PBZ: Vol. V Ch. 110

    Hanako stirred from underneath the covers of the hotel bed. She turned to her side and opened her eyes. She yawned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Riviére still lay beside her, fast asleep with her back turned to Hanako. With a small smile, Hanako snuggled up to Riviére, wrapping her arm underneath Riviére’s and her other around Riviére’s waist as she proceeded to nuzzle the back of her head. She smiled and intertwined her fingers with Hanako’s as she groggily awoke. With a tender smile, Riviére said, “Good morning, beautiful.”

    “Good morning,” Hanako replied as she snuggled up to Riviére.

    Riviére sighed contently as she stroked Hanako’s forearm with her finger. “Mmm, I could do this for eternity.”

    “Me too,” said Hanako happily.

    Riviére shifted her body so she lay on her back and moved her head to look at Hanako. The two shared a quick kiss before Hanako lay her head on Riviére’s shoulder. Riviére stroked Hanako’s hair as the two lay beside each other for several minutes before they needed to get ready. Alexander, the girls, and their Pokémon ate a quick breakfast before departing the hotel.

    “Good luck on your match,” said Riviére as she and Hanako embraced just outside the gym.

    “Thanks, I’ll do my best,” Hanako replied with a peck on Riviére’s cheek. “I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done.”

    “All right.”

    The two broke the embrace and Hanako turned to walk towards the Gym’s front entrance. Riviére and Alexander turned and walked towards the arena on the northern part of town, the site of the Magikarp Festival Tournament. When they arrived, they found a large line of people registering. There was a large table with four men sitting on steel chairs as they scan the Poké Balls containing the Gyarados and registering them for the competition. It was nearly a half hour before it was Riviére’s turn to register.

    An elderly man with a long, peppered black and gray mustache beckoned her over. “Provide the Pokémon’s Poké Ball and fill out the information on the tablet,” he said as Riviére walked over.

    “Here you go,” said Riviére as she handed the elderly man Gyarados’ Poké Ball and took the tablet from him.

    The man placed the Poké Ball on the scanning device as Riviére inputted her personal information. The Poké Ball was scanned and Gyarados’ information was automatically imputed. The man skimmed the data before he scrunched his eyebrows. He leaned forward to read the data better. “Dear me, are these scans correct?” he said to himself in disbelief.

    “Is something the matter?” asked Riviére.

    “It says here that your Gyarados is nearly fifty-feet long and has a level of seventy-two.”

    “That sounds about right,” said Riviére nonchalantly as she finished inputting her personal information into the notepad and setting it down. “Why, aren’t the other applicant’s Gyarados around that level?”

    “Miss…Bleu?” said the man as he took the tablet and took a quick glance at her name. “The average level that’s been applying for this tournament is around level thirty-five. Your Gyarados is on par with the Elite Four.”

    “Is…that a bad thing?”

    “Well, no,” stammered the man. “There isn’t a level cap for the Gyarados that are entered in this tournament, but with that power gap…hold on, let me get a second opinion.”

    The man stood up and walked away. Some of the other trainers had overheard the level of her Gyarados and began talking amongst themselves.

    “Did you hear that?”

    “That girl has a Gyarados twice as strong as the average competitor…”

    “The guy said it’s on par with Elite Four Pokémon…”

    “Who is she? I’ve never seen her before.”

    “I don’t know if I want to enter now…My Gyarados would get wiped.”

    Alexander looked around as the talking among the competition spread like wildfire. He looked back at her and saw that she was unaffected by the news of her Gyarados’ strength. Rather, she seemed amused, though she tried not to show it.

    Another official joined the elderly man as the two looked over the data collected by the scanning device. “My word, you weren’t kidding. According to this, this Gyarados is on par with one of our Champion’s Gyarados.”

    “Do we allow her to compete?”

    “There’s nothing in the rules about how strong a Gyarados can be before being disqualified,” said the official as he stroked his beard. “The entire basis of this tournament is to draw out the strongest Gyarados trainer.”

    “Yes, but hers is far stronger than most that has entered…Wouldn’t that make the tournament predictable?”

    The official pondered for a moment. “She’s breaking no rules in entering a Gyarados at this level. The other trainers will have to try their best to defeat this beast,” said the official. He took the Poké Ball off the scanner and handed it back to Riviére. “Here’s your Gyarados, Miss Bleu. The tournament will begin tomorrow morning.”

    “Thanks,” said Riviére cheerfully.

    “Ah man, screw that. I’m not competing against that monster,” said one of the trainers that waited behind her. He turned and left without a second glance backward. With his leave, several of the trainers also turned and left.

    “You bring honor to this festival,” said one of the locals as he bowed to Riviére before he left. “I cannot compete with you. I wish you luck in the tournament.”

    The line for the registry severely thinned as much of the competition was spooked away. Several of the officials went into a panic as some of the registered trainers that overheard came back and requested to drop out.

