shoots Ice Beam after Ice Beam after us, and one finally connects with my back, and I watch in horror as a solid block of ice forms around my waist and chest, securing my arms to Effie's fin.
"NOW!" I scream, and Effie launches into the air.
Everything goes in slow motion, as Effie slams into Jellicent with Aqua Jet, and sinks her poison coated fangs into Jellicent's arm, throwing her to the water. I watch as Rayna passes under us, barely missing the falling Jellicent.
I smile, as Effie lands and turns around, going to swim back to shore, when my gut pulls me backwards. I look back, and get slammed by a massive wall of purplish haze.
I'm thrown off Effie, and into the water, as whatever hit me sinks into my skin, making me vomit profusely as I start to sink into the water. The ice block around me prevents me from swimming, so I yell hopelessly as I'm dragged under-water by the heavy ice block.
Just before I go under, I see Effie, screeching as she slams attack after attack into the relentless Jellicent, who is taking the hits and delivering blows.
I also hear someone scream my name before I'm completely submerged.
I try to hold my breath, but as I'm dragged under deeper and deeper, i'm forced to breath out.
All of a sudden, my terror and worry is replaced by an undeniable feeling of bliss. I'm not dying, this cant be death. I feel on top of the world, like I could accomplish anything! I smile, and i suddenly feel very tired. I can sleep here, i'm safe here.
As I close my eyes, I see a shadow above me.
I fall asleep.
The first thing I feel is the urge to vomit. I turn on my side, spewing out water everywhere, until I can finally get air into my lungs.
I open my eyes, and immediately have to shield them from the bright sun.
I notice someone beside me, and I look up.
Rayna. Her eyes are red from crying.
"Ray." I gasp, and she slams me into the ground, hugging me.
'B-B-BABE!" She sobs, and there is a loud clapping sound.
I look over her shoulder, and see that we are back on the beach, and are surrounded by the crowd. I notice my family, Mom sobbing as she runs over, and dad and Kai also crying. Effie is with them, sobbing freely.
"What... what happened?" I gasp, still trying to catch my breath.
"Jellicent hit you with a Hex, causing you to lose motor function." I hear N's voice behind me, and he comes around the front.
Nodding, I look into Rayna's eyes.
"Did it work?" I ask, and she sobs, covering her mouth, but nods.
"Good." I kiss her forehead, and Matthew and Nareen appear, hugging me then taking her away.
"Well... I mean... I guess I'm... I'm all caught up on my... daily water intake..." I gasp, and I know moms behind me cause she slaps me upside the head.
"Lets get you to the infirmary." N stands me up, but I lean against him and shake my head.
"I want to be here for the announcement. I have my..." I look on my wrist, but realize the beads are all gone.
Effie nudges my leg, still crying, but she has a small basket in her mouth. I grab it, and see that there are close to twenty bracelets sitting in it.
"What?" I ask, looking around at the other contestants, who nod their heads.
"After we got you back to shore, the other contestants pooled their bracelets together for you and Rayna." Mom whispers in my ear, and now it's my turn to cry.
"What? Why?" I sniffle, and N laughs, shaking his head.
"Because you risked your life so they could win. Thats pretty deserving, if you ask me!" He explains.
There is another round of clapping, as N leads me over to where Marlon and the bigger trainer from the island are waiting with a stretcher.
"I can walk." I gasp, finally starting to catch my breath, but N shakes his head.
"To hell you can, look at you! You can barely breathe!" He laughs and shakes his head as he gently sits me on the stretcher.
Sighing, I lay down.
I don't realize how tired I am until the rocking of the stretcher lulls me back to sleep...
"He'll be fine, just needs to rest up. Hes lucky he didn't catch something. That Hex is the only thing that saved him."
"Saved him?"
"It kept him from struggling under the ice block, causing him to sink faster and breathe deeper."
"Thank you doc, I'll watch him."
Light footsteps trod away.
I feel a tight constriction around my lower abdomen, and as I open my eyes, I notice a bandage has been tightly wrapped around my body.
I notice N, sitting with Aspen in his lap beside the bed. He's staring out the window, that looks out on the beach, where the crowd is now playing in the sand and water. I notice Aria in the water, and Rayna's bright auburn hair shines like a beacon in the sun as she swims lazily by the shore.
Aspen sees that i've waken up, an squeals happily, jumping onto my lap, kissing my face.
"Hey bud." I sound hoarse, but a hand sticks out a bottle of water.
"Hey." N says quietly, as I crush the water bottle, throwing the empty container into the garbage across the room.
"Hey."
"How do you... feel?" N asks, and I shrug.
"Sore. Thirsty." He chuckles, but shakes his head.
"I was terrified, watching you go under." He whispers, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"Hey, i'm fine now." I point out, but he shakes his head.
"We watched as the Hex threw you off of Effie. Effie tried so hard to get to you." He cries softly.
"Who... who got me out?" I ask, and he wipes his eyes, sitting a bit closer.
"Rayna. She say you go under, and took a direct Ice Beam to her leg to get to you."
"An Ice Beam? From who?"
"A wild Frillish. She used the weight to drag her down quicker, then kicked it off once she got to you. Aria had to help her bring you back, and by then you were..."
"N. I'm fine. Is Rayna okay?"
"She has some bad ice burns on her leg, but other than that she got out unscathed." He chuckles.
"What?"
"You almost died, babe, and your worried about other people." He laughs now, loud and hearty, and I can't help but join him.
The doctor comes back in soon, telling me I can go, I just need to take it easy and rest for the next while.
N walks me out, and he turns towards the commons room.
"Where are we going?" I ask, gesturing towards the beach.
"You are going to bed, doctors orders." He says firmly, but I wrench away, sprinting down the hallway with a yipping Aspen on my heels.
"BABE!" He moans, but runs after me laughing.
I burst into the sunlight, and there is a loud round of applause.
Mom runs up, hugging me hard as Effie, Cleo, and Belle tackle me from behind.
"We were so worried!" She cries quietly, and I kiss her forehead.
"You think an ice cube and a little bit of water can keep me down? Nice try." She smacks me lightly, but laughs and wipes her tears away.
Rayna runs up from the water, and I notice her leg is blotchy and seems tender.
I grab her, squeezing her tightly.
"Thank you." I whisper in her ear.
She pulls back, kissing my forehead.
"I couldn't let you die, could I? Who else would tell me I look pretty everyday?" She flicks her hair comically, and we both laugh.
"Now, come join! Sit on the beach with us." She leads me over, and I wave to my family as I'm dragged to where Nareen, Matthew, Prim, Cosmo, and Sky are all sitting.
The rest of the day is spent laughing and playing around in the sand, but I'm careful not to get to close to the water.
The sun is setting by the time we finally get back inside, and we all go straight to bed.
I'm asleep before I hit the pillow.