A Tale of Two Rivals

Flashback to My First Ever Contest

The clock hanging from the wall in the lobby of my resort hotel from behind me sang out a very tacky song, indicating it had struck eleven at night. How such a nice hotel could have something so gaudy and garish, I supposed I would never know.

I just rolled my eyes as I took a seat right in front of one of the main lobby's video phones. Even if I would have preferred to call my friend on my PokéNav, I did not want to disturb my pokémon while they rested up.

I set my coffee down, inserted my credit card into the video phone's pay slot, and quickly punched in the only number I had ever memorized. It was about five in the evening where this friend of mine was. She was currently competing in the Sinnoh Region's contest circuit. Five in the evening was the very earliest my friend would be available to answer even one of my video phone calls.

Coffee at eleven at night was never the best idea, but there was this timeless tradition which I had kept with Soledad. I thought back to the first contest I had ever entered.

I began flashing back to the first time I had ever met and battled against Soledad.

After that first loss, Soledad had approached me with an easy smile and a pat on the back.

Soledad: Drew, right?

My lip trembled, and I did my best to hold back the tears and keep them from falling. I had done so well in my first contest ever up until the final round of the secondaries. The loss I had endured from my final battling round opponent was absolutely heartbreaking. My pokémon had worked so hard to get me to that point, and I had let my poor partner, Roselia, down with such bad timing and horrible judgement in my commands. My opponent in the final battle round, this Soledad, was just too good for words.

Yours Truly: Yeah, that's me.

I confirmed my name to her, but it was barely heard by Soledad. I also just could not meet her eyes.

Sure, I knew there was a tradition of the two participants of the final match to shake hands after their battle, but I was far too depressed about my loss against my final opponent. It stung my pride so much. I had not expected to lose that hard. I had failed to realize in time that I had a lot to learn about all of it before I ever could get to the skill level matching the coordinator in front of me.

Soledad: Listen, you shouldn't beat yourself up over a simple loss. You put up one hey of a battle, and I believe that Vivian said that this was your first contest ever. I've never seen any coordinator make it this far on their first try.

The praise from my opponent in the final battle round caught me slightly off-guard. How could someone so strong with such powerful pokémon be so nice? I had to admit that I half-expected my opponent to take a lot more pride in her own victory than the way I had battled against her. Just who was this girl with pink hair to tell me not to be ashamed of my loss against her?

Yours Truly: Yeah, I guess. But your pokémon were beyond awesome... uh, Soledad?

Soledad: That's right. Still, some of the combinations from you and your Roselia left me breathless. I'd like to talk to you about it a little more, maybe even clear the air a bit after that battle of ours. Are you free to go get a coffee or maybe a light dinner after the contest is over?

I furrowed my eyebrows as though I were looking for a sign of anything at all on her face. The only thing I could find, however, was a warm smile and trusting, friendly eyes. It scared me a bit since I had never made the effort to get close to people. I had known before from my past experiences that people were awful. I was better off alone, and I had always been better off alone.

Yours Truly: Are you asking me on a date?

I knew I was a good-looking guy. I had met plenty of girls who had swooned over me at the flick of my hair and adored my Roselia to the point of obsession. It was a little too much to bear at certain times. I tried to avoid it whenever I could.