Regarding Chapter 3: Mudkips... Not a ground type... Yeah, sorry, my mistake, I'll fix it when I get the chance. (For now, just imagine them as magic Mudkips.)
Chapter 27: Showdown with Sakura
Rita never stopped since they left the HQ, nobody got the chance to rest and Rita couldn't be persuaded to stop, even for a minute.
"I think my feet are falling off..." Said Isaac. He drank from a bottle of water that everyone carried with them, they took one each after walking for about an hour, the desert like wasteland was especially hot today.
"You think you got it bad?" Said Regal. "My feet are basically suction cups, you know how much it hurts walking on sand?!"
"Guys... Please be quiet... Your making my head hurt." Lloyd had one of Isaacs scarves soaked with cold water and wrapped around his head like Isaacs bandana in order to keep cool.
"Piplup are not meant for this kind of heat..."
"Neither are Caterpie..."
"Oh would you shut up!" Yelled Lloyd.
Everyone was quiet.
"Thank you!"
They all continued to walk, the sun beating down on their heads. Rita was the only one not phased by the heat.
Wait a second... Thought Lloyd. Is that move, Synthesis, the reason she has so much energy?
"Hey Rita!" She didn't respond, but Lloyd figured she wouldn't anyways. "Why aren't you tired like the rest of us?"
"I've been using Synthesis the whole time." She said, still walking.
"Can't we wait for a minute, the sun isn't so nice for the rest of us you know!"
"No, we're only an hour away, you can rest when we get there."
Lloyd sighed in disappointment. Isaac leaned over and whispered to Lloyd, "We could bury her you know. Go on without her, make her catch up for once."
Lloyd thought about it. "No, while we would get a chance to rest afterwards, I'm sure that would just make her angrier, much, much angrier."
"Well, if you change your mind, I'm ready whenever."
---
More time passed, and still no sign of the academy, and still no chance of resting. The wet scarf on Lloyds head was dry and crusted with dirt, and he was sweating buckets.
Regal tried to copy Lloyd idea of wearing a soaked scarf to keep cool, but they were so big that he couldn't keep the large bundle on his head for very long. Most of it was now dragging behind him, getting dirtier every minute.
"Guys..." Said Isaac. "I'm not gonna make it... Tell Jennifer I love her... Ahhh!" He fell face first in the sandy wasteland, doomed to die, his body to disappear...
"We're here." Said Rita.
Isaac got up. "Oh, good."
The academy was barely noticeable, it was built right next to a large, yellow cliff that had to go up a hundred feet. It was surrounded by similarly colored walls, the only door located in the middle, large red double doors with a very large, shiny object on the left door.
They got close to it and heard a lot of noise coming from within, it sounded like there was a small war going on inside the walls.
They got to the big, red doors. The metal object they spotted awhile ago was a large, ornate door knocker. Lloyd went over to knock with it, but the thing was so heavy he couldn't move it,
"Isaac, come help!" He said, still pulling the knocker.
Isaac came over and pulled as well, but even with his help it didn't budge.
"Here, I'll help!" Said Regal. He crawled up the wall, and pushed the knocker towards Isaac and Lloyd.
"I think its moving!"
"Heave!"
"Almost... Got it!"
Ding, dong!
Everyone looked to their right, Rita used the leaf on her head to push a button on the wall, a doorbell. "Honestly, you could have at least checked for a bell before you killed yourselves with that thing."
The three of them looked embarrassed.
"One minute!" Called a voice from beyond the door.
A small sliding door opened, the face of a Sandshrew looked at them through the small opening.
"How can I help you... lets see... three?"
Regal crawled up the door and looked through from the other side. "You forgot me idiot!"
"Oh, well, three and a half then."
"Half?!" Yelled Regal.
But the Sandshrew just flicked him off the wall. "What's your business here?"
Lloyd stepped forward. "We were sent by a guy named Edward, he hired us to fight a monster for you guys."
"Oh, yes. He was expecting you to arrive sooner, you guys are late. Better hurry in!" The shutter in the door closed, and soon after the door slowly began to swing open.
