Chapter 45 - Round Four

For some reason , that picture up there is how I picture Adriana , you know , with her half blue & half purple hair ? You guys might picture her differently , but that's just how I do , anyway ! On with the story .

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"This round will have slightly different rules... So we can narrow down our contestants quicker, since we had a lot more contestants this year than planned. You will be brought into the battle field with 7 other Pokemon besides your own. The first four Pokemon knocked out will be disqualified. The trainers with the remaining four Pokemon will advance to the next round. There are no teams, everyone on the battle field is your opponent. If you chose to help another trainer or work together with someone, you are free to do as you wish," the announcer explained.

I bit my lip. Red did too. We knew someone could easily team up on us, but we just hoped they wouldn't.

The first eight trainers were called to the battle field, & Brandon was one of them. We watched as he released his Dratini. Seven other Pokemon were released alongside his. I recognized the douche trainer, Damien, with his mighty Kingdra.

The battle began & I saw Brandon's Dratini slithering through opponent's moves with such ease that I was certain Brandon would advance to the next round. & that's when I realized... That's the reason he chose Dratini!

"Our first opponent has been eliminated! Corey's Ditto is unable to battle!" The announcer cried as I saw the first Pokemon faint.

Seconds later, another trainer's Pokemon fainted. Then a third. I was certain Brandon would advance, until Damien's Kingdra hit Dratini with a Dragon Pulse. I gasped. Red tensed up. "Fuck!" Richie cursed. Adriana looked worried, too. Amy wasn't even paying attention. She was in her own little world.

I saw Dratini fly to the floor. "& the fourth Pokemon had been eliminated! Sandra & her Sandslash are out!" I sighed with relief. Brandon was so close to being eliminated! If Kingdra's move had hit only seconds earlier, Brandon would have lost this round.

Poor Dratini was in a heap on the floor. Brandon picked him up, glared at Damien, & joined us when he got back. He healed Dratini & let his serpentine Pokemon rest on his lap, as he pet it adoringly.

Before I knew it, me & Red were called up to the battle field. We walked together in silence. I thought carefully about what Pokemon to release as I saw people releasing their Pokemon. Most of them were normal & fire-types, to my suprise, with the exception of a Golem. I sent out my Kabuto, Relic, because he was resistant to the fire & normal-types on the field.

"Kabuto eh?" Red was beside me, watching Kabuto. "Yeah, meet Relic," I said, gesturing to Relic who growled in a friendly way at Red. "Alright then, go Kabutops!" Red released the evolved form of Kabuto. My jaw dropped. The crowd seemed to be impressed with the two rare fossilized Pokemon on the field. "You have a Kabutops?" I cried happily. He grinned & nodded. Kabutops gave a cool nod to Relic & Relic greeted him.

"Begin!" Those words turned my attention to the battle field, where trainers began shouting commands. "Use Harden!" I commanded. Red was somewhere attacking trainers, while I raised my Kabuto's defense repeatedly until Golem used Rollout on him.

"Hydro Pump!" Before it could hit again, a powerful Hydro Pump knocked out Golem in one hit. I looked to see Red's Kabutops. "I got your back," he nodded at me. I thanked him.

"Kabuto use Ice Beam!" We began to attack our opponents until four trainers were eliminated. That round had been easier than I thought... Me & Red high fived each other happily as we sat back down.

"I can't believe you have a Kabutops!" I said again as I Relic rested on my shoulder. "I can't believe you have a Kabuto! I've never ran into another trainer with a Kabuto or Kabutops," Red said suprisingly. "You're the first one," he informed me. "You too," I smiled.

We talked about our Kabuto & Kabutops until Adriana was called up. Needless to say she advanced to the next round, using her Nidoqueen & her Earthquake attack to her advantage.

Samantha & Richie were called at the same time. They two both advanced, luckily. Amy was next. She was using her Togetic. All seemed well until her Togetic was hit by a Close Combat by a Machamp. It fainted right away. "& Amy's Togetic has fainted! That concludes this match!" My jaw dropped.

