Chapter 7: Let the Games Begin!
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to the newbie division of the 25th Pokéathlon Contest!" shouted the announcer to the cheering crowd. His voice, coming from a closed space far above the ground, sounded familiar at the time, but I couldn't remember where I last heard it from.
We were in an enclosed stadium several thousand feet above the ground, though you'd never know it. Hundreds of thousands of spectators of all species packed the stands, and bright lights were trained on the whole stadium, which consisted of a massive racetrack about half a mile long in a loop. The lights shined the brightest on us, and oddly enough, they didn't blind my eyes or make me sweat. Must've been alien technology; yet another thing I liked about this future.
But let me give you a quick recap: Everyone agreed with my idea of entering us all in this contest. After all, we needed the money. The registration process took only a few minutes. I asked if we were supposed to practice or anything, but they said it was worthless because all three events were decided completely at random. They just slapped us with a convenient team color, in this case, green, sent us to a room where all registered contestants were waiting, and said we had to leave our backpacks there in the room. Since they needed only four teams, and we were the fourth team, we all had to immediately walk out and stand onto our color-coded stands in the middle of this stadium. Yeah, it was pretty fast. What I'm still not sure of is why there are so many spectators for a first-timers contest. I didn't want to know how many came to see the normal or even professional contests.
"First up is the red team! Introducing Alex's Team Pyro: Charizard, Typhlosion, and Infernape!"
The spotlight lit them with a reddish light, and the Pokémon fired some powerful Flamethrowers in the air. The team leader looked like a normal blond-haired 17-year-old boy, and I suppressed a gasp. He looked just like one of my longtime friends at school who also liked Pokémon, especially those three. Was he the very same—? But then I saw that he was an expert fire-dancer. He threw those fire sticks over and over again, never dropping them. I was amazed and exhaled in relief. My friend wasn't nearly as adept as this guy; he only knew of fire-dancing from Lilo and Stitch. This guy was a completely different Alex. Whew! It would've been weird beyond belief if HE came here too! Furthermore, this guy didn't even have glasses. What was I thinking?
...Of course, I then began to wonder whether this guy was teenage spy Alex Rider (probably not), but the announcer interrupted my thoughts and drew my attention to the next contestant. "Second up is the blue team! Introducing Cassie's Team Hydro: Piplup, Vaporeon, and Milotic!"
A blue light shone on a 15-year-old girl in an Arabian outfit like Princess Jasmine's with some silk streamers. Judging by how her blue hair was pulled back, I could only guess that she was a pro swimmer—maybe one of the best in the city. The way her Pokémon were shooting hydro pumps in the air with such grace, I bet she could also give the red team a run for its money.
"Third up is the yellow team! Introducing Peter's Team Electro: Electivire, Electrode, and Raichu!"
The brightest yellow spotlight lit up a 9-year-old boy with sandy brown hair. He reminded me of Anakin Skywalker, except that his costume was black and yellow rubber, complete with Pokémon trainer gloves. His Pokémon emitted electric sparks and such. After looking over the trainers again, I groaned. I was the oldest again! Why did this keep happening to me? I mean, maybe Pokémon might've been an elementary school thing, but Alex and Cassie were teenagers. And I was still the oldest! *sigh*…Just my luck. I guess the reason Big Amy and I complemented each other so well was because we had such opposite problems.
"And finally, last but not least, the green team!" Introducing Amy's Team Pecha: Jigglypuff, Chikorita, and Grovyle!"
That was us. A green light shone on us, and Grovyle shot the coolest Leaf Blade out while posing as awesomely as possible. Big Amy and Chikorita performed a little dance, and Chikorita mixed a Petal Dance and a Razor Leaf to add a beautiful flourish to it. Finally, because I really looked out of place with my sailor uniform and red skorts, I added to the dance with some leaf fans. The dance ended with Chikorita bouncing Amy to land on top of my head. We gave everyone an amazing ending pose, and the crowd went wild.
"Why did he call me Jigglypuff?" whispered Big Amy.
"Because that's what you are. Besides, wouldn't it be weird to hear our name said twice?" I replied.
"Oh yeah, good point."
"The contestants will be given three events, chosen completely at random, in which they must perform to the utmost extent of their ability. Points will be given based on achievement and effort. At the end, the team with the most points combined will win the grand prize of 10,000 Galactic Federation credits! Are all the contestants ready? Is everyone ready? Let's begin!"
A huge cylindrical hologram popped up in the middle of the field. It was like a lottery wheel, designed to randomly pick which event we'd be doing first. Several creatures in the audience started throwing darts at the spinning cylindrical holographic roulette. Every time a dart hit a spot, it made a little digital mark. As the seconds ticked, the event names with the spots slowed down way more than the others. My heart pounded faster and faster. The only thing worse than stage fright was not knowing what the heck you were going to be expected to do. In fact, my disastrous mistake in 8th grade was choosing an acting elective that turned out to be 2nd semester, and not just 2nd semester, but theatre sports, and in theatre sports, you also had no idea what role you would be expected to perform. Now you know where my stage fright originated from, and why I will never in a million years become an actress. I looked around at my fellow contestants and teammates. Why didn't they seem the least bit nervous? Maybe they—especially Grovyle—were just hiding it really well.
