Varying Circumstances

Author’s Note: Wow. 2000 hits. Crazy. When I set out to start this fiction, I wasn’t expecting it to be as popular as it’s turned out to be, honestly, but when I peek at the hits every other day, I’m always surprised at how many people actually DO read the fiction. Of course, it’s difficult to tell if those are multiple hits or just many different people, but it’s still nice to see that people like the fiction. Also, sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter up. I got really wrapped up with work and life that I just didn't get many chances to sit down and work on this chapter much 'til this morning. Hopefully it's up to par!



Also, Slash Firestorm, hope you don’t mind my little homage to Sinners late in the chapter! It was just far too tempting to pass up.



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“My patience is wearing thin with you, Julius.” That voice again, calling out from the darkness. This time, there was nothing to really see. The moon was gone, and the only light present was the light from the campfire forty yards away. “I wanted him dead before he left Lavender Town, and you’ve proved incapable. Do you even know where he is?”



Julius folds his arms across his chest, not even bothering to try to find the voice, to find the person in question. He knows he’s there, and that’s all he needed to know. To know that this person held his life in his hands. “Saffron City, but apparently he walked right through. Didn’t even stop to fight Sabrina.”



“I see.” The voice hums thoughtfully. Julius can hear movement, but only for a few moments, damp grass crunching beneath the feet of the man in the darkness. “Find him. If I have to take care of him myself, there will be dire consequences.”



“I’m not worried about your hollow threats.” Julius snarls softly. “You don’t know anyone that I know, anyone that I even care about. In fact, I don’t even know who you ARE.”



A soft growl emits from the darkness, and the sound of the man stepping forward. “Do NOT talk back to me, boy! You are nothing but a pawn in this game, and if I need to I will be more than happy to sacrifice you to further my own goals. I know that you fear for your life, coward.”



“What did you say?!” Julius turns to face the voice, fingers pulling a Pokeball from his waist.



“That’s right. You’re a coward, and a weakling. You should have defeated him in Lavender Town, but you’ve proven yourself incapable. You still have your uses, though.” The voice chuckles. “Now, I suggest you put that Pokeball away, before you get hurt.”



A short pause, then Julius snarls. “Take it back.”



“What? That you’re a coward and pathetic waste of human life? I meant every… single… word.”



“That’s it! Shelgon, let’s show him he’s messed with the wrong trainer!” Julius growls, a bright flash of red light signaling the appearance of his Shelgon. “Now, Dragonbreath!”



Just hearing the sounds of battle, Melina awakens, rubbing her eyes slightly as she stares at Julius’ back. “… Julius? What’s going on?”



The voice merely chuckles, the glow of red appearing in the distance. “Bad mistake.” Before the Shelgon can even turn to face its opponent, a strange force slams into it, sending it spiraling back towards camp. The resilient Pokemon is down and out the second it slams into one of the trees lining the route they were on, the crackling and splintering of wood causing Melina to scream and cover her head with her arms to guard against the splinters raining down around her.



“Shelgon!” Julius turns to rush back and check on his Pokemon.



“What you care for is a lot closer than you think, Julius.” The voice chuckles, those red eyes slowly dying down to normal. “Find him. Destroy him. Or I will destroy YOU.”



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Saffron City Gym was home to Sabrina, trainer of Psychic-type Pokemon. The actual gym itself wasn’t very characteristic of Psychic-types. In fact, it was pretty straight-forward: lots of lights, a flat, unobtrusive stage that looks like it’s waxed constantly. Because of the lack of obstacles in the gym, the battles were similarly straight-forward, and were generally more about raw power and skill than about a Pokemon’s ability to adapt to a situation.



“I have to commend you on your abilities, Nicholas.” Sabrina speaks, reaching into her pocket for her Pokeball to call back her Kadabra. “Your Absol is strong, but you knew just what attacks to avoid. I’m impressed.”



“Thank you.” Nicholas smiles, reaching his hands out to accept the Marsh Badge. “What about Kristina?”



Sabrina smirks softly. “It’s clear that she has no idea what she’s doing, but her Combusken is strong, and her Skarmory proved to be what won the match. Was this her first time winning on the first try?”



Nicholas nods slowly.



