VERY IMPORTANT Disclaimer GASPGASP: I don't own Pokemon, mmkay? Though I do wish I did. –sigh–
Thanks for the great reviews, everyone! (: I've been really lazy with the plot, heheh sorry about that. Everybody seems to be relatively content with the current events, though… but, again, I am digressing. The beginnings of new pairings form in this story. Don't bite my head off for them hah.
Kekekeke. There's lots of different shipping-fluff in this, though it is distributed somewhat awkwardly… :/ Hey, it's really hard to keep track of everyone when you've got over twenty 'main' characters!
Prominent Pairings of this Chapter:
DrewxMay
MayxBrendan
PaulxDawn
KennyxZoey
SilverxTurquoise
MarinaxJimmy
DawnxTyson
Newly Introduced Main to Side Human Characters in This Chapter (Order of Appearance):
Roxanne Rock
Brawly Waves
Ooh, I know this is kinda random, but I just looked at a Sinnoh episode's pics, and Dawn caught herself a new Buizel! Woot! Go Dawn!
Ahem. Now that we have that cleared up, here's the next installation of ND—and, emulating pondertheworld, "Bring on the battle scenes"!—that are near the end…
Warning: THIS IS A HUGE CHAPTER. If you don't care about the fluff and want the action, skip ahead until you see the second centered "Pallet Town, Kanto" in bold. Also, I only managed to stuff about nine-tenths of a battle in here because if I stuffed the remainder of this battle and another one, this whole story would be over 20 pages in Word… :/ Expect a double-update this week in ND, anyways. (:
Chapter 6—The Battle Tournament Part I
Pallet Town, Kanto
"Wani-Wani! Take the center stage!" Marina Crystal Clearwater cried enthusiastically, flipping out the blue alligator Pokemon in a flash of vibrant yellow light that complimented both her cerulean hair and her Pokemon's sea-blue scales. Almost immediately, the water-type specialist began questioning her own wisdom—in the preliminary round of a Contest, she had most luck with her dance routine with her Misdreavous; adding to that was the fact that Brendan and Drew had already used water-typed appeals before herself.
Brushing away the pessimistic thought from her mind, she declared, flinging an imitative finger into the air, "Wani-Wani, 'Hydro Pump!'"
The Feraligatr gave a grunt of consent before unhinging his large jaws. A white tunnel of water rocketed into the sky, blinding the audience with the light that was reflected off of the water…
Jimmy Gold Tekan lifted one thumb and smiled cheekily at Marina, who had just returned her Feraligatr, flustered, after the three judges had awarded her a twenty-six, owing to the fact that both Brendan and Drew had used water-typed appeals before her. "You rock, and you rule!" He said in a cheesy, commercial-guy voice.
"Thanks, Jimmy," Marina said limply, seeming somewhat downhearted at her less-than-perfect appeal. Silver, who was sulking behind Jimmy, simply threw her a look of distaste. Jimmy suppressed the urge to force the red-haired Trainer to compliment Marina; though when the baseball-capped Trainer looked to Silver, he noticed with some surprise that his friend's scarlet, jealous?! gaze was lingering on the slim body of a brown-haired and hatted girl, who was chatting animatedly with the rather nasal-voiced auburn-haired boy. And for some strange reason, Ash Ketchum was not looking very happy about the two brown-haired Trainers' conversation.
Kenneth Smith watched in admiration as Zoey finished her extravagant appeal with yet another dazzling 'Shadow Claw' attack from her Glameow. It was only expected, then, that the vermillion-haired girl received a perfect three-oh on her appeals. She's so good… I'm so glad Dawn and I met her… After bowing to the applauding and cheering crowd with a small but smug smile on her face, Zoey moved back to her own small 'group': consisting of Dawn, Zoey, Tyson, Lucas, Kenny, and for some reason, a sulking Paul that stayed just close enough to be counted.
Paul. Kenny didn't really like him, nope, not at all; the maroon-haired Trainer just seemed so… mean. And kind of creepy. He couldn't quite see how Ash could have invited such a character to his reunion party. Shivering as Paul shot him a dirty glare for no other reason than Kenny vaguely observing him, the ginger-haired boy bounced vivaciously onto the clearing, emulating his hasty friend Tyson, in an attempt to discard all thoughts of Paul from his mind.
"All right! Alakazam, enter!" Kenny cried, unclipping a Pokeball from his belt. With every slight turn of his shoulders, the golden tassels on his shoulder-pads rustled, though this was part of his attempt to recreate grandeur, despite the fact that the entire Contest and Battle Tournament was staged outside. Flinging the Pokemon capsule into the air, Kenny watched with pride as his Alakazam exploded out of the Pokeball in a shower of black and gold sparks.
"Aahll," The Psychic-typed Pokemon said in an eerie, deep voice, hovering with two long, light-coffee legs crossed over each other in mid-air.
As the crowd burst into amazed applause, Kenny ordered with a flourish of his right hand, "Now, Alakazam, 'Shadow Ball' and 'Psychic'!"
Grunting intelligently, the Psi Pokemon, clutching two silver spoons in his three-fingered hands, crossed his arms over his head and squeezed his amber eyes shut as if concentrating intensely. Four dark spheres, sizzling with neon-yellow electricity, popped suddenly out of thin air, one on every side of the Alakazam; before they could fire off into the crowd, however, their silhouettes began glowing a light brown and they stopped, hovering in mid-air.
