—-Sophia's Point of View—-
"Looks like the Sweet Scent is not attracting any Pokém- what are you two doing?" I said to Katarina and Durian, who looked like they were both planning on grabbing Baltia.
"Nothing" "Snorlax"
Staring at them skeptically, I decided to just sigh and say "Lady Katarina, if you want a break we can just stop for lunch, we have four and half hours"
"Woah that long, maybe we could fish or get some berries, I haven't gotten the chance to put my berry gathering skills to test"
That made me think, "Oh right, this is the first time Katarina has been in a forest since the incident, I almost forgot"
"I have a packed lunch, did you not do the same?"
"Durian and Kikatsu ate it all in the trip" She responded, meanwhile Durian had a betrayed and shocked look on his face that was too goofy for me to not laugh at.
Grabbing my bag, I rummaged through it until I found two light blue boxes "Here, I had the chefs make extra just in case you would forget"
Katarina just stared at the box before turning up, giving me a massive smile and saying "Thanks Sophia! You're so sweet" and gently took it from my hands.
I was certain I had broken out into a blush and rapidly turned away, faintly hearing a confused hum through Katarina's chewing.
Once I got over my blush, I grabbed my own box of lunch and opened the light green container. Seasoned Corvshrooms with Fried Eggs and a Chocolate Tart.
As I started eating the food, Katarina suddenly got a horrified look on her face and asked, "Sophia, where did this meat come from?"
"Meat? Those are Corvshrooms. I guess they are less common outside the Ascart Estate. It tastes like Bird-Pokémon, but it's just Mushroom"
"Oh, then okay!" and Katarina continued her…rapid eating with Durian enjoying some of his own box just as enthusiastically.
While eating, I decided to look at the clothes Katarina and Durian were wearing to some more detail as a bit of a time waster.
Durian wore a dark blue bow tie around his neck and a belt on his waist, said belt had a two person saddle attached to his back. There were two holsters with Sword hilts peaking through on the sides and a bag on his right that was behind the holster on said right side. The Swords were likely his held Item and when I asked about it Katarina just said that it was "Incase we get into a really tough fight!"
Katarina herself was wearing something that looked exactly like her usual dress, but without the bottom part as it was replaced with sleek pants of the same dark blue shade, and her hair was put up into a ponytail.
As we ate, our assigned Natu just groomed its feathers while Baltia opted to look around, most likely bored with the lack of things to do. This relative calm lasted until Baltia had suddenly started calling us.
Katarina immediately got up with Durian and grabbed a Pokéball, sending out a pink creature with curled ears and dazed expression on her face that could only belong to a Slowpoke or Slowbro.
"Kikatsu, protect the stuff and don't eat anything" Katarina said.
"Slo" it said in response, Katarina then turned to me and said "Okay, Sophia. Let's go" and we headed towards the source of the sound with Durian while me and Natu were right behind them.
When I caught up, I saw that Mawile had come face to face with what looked to be the mythical creature referred to as a ferret. But those were only myths so it might have been a Pokémon called 'Watchog' or 'Furret'
Regardless of what the mystery Pokémon was, it looked injured, half of its body was in a hole and it was unconscious. I felt bad for the Pokémon, even if it could be an opportunity for a catch, and Katarina looked to be in the same opinion as she crouched and said "Hey Sophia, can we heal up this Watchog? Kikatsu knows a move that can help it" I nodded and picked up Mawile and the Natu before following Katarina again.
When we arrived back, Katarina asked "Kikatsu, can you use Heal Pulse on this Pokémon"
Kikatsu nodded and held out her claws before shooting a ball of glowing pink light at the Watchog, it looked almost like an attack, but it did as Katarina said it would as the injuries quickly faded away.
"Ice" she continued and Durian proceeded to shoot a beam of blue-ish white next to Katarina, the beam created a small Ice formation and Katarina broke off the Ice and placed it on the Watchog's head, instantly waking it up.
The Watchog started frantically looking around before jumping up and getting into some kind of defensive stance, then the yellow stripes around its chest and tail started brightly glowing, so much that it nearly blinded me and I had to shield my eyes.
"Kikatsu, Iron Tail" Katarina said, though I could see because of the light, the final result was Kikatsu standing next to a Watchog crushed under the orange Shellder constantly biting her tail.
"Okay Watchog, we're not gonna hurt you- unless you attack or blind us again. But still! We just wanna know why you were injured and in the ground"
The Watchog looked confused and glared at Katarina. The Slowbro currently crushing the Watchog proceeded to say something and enter a back and forth with the Pokemon as the Shellder was noticeably biting even harder on the Slowbro's tail.
"This is so strange, is this how you got into all those situations back when we were Eight?"
"I'll have you know, Sophia, I am a changed woman!" She said before looking at her Snorlax and saying "Durian, throw Onion's Pokéball"
The giant Bear-like Pokémon nodded and rummaged through its bag before throwing a Pokéball, revealing light and then a slimy ball shaped dragon.
"Onion, would you do the honours of translating those two's conversations" She said, the dragon Pokémon agreed and moved closer to me and Katarina before grabbing a stick and writing something in the ground, though I could not see what as I instinctively moved away from the Goomy.
Luckily, Katarina said what it wrote aloud as she read it "Kikatsugan says: We is trying to help, harm is not, no call Master Katarina liar. (star)* The Watchog is more clear in its speech saying: "Shut up, you attacked me and kidnapped me, I am not buying that you won't hurt me again so let me go!"
"Hey, we only attacked because you could've blinded us and we just found you passed out and healed you!" Katarina declared in an offended tone.
At this reveal, the Watchog looked surprised and moved its body while under the Shellder, as if to check on its condition and only seemed to be more surprised at the result. It quickly deflated before saying something in an apologetic tone.
Now that the Watchog looked less aggravated, I decided to move over to it and ask it "Now that you seem calmer, do you mind telling us why you were so banged up?"
Kikatsu slowly lifted up its tail and Shellder attached to it as the Watchog explained its situation, though I could not understand it because it was a Pokémon, Katarina's Goomy did translate it and Katarina explained out loud like before.
"Something about getting attacked by giant Bugs called Scyther, apparently that Watchog and her extended family have been getting attacked and even kidnapped by the Pokémon for awhile now and it's not just Scyther"
"The Wild Pokémon world must be tough, though I cannot help but question why?"
"Watchog, atch"
"We glow, glowing is valuable when you- LIVE UNDERGROUND! Wait, you and other Pokémon live underground?!"
The Watchog nodded and Katarina immediately jumped up, startling me and the Watchog, she then proudly declared "Let go Pokémon Hunting and Catching underground! Don't worry Watchog, we won't take your family though, just the enemy Pokémon"
"So are we riding on your Snorlax like we did to get into the forest, or do you have something else in mind?"
