PokeContestIkari Story: I Don't Want A Fighter
Chapter 5: Morbid yet Memorable
One Year Ago…
Our anti-hero, Hikari, at sixteen years old finds herself doing something she never dreamed of doing when concerning the topic of "love."
It was odd for her to even be involved in the topic of "love." She found it irrational and in most cases, totally stupid. The requirements for love are so unreasonable, yet so many people believe in it.
In the teenage girl's mind, falling in love is considered to be the quintessential act in their prime time, when really, it is just messy business.
One makes the most rational decisions when not in love.
The man they were to find was to be tall, handsome, and understanding of a woman's methods. Also, he could be caring about her troubled past, and at the same time, be able to make love like an animal. Coincidentally, he was to be the one to take her innocence, but she'd be too drunkenly lovesick to care.
However, tonight was just a little different.
Just a smidgen.
This man…he was dark. One might say that he was evil, but she did not want to use such a powerful phrase against a person. "Vile" seemed appropriate considering his ways with Pokémon, people…hell, life. She believed it is possible for a human being to be able to express passion in some type of situation, so she remained okay with being around him.
Maybe not every situation, but at some point.
Despite his formidable semblance, she was very attracted to him. There was something about the way he spoke…he just sounded so confident, intelligent…but at the same time, humorously modest. It was such an odd characteristic for a seemingly average guy.
He was anything but average. In fact, he was just about the exact opposite of her.
She didn't know why, or how…she just longed to be near him.
At the current moment, it was twelve o' clock, AKA midnight. The only other member in the household, her infamous mother, was sound asleep in her bedroom. Her daughter tiptoed down the steps to the front door. As surreptitiously as she could, she slowly opened the door, and shut it closed behind her.
The chilled night air hit her face, and as it did, she took a deep breath.
She felt as if she were free.
But she wasn't…far from it, in fact.
One might imagine that the life of a coordinator would be a complete dream. However, the competitive side of the aspect is often pushed aside when all the glitz and glamour is made apparent. The face of contests has changed greatly over the past few years, and now, Hikari didn't know how much longer she could keep her mouth shut concerning the subject.
It was no longer the Pokémon's natural talent to bring beauty to the stage that made the crowd go crazy. Now, it was obligatory for the Pokémon to be caked in make-up, and wear frilly little outfits for the crowd to coo over.
She was not cooing over such devastating acts, however.
Feeling even more pressured, the Grande Festival was almost coming to the close. She had made it into the final four earlier that day, and was scheduled to battle tomorrow. It was not made apparent whom she was battling, but she did not care.
It just was not the same anymore.
Now, the Pokémon had to wear their preliminary round outfit during the battles. Some of their movements could not be succeeded with the outfits holding back some of the appendages necessary to successfully complete the move. This bothered Hikari much, and it surprised her that she managed to beat a Combee while Piplup was ridiculously dressed in an outfit similar to her vintage pink frock from three years ago.
So far, there was only one person she had met that shared similar ideas in the matter; and she was going to meet him right now.
She had discovered him in the woods one evening, practicing for the battles in the Sinnoh League, which he later won. His methods with Pokémon were certainly eye opening, but they were also very intriguing. His Pokémon remained faithful to him, and his diligence in achieving a strong set of Pokémon was very evident.
He was just…different.
She liked that.
As the moon shone over them that one night, to her surprise, he said:
"Little Miss Perfect," he speaks in his rough, low voice. "Shouldn't you be dressing your Pokémon up like whores?"
She was taken aback by the cynical generalization made by him, but she quickly shrugged it off.
"I do not care for the current criteria for Pokémon contests. I'm simply in them because I'm pressured to be."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Well, you got one."
He was both irritated and fascinated by her response. Most people wouldn't dare talk back to him in such a sardonic tone. He had to admit, he was a scary looking fellow, and he literally sent people running away from him. This girl looked so…fragile. As if someone were to grab her arm, it would collapse onto the ground in pieces of thin glass.
It was simply astounding to him; he had to find out where her weak point was.
Call it sociopathic if you want; it was simply curiosity from a different type of mind.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" He speaks up, walking slowly towards her.
He fought back the urge to smirk as she had backed away from him; but he couldn't fight it back when she stepped right back up to be about a foot away from him.
"Yeah…I guess…" She timidly replied.
"…Shinji."
He stuck out his hand.
"Hikari…nice to meet you." She accepted his hand and shook it once.
…That was the beginning of what would seem to be hell for Hikari.
As she approached the familiar woods, she shook the memories out of her head, and continued walking forward until she was at the place they had first encountered their differentiating states of mind.
She sits herself on the ground and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Until, the tall, dark shadow approaches her. She rises to her feet, and purses her lips as she folds her hands together.
"Why do you want me here?" She quietly asks, not looking at him.
"Look up."
Slowly, she complies, and looks into his dark eyes of sharp intuition.
"I have a question."
"…Yes?"
"Why are you such a wimpy little girl?"
Her eyes widen. "EXCUSE M—"
He interrupts, putting his hand up to stop her. "It's a logical question once you look past the rather mocking tone of the query and contemplate over what you are doing that could possibly be the reasoning for the inquiry itself."
Heeding the advice within the statement, she analyzes all of his words, and sighs before giving an ethical, relaxed answer. "I'd do anything for my mom. Since I was so eager to be like her when I was younger, she assumes that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and well, I guess she hasn't taken into account that I loved the contests that showcased a Pokémon's natural beauty, not faux beauty."
