"They all have names on them." She says, looking around, and handing them out accordingly.
All four of the pokeballs are different.
Nareen's has a small pink heart on the lid, and is overall pink on the top.
Rayna's is a light grey, with dark blue mounds over the top, and looks quite heavy.
Prim's is pure white, with a red line in the middle and around the white button to open it.
Mine is a dive ball, all hues of blue mixing to create the the illusion of water.
We all look at each other, as Rayna lifts a note from the package and reads aloud;
Congrats on getting this far guys! We are so proud to be your mentors! Enclosed are some gifts from us, a blast from the past! Each was chosen by your FAMILY, to match your battle style and fluidity. Make sure to keep an eye out, cause it only gets harder from here! Keep it up teams!
Your favorite big sister,
Plumeria.
Rayna laughs, setting the note down, and turns to us.
"Who wants to go first? We have some time to waste." She asks, and Prim raises her hand.
She holds the white ball out, and opens it.
In a flash of red energy and light, a small pokemon pops out gently in front of her, swaying slightly.
"Now I get the 'blast from the past' part!" I laugh, as Lileep gently bows in front of Prim.
"Well hi there!" Prim giggles, gently lifting the fossil pokemon and kissing it's head, concocting a small eep of laughter from it.
"I'll go next..." Nareen releases her pokemon...
Kabuto clicks happily, bowing as Lileep did before hugging Nareen's leg.
"Hello!" She lifts it, and it clicks happily, settling atop her head.
Rayna releases hers next, the pokeball thudding loudly on the ground, as a Shieldon emerges.
It clanks, gently ramming Rayna's foot in excitement, as she struggles to lift it.
"A... girl! Hey baby girl!" Ranya strains, kissing the pokemon's head gently, as it licks her face.
They all turn to me, and I release mine last...
Tirtouga floats gingerly an inch or so above the ground, and she looks up at me, her eyes wide in awe.
"Hello..." I put my hand out, and she carefully sniffs it, before bowing, and launching into my arms, gently pecking/kissing my face.
"What a sweetheart!" Rayna gently pets Tirtouga's shell, as Shieldon comes over to greet me.
"Wait! There's something else!" Prim points to Rayna's box, and sure enough, there are four small boxes.
She hands them out, and we open them to reveal...
PokeTranslators!
"Holy crap! These are expensive!" Nareen quickly puts hers in, and looks at Kabuto.
Kabuto clicks a few times, and Nareen's eyes fill with tears.
I clip mine in.
"What is that?" A small voice asks from in front of me, and I turn to see Tirtouga, looking at the translator with curious eyes.
"I can understand you...?" It's more of a question, but Tirtouga smiles, giggling happily.
"Yay! Yay! He understands me!"
"Calm down, you silly amphibian." Kabuto clicks, and Nareen gently taps it.
"That wasn't nice!" She scolds, and Kabuto quickly apologizes.
"How old are you guys?" Prim asks, and they all chorus that they just hatched, mere days ago.
We grab all our stuff, and start walking as we chat with our pokemon.
"So, know any moves?" I ask, and Tirtouga looks thoughtful before answering.
"Only a few. I know Water Gun... and... I can do this!" With that, she quickly pulls all her appendages and head into her shell.
"Withdraw! Not bad!" I tickle her gently as she comes out again, and she giggles away.
Cel blips in beside me, and Tirtouga smiles and waves.
"Hi! Are you a friend?" Cel nods, and Tirtouga giggles.
"Whats up, Cel?" I ask, and she sits gently on my shoulder.
If you and our new friend are interested, I know Rain Dance and Ancient Power. I believe she is capable of both, and I am willing to train her.
Before I can answer, Tirtouga nods and laughs.
"Oh, can I please? It seems like so much fun!" She looks up at me with pleading eyes, and I sigh.
"Just remember to be careful... and hey, while your teaching ancient power..."
In less than a minute, all four fossil pokemon are a ways behind us, Celeste teaching them the basics of the rock attack.
"That was sure nice of her, to do that for us." Nareen points out, and we all nod.
"Cel is an amazing pokemon, and her heart is in the right place." I say, and I notice Cel wink at me quickly.
"So, whats next?" Rayna asks, and we all shrug.
"Hopefully not another-" As Prim swings open yet another door, there's a booming laugh from the next room.
"-gym leader." She sighs, having jinxed us, and we head in.
"Names Chuck, from Cianwood! How's it going, kids?" We all shake his ginormous hand and assure him we are doing great.
"This is an easy one..." We all sigh, but his eyes flash a dangerous glint.
"All you have to do... is stand under a waterfall! For two minutes!" We look around, and I notice that, while there is no waterfall present, one can be heard from not to far away.
He leads us through a trap door in the floor, and down a large, winding flight of stairs, into a room where a mighty waterfall is rushing into a grated floor.
"Only rules are; NO POKEMON are allowed to assist you during the test. You may use them to warm up and dry off after, but under no circumstances are you allowed to use one to boost your endurance. Second and lastly, if you lose, you are officially out of the race. We are down to the final six, meaning that it goes into sudden death mode. Any questions?"
"Who are the other two?" Nareen asks, and Chuck shrugs.
"Not sure of names, one magma and one aqua." We all look among each other.
That means Sam is still in the running, and possibly...
I strip quickly, shirt, pants, and everything else except underwear thrown onto a bench nearby.
"Me first." I say quickly, before stepping under.
The pain doesn't register till after the pressure, which almost buckles my knees. Then, the frigidness of the water kicks in, and I find myself shivering uncontrollably, as thousands of tiny needles dig into my back.
If Matt is still in the running... That means we will have our battles sooner rather than later.
In what seems like hours, but must have only been a few minutes, a large hand reaches out and pulls me out.
