Dee.
In the Next Round.
The Celestic Pokemon Contest didn't have as many contestants as we were used to, so naturally, I was paired against Mark in the next battle round.
I could hear him crack his knuckles from the other side of the battlefield, and his lips shone with freshly-applied chapstick. He was ready to be done, rolling his eyes as Marian announced the beginning of the battle.
Nuzleaf and Eevee glared each other down, ready to rip each other to shreds.
"And...begin!"
"Nuzleaf, use Faint Attack." Mark legit didn't care.
"Eevee, Tackle Nuzleaf!" I ordered. "Hit 'im hard!"
Eevee threw himself at Nuzleaf, who easily side-stepped out of the way. Nuzleaf sucker punched Eevee in the side, and he skidded backward, towards Mark.
"Eeee!" Eevee barked in anger. He lashed out, leaping forward and chomping down on Nuzleaf's hand.
The Wily Pokemon panicked, flailing and trying to shake Eevee off.
"Calm yourself, Nuzleaf!" Mark instructed firmly. "Stay in control! Use Pound to force Eevee to ket go!"
Nuzleaf nodded, and punched Eevee in the back. Eevee cried out, letting go of Nuzleaf's arm.
"Now use GrassWhistle!" I hadn't heard of that attack before.
I balled my hands into fists. "Stay on guard, Eevee!"
Following my orders, Eevee backed away, a few paces closer to me.
Nuzleaf took the leaf on his head between his hands, and put it between his lips, closing his eyes and beginning to play it like an instrument.
It honestly was a nice sound...high-pitched, but soothing, and constant...playing just about the same four notes and different speeds and pitches. It could have been a lullaby.
My Eevee thought so, too, and he began to drift off to sleep, swaying with the music. The more his eyelids drooped, the more points I lost!
"Eevee!" I shrieked. "Eevee, wake up! This ain't naptime! Get up and fight!"
Not one word was even listened to. Eevee laid down on the battlefield, and took a [expletive deleted] nap.
Mark smirked. "Keep playing, Nuzleaf." For soneone who didn't want to be there, Mark was sure hiding it well.
As Nuzleaf kept playing, my points bar shrunk. I had two thirds, then a half, then a quarter left...
"Eevee!" I pleaded. "Please! Just wake up already, okay?! Why can't you wake up?!"
I would have drifted off, too, had I not been so royally pissed off. Nuzleaf's music was just so peaceful. I didn't even know this was allowed! What the hell!
"That's it!" My points bar had completely depleted. Eevee had managed to lose a battle by falling asleep. Astro was sure to get a kick out of that. "Nuzleaf wins!"
The crowd went nuts with applause as Nuzleaf finished his spectacular performance, but Mark's eyes were definitely focused on nothing but the betrothed judge Higgins. I didn't understand the true reason why until he opened his mouth.
"Oh, Jesus Chr-are you frigging kidding me, Leon?! Jesus [expletive deleted]!"
He was slumped over, arms folded on the table in front of him, head lying on top of his arms as he drooled on his leather jacket with his eyes closed.
Lee Higgins had fallen asleep by listening to Nuzleaf's GrassWhistle. I couldn't frigging believe it. I nearly busted a gut, laughing so hard.
Amber.
The Next Round.
For the first time in a long time, Astro managed to push us through to the final round of a contest.
Mark's green eyes flickered with amusement, seeing Astro as his opponent. He had actually wanted to battle Astro before, but Astro himself always said he didn't wanna.
Lee was wide awake this time, watching us with anticipation. He bounced his leg impatiently under the table, and it honestly reminded me of how Max always got around Christmas time.
"Begin!" Marian gave us the okay to start.
Before either me or Mark could open our mouths, Astro lept straight into battle without a single command, dashing at Nuzleaf with the speed of a bat outta hell.
Nuzleaf raised his arm to deflect Astro. I raised my eyebrows. "Azzy! No!"
I came too late. Astro ran straight into Nuzleaf's arm, folding over before being pushed back and shoved to the ground. I lost a few points, but not many.
Lee seethed in his mic. "Oh, hot dammit! Astro bounced off Nuzleaf's arm like a ball off of a gym floor!"
