gladdecease
Master Coordinator
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Prophecies of the Summoned
Chapter One
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Prophecies of the Summoned
Chapter One
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A teenage girl smiled, her ocean blue eyes echoing her merriment as she continued telling her story to the two younger children before her. “And then Jigglypuff came out of nowhere and bounced up on its stage. It started singing just in time, and we all started to fall asleep. Tracey and I were asleep pretty quickly, but Ash and Pikachu managed to stay awake long enough to catch Snorlax.” The youngest, a boy less than 10 years of age, laughed.
“That was pretty silly,” he commented, referring to an earlier moment in the story. “Just because Togepi was a baby doesn’t mean it didn’t know any attacks. Right Togetic?” The flying Pokémon floated down beside the boy’s head and nodded its spiked head.
That is correct, Max. By that time, I believe that I could use Charm and Metronome, if nothing else. Having been around Clefairy a few times, it would have been difficult not to pick up some moves. Max’s eyes widened behind his glasses.
“Wow! You’ve met Clefairy? Are they really from space?” As Togetic informed the Pokémon enthusiast of its past with the normal type Pokémon, the other listener to the story, a young girl slightly older than Max, glanced over at a clear plastic container. Inside laid a pastel pink egg on top of a red velvet cushion.
“So, Misty,” she wondered aloud to the red head beside her. “When do you think your Luvdisc egg will hatch?” Misty shrugged and looked past her brunette friend towards the water type's case.
“Beats me, May.” She sighed wistfully, her eyes clouding over as she zoned out. May waved a gloved hand in front of her older, water training-training friend. Misty seemed to ignore the flash of blue and white moving before her eyes until May accidentally bopped her on the head. “Huh? Oh, sorry, May...where are Ash and Brock? I haven’t seen ’em since breakfast.”
“Didn’t they say something about looking for trainers to battle? Ash does need the practice before the Hoenn League.” Misty nodded in agreement. She had almost forgotten about the upcoming competition.
“But why would Brock go with?”
“Umm...” Misty realized what must have happened and cut short the coordinator.
“Never mind. Togetic?” The happiness Pokémon stopped itself mid sentence.
Yes, Misty? The teen pulled her red backpack over her shoulder, resting it neatly on the sleeve of her yellow tank top.
“Could you find Pikachu for me, please?”
Certainly. Togetic closed its eyes for a moment, then opened them and smiled up at its surrogate mother. Done. Anything else?
“Yes. Teleport us there.”
“What about us, Misty?”
“Don’t we get to come along?” Misty turned to them, about to tell them to clean up their room and wait for her return, but she faltered. The Pokémon Center room that they were staying in was spotless. Max was bent over, tying one green shoe’s laces, his yellow-colored backpack resting on his shoulders. May was standing beside him, straightening her red and white handkerchief on her head with one hand. The other was resting on her hip, her fingers brushing against the golden hued fanny pack tied loosely around her waist.
“You know what? You can come. Just grab Luvdisc’s egg, would ya?” May picked up the case obligingly. “Let’s go Togetic.” Togetic closed its eyes and glowed a sky blue for a moment. The group disappeared.
Misty felt a slight tingle, as though her whole body had been numb and was regaining its ability to move once more. Then she could feel the air whistling around her, the sensation of floating on the breeze, and the sun on her - wait a minute; floating? She opened her eyes and looked around. To her left, a Swellow squawked in surprise at the sight of the human sharing airspace with it. To her right, Togetic was sweatdropping sheepishly. Uh...oops?
“Togetic!” Misty cried out, the floating sensation being replaced by one of falling a great distance in a short amount of time. May and Max, who had already started plummeting, remained content with crying out and clutching each other in their fear. Togetic quickly popped down to the ground below, trying to find a way to phrase this news.
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A young teen boy dressed in blue paused in throwing one of his Pokéballs, causing it to open after bouncing on the ground, revealing a red tortoise Pokémon known to most as Torkoal. “Funny,” he muttered. “That almost sounded like--” His mumblings were cut off by the appearance of Togetic in front of him, waving its stubby little arms around frantically.
Ash! Max, May, and Misty are falling from really high up! You have to stop them from hitting the ground! Needless to say, Ash was surprised, nearly jumping out of his sweatshirt in shock.
