Chapter 27: Keeping it in the Family
"Jeez, what happened last night?" Lyla asked, rubbing her head.
"You got hammered!" Eziray exclaimed. "I admit I drank a little too, but not nearly as much! Damn, girl!"
"So are you gonna party like that every time you win a contest?" Aiden laughed.
"Oh, hush," Lyla said as Eziray handed her a glass of ginger ale.
"If you were so drunk that you can't even remember what happened, you must be very hung-over right now," she said as Lyla drank the ginger ale.
"You have no idea," Lyla replied between sips.
"No more alcohol for you!" Noah said, strolling into the room. "Although you are very fun to party with."
"Ohhh, how embarrassing," Lyla whined. "…Did Skitty drink too?"
"MRAAA!" Skitty hissed, not condoning the behavior whatsoever.
"Alright, alright, Skitty! I'm sorry!" Lyla said, laughing slightly.
"Aiiiiden," Olivia whined, running into the room. "I was worried sick about you all night!"
"Oh fantastic. I'm sure there's room for one more in this dumpy little hotel room. Good morning Olivia!" Lyla welcomed with slight irritation.
"Olivia, Olivia. Get off of me. I'm not feeling well today. Stop," Aiden said, trying to squirm free of Olivia's bear hug.
"I love you," she whispered.
"What?" he asked with much irritation.
"Nothing! I will see you on stage tonight!" she said with a wink and skipped out of the room.
"Groupies. Such bothersome creatures, they are," Lyla muttered. "I told her you have a gig tonight so she won't follow us when we hit the road."
"She's not that bad," Eziray objected. Everyone else in the room immediately shot her a glance as if to say "What? Are you kidding?"
"She's a nice girl and we need to be nice to her," Aiden concluded with a big sigh.
"Y'all can be nice to her. I, on the other hand, will try my best but I can't make any guarantees," Lyla responded. "I swear that girl is out to get me…"
"EIGHT DAYS?" Eziray echoed as Lyla sighed, PokéNav in hand.
"Come on, Ez! The difference between gym battles and contests is that I've got deadlines to meet!"
"But Nurse Joy said that contest isn't for two weeks!"
"Not quite two weeks!" Lyla corrected. "Besides, how are we supposed to make it in time if we stop in Lavaridge first? Both you and Aiden are going to be challenging Flannery and what if she beats you both? We'll be there forever!"
"Is she that strong?"
"I've known Flannery practically my whole life and she certainly gives her challengers a run for their money, that's for sure! Besides, we need to get this crystal thingy dropped off remember?"
Eziray had completely forgotten about the task that Captain Stern had entrusted them with back in Slateport City after Team Magma infiltrated the oceanic museum. They still had to get that strange space crystal to Professor Cosmo before something bad happened to it. Eziray sighed and realized that Lyla had won this argument and it was settled. They were leaving for Fallarbor Town.
"Bummer," Noah said when Eziray finally agreed. "I'm off to Lavaridge myself, so I guess we'll have to split off at some point."
"Well, we have tendency of getting caught up with each other so we'll probably meet up again!" Eziray exclaimed.
"True that," Noah replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
The four hit the road together and headed north. The tree-bordered trail eventually opened up into a flat prairie with a large stream running through it near the tree line. They strolled along the dirt path, admiring the wide, open space that stretched on in front of them. Skitty bounded out in front of them, overcome by total freedom. As she frolicked along, her ears suddenly began twitching.
"Skitty, don't go too far," Lyla advised as her Pokémon came to a stop and looked around.
Then the Kitten Pokémon suddenly began racing ahead, down to the bottom of a slight dip in the road so she could no longer be seen.
"Skitty!" Lyla called.
There was no response so the trainers ran after her.
"Oh, hello there!" a man exclaimed.
He was crouched down beside a Bluk Berry bush with a basket. He had been whistling a soft melody that Skitty had picked up and wanted to investigate. She brushed against him, purring, and he handed her a Pokéblock.