The plaza within the walls was enormous, the ground was a bright white and incredibly smooth stone, the only buildings at the very back of the academy. There was groups of different pokemon all over the place, gathered in circles watching two fight in the center. There was at least thirty of these circles, and each had a battle going on in the middle of them. Fire, electricity and water flew up into the air occasionally.
The Sandshrew now stood next to the door, waiting for them to enter. "Edward is in the largest building, the one in the middle, go there right away."
Everyone nodded as they walked by, when the Sandshrew turned his back, Regal snuck over to him and tackled him to the ground, then ran back before anyone in Team Valiant or the Sandshrew notice what he did. Regal laughed quietly as Sandshrew looked frantically around for his attacker.
---
"Come on Sakura! Finish him off!"
Two pokemon stood in the middle of one of the plazas any battle circles. Sakura, a Vulpix, stood opposite of her opponent, a Croconaw who was barely able to stand anymore.
She charged at him, head butted him right in the stomach, then exhaled a point-blank flamethrower, engulfing the Croconaw entirely. When her attack was done, her opponent wobbled slightly, then fell backwards, unconscious.
Everyone in the circle cheered.
"Way to go Sakura!"
"No wonder your top of the class!"
"Your so strong!"
"Yay Sakura!"
"Haha, thanks everyone!" Yelled Sakura, so everyone could hear her. "I'll take on anyone who wants to fight after I get some lunch, be right back!" She walked towards the edge of the circle, the pokemon parted way so she could pass.
Like any of you could beat me, this whole school is full of weaklings!
Sakura was about to open the door to the right side building, the cafeteria, when suddenly something caught her eye, a flash of green.
It can't be...
But it was, walking along with three others was a Chikorita, and a girl that Sakura knew very well.
What is she doing here?!
---
The interior of the building reminded Lloyd and Rita of the spa back in Havok City, the place was very decorative and welcoming, multiple paintings and photos decorated the nearby halls.
"Hello? How may I help you?" A Nidoking, barely able to fit inside the tight hallways, came in through a door at the far end of the front room. "Oh, you guys must be Team Valiant! Welcome, welcome!" He walked over towards them, knocking into a desk, sending a mug flying to the floor, crashing a breaking into pieces. "Oh dear." Another thing everyone noticed was this Nidoking was wearing glasses which barely fit on his face. He was definitely an old pokemon.
"Um, hi, we're Team Valiant, and we came to defeat this monster of yours." Said Lloyd, as Edward tried to pick of the pieces of the destroyed mug, his large fingers unable to grip them.
"Yes, of course." He fumbled again with a shard of the mug, then just flicked it away in frustration and stood up again. "There is one problem though..."
"What?" Asked Lloyd, wondering what could make a dangerous monster and kidnaped student worse.
"The whole thing was a prank it seems."
"What?!" Yelled everyone is surprise.
"Yes, one of the students, a friend of the apparently kidnaped, came and told us that the monster is not real and that the student is just hiding in there to play a joke on everyone."
"Well, great, now what?" Asked Isaac.
"Well, I guess I'll pay you the reward if you can go fetch the student, the cave is still rather dangerous and as I had written the school is far too busy to spare any teachers to go fetch her. Best make use of you since you're here, right?"
"Wait, if the cave is so dangerous, why is it your students seem to have no fear of going inside?" Asked Regal.
"He is one of our senior students I've heard, really, the only thing you need to do is go down there, tell him to smarten up and then come back with him."
Lloyd sighed, a little bit disappointed in the simplicity of the job. "Ok then, we'll go right away. Where is this cave?"
"Right beside the academy, outside the walls. Its called Echo Cavern, and its got a wide variety of wild pokemon inside, including Psychic and Ghost types! We use the cave for training sometimes, but only for the older stu... hey, where's your friend going?"
Lloyd, Isaac and Regal all turned around, just in time to the door close, Rita had apparently left the building. Lloyd ran out to follow her, and Regal and Isaac followed him.
"Oh." Said Edward, now alone. "Well, good luck then!" He began to walk out of the room, but ran into another desk, knocking over a vase of flowers. The vase smashed and water and glass flew in every direction. "Oh dear... not again!"
---
"What are you doing here Rita?"