He does not make a physical reaction to her response. However, he was surprised by how…intelligent this girl appeared to be. As a delinquent asshole, he had a habit of assuming aspects of certain occupations. A prostitute was desperate for money, a businessman had no originality, and therefore decided to exploit another's, and a coordinator thrived in aesthetics.
That was the way that Shinji's mind worked.
And this girl was jacking the whole system.
It pissed him off yet…it intrigued him. So much.
That pissed him off even more.
"If I win this Grande Festival, then maybe she'll let me do whatever I please. Once I win the Grande Festival, sure, I'll be famous, but for a terrible reason. For something that I don't want to be famous for. So I might seem like a wimpy little girl, but once I win this stupid thing, I'll finally be a free woman."
"You act as if you are completing servitude every day."
"It's more so of the concept of being strained to vie for an unworthy accolade."
He nods in accord, shocking her once again.
"Final four now, huh? Well you're coming close to freedom, slave." He mocks.
She slightly smiles at the dark joke. "Yeah…only a matter of time…"
"You have an unethical amount of faith for a such a precarious strategy."
"Precarious?"
"Undoubtedly. You're goal is to escape these dastardly competitions. Therefore, your battles will not meet the par of the other—so-called—trainers."
"I realize this. But if I were to put all my focus onto the goal, which is to escape—"
"You'll completely forget about the battle itself, and lose focus. I'm telling you, it won't work. Once you reach the top, you'll never go back down. The rest of your life will be contests, contests, and more contests. Despite this, they will not take your opinion into consideration concerning your desire to change the rules around. So yes, it is very precarious."
Again, she takes in his words, and thinks it over for about ten seconds.
"You need to do something that'll get you away from it, but at the same time, make the situation be known to the public as gaudy and unjust."
Slightly annoyed, she looks up at him with an angered, furrowed brow. "If it's so easy, why don't you do it?"
He looks back at her with the same amount of irritation. "I'm not in your position. I'm not the perfect little contest princess that has the whole region in love with me. I am not in the position where I can show my true opinion of something I've been practicing against my will for years…"
He walks closer to her until their noses are almost touching.
"I am not a whiny. Little. Girl."
Her face scrunches in fury at the title he has suddenly given to her.
"You're right. You're not." She replies, not making an attempt to escape the position they were in. "However it sounds to me like you want to be me."
"HA!" He laughs out loud, throwing his head back, his long purple hair falling in his face. She marvels over the sight of him actually grinning.
It disappeared as soon as it appeared as he returned to glaring at her.
"You're just a showgirl. Admit it. You adore the way contests are now. When you started out, all you cared about was the appearance. You didn't care about your Pokémon's well being. In fact, I don't think you cared about the Pokémon part of the contest at all. From what I recall, you only cared about how you looked—"
"Wait, wait, wait…how do you know this? I started three years ago. I'm pretty sure we just met a month or so ago." She points out.
"Let's just say this cynical assface likes to make judgments from a knowledgeable point of view rather than an ignorant one."
She sarcastically raises her eyebrows at this. "Or do you just like observing people doing what you want to do?"
He growls as she smiles.
"I bet that's it." She adds, widening her blue eyes for dramatic effect.
He continues to glare as she opens her mouth again to speak.
"Let me tell you something. I was thirteen, okay? I had a lot of growing up to do, and sadly, when you're thirteen, you tend to regress back to about eight years old. You're right. I was a very selfish person. I didn't care about anything except how things appeared to be. Now, however, I'm realizing that I conformed into this blasphemous idea that appearances only matter. I am able to analyze my mistakes, and I've have rectified them."
"You've done no such thing. You're still in the goddamn business."
"It's because I haven't won the Grande Festival you idiot! Haven't you been listening to me?"
"I've been hearing you talk out of your ass for about five or so minutes."
"EXCUSE M—"
"Oh don't 'excuse me'. Stop thinking that you're better than everybody else and figure out a way to do something that will actually make people think."
She sniffs back the tears that were about to spill over as he squints his eyes.
"Are you crying?"
"No. I'm not." She defiantly states, stepping back to clear her head.
He steps towards her again.
"Don't cry." His drone was not endearing at all. In fact, it sounded more so of a command rather then comfort.
"I'm not crying." She states, closing her eyes.
"Do not. Cry." He says in that same tone.
"I'M NOT CRYING! YOU KNOW WHY?"
"Enlighten me, princess." He presses his forehead against hers, trying to intimidate her.
Even though he succeeded, she kept her chin up.
"Because whiny little girls cry. And I'm not a whiny little girl." She stares right into his eyes as she says that.
There is a slight pause. For a moment, she swore she saw a glint of shock in his eyes. However, it quickly disappeared within the blackness.
To her surprise, he begins to chuckle. Yes, there was a large grin on his face as he backs away a little.
"I like your fire, kid."
"And I like you, jerkface."
"Hmph. Cute nickname…little girl."
She irately pouts, bringing back the amusement on his face.
He absolutely adored getting her worked up.
Call it sociopathic if you want; it was simply curiosity from a different type of mind.
"You know what? You think you're this big tough guy, but really, you're not. You're just a scared little boy hiding behind your large physique, frightening gaze and intuitive phrases."
"Those are some pretty ruthless words coming from a whiny little girl."
"HUMPH!"
She turns on her heel and starts to strut back to her house.
"I BID YOU FRICKIN ADIEU, JERKFACE."
She hears him chuckling again as she ventures back into civilization.
"Hey, hold up a second…"
Hesitantly, she stops and turns back to him with a countenance of discontent. He walks up to her with that familiar smirk; her frown deepened.