"Skitty, what on Earth are you up to?" Lyla asked as she and her friends sprinted down the small hill.
"Hmm…" the man said, standing up to look the trainers over.
"How creepy is this guy?" Lyla thought to herself as Skitty bounced over and hopped into her trainer's arms.
He had medium length, chestnut brown hair with a full mustache and beard. He had dark, piercing eyes and he was dressed in a dark green vest with a lime green, long-sleeved undershirt, grey pants, and brown work boots. He introduced himself as Victor Winstrate and then asked the four trainers if any of them were interested in a battle. Aiden stepped forward before Eziray had a chance to respond.
"I'd love some practice!" he replied, knowing he was going to need to toughen up for his gym challenges to come.
"Oh, excellent!" Victor exclaimed, sending out his Tailow. "How about one-on-one?"
"Fine by me!" Aiden replied, sending out Espeon.
"What a pretty Pokémon! But how does she fair in battle? Taillow, use Wing Attack!"
"Counter it with Psychic!"
"Way ahead of you," Espeon replied as her eyes began to glow blue and the Taillow neared, one wing lit up brightly.
The Tiny Swallow Pokémon suddenly found itself veering off to the right and crash landing into the ground below it. It tweeted painfully as it stood and shook itself.
"Well, that's going to be tough to deal with! Let's try a Double Team!"
The Taillow chirped and lifted itself back into the air with a couple rapid flaps of its wings. Then it multiplied into a massive flock.
"They must have put a lot of work into that Double Team. Eevee can't make anywhere near that many functioning clones of herself," Lyla observed as the Taillow fluttered about.
"Now, use Aerial Ace!"
The Taillow scattered, their entire bodies were trailed by bright white energy as they took turns dive-bombing Espeon.
"Boy, that looks familiar…" Lyla trailed off.
"Maybe that coordinator you battled yesterday borrowed that idea from this guy," Noah suggested.
"Or the other way around, maybe," Lyla replied as she thought back to her contest battle the day before.
"You can do it, Lyla! Stay calm!" Eziray cheered.
"I'm trying!" Lyla thought to herself as she and Marshtomp watched the horde racing around him.
"Poison Sting!"
"Marshtomp, look out!" Lyla shouted as the Beedrill dropped down, one-by-one, dive-bombing Marshtomp with their poisonous stingers. The Water-type responded by dodging but there were way too many coming at him.
It was very likely that Demetri and this man had battled at some point, especially if he challenged anyone he saw traveling in or out of Mauville City like this. Fortunately for Espeon, she was much too agile for such a thing to work. She dashed around, somersaulting and countering each Taillow that came near with Swift. As bright, shining star-like discs went zipping through the air, the fake Taillow began to disappear one-by-one. She even managed to hit the real one a few times.
"She's very well-conditioned!" Victor began. "But I doubt she's quick enough for this! Taillow, use Quick Attack!"
The Taillow accelerated forward towards Espeon and Aiden responded by ordering her to do the same. She nodded and sprinted forward, leaping into the air and slamming into Taillow with a greater force than it was exerting. She then landed gracefully as the Tiny Swallow Pokémon went flying back out of control.
"Use Teleport and then Swift!"
Before Taillow could hit the ground, Espeon appeared in midair just above it, and blasted it into the ground herself with Swift.
"Oh my!" Victor exclaimed as he called his fallen Pokémon back.
"Victor?" a woman called as she came towards them.
She had somewhat short, red hair that flared out to the sides and she was wearing a long-sleeved purple dress with an apron wrapped around it. She shuffled along in her red, slipper-like shoes and demanded to know what was taking him so long to gather Bluk Berries for her pie.
"Sorry, Victoria!" he replied. "I came across these trainers here, you see?"
"Is that so?" his wife replied, as she looked up at them curiously. "And?"
"Well, he's certainly a tough one! I'm sure the other gentleman and these two young ladies would make for a wonderful challenge too though."
"I see!" Victoria exclaimed as she took the basket from her husband's hand. "Well then, I would like to cordially invite you all to our home!"
