Selena's Prologue
The Coordination Aspiration
"Remember; you cannot catch any of the following pokemon:" Began the teacher. Selena sunk lower into her seat. It was the last day of trainer's school, and they were going on a field trip. But leave it to Ms. Alitta to take out slides on the school bus. She sighed. At least she could catch a pokemon at the Safari Zone, the new one that they opened along Mahogany. She was hoping for anything cool, but really, anything at all would do. She took out her lucky rock and began stroking it for good luck. It had red and blue triangles on it, and since triangles were her favorite shape, she kept it for good luck. Sometimes, it seemed to move when she stroked it.
"Totodile, Marshtomp, Seaking, Tropius…" Selena began tuning out the teacher. She hated long, grueling lessons about what to do or what not to do. That's why she was so excited to start a new adventure. She ran her hands through her brown, spiked hair and took out her pokenav plus, which had a live TV outlet. She began watching the news, as it was the only thing on.
"A Pokemon Center in Vermillion City was destroyed by a superpowered being – it is currently unknown as to whether or not it was result of pokemon or human. This is the only footage we have as of yet." She leaned closer to the small screen as a blurry shadow sped through the center. The camera shook, and everyone left, then there was an explosion, and the whole center exploded. The camera went snowy, and the reporter continued. "Although all the people inside were evacuated, several recovering pokemon's injuries were severly worsened. Many may never recover.
We asked Felina Joy, the Nurse and owner of said pokemon center, if anything odd happened recently. She said that she had a kid come in and tried to call 911, but the phone was broken, as it had been for days. When the repairman came in the morning, he said that the cable was cut by something very sharp. This is Elana Nelerannzei reporting."
"... Ludicolo, Dodrio or Latias." finished Ms.Alitta. The bus came to a halt as all the kids heaved a sigh of relief.
Selena walked around the area, scoping it for strong pokemon. Then, she felt a strong gust of wind pass her, and a buzzing noise. She turned around swiftly, and saw a very small Yanma resting on a lilypad in a lake. She slowly began creeping up to it, with a pokeball in her hand. She got very close, when the lilypad seemed to move and shake Yanma off! The bug flew off the lilypad immediately and at very admirable speed. She threw her pokeball quickly without thinking, and missed. It landed in the small pond, and a very weak current from underwater slowly pushed it towards the lilypad that Yanma was resting on. Once the pokeball touched the lilypad, it upturned itself to reveal a Lotad, just before getting sucked up in the ball without hope of escape. When it was finally caught for sure, Selena let out a triumphant "Yes!" and jumped in the air.
"I'm going now! See ya mom!" Selena walked into the living room of her house in Blackthorn city. Just as she was about to continue and walk to the door, she saw a small kid attacking a Murkrow on the fence. It was a great battle, and the kid had skills. Then, she saw him throwing the pokeball at the crow, and it vanished in a flash of vibrant, red light. The boy then grabbed the pokeball, and headed down to the magnet train station. Selena opened the door to her house and followed him.
It turns out the kid's name was Felix. She socialized with him on the train; you know the drill, pokecell number exchange, talk about pokemon, things like that. When the train finally skidded to a halt, she left Felix to challenge his gyms and she went to the Fighting Dojo.
As she pushed open the doors that seemed to be made of a bamboo-like wood, a flood of soft, oriental music filled her ears. A group of men and women were honing their martial arts skills with fighting pokemon alongside them, like Medicham or Heracross. She walked up to the end of the room and asked for help on challenging the Dojo.
"A challenger? You have to beat me, little Madam, before you can challenge Kenji, the leader of out distinguished Dojo." He paused for a moment. "Go! Mankey!" A Pig Monkey came out of an ultra ball thrown on the ground, and began howling. Suddenly, the soft oriental music turned into a tune that much ressembled the one on pokemon Colosseum used in battles. She was confused by the music change but remained determined. "Go! Lotad!" Her lilypad pokemon came out. It looked ready to fight.
"Use Absorb!" A bunch of spores flew out of Lotad and hit Mankey square in the chest. Mankey seemed to slowly lose energy, when the spores flew off its body and returned to Lotad. The pig monkey was infuriated.
"Karate Chop!" The Mankey leapt in the air, with one of its hands in a chop shape over its head. Lotad looked up in a trance, but managed to avoid the Karate Chop at the last second. Mankey's hand got stuck in the floor of the stadium!"
"Tackle!" Lotad rammed into Mankey, not doing very much damage, but letting Mankey's hand get free.
