Chapter 5: Great Idea!
"Well?" Kumori said, waiting for Cass to reply.
"Actually," Cass yawned. "I'm too tired to battle…" she grinned before climbing back into her tree and falling asleep. Kumori exchanged glances with Kyou.
The rest of the group continued on, heading for Floaroma Town. "You know what?" Kumori overheard Aqua talking to Kari. "It'd be kind of cool to be a coordinator, you know?"
"Why don't you try out at the Floaroma Contest, then?" Kari replied. Kumori smiled slightly to herself, sticking her hands in her pockets and flicking her Mew tail. She had bought a hat at the PokeMart before they left.
As long as Kumori kept her ears pinned down, the hat could cover them. She now glanced around and seeing no other travelers, whipped off the hat to ease her cramping ear muscles. She then placed the hat back on securely.
They stopped for the night along the road. Kumori spread out her dark purple sleeping bag and placed some rocks around in a circle. "Go find some firewood," she told her Pokemon. They obliged, bringing back a bunch of wood. She piled it in the middle of the rocks. "Now, Wildfire, use Ember on the wood." The fire lit up, casting a warm shadow over the group.
"Who can cook?" Kyou asked cheekily.
"Well, I've got some packs of instant ramen we can share," Kotone piped up. "Here," she threw a metal pot at Kumori, who caught it. Kari built something to hang the pot from. Kari offered to go find water. She picked up the pot and headed towards the woods, looking for a stream. On the way there, she heard rustles in the ferns and went over to investigate. She found a Pikachu lying tied to a tree, the rope around its neck, nearly strangling it.
She knelt down, putting the bucket on the floor and studied the knot. It was too tight so she'd have to cut it. "C'mon out Growlithe," she said. "Use Ember and burn the rope." The rope was burned and Kari gently picked up the Pikachu.
Bruises and scratches marked the yellow mouse's body. "Pi…" it said weakly.
"Hey, Pikachu," Kari was struck by a sudden idea. "Do you want to come with us?"
The Pikachu thought about it. Then, it nodded, twitching its tail. She put the Pokemon down. "Pi, Pika?" it tilted its head.
"Go, Pokeball!" Kari smiled, throwing the red and white capsule. It bounced off of the Pikachu's head and enveloped it in a red light. The shakes that followed seemed to go by quickly and then it settled. "Yes, I caught Pikachu!" she said in triumph. "Growlithe, return," she added.
Kari continued on her task of finding water.
Back at the campsite…
"Dang it, where's Kari with the water?" Kyou groaned. His stomach rumbled. "I'm starving!"
"Quit complaining, Kyou," Kumori growled under her breath. "Of course, if you're so hungry, you might as well eat Pokefood!" she glanced over at the Pokemon feasting on their food.
"No, seriously. I'm STARVED!" he emphasized "starved". Of course, only the Pokemon and Kumori could tell what he was saying. The rest of the group didn't even bother to ask. The light of their fire attracted quite a collection of Bug Pokemon, ranging from Kricketot to Venomoth.
Kari finally came back. "Sorry!" she said. "You'd never believe how far the stream is from here." She brushed back some of her hair and placed the water above the first. They had to wait for the water to boil. Kotone then dumped six packets of instant ramen into the pot and she stirred it.
She then added the seasoning. The delicious smell wafted around the campsite and more than one stomach was rumbling now. As soon as the noodles were finished, she scooped it out and placed it in six bowls. Kumori swiftly ate hers, finally realizing what it meant to be truly hungry. Kyou finished his and looked around for more.
Rei ate hers slowly, Kari as well because her mind was weighed down with the abused Pikachu and Kotone easily finished hers. "You know, we can still train by moonlight." Kumori remarked. "We should have practice battles after dinner every night, you know, to keep up the strength of our Pokemon."
"That's a good idea." Rei admitted. "So, Aqua, want to battle?"
Those two girls went off to go battle by the light of the moon. Kumori went with Kyou and Kari with Kotone.
