AN

Roy: What up guys! Roy Markov here with Jake!

Jake: Hey guys! I'm here with Roy who is being an idiot.

Roy: Not my fault I got a perfect and you failed dipshit.

Jake: -_- Bleh, I'll pass next time, so new chapter here and its going to be the contest, a song by Quincy and a complication as in the title of the chapter. Anyone even guessed the 'complication'? Anyone at all? Great… I lost the bet.

Roy: Hell yeah! I win! I knew no one would guess it right so let's talk about my fees later, for now I'll reply to those ever so wonderful reviewers.

Gokuss4kamehameha: Thanks! Sabrina is normal now sorry! haha

DawnKetchumFan: Dragon Pokemon is a yes but I'm still indecisive on what.

Eltigre221: Thanks! Yeah Lairon had to take a quick knockout hit for them but he managed to win but there were some 'complications'. Budding friendship with Connor and Quincy haha. Yeah I think it was pretty interesting for an electric type with no electric attacks. Awesome preview narrator hahahaha.

SliverWorld: Sure! Care to add an extra word there? Add a please? Haha but don't worry I took your advice.

Jntvfreak24: Major win right? Awesome match in Jake's opinion too anyway but sometimes I don't trust this douche hahaha.

Jake: Hey!

Roy: Thanks again for the reviews and we are now at 20 favorites and 90 reviews! Wheeeeee!

Jake: Thanks for the support guys! Trying to begin a chapter in Liz's perspective since the princess is the big star of this chapter.

Roy: Warm up, Contest, complications, song, battles, chapter. Not necessarily in that order, Enjoy.

NOTICE: WE DO NOT OWN POKEMON!

Liz's POV

I yawned as I sat up from my rented Pokemon Center bed, I glanced at the clock and it was six o' clock in the morning. I stretched my body as I was sitting on my bed. The room wasn't as big as my regular one in the mansion, but honestly I felt like I enjoyed this way better than my old room. Sure it didn't have my beloved Pokemon Doll collection but hey, it's cozy and secure.

I got up and swept my long and I mean long brown hair behind my head, this is why I usually kept it as a thin ponytail. With my bag in hand, I walked into the decent looking bathroom and looked at the mirror,

Horrible, I thought. My hair is such a mess; I need to fix it up right away before practice with Dan and Connor and before my contest.

After I washed up and tamed my hair, I felt much better, I put on my usual denim attire that mother or father would never approve of and held my necklace that had our family emblem on it, a long precious metal feather. I put it on and slipped it under my shirt for good luck as always and strode out of the room as I clipped my belt to my waist.

As I walked the hall I felt like I was forgetting something but I just shrugged off the thought and continued to walk to the lobby where, from a distance, I saw Connor flick Dan's forehead with his finger as my purple headed friend clutched his forehead in annoyance. Their Pokemon were up and about as well with Animus speaking to Luke and Jordan who were on his left and right respectively.

As I approached them, Connor seemed to snicker while his eyes were covered by his shades and Dan was opened mouthed as I grinned and said "Hi guys, good morning. Should we be heading out for training?"

Dan was still like a gaping fish while Connor pulled his shades down a bit and gestured with his hair. I felt my long brown hair and noticed I haven't even tied it yet; I squeaked and ran to the nearest washroom to tie it up with my usual purple clip.

I gripped the object in my mouth as I looked at myself in the mirror, my long hair was over my ears, scattered behind my head and my bangs were separated in the middle and fell to the sides of my face. I cringed at myself knowing that Dan saw me like that. I put my hair together in a ponytail position but as I held my hair with one hand to seal it with the plastic clip, the thing snapped in half as I stretched it, I mentally cursed as the two pieces fell on the ground.

I sighed as one of my hands still held my hair together and said "Great, what now? I'll have to buy a new one later but for now I guess I'll have to use a plain clip."

I rummaged through my bag with one hand and pulled out a bland looking white clip and finished fixing my hair. I sighed and slipped my backpack on again and exited the washroom to see Dan and Connor talking.

I approached them and Connor said "Well Princess Bed Head, I see you're all ready to go. Come on."

He started walking with his bag on one shoulder and his really heavy guitar bag in his other, his chain of Pokeballs hung from one side as me and Dan watched the vested teen walk a few feet in front of us. He raised a brow as he turned and said "Well? Come on."

Dan and I followed him with his Pokemon by his side, well except Jordan he was on his shoulder as usual. As we walked to the park, I felt like Connor was actually trying to leave us alone as he held a book to his face while Animus peeked over by his side to read a bit. Dan cleared his throat and said "So Liz, ready for later after some good old training?"

I smiled softly at him and said "You bet, seeing you win yesterday with Jordan got me all pumped to win this contest."

He laughed as Jordan hopped off his shoulder and we watched him sprint towards Connor with Luke beside him. Dan looked at his two Pokemon worriedly as the two scurried forward and said "You know, I still feel like something is wrong. Call me crazy but I just feel it."

I wasn't surprised since Dan was usually the one to have accurate hunches with my thoughts and Connor's so I sometimes me and the shaded teen joke about him being able to read minds. I winked at him and said "Don't worry about it; I'm sure it's nothing. Jordan looks fine. Also I'm sorry for the way my hair looked a while ago."

He looked at me mystified and said "Why would you be sorry about it Liz?"

"Well," I started. "You were gaping like a fish so I guess I looked pretty bad right?"

He turned a bit red as he shook his head and said "No, No Liz! Actually, I was just kind of surprised by your look and besides, you looked well ermm..kind of cute?"

I blushed a bit and turned away from his amber eyes and said "T-Thanks Dan, but my hair doesn't feel the same since my lucky clip broke."

Dan raised a brow and said "That's a shame."

I nodded and was about to reply when Connor laughed out loud like a kid and struggled to catch his breath while Dan and I looked at him like he was some kind of asylum patient that got loose.

Way to go ruin the moment Connor, I thought. Dan just chuckled as Connor pushed his shades back up and dropped his things carelessly to the ground with a loud thud and said "Well we're here. Training in the park as always, what a great way to start the day right Animus?"

Animus just walked past him as he yawned in his paw. Connor's pumped expression turned annoyed as his covered eyes followed his partner as the golden Lucario sat down on the dirt ground and started to meditate.

"Thanks for the support you worthless jackal." He muttered,

Animus merely chuckled as Connor walked up to us and said "Guys, as you know I need to train as well but then again, I could show you a thing or two about contests in actuality, care to have a look?"

Dan's eyes widened when he heard Connor had some coordinating skills while I shrieked like a little girl and said "Do I!"

Connor merely shook his head in an amused manner as he threw three Pokeballs in the air. Three Pokemon appeared in front of us, one was a big bulky Pokemon that had a duck face and a large lily pad on its head as the Pokemon hopped around in excitement. The second one was a small yellow Pokemon that had a large sharp toothed maw on its back as if it was its ponytail and the third Pokemon was a green Pokemon that looked like it was wearing one of those gowns my mother wears except it was green and it had a flower on its head in a tilted position.

The three Pokemon took a bow and Connor stepped in front of them and said "Lady and gentleman, say hello to my usual contest Pokemon. Here is Marcelo my Ludicolo."

The Ludicolo hopped to one foot to another as it bowed again. Connor chuckled and said "Here is Gina my Mawile,"

The yellow Pokemon held what looked like those things that had a ribbon attached to a stick and she spun around gracefully as the ribbon followed her liquid movements as she bowed again.

Connor applauded a bit as he pointed to the final Pokemon and said "Last but not the least, say hello to Milly my Liligant."

The grass type bowed as she lined up with her other two partners. Connor clapped his hands and said "Alright you three, let's give these kids a show. So now lady and gentleman take a seat and enjoy the performance."

Dan and I sat on the ground along with his Pokemon but Dan whispered to me as Connor instructed his Pokemon and said "Maybe you should bring out your Pokemon to see this?"