Finally, the roulette stopped, and the one with the most marks on it was highlighted. The announcer guy shouted, "And it's the Hurdle Reeeelaaaay Ruuuuuun!" The crowd went wild, and so did Team Electro, while the other two teams smiled (or were they just trying to put up a good front?). I let out a sigh of relief; out of all the sports, running was the one I could tolerate the most.
"What's that?" whispered Big Amy and Chikorita at once. I was wondering that too.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait long. "In the Hurdle Relay Run, the contestants run on foot to the finish line on a 500-meter track. But they will also have to jump over hurdles that my pop up in their paths. All four contestants in each team must cross the finish line to go on to the next event, and all of their times are recorded. The team with the lowest combined time gets the highest score!"
As he announced all that, the stadium in front of us metamorphosed into a circular track 500 meters long, just as he said. The finish line was in the center at the end of a swirl the track made. We'd be going uphill the whole way. Then the platform all the teams were standing on suddenly split them and us up into different elevations. We were at the top, while Team Pyro was at the bottom. Finally, the track split into four for us to each run on. It was a really weird layered course, and for a second, I became really paranoid about the height, but luckily, barriers popped up on the edges of the track to prevent us from falling off. I guessed we were lucky; Team Pyro had to worry about three teams running over their heads. But I couldn't help but gulp, "M-maybe we should've watched this kind of thing first, instead of participating—"
"They said it wouldn't have helped. Now focus. One little slip in your concentration could be fatal!" Grovyle replied, turning his game face on. I cringed as I remembered that he said the same thing in my Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky game. Obviously, he was way more prepared for these kinds of things than any of us combined. Big Amy and Chikorita took a deep breath and focused themselves too.
"Do you think we're going to win?" Chikorita asked me.
"My storytelling instincts tell me that we are," I gulped. "Somehow…I hope…"
From left to right, in the lanes were: Me, Big Amy, Chikorita, and Grovyle. Our platforms then moved my friends up ahead of me, to account for the curving of the track. Since the course curved to the left the whole time, that of course meant that I was the furthest back. Gulp.
"Are the contestants ready?" shouted the announcer.
Team Pyro and Team Electro went "WROOOAAAR!" while Team Hydro and us went "YEEEAAAH!" Grovyle didn't say anything; he just glared. I guessed that was his way of psyching himself up. Me? I tried shouting "YEAH!" too, but it just hurt my throat. Ow…
A hologram set of three lights materialized in front of us. They lit up in time with the announcer's voice. "Then let the games begin! Three…two…one…GO!"
The loud blaring noise was like a gunshot that activated my legs. I blasted off at full force—probably a bad idea considering how I was used to warming up by jogging lightly, but who cares? It was only 500 meters, right? I ran at my 100% top speed, straining with all my might, but at the same time, I was worried because I knew from experience that my top speed was only about half of that compared to the boys' on the cross-country team—maybe even a third. Breathe in though the nose, breathe out through the mouth. Again. And again. And again. I squinted my eyes and tried not to ignore where my teammates were compared to me—tried to ignore the fact that Grovyle was still way ahead of me.
And then I saw the first hurdle pop up in front of me.
"WAAAGH!" I jumped. I remembered how my jumping ability was painfully average in P.E. class, but I still jumped. It was too high. I couldn't clear it. I could only brace myself for the painful crash, and…
My shoes hit the bar. The bar bounced me off. And when I landed on the ground, it suddenly felt like I was going twice as fast. Grovyle looked at me in shock. I was about to pass him.
"What the-! How are you-?"
I looked down at my legs where he was pointing, and I saw a halo of green energy. Green energy? And then I remembered…in my Pokémon Heartgold game, you go faster…if you land on the bar!
"Guys! Don't jump over the bar! Land ON it!" I shouted.
"Huh?" asked Big Amy and Chikorita. I looked back. Apparently they were avoiding the bars by ducking underneath, which was dangerous, because the bars could retract and pin them there. Only Grovyle was jumping over the bars.
"Let me try," he said. Sure enough, as soon as he hit the bar and jumped off it, a green halo of energy materialized from his legs and he started moving faster than me again. Another bar popped up in front of me; I jumped on it and felt even faster. Now my aura was orange. It was a really weird feeling—my legs were moving so fast, I was starting to not be able to feel them at all.
"Whoa!" said Chikorita.
"I wanna try! I wanna try!" said Big Amy.
Sure enough, they both tried jumping instead of ducking for once, and started to speed up. In fact, because of their small size, they reached the bar only at the very apex of their jump, allowing them to press down on it hard and speed up even more. The bars came faster and faster, and were more and more random, but we never stumbled over any of them (well, except maybe one time for each one of us…and the boost was gone, so we had to start all over…). We all kept it up until we were all neck-and-neck, running at such insane speeds that I wondered for a second if we were going as fast as an F-Zero Machine by the time we reached the finish line.
"AAAAAAAH! Stop this thing! STOOOOP!" shouted Big Amy and Chikorita.
Uh-oh. We couldn't get rid of the boost we got, then in the highest red level. We were going to run right off the track. WHAM! "Oowww…"
Turns out, there was an invisible wall—I mean, force field—at the end that caught us. Good thing it was where it was; we were really high up there.
"So who won the first trial? Let's see the results!"