“That would explain why she couldn’t stop grinning.”



“She’s been through some rough times, but she’s learning, at least. Slowly but surely.” Nicholas opens his badge box, placing the badge in the place pre-set for it, before snapping the box closed and returning it to his backpack. “Take care.”



Sabrina nods slowly. “Feel free to come back if you get the time. I will be doing some training, so I want to see how you fare later.”



Turning, Nicholas waves slightly over his shoulder, slowly moving out of the gym. Opening the doors and moving out into daylight, he’s greeted with the sight of Kristina, who nearly leaps on him as the doors shut. “I still can’t believe I won on the first try! This is the time to celebrate!” She grins, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold herself up, legs wrapping about his waist to keep herself up.



Struggling with the sudden weight, Nicholas moves his hands down to her legs to hold her up. “Hopefully you can keep up this winning streak.”



“Me too. But right now, let’s go celebrate!” Kristina smiles, hopping down off of him after a moment and grabbing his hand. “C’mon. Let’s get to Celadon City as quickly as we can. I’m in the mood for some shopping! We should be able to get there before it gets too late!”



Nicholas grins sheepishly, letting her drag him along. “You remind me of my mom. She used to use any excuse to go shopping..”



Aisha watches quietly as the two head west, quickly standing on all fours and moving after them.



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The Celadon City department store was just as big as Nick had remembered it. Seven floors of nothing but shopping, shopping and more shopping. Clothes, accessories, and everything Pokemon for the serious or the casual trainer. Even Pokemon accessories for contests were present, which were huge draws for people looking to enter the contests, considering that a facility solely for beginning contests was built just inside the city limits.



Naturally, the two of them split up to go shop for things they’d need. Of course, they have trouble deciding exactly what they ‘need’. Though Nicholas is on the right track, buying super potions and Great Balls, Kristina has other things in mind. Like clothing. Despite having only a little bit of money, Kristina proves herself a better spendthrift than a trainer, walking out with more clothing than she probably needed.



“Where’re you going to put all of that?” Nicholas inquires, slipping Aisha a bit of Pokemon food, which she happily gobbles down. He looks back to his backpack, putting his things away in their appropriate pockets.



“I was kind of hoping that you had lots of room in your backpack..” Kristina grins playfully, rubbing the back of her neck.



Nicholas stares at her calmly. “I’m not letting you use my backpack for a wardrobe.”



“Fine, fine. I’ll find a place for all of this stuff in my OWN backpack.” Kristina murmurs, working on stuffing the clothing into her backpack. There’s very little room left to zip it closed when she’s done, but soon, all of her things are stuffed in. “See? Perfect! It’s not like I didn’t get anything for my Pokemon, either.” She pokes her tongue out at him.



“I guess it is. Just hope it doesn’t burst open.” Nick smirks playfully, standing up and running his hands along Aisha’s head, petting her lovingly. “It’s getting kind of late, though. I think the gym will probably be closed before we get there.”



Kristina works on pulling her backpack off the ground with a grunt, trying to work it onto her back. “Probably. They usually close around evening, anyway.”



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A short walk reveals that the gym is, indeed, closed. With darkness quickly falling, the only thing left to do was find a hotel room for the night, and enjoy the night life. With all the signs advertising the Game Corner, Nick quickly reasoned that getting out with Aisha would be good for the both of them. All training and no fun makes Nick a dull boy.



Once a hotel room was secured for the both of them, only taking them a few moments to decide on how many rooms to reserve (one), Kristina decided to head up to bed rather than go out and enjoy the night. With Aisha in tow, the Game Corner was their next stop, and both trainer and Pokemon were mesmerized by the lights. “Well, I guess you’re my hot date for tonight.” He smirks playfully at Aisha as they move towards the roulette tables. “Hopefully you’ll also be my good luck charm.”



Aisha gives him a curious look, sniffing at the table as she approaches behind her master, and sitting to just peek over the table and get a good idea. Naturally, this meant that her eyes were on anything that moved – the roulette itself, the little ball the bounced and landed on particular colors and numbers, and of course, all those colorful chips. She had no idea that this was any fun, as that little metal ball seemed to decide the reaction of all those at the table with every spin of the roulette.



