Trainer to Be

Chapter 10

"Welcome to the Pokémon Battle Stadium." An average height girl with light brown hair greets us. "I'm Keira, your guide for the day." She holds out her hand, ready for a hand shake. She has painted nails, dark pink. Mr Pine shakes her hand. "If you need help with anything, feel free to ask." I notice the badge on her top. 'Hello. My name is Keira.' Well, now I feel like a bit of an idiot. She did have to tell us her name when we could've just found out for ourselves.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it, we do need a little bit of help." Mr Pine retracts his hand. "We're looking for the tournaments."

"Any in particular?" She grins. Never in my life have I known a person so happy. Is she a robot? She must be, no human is that over the top.

"The no badges." Nora butts in. Way to make us seem like total noobs.

Keira turns on her heels. "Right this way." She gestures for us to follow her. Wrong choice of words love, this isn't a restaurant. Her ponytail bounces around as she walks; the urge to pull it is unreal. I mean, it'd only hurt for a second. No, she might kill me. Everyone knows people who are overly happy are psychopaths. "Here we are, the no badges tournament." She waves her hand I many different directions, enforcing the fact that this is, in fact, where we're supposed to be. "The first round starts in half an hour, make sure to register with Zoë if you want to take part." She waves. "Bye for now."

We saunter over to the girl she pointed to, we assume she's Zoë. "Are you Zoë?" Mr Pine asks.

"Indeed I am." She nods. "Welcome to the no badges tournament." She pushes a sheet of paper and a pen across the desk. "Sign here if you want to enter." He hands the pen to Nora, she signs. Nora Pine. She then hands the pen to me. I sign. Leoni Hayes. "Thank you." She takes back the pen and paper. "The first match starts in half an hour. However, there is only one match happening at a time. Everyone else watches. You can check the match order on the screen over there." She points to the screen hanging above the arena.

"Thanks Zoë. We'll go check it now." Mr Pine thanks her and ushers us away. Why the hell would he do that? She was so nice. We squeeze past other people's legs and sit down in the stands. I check the board. Oh great, I'm in the first match. Against Connor Lewis. Never heard of him. Mind you, he can't be that good if he's in the no badges league. Right?

Zoe steps up onto a platform next to the arena. On it is a microphone. She taps it a couple of times, the high pitched ,ear piercing, buzz echoes around the room. We all cover our ears in a desperate attempt to protect our eardrums. I don't know about you but I'm rather fond of my ability to hear. "Well, I suppose it works then." She grimaces. Mr Pine chuckles, I simply roll my eyes. Has this bitch ever used a microphone before? "Good morning London." She yells, a room full of cheers greet her back. "I'm Zoë, your host for today, and I welcome you all to the no badges tournament." Yet more cheers erupt around the room. Are people really this excited for a stupid tournament? Have they ever played Pokémon World Tournament? That game is rubbish with a capital r. "Now, for our first match we have Connor Lewis." Around me I can here cheers, whistles and chanting. They must really support this guy. "And Leoni Hayes." The whole room is silent. Well, except Nora who's cheering like her life depends on it. Damn, I guess I'm the underdog. "Can the two contestants please enter the arena. Bring only one Pokémon with you." I bounce down the stairs and into the arena. Connor stands opposite me, arms folded and fire in his eyes. Damn, what's this guy's problem? "Ready... Set... Release your Pokémon!" Zoë calls.

I throw my Pokéball up in the air and release Pikachu on the catch. "Go Pikachu." I cry.

Connor smirks. "You're going down punk." He sniggers, releasing his Pokémon. "Go Machamp."

Machamp? Surely this guy has some badges. Well, this is my first rival of the competition. "Pikachu. Do use thunder shock." Pikachu jumps around Machamp, bolts of lightning flashing every which way. Everything is running smoothly until Machamp slams his fist down on him. Connor grins. "Pikachu? Pikachu are you ok?" I scream. Pikachu responds by lifting Machamp's fist off him and throwing it aside. "Way to go Pikachu. Use Quick Attack."

Pikachu looks at me, fire in his eyes. "I've got this butter fingers." He lifts his paws above his head, charging a ball of electricity. "Ready... Aim..." He mutters. "Fire." He screams, chucking the electricity ball at Machamp. He shoots across the arena and falls to the ground, unconscious. I cheer. He glares at me. "Don't you dare, you didn't help me at all."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever you say Pikachu." I bring him back into his Pokéball. Connor does the same. He scowls. I grin sheepishly.

"And the winner of the first match is Leoni Hayes." Zoë exclaims. I'm met with a room full of cheers. I bow. "For our next match, the contestants are Nora Pine and Alyse Amador."

I squeeze past everyone and sit back down. "You were amazing Leoni." Mr Pine congratulates me. I thank him. Nora's Charmander and Alyse's Mudkip are in a heated battle. However, Mudkip appears to be winning. Type advantages? I hope she wins this.