The next event site is very dark, placed in a large clearing of tall grass in the forest outside of the castle.
The crowd is huge, and spread out across the entire perimeter.
N squeezes my arm, whispering in my ear.
"I have to go announce the event, but i'll come back after, okay?" I nod, kissing him gently over my shoulder, and he takes off.
The crowd goes silent as N is lifted into the middle of the clearing by the Alakazam from before.
"Welcome to tonights event, everyone!" The crowd cheers in anticipation.
"Tonight's contestants are..."
Everyone heads up as they are called.
Nareen and Martin.
Matthew and Ruption.
Cosmo and Watcher.
Prim and Princess.
Sky and Sly.
And a few more I dont recognize from other teams.
"Tonights event is pretty simple. What is it, you might ask? Well..." A group of Machamp and a large pokemon I havent seen before walk out, carrying huge containers.
"Water fight! Well, with paint, but you get the gist. If you get hit, your out. Contestants, take your places by your corresponding Machamo or Conkeldurr!" Everyone claps, as the contestants take their positions around the field.
A safeguard is placed around the clearing, to stop the crowd from getting splattered with paint.
"Alright, on your marks..." The contestants grab balloons filled with paint, and get ready to run.
"Get set..." Princess growls, and Watcher covers his eyes.
"GO!" Everyone is off like a bullet.
Instantly, Nareen and Matthew fly back to back, their pokemon circling them, welcoming anyone to try and attack.
Sky, Prim, and Cosmo also join forces, creating a triangle of paint madness.
A balloon flies out of nowhere, narrowly missing Nareen, who pushes Mathew out of the way.
As he falls, Martin catches him, swiftly deflecting another balloon as it flies past, keeping it intact as it hits one of the other contestants.
"DUCK!" Prim shouts, before skillfully flinging four balloons over Sky and Cosmo, one hitting Matthew and the other three splattering other contestants.
Finally, it's down to Nareen versus the Plasmas.
Nareen takes her jacket off, throwing it into the crowd, and cracks her knuckles, smiling sadistically.
Sky and Cosmo take a step back, sending worried glances to one another, when Prim does the unexpected.
A balloon in each hand, she slams them onto the heads of Sky and Cosmo.
The crowd goes nuts.
"Sorry guys, it'll be more fun with just the two of us!" She pats their arms as they head to the washing station, heads hung low.
Prim slides her jacket off as well, throwing it back into me and Rayna.
Both her and Nareen smile at each other, as they grab balloons, and I see Princess and Martin ready to pounce.
As if a gunshot had sounded, they are off. They run around each other for a few seconds, before darting in to meet each other in the middle.
Prim launches a balloon above and below Nareen, hoping to catch her off guard, but Nareen quickly tumbles through the air, landing on one hand as she chucks the next balloon, smoking Princess in the tail.
Whining, Princess walks off the field, and Prim looks ready to burst with anger.
Nareen throws another balloon, narrowly missing Prim, but smacking Kai straight in front of his face, pink paint flying everywhere, and splattering over the Safeguard.
I turn back, to see Prim has thrown Nareen to the ground, and has Nareen's shoulders locked under her knees, pinning her to the ground.
Prim raises her hand in victory, ready to smash a balloon into Nareen's face, when Martin flies out of nowhere, grabbing Prim by the arm and throwing her a good yard away. She lands on her feet, already sprinting towards Nareen again.
Nareen jack knifes, getting back to her feet. Nareen has been taking advanced martial arts since she was a small child, so this isnt a new thing for her. Prim, on the other hand, never seemed like the kind of person to harness this kind of ability.
Prim slides by Nareen, just missing an onslaught of balloons, and slams Martin in the chest with one as he is distracted by Nareen.
He sulks off, but I see Princess lick his hand as he washes up, and he kisses her forehead.
Nareen and Prim both reach into their containers for more balloons, but both only come out with one. They give each other a glance, a playful look in their eyes.
Whoever gets this wins, but there is no room for failure.
Prim darts towards Nareen, laughing playfully, as Nareen launches her balloon.
Everything slows down as Prim throws hers as well, and we all watch in silence as they both slam into each other, breaking and splattering paint over both girls.
