Pedestal: Chapter 65

June Velarde turned out to be a quiet, resigned girl who had already given up. "I'm not going to battle you. I only have two Pokemon, one badge, and I've seen your interview for the Elite Four. I don't stand a chance. I'm not going to put my Pokemon up against you as their last battle," she told me hollowly, staring down at her sandals.

"But…" What could I say to that? We had just met, and it was two minutes before our scheduled battle. I still didn't know what I was going to do. I was half hoping there would be some sort of catastrophe to stop it all.

June bowed at the waist, her long, brown hair falling over her shoulders. "At least you won't have to tire out your Pokemon."

"But--! Just wait a minute, will you?" I grabbed her by the arm before she could go off to talk to the judge. She was probably only ten or eleven, and, as she said herself, with two Pokemon and one badge. In a conventional battle, she really didn't stand a chance. It made me wonder how many other trainers there were like her in The Tournament.

"What do you want?" she asked tiredly. I noticed then the dark rings around her eyes and how bloodshot they were. I also noticed that she was wearing an awful lot of black.

She wasn't the only one, either. Almost half of the trainers who'd shown up were wearing a black shirt, or dress, or skirt, or something. It made the city look like a giant funeral. And really, that was what it was turning into.

"Don't give up like that! Wh-Who knows, maybe you'd--"

"If I won, you'd lose. Did you think about that?" she replied nastily, jerking her arm out of my grasp.

"Do you think you could win against a different opponent?" I asked her as she walked away. She slowed, but she didn't stop.

"…I haven't got a different opponent. I have to battle you."

"Want a ticket good for skipping a round? You'll be guaranteed one of your Pokemon then, and you'll only have to win in the second round. Against a different opponent." None of us had ripped up our coupons for a free round. We hadn't had the courage to. I saw one of them already hand in the scrap of paper to the judge.

June fully stopped, turning back to stare at me with unreadable eyes. "…Why would you do that?"

"I can't fight a little girl, now can I?" I responded with a weak smile.

That was how I ended up giving away my get out of jail free card. I think it was worth it. June finally gave in and smiled, even if there were tears in her eyes. I had thought naively that I was allowed to skip ahead to the next round, too, since I didn't have an opponent, but I was just given to another person to battle. There were the ones who didn't show up, so there were plenty of people given new opponents.

"What--What happens if this ends in a tie?" I asked as I was pushed out onto the battling field. I didn't even get to meet my opponent this time.

The judge suddenly stepped aside as Houndoom walked onto the field, hands on her hips. She grinned at me. "Nice try, but no cigar. If it ends in a tie, you both lose. We're operating under the principle that you should have tried harder."

"What are you doing here?" I snapped, knuckles white on Des' pokeball.

"You think I'd miss this battle? Stantler and I are paying very close attention to the battles of those who tried to attack the station. Let's see, there were four of you. One of you is scheduled for a later battle, one of you used the coupon, and one of you lost. …Alright, battle time! Good luck!" Houndoom cackled and waved, standing beside the judge to watch the battle.

I called out Des, peering across the field to try to see my opponent. All I could see was that it was another girl, older, and dressed completely in black. The release of her Pokemon immediately evicted a sneeze in me. I covered my nose and tried to catch my breath, but instead I sneezed again, and again. I could feel the shiver go down my spine even as I stumbled back, wiping my nose on my sleeve.

True enough, an Electabuzz stood across from Des, flexing and crackling with electricity.

"…Wait a moment… You were the kid who was attacked by the Abomasnow, weren't you?" I blinked, trying to get the tears out of my eyes, to where the Electabuzz's trainer was talking to me. She circled around the field, calling for a timeout. I jogged over to her, sneezing again, thankful for the chance to talk before the battle began. Maybe they'd let me pass if I was allergic to the opponent's Pokemon?

I missed the odd look Des gave the Electabuzz.

Up close, the girl seemed familiar. She was in her late teens and stood taller than I did, and was dressed head to toe in black. Her ebony hair fell over one eye and her black boots clicked impatiently from where she tapped it on the ground. Finally, after looking me up and down, she said, "I remember you. You are the kid who the Abomasnow attacked."

"Y-Yeah," I said. I was almost accustomed to that title.