    “At this rate, there won’t be any competition left…” said Alexander.

    “Then it’ll be easier for me to win,” said Riviére as she placed her hands on her hips. “It’s not my fault that my Gyarados is much stronger than theirs.”

   With much of the competition now gone, they could hear the conversations of others easier. An argument between a registering trainer and an official had broken out. Riviére and Alexander turned and, to their surprise, saw the strange young man they ran into while walking to the MooMoo Farm. Like before, he had a Weedle and a Caterpie perched upon his shoulders; however, something was distinctly different. The Caterpie had be dyed completely blue!

    “You cannot enter the competition, sir,” one of the officials angrily stated.

    “Yes I can,” the green-clad young man responded in a sing-song tone, swirling his hips in a defying manner.

    “No you can’t!” another official called out.

    The trainer raised his hands above his head and began to pirouette. Both his Pokémon crawled up his arms and posed above his fingertips as he sang out louder and louder, “Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can!”

    “For the last time you cannot enter a Caterpie into a Gyarados-only tournament!” yelled out the last official. The bug trainer stopped his show and stared at the official as if he were a ghost, and for a moment he just locked eyes. Then he blinked and lowered his arms, bringing the Caterpie into his palm while perching the Weedle atop his head.

    He thrusted his arms forward and answered: “What are you talking about? This isn’t a Caterpie; This is a Gyarados!” As he held out the Caterpie, Riviére managed to get a closer look at his awful patchwork: The insect seemed to be coated in a still-wet batch of berry juice, and there was a small Eviolite literally glued to its skull. What kind of whacked-out trainer is this guy?

    “No, sir, that’s quite obviously a Caterpie you painted blue.”

    “Oh yeah?” The trainer quickly turned around and held his Pokémon close to his chest, then reached down and pulled something out of his pocket. After a few mild grunts, he spun back around and presented his Caterpie once more. He had taken a black marker and drawn a pair of downward-slanted eyebrows onto his companion. “See! Look. Gyarados, with angry eyebrows and everything! Come on, Cassie, show them your war face!”

    The officials could only sigh as his Pokémon performed a little wiggle to accompany its puny expression the trainer called its ‘war face.’ “Sir. For the very last time, you cannot enter this tournament,” one of the officials finally stated after getting over their apparent embarrassment for this specimen. “I’m sorry.”

    “This is discrimination!” he declared, pulling his Caterpie back into his chest. “Where in the rules does it say that I can’t enter my Caterpie? Cassie wants to participate!”

    “Discrimination?” The official seemed taken aback by this claim. “Sir, as I’ve explained it you before, this is a Gyarados-only competition. Your Caterpie is not a Gyarados. This is a traditional competition, and we don’t make exceptions.”

    “Psh, you’re just jealous my little Cassie would kick everyone’s ass,” suggested the bug trainer. “As you can see, she’s obviously the largest and strongest Gyarados here.” Once again, his Caterpie posed, stretching its body as far as it can go. This brash declaration seemed to irritate several of the locals, many of which approached the official and the bug trainer.

    “Did I hear that right?” asked one of the locals. “The punk thinks we should change the rules of our tradition for him?”

    “He’s spitting in the face of our history.”

    “He’s quite full of himself, isn’t he?”

    The bug trainer turned to face the three annoyed locals. “My Cassie is looking for competition. Perhaps one of you fellows would like to battle?”

    “Yeah, I’ll step up,” called out one of the locals as he took out a Great Ball. “I’ll teach this little punk a lesson.” The other trainers and bodies moved out of the way, giving them enough room to have a Pokémon battle. The trainer threw his Great Ball into the air and the ball snapped open. A Gyarados materialized into the air and landed on the ground. While the Gyarados wasn’t half the size of Riviére’s, it absolutely dwarfed Cassie the Caterpie.

    “There we go! We got a bite, Cassie!” The bug trainer cheerfully announced as he set his Caterpie against the sand. Afterwards he chewed his lip as if he were thinking, then flashed a massive, idiotic grin. He knelt down and set his Weedle on the ground beside his Caterpie, then said: “Alright, Sir Reginald, I want this to be a good clean fight, got it?” The Weedle nodded to his words.

    “Dude, what are you doing?” asked the local. “I thought you said you were going to battle with your Caterpie.”

    “This is not a Caterpie, sir. It’s a Gyarados,” the bug trainer replied.

    The other trainer rolled his eyes. “Fine. I thought you were going to battle with your Gyarados, not with your Weedle.”

    “Oh, I am! I’m just telling Sir Reginald here to make sure she doesn’t cheat.” Once again, the bug trainer flashed a large smile,

    “Oh...kay?” The challenger was a bit confused, but he put off the uncomfortableness he felt from the sheer insanity exuded from the tradition-insulting bug trainer. He got himself some decent footing in the sand, and then the two trainers just stood there in silence. After a half-minute passed, the bug trainer shrugged, turned around and began to walk away.