When all was said and done, Nicholas came out only a little richer than he’d gone in. His luck was beginning to run out, so instead of gambling away the rest of the money, he made sure to instead pocket it and take what he could get. As the two walked off into the night, they paid no attention to the few people hanging around near the entrance, watching groups of people leave the Game Corner quietly.



“Yeah, he’s here.” … “.. All right.”



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“Hmm. You know, It’s been a while, Aisha.” Nicholas smiles, stopping just short of the hotel to look down at his Absol, who looked back at him with that same curious, though knowing look. “I’ve been neglecting you, and I think I owe it to you to give you something I know you’ve been wanting for a while.”



Leading Aisha away from the hotel, Nicholas takes her just outside of Celadon City, where there’s more cover thanks to darkness. Trusting of his Absol to lead him to somewhere safe, Nick begins to follow her once she leads into the woods, and there’s only a short way away from the route before he bumps gently into her. “Wish the moon was out. Sorry, Aisha.” He apologizes, but feeling her cheek nuzzling gently into his groin gives Nick the impression that they both share the same idea.



Working his clothes off with little trouble, Nick kneels down and nuzzles his Absol softly, running his hands over her silky fur, enjoying the feel. He hadn’t gotten many chances to just enjoy being with his Absol like this, not in several days, and she purrs softly in reaction to her master’s loving hands, clearly enjoying the feeling.



Then, Nicholas smelled that familiar honey-like smell. He slowly moves his way behind her, gently running his fingers down to find her slit. Though it’s difficult to find otherwise, her growing heat and dampness gives away just where exactly it is. Aisha glances back at him to watch quietly, shivering when she feels his fingers running slowly up and down her. She moans her name softly, closing her eyes and lowering her upper body to the ground, instinctively raising her rear for inspection, and possible taking.



Bringing his fingers to his lips, Nick suckles softly at what was on it, and confirmed his suspicions. Her own natural lubricant had a slightly sweet taste to it, and wasn’t terrible at all. Surprised by this, he buries two fingers slowly into her, forcing a loud moan from her as he pushes in and pulls back out slowly, bringing his lips to his mouth to taste again. This time, the sweet taste is stronger, and he quickly figures that depending on her level of arousal depends on how strong the taste is.



Not that he minds, but Nick has other things he wants to enjoy, and he slowly moves the head of his shaft against those very same slick folds, pushing in quickly, not hesitating to take up deep, fast thrusts. Aisha lets out a wail of pleasure in the form of her name, and she tightens around him, her slick walls doing that amazing milking motion, almost seeming to massage the entirety of his shaft instinctively just to get him to cum deep inside her, and the strength of her pussy indicates that she was built to handle keeping that cum deep inside her.



“Jesus, Aisha… did you get tighter while we were on hiatus?” Nick moans softly, hips thrusting harder, faster against her. He’d be slower with her, but the last time he experimented with his Absol, she simply forced herself on him. It was best to keep it simple, and just try his best to fulfill the both of them.



Knowing that he wasn’t far from climax, Nicholas just kept pounding away at her, clutching her sides tightly as he shudders, trying to bring himself over that edge. In a surprise move, however, Aisha steps forward and away from him, almost teasingly. Nick blinks and moves forward, trying to grab her again. He gets his hands on her body just for a moment, before she moves away again.



“What the hell, Aisha?” Nicholas blinks, before feeling her head bump him to the ground on his back. He knew what was going to happen next, even in the relative darkness of the lightly wooded area. Except it didn’t happen, instead he felt the rough tongue and gentle suction of his Absol’s mouth. “Oh, Aisha…!”



There was very little that could contend with the unique sensation of Aisha’s mouth. Though it wasn’t quite the instinctual massaging of her slick, silky walls around his cock that Nicholas had grown nearly addicted to, it had something to it that made Nicholas look forward to every time they got themselves into a situation like this. The suction stops just briefly, almost as if she knew he was getting close to climax, and he felt her move slowly over him. Instead of feeling her mount, he feels instead her mouth once again.



