Chapter 20: (Act Two) Sweet 'n' Sour Minus the Sweet

The Phanpy Party Center was huge. It was literally the biggest building in the city on the largest property I had ever seen. The building looked more like a country club than a party center; the architecture was Roman style, with white columns and stone walls. Several large gardens and wide grass fields surrounded the building, and around the whole huge property was a pointy iron fence. We had to wait in line with other trainers to make it to the front gate in order to get through said fence.

Behind us, two trainers were discussing battle strategies of water Pokemon, and in front of us a girl and guy would not shut up about who was better at battling. The girl had blond curly hair and the boy had a buzz cut…

And why was I observing this? The line was moving too freakin slow!

So, back to the blond curly hair…

Wait, I knew that blond curly hair!

{I was wondering when you would notice,} Apple snickered from by feet.

"Mia?"

The blond girl turned around.

"Mia!" I exclaimed, before enveloping her in a huge hug.

"Anita! Wow, the last place I expected to run in to you would be a line for a party. What are you doing here? Who dressed you? And who is your friend?" Mia fluttered her eyes at Liam.

"I can see you haven't changed," I said with a laugh. "This is Erin—she dressed me—and that's Liam." I gestured to our Pokemon. "You know Apple. The Flareon is Fiery and the Taillow on Erin's shoulder is Tweal. We're here for the battle tournament."

"And the party!" Erin piped.

"We were passing through town… Guys, this is Mia, my childhood friend. Why are you here?" I asked curiously.

"The only person who would consider refusing a free party is you, my dear friend, but I know that's not what you meant. We're in Nelcorn because there's a huge contest here next week." She turned to Erin and Liam. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Mia, this is Andrew, my Chikorita named Lola, and Andrew's Snorunt named Snorkoal."

"So how have you been since I last spoke to you?" I asked. Generally, we tried to call each other once or twice a month to keep in touch. The last time I had talked to her was the day before my birthday.

"Same old thing. I haven't won any more ribbons in the past couple of weeks, but hopefully that will change by the end of next week. Look at you, though! Already have a Flareon! How many gyms have you beaten?"

"Two, but those weren't very exciting compared to what else has happened to me. I have such insane stories to tell! You know Carly and Reece? Well, I've managed to already run into both of them!"

"How the heck…?"

"Well, I found Carly's house by accident…" In the next several minutes, I recounted my encounters with Carly and Reece, excluding parts about my gift. I wouldn't mind telling Mia, but there were too many other people nearby for our conversation to be private.

I had finished by the time we reached the front gate. We were scanned with a machine by two security guards to ensure we did not have any type of Pokeballs. All of us made it through, although some guy behind us was stopped.

We walked up the stone path that led from the gate to the entrance. In the vast fields on either side of the path there were a few Pokemon and trainers practicing attacks. When we reached the main doors of the PPC, we could hear loud music playing, muffled by the party center's walls.

As we walked though the grand entrance, we were greeted by two lovely teenagers.

At least, they were lovely upon first glance…

…before I recognized them.

Fiery and Apple realized the same thing I did at about the same time. Immediately, they lunged at the female teenager. The girl screamed, "Thunderwave!" and a bolt of electricity spun from near her feet.

I threw up a barrier between the girl and us. {Stop!} I yelled at Fiery, Apple, and the Pokemon who had used thunderwave, which I now identified as a Dratini. Both Fiery and Apple hit my barrier with a thud and the thunderwave deflected harmlessly into the air. {Don't do anything stupid,} I reminded them. I picked up Fiery and Liam, to my surprise, picked up Apple. I hoped I would be able to follow my own advice. We literally could not afford to be kicked out this early.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I yelled.

"Yeah, really," Mia muttered. "Speak of the devil…"

"This is my party," the girl replied. She didn't seem at all phased by the barrier I had created. In fact, nobody did. When I replayed the incident in my head, I realized it must have looked like the thunderwave actually hit. Apple and Fiery were standing so still, if I didn't know better, I would have believed it myself.

