HGSS: Johto Saga
Season 2, Opening: Born to be a Winner
Part 12
A Skate Peril
Lyra sits on the seat backstage, watching Natalie battle Jim in the final match.
"Stantler, use Zen Headbutt!" The reindeer pokemon rammed forward, its head making things around it distorted. It smashed into a small, purple pokemon.
"Tyrogue, no!" Jim bellowed.
"AND WE HAVE OUR GOLDENROD WINNER!" Jillian announced.
Lyra stood up and walked out of the room, a tear sliding easily off her cheek.
Outside the building, Natalie caught up with her, now in jeans, red high-tops, black shirt and black jacket. Her hair was now in a ponytail.
"Hey, Lyra...you were a debut one today, huh?" Natalie inquired in a crisp, feminine voice.
"Yeah...good job on winning."
Brandon, May and Ethan caught up with them just then.
"My name's Natalie! I was the same in my debut contest not long ago. I didn't win, but I won the next one. And now this one. You'll do great, I know it." Natalie then hurries off.
A smile flashed across Lyra's lips. "She's right. I can't give up!"
May nodded. "That'ta girl!"
The next day...
Ethan and Brandon stand inside the Goldenrod Department Store, gazing at the expanse of the huge building.
"Wow, and we're supposed to be able to find Lyra and May in all this?" Ethan questioned disbelievingly.
"I guess...but my guess is that they're somewhere on the bottom floor, right side."
Thirteen minutes later, Brandon and Ethan sit by a hotdog stand. Ethan glares at Brandon.
"Yeah, and they're invisible now...you have a bad sense of tracking," Ethan scolded. Brandon scratched his head.
"I wonder...May could be trying to cheer Lyra up a little..."
They both snapped.
"Clothing."
In the clothing department...
May tosses a dress out of the way, throwing different assorted things from a pile into another one behind her.
"Tacky...ugly...manufacturing issues...just plain wrong...Lyra! I found the perfect...green lace...Nevermind!" Lyra stands on the other side of the store, trying on different colored hair clips, smiling, or frowning, at the different colors she liked and hated.
"Huh?" She drops a clip.
Brandon and Ethan walk inside a clothing store.
"I heard them in here..." Brandon started.
After fifteen minutes, they join back at the opening of the shop.
"Yeah, you heard them all right. Brandon, how about I lead the expedition this time?" Brandon nods at Ethan, who trots away valiantly.
As Ethan turns a corner, he bumps into a girl, a couple of years older than him, with knee socks and bright pink hair.
"Oh?" She mutters.
"Hey, you're Whitney aren't you? The Goldenrod Gym Leader?" Ethan inquires.
"Yeah, and I remember you from the competition...Ethan, right? You won. Good job by the way!" She spots Aipom on his shoulder. "Oooh! I just love Normal-type pokemon! And you're Aipom is so cute...fur so soft...eyes sparkle..." she went on in a constant ramble about how adorable Aipom looked.
"Hey, Whitney, I was wondering if I could have a Gyyyy-" Ethan is choked as Brandon tugs his sweatshirt.
"Yo, remember that we're on a search for Lyra and..." Brandon is cut off as Ethan finishes his question.
"Do you think I could get a Gym Match with you Whitney?"
Whitney taps her foot a couple of times. "Well, I guess so. I have to close the Gym in one hour, so hurry up there if you want a match!" She goes skipping off and out of view as she disappears in a crowd of people.
Ethan nods. "Okay, Brandon, let's find Lyra and May!" As he turns, he bumps into May, throwing him to the ground. "OW! This seems to happen to...May? W-Where's Lyra?"
"I have no idea. We were in Cle-Tique's when I stood up from...uh...nevermind. And she was gone! She must have wondered off somewhere..."
"Really? Thanks, Sherlock!" Brandon said with an air of disgust.
May rolled her eyes. "I mean! She must have wondered somewhere other than here!"
Ethan and Brandon waited for a moment. May face-palmed herself. "Shut up."
They then started off at a trot towards the store May had explained.
At the front, they saw a white hat with a pink ribbon around it.
"..." the three of them went quiet.
Ethan dashed away. Heading down an escalator, he darted for a shoe shop. Inside, Lyra was there.
"Lyra! What the..." She saw her hat on.
"Hm?"
She led her upstairs and to Brandon and May.
"What the...?" May garbled.
"Heh, sorry I wandered off, May. That's not my hat, if that's what you guys were thinking."
Ethan grins and starts off to a store right next to the clothing store. He quickly purchases a skateboard and headed towards the exit of the building, beckoning them to follow. "I don't know about you guys, but now that this is all over, I'm heading to the Gym!"
Brandon checked a small yellow device, which they explained was a PokeNav, and found out that it was almost 4:00 PM, thirty minutes until the Gym closed.
"Gah, it'll take about twenty minutes for him to get there..." Brandon pulled out a cube from his backpack and darted after Ethan.
Outside, Ethan hopped on his skateboard and proceeded to ride down the busy streets of Goldenrod City.
He pulled out his cue stick to help him gain speed across the ground if he had to go uphill. He checked his PokeGear after two blocks, seeing that he had about ten minutes to get there.
"Okay, there's five more blocks until I'm there...it just had to be on the other side of Goldenrod!"
Soon, he realizes he won't be able to make it up a gigantic hill. However, he spots a ramp on the other side of the road and a double-decker bus.
He skids across the pavement and slides smoothly onto the sidewalk. He rears up on the ramp and then shoots off of it, landing cleanly on the bus. The people on board the top were shocked by this.
As he neared the end of the bus, He jammed the cue stick in front of him and was shot from the top of this bus over the hill and proceeded to gain violent speed down the pavement.
"Yeah! What a wild rush!"
He clears a sign as he reached the third block and rides along the sidewalk again, avoiding citizens.
Suddenly, behind him, Brandon rides up on a collapsible bicycle, trying to catch up with Ethan as they rode downhill, also making it difficult to steer around people.
"Eh? So you decided to follow me?!" Ethan said without turning his head, keeping his attention on avoiding people as he crossed the fourth block.
"Yeah, I kind of want to see how you battle!"
As they reach the final block, Ethan notices a caution stand. As he reaches it, he jumps off the skateboard and lands on it after the board slid under it.
Brandon avoided it sharply, almost crashing into a building.
"The Gym!" Ethan shouts as he sees Whitney standing at the front of the same place the tournament was held.
Whitney turns to lock the Gym door when Ethan explodes onto the sidewalk in front of it.
"Whitney!"
Whitney turns and beams.
"You made it!" Suddenly, Brandon shoots right by them, skidding on his bike.
"And I'm here to watch!"
Whitney smiles. "Well, I guess I except your challenge! But I won't hold back...nice entrance by the way!"
Ethan grins, but then he looks down at his cue stick. It was snapped in half from jumping off the bus.
"Ugh..."
Ethan and Whitney glare at each other, raring to battle.