We were back on the ground level standing in our respective positions on the platform, gasping for breath. So did the other teams, more or less. The track had already retracted back into the ground, and our eyes were glued to the hologram cylindrical screen. The results appeared at once, stacked on top of each other.
Team: Total time, Place
Team Pyro: 548.231 seconds, 3rd place
Team Hydro: 601.983 seconds, 4th place
Team Electro: 337.023 seconds, 1st place
Team Pecha: 342.508 seconds, 2nd place
"AAAAGH!" we shouted. We were so close to 1st place that time. As Team Electro whooped and cheered, I wonder how they managed to win. Maybe they knew about the speed boosts already.
"But this contest is just getting started! Anything can happen from here! And now…Onto the second event!" shouted the announcer.
The results disappeared, and the roulette thingy took its place. People threw more darts as it spun. (I think there were automatic dart dispensers up there.) As it slowed down, I saw a few events I simply could not stand and crossed my fingers. Please please please please PLEASE don't let it be something like tennis ball hitting or theatre sports!
Luckily, it was none of those. "It's the Dance-Off!" he shouted.
Big Amy and Chikorita rubbed their hands together (more or less) and said, "Ooooo...Interesting."
It sounded manageable to me. How bad could it be? After all, I took tons of lessons in ballet and jazz dancing when I was Big Amy's age. The platform with us and the other teams split again, this time in different directions lining the stadium walls. Our section was moved all the way to the other side, while Team Pyro's practically didn't move at all. The other teams' moved to the far left and right. As the stadium morphed and brought a massive stage out from the center with tracks all around it, the announcer explained the event.
"One team will dance any dance they want for a full minute while the others watch. Then those teams will have 15 seconds to copy their favorite moves from that team. Each team will have the chance to lead once and only once. The leaders earn points based on how complex and graceful the quality of their dances are, while the followers earn points based on how well they copy the leader's moves. Everyone will earn points based on energy and effort they exert, how synchronized they are to the music, and how synchronized they are with each other. Again, the team with the most points wins!"
Team Pyro's platform moved to the center on that high stage. They were going first. Suddenly, I gulped. When it was our turn, we had to make up a dance? On the spot?
"Which dance should we do?" I asked Big Amy and Chikorita.
"Ooo, I know! I know! How about that one the Wuudites taught us?" suggested Big Amy.
Chikorita built on top of it. "Let's do that as a base, but make up the extra hand motions and stuff by ourselves."
Finally, Grovyle added in his two cents. "Just keep your movements in time with the music. Be spontaneous, graceful, and controlled. And like I said before, don't lose focus."
"I got it! I got it!" Did he think I was like one of those kids who never listened to the teacher? Sheesh…
"Just have fun, okay? That always worked for me," said Big Amy.
"Thanks! I will," I replied. "You too, guys."
All the lights turned out. It was pitch black. Then a slightly reddish but mostly yellow spotlight shone on Team Pyro. All four members were facing opposite directions. That Alex guy gripped his fire sticks even more tightly. Dang. He and his Pokémon must've been way more nervous than me.
"First up is Team Pyro! Are the contestants ready? Is everyone ready? Okay! Start the music! Three…two…one…DANCE!"
I recognized the music at once. It was Lucky K.K. from Animal Crossing! Why were they playing that here? But then I figured, it had a pretty upbeat tune and a fast tempo, so it'd be useful to get out some nervousness, but on the other hand, it was too fast for a hula. Shame. Otherwise, I would've memorized the hula from Lilo and Stitch (the movie, not the TV show).
Guess what Team Pyro did for that full minute? All four of them fire-danced some more. Yeah, even Charizard, Typhosion, and Infernape were holding fire sticks, apparently. While we watched them closely, bouncing in tune with the music, I wondered how in the world we could imitate them. I mean, neither us nor the other teams had any fire sticks! I guessed we would just have to pretend we had them. Team Pyro was doing some pretty crazy moves, including spinning both sticks into the air and catching them several times in a row. Finally, there was a natural quiet moment in the music. Their minute was up. The spotlight turned off on them, and more spotlights (with a hint of each of our colors) turned on us, Team Hydro, and Team Electro.
I almost panicked, but then the announcer said, "Are the other teams ready? Okay! A-one…a-two…a-one, two, three, four!"
On the spot, I did the cha-cha slide, stepping in perfect time to the music, while I pantomimed Team Pyro's fire-stick throwing as best as I could. My teammates might've performed a different leg movement, but I think they got the idea. I didn't know. I wasn't allowed to face them. We did that for a full 15 seconds.
When our time was up, there was another natural break in the music, and all our spotlights turned off. Team Pyro's platform moved off the stage in the center, and at the same time, Team Hydro's platform moved to take their place. When they were in place, a blue light shone on them.
"Next up is Team Hydro! Ready? Three, two, one, DANCE!"
Whoa! Whhoooooaaa! Cassie and her Pokémon were, like, masters of dancing! Their leg movements were fast, furious, and graceful at the same time. I wondered if it was tap-dancing. Meanwhile, the arm movements were as fluid as liquid; Cassie brandished streamers from both hands and whipped it in graceful manner, like a river. And while Milotic and Vaporeon weren't quite as capable of Cassie's movement as Piplup was, they combined a Water Pulse with an Aurora Beam and created a beautiful appeal in the air, all while sinuously moving to the music. By the time the light dimmed out on them, I forgot that it was almost our turn.
