Rapidash and Luxray

The stadium was crowded, noisy, and rowdy. People shouted, held up signs, and barely waited for the next match to begin. In the staging area, floor workers were busy setting up obstacles and boundary markers. An announcer and his guest tried to entertain everyone with a joke routine, but the laughter was sporadic. Most of the audience must have heard it before.

On the north end of the stadium seats, a newcomer to this kind of match was fidgeted in his seat. It was a simple wooden bench with a back, so it was hard to find a comfortable sitting position. Around him, most of the audience seemed too caught up in the matches or gossip to notice. "How long are they gonna take?"

"Not much longer," his friend answered. "They've almost got things set up and they're getting to the end of that Pikachu gag. How're you liking the Pokemon Xtreme League?"

He looked around the oval stadium. "I still think it's all rigged beforehand. They use lots of fancy moves, but nothing real."

"Nothing real?" he echoed mockingly. "This isn't theater, you know. This is real! And way more exciting than those kiddie Gym Leagues. You'll see in this upcoming match; it doesn't get any more real than it does here."

"So they say." He looked down at the concrete floor and noticed a shiny spot. How well did they clean things around here?

There was a forced laugh from the announcer (which almost convinced one that it was real) as the stadium workers cleared the field. "All right, thanks Mark. And now, the time has come for the day's first grudge race! Our Pokemon contenders will have to race each other through a harrowing track with straight-a-ways, hills, and obstacles in order to have the chance to race against the stadium champion! And here come the up and coming Pokemon stars now!"

"It doesn't look very harrowing," the newcomer said, looking over the hay bale and wood obstacles. "Any decent racing Pokemon could get through that."

"You're not on the ground to see just how tough it is," the fan replied. "They specially design everything to be rough on the Pokemon. Some of them even get hurt."

"I see safety systems in place."

"Stop analyzing and enjoy the show."

"Our first contender comes from the fields of Kanto," the announcer called out, turning to the entrance to his right. "Said to be born one of the fastest animals on land, he will burn up the track today in order to make a blazing start to this year's rankings. Able to run both sprints and marathons, he has the highest rated acceleration of all the contenders in our League! Here he is folks, the grand and fiery Alfonzo the Rapidash!"

After the announcer flung his arm out to the right entrance, the red curtain was burned aside as a tall white equestrian Pokemon pranced through. Alfonzo shook his mane out to stir up the bright red fires and show off his shining horn to the crowd. They responded with loud cheers and whistles. Many chanted his name as the Rapidash took his time walking up to the starting line, seemingly proud enough that he didn't have a worry in the world.

"GO ALFONZO!" the fan shouted. He grinned as he turned to his friend again. "Alfonzo is awesome! He almost made it as last year's champion Pokemon, only to be beat out by a cheating Gabite. But I'm betting on him! He will make it this year!"

"Isn't it risky to be betting on events like this?" the newcomer asked. Especially since this probably was rigged, he thought but didn't say. The Xtreme League had always come off as a bloated money-making spectacle to him.

"Not with the right smarts."

The announcer than turned to the entrance to his left. "Daring to take on one of the most popular contenders of the Xtreme League, we have a dark and mysterious newcomer! Known to race about during the dead of night without alerting a soul to her presence, no one is quite sure what she is fully capable of, or even what she is. Here she is, The Mysterious One!"

When the lights went onto the left entrance, nothing happened.

Murmurs spread through the crowd. The announcer scratched his head. "Okay, the mystery is where… oh there she is, right at the starting line! Eager to race, are we?"

Sitting quietly by Alfonzo was the so-called Mysterious One, startling him into snorting and flaring his fire mane. Her feline body was covered in black and dark blue fur, while her long tail was tipped by a yellow star. For some reason, there was a brown burlap sack put over her head. The large screen showed that the sack had a slit it in near her nose, so she could breathe. But it had no eye holes. Some people cheered, others laughed, while yet others were confused.

The newcomer shook his head. "That's a Luxray."

"How can you tell?" the fan asked. "The League officials can't even tell what she is."