"Pretty soon, princess…you're going to have to up the ante a little bit. Open some eyes, drop some jaws…"
Her mouth goes ajar when he smoothes his hand against her left cheek.
"If you don't," his voice drops to a harsh whisper, "you won't get anywhere."
As he drops his hand to his side, she stands there, frozen. He smirks at her once before moving past her, slightly bumping into her as he did so. She can barely breathe as she regains her thinking, and turns back to look at the shadow of a man shuffling into the darkness.
"What…just happened?" She asks herself.
After about a minute of shock, she finally gets her legs to move herself out of the forest, and back to her house. As she silently skips through her back door and up to her room, she shuts the door, and lets out a sigh as she leans up against it.
What an idiosyncratic gentleman he was…
"Welcome to the Grande Festival! We are now down to our final four contestants, one of them being the talented offspring of one of the most legendary coordinators out there! What am I blabbering up here for? Let's start the show!"
To her relief, her match was second. Shaking, she ties her bow into her long blue tresses, and sighs at the mirror.
Now for the goddamn make-up.
As she applied the eye shadow, mascara, etc., she slowly lost what dignity she had left.
No worries…she'd simply showcase the fake dignity she managed to come up with over the years.
Sighing, she rises to her feet and releases Piplup from its Pokeball. It looks up at her with its affectionate, black eyes.
They were nothing like the eyes of that mystery of a man she conversed with last night…
"All right Piplup…you know I hate doing this…but we're going to get out of this. I feel lucky about this year. I think we're finally going to get out of this…blasted business."
The penguin Pokémon jumps in the air and cheers at the mirthful words. She smiles and begins to turn her Pokémon into a whole other creature she wish she had not created.
"The winner of this match…Amayo!"
She didn't know who this Amayo was, but the way his Absol was dressed made it look like a 17th century woman. It was just awful, and she could barely look at it.
She knew she'd have to get used to seeing it, considering she'd be facing him in the final match.
Taking a deep breath, she walks out onto the stage when her name is announced by the emcee with one of those annoying, rhyming names with her sisters or lesbian lovers or whatever.
Her opponent is a rather short boy who appears to be somewhere around her age. He sported blue jeans and a black casual t-shirt, as well as a black beanie. He threw a Pokeball into the air, and released a Staravia that was dressed in a mock tuxedo and, yes, a mustache painted on its beak.
When Piplup was released, the points were put on the board, and the battle begun.
"Staravia! Use Aerial Ace!" Her opponent commanded.
The bird Pokémon moved slower then it could have toward Piplup.
"Piplup, jump up!" She cries out.
Piplup complies, and is above Staravia.
"Now use Ice Beam!"
The way the beam shot down on Staravia sent shards of sparkling ice into the air. Staravia remained in that position for a while, being shocked by the cold temperature of the ice.
The opponent's points went down about a fourth. Normally, a simple attack like that wouldn't cause such a drop. However, there were three good points about this particular move. First of all, ice attacks are super effective against flying types. Secondly, it hit Staravia dead on. Thirdly, the display of the ice beam was simply stupendous.
"Piplup, use Peck!"
The audience watched in awe as the small Pokémon's beak nearly tripled in size, and started pecking at Staravia at a speed that could've been faster…without the outfit.
Her opponent's point went down another fourth.
"Staravia better do something otherwise it's going home today!" The emcee announces.
'Gee, thanks for the sunshine.' Hikari thinks to herself.
"Staravia, fly into the air!"
It took awhile for Staravia to do so, considering it's wings were stuck in that costume. It was so hard for her to watch…she just wanted to run into the middle of that field and rip that wardrobe off of that poor being's body, and let its graceful wings take flight into the air. However, if she were ever get out of this business…it was every "coordinator" for herself. Feeling awful, Hikari takes this as her chance to make another attack on a perfectly capable, yet defenseless Pokémon.
"Piplup, use Water Pulse!
Still in the air, Piplup gathers water from its beak, and forms it into a swirling tunnel similar to a slinky's shape, and holds it into the air.
"Now Piplup, throw that water toward Staravia, jump into it, then use Ice Beam once more!"
Piplup follows the command perfectly. It throws the water vortex horizontally so it can fit into the center, and began to spin with the momentum of the Water Pulse. As it did so, the Ice Beam swirled as well, and hit Staravia dead on.
Before her opponent's points went down, everyone saw that Staravia was knocked out.
'Already?' Hikari thinks to herself as her face is shown on the large screen as the winner of the match.
"The winner of this…rather short match…Hikari of Twinleaf Town!"
She hugs Piplup tightly, but not because of the win…
No…she was one step closer to finally being out of these stupid contests.
As the crowd gave a standing ovation to the winners, a tall, looming figure stood at the arena entrance, staring down at the girl in the center, hugging her Pokémon.
"Decent job, kid," he says to himself, "emphasis on decent."
"Excellent job today, Hikari. Excellent. You're timing was absolutely perfect. I mean taking advantage of a Pokémon that was too weak to move? Splendid. Going in for the kill, Hikari. Going in for the kill."
Hikari continued to listen to her mother blab about the match with much disdain. She hated hearing about it, because that poor Staravia could not move because it was being held back by a superfluous get up.
To be honest, there was only one person she wanted to see right now.
The sad thing was, he probably didn't want to see her.
When she finally reached their home, she rushed to her room, absent-mindedly saying, "I'm taking a shower", just so she could get away from her mom's frequent talk of the contests.
It was as if that was the only thing she was interested in concerning her daughter.
It was absolutely pathetic.