I pondered for a second and agreed as I released my Pokemon into the air and as they materialized I said "Watch this guys, Connor is going to put up a little show so just watch okay?"

The nodded and proceeded to watch as Connor said "Performance begin!"

First of was Liligant who stepped forward first as Connor started to play a soft tune on his guitar. The Liligant gracefully danced around as she hummed to the music and gave it a soft and comforting tone as she started to spin around and a gentle, yet beautiful elegant tornadoes of shimmering petals spun around her.

The beat of Connor's playing suddenly turned a bit quicker when two figures leapt over the tornadoes of petals and landed in front of us and the two Pokemon started dancing gracefully. Gina the Mawile was wonderfully swished her ribbon in the air as she gracefully moved to Connors beat while Marcelo the Ludicolo pranced around like a master dancer.

Connor sped up his tune as Milly, Marcelo and Gina went to their respective places as a triangle and then Milly fired an Energy Ball towards the air as Marcelo fired a Focus Blast into the air and Gina fired a Shadow Ball in the air. The three attacks connected and made a swirling multicolored sphere that floated in the air and then the three went into another formation and Marcelo lifted Milly into the air that threw Gina towards the glowing sphere and smashed it with her maw as the three stuck a landing and sparkles rained down.

Dan, me and all of my Pokemon applauded as Connor held Sharpie proudly as his three Pokemon bowed respectively. Connor approached us and I said "Where did you learn that? You must be pretty good at contests and look at them! They look so well groomed!"

He scratched his head nervously as Dan snickered at his predicament and said "I was bored and I just wanted to get creative, I joined the last Wallace Cup in Johto as well and won it surprisingly."

He pulled out the ribbon that all coordinators recognized, it had a large metal emblem that was connected to some very carefully designed ribbons that differed in color form red, blue, azure and crimson. I held it in my hands and said "Oh my gosh! This is real! You actually won that contest?"

He laughed as Dan did as he said "I won but now I'm giving it to you."

Dan and I gasped and I said "What! I can't take this from you!"

He closed my hand and said "Consider it a gift or a good luck charm for your contest since you broke your lucky clip."

I held the ribbon in my hands as Dan and I said "You heard that?!"

Connor chuckled as his eyebrows bounced up and down as he said "Yep, every word. That's nice thing to say Dan."

Dan and I blushed as Connor laughed out loud once more; we both glared at him but he just shook his head in an amused way as he returned his three contest Pokemon. He turned away laughing as hard as he usually did and then he face us again and said "I'm just messing with you guys, no more dilly dallying, time for a real warm up for Liz's contest alright?"

We both nodded and prepared ourselves for training.

-TIME SKIP-

Jordan's POV

Once again, another tough day of training as always, I never knew Connor's definition of 'Grace Training' involved me nearly making my legs fall off because of evading and leaping the entire time.

I was now breathing heavily as Hannah was also doing the same beside me, She was way better at 'Grace Training' than anyone else in Dan's team and I mentally laughed at the thought of Emil doing that.

Still, I was pretty…bothered about what happened at the end of my battle yesterday. I landed that Volt Tackle, my strongest and best move, but when Raichu used Flash I think something happened to me, I don't know what and I haven't even tried it yet but if my hunch is true, it'll be really had for me.

Hannah must have noticed my worried expression and said "J-Jordan? Y-You o-okay?"

I shook my head out of thinking and gave my signature grin as I said "Yeah no problem! I'm doing great!"

She didn't look convinced but before she could question me again, Matt and Ray came running to us and said "Hey Trevor and Jake are battling! Who wants to watch!?"

I instantly got up for two reasons, one, Jake and Trevor's 'spars' were awesome and the other reason was I wanted to avoid Hannah from questioning me further. I helped her up and said "Come on Hannah, lets watch!"

The four of us ran to the group of Pokemon that consisted of Liz's team who was resting along with Tory who was messing with Clefairy and Connor's trio of contest Pokemon, Marcelo, Gina and Milly.

Clefairy scowled at Tory who was poking her with her fingers and said "Cut it out Tory!"

The Aipom just giggled and stood on her tail as she said "Oh come on! You're no fun! Hey Hannah!"

Tory leapt over to Hannah who didn't even stutter as she replied "Hey Tory!"

The two sat together as I grinned at them, Hannah really needed a female friend to talk to on our team so that she could come out of her shy shell. It looks like Tory is the gal for the job. The two conversed as Animus took several steps behind me and said "You okay my student?"

I faced him and respectfully bowed as he required and said "I'm fine Animus, just a bit anxious after yesterday's battle."

He raised a brow as he scanned me with his watchful crimson eye and said "Right, maybe a battle could help? I'll ask Connor to find you someone."

The sound of a battle immediately perked me up and I replied "Thank you master!"

He shook his head and said "No need to call me master young one, only Luke does that now let us sit and watch my partner's brawl."

I sat down beside my master and wondered where Luke was but before a second thought could be processed, the crimson Riolu appeared behind me and said "Has it begun?"

I shook my head as he sat down beside me and we watched Trevor and Jake ready for battle. Jake had his arms crossed while Trevor was hunched as he went into battle position and said "You won last time Jake, it'll be different now, so battle our best as always right!"

Jake merely nodded in return and still remained immobile. Trevor made the first move and moved at a nearly impossible speed for a Haxorus and swiped a scythe at the side of his face to Jake but the electric type was still in his stagnant position but before Trevor could land his hit, the Electivire had blocked it with one of his glowing tails.

Trevor struggled to push forward but the second of Jake's tails sprung forward and smashed onto Trevor's chest like a fist rather than a whip since Connor had taught him to battle in this unorthodox tail fighting style, most tails were used for swiping but he used it for blunt attacks as if he was punching with them.

Trevor staggered back but he then feinted a tail swipe at Jake as he spun around causing the electric type to move back but he didn't hit him with his tail and instead faced him once more and released a powerful Dragon Pulse that Jake was directly hit with.

The Electivire grunted as the attack pushed him back; if I was hit with that I bet I would have already lost. Jake was now serious and went into his regular fighting position and rushed forward with one of his fist's glowing white with ice and the other crackling with electricity. Trevor had been ready and instead rushed forward with his Giga Impact and took the impact of the attacks and managed to bulldoze Jake into the air.

Trevor smirked as the Electivire landed on the ground with a thud but before we knew it, Jake was up and about again. This time, he was going to use that move I wanted to learn called Thunder Blade. His two tails went into one hand each as if he was holding dual swords and his tails crackled with electricity and was coated in a bright, sharp yellow aura of electricity that made each tail resemble a yellow short sword.

Jake rushed forward with each 'sword' in hand and swiped with insane speeds at Trevor who was startled by his speed and was hit with several of these attacks. The dragon type recovered and caught the attack with one of the scythes on his face and shoved the electric type back.

Jake let go of his tails and leapt into the air with one of his fists ready with Ice Punch. Trevor shot a Flamethrower at the electric type who went through the attack with his body and managed to smash his super effective attack on the dragon type's face and quickly readied another one and uppercutted Trevor across the battlefield.

Trevor growled and said "Tough today huh? Thunder Blade with your falling Ice Combo? Tough battle indeed but I will win!"

The dragon type readied the most powerful dragon type attack and launched it into the air with every single one of us following the intense match. The dragon attack started to crash down but Jake 's entire body crackled with electricity and he surrounded himself in a electric field of electricity that caught and repelled the dragon type attack sending it in different directions but Trevor, knowing he would do this, rushed in with a Giga Impact and smashed through the electric field that was very weak against physical attacks while he was distracted with the incoming Draco Meteor and knocked Jake to the ground and before he could get up, Trevor had stepped on his chest with one of his feet and shook his head. Jake laid back in defeat.

All of us were astounded by their display of power as always and Trevor helped his friend up and said "I win today! Yeah!"

