Chapter 60

For about ten or fifteen seconds after Sprinkle appeared on the field, the stadium fell silent. Maple could not say why, but her initial excitement transformed into puzzlement as she looked at the Vaporeon-girl.

She was plainly older than Maple. Maybe twenty or twenty-one human years. She had the characteristic ears and finned tail of a Vaporeon, as well as long, straight and shiny aqua-blue hair, but…Maple couldn't quite describe how she looked…or how she dressed.

First of all, Sprinkle did not have very much clothing on. To Maple, it looked like very fancy underwear. Although, there was a fair chance that it covered less than what Maple's did. In the row ahead of her, the man who hadn't seen Sprinkle before gasped aloud.

"Holy crap! All she's wearing is a bikini!"

"I told you!" the other one said to him, though most of his attention was directed at the field.

Bikini? It was a strange word, but it felt like it fit the two small articles of clothing that covered Sprinkle where it mattered most. Each piece was a dark blue, trimmed with black. She also wore long, fingerless gloves and thigh-high boots that were similarly colored.

But it wasn't just the way that Sprinkle dressed that seemed to draw the eye of every person in the stadium. At first, Maple had no explanation for why that was, but when she began to compare herself to Sprinkle, she came up with a few guesses. In certain areas, Sprinkle was quite a bit…bigger and…curvier than Maple. It had never crossed her mind that these were important areas, but the crowd seemed to think so.

She turned to Mark, wondering what he thought.

Then she wished she hadn't.

The feeling that gripped onto her was not one she knew. It was a mix of anger and hurt. A lot like when she had fought with him on the first day of the tournament. But it wasn't quite the same and certainly not as strong. It was strange. She had never felt anything quite like it. And she hated it.

The way Mark looked at Sprinkle; Maple couldn't remember a time when he had looked at her like that. The expression itself was strange. His eyes were wide, trying to mentally photograph what he was looking at. It looked as if Sprinkle had hypnotized him somehow.

"Mark?" Maple tried to ask, but that was the moment when the stadium shook around them as Sprinkle's fans cheered her on.

Maple didn't know if it had anything to do with where they were sitting, but to her, the cheers for Sprinkle were even louder than the ones that a full stadium had shouted at PureBlueSky.

There it goes…

Kim face-palmed as screams of "I love you!" "You're so hot!" and "Give me your number!" filled the air. There were more vulgar shouts mixed in, but Kim did her best to block those out. She recalled the shaking Cotton back to her Pokéball as Sprinkle turned, waved and blew kisses at the crowd. The shouting only grew louder and Kim could see an awful lot of camera lights flashing on the other side of the stadium floodlights.

Don't encourage them, she thought. She had told Sprinkle the same thing before, but it obviously did no good. Kim wondered if she should buy a baseball bat to beat them with. It would be easy, cheap, effective, and an awful lot of fun…

She smirked to herself at the idea before raising her head.

Oh, God…she's posing now…

"Sprinkle," at the call, the Vaporeon-girl snapped to attention, "we're still fighting."

"Oh! Sorry!" she giggled before turning to face her opponent.

Molten, the human Blaziken, was just as dumbfounded as the rest of the crowd of perverts. Kim supposed that had some value to it. Most people underestimated Cotton because she was small and constantly terrified. If an opponent thought Sprinkle was too hot to attack…well, that was something.

Blaziken. Maybe she should have swapped Cotton out faster. Blake's Glalie wasn't likely to have anything that could topple Sprinkle and with Killowatt snoozing away inside his Pokéball the stage was set for Sprinkle to wash away the rest of the competition. As it was, if the human Electivire woke up, her best bet would be to call Cotton back out, put him to sleep again and start Leech Seed. It would be safer to have Cotton at full strength for that encounter, but whether she was or not, Killowatt could still sweep Kim's entire team.

Still, she couldn't have asked for a better match-up than water versus fire. This was Blake's third and last human Pokémon, the only wild-card he hadn't revealed. Beat it and anything Kim had could handle a napping Electivire.

Sprinkle's tail started to wag as she looked at her opponent.

"Wow…" she giggled, "you're actually kinda hot…"

"Likewise," Molten returned, his voice was cool, but he couldn't stop staring.