“What?! But--how--” He looked around anxiously, his gaze landing on a brunette in indigo and blue facing him; the trainer he had been about to battle. “Do you have any psychic Pokémon?” She nodded, bemused by all the actions going on. “There’s no time to explain, but would you have all of them that can use Confusion or Disable? I need to stop my friends from hitting the ground.” The girl reached into her black side pack, pulled out three Pokéballs and tossed them into the air.
“Dakku, Tsuki, Yume! Stop Ash's friends from falling with Confusion!” A yellow-colored duck Pokémon, brown-hued owl Pokémon, and a golden-toned Pokémon carrying a spoon appeared. After an order to all the Pokémon, the head feathers of the Noctowl, the spoon of the Kadabra, and the eyes of the Psyduck glowed an unearthly blue-green color. Above the Pokémon trainers, the screaming stopped, if only for a moment. Togetic popped off to make sure Max, May, and Misty were okay while the girl instructed her Pokémon to slowly lower Ash’s friends to the ground. Everything was going smoothly for a while, when the girl’s Psyduck suddenly twitched, then lost its turquoise glimmer, collapsing to the ground. The girl comforted her Pokémon, reassuring it that it was quite all right that it hadn’t succeeded, though she and Ash knew otherwise. Togetic popped up in front of the trainers immediately.
Misty’s falling again! Ash looked up. He saw a blue and orange dot above him that he was pretty sure was Misty. As he wondered what he should do, a cry of “Gyarados, I choose you” echoed throughout the skies. The blue speck was immediately obscured by red energy that morphed into a long blue and yellow squiggle. Ash continued to peer up for a few moments before he realized what exactly that squiggle was. He ran around in circles for a few moments more before the atrocious Pokémon landed squarely on his forehead. Misty slid off the Gyarados, returned it, and turned to face a brown haired girl wearing glasses with yellow-tinged lenses, a deep purple shirt and navy blue, zipper-covered jeans.
“Hi. I’m looking for a guy named Ash. He’s about this tall, wearing black fingerless gloves, red ’n black Pokéball cap...you seen him?” The girl pointed behind Misty, her hand shaking as though she was holding back a laugh. Misty glanced behind herself, wondering what was so funny. She sweatdropped, noticing Ash lying on the ground, twitching and moaning ever so slightly. “What’re you doing on the ground?” Ash jumped up, as if he had never been squished by the quarter-ton Pokémon.
“Your Gyarados crushed me!”
“Why didn’t you move out of the way?”
“There wasn’t any time!”
“Oh, and I’m supposed to believe that?” As Ash and Misty continued bickering, the teen Ash had been about to battle turned to the now tree-hugging and ground kissing Max and May. “Do they always do this?” The siblings looked up and nodded simultaneously.
“Always.”
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Max found Brock flirting with some girls in a store some time later, and dragged him away as he always did--rather painfully. The trainer recalled her Noctowl and Kadabra and sat down to wait for Misty and Ash to finish...debating. May joined her and they soon got to talking. May discovered that the girl was named Mizuna Shinde, and she was a trainer and coordinator of water and psychic Pokémon. Mizuna had three ribbons and thirteen badges from different regions.
Sometime around noon, Misty and Ash finally took a breather. Mizuna partially introduced herself before being interrupted by Ash’s growling stomach. He sweatdropped as Misty slapped the back of his head for being rude. “Uh...let’s eat?”
Mizuna nodded, and asked “Could Brock cook? I’ve heard about how good his food is.” Brock agreed, and quickly got down to business. As they waited for their meal, Mizuna wondered “D’you think we could restart our battle, Ash?” With Ash’s eager consent, the two new friends moved to a nearby clearing and prepped themselves for the battle. Brock finished cooking a stew and left it to cool as he got into his judge mode. Misty, May, and Max stood off to the side with Togetic to watch the battle.
“This will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Mizuna Shinde of -” He paused, realizing that he didn’t know where Mizuna was from.
“New Bark Town.”
“And Mizuna Shinde of New Bark Town. Let the battle begin!” With a lift of his arms, Brock signaled the start of the battle. Ash chose his Pokémon quickly enough.
“Pikachu, go!” The mouse jumped before its trainer with sparking cheeks, eager to battle. Mizuna smirked.
