"Welcome back, Pokemon fans!" The announcer was standing in the middle of the indoor stadium, spotlights hitting him brightly. "This is this years first Lavarige town Skill Competition event! Today, we have three Skilled coordinators!" A cheer from the crowd filled the room. Three dark figures emerged from the sidelines. "The first is a young lady from the Kalos region... She is..." The room went silent. "Yumika Suzuki!" Another loud cheer. "Our second competitor... A man from the Kanto region, but now lives here in Hoenn..." Silence. "Takashi Sugimori!" A spotlight shone onto me. My eyes are watering because of how bright it is. "And last, but certainly not least... The young man from the Sinnoh region..." The last silent moment of the night.
"Ushio Tanaka!"
"Audience, Coordinators," said the announcer. "Let's begin the event with the classic Phase 1! A tower of bricks!" A curtain shifted, and revealed three towering stacks of clay bricks. "Coordinators. Please show your Pokemon. Note this, the Pokemon you choose now must accompany you throughout the rest of the Championship." I raise my Pokeball. The two on either side of me did too. We simultaneously threw them upwards, revealing our Pokemon. Suzuki was using Azumarill. I used Kabutops. Tanaka used Staraptor. "Begin!"
"Brick break, Kabutops!" I called.
"Staraptor, slice 'em with your Arial Ace!" Ordered Tanaka.
"Use Hydro Pump to weaken them, then shatter the rest with Double Edge!" Suzuki called. Kabutops jumped up, and crashed down on top of its pile of bricks, shattering each one easily. Tanaka's Staraptor flew sharply upwards. It then completed a well executed Arial Ace attack, destroying the bricks. No remnants were visible. The crowd went wild. A powerful shot of water came spurring out of Azumarills mouth, toppling the bricks over, and chipping them. It then threw a punch and charged at the bricks. A cloud of smoke appeared, and when it faded, no bricks could be found. "According to the crowd, I think Ushio has won this Phase! But don't worry Takashi and Yumika, there's still three more left!"
"Get ready for Phase two!" The crowd roared with excitement. Three giant stone slabs rose from the ground in front of the Pokemon. "The master of Strength tests... The slab challenge!"
"Go!"
"Smack down!" I ordered to Kabutops.
"Double Edge!" Called Suzuki. A confused set of cries came from the audience. They were wondering why she used the same attack twice in a row.
"Fury Cutter!" The three Pokemon charged at there targets at the exact same time, as if they had planned it. Kabutops tucked its scythe arms to its torso, until it had reached the slab. It jerked them into the slab, knocking it over. It them released its full weight onto it. The crowd was as if a man had just died in front of their eyes, but in a good way. Azumarill's Double Edge was the same as last time. Leaving the crowd silent with disappointment. Star avian cut the slab into four pieces using its wing. It then crashed down onto them, leaving them virtually invisible. The crowd roared.
"I believe Mr Sugimori has won this round!" Said the Announcer.
"And finally, the true test of Skill." The Announcer pointed to the ground, and it parted, leaving just a Stadium field. "A Pokemon battle!" I was surprised. No competition I had ever entered had featured one. It was a good thing I had trained Kabutops for more than just Slabs and Bricks. "This will be a three-way battle! Each Trainer using there one selected Pokemon!" The three of us walked to separate squares on the stadium with our respective Pokemon. "The rules are simple, status conditions are allowed, items are not, excluding held items!" We braced ourselves.
"Begin!"
"Staraptor, Double team!" The black bird created six copies of itself, all lapping around Kabutops.
"Rapid spin!" I called. Kabutops held out his scythe arms and started spinning, knocking the real Staraptor into the wall. Suzuki was stalling. She was going to wait for Tanaka and I to tire each other out, and then strike. The two of us looked over at Suzuki, looked back at each other and nodded.