"Just Durian, everyone you see right now is all the Pokémon I got!" She responded, referring to the Slowbro, Goomy and Snorlax that are all currently standing around.
"Alright" I said.
In order to reduce the weight Durian has to carry, I decided to return Baltia to her Pokéball. Meanwhile, Katarina returned to her Slowbro and Goomy. Leaving only Durian, our competition assigned Natu and the Watchog.
I gently grabbed the Watchog and let the Natu continue to perch on my shoulder. Durian had gone to all fours while Katarina hopped onto his back again.
She helped me up before asking if I was ready, I nodded and she smiled at me before looking forwards and saying "Alright Durian, use Dig!"
"Snorlax!" Durian said and started digging as fast as he could into the ground. I closed my eyes to avoid the now flying dirt and waited until Durian stopped or said something.
After a couple minutes of just digging, I randomly felt a sudden jolt and soon after that, the sensation of falling.
I decided to peek and saw that we were in a massive ravine that looked bottomless. I screamed in terror, almost too loud for me to notice Katarina's voice practically begging out "Surf! Surf, Durian!", then a few seconds later, the entire area was flooded with only a small space between us and water which allowed for us to land safely in the water.
I was panting heavily, my throat slightly sore from screaming, as Katarina turned to look towards me and asking "Are you alright? That must've been scary"
Not wanting Katarina to think I was a coward, I just meekly gave a nod in response, not trusting my voice to give her a good enough response.
Katarina stared skeptically for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and saying "Alrighty then, could you ask the Watchog where to? And if they could give us a light?"
Laughing breathlessly at Katarina's infectious positivity, I poked the Watchog clutching my arms and it rapidly shook its head before glowing brightly, not nearly as much as before so It was not blinding us, only letting us see the area.
The Watchog then climbed out of my arms and ran over towards Durian's head, presumably to do what was asked and after some words between Durian and the Watchog, I soon felt us being moved in some kind of direction across the ravine.
The scenery stayed the same for a while, just a narrow tunnel and cave walls, but the further we went, the more holes and large dents in the form of cuts and bite marks into the earth and walls appeared, there was even the occasional scorched earth that occurred as we moved further into where ever the Watchog was taking us.
To keep my nerves of what was to come under wraps, I decided to make small talk and asked Katarina "So, was your family's Symbolic Typing a part of why you chose to go underground?"
"Symbolic Typing?" She questioned
"Y-yes, the Claes Family specialises in Ground Types if I remember correctly"
"So that's why mother wanted me to catch Ground Types! I just thought she considered them to be cool, is that why she looked at me like that when I asked why Ground Types?"
"It likely is so, Katarina." I then sighed and continued to ask her "Do you even remember the Symbolic Typing of the rest of our group?"
"Of sure… um, Grass for Mary?"
"Ice" I corrected her
"Right, I knew it was one of the types for Snovern. Weird she doesn't use an Ice Type though, but I guess I don't use Ground. Anyways, for you and Nicole it's- uhh… not Fairy because Nicole doesn't use a Fairy Type"
"Steel, Katarina, it's Steel"
"I-i could've guessed it eventually!" She said, her cheeks blushing slightly, presumably in embarrassment. I just laughed in response before saying "Of course, but then we would run out of time in this competition" and Katarina's blush only got redder in response.
Luckily our small chat did its job of being a time fill in as we both noticed that Durian had stopped at some tunnel slightly above the water level.
The Watchog looked to have hopped off Durian and climbed up into the tunnel entrance before beckoning us to follow. First Katarina hopped off, then me and the Natu on my shoulder, before Durian did so as well, shaking himself off like a Poocheyna or Growlithe after a bath and got water in every direction.
"Durian!" Katarina semi-scolded, but her Snorlax huffed in response and got back into a bipedal stance.
Katarina simply ignored the Snorlax and proudly said "Watchog, lead the way!"
The Watchog nodded before moving around the tunnel, looking at specific mushrooms and smelling the area pseudo-frantically.
As we seemed to near the end of the new tunnel, we suddenly heard a high pitched squeal from one of the branched off tunnels and the Watchog suddenly ran off into the direction of the noise. We all followed suit, still needing the Watchog as a guide and wanting to see what was going on ourselves.
A bright den was what we were graced with. Dozens of Watchogs were flashing their bright lights, but at what was the question as I could not quite see anything and only knew it was Watchogs because it seemed like the same flashing done by our guide.
Suddenly, the flashes ended and I was able to get a clearer view of things. First was various strange orange creatures with a big heads and sharp teeth on top of a pile of Watchogs, the orange creatures I knew to be a Dragon Pre-evolution called Trapinch, then there was a horde of brown tube like Pokémon in the ground called Digletts and some bunched in pairs that were likely another Pokémon called Dugtrio.
The Digletts and Dugtrio were surrounding the Trapinch and had suddenly started attacking the Trapinch with some kind of Rock move. Meanwhile, the Trapinch had some grab the rocks with their mouths and throw it back, others destroyed the rocks with moves or their jaws and other just attacked the Digletts with long-range attacks or by charging at the Digletts and Dugtrio, and all while being on top of a pile of Watchogs.
"No wonder our guide Watchog left" I thought to myself.
"Durian, Use Ice Punch" Katarina said,
He shot out a beam of ice towards his fist, covering it with Ice, before he jumped down from the ledge and proceeded to knock out or cause the fleeing of all the Trapinch and Dugtrio, one by one while being practically unfazed by their attacks.
When Durian finally finished, there was nothing but fainted Pokémon everywhere with the exception of himself. "You done there, Durian?" Katarina semi-shouted towards him, "Snorlax!" Durian said in response.
Katarina immediately slid down the ledge and I decided to follow suit along with our Guide Watchog and the Assigned Natu flying near us.
Katarina moved over towards Durian and started rummaging through his bag, while I started separating the Watchogs in the pile so they would not be crushing each other.
Katarina once again sent out her Slowbro, Kikatsugan, and it started shooting out the same pink spheres of light like it did before, Healing the injuries of the various Watchogs and now noticeably, the Watchog pre-evolution, Patrat.
As I decided to sit down and watch Kikatsugan heal the Watchog and Patrat, I took in my surroundings. The cave was surprisingly spacious, though slightly cramped with how many Pokémon were in here, various holes that littered the area had shown signs of previous and the very recent battles that occurred and ice shards were also scattered due to Durian's Ice Punches.
Since the unconscious Trapinch, Digletts and Dugtrio could become future threats when they wake up, I decided to go through my bag and asked Katarina "Do you mind if I catch these Trapinch and Digletts? If they wake up you might have to fight them again so I was just-"
Katarina cut me off from my rambling however and just said "Of course! I said we were gonna go Pokémon Hunting and Catching underground, didn't I?"
