Pewter City

No way! That little Nidoran knew how to use Blizzard? How was that possible!? Who were those kids. Brock needed to think fast if he wasn't going to be out of this. Onix had greater defenses than Geodude. Perhaps it could defend them both! "Geodude, get behind Onix!" Geodude followed instructions, positioning itself on Onix' back. Brock smiled as Onis seemed to take the attack well, But before it was over, Onix hit the ground, unable to battle. Geodude only took minor damage, however. "Geodude, grab it! "Geodude made its way over to nidoran with blinding speed, lifting it up and preparing to toss it. This battle wasn't over yet...

Brock looked down in surprise as the small snake smashed a frozen rock into the small pokemon and geodude fell to the ground almost as out of it as onyx brock looked up with a small smile upon his face but in his mind his thoughts were made up. “Whoever these two were they had the capacity to be great pokemon masters in the future. “As promised” he spoke his deep voice echoing through the gym “heres two badges one for each of you, your friendship and teamwork is awesome I give you that but the path ahead will get harder and harder so stick together and I can see you both being able to beat Lance and the pokemon league in the future.” With that he turned back around the gym battle giving him back his resolve to fight other gym battles as the trainers flocked in.

Lance gave a slight smile taking his boulderbadge and walking outside, Pikachu rested on his shoulder with a mighty “Pika” announcing his trainers mighty victory and his eyes shot to the bench where Matsuko lay he walked over and tapped her little shoulders “Hey Matsuko wake up we are done.” Lance tapped her shoulder until the young girl woke up Pikachu trying to wake up the other sleeping pokemon.

Matsuko groaned softly as she sat up, her head spinning and shook her head. Wincing, she immediately found out that was a bad idea. She opened her amber eyes and saw Lance. Hearing the news, she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh, I'm so glad! Your first badge!" she released him from her death grip and looked for Cairo. "Where's Cairo?" Mira, Pidgey, and Squirtle woke as well, jumping for joy when Lance told them the news, but Mira was searching for Coal. Matsuko grinned as she saw that, but decided not to embarrass her Pokemon just yet.

Cairo smiled, and gratefully accepted his Boulderbadge, pinning it to the outside of his shirt. But unlike Lance, who immediately went outside, Cairo remained in the gym for a few moments, talking to Brock about strategies, Pokemon, and the upcoming gym. Finally, he left the gym, a victorious Nidoran on his shoulder, and Coal by his side. The first thing he saw, was Mira. He nodded to Coal, allowing him to go on and greet her. "Go ahead." He then saw Matsuko, who subsequently was looking for him. He was slightly upset that she had opted to sleep on a bench, rather than watch their gym battle, but their victory was enough to allow him to get over it quickly. "Looks like you've all heard the news already." He said. He would have loved to come out with Lance, acting as if they had lost, but the opportunity was gone now. Instead, he would accept his congratulations, and begin preparing for the contest with his best friends.

Matsuko saw Cairo come closer and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tight. "Congrats, Cairo. I'm so sorry I didn't go to watch." She gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek and soon dragged Lance to her to give him one as well. Brushing her red hair to the side, she stepped back with a wide grin on her face, but quickly grabbed onto Cairo's arm due to the spinning in her head and the pain. She made it look normal as she looped her arms around his and grabbed his hand tightly. "So... Now we have the c-contest to prepare for!"

Lance had her arms around his neck and he lifted her up and held her tightly before letting her run towards Cairo and give him a kiss and the same hug his mind now on the contest ahead of them. He finally thought of something and a small smile came to his lips. Abra and weedle those would be the two he used and a blush came to his face as her lips touched his cheek. He gave a slight smile and put his hand in the air “contest time” he muttered.

The teen had to giggle at his enthusiasm. Though he seemed excited about the Pokeballs, Matsuko glanced at them suspiciously, but she took two of them anyways. Cairo was a Pokemon genius, there was no way he wouldn't know what he was doing. Just looking at them, she had no idea what they did, and probably wouldn't know until she tried them out. Or, maybe to give a bit of surprise, until the contest. She followed Cairo to the counter, eyes shifting around to look for anything that would relieve her headache and that dizzy feeling. She found nothing and just paid for the Pokeballs, turning her head around Cairo and waited for Lance to finish paying. She didn't say a word, hoping there wouldn't be another accidental stutter like last time.

