Chapter 5

Suspicions

A/N: Wow. For the first time EVER, the monthly hit count for Cursed Blessing has been passed! Gift of Family is now number one for most hits this month. Thank you all. I thought another story would never be able to do it.

Ella pushed open the door and walked into the house. Sarah and Luke were sitting in the living room. They both looked up, saw the massive gash on Ella's head, and jumped to their feet. "Oh my god. What happened?"

They both ran around to her, gently grasping her head. "I got in a fight," Ella told her through small gasps of light pain.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded.

"Well, it doesn't look that bad," Luke said. "At least she doesn't need to go to the hospital."

Ella pulled away from them both and made for the stairs. "I'll be cleaning this up."

"Hold on, Ella." She turned. Sarah pulled out a green slip of paper. Across one edge was printed "One Hundred." "Where did you get this?"

Ella looked from the bill to her mother. "You went through me stuff?"

"That's not important. Where did you get a bill this big?"

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're implying."

"Then where?"

"I just did some stuff for a friend, that's all."

"What kind of stuff earns you a hundred bucks? You're not having sex with him are you?"

"NO," Ella said in embarrassed shock. "I'm just doing some loose jobs for 'em."

"Is that so?" Sarah looked into Ella's eyes, deep into her eyes.

After a moment, Ella looked away. "What is wrong with you, mom. Can't you trust your own daughter?"

Sarah fired back in a mixture of different forms of Pokespeach, which Ella fired back in return. They went back and forth for several seconds.

"Girls!" They both stopped and looked over at Luke. "Please. Not only can I not understand you, but that really gives me a headache."

Ella quickly turned and ran up the stairs. Sarah twisted quickly and started to follow. "Ella…" But she stopped at the bottom, looking up. The girl walked to her room and closed the door. The mother sighed and stepped back.

Luke sighed with her and leaned against the wall. "Do you believe her?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. She looked away before I could get a look at her thoughts." She put two fingers to the bridge of her nose. "I don't know what to do about her."

He stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing. Just like she said." He gave her a kiss on her forehead. "It's late. I'm going to bed."

She continued leaning against the wall as he walked off for their bedroom. After a moment, she spoke to herself, "I don't know if I can believe her. I still feel like something's wrong."

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Ella managed to get her head bandaged well enough, but the scabs kept it from getting any worse. It would take several weeks to heal at least. But she was thankful it didn't cause anything worse, like a concussion.

The next morning, she was surprised to find a note in her locker at school. It had a sticker seal of a fist across the fold. She recognized the symbol.

After taking a quick look to make sure no one was watching, she tore open the seal and opened the paper. A quick letter was typed out.

Mystique wishes to challenge you at your earliest convenience.

She wagers 300.

Leave your answer in the 700 bathroom door.

Ella looked back up and read the name again. Mystique. She was one of the best in the club. If she wanted to challenge Ella, it was something big. But only wagering 300 was incredibly low for someone of her caliber. It almost gave the note a mocking tone.

She tore the note to shreds and let them fall to the floor, where the passing students would disperse the pieces.

That was a lot of money. But fighting against Mystique could very well prove fatal. Even the Pounder would have a hard time taking down Mystique. She could decline. Perhaps she should.

She quickly scribbled down a few lines on a piece of paper and walked off, closing her locker. The 700 bathroom was on her way to class. Luckily, a girl happened to be walking out exactly as she passed. She reached up and dropped the folded piece of paper into the top of the door. It would sit in the tray until someone came to pick it up and her fate would be sealed.

Next week.

Wager accepted.

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That week, she stayed away from the club because of her head. Instead, she went over to Jasmine's house and she helped her practice a little. Being a good friend, Jasmine tried to talk her out of it with all of her might. But when it turned up fruitless, she decided to help. If nothing else, it would help Ella survive.

The biggest problem was Mystiques' Pokemon. She used exclusively Ghosts. Ghosts were surprisingly weak to their own type, but Ella couldn't produce a single Ghost attack. As much as she enjoyed being a Haunter, it was always for sneaking around and dodging attacks, never for actually attacking. Hopefully she'd learn something from this fight.

A small plus was that she really liked Houndours, which let her use a few Dark attacks. That should give her help against Mystique.

When the time finally came for her fight, her wound was almost completely healed thanks to her faster Pokemon healing. Only a few stray pieces of scab still clung to her head.

She came down the stairs just as the doorbell rang. She went for it, her mother sitting in a chair with her laptop. It was Jasmine.

Ella turned around and took her jacket from a peg in the wall. "Going to the movies, mom."

Sarah gave an "Mm-hm" without looking up, so Ella slipped out.

"8…9…10." Sarah shut her laptop and put it down. Her body suddenly became that of a ghost's. With a push of energy, she floated up and out through the ceiling. Ella and Jasmine were walking down the pathway, so Sarah flew silently overhead.

They continued walking for a few blocks, when they stopped and Sarah morphed into an Abra. Sarah could sense her preparing a Teleportation, so she quickly rushed down and brushed a hand against Jasmine's shirt.

With a small flash, the three were taken to this week's arena, the underground cavern that Ella had first visited.

Sarah flew back up when they arrived, fearing Ella would sense something, but nothing happened. The two simply went walking until they reached the rock. They gave the knock and the cloth was swept aside.

Sarah dropped down and phased through the rocks, coming out in the large cavern. Below, a fight was going on and the people were cheering loudly. The sight sent chills through Sarah.

What was Ella doing in a place like this?