"Great! Now, 'Thunderbolt'!"
The said attack hit each of the Shadow Balls, creating a stunning effect of suddenly illuminating each ghost-typed attack. The audience 'Oohed' and 'Aahed', and Kenny turned to look at his score. A '27' was being drawn above his name.
"Not bad, sir, not bad at all!" Dawn exclaimed after Kenny returned to their group. The azure-haired girl was wearing a bubbly expression, one that she usually wore after each appeal. The ginger-haired boy blushed at her praise. Tyson and Lucas complimented Kenny as well. He did not, however, expect anything from Paul, who threw him another glare of revulsion and turned away, keeping his gaze determinedly on the back of Dawn's head, for some reason.
Though, very much unexpectedly, Zoey threw Kenny a wide grin. The ginger-haired boy, who had never expected to receive one from her, could only blush furiously and avert his gaze. (1)
May Sapphire Maple watched with intense dislike as the lilac-haired man finished his Cacturne's appeal. As usual, the girlish man had ordered the grass-typed Pokemon to use 'Bullet Seed' on the ground, embedding in the ground a glittering fulvous skull.
He had received a '26.5' on the Cacturne appeal, much to May's distaste, although she was glad that she still managed to score higher than him, even if it was just by half a point. However, before Harley could finish bowing in delight at the crowd, who May felt was clapping out of politeness, the brown-haired girl lunged and grabbed Brendan and Drew's wrists, intending to drag them out of there so they would not have to suffer the purple-haired man's wrath.
Not to her surprise, Brendan and Drew were both only too eager to comply, although exactly why, May remained unsure. It was uncharacteristic for either of them to want to vacate the center of attention—though May suspected Drew was tired of all the flirtatious stares Misty was shooting him (and Brock didn't seem very happy about this for some reason), but that was not an extremely good reason anyways. Brendan, though, May wasn't so sure… since it was not he who Harley enjoyed torturing so much; perhaps Brendan was simply being sympathetic?
May shrugged and led them behind a random house and then down the cobbled street, careful to cause as little noise as possible. However, after a bare minute of being dragged around by the brown-haired Coordinator (which was actually a record time), Drew just had to say something.
"Where are you taking us now, May?" Drew sneered; May really did not like the way he pronounced her name. So, grumbling in anger, she relinquished
her grip on him, and subconsciously did the same to Brendan, who seemed a little bit disappointed.
"I, thank you very much, am rescuing you from a most horrendous fate." May responded pompously in an attempt to tick Drew off.
"That being…?"
"Harley tearing me apart from limb to limb!"
Cocking an eyebrow, Drew asked, "What does Harley tearing you apart from limb to limb have to do with me?"
May felt her face glow red; Drew merely smirked at her color-change however, which only made her even angrier. "I knew I shouldn't've brought you along to the reunion! Gosh! You're only trouble! Misty won't even talk to me since she's so busy staring at you!" The brown-haired Coordinator spat venomously. She spared an oblique glance at Brendan to make sure that he hadn't run away for fear of his own morality, though to her slightly bewilderment he stood rooted to the spot, looking very sympathetic to May's cause, though when his ruby eyes turned to Drew they flashed angrily with… well… anger.
The green-haired Coordinator merely flicked his hair. "It's not my fault I'm so irresistibly hot."
May, unable to make another comeback, contented herself with glowing even redder, so that now her head resembled an inflated cherry. Brendan, however, obviously unable to suppress his sarcastic instincts, retorted, "Not to mention vainglorious."
"Vainglorious?" Drew's smirk dropped for a split second as he frowned.
"Vainglorious." May confirmed for Brendan, even though she too did not know the word's meaning. Still, it was probably better than saying nothing… right? Drew, for once in his life, seemed to be at a temporary loss for words. Brendan only took advantage of the brief lull.
"Not to mention, overflowing with such megalomaniac—" Brendan continued very quickly, raising an eyebrow to match Drew's as if in an attempt to dare the green-haired Coordinator to object. May could practically kiss Brendan. Soon thereafter, she wondered if she really could have. Then, she began wondering how it would feel to kiss Brendan, how it would feel to—
"What?!" Drew demanded, jade eyes widening with both disbelief and amazement. May suppressed an 'of course!' snort—perhaps she should have warned him that Brendan had a dictionary to rival that of Webster's.
"Psst. Intellectually disadvantaged fool." Brendan scoffed. May immediately recognized it as his 'comical scoff', meaning that he really was intending to urge a laugh out of her. Which he managed, causing Drew to eye May with apprehension. However, May did wonder why Brendan went so far as to help her feel better. She also wondered why Drew insisted on making her life living hell, just as bad, if not worse, as Harley's efforts.
Drew glowered at Brendan for a moment before realizing that he was actually revealing emotions. As if to compensate, he flicked his hair and smirked—which, May felt (and judging by the look on Brendan's face, him as well) was what Drew did when anything went out of order.
"Whatever. I'm going back. Who knows, the Contest might have started by now. Or, those inefficient friends of yours may have sorted out the scores and decided who is able to advance into the next round." Drew said, flashing daggers at Brendan as if challenging him to beat his vocabulary. However, Brendan simply snorted, obviously unswayed by Drew's comparably weaker use of vocabulary.