After a good cry in her room, she decides to actually take a shower.
When the water ran down her skin, she felt as if she were washing sin off of her; and it felt good.
As she washed the fruity shampoo off her skin, she suddenly began to think of Shinji. She wondered what his reaction would be to her winning such a short match, and getting closer to her dream.
Her dream? Burning that Ribbon Cup.
She twisted the knob in the shower to the OFF position to shut the water off. Delicately, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a white towel around her frame. When she got back to her room, she discovered a neatly folded piece of paper lying in the middle of her bed. Curious, she jogged over while holding her towel up, and sat herself on the edge of the bed while carefully opening the note.
"Same place tonight. Desperate need to talk. Excuse the break in to your room, but to be honest, there isn't much to take except panties and posters of buff men. One of them sounds good but…whatever you know the deal."
She rolls her eyes at the last few lines, but her heart starts pounding in her chest at the thought of seeing him again. A wide grin breaks on her face as she changes into pajama shorts and a fitting tank. Drying her hair out with a towel, she fixes her hair into two long ponytails. Grabbing a cardigan and slipping her fluffy sky blue slippers on, she tells her mother she's going to bed because she was so "tired" from the match, and slips out the window after turning out all the lights.
How could she have possibly gotten away with that excuse? One could barely call that battle a battle at all…it was more like a confrontation.
Oh well. Her mother fell for it, and that's all that mattered.
Looking back at her house one last time, she dashes off into the forest as the moon shines down amongst the trees and her. As she dodged trees, thoughts went swirling through her head.
'He never wants to talk…what is this? Why so much talking lately? Why did I ever get involved with this man…he could be dangerous…I mean look at him! He could snap my neck if he wanted to! And sometimes, I think he does…'
When she finally reaches their meeting spot, she sits down and waits.
And waits.
And waits.
A rustle is heard in the bushes, making her rise to her feet to see that familiar figure again.
"What's up?" She calmly asked.
"When I said up the ante, I didn't mean follow the program, princess." He speaks in a rather irritated tone.
"I told you, I know what I'm doing." She reassures, walking off a little.
To her surprise, he starts to follow her.
"No, no you don't." He says. "You don't know what the hell you're doing. All you're doing is finding some cheap ass way to get out of a situation that you could both easily get out of while bringing the people up to the surface!"
"It's not that simple, jerkface." She bitterly replies, starting to walk faster.
She knew he could catch up with her…the interesting factor was that he was making the effort to.
"Actually, princess, it is. You just need to break out from this innocent Catholic girl persona who's afraid of having one person hate her, and escape from these people who expect you to be something you don't want to be."
She looks over at him with a raised eyebrow; he shrugs.
"A little preachy for my taste, but it's the truth." He adds.
Sighing, she stops as they reach a precipice that views the night sky, and purses her lips in thought. He always knew what the right thing to do was it's just that she couldn't do it the way he planned. He was too recalcitrant for her.
How could she possibly have romantic feelings for him?
"Like I said before…it's not as easy as it seems."
"Maybe for you, kid. It's simple for people like me."
"Oh, really?" She replies, crossing her arms.
"Trust me. I'll show you how to do things the grown up way. Hopefully, you'll catch the drift and apply it to what you have of a life."
This is where she almost snaps. "Do you have to be such an ass about everything?"
"Ooh, do you feel rebellious when you use naughty words? The ones mother forbids?"
"JUST SHUT UP!"
He presses his hands against the air in front of him, motioning for her to shut up herself.
"All right, all right, calm down kid."
"Stop calling me kid."
"All right princess."
"Stop calling me that too."
"All right gorgeous."
"And tha—" She stops.
As she stares at him, he makes no reaction to her shock.
"What…did you just call me?"
Before she could even think, she felt herself being grabbed and pulled against a broad chest. As she looks up, a pair of lips conjoined with her virgin ones and before she knew it…she was in heaven. She melted into the kiss, falling into his strong hold, letting his hands rub up her back and her chest.
Not being experienced in this area, all she could do was grip him tightly, and lightly dig her fingernails into his back. Her heart pounded endlessly, and its rate increased when his hand smoothed against her back down to her rear, and gripped tightly.
The contradicting feelings inundated her mind nearly driving her to UNCONSCIOUSNESS this kiss was so powerful.
Even though she could barely deliberate in this situation, she was beyond surprised by how sensual he was with her. Most of the time, he was cold and indifferent towards her, but now…it was as if he were a totally different person.
It didn't matter to her. She was loving every second of it.
When he broke from her lips, she suddenly felt cold. When he spoke, her attention was completely drawn to him. Her eyes were clouded with newfound emotion, and he could see it.
He dreaded that happening, but at the same time, he enjoyed seeing a girl so infatuated with him.
Call it sociopathic if you want; it was simply curiosity from a different type of mind.
"Stop being a love struck teen. You know what I said."
She gulps, not knowing what to say.
He was quite the straightforward guy…but she loved that.
She loved everything about him but at the same time, she despised them.
It was an indecipherable feeling, but at the same time, irrepressible. All she knew was that she couldn't let somebody with that much of an impact on her get away.
Never.
She just wished she had the guts to pull through with it.
"So—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt warm, soft lips on his, affectionately kissing him with an emotion he could not decipher. The emotion that flowed from her developed in the pit of his chest simultaneously.
He didn't know what the hell it was, but it scared him. It really, really did.
He also was not sure why he had kissed her in the first place, but he knew something…
It felt really, really good.