"What?" Richie asked with disbelief. We couldn't believe our eyes. Amy looked devastated. She stared at her fainted Togetic in disbelief.

When she walked back, she didn't talk to us. She simply grabbed her bag, then walked away. "Amy wait," Richie grabbed her arm. "Fuck off!" She yelled so loud & harshly that he released her arm with fear. She walked away & didn't come back. "She probably just went to the house," Brandon assured him. Richie seemed upset that Amy lost.

I didn't care much, as mean as it sounds. When I first met her, she seemed pretty cool, but now... She never talked to me, & she somtimes glared at me for no reason... She looked at me like if I had killed her Pokemon or something.

The rest of the battles progressed fast. After healing our Pokemon, we walked to the house as usual. The Elite Four & Champion were on the couch, watching tv & eating pizza. Gary was with them. "How do you not get bored of that?" Brandon scoffed. They ignored him. Me & Red sat on one couch, & Brandon & Richie got on the big couch with all four of the Elite four members. Adriana joined Gary, who sat by Lance.

"Have you guys seen Amy?" Richie asked with worry in his voice. "Who's Amy?" Will asked. Richie groaned. "The girl with the red hair." Everyone shook their heads. He went up to look for her in the room, but didn't find her. "She's just upset about her loss, Richie. She needs time alone," Karen assured him that she'd be back when she cooled down.

"Well, ima just go to bed," Richie sighed, & left. He looked just as disappointed as Amy was. Brandon followed his best friend. Bruno & Will left to go train. Lorelei & Karen went shopping, leaving me, Red, Lance, Gary, & Adriana alone. We were pretty bored honestly.

"Arghhhh!" Adriana huffed. "Can we do something?!" "Like what?" Gary asked his girlfriend. "Like, train or have a picnic with our Pokemon or something?!" She suggested. "I like picnics," I agreed.

"I was actually kidding about the picnic thing, but it doesn't sound half bad, does it?" Adriana smirked. "A picnic?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "Sure why not?" I shrugged. "Okay I guess," he nodded.

We grabbed stuff from the fridge to make snacks with, & headed out as quickly as we could. We found a spot a bit close to the mansion & set our stuff down. After we did that, we released & fed our Pokemon to feed them, too. I even released Magikarp, who now moved around by jumping on land.

Adriana released her team next. I noticed a Magneton within their Pokemon. "That's Magneton, my newest Pokemon," Adriana smiled.

Then came Gary. He had a Charizard, Venasaur, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Primape, Muk, Gyarados, & of course his Arcanine.

Red released six Pokemon. A Venasaur, Kabutops, Jolteon, Scizor, Electabuzz, & Gengar.

"Do you have more Pokemon?" I questioned. He shook his head. "I wanted to focus on six to do my best at the Pokemon League." It all made sense to me.

Last, but not least, Lance released his Pokemon. He had an Aerodactyl, a red Gyarados, Charizard, Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp, & Haxorus, totaling to seven Pokemon. His Pokemon ate a lot! I wasn't suprised, they were huge. All my Pokemon combined still didn't eat as much as one of his. Well, maybe only my Charizard. He ate quite a lot.

We all ate in silence, & after we finished, our Pokemon began grouping up together. My Jolt befriended Red's Jolteon. They clicked almost instantly. Kabuto was following around Red's Kabutops & my Ivysaur was following Red & Gary's Venasaurs. Phantom & Gengar disapeared somewhere, probably causing mischief. My Magikarp was fascinated by the Lance & Gary's Gyarados.

"I wouldn't take you to be the type of girl with a Magikarp," Lance said, glancing over at our Pokemon. "Why not?" I asked. He shrugged. "Not many people have the patience to evolve a Magikarp into a Gyarados. Tell me, have you seen anyone competing in the Indigo League have a Gyarados?" Lance raised an eyebrow. He was right. In fact, I had never come across a single Gyarados on my journey, with the exception & Lance & Gary's.

"It's true, I've tried & I gave up," Red said, not sounding to proud. "Me too," Adriana chuckled. "I know tons of people who bave tried, but not many have succeeded," Gary added.

