Thomas is still as hard to write as he was before.

Chapter 34: Ominous Foreshadowing

The airplanes were making earsplitting noises as their jets fired into the sky. There was a lot of commotion going on as tourists were comming to see the sights. Summer was the best time to travel, after all.

Hundreds of planes lifted off and landed, most of them for the tourists. A few were private jets, owned by business owners, and the like. The only private jet on the runway that didn't belong to a rich guy was the one for the guy who won a trip to the Sevii Islands.

"That wasn't as annoying as I thought it'd be," said the contest winner, Thomas. Once he got off the jet, he ignored the people there to meet him, mostly people who were employees of the company which held the contest. He walked past them, ignoring their annoying congratulations and offers to join the company, and made his way out into the street into the urban, downtown area of the city.

Deciding not to spend much time there, he successfully called a tab and had the driver drive him to the less crowded area of the city.

--

It didn't take the driver long to reach the destination. Thomas paid his fare with the hundred credits he found lying on the ground and quickly left.

He walked a few blocks before reaching an alleyway he usually went to. Upon entering said alley, he was greeted by a bunch of people.

"Hey, Thomas! Welcome back!" one of them said.

"Someone punch him," Thomas responded. Another of his 'friends' did so. In truth, he didn't consider a single person in that group to be his friend, and as far as he was concerned, he didn't want any. "So, have you accomplished anything worth noting while I was gone?"

"Uh… we managed to get quite a bit of money. All the empty potion bottles were filled with water and sold to amateur trainers, just like you asked."

"I asked if you accomplished anything worth noting. Swindling ten year olds is not worth noting."

His cronies said nothing. Thomas gave a sigh, "You guys are worthless without me." He then turned to leave.

"Where are you going, Tommy?"

Thomas stopped in his tracks, turned around, and walked back to the guy who said that. Once in front of him, he sent his fist flying into the guy's face, hearing a satisfying crunch coming from his nose.

He turned and left, this time without anyone asking where he was going.

--

It was obvious that things were going slow for him now that the trip to the islands was over. Granted, it didn't last long to begin with, what with him leaving the islands after two weeks. It was nice and all, but the weather was too warm for him.

While it was cooler at his home, it was still somewhat warm, and that fact annoyed him. Still, He felt he needed to walk if he was to think of a good plan to earn himself a nice amount of credits, legal or otherwise.

The wind picked up and threw a piece of paper at his face, but he caught it before it could make contact. Looking into the paper, he saw that the annual pokemon contest was going to start tomorrow.

Looking at this paper gave him a plan. A plan that caused him to turn around to tell the others about future jobs they would do.

--

"There there now, don't be scared," Sam said as he petted the Zigzagoon he had on his lap, "It's normal to get stage fright the day before you're supposed to perform. At least I think it is. Is it, Claire?"

"How should I know?!" Claire responded as she paced back and forth.

"Are you nervous too?"

"Me?! Me!? What makes you think I'm nervous!? I'm perfectly fine! I'll go to that contest and show that wannabe punk who's better at raising pokemon!"

"You've never raised a pokemon."

"S-shut up! I've been studying how to raise one for a while now! I even went to the pokemon center to check on what moves Ziggy can use for the contest! T-turns out, she can use two cute moves and a tough one!"

"You stuttered a bit. I'm sure you're nervous."

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'M NERVOUS!! QUIT POINTING IT OUT!!" Claire took a deep breath and calmed herself a bit. "Why did you have to go and tell that girl that I was entering a contest?! I don't even know much about them!"

"That didn't stop you from training with Ziggy yesterday and the day before. Ziggy was a natural in the dancing practices, the clothes you put on her didn't look bad at all, and you actually thought of good strategies to use when demonstrating attacks! Even if you're a beginner, you and Ziggy are going to win!"

"Hearing that from the mouth of a five year old is not very assuring," Claire held her hand to her forehead, "Ziggy doesn't even know a lot of moves! The center said she only knew three. They classed her strength at level four! Do you know how low that is?! Starter pokemon are higher than that!"

Ziggy's ears then began to droop, "You're hurting her feelings, Claire!" Sam scolded, "Can't you be more… more…."

"Optimistic."

"Uptomistik! Can't you be more uptomistik? If you don't think you can win, then neither will she!"

