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Chapter 22: Semi Finals and Finals... Oh Boy
Friday, February 28th
The battle between Trevion and I was the second, and I could barely keep from screaming in excitement. We trash talked throughout the entire first battle, and it got pretty intense, since we were the only ones in the waiting room, and even Riley wasn't there to stop us. She had opted to sit in the stands today, since there would be so few people in the waiting room anyways.
"I hope you're ready to be a disappointment Hikari, cuz' I ain't giving in!"
"Ha! I can't possibly lose, I mean, I am the underdog after all. How sad would everyone be if you beat this poor, Ribbon-less girl?" Trevion laughed again, wrapping his warm arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him playfully. Usually that would make me uncomfortable, Trevion being a guy and all, but just his chill attitude and the atmosphere he created made it alright.
"Well Hikari, we'd probably head out there. The last battle just ended." I glanced at the screen, where the winner of the battle was being announced and congratulated.
"Right. Let's go!" I nodded my head, watching my curls bounce, and grabbed Trevion's wrist, jogging down the hallway with him. "Good luck Trevion!" I called out as I released his arm, heading towards my own end of the Contest Hall.
"And to you too Hikari! See you on the other side!" I turned back to wave at Trevion laughing, and ran further down the hallway. I wonder who Trevion's going to use... I thought to myself, checking my own Pokemon's Pokeball to make sure I'd put the seal on. I knew it was on to begin with, but it made me feel a lot better just to check. Waiting for my cue was practically torture, but the sound of my name coming off of the hostess' tongue relieved me of that.
I proudly trotted out from behind the curtains, and was met with Trevion's determined stare from across the field. His arms were crossed but his lips were curled into a smile. This is going to be so much fun!
"Mazey, spotlight!" My starter Pokemon appeared on the field in a flurry of rainbow stars. She was silent as always, but lifted one of her front legs up in a cute pose. I winked as well, putting one of my arms out and pointing upwards in a pose of my own.
"Blow em' away Phanpy!" Trevion sent out the cutest little blue Pokemon with a blue electric seal, and it made an adorable squealing sound.
"How cute!" I instinctively reached for where my Pokedex would normally be, but I was in a dress, and I pouted when I realized that I couldn't find out what this thing was other than it was called Phanpy. I didn't have long to think on it though, as the timer went off and the battle began.
"Charm Crash, go!" I took a step back in a defensive sort of stance, watching to see what would happen. The small blue Pokemon, about the same size as Mazey, curled up into a ball and began to roll towards us. It bounced up into the air after hitting a small hole in the arena from a previous battle, and with surprising force. It must've flown at least fifteen feet straight up. Suddenly Phanpy unfurled itself, it's ears flying wildly, and winked at Mazey. Before I had time to react when I realized what the move was, a large pink heart had appeared smacking right into my Turtwig and severely lowering her attack.
"Crap," I mumbled when I saw Phanpy curl right back up and hurl towards Mazey with Rollout. "Use Curse!" Mazey's eyes glowed an odd red color, and she hunkered down, raising both her attack and defense, and preventing her from being thrown back, though I think we both winced at the attack. Phanpy began to roll away, but made a turn around back towards Mazey. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my own points creeping steadily down. Razor Leaf wouldn't be enough to stop this thing, not in Rollout. My only choice would be Leaf Sphere, which wasn't quite as powerful without Withdraw. I guess that Curse from earlier will have to do... I don't have much time left anyways...
"Leaf Sphere Mazey!" From around her leaves began to blow, and using Absorb as quickly as possible on Phanpy, Mazey began to form a glowing orb, which leaves plastered onto after a moment. "Go for it girl!" Throwing the sphere forward, it collided with Phanpy, and it flew up into the air, landing back on the ground with a thud and all sprawled out.
"Come on Phanpy, I believe that you can get back up and keep on going!"
"Feeepi!" With a cry of determination, Phanpy got onto it's feet, flapping its ears.
"Use Razor Leaf!"
"Fissure Phanpy!" Before any of the leaves could scrape against Phanpy's blue skin, he stomped on the ground creating a rather monstrous crack in which there was a bright white light running along it, heading straight for Mazey. Crap, we can't take much more of this!