Astro shook it off, standing back up. Mark smirked, a smug grin I only saw when he was winning an argument with Lee.
"Use GrassWhistle, Nuzleaf!" He wasn't going to just hand the Celestic Town ribbon over to me. He was going to work Astro to the bone.
Astro lept back into action of his own accord, again. He charged a burst of energy as Nuzleaf took the leaf on his head into his mouth, crying out in anger as he smashed his palm into Nuzleaf's stomach.
"Listen to that!" Was Lee even allowed to commentate like he always did? "This Riolu, he's a fiery little ball of anger! Will Nuzleaf be able to keep up?"
Mark made a disgusted face as he lost quite a few points. "Nuzleaf, use Pound!" He wasn't about to lose to a "kid" like me.
I grinned. "Astro, dodge! Keep out of Nuzleaf's way, and use Hidden Power!"
Astro hesitated, but bent backwards to avoid being hit by Nuzleaf's wildly swinging fist. He hopped back enough paces to put a distance between them, and charged a ball of pink energy between his paws. He hurtled it at Nuzleaf, and it exploded on impact, causing a lot of smoke.
Coughing and waving his paw, Astro stood solidly where he was. Nuzleaf came crashing out of the smoke, slamming his body into Astro.
Nuzleaf looked totally unharmed! Points were taken from me.
"Amber really needs to learn type advantages," Lee grumbled passive-aggressively. "Honestly, who doesn't know that Nuzleaf is a dark type? A psychic Hidden Power like that-"
"Leon!" Nurse Joy chided him. Lee stuck his tongue out, but not at her.
Astro stayed standing from the attack, blasting Nuzleaf away with a surge of energy from his palm. He stayed calm, collected, and focused...
Who the hell was this, and what did they do with my short-tempered Azzy bear?
{Oh, ha, ha...very funny. Smartass...}
Nuzleaf stumbled backwards from Astro's retaliation, trembling just a bit. Greenish-white sparks flashed across his body.
Nurse Joy gasped. "Is Nuzleaf...?"
"Astro's Force Palm struck Nuzleaf with paralysis!" Lee confirmed. "Ah, God, this is getting juicy."
Mark rolled his eyes, clenching his fists. "Lee, shut up!" He growled. "God, do you even understand how annoying you're being?!"
When Mark yelled at Lee, Astro doubled over, covering his mouth. I was worried for half a second, before I tried to listen to him above the crowd.
Astro was laughing at Mark. I laughed, too, smiling.
"Astro, use Force Palm, again!" As long as Mark was distracted... "Long-range!"
Mark turned away from verbally abusing Lee. "Huh?!"
Astro stacked his paws on each other, charging for a split second before releasing a bright green blast at Nuzleaf. The paralyzed pokemon tried to stay standing, but couldn't handle the attack.
Nuzleaf, defeated, collapsed on the ground.
The crowd was silent for a split second, then went crazy with applause. Mark returned Nuzleaf to his pokeball, with nothing but a scowl and a rude hand gesture at Lee that his mother probably wouldn't like.
Astro turned around and turned tail, running at me. I crouched down and caught him in my arms, picking him up as I stood.
"How was that?" His voice murmured, low enough for only me to hear. "I did good, right, Amber?"
Just a little bit, my heart broke. "Of course, Azzy. You always do."
"No, I don't."
Later.
Lee was the one to present the ribbon to us. Magby sat happily at my feet, Astro in my arms. Lee put the ribbon on Astro, and leaned in close to speak to me.
"After this..." He murmured in my ear. "After this, Amber, may I speak to your Riolu? Without you?"
"Without me?!" I whispered in astonishment.
"Riley can be there, if that makes you feel comfortable. Just a little chat in mine and Mark's room, not like I'll kidnap him. Of course, you can still say no."
"No," Astro's voice chimed in.
Lee pulled away, staring at me with his dark eyebrows raised. Reluctantly, I nodded my approval to his request.
At my nod, Lee grinned widely, showing slightly cigarette-stained teeth. He took my wrist, raising our arms above my head, and almost making me drop Astro.
"Give a round for the Celestic Town contest winner, Amber Daniels, you guys!" He bellowed with a laugh. The crowd applauded for us, again