"Low Kick!" Mankey ran up to Lotad and swept its foot under the lilypad pokemon, sending it flying off ts feet and careening into a wall.
"Water Gun!" Lotad blasted a small stream of water at Mankey. It hit it right in the eyes, making the pokemon clutch them in utter pain. "Finish it with absorb, Lotad!" The pokemon shot the same spores as before at Mankey. The pokemon was still clutching its eyes when the yellow spores got scattered on the pokemon's body. It howled in pain as it tried to dust off the spores, but to no avail. It collapsed on the floor before being returned in a ray of crimson light. The spores had returned to Lotad already, who had now fully healed after the low kick attack.
"Breloom!" The Karateka sent out a pokemon with a mushroom on its head and tail. It had a greenish yellow hue to it, and its eyes were in a "V" type of frown.
"Mach Puch!" The pokemon sped around, and delivered a quick blow to Lotad, who went spinning across the room and landing against the wall. Lotad shook off the blow quickly.
"Absorb!" Lotad reared back and shot spores at Breloom, who avoided all of them. It was getting ready to attack, when;
"Astonish!" screamed Selena. Lotad quickly shot into Breloom, knocking it a bit backwards.
"Headbutt it, Breloom!" The Mushroom pokemon reared its head backwards, and then flinched. Upon trying again, it flinched once more, and couldn't attack!
"Now! Lotad! Water gun!" The small pokemon blasted water on the floorboard that Breloom was standing on. Breloom looked curiously at what was happening, but once it figured out, it was too late. It had been shot in the air like a seesaw when the water pressure pressed against the boards. Lotad then blasted the floorboard it was standing on with water, and shot itself in the air itself. Lotad then divebombed through the air and slammed into Breloom. The divebomb attack, since executed in the air, was considered like a flying type attack. Once Breloom hit the floor it was completely KO'd.
"Wha-… Return… Breloom." The trainer motioned to a door on the side of the large hall.
"Go through and pursue your destiny, yound woman." said the Karateka. Selena walked towards the room and slowly opened the door. The room was dark and was lit solely by candles placed in the corners of the room and one in the center. The one in the center showed the silhouette of a man. Selena stepped forward, when a voice broke the awkward silence.
"Come on, and challenge me!" The man put his hand on the candle and screamed. "How does he just "put it out" without burning himself!" then he rose and snapped his fingers, and all the candles grew much brighter and stronger and the whole room was lit up. "That's more like it." Selena could see the man was not the seventy year old Zen bald headed man she stereotyped him as. In fact, he couldn't be more than fifteen. He spoke again.
"My uncle's out, but I'm sure enough that my pokemon can beat you." She also noticed that the belt he wore was not black, but brown. Her thoughts were shattered as he summoned a pokemon.
"Heracross! Go!" The Large Horn pokemon had a headband like the one his trainer wore on its horn.
"So, you're not Kenji?" She asked.
"No. I'm his nephew, Joey. You got a problem? Send out your pokemon."
Selena nodded. "Lotad!" Her lilypad pokemon appeared once again. It looked as determined as ever. She got the first move. "Use the Divebomb combo!" Lotad blasted water like before on the floorboard, but it took much longer for the attack to take effect, considering Heracross was a good forty pounds heavier than Breloom. It was, however, much stupider and could not make out at all what was going on until Lotad propelled him in the air. Lotad then propelled itself in the air and proceded to divebomb Heracross. It wasn't that stupid though. It's back opened up and revealed two glossy wings. Heracross moved swiftly out of the way, and Lotad crashed into the solid floor.
"Brick Break!" Heracross frowned and dove to the ground where Lotad was lying down. It crashed into Lotad with tremendous speed that left Lotad on the floor, practically unconscious.
"Huh! C'mon Lotad! Um… Water gun above the candles!" Lotad did as it was told, and the extreme heat of the candles created steam! The thick, misty steam shrouded the room. Selena could see Lotad no longer and simply had to trust her. She was pleased with Lotad's obedience so far and hoped it would last a bit longer. The only visible source of light came from the candles.
"Dive!" came Joey's voice. Heracross flew into the ground right beside Lotad, giving it a scare. It happened once more, when Selena noticed something.
"Lotad!" It's flying above the mist! It can see you!"
"TAD!"
"Dive on it again Heracross!" Heracross flew into the mist.
"Water gun on its wings Lotad!" The Lilypad pokemon filled its mouth with water. Heracross gave a groan as its wings were wet and it tumbled clumsily to earth. Lotad began tackling it nonstop when Selena got a spontaneous idea.