"Get out of there!" The grass type rolled over and out of the way, but the large crack in the ground only changed direction, still about to damage Mazey. "Razor Leaf your way out of there!" My Pokemon gave me a puzzled look, and I stumbled over my words trying to explain myself to her. "Uh, the leaves, um, underneath you, get the leaves under you and away!" My God I love Mazey, because I'm fairly certain that none of my other Pokemon would have understood those commands, let alone executed them so flawlessly. All of the leaves which were still zipping around the arena with no direction whatsoever, suddenly turned towards Mazey and speedily flew towards her. The leaves flew around her in a whirlwind of sorts, getting underneath the starter's feet and lifting her up. Fissure cracked right beneath where Mazey had just been, but she managed to avoid the attack entirely. "Razor Leaf again!" The Turtwig's leaves separated again, this time in a neat formation, and she gracefully dropped to the ground. The sharp leaves impaled Phanpy, doing a great deal of damage due to our advantage in type.
I took the opportunity to glance up at the clock. I was shocked to see that it still had nearly three minutes left, and Phanpy and Trevion showed absolutely no sign of slowing down. I gulped, and attempted to steel my nerves.
"Tackle Mazey!"
"Rollout!" I swore quietly enough so that the microphones couldn't pick it up. Rollout was too fast for Maze to dodge, and it was stronger than Tackle. I watched helplessly as Phanpy plowed straight over my Turtwig. Again I glanced upwards. Our points were even now, with each of us having about three quarters left. I guess I'll just have to try a little bit harder then...
"Charm Crash Phanpy!"
"Not so fast! Absorb and then Curse!" Mazey stole health from Phanpy first, then used Curse to protect herself from both the Charm and Rollout, and succeeded relatively well, especially with her new health increase. Trevion's points went down more than mine.
"Dang Hikari! I've been watching you girl, and I knew you'd gotten better, but, HA! I didn't think I'd have this much fun!" Trevion slapped his knees, grinning almost insanely. I managed a smile of my own, but unfortunately I didn't have quite the confidence that Trevion always possessed.
"Fun until I win! Use Leaf Sphere again!"
"Dodge it using Rollout!" Leaf Sphere was a relatively slow move, and although it made a small crater, it did not hit Phanpy or do any damage. The battle was beginning to get a bit slow. I could see it in the audience. Even though they were only five minute battles, ours was too even to be very exciting for long. I swallowed again, wanting to be on the winning side. The way to do that was to be exciting. More so than my opponent.
"Fine, if they want exciting, I'll give them just that," I mumbled to myself. "
"Rollout Phanpy!"
"Use Razor Leaf to block it out Mazey! Whirlwind it around you again!" As Phanpy rolled ever closer, Mazey summoned more and more leaves, eventually creating a sort of razor sharp constantly moving shield. You could only see the grass type through cracks and small openings which would suddenly be covered by leaves and change. Arceus let this work...
"Full steam ahead Phanpy!"
"Leaf Sphere, hurry!" Phanpy was stalled at the Razor Leaf wall, but steadily pushing through. I didn't even hear the counter during the last ten seconds of the round. "Launch it Mazey!" The leaf plastered orb wasn't very big, and didn't have a lot of power, but it was enough to stop Phanpy effectively. The cute blue Pokemon was thrown backwards with a cry, and landed sprawled out on the ground. Almost immediately though, it attempted to pull itself back up. Arceus that thing can take a hit! It's defense and stamina is ridiculous! Just as Phanpy had gotten two feet upright, the buzzer sounded.
Blinking, I was actually surprised that it had finally ended, and the loud noise rung in my ears. I sighed, looking on as Mazey skipped towards me and into my arms. As I stood back up with my Pokemon cradled safely in my arms, I pushed my long blue locks back and finally looked up at the screen. I almost expected to lose, me being so much less experienced than Trevion. But... it was my face that appeared, fully blown on the screen, with the word 'victor' in capital letters beneath it.
"HIKARI, MY MAIN GAL!"
"ACK!" I screeched as I was suddenly lifted into the air in a tight embrace from behind. I didn't even notice Trevion sprint across the field, cheering my name, I'd been in so much shock!
"You were so great! I mean, kicking my butt and everythin'! I hope you know that we're all expecting you to win for reals!" I laughed awkwardly as Trevion set me back down, but didn't release his arms.