"You don't remember me." It wasn't a question. The girl sighed. "I was there in the Center, too, during that time. I beat your little friend in chess. I was there to challenge Candice and happened to get snowed in… I'm Lola, remember now?"

I peered up at her, suppressing another sneeze. She did seem familiar… I very vaguely remembered a girl in all black. Rena and I had made fun of her, and she had beat Devon in chess. So we had met before, and now we'd have to battle for the lives of our Pokemon. How twisted.

"So--a-are we going to battle? Or do you have some sort of pl-plan?" I asked between sneezes.

"My plan is to battle until I win. …I just wanted to make sure it was you. Smart move, too, calling out your Camerupt. I'm an electric trainer. But you probably didn't remember that, either." She ended the timeout with a wave, much to my annoyance.

"Wait--what do you mean you're battling--?!"

"Trainers, return to your boxes. The battle is beginning."

I miserably returned to my box. I had the advantage, which was good, and it meant that I could stall with Des. But Lola seemed perfectly intent on following the rules, even if it killed my team in the process. I was pretty sure I could beat an Electabuzz with Des, even if they were equal in strength, just because he was immune to all electrical attacks. I was more worried about keeling over from allergies before that.

"Rain Dance!"

Suddenly, things got bad.

Clouds came together overhead, and slowly, it started sprinkling. Then, pouring. Des snorted in annoyance, shying back towards me, the volcanoes on his back bubbling. Rain Dance as a move wouldn't hurt him, but it definitely wouldn't help him. His fire moves would only be half as powerful now. And if she called out a water Pokemon…

The Electabuzz swung its arms, grinning at Des. I narrowed my eyes at it. It turned and grinned at me instead, blinking at me. It reeled back, stopped swinging its arms and stopped grinning, and stared at me in astonishment.

It was because of its reaction that I figured out what just happened and how much karma truly despised me.

"Lo-Lola, where did you get that--achoo!--Electabuzz?" I shouted uncertainly.

"I picked him up in Sunyshore when I left Snowpoint. Why does this matter?" she replied flatly. "Light Screen!" The Electabuzz ignored the order.

It--he--took a hesitant step forward. "…Ele?"

I took a step backward. Oh no. I was right. This was my Electabuzz. I sneezed again, blinking rapidly to try to keep my vision clear. This Electabuzz, out of all the Electabuzz in the world, had been mine once. I'd left him at Sunyshore because I was so allergic to him, and apparently Lola the electric trainer, who followed us from Snowpoint, had decided to pick him up at the Pokemon Center. I'd told the Nurse Joy to give him to a good trainer who could treat electric types right. And, well, Lola certainly fit the bill.

I was simply staggered at my rotten luck and the fact that I had to face my own Pokemon in a battle that would literally decide who would live and who would die.

That also meant that if I beat Lola, that Electabuzz would die.

Nearing panic, I turned to the judge. "I-I can't battle!" I returned Des and turned my back on Lola and the Electabuzz. Even if he was hers, even if he had been for years now, he had been mine once. I couldn't battle him now, not when the stakes were so high.

Houndoom frowned at me. "Are you forfeiting? Really? And here I thought this would be a good battle!"

Was I forfeiting? "Y-Yeah, I forfeit!" I wouldn't battle the Electabuzz and condemn it to death. Even if Lola was in the wrong by agreeing to The Tournament, her team didn't deserve to die.

"You're really a disappointment," Houndoom said snobbishly, crossing her arms as she stalked off.

-.-.-

The losers were all put in an almost-empty building to wait out the first round. As if we weren't panicked enough. I managed to secure a corner by intimidating a couple of bawling kids, set my back against the wall, crossed my arms, and sat down.

Okay, so that hadn't gone exactly as planned.

Originally, I'd been hoping to somehow save the day and cancel The Tournament. Maybe defeat Houndoom and Stantler and their lackeys in the process, free Jubilife and Byron, and then go on with my happy life of alternating between running from and hunting down Nick. I hadn't planned on losing in the first round. Sure, I hadn't exactly planned on winning, either, since it meant death for my opponent. But I hadn't planned on losing. Somehow winning, rescuing the losers, stopping The Tournament…

I put my head in my hands, sighing. Things definitely hadn't gone as planned, not one single bit. I didn't care that I never had a plan. But at least I had gotten June and Lola into the second round. At the very least, I just saved two Pokemon's lives. Lola was strong, too, and playing to win--she'd go on farther, I was sure. At least those two were okay, provided June won her second round and then dropped out with her team fully intact.

