Chapter 45: Foul Play


      "Welcome to today's 3 o'clock battle for the Hoenn League!" the
intercom greeted and I looked over at my opponent. Glacia was
self-absorbed and thinking, probably scrutinizing her options.

     I needed to use a type advantage for sure. Glacia was a great
trainer and a powerful one. After all, she WAS my former neighbor in
Johto, and she had been one of Brooke's best friend.

     "Today's 4-on-4 battle will be challenger Jenifer Frost against
Elite Four member Glacia! There will be no items used in the battle."
Big cheer from the crowd. I wasn't sure if it was for me or Glacia, but
I was pretty sure it was for Glacia.

     Glacia enlarged her first Pokeball. "Let's go, Walrein!" she
yelled, releasing the giant Pokemon.

Oh. Crap.

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     "She looks worried," commented Zach.

     "Probably that female lack of confidence again," noted Taylor.

     "More than likely. Or a self-esteem drop."

     "You sound like Doctor Phil," Taylor laughed.

     Zach sighed. "Women these days..."

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     "Okay, Sparkle, use your thunder attack!" You'd think something as
big as that wouldn't be able to dodge a lot. You'd think wrong. Sparkle
hadn't been able to land a single attack, but neither had Walrein. All
it was was a series of dodging.

     "Take down, Walrein!" she called. The Walrein began rushing (or as
fast as a walrus can rush, anyways) towards Sparkle.

     "Don't move," I whispered between clenched teeth. Then came the
time when Walrein was merely about ten feet away and still coming
strong. "Okay, while it's close up, use your thunder attack!" I
commanded. Sparkle let out a jolt of electricity that came thundering
down on the Walrein.

     The attack came so fast that Walrein had absolutely no time to
dodge it. It collapsed in a heap on the ground.

     "Walrein!" Glacia cried and she ran to the side of the wounded
Pokemon.

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     "Holy crap! Sparkle's getting very powerful!" Nathan exclaimed.

     "Not very. Walrein is bouncing right up!" Sam argued.

     Taylor grabbed the binoculars from Bobby and looked closely at her
hand. "There's an item bottle up her sleeve, you guys. Literally!"

     Zach grabbed the binoculars from him and zoomed in on her hand.
"He's right. It looks to me like a full restore. Or maybe a revive. I
can't tell."

     "I thought this was a no items allowed battle," chimed in a very
confused Vicky.

     "It is," said Zach angrily. "Stop the battle!" he yelled loudly and
the cheering stopped. "The 'no items' rule has just been broken!" 

     Within minutes, one of the announcers came down from the room where
they sat above the arena. "Young man, you can't just go yelling that
sort of thing," he scolded.

     Zach handed him the binoculars. "Zoom in on her hand," he told him.
The announcer did as he was told and gasped. "That's a full restore!" he
exclaimed.

     "We told you," Vicky smirked knowingly. Her grin dropped. "I'm
still confused."

     The announcer ran back up to his room. "The battle is over. Elite
Four member Glacia has been disqualified!"

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     Sparkle had just fainted. I put down the Pokeball of Shadow, my
next Pokemon, at the announcement.

     "What is he talking about?" I whispered.

     Glacia looked highly embarrassed and highly guilty. "I don't know."

     "It was stated clearly at the beginning of the battle that no items
were to be used. Glacia has been shown to have used a full restore on
her Walrein. Jenifer Frost is the winner of the match."

     A loud-and large- cheer rose up from the crowd, but I wasn't
satisfied. I wanted to beat her because I was better than her, not
because she cheated.

Oh well. There was always tomorrow's battle.

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I'm sorry that this was short and sort of lame. It'll definitely get
revised probably within the next month.

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