"Your party?" I said in disbelief.

"I paid for it, distributed the flyers, and arranged it in celebration of my birthday tomorrow. So yes, it is my party."

"Erm… who are these people?" Erin asked.

I pointed to the blond girl, dressed in a lovely red dress with a fashionable scarf around her neck. "This is Carly Goldenthrill, the bitch who threw Allo, Sunflower, Vanilla, Splash, and Fiery out on the curb." I turned my gaze to the boy dressed in a brown shirt and cache pants. "And this is Reece Dracuta, the pervert from Peepin Pond."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Liam said. I moved my glare to Liam. He only shrugged. In Liam's arms, Apple squirmed, trying to escape.

{Stop it,} I ordered.

{I can't use my psychic powers like this,} Apple complained. {You have to reach out to me to talk with me!}

{You're not supposed to be using your powers, remember? We're on ultra-high alert because of Liam,} I reminded Apple.

{Liam's really starting to annoy me… do I have to listen to him in battle?}

{Unfortunately… look, I really should be paying attention to the argument Mia is having with Carly… It sounds like some excellent insults are being exchanged…}

{Fine, leave me. You know, it's awfully quiet in my head when I can't listen to other creatures' thoughts…}

I rolled my eyes.

"Slut! You're the slut! Look who is with Reece, Miss Slutty Slut!" Mia scoffed. Yeah, she's never been the best at insults…

Noticing Carly's Dratini and Reece's Bagon by their sides, I interrupted the argument and asked, "How did you two manage to capture such rare Pokemon?"

Carly flicked her hair back. "A birthday present from my mother. Bagon was ugly so I gave it to Reece." Reece smiled smugly.

I exchanged disgusted looks with Mia and Erin before inquiring, "How are you here if your birthday is tomorrow?"

"Why all the sudden questions?" Carly snapped. "I can get anything I want. My mom pulled a few strings and poof, I'm able to start my journey early." Carly's head twirled to Liam. Strangely enough, Reece had been watching Liam for the last several minutes. It was also strange that Reece had not said a word yet, not even a comment about my ass… "Who's your friend?" Carly asked suddenly.

"I have a lot of friends," I retorted.

"I'm Andrew," Andrew said, though he clearly knew he was not being asked about. I chuckled.

"C'mon, let's go," Mia said, marching to the right, away from Carly and Reece. I started to follow her…

"No, who are you?" Carly asked, grabbing Liam's shirt.

Apple growled and Liam yanked his shirt back.

"Liam Mendol," he answered coldly.

"Dating anyone?" Carly asked flirtatiously.

"Actually, I'm engaged to this Eevee," Liam replied in a dead-serious voice. He spun around and stalked after us.

I couldn't help giggling at the look of revulsion on Apple's face.

We didn't look back, but I sensed that Carly and Reece were attempting to follow us. Creepers. I put up a barrier between us to stop them. When I heard a light thud, I knew I had succeeded. "Can we leave now?" I asked Erin and Liam once we were they were out of earshot.

"Not if you want that money."

"You know what's weird?" Mia started. "They didn't demand we leave the party. I thought for sure that was what Carly was going to do. It's what I would have done if she showed up at my party."

"It was also queer that Reece didn't say a word," I added.

"Maybe they're changing for the better?" Andrew suggested.

Mia and I laughed. "I'd believe Mew was sitting in front of me this instant before I'd believe that," Mia joked.

I half-snorted and Liam smiled at Mia. Nobody else seemed to find the remark amusing…

"Come on, let's go sign up for the battle tournament," I finally insisted. "It starts in fifteen minutes."

"But there's music! Couldn't we dance for a bit?" Erin pleaded.