Flashes of light exploded within a few moments as the three pairs began to battle. "Go, Wildfire!"
"Streak, you're up!"
"Let's go, Turtwig!"
"Go, Leaf!"
"C'mon out, Dratini!"
"Let's go, Daiki!"
The sounds of the three different battles echoed through the woods. Blue electricity sparked above the trees, twin towers of flames spiraled together, a mass of leaves swirled above the forest.
It was a sight to behold, all created by six individual Pokemon. The battles ended when it was about nine. They all returned to the campsite, laughing and joking. "That was a great battle!" they exclaimed, commenting on the different tactics they used.
However, they realized they had a visitor, lying next to their fire when they got back. "Arashi!" Kumori snarled. The boy grinned at the girl, whose eyes were glinting dangerously, her tail lashing underneath her cloak.
"Hello," he said, flashing a smirk.
"What are you doing here?" she snarled.
"Why, I want to stay with you for the night." His gaze was one of dejected innocence.
"Fine, but you'll have to battle me first," Kumori smirked. Arashi raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?" he got to his feet.
"I'll be referee!" Rei offered, dying to see what this battle would turn out like. They walked towards a clearing and the two battlers took up positions on opposite sides. "This will be a one-on-one battle, no substitutions. The first Pokemon to faint is the loser. Ready? Begin!"
"Go, Bolt!"
"Wildfire, you're up!"
The two different Pokemon appeared in a flash of silver light. "Growlithe, eh?" Arashi mused. "Bolt, let's start this off with Thunder Shock!"
"Wildfire, use Double Team!" The Growlithe seemed to disappear. Bolt was about to launch Thunder Shock when he was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of Growlithe.
"Shinx?" he cried out, confused. Arashi narrowed his eyes. He couldn't understand what she was saying!
"Bolt, use Discharge!"
"Wildfire, use Fire Spin, let's go!" A tower of flames surrounded the Shinx, who tried to escape but every move he made; he got hit by the fire. "Now get into the flames and use Iron Tail!"
Arashi was thoroughly confused. He had no idea what Wildfire was about to do and Bolt was trapped in the fire. "Bolt, use Discharge!" he called out. Blue lightning streaked out of the flames, striking Wildfire just as he was about to leap into the flames. With a whimper, he crashed to the ground. The Shinx's pained call echoed once again.
"Hang in there, Wildfire! Get up," Kumori called out. Wildfire struggled to his feet, electricity still in the air around him. Bolt's cries rang out once again. "Now get into the flames and use Iron Tail!"
Wildfire leapt towards the tower of flames, entering it and then sparks flew. He had hit with his Iron Tail. Wildfire jumped back out of the fire, his eyes glinting in the orange light thrown by the flames.
"Bolt, use Thunder Bolt!" Arashi ordered.
Kumori smiled slightly, showing fangs. "Dodge the Thunder Bolt and use Fire Fang!"
Wildfire leapt out of the way of the repeating bolts of the thunder before lunging into the fire once again, this time with flames in his jaws.
The fire died away, leaving a much bruised Shinx on the ground. "Shi…" Bolt growled, trying to get to his feet. "I WON'T GIVE UP!" He screeched at Kumori and at his own trainer. He launched forwards, electricity crackling in his jaws. The two Pokemon clashed, attempting to grab a hold of each other.
Arashi stood there, dumbfounded. He had just realized Bolt knew Thunder Fang. Kumori smiled briefly. "That's enough." She called out. The two Pokemon broke apart.
Kumori closed her eyes and then reopened them, coming back to reality. She fell to the ground, landing on her knees. Wildfire hurried over and began licking her. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. Kumori nodded.
"Due to both Pokemon retiring, this battle will be a draw!" Rei announced.
"Wildfire, return," she pointed the Pokeball at the Growlithe. A red light surrounded the Fire Pokemon and he returned to the Pokeball.
"By the way," Arashi smiled impishly, returning Bolt. "How did you learn to speak Poketalk?"