"You think so?" Sprinkle feigned embarrassment and pouted her lips. She began to pivot on her hips, clutching herself in a way that made her chest look bigger.

"STOP FLIRTING AND FIGHT!" Kim screamed down at the bro and the ho, "SCALD!"

Molten flinched away from her screaming, but Sprinkle never missed a beat.

The Vaporeon-girl sprayed a jet of steaming water directly at the human Blaziken. Though unaffected by the boiling temperature, the water still caused massive damage to the fire type. The stream blasted him in the chest, soaking him head-to-toe as his feet left the ground. His once pretty, long hair instantly became covered in dirt and bits of grass. Though severely wounded, he managed to get back to his feet.

"Thunderpunch!" came the call from the other end of the stadium.

"Shit!" Kim swore at Blake's order. She had never encountered a Blaziken that knew Thunderpunch before and it was already too late to change her strategy.

It was Molten's turn at offense. He charged at Sprinkle as small sparks of electricity arced around his clenched fist. Sprinkle ducked under the first swing, but the second caught her in the stomach. She shuddered as the blow electrocuted her body.

She landed on her back, her long hair fanned out across the ground. Her chest began to rapidly rise and fall as she panted. Her eyes were filled with tears and a horrified, hurt expression as she looked up at her deeply muscled attacker.

"Why?" she whimpered, desperately. She clutched her chest as she panted.

"Stop messing around and finish him, you dumb slut!" Kim face-palmed with both hands. She groaned, as if to ask the world, why am I surrounded by idiots?

Sprinkle wanted a picture of Molten's shocked expression when she bounced back to her feet. Electric attacks were strong against water Pokémon, there was no question, and there was also no question that he had done considerable damage to Sprinkle. However, he suddenly realized that there had been no blood. A blow like that should have drawn blood. Against most other water Pokémon, it would have. But he had forgotten that Vaporeon possessed a very impressive stamina. One of the best in all the world of Pokémon. It instantly made the Pokémon a favorite amongst some of the strongest trainers in the world.

Molten was still staring when Sprinkle's second spray of Scald hit him square in the face. Once more, his feet left the ground and he landed flat on his back, staring up at the floodlights shining down on the stadium. He blinked a few times, feeling unconscious come for him. Then, like some sort of beach-bunny angel, Sprinkle bent forward over him.

"Sorry," she shrugged, giggling, "but you really shouldn't abuse girls like that." She giggled again and skipped away before he fell unconscious.

"Well…" Mark leaned back as the human Blaziken disappeared from the field.

"'Well,' what?" Maple asked, hurriedly.

"Well, now all that's left is the Electivire," he explained, "they can be really tough Pokémon. Most have a wide variety of attacks for anything they might face."

"He's asleep, though," Cherry pointed out.

"Asleep, but not beaten," Mark reminded her, "Sleep Powder is only temporary. Unless Kim has a really good plan, this could all depend on how long he stays asleep."

"What if he wakes up right away?" Maple asked, "What can she do?" She forced her worries about Sprinkle's appearance from her mind.

"Well," Mark thought for a minute, "Cotton was quick enough to use Sleep Powder against him. If she did it once, she could do it again. And Kim still has Volt. Even though electric attacks make Electivire faster, he could use something else. But, like I said, it might have something that can beat him easily, anyway. So, that might not be a good match-up…" He shook his head as if to reset his thoughts.

"What would you do?" Cherry asked.

"Depends on what Kim taught them," he shrugged, "and on how good of a trainer she really is."

Two defeated human Pokémon and one sleeping one was not enough for Blake to give in. Kim had hoped that he would, but her opponent was no more a fool than she was. If Killowatt woke up at the wrong time, then she was finished. Sleep Powder had saved her last time, but it might not happen again. Every second would be crucial.

"Aww…" Sprinkle cooed when the snoring Electivire-man appeared on the field, "he looks like a big, sleepy teddy bear!"

"Never mind him, Sprinkle," Kim chastised her, "get back. We don't have much time."

Kim recalled Sprinkle, ignoring the groans of the crowd around her, and sent Cotton back out onto the field.

"H-h-him again?" even though the massive Electivire-man was just a sleeping mound at the moment, Cotton was petrified of it. Like it or not, Kim wasn't finished with the tiny Jumpluff-girl.

