Chapter 3

Bitter Sweetness

A/N: A few readers wrote in saying, "If Sarah and Luke are married, shouldn't Ella's last name be Anderson?" Yes, they did get married. But that does not necessarily mean that their last name instantly becomes the male's. I know a Mr. Perchalzki that married a Miss Arrigena and they became the Carsons. And besides, I think "Ella Adams" sounds a bit nicer than "Ella Anderson."

Ella came trodding down the stairs. Sarah quickly looked up from her magazine. "Where are you going?"

"Me and Jasmine are going to a movie." She made a break for the door, trying to make it look like she wasn't in any hurry.

"Ella…"

The girl froze. She was late as it was. She turned and saw her mother walking over to her.

Her mother paused for a moment. "I wanted you to know that I'm proud of you." Ella cocked an eyebrow. "You've been acting much better lately. You're not staying out late without us knowing, you aren't morphing outside the house…" She nodded, letting the comments just hang in the air.

Ella gave her own nod, the space seeming very awkward.

"Well, I'll let you go."

"Yeah." She reached out and pulled open the door.

"No later than 11."

"I know, mom."

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An hour later, Ella quickly dodged to the side of a fast Razor Leaf. The Bulbasaur took to the air and let another pair of leaves fly. Ella threw herself to the ground, shifting into a Sandshrew, and curled up to let herself roll. She came up below the Bulbasaur and rose into the air after it.

"Vine Whip, Bulbasaur!"

The grass Pokemon let out two long vines that snaked down towards her. Still in the air, Ella couldn't move at all and the vines wrapped tightly around her. With a fling, she was thrown down into the stone.

Ella let out a gasp as her back scraped across the rough surface. The tough Sandshrew skin protected her from most of it, but a few spots were scraped to bloody white blotches.

The Bulbasaur released her as it landed. Ella forced herself to her feet, her back screaming in protest the whole time.

"Bulbasaur, use Solar Beam!" Particles of light began to be sucked into the creature's bulb.

Ella laughed to herself. Stupid rookies. With such little light in here, it would take forever to charge that up. She morphed into a Houndour, her personal favorite, and shot out a Flamethrower.

The Bulbasaur saw the attack coming, but couldn't move because of it trying to collect energy. As the flames washed over it, Ella doubled its strength just for good measure. An animal wail came from the heart of the flame that seemed to make the crowd come alive.

When she finally ceased the attack, the trainer rushed out onto the field along with a few others. The Bulbasaur had several second-degree burns.

"Not bad, but I can get that hotter," Ella thought to herself.

The announcer jumped onto the stage. "And for the third time straight, Ella Adams!"

Ella gave a wave as she walked off the stage. A man waiting at the edge held out a wad of cash that she took as she passed by. Another hundred to go in her bank.

Jasmine rushed up to her turning her around to get a better look at her back. "The bloods getting through." She turned Ella back around. "How are you going to explain this one to your mom?"

Ella shrugged. "If she finds out, someone knocked me down at the movies." She cringed slightly as her Morph Skin shifted and rubbed across the tender area.

"Is this really worth it?" Jasmine asked with concern.

"For a hundred bucks and the biggest thrill ever? Hell yeah."

"But what if something goes wrong? Something that can't be covered up?"

Ella shook her head. "You worry too much, Jasmine. There probably isn't a person in here that I couldn't beat."

She felt something tapped her shoulder and turned. A tall man was standing behind her. "A man wishes to challenge you."

That was weird. Not the challenge itself, but challenges were usually only put to the higher fighters. If someone wanted to challenge her, her reputation must have climbed faster than she'd thought. "Who?"

"He wished to remain anonymous," he screamed over the cheering crowd.

Ella nodded. "Next week. I wager one hundred."

He nodded and walked off through the crowd.

Ella walked out that night with a big grin on her lips. At this rate, she'd reach the top of the totem pole in no time at all.

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Ella quietly unlocked the door the door and snuck into the house. A light in the living room was still lit, and she turned it off as she passed.

Just as she was approaching the steps, it turned back on behind her. Her mother was standing in a nightgown. Ella quickly checker her watch. 11:34. She was on time.

"What happened to you?" Sarah asked, some slight concern in her voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Your back. It's bleeding."

Ella put a hand up to her shoulder, shifting her clothes and causing her back burn a tad. "Nothing. Some guy bumped into me and I fell. I'm fine."

Sarah nodded. She didn't really believe her, but she couldn't just accuse her daughter without proper evidence. "You seem to be having more and more injuries lately: a cut, a bruise, and now a bad scrape. You need to be more careful."

Ella laughed, noting the slight irony. "I will, mom." She walked up the stairs, being careful not to disturb her back.

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By next week, her back had become slightly scarred, but it no longer pained her. And so she was ready to meet her next challenge.

She gave the usual knock, this time on a warehouse door, and it opened. Just inside, the same tall man was waiting for her. "The gentleman wishes to up the wager to two hundred each."

Another hundred? She thought the usual limit for her type of matches was only a hundred. But hey, if he wanted to lose more money, she'd be willing to take it. "Tell him he's on." She pulled out another wad of bills she was hoping to bet on another match and handed it over. He gave a slight bow and walked off.

Ella mingled with the crowd for a little, enjoying the first match. She was up second, and her time came quickly.

As the people were dragging off an unconscious Girafarig, the announcer came up. "And now a special match. Ella Adams…" She walked up to the stage. "…and Thomas 'Ground Pounder' Stevens."

Ella's steps came to a stop as her opponent jumped up to the stage. In an instant, her very optimistic look on this match turned to complete dread. If she'd known she'd be going against the Pounder, she'd never have accepted the challenge. He'd cause the deaths of three Pokemon in his battling career.

Now the increased wager made sense. She'd gone up to the next level. Her rise really was faster than she'd expected...perhaps too fast.