"Pardon me?" Lyla asked, taken by surprise by the strange and sudden invitation.
"Please?" the woman began. "If you impress my mother, she's bound to share our family's battling secrets with you!"
"Battling secrets!" Eziray echoed.
"Wait a minute, Ez! We don't know these people…" Lyla trailed off.
"And you'll get a taste of my homemade Bluk Berry pie! Family recipe," Victoria added with a wink.
"Okay, I'm down," Lyla said, clapping her hands and walking forward. She introduced herself to the couple as they walked along, as did the other three.
The couple led them down the path a ways until they reached an adorable little cottage sitting out in the middle of nowhere. It was located just off the road, behind a garden of fruits and vegetables. A young girl with a striking resemblance to Victoria was racing through a linear maze of clipped hedges within the garden, and a Shroomish and a Marill were skipping along at her side. She noticed the group coming and rushed out to meet them.
"This is our daughter, Vivi," Victoria introduced. "Vivi, I'd like you to meet Aiden, Eziray, and Lyla. Would you care to show them around?"
"Okay!" the girl exclaimed.
She looked exactly like her mother, only about eight years old, and she was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a red bow at the collar, matching red cargo shorts, and red sneakers. She led the trainers into their little home and showed them the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the living room. She didn't want to take them into the back yard, however, because she was worried that her grandmother would be meditating and didn't want to be disturbed. When she was done, she took the four back outside and Victoria grinned.
"So about those battling secrets…" Eziray trailed off.
"And pie…" Lyla added.
"Oh, we'll get to that. But first, I'd like to tell you three why we brought you here," Victoria began. "You see, we're a family who takes battling very seriously! Our son is actually training out on Victory Road as we speak! Anyway, we would like to challenge you all to battle our family. What do you say?" Victoria asked, reading a Pokéball.
"Sounds great!" Eziray exclaimed. "As long as Lyla, Noah and I can get in on the action too!"
"Excellent! Well, since Aiden's already defeated my husband, I suppose one of you can battle me! Lyla, you competed recently in a contest right?"
"HOW'D YOU KNOW?" Lyla gasped.
"It was on television dear…"
"Oh…"
"Anyway, I think I've got a Pokémon here you'd be interested in. Roselia come on out!" Victoria exclaimed as she sent out a bipedal Grass-type with a leafy dress and two rosebuds at the ends of its arms. "Isn't she just lovely?"
"Wow!" Lyla exclaimed, holding up her Pokédex.
"Roselia, the Thorn Pokémon: Roselia's aroma can bring serenity, but the thorns on its head contain a vicious poison," the Dex informed.
"Skitty," Lyla began. The Kitten Pokémon bounded forward and took her position across from it.
"You're going to love this move, Lyla! Roselia, use Petal Dance!"
The Grass-type began to twirl on the tips of her feet as a vortex of sharp rose petals spiraled out of the flowers on her arms. The petals surrounded Skitty and sliced at her as they fell to the ground. Although it was a beautiful move, Lyla wasn't thrilled about it at all once she saw Skitty suffering.
"This is a good one too! Use Stun Spore!"
While Skitty was down and trying to cooperate, the Roselia released a fine, shimmering powder from her rose buds as well. The glittering orange dust spread forward and Lyla knew that she had to stop it before Skitty could inhale any of it. Perhaps Marshtomp's Water-gun would do the trick.
"Skitty, use Assist!"
The Kitten Pokémon's right foot began to glow as the Stun Spore closed in on her. Then she suddenly sped out of the way with either Eevee or Pikachu's Quick Attack. It wasn't what Lyla had hoped for but it served the same purpose and got Skitty away from those spores in time as they dispersed and gradually went away. Then the Normal-type continued forward and, on her trainer's command, slammed into Roselia with a Tackle backed by the Quick Attack.
"Rose-eh-lee," the Roselia whimpered as it hit the ground.
"Bullet Seed!"
The Thorn Pokémon sat up and began shooting an array of bullet-like seeds from its rose buds.
"Iron Tail!"