"Use water gun on the floorboards!" Lotad obeyed reluctantly, unsure what the point of this was, since a divebomb attack would be a large risk. The large horn pokemon was sent flying in the air, and right into Selena's target, the farthermost candle. Heracross howled as it got burned in the flames and fainted. Joey reluctantly returned his pokemon.
"Well, what prize do you want?" he asked lifting up a scroll revealing two pokeballs, with a space for another, but it was seemingly gone. The spaces for them were labeled with pictures. She saw the empty one and decisively said:
"Hitmontop."
"Well, er, it's just that," Joey paused. "I took that one. It's kinda my favorite pokemon. Sorry. Hey, I've got an idea…" He shuffled around the back of the Dojo and found a pokeball.
"Here. It's a Tyrogue, you can evolve it into Hitmontop someday," said Joey.
"Thanks." Selena said, walking out of the room. As she entered the main room, the oriental music flooded her ears once again. She walked out, and into the hustle and bustle of Saffron.
"Hmm?" She asked casually. "What's this?" She looked at a flyer. "Pokemon Contest, eh? Piece of cake!" She continued reading. "Come to Saffron hall this Saturday to watch the beginners duel it out!" She ran to Saffron Hall across the street.
"Hello?" She said entering.
"Wonderful! We've found our last entrant!" said a blue-haired girl at the reception. "Sign here." Selena did as she was told, and was quickly pushed into the neighboring room. She found herself on a stage with seven other people. The announcer spoke.
"First up! Next, Elanna and Flaafy, Gordon and Numel, James and Zubat, Bailey and Pidgeotto, Alicia and Ledyba, Austin and Phanpy, and Selena with Lotad!" All the contestants stepped foraward in turn, prepared to appeal with delightful combos.
And appeal they did! Pokemon after pokemon made dazzling appeals, some better than others. Then, it came to be Selena's turn. She gulped and stepped forward. The only thing she knew about contests she learnt from TV. How did she expect to win? It was too late to back out now, though. This was a commitment she would just have to deal with.
As she stepped up, music began playing. The music would suit whatever attack the pokemon used. She gulped again, and began her combo.
"Lotad! Divebomb!" A plank of wood was brought out to help Lotad, since the floor was concrete. It blasted water and the music quickened. Then, the wood gave way and blasted Lotad in the air. She shimmered in the air and began her powerful dive to the floor. Invisible to the naked eye due to speed, she crashed into the wood and sent all the pieces flying. They were wet, so they shimmered as they neared the lights in the Saffron Hall. Then, when they finally did, the wetness wore off and they caught fire, slowly tumbling to the ground like the embers left from fireworks. The crowd applauded, and the appeal was over.
"What a stupendous round of appeals!" Came the voice of the announcer. "The judging process will now begin. May the studio audience please vote using the keypads given out at the start of the show." It was only then that Selena noticed that there were cameras all over the place! She shuddered. I'm on TV!
"We have tallied the votes. Now, we will split you up into two large groups. One will stay, one will leave right away." All the contestants gulped simultaneously.
"Kael, step forward, Austin, step forward, Bailey, step forward, and Selena, step forward." He paused for dramatic effect. "Back row is leaving now." Gordon, James, Elanna and Alicia frowned, and left with solemn looks on their faces.
"Now for Judge's choice. The Judge and I will eliminate two more contestants." "Selena, Austin…" Another pause. "You are our finalists." Both of their eyes grew huge. Bailey and Kael frowned, and like the four before them, left the room grimly.
"And now the final decision… May the studio audience please vote a final time…" He paused. "The votes are in… and boy is it close. However, the winner is…" Another pause. "Austin and his Phanpy!" Austin yelled in happiness and went up to claim his ribbon. He took his place beside Selena once more, because the white-haired judge was readying himself to say something.
"Although Austin is the only one with a ribbon today," he began, "Selena, Bailey and Kael will also be participating in the intermidiate contest in Cerulean city tomorrow. Be there." Kael and Bailey walked up to the stage again and congratulated Selena and Austin. Their grief over their loss had seemingly vanished.
(The next day…)
"Welcome, one and all, to the intermediate pokemon contest! Let us welcome our eight contestants today, four of which were chosen yesterday, and the other four chosen a week or so ago. Introducing: Kael and Swinub! Selena and Lotad! Austin and Phanpy! Bailey and Pidgeotto! Verne and Doduo! Ashley and Ninjask! Pratt and Diglett! And, our secret contest coordinator… Misty and Staryu!" Although applause was great for all the contestants, it was much greater for Misty, the leader of the gym in Cerulean. She had recently taken up contests, and excelled at them.