"Cotton, I need you to use Leech Seed again," Kim kept her eyes fixated on the Electivire-man. Please don't wake up, please don't wake up, she prayed.

"He's gonna wake up soon…" Cotton whined.

"I know," Kim's hands started shaking, "please, do it! I won't make you fight him, just please, use Leech Seed now!"

She thought about lowering her voice to keep from disturbing Killowatt's sleep, but it was already too late. The mound of muscle rolled over and pushed himself to his knees. His groan was as loud as most animals roar as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"EEP!" Cotton squeaked. But the shock was enough to make her toss a second Leech Seed. It struck Killowatt's massive forearm and immediately began sucking out his energy. Now they would have to wait again.

Killowatt was on his feet and charging within moments. His fist glowed red as he readied a Fire Punch that would finish off Cotton three times over.

"SPRINKLE!" Kim shouted. A new wave of cheers echoed around the stadium as the scantily-clad Vaporeon-girl appeared to take the hit intended for Cotton. The Jumpluff-girl cowered for a moment on the other side of the curvy girl before Kim called her back into the safety of her Pokéball.

"Tell me you have a plan," Sprinkle asked seriously, for a change, as she surveyed their final obstacle. Killowatt was huge, strong, and angry. The fire surrounding his fist transformed to sparks of electricity. Thunderpunch was next.

"Working on it," Kim breathed, "Protect!"

Sprinkle held out her hands and raised her own semi-transparent barrier. Killowatt pounded on it like a shark trying to get inside a diver's cage. Sprinkle panted, involuntarily this time, as she felt the barrier slipping. It wouldn't last much longer.

Before it fell, however, she felt a soothing sensation spread through her. The pain in her stomach from Molten's attack faded a little. She smiled back at Kim.

"Ohhh, I see…" Sprinkle nodded, Kim had done this before, but never had a tournament victory rested on its outcome, "what about Volt?" Sprinkle asked her.

"He'll be okay," Kim lied, "just worry about yourself." Just then, Sprinkle's Protect failed. Her eyes shot wide as Killowatt grinned maniacally at her. It was over.

Except it was Volt's turn.

The Raichu-boy was half the size of his opponent, but he had no trouble blocking his Thunderpunch. Not many Raichu, let alone human Raichu, possessed the ability of Lightningrod, but Volt did and it served him well. Using his tail, he dissipated the electrical current meant to damage him into the ground where it would hurt nothing at all.

He looked back over his shoulder at Sprinkle. She was an inch taller.

"'sup?" he nodded as casually as he could manage. She looked as hot as ever. The arcs of electricity crossing between the two electric types lit up her face. But she only had enough time to smile before she vanished from the field.

Now, then, Volt thought.

Apparently he was fighting an Electivire. The guy was huge and there was a hell of a lot of power behind that Thunderpunch he managed to block. Volt was used to being the underdog darting between the feet of giants, but this was an Electivire. He'd be totally outclassed by someone like this. What the hell was Kim thinking?

Then he saw the Leech Seed vines sprouting from Killowatt's left forearm. So that's how it was. Kim didn't want him to win; she wanted him to buy time. He sighed. It was cruel, but that's how it always was for Volt. Time to take another fall for the team. Hell, he had been the first to fall for Sprinkle after she evolved, and he had been a Raichu back then. Why stop now?

At last, the Electivire-man stopped trying to electrocute him and backed off a few paces. The two electric types circled each other, waiting for the other to move first.

"Whatever you do, don't use electricity on him," Kim warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Volt tossed his head, "I'm not stupid."

Killowatt charged at him, not following any patterns and acting without orders. He grasped for the smaller Raichu-boy, but found nothing. Volt ducked underneath his arms and struck a Brick Break into his attacker's kidneys. Killowatt howled in pain and pitched forward, but Volt saw no blood

"Cross Chop," Blake's order came from across the stadium.

Volt's ears flattened against his head as Killowatt's hand came close enough to brush his chin, as he pulled back. He flattened against the ground as the other electric-type rose to his feet. Volt couldn't believe how huge his silhouette was against the stadium's floodlights. He shot forward, trying to end the fight with another Brick Break to his opponent's mid-section.