Well, I did my best…but to tell you the truth, I probably didn't look as graceful as I felt. I mean, that dance was so complex, I wondered if I was doing it right at all! Grovyle probably didn't have much luck either. At least Big Amy and Chikorita could reasonably handle it. Finally, our lights turned off, and Team Electro replaced Team Hydro.
They were amazing, too. Especially Electivire! He was a master of both the electric slide and the robot, and combined both moves into one dance routine. Peter and Raichu synchronized with him really well, too. While Electrode couldn't do a thing, he helped in his own way. Not only did he bounce and tilt in time to the music, his electric sparks helped add to the team's effect. As I watched, I sighed in relief. Finally, a dance that I actually had a chance of doing!
We and the other teams had 15 seconds to imitate them, as usual. Oddly enough, I found their stiff, choppy motions even easier to do than Cassie's graceful ones, so I was feeling really confident about my performance, and had lots of fun, too. Also, funny story: Big Amy decided to imitate Electrode. I wasn't sure whether it was against the rules to not copy what Grovyle, and Chikorita, and I were doing, but she sure seemed to have fun doing so.
Finally, it was our turn. Our platform moved forward and up to the center in almost pitch-black darkness, and I almost lost my balance. It was so weird. My heart began to pound faster and faster (if it wasn't pounding fast enough already), until Grovyle reminded me, "Focus," and Amy reminded me, "This is going to be fun, okay? Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!" like Master Wigglytuff. Huh. That's right. Master Wigglytuff would never get nervous, especially not by something like this. We started bouncing in time to the music.
The greenish light turned on us. We faced opposite directions. And the announcer said, "Is Team Pecha ready for this? Okay! Three, two, one, DANCE!"
What do you know? It was fun. Luckily I remembered the steps that the Wuudites taught us, and I made up arm movements that perfectly synchronized with the music. Whenever I spun around, I saw that Chikorita added flourishes with her Petal Dance (yeah, I know that she had to have evolved into a Meganium to normally learn that move, but she's awesome like that), and Grovyle brandished his awesome Leaf Blade poses. Of course, Big Amy bounced around like Kirby in the cutest way possible. I loved those guys. They inspired me to do the best that I could.
Finally, the light turned off on us, and we exhaled in relief. We watched the other teams mimicked what we did for 15 seconds. As I surveyed them, my jaw dropped at the sight of Team Hydro. Cassie was not only following our moves, (I think) she made them look even better! I wondered if she also improved upon the other teams' dances too.
But there was one more surprise. After our platform moved back down, I felt it move up a few feet or so. Suddenly, spotlights shone on every team including us. The announcer explained, "Oh-ho! It looks like the contestants get one more chance to show their stuff. For the last minute of the song, they incorporate all four dances any way they want! Okay! Last one! Three, two, one, DANCE!"
I think we paced ourselves pretty well, too; we did each dance for 15 seconds each. We danced the same dance that we did for the last 15 seconds, but this time, I tried to add the grace that Cassie performed. During the whole time, we had to keep our balance, as our platforms were moving along the perimeter of the stadium really fast in a clockwise manner, so everyone in the stands could get a better look. Most people cheered, others booed, but overall, we were received pretty well.
Finally, the music came to a stop, and all the lights in the stadium turned back on. The platforms stopped, we took a bow, and everyone in the stands went wild. Then, as the stadium returned back to normal, the hologram cylinder materialized in the center again. Here was what it said:
Team Pyro: 392 points, 4th place
Team Hydro: 720 points, 1st place
Team Electro: 512 points, 3rd place
Team Pecha: 697 points, 2nd place
"GAAAAAH!" we shouted. 2nd place again. And so close, too… Cassie and her friends cheered.
"Now it's down to the final event! Can anyone turn things around?"
The usual darts-and-roulette routine. The usual heart-pounding frantic uncertainty. As the roulette slowed down, I had to tell myself to calm down. Just one more to go. And our final event was…well, it had a really long name.
"The 4-on-4 Competition of Wills ROBATTLE!"
"YEAH! WOOOO!" shouted Alex, Charizard, Typhlosion, and Infernape.
Excuse me? "Did he say…Robattle?" I gasped.
"What? What's a Robattle?" asked Big Amy.
"It—it's just like a normal Pokémon battle—except you use Medabots—but none of us even have a Medabot—so how—?"
"Then it's agreed! I officially declare this match a submission Robattle!"
A short, thin, almost-bald old man suddenly parachuted from the announcer booth. "Mr. Referee!" I exclaimed in surprise. What do you know? The announcer guy WAS Mr. Referee. No wonder his voice sounded so familiar. Suddenly, I fell back into a thick, massive, metal chair that apparently rose from beneath me, and a helmet of some sort clamped onto my head. It happened to Alex, Cassie, and Peter, too. At the same time, a square fighting arena stadium formed in the center, taking up much of the stadium.