Lloyd, Isaac and Regal walked out, finding themselves surrounded by a wide circle of pokemon, all looking at the two in the middle. Rita, standing with her back to her teammates, and a Vulpix, standing opposite to her, both looking ready to fight.
"I'm here for some payback!"
"Payback? Please Rita, its over for you, its been over for you for years!"
"No Sakura! Its not over! Not until I finally beat you!"
Lloyd went over to Rita and shock her gently, as if trying to wake her from sleep walking. "Rita, stop! Whats going on!?" Rita slapped Lloyd away with the leaf on her head, not looking away from Sakura. Lloyd was sent flying, landing in front of Regal and Isaac.
Regal look down at Lloyd and laughed. "Hurts, doesn't it?"
Lloyd just lied there and nodded.
"Rita, you'll never win a fight against me, I figured you'd have learned that by now." Sakura smiled mischievously. "I'm way outta your league."
Ritas eye twitched, something in her snapped. "You guys go now, go do the mission."
"But..." Started Lloyd. But Regal and Isaac covered his mouth before he could actually say anything.
"Don't Lloyd, leave her and lets just go!"
Lloyd nodded, he waved goodbye to Rita, but she didn't see it. The three of them pushed through the enormous audience and left without Rita.
"So, not gonna back down then?" Asked Sakura.
"Not a chance!"
"Well, lets get this over with then!"
They stared at each other, waiting for one to make a move, both waiting to counter what ever attack came at them. The crowd was loud, most cheered for Sakura, but neither could hear anything around them, only silence.
Suddenly, Sakura completely let down her guard, in fact she was now sitting down, not at all prepared for an attack. Rita didn't know what was going on but she knew she didn't want to waste an opportunity to attack, she leaped into the air, straight at Sakura.
At the very last moment, Sakura got up, and swung her body around, hitting Rita with her tail. Rita was sent flying, crashing into the hard stone of the academy square.
"Didn't I tell you Rita? You are, always have been and forever will be way out of my league, give up before you get hurt!"
Rita didn't respond, she got up and immediately charged at Sakura again.
"You never learn!" Sakura did a front flip when Rita got close. Her tail hit Rita again, instantly flooring her. She landed gracefully next to where Rita had fallen, the crowd around them cheered louder.
Rita looked up, Sakura had her back turned and was bowing to the audience, who was calling her name over and over.
Rita stood up and immediately attacked Sakura with a razor leaf attack, the distracted Sakura never saw it coming and was hit by each and every leaf. Before Sakura could recover, Rita tackled her to the ground.
Rita waited for Sakura to get back up so she could tackle her again, but before Rita could make a move, Sakura breathed in and exhaled a flamethrower attack. Rita braced herself, but nothing happened.
The ground around Sakura was burning, the light from the fire was so bright that Rita couldn't see Sakura anywhere. The fire suddenly died, and nothing remained when it once was, Sakura disappeared.
"Hey!" Rita heard Sakura's voice above her. Before Rita could even think of what to do, Sakura landed on top of her with all four feet, once again flooring Rita. Sakura stood on top of Rita and looked at her, bringing her face very close to Rita's. "I've learned some new tricks since we last fought, did you like it?"
Rita rolled back and forth, making Sakura lose her footing, making her fall off. Ritas swung the leaf down like an axe, hitting Sakura across the stomach.
"Enough talk Sakura, just fight!"
Rita stepped back so Sakura could get up. They once again stared at each other from opposite sides of the circle, but both breathed heavy from their injuries.
"I have an idea, why don't you follow me Rita!" Sakura turned suddenly and dashed off. Rita ran after her.
Where is she going?!
"Better keep up Rita!" The sandshrew gate guard saw them coming and scrambled to open the door. Sakura barely fit through the crack in the opening door, both her and Rita ran off into the wasteland.
---
After at least a half hour of running, Sakura finally stopped inside a sort of cave. One of the caves walls was full of naturally made holes, letting in plenty of sunlight making the interior shine a pale orange.
"So... Are..." Rita wanted to say "So, are you ready to continue yet?" But both she and Sakura were completely out of breath from the long sprint across the wasteland.
"One... Minute... Tired..." Said Sakura, both of them sat down, breathed heavy breaths, and after a few minutes fully recovered.