Using Iron Tail, Skitty managed to shield herself from every incoming seed. Most of them exploded upon contact and she was unharmed, but a few of them were deflected and exploded against Roselia instead. Once the rapid fire had ceased, Skitty charged forward and gave Roselia a blow to the head with Iron Tail just before it faded.
"You two sure are quick on your feet. But can you handle this? Roselia, use Petal Dance and Stun Spore!"
"Rose-eee!" the Roselia exclaimed as she spun around, releasing a vortex of petals intertwined with a swirling gust of glimmering orange powder.
"Skitty, move!"
In spite of her trainer's efforts, there was really nowhere for Skitty to go to avoid the attack and it hit, both damaging and paralyzing her.
"Great work, Roselia! Now use Absorb!"
The Grass-type held up her rose buds and a red beam shot out from the center of each, entangling Skitty and draining her energy to recharge Roselia. Lyla tried to get her to use Assist, but the paralysis kicked in and she couldn't move.
"She won't hold out for long at this rate," Lyla thought to herself as she watched Roselia leeching strength from her poor Skitty. "Wait a minute! I completely forgot about that day when she sang Electrike to sleep…"
"Get ready, Charo!" Eziray exclaimed as her Charmander rose to take a turn with the Electrike.
Suddenly Skitty bounced out in front of them all and began to meow softly. Her meows became more and more melodic and soothing as multicolored sound waves began emitting from her mouth. The sound waves traveled forward, and the Electrike had become too relaxed to even want to avoid them. As soon as they hit, the wild Pokémon fell asleep instantly.
"Was that a new move, Skitty?" Lyla asked as Gracie rushed over to take a look at Mudkip.
"There's no time, Miss Lyla! You've got to get Mudkip some help!" the Psychic-type insisted.
"I'd been so focused on getting him to the Pokémon Center, I didn't have time to take in what had just happened. But what was that move called?"
"Mrrrr…" Skitty whined, snapping Lyla out of her thoughts.
"Skitty, put it to sleep with your singing!"
"Myaaa! Mya, mya, mya!" Skitty chanted melodically as circular waves of colorful sound energy emitted and expanded from her mouth.
"Rooose-ee…" the Roselia drifted off upon hearing the noise. Within moments, she was passed out on the ground and Skitty was freed from the Absorb.
"Now use Assist!"
A glowing white orb formed at the tip of Skitty's right paw and soon, violent sparks were crackling all around it. With a single flick of her wrist, she sent a massive jolt of electricity at Roselia and completely fried it. Roselia remained motionless on the ground, black as coal.
"Oh gosh! They are strong!" Victoria exclaimed as she called Roselia back to her ball. "And you must have a terrifyingly powerful Electric-type on your team…I just can't believe an Electric-type attack could do so much damage on my Grass-type Roselia! My goodness, you're a lot tougher than you look."
"They're stronger than you, mommy!" Vivi yelled excitedly. "But then, again, so am I! Who's next?"
"That'd be me!" Eziray replied, sending Baby out.
"Ooo pretty!" Vivi exclaimed. "But no match for my Shroomish!"
"Shroo! Shroo!" the Mushroom Pokémon exclaimed, waddling into place.
"Baby, let's start off with Dragon Rage!"
The Dratini opened her mouth to reveal a massive orange fireball forming within. She let it accumulate for just a moment and then released it. Vivi and her Shroomish tried to counter it with Sludge Bomb, but the tiny, purple globs of guck were no match for the scorching Dragon-type move; they disintegrated upon contact and Shroomish was engulfed by the flames.
"Shroomish!" Vivi screamed rather dramatically. "Use Poison Powder!"
The opening at the top of the Mushroom Pokémon began spewing out toxic, purple particles that Baby couldn't help but inhale. Her cheeks turned red and the poison worked its way throughout her body. Vivi grinned and opened her mouth for another command but she paused, horrified by what Baby was in the process of doing.