"Nice one, kid! You got guts! That was four minutes, meaning you not only beat the time, but set a record!" He hands me a robe and towel, which I quickly throw on.
Cel throws up a bright Sunny Day into the room, warming everyone considerably, and Rayna steps in next, wearing a bathing suit I don't quite recognize.
Shieldon mumbles unhappily as she struggles to stay standing under the intense pressure of the water fall, and I watch as she falls to her knees.
Chuck reaches in, but she bats his hand away, slowly pulling herself back up, until shes standing again, albeit a bit more wobbly.
Chuck's timer goes off, and he gently corrals her back out of the water fall.
"H-h-h-how d-d-did I d-d-do?" She stutters, shivering inconsolably, and Chuck's booming laughter rings out across the room.
"Amazing! No-one has been able to pull themselves back like that!" He laughs, and she smiles, accepting the robe and towels.
I lead her closer to Celeste, who is using Heal Bell to warm us.
Nareen goes in next, again in a bathing suit I hadn't seen her pack.
"We changed into the suits he gave us while you were in there." Rayna explains, finally warm enough to speak properly, and I nod my understanding.
Nareen's two minutes are over quickly, with only a small mishap in her almost slipping but quickly correcting herself.
Prim goes in last, but before she does, she pulls me aside.
"Cole... I..."
"You what? Are you okay?" I Ask, and she shakes her head, a tear in her eye.
"I'm not going to make it past this, Cole. Please, win this for Plasma." Before I can say anything, she throws herself under the waterfall.
"No pokemon, right?" I ask, and Chuck nods grimly, having overheard the conversation.
Without a moments thought, I throw my robe off and jump in beside Prim, hugging her and holding her close.
I can't see her face, but she instantly relaxes, and lets me take the brunt of the pressure.
I feel her body wracking with sobs as I hold her, and soon, a large hand scoops us out.
"That was risky, kid..." Chuck whispers to me, and I nod.
"No rule stated t-t-that we couldn't h-h-help each other." I point out, and he nods.
"You're not wrong." He hands prim a robe, and Cel quickly jumps over.
"W-w-why would you d-do that?" She whispers, and I kiss her forehead.
"You're family, Prim, whether you like it or not." She smiles, squeezing my hand, and soon we are all dressed.
"Alrighty, so sometime during that it dropped to the final five." Chuck starts, and we all look at each other.
"So, head straight through that door-" He points to the door in question, "-and you will all meet up. Good luck, kids." He waves as we head through the next door.
As soon as the door opens, the sound of applause almost knocks us back.
The door slams, and we look around at each other.
"What was that?" Prim asks, still shivering slightly, and Rayna's eyes light up.
"Oh! I remember! When it drops to the final five, all contestants are put in front of a live audience to finish the race!" We all nod, and return our fossil pokemon.
"Why can't I stay out and watch?" Tirtouga pouts, and I kiss her head gently.
"Because, we don't know if thats Matt or not, and the element of surprise will be yours." She smiles, nodding, before red energy claims her back into the dive ball.
"Before we go in guys... I have a question..." Nareen asks.
"Whats up?" Rayna says, and Nareen smiles.
"It's been a blast, doing this with you guys... but..." She doesn't finish her question, but we all nod.
"If it's not Matt, it just wouldn't feel right... keeping the pact..." Rayna adds, and I finish.
"Free for all, whoever wins, wins. No hard feelings?" I put my hand in the middle in a cliche team salute, and they all giggle as they do the same.
"No hard feelings." Prim echoes, and we throw our hands up.
We steel ourselves, before heading out into the crowds.
The applause is deafening, and there are five small tables in the middle of the room, but are enclosed in a tight cage around each one.
"NOW THAT EVERYONE HAS ARRIVED, THE TRUE TEAMRACE SHALL BEGIN!" A booming voice roams throughout the arena, and the applause dies down considerably.
"IN THE MIDDLE ARE FIVE TABLES, EACH TABLE HAS A NAME AND A BAG. IN THE BAGS ARE THE REST OF THE CONTESTANTS POKEMON. IF SOMEONE ELSE GRABS YOUR BAG, YOU ARE UNABLE TO USE ANY OF THE POKEMON WITHIN UNTIL THE CONTESTANT WHO TOOK YOUR BAG IS ELIMINATED. IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE RULES, PLEASE HEAD TO THE SPOT LOCATED AROUND THE ARENA WITH YOUR TEAMS INSIGNIA."
We all hug before heading around to our team's allocated spots. I look for Matt, and see someone coming around the final room, though I can't see the insignia.
I wave... and see Sam.
A wave of fury builds within me, as I realize that now I wont get to face Matt at the end.
"Cel!" She blips beside me in a second.
Cole. What can I do to help?
"We need to get Sam out, and quick. Think you can handle her?" Cel's eyes light up with a playful glint, and she blips out again.
Sam waves back, a smile on her face, as a countdown is started.
10...
I look over, and see Prim across the Plasma area from me, and we nod to each other.
9...
Rayna whistles, holding out her heavy ball, and I turn my head in confusion.
8...
Nareen's face lights up as she realizes Rayna's plan, and she soon lifts her own fossil pokemon's ball.
7...
"What are they doing?" I ask, and Prim shrugs, grabbing her own pokemon.
6...
Sighing, I grab Tirtouga's dive ball. So much for the element of surprise.
5...
I see small holes in and throughout the dirt floor of the arena, and I suddenly click into the plan, and signal Rayna, who smiles.
4...
"What? Did you figure it out?" Prim asks. I point to the holes, and her eye's light up.
3...
"They exit at the bags, inside the cage!" I call, and they all nod.
2...
"Whats happening?" Tirtouga asks, and I point to the cages. She nods quickly, getting ready to sprint.
1...
I gulp, but steel myself, and everything goes silent...
GO!