"As I was saying..." Began Rita. "Are you ready to continue yet?"
"Don't you know where we are?" Sakura said, still sitting down.
"Not really."
"This is the exact cave we fought in ten years ago."
Suddenly the cave became familiar. It is the cave! Thought Rita. The whole event suddenly flashed through her head, clear as if it happened yesterday...
---
"Rita, stop being so selfish!" Said a younger Sakura. The two of them, ten years younger, stood inside the same cave they stood in present time.
"I'm not being selfish! I just think this school is a waste of time!"
"Waste of time?! The Pokemon Battle Academy is one of the last and best schools of fighting! I'm lucky I even found the money to pay for it!"
"Its pointless! What can they teach you that you cant teach yourself fighting wild pokemon in the mystery dungeons? Not only that, but there's the chance of finding treasure while were exploring!" The leaf on Ritas head was much smaller ten years ago, and she had to blow it away from her face whenever she finished speaking.
"Rita, life is not about chance, I want to be the best I can be before I go around risking my life for anything or anyone! Especially not for some selfish little princess like you!"
Rita didn't say anything.
"What's the matter? Hmm? Say something!" Yelled Sakura.
Rita's response wasn't with words, but with a razor leaf, sent flying towards Sakura. Not expecting an attack, Sakura wasn't able to avoid it at all, and the sharp leaf struck her right across the face.
Sakura reached up to touch the spot where the leaf had hit, there was a very small, but still noticeable cut across down from her nose almost all the way to her left eye. It didn't hurt, but the fact Rita attacked her filled Sakura with rage. She inhaled deep, and countered with a small but painful ember attack, sending small sparks of flame in Ritas direction.
Rita saw the attack coming and rolled left to avoid it, causing her to crash into a rock. Sakura fired another ember, this time hitting Rita right in the face, blinding her for a second.
The leaf on Ritas head had caught fire, she had to put it out right away. She immediately dive bombed into a pile of sand and smothered the flame, putting it out before it did any damage.
"Sakura! I can't heal this thing on my head you know! If you burned it would be like that forever!"
"Oh please, you could evolve and that thing wouldn't even be there anymore, that razor leaf could have scarred me even if I evolved!"
"Its your fault, you called me a spoiled little princess!"
"That's because you are! All you think about is yourself and expect everyone to do what you want them to do, I'm sick of it Rita!"
"Whatever, lets just finish this!" She said, following up swiftly with another razor leaf.
The two of them fought like this for over an hour, both relied heavily on their ranged moves, occasionally running in for a quick tackle when the other was distracted somehow.
Right around the two hour mark, Sakura tackled Rita hard, sending her flying into a wall. Rita slide down and collapsed onto a soft mound of coarse sand. She tried to get back up and continue fighting, but she fell back down instantly, and didn't bother to try to get up again.
Sakura began to quietly walk out of the cave, almost as if nothing had happened. Just before she left, she turned to Rita, still laying down, injured. "Rita, if one day you realize just how stupid you were today, I'll be at the academy, waiting for my apology, otherwise I never wanna see your face again."
Tears formed in both of their eyes, neither wanted the friendship between them to end this way, but what was done was done, as of now, they were enemies and bitter rivals.
---
"So Rita, what's it gonna be?"
Reality suddenly kicked in for Rita again. The setting was still familiar, but it was ten long years later and both had become a lot stronger since then.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are we gonna continue with your second thrashing, or are you going to finally apologize for being a spoiled little..."
"Princess?" Rita giggled. "I think after this fight, I need to update you on a few things. I say we do both."
"Both?"
"I'm offering a wager. You used to be so firm in your belief that this school was the best way to get strong, If you beat me, I'll gladly say I'm sorry for everything. But if I win, you have to admit that I had the right idea, and you have to come with me."
"Come with you? Why?"
"I'm not as selfish as you might think, I've joined the Brotherhood, and for the last week, I've been going around helping pokemon all over the place!"
"Huh, fine, I graduate tomorrow anyways! It's a deal then, if by some random chance I lose to you, I'll join your little team!"
"Then..." Rita paused. "Lets do this."
For the third time in their lives, they stared at each other, tensions high, the only sound either could hear was the faint breeze blowing through the cave.