"Yes I suppose you did, Lady Katarina"
She just smiled brightly before continuing "Plus I have a cool project planned, and need all the Pokémon I can get! Do you mind trading me any you don't want?"
"Not at all, Katarina"
"Great, I'm thinking about thos-"
"Watchog!" shouted a random Watchog, interrupting whatever Katarina was going to say, though Katarina seemed unbothered just stating "Looks like they're up, we'll talk about trades later."
She then got up and grabbed a different Pokéball, throwing it and revealing her Dragon once more.
"Translation duty again, Onion" the Dragon only nodded before moving its slimy body over to the Watchog and talking with them alongside the Watchog we found aboveground.
As Katarina crouched with the other Pokémon, I thought to myself "The minute she turns ten, joins the semi-adventurous Mira Challenge and insists on getting me into the fun by being a duo, then she gets herself into a situation like this"
But despite that or maybe because of that, it just made me admire Katarina even more because of her passion and boldness. Reminds me of the heroines in the novels we read.
After a while of chatting, Katarina suddenly rose and said "Okay Watchogs, I'll go get everyone back!"
And Watchogs erupted into cheers while Katarina moved towards me and asked "Sophia, do you think you can stay here and protect yourself while I'm gone? I know you don't really specialise in Pokémon battling"
"If you really need all your Pokémon then I am certain I could defend myself, though it would be useful to have one that's skilled in battling"
"Then, hmmm… Trapinch aren't dragons and neither are Scyther, Digletts or Mankey and any of their evolutions except for Trapinch's final evo so~" She audibly pondered before looking down at her Goomy and saying "Onion, you're staying here. Protect Sophia and the Watchogs, that's your new duty, got it?"
The Goomy looked slightly distraught, but it simply shook its body and made an imitation of a salute via its long antennae, due to its lack of arms.
"Great!" Katarina exclaimed before moving towards Durian and rummaging through the bag attached to its belt. As Katarina finished gathering everything she needed, the same Watchog we found on the surface had started guiding her territory of the enemy Pokémon groups.
"Narrow tunnel. Alright Durian, back into the Pokéball" she said, tapping him with a Pokéball and causing a red light to surround and send him into the Pokéball. Katarina then turned to me and the Pokémon in the cave and said "See you guys later!" and entered the tunnel.
The Goomy suddenly started moving towards me, in response started backing away while my breath started quickening, making it a bit difficult to breathe normally. The Goomy noticed my retreat and thankfully stopped, although it did look at me with a confused and concerned expression.
"S-sorry Onion, Y-you aren't very dan-…dragon-like so I should be fine if you stay back, okay?"
I worried that the Goomy would be offended by my comment, but it just gave me a smile and said "Goomy!" before moving towards a rock and looking around.
I had not expected Katarina to instantly return, so I sat down and re-released Baltia and started gently petting and grooming her to pass the time. Meanwhile, the Goomy chatted with the Watchogs and Patrat, and the assigned Natu had started resting.
After a couple more minutes, Baltia seemed to be over my excessive petting and opted to join whatever conversation the Goomy, Watchogs and Patrats were having.
I sighed and chose to just scratch around my bag to review the Mira Contest rules from my handbook.
"I think it's obvious that the administrators had never planned for any underground exploration considering how feral the Pokémon here are. But there also is not many noble girls who would be willing to do such a thing anyways" I then chuckled and said "Big Brother is going to love this story when I tell him about it"
"Let's see: No attacking Natus, Natus are for stopping out of bounds and rule breaking via teleportation, No attacking other players, players can only be female, stealing others Pokéballs is banned- Ah there go, No Go Zones include: outside the moat barrier and the stadium." and after that is just a closing sentence saying: 'Happy Catching and Praise Mira!'
"Guess we are fine. I wonder what rank we'll get when Katarina's finished"
I soon decided to just lay down and stare at the ceiling, thinking about what novels to read. Until I heard it.
A loud and ear piercing roar reverberated across the area, it seemed to have come some from a tunnel, different from the one Katarina used or the one we used to enter the cave initially. I had hoped- prayed even, it was just a miss hearing as it sounded familiar and I dreaded the thought that I was correct, but it was too unique and too burned into my consciousness to forget or misunderstand that roar.
I nervously looked towards the tunnel where the sound seemed to have come from and was struck by pure and unbridled terror.
A massive scaled creature with a shark-like tail and a dagger-like claw protruding from both of it's thin arms with flap at the bottom, it had what looked to be a yellow star on its forehead along with bright red eyes that were glowing and piercing through the darkness it was shrouded by.
The creature stood tall as it roared once more. Shaking with my body frozen in terror, I couldn't concentrate on anything beyond the immediate thoughts of "Not again", "Another Alpha Garchomp!", "Why?!"
The Garchomp continued to move closer, exiting the tunnel it came from as it got closer and closer. The various Watchogs had been attempting to grab and push me away so I could join them in their retreat, but I just froze, barely moved and the Watchogs seemed to move on without me.
Baltia, my Mawile, attempted to shield me from a tail attack by the Garchomp, but it simply hit both me and Baltia. The tail threw us backwards and into a wall, I cried out in pain as I felt my head and back collide into the hard rock and my body fell onto the ground.
The hit to my skull must've been serious, since I soon felt my eyelids get heavy and my body exhausted, I decided to let myself succumb to the exhaustion and closed my eyes.
—
"Lady Ascart, Lady Ascart!"
I yawned, suddenly drowsy as if I had a nap, and looked around me. For some reason, I was inside of a carriage that looked to be capable of having four people at maximum. The seats were comfy and grey while having enough space to carry a large chest in the gap between it and the floor. The wood of the carriage was a nice white or light beige and various beautiful carvings of Corvikinghts and Metagross.
As I looked in front of me, I noticed a familiar woman in a maid dress, traditional in the style of the Ascart Dominion as it was grey and light blue rather than Black and White.
"Hmm, Former Head Maid Isabelle? I thought you retired. And why am I being shaken?" I asked.
Mrs. Isabelle just looked at me in confusion and said "What on earth are you talking about, My Lady. Why would I retire? I am not that old or married yet!"
"Bu-" I said, but I was interrupted by Mrs. Isabelle saying "That must have been a dream, Lady Ascart. And you should not be sleeping in such an inelegant place, I realize that you are six, but you should try to start learning at an early age. Now, we only have an hour left to go, do you remember what to say to your cousin?"
"Oh a dream, must have been a really vivid one" I thought to myself.
Miss Isabelle must have not liked me ignoring her question, snapping her fingers in front of me and saying "Lady Ascart, come on we need to rehearse, remember the special reward your parents promised?"
I immediately nodded my head and Miss Isabelle continued "Okay then, now repeat after me: 'Lord Henry Ascart the Fifth, I, Sophia Ascart of the main branch, am humbly grateful for the opportunity to meet you'"
"R-right. Lor-"
Suddenly, the carriage abruptly halted. I thought that we had arrived sooner than expected, but when I looked out the window, it was still forest and Miss Isabelle didn't mention any detours when we left.