"How long have you had that Magikarp?" Lance asked me. "Ummm... A few months. Maybe three or four?" I thought. "Be patient. It might take a while longer," he told me. I asked him about his red Gyarados, & he told me he had caught it a while back, at the Lake of Rage, when Team Rocket had been forcing Pokemon to evolve.

Apparently, Team Rocket was stopped, & everyone thought they were gone for good. At least they weren't a big threat now, they weren't your idea of 'evil master minds'.

Our little picnic was nice. Our Pokemon got to have fun, & that's the most important part. They needed to have fun since they were so busy worrying about the Pokemon League.

When we got back to the house it was around 8. No one was in the living room, suprisingly. Adriana & Gary ran off to their room, & Red said he was going to bed early. "Night Katrina," he gave me another one of our usual big hugs.

"I'm gonna go to my room," I said, walking away. "My room," Lance corrected me. "Actually, our room. For the next couple days," he added.

We sat in bed staring at the ceiling for a really long time.

"What are you doing after the Pokemon League?" His question caught me by suprise. I didn't even know. "Uhh... I don't exactly know," I muttered. "You?"

"Same thing I'm doing right now, just... Be here. With the Elite Four," he said plainly. "Don't you like being Champion?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. I always wanted this. But, sometimes I wish I could be a trainer again, & travel, you know? Being the Champion is cool but boring at the same time."

I asked him to further explain himself. "Well, when the Pokemon League is happening it's pretty cool. But when it's not... There's not much to do, you know? But train. I usually do that. & most of the time, I stay here. Sure I can leave for a few days or something like that but sometimes, I wanna actually go out & not have to worry about having to be back at the Indigo Plateau at certain times," he finished.

We were getting deep. I had never heard him talk like this before. "& plus, whenever something is wrong anywhere, it's my job to fix it. It's not a bad thing but it can get frustrating when it has to do with the public, because if it does, then I get interviewed like crazy. When it's something that doesn't involve the public, it's better, like just about three months ago Team Rocket went to Seafoam Island in search of Articuno &-" he shut his mouth when he realized what he said.

"I know about Articuno. I was there when Misty called you, she introduced us over the Poketch?" Lance's eyes went wide.

"That was you?! No wonder I felt you looked so familiar when I first saw you at Gary's! I was looking at you & just wondering where I had seen you before. That's the first time I met you in person, like three months ago," he remembered.

"Yup. I remember that," I nodded. "You fell in love with me at first sight," Lance said in a low voice, but I still heard him.

"Excuse me?" I raised my voice. "You heard me. When you first saw me you kept staring at me! I saw you, you're not slick," he chuckled. I was suddenly emberrassed.

"Well my bad! It's not my fault you're so-" I stopped myself before I further emberrassed myself. "I'm so what?" Lance propped himself up on his elbows & looked at me, giving me Butterfrees in my stomach. "So... Annoying," I sneered & turned on my side. "That's not what you were going to say," Lance peered over my shoulder. "Come on, tell me," he placed his hand on my shoulder & I shivered at his touch.

"You try to mask your feelings but I can see right through you," he said, causing me to turn around & face him to give him a questioning look.

"Why are you being so nice, Lance?" I suddenly asked him, making him look suprised.

"You cooked me dinner this morning? You're laughing, smiling, not being mean, & yesterday you were about to kiss me. What's up?" I raised an eyebrow.

He didn't speak. "I-I just... I-...." he trailed off. "Who's getting nervous now?" I smirked at him.

"Me? The Champion? I don't get nervous, baby girl," he returned the smirk. "Sure," I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna take a shower, wanna join me?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I laughed & pushed him away with my arm. I seriously did want to, though. Just a little bit. So I could stare at his abs.

"Suit yourself, the door's open if you change your mind," he said in an alluring voice as he went in & I heard the shower turn on. I simply turned to my side & tried to get some sleep.

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Hey guys , for some reason I haven't really been feeling my recent chapters have been all that good . I feel like they're missing something , perhaps ?

Any contstructive criticism ? Is there anything you guys don't like about the story ? If so , let me know .

- Karla Cizeta .