He had never kissed someone with such…passion. The thing was, it was raw passion, not exaggerated, mushy passion. Staring at the striking young girl for so long had secretly drove him crazy and well, he just couldn't take it anymore.
Pretty soon, he found himself responding to her kiss, and it wasn't long before he realized just what the hell was going on.
He was…in lo—infatuated with her. Yes.
Infatuated.
When he pulled away from her, she had that same look in her eye. Now they twinkled with love, actual love.
He actually recognized it.
"You know I wanna tell you something but I can't…" He suddenly says.
"Oh come on, you can tell me." She egged him on, poking his shoulder.
With a small smile, he said:
"I love you."
She gasped.
She takes a step closer to him, and touches her nose to his.
"Do you mean it?" She incredulously asked.
"I'm a man of my word, kid." He assured her.
She had still been uncertain, but knew that she had never doubted him before. She certainly wouldn't doubt him in this situation. She flashed him one of her trademark smiles, but he did not smile back.
She continued to smile; that was just the way Shinji was. Looks certainly weren't deceiving…
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen…to the final round of the Grande Festival! I bet you're all as excited as I am when I say that today, we will find our Grande Festival champion in a short while! Let us bring out our contestants so we can get this show on the road!"
Backstage, Hikari is sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. She is dressed in simple blue skinny jeans and a sleeveless blue button-up with frills that bordered the line the buttons went up. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, two strands of blue framing her face. She looked down at the Pokeball that contained Piplup, but she was not pondering about the life-changing match that was in the near future.
The only thing flowing through her mind were those two electrifying kisses that she experienced last night. She didn't have the slightest clue on how she was going to put her focus on finally being free.
As she sat there, she started thinking about what Shinji has said to her in the past two days. Winning the Grande Festival and leaving the contest world for good was pretty dicey, and it wasn't a guaranteed triumph. For all she knew, she would be exploited more and more as only a coordinator in this slipshod, bungled world of Pokémon.
If she were to expose the contests as abuse to Pokémon, perhaps she'd finally be free from it for good. It was an absolute certainty, and she could count on it.
He was right. He was absolutely right.
But she couldn't do anything about it now…she might as well follow through with her plan. But now, her plan now appeared to be substandard to his, and it was there that she knew she was bound to do this forever, and she might as well just accept it.
"Now please welcome, his opponent, Hikari!"
"That's us Piplup…let's go out with a bang. Forever." She says to the Pokeball containing Piplup as she walked to the stage. Upon entrance, the crowd screamed, and began chanting her name.
"Absol, let's go!"
The 17th century woman-Absol emerged from its Pokeball, and its deep voice did not correlate with its current wardrobe.
"Piplup, spotlight!" She yelled out with fake happiness.
Piplup also feigned cheerfulness as it appeared on the field.
"All right, let's go! Let's find our champion!"
The points appeared on the board, and the match begun.
"Absol, use Razor Wind!"
The white, powdered wig on Absol's head made it difficult for the Razor Wind to charge up, and Hikari knew that it wouldn't be nearly as strong as normal Razor Wind. As Absol desperately tried to release the attack, she began to make her move.
"Piplup, use Bubble!"
She knew that the Bubble would inflict little damage, but it would break the concentration that Absol had built up. When the bubbles annoyingly popped in Absol's face, Hikari made her move.
"Piplup, use Peck!"
With that large beak in play, Absol had no chance of escaping that move. Bubbles were still popping in its face, and a majority of them popped as Piplup's beak collided with Absol's face, body, and said bubbles.
The wig fell onto the ground, strands of counterfeit hair sticking out from Piplup's attack.
As Absol lie on the ground, Hikari stared at the wig. Right then and there, she could've stopped the battle, and went to go pick that wig up. Then, she could start her speech on why contests such as these are wrong. It was right there in front of her…
…But she thought of her next move as her opponent's points went down a third.
"Ooh! Part of Absol's costume came off! That's minus a little more points!"
Now, Amayo, her opponent, only had half of his points left. Hikari made a mental note to spit in that emcee's face for saying that a garment that Absol shouldn't even have on fell off caused point deduction.
"Absol use Flash!"
"Piplup use Waterfall!"
As the flash emitted from the ebony pendant on Absol's forehead, Piplup began building up the water from its beak to form a funnel of sparkling water.
"Okay Piplup, now throw that Waterfall—"
The attack that Hikari knew would seal the deal was disrupted by a very powerful Frenzy Plant rising from the ground, and sending both Piplup and Absol into the air. Water from Piplup's Waterfall fell right over Hikari, and she could do nothing but stand there, upset and absolutely furious.
What in God's name was HE doing THERE?
As the Flash diminished, every person in the room gasped at whom they saw. The Sinnoh League champion stood there, his hefty Torterra beside him, bringing this "battle" to a halt.
"Who knew that Piplup could learn Frenzy Plant!" The emcee says, writing the definition of what a moron was at that moment.
Shinji takes one large step toward the emcee, grabs her microphone before she can run, and speaks into it.
"Take a look at the large grass and ground Pokémon right beside me, dumbass."
Keeping the microphone tightly clenched in his large hand, he walks over to Amayo, and holds his hand out. Not knowing what to do, Amayo just stands there, shaking with actual fear.
The whole crowd fell into a deep silence as soon as Shinji's presence was made known, and continued to keep quiet.
He was usually the patient type, but at a moment like this, he didn't feel like waiting for these idiots to come about a revelation of what he was asking for. Not being subtle, he reaches into Amayo's jacket pocket, and retrieves a Pokeball. He turns toward the injured Absol and returns it to its Pokeball.