"As such, I, Mr. Referee, shall act as referee! The rules are simple! Each team of three Pokémon battles the other three teams. All Pokémon continue until they are unable to battle. The team with at least one Pokémon standing by the end is the victor!" shouted Mr. Referee as he landed on a floating platform above the center of the stadium. "All Pokémon, step forward onto the stadium!" They did. Grovyle sharpened his Leaf Blades and put on his game face again, while Amy and Chikorita gulped and tried to look as confident as they could.
Mr. Referee continued, "Attention, all team leaders! This is a willpower machine. It allows you to transfer your thoughts and focus to your Pokémon teammates. Though you won't be doing any fighting for safety reasons, any less than your full concentration can mean the difference between victory and defeat!"
The machine powered on. I tested it out. Almost immediately, it was like an electric current was transmitted to Big Amy, Chikorita, and Grovyle. It was like I could influence their movements to some degree, and even give them extra energy if necessary. It was exactly like the "chess" machine from the manga Tsubasa (the one by CLAMP), only it was a 3-on-3 four-way Pokémon battle that was called a Robattle. Weird!
Grovyle shot a really serious look at me. "Hey! Remember what I said, and focus!"
"Ya think?" I glared, more serious than ever.
"Metafighters ready?" asked Mr. Referee.
"YEAH!" Alex, Cassie, Peter, and I shouted, though I wasn't really sure it should be called a Robattle. Suddenly, I realized that it was most likely one of the many distractions meant to interfere with my focus. I shook the incongruity out of my head and focused with all my might.
"All right, Metabots…ROBATTLE!"
My friends charged, and so did the other Pokémon. I didn't care whether it was a Pokémon battle, a Robattle, or whatever; for us, it was practically a fight to the death, so to speak. I could feel Grovyle and Chikorita going for the members of Team Hydro, but I sharpened my focus on Team Electro, because they were aiming for Team Hydro too. Besides, it was Team Pyro that worried me the most, and I mentally made the argument that Team Hydro was likely to go for Team Pyro for us. At the last second, they listened, and aimed their attacks at Team Electro. Grovyle used Leaf Blade on Electivire, Chikorita used Hidden Power (yes, it was Ground-type!) on Raichu, and Amy used her Defense Curl-Rollout combo to catch up to and whack Electrode.
It was intense. I had to keep my focus on all three of my teammates at once, ordering them to dodge sneaky attacks from behind, counter, and look out for that other guy's attack all at once. At least Amy kept spinning around the maelstrom and attacked at unpredictable times, so she was relatively safe, but the way that almost everyone kept aiming for Chikorita and Grovyle almost made my head spin. They were lucky I was there to tell them when to dodge! It went something like this:
Look out, Grovyle—Infernape's Blast Burn's gonna—yeah!—Aerial Ace 'em! Chikorita—use your leaf to—good job! Now use Hidden Power again—awesome—look out for that BLIZZARD! Run for it! Dang, didn't realize Milotic could do that—yeah, use that Vine Whip and swing Vaporeon around—throw her at Typhlosion—direct hit! Now while they're distracted, use Ancientpower on Charizard—look! Typhosion! He's gonna use Earthquake, guys! JUMP FOR IT! And Amy—aim right for Charizard from behind—watch out for his tail!
Typhosion did use Earthquake. My friends did dodge it. See, Amy had to bounce on Electrode to hit Charizard, whom flew even higher to dodge Earthquake. Chikorita and Grovyle had a harder time responding, but they did it. BOOM! The quake made Electrode use Explosion, engulfing Electivire, Raichu, and Team Hydro in it. It kinda blinded me too for a second.
"Functions ceased! Team Electro is unable to battle!"
Between the corners of the arena, there were healing stations, and from the ones closest to Peter launched three cords of light-blue liquid gelatin thingys. Those cords auto-stuck to the fainted Electivire, Raichu, and Electrode, dragging them away from the battle and into the healing machines. Meanwhile, Peter's willpower control machine automatically disconnected him, and you could tell he was pretty frustrated at Electrode. But I didn't have time to make those observations. I had a battle to focus on. And what was worse, Team Hydro was more focused on us than on Team Pyro.
AAAAH! So many Ice Beams! Run for it! Wait—I know! Run to the center—wait for it, wait for it—NOW JUMP! Flamethrowers and Ice Beams make a bunch of steam, so use its cover to attack! There goes Piplup, now focus on Vaporeon—what the heck is Typhosion doing—he knows Solarbeam! Look out!
The beam engulfed both Vaporeon and Milotic. "Functions ceased! Team Hydro is unable to battle!" The cords on Cassie's side dragged her remaining two Pokémon back. Now it was just us against Team Pyro, and to make matters worse, all three of Alex's Pokémon were still standing. Chikorita hung onto Charizard in the air, and she looked dangerously close to being on the business end of his Flamethrower. Right after I told her to use Ancientpower one more time and then let go, I gasped. She let go a second too late, and got hit. Hard. After she crashed into the ground, I wondered if she was okay. She was. In fact, she was starting to glow green with her Overgrow ability…not that it would help us, much. I then saw Charizard heading straight for Amy, prepping a Flare Blitz. I wanted to tell her to dodge, but she had her hands full focusing on the Typhlosion and Infernape. Right at the last second, Chikorita jumped right in front of Amy, launched her last Ancientpower, and—NOOOO!
"Functions ceased! Chikorita and Charizard are unable to battle!"