Miss Isabelle looked just as confused along with somewhat angry and she stuck her head out the window, looking like she was about to enter a rant, but no words were said after a loud boom erupted from outside. She instantly ducked her head back in, face now painted with a somewhat horrified expression, and said in a hushed tone "Sophia, I need you to stay calm and hide under the seats"
"But why?" I asked nervously.
Miss Isabelle only winced and I heard an ear piercing roar and a large crash from outside the carriage, the noise only caused her visual distress to get worse as she practically begged out "Just listen to me, okay?" I nodded nervously and saw Miss Isabelle go outside with a Pokéball she grabbed. While I hid underneath the seats as she told me.
The screeching and crashes had not ceased, and now I could hear faint booms and the sounds of people and other Pokémon screaming. I was petrified as I huddled into myself further and shut my watery eyes.
After a while, the noises had ceased and cautiously I opened my eyes to see if anyone came inside. I heard a faint sound of dirt being stomped on and low growls, the sound slowly got louder and louder. I looked towards the window, still somewhat hidden, and saw dark purple scales out the window.
I immediately went further under the seat and fully hid myself. But then, the sound of a window breaking echoed in my ears and I witnessed a massive white claw with a fin-like flap.
The claw broke the floor of the carriage and started moving around as I clutched my mouth to try and hide the sound of my ever quickening breath.
The claw mysteriously stopped and looked to have left the carriage, and then the sound of the monster loudly sniffing the the area echoed in my ears, as it abruptly stopped I felt a tinge of hope that I wasn't caught, but that hope vanished as I felt my body being flung in midair, pieces of wood scattered everywhere and my body crashed face first into the hard ground.
I was in pain and it hurt so much that I started crying, but still, I tried to get up because maybe I could run or get help.
Pushing through the pain, I managed to steady myself and turned my head to see the monster rapidly shake its body and shark-like tail to get rid of the pieces of wood and glass covering it, splattering a red liquid around in the process. As it stared down at me with its glowing red eyes before opening its jaws, littered with sharp teeth and had an orange glow coming from the depths of its mouth.
I instinctively closed my eyes and started crawling frantically. But I stopped when I felt my hand get wet and I stared down to see that it was on a puddle of red liquid. The puddle was growing and I looked further ahead of me to see where it came from "Miss Isabelle" I meekly whispered.
All of a sudden, I saw nothing but white as I felt a sudden surge of energy as the hair on my head stood up.
—
I instantly opened my eyes and found myself no longer in pain, but I did feel incredibly exhausted. I recognised it as the hospital area of my room and saw that the door was slightly opened with light seeping through.
Curious, I tried to get out of bed and while my entire body felt weak, I was able to get to the door and peeked through as I overheard a conversation between mother and father.
Father looked tired and said somberly "You cannot be serious, a Psychic"
Mother looked just as sad and quickly said "Listen Dear, I promise I am faithful. I-I know that it's rare for psychics to appear without inheriting it but-"
"I do trust you, dear. I am simply worried about Sophia, what will people say o-or do. What if they call a Witch-Hunt!"
Mother grimaced, probably at the thought of such a thing happening "Maybe we could replace that present with a stronger Pokémon that can protect her, like a Tinkaton or Archaludon?"
"The girl must already be terrified of Pokémon, what do you think will happen if she gets face to face with another Dragon?" Father said skeptically.
"Then what do you suggest, once the Royal family gets notified they will surely leak it to other noble families and all of Sorcier will know. She needs protection from those cultist kidnappers and manic Witch-Hunters!" Mother practically yelled out.
Father was silent for a moment, likely thinking over it until quietly responding "Then we just never tell the King, if he never knows then nobody else will, except us and our family Doctor"
Mother only looked shocked and in response before yelling back "Are you suggesting we keep it secret? It could be considered treason and they may have us killed! And what about Nicole?!"
Father snapped back "Maybe so, but what's worse? Getting her into the eyes of the Psychic Cult and Witch-Hunters while her only protection is a single Pokémon that might terrify her, or stopping her from being noticed in the first place?!"
Mother paused, probably stunned into silence. Father just looked down and sighed before continuing more softly "Sophia already struggles because of her appearance, the other children will ever go near her if they knew about this. No one can know, not even Nicole"
"Maybe we can help her train her abilities?" Mother asked meekly
Father only moved and hugged mother before quietly replying "You saw how she came back, those burns were not that Garchomp's doing"
As the conversation ended, I chose to silently move back to my bed, not wanting to deal with any of the revelations by sleeping it away temporarily, so I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
—
I slowly re-opened my eyes and noticed that I felt taller, and I was sitting upright and in a chair. I looked from the corner of my eyes to see that I was in the familiar dining room of the Ascart Estate and that I was eating with only Mother and Father. Nicole was strangely nowhere to be found.
Father suddenly cleared his throat and said "Sophia, I think it's time we talk about your education, you are ten and you will be in the academy in 5 years. This is usually when noble families talk about more extensive training for their dragons but…"
"I'm sorry, father. Maybe if I borrow a dragon and pass it off as mine then I can join the RDP Academy"
"Sophia" mother said softly "Your father and I have been thinking about it and, we are considering the possibility of notifying the king and the RDP Academy about your status as a psychic"
"B-but you could be in trouble. Treason could be given for hiding it for this long!" I said frantically, remembering what they made sure to tell me so I would never let my secret slip.
"If we negotiate this right then you might be able to join the academy, we will not be declared traitors and no Witch-Hunt will happen to you. Sure concessions will be made, but that's a small price for your education. The King has grown more tolerant so I am certain we can make some agreement" Father said.
Mother soon spoke, adding "And with Nicole and Katarina, I am sure you will be able avoid any dangerous bullies, especially if Nicole does well in the Junior Championship this year"
"But what if the King asks too much?, what if-"
"How about we wait until you turn Eleven, unless you want more time, is that okay?" Mother interrupted.
I knew that once they thought it was for mine and Nicole's best, they rarely could be convinced otherwise, so I just nodded and said softly "Yes Mother, Father. It is enough time"
My mother replied with a happy "Great we'l-"
Mysteriously, A large boom was heard but mother just continued with the same happy smile on her face as if nothing happened. Then her voice was muffled and my vision of everything was suddenly blurred when I blinked, but they still continued as if nothing was happening while I started frantically looking around and rubbing my eyes.
Soon my head started randomly throbbing and I clutched it while saying "Ow, my head, it's like I got hit!" and then I remembered "Wait, I was in a cave and I was- oh no!"
