Marril
08/15/2004, 12:29 PM
Eek! It's the big three-oh. We're about halfway through the series, I'd imagine. I'll know when I'm done. If we're not, then I'll have been wrong. At last, we finally see something actually Pokémon related besides our protagonists and some Team Rocket dealings. Fun, fun, fun!
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Kenneth opened the door to the Tribo room and stepped inside. Juliet was carrying the thing like it was a child.
“Hmph, Kenneth,” Juliet said, “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Kenneth smirked and sat down in one of the chairs. “I’d love to say I just dropped in to see that little tyke.”
“But…?”
“But?”
Juliet groaned. “There’s another reason you’re here, right?”
Kenneth crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling. “Maybe. Oh all right. You remember that genius girl who worked for you and that psychic boy you used for Tribo data?”
“Oh, them,” Juliet said, looking at Tribo. Tribo hissed.
“They’ve been spotted on Valencia. They rode in on a Dragonite a few days ago.”
“You’re the one in charge of security,” Juliet retorted. “I’m the one raising Tribo. Why bring me into it?”
Kenneth stretched. “Actually, it’s all those Elites hanging out here who’ve stolen that security job. To the point, however, you’ve worked with that girl before. You know more about her than I do. As for that psychic guy… eh, he was a depressed wreck when you had him.”
“You want me to figure out how to beat them,” Juliet said incredulously. It wasn’t a question.
Kenneth arced an eyebrow. “Only if they start poking around here. I’d love to think that this is one big coincidence, but I’ve had bad experiences with coincidences.”
Juliet frowned and set Tribo down. The small Pokémon scurried off. “If you mean that incident with the Magma base, that’s what got you promoted to Executive.”
Kenneth laughed. “Just because I can own a situation doesn’t mean everyone can.” Kenneth’s face became serious. “Seriously, keep an eye on those two. If they start nosing around where they shouldn’t, make sure you let me know.”
“Understood,” Juliet replied.
Kenneth bounded up from his seat. Juliet feared some form of harassment, but the other simply looked at her, shrugged, and walked out of the room. Juliet turned around and looked for Tribo. Finding the baby wasn’t difficult; the fact that it was essentially a light-absorbing shadow made it quite easy.
“Hey,” Juliet said to Tribo in a light voice, walking slowly towards it. “How about we go get something to eat?”
Tribo’s head bobbed a few times, and then it allowed itself to be picked up by Juliet. She walked out of the room carrying Tribo.
Tschel looked at the small town at the base of the mountain. He furrowed his eyebrows. “This is Naryt City? I expected more.”
“I didn’t!” Marril exclaimed. “Oh, wait, me ‘n Alex read up on this place, didn’t we?” Marril elbowed Alex.
Alex coughed. He knew that Marril and Tschel’s unpredictable friendship/rivalry could flare up at literally any random moment, and he didn’t want to see his two best friends fighting all the time. So he broke it up before it started.
“Let’s just get going before it gets dark, eh?” Alex asked. Without waiting for an answer, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and started for Naryt.
Marril listened to their footsteps, with nothing else to break the silence except for the calls of wild Pokémon. “Ah-hem,” she said, breaking the silence, “Well, you were right Alex, cause I never heard from that guy. He was a creep anyway.”
“See?” Alex said. “Told you not to worry.”
“I didn’t!” Marril almost shouted. A Pidgey flew out of a tree, startled by the sudden noise. Tschel glanced at it just in time to see a Fearow catch it.
“Well,” Tschel said, still walking but fixated on the Fearow, “I promise to still be myself, if that helps.”
“Don’t, you two,” Alex said hastily. “You two fight too much.”
“No such thing!” Marril exclaimed. “Well, there is, but we aren’t there. Yet.”
“She starts it,” Tschel fielded.
Alex turned around, walking backwards, smiling. “Hey, when you’re fighting, you’re getting along. If you two stopped, then I’d be worrie—whoa!”