"It's obvious," he replied, trying not to sound irritated. "She looks like a Luxray with a burlap sack over her head. That color, fur, and especially the star-tipped tail. That's a Luxray."

His friend smirked. "Well you've got to be wrong. There's no eyeholes! Luxray is an Electric Pokemon, not a Psychic, so it wouldn't see with a sack over its head."

The announcer was giving the rundown of how the race worked, so the newcomer kept talking. "They can see through things. My neighbor has one for a house guard Pokemon and he blasted a thief who was trying to get in the basement window, although the Luxray couldn't see the thief through the living room wall. A burlap sack is nothing. It has to do with their electrical sense…"

"Hush, it's going to start," the fan said, with his eyes on the track.

At the starting line, the Rapidash stamped his hoof down, eager to run. The 'mystery' Luxray stretched her front paws out, then the back, then waited on the signal. The announcer grabbed the air horn by him. "All right, ready…"

Alfonso whinnied impatiently, but stayed behind the line drumming his hooves in preparation.

"Get set…"

The Mysterious One twitched her starry tail and sent twin arcs of electricity snapping over between her legs.

"GO!" The air horn blasted, soon drowned out by the crowd's roar.

Within a few steps, the Rapidash overtook the Luxray, tearing down the first straight way. The dust that was kicked up behind Alfonzo flashed with fire as it was incinerated by his tail flames. Behind him, the Luxray built up speed, quick but not as quick as him. She didn't run entirely straight like he did, weaving about instead to dodge the dust flames.

At the first turn, Alfonzo has to slow just as quickly as he had sped up. It was a wide 180 right turn that was blocked by some vertical poles. In order to turn and avoid the poles, he couldn't go at top speed. As he was getting past the last of the poles, the Luxray had started them. She took them at full speed, nimbly dodging them with uncanny accuracy. This closed the gap.

It got maintained down a short straight path, but then there was a 90 left turn that lead to some hay bale blocks that had to be jumped. Both managed well. Alfonso set fire to one of his hay bales while audible sparks were heard as The Mysterious One used her Electric powers to increase her jumping height. Behind them, a crewman came out to put out the fire.

There was another 90 left turn leading quickly to a 90 right turn. The Rapidash had to go slower to make both turns, so the more agile Luxray managed to close the distance. As they got side-by-side, they faced another set of vertical poles to dodge. Still not bothered by the sack over her head, The Mysterious One managed to get a lead heading into a 90 right turn.

On the next stretch, there was a series of dirt covered ramps. It gave them both some trouble, so the positions didn't change. After another 90 right, they were faced with the starting line again, now the goal line. But it was some distance away and there was one more obstacle to face. A number of poles and ropes lead into a multiple path break. All led eventually to the final stretch, but some curved, some zig-zagged, and others had ramps.

Alfonzo chose to go through a path with a long gentle curve. He could almost take it at full speed. Beside him, The Mysterious One chose a zig-zag path, darting through each sharp turn without hesitation. She pulled ahead and headed into the final stretch while he was trying to navigate that gentle curve.

When he finally got onto the main track, Alfonso gave a loud whinny and began rushing to catch up. the Luxray continued on as he closed the gap. That gap grew smaller and smaller, until both reached the goal line and…

The crowd was going wild. "Just amazing!" the announcer called out. "Which Pokemon won the race? They were so close they could have touched each other. Let's turn to the technical crew and see if they can answer the big question: who won this race?"

"ALFONZO!" the fan shouted, jumping out of his seat. He dropped back down immediately, grinning at his friend. "And how can you say that was faked?"

"Easy," the newcomer said. "Neither one of them were racing at their full capacity. If they were, we couldn't watch them on this small track. You are right about one thing, though: the concessions at this place are really good."

...

Rapidash Pearl entry: It has astounding acceleration. From a standstill, it can reach top speed in 10 steps.

HG/SS entry: Luxray's ability to see through objects comes in handy when it's scouting for danger.

I'm sure most racing isn't actually rigged. But is sure big on theatrics these days.