Curious, his questions are answered soon as she rests her rear down near his face. He’s not sure where she picked up this little trick, but he wasn’t about to complain. He flicks out his tongue to taste her at this heightened state of arousal, and her taste was far sweeter than he remembered it. Happy to indulge in his Absol, Nick closes his eyes, licking and suckling at the sensitive folds as he reaches one hand up to rub softly at the Pokemon’s clit. It’s much smaller than Kristina’s, he realized, but the smaller they were…



Another loud Absol call is Nick’s only warning as she cums, a small flood of sweet, though slightly thick, fluid flowing into his mouth. It’s not too different from her normal, natural lubrication, but he’s not one to argue as he feels himself quickly nearing climax. He almost considers trying not to show any warnings because of her past behavior when he was close to cumming, but it’s difficult to, especially when she realized that he was close and seemed to double her efforts.



“Aishaaa..!” Nicholas gasps softly against her folds, causing her body to shiver just as he releases rope after rope of hot, thick seed deep inside her mouth. She seems to drink deeply, allowing his cock to slide into her throat, each swallowing motion seeming to try to pull his cock deeper and, in a sensation he’s not sure he’d ever feel from anyone else, it’s almost as if she were trying to drink him in, too.



When his climax finally finished, Nicholas collapsed softly to the ground, closing his eyes and panting softly, just trying to relax. Aisha nearly does the same, moving off of him, but laying her head in his lap, licking and suckling softly at his cock to try and keep it hard. Though it takes Nick a moment to recover, he finally rests a hand on her head.



“You’re ready for more already? You really ARE insatiable..”



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Having returned to the hotel to sleep after a few hours of ‘enjoying the nightlife’, the next day presented many new discoveries. Some of them were pleasant:



“Hey, there’s an Amateur Rank Pokemon Contest today!” Kristina hops slightly in place. “I’m going to enter!”



Some of them weren’t so much:



“Are you kidding?! The Gym is closed?!” Nicholas stares in disbelief at the big yellow sign that hung out front of the Gym, stating that the Gym was closed all day due to the big Pokemon Contest. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He rests a hand against his face.



“That does it. It’s some sort of sign from the Pokemon Gods!” Kristina teases. “It means we were destined to enter the contest!”



Nicholas glances over at her. “I’m not entering.”



“Why not?!” Kristina whines.



“One, they don’t have doubles, so you can’t drag me into that mess again. Two, Pokemon Contests don’t earn me badges.” Nicholas points out to her. “Only useless ribbons that don’t let me challenge the Pokemon League.”



Kristina rolls her eyes, snagging him by the arm and quickly moving to drag him in the direction of the large dome. “Well, you don’t have to enter the contest, but you have to AT LEAST cheer for me!” She huffs.



“Alright, alright. Relax. I never said I wouldn’t watch. Not like we can challenge Erika today..” Nicholas murmurs quietly, quickly catching his balance and letting her lead him on.



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The Pokemon Contest dome was large and extravagant, the actual lobby being quite large and housing a large number of Pokemon and their trainers. All types of Pokemon from all sorts of different regions were on presentation, though many more of them were Pokemon exclusive to Kanto, as several Champion hopefuls that had gotten this far were all aiming to become a master at something than just training.



“This place is PACKED.” Nicholas murmurs, stepping over a Gulpin in the way carefully.



“No kidding.” Kristina replies, making her way carefully towards the front desk. “Hello! Is it too late to sign up?” She inquires with a smile.



The woman shakes her head and smiles. “Nope! In fact, you’d be one of the few left open spots. Lucky you! Can I have your name?”



“Kristina Marie.” Kristina answers proudly, smiling.



“Nice to meet you, Kristina. Here’s your nametag..” A white nametag is handed over. “Just head out into the room behind me for your number and… are you Nicholas?” The woman inquires, tilting her head a bit.



Nicholas blinks, pointing to himself. “Me?”



“You’re really late! You signed up for the contest a few hours ago. You were nearly one of the first.” The woman smiles, handing over a nametag. “Just enter the door behind me, and..”



“Wait, you must have the wrong Nicholas, lady.” Nicholas shakes his head, trying to hand back over the nametag.



The woman peeks over the desk to get a good look at the Absol looking curiously around the room. “You have an Absol. You entered her into the contest.”



“I… wait, what?” Nicholas shakes his head, turning his head to look at Kristina, who seems content with shooting him a poisonous look. “I didn’t enter!”