Alex tripped over a root in the middle of the path and hit the ground with a thump. He tried standing but couldn’t.
“What’s wrong?” Tschel asked.
“Think I twisted my ankle,” Alex frowned. “What a cliché.”
Tschel laughed and helped Alex to his feet. “It’s not a cliché when it happens to a guy, you know.”
Marril looked at the ground. “I’ll say nothing.”
Tschel held Alex so that he could walk being supported by him. “There, this help?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Thanks, Tschel.”
“I should be given points for not saying anything,” Marril mumbled, kicking the root before continuing.
The group went on for quite a while without saying much. After a few minutes, Alex’s ankle was healed enough to walk on again, albeit with a slight limp for a few minutes.
“You know,” Tschel offered, “if that ankle’s still bothering you later, we can always put off everything today and wait for tomorrow.”
Alex snickered. He gave Tschel an awkward sideways hug and said, “No, thanks, I’m not that girly. I’ll be fine, really. You’re just worrying too much.”
Alex, Marril, and Tschel reached Naryt City about ten minutes later. Every hotel in the city turned out to have no vacancy. Marril griped aloud as to how such a small town could have no places to stay. Tschel suggested setting up camp in the national park.
“So, what shall we do first?” Alex asked.
Tschel clapped Marril on the shoulder. “You’re the super-genius about all forms of being occupied.”
“Hey!” Marril shouted, but then realised Tschel was admitting she was better at something than he was. “Well, uh, there’s a Hyper-rank Pokémon Contest scheduled for three o’clock today.”
Tschel checked his watch. “It’s noon.”
“Hey, Marril,” Alex asked. “What division is it?”
“Wha? Oh, uh, Beauty.”
Alex smiled and grabbed a pokéball off of his belt. “Hyper rank… should be a nice challenge.”
“Milotic?” Tschel asked.
“Oh yeah.”
Alex watched the other contestants perform their preliminary shows with a lot of nervousness. Many of them were exceptional, better than he’d thought.
Tschel gave Alex a hug and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. You’re a good trainer, and Milotic’s bound to win.”
Alex hugged back and said, “Thanks.”
“Contestant 7, contestant 7,” the judge called. A blonde girl stepped out onto the stage and sent out a Blaziken.
“Hi, my name is Lexie, and this is my Blaziken, Bashamo! You know what to do, Bashamo! Bulk Up!”
Bashamo crossed its arms and took in a deep breath. On a call of “Sky Uppercut!”, it leapt into the air, then swept around with a Blaze Kick, landing on the ground.
The crowd applauded, but Lexie hadn’t finished yet. As Bashamo somersaulted backwards, Lexie shouted “Fire Punch!” Bashamo punched with its right hand, flames jetting from its wrists.
“Blaze Kick and Bulk Up!” Lexie shouted. Bashamo jumped up, somersaulted in midair, and hit the ground with its blazing foot, causing a jet of flames to engulf the birdlike fighter. As the flames dissipated, Bashamo ended with an impressive pose. The crowd’s applause was almost deafening.
Watching this display, Alex muttered, “Oh crap.”
As the applause died down and Lexie left the stage, the judge called, “Impressive display of moves, fluid motion, and great use of move synergy. Contestant 8 to the stage, contestant 8 to the stage.”
Alex walked onto the stage. With some nervousness, he said, “Yo. Name’s Alex, and this is Milotic.”
Milotic snaked onstage and looked at the crowd. It had a sweatdrop roughly the size of a baseball.
“Milotic, start off with, uh, an upwards Ice Beam!”
Milotic raised its head and fired an Ice Beam at the ceiling. Glittering shards of ice fell down around the serpent, some refracting light in small rainbows.
“Attract!”
Milotic glowed with a soft pink aura as the last few ice shards dropped to the floor. For a brief moment, Milotic appeared to be glowing with tiny rainbows surrounding it.