"Kabutops, Hyper Beam on Azumarill!" I called out. Kabutops jerked its head back, white particles gathering around his mouth, forming a ball of light. A few seconds later, a beam emerged from the ball and struck Azumarill. It shot back, cracking the wall.
"Staraptor! Sky drop!" Staraptor shot over to the injured Azumarill and picked it up by the ears. It carried it to the ceiling and then dropped it to the ground.
"Finish him off with your Giga-Drain Kabutops!" I said. Two indents opened in Kabutops' back. It bent over, and green spores started emerging from Azumarill, and making there way into the indents. Azumarill fell over, slowly, and hit its face hard on the ground. "Azumarill is down!" Said the Announcer. "Bad luck, Suzuki. You're out!"
I looked over at Tanaka. She was planning his attack on Kabutops. "Go, Kabutops! Rock Slide!" I said. Kabutops stomped the ground hard, and a dozen large boulders arose, and shot at Staraptor, imparting its flight.
"Roost, Staraptor!" Said Tanaka. Staraptor got to the ground, and made an unusual stance. The wound on its wing started to heal, and it got to the sky once again. "Now, Brave Bird!" It got as high as the ceiling, it then started glowing many different colours at once, and charged at Kabutops.
"Go! Aurora Beam!" Kabutops shot a powerful long icicle from its mouth, missing Staraptor. "Try again!" It did the same, and this time it hit. But this did not stop its attack. It hit head first into Kabutops' chest, injuring him badly, but keeping Startaptor safe. Kabutops started making injured grunts, struggling to stand up. He then eventually fell to the ground.
"The winner is Ushio Tanaka!" Said the announcer.
I stood there staring at Staraptor, dancing around, celebrating it's victory. I fell to my knees. The crowd was screaming for there favourite Coordinator, Tanaka. I raised my Pokeball and Kabutops returned inside. I walked out of the stadium, the cold buzz of defeat drowning the audience out. Sakura came running after me. "Hey!" She said. I didn't look over. "Sugimori!" I walked into the Pokemon Center in silence. I had the Doctor heal Kabutops, and I then went back to my room.
Sakura entered shortly afterward.
She sat on the bed next to me. "Hey, it's ok." She said. "It's only one loss. You'll do better next time." She shuffled in closer.
"But what if there is no next time?" I said, staring at my Pokeball in front of me. "What if this is the last competition I ever do?"
"Why would that happen?"
"I'm a failure, Sakura. They didn't cheer for me once"
"What about your Smack down on the Stone slab?"
"I'm pretty sure they were anticipating Tanaka's next move."
"What? Don't think like that! They were cheering for you. Not some washed up Sinnoh has-been!" I sat up.
"Can you just leave me here for a while?" Sakura got up and walked into the main Center.
I lay there for hours. At around 3:30 PM, a crash in the Center got me up. I ran out to the main room, where a group of men in red hoods, with black horns stood. "Team Magma!" I said.
"Get out of our way, kid!" Said one of them. "I'm sure you don't want any trouble." I threw my Pokeball to the ground and Kabutops appeared in a flash of light. Each of the magma grunts threw their Pokeballs too. Three Mightyenas, two Houndooms and two Donphans. "Kabutops!" I said. "Get them!" Kabutops charged, it's scythe arms held out to the sides. It slashed two Donphan, blood spurting on the ground and walls. I spotted Sakura in the corner. She didn't have her Pokeballs. She was being held down by a Magma Admin. The two Donphans fell to the ground, severely injured. "Houndoom, Fire Fang!" Said a grunt. The Demon Hound came running at me, not Kabutops. I kicked at it, missing. It bounds onto me, knocking me to the ground. Kabutops looked back, and ran at the Houndoom trying to kill me.
I looked over at Sakura, now fighting back to get her Pokemon. I threw the Houndoom of of me, into the range of Kabutops. It ripped the Dog's left horn off. I ran up behind the Admin hurting Sakura and kicked him into the wall. "Sakura! Come with me!" I said, holding out my hand. She blushed, and grabbed it. We ran out of the Center. Kabutops was finishing off the Houndoom. It lay on the ground, severely injured. I returned it to its Pokeball as I ran. We heard sirens, and before long, the Police were lined up outside the building.