"Go back to the Pokémon Center, and take that atrocious outfit off of your Pokémon, and treat it as if it were your own child. In this world, they pretty much are, except they can't tell you how they feel. So, the best thing to do is treat it with as much care as you can."
Amayo stares bug-eyed at the man.
"I might be scary-looking, man, but I do have an idea of what compassion is. I might not express it, but I know what it is. Now go."
Since Shinji did not speak into the microphone, so Hikari, nor did anybody else except Amayo know what he said. She didn't really care what he was saying to her opponent, she was just wondering what he was doing there, ruining her chances of getting out of the contest world.
What an unruly jerkface.
After he gets his Pokeball back from the Sinnoh League champion, Amayo runs off the stage, his destination, the Pokémon Center. After glancing at his Torterra, he abruptly turns around to meet gazes with the prodigy of contest's child.
The girl he, perhaps, loved?
The way he looked at her made her heart pound in her chest, but not in the good way. He did not look amused in the slightest. In fact, he looked ready to kill her. She understood why he'd be annoyed with her, but she didn't understand why he'd appear to be hostile.
He swiftly walks over to her, and she hands him her Pokeball without any say. He returns Piplup to it, and hands it back to her.
She is about to go to the Pokémon Center and bring her Pokémon back, but he clamps his hand down on her shoulder, making her jump.
"Hang tight, princess. I figure you need a lesson in educating people about common sense." He whispers to her, holding the microphone as far away from them as possible.
She curtly nods as he makes his way to the middle of the arena, bringing her along by the hand. He keeps a tight hold on her hand as he begins speaking.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. How are you today?" He asks.
The whole arena remains silent, but he nods to himself, a smirk developing on his face.
"That's good." He sarcastically responds. "As for me, I'm just slightly pissed off. Just slightly. Do you wanna know what I'm pissed off at?"
Again, the crowd does not respond at all. During this interrogation, the emcee is standing there, feeling ultimately powerless without her microphone. If she had it, she'd be yelling her head off at this man, despite him being a phenomenal trainer, to get off the stage and continue the Grande Festival as if this whole thing didn't occur.
However, this was not possible…obviously. The emcee still maintained hope for some outlandish reason. But she knew the person in the driver's seat as of now wasn't going to relinquish it anytime soon.
"I'm pissed off at all of YOU. Every one of you." He announces, having every person in that arena in the palm of his hand. "The endorsement of dressing Pokémon up like whores is absolutely unjust, and for that, I hold no respect for anybody in here today. Especially the person that could've put a stop to it years ago. She has the strength, but she's too afraid of losing all of your love for her. Who is she? Well, I'm holding her delicate little hand right now."
She feels as if her brain is disconnected from her entire body. There was nothing she could say to that statement, and the fact that Shinji wanted her to speak up now was just wrong. True, she wanted to, but not after being insulted.
"Your little princess here HATES these contests. She despises them."
The silence breaks as chatter rises from the crowd, bringing the tears to Hikari's eyes. She looks over to where her mother is sitting, and that's when the tears spilled over. Her mother was staring daggers at the two, and she looked ready to have a heart attack. Not being able to contain the sight, she looks up at Shinji.
"Maybe now would be a good time tell people how you really feel about these contests, princess." He says into the microphone before handing it to her.
She shoots him a look of turbulence, practically afraid for her life as of now.
He makes no response, but just shoves the microphone right in front of her face.
Slowly, she gingerly takes it into her hand, and stares at it for a long while before looking up at Shinji.
He ambiguously nods toward the microphone, as if telling her what to say.
What could she say? That she hated the contests that she has done for years, and she was in love with this man? How could she announce that to these unsuspecting people?
Despite her doubts, she raises the microphone up to her mouth, and opens her mouth to speak.
"I…" She begins, looking into the crowd.
Every face read shock and appall at the recent coming about. She knew that she has been lying to all of her fans, and it killed her inside to know that all of these people would soon lose faith in her as a person.
She didn't feel like a person, though. The only thing she felt like was…
…A whiny little girl.
"…He's right. This man beside me is absolutely right. He has every right to be angry with all of us for patronizing a business that has just gone awry these past few years. I remember a time where contests marveled over the true beauty of a Pokémon's attacks…not how 'cute' it'll look with make-up all over its face and in costumes made for yip-yip dogs. I just didn't have the guts to tell all of you people in the beginning that you shouldn't be supporting this business. I can't tolerate it any longer, and I'm glad that Shinji has finally made me come to my senses. People, please. Hear me out. We shouldn't thrive purely on how things appear anymore. There are people that have great things to say, but don't appear to, and we just shrug them off. Is that right? I don't think so. If that's right, then I don't know what is. All I know is that I want this business to either end, or make a complete 360. I just can't take it any longer."
When she ends her speech, the crowd stares at the two for a while, taking in her words. Hikari sort of smiled to herself, feeling fantastic now that she has her true opinion out in the world.
Then, the first cry was made.
It was a cry that Hikari is bound to never disregard in her life.
"YOU'RE A LIAR!"
Hikari's head snapped up to the arena seats, trying to find the culprit who spoke those words. Just as she did, another spoke out:
"YOU'RE A FAKE AND A LIAR! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE ON THE STAGE!"
The tears came more and more as more yells of scorn erupted from the crowd.
"GET OFF THE STAGE! NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE!"
"GO RUN OFF WITH YOUR EVIL DOER!"
"YOU'RE A LIAR! PISS OFF YOU LYING BITCH!"
"HOW COULD YOU LIE TO US? WHY DON'T YOU GO DIE, HIKARI?"