—-Onion's Point of View—-
As I wobbly stood, staring up at the glaring Pokémon growling above in front of me, I heard a faint soft groan coming from behind me and I instantly recognized it as Sophia's voice, turning behind me to see her eyes slightly opening, though no sign of awaking came from Baltia unfortunately.
"She's waking up! Maybe we can run away" I thought hopefully.
And so I yelled at it again "Why are you attacking us? Just stop!"
But like before, the Pokémon mindlessly roared at me before spewing another powerful flame from its mouth. The flame charged toward me and I defended with another wave of summoned Muddy Water, but much weaker than before, because of that even more flames came to mine and Sophia's way, luckily I was able to shield Sophia from the blast with my body even if it hurt.
"I'm running out of energy, I can't keep this up for much longer" I thought to myself as I attempted to back the Garchomp away with a weak Dragon Pulse. The Garchomp only lifted up its arm and slashed my beam in half.
Suddenly, the Garchomp attempted another rush like it did before as it sprinted towards me with its claws glowing purple and unlike before, I didn't have Mawile to aid me. I braced for impact as I was thrown into the air by a powerful and painful claw.
The claw pierced my skin and I muffled my scream as I attempted to distract myself with counter-attacking, shooting out a huge burst of water towards the Garchomp, the Garchomp looked to be caught off guard before the burst of water covered it's face from my eyes and resulted in me not noticing the Garchomp's sharp teeth opening to bite.
I noticed the attempt and maneuvered myself to avoid the attack, but I wasn't fast enough and my antennae got caught in its jaws. The Garchomp shook me around, disorienting me, before it threw me back into the air and I fell into its mouth.
Darkness surrounded me as I couldn't see anything and my body throbbed in pain from being stabbed, burned and slammed. I soon felt myself being pushed by gravity towards some tunnel inside the Monster's mouth, most likely because it was swallowing me.
I attempted to push through my pain and hold onto the bottom and roof of its mouth using my antennae, but the Monster's saliva and my natural slime caused me to start slipping.
"Have to protect Sophia, I can't give up!" I thought, but still, I slipped and fell into the tunnel leading to its stomach. I winced at the thought of the acid that would soon come and closed my eyes.
But then, I could faintly hear the sound of Sophia scream out my name. And moments later, I felt myself be thrusted in the opposite direction and I quickly found myself being launched backwards. The sudden air on my body made me somewhat cold, but I quickly landed on something warm and even somewhat soft.
I opened my eyes and was faced with the Monster in the coughing fit and clutching its stomach, then I looked above me and saw Sophia staring down at me with a tearful but relieved expression. Her hair was standing up and its ends were glowing pink along with her eyes for some mysterious reason, and my body next to Baltia and was cradled in Sophia's arms that were ON FIRE!
"SOPHIA ARE YOU OKAY!" I screamed, though I knew she couldn't understand me since she was Human. But she nonetheless recognized my concern and said "Do not worry, I am fine, It is only my Psychic powers. But we have to go now-" she then turned her back from the Monster and started sprinting at speeds I'd never seen from a human.
"My psychic powers are going to reach its limit soon and I definitely cannot hold off an Alpha Garchomp any longer so we need to run!"
However, the Monster seemed to have other plans as it moved at an even faster speed and stopped right in front of Sophia, stopping her retreat.
In a blink of an eye, Sophia threw me and the unconscious Baltia into the air as the Monster spun around to hit her with its tail. The view allowed me to see pink fire move from her hands and legs towards her stomach as she took the blow and was knocked into the ground, while I was mostly unharmed thanks to her throwing me.
Sophia was clutching her stomach in pain, but it looks like her fire took most of the attack. But, Sophia's hair started to fall down and lost the glowing pink highlights as it returned to normal.
"Sophia!" I screamed as I moved over to her, luckily she wasn't unconscious and she noticed me moving towards her.
"You should be running" She said in a faint and husky voice, I simply shook my head in response and tried giving her a determined look despite all my fear and tears.
"It's my duty to protect you, and you are still mine and Master Katarina's friend, abandonment is not Katarina's way and it isn't mine!" I declared.
While I knew she didn't understand the specifics of what I said, she seemed to still get the message as she only responded by saying "Onion" in a soft tone.
But our moment was interrupted by the Garchomp breathing heavily from behind us, I turned my body to look as I witnessed the monster raise its sharp claw in an attack.
I closed my eyes instinctively and braced for impact, but that never occurred as I heard a voice shout out "High Horsepower!"
It was Master Katarina! The Watchogs went to go get her like I asked! And right on cue, I saw a familiar Snorlax covered in orange light along with Katarina riding it, the Snorlax slammed into the Garchomp's skull causing the dragon to be thrusted into the ground.
Durian and Katarina landed in front of me, Katarina had hopped off of Durian and let him go attack the Garchomp as she asked me "We came as soon as we heard the roar. You two okay?"
I simply nodded and looked down in shame, not trusting my voice or writing to convey my guilt for failing Katarina's mission.
Katarina merely crouched down gently patted my head, as she said "Don't worry, Onion. I'm just glad you're alright and I'm sure you did your best" She then turned to Sophia and told her "We'll talk later Sophia, right now I'm glad you aren't too injured though. Heal Pulse isn't as effective on humans after all!"
Looking upwards, Katarina suddenly yelled out "Kikatsu, we need your Heal Pulse again"
I soon heard a faint "Right" before Kikatsugan suddenly appeared in front of me because of her Teleport, "Not often Onion get hurt like this, only when she spar Durian" Kikatsugan said to me, she then proceeded to shoot out a ball of pink light.
Like usual, it healed my injuries but I still felt tired due to my previous exhaustion from the one-sided fight and escape attempt and now that I knew Sophia was safe, I decided to just rest until Katarina summons me again.
—-Sophia's Point of View—-
I watched as Kikatsugan finished healing Onion and moved over and started healing Baltia.
I was confused by what Katarina meant by "We'll talk later", but I decided to deal with whatever it meant at that later and let the wave of relief wash over me and my adrenaline drop, causing me to slump over once I got my own minor treatment by Kikatsugan.
But I still had enough energy to worry about Durian as I asked Katarina "Will Durian be alright? That Garchomp was really strong"
Katarina looked to have thought about it for a moment and I heard her mumble "Looks like it's time to use 'those" I was confused, but I did not much time to process it as Katarina looked towards Durian and said "Okay Durian, it's serious enough so take them out!"
Durian nodded in agreement as he dodged a Flamethrower and grabbed the two hilts on the side. I immediately looked as intensely as I could, curious to know just what kind of weapon Katarina had given to her Pokémon that required a situation this tense to be revealed, and then, the "blades" were revealed to be flat and in a circular shape with the edges of the blade being in a more upward hooked shape, they were black and- wait… those are just "F-Frying Pans?!" I shouted, I just couldn't stop myself from blurting it out.
The Pokémon I have to rely on to protect all of us is holding two frying pans with sword hilts at the ends.
