PBZ: Vol. V Ch. 112

    The tournament resumed with Kenshin easily defeated his opponent and his weak leveled Gyarados in the final battle. With his victory, the first round of the Magikarp Festival Tournament concluded. The second round started after a short intermission, so the audience could buy and eat lunch while the eight first round victors rested. The second round started at one o’clock.

    The first battle of the second round featured Riviére and her next opponent. Much like the first round however, Riviére’s Gyarados made short work of his opponent. The same went for Koi Kaiser and Kenshin; they too defeated their opponents quite handily. Leokane, on the other hand, had difficulty in his second battle, but was able to defeat his opponent. With the conclusion of the second round, the remaining four participants, Riviére, Koi Kaiser, Kenshin, and Leokane, were excused for the day.

    “You did great today,” said Alexander as he and the girls sat at a dining table in the local restaurant.

    “It was a breeze,” said Riviére confidently before she drank her soda with a sly grin on her face. “If the rest of the tournament is this easy, it’s going to be a cakewalk.”

    “No offense, but you’ve only faced low level trainers,” Hanako reminded her after she took a bite from her salad. “Kenshin and Koi Kaiser are much stronger than the trainers that you’ve been facing so far. Not to mention that Koi Kaiser’s Gyarados knows Thunder. I don’t know that even your Gyarados could take a direct hit from it.”

    “I’m not worried,” Riviére replied confidently as she leaned into the backrest of the booth and crossed her arms. “My Gyarados’ level is much higher than both Kenshin and Koi Kaiser’s. It make take more than one hit to knock out their Gyarados, but I have the advantage. Besides, I don’t face both of them. I only have to face the winner of their match. Makes things easier for me.”

    “What about Leokane? You have to get by him first.”

    “No offence to Leokane, but I’m not really concerned with our match,” said Riviére bluntly. She paused to take a sip of her milkshake before she resumed speaking. “He’s a good trainer and all, but he’s struggled with both of his matches. Kenshin and his father both easily defeated their opponents like I did in the tournament so far. I’m more concerned about them than Leokane. It’s sort of horrible to say, I know…”

    “You bring up a rather obvious fact,” said Alexander as he crossed his arms. “If this were a battle where you used your Azumarill or Poliwhirl while he used a Pokémon of his choice, then that would be a fair contest. Still; overconfidence could cost you the Gyaradosite if you’re not careful. You should take this more seriously if you don’t want an upset victory.”

    “I suppose.”

    After Alexander and the girls finished their dinner, they left the restaurant and walked towards their hotel across town. The sun had already set and the stars began to dot the night winter sky. When they arrived at the hotel, Hanako took a shower while Riviére turned on the television. Shortly after she heard Hanako turned on the shower, there was a knock at the door.

    “Hm?” Riviére looked away from the TV. She raised her brow as she rolled off the bed and looked through the eyehole. To her surprise, she saw Leokane standing at the door. Riviére opened the door and looked outside. “Leokane, what are you doing here?”

    “O-Oh, hey Riviére,” Leokane rubbed the back of his head nervously. “How’re you?”

    “I’m good; just getting ready for bed. What’s up?”

    “I was, well, wondering if you could take a walk with me?”

    “Um, sure. Give me a sec to let Hanako know and change into something warmer, okay?”

    “Sure, sure.”

    Riviére walk back into their hotel room and opened the bathroom door. She informed Hanako that she’d be taking a walk with Leokane before she put on a sweater and sweatpants to keep herself warm from the chilly winter air. She met up with Leokane a few minutes later, and they left for the northern part of town to walk along the beach. The full moon shined brightly, the moon and star’s reflection shimmering off the water’s surface.

    “So, how have you been?” asked Riviére as she stopped at the shoreline and glanced out into the waves.

    “I’ve been okay, I suppose,” said Leokane as he rubbed his neck.

    “You did well in the tournament today,” said Riviére after a short pause. “I look forward to our battle tomorrow.”

    “Don’t remind me,” Leokane groaned. “I’ve been thinking about dropping out of the tournament, to be honest. I don’t stand a chance against you and your Gyarados…”

    Riviére blinked as she turned and looked at Leokane. “I don’t think that you should,” she said as she crossed her arms. “I think that you should go through with it. Sure, you might lose, but it would bring dishonor on your Gyarados if you gave up now. Do you think that Gyarados would want to give up?”

    “No, I know that he wouldn’t,” admitted Leokane, “but…I dunno. I guess that I’m a bit nervous fighting you. Tatsu had me train against him, and I haven’t defeated any of his stronger Pokémon yet.”

    Riviére frowned as she rubbed her elbow. After a long pause, she sighed and said, “Leokane, I think you should get out of Team Rocket.”

    “Wh-what? I can’t do that. Satoshi would be furious if I just abandoned my mission.”

    Riviére sighed as she became frustrated and gave Leokane a stern glare as she placed her hands on her hips. “Earlier, you told me that you don’t know anything that Team Rocket has planned. From what I gather, Tatsu hasn’t been close enough to gather any important information; Team Rocket has been keeping him at a distance, letting him complete his journey so he doesn’t get too close. The only thing Tatsu has been able to do since joining Team Rocket is keeping them off Hanako and myself. Tatsu wasn’t able to stop Team Rocket from capturing Mewtwo. I understand that it’s important to have an insider in Team Rocket, but from my point of view, what has that accomplished? Nothing!”