However, though May wore a scowl, something inside her mind clicked. Yeah! After Harley's appeals, Delia was supposed to write who should be advancing to
the next level. Forgetting her hatred of Drew for a split second, she grabbed Brendan's hand, making sure to avoid grabbing Drew's, and sped back towards the open field, ready to risk her sanity if faced with Harley Davidson again. However, the brown-haired Coordinator stole an impulsive sidelong glance at Drew, and noticed with surprise and satisfaction that he was looking miffed and… perhaps a little… disappointed, somehow.
Practically launching herself into the air with unparalleled hyper energy—May felt Brendan wince in pain some feet behind herself as she let go of him, undoubtedly sending him toppling forwards—she cried, "Well?! Well?! Did I get in, or did I get in!"
"You got in, don't worry, sister," Max, who was clutching a magazine May recognized as one in the Ketchum's downstairs bathroom, said, walking towards May as Wally helped Brendan to his feet. The brown-haired Coordinator was too excited to register the patronizing tone in her brother's voice.
"Whee! I did! Yes! I knew it! Woot! Time for me to see who I'm paired up against!" May shouted gleefully, rushing over to the make-shift blackboard. Jostling her way through the small crowd congested in front of the blackboard, she read the Contest section:
CONTEST
??????? and ??????? VS ??????? and ???????
May vs Harley Drew vs Kenny Dawn vs Zoey Brendan vs Marina
Evidently, Delia had erased the 'Appealers' line. May rolled her eyes when she saw that she was going against Harley in the first round—of course, she was confident that she would win, though not overly so, as the brown-haired Coordinator was almost certain that the purple-haired man had some tricks up his green sleeves.
Hmm… Brendan's going against that Marina girl; hmm… she has really great hair, I wonder if it's natural or did she dye it? Hmm… I want a different color than brown hair, brown is so, ugh, boring… hmm… maybe white? No, that's a little weird, no offense meant to Brendan… hmm… green hair would be cool and sexy too.
Wait. Drew has green hair. Have I gone mad? Hmm… maybe… hmm… speaking of Drew, he's going against Kenny. Whoever that is. Man, I feel bad for this
Kenny boy already. Oh. Wait. If Drew wins, I have to pair up with him in a double battle. Crap. PLEASE WIN KENNY PLEASE WIN!
Obviously, her expression must have revealed something, because Drew, who had miraculously found his way back to the field, the crowd of which was dissipating for lunch break (Mr. Mime seemed to be setting up a table), approached her with a disgustingly smug expression on his face. May could almost hear his next words, though she did not have to wait for long before they rolled out.
"Why the long face, May?" Drew asked, stressing her name with a silky vigor. May's left eye twitched—oh dear Latios, how she hated it when he did that! Though, she did appreciate the extra attention, and the fact that Drew Rosalind, of all the thousands of fangirls he could choose from, would rather talk to her. Of course, she wondered why, and at times she suspected that she was easy to humiliate… which was, as much as it hurt May to admit, true.
Her thoughts began to wander as she struggled to think up a reasonable—or, according to Brendan, plausible—excuse. Then, she realized that she didn't really need to answer. It was none of Drew's business, anyways. Or was it?
"…May?"
Of course, in direct quotes from Brendan when a television reporter had tried to oust information out of May when the two friends where off 'exploring' the Petalburg woods and happened to stumble across the television crew, 'such a frivolous question does not merit an answer.' Then again, perhaps it was only polite of Drew to care? Or was it truly none of the green-haired Coordinator's matters to mind? Who came up with so many stupid courteous law-things anyways?
"… Are you stupid?"
That did it. "Excuse me?!" May demanded haughtily.
Drew gave a long sigh. "I'm afraid that was the answer."
"What?"
"That you're stupid."
"I'm stupid?" May asked, slightly confused.
"Yes."
"Did I say I was stupid?"
"You sure are acting like you are. Oh no, wait, you are already." Drew gave another long and pompous sigh, flicking his hair casually to one side as if to informalize his remark. May did not appreciate his 'honesty', though she did take a moment to decipher his, in her opinion, cryptic message.
"… Hey!"
"Yup, definitely stupid."
"Is that what you came to say, then?!"
"No. I came to ask why you had such a long face, remember?"
"Argh!" May cried, clutching her face in anguish. God! What in the name of CENSORED is this boy doing to me? What CENSORED thing did I CENSORED do wrong?! CENSORED it!
"Actually, what I initially came to say was that it's time for lunch. But obviously, you are too stupid to realize this."
At this, her stomach gave an ironic grumble. May, whiting out the last part of Drew's sentence, remarked, "Oh, I'm hungry. Is it time for lunch?"
"… Such stupid a question does not merit an answer."
"Huh. Where have I heard that before? Hmm… wait… give me a sec…" May wondered aloud, knitting her furrows in concentration. Did Brendan say that before? I think. Hmm.
"I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or if your IQ has really fallen into the negatives. Then again, I suppose it is the latter as you obviously cannot comprehend the complexity of such complex a system, that being sarcasm."
"Huh?" May asked, utterly nonplussed. Ten solid seconds later, what he said had begun to dawn on her. "Oh… wait… Hey!"