Kumori returned it with her own impish smile. "You want the whole truth?" she replied. The rest of the group exchanged amused glances. Arashi shrugged. Kumori slowly unclasped her cloak, letting it drift to the ground. She then took off her hat, her Mew ears quivering. Arashi took one look at the Pokemon traits and fainted. Kumori sweat-dropped. She placed her hat back on her head and left the unconscious Arashi on the ground. She settled down into her sleeping bag and fell asleep. The others followed, leaving Arashi in the clearing.
Twilight was sleeping on top of her. The rest of the group, Kotone, Kari, Kyou, Rei and Aqua followed her example, settling down in their sleeping bags and falling asleep, warmed by the fire.
The next morning, they woke up and the fire was but mere embers. Kyou's stomach rumbled again and they burst into laughter. Arashi stumbled out of the forest, bleary-eyed. "Why'd you leave me in the forest?" he grumbled, the small trainer sitting down with a thump. The group ignored him, packing up.
"We'll eat on the road," Kotone told Kyou as they rolled up their sleeping bags. Arashi rubbed his neck, easing a cramp.
"Let's head out!" Kari called. The six headed for the road. Arashi pouted and trailing behind them. They arrived in Floaroma Town late afternoon and they quickly rushed to the Pokemon Center.
The travelers had their Pokemon checked in. "Thank you Nurse Joy!" they called over their shoulder as they left.
"The Floaroma Contest is in a few days, isn't it?" Kumori said, glancing at a poster.
"Yeah," Kyou had his hands in his pockets. "You should try out."
"I don't know…" Kumori sighed. "Contests aren't exactly my thing. They're more…my sister's…" she trailed off at the end.
"You have a sister?"
"Yep," Kumori grinned, sticking her own hands in her pockets. "You may know her. She's the top coordinator in Sinnoh. Her name's Hikari."
"Oh yeah, I used to watch contests with Mom on TV. Your sister was always great."
Kumori sighed, looking up at the sun. She shielded her eyes. "Her combination of Empoleon and Luxray was one of the best I had ever seen," she said to herself. Kyou raised an eyebrow.
"So she started with Piplup, huh." He mused.
"But you know what? Maybe I will try the contest," Kumori admitted. "I kind of want to see if any of my sister's talents are in me or if it's just my grandfather's battling ability in my blood. Oh, which reminds me, I have to go call my Dad." She dashed off towards the Pokemon Center. Kyou followed at a slower pace.
"Hmm, maybe I should try out for a contest too. What do you think, Star?" he asked the Furret at his side.
"You know, maybe we should try it out." Star replied, scratching the back of her head with one of her paws. Kyou patted her on the head affectionately.
-
The next morning, half of the group decided to try out coordinating. Aqua, Kumori and Kotone were ones who wanted to try new things. The rest of the group, Kyou, Kari and Rei decided to sit out and watch.
They signed up, Kumori entering Wildfire and Twilight. Aqua entered her Turtwig and her Eevee. She had also caught a Starly but didn't want to enter him in the contest. Kotone decided to enter Daiki and Midori.
The contest was to be the day after and the three were training hard for it, figuring out ways to make their Pokemon look good while still using powerful moves.
"Wildfire, you'll be in the first stage and depending on how far in we get…" she smiled. "Do your best, 'kay little guy?" she grinned.
Wildfire nodded. "What else would you expect from me?"
"Twilight, you'll be one or more of the battle stages. We have to work on figuring out how to make your attacks look good."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "We may be regular gym battlers but we can still try out new things, right?" the Riolu remarked.
Kumori grinned and gave the Riolu a high five, plus a pat on the head for the Growlithe. "We're going to win our first contest and the next gym battle in Eterna City." She said firmly. "Believe it."
Ok, I took the "believe it" part from Naruto but, sue me. I don't care. Ooh…I wonder how their first contest is going to go…
And don't flame me saying that trainers can't also be coordinators. They can as is proved in the game.
Please Read and Review!!!!