"Remember those Twisted Spoons Nicole gave me a few years ago?"
I nodded and Katarina continued "Well, I managed to make a little alteration to them"
"But up to 20% on Psychic Moves cannot be enough of a jump to restrict it like this, right?" I pondered internally, still the fight had to go on and Katarina was busying herself with it right now.
"Okay Durian, Use Zen Headbutt"
Durian nodded and ran towards the Garchomp, his head surrounded in pink light, and crashed into the Alpha Pokémon's stomach. However, Garchomp only looked irritated and bit the head of Durian, it proceeded to easily pick Durian up and I saw a bright light coming from the mouth of Garchomp.
But Katarina did not look too worried as she said "Durian, use Double Zen Headbutt" and Durian raised his pans, covered in a pink light, and slammed them into the Garchomp biting him, causing the Pokémon to let go of Durian. However, the Garchomp still fired its beam of light at Durian, Durian managed to dodge most of the attack with only a part of his leg being caught in the blast.
The Garchomp then shook its head before glaring at Durian... It shook its head because it was in pain. It was in pain!
I could not quite believe my eyes, but my disbelief had not stopped time as I heard Katarina shout out "Durian, Use Double Ice Punch!"
Durian immediately had both pans be covered in ice and charged towards the Garchomp. The Garchomp responded by shooting a beam of purple light towards Durian, but Durian managed to run through the attack and stacked both pans on top of each other before hitting the Garchomp in the Stomach.
The Alpha Pokémon let out a cry of pain, but quickly turned around and smacked Durian with a tail covered in water, Katarina immediately commanded Durian to retaliate with a Crunch and Durian followed, biting down hard on the tail of the Garchomp to avoid being thrown away.
The Garchomp looked annoyed by having its tail bitten and started wildly swinging it around, slamming Durian into the walls and ground of the rocky cave. Durian attempted to hold on, but it was not enough as he was forced to let go after a particularly rough slam onto the ground and dropped his pans in the process.
Durian suddenly turned over and tried to reach out for his pans, but the Garchomp quickly stomped on Durian and stopped him in his tracks. Katarina looked concerned and shouted "Use Dig!" and Durian promptly started digging semi-frantically, the Garchomp responded by shooting out a burst of fire towards Durian and there were too many flames to see Durian from my sight.
I hoped that Durian was fine and, as the flames dispersed, I got my answer because the Snorlax was gone with only a hole in his stead.
The Garchomp frantically looked everywhere around the floor, searching for where the Snorlax might be and soon the answer arrived as the ceiling above it broke and revealed Durian.
Durian landed a powerful kick to the skull of Garchomp and forced it into the ground, he then jumped off the Garchomp and grabbed his pans before moving to a decent distance and let out an encouraging "Snorlax!", but worryingly, Durian also looked to be somewhat exhausted.
I assumed that it was the damage he took from Garchomp, but I overheard Katarina mutter "one more left" before she loudly and confidently stated "Durian, use Dynamic Punch!"
Durian nodded as he put his pans back in their sheaths and attempted to hit the Garchomp with a glowing fist, but it immediately got up and dodged, it then proceeded to counter-attack Durian with a now glowing claw. Durian was caught off-guard and got cut, but attempted his previous move for a second time, however, the Garchomp blocked with a claw that cancelled both Pokémon's moves. The Garchomp then repeated with a different claw and Durian did the same, causing the two Pokémon to be at a standoff.
I decided to take this momentary pause to get an answer about something Katarina stated and asked her "Hey Katarina, what does 'one more left' mean?"
Katarina looked surprised, but quickly explained "The pans help Durian use moves twice and at the same time, which is why I said 'Double Ice Punch' and 'Double Zen Headbutt', but he can only do it 3 times before fainting since he's inexperienced"
I tried remembering the fight and I instantly felt my heart drop as I blurted out "But… he used it twice"
"If Durian has to use it again…" I decided to just shake my head and think "No, Durian can do this! He still winning"
The standoff continued for a while, until Garchomp had broken the stalemate by headbutting Durian with a unique move. Durian was dazed which gave the Garchomp a small opening only for a biting move, only for that opening to be halted by Durian kicking Garchomp in the face with a commanded Mega Kick.
The Garchomp crashed into the cave walls, causing some rocks on the roof to fall. Katarina and the battling Pokémon did not seem to notice, but I did and said "Katarina, the cave might not be able to handle them fighting"
That caused her to look and see the rocks breaking off and only gave out a quick "Okay, thanks" before she returned her attention to Durian and said "Durian, no time outlast so get ready!"
"Snorlax!" Durian said in response and entered a defensive position, waiting for his opponent to retaliate.
And the Garchomp did just that, as streaks of white light suddenly appeared and surrounded the Garchomp, it then charged at Durian, sending him flying into the walls. At least that's what I thought, but Durian managed to flip himself around and avoided slamming into walls before using the force from the blow to bounce right back at the Garchomp, pans crossed and ready to attack.
Katarina immediately took the opportunity for what seemed to be the finishing move as she said "Double Giga Impact!"
A bright orange and purple light suddenly surrounded Durian as he leaped towards the Garchomp who attempted to catch the Snorlax rather than dodge.
The two collided and Garchomp was forced into the ground, the weight of both Pokémon caused dust to scattered throughout the area.
Once the dust cleared, it showed Durian and Garchomp on the Ground with Durian clearly fainted and pans loosely in his claws.
But, the Garchomp slowly managed to stand up, Katarina moved in front of me to be some kind of human shield as the Garchomp looked away from the fainted Durian stared daggers at me, it then took a wobbly step over the Snorlax step and another and another before it collapsed face first onto the ground.
After waiting for a moment, Katarina returned Durian to his Pokéball and threw an UltraBall at the unconscious Garchomp that had tried to kill us.
"Can't hurt us in there, I guess I'll deal with it later" Katarina muttered to herself, she then looked towards me and frowned.
"Right, she said 'We'll talk later' and I guess now is later" I thought and felt terrified as to why she frowned, my mind immediately thinking that she was going to scold me for being unable to help during the fight or the challenge in general, but like usual, Katarina surprised me by going onto her knees and pressing her head to the ground and shouted "I'm really really really sorry we left you, Sophia!"
"Lady Katarina" I softly said, but she ignored it as she continued.
"It's just that the Trapinch's ability had stopped us from Teleporting back when we heard the noise and there were so many and I know that's no excuse-"
"Lady Katarina" I repeated, a little more loudly this time.
"But I just thought that you'd like to know that I was taking it seriously and I should've left you with Durian o-or maybe we should've just done the challenge normally, but the point I'm trying to make is that I hope you'll forgive me! Despite th-"
"Lady Katarina Claes" I said as I gripped her shoulders, she looked shocked and paused while having a mortified look.