Jake just shook his head with a very small smile of amusement on his face. He turned away and sat on the ground to contemplate his battle. I was about to go in and ask if he would teach me but then Dan call for me.

Dan's POV

As I called for Jordan, he hopped on my shoulder as we faced an older guy in front of me. He was about 13 from what he said, he had short brown hair, bluish gray eyes, he wore a blue shirt and a pair of cargo pants. When I looked at him I felt like he reminded me of someone I hate but he was too quiet and kind of polite. I had just asked him for a battle and he had just agreed.

I faced him and said "So I got my partner here, what was your name again?"

He was holding a really thick book to his face as he read it, he put it down a bit and said "Sure, name's Steven Granger, I come from Castelia City."

We shook hands but then Connor walked forward and said "What the hell are you doing here?"

Steven's eyes widened and said "Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

Connor removed his shades and scowled as he glared at him and said "Didn't you learn you lesson last time Gilmore?"

Steven's eyes widened and said "Gilmore? Ken Gilmore? That ass is my cousin."

Connor's eyes widened as he put his shades back on and shook Steven's hand and said "I am truly sorry; my name is Connor Auroris. I thought you were someone else, and I do see the uncanny resemblance between you two."

Steven slowly shook his hand back and nervously said "Yeaah, wait aren't you the guy who humiliated that ass of a cousin I have on TV? I totally commend you my friend."

Connor just chuckled and said "He had it coming. So Dan, main reason I'm here while Liz trains is that I just want to see Jordan battle, I just have an inference about something I noticed during training. Battle as you wish and I will tell you what I observe later."

I nodded as Steven plucked a Pokeball from his belt and said "Care to make the first choice?"

I nodded and said "Jordan Its Go Time!"

Jordan leapt on the field and grinned at me and Steven as the older boy threw a Pokeball and said "Houdini Lets Do This!"

The fully evolved psychic type spun his spoon around and pointed at Jordan. Connor raised a brow as he glanced at Liz who was still training and back at us who were just about to begin.

"Houdini Psybeam!"

"Jordan Light Screen!"

Jordan formed a white screen of energy in front of him to deflect and special attacks which pretty much summed up Alakazam. Jordan chuckled as he cracked his fists and grinned menacingly at the fully evolved Pokemon.

"Jordan use Charge Beam rapid fire!" I commanded,

"Houdini counter with rapid fire Psycho Cut!" countered Steven,

Alakazam rapidly swiped his spoons in the air causing an arc of psychic energy to collide with Jordan's increasing attack Charge Beam. The two attacks matched each other head on but eventually Charge Beam got too strong and cut through the Psycho Cut causing Alakazam to be hit with the super charged electric attack.

The psychic type fell backwards and I followed up "Jordan use Extreme Speed and follow with Iron Tail!"

"Detect Houdini and then chain with Drain Punch!" commanded the older trainer,

Connor had been watching me attentively as Jordan disappeared and when he went to make a smash with his tail, Alakazam suddenly dodged and in less than a second and smashed his glowing green fist on Jordan, doing some damage and taking some health.

Jordan grit his teeth as he got up and scowled, I decided to get creative and said "Rapid Extreme Speed and then a barrage of Thunder Punches!"

The little mouse disappeared and bursts of electricity smashed on the Alakazam faster than our eyes could follow. The psychic type staggered back and forth with the onslaught of attack and Jordan even had the audacity to appear right in front of his face, stick his tongue out teasingly and Headbutted him with his own head causing the Alakazam to grip his head in pain.

Jordan was really getting faster and stronger, beating almost anything against all odds in a fair battle. He looked unstoppable right now so I said "Make some room and finish up with Volt Tackle!"

Jordan looked unsure but he made some room and surrounded himself in a bright coat of electricity as he sped towards Alakazam. I expected to win but then everything went wrong, instead of going straight, Jordan swerved left and right and he moved in a completely wrong direction as he crashed on a rock. He got up dazed as Steven said "Now Houdini Hyper Beam!"

The Alakazam crossed his spoons and fired an orange beam towards Jordan. Jordan blinked rapidly as I said"Dodge Jordan!"

Jordan looked around as if he was lost and after he blinked once more be came to his senses too late and was directly hit with the Hyper Beam. He soared in the air and crashed in front of me with swirls in his eyes.

Jordan sat up as I ran and kneeled in front of him, he rubbed his head as he groaned. Alakazam and Steven walked forward to us and said "That was quite an interesting battle we had there, you nearly won there Dan but I guess luck just chose me today."

I shook his hand and said "Thanks, so are you staying here?"

He shook his head and said "Cant, not only am I a trainer, I and to be a researcher too so I have places to be. Thank you for the battle, good luck on getting the badges, I hope we'll meet again. "

He returned his Alakazam and faced Connor; he gave a nod at the shaded teen who grinned in return. I watched as Steven walked away into the distance, Connor slowly stepped next to me and said "Dan, I believe we need to talk."

I put Jordan on my shoulder and said "What do we need to talk about?"

He sighed as he said "This will be best to speak with in front of Liz since I don't want to repeat myself."

I wondered what he was talking about as we walked to meet Liz. Jordan rubbed his eyes as he sat on my shoulders, I wanted to speak with him but I didn't feel like this was the appropriate time. A while ago in battle, he was doing so well that he was pummeling that Alakazam but when he used his strongest move, Volt Tackle, Jordan seemed to lose control, he's never had that problem before.

Connor, Luke, Jordan and I stopped as Liz saw us and she ran towards us. She had a smile on her face as she said "Hey guys, so how was the battle?"

Her smile gave away that she was happy but I also saw that she was really nervous even though the contest was still later. Connor removed his shades as his emerald eyes came into vision. He sat down on the ground and said "Take a seat if you want to but I'll explain anyway."

Liz and I sat down on the ground as Animus governed the Pokemon's training. Jordan was looking curiously at Connor as I said "Well Connor, what did you want to talk about?"

Connor put his hands together and said "Its Jordan,"

Liz raised a brow as Jordan leaned in curiosity, the denim wearing girl said "What about him?"

I was now worried, what about Jordan? What is it?

The vested teen adjusted his vest and said "Yesterday, when Jordan was about to land the Volt Tackle on Raichu, that big electric type used Flash right?"

The three of us nodded as Connor continued "When Raichu used Flash, Jordan's Volt Tackle lost direction but he still managed to hit with Dan's exact instruction on where to go right?"

I had told Jordan to go straight, Liz and Jordan nodded as Connor sighed once more and glumly spoke "There may have been some…complications. When Dan had battled a while ago, he was winning but when he used Volt Tackle, Jordan lost his direction and crashed on a rock. I'm no expert but I have read some anatomy books so this is my Hypothesis, Jordan's attempt on Raichu has left him blind whenever he experiences bright lights or when he uses Volt Tackle."

I gasped along with Liz and said "How did that happen?"

Connor coughed and continued "Volt Tackle, as you know surrounds the Pokemon in a bright coat of voltage. Add a powerful blinding Flash of a Raichu without Jordan blinking caused some permanent retinal damage and more exposure will cause permanent blindness."

Liz held Jordan who was looking at Connor with disbelief and said "So Jordan can't ever use Volt Tackle or be exposed to bright lights without going blind?"

Connor sadly nodded and said "Not necessarily, I may have a solution so I leave you three for now. I'll take my Pokemon and we'll meet up for your contest later at the contest hall around 4:40 alright?"

We nodded glumly as Connor got up and claimed his Pokemon before walking away. Liz rubbed Jordan's head who was looking very upset. She smiled softly at me and said "I'm sorry Dan."

Jordan apologized as well as I said "It's okay Liz, mind if me scoot for now, I have to call my dad about this alright? Catch you later Liz."

I got up without a word, returned my Pokemon and walked to the Pokemon Center to make a call.

