Before getting started with this I'd like to announce that this story has just surpassed 1000 reviews. You know, when I first started this I didn't think I'd get this many, but now that I have I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who submitted a review. Not all of them were positive, but for those that are enjoying this story all I can say is there's plenty more to come.
Chapter 81: Uncoordinated
"Alright, Wingate Town, let's welcome our next coordinator… Nikki!" The crowd cheered as Nikki took her place on the stage. As she stood there she scanned the crowd, looking for Ash. She quickly found him cheering with everyone else, a smile on his face. This brought her comfort, but deep down she couldn't help but think about what he had just told her. A quick shake of her head, however, banished those thoughts from her mind.
"Come on, Nikki. You've got to focus," she thought to herself. Having seemingly gotten her mind right she grabbed two Poké Balls and tossed the into the air.
"Ninetails! Gallade! The stage is yours!" she shouted. The Poké Balls opened, releasing a pair of lightning bolts. The bolts arced upward before plummeting towards the ground, creating a blinding light when they made impact. When the light died down Ninetails and Gallade were revealed.
"Let's start off with a Flamethrower!" Nikki called. Ninetails lifted her head into the air and spewed forth an impressive looking Flamethrower.
"Now Gallade, take control of the flame with your Psychic!" Nikki instructed. The Blade Pokémon's eyes took on a blue glow as he used his Psychic attack to take control of Ninetails' Flamethrower. Once he was in control of the flames he made them dance in the air, almost as if they had a mind of their own.
"Oh my, this is quite the performance," Nurse Joy commented.
"Quite remarkable," Mr. Sukizo added.
"The amount of control her Gallade has over the Flamethrower is very impressive," Mr. Contesta concluded.
"Okay, time to wrap things up!" Nikki announced. Using his Psychic attack Gallade manipulated the Flamethrower, molding it into a ball of fire.
"Now Ninetails, Solarbeam!" Ninni instructed. Ninetails quickly charged up her Solarbeam and, taking careful aim, fired it at the ball of fire in the air. Upon impact the attacks exploded into a shower of glitter and embers. The crowd cheered upon the completion of her performance.
"(That was really good,)" Pikachu praised.
"Yeah, but is it just me or did she look a little distracted there at the beginning," Ash wondered.
"(Well, it did look like something was on her mind when she first came out, but once she started her performance she got over it,)" Pikachu said. It was then the Mouse Pokémon picked up on what his trainer was getting at.
"(Wait, you don't think telling Nikki about what happened between you and Dawn is what's distracting her, do you?)" he asked.
"I hope not, but something tells me it just might be," Ash answered. With that in mind he was beginning to wonder if telling her was the right thing to do.
The performances kept on going, and soon it was Jessie's turn. The crowd cheerd as she took the stage, a Poké Ball in each hand.
"Now, my beauties, it's time for you to shine!" she shouted, tossing the balls into the air. The balls opened, sending out a flurry of hearts. The hearts floated down to the floor and gathered in a pile, bursting moments later to reveal Magcargo and Seviper.
"Okay Magcargo, into your shell!" she instructed. Magcargo did as he was asked and withdrew as best as he could into his shell.
"Now Seviper, balance him on your tail!" Jessie said. Using a precise strike Seviper struck the base of Magcargo's shell and popped him into the air. He then came down on the side of his shell, balancing himself perfectly on the point of Seviper's bladed tail.
"This is an interesting start to her performance. I wonder what she plans on doing next," Christy commented.
"Alright Seviper, toss him into the air!" With a powerful flick of his tail Seviper tossed Magcargo high into the air.
"Flamethrower!" Jessie called. Even though he was still in his shell Magcargo fired off a Flamethrower, but because of the angle he was firing it from he caused himself to start spinning around, making himself a spinning disc of fire as he flew through the air.
"Oh my goodness! Magcargo's like a fiery UFO flying around like that!" Christy said.
"Alright, that's enough flying around! Time to come in for a landing!" Jessie instructed. Despite not really being able to see where he was going Magcargo managed to land perfectly on the tip of Seviper's tail. After balancing for a few seconds he hopped off and landed next to the Fang Snake Pokémon. The three of them took a bow as the crowd cheered their performance.
"Well now, that was a very fiery performance," Nurse Joy commented.
"Yes, very remarkable," Mr. Sukizo added.
"There wasn't much to that performance, but not all of them need to be flashy or complicated to be spectacular," Mr. Contesta said. Backstage Nikki looked on, taking in her performance. Still, in the back of her mind she couldn't help but think of what Ash had told her about him and Dawn.
"Come on, Nikki, you can't think about that now," she said to herself. "Focus on the here and now." She knew what she had to do, but she was unsure if she could do it.
The performances concluded, and thankfully Nikki made it to the next round. Jessie made it as well, and the two of them were put up against each other in the first battle. As the two of them waited for Christy to announce the beginning of the battle Nikki took a moment to glance into the crowd, seeing that Ash was watching intently. Once again her mind drifted to his past with Dawn.
"Oh Ash…," she mused.
"And… begin!" Christy announcing the beginning of the battle snapped Nikki back to reality. She quickly grabbed two Poké Balls and tossed them out.
"Buneary! Shinx! The stage is yours!" she shouted. The balls opened, spitting out a pair of large stars. The stars fell to the ground, bursting on impact and revealing Buneary and Shinx.
"Mawile! Wobbuffet! Out you come!" Jessie called, her Poké Balls opening to reveal a shower of sparkles that announced the arrival of her Pokémon.