For Hikari to hear all of these potentially innocuous people to be utilizing such odious phrases to depict her was unconditionally agonizing. All she could see was irritation and antagonism on the faces of every human being she saw, and knew of in her life. At that moment, she saw her sanity from what she had of a mental state slowly diminish into nothing.
Zilch. Nix. Zero.
Not knowing what else to do, she seeks safety in Shinji's chest, concealing herself from the unpleasant imagery. He welcomes her there with open arms, and takes the microphone in his hands.
"WHY DON'T YOU ALL PISS OFF YOU LOW LIVES? AT LEAST WE KNOW WHAT COMMON SENSE IS! YOU'RE ALL ABUSING YOUR POKEMON, AND YOU KNOW IT!" He screams out, making Hikari snuggle closer to him for security. She squeezes her eyes close as much as she could, hoping that if she did said act, all of the hostility would disappear, and she'd be free from all of this bedlam and dissidence.
To her dismay, the only place that existed that spoke of such delicacies was heaven.
"YOU'D KNOW WHAT ABUSE IS YOU JACKASS!" Someone replies to Shinji's shout.
"I SUGGEST YOU ALL GO DO SOMETHING GOOD WITH YOUR LIVES AND NOT PRAISE ON THE WHORES OF TELEVISION!"
He starts to make his exit with Hikari before a new voice is heard.
"Take your dirty hands off of my daughter you son of a bitch."
He turns his head toward Hikari's mother who is shaking with rage.
"Let go of her. Right now." She speaks in a low, threatening voice.
To Hikari's surprise, Shinji complies, and lightly pushes her away from him. As more boos ring out from the throng, Hikari collapses onto the ground, and buries her face into her hands, sobbing her pretty little heart out.
"I'm not as vile as you think, old hag." He says to her, brusquely throwing the microphone down onto the ground.
She did the same. "Oh, I beg to differ. I advise you never go near my daughter again, or so help me God, I will tear you apart."
"Huh. Really." He replies in a hardhearted tone.
"Yes." She replies.
Without a single trace of fear, she walks past Shinji and over to Hikari.
"Hikari. Look at me."
The blunette continues to cry.
"LOOK AT ME HIKARI."
"MOM I'M SORRY!" She cries out, looking up.
The look in her eyes seemed to say that she was looking at death itself, begging for its mercy.
There was no mercy, as one would imagine.
"Oh, you better be. You have totally disobeyed my trust. Who is this person? Why are you involved with him? What has he told you?"
"Mom…I'M SO SORRY!"
"That's not the answer I'm looking for. TELL ME."
Hikari remains silent, minus her sobs.
"Fine. Give me Piplup."
"WHAT? MOM—"
"GIVE ME PIPLUP RIGHT NOW!"
Not knowing what else to do, Hikari reaches into her jeans pocket, and pulls out the Pokeball containing one of her best friends. Her mother grabs it and puts it into her pocket.
"You will never be able to see your Pokémon again. You hear me?"
Before Hikari could answer, a large pop echoes through the arena; a gunshot. She involuntarily covers her face and forms a turtle shell shape, considering how close it sounded. Hikari looks up and sees her mother lying on the ground, motionless. The crowd is now out of their seats, and running frantically, trying to find the exit. As she is staring at Shinji, another gunshot is heard.
She swore she saw Shinji move his arm up toward her mother, as if he were actually…
Another gunshot is heard as Shinji comes to his senses, and realizes that Hikari is lying defenseless on the ground. Completely forgetting her mother he dashes over to her, and sees she is completely worn out from the latter of the day. He returns Torterra to its Pokeball, and picks her up bridal style, and goes to the one place no one would dare look for them.
Can you guess?
As he lays her down on the grass, he starts to lightly slap her across the face, trying to wake her up.
"Hey, hey kid. Wake up. Little Miss Perfect, WAKE UP."
She opens her eyes to see Shinji looming protectively over her.
"My mother…OH MY GOD MY MOTHER!" She remembers the gunshots and her mother's lifeless body, and shoots up, nearly missing a collision with Shinji's forehead.
"I'm sorry kid." He says, showing just a bit of sadness.
"Wha—?...No…NO…NO! NO!" She cries out, more tears flooding down her face.
"Hikari…Hikari please…" He attempts to comfort, sitting back on his heels to hold her against his chest.
She continued to sob, "NO! NO! NO!" over and over again, as if she were reliving the experience over and over again.
He nestles his hands in her hair, trying to console her.
"Hey, princess. You've got to listen to me for a moment. Just a moment."
Sniffing back more tears, her red puffy eyes look up at his face.
He did not show a smidgen of poignancy at the sight.
"What you did just now…that was exactly how I planned it to go down. Minus the gun of course. I have no idea where that came from. You weren't honestly expecting people to agree with you, right?"
Her eyes widen at him, as if he were some sort of maniac. Of COURSE she was expecting them to agree! It was common sense after all!
"Hikari, this is the real world. There is always going to be disparity between others, and well, with devoted fans such as those…" He says, seeing the incredulous look on her face.
"Shinji…MY MOTHER WAS JUST SHOT." She says.
"I know kid. I know."
"HOW CAN YOU NOT BE UPSET AT ALL?" She loudly asks, curiously leaning closer to his face, as if the answer were right there.
"Look, princess—"
"YOU SHOT MY MOTHER YOU BASTARD!"
She rises to her feet and backs away from him, scared out of her wits. This man was much more dangerous then she thought.
"WHAT?" He yells back, insulted by her accusation.
"YOU SHOT MY MOTHER!"