"No way, the line to sign up is way too long," Mia pointed out. Thank goodness. "Hey, Anita, you should probably run your two Pokemon over to one of those spare healing machines to get rid of their paralysis." I had told Mia that Liam was a researcher with weak Pokemon so he was borrowing my Eevee for the tournament. A little white lie… much like the one I was going to tell about healing my "paralyzed" Pokemon.

"Yeah… I'll get right on that."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / /

So far my evening was absolutely spectacular! Not.

Yes, I was in the semi-finals, but…

Well, I guess I should start from the beginning of the tournament.

Approximately two hundred teenagers were participating in the tournament. In order to cut that number to an even one hundred twenty eight, there were several pre-tournament battles. Because I had two badges, I was one of the lucky few who got to skip this preliminary round. Erin was not so lucky. She and Tweal faced a Shinx and lost very quickly. Right off the bat, it was up to Liam and me to win the money to fix our bikes. Liam wasn't even using his own Pokemon… great.

The rest of us all made it into the actual tournament (by rest of us, I mean Mia and Andrew). Sadly, I noticed Reece and Carly made it as well.

The first two rounds were pretty easy for everyone. Fiery and I beat a Bellsprout and a Meowth, Liam and Apple beat a… actually, there's really no point in listing all of these. All of us made it to the third round, where there were thirty-two contestants left. In this round, Mia faced Andrew. Mia and her Chikorita lost pretty much because a grass Pokemon can't do shit against a pure ice type. Other than that, not much excitement in the third round.

Then the fourth round. Guess who I ran into just before the fourth round?

Nope, not Carly and Reece. (We had been adamantly avoiding them. If they got too close, I'd just put up a barrier.)

Someone who we seemed to run into all too often—

Jake Veneer.

I found him flirting with Erin, of course.

"Anita, look who's here!" Erin exclaimed.

"Did you miss me?" Jake grinned. "I'm on my way back from Cape Caution, where I already earned my third badge," he bragged.

I grimaced while Erin squealed, "Oh, that's so impressive!" I glared at Erin.

She gave me a smile and a wink.

"So, are you participating in the tournament?" Erin asked.

"Of course I am, my dear. I'm in this next round."

"Where's your Pokemon, then?" I folded my arms.

"She prefers to stay under ground," Jake easily answered. He held out his arm. "I'm up soon. Would you like to accompany me?" he asked Erin.

"I'd love to!" Erin took his arm.

"You're welcome to take my other arm, Anita," Jake offered in a sugary voice. Gag.

I turned away in disgust…

I still had a sour taste in my mouth.

Because fate had decided I hadn't had enough torture this past evening, I faced Reece in that fourth round. Though he was extremely easy to beat, I found his smug smile and lazy stare incredibly annoying and uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he was going for, but I obviously did not stick around to after the battle to find out.

Andrew lost in that fourth round to some guy with a Masquerain. The referee of his battle was a bit… off. Before the battle he was trying to sell some trainers concessions, even though this was a party so there was free food inside just around the corner. His face looked familiar, but I couldn't quite pinpoint where I had seen him previously…

Before I could ponder the referee any further, it was the next round. Summary of round number five: Jake beat Carly. Yesssssss! (insert Carly's eliminated dance here) Wait a second. That means Jake is still in. Aww…

…which brings me back to my current situation: the semi-finals.

There were only four of us left: me, Liam, Jake, and the guy with the Masquerain, whose name was apparently Fred.

There were only three ways this could go:

1. Me vs. Jake and Fred vs. Liam

2. Liam vs. Jake and Me vs. Fred

3. Me vs. Liam and Jake vs. Fred

Options one and two would have been wonderful—these options would have opened up the possibility of both Liam and I making it to the final round, thus ensuing we would receive the bike money no matter how the final battle ended. Because options one and two were, in my opinion, more preferable, we obviously got stuck with option three.

Yup, Fiery and I had to battle Liam and Apple in the semi-finals.

