Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 41: The Hearthome City Contest

"Anastasia Les Stranges was a slimy little witch, and according to Fantina, her aunt Ursula was an ugly sea cow—that always did make Pikachu laugh for some reason. Bribery was the least of their trickery. Thank goodness, we were always one step ahead of them. If Drasna and Fantina hadn't given us the heads up on them, Lyss and Marion wouldn't have been the wiser in a lot of situations. Thank goodness skill is all that matters once money is taken out of the equation, and what Anastasia had in money she lacked in skill. It was vice versa for Lyss and Marion. They were both really good; it's a shame only one of them could win. But of course, who am I to not root for the home team? Ha-ha."

"I can't believe you of all people didn't remember the name Les Stranges!" said Drasna with fervour, "If anyone was forced to listen to my mother's rants about the Les Stranges family, I would have thought it would be you!"

"I'm sorry! I was half asleep that first day of teaching, and she ranted on about them for an hour," said Niya defensively, "It got a little annoying after a while, so I just sort of zoned out..."

Sam smirked, as he saw that Niya wasn't as good a student as she was a teacher. She had come a long way, but it didn't make her past self any less funny. Thankfully for Sam, Niya hadn't caught the smile, or it would've been worse off for him.

"Personally, I still can't believe you guys didn't know that Sam was an Accardi," shrugged Valentina, "Niya and I knew for years, we just didn't say anything out of respect for his grandparent's wishes."

"How did you know when no one told us?" Complained Jeremy.

"Because while you guys were off playing, we eavesdropped on the adults. It wasn't that hard anyway. Sam Accardi. Accardi Pokémon Ranch."

"Sam always said there was no relation, his grandparents too," added Jeremy, "We thought he was being honest."

Valentina shrugged. "It's not like there are that many Accardis out there," she added, "But never mind that, right now that's not the focus of this conversation."

"So how are we going to take care of this little sea witch?" asked Drasna, "I mean, if she's buying people off, we'll need to find a way to make her money invalid."

"I say we just go find out whatever she's paying the judges and offer them double," suggested Jeremy, "Sam go write the cheques!"

Alyssandra shot Jeremy a look that caused him to go silent, though at this point, if what Niya and Drasna said were true about Anastasia using money to win contests, Sam couldn't see a better way.

Sam's grandfather always said that one should rarely fight honourably. Your opponent will almost never give you the same courtesy, and only in the case that you find that rare opponent that does, should you show him the courtesy he shows you.

His grandmother on the other hand, always told Sam to play fair, and your victory was assured.

Sam never understood what that had meant, and more importantly, who was right; but now he was starting to get the meaning. What he wasn't getting was what he was supposed to do, or whose advice he was supposed to take.

Did he want to blindly trust in victory by doing good, even if it wasn't so assured at first? Or ensure victory regardless of what must be done to achieve the win?

But of course, this was not about him or his thoughts or plans.

This was Alyssandra's contest, and thus her victory, her fight, and her decision, and she had made it vehemently clear that she did not want to stoop to the same level as Anastasia.