“I’m sorry, but once you’ve entered, you can’t withdraw until the competition has ended.” The woman smiles, handing back over the nametag.



With a sigh, Nicholas gently clips the nametag to his shirt and moves to follow Kristina into the back room. “Something smells rotten.” He murmurs softly.



“Are you sure it’s not the Muk back from the lobby?” Kristina inquires, still glaring daggers at him. “Or maybe it’s from you. Trying to steal my glory.”



“I am NOT trying to steal your glory.” Nicholas points at her, glaring back. Sparks nearly seem to fly between the two as they lean in close to one another. “I told you, something stinks about all of this. I didn’t enter myself into this contest.”



Kristina stares into his eyes for a moment, and she sighs, leaning back and relaxing. “I’m sorry. I just want to have some time to shine sometime. I know I’m a bad trainer, but I want to be good at SOMETHING.” She folds her arms across her chest, looking away. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”



Nicholas relaxes too, shaking his head slowly. “Don’t worry about it. I would have probably done the same thing, myself.” He smiles slightly, reaching a hand up to brush her cheek softly, forcing her head gently to turn back to him.



“Really?” Kristina blinks.



“Really.”



“Ten minutes until the first round, everyone! I want all twenty five contestants to be on stage!” A woman states, moving around to give everyone numbers.



“Shit. So, what exactly is first?” Nicholas inquires Kristina, slowly moving to sit and beckoning his Absol over, who happily makes her way over and sits between his legs gently.



Kristina pulls her backpack off of her back and moves to sit next to him, releasing her Eevee in the process. “The first part of Pokemon Contests involve putting accessories on your Pokemon to make them look cooler, smarter or cuter. I’m going to be putting some ribbons on my Eevee to make her look cuter.” She smiles.



“I didn’t buy any accessories at the department store..” Nicholas murmurs softly, glancing over at her. “Do you think you could… possibly lend me some?” He asks apprehensively.



Kristina smirks, concentrating on her Eevee as she puts a green ribbon gently around one of her ears. “On one condition.”



“Name it.” Nicholas leans in close to her.



“I want your undivided attention tonight.” Kristina glances over at him.



“You call that a condition?” Nicholas inquires, quirking an eyebrow.



Kristina rolls her eyes. “I want to have free reign over you for one night. Anything I want to do, I get to do it, or you have to do it. Got it?”



“… Alright. What can it hurt?” Nicholas resigns himself. “So, what can you give Absol to make her look better for the judges?”



Kristina smiles. “I have just the thing.”



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“Welcome to the seventh annual Amateur Rank Pokemon Contests! Today, we’ll be entertaining you with a record number of competitors! Twenty five to be exact!” The announcer whips the crowd up into a frenzy of cheering. “Some of them come from far away to participate in our contest, the first step on a long road to Pokemon Contest recognition!”



“As you all know, the Pokemon Contest consists of three parts: the first part is the Beauty Contest, where Pokemon try to sway the judges by being beautiful, cute, or just plain cool! Points are awarded on a one to ten basis as each participant is called forward.”



“The second part is the Talent Contest! Our participant’s Pokemon try to wow the judges as best they can with strange or unique talents, so expect to see some interesting things out of our contestants today! This contest is graded on a one to twenty basis, so a great performance here can really turn things around!”



“Finally, the third part is the Battle Contest! Our participants will battle one another, with their performance graded on a one to twenty basis! The first place battler receives twenty bonus points, with second place receiving ten, and third receiving five. Like the Talent Contest, this can really turn things around! So, without any further delay, the contestants!”



The normally dark area behind the stage slowly rises, showing off trainers and their Pokemon all standing in a row, Kristina right next to Nicholas somewhere near the end. “I’m nervous.” Kristina glances over at Nicholas briefly.



“Don’t be. You need to get used to this. There will be a ton more people if you get into the Kanto Pokemon League.” Nicholas tries to build her confidence.



“… That doesn’t make me feel any better.”



“Sorry.”



The announcer shouts out the next contestant. “Julius Alexander!”



“Wait, is that..?” Kristina leans forward a bit to peek, her eyes going wide as the very person she’s thinking of steps forward. Julius. The one that had attacked them so recklessly twice before was in the contest with them. “Nick! Did you see?” Kristina nearly hisses at him as the judges look over his Bagon, outfitted with what looked like a jacket.