Connor's POV

I leaned on an alley wall as I held my phone up to my ear. Animus leaned on the other side with his arms crossed as my phone started to ring. Jordan was now a bit handicapped at battle because of his eyes, I think I can help but I need some help from my friend.

I whistled absentmindedly as I waited for someone to pick up. I was about to shut my phone and call later but then someone picked up and I heard a familiar female voice say "Connor! What made you call?"

I chuckled at my friend's usual excitement and said "Cassie my friend, thank you for picking up. I'm in need of a favor actually."

She laughed through the phone and said "Anything for my childhood friend, what do you need?"

I scratched the back of my head nervously and said "Well do you know anyone here in Vermillion who makes Pokemon accessories? Not the ones that make them look cute and things like that but I mean accessories that actually work."

Her voice died down for a second and said "Oh I know! Near the Pokemon Center there's this small shop called 'Make It Work' go there and find a girl named Elha, she's the same age as you and she has long blonde hair. Ask her if she can help you."

"Thanks Cassie," I replied. "Say hi to Malcolm for me, my friends and I will visit home soon."

"Sure Connor, I'll say hi to my brother for you. No problem visit soon!"

I hung up the phone and slipped it into my pocket. I walked past Animus and said "Come my friend, we have to get something."

Animus merely grunted in return, he had been quite upset that one of his students had been handicapped. I carried both of my bags as I walked the streets of Vermillion City. I saw the coffee shop from yesterday, the Pokemon Center and the bench me and Quincy had stayed on yesterday.

Quincy, well I guess she was still here. She was about to sing yesterday but I didn't get to hear her have a go since we were interrupted by that Electrike Liz has. My train of thought was interrupted when I saw a crowd of people gathering to where a battle seemed to take place or would take place.

I pushed through the crowd and saw, what a surprise, Quincy standing alone against two arrogant looking guys. The two guys seemed like brothers who had blue and red hair respectively. Quincy scowled at them as the red head said "Why won't you even battle us on a double battle? Too afraid you'll lose cutie?"

She growled and said "I'm more than enough to take you two bums on!"

The bluenette shrugged with a teasing look on his face and said "You can't battle us on a double battle then so you technically lose cutie. Why not just stop arguing with me and just agree to go on a date with me huh?"

Just the thought of that made my blood boil for the strangest reason. I had no idea what was going on but Animus chuckled and said "Go get 'em partner"

I chuckled and stepped forward and said "She's not alone gentlemen, I'm here and I guess I'll pair up with her."

Quincy raised a brow at me and I pulled down my shades a bit and winked at her. The red head scowled at me and said "Who the hell are you? I don't care who ever you are you two are no match for the dashing, the undefeatable, the amazing Vermillion Brothers!"

Quincy rolled her eyes as I bowed and said "If you two are the Vermillion Brothers, I am the Battle Prince Connor Auroris, pleasure to meet you and prepare to be defeated."

The bluenette scoffed and said "Yeah right, Rick get going."

The red head nodded and said "Prince my crap am I right Wax? Ferrothorn!"

The blue haired guy laughed and said "Yeah, Steelix!"

The two large Pokemon appeared on the field and roared to intimidate the other people but Quincy and I were barely fazed and said "These two needed to be put in their place right Stonecold?"

She eyed me with a bored expression and nodded as she threw a Pokeball and said "Drake Call of The Legends!"

Out of her Pokeball appeared a massive and intimidating looking Garchomp. So if she was going for big and intimidating, I had already made up my mind.

"Trevor Lets Rocket!"

Out of my Pokeball appeared my trusty dragon type Pokemon. Trevor grinned at me and looked at Quincy, when he saw her, his eyes widened as he gave a small bow. Quincy nodded back and muttered something that Trevor seemed to hear.

What was that about, I thought. Trevor nodded towards his fellow dragon type who grinned back in agreement. When Trevor got along with a Pokemon this means that this would end pretty quickly.

A girl in casual clothing stepped forward and said "Battle begin!"

"Ferrothorn use Pin Missile!"

"Steelix Dragonbreath!"

"Trevor use Outrage!"

"Drake use your Outrage too!"

The two dragon types smirked at each other and started to pummel their opponents with their entire primal fury. Trevor had thrown around the Ferrothorn as if it was a ball and Drake was flipping the Steelix left and right. Honestly I have no idea if they are even using Outrage but Trevor looked extra miffed for some reason.

In a few seconds of everyone jaw dropped, Trevor and the Garchimp threw the fainted Pokemon at their trainers as the girl said "F-Ferrothorn a-and S-Steelix a-are u-unable to ba-battle, G-Garchomp and H-Haxorus w-wins!"

Trevor and the Garchomp smashed their heads together and then roared in glee with their victory. I chuckled and returned Trevor as Quincy returned her Garchomp. The two supposed undefeatable brothers scurried as they got up and then Quincy said "Undefeatable my ass."

The two cringed and scrambled away. I laughed out loud as Quincy gave a small crack of a smile and the crowd dispersed. I smiled at her and said "Well that was quite amusing."

She was actually trying to hold back her grin and said "Yeah, and when Drake threw around the Steelix like a ragdoll? That was hilarious."

I chuckled and gave my best impression of the red head and said "We are the undefeatable Vermillion Brothers! Hahaha"

Quincy grinned now and started laughing, her laugh was soft and gentle like the winds of the plains. She looked happy for once and her perfect teeth came into view. I chuckled and then started laughing with her.

I wiped a tear from beneath my shades and said "I never knew you were human Stonecold. You actually laughed."

She stopped laughing slapped me across the face and said "Very funny Shades, so what brings you here away from Dan and Liz."

I held my cheek as I thought "Damn, I swear this woman has issues." I told her about Jordan's condition and safe to say that her reaction surprised me yet again. Instead of being her usual emotionless void of a self, she actually showed concern so maybe she wasn't who I really thought she was. She had a sad look on her face as she said "Oh no, really? That little cutie? That's a shame, what are you going to do now?"

I nodded as Animus appeared from nowhere and I said "I'm heading to this shop called Make it Work for some special equipment for Jordan."

She nodded and said "I saw it a few days ago, I'll take you there."

She gestured for me to follow her and once still, I was shocked by her show of emotion. I walked by her side along with Animus, she was walking with a straight face but her aura just showed her concern for a Pokemon. After a few minutes we walked past the Pokemon Center and the small shop was just a few blocks away. I tried to make some conversation and said "So after this, where are you headed?"

She shrugged and said "I'm heading to Lavender Town then to Saffron."

I grinned and said "That's great, so why don't you travel with us?"

She tensed up, grabbed my arm and scowled at me and said "I only travel alone got it?"

"Okay Okay!" I replied, "What is your problem!?"

She let go of my arm, shoved her hands in her pockets and said "It's none of your business, come on."

I sighed at her attitude, never understood women and their mood swings, never did, never will. I caught up with Quincy and said "Look I'm sorry. I didn't know I hit a nerve so I won't bring it up okay?"

She slipped her hands out of her pockets as her shoulder relaxed and said "Fine"

Suddenly Sharpie felt heavier on my shoulder, I realized that I wanted to hear her sing. I smirked a bit at that thought and said "So you play right? The guitar I mean."

She looked at me through my shades and said "Yeah, my dad taught me when I was a kid, I joined a contest or two when I was kid and it was a hobby not some ten ton heavyweight that I carry around."

I tapped Sharpie protectively and said "Hey, you'll hurt her feelings."

She laughed her still surprising laugh and said "So where did you learn?"

I grinned at her laugh, for some reason I find it my personal mission to make her laugh as much as possible. Animus nudged me out of my thoughts and I replied "I learned it when I was a young boy as well. When you live in a house like mine, you lose interest so I found music and I learned the infinite possibilities of different songs and notes that satisfied my curiosity. You could also say that I wanted to me a rock star when I was six."