{He's not even your trainer! How the heck did you two make it this far?} I asked Apple as we stood across from each other on the grassy battlefield.

Apple smirked at me, revealing her tiny fangs. {I'm just that awesome.}

I rolled my eyes.

{We'll see how awesome you are in a minute,} Fiery growled. Apple stuck out her tongue.

{Yeah, once that ref gets back here,} I added. I quickly scanned the area to see if there was any sign of our recently disappeared referee. The battle between Fred and Jake, I noticed, had already commenced. Jake's Diglett hid underground as the Masquerain fired bubbles at it…

I turned my gaze to Liam. He was glaring towards the party center building. I followed his line of sight, and low and behold, our referee! I squinted… hmm, it was the same referee from Andrew's battle with Fred earlier. The man was pocketing a handful of money, and his concessions were nowhere that I could see.

The referee briskly walked towards Liam and me. Once he was in place, he raised his flag and shouted "Begin!"

In a split second, all of Apple's attacks flashed through my head. I remembered Liam's words from the previous day… If you act in an unexpected manner, your opponent will be unable to foresee your attacks and you will have the advantage. Because I had trained Apple, she would surly be predictable, giving me the advantage. I expected her to use dig against Fiery, as it would be considerably more effective than any of her other attacks.

"Quick attack!" I shouted.

For a moment, Liam said nothing. He watched as Fiery rushed towards Apple. Then just before Apple hit, he ordered, "Attract."

I almost laughed. How dumb could he get? Apple didn't know that attack…

"This is too easy. Come on Fiery, Iron Tail to finish it!"

But Fiery didn't respond. He was gaping at Apple, watching her as if she was some sort of deity.

Ugh. {Apple, I'll get you for this!} I called. Apple smiled widely and then nuzzled Fiery lovingly.

"Dig," Liam demanded. To his surprise, Apple ignored him and playfully nipped at Fiery's tail. She giggled as Fiery teasingly snapped back. "You are not the one attracted! Dig!" Liam ordered once more.

Again, Apple ignored him. She might not be attracted to Fiery through an attack, but she was nonetheless attracted.

"Fiery, snap out of it!" I yelled, out loud and psychically. Bite!"

Fiery shook his head and stared for a moment at the Eevee attempting to cuddle with him. Then, reality seemed to hit and he sharply bit down on Apple's tail…

Or where Apple's tail was moments before she slipped past Fiery, licked his cheek, and then dove into the ground.

"Ember into the hole!" I called. Fiery did not respond once again. He looked longingly at the hole, like a lovesick fox… which I guess he actually was. I muttered angrily to myself and attempted to slip into Fiery's mind—

—only to be shoved out. {Fair is fair!} Apple said. {If I'm not using my powers, you shouldn't be using yours!}

{You just used yours to stop me, you little dim-wit! And you only pull that "fair" card when you'd have the advantage! It's inconsistent with the whole fairness policy!}

{And you're miss, "oh, I'd feel guilty if I ever read someone's mind in a battle. It'd be cheating." Well, what do you call what you were about to do?} Apple yelled. She burst out of the ground and hit Fiery squarely in the chest.

A twinge of guilt churned in my stomach. {Hypocritical, I suppose…} Apple tackled Fiery to the ground again. "Fiery, snap out of it!" I yelled uselessly. I hated this… not being able to help my Pokemon.

{Fiery, use iron tail!} I called. Apple was too busy using iron tail herself to stop me from entering Fiery's head. Sudden realization dawned in Fiery's eyes; he managed to block Apple's tail with his own. Apple jumped back, out of physical attacking range.

Did I feel guilty about using my powers? Yes. Was I sorry? Not a bit.

Fiery was breathing heavily; I'd have to do something to finish this fast.

"Ember!" I ordered.

"Dig."

This was my one chance. "Fiery, get to that hole and fire down it!" But it was too late—Apple popped beneath Fiery just as he reached the hole.