Alex looked at the ice shards on the ground, wanting to create another effect with them. The idea hit him. “Twister the ice shards around!”
Milotic’s tail swept as a tornado surrounded it and picked up the ice shards. The spotlights’ light refracted through the ice and split into rainbows that danced around beautifully.
“Finish off with a Recover!”
Milotic glowed as light entered its body. The crowd applauded, but nowhere near as loudly as it had for Bashamo or most of the other contestants’ Pokémon.
“Creative use of an Ice Beam,” the judge declared, “however the move variety was limited and concentrated around only two effects. The other judges are now ready to make their final decision for Top 4, where Pokémon will participate in appeal contests of five moves each to decide the victor.”
Alex looked at the screen displaying the scores. The first name appeared—as he figured, it was Lexie—followed by a name he’d never heard of, followed by Aya, Koga’s younger sister. Alex didn’t know she’d entered. The wait for the fourth name wasn’t longer than for any of the others, yet it seemed longer.
He hadn’t made it. “Well, I tried,” Alex said to himself, leaving the stage area.
Tschel hugged Alex as he entered. “That was a great show you put on, no matter what that judge said.”
Alex hugged back for a few seconds before parting. “No, the judge was right. I did really well for an amateur, though.”
“Really,” Marril put in, “that ice-cube rainbow trick was better than that Blaziken jumping around and putting itself on fire. And I mean way, way better.”
Alex laughed. “Why couldn’t you have been a judge?”
“Too smart to be one.”
“We’ll beat up the gym leaders tomorrow, though, eh?” Alex asked lightly.
“We’ve each beat Koga once, how hard could he be?” Tschel asked.
Marril flailed her arms in mock screaming. “Ack! No! You’ll jinx it!”
“Won’t say anything,” Tschel said offhandedly.
As the appeal contest continued, Bashamo the Blaziken was dominant, points-wise, from the very start. As the contest continued, it only widened the gap.
“Holy Goddish,” Alex thought in awe as he watched, “I’m actually glad I didn’t make top four.”
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That's it for this week, folks. Next chapter goes up when it goes up. Until then, don't rely on Milotic's boosted Beauty to carry you through contests all by itself.
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Kenneth opened the door to the Tribo room and stepped inside. Juliet was carrying the thing like it was a child.
“Hmph, Kenneth,” Juliet said, “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Kenneth smirked and sat down in one of the chairs. “I’d love to say I just dropped in to see that little tyke.”
“But…?”
“But?”
Juliet groaned. “There’s another reason you’re here, right?”
Kenneth crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling. “Maybe. Oh all right. You remember that genius girl who worked for you and that psychic boy you used for Tribo data?”
“Oh, them,” Juliet said, looking at Tribo. Tribo hissed.
“They’ve been spotted on Valencia. They rode in on a Dragonite a few days ago.”
“You’re the one in charge of security,” Juliet retorted. “I’m the one raising Tribo. Why bring me into it?”
Kenneth stretched. “Actually, it’s all those Elites hanging out here who’ve stolen that security job. To the point, however, you’ve worked with that girl before. You know more about her than I do. As for that psychic guy… eh, he was a depressed wreck when you had him.”
“You want me to figure out how to beat them,” Juliet said incredulously. It wasn’t a question.
Kenneth arced an eyebrow. “Only if they start poking around here. I’d love to think that this is one big coincidence, but I’ve had bad experiences with coincidences.”
Juliet frowned and set Tribo down. The small Pokémon scurried off. “If you mean that incident with the Magma base, that’s what got you promoted to Executive.”
Kenneth laughed. “Just because I can own a situation doesn’t mean everyone can.” Kenneth’s face became serious. “Seriously, keep an eye on those two. If they start nosing around where they shouldn’t, make sure you let me know.”
“Understood,” Juliet replied.
Kenneth bounded up from his seat. Juliet feared some form of harassment, but the other simply looked at her, shrugged, and walked out of the room. Juliet turned around and looked for Tribo. Finding the baby wasn’t difficult; the fact that it was essentially a light-absorbing shadow made it quite easy.