"Trying to poison, burn, freeze, paralyze, or burn a Dratini is useless," Eziray began as Baby separated from her skin, leaving behind a purplish white casing in the shape of her body. "Normally the skin she sheds is white but I guess the toxins are giving it a purple hue. That's Baby's special ability Shed Skin – whenever a Pokémon with Shed Skin is poisoned or paralyzed or whatever, it just heals itself by shedding its skin. Baby's all better now!"
"I've never heard of such an ability!" Vivi whined.
"Well, at least you learned something! Baby, use Twister!"
"OOOO!" Baby exclaimed as she circled her tailed around rapidly, creating a small but powerful twister at the tip.
Vivi had no idea how to counter the move and Shroomish wasn't fast enough to avoid it so the Grass-type was sucked in and blown around and around until it was launched back down into the ground as the Twister died down.
"No fair!" Vivi shouted angrily. "Shroomish get up and use Leech Seed! We'll show her!"
A rather large, brown seed was spat out of the opening on the Shroomish's head and it struck Baby in the forehead, releasing a web of thin vines that wrapped around her. She seemed mobile for the most part, but Eziray knew that this parasite of a seed would be sapping Baby's energy in no time.
"Baby, use Dragon Rage again!"
The Dragon Pokémon opened her mouth and Dragon Rage began to accumulate once more. Before she could fire it, however, the Leech Seed kicked in and she was completely powerless during the brief moment that it drained away.
"Yay! Now use Sludge Bomb!"
Just as the seed stopped draining, Baby was pelted with a mass of poisonous blobs of purple goo. When they stopped coming, Leech Seed kicked in again, sucking more energy from the Dragon-type. Eziray knew she'd have to time her next move just right.
"As soon as it stops, I want you to use Wrap!"
Baby cried out in pain, but managed to hear her trainer and waited for the draining to cease. When it did, she snaked over as quickly as she could and wrapped her body around the Shroomish's.
"Thunder Wave!" Eziray ordered.
The Dragon-type began sparking violently and let off some electricity that didn't seem to harm the Grass-type in any way. It did, however, leave the Shroomish paralyzed. As she squeezed its body tightly with Wrap, blue spores suddenly began spurting out of its opening and Baby fell asleep as she inhaled them. Her body relaxed and she slid to the ground, but the Shroomish's special ability Effect Spore had no use because her body separated from her skin once more and she was wide awake again. The Leech Seed, however, managed to cling to her body as she emerged and it leeched her energy once more.
"Now finish it off with Dragon Rage!" Eziray exclaimed as soon as it ceased.
Baby quickly fired one last Dragon Rage, singing the Shroomish to a crisp.
"N-no fair!" Vivi whined with a sniffle.
"Now, Vivi…" Victor trailed off.
"She cheated! I'm telling grandma!"
"Vivi!" Victoria exclaimed, but it was no use. Her daughter ran away in tears, slamming the front door to the house behind her. "Oh, she's got to learn to how to handle a defeat!"
"Don't feel bad," Victor assured.
"I don't," Eziray replied.
"Eziray!" Lyla whispered aggressively.
"Well, I don't!"
"Excuse me!" an old woman spat as she walked out into the front yard. "Which one of you is responsible for making my granddaughter cry?"
"That one!" Vivi accused, pointing to Eziray.
"Oh, mother!" Victoria growled. "This trainer did nothing wrong!"
The old woman laughed in entertainment as she patted the bun resting towards the back of her head. Then she straightened out her pink dress and continued.
"Oh I know that, love! I'm just excited that we have some trainers here worthy of our time! With Vito being gone, there's no one strong enough for me to train with. What's your name, dearie?"
"I'm Eziray…"
"Nice to meet you, Eziray! My name's Vicky! If you're not too terribly worn out, then I would love to have a go at you!"
"Actually, ma'am, with all due respect, I was wondering if maybe I could battle you," Noah interrupted. "Everyone else has gotten some action and I was hoping to have my turn."
"Hmm…and you are?"
"My name's Noah."
"Okay fine then, Noah. I accept your challenge!"
"Thank you kindly," he replied with a grin as he sent out his Quilava.