“Just what we needed. Thanks for giving Tsuchi some training, Ash.” She tossed a Pokéball into the air. It popped open, letting loose a stream of white energy, which dropped to the ground and lessened in brightness, its shape became more definite. Two twig-like shapes sprouted out of the sides of its face as two legs and a tail became noticeable. Its body became a robin’s egg blue, and the three stripes on its stomach and its antennae became indigo.
“Pikachu! Quick attack!” The yellow mouse sprung into the air. It traced zigzag patterns in the ground as it ran, leaving Mizuna’s Wooper looking around hopelessly, trying to find its opponent. Pikachu finally materialized right in Tsuchi’s face as it slammed all its body weight and force against the water fish Pokémon. Tsuchi was knocked back a few meters by the attack, rolling over a few times as it hit the ground.
“It doesn’t look good for Mizuna,” May said. Max scoffed.
“It doesn’t look like she’s even trying! Why doesn’t she do something?”
Misty smiled. “Take a look at Mizuna’s face. She isn’t even worried, guys. I bet this is part of some plan of hers.” Togetic nodded.
I agree. Mizuna is a competent trainer. There is no way she would just not do anything without planning it. Just as Togetic spoke, Mizuna seemed to prove it correct as she cried out “Tsuchi, you know what to do!” Her Wooper nodded, its antennae shaking slightly. It crouched down. Pikachu sat on its hind legs, confused. Tsuchi continued to crouch until it fell over. Pikachu hopped over to it, wondering what was going on. “Now!” Mizuna shouted triumphantly. Tsuchi jumped up, startling Pikachu. It spun around, simultaneously performing a Tail Whip and a Mud Shot so that Pikachu was hit twice every time Tsuchi spun around. Thinking quickly, Ash ordered Pikachu to move out of range of both attacks to recuperate.
“Stop, Tsuchi.” Mizuna ordered calmly. “That’s enough for now.” Tsuchi complied, halting its double attack and regaining some of its strength as well. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. Most Pokémon Tsuchi faces are half gone after that attack.”
“I guess Pikachu isn’t most Pokémon.”
“True. Too true. Tsuchi, Double-Water Combo!” Tsuchi nodded and crouched once more. Pikachu stood back, not about to be fooled again. “Now!” The Wooper jumped up and began running around in circles at a tremendous speed. To Pikachu and all the onlookers, Tsuchi appeared to be in ten places at once, all of them circling around Pikachu.
“Whoa!” Misty breathed.
“That Double Team is amazing! I didn’t know Wooper could learn that attack.” May said, amazed.
“I bet Mizuna’s trained it really hard to learn Double Team.” Max said intelligently. “But what was with that Combo order?” May shrugged. It suddenly became obvious as Tsuchi shot a Water Gun at Pikachu, which shot from all directions because of the Double Team. Pikachu was quickly soaked, and was taking a lot of damage from the constant pummeling of the Water Gun.
“Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!” Pikachu charged up slowly, having to fight against the water pressure surrounding it. Its electric attack seemed successful, charging through the water and giving Tsuchi a thorough shocking. “Yes!” He exclaimed, pumping a fist quickly.
“Alright!” May cheered, jumping up and down.
“A direct hit!” Max shouted happily.
“I doubt that Thunderbolt did anything at all. Wooper is a ground type, remember? Electricity is useless, even though Wooper is a part water type.” Misty’s prediction seemed to come true as Tsuchi ended its Water Gun and Double Team, shook its head, then got into an attack position.
“Quick, Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!” Mizuna gasped.
“Iron Tail?! Tsuchi, Water Defense! Hurry!” Mizuna’s Wooper shot a Water Gun at the ground to move out of the way of the attack, but too early to help. Pikachu jumped into the air, and it’s tail glowed with a white-bright energy, gaining strength and power. It slammed its tail on Tsuchi’s head, forcing it to the ground. Pikachu jumped away from the Wooper as the white energy faded from its tail. Tsuchi’s eyes swirled in defeat, unable to move after its loss of energy and the suddenness and strength of its attacker.
“Tsuchi is unable to battle,” Brock announced redundantly. “Pikachu and Ash win!” As Misty, May, Max, and Togetic cheered in the background, Ash stepped up to see if Mizuna was okay. The brunette in question was crouched over her Wooper. Her dark hair almost completely encircled Tsuchi, making it impossible to see its condition.
“Hey, Mizuna,” Ash said quietly. “Is your Wooper okay?” Mizuna stood up, fumbling with something and saying “Why don’t you ask Tsuchi yourself?” The Pokémon in question was jumping up and down jubilantly, to Ash’s surprise.