“Hey,” Juliet said to Tribo in a light voice, walking slowly towards it. “How about we go get something to eat?”
Tribo’s head bobbed a few times, and then it allowed itself to be picked up by Juliet. She walked out of the room carrying Tribo.
Tschel looked at the small town at the base of the mountain. He furrowed his eyebrows. “This is Naryt City? I expected more.”
“I didn’t!” Marril exclaimed. “Oh, wait, me ‘n Alex read up on this place, didn’t we?” Marril elbowed Alex.
Alex coughed. He knew that Marril and Tschel’s unpredictable friendship/rivalry could flare up at literally any random moment, and he didn’t want to see his two best friends fighting all the time. So he broke it up before it started.
“Let’s just get going before it gets dark, eh?” Alex asked. Without waiting for an answer, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and started for Naryt.
Marril listened to their footsteps, with nothing else to break the silence except for the calls of wild Pokémon. “Ah-hem,” she said, breaking the silence, “Well, you were right Alex, cause I never heard from that guy. He was a creep anyway.”
“See?” Alex said. “Told you not to worry.”
“I didn’t!” Marril almost shouted. A Pidgey flew out of a tree, startled by the sudden noise. Tschel glanced at it just in time to see a Fearow catch it.
“Well,” Tschel said, still walking but fixated on the Fearow, “I promise to still be myself, if that helps.”
“Don’t, you two,” Alex said hastily. “You two fight too much.”
“No such thing!” Marril exclaimed. “Well, there is, but we aren’t there. Yet.”
“She starts it,” Tschel fielded.
Alex turned around, walking backwards, smiling. “Hey, when you’re fighting, you’re getting along. If you two stopped, then I’d be worrie—whoa!”
Alex tripped over a root in the middle of the path and hit the ground with a thump. He tried standing but couldn’t.
“What’s wrong?” Tschel asked.
“Think I twisted my ankle,” Alex frowned. “What a cliché.”
Tschel laughed and helped Alex to his feet. “It’s not a cliché when it happens to a guy, you know.”
Marril looked at the ground. “I’ll say nothing.”
Tschel held Alex so that he could walk being supported by him. “There, this help?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Thanks, Tschel.”
“I should be given points for not saying anything,” Marril mumbled, kicking the root before continuing.
The group went on for quite a while without saying much. After a few minutes, Alex’s ankle was healed enough to walk on again, albeit with a slight limp for a few minutes.
“You know,” Tschel offered, “if that ankle’s still bothering you later, we can always put off everything today and wait for tomorrow.”
Alex snickered. He gave Tschel an awkward sideways hug and said, “No, thanks, I’m not that girly. I’ll be fine, really. You’re just worrying too much.”
Alex, Marril, and Tschel reached Naryt City about ten minutes later. Every hotel in the city turned out to have no vacancy. Marril griped aloud as to how such a small town could have no places to stay. Tschel suggested setting up camp in the national park.
“So, what shall we do first?” Alex asked.
Tschel clapped Marril on the shoulder. “You’re the super-genius about all forms of being occupied.”
“Hey!” Marril shouted, but then realised Tschel was admitting she was better at something than he was. “Well, uh, there’s a Hyper-rank Pokémon Contest scheduled for three o’clock today.”
Tschel checked his watch. “It’s noon.”
“Hey, Marril,” Alex asked. “What division is it?”
“Wha? Oh, uh, Beauty.”
Alex smiled and grabbed a pokéball off of his belt. “Hyper rank… should be a nice challenge.”
“Milotic?” Tschel asked.
“Oh yeah.”
Alex watched the other contestants perform their preliminary shows with a lot of nervousness. Many of them were exceptional, better than he’d thought.
Tschel gave Alex a hug and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. You’re a good trainer, and Milotic’s bound to win.”
Alex hugged back and said, “Thanks.”