"I DID NO SUCH THING."
"THE HELL YOU DIDN'T!"
"Hikari, I swear. I would never take somebody's life."
"BUT YOU WANTED THE CONTESTS TO END! AND YOU KNEW THAT SHE WAS THE CENTER OF ALL MY SUFFERING!"
"Then WHY are you so upset?"
"SHE WAS MY MOTHER YOU JERK!"
Before he could say another word, she drops to the ground and sobs once more.
"NO! NO! NOT MOM! PLEASE NO! OH GOD NO!" She screams out.
Before he knew it, he was angry again. Thankfully, this was the type of anger that he could manage. He wanted her to know that despite the fact he hated her mother to death, he would never kill her.
"Hikari. It was a gun that killed her. I DON'T HAVE A GUN. Do you see a gun on me?"
She looks up to see him stripping of his jacket and shirt to reveal a toned chest, but no gun.
"HOW COULD I HAVE SHOT HER IF I DON'T HAVE A FRICKIN GUN?"
"YOU COULD'VE LEFT IT THERE!"
"Hikari. When you kill someone, the best thing to do is not leave it there."
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?"
"That's just common sense, princess..."
"WELL I'M SORRY, I CAN'T REALLY THINK RIGHT NOW!"
Sighing he goes over to her and bends down to her level.
"Princess. Look at me."
As she complies, he takes her face in his hands, and looks right into her eyes with those coal orbs of integrity.
"I would never try to upset you like that Hikari. Ever. I might be a cynical asshole, but I would never try to hurt you like that. Please. Believe. Me."
He conjoins their lips once, and stares back at her, expecting some sort of succumbing to the truth. To his fortune, he sees that familiar spark in her eye, and a look of guilt passes on her face.
"I'm sorry Shinji. I just don't know what to think." She says, sitting up on her knees.
"Hikari. Listen to me."
She looks up at him as he takes her hands and pauses before speaking. When he finally does, those piercing eyes look graver then they ever have before.
"What we just did? There is absolutely no turning back. You can't go back to that fairy tale land of people enjoying your presence and bowing down before you. As much as you hated it then, you'll have to adapt to it not happening ever again. Now, you'll be glared at. Now, you'll have to deal with death threats, and maybe even isolation. But know this…"
She nods along with what he is saying.
"You are finally free. You don't have to fake happiness anymore, nor dress your Pokémon up like whores anymore."
For the first time in his life, Shinji was wrong. She did not feel free, she felt trapped. Her happiness level has dropped even more, seeing as how her mother was just shot, and she did not have her Pokémon anymore.
"Despite all the people in this region, I am not giving up on you." He says.
She denies all of her fears once he said that. She still had him, and that's all that mattered to her right now. Nodding, she smiles at him, and kisses him with all the passion she has been holding back for him ever since he stepped into that arena to back up her cause.
Still in that protective stance, he looms over her once more, not breaking the kiss while doing so.
As two new lovers now rejected by a whole region proclaimed their love for one another, chaos still carried on in Sinnoh.
This chaos would continue until about nine o' clock that same evening.
Right now, you're probably asking yourself, "Im-A-Horror-Freak is leaving an author's note? She's leaving an author's note for the people who read her stories that she so lazily updates? For the people who have remained strangely diligent in checking up to see if she has updated, when most of the time, she hasn't?"
Huh. What're the odds?
Anyways, on this rare occasion, I am posting this author's note to say WOWWEEEEWOOO this was much longer than I thought it was going to be! Then again, most nostalgic chapters last awhile, considering the rush of emotions and thoughts on the event…ah well. I wouldn't know. I haven't been in a situation anywhere close to our friend Hikari's.
Speaking of which, I'm surprised by the positive reviews this story has received! As for me, this plot has pretty much been impromptu for me. That isn't exactly an intelligent aspect to reveal, but I must, considering I am a novice storyteller.
I realize the day I'm posting this is July 31, 2011. To my misfortune, the dreaded school, or as I like to put it, the death of creativity, is starting in about a month.
Whoop a dee frickin doo.
The reason I'm bringing this doleful event to your attention is because it takes up much of my time. My school is almost an hour away from where I live, and on top of that, I've got soccer practice after for about two hours, and when I get on the bus home, it's about 5:30. Once I finally reach home, it's almost seven, considering I have to drive home (( well, my mom has to drive me )) from my bus stop back to my house.
Wait, what do you care? All you're doing is reading my stories! Jeez! For a moment there, I thought I had a friend!
Huh. What're the odds?
Now for the part you guys actually care about…
This author's note doubles for both I Don't Want A Fighter, and S is for Slaughter. Due to my lack of time in the coming month, updates will be even slower then they have before.
Shocking, right?
Well, it's the truth.
I'm posting chapters for both stories today, and hopefully they'll hold you over until one of my breaks finally comes and I can begin working on them again.
I love these stories, and I adore the feedback I've received. I had doubted that people would enjoy stories that are written in a rather sardonic manner.
Well, I'm gonna stop yapping now and go back to my lovely vacation in a location that I am not going to tell you!
Stalkers. Gotta love em.
If I actually had them.
Is that a good thing?
Huh. Depends on the person.
STOP TALKING IM-A-HORROR-FREAK!
OKAY OKAY JEEZ! I'M GONNA GO WATCH HALLOWEEN!
HAVE FUN!
DAHHHHHHHHHOKAY!
With that bit of schizophrenia, I leave you to a long period of time of no updating.
~Im-A-Horror-Freak
(( 3's Nathan Jonas Jordison ))