Fiery collapsed. Apple poised herself nearby, ready to attack should Fiery get up. "Fiery, you can do this," I hollered hoarsely.

Unfortunately, Fiery didn't get up.

"The winner is Liam Mendol and his Eevee!" the referee declared.

I quickly strode onto the field to pick up Fiery. Apple ran up to me to do her victory dance. {I beat my trainer! I beat Fiery! I'm that awesome! Na, na, na, naaa, naaa.}

{Don't get full of yourself.}

{I'm not. I'm full of victory!}

I scooped up Fiery in my arms as Liam approached me. He held out his hand. "Good battle."

Rolling my eyes, I shook his hand. "I suppose I can't be too mad. You've won with my Pokemon, after all."

{He did command me, you know. Maybe he's a better trainer.} Liam smirked, as if he knew what Apple had said.

{You're not supposed to say that! You're my Pokemon!}

Apple shrugged.

"The next round will commence in ten minutes!" a referee announced. I looked over my shoulder and found Jake shaking Fred's hand. Fred's Masquerain lay fainted in his arms.

Liam and I started heading inside for the automatic Pokemon healing machines.

"I do have one question…" I started. Liam looked at me expectantly. "How did you know Apple knew Attract, when I didn't even know Apple knew that attack?"

Liam pulled a red device out of his pocket and handed it to me. I flipped it open and gasped, "Is this a Pokedex?"

Liam nodded. Pokedexes were extremely rare and even more expensive. A Pokedex could scan a Pokemon to reveal attacks learned and general skill level as well as having several other features. I'd have expected someone like Carly to have one… "Where did you get it?"

"My father gave it to me a long time ago, when I was still a trainer."

Deciding not to pursue that tangent further, I asked Apple, {How did you learn Attract anyway?}

{I picked up some tips from that Delcatty I fought. It's really an easy skill to learn… Liam helped me perfect it today in earlier battles.}

Great. I had an Eevee that already abused her psychic powers. Now, she suddenly had the power to attract half of the Pokemon population.

That did not seem like a good combination.

We reached the automatic healers. They were cone shaped, with automatic sliding doors. I placed Fiery inside the open doors of one, and Apple hopped into another. The doors closed, and seconds later, both Apple and Fiery leapt out of the healers.

Apple wasted no time. {I beat you, I beat you!} She sung at Fiery.

{Don't get full of yourself,} Fiery growled. I smiled at the familiar words. {I'll take you on again anytime.}

{You still have one battle to win,} I reminded Apple as Liam started back towards the doors that led to the outside field in back. I followed… {Are you coming?} I asked Fiery.

Fiery shook his head. {If you need me I'll be sulking in the front garden.} He began to trot away.

{You're not going to watch?} Apple asked, a touch of disappointment in her voice.

{I don't enjoy watching selfish braggarts,} Fiery sneered.

Apple sadly watched him go. {You shouldn't have—} I scolded.

{I know,} Apple interrupted before shaking her head and trailing Liam. Her ears and tail drooped slightly as she padded across the cold tile floor.

Her sweet victory gone sour.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Annoying twit. That girl was stalling our plans with her stupid barriers. I couldn't get within a hundred yards of her!

And he had realized it too. He was avoiding me by staying close to her. Unfortunate really—he was losing a chance to be with a beautiful, wonderful girl.

Whatever. It did not matter. For we had a back up plan…

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Lights twinkled brightly above the field, blurring out the stars and the waning moon. I stood across from the referee—one of many partiers watching the final battle.

The last battle—the ultimate battle—the crucial battle.

The battle to end all battles!

The battle to win the tournament money so we could repair our bikes.

Very dramatic, right?

Liam and Jake faced each other across the field. Jake was wearing his usual smirk while Liam's expression remained unreadable.

I did my best to ignore the tinge of jealousy I felt for Liam. I wanted to be battling…

The referee—no not the bizarre one; he seemed to have disappeared—shouted, "Begin!"