I did an air guitar gesture as she cracked a small smile as she shook her head. I smiled back and thought "So close"

Quincy looked at me again and said "Rock star huh? I wanted to be a musician maybe but I don't think I'm too good."

I raised a brow and said "Really? You a musician?"

She scowled a bit and said "Don't need to rub it in Shades, I know it's a kids dream."

I waved my head and said "You misunderstand me once again. You could be good so why not sing, play a tune on Sharpie and try to sing."

Her face flushed and she said "Look, I don't sing anymore. I'm not ever going to be that naive again."

Naïve? What did she mean? I was about to question her when she stopped and said "We're here."

I looked at the small shop and yes it was pretty small, just exactly like a corner shop. We entered the shop and the door made a ding as the bell shook. Inside, the shop was pretty simple looking, wooden floor, concrete wall and a pretty bland design, my kind of place. There were three waiting area chairs that looked pretty comfortable.

Quincy shut the door and no once was here. The walks were racked with some parts, supplies, accessories and even some specific Pokeballs. We went over to the counter and said "Anyone here? Hello? I'm looking for a person named Elha?"

Everything was silent for a full minute when from under the counter, a head of long blonde hair appeared, startling me and Quincy. We took a step back while Animus' eyes widened as we were greeted by a pair of brown eyes. It was the girl who refereed the match a while ago. She grinned at us and said "Hi there? Looking for someone named Elha? Elha Merks, that's me. Welcome to Make It Work, How can I help you two?"

Animus rolled his eyes as he pressed his ball on my chain and got sucked back in. I put one of my hands on the counter and said "Hi, I'm Connor and this is Miss Frowns-a-Lot, we're here to ask for a special request."

Quincy hit my arm hard as I grabbed it in pain. Elha giggled and said "Special request? How can I help?"

I rubbed my arm again and said "I'm here to ask for a custom made pair of goggles for a small Pokemon, particularly a young Pichu."

She raised a brow and said "Finally someone realizes I'm one of the best custom accessory makers in Vermillion but I just don't make those special designs for anyone. The materials are special; I need all kinds from the lens, straps, plastic, designs and other things. It's not that easy, but since you put those two idiots in their place while ago, I'll make it if you promise me a date handsome."

She leaned over the counter and dragged one of her fingers over my chest as she fluttered her eyes at me, Quincy giggled as she covered her hand. I shook my head nervously since almost every girl my age does this. I shook my head as I said "Money is not an object; besides my friend Cassie said you could help me."

She still had a smile and said "Oh, maybe next time then handsome. So you're the guy Cassie said who'd be stopping by, well any friend of Cassie is a friend of mine so consider it done, any ideas on what its specifications?"

I silently thanked Cassie for helping me evade another woman who looked at me like eye candy. This wasn't the only instance she helped me. Elha pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil as she said "Well? Any ideas? Okay I'll start, what shape should the lenses be?"

I nodded and said "Can you please make the lenses extremely light resistant but very sturdy as well. I have the dimensions for the Pichu's eyes right here."

I gave her the dimensions and with the help of a compass and a protractor, we had the shape. I didn't know what to add next but Quincy leaned in and said "In my opinion I think we could add an extra security strap for each ear side for it not to move during abttle and don't make the elastic too tight on the back so it won't irritate the fur."

Elha and I stared at her as she shrugged and said "What?"

Elha chuckled and started to draw the design as I said "Wow, I dint know you were a designer type."

She rolled her eyes and said "It's a girl thing."

"Right…"

Elha tapped the desk with her pencil and said "okay, done with the base, now for some more sparkles, shinies, colors or whatever you want to call it. Any ideas on the design?"

I wrinkled my nose and said "It would be best to make most of the strap electric blue and make some lightning yellow designs on each side with some minor thick black outlines. Make the lens half an inch thick and make a dome for it around the same size for some coverage."

She scribbled down the final design and said "There! Done! I'll start making it now it could take around only a couple of minutes or a few hours. I don't know but please, do take a seat."

She disappeared as soon as she entered her workshop from behind the counter. Quincy and I took a seat on the waiting chairs. She was looking out the window as I unwittingly stared at her. Her long red hair was swept on her right side as her elegant jaw rested on her left hand. I smirked and said "So you said you don't sing right?"

"Yeah?" she said as she face me with her usually scowl,

I shrugged as I played a few strums on my guitar that was on my lap and said "Maybe you really don't know how. It is too easy to say you know something but not really prove it."

Her face was now angry as she said "Do I hear a challenge? I accept but only this one."

She snatched Sharpie away from me with no resistance on my side. I grinned on the inside as I gave a convincing frown on the outside. I knew I had played her like a guitar and made her do what I want. She sighed and said "Look, here is one of the first songs I learned, it really reflects on me in my opinion."

I gave her a go on gesture as I gave a sly smirk towards her as I rested my chin on my right knee. She strummed the guitar slowly and I recognized the song. She played the intro softly and masterfully. Her eyes were closed as she played the instrument on instinct and started to sing.

(SONG IS NOT MINE! I DON'T OWN IT BUT TRY TO GUESS THE TITLE!)

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me

I swear I felt my jaw drop the sixth time today. Her voice was…sweet, angelic, and soft. Her singing was soothing and calming and it reminded me of the gentle waves along the beach.

I'm more than a bird
I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It's not easy to be me

She sang with so much emotion, I felt like this song was special to her. Everything else seemed to disappear as I listened to her voice. I leaned back on my seat and closed my eyes as I listened to her sing.

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd but don't be naive
Even Heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed but won't you concede
Even Heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me

I could relate as well. I wished that I could find the truth, even me, I act as a hero but even to the people close to me and when the time I need to be, I couldn't do anything. It wasn't easy to be me. So much expectations but at least mother, master and my friends were there for me.

Up, up and away, away from me
It's all right
You can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy, or anything

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me

Inside of me
Inside of me
Yeah, inside of me
Inside of me

I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
I'm only a man looking for her dream
I'm only a man in a funny red sheet
And it's not easy
Oooo oooo oooo

It's not easy
To beMe

I opened my eyes as she slowly strummed once more to end the song. I grinned at her as she sighed and said "Stupid right?"

I shook my head and said "No! You were amazing! Your skill, your voice, it was all amazing."

She gave me smile as she handed me the guitar and said "Your next."

I shook my head as I grabbed my guitar. We might be here for hours but at least I got her to sing

Dan's POV

I waited for Dad or Mom to pick up as Jordan was being comforted by his condition by the others. The little guy was scared, he was sitting on a seat trying to sound funny as the others surrounded him and gave him comforting words but I knew how he felt. He loved to battle but now there was a risk that he would go completely blind if he battled again.

I sighed and as the screen lit up revealing my dad's grinning face, I instantly felt guilty. He flicked his cap a bit as Pikachu hopped on his shoulder and he said "Hey Dan, how's my little boy doing?"

I gave a fake smile and said "Hey Dad, how's it going?"

"Same old," he replied. "Your mom and sister went shopping as usual. How about you Dan, you seemed troubled. Bad news? Look losing is-"

"I didn't lose!" I yelled, "It's about Jordan."

Pikachu leaned in as Dad's face turned solemn. I sighed again and said "Jordan has a eye problem Dad."

He raised a brow and as I explained, Pikachu frowned as Dad scowled and said "Damn Surge, he's getting too old for this. He's getting innocent Pokemon in trouble."

I shook my head and said "No Dad, it was completely accidental I swear."

He nodded and said "What now?"

I glanced at Jordan who gave the group some happy smiles as he grinned with his sadness still hidden under his grin. I faced Dad again and said "My friend, the tall shaded guy I told you about said he could help, he isn't back yet but I think if anyone can pull through, he can."

Dad nodded and said "That's a good friend you have there, what was his name Chuck was it? No Connor, yeah right, Connor. So how about your other friend, the girl? Isn't there a contest in Vermillion later?"