"I think I'll select Meditite!" Vicky exclaimed, sending her Pokémon to battle as well. "Start things off with Focus Punch!"
"Dig into the ground!"
The Fighting-type sprinted forward, left fist glowing brightly as Quilava began pawing away at the dirt. The Meditite swung, but Quilava had already tunneled deep enough into the ground to escape.
"Smokescreen!"
As the Meditite peered down the hole in the ground, a cloud of smoke suddenly puffed out of the hole, completely blinding it.
"No matter! Just keep calm and clear your mind."
"Meeed…" the Meditate Pokémon trailed off as it closed its eyes and focused as hard as it could, sensing every single one of Quilava's underground movements.
"Use Flame Wheel!"
As Quiliva shot from the ground, he curled up, surrounded by a ball of sweltering flames. The Meditite opened its eyes and leapt out of the way in time to avoid the attack and Quiliva kept going up, breaking through the top of the smoke cloud.
"Use Hidden Power before it takes cover in the smoke again!"
The Fighting-type's body began to shine so brightly that the spectators could sort of see it through the thick, dark wisps of smoke. Then it lifted its arm and shot a bright beam from the center of its palm straight up into the sky where it met Quilava's body and blasted it even higher. As Quilava free fell back down to the ground below, the smoke finally dispersed and the figures of both Pokémon could be seen once more. Quilava was sprawled out on his stomach and the Meditite was standing several feet away, awaiting further orders.
"Quilava, are you good?" Noah asked as his Pokémon stood and shook itself. "Great! Run at it with Quick Attack!"
Quilava charged forward as quickly as it could as Vicky ordered her Meditite to use Detect, so Noah quickly changed his plans with a sudden command to us Dig. Quilava halted himself and burrowed into the ground just in front of his rather surprised opponent. Detect soon wore off and the Meditate Pokémon closed its eyes and focused, but it appeared that Quilava wasn't moving around down there at all. As it waited for Quilava to move, a massive spurt of fire blasted out from the hole in front of it, singeing the entire front half of its body.
"My thoughts exactly, Quilava. Great work! Now come on up!"
Before Vicky's Meditite could regain its composure, Quilava popped out of the ground and slammed into it, sending the Fighting-type skidding through the dirt.
"We're not about to sit here and let you take a beating, Meditite, use Focus Punch again!"
"Dodge with Quick Attack!"
In spite of the Meditite's numerous attempts to jab at Quilava, each one failed as Quilava zipped about to avoid them. Then he suddenly began to charge towards the Meditite at full speed. The Fighting-type was ready, however, and knocked him straight up into the air with Focus Punch once he was in range.
"Now finish it with Hi Jump Kick!"
The Meditate Pokémon leapt into the air after Quilava and grabbed a firm hold of him as it brought its knee up into his stomach, forcing him even higher.
"I think not! Flamethrower!"
As Meditite was coming back down, Quilava blasted it with Flamethrower before it even landed on the ground. Then the Volcano Pokémon began somersaulting as he fell, completely surrounded by flames, and he drilled Meditite into the ground with Flame Wheel for a moment before bouncing off. The Meditate Pokémon was finished and Vicky nodded as she called it back.
"That was absolutely superb! I haven't had a challenge like that since my grandson Vito left! Although I must say that you're nowhere near as powerful as he is! He's my pride and joy, that boy! Anyhow…come in! Come in! I would love to let you young ones in on a couple of our family's secrets!"
The four trainers followed her into the house, the rest of the family trailing behind. They spent the afternoon there, discussing battling strategies and whatnot with Vicky as Victoria served them lunch. Victor even brought out his stash of Pokéblock and shared some with Lyla, explaining how they were good for her Pokémon's coats and whatnot. She tucked the baggie away in her bag and thanked the man for his generosity. The Winstrates turned out to be a very nice family and it would have been nice to stay a little longer but the four had places to be so they bid the family farewell and hit the road once again.