“You sure it doesn’t need some rest Mizuna?” Brock quickly inspected Mizuna’s Wooper.
“Actually, it’s fine. Tsuchi’s as healthy as if it hadn’t even battled.” Ash scratched the back of his head.
“I’ve faced some unusual Pokémon in my time, but there’s no contest here; your Wooper is one of the strongest, and fastest at recovering I’ve seen Mizuna.” Mizuna held out her hand.
“Thanks, Ash.” As they shook she commented, “Your Pikachu’s the strongest electric type I’ve seen in a long time. Not many Pokémon have managed to stop Tsuchi in its tracks, especially with a Thunderbolt. You must have trained it long and hard for it to be this stro--Wait--did you say contest?” Ash nodded, and Mizuna panicked. “I gotta go. Bye!” With that, Mizuna returned her Wooper, released her Kadabra, and was teleported out of sight. Ash was left openmouthed; his hand still extended as the others caught up with him, still discussing the battle.
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After some talk about the battle, May realized that the contest that they had come to this town for was about to begin. Thinking quickly, Misty had Togetic teleport the group to the contest house. She, May, and Pikachu reappeared just outside the large purple building, but the boys rematerialized upside-down a meter above the ground. They panicked, but Togetic merely sighed, waved its arms, and turned them right side-up. Ash straightened his hat, then frowned at Togetic.
“Why didn’t you do that for Misty?”
“And May?”
“And me?”
Togetic backed away from them, sweatdropping. Uh...well...bye! And with that, the flying Pokémon vanished from their sight, racing off for the protection of its surrogate mother. By the time the boys reached the open door of the house, it was evident that Misty and May had already entered the contest - or at least tried to.
“What do you mean I can’t enter?” The echoes of the red head’s cries rebounded from across the hall, where her friends winced, knowing what the counter woman must be experiencing; they had suffered those shouts personally multiple times before.
“You don’t have a Contest Pass. I’m sorry, but according to all rules, laws, and bylaws that I can find, that means you can’t enter.” Misty fumed silently, her face turning a brilliant shade of red. Ash popped up behind her and warily asked “What if Wallace told you she could enter?” The counterworker’s eyes lit up at the mention of the gym leader’s name.
“Not the Sootopolis Gym Leader Wallace?” She asked quickly, standing up and slamming her hands down on the countertop. When Ash nodded, she continued “But he’s fantastic! A powerful gym leader with a great number of potential Contest winners, (my personal favorite being his Luvdisc) he just announced mere weeks ago that he’s pursuing a career in coordinati -”
“We know.” Misty interrupted. This was probably the thirtieth Wallace fan that they had come across since leaving Sootopolis City. She wasn’t about to sit through another one of their rants. “I’m Misty, his once assistant. I thought he had given notice to all towns with Contests, but he must have missed this one.” With that, she dragged the counter woman over to a vid-phone and called Wallace. He explained everything to the woman and had a signature faxed over to the contest hall’s phone for the counterworker, who was, to say the least, ecstatic. She quickly approved Misty’s entry, and the group raced off.
Moments later, a tall figure cast her graceful shadow over the same counterwoman, who was occupied with staring fondly at her scrap of paper. The red head ‘ahem’-ed three or four times before tapping the worker on the top of the head, which got her attention. “Yes? How may I help you?” The worker asked as she was paid to do, not bothering to look up. When the figure didn’t answer, the counterworker looked up to a strange sight.
There were two people standing in front of her. One was the longhaired woman that had tapped her on the head. She wore expensive looking glasses to help her sapphire eyes see well and a red and black outfit that perfectly matched the outfit of the man standing beside her. He wore identical glasses for his emerald eyes, which shone mysteriously under his periwinkle-blue hair. Between the two the black tips of a pair of cat ears was visible from where the woman was seated. The man and woman were posing in an awkward-looking way, with slightly greedy looks in both their sets of eyes. “I would like -” the woman started.
“- to enter -” the man went on.
“- de Contest -” the ears continued.
“- being held -” the red head carried on.
“- in this Contest house -” the green-eyed man cut in.
“- dis very -” the ears perked up as they spoke.