    Riviére felt a welt of anger bubble in her chest. She remembered the time where Tatsu had stabbed Hanako in the shoulder with his sword in order to convince his evil father of his loyalty. Hanako’s scream echoed in her head as though she was hearing them right at this moment. When Riviére closed her eyes, she saw Hanako’s terrified, pained eyes stared at her as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Before she knew it, Riviére was yelling at Leokane.

    “Every bad thing that has ever happened to us was because of Team Rocket! They attacked us at Mt. Moon, Tatsu risking his life to safe his grandpa at Lavender Tower, trying to capture Articuno when we and Bill went to take photos of it, taking Alexander away from us, taking over Silph Co., that crazy bitch tried to kill me after that, and they ruined our entire vacation in the Sevii Islands. That’s just our first year!”

    A dark blue aura engulfed Riviére as her rage built. Leokane took a step back as her rage flared. “Every time I turn around, Team Rocket is right there, fucking me and my friends over. I want them gone. I want them to pay for everything they put me and my friends through. I want them to hurt for taking Tatsu away from me and for forcing him to hurt my Hanako!”

    Tears ran down her face as she fell to her knees and balled her fists tightly as the aura had dissipated. Every bit of anger that had been building for years had expelled in her impromptu outburst. Leokane was speechless as Riviére tried to stifle her tears. He walked over to her and knelled beside her. Leokane pulled her into a tight hug. She fought him at first, but she quickly gave up to sob into his arms. It took a few minutes before Riviére calmed herself.

    “L-Leokane…”

    “Yes, Riviére?”

    “Thanks…”

    “No problem.”

    Leokane and Riviére pulled away from each other and stood up. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve. When she regained her composure, she gave Leokane a weak smile. “I meant what I said about you and Tatsu leaving Team Rocket.”

    Leokane rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see what Tatsu has to say. I’ll let him know when I can.”

    “Tell him that the girls miss him and want their Tatsu back.”

    Leokane chuckled. “Sure, I’ll tell him. By the way, are you and Hanako, like, really together?”

    Riviére nodded. “Yeah, we are,” she said as she crossed her arms. “Doesn’t mean that we don’t want our Tatsu back.”

    “So, what, if Tatsu came back, then…?”

    “We’ll probably all date then,” she explained with a shrug of her shoulders. “I mean, I’ve had a crush on both Hanako and Tatsu for years. I wouldn’t mind being with both of them.”

    “So the lucky bastard would get both of you,” Leokane said with an annoyed tone underneath his breath. “All right. I better get going; they’ll be wondering where I’m at if I’m gone too much longer.”

    “Yeah, I should get back too. Hanako will wonder why I’m gone for so long.”

    “Good luck in the finals tomorrow.”

    “Thanks, you too.”

    Leokane and Riviére gave each other a quick hug and departed. The next morning, they were joined at the arena with Koi Kaiser and Kenshin as the spectators filled the arena seats. When the arena filled, the festival tournament resumed. Up first was the semi-final match between Leokane and Riviére.

    Riviére and Leokane stood opposite of each other and stared each other down. With Poké Balls in hand, they tossed their balls high into the air. The Poké Balls snapped open and their Gyarados materialized beside their trainers. Riviére’s Gyarados towered over them all, making Leokane’s Gyarados look small in comparison. With the wave of the flags, the referee had begun the match.

    “Gyarados, use Hyper Beam!” declared Leokane.

    Gyarados opened his jaws wide and an energy ball quickly formed. With a ferocious blast, Gyarados fired a tremendous Hyper Beam at Riviére’s Gyarados. The Hyper Beam hit Gyarados square in the chest and caused a massive explosion. Smoke and debris masked Riviére and her Gyarados in a large cloud.

    Leokane, the audience, and Gyarados watched the smoke cloud intently for any source of movement. Leokane watched nervously as Gyarados recharged from the massive energy spent from the Hyper Beam. As they waited, a dark blue aura could be seen seeping through the debris. As the smoke cleared, Riviére and her Gyarados stood unaffected by the Hyper Beam. She had a confident smile as Gyarados focused his energy for the Dragon Dance technique.

    Without giving an order, Gyarados lunged forward and headbutted Leokane’s Gyarados in the head with terrifying speed. Leokane’s Gyarados swayed as he tried to keep consciousness. The sudden, powerful strike to the head however was too much for his Gyarados to handle. Gyarados fell to the ground as he fainted.

    The crowd roared as Riviére was declared the victor. She and Leokane returned their Gyarados to the Poké Balls and met at the center of the battlefield. They shook hands before they pulled each other into a tight hug.

    “There you have it!” said Mr. Itami into the microphone. “Riviére Bleu, the Queen of Storms, will be in the finals! Who will she face? Koi Kaiser, or the Prince Koi himself? We’ll find out next!”