The cord brought Chikorita out of harm's way. I tried not to let the sudden absence of Chikorita's consciousness distract me from Amy and Grovyle. I had to focus.
Hit 'em with another Aerial Ace, Grovyle—yeah—look out for that Smokescreen! AAGH! Blow it away, Amy, quickly—A double Flare Blitz? And Infernape's already glowing red? What? No, Grovyle! NOOOO!
He took the double-header for Amy. I was upset that he ignored my orders to jump out of the way, but then I realized that I would've had to get Amy out of the way first, which made me mad at how awful I was at focusing on two Pokémon at once. The last thing I swore he whispered to me was, "Protect her…please…" and then he collapsed. Mr. Referee announced, "Grovyle is unable to battle!" Now it was just Amy against Typhlosion and Infernape. Gulp. I couldn't afford to lose my focus, but the fainting of both my friends was dangerously close to making me lose it. I fought back tears. Oddly enough, I felt like I had much better control over Amy than Chikorita or (especially) Grovyle. In fact, I could swear that she almost knew what I wanted her to do even before it came into my head.
Hit 'em with something, now, Amy! Hyper Voice!
She did. One "YOOM…TAH!" was enough to finally take down Infernape. But I couldn't relax, because then, Typhlosion started glowing red. No no no…not his Blaze ability too! I commanded Amy to use her Defense Curl-Rollout combo immediately. The sooner we end this, the better. Problem was, the moment she charged up and started rolling, Alex commanded Typhlosion to charge up a Flame Wheel. I advised her to hit him from the side. Yeah! It broke his concentration, but only for a second. Upon the second hit, Typhlosion charged up and started moving. I had to have Amy roll away around the perimeter of the stadium. Hopefully, Typhlosion would tire soon.
He didn't. The longer I had her roll around and around, the stronger that Flame Wheel kept becoming. I was getting really sweaty. The audience must've gotten a kick out of watching the two of them rolling around and smacking each other like something out of Beyblade. Finally, I realized that the longer this went on, the more heat Typhlosion was going to generate, and the lower our chances of winning. We had to end this now. Amy suddenly switched direction and bounced over Typhlosion, landing right in front of me, forcing him to come to a halt and turn around, just in time for her to charge at maximum power. Rollout was Rock-type, so it theoretically had an advantage, but that Flame Wheel, combined with the heat, the Blaze ability, and that 50% same type boost, made it extremely dangerous, too. I focused. She focused. So did Alex and Typhlosion. I could feel that we both had barely any health left. The next move would decide the match.
They crashed in the center, creating a spectacular explosion. Amy then used Hyper Voice, while Typhlosion countered with…Focus Blast? BOOOOOM! The explosion was so intense, it even engulfed Mr. Referee's platform. I couldn't see a thing. Was Amy okay? Who won? The dust eventually cleared.
Suddenly, Amy's consciousness blanked out. The device ejected me. No…no, no, no… I ran to the center of the stadium, and found her and Typhlosion. He was really weak, maybe had one HP left, but still stood. And Amy? …She collapsed. "Function ceased! Team Pecha is unable to battle! The winner is Team Pyro!" It was deathly silent in the stands.
"NOOOOOOO!" I shouted. I grabbed her and didn't want to let go. I barely noticed the gelatinous cords dragging us to the healing corner, where Chikorita and Grovyle were waiting, paleing with disbelief. No, not them…I couldn't possibly face them after how I failed to protect her. What would I say to them? The tears I'd been holding back came flowing all at once. I was so ashamed. We should've won. We really should've won. We were so close! It was all my fault. I didn't focus hard enough, right? No…we were more in sync than Grovyle and Chikorita…than anyone. It was my lack of strategy, right? She never ignored my orders, but she couldn't improvise at all either, unlike the two of them.
Yes, I knew we got 2nd place at this event too, but it hurt me so much more than the previous two events simply because I had to deal with the horrible, crushing pain of watching my friends faint, and knowing it was all my fault.
Maybe I never should've entered at all. I never play these stupid competitions unless there's something that makes it worth doing...but no amount of prize money was worth almost killing my friends. Furthermore, I focused on this game more than any competition I ever played in…but I still lost! WHY? …I knew it. No matter how much I kid myself; pure willpower from the underdogs could never defeat raw power and talent, even if the movies say otherwise. I mean, did I really expect Big Amy, a Jigglypuff, to take out a fully powered Typhlosion and an Infernape? I really was delusional. Competition is just way too much for me in general. I'll never do this again for as long as I'll live.
Even when she woke up, I was still sunk into the depths of misery. "Little Amy? Wh-why are you crying? I'm sorry! I…I shouldn't have…"
"No…it's all my fault, Amy. I'm so…so sorry…!" I cried too much to say any more or even realize I was calling her by her real name. Even when Chikorita and Grovyle tried to tell me something, I still couldn't hear them. I knew I was acting in an unacceptable manner. It was just a game…but when I started crying, I could NOT stop. Not until it all came out.
I didn't notice Alex cheering with Typhlosion, Infernape, and Charizard. I didn't notice what everyone else thought of my predicament. I didn't notice the stadium changing back to normal, or all of us being moved back to our original platforms. I didn't notice Mr. Referee mysteriously disappearing back up to the announcer booth in the stands. Even when the scores were being shown, I didn't look. I knew Team Pyro was in first, and we were in second…again. There was no way we'd win this.