Once every Magma member had been subdued, a Police officer approached Sakura and I. "We're you involved in this?" She asked.
"What do you mean? As in, we helped defeat them." I said.
"I just need you to come down to the station to answer a few questions."
"But- I didn't- I defeated three of there Pokemon!" She escorted me into her car and got in. "But what about Sakura!?"
"Who?"
"My friend. The one I was with just now..."
"The green haired girl? What about her?"
"Isn't she coming?"
"She doesn't need to."
"She had the exact same amount of involvement as me!" She drove in silence.
When we arrived at the station, the woman took me to a room at the back. "Did you injure any Pokemon at the Center?"
"Only Team magma's Pokemon."
"I knew it." She picked a Pokeball from her bag and released it. A Camerupt stood where she released the light. "Hehehehehe" she laughed.
"What the-!?" She ripped off her uniform and revealed her crimson Team Magma T-Shirt.
"Kill him." She ordered to her Camerupt. The Orange Camel marched over to me as the Magma woman stepped out of the room. She now had her Police uniform back on. I reached for Kabutops' Pokeball. It wasn't there. She had stolen it.
Now that I knew I had only my bare hands to survive the Camerupt's attacks, I readied myself. It charged at me, and I dodged, causing a loud crash, and a small hole in the wall. I looked back, the Pokemon was stuck. I ran at the door, and grabbed the handle. Locked. I emptied my pockets, trying to find something to pick the lock with. Nothing. I turned around, the Camerupt free, and readying itself for another charge. It ran at me, and I jumped out of the way at the last second. It smashed through the door, causing screams from the hallway outside. The Pokemon ran down the hall. It had now found others to terrorise.
I had to find Kabutops. Team Magma had him, I searched through the empty rooms until I came across one labelled: Inventory. I open the door, it is filled with Pokeballs, great balls, ultra balls, any variation of Pokeball you could imagine. I emptied Pikeball after Pokeball, hoping Kabutops to be one of them. The third last one I checked was a success. "Kabutops!" I said, excitedly.
"Celebrate while you can, child." A voice came from the outside of the door. The woman from the interrogation room. "You will never get out of here alive." She released another Pokeball. A Heliolisk stood next to her. "Earthquake!" She called. The Lizard stomped its foot and the ground started to shake. Kabutops and I braced ourselves and held onto a cabinet. We pulled too hard and it capsized. The Earthquake subsided and the woman ran.
"Kabutops," I said. "Surf!" Kabutops shot gallons of water from it's mouth, filling the room, and then started riding it towards Heliolisk, knocking it down. The Scaley Lizard lay in the water whilst it was drained out through the cracks in the floorboards. "Finish this with Night Slash!" The brown armoured monster stabbed it's scythe hand through the Heliolisk's arm, spurting blood onto the walls. We ran down the hall the way the woman went. We arrived in the lobby, the administrator passed out on the floor.
The street outside was loud with commotion. There were Magma grunts left and right. "Kabuto!" I called. "Rapid spin!" Kabuto ran to the middle of the fighting, held it's arms out and started spinning. The grunts fell to the ground, their Pokemon trampling them in confusion.
"Alakazam, Psyshock!" A large man emerged from a corner with a large Yellow Pokemon. The Alakazam raised it's spoons and the grunts started screaming in pain. They raised from the ground, squirming and still screaming. "Now, Alakazam," the man slammed his hand onto his wristband, shining in the afternoon sunlight. He raised it to the sky, and Alakazam began to shine uncontrollably. "Mega Evolve!" The yellow menace grew a large white beard, and began to levitate. The light around it exploded and it roared with anticipation. The Pokemon fought off every member of Team Magma, and walked away.
To be continued...