At that moment, though, Brendan stepped in and rescued May again. "It's time for lunch." May's stomach leapt with eagerness, though for some reason, May felt a sense of déjà vu. However, Brendan's piercing crimson gaze then turned towards Drew's. The brown-haired Coordinator could practically see sparks of green and red electricity fly from each teenaged boy's eyes.
"What do you want, Santa Claus?" Drew asked coolly, in the silkiest of voices that May had heard yet. Brendan touched his silvery hair self-consciously, pale skin pinking in disgrace.
"I came to rescue May from her starvation, Grass Ass," Brendan replied slickly.
Drew's eyes widened in indignation—May predicted disaster in the near future, though she could not help but giggle at Brendan's pun… and Drew's expression. How come I didn't think of that before? (2) She wondered to herself, though she pursed her lips at Drew's 'Santa Claus' comment. That's not very nice. Then again, I suppose Grass Ass isn't either… hmm.
"Feh! I'm hungry! Let's go eat!" May said, brushing away all pun-related thoughts from her mind. Brendan and Drew stopped snarling at each other to look at her, and suddenly, she began feeling rather wary… as if she were suddenly more significant than she really was. But how could she be?
"May's right," Brendan said at last, when Drew refused to speak. "We should be eating; look, they're starting already." The white-haired Trainer pointed towards the dining table, where, indeed, people were seating themselves for lunch. Delia Ketchum had once again prepared an astounding, buffet-styled meal, though May felt more like eating ramen than chicken legs. Feh. They're both food and they're both… edible.
"Let's go, then!" May shouted, shortly after her stomach gave a huge grumble. Then, without waiting for either Brendan and Drew as she moved her hunger higher up in her list of priorities, the brown-haired Coordinator bounced to a random seat and sat down, careful to seat herself as far away from Max as possible. Wally was a few seats to her left, and somewhat unexpectedly, Brendan sat down promptly on May's right.
A split second after that, Drew sat down on May's left. Again, May thought she saw electricity flare from each boy's intense glower, but she ignored it, deciding that they were upset about their new, rather unfortunate nicknames. Wiping her hands on a wet tissue Brendan procured from his emerald backpack and thrust into her hands—after thanking her white-haired friend, of course, and tucking a bag of the wet tissue he gave to her inside her spacious, round white pockets—she lifted her fork and happily proclaimed, "Well, I'm going to dig in!"
As if her words were a signal, not dissimilar to the way a gunshot signified the beginning of a race, the green-haired and white-haired boys respectively dove their forks into the large bowl of salad May had originally wanted to eat from. However, before she could blink or mutter a, "Hey," all the salad had been transferred from the transparent bowl and into Drew and Brendan's plates.
Then, before May could demand a proper share of the salad, Drew and Brendan had began shoveling the food inside their mouths. And boy, when she thought shovel, she meant, SHOVEL. The brown-haired Coordinator had never seen anything quite like it—and the dark-haired brunette, who had taken off her wide-brimmed hat to appear polite, stopped her conversation with the blue-haired Marina to gawk at Brendan and Drew's behavior. Soon, Marina was staring, as well, and before long, Jimmy. Even Silver, who rarely turned an eye to anything, looked for a few seconds before smirking and looking away.
"Uh… guys…" May said, her throat feeling very dry. Her sapphire gazed darted from between Drew and Brendan, and then from Brendan to Drew. However, they didn't seem to hear her, and within a matter of seconds, the salad had been devoured; May thought she could hear both of them panting slightly, though they certainly did their best to not appeared tired.
Slowly, May began moving her hand towards one of the two public spoons for the mashed potatoes, but Drew and Brendan had, once again, beat her to the punch. Wondering if she really would starve, May could only scoop up a pitiful spoonful that Drew and Brendan had missed while wildly dishing the food into their plates.
Paul Samuels turned one semi-interested coal-colored eye to survey the green-haired and white-haired boy's intense eating-rivalry. Sneering in distaste, he looked to his right, where Dawn sat, animatedly chatting to the vermillion-haired girl, Zoey or whatever her name was. To his left, one of Dawn's friends, Kenny, sat, who was busy ogling Dawn and Zoey's conversation, though his interest seemed to lean towards the latter. Whatever. Just looking at that pathetic terracotta-haired boy makes me wonder why I came to such a pathetic party anyways. This is so pathetic. The food is pathetic. The people are pathetic.
I'm the only one who's not pathetic. Heck, I can probably beat all of these people at anything, blindfolded.
But, as if countering Paul's 'pathetic'-mental tirade, his dark eyes wandered, once again, to rest on Dawn's legs. To his dissatisfaction, her beautiful, white milky legs—wait, what in the name of Palkia am I thinking? Dawn must be pathetic, too, to travel with a Trainer as pathetic as Ash—had been covered by a dark-green gown, which she had changed into at rather frightening speed. Of course, Paul didn't see her change, though he began wishing that he had been inside the Ketchum's bathroom when she had.
Dawn. What kind of pathetic name is that? Seriously. It's goddamn stupid and only four-letters long. Wait a second, my own name is four-seconds long… Paul shook the thought away from his mind, which was clouded by other, much more important things… like… Pokemon, for instance. Though at the moment, the only thing that Paul could only think was of how mesmerizing her amethyst eyes were, and how absolutely dazzling they were when they twinkled with laughter. Wait, what?!