"Yes, but… there are four rounds in the third part of a contest. I'll need more moves to pull it off, because I doubt the judges'll enjoy seeing the same move more than once."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Claire took another deep breath to calm herself and went to go answer it. "Hey, it's you!"

"Ah, you remember me!" said the brown haired teen who knocked. "I didn't expect you to remember me."

"Well, you're still wearing your uniform," Claire responded. "So why are you here? And how did you know where we lived?"

"Yes, well, I've got some news for you," she said. Claire noted the grim tone in her voice and hoped she would like what she was going to hear. "I wanted to support you in the pokemon contest, so I went to go buy some tickets. I asked for some for the cute contest, and while they were getting the tickets I took the time to see the roster. I searched as much as I could, but I couldn't find you anywhere on it!"

"Why would you search a rooster for Claire?" Sam interrupted.

"She said roster, Sam. It's a list. Wait, you didn't find me on the roster!?"

"I'm getting to that," the waitress responded. "I searched the other rosters as well, and found a picture of your Zigzagoon. I recognized her due to the ribbon. Anyways, I think you made a mistake when entering. You were signed for the cool contest!"

A cold wind blew on Claire when the waitress said that. "Did you say… cool contest?"

"Um… yes…."

"Are you sure?! Maybe you saw it wrong!"

"I'm sure. I checked as much as I could."

Claire put her head in her hands, "For the love of… how did I make such a stupid mistake…. Ziggy doesn't even know any cool moves!"

"I… figured that," the waitress responded. "So I pulled a few strings with my dad a few days ago, found out where you lived by asking a booth lady (with great difficulty) and got you something!" she then turned around and motioned for someone to come in.

In came a little pokemon she remembered seeing. It was the little Ralts with the bowtie she met when they were going to that dead guy's memorial. What was interesting about him, however, was the disk he was holding in his hands. "Ra ra!" it said triumphantly.

"Is… is this what I think it is?" Claire asked.

"Yes. This is a genuine TM. One that's sure to help you in a cool contest!"

Faster than the eye could see, Claire picked up the Ralts and held it in a tight hug, but careful enough not to break the TM. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!"

"Ra ra ralts!!" the Ralts yelled as he was being crushed in her arms.

"Oh, sorry," Claire said as she put him down.

"Ralts," he said. He then looked around the room and spotted Ziggy. He held up an arm and waved at her, "Ral!"

Ziggy, who was shivering in a ball in the corner, then got up and rushed to the Ralts, then pounced on it. "Zig, zigzagoon!" she exclaimed.

"It seems our pokemon know each other," the waitress observed.

"What a coincidence. So, back on subject, what move is this?"

"Why don't you just use that TM and find out?"

Claire looked at the TM for a while, anticipating what it was. "Sure! I'll use it as soon as I can! So, what's your name, miss?"

"Me? My name's Jennifer. Jennifer Hickory. What's yours?"

"My name's Claire. Claire Blueland. That's my little brother, Sam, and our pokemon, Ziggy. What's your pokemon's name?"

"His name's Jonathan." Jennifer then looked at her watch, "Oh, look at the time, my break's almost over. I've got to go back to the café. C'mon Jonny."

"Ralts," He said. He then turned to say bye to Ziggy after their short but meaningful conversation on how to overcome stage fright. It wasn't understood by anyone in the room other than them, so no one knew that it involved the Ralts's 'friend' who had to deak with a dunk tank and a jackhammer.

"Bye Jennifer!" Claire said, "Root for me during the contest!"

"I will!" Jennifer answered, "Maybe I'll consider entering Jonny in one of them!"

"Ra!?"

Claire then shut the door and looked at the TM. "What are you waiting for?" Sam asked, "Use it!"

"(Sigh) Alright." Claire went to Ziggy and picked her up. She then proceeded to use the TM. Somehow.

--

"Where is he? I thought we agreed to meet up back here…." Said a blue figure who was standing beside a tree."

A few seconds later, another blue figure walked into the meeting point, "Apologies, milady. I did not intend to keep thee waiting long."

"Finally! I've been waiting for an hour! So, did you find any info?"

"It seems the culprit hath been vanquished by a mere human child. A parcel felled from its talons as it was slain deep within the forest. Thou'th best search there first."

"I have a feeling I know what we'll find there. We may not need to search, but let's go check anyway."

"How does thou know whether it is intact or not?"

"I have a feeling it survived the fall. After all, I saw a fight between two pokemon that I'd best tell you about."