Everyone stands there in stunned silence, as Prim grabs Nareen in a bear hug, laughing hysterically, and soon Nareen is laughing to.
The crowds cheer is deafening.
Both girls bow, and head to get washed up as N is lifted back into the air.
"Well, that was... interesting!" He starts, and we all laugh. I glance over, and both the girls are chatting away as they wash their hair out under the hot water from the water type pokemon.
"We have decided the winners for the event are as follows..."
"Nareen, of Team Rocket!" Nareen bursts into tears, hugging Prim close in happiness.
"Primrose, of Team Plasma!" Matthew and Sky hug the crying girls, and I wave at them, a huge grin on my face.
"Matthew, of Team Magma!" His face is shocked, but he smiles and waves.
"And finally, Grace, of Team Galactic!" The girl smiles, her platinum blond hair waving gently in the wind.
"And now that that is over, who's ready for bed?" He covers his ears, laughing as the crowd goes wild.
I wake up early, ready for my run, but I notice all of my pokemon are gone.
I sit up quickly, scanning the room for them, but they are no where to be seen, and Kai isn't in bed either.
I throw on a pair of shorts, and a tank top, bursting out of the room.
Mom is on the balcony, sitting across from... N?
"Hey!" He smiles as I walk out, shivering in the early morning air.
"Hey guys, do you know where my pokemon went?" I ask, and they laugh.
"Kai wanted to catch his own, but your pokemon wouldn't let him go alone, so they all went, even your Dad. Well, except for baby Aspen." She lifts the small bundle in her hands that I hadn't noticed before, and Aspen waves her little paw at me, before going back to enjoying the crisp morning air.
"Kai went to catch his own pokemon? Where did they go?" I ask, pulling a pair of socks on.
"Humilau, I was about to go meet him down there, if you wanted to join?" Mom asks, and I nod.
"The next event is in a half hour, but I didn't think you were interested in coming to the rest of them, right?" N asks, and I shake my head.
"I've seen everyone I wanted to see. I'll go get ready, Mom." I kiss her forehead, before heading back in.'
N appears in the door way as I'm pulling on clean clothes, and he giggles as he kisses me.
"Whats up?" I ask, and he smiles.
"I'm so glad your brother chose a Unovan pokemon as his first one." He whispers, and I kiss him again as I slip a shirt on.
"Me too. It'll be the talk of the town back in Kanto." He laughs, as we head out.
Aspen launches onto my shoulder, sitting quietly and snoozing as me and Mom head for Humilau.
"Belle, ThunderBolt!" Kai shouts, and Belle obeys, striking the Golduck hard, and rendering it unconscious instantly.
"Darn!" He moans, but keeps wheeling himself deeper into the route.
"Kai, we are going a bit to far from the road..." Dad moans for the hundredth time, but Kai keeps going.
"Soon, dad! I can feel it!" He reassures, but Mom just chuckles, knowing that we are nowhere NEAR close to finished.
I laugh, stroking Cleo's head as we walk.
'Hey, theres something down there!" Kai stops his chair at a small lip, overlooking a huge valley.
There is a huge divide through the middle of the valley, the earth opening up in a gaping chasm. I notice that there is a strange lack of pokemon around it, but there are also many cave entrances around as well.
I'm surprised that i've never encountered this place before, even though I've been through this route at least a hundred times.
"Kai, that looks dangerous..." Mom trails off, but Kai shakes his head.
"No, look! By the big tree! Somethings down there!" I follow where his hand is pointing, and see a horrific scene.
There is a small white and red pokemon, lying on the ground. Around it are a handful of orange and silver rock pokemon, and they are launching attack after attack at this pokemon, causing it so that it cant move of defend itself.
"KAI!" Mom screams, and I'm taken out of my trance by the sound of Kai's wheelchair sliding down the slope towards the tree.
Dad goes to jump down, but I stop him.
"Belle, Aspen! Stay here, make sure they are safe!" Both pokemon nod, and herd mom and dad back from the edge.
"Cleo, Effie, with me!" I jump down, following a ways behind Kai.
Using the momentum of the slide, Kai used his chair as a makeshift battering ram, flying head first into the group of pokemon, and knocking a handful of them back. He parks his chair in-front of the injured pokemon.