So it did.

{Aw, shit, the Diglett's a girl,} was Apple's first thought.

"Dig!" commanded both Liam and Jake. Both Pokemon disappeared under ground.

"Go Jake! You got this!" a girl yelled beside me.

I turned to tell her to shut the hell up—"Erin?"

"Oh, hey Anita," Erin said before shouting again, "C'mon Jake!" Jake caught Erin's eye and grinned.

"Erin, we need the bike money! And that's my Eevee! You have to root for Liam!"

"But Jake is cuter…" Erin stuck out her tongue at me and continued cheering for Jake.

I rolled my eyes. Apple suddenly was tossed out of the hole she had gone down. She may be able to use the attack dig, but Digletts were naturally stronger and quicker under ground (thus their name). Liam seemed to understand this—he was smiling slightly. In fact, I had a suspicion that he only had Apple use dig to test the Diglett's speed—

"Go Jake!" Ugh, this was annoying. Hmm, maybe…

I hopped into Erin's mind chanting, {Go Liam, Go Liam, Go Liam, Go Liam…}

"Go Liam! Go Liam!" Erin shouted. Her hands rushed to her mouth. "Did I actually say that?" she hissed. "Anita, get out of my— Go Liam! Go Li—Anita, I'm gonna kill you!"

Erin somewhat subdued, I watched the battle through her eyes. "Apple, do what I say—iron tail that rock!" Liam ordered. Jake's Diglett raced toward her in an attempted slash, but Apple dodged to the right just in time.

{How is breaking a rock going to help me? I've got to beat this Diglett, not the rock!} I heard Apple think. I couldn't help but agree with her.

"For the last time Apple, use your tail to break apart that rock!" There was a sharp edge to Liam's voice. Apple was thrown backwards as she was hit by another dig attack. "Get to that rock!"

Another hit.

"Apple, Digletts have poor eyesight," Liam explained as Apple tiredly sidestepped the Diglett popping out of the ground. "They 'see' through vibrations in the ground. In order to win this battle, you must break the rock into shards, and then kick these shards to make vibrations elsewhere. This will make it appear to the Diglett that you are elsewhere, and allow you to predict the locations the Diglett will appear."

{Why didn't you say so—} The Diglett knocked Apple to the ground. And out.

Liam muttered, "Too late," spun on the spot, and angrily kicked the grass…

I left Erin's body and blinked. Whoa, Erin's face was way too close.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Erin said angrily.

"Or what?" I taunted playfully. Erin raiser her hand and swiped at me. If it weren't for Liam's practice I would have never been able to move out of the way in time. "Alright, alright! I'm sorry! I won't do it, I swear!"

Erin turned and melted into the crowd. Right, the crowd. People swarmed around me onto the field, cheering for Jake. I couldn't even see Jake any more… or Liam and Apple, for that matter.

I did hear Jake yell, "Come on! Let's go get this party started!" I was nearly swept off my feet by the crowd. I had to create a small barrier around me to prevent getting herded inside with everyone else.

{Apple!} I called out. I couldn't locate her; there were too many people and thoughts flooding my senses. {Apple!} I tried again. It was no use. I prayed she hadn't been trampled.

I sighed and rigidly watched my watch as the crowd cleared out. It took seven minutes and twenty six seconds… not that I was counting.

I looked at the area I on the field I thought Apple had fallen. She was no where to be found. I figured as much—Liam probably took her to be healed. I had just been hoping I wouldn't actually have to go back into the party.

I calmed my mind and focused on Apple. It was strange—I thought I felt her in the midst of the party center, but I couldn't seem to speak telepathically with her. I stopped trying and watched the wind tickle the tips of the grass blades for a moment, summoning my courage.

I turned around and held my head up high, attempting not to cringe as I followed the crowd into the booming music… the restless dancing… the sweaty bodies…

My personal hell.