I was still okay. I saved two lives, more by implication. That wasn't so bad, right? And I still had time. I still had my team with me. I could fight my way out.

Yeah--that was it. I could fight my way out. I wasn't a pushover--oh no. I was the trainer of team awesome, and we could take down anyone. Yes, even a water Pokemon. We could easily fight our way out of this, save all of the other losers, and band together to stop The Tournament once and for all. No one actually had to die. We had strength in numbers. They couldn't stand up to half of the training world.

I stood up, breathing a little easier now. Team awesome was back in business.

As more people filtered into the building, most of them crying or wearing hopeless expressions, I released my team. Des was immediately on guard again, looking around him warily until he figured out that we weren't on the battlefield anymore. Carlita and Ike, having no clue what was going on, sat there until they noticed how tense we both were.

"…What's going on?" Ike asked with narrowed eyes.

"We're fighting our way out of here." I grinned at them with a bravado I didn't feel. This was worse than getting geared up for war. This was the war. Too bad we were missing our gear now. Ike moved, as if to get to his feet, but apparently thought better of it. He was staring at me with an expression I couldn't recognize, though.

I suddenly had the sinking feeling that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. My Luxray curled his lip, grinning at me. "Master Trainer, why are we fighting our way out of here? This does not seem like the winner's circle to me, unless I am gravely mistaken."

"Trainer forfeited the first round to save the Electabuzz," Des responded with what sounded alarmingly like a growl. Ike shied away from him, ears laid back.

Carlita looked from Des to me, frowning. "Wait… Our Electabuzz?"

"What Electabuzz are you two rambling on about?" Ike asked sourly.

"We had another teammate before you, an Electabuzz Trainer had to release because of his allergies." Once again, Des seemed agitated. I wasn't sure why, either, because we weren't even talking about breaking out of here anymore. It made me antsy. The Camerupt wasn't addressing Ike, though, instead focusing his lidded stare on me.

"There was another electric Pokemon prior to me? Is this true?" Ike demanded.

"G-Guys, why are we arguing about this now of all times? I don't see how this matters--"

"Of course it matters! I have put up with years of being your little electrical pet, you filthy human, in the name of becoming more powerful. Only now do I hear that you had one before me who was let off this hook you're strangling me with because of human allergies!" the Luxray snarled, hackles rising. He sparked warningly and backed away from Carlita, who was between him and Des. The Camerupt snorted out a plume of smoke, the volcanoes on his back boiling up again.

"Stop it! All of you! Ike, it doesn't matter that I had an Electabuzz. I have you now and you are not going to change this! Stop talking that way!" I shouted. I ignored Konstantin's warning, I ignored what I had seen coming for months now--no, years--I ignored everything and tried to get my Luxray to not do this. Not now, not with so much at stake. Not ever.

This was happening now, though, and it seemed like I couldn't stop it. Ike roared and leapt at me--and was knocked out of the air by Carlita's tackle. She pinned him, ignoring the howling and electricity, and started punching. "No! You do not attack Trainer, you are loyal to Trainer, you're supposed to be loyal to this team! You've always been a rotten, mean, terrible Pokemon, Ike! But you do not attack Trainer!"

"Carlita, stop it!" I rushed over and tried to pry her off of him, since I was beginning to see blood splattering the wall beside them, but I couldn't. I turned imploringly to Des. The Camerupt surveyed me with bored eyes. "Des, don't just stand there! Help me--get her off of him--!"

"Okay," he said in a monotone. He stomped the ground with one of his front paws, shaking the entire building. Carlita was knocked off of Ike and onto me. I barely had time to grab her again before she lunged at Ike. Even with my hold around her middle, she clawed the air in front of her, straining to attack once more. Des watched us flatly. "Are you happy now?"

"What--?! Des, why would I be happy now of all times?" Why was all of this happening. Why couldn't it have happened later, when we weren't in danger of dying? We could have rationally talked all of this out and fixed whatever problems our team had and then we could go back to being an almost-happy little family. "Guys, please, stop it!"

They didn't.