“Yeah. I saw. I knew something stunk about this competition, and I think I figured out where the source was.” Nicholas murmurs, watching the judges hold up the result for the Bagon, a six. Julius doesn’t seem pleased with this, stepping back to the line.



“Melina Longstar!”



“Longstar?!” Kristina gasps, reaching a hand up to cover her mouth to try and keep the gasp from being too loud.



Nicholas glances over at her, quirking an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with her last name?”



Kristina shakes her head slowly. “N-Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”



“Clearly I should be.” Nicholas tries to get the information out of her.



“I’ll tell you later, when you’re ready.” Kristina steps forward when she’s called, presenting her Eevee. The judges seem wooed by the Eevee, complete with green bow, and they raise up a seven.



“Nicholas Gradston!” The announcer calls out.



Nicholas steps forward with Aisha to present her to the judges. The Absol is outfitted with one simple accessory: Black Glasses. The judges seem impressed by how well the sunglasses match the Absol, and raise a seven.



Melina gets a similar score of eight, showing off her Pidgeotto with a few ribbons, and strategically placed glitter, which flows out when the Pidgeotto flaps its wings.



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“I should have figured that YOU’D be here. I’m glad that my guess was correct, then.” Julius smirks, slowly approaching both Kristina and Nicholas, with Melina in tow. “It’s a shame I can’t just kill you now, but I suppose I can save that for after the contest.”



Nicholas narrows his eyes. “Nothing we haven’t heard before.”



“Ha! I intend to take this contest, then take your life. There will be nothing sweeter than destroying your hopes of winning this contest, then destroying YOU.” Julius slowly turns to walk away, Melina giving Nicholas a once-over, stepping back after Julius.



“What’s his problem?” Kristina sighs softly. “At least we can give him points for persistence.”



“No kidding.”



Over near Melina and Julius’ seat, Melina seats herself down to brush the glitter out of the wings of her Pidgeotto, watching Julius quietly for a moment as he wrestles the jacket off that took just as much effort to even get on it. “I think we should leave.” She speaks up suddenly. “Forfeit. Surrender.”



Julius glances over at her. “Shut up. It was your idea that we enter this contest, anyway.”



“No. I mean, there’s something not right. I can’t really tell you right now, but..”



Julius shoots her a glare that gets her to shut up in mid-sentence. “Melina. Just be quiet. Let me win this contest, and get my work done.”



Melina snorts, closing her eyes as she brushes her Pidgeotto. “Suit yourself.”



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The Talent Contest takes far longer than the Beauty Contest. Many of the contestants bring quite a few interesting and impressive talents to the table (for example, a juggling Aipom who juggles with his tail AND hands), and makes the game tougher. Having had no time to really plan, Nicholas simply orders Aisha to use Swords Dance, complimenting the red sparkles with a Razor Wind, which whips the sparkles into a frenzy. This seems to impress the judges somewhat, netting Nicholas a solid fifteen.



Julius proves a little more creative, using the blue flames of Dragonbreath with a quick Twister, creating a tornado of blue flames, which wows the audience AND the judges. Julius earns an eighteen.



Kristina’s Eevee has a bit harder time, only managing to balance a baton on her nose for a few seconds before it falls, and the judges don’t seem very impressed with what was shown there. Poor Kristina only gains an eight.



Last but not least, Melina’s Pidgeotto kicks up a fierce Whirlwind, releasing a burst of down that only seems to make the judges drowsy than impressed. Melina gets an eleven for her effort, and the reaction of the audience to the all the fluffy material.



Finally, the Battle Contest arrives, and the contestants are all sorted into brackets. Melina is eliminated shortly into the contest, but Julius, Nicholas and Kristina all make it to the semi-finals. Julius against Nicholas, Kristina against an older boy with a Gardevoir who went by the code name of Slash, who seemed to be a crowd favorite simply for his Pokemon and his high scores in both Talent and Beauty Contests.



Kristina nearly pulls off a victory, and her Eevee fights with a ferocity that’s uncharacteristic of an Eevee in the face of a stronger opponent, but the Gardevoir proves to be just too strong, knocking Kristina out of the race. The effort, however, gains her points from the judges which bumps her up quickly and secures her fourth place.