Whatever, I might as well eat this food. Though it probably just scrapes edibility. I will surely sue this Delia Ketchum's ponytail off if I get sick. Warily, he reached out for the public wooden spoon to the steaming pile of new mashed potatoes that Ash's mother had brought out after those green-haired and white-haired freaks had consumed the first platter. Then, for some reason, he stopped, and, grabbing his own spoon, he began reaching for the food.
With surprisingly speed, Dawn's dainty left hand had slapped Paul's callused right one. For some reason, Paul did not find himself cringing with pain, as he had the first time, but rather satisfied that she was prepared to talk to him. Even though her words were far from praise.
"Paul-or-whatever-your-name-is-I-kinda-forgot-since-I-hardly-talk-to-you," Dawn breathed in her delightfully high, feminine voice. Sounds like wind chimes. Whatever those are. I heard they sound nice anyways. "Did you forget what I told you?"
Before Paul could resist the temptation, he found himself saying in his sneering voice, "Oh, please. Why would I bother heeding someone—as pathetic as you—'s advice? Don't flatter yourself, pathetic lady."
"Hey! Don't talk to me like that!" Dawn snapped indignantly, forgetting her conversation with Zoey in an instant. The vermillion-haired Coordinator appeared somewhat miffed, but her feelings were the least of Paul's worries.
"Make me." Paul sneered in his meanest way—which was, if one thought about it, very mean.
The dark-blue-haired Coordinator's crystalline purple eyes glazed over in anger; and oddly enough, Paul felt happy about the chance to talk to her. Even if it was meaningless argument. "Well, maybe I will!" Dawn snapped. Paul, unaware of the danger his was in, continued smirking, until the blue-haired girl's patience seemed to have reached the end of its tether.
Lunging forwards, Dawn skyuppercut-ed Paul's jaw. The maroon-haired Trainer saw stars. Moments later, incoherent swearwords began rolling out like liquid water out of his mouth. "CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED this CENSORED CENSORED CESNSORED." The pain was unbearable. Paul wondered if his jaw was permanently displaced. What is this girl, a kick-boxer or something?!
When at last he stopped swearing—and when he noticed that everyone at the table was dead silent except for Max, who gave a low whistle—the maroon-haired Trainer opened one eye to look at Dawn. He noticed discontentedly that she was smirking at him in an I-told-you-so way. Paul wondered why he didn't throw his napkin on the table and leave right then and there, but something about Dawn's smile, regardless of how smug it may be, made him want to say.
Before Paul could say anything else though, Dawn opened her mouth and said, what was both a blessing and a curse for Paul, two small, simple words. "Don't worry."
Sootopolis Gym, Sootopolis, Hoenn
"I see, so that's how it is," Steven Stone heard the serene voice of Wallace drift over from what appeared to be a mile away, but was, in reality, no farther than half a meter. "Have you warned the Gym Leaders yet?"
Steven, jerking back to his senses, shook his head bitterly and whispered, "No."
"Well, why not? They are excellent when dealing with these matters." Wallace reasoned, his voice extremely cool. Steven sometimes wondered how Wallace managed to do that, even in the face of imminent danger and controversy.
"I don't know, Wallace. They may not believe me. I've sounded more than one false alarm over these years, if you get my drift."
"Still, you have to try, right?"
"Well, you're the Champion, why don't you try?" Steven snapped, feeling inexplicable hate welling inside of his stomach. Yes, the gray-haired man did indeed miss his former position of power; and it was true that Wallace was the one who 'stole' his crown from him. Heartbeats later, however, Steven immediately began regretting his harsh words and turned, pleadingly, to face Wallace's piercing silver gaze.
"Yes. Yes. I am the Champion," Wallace mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. Surprisingly, the Water Specialist did not seem the least bit offended by Steven's rude remark. On the contrary, he appeared perfectly calm, pondering his own question. "Yes. That is what I will do."
The Champion reached for his pants pocket and pulled out a sleek white Pokenav that for some reason perfectly complemented his outfit. Steven suppressed a snort—it was so like Wallace to consider style, even in desperate times like this. Wallace flipped open the unscathed surface of the Pokenav and, punching a blue button on the wall, daintily tapped the touch-screen of his Navigator while the ceiling opened up, allowing the gamboge noon light to pour inside of the Gym.
From the corner of his left eye, Steven saw Juan look at the open ceiling in disapproval—it was true that the light completely obliterated the Water Gym's aura of mystery, although Steven was pretty sure Juan was willing to let his mysterious first impression relent in the case of such a disaster.
"Yes, is this Roxanne Rock of the Rustboro Gym?" Steven heard Wallace chide cordially into the receiver of the Pokenav.
"Yes." The crisp voice of the rock-typed Gym Leader crackled over the Pokenav. "Is this Wallace?"
"Oui. Now, Roxanne dear, we have a very important matter on our hands… Death COM Three, if I dare say. Steven and I are organizing a small meeting at seven o'clock tonight in Sootopolis Gym; can you fly over on time?"
There was a temporary silence; Steven could practically imagine Roxanne's dark eyes widen in shock. "Death COM Three?! Are you kidding me?! Of course I'll be there!"
