Victorious Go (Discontinued)

The Festival: Part 2

Jade's P.O.V

Breakfast was a little awkward at first. Tori barely met my eyes and would only talk when I asked questions that required more than a shake or nod of her head. After several minutes of attempting at an actual conversation, I gave up and stared out the window. I watched as tons of people crowded the streets, wearing a mixture of what I assumed were the three team colors. Some wore white, black, blue and silver with the symbol of what looked like Articuno either over their heart, shoulder, or on the right sleeve of their arm. Others wore white, black, and red with the symbol what I assumed was Moltres over their heart, on their back, or left sleeve of their arm. Others were wearing black and yellow with the symbol I assumed was Zapdos over their heart, and on both sleeves of their arms.

Confused as to why people had the three legendary birds on their various outfits, I looked over at our server and asked as politely as I could, "Why are all those people wearing those colors and have the legendary birds on them?"

She smiled and refilled my coffee and replied, "They must be the scouts for the Elite teams. The ones in the blue belong to Team Mystic, lead by Blanche and their symbol is Articuno. The ones in red are Team Valor, lead by Candela and their symbol is Moltres. The yellow belong to Team Instinct, lead by Spark and their symbol is Zapdos."

I merely nodded but Vega finally spoke up, "They don't really have the legendary birds do they?" But our server had already given us our check and walked off to another table. We finally met each others gaze and I shrugged before paying.

She went to protest but quieted once more under my stern glare. I smirked and walked out after leaving the money and a tip on the table. Vega was close on my heels and I turned to look at her. She had her head turned upwards to the sky, eyes closed, basking in the sun's yellow rays. It was rare for me to ever have difficulty breathing, but for some reason...that's exactly what happened. I couldn't look away, and it frustrates me to no end that this girl had such an effect on me. She finally opened her eyes and met mine.

"Jade you okay?" She asked softly.

"What?" I replied lamely.

"Smooth comeback Jade."

"Oh shut up you."

She smiled and gently took my hand in her own, I looked down at her fingers slowly caressing mine.

With another soft smile creeping on her lips as she watched her fingers rub slowly against mine she spoke in a voice just above a whisper, "I asked if you were okay. You were staring at me and I didn't know if something was wrong."

I just blankly stared at her for a few more moments while having an internal war with myself to just answer her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just spaced out for a moment." I said softly, slowly pulling my hand out of hers. My fingers caressing hers as I slipped away. She smiled at me and let her own hands fall to her side.

"Ready to go then?" She asked.

I nodded and we walked to the stadium in a comfortable silence. Well, not a total silence at least. Occasionally she would gasp at some of trainers and their Pokémon, or she would see something in a shop window and Oo-ed and ah-ed at them. I didn't mind though, I was slowly getting used to her company; I wasn't about to tell her that though.

We spent most of our morning walking slowly through the town, enjoying the warm sun, the street performers and their Pokémon. We stopped by a couple of jewelry stands and browsed the vast collection. One particular ring interested me, it was a gorgeous obsidian skull ring with two jade emeralds for the eyes. I fished some money out of my pocket and paid the guy before slipping the ring onto my right pointer finger.

I patiently waited for Vega to pick out a gold chain with a ruby rose pendant before we began our journey farther into the center of the town towards the stadium. As we got closer we noticed there was a long line with anxious trainers in waiting. Vega, as ever curious as she is, gently took my hand and led me closer to it.

I rolled my eyes but allowed her to drag me along, she stopped at one trainer with a Pikachu sitting on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, could you tell me what the line is for?" Vega asked politely to the trainer who couldn't be more than ten years old.

He smiled at her and rubbed the back of his neck shyly, "It's for the Pokémon battle."

Vega turned to me with a huge smile, "How about it Jade, wanna sign up?"

"Nope." I spoke, letting the P pop as loudly as I could.

"Scared you're going to lose?" Vega teased.

I snorted in amusement, "Please, I hardly see any real competition here."

The kid standing in line near us, smile faded as he took offense to my comment. "My Pikachu and I are more than a match for you."

The Pikachu on his shoulder let off a small spark in response to his trainers comment and I couldn't help but be more amused.

I merely smiled, and noted that his cheeks became redder by the minute, "Fine. Let's battle now then."

Both his and Vega's reactions were matched in both shock and excitement at my demand.

We stepped away from the line, now all trainers and near by bystanders eyes were on us as we spaced apart. He flipped his hat around the the cap would be behind him as he thrust his arm forward yelling, "Pikachu, I choose you!"

I rolled my eyes, unsurprisingly he used his shoulder mouse. Synder was about to step up to the challenge but I stopped her and took out a Pokéball from my hip and was about to throw it until security came and told us to take it into the stadium or leave. I put the Pokéball back and nodded at the kid,

"I guess I'll see you on the field then."

Before I marched up the line, signed my name and took Vega inside the stadium with me.

We moved quickly to a quiet hallway and I relaxed against a wall until I heard rapid footsteps approaching. I looked into the direction they came from and saw that it was the girl doing the sign up forms. She handed me a number and told me to report to the locker room at the end of the hallway after the shower was over to prepare for our trainer battles. She then handed me tickets and told me the row and seat numbers for us before running off again.

Before my mind could register it all she was gone and I hoped that Vega actually caught any of that. Speaking of which, I looked at her and saw her smirking.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"Nothing, I just can't wait to watch you battle. Now let's get to our seats, I don't want to miss the show." She spoke with excitement laced in every word.

I just rolled my eyes at her and headed towards our seats, which weren't bad. Second floor, Fifth Row, seats 50 and 51 put us in a perfect view of the stage where we could see the entire field.  Vega sat excitedly down in her seat and I took mine. Synder growled affectionately at me from the end of the row.

I laughed and put her in her Pokéball. "Sorry about that Synder, I forget you're not human sometime."

Vega giggled beside me and took my hand in hers again, "I can't wait for the show to start."

I just looked at her and caught her smiling at me, what she said next though, caught my breath.

"I'm glad I met you Jade." Her honeyed words laced with a unspoken passion.