He was a moment too late. Killowatt's Cross Chop sandwiched his face between two massive fists before opening again. Volt's vision went black as he felt himself tumble to the ground, but the pain somehow wasn't there. When he could see again, flashing spots of light that might have been stars, or might have been the stadium lights, or might not have existed at all danced in front of his eyes.

I'm okay, he thought. Then he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Never mind.

The crowd's cheers for Sprinkle only seemed to get louder in Kim's ears. Volt was down and they didn't give a fig. They just wanted Sprinkle to bounce up and down for them again. Well, fine, let them leer. So long as Killowatt fell, what difference did it make?

The Vaporeon-girl was starting to look better. Molten's Thunderpunch hadn't drawn blood, which was a good sign, to begin with, and Cotton's Leech Seed had given her a boost in strength. Another Protect barrier would help her get a little bit more, but after that she was on her own.

Two hits. Kim dared not to hope for anything better than that. After Volt had fallen after a single Cross Chop Kim's hopes for victory were starting to dim. This battle went from a sure victory to a fight for survival in just a few quick minutes.

Kim dared not call on Cotton. The fragile Jumpluff-girl was scared out of her wits enough. One fight was often the best Kim could get out of her. Nevertheless, if they won, it would only be because of what Cotton had done.

She had done enough. She had earned her right to sit in her Pokéball and rest. Sprinkle would handle the rest.

"Protect," Kim commanded. Once more, Killowatt pounded furiously against Sprinkle's defense. He needed to end this fight quickly. It would take a minimum of two blows to finish both Sprinkle and Cotton. The damage he had suffered from Volt's Brick Break drastically cut his time short. He had only a few minutes, at most, before Leech Seed sucked him dry.

Sprinkle's Protect began to flicker as Killowatt pounded on it.

"Sprinkle, get ready," Kim called. Her Vaporeon-girl was shaking with fear and anticipation. Exhausted, she had no choice but to lower Protect.

"NOW! SCALD!"

Sprinkle drew in breath for the attack, but she was too late. Killowatt's Thunderpunch connected with the lower half of her rib cage, on her right side. She didn't need to pretend to be hurt this time. Her body shook with pain. A small patch of her skin was black from the electrical burns. Her insides felt like they were on fire, yet she still felt cold.

Killowatt strode forward, ready to finish her and move on to the Jumpluff-girl.

With the last of her strength, Sprinkle managed to roll onto her back. She fired the boiling jet of water at Killowatt's face. The Electivire-man screeched in pain, holding his massive hands up to block the attack, but he only succeeded in burning his palms. When the attack was finished, he shook his head, spraying water like a dog and charged at her.

Whimpering, Sprinkle brought up the barrier of Protect again and cowered underneath it. Her massive assailant pounded and battered on the edge of her shield. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not pierce its defense.

At long last, the damage from his burn and the energy leaking through Cotton's Leech Seed caught up with him. Just as Sprinkle lost the strength to hold up Protect any longer, he slumped forward and collapsed onto the grass.

Sprinkle loved it when they cheered. She couldn't help it. The cheers meant that she was strong and beautiful. The object of every man's affections and the envy of every woman. But they weren't cheering right now. The stadium was quiet and she couldn't get up.

"Hey," Kim was over top of her. Strong, dependable Kim. "We won."

"I know," Sprinkle nodded, "it hurts…"

"I know," Kim pulled out her Pokéball, "here, get inside. I'll get you to the Pokémon Center."

"Umm…Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me up?"

"What for?" Kim sounded dubious.

"They want me to wave," Sprinkle groaned, "make sure I'm okay."

"You're hurt," Kim sighed, "they'll get over it if you don't wave."

"Please?"

"Alright…fine," Kim knelt down, put her arm around Sprinkle's waist and draped her arm over her shoulders. Straining, she helped to lift the taller girl to her feet.

Sprinkle was unsteady and it hurt to breathe, but with Kim's support she could stand. She held her other arm up and waved to the crowd.

They cheered the loudest of all right then.

AN: this seems to be the best way to depict mid-battle switching. The game animates it as the first Pokemon leaving and then the second Pokemon taking its place, but I don't really understand why the opponent would still use the same attack if the target is now suddenly different. Thus, I decided to have the new Pokemon come in first, block an attack and then pull out the first one.

Anyway, I must be going. Thanks for reading!