Chapter 43: A Prettyful Beginning


     Nerves had been flopping around in my stomach ever since the moment
I had woken up, which had been around ten-thirty. Now it was two-thirty,
and they were getting worse.

     "Are you nervous, Jenn?" questioned Sam as he took the seat beside
me, where I sat with the television remote frozen in my hand. The sad
thin was that the TV wasn't even on.

     "Like hell," I responded and bit my lip. The clock was going by
infinitely slow.

     "Why do you have the remote in your hand?" asked my serious
companion and I chuckled a bit.

     "Because I turned it on earlier and they were doing a special on
the League and they were talking about me. It freaked me out, so I
turned it off and I've been sitting here in fear ever since."

     "You're going to do great, you know that, right?" His words made me
smile a bit.

     "No, I don't know that. But I'm going to try hard and do my best."
It was the best answer I could give him, but the perfectionist side of
me was absolutely ready to shoot myself in the head.

     "Jenn, it's 2:45, don't you think we should be going?" asked Zach,
glancing at the silver watch on his wrist.

     "Yeah, probably," I said dully, now nearly lifeless with fear.

     "Cheer up, Jenny. You sound like you're going to a funeral," Zach
scolded lightly.

     "But I am going to one. My own," I said glumly and it took the two
boys a minute to realize what that meant.

     "Confidence is key," Zach said cheerfully. "Now come on, people
probably want pictures of you and I want to find us good seats."

     "I suppose," I replied and the three of us anxiously started off to
the main building. Nathan and Vicky were already there and saving Sam
and Zach seats.

     "Bye, Jenn," waved off Sam. "Good luck." And then they left me
completely alone at the arena entrance.

     I gave the guard blocking it my name and showed him my registration
ticket and badges. And when he finally let me through, it was just about
time.

     "I can't believe this," I muttered, staring up at all of the
cheering spectators. I glanced around and spotted my friends, who were
being joined by a new person.

     My eyes widened. What in the heck was Taylor doing here? Wouldn't
he get in trouble? I suppose that if he did, he didn't much care. 

     Nathan caught my eye and turned away instantly and fury welled up
in me. But before I had much time to dwell on it...

     "Welcome everybody to the Hoenn League competition. Each day, the
previous finalists will battle members of the Elite Four at separate
times." Lights flashed off in front of my eyes as I realized a lot of
the crowd was papparazi.

     "Our three o'clock battle will consist of Jenifer Frost from
Littleroot Town battling Elite Four member, Sidney." A big cheer went up
from where my friends were sitting and a few yells of dismay went up on
the other side of the arena. I was panicking now! I was PANICKING.

     "And I think our challengers are ready to battle, so let's begin
with a 3-on-3 battle with no items!"

     My heart was pumping fast against my ribcage and the colors were
spinning i front of my eyes. Was I going to faint? I couldn't faint, not
here, not now. I was on television, and i was going to milk it for what
it was worth.

     My opponent, Sidney, had an orange mohawk, but other than that, he
was completely bald. He looked very vintage-y and retro and it didn't
look bad on him. He enlarged his first PokeBall. "Okay, Sharpedo, let's
go!" he yelled, throwing he Pokemon into the tub of water that had been
provided, undoubtedly for the water Pokemon.

     I inhaled and decided that my best bet would be to use Sparkle.
After the consideration of Sharpedo's special ability (Rough Skin, which
would hurt any Pokemon using a physical attack) and types (water/dark,
which would make Muffin, a psychic type, useless). I called out the
Plusle and exhaled.

     "Okay, Sharpedo, let's get this thing started! Use your crunch
attack!" I decided this would work to my advantage.

     "Quick, Sparkle! While Sharpedo is out of the water, use your
Thunder attack!" sparkle conjured a large amount of electricity in it's
small fuzzy body and let out a huge jolt of lightning. The wave of light
hit Sharpedo dead on. So my idea had worked. Sharpedo was greatly
weakened by the attack and it was starting to grow less agile, also
playing up to what I wanted.

     Sidney realized it to, and I saw him bite his lip. "Sharpedo, use
Surf!" he said and I watched in horror as a torrent of water rose up
from where Sharpedo sat and hit Sparkle. It didn't take long to realize
that Sparkle had fallen into the tub and that's when I got a huge idea.