"Ah, of course! I couldn't possibly let you and Riley down. You two are the reason that I got this far at all!" I gently peeled myself away from grinning Trevion, and Mazey, who had gotten squished in between us, looked at him curiously, tilting her head cutely. Trevion rubbed her head vigorously, earning him a gentle and affectionate nibble on the hand from her.
"Such a strong cutie! Just like you Hikari! Now come on, the finals will be starting in an hour, and I just know that Riley's gonna be wantin' to see ya!" I nodded, the realization that I was so close to winning becoming ever clearer. Riley was already rushing down the hallway to meet up with us when we stepped off of the field.
"Hikari! Congratulations! You really put Trevion in his place!" Riley grinned at me putting her hands on my shoulders. "I know this will probably sound weird since we just met not too long ago, but I'm so proud of you! For a beginner you've got this thing down, and for a part time League challenger you're not that bad either! I think you've got a great shot at winning!"
"Thanks Riley." I squeezed Mazey close to my chest as I blushed, glancing away from Riley's yellow eyes.
"And jeez Trevion, losing to a newbie!" Said guy laughed loudly, slapping me on the back.
"Yeah well I thought I'd go a little easy on the girl, I mean, she's got mad skills as it is, and they blew me out of the water!" The two continued to point out every good thing I'd done in the Contest as well as everything I could do better in preparation for the final round. I was to be up against a boy by the name of Luke, who was also a fairly new coordinator without a single ribbon under his belt.
In the minutes before the battle, I went into the bathroom to fix my hair. I needed to get my mind off of the prospect of losing after I had come so far.
"Okay Hikari. Stop it. Just stop doubting yourself for one darn second, and you will definitely have a really good chance at winning your very first Contest! Okay? Okay!" I smiled weakly despite my own personal pep talk, and adjusted a few of my bangs before dragging myself out and towards the entrance to the arena.
Again I checked the seal on Electra's Pokeball, rubbing back and forth over it with my thumb. I jerked my head up when I heard the hostess.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the battle we have all been waiting for! The final round of the Floaroma Town Pokemon Contest!" Marian stopped and waited as the audience roared before picking up again. "First up, Hikari Diamond!" I forced myself to walk holding my head high out into the arena. This is it Hikari, don't screw it up. It was kind of weird, feeling like this when in other similar situations I was usually so confident. Up against Mars I felt confident, and during both my battles against Roark I had felt fine as well. I suppose it might have been the crowd, but I definitely wanted to get over this stage fright.
As I made my way toward my designated square, Marian recited a few facts about me.
"As some of you may already know by recognizing this young lady's last name, her mother was the legendary Top Coordinator Johanna Diamond! Young Hikari, who has yet to win a Ribbon, seems to be following in her mother's footsteps, and so far is doing one heck of a job at it! She hails from Twinleaf Town, and is even challenging the Pokemon League!" On the other side of the field, Luke appeared.
"And also vying for the Floaroma Town Ribbon, Luke Gerrit! Like Hikari, Luke is a brand new Coordinator on the Contest scene, with no Ribbons under his belt! Luke is originally from Oreburgh City, and following a path all his own! Are the challengers ready?" Luke gave the hostess a thumbs up from across the room, and I nodded. She grinned in return and raised her left arm. "Points up on the screen please! Aaand begin!"
"Bonsly, get ready!" A small tree like Pokemon appeared in a cloud of thick white smoke, crying out joyfully as it did so.
"Electra, spot-light!" I'd put a floral seal on Electra's Pokeball, which surrounded her with blue daisies. I thought it would be fitting since we were in the town of flowers.
"Start out with Double Team!" Already I was stumped when Electra was surrounded by a circle of the cute rock type.
"U-Use Thunder Wave!" Duh, jeez Hikari! Waves of blue electricity pulsed out from the rippling fur on Electra's body, and destroying the clones. I didn't have to look to know that Luke's points had steadily declined. "Now go for a Swagger Bite combo!" Electra began to emanate a red glow and growled at Bonsly, causing him to begin to stumble and his eyes to become swirls. Next the Shinx lunged at the other Pokemon, clamping her jaws shut on the leafy tops of Bonsly's head. Bonsly didn't react because of the confusion, but his points definitely went down.
"Come on Bonsly, snap out of it! I need you!"