"And now let's add up all three scores! Event #1!"
I didn't look. Team Electro won that one.
"Event #2!"
I still didn't look, even when Big Amy wanted me to. Team Hydro won that one.
"Event #3!"
There was no way I would look. We all lost, and it was all my fault.
Suddenly, the audience went crazy. "WHAT THE-! It's a four-way tie!" shouted Mr. Referee. That snapped me out of it. "A four-way tie?" I shouted, finally dropping Big Amy and looking at the cylindrical screen. There it was:
Team Pyro: 1500 points, TIE
Team Hydro: 1500 points, TIE
Team Electro: 1500 points, TIE
Team Pecha: 1500 points, TIE
"NO WAY!" we shouted. How in the world could this have happened? I was sure we'd lose. And my second question was, how were they going to break it?
"Well, then…guess it's time for a tiebreaker event!" announced Mr. Referee. Of course. Another event. I practically groaned. I thought I vowed I'd—whatever. The same procedure of roulette with throwing darts as usual. I couldn't look at that again.
"And the final tiebreaker event is the ART CONTEST!"
Huh?
"Did he just say…Art Contest?" whispered Big Amy in shock.
I looked up at the screen in shock. There it was, the words Art Contest with the most dart marks on it. "He did," I gasped in disbelief.
"In the Art Contest, the contestants will select which medium or mediums they want to draw or paint on a piece of 11" by 8½" paper. The picture must be inspired by the most significant event they have ever experienced. Points are earned based on effort, brain activity, quality of draftsmanship, and originality. The team with the four pictures that earn the most points wins the entire contest!" In the meantime, the stadium rearranged to become a giant studio of some sort with 16 cubicles in the center.
I had no idea how they could quantitatively measure effort, brain activity, quality AND originality, but seeing as how they were really accurate with the Dance-Off, I decided not to complain about the integrity of the technology of the future. "YAAAAY!" we cheered. I'm guessing everyone else's jaws dropped in confusion or dismay. We then stared at each other.
"You can paint too?" she asked me in disbelief.
"Uh, yeah…" I thought she would realize it when she found I was left-handed like her. On the other hand, I did a lot of writing yesterday, but not much drawing, except maybe when I made that special outfit for her. Maybe she didn't think that counted as drawing. I grinned, "Don't worry. This is my specialty."
She grinned back. "Mine too. Good luck, Little Amy!"
We nodded at each other. This must've been the luckiest break in the world! I immediately started brainstorming what to draw. No way I could blow this one! And hopefully, with Big Amy's help, we'd definitely win. Grovyle and Chikorita just stared at me in disbelief. I really wish they'd stop doing that—they always made me feel like I uttered a vile cuss word or something.
We arrived at our booths and sat down. "Contestants, choose your media!" shouted Mr. Referee. I scrolled through the options on the hologram screen. Wow. The pictures showed every single tool, from pencils and pens to acrylics, watercolors, pastels, chalks, and all sorts of alien utensils I'm not sure what they were. Finally, I came to my favorite program of choice: the Adobe products. Specifically, Adobe Photoshop. Apparently, they had version 1041.5 or something amazing like that. Just this past month I learned that I could paint environments on Photoshop just as well as, if not better than, Corel Painter. On my holographic computer screen that automatically emerged from the desktop at an angle suitable for my hand, I found that it was way more user-friendly than I remembered it being. I selected both that and a pencil for sketching first.
Mr. Referee then told us, "You have one minute to think of what to draw!" I already knew, so I instead became acquainted with the amazing new interface. Finally, he said, "You have 45 minutes to create the image of your choice. Begin!"
There was no background music this time. Was this some kind of AP test? Because it certainly sounded like one. Didn't matter. Anyway, I then thought back to that cloudy October day back in 7th grade English class, when we were given an assignment to make our own myth. At the time, I was panicking on the inside. I hadn't made an original story since 2nd grade. How was I going to do one then? But then, as I looked out the window of the classroom trailer, I imagined a rainbow against that cloudy sky…and then, it hit me. How come no one ever told a story about why people thought there was a pot of gold at the end? That was the moment. The moment that propelled me to become the writer and artist I was today.
I made a picture capturing that very moment. I used my pencil to draw that exact moment of me in the classroom, staring out the window, amazed of how much I remembered of the trailer it was in (the school was being renovated at the time, so most of us middle-schoolers had to have our classes in trailers). When I finished, I scanned it in. Everything in the painting would be grayscale, except the imaginary rainbow in the background, which lit up my face. Finally, I finished with about five minutes to spare, so I double-checked it until I was satisfied, and then printed it out on that piece of paper.
"Time!" shouted Mr. Referee. "Submit what you've completed."
We submitted our papers into the flashing slot into the wall, and then we went back to our original positions as the stadium returned to normal. Finally, the machine finished scanning over all 16 paintings.
On the monitor, the paintings scrolled slowly, one by one. Team Pyro's pictures came first. They were, well…kinda okay, but…three of them had lots of burn marks on them. They liked to use pencil and charcoal. Team Hydro's were really beautiful; all watercolors. Team Electro's almost blew me away; apparently, they used 3-D software…but it didn't really look that professional, either. Finally, ours came.