     Water reflected (or whatever the word was) off electricity. The
water would make Sparkle's lightning showers twice as powerful. "While
you're in the water, Sparkle, use shock wave!" Sharpedo, being already
weak, was almost instantly. Sidney rushed to the tub, PokeBall in hand.

     "You did great," he coaxed. "You deserve a good rest." He put
Sharpedo's Pokeball back on his belt and reached for another. A few
seconds later, a Cacturne was released.

     By now, I was at a type disadvantage, but I didn't much care. "Use
your thunder attack again, Sparkle!" I called. If I was at a
disadvantage, I needed to use Sparkle's most powerful attacks. I wasn't
going down without a fight.

     Unfortunately, it didn't do much damage. "Needle arm attack,
Cacturne!" commanded Sidney. A multitude of spikes flew at Sparkle, and
the small mouse Pokemon was wounded pretty badly.

     "Use your thunder attack again, Sparkle!" I yelled, hoping that it
would do more damage than the previous attack. But I was in no luck, and
the attack barely singed the cactus Pokemon.

     "Cacturne, let's try a faint attack!" I groaned as the tall Pokemon
disappeared and Sparkle was getting hit by something I couldn't see.

     "Oh crap!" I cried as Sparkle collapsed. "You did well little
buddy," I told him as I withdrew the Plusle. I gripped another Pokeball.
It might have been my biggest chance.

     "Gully, let's go!" I called and a lucid white light turned into the
shape of my Pelipper. "Okay, let's try an ice beam!" A frigid beam
escaped the mouth of Gully and hit Cacturne and made him visible.
Cacturne couldn't move; the grass/dark Pokemon was frozen solid.

     "Cacturne!" yelped Sidney, as he looked worriedly at the cactus.

     "Let's finish it off, Gully. Use your Surf attack!" The pelican
conjured a large wave of water that knocked over the block of ice that
Cacturne was trapped in. The block broke and Cacturne was released, but
fainted.

     "The battle is almost over!" exclaimed the announcer. "Sidney is on
his last Pokemon. I think this might be a win for Jenifer Frost!"

     Sidney recalled the fainted cactus and enlarged another Pokeball.
"Okay, come on, Mightyena!" The wolf/dog was released and full of
snarls. Gully withdrew a bit, intimidated by the Mightyena.

    "Gully, use your ice beam!" I yelled and immediately, Sidney was on
the defense.

     "Dodge it and use your take down attack!" Unfortunately, Mightyena
successfully dodged the attack and proceeded to use his attack on Gully.

     Gully was surprisingly wounded badly by the attack. "Crap," I
muttered under my breath. "Okay, let's try a Surf!" A torrent of water
came and hit Mightyena. The dark type dog was blown back and hit the
wall.

     "Use your take down again, Mightyena!" called Sidney. The Mightyena
recuperated quickly and hit the pelican Pokemon. It almost instantly
knocked Gully out. I groaned.

     "Crap! You did great," I told the exhausted Gully and withdrew him.
"Let's finish this off, Torch!" Torch was my last hope, and the last
Pokemon I was able to use.

     The Blaziken yawned slightly as she was released from her Pokeball.
"You ready to do this?" I asked her. Torch nodded.

     "Okay, let's try a double kick, Torch!" I yelled.

     Sidney was fast to act. "Dodge it, Mightyena, and use your crunch
attack!"

     Mightyena was fast enough to dodge it, but he wasn't the only fast
one. "Dodge it, Torch!" I called and the Mightyena missed Torch
completely and hit the wall.

     "Quick, Torch! Use your Blaze Kick!" Mightyena wasn't fast enough
this time. He was branded by the powerful fire attack and he howled in
pain.

     "Use Take Down!" Sidney yelled again, in a last hope. But I knew
what I was doing.

     Torch sat there for a minute and Mightyena bounded at her. When
Mightyena was about two feet away from Torch, I began to act. "Okay,
Torch, while it's close to you, use overheat!" 

     The overbearing fire attack was too much for the already weak
Mightyena to take. It fainted almost immediately. "The winner of this
match is Jenifer Frost!" A cheer went up from the crowd, and I suddenly
didn't mind them.

     As I joined back up with my friends, I was greeted with a loud
congratulations. Only Nathan wasn't enthusiastic. "Congrats," he
muttered.

     "Thanks," I murmured back and then I turned back to the people who
were happy for me. Who needed that jerk anyways?