That night, they found themselves wondering where to hunker down for the night. They had gotten through the prairie and found themselves completely surrounded by a dense forest. There didn't seem to be a place where they could pitch a bunch of tents though. Luckily, Aiden noticed a sign with the words 'Lake May' painted onto it. It was pointing down a trail that led away from the main road. They figured it was their best bet and turned down the trail. It curved around and brought them to a large lake backed by a row of mountains and trees. There were already several other trainers and groups scattered around, camps set up and everything. It wasn't long before the four realized why so many people were gathered there.
"What are those?" Eziray exclaimed as the Bug-types circled around, lighting up the area with the glowing bulbs on their rears.
"Oh yeah!" Lyla realized. "My mom told me about this place one time. The Illumise and Volbeat come here to find mates. They're dancing around like that to impress one another…Some call that the Dance of Love!"
"It's beautiful," Aiden murmured as he watched their reflections dancing across the still water of Lake May.
"Yeah, I'm glad we came here," Lyla replied, digging through her memories for a moment. "I've always wanted to see it…"
The four set up their tents and let out their Pokémon to enjoy the little light show for as long as they could. Everyone was dazzled by the Firefly Pokémon's dance; even Pikachu couldn't help but feel at peace as she watched the Bug Pokémon pirouetting around in the sky above. When the last couple departed with one another, the trainers called their Pokémon back and crawled into their tents for the night.
"It all comes down to this!" Vivian announced in a rather large stadium full of screaming fans. "Selena versus Lyla – winner takes the Ribbon Cup and the Grand Champion title! Less than a minute left on the clock and Selena's got quite a lead!"
"We've got this, Butterfree. Just keep at it!"
"Don't give up!" Lyla exclaimed as her Pokémon floated upwards.
"I'd never!" the Pokémon exclaimed telepathically.
The Pokémon had a tiny white body with a rather large yellow, star-shaped headdress. His eyes were sweet and innocent like a child's and each one had a blue triangular mark streaked underneath it. He had two yellow, ribbon-like streamers flowing behind him like tails and his voice matched his eyes – soft and innocent, much like an infant's.
"Alright…" Lyla began. "Use that move. It's perfect!"
The Pokémon closed its eyes as energy began to accumulate around its body and its streamers swiveled violently. He soon became engulfed in a massive sphere of bright white that quickly expanded and detonated, blasting Selena's Butterfree away in a bright flash accented with glimmering stars.
"Butterfree!" Selena exclaimed as her Pokémon fell to the ground.
"REMARKABLE!" Mr. Sukizo exclaimed.
"What a stunning move! I'm absolutely breath-taken!" Nurse Joy added.
"It looks like we have our winner!" Contesta announced with a nod.
"WE DID IT!" Lyla exclaimed as the Pokémon floated laps around her. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY WISH COME TRUE!"
"It's coming, Wish Maker!" the Pokémon exclaimed as the Grand Festival setting began to fade.
"Huh? What's coming? Wait a minute, what's happening?"
The Pokémon vanished before her eyes in a bright, glittering flash as everything else suddenly went pitch black. Lyla was left for alone for a moment and she looked around desperately for her friend. Tears began to form and she called his name as loud as she could, so loud that it stirred her from her sleep.
"JIRACHI!" she gasped, sitting up in her tent. She looked around and it was dead silent. "A dream? It was just a dream…"
She rested back down and stared up, playing the dream back through her mind. She wondered about the Pokémon she had been competing with and concluded that it was just a figment of her imagination. She closed her eyes once more and was back to sleep in no time.
Author Notes:
In case anyone hasn't played Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald or just doesn't remember, the Winstrate Family is that family you can choose to battle outside of Mauville City. The son, Vito, is a Cool Trainer that you can find on Victory Road. I'll be incorporating his character later on but he won't be playing the same role he did in the anime. Lake May also appears in the anime but I didn't focus on it as much as that episode did. I figured it was interesting enough to mention but not interesting enough to write a whole chapter on. The dream at the end is my own creation ;) I hope you all love the foreshadowing – be sure to leave a review!