“Contestant 7, contestant 7,” the judge called. A blonde girl stepped out onto the stage and sent out a Blaziken.
“Hi, my name is Lexie, and this is my Blaziken, Bashamo! You know what to do, Bashamo! Bulk Up!”
Bashamo crossed its arms and took in a deep breath. On a call of “Sky Uppercut!”, it leapt into the air, then swept around with a Blaze Kick, landing on the ground.
The crowd applauded, but Lexie hadn’t finished yet. As Bashamo somersaulted backwards, Lexie shouted “Fire Punch!” Bashamo punched with its right hand, flames jetting from its wrists.
“Blaze Kick and Bulk Up!” Lexie shouted. Bashamo jumped up, somersaulted in midair, and hit the ground with its blazing foot, causing a jet of flames to engulf the birdlike fighter. As the flames dissipated, Bashamo ended with an impressive pose. The crowd’s applause was almost deafening.
Watching this display, Alex muttered, “Oh crap.”
As the applause died down and Lexie left the stage, the judge called, “Impressive display of moves, fluid motion, and great use of move synergy. Contestant 8 to the stage, contestant 8 to the stage.”
Alex walked onto the stage. With some nervousness, he said, “Yo. Name’s Alex, and this is Milotic.”
Milotic snaked onstage and looked at the crowd. It had a sweatdrop roughly the size of a baseball.
“Milotic, start off with, uh, an upwards Ice Beam!”
Milotic raised its head and fired an Ice Beam at the ceiling. Glittering shards of ice fell down around the serpent, some refracting light in small rainbows.
“Attract!”
Milotic glowed with a soft pink aura as the last few ice shards dropped to the floor. For a brief moment, Milotic appeared to be glowing with tiny rainbows surrounding it.
Alex looked at the ice shards on the ground, wanting to create another effect with them. The idea hit him. “Twister the ice shards around!”
Milotic’s tail swept as a tornado surrounded it and picked up the ice shards. The spotlights’ light refracted through the ice and split into rainbows that danced around beautifully.
“Finish off with a Recover!”
Milotic glowed as light entered its body. The crowd applauded, but nowhere near as loudly as it had for Bashamo or most of the other contestants’ Pokémon.
“Creative use of an Ice Beam,” the judge declared, “however the move variety was limited and concentrated around only two effects. The other judges are now ready to make their final decision for Top 4, where Pokémon will participate in appeal contests of five moves each to decide the victor.”
Alex looked at the screen displaying the scores. The first name appeared—as he figured, it was Lexie—followed by a name he’d never heard of, followed by Aya, Koga’s younger sister. Alex didn’t know she’d entered. The wait for the fourth name wasn’t longer than for any of the others, yet it seemed longer.
He hadn’t made it. “Well, I tried,” Alex said to himself, leaving the stage area.
Tschel hugged Alex as he entered. “That was a great show you put on, no matter what that judge said.”
Alex hugged back for a few seconds before parting. “No, the judge was right. I did really well for an amateur, though.”
“Really,” Marril put in, “that ice-cube rainbow trick was better than that Blaziken jumping around and putting itself on fire. And I mean way, way better.”
Alex laughed. “Why couldn’t you have been a judge?”
“Too smart to be one.”
“We’ll beat up the gym leaders tomorrow, though, eh?” Alex asked lightly.
“We’ve each beat Koga once, how hard could he be?” Tschel asked.
Marril flailed her arms in mock screaming. “Ack! No! You’ll jinx it!”
“Won’t say anything,” Tschel said offhandedly.
As the appeal contest continued, Bashamo the Blaziken was dominant, points-wise, from the very start. As the contest continued, it only widened the gap.
“Holy Goddish,” Alex thought in awe as he watched, “I’m actually glad I didn’t make top four.”
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That's it for this week, folks. Next chapter goes up when it goes up. Until then, don't rely on Milotic's boosted Beauty to carry you through contests all by itself.