I hated that I was responsible for it and quickly continued,
"I had a great time! Riding on Durian, meeting new and fun Pokémon, exploring the underground, it was exciting and fun and like I was living out those fantasy novels in real life. And I am happy to have joined you, maybe a lot less life threatening danger would be nice, but I am still happy to be here because of YOU!, and… I hope we can do this next year and maybe even the years after that?"
Katarina smiled "Yeah, I'd love too" she said before she suddenly gave me a hug, I was stunned for a moment but I soon reciprocated and hugged her back. "Let's keep teaming up until we go to the Academy, how about that!"
"Of course" I responded softly.
I wished that we could've stayed like that forever, but the hug was soon interrupted as we both somehow managed to hear the sound of a Chimeco ringing. Katarina instantly let go and gave me a confused expression and I explained "Katarina, that means we have 10 Minutes left. How many Pokémon have you caught?"
Katarina looked nervous and said "Um… two" as she pointed to the UltraBall holding the Alpha Garchomp and another one for a different Pokémon, "What about the Pokémon groups you chased?" I frantically asked her.
"I was able to take down a ton of different Pokémon but I thought I had enough time to catch them later and only caught this massive Clodsire with glowing red eyes since it was strangely tougher than the others, then I heard the Garchomp's roar and some Patrat and Watchog ran into battlefield and managed to convince me to go back and- Oh wait the Watchogs! They must be in so much trouble"
"But Durian's passed out so how are you gonna get back in time, can Kikatsugan Teleport all of us or should I stay back again? ,
"No, she can only take one person plus herself at a time, she still needs more training, and I am not leaving you again" Katarina replied somberly.
I just sighed in response, out of ideas on how to get back in less than Ten Minutes. I had hoped that Katarina could get some Pokémon like she wanted despite me being here, but it looks like I'm too big a burden for even Katarina to handle.
"What if we use the Natu, it might be tired from running away but-"
Suddenly, I was interrupted by a series of squeaks that were familiar, not from a Garchomp of course. No, it sounded like it was coming from behind me and Katarina, and as I turned around I saw the horde of Watchogs running out of the tunnel they evacuated to and it looked like many of them were dragging something.
—-Mary's Point of View—-
In a massive field with the Forest in the distance, I stood in line with the other contestants. I could not help but glance to the side that was missing a couple certain someones. I sighed in worry as I knew that being tardy would, at minimum, cause the judges to score you as low as possible.
"Still-" I thought "while it is not abnormal for Katarina to be late, the Natu accompanying her and Sophia should have forced them to come back so what if-'
But I soon cut my thoughts off as I heard my name being called, I stepped forward and faced the three judges behind an out of place table. One female with glasses and intensely reading a Book, another an Old Man with a giant bird perching on his head (possibly a Pidgeot or Pidgeotto), and a third man who seemed to be the youngest and was wearing a fancy suit while sitting next to a large bipedal dragon Pokémon with a sharp axe-like structure on the sides of its face (Definitely a Haxorus).
I moved my purse to my front and released the various Pokémon I had caught, one by one until I finished. The female judge proceeded to lift up her head from her book and stated out loud "Mary Hunt: 10 Eevees, 6 Amoonguss and 15 Fletchinder"
The young well dressed man gave out a nobleman style laugh before saying "Quite impressive considering the lackluster typing of your… Yanmega was it?"
I was irritated at the judge's backhanded compliment, but I just said "Thank you. I trained Chanterelle, my Scolipede, quite well, she's a natural fighter and racer"
"Well Lady Hunt" said the Old Judge "with all these rare specimens, I can confidently say you will land comfortably in the top tens"
"Thank you, Judge" I replied, before returning every Pokémon and placing them in a box labeled with my name near the Judge table. As I walked back, I could hear the young male judge state "Katarina Claes and Sophia Ascart"
And as expected, no one came and I heard the same judge sigh and say "Abse-", but suddenly the voice of Katarina echoed as she shouted "We're here!".
Katarina proceeded to: Fall from above and right next to me, have a Natu fall down onto her back, have Sophia do the same and also on top of said Natu, then get nearly crushed by her Snorlax if she had not grabbed her Pokeball and returned him in time.
I am certain that I looked visibly concerned as I crouched down to them and asked "Are you alright?! How dare your Natu drop you all like that!"
"It's not his fault, Mary. That Natu did have to run- or fly, from a rampaging Alpha Garchomp while I was out, so I'm sure he's super tired and oh no!" Sophia said in response before he cut herself off and leapt off Katarina and by proxy the Natu she crushed.
"…What. How does one even respond to a reply like that? I knew Katarina was capable of getting into such shenanigans, even with such a controlled event like the Mira Contest, but Sophia!" Then I sighed and just laughed a little before saying "I guess that's what happens when you let a pent up Katarina out "
Katarina only got a confused look on her face and was about to respond, but the old male judge had decided to rudely interrupt with a loud "Ahem" and continued once he got our attention "Stand up and release all the Pokémon caught, Lady Claes and Lady Ascart"
Katarina and Sophia proceeded to hurriedly get up, "All of them?" Katarina asked, while Sophia looked terribly nervous.
"Yes, we cannot judge them without seeing them, Lady Claes" the elder man said in a matter of fact tone.
"Okay" she said before she dumped out her bag containing dozens of Pokéballs. I was shocked and so were the Judges. But Katarina, oblivious as always, did not seem to notice as she nudged a blushing Sophia and made her empty out a similarly full bag of Pokéballs.
Katarina then sheepishly said "This is all of them, I don't know how many there are so sorry about that" and proceeded to send out each and every one of the Pokémon caught, at some point, the Judges had to move their desks further back just to make space for Katarina and Sophia's Pokémon.
After a few minutes of Katarina and Sophia just sending out their Pokémon, the judges looked at the onslaught and had their impressed and surprised expressions slowly fade. The entirety was just Scyther, Mankey, Primeape, Trapinch and Vibrava, Digletts of both Alolan and Kantonian forms and the evolution of both forms.
"Oh I see, we always have a case like this every year" Said the older male judge, chuckling a bit. "A competitor thinks that they can just catch tons of common and low grade Pokémon and be rewarded on sheer numbers alone. You were not only late, but also wasted our time and showed up with this pathetic display"
"Those Vibrava and Alolan Digletts of yours are certainly a unique exception and probably could have won you a somewhat decent spot in the challenge" said the younger male, "but you are a duo so your points will have to be divided by two and we do not appreciate slackers"
But the third and female judge had not said anything, her head was more intensely stuck inside a book the entire time. Until she suddenly spoke up "Wait, when was the last time we had seen a Trapinch, Vibravam Mankey, Primeape or Scyther in this forest?"
The other two suddenly had pondering expressions and the elder one said "Actually, I do not think we have ever had a contestant catch any before?"