"Yeah," I replied, "She'll compete later but Dad I need advice, what can I do to cheer Jordan up?"

Dad put his gloved hand on his chin as Pikachu whispered in his ear as dad perked up and said "Maybe you should get him a gift? Go shopping that'll help since Pikachu said the kid loves gifts."

I nodded and said "Thanks Dad, bye."

"Bye son, take care, love you!"

The screen went blank as I hung up the receiver, I turned and walked up to Jordan. He was still grinning with his fake smile and then I said "Hey buddy, how's about a bit of shopping?"

Jordan's ears perked up and said "Pi Pichu Pi! (Alright!)"

-LINE BREAK-

Jordan, Luke and I stood in front of the Vermillion City Mall. I checked my watch on the Pokedex and it read 2:20pm so that meant I still had a while till Liz's contest starts. Jordan was hopping on my shoulder excitedly while Luke just looked at him with sheer curiosity.

"That's one big mall," I muttered,

Luke and Jordan nodded as I we stepped inside. Inside there were stalls, shops, accessory shops, clothing shops, food courts and many more, we spent time walking all around but then Jordan started whining and said "Pichu Pichu Pi Cha Cha Chu Pi Chu Pi Cha Pichu (When can we actually buy something…Oh I know! Dan didn't you say Liz's lucky pin was broken?)"

"Yeaaah…" I replied,

"Piii (Weeelll,)" he started "Pichu Pichu Pi Pi Cha Chu Chu Pi Chu Chu Pichu! (Maybe you should buy her something? I bet everything you give her is considered lucky!)"

I blushed a bit and said "Maybe that isn't such a good idea, so we need something to tie her hair together so where should we look?"

Luke pointed to a silk items shop and mentally said "Master Dan, maybe we could but her something there."

I followed his advice and walked inside the shop, I was greeted by a woman who had brown hair and said "Hello! Welcome to a branch of the Celadon Tailor Shop! How can I help you?"

I nodded at her and said "Do you have anything like a hair clip? It needs to look flashy as if we were giving it to a princess."

She gave me a sly smirk and said "Ahh, you are searching for a gift to your girlfriend no?"

I violently shook my head and said "No! She's just a friend but do you have anything like that?"

She shook her head and said "Sadly we do not but if its tying hair we're talking about, maybe I know just the thing."

I followed her as Jordan hopped off my shoulder and Luke followed him. As I followed the lady, I called for Jordan and Luke and said "Luke watch over Jordan!"

We came to a stop in front of a tall rack of long ribbons. There were different designs that ranged to simple silk ones form stone encrusted ones that shimmered in the light. The girl clapped her hands and said "Welcome to the ribbon rack, all of these were made by our own company's head seamstress Jocelyn Gracedia. Please do take all the time you need."

She walked away as I picked up ribbon after ribbon but none of them looked good on Liz in my imagination. After some time, Jordan and Luke came running to me with some cool looking neckerchiefs on their neck. Luke had a white and gray tiger camo neckerchief around his neck while Jordan had a pure electric blue neckerchief around his neck. The two of them looked good in them as Jordan said "Pichu Pi! Pichu Chu Cha Pi Cha Pichu! (Dan! These neckerchiefs look cool right? Even Luke looks good!)"

Luke merely chuckled as I nodded and said "Sure but we'll need to find a ribbon for Liz's hair."

Jordan waved his hand dismissively as his new neckerchief hung around his neck as if to say 'Calm down, we've got this.' He nodded at Luke who nodded back and the two climbed the rack looking for a perfect hair ribbon for Liz.

Soon, Jordan and Luke came down holding one long hair ribbon. It was royal purple in the middle while the outline was faint lavender. The part that you tie on was decorated with some shiny stones. Immediately I knew this was perfect. I took it in my hands and said "This is it! Nice find guys!"

The lady approached me again and said "Ahh a fine choice, this is called the Lavender Sash, this was a special edition made hair ribbon made from the best materials. If you would like that it would be 5000 but for you and your reason I'll drop it down to 3000 deal? I'll even add in that Stealth Scarf and that Bolt Scarf your Pokemon are wearing."

I nodded vigorously and said "I'll take it!"

Liz's POV

I was pacing the waiting room back and forth now, the contest was starting in like ten minutes and my friends were nowhere to be seen. Ness, Vanessa and Parker were already here and some people I didn't recognize. I was really nervous and without my friends or my lucky pin I felt helpless.

I took a seat on the nearby chair and adjusted my black and purple socks. I ran my hand through my ponytail as I glanced at the clock. "Five more minutes" I thought to myself.

I flicked my wrists as it was my usual stress reliever and sighed into my hands. I removed my hands I saw a pair cheerful of deep green eyes looking at me. I grinned and said "Artemis!"

The brunette girl gave me a hug and said "Liz! I had no idea you were here! Are you ready for the contest?"

She must have seen my expression and said "You okay girl?"

I nodded and said "Yeah it's just that Connor and Dan aren't here yet."

She looked around the room and said "There not here yet but I think they should be here soon."

I nodded as she sat down beside me and said "So how's it going with you three? I haven't seen you since Cerulean."

I leaned back and said "Pretty good, got some new Pokemon, Dan's been winning his badges, Connor is still Connor, and training has been pretty good how about you?"

She wrinkled her nose and said "Awesome! I won the gym a few days ago thanks to Sara being a ground type. So I have three badges and two ribbons and today will be number three."

She said that with a teasing smile and I glared at her and said "Hey, I'm going to win today!"

She laughed and said "Now that's the Liz I know."

She got up, gave me a pat on my back and said "Well, I better get ready. Good luck Liz, hope Dan and Connor get here soon."

She walked away as I gave a small smile, it was about to fade when the door creaked open and a long haired red headed girl entered the room with a caramel haired boy behind her. The caramel haired seemed to be in a conversation and said "Look I'm telling you, you were pretty good."

The girl swept her hair and said "Look I said don't talk about it. So just drop the subject okay idiot?"

The guy rolled his eyes and said "I don't think so, so once again-Hey! There she is!"

The guy ran towards me with the girl shaking her head. The brown haired guy grinned at me and said "Hey Jeans."

I grinned and said "Connor!"

He gave his usual flashy smile and said "Look who I found."

The red head stepped forward and said "Hey Liz"

My smile brightened up and said "Quincy! I didn't know you were still here!"

She waved her hand dismissively and said "I decided to stop by, came here to wish you luck on your first contest. The first of everything is usually the hardest to do."

I nodded and said "Thanks, so what did you get for Jordan Connor?"

Connor grinned and said "Well I got him a-"

"Liz!" said a familiar voice,

We all turned and saw Dan running into the room with Luke and Jordan by his side. Luke had a grey and white neckerchief around his neck while Jordan was looking happier and much better and happier as he skidded to a stop in front of me as her grinned and gave a tug on his electric blue neckerchief.

"Hi Jordan! Hi Luke! You two look so cute in those neckerchiefs! Did Dan do that? Did Dan finally grow a fashion sense?"

Dan was still smiling even though I sort of insulted him. He had a white box in his hand and said "Glad I made it in time, here Liz this is for you."

He handed me the white box and when I opened it there was a magnificent purple hair ribbon with several design stones on it. I gasped as Dan scratched his head nervously and said "Yeah, I heard you kind of lost your lucky pin to tie your hair so maybe this will do."

I don't know why but I covered the box and lunged at him and gave him a large hug and a kiss to the cheek.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Connor started to play some music on his guitar but Quincy punched his arm and he stopped playing. Dan blushed heavily and said "N-No problem Liz, do you like it?"

I let go with a small tint of red on my face and said "Of course! I recognize this design! It was supposed to be really rare! I can't believe you found it and it must have cost a lot!"

He avoided my gaze and said "Just about three thousand but that doesn't matter at least you're happy."