"Tres bien. Well, Steven and I shall see you there!" Wallace said courteously, ending the conversation by lighting tapping the touch-screen. Then, with professional speed, he tapped a series of buttons protruding out of the side of his Pokenav, and almost instantly, Brawly's rough but neighborly voice came on the intercom.
"Brawly Waves here. Is this Wallace?"
"Yes, Monsieur Waves..." Wallace continued talking. In another twenty minutes, he had finished contacting all of the Gym Leaders and had turned quizzically towards Steven.
"What?" Steven asked, feeling Wallace's undivided attention upon him and feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Should we inform Cynthia and Lance?" Wallace queried politely. It was as if the light cyan-haired Champion was attempting to appear as courteous as possible with Steven, to make Steven feel even more involved in the action. Like the good old days… except for all Wallace is making me feel is like a loser.
"Yes, I suppose we should…" Steven finally answered after a few seconds of pondering, and Wallace once again set to work.
Pallet Town, Kanto
"Wow, I never knew one of Ash's friends could swear that much," May Sapphire Maple remarked shortly after Paul had stopped barking out cuss words, and the lunch group had resumed its normal routine. Thankfully, though, while everyone had been staring at Paul, Drew and Brendan had forgotten to devour everything in front of themselves and May managed to sneak several chicken legs onto her plate, though personally she was thinking, uh, sure, right... while remembering her own swearing tales.
"I suppose we're all full of surprises, then," Brendan said, winking at May, who felt her cheeks flush very lightly, but then her attention turned back to her food and she began tearing the meat off of her chicken leg. The white-haired Trainer and green-haired Coordinator seemed pretty full, though, and none ate anything. However, for the remainder twenty minutes of lunch, the two seemed to decide to compete against each other in a staring contest. May had never seen anyone keep their eyes open for that long.
May dabbed at her lips with her napkin primly, and then, out of politeness, began helping Delia Ketchum and Mr. Mime clear the table. She noticed another brunette with much darker hair than May's help as well, as well as Dawn and the blue-haired Marina; of course, no boys were helping—they were all too busy having stupid staring contests with each other. Whatever, May thought to herself, helping sweep the remains of the food into a large trash bag.
"All right!" Delia Ketchum proclaimed with the energy of a much younger woman. "Thank you girls for your help," She continued, smiling graciously at May, Turquoise-or-something, Dawn, and Marina, "Now, we should be starting the Battle Tournament!" Delia said, raising her voice.
The effect was almost immediate. Brendan and Drew promptly knocked over their chairs as they scrambled towards a random one of the eight battlefields. May sweat-dropped, mostly at Drew's behavior, since he hadn't even been entered in the Battle Tournament. It was as if they were trying to see who can beat the other to the battle field.
Sighing, she muttered, "Boys these days," under her breath and went to check which battle field she was to be battling in against this 'Tyson' fellow in a one-Pokemon each single battle. Whoever he is, I better beat him! May thought vigorously to herself after pushing herself through the thick crowd in front of the blackboard and seeing that she was scheduled to have the match in Field 3.
"Now where's that?" May wondered aloud, looking wildly around herself. Her blue eyes caught the large, squiggly "3" on a small sheet of white paper suspended in mid-air by Mr. Mime's psychic powers and hurriedly rushed to the corresponding field, her fingers tightening nervously on her Skitty's Pokeball. A slightly nervous-looking Tracey (if that was his name, May couldn't quite remember) was refereeing the match.
A thin crowd, composed of the few people who weren't entered in the Battle Tournament and a myriad of Pallet Townspeople, had lined themselves up in the sidelines. May even thought she saw a camera flash go off in the crowd at her direction—well, she was a semi-famous Coordinator after all, and in Johto she did do her fair share of television programs. However, a very angry-looking Delia Ketchum had sought out the camera-wielding man and began scorning him in a harsh voice.
'Tyson' turned out to be a short, skinny, and somewhat scrawny blond boy who had the fairest and smoothest skin. May instantly began admiring his perfect complexion and began feeling very self-conscious of the sparse pimples spread across the bridge of her nose.
But, tearing her thoughts away from Tyson's perfect skin, May readied herself for the battle and, crying, "Go, Skitty!" flung out the kitten-like Pokemon, who appeared in a flash of vivid cherry light and gave a series of high-pitched 'meows!'.
"A Skitty, eh?" May heard Tyson say in a high voice for a boy. She then saw him fumble with unclipping a Pokeball from his belt, and, throwing it into the air, she heard him cry, "Go, Rapidash!"
The said Pokemon emerged in a brilliant flash of orange and yellow light, the vibrant flames on her mane and tails burning fiercely. May squinted her eyes so that she would not be temporarily blinded, though she noted that the Pokemon's glossy white coat had been fairly-well groomed. Her Skitty gave a retaliatory 'Skiitt!', lashing her own pink tail violently, challenging the much larger Pokemon. The kitten-like Pokemon seemed only to glad to stretch her legs after being cramped inside her Pokeball for more than a day.
Deciding that she may as well take advantage of the Rapidash's appearance, May dug around in her fanny bag and pulled out her orange Pokedex. It beeped in a computer-like voice, "Rapidash. Female. The Fire Horse Pokemon. It gallops at speeds up to 150 Mph, has amazing acceleration, and its hooves are as hard as diamonds and can trample enemies into pancakes in seconds."