“- afternoon!” The trio finished together. The counterwoman was left speechless for a moment, sweatdropping at the oddness of this group. She regained her senses quickly enough, thankfully for the trio, who were now in a ridiculous pyramid of faces that revealed the identity of the ears to be a Meowth with a New York accent. “Please present your Contest Pass.” The red head complied, and her entrance was approved. “Good luck, and have fun” - the worker glanced at the name on the pass - “Jessica.” ‘Jessica’ nodded as she picked up her pass and walked off.
“I intend to.”
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Ash, Brock, Max, Togetic, and Pikachu found themselves some seats just in time for the start of the Contest. A few rows over, James and Meowth had just found their own seats. All of them were eager to see how well their friends would do.
The first four people just seemed to fly by for Ash, Brock, and Max: a man with a jumpy Swablu, a red head with a Dustox and a ridiculous outfit; a woman Brock almost jumped out of his seat for that had a Magby; and a teen with a shy Igglybuff (Ash plugged up his ears, just in case). Then up came the fifth person. She was wearing oddly tinted glasses and carrying a duffel bag. Misty and May backstage, as well as their friends in the crowd, recognized her instantly.
“Mizuna!”
The brunette opened her bag, showing the crowd the paintbrush, paints, and blank poster board that were inside it. She replaced the items in her bag and placed it on the floor. Mizuna then spun around twice, tossing an Ultraball into the air as she twirled. It opened up to reveal her Kadabra, which cast sparkles of light across the hall when Mizuna stopped turning. She pointed a finger at the ceiling. “Portrait Combo, Yume! Do it now!”
Yume lifted its solitary spoon and concentrated. The spoon glowed an unearthly blue-green, and a large piece of poster board, a paintbrush, and paints appeared overhead. They remained in the air as Yume levitated the objects easily. The psychic Pokémon made the poster board’s flat sides face the ceiling and floor, then began maneuvering the paints. It dipped the paintbrush in a color, then began painting. It continued with this for about three or four minutes. It then moved the poster board into the sunlight of the windows on the ceiling and made a great show of teleporting the paintbrush and paints. Moments later, Yume teleported the poster board as well. Mizuna then picked up her bag and held it out to Yume, who lifted the objects out of the bag telepathically. First came the paintbrush, then the paints, and then the poster board. The sight of the poster board drew a round of applause from the crowd; on it was a portrait of Mizuna hugging Yume happily.
The judges were extremely delighted with the performance; their comments were nothing short of amazed, agreeing that there was only one flaw in her routine. However, the error must have been minimal; Yume’s scores were 9.4, 9.7, and 9.6; in total, a 28.7. At the sight of the score, Mizuna embraced her Pokémon tightly, creating an image identical to that on the portrait.
“Wow,” May muttered. “How are we supposed to get even close to that?” Misty came up from behind and placed a hand on May’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, May.” She said encouragingly. “You and Beautifly’ve been practicing, right?” The brunette nodded. “Then you’ll do fine. I’m the one that should be worried; I’ve never been in a Contest before.” A voice, tinny sounding through the PA system, announced that May was up. Misty patted May on the back once before walking off. “Like I said: You’ll do fine.”
May stood up and clenched a fist before her face. “You’re right. I’ll do fine if I believe in Beautifly and in myself!” She raced out the waiting room and into the hall to the sounds of cheers from the crowd. Misty lifted a finger, as if to stop May for a moment, then dropped it while still holding her arm up. “I don’t think she wants to know just how much like Ash she seemed right then...” she muttered to herself before focusing her attention back on the screen and the Contest.
May marched out to the center of the hall and took a deep breath. I can do this...I can! “Beautifly, take the stage!” With her cry, May tossed her Pokéball high into the air, where it opened to reveal her butterfly Pokémon, twirling in mid air before tossing bits of Silver Wind across the room. May tossed a Frisbee to her Pokémon, who grabbed it expertly with String Shot. Beautifly tossed the orange disc back to its trainer, who jumped up and snatched it out of midair, and swung around, letting the Frisbee travel the course it would have naturally. Beautifly returned the disc a few more times with String Shot before switching to Gust. The Gust was a little shaky at first, but the tosses worked out spectacularly.