"Present your appeals… now!"
Kael, Selena, Austin and Bailey pulled the same appeals as last round. Verne used a fury peck combo, Ashley took advantage of Ninjask's speed to make a masterful double team combo, Pratt made amazing symbols underground with Dig, and Misty, well, Misty really worked it, and had this been a beauty contest, her Staryu's amazing appeals would have won her first place for sure!
"The studio audience can vote now… Tallying the votes... Aha! Here we go… I will eliminate two people right now. Bailey… Safe. Selena… Safe…Austin…Safe… Pratt… Safe… Verne… Safe… and Misty… Safe. Kael and Ashley, you're out.Thank you for participating. They left in a blast of applause. They were disappointed but proud.
"Now, our special studio guest will eliminate two people. Can we please have a round of applause for Professor Gary Oak!" A teenager with spiked hair walked onto the stage. The announcer felt compelled to give a small bio for Gary, so he did.
"When his Grandfather retired and moved to Hoenn, Gary took over the professor business. He is now known all over the world as the Kanto Professor! Give it up for Gary… Oak!" The whistling, screaming and clapping was extremely loud. The announcer gave Gary a microphone, and he began speaking.
"All of these contestants are great. It's really hard eliminating two people, but I will because I have to. Can Verne and Pratt please come center stage?" They did as they were told. "I'm sorry," Gary started, "but you are eliminated." They nodded, and left the stage sulking.
"That was Gary Oak everyone!" The whistling, cheering and clapping came once more.
"Now for the Judge's elimination… This will reveal the finalists…" The Judge cut off the announcer.
"The finalists are… Selena and Misty!" Selena said bye to Austin and Bailey, who bid her good luck.
"Now for the studio audience to re-judge!" The shuffle of hands was seen in the audience.Then, when the announcer got the results on a slip of paper, his mouth fell to the ground.
"With three extra points than her opponent… the winner is… Selena and Lotad!" Selena screamed in happiness and ran to shake the judge's hand. Then, she received the ribbon from him and smiled for pictures in the audience.
When Selena left the hall, she was stopped by Misty.
"You've got a lot of talent Selena! And you showed me something. Although I may be a great coordinator, I'm meant to be a gym leader. To thank you, I need to give you a gift." Misty handed over a wrapped box with a ribbon. "Never give up coordinating, Selena. I see it in your eyes. There's passion in them, and that's the one thing you need to win." Misty waved, and walked back to Cerulean gym. Selena opeed the package and saw a pokeball that glittered in the moonlight. There was a note too! She read it.
Selena-
Never give up your dream. You will win the grand festival, no doubt. Keep practicing and thank you for bringing me back to reality. Hope you like Staryu. .
-Misty.
Selena almost choked. A gym leader gave her a pokemon! Wow. Just then, her pokecell rang. It was Felix, inviting Selena to adventure with him in Hoenn!
Before she knew it, she was in the Saffron magnet train station with Felix, planning out their trip to Hoenn.
"Are you sure the magnet train goes all the way to Hoenn?" Selena asked. Felix had called her to invite her to Hoenn, because it's always more fun to be with a friend. She agreed to come, because frankly, she was getting bored of Kanto too. They were in the Saffron magnet train station, and Felix was checking the routes. He finally turned to Selena.
"If we take the Squirtle line to Azalea, we can hitch the Cascoon line to Mt.Mortar and find the nifty hotel…
… then the Sunkern line will take us to the blue joints that separate in different ways, then we take the cruise ship to Lilycove, Hoenn." Felix finished, twenty-five minutes later.
"This'll take how long?..." Selena asked.
"Three weeks. A month, tops." Felix said. Selena just stared, shaking her head. Then, Felix felt something in his pocket. It was the ad he had found on the plane!
"Of course! The Cerulean airport! The price'll average out to the same thing anyways! Come on!" Felix ran outside and hitched a taxi. Selena climbed in, and they were on their way to Cerulean.
"Thank you for flying air Hoenn. Our Destination; Rustboro Airport. Estimated time until arrival, Ten hours, Fourteen minutes, and nineteen seconds. Eighteen, Seventeen, Sixteen…"
Selena and Felix adjusted themselves in their seats. A chapter of their life was beginning to close, and it would be the beginning of a marvelous adventure. As the plane reared off the runway and into the sky, Selena knew that something would happen very soon, but couldn't think much of it… because she fell asleep very quickly as a result of staring into the the starry and hypnotizing sky.