My jaw dropped. Three thousand? Just for this? Connor, Quincy and I looked at him as he lowered his gaze and said "Hey it's no problem, I've had more than enough for this, if its anyone you can thank it should be Jordan and Luke, they found it."

Luke gave a small smile as Jordan gave a thumbs up and grinned. Connor cleared his throat and said "Well, what's a hair ribbon if you don't put it on."

I pulled the ribbon out of the box, unclipped my hair but before it could fall down I grabbed it and tied the ribbon on my hair. After I was done, I felt the two ends of the ribbon on my hip. I twirled once and said "How does it look?"

Dan and Connor gave a thumbs up while Quincy gave a smile and said "Looks good Liz, the Contest is starting, good luck."

She walked away as Connor gave me a pat on the head and gave me a wink as he removed his shades and put it back on. I turned to Dan who was still avoiding my gaze and he said "G-Good Luck Liz. Later."

I grinned to myself thinking the kiss was too much but now I had to focus on the contest.

-LINE BREAK-

"Welcome everyone to the Vermillion City Pokemon Contest! First off I'm Mian your Announcer and here are your judges for today! Mister Contesta! Mister Sukizo and Vermillion City's own Nurse Joy! The contest will now begin! There will be 16 contenders and each will give an appeal round and there will be four who will advance and those four will battle on a one on one contest battle where the victor will advance to a one on one final match for the Vermillion City Ribbon! Are you ready!"

The crowd cheered as Mian called for the first coordinator. It went through pretty quick, Artemis did her appeal with her Butterfree, Ness went with her Buizel and Vanessa went with her Cubone. They were all really good and now it was my turn, I fiddled with my new hair ribbon and felt a new surge of confidence. I looked at the stage full of determination and sighed as Mian said "Now number sixteen! Elizabeth Carterina of Viridian City!"

I ran on the stage and threw my Pokeball as I said "Sneasel Shine Bright!"

Out of my Pokeball appeared my Shiny Sneasel, she did a flip in the air before landing and going into a impressive fighting position. I sighed as I clutched the ribbon tail and said "Shadow Ball Sneasel!"

As planned, Sneasel fired several Shadow Balls in the air and the black spheres floated around in the air. Sneasel rubbed her claws together as I said "Icy Wind and then follow up with the maneuver!"

Sneasel blew a gust of cold wind on all of the black spheres as they were coated in a thin sheet of ice causing them to still float even if they looked like balls of ice. Sneasel then swiped her claws together again and leapt on the closest to her and maneuvered to the middle by flipping and leaping gracefully around as she used the floating spheres as platforms, when she got to the middle, Sneasel propelled herself in the air and she was floating above the spheres of ice.

I punched my fist in the air and said "Now one super charged Night Slash!"

Sneasel crossed her arms and instead of her claws turning only pitch black, her claws also extended three times of its normal size and she dived through the spheres with unimaginable speed and she was seen crouching on the ground with her arms crossed on her chest. The spheres then exploded into a cold rain of shiny sparkles as the crowd Oohed and Aahhed. Sneasel and I gave a bow as the crowd cheered and clapped with an encouraging round of applause.

Mian grinned and said "A spectacular display of power, control and elegance by Liz's Sneasel! Not only did she control the layer of ice on those Shadow Balls but she also made a really impressive super charged Night Slash that plowed through the spheres! Amazing!"

I bowed and returned Sneasel as I walked back to the waiting room. When I got there, Connor, Quincy, Artemis and Dan were there. Dan approached me and said "Wow Liz, that was awesome! At first I don't know why you used Sneasel since she was new but I guess you know what you're doing."

I grinned and nodded obviously pleased by their reactions. Artemis and Connor also gave their own praise and comments a bs Jordan and Luke pestered me as well. Quincy just gave a me a nod but all that was interrupted when Mian said "Now here are the four coordinators who will push through!"

I held my breath as Artemis' face appeared on the screen, then Ness' then some guy and finally, me. I exhaled as Connor and Dan congratulated me and Artemis and I squealed in delight. I made it! I made it to the next round!

"The four who will compete on the first battle round are Artemis! Ness! Dean and Liz!"

Artemis pointed to the screen and said "Here are the match ups."

We looked as the screen's picture shuffled and when the pictures appeared, my face was next to that guy coordinator while Artemis was going against Ness. Ness and Vanessa approached us and congratulated each other, Vanessa wasn't too upset and she looked pretty fine since Parker sort of encouraged her.

I was about to get back to the stage for battle when everyone stopped me and gave their own good lucks. Contests were my dream and I never knew it would be this fun, if I hadn't chose this path, I wouldn't have met Connor, Dan, Quincy, Jordan, Artemis and everyone else. I'm glad I chose this path.

I walked up to the stage with my chosen Pokemon in hand as Mian said "This will now be the appeal rounds! Each trainer uses one Pokemon and whoever coordinator's points or Pokemon faints first in five minutes loses. Get ready! Begin!"

Dean, my opponent was another rookie like me and he looked like a typical surfer dude with his tanned skin and blonde hair, he had a white undershirt and a floral decorated open polo and beach shorts. He threw a Pokeball and said "Venonat!"

Out of his Pokeball appeared the small bug type. The Pokemon hopped around and got ready as I threw a Pokeball and made another surprising choice. "Shine Bright Electrike!"

My new electric type Pokemon appeared on the field and growled at the little bug type who glared back. So I had an unexpected advantage thanks to Electrike's Flamethrower and Flame Charge so I should be fine. Mian then said "Five minutes on the clock and Begin!"

"Venonat use Assortment Powder!"

"Dodge Electrike and then use Double Team and Tackle!"

My points took a small drop after Venonat sent wave after wave of assorted colors of powder towards Electrike but my new Pokemon separated into several identical figures and managed to land a Tackle attack knocking Venonat backwards and giving him a small point drop.

Dean laughed and said "That was pretty cool! But now for some combos! Posion Sting and chain with Psychic!"

The Venonat sent several poison spikes towards Electrike who instinctively dodged it but the bug type used its Psychic attack to redirect the Poison Sting and managed to land a hit on Electrike and a massive hit on my points.

Eletrike got back up and growled as I said "Oh no! Electrike use Hidden Power and then Double Team!"

Electrike separated into several identical figures and each launched a volley of energy blasts towards Venonat but Dean said "Protect!"

The Venonat surrounded itself in a green shield and deflected any attack that came near causing my points to take another drop. I was down to half while he was still at three fourths. I needed to pull myself together and release my secret weapons of surprise.

Dean grinned and said "This has been fun so now Venonat Assortment Powder and then wave it around with Psychic!"

The cloud of multicolored powder closed in on Electrike gave me a sideways glance. I nodded and said "Now! Flamethrower!"

Electrike shot a torrent of flames through the powder and dispelled it. I cheered along with the crowd as Dean's points crashed down to exactly like mine. Dean's eyes widened and said "Crap fire type attacks! Venonat rapid Poison Sting and Psychic!"

The Venonat did what it was told and sent the darts towards Electrike but I felt confident and said "Now Electirke! Double Team and then Flame Charge!"

The crowd cheered as Mian said "Two surprising attacks from Liz! Will Dena pull through!"

The Venonat tried to shoot each one of them down but the flame coated Electrike's burned away the darts as they came close and smashed themselves on Venonat causing it to fall to the ground with swirls in its eyes as Dean's points hit zero.

Mian looked to the crowd and said "Venonat got knocked out as Dean'spoints hit zero meaning Liz wins and will advance to the final round!"

I cheered as Electrike howled in victory. Dean stood in front of me and shook my hand and said "Congrats, let's meet again some time for a contest alright? This was supposed to be my second but you better win so I can say that I lost to the beautiful gal who won the whole thing."

He winked at me as he waved to the crowd and walked away. My face was burning a bit as I turned and went back to the waiting area. There I was greeted by Connor, Quincy and Dan. Connor approached me and said "Another weird choice but I guess it worked anyway! Nice job Jeans!"