"Spark!" Shocks sprayed out from Electra's body as she charged at Bonsly again, but when the two collided the rock type was thrown into the air. I need to give them a bit of a show, this is beginning to feel too much like a normal battle. "Light yourself up Electra!" The cat like Pokemon looked back at me curiously, tilting her head, but then she seemed to understand me, the corners of her lips turning up in a cute smile. Electra made her purr like noise, and suddenly began to flash a rainbow of colors. The 'oohs' and 'aws' from the crowd managed to dispel a lot of my doubt about the battle.
"We're not finished just yet! Keep up the colors Electra, and use Spark again before Bonsly hits the ground!" My previous command had only taken up a few seconds of our time, and Bonsly was hurtling fast towards the ground.
"Shee!" I could see Luke from across the field beginning to panic. Bonsly was still confused, and there wasn't much he could do at this point to turn things around.
"Mimic Bonsly!" This was Luke's last ditch attempt, and lucky him, it worked. Bonsly suddenly snapped out of confusion and the green orbs on it's head began to glow gold, and before I knew it those same orbs were bursting with yellow electricity of it's own, and we were on course for an electric collision.
When the two Pokemon met, all I could see was the colors. The yellow from Bonsly, and the blue from Electra mixed with all the colors she had been flashing with before. Violet, green, gold, and red. If our Spark was more powerful, this battle would be in the bag. And even though this whole ordeal only lasted several seconds, I found myself praying. Come on come on come on COME ON!
There was a final zap, a lightning bolt straying from the main scene of the attacks and hitting the side of the arena. A loud boom sounded, and a crater was revealed in the side of the arena. When Electra and Bonsly finally parted, it was quieter, like an exhalation of air. Some gray smoke appeared, blocking my view, and drifted my way. I put my arm to my mouth and coughed a few times before it cleared.
"Electra?!" I hastily looked around the field, calling my Pokemon's name.
"Meew," Hearing a small meow, I turned around. My curled hair bounced in front of my face and I impatiently pushed it back. Somehow, Electra was there, looking up at me with those big yellow eyes. She looked beaten up and was covered in dust and dirt, but she was standing.
Beeep! We both swiveled our heads at the sound of the buzzer. The point circles were already gone, preventing me from knowing right away who was the winner. Marian jogged out to the center of the arena, and beckoned Luke and I closer. We stood at her sides as she faced the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come! We are about to announce the winner of the Floaroma Town Pokemon Contest! It was a tough fight, full of power, beauty, and skill! But, there can only be one winner of this!" Marian placed her hands on both of our shoulders, letting the desire to know the victor sink in. "And the new owner of the Floaroma Town Pokemon Ribbon is... Hikari Diamond!" Marian grabbed my hand and raised it into the air as high as it could go. My blue eyes shot wide open, and I looked up into the stands. They're all cheering... for me?
Well of course stupid, who else would they cheer for? Said another voice in my head.
I get that but... No one's done that for me ever before. Actually, most people tend to do the opposite... This place is so much different from Twinleaf Town, it all is. Everything. And... it's nice. For once, I can make friends, and have fun, and not have to worry about getting beat up on my way home, or trying to help my mom make some extra cash. I'm like, a winner now.
I smiled. It wasn't a huge grin, or anything like that. But as Mr. Sukizo, one of the judges, walked up to me carrying a small cushion with an orange ribbon on it, I couldn't help but feel so proud of myself for coming this far.
"Thank you, sir, really!"
"You did very well Hikari, I can see great things coming from you!" I bowed politely, and stayed a few extra minutes on stage while the judges complimented our battle, and then I waved to the crowd, heading backstage, where Trevion and Riley were waiting for me.
I did a running leap into Trevion's arms, where he spun me around and he and Riley congratulated me so many times I lost count. They treated me to dinner which I tried so hard to refuse, but they wouldn't have any of it. And later that night, my mother called me, practically screaming at me for not picking my phone up earlier, and for winning like she always dreamed I would. I had begun to grin so widely that my cheeks ached. I didn't fall asleep for so long, I was too happy. And that night, my Pokemon joined in on my joy. We all ate ice cream and I talked to them and we all slept in the same bed, except for Ruby, for fire hazard reasons. But of course, she was right next to the bed the whole time. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Ever. Not in a lifetime.
Friday, February 28th
Ack! Yay!