But the younger male simply waved his hand and said "Probably because a Bug Type like Scyther are too low grade and too high energy for them"
"But never? No way, and the regular the staff have never mentioned seeing any Bug type that abnormally strong here, and I doubt they would let Pokémon as unpredictable and feral as Mankey or Primeape roam this place, and the Vibrava probably would have been removed and sold by now"
"So they cheated and brought Pokémon from outside?" said the youngest.
"Wait!" Sophia said, surprising everyone with how loud her voice was, but knowing her, sudden attention must have made Sophia less confident but she continued, in her regular meek voice "T-the Pokémon we caught were caught underground, maybe that's why"
The judges looked skeptical and the elder one said "Explain"
This time, Katarina took the lead "My Snorlax used Dig and took us to this massive cave where we met these Pokémon and two Alpha Pokémon who were really tough. I would send them out, but it might be dangerous if they already recovered since it was already difficult the first time around"
"A-also, if we wanted to cheat, some more interesting and believable P-Pokémon would have certainly been our choice instead?" Sophia added.
Still, the judges did not look convinced and the youngest of them even laughed and he said "An Alpha Pokémon? All of those were removed from this area decades ago! Come up with a better lie girls, now show us your Natu so it can call you out"
Katarina and Sophia suddenly looked even more nervous, Katarina made the first move as she proceeded to walk over to where they fell and grabbed an unconscious Natu "The Alpha Pokémon chased him so he's…"
The oldest man suddenly and uncharacteristically entered a blind rage and said "You knocked out our Natus! They are specifically trained for stamina to handle this contest, there is no way our Natus could be in such a condition unless you intentionally attacked them. That is absolutely prohibited, no Exceptions! Consider yourselves disqualified and expect to be banned from the Mira Contest when we talk to the higher ups!" he yelled, he then sat down and proceeded to grumble something about "the audacity"
I was too distracted by the saddened faces of Katarina and Sophia to really care about what he said. "I cannot just do nothing for them. Maybe a talk with the judges when they have cooled down might help" I thought to myself.
—-Katarina's Point of View—-
As me and Sophia finished gathering all the Pokéballs and were forced to still put them into our labeled boxes, we left the snickering crowd of noble girls and field. As we walked through the halls while an immense silence clung onto us.
"Great, my stupid plan to dig cost us the game and now Sophia's even more isolated" I thought, so I mustered up the courage to say "Sophia, you said that you'd love to do this next year, right?"
Sophia nodded, her eyes full of hope. I continued "Well, I promise that If you decide to do this again, then I won't do another crazy scheme like today and I'll make sure you get first place and no one will make fun of you. I know I went back on my promise: Saying that I'll make sure this year was fun. But it will be next time, If we don't get kicked out"
Sophia looked shocked and said Lady Katarina, could repeat that, what you said right after 'crazy scheme'"
"I'll make sure you get first place and no one will make fun of you?"
"Yes that. Katarina, is that why you wanted to catch so many Pokémon so badly?"
I just nodded, "I thought that was obvious, of course it wasn't just because of my project. If you got first place then no one would try and bully you, right?"
Sophia just looked at me and I could've sworn her eyes were glassy before she practically tackled me and gave me a bear hug.
"S-Sophia?" I said out of shock. But Sophia only hugged me tighter in response.
I didn't quite understand why she wanted to hug me so badly, but I decided to just hug her back anyways.
Suddenly, we heard a voice call out to us "Lady Claes, Lady Ascart! Wait a moment"
I instantly recognized it as the voice of the female judge and turned to see that the judge was running towards us. After waiting for her to catch her breath once she caught up, I asked her "Need something?"
"Lady Claes and Lady Ascart, after clarifying with your Natu, we have realised that all Pokémon caught were legitimate meaning that you both win the Mira Contest with a total of 118 Pokémon: 84 from Lady Claes and 34 from Lady Ascart"
"Really!" Sophia said
The judge nodded and handed us each a piece of paper along with our own trophy
The paper read out my results "8 Mankey, Rare. 8 Primeape, Rare. 15 Kantonian Digletts, Uncommon. 12 Alolan Digletts, Rare. 6 Kantonian Dugtrio, Rare. 3 Alolan Dugtrio, Rare. 8 Scyther, Rare. 12 Trapinch, Beyond Rare. 9 Vibrava, Beyond Rare. one Alpha Garchomp, Supernatural one Alpha Clodsire, Supernatural"
"We even had to make new terms from just how impressive some of the catches were. You two win by a landslide, we will message all participants about this error at a later date so apologies for not believing you two"
I felt so… happy! about this: Mother will be pleased with the Ground type catches of Garchomp, Diglett Trapinch and thrift evolutions. My secret plan can happen and Sophia won't get bullied as much once news of our win gets out.
After we both respectively thanked the lady, she explained that we would get our Pokémon once they finished a veterinary check and shipped to our respective estates. Me and Sophia continued to walk and chatted on what Pokémon the other wanted from each other since Eighty-Four was definitely too much for me to handle right now. Once we arrived at the carriages with Sophia, I waved goodbye to her and promised to continue our discussion and left for my own carriage.
I sat down, pulled out my Doom Avoidance Notebook and made a check mark next to "Get Farmers" and a different check mark for "Get Fertilizer Pokémon". And with that there was only two more steps left "Train the Farming Pokémon" and "Get Secret Base for new Farm"
I felt myself smile as I saw that my efforts would be rewarded soon, but today had been a long day and the ride was usually boring. So I figured that I'd get comfy and let myself fall asleep while looking out the window.
Author's Notes: And that's the Chapter. Only three more till the Academy! (I'm sorry).
Also, Chapter 4 has been redone to make it more enjoyable, the results are still the same so you won't have to go and reread or anything, just something for new readers to enjoy better and all rewrites will have "*" added to their title.
ALSO ALSO, as you might've noticed I changed the way People and Pokémon think from 'blank' to "blank" with 'I thought' or 'pondered' at the end to make it different from speech. Anyways, here's a fun fact 'cus I didn't make any art.
This Chapter had quite a bit of sections removed, like the thing you read was only 75% of the initially planned version as I was gonna show Katarina fighting the hordes and the introduction to the contest along with Katarina's 10th Birthday Party. This was also the chapter with the most drastic changes as it was going to similar to this but lacked Sophia and had Katarina be in the forest from chapter 7 (The one where Durian Evolved) and she'd be facing a final boss kind of battle with a Luxray or Pawmot and it'd end with Onion evolving to a Sliggoo and the villain Pokemon boss thing being redeemed and afterwards being gifted to an Ascart, but then I kept mulling over the details of the fight and eventually got inspired to make Katarina be in a literal challenge because of the temporary name I gave the beta, "Monkey Challenge"
There's more scrapped content I had planned but I'll save that for the April Fools Chapter :D, bye.