First up was Grovyle's, and though he groaned, "Yeah, I never was very good at drawing," the picture really surprised me. It was a painting of when he pulled Dusknoir through the Dimensional Hole back to the future with him, leaving his best friends behind. In little corners, you could see the time his saw the sunrise for the first time, a picture of the original Amy Purima in the midst of the dark world, and more. In short, you could feel the anguish and emotion dripping from the picture, despite the messy scribbles. It was enough to wrench one's heart. He got 496 points.
Next up was Chikorita's, and though she couldn't paint any better than Grovyle, the picture had a slightly higher level of emotional impact. It was of her holding the red bow, littered with vignettes of Amy (as a Jigglypuff) on their various adventures. I suddenly understood just how deeply Chikorita and Grovyle cared for her, and that almost made me feel like I was getting in the way. She got 532 points.
Then it was mine. Pretty powerful, but none of the Pokémon could understand it at all, except maybe Grovyle, and even then, he probably thought it was some kind of paralyzed planet. However, because the quality of my technical draftsmanship clearly surpassed Grovyle's and Chikorita's, I got 735 points for my effort.
Finally, Big Amy's came…and it left me speechless. It was the moment when she had to die and leave Chikorita behind. What really leapt out at me was not just the insane quality, but the dynamic shining angle she used and the way she manipulated the background that really underscored the emotional intensity. Her score? 1,032 points…a new record, apparently. I gasped. Wait a second…her's was better than mine? How?
The screen reverted to the scores for all four teams. We held our breaths as the points were counted up.
Team Pyro: 2532 points, 4th place
Team Hydro: 3043 points, 2nd place
Team Electro: 2892 points, 3rd place
Team Pecha: 4295 points, 1st place
"And the overall winner is…Team Pecha!"
I could not believe my ears. But there it was. We were undeniably the winners. Then it finally hit us. "YAAAAAY!" we cheered, all four of us jumping up and down. We won! We won the prize money! We were saved! Now we just earned a few more days to survive and find a job! But what really surprised me was what happened next. All three team leaders came to congratulate me!
"Good job. I was amazed you found the secret of that race, too!" said Peter.
"I loved your dance! You really did do a good job!" said Cassie.
"Dude, you almost beat me. No one ever came that close to beating me in a battle like that!" said Alex.
I was so totally blown away by their sportsmanship; I just had to say something too. "And you all could be great artists too! It's a skill, not a talent, did you know that? All you have to do is just keep practicing!"
Our platform rose from off the ground and hovered to the center. The hologram projection base started rising and connected with our platform. From where Mr. Referee was, he stepped on a flying platform and flew to our area. He stepped off, carrying a card with the prize money and a microphone of some sort.
"Congratulations, Team Pecha! Could you hold out your passports, please?" he requested. We did. He inserted the card into the slot in each of our cards, giving us 10,000 credits…for each one of us. Yes! "Do any of you have anything to say?" he asked, holding the microphone out.
"It was fun!" said Big Amy.
"Yeah, we really had lots of fun!" agreed Chikorita.
Grovyle declined to comment. I wasn't sure why. Maybe he couldn't think of anything at the moment.
The only thing I could think of saying was, "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, everyone!" and just left it at that. Better not let them know about our financial situation.
"Well, I sure hope to see you in our future contests someday!" he said, stepping back onto the flying platform and hopping back in his official announcement booth. I smiled, looking out at the cheering crowd. We survived. We survived! I was so grateful that we could win even when all hope seemed lost. It was like a movie after all.
I then took the opportunity to apologize. "Grovyle? …I'm sorry."
"Huh? For what?"
"I did my best, but…you all fainted…"
"Oh, that! Well, I won't hold it against you. You did your best, okay?"
I smiled again, almost crying because I was so grateful. "…Okay. Thanks, Grovyle." From the moment we met, I could feel that it would be much harder to win his trust compared to Big Amy and Chikorita. I don't know how to describe how ecstatic I was that I was finally starting to earn it.
Just then, at the apex of our happiness, the titanium ceiling exploded as if someone was shooting at it from the outside with lasers. It was going to land right on us. But Grovyle's quick reflexes enabled him to jump up, kick most of the debris away, and save us. As for the three other teams, they commanded their Pokémon to knock the rest of the debris away from the crowd. The crowd froze. Light poured in from above. And two insectoid creatures' heads popped up from outside.
The taller, thinner one exclaimed, "Whoa-ho! Dere u r!" and was pointing at us. Pointing at me.
The shorter, fatter one looked behind himself and shouted, "Hey, guys! Guys! Wii found dem!"
The two of them, as well as a whole swarm, jumped in and descended on us. I wasn't entirely sure, because I never played much of the Metroid Prime series but I had a pretty good idea that all of those creatures were the Galactic Federation's and Samus' sworn enemies, the Space Pirates.
And for whatever reason…they were all after us.
To be continued…
Coming up next: AAAAGH! They just HAD to come in right when we won. WHY? We were so tired! But how will we fare when a really angry Samus Aran shows up? Does she discover my secret at last? I'll have to figure out how to deal with that later, though. What I'm most concerned about is our first encounter with THEM…Teh Pirates Who Don't Do Nothin'!