Blue Ribbons | A Pokemon OC x Alain Story

7. - Battles Begin

{No POV, lines up with the events of the series. EP title: A League of His Own!}

A few days have passed, and before they knew it, it was already the day when the Lumiose Conference took place. Perla followed Alain to where the ceremony took place. "Wow... there's a lot of people here. And to think that they all won 8 gym battles." He only nodded, giving a permission slip to the moderator.

"Do you think I should sign up as well?" She asked Alain.

"It's your choice." He was back at it again with the stoicness in his voice. To his surprise, she also took a permission slip and gave it to the moderator, though in a much more rushed manner. "So you do want to give it a shot..."

"Yeah. I do. This tournament... looks a lot tougher than the ones I've been in. Let's hope I can still reach the semi-finals with this one." She smiled, with hope. Alain only looked away, hiding his interest.

"No need for that room, then... Or they'll hold it off, if she ever loses. I know what they're like."

He walked away, to converse with Professor Sycamore. "Alain, wait... where are you going?" The Audino trainer couldn't hear what they were talking about over all the noise and chatter from other trainers, who were anticipating who they're up against.

Then, someone else showed up. "Hi there!" She flinched from the sudden greeting, looking down and seeing a blonde haired girl. "Your pokemon is so cute! Is it alright if I pet them?"

"Bonnie, don't just scare people like that!" A blonde haired boy then came running to the girl, who she thinks is their sibling. "I'm so sorry for my sister's actions." Then a boy with a Pikachu followed, then a girl with short honey hair followed. This did not help Perla's poor anxiety issues.

"No, no! It's alright..." She nodded along. "My name's Perla and-" the little girl suddenly gasped, taking her hand.

"You're a keeper!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"...p-pardon me?" Perla failed to connect the dots.

"Oh! I mean that, my brother Clemont over here needs someone-"

"I already have someone." She interrupted the kid, immediately letting go to cover her mouth. The three just held in that silence, before Alain arrived.

"What's going on here?" He walked in, unaware. The honey-haired girl, Serena, already connected the dots. The boy with the Pikachu, Ash, doesn't have a grasp on relationships.

"Oh, I see what's going on here." Serena smiled, half of it was in awe but the other was a proud feeling.

"I don't." Perla ruffled her cardigan sleeves.

"Me neither." Alain simply shrugged. His eyes were more focused on Ash, about the battling, dismissing the topic entirely. Serena grabbed her by the hand, letting the boys talk about their things.

"So you're with Alain?" Serena asked, suddenly making it sound like an interview without the cameras or microphone.

"I... I'm his training buddy and so-called acquaintance, yes... We're roommates too." The white-haired girl replied.

"Oh wow, they're roommates?" Bonnie was ecstatic, probably just as ecstatic as Mairin.

"But you said 'you have someone'. And that someone is Alain, right? Did you confess yet, or is the relationship still out in the open?"

"No, I didn't confess... We've met, I think... 3 years ago? It was a short encounter, then... I just bumped into him 2 weeks ago. And now, I follow him around like one of his Pokemon, helping him train for the competition and all..." Perla rambled, hoping someone would stop. But she stopped herself, looking down from the girls' eye contact on her.

 She looked up, but noticed Alain had left, leaving the matchup screen on the top. Ash and his friends were huddled up into their group, talking in excitement.

"Alain VS Trevor... He's the first one. And I'm... on the fourth match." She sighed, fixing her cardigan sleeves, walking away.

 ---

{Timeskip - After Alain's battle with Trevor.}

{Alain's POV}

The day of the tournament started. And I already won a match. Now, all I have to do is see how Perla's match ends up. She was right, these battles are no joke. 3 on 3 in the opening round... And it gets even more challenging from there. Luckily, with Mega Evolution on my side, I can beat those foes up like they're matches burning my flame.

I leaned against the wall, watching her battle. She was up against someone named River. I'm not one to wish good luck to others, but this is an exception. Let's see if she's always so soft.

Perla gets on her side of the battlefield, and River does the same. The terrain changes to a rocky climate with a waterfall down the center, the same one I had when I battled Trevor. She sends out Chandelure first, and he follows up by sending Noivern. For once, she pulled off a serious face, making the strategy to set up easier moves like Mystical Fire or Dark Pulse, and then charging up a Solar Beam to finish the flying pokemon off.

"Noivern, you did a really good job." River spoke, returning its pokemon. "Now, here comes Wailord!" He suddenly sends out a huge whale pokemon, setting up a Rain Dance. As much as Perla tried to dodge or attack with another Solar Beam, the Chandelier pokemon got hit with a powerful Hydro Pump.

Next up was Meowstic, the female variant to be specific. She used a lot of Psychic attacks and boosted it with Calm Mind, along with one Future Sight. Before Perla's second Pokemon went down, Wailord set up Rain Dance, covering the battlefield in dampness.

And as Wailord fainted from the Future Sight... out came Ampharos. "Alright, this time, we'll win for sure!" River pulls out a pocket watch, which reveals a Key Stone. "Now, Mega Evolve!"

Perla, followed by Mega Evolving Audino. "Bind our soul, connect a path with our shining bond, Mega Evolve!" And it was another Mega Evolution battle.

"Audino, Ice Beam on the falling raindrops!" She shouted, and her pokemon did just that, turning the rain into a whirlwind of icy shards, or her version of Hail. The small spikes were enough to chip Ampharos's health, but it wasn't quite enough.

"Ampharos, Discharge!" A burst of thunder aimed at the white and pink pokemon, but it successfully dodged. It used Dragon Tail next, and now it hit, causing a major jab. "Jump up and use Hyper Voice." Audino used the cliffs and a Protect to boost up, shouting at the top, clearing the clouds of rain and hail, along with damaging the light pokemon.

"Grab it and use Seismic Toss!" The foe did so.

"What?!" Our confusion was in unison. And so were the crowds.

Mega Audino violently got thrown to the ground. And as the smoke cleared, her pokemon fainted and reverted back to its original form. "Audino is unable to battle, meaning River is the winner!" The referee announced.

I waited backstage, seeing Perla all huddled up in the corner, seemingly crying. "That was a good match." I spoke. She only looked up, and her glassy eyes were even more shiny.

"I lost in the first round, Alain..." She shook her tears away.

"Everyone does." I shrugged, used to this. "I'll win this for you too. You don't have to cry about this." I got closer, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You'll just have to be stronger next time, alright?" She silently nodded, and I pulled her up, walking with her back to the Pokemon Center.