"Oh… that's… bad." May gulped. Skitty usually fared all right against fast opponents, but, according to the Pokedex, Rapidash were the top of the crust in speed, and this one's rippled muscles gave the appearance that it had been raised purely for speed, and perhaps attack.
"May Maple from Petalburg versus Tyson Haste from Twinleaf! Match begin!" Tracey-whatever yelled, waving two flags.
The kitten-like Pokemon did not seem to be bothered by Rapidash's potential danger, though, and charged forwards without waiting for May's command with a valiant 'Quick Attack'. Deciding that she may as well go with her Pokemon's sudden move, she yelled, "Watch out for those hooves, Skitty!"
Mrrowing to acknowledge that she had heard her Trainer, the Skitty zipped forwards at an extremely fast speed, almost covering the entire field in a matter of two seconds. But, Tyson ordered at an unexpectedly fast pace, "Rapidash, 'Double Team' to dodge!"
Whinnying in compliance, the Rapidash suddenly doubled its image, and then tripled, quadrupled, and continued to form a ring of carbon Rapidash-copies that surrounded May's Skitty and completely blocked her view to her Pokemon. Panicking and hearing her pink Pokemon's feeble 'mew's of confusion, May stood rooted to the spot, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of her milky white face. "Oh, crap."
"This is our chance, Rapidash!" Tyson shouted happily, sounding very pleased with himself. "All right, full-power 'Flare Blitz'!"
Paralyzed with shock and thinking Flare Blitz?! What the CENSORED is Flare Blitz?! Is this some kinda trick?! May could only widen her sapphire eyes in horror as the Rapidash allowed the flames on her mane and tails to glaze over her entire body, not unlike how May's own Blaziken used Blaze Kick, though this 'Flare Blitz' attack appeared deadlier. Then, before May could cry, "Skitty!" the Rapidash had charged forwards, all twenty-something copies of herself zooming towards Skitty all at once until—
The miniscule, feline figure flew into the air and landed at May's feet with a sickening thud, meowing quietly, "Skittt Skitt…" Cringing at her own lack of response and her Skitty's pink and orange fur, which had been badly singed to a dark red. Knowing that it was hypocritical of her to press on, she held up her Skitty's Pokeball and, raising it, prepared to return her Pokemon.
"May! Stop! What are you doing?!" Brendan cried from the sidelines, clutching melodramatically at his face in horror. Instantly, May remembered how angry Brendan got when he lost, and though she thought his antics were a little unnessecary—he had collapsed on his knees, shrieking madly, and attracting the attention of all nearby spectators—she appreciated how he cared so much for her. But at that moment, May stood, quite unable to move.
She did not return her Skitty immediately, and as May waited, the kitten-like Pokemon determinedly pulled herself to her feet, though swayed with the slightest breeze. Brendan, who was still on his knees, cried, "See? Your Skitty's still got plenty of fire inside her! You just gotta…"
The brown-haired Coordinator did not need Brendan to finish his sentence, though she wondered why he was not in his own battle, against Max. Right as she thought those words, the messy blue haired head of her brother had wiggled his way through the crowd and was talking to Brendan in a very fast boy. A few seconds later, Brendan pulled himself to his feet and somewhat reluctantly followed through. May assumed that he was going to his own battle.
"All right, Skitty! You heard what Brendan said! We can't just lose because we took a little 'Blitz'!" May shouted, forcing as much cheeriness into her voice as possible. Evidently she managed to inject some energy into her Skitty, for the pink Pokemon stopped swaying and a determined sort of glint came into her squinted pale-orange eyes.
"Skitt!" Skitty meowed in agreement. Tyson's Rapidash, whose fake copies had disappeared into thin air some time ago already, snorted, small whisps of smoke flying into the air from hers slits of nostrils, and pawed at the ground, a blatant challenge to Skitty. Tyson, who appeared content with the success of his Rapidash's first attack, immediately hardened his gaze and appeared to tense himself, waiting for May's next move.
Before Skitty could once again hurl herself into Rapidash's ready clutches, May ordered, "Skitty, use 'Assist!'", placing her trust in her legendary luck.
"Skitt!" Skitty replied, tottering back on her hind legs, her right paw glowing a blinding white. Tyson's Rapidash whinnied apprehensively, waiting for her Trainer's order before either dodging or meeting Skitty's attack with another 'Flare Blitz' or something else. The blond Trainer did not do anything, however, but merely narrow his eyes and wait for what move Skitty was going to use to come out.
A vortex of fire blasted out of Skitty's right paw. May saw lower her head, as if preparing to leap aside, but as Tyson did not give the order for some reason, the Rapidash did not move. The brown-haired Coordinator could not help but marvel at the Fire Horse Pokemon's obedience—she herself was not quite sure if Skitty would not dodge if May didn't give the order to; it had been a while since May had used the Kitten Pokemon in battle, anyways.
Her Blaziken's 'Fire Spin' technique, however, did not appear to have any effect at all on Rapidash. Instead of singing the Fire Horse Pokemon's white fur, as it would have, it simply covered the Rapidash's shining coat and… ridiculously… seemed to actually power up Rapidash, which was demonstrated by the Fire Horse Pokemon as she planted one black hoof into the ground, creating a startlingly deep gouge in the grass.