Finally, it was time for the grand finale. May commanded a String Shot and Silver Wind Combo, which Beautifly complied with immediately, but in an unusual way. The bug Pokémon shot off half a dozen pieces of String Shot. It then controlled the fall of the pieces with Silver Wind, which made them flow on the slipstream the Silver Wind created. The String Shot balls flew around Beautifly in a tube-shape mixed in with the Silver Wind, creating an amazing effect. Beautifly ended the combo, and they ended the act with a bow, Beautifly perched on May’s head.
The crowd cheered appreciatively, enjoying the show. Unlike Mizuna’s show of mainly skill, this was a performance of showy, attractive, and appealing moves. This was an act they could really enjoy. They weren’t the only ones, it seemed. The judges applauded May and Beautifly’s performance eagerly before scoring her. They deliberated over their answer for some time before giving May and Beautifly a 9.0, 9.2, and a 9.3, making her total score a 27.5. May jumped up and hugged her butterfly Pokémon, excited at the magnitude of her score which, though not the highest yet, was still very high and would probably get her to the next round. The friends marched out of the hall, only to come face-to-face with Mizuna.
“I saw your round,” the older brunette said. “That was fantastic.” May shook her hand and replied “Don’t be silly. You’re the one that got an almost perfect score.” Mizuna didn’t seem to know what to say.
“Uh...why don’t you go back to the waiting room? I’m sure your friends are hanging around there, waiting to congratulate you.” May agreed and walked past Mizuna to the locker room in question. The room was empty, except for Misty. She looked up at May, with almost a sad look in her eye.
“What’s wrong Misty?” The red head sighed, and looked back up at the screen.
“Nothing,” she said, looking up at the overly happy teen applauding his hands out on screen cheering about May’s performance, even when her routine had ended almost five minutes before. “It’s nothing.” May popped up next to Misty on the bench.
“Doesn’t sound like nothing.” She put a hand over her eyes, trying to help her vision. “Who’re you looking at?”
“A - nobody!” Misty replied, changing her answer halfway through. “No one at all!” May looked at her, and eyebrow raised.
“Right.” Before Misty could retort or explain herself, her name was announced over the PA system. The water trainer got up, and May could almost see a bit of her first Contest in her friend’s eyes. “It’s like you said before, Misty. If I can do fine, you can do fine too.” Misty looked at the brunette with a sort of relief in her eyes.
“Right. Thanks, May.” Misty walked out of the room and into the hall. She stood in the center of the room for a moment as the judges whispered. They moved apart and approached Misty.
“You don’t have a Contest Pass, correct?” Contesta asked. Misty nodded. “And you are here only because of a reference from Wallace, gym leader of Sootopolis City?” Misty concurred. “Then...” The blue suited judge looked slightly discomfited. Nurse Joy burst in.
“...you have to get us Wallace’s autograph!” Misty facefaulted backward. Coordinators and trainers she could understand, sort of. But Contest judges?! Brock, Ash, and Max were equally embarrassed. “No problem.” Misty said weakly. “But can I please perform now?” The judges seemed to remember their place, and slid back to their seats awkwardly under the eyes of the audience.
Once they were back in their places, Misty took a deep breath and tossed her Pokéball above her head. A deep blue green Pokémon known for its appalling personality and awful temper literally leapt out of the Pokéball in a torrent of water that splashed over its scales. Gyarados roared, then got into position, floating ever so slightly above the ground. “Gyarados! Let’s go! Hydro Pump!” The strong burst of water that came out of the flying type’s mouth went up, up, up...it seemed as though it would keep going until it broke through the windows on the ceiling. But it didn’t; just before it hit the ceiling, Gyarados stopped the attack, letting the water begin to fall in a natural fountain-like way. As the water began to reach the Pokémon’s eye level, Misty called for a Flamethrower. Gyarados complied, turning the water to steam with its fire type attack. When it had finished its attack, not a drop of water had touched the ground, and the two story tall Pokémon was shrouded in a dense fog of steam.
“Hyper Beam!” cried Misty. Gyarados charged up the normal attack and fired into the mist. The attack was controlled so it got near the audience to get them scared, but vanished within 3 meters of the stands. The move also had an effect unnoticed until it was finished; Gyarados had drawn a pentagram in the haze that remained there until it came flying through the center of it, leering at the crowd as it flew overhead. Gyarados next performed a Rain Dance and Twister at the same time; the result was a whirlwind of water surrounding Gyarados. To end the routine, Misty had Gyarados stop its Water Twister and come flying out of the bottom of the storm, spreading the water around the room.
