Pokémon Swirl & Spiral

Chapter 27: Darkness

"You're not going to win this."

Kairi had not received a good sleep for the past few days. Her training sessions with Zoroark at the Training facility had all been conducted, yet she felt no difference in her skills. Every meal she had eaten had tasted like nothing.

Initially, she shrugged off Miko's words, concluding it was just a tactic to get into her head.

And while that definitely was true, Kairi hated that it was working. It had been days since their last encounter, and Miko's words still lingered. Each night after, Kairi had struggled to fall asleep, arriving at the Training Center late to Admin Nixon's disapproval.

"I honestly pity you because you think you can defeat me."

Miko had intercepted her head, and Kairi was left chained by her own thoughts. She did her best to ignore them, telling herself that she was stronger. But every time, Miko's words always came back. Just two days before, Kairi had zoned out in the Stamina Chamber, nearly falling into a lake of Dragonair. She was beyond grateful that Zoroark had caught her.

Kairi looked up at the hotel's clock.

It was four in the morning. She had to get ready at noon. The Finals would be in seventeen hours.

With no hope of falling back asleep, Kairi got up, turning on the desk lamp quietly, as not to disturb Zoroark. Her attention turned to the gold box sitting on top of the desk.

It had been delivered to her room hours ago, yet her exhaustion and thoughts had prevented her from paying it too much attention.

She already knew what was inside before she lifted the cover.

The new Finalist Uniform was beautiful. A perfect copy of the usual one that every challengers wore, the all-white had been replaced with a shiny, jet black. Likewise, the other smaller designs and lines running through it were gold, including the Arim Association insignia on the shoulder. Kairi especially liked the color of the "033" on the back. The box even came with matching shoes. It was definitely an upgrade to what she normally had, blood stains or not.

Trying it on the bathroom mirror, it had the same comfortable, loose material. She stared at herself for a few minutes, surveying the improved look. Outside of the uniform however, her face was a mess and her hair looked scrambled in a worse than regular bedhead kind of way. Heavy bags displayed under her teal eyes.

Placing the uniform into her closet, she turned on the shower faucet and stepped inside.

You've already had the opportunity to receive and train a Pokémon. You've met so many people over the last few months. Some of them you've gotten really close to. Friends. You've realized your dream. Now it's time to show everyone how much you've done with it. It's going to be hard, but you said you wouldn't back down. That's still true, right?

Kairi let the sounds of the water falling against the tile floor fill her head for the next few minutes.

Afterwards, she stopped the water and put on a fresh pair of sleeping clothes. Laying back down on her bed, she felt a lot more relaxed all of a sudden.

Quickly, she double checked the alarm clock beside her.

It was still set.

...

"Kairi!"

"Mom!"

Instantly, the two of them embraced, finally reunited.