"What?! What's going on?!" May cried, her jaw dropping in terror. She thought she saw Tyson smirk, and, not knowing what to do, could only wait for Skitty to finish the useless 'Assist' attack.
When at last Skitty's 'Fire Spin' technique ended in a blast of frail gray smoke, Tyson piped up in his high voice, "It's Rapidash's ability "Flash Fire!" Every time she's hit by a Fire-typed attack, she powers up instead of getting hurt! Pretty cool, huh?"
Balling her gloved hands into fists, May cried, "Skitty! Use another 'Assist'!" The Kitten Pokemon once again tottered back on her hind feet, raising a glowing paw, but this time, apparently, Tyson did not want to wait for a move to arise out of the Skitty's paw. Rapidash, as if sensing her Trainer's intents, lowered her flaming head so close to the ground that her snout nearly touched the grass.
"Rapidash! 'Quick Attack' it now, before it's attacked!" Tyson ordered. Rapidash dashed forwards at a startling fast speed that rivaled even the swiftest of Flying-typed Pokemon, horn on her head aimed straight for Skitty's side. The Kitten Pokemon, however, was simply moving from the left to right, like a palm tree in a breeze, as if she did not have any worries at all, though her paw was still glowing.
"Oh no! Skitty, strike NOW!" May shouted hurriedly, a nanosecond before the Fire Horse's horn could hit Skitty. And then, amazingly, inexplicably, her Skitty was propelled sideways by an invisible force, even faster than Rapidash's 'Quick Attack', so that all the Fire Horse touched was air. The brown-haired Coordinator saw Tyson gnash his teeth together in frustration—understandably so, for if the Rapidash's horn had found its mark, Skitty would have been knocked out, most definitely—but right now, she was concentrating on her Skitty, trying to figure out which move it had used.
Then, it dawned on her. Of course… Munchlax's Metronome! It must have somehow turned into 'Extreme Speed'! Perfect! Just what we need! "Skitty, attack!" May shrieked furiously, caught up in the midst of the battle.
"Skittttt!" Skitty yelled gleefully, gladly ramming into Rapidash's side before the blond Trainer could respond. The Kitten Pokemon's velocity, coupled with the abundant amount of energy May and Beautifly both knew Skitty had, ended up knocking the regal horse so badly that it nearly toppled to the ground. A huge, Skitty-sized purple bruise was rapidly forming on the Rapidash's otherwise perfect fur.
"Great, Skitty! Time to finish it off! 'Blizzard'!" May shouted, punching her fist happily into the air, under the impression that the Rapidash was almost defeated. Tyson, however, would not stand for it.
"Rapidash, dodge with 'Bounce'!"
"Bounce?" May asked, confused, as she had never heard of the attack before. Then, she vaguely remembered Max identifying the attack when they were in Johto after a Grumpig had used it as 'a strong flying-typed attack that often takes up two turns. The user bounces up into the air, and then rams the enemy, if it had not dodged, into the dirt, if applied correctly. Though, it is fairly easy to dodge if the Pokemon dodging is not Slugma-slow.'
The Rapidash gave a live demonstration of Max's very words. Leaping up remarkably quickly into the air and avoiding May's Skitty's mouth-originated 'Blizzard'-attack, the Fire Horse Pokemon soon disappeared as a tiny speck in the sky. May craned her neck to see it, but found out that she could hardly work out exactly where the Rapidash was… it was almost like the Pokemon had disappeared into the clouds, which, May reckoned, could be what was happening.
"Wait for it, Skitty!" May said hastily, as her Skitty had been on the verge of leaping away from her current spot. The brown-haired Coordinator had wanted to stage a small gamble—if Skitty dodged in time, then Rapidash would be severely hurt by the impact of her own attack on the hard ground.
Soon enough, Rapidash's previously invisible dot into the air rapidly began enlarging as she plummeted towards the earth. Skitty still did not move, though May saw her Kitten Pokemon's tail quiver in fear. If Rapidash managed to hit Skitty, the match would be over before one could say, "Ouch."
Rapidash came hurling, hurling, hurling… until… (3)
Author's Notes:
(1) Eeeeh! Don't kill me yet, Penguinshippers! I was just trying to add more… eh… suspense to the story! Yeah! And now, Tracey will have some competition (but personally I think he likes Professor Oak. Oh crap, now you're all going to kill me, right?)
(2) Because of the stupid no-swearing nonsense in the anime. But did you know that once Ash said, "What the—?!" Well, he did lol. And it was in the dubs, too. You know. THE DUBS.
(3) Efufufu. Don't kill me for the cliffhanger! I just thought that it would be the best to end the chapter here.
I tried to shift the attention onto Pokemon in this chapter… well… it didn't work out very well, did it? xD I tried. I tried. –sigh– The attention will shift from shipping fluff to Pokemon in about chapter seven or so, since Giovanni will actually put his plan in action, then. (But I can't reveal too much about that, no?)
Well, I hoped you like this story! And if you find the number-notes to be annoying, please tell me and I won't do it in the future. Alternatively, tell me if you liked it, and I'll keep it. This is a bit of an experiment.