    “Dude?” The challenger piped up, stopping the bug trainer in his tracks. “Aren’t you going to give your Cat--I mean, Gyarados a command?”

    “No? I’m hungry,” the bug trainer answered, then continued to make his way towards the concession stand.

    “Fine! Have it your way! Gyarados, use Tackle!” The challenger shouted as he threw his arm out. As the Gyarados reared back in preparation of its attack, the Weedle shrieked out its signature cry. Immediately, Cassie the Caterpie dashed across the sand far faster than any other Caterpie Riviére had seen before. Before the opponent's Gyarados had even started to lunge forward, Cassie jumped and launched herself through the air. Moments later a loud, reverberating smack rang through the beach when Cassie connected her own Tackle square center of the Gyarados’ stomach. The attack was strong enough to force the Gyarados to bend and curve around the strike; Its eyes bulging out from the sheer force. Without a second notice, the Gyarados veered over and collapsed to the ground. Cassie landed softly against the sand, then both the Caterpie and the Weedle started wiggling and dancing around in the dirt, obviously happy in their achievement.

    The crowd immediately broke out into a ruckus, angered by the swift defeat of the Gyarados by a lowly Caterpie. The bug trainer paid no mind to the battle or the riotous crowd of angry Gyarados trainers.

    Riviére took out her Pokédex and scanned the Gyarados’ level. “Hm…Only level twenty-two,” she said to herself. She pointed the Pokédex to the Caterpie and scanned its level. Her eyes widened in astonishment; the Caterpie was nearly level one-hundred.

    “Settle down, settle down!” shouted the officials as they attempted to quell the crowd.

    The bug trainer returned to the battleground, paying absolutely zero attention to the crowd’s protest, while carrying a massive bowl of poffins. “So,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food as he approached the official. “Can Cassie join the tournament now?”

    The mob went nuts, then started to shout out continuous objections as soon they overheard this. Riviére made a split-second decision to toss her Poké Ball. As the ball popped open, her massive Gyarados materialized on the ground. The massive atrocious Pokémon raised his head and roared. The ear-splitting roar forced the mob of crazed locals to clamp their hands over the ears. Riviére stepped forward as the crowd calmed down.

    “Hey! This isn’t how the trainers of Cianwood should react!” she bellowed as she placed her hands on her hips. “This trainer has already been rejected from entering as he doesn’t meet the requirements. He may be tactless, but that shouldn’t give you the reason to turn into a crazed mob. His Caterpie won because it’s an extremely high level, and the Gyarados that faced it was very weak.”

    The locals went very quiet as Riviére crossed her arms. “If you’re not going to register for the tournament, then I suggest that you leave. If not, then you’ll have to fight my own Gyarados,” said Riviére as she pointed a thumb at her Gyarados, whom stared down the crowd of people intensely. The locals and trainers looked at each other before many of them stood up and walked away. Several of the trainers reluctantly walked back to the officials and resumed registering for the tournament. Many of the trainers and locals leaving thanked Riviére and wished her luck. Riviére nodded to their statements, then turned around to try and talk to the exuberant bug trainer that she met briefly at the MooMoo Farm. However, he seemed to have completely vanished during the discord. This raised a few red flags in her mind, but she quickly buried the thoughts as a familiar voice filled the air.

    “Riviére!” yelled Hanako as she walked briskly towards her and Alexander with a bright smile. “I won my gym battle!”

    “Congrats!” said Riviére cheerfully as the two hugged.

    “Congratulations on the victory, Hanako,” said Tatsu as he, Leokane, and the rest of his group walked towards Alexander and the girls.

    “Tatsu, what are you doing here?” asked Riviére as she and Hanako held hands.

    “For the gym challenge, of course. I won my Storm Badge the other day. Leokane wanted to stay and enter his Gyarados in the festival tournament, so we decided to stay. Figured we’d see you here,” said Tatsu. He noticed that Hanako and Riviére were holding hands. He raised a brow and asked, “Are you two…?”

    “Together? Yeah,” said Riviére as she wrapped her arm around Hanako’s shoulder.

    “I see…”

    With Rodrick and Tatsu’s large body guards glaring down at them, Hanako hastily changed the subject. “So Leokane, you’ll be entering in the tournament?”

    “Yeah, thought I’d enter in it. Though I don’t think I’ll win now.”

    “Don’t count your Torchic’s before they hatch,” said Riviére. “Who knows? You might be able to defeat my Gyarados,” she said as she pet the side of her Gyarados as he glared down at the group. “Not likely, but hey, miracles happen.”

    “Cocky as always,” said Tatsu. “We’ll be seeing you around then.”

    Tatsu, Leokane, and the others turned and walked away as the girls and Alexander. Hanako frowned as Tatsu and the others left. “I miss being around Tatsu…,” she said.

    “I do too,” Riviére replied. “We’ll get him back soon.”

    “I hope so.”