Finally, with only Julius and Nicholas left taking up their positions on either side of the arena, they stare each other down, Nicholas calmly, but Julius with a malice that he wasn’t sure he could muster for just anyone. Both Pokemon were out, awaiting their first orders.



“I hope you don’t try anything funny if you happen to win this match.” Nicholas speaks out across the arena, loud enough for Julius to hear. “There are a lot more people watching, and they have stronger Pokemon to wipe the floor with your Shelgon.”



Julius smirks. “As tempting as that would be, with your Absol out of the way, you’ll just be an easier target later.”



“Just give up.” Nicholas shakes his head.



Julius lifts an arm, pointing at the Absol. “Twister!”



Releasing a burst of orange energy that quickly forms into a whirlwind, the twister tears across the battlefield towards both trainer and Pokemon. “Avoid the attack with Double Team, then aim a Slash for any soft spots on his Shelgon!”



Absol has little trouble avoiding the attack, leaving after-images from moving so quickly that Shelgon has trouble finding which is the real Absol, firing Twister after Twister towards the illusions. It’s not until the Shelgon is facing the opposite direction that the Absol leaps swiftly onto the Shelgon, raking sharp claws violently not once, but twice, along the shell and softer areas, causing the Shelgon to raise a cry in agony.



“Don’t let it take you down this quickly! Headbutt it off of you!” Julius commands, but an explosion on the far end of the stadium attracts the attention of both trainers and their Pokemon. The huge double doors, meant for allowing larger Pokemon to exit or enter, are like paper in the hands of the tall Ice-type Pokemon that blew them off of their hinges.



“Regice!” Nicholas growls, turning to face the legendary Pokemon. “That must mean she must be around here somewhere..”



Julius’ reaction is more of shock than anything else. “What is a Regice doing here during a Pokemon Contest?! What’s a Regice doing here at all?! I thought the only Regis were captured in Hoenn!”



“Apparently not.” Nicholas replies, watching the Ice-type focus those bright yellow braille eyes towards the two trainers. “But I’d imagine that you know more about this than you’re letting on. You’re with Team Rocket, aren’t you?!”



Julius turns his head to glare at Nicholas. “What the hell are you talking about? Team Rocket’s been broken up for years!”



Nicholas stares quietly at his rival for a moment, before turning to look back at the Regice. “Shit. So you have no idea…?”



Raina, flanked by several caped Team Rocket members, slowly moves out from behind her Regice, smiling as she looks around the contest hall, all the audience in a panic, rushing for the door. “Well, well. I guess our meeting came a little earlier than I expected it to be. You should have just went into hiding like a good little boy, Nicholas.” She coos, folding her arms beneath her chest. “Now you get to die.”



“What is it with everyone out to kill me? This is getting really old.” Nicholas growls, glancing down at his Absol, who seems similarly angered just by the mere presence of the legendary Pokemon. “I hope you trust me enough for this, Aisha. This isn’t looking good.”



Mostly because there was no method of escape. The only quick, safe exit was too far away to run to, and the only other exit was occupied by many feet and pounds of legendary Pokemon. “I guess you’ll probably need some help.” Kristina calls, making her way across the field towards Nicholas and Julius. Melina simply continues to watch quietly, content with not getting involved.



“Think we can set aside the whole ‘kill me’ thing and work together here, Julius?” Nicholas shoots towards his rival.



Julius smirks. “You kidding? I think I can manage long enough to show you what kind of power I have.”



“Don’t count me out.” Slash quickly chimes in, dashing across the arena to get to the small group of opposing trainers, Gardevoir hot on his heels. “I think if we all four fight at once, we can probably take him..”



Raina giggles. “You fools. Do you think I’m just going to leave this to chance? Team Rocket, summon your Pokemon!”



A small army of Pokemon appear in blazes of red light, the majority of Golbats, Mightyena and Raticate on either side of the towering Regice. “Regice, Ice Beam on Nicholas and his Absol!”



The Regice doesn’t even need to charge up, releasing a beam of pure ice energy in an instant that crystallizes the battlefield it travels over, tearing up the floor with the sheer overwhelming power of the attack. Slash smirks. “Let me handle this one. Gardevoir, get between the Ice Beam and his Absol and use Protect!”