"Let's start off with Charge Beam, Shinx!" Nikki instructed. Shinx quickly charged up her attack and fired it, sending a beam of electricity towards Jessie's Pokémon.
"Catch that, Mawile!" Jessie called. To Nikki's surprise the Deceiver Pokémon stepped in front of the oncoming attack and opened her massive jaws, catching the attack without taking any damage.
"Now send it back!" Jessie ordered. With a flick of her head Mawile threw the attack back at Nikki's Pokémon, forcing to jump out of the way of the ensuing blast. This caused Nikki's points to go down a little bit.
"Okay, since ranged won't work I'll just have to go in close! Jump Kick, Buneary!" Nikki instructed. The Rabbit Pokémon began running towards her opposition, ready to launch her attack. But Jessie had a counter ready.
"Mawile, throw yourself at Wobbuffet!" Jessie said.
"What is she doing now?" Nikki wondered as she watched Jessie's Mawile throw herself at her Wobbuffet.
"Now Wobbuffet, use Counter!" Jessie called. Wobbuffet's body took on an orange glow as Mawile bounced off of him, sending her hurtling towards the oncoming Buneary.
"Now use Iron Head!" Jessie shouted. All too late Nikki realized what she had in mind, for before she could say anything Mawile slammed into Buneary with her Iron Head, the powerful attack sedning the small Rabbit Pokémon flying back into Shinx.
"That was quite the unique combination, using Wobbuffet's Counter to increase the attack speed of Mawile's Iron Head!" Christy praised. Once again Nikki's points took a hit, leaving her wondering what to do next.
"(Nikki's in trouble out there. Lady Jessica has countered everything she's thrown at her,)" Pikachu commented.
"It's not over yet. She still has time to turn this around," Ash replied.
"Okay, time to try a combination attack of our own. Shinx, Spark! Buneary, Hidden Power!" Nikki instructed. Shinx charged forward, her body crackling with electricity. At the same time Buneary hurled a Hidden Power, the attack swirling around Shinx as she ran.
"Let's see her counter this one," Nikki thought confidently. Jessie saw the attack closing in, but didn't appear too worried.
"Time to use your jaws again, my dear Mawile!" she called. Right as Shinx jumped towards them Mawile stepped in the way and opened her jaws, catching the Flash Pokémon in mid-attack. Then, she effortlessly flung her back, sending her crashing into Buneary and taking another chuck out of Nikki's points. Nikki watched as her Pokémon struggled to get back to their feet. No matter what she did Jessie had a counter for it.
"Oh no… what do I do now?" she wondered. Before she could come up with an answer the buzzer went off, signaling the end of the five minutes.
"Time's up!" Christy announced. "And taking a look at the point total… it'll be Lady Jessica moving on!" While Jessie soaked in the admiration of the crowd Nikki hung her head, disappointed by her performance.
"Sorry, guys. I failed you," she apologized. Buneary and Shinx just looked up at her with sympathetic eyes. In the stands Ash and Pikachu looked at their friend, feeling sorry that she couldn't advance any further.
"And there you have it! The winner of the Wingate Town Pokémon Contest is Lady Jessica!" With Nikki out of the way Jessie had little resistance in her quest to win another Contest ribbon. She was all smiles as she accepted her ribbon, waving to the crowd as they cheered for her. Amongst the cheering crowd were James and Meowth, who could barely contain their excitement.
"Our girl Jess strikes again," Meowth commented.
"That she did," James agreed. "Who knows. Maybe she can make it to the Grand Festival."
"If she keeps doing this well she just may well do it," Meowth said. With the Contest now over the crowd dispersed and the various coordinators left to seek the next Contest. Nikki had made her way to the Pokémon Center to get her Pokémon checked up by Nurse Joy, which is where Ash found her.
"That was a pretty rough outing," Ash commented.
"Even so I should have done better," Nikki replied.
"It looked as though you had something on your mind whenever you went out there," Ash said. "Was there?" Nikki knew what he'd think if she told him the truth, but at the same time she didn't want to lie to him.
"Yeah, there was," she admitted.
"It was what I told you happened between me and Dawn, wasn't it," Ash guessed. Nikki simply nodded in confirmation. Ash let out a sigh.
"If I knew that would have caused you to lose I never would have told you," he said.
"No, Ash, don't blame yourself," Nikki said, trying to keep him from feeling any guilt for her loss. "If anyone's to blame for my loss it me, not you."
"But…"
"I am not now, nor will I ever blame you for what happened here today," she told him. Before Ash could reply to her Nurse Joy approached with Nikki's Pokémon.
"Everyone's back to full health," she reported.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Nikki said as she took her Poké Balls and Buneary took her place on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry you didn't win the Contest," Nurse Joy added. "I thought you had a good chance."
"So did I. Guess it just wasn't my day," Nikki admitted. As Nurse Joy got back to her duties Nikki turned her attention back to Ash.
"Let's just forget about what happened," she suggested.
"Well… okay," Ash agreed.
"Besides, you have an Area Boss battle to get ready for," Nikki pointed out. This seemed to perk Ash up a bit as he began to think about what he'd have to face in his next challenge.
"You're right. I have to get my mind right," he said, trying to psyche himself up. Nikki smiled.
"Now there's the Ash I know," she laughed. With nothing else keeping them there the two trainers left the Pokémon Center and continued on their journey towards Ash's next Area Boss battle.
Nikki's quest for a third ribbon has ended in defeat. Now the attention turns to Ash and his upcoming Area Boss battle. Will he succeed? And just when will Nikki get her next shot at a ribbon? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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