"You want it, your going to have to get through me!" He growls, throwing his hands up. The pokemon look taken aback, but band together to charge an attack.
Kai's eyes go wide as they launch their Solarbeam at him.
Not thinking, I throw myself in front of him, the attack slamming me back into the tree.
Everything goes black.
KAI
"NO!" Kai screams, as his brothers body is thrown against the tree behind him.
His body then falls to the ground with a solid THUMP, and he doesn't move again.
"NO!" Kai screams again, and turns around to witness a massacre.
Effie rips the rock tips off of one of the pokemon, throwing it into the giant chasm, as Cleo digs into the eye sockets of the next one, rendering it blind.
The last two, both orange sun-shaped pokemon, turn to run, but a hard hitting AquaJet from Effie sends them into the chasm as well.
Kai grabs the injured pokemon, placing it in his lap as he hurries over to where his brother is lying on the ground, both Effie and Cleo at his side.
Kai lifts himself out of the chair, landing on the ground with a painful UMPH, and checks his brothers pulse.
It's... faint. But still there.
"Kai? Kai?!" A voice sounds form behind him, and Cleo and Effie both perk up, teeth bared, as Cosmo slides down.
"Holy..." He gasps, but whips into action.
"Did you check his pulse, Kai?"
"Faint, but still there!"
"Are YOU okay?"
"I'm fine, he shielded me from the SolarBeam."
"I can only bring one up at a time, so I'll take him, okay?
"Please, make sure hes okay!"
Cosmo gently lifts the unconscious boy, standing up slowly.
"Effie or Cleo, one of you stay here with Kai, until I get back, okay?" They both nod, and Cleo helps me back into my chair as Effie helps push Cosmo back up.
Kai gently lifts the injured pokemon to his chest, warming it with is body heat.
It slowly opens it's eyes, moaning quietly.
It's eyes go wide at the sight of Kai, and it starts chattering away.
"I cant... I dont know..." Kai stutters, unable to understand the pokemon, but Cleo's ears prick up, and she starts sniffing around, before coming to a dirty white cloth bag by the trunk of the tree. She gently lifts it, bringing it over, and gesturing to the pokemon with her tail.
"Oh!" He grabs the bag, dusting it off, before placing it on the pokemon's chest.
It's eyes soften, and it nods, smiling as it holds the bag close.
"Kai!" Cosmo appears again, Matthew at his side.
"How did..." But Matthew shakes his head.
"Came to watch my honorary little bro catch his first pokemon!" He smiles, lifting Kai out of the chair.
Cosmo grabs Kai's chair, leading them up to where a car is waiting.
Kai wheels himself out of the way as his brother and the injured pokemon are loaded onto stretchers, and into the castle's infirmary.
"Baby!" Mom flies out, kissing his forehead.
"What happened? Cosmo sent us away when he got there!" Dad growls, and Kai starts to cry.
"I just... I wasnt able... to..." He cries, and Mom grabs his in a hug.
"This was not your fault, okay? You went to help out of the kindness of your heart, and I am SO proud of you!" She cries soflty, kissing his forehead and squeezing his shoulders.
"Hey! What the hell happened?" N runs up, and Dad stops him.
"There was an accident, everyone is is okay, they are treating-"
N is already off to the infirmary.
"I think I'm starting to like that boy..." Dad shakes his head, chuckling as N rushes to check on the injured.
"I think I need... to go to... bed..." Kai shivers, and he is lead back to the room by Mom, Dad, and Aspen.
N
Back in the Infirmary, N watches as doctors treat his boyfriend's wounds, dressing the burns on his chest and stomach, and making sure his back inst broken from the impact.
"Hey." N watches as Rayna approaches, her eyes red from crying.
"Hey sweetheart. How are you?" He asks, hugging her closely.
"Scared. Is he going to be alright?"
"They think so. You know what happened?" She shakes her head, and N chuckles.
"He threw himself infront of a SolarBeam, protecting his brother and an injured pokemon."
She gasps, and touches the glass gently.
"Please, make sure we can visit him." She asks gently, and N nods.
"It's dinner time, and we need to calm down so the doctors can work. We can check on him after dinner, bring him something to eat." She nods, and they head to the dining hall.