Disappearing in a burst of energy, Gardevoir puts herself between the attack and Aisha, unleashing a bright light that stops the Ice Beam in its tracks, eventually completely negating the attack, which seems to send the Regice reeling. “Are you kidding?” Raina growls, narrowing her eyes. “That Gardevoir shouldn’t have stood a chance!”



Slash just shrugs his shoulders, smirking playfully. “I’ve been training for a long time. I just wanted to enter a contest for the fun of it.”



“Were you going easy on me?” Kristina huffs, glaring at the boy.



“I, uh… well…” Slash rubs the back of his neck.



“Now’s not the time to argue amongst ourselves.” Nicholas brings them both back to the battle. “Everyone needs to attack all at once, else we won’t stand a chance. Aisha, Razor Wind!”



“Shelgon, Dragonbreath!”



“Combusken, Flamethrower!”



“Gardevoir, Psychic!”



The combined attacks slam into the Regice, who makes no attempt to avoid the attacks, kicking up a smoke that obscures the legendary Pokemon only briefly, before it skates forward on its pointed feet, completely unharmed by the attacks.



“Incredible.” Julius smirks. “I guess that’s a legendary Pokemon for you. Was nice knowing you guys.”



“The eternal pessimist, aren’t you?” Kristina snaps at him, stepping back as the Regice begins to cover distance quicker. “We’re going to need some kind of miracle to stop this thing..”



A miracle comes. A burst of blue and red signifies the entrance of a Salamence, the impact enough to send the Regice spiraling off course and into the wall, where the sturdy walls buckle and creak under the high speed impact. Nicholas stares in disbelief at the Salamence. “Lance?!”



“Yeah, I heard on the news that this Contest Dome was under attack by a legendary Pokemon. I just had to see myself, but who would have thought you’d be here?” The dragon tamer of the Elite Four smirks, releasing a Dragonite from an Ultra Ball to accompany his Salamence. “Your dad says hi, by the way.”



“Battle, Lance?” Nicholas quickly points. “I think it’s time to get going. Lance can handle this.”



Kristina, Slash and Julius all quickly move to follow Nicholas towards the entrance they came through to get on stage, and once in the relative safety of the side room, the four of them head out of the dome as quickly as possible, putting distance between themselves and the legendary Pokemon.



“Nicholas, I can’t believe that you know Lance!” Kristina stares wide-eyed at her traveling companion. “Most trainers don’t even get to Lance, let alone get to KNOW him!”



“He’s my dad’s friend. My dad’s Bruno of the Elite Four.” Nicholas explains calmly, finally slowing when the Contest Dome is out of sight, trying to catch his breath.



Slash quirks an eyebrow, seemingly in much better shape than the other three. “No kidding? He didn’t stand a chance against Gardevoir.” He winks at the Pokemon, who, like Slash, had no trouble keeping up with the group.



“Yeah. My dad’s a bit of a Fighting-type enthusiast.” Nicholas tries to water down his father’s near-obsession with anything that fights.



Julius grumbles softly to himself for a moment before speaking up. “As happy as I am that we got out of that without dying, I don’t think standing around and talking about family is up my alley, let alone the safest option if Team Rocket is in town. Nicholas, don’t think this changes anything.” He smirks, stepping away once he returns his Shelgon to its Pokeball.



“I figured that was the case.” Nicholas shakes his head slowly. “But he’s right, we should probably find a safer place than standing out in broad daylight.”



Slash nods slowly. “Was nice meeting you guys, then.” He gives a half-salute. “Hopefully we get to cross paths again sometime soon.”



Nicholas smiles, waving a bit towards their new acquaintance. “Thanks for helping us out, Slash. Good luck.”



Slash chuckles. “Going to need it to beat the Sinnoh Elite Four. Gardevoir, Teleport.” And the two of them disappear in a flash of light.



With a heavy sigh, Nicholas turns back to look at Aisha, who seems to be on edge, probably still spooked simply by being so close to that legendary Pokemon, despite having done it before. “Let’s head back to the hotel and hole up until tomorrow. Hopefully things will calm down by that point..”