Show Me Your Smile | Pokémon Fanfiction

12 | there are just too many ups and downs

"You've come at last." He tries to stabilise himself, but the constant bouncing of the fledgling trainers leaves him toppling and tripping every other step. "You've always been punctual. Did something happen?"

Rae shakes her head. Just as she's about to speak, Meta shoves a jar of paper airplanes into his face.

"Don't kill anyone," the Ditto says with a dark expression.

Kaspar tosses the jar aside and hurls Meta with brute force, causing the poor Pokémon to zing about the area.

"Anyway, it's good you're here," he says, a tad before Meta smacks his scalp and he winces. After ordering Meta to join Rae and her friends, he rubs his neck and wrinkles his nose. "Kyo, we've your mother to thank for this. Due to the roaring success of the drama, Earl Dervish's gone wild with glee and orchestrated this serendipity."

"Wouldn't it be humiliating if the students lost in public?" I tap my foot to get used to the springy sensation. My sense of balance is superior to Kaspar's, despite his nonsense being intensely unmatched. "Has he considered this?"

Kaspar lies down, smacking his hand onto the bouncy floor to have me do the same. "Even if he did, he wouldn't have it any other way. You know how he's like. His ego is primary to everything."

"Right, because he's a frick-fracking Mr. Mime of a man." That's how Kaspar used to describe him anyway. "So, the battles are the highlight?"

"Yeah, but as usual, he's nowhere to be seen." Kaspar glances at his students with bemusement in his eyes. "Don't worry. Rae's probably the best student I've had in a while."

"When's it starting?"

Kaspar slams his back against the floor, the recoil placing him on his two feet. I follow his example and receive applause. He tsks, claps thrice to garner attention, then announces the beginning of the graduation exam.

A minute later, he's on the platform, speaking through a microphone, informing the spectators that they are free to have fun and eat, drink and be merry as they watch the battles. The only criteria is to defeat the Trial Pokémon, which changes every year, with the additional rule that no Super Effective moves are allowed. Students are encouraged to showcase what they've learned over the course of their studies, and with the eyes of at least a thousand, excluding the ones at home or someplace else watching the event through the special episode of Show Me Your Smile shown live, no one has plans to lose. This year, to accommodate the carnival theme, Kaspar goes with the Balloon Pokémon Igglybuff. Everyone laughs. His students, feeding into the fading tension, either wipe their brows or let go of their hearts.

The first candidate is a boy and his Mareep. His swift victory wows the audience and his peers as he makes use of the Wool Pokémon's Thunder Wave to paralyse Igglybuff and runs on the offensive with two Take Downs. The next battler relies on her Oddish's Sleep Powder and repetitive Razor Leaf, the one after uses Diglett's Dig to send Igglybuff striking a bullseye at the dunk tank, not only causing it to faint immediately, but also making the smug sitter drenched.

It might sound like Kaspar's holding back, but the truth is that I glossed over the details. The first battle took half an hour because of Igglybuff's Attract, the second battle took forty-five minutes because of Igglybuff's Cute Charm, and the third battle took three minutes because of Diglett's overwhelming speed and precision. Those that come after the third challenger, needless to say, pale in comparison with their status-based or delaying tactics. It comes to a point when everyone enjoys the carnival without concerning themselves with the so-called highlight. What's funnier is, in dealing with a seemingly weak Pokémon, most go for tried-and-true methods that will put them through the wringer against Hayato, the first Gym Leader all Johtonian trainers face. Such predictability only works if you battle in a vacuum, but spectators want something fresh. Battles are like food. Stratagems are the ingredients so the fresher, the better, and the more appetising it becomes. The best battles brim with thought and sincerity; the worst ones reuse famous tactics with only the desire to win, without care the quality of their ingredients.