The audience clapped, though not so loudly or so enthusiastically as they had for the last two rounds, a detail Misty was quick to notice. Gyarados lowered until it was on the ground, waiting for its score. Contesta scored them first; a 7.2. Next was the mayor, who gave Misty a generous (at least, so she thought) 8.0. Last was the Nurse Joy, who puzzled over her answer for quite some time before coming to her conclusion; a 7.4. Misty’s score was a 22.6. After praising and returning Gyarados, she waved to the guys in the back of the room and walked out, only slumping down miserably once she was out of sight. She sat there for a few minutes before May came up behind her. “Something wrong?” Misty looked up at the Coordinator.
“You saw how I did out there,” she sighed. “I’m never gonna make it to the next part with a score like that.” May shrugged.
“You never know, Misty. Anyway, come on back. The guys are in the back room, waiting to congratulate you.” Misty snorted.
“Or waiting to congratulate you.” May frowned.
“Oh, come on. Don’t think like that. You were great.” With only slight resistance, the brunette pulled Misty off the floor. “Now c’mon. By now they must have posted who’s going to the next part. We can meet up with the guys after checking.” Misty agreed reluctantly, and they walked off. Unknown to the girls, three sets of eyes were watching them from a shadowy area just meters behind them.
“Oh please, Jessie!” The green eyed man begged. “Can’t we please just take Pikachu and that egg now?” The red head refused to budge from her standpoint.
“I’ve told you before James. We need to get me this ribbon. Once we’re at the Grand Festival, it’ll be easier to get Pikachu.” A Meowth stepped between the two.
“Besides,” it drawled. “Meowth’s got it all planned out, in case Jessie don’t win.” The cat Pokémon immediately was forced to the floor by Jessie’s black boot.
“What do you mean, if I don’t win?! Of course I’ll win!” she screamed at Meowth. Then she turned to her teammate, all calm and clearheaded. “Now, lets see who I’m facing next round.” Once again, Team Rocket had found a way to cheat Jessie into the second round of a Contest undetected. This time, they looked back on past Contests and decided it would be best to not use a cheat during the second round; that was when they were usually found out by the twerps. They trio of troublemakers changed from their Team Rocket uniforms into normal clothes and followed the ‘twerpettes’ to the front room of the hall.
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Max had figured that May and Misty would go off to see if they made it to the next round instead of meeting up with them first. He managed to convince Ash and Brock to come along and check for them, and they came upon a strange scene.
There was Mizuna off to the side, glaring angrily at the board. However, she was right up there. The person she was supposed to battle, the woman that had done a routine with a Dustox, was whispering with a periwinkle haired man off in another corner, both of them often taking furtive glances over at Mizuna. Misty was staring at the picture of herself on the opposite side of the screen. Next to her picture was one of a brunette wearing a red and white bandanna. Both of the girls pictured had blue eyes, but of radically different shades. Both girls had unique hairstyles, but the one to battle Misty had her hair down. The girl to battle Misty - the one to see if she had what it takes to win a Contest - was May.
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“Jessie,” James moaned. “What’re we gonna do? That purple girl looks really tough. She’s got a Kadabra, for crying out loud!” Jessie frowned, furrowing her brow.
“I know she looks tough. She probably is tough. And twerp material too, no doubt.” She shot a glance at the brunette, who was glowering at her own picture. “Since I think we all agree that we don’t want to do Meowth’s plan, I think we’ll have to go for Plan X.” James paled, his emerald eyes all the more vivid against the colorless skin around it.
“Plan X?” he whispered. “X?! Have you put a lot of thought into this, Jessie?” She nodded.
“It‘ll only be for a short time, James. And it has to be done. Get Meowth to put it into action.” James almost protested, but thought better of it and informed Meowth of the task at hand instead. The normal type complained about it, but got to work. Plan X was probably the least used plan. Which was probably why it ended up being so low on the alphabet. It was also least used because it was a very messy business. Also a pain. But it had to be done sometimes. After all, if someone has to disappear, well...
...oftentimes they need some persuasion.
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Hey, all! I bet you’ve been waiting for this chapter for ages! I know it’s been awhile, but I’ve had school, homework, school, a blocked computer, school, and let’s not forget school! I hope you enjoyed it, and I probably should add that I edited the last chapter of S-CoL, and you might want to reread some of the ending.
Or not. 'S up to you.
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