I grinned as Dan and Quincy gave me some encouragement too. I sat down as I waited for Artemis and Ness to be called but Connor then said "I almost forgot! Dan come here with Jordan."

Dan and Jordan sat next to Connor as me and Quincy watched the brunette teen pull out a pair of goggles that looked really top class and well designed. Most of it was electric blue like Jordan's scarf but on each side, there was a long golden bolt of lightning. The lenses were a bit dark but it looked well enough to see the person's eyes through. It looked kind of small and I was about to question it but then Connor said "Dan take this pair of goggles and give it to Jordan, this was specially designed to keep the light out during battle so now, Jordan must wear this during any battle, don't worry about it breaking, its high class and very sturdy. You could say Stonecold here helped me design it while one of my friends' friends made it. This will prevent Jordan from going blind and I guess that you already got a matching neckerchief."

Dan took the goggles and slipped it on Jordan's head. The adorable electric type hopped around in joy that he could still battle and when he was done cheering, he pushed the goggles up, just above his forehead, near his ears and Dan said "Thanks Connor! That's really awesome of you guys to do!"

Connor just nodded while Quincy smiled a bit. Jordan bowed at Connor and Quincy and bombarded them with some thanks. I was glad that Jordan was now better since if he or any of Dan's Pokemon were sad, their purple headed trainer was too.

We watched Artemis and Ness' battle but Ness had been defeated by Artemis' Gible, Sara, after a devastating Dragon Rush. Ness was pretty upset but she, like her friend, cheered up pretty well after Parker had given them some encouragement.

I blinked knowing now I had to battle my friend Artemis, she was the one who had beat me in the Cerulean Tournament but now I was ready. I am now better, stronger and more in tune with my Pokemon than before.

Artemis was already at her side of the field while I was still at the waiting area. I was about to walk out when Dan held me on my shoulder, turned me and firmly said "Good Luck Liz."

I nodded and said "Thanks,"

I gazed at his amber orbs for an unknown time until I was snapped back into reality by Mian saying "Now against Artemis Night is Liz Carter!"

I ran to the stage and waved to the crowd. I met eyes with Artemis and said "Well Arty, it's you and me again."

She grinned and said "Yep, let's make this fun okay Princess?"

I opened my mouth to question her but she said "Ness told me."

I mentally face palmed knowing that the word will spread now but it was in the past now. Mian gestured to the crowd and said "Choose your Pokemon Coordinators!"

"Seaspray!"

"Shine Bright Squirtle!"

The two water type starters appeared on the field and glared at each other as Mian said "Five minutes on the clock! And Begin!"

Artemis grinned and said "Starter against starter huh Liz? No holding back now! Seaspray go in with Water Gun!"

I nodded and said "Yeah! Water Gun too Squirtle!"

The two torrents of water collided evenly matched as our points shrunk equally and when the pressure died down, Artemis said "Headbutt Seaspray!"

The Oshawott leapt forward as I said "Skull Bash!"

The two Pokemon clashed their heads together, evenly matched once more and our points dropped equally again. The two water types staggered back as the Oshawott picked up his shell form his chest and Artemis said "Razor Jet!"

The Oshawott flew towards Squirtle with a coat of water and his shell forward and he started to spin around as he started to look like a drill. My points lowered at her amazing display and said "Please let this work! Withdraw!"

Squirtle disappeared into his shell as Seaspray made contact and actually damaged Squirtle causing some damage to my Pokemon and my points. She was higher than me in terms of points but Squirtle had more endurance that Seaspray since Squirtle trains as if he was a battle Pokemon rather than a contest Pokemon.

Squirtle grunted as he got back up and glared at the Oshawott that was grinning triumphantly. Squirtle clenched his fists as I said "Combo time! Squirle Rapid Smash!"

Squirtle retracted into his shell except his glowing red tail and flew towards the Oshawott who readied a Razor Shell to counter the combo attack. The Oshawott swung his shell to counter the Rock Smash but Squirtle's attack proved too strong and it caused Seaspray's shell to fly off and Squirtle's tail to slam of the Oshawotts' face causing him to fly back with a thud.

Artemis' points took a nose dive as they went down drastically. I cheered as Squritle pooped back out and nodded as he put his hands to his hips. Seaspray got back up and Artemis said "Come on Seaspray we can do this! Scald and then use Night Slash!"

The Oshawott sprayed some boiling how water towards Squirtle who was shocked and hit with the attack causing him to stagger back and he got his senses back too late and was hit by the Oshawott's pitch black blade that caused some massive damage to him and our points.

Squirtle got back up as Artemis and I said "Aqua Jet!"

The two Pokemon repeatedly clashed with their water attacks as our points decreased hit after hit as Artemis' did too. The two distanced each other and collided once more causing both to crash to the ground with our points dropping to the final ten percent.

Seaspray and Squirtle starters got back up as the two started to glow blue with absurd energy, Mian then said "Torrent has been activated and in the last fifteen seconds of the match! Who will win!"

I gripped the ribbon hanging behind me and said "Now Squirtle! One last hit! Rapid Aqua Smash!"

He did the familiar triple combo attack as Artemis said "Seaspray only seconds left, go with Night Jet!"

The Oshawott spun around inside the Aqua Jet as he held the dark glowing shell forward as if he was a drill and Squirtle closed in with his glowing tail ready to impact as he spun around inside the Aqua Jet.

"Go!" called both of us coordinators,

The two collided and a massive explosion ensued, the smoke was thick as the timer counted down to three, two, and one. We all held our breaths as the smoke cleared as both Pokemon were still standing and Mian said "Times up! Both Pokemon are still standing so let's get to the points!"

We all looked at the points and our bars were too closely leveled to tell but then Mian said "Judging from the points, Liz Carterina has 3 points left while Artemis Night has 2 meaning the winner is Liz Carterina from Viridian City!"

The screen lit up with my and Squirtle's face and I covered my mouth with my hands as I started to feel myself tear up. I won! I won! Squirtle gave me a thumbs up as I started leaping up and down cheering. Artemis and Oshawott approached me and said "Hey Liz, great job! Remember this is only the first, four more to go. See you next time alright?"

We shook hands as Mian and the three judges approached me and handed me a small vermillion red ribbon that had a old symbol that held the knot together. I took it from Mister Contesta's hand as he said "Liz Carterina, here is the Vermillion City Contest Ribbon."

I held it in my hands and held it in the air as Squirtle leapt up and down. Soon enough I would win father's respect for coordinating, I glanced at the crowd and saw Connor who was applauding loudly as gave wolf whistles as he encouraged the crowd to go on, Quincy who was applauding regularly and Dan who was giving me his silly grin along with Jordan as they clapped as well.

I looked up at the screen and saw my face with the ribbon along with Squirtle and I grasped the ribbon in my hand knowing step one was done and knowing that I had won.

AN

Roy: Voila, the longest god damn chapter yet. 13 freaking thousand words! Wooh!

Jake: Hell yeah! So next time is another filler as they trek to Saffron City. It will be pretty interesting and action filled. The idea for the next chapter was inspired by Misteria The Wolf! Thanks!

Roy: Yeah so ribbon one for Liz, badge three for Dan. Guess the song Quincy sang and I think you know why this chapter was titled complications. Really anyone even guess about what happened to Jordan?

Jake: Do you guys like Jordan and Luke's new look along with Connor's surprise of winning the last Wallace Cup and Liz's new hair ribbon courtesy of Dan?

Roy: Anyway, I'm looking for ten reviews for 100 total! We are so close! Please review! Please! We are so freaking close!

Jake: Review please! We want a one hundred! We never knew we would come this far. We would like to thanks everyone who likes and reads this story, even more to those who review!

Roy: So all in all, read and review please! This is Roy Markov…Signing off.