Cairo was getting quite excited about the contest. He placed the capsules he had purchased around two of his PokeBalls, and took Matsuko's arm once more, walking slowly toward the Contest Hall as to give her time to get over her headache. They arrived just in time. The sun was going down as they got there. Cairo spoke to the attendant, letting her know that the three had arrived, and then they were sent to the contestants waiting center. The crowd could be heard cheering all the way back there! "This is exciting..." Cairo said, as they called out the first contestant. He watched on the tv screen as the young boy went out and called out his Pokemon. They were a Poliwhirl and a Growlithe. Cairo examined his Appeal carefully. He started with a spiraling water gun from his Poliwhirl, followed by an Ice beam, which froze it. His Growlithe then jumped on the top of the slide, and went down backwards, using flamethrower as he did so, melting the ice on its way down as it seemed to be having a good time. The crowd was going wild, but Cairo shook his head. When Growlithe reached the bottom, a giant splash of water hit the Growlithe, just as he expected, but instead of looking defeated, the fire pokemon raised its body heat, causing the water to steam the entire stage. When the steam cleared, The crowd was applauding the three as they bowed and left the stage. "Impressive..." Then the Intercom went off. "Our second contestant is LANCE!!!"

Matsuko gave a soft smile to Lance and took the bottle gladly. Pouring a random amount of pills into her mouth, she swallowed them down. She then stood and blushed as she felt Cairo's arm touch hers. After a bit of walking, she felt the headache start to fade and her usual cheerfulness came back into her system. "This is exciting. Everyone looks so..." she took a glance around at the other trainers. "... Confident, I guess." she looked down at her Pokemon and smiled. They would win this... She had no idea how, but she knew her mind would think of something at the last minute. It always did. Matsuko still had her hand in Cairo's as she watched the first trainer. It was really good, she thought to herself, but that little thing at the end had to do some damage, even if they did improvise.

Lance stepped up to the stage, he had had major stage fright since he was little but had mostly gotten over it. He tossed the two pokeballs forward releasing Weedle and Abra into the middle of the stage he had taught Abra a move earlier and it was time to show that off that move he pointed his hand forward with a slight smirk, “Abra use thunderwave” the pokemon’s body began charging with a yellow line of electricity, “now weedle poison sting and try to hit ABra, and now Abra begin teleporting," as weedle began shooting the metallic needles at the abra where they began circling around him like he had his own orbit with a final smile Lance looked towards Abra and nodded the pokemon put up a thick wall in front of it and the needles and they began shooting into the wall where it spelled out Cairo and Matsuko’s names and then it said “Awesomeness”

Cairo watched the screen with enthusiasm, Matsukos hand never falling from his own. His eyes fell to her, however, at the end of the first appeal. She noticed it too. The part at the end wasn't intentional, but he continued going and executed it so perfectly, that there was a good chance he wouldn't lose a single point for it. Then Lance went out for his turn. Cairo had to admit, he had no idea what Lance would do. He had a lot of possible combinations that would work. However, when He sent out Weedle and Abra, Cairo had no idea what he would do. It seemed those two had the least attacks of all his Pokemon. He had to admit, he was surprised, and impressed with his creativity, however. He didn't know he had taught his Abra Thunder Wave. It was a brilliant idea! He squeezed Matsuko's hand lightly as Lance made his little shout out to them at the end. and released her hand for the first time in order to applaud when the appeal was finished. He congratulated him, patting him on the back for a job well done before making his way back over to the screen. Standing behind Matsuko, he took both of her hands in his own, swinging them back and forward playfully as he watched the next appeal, but as the show got more intense, he wrapped his arms around her without even realizing it, still looking up at the screen. He didn't realize the way they were standing until the intercom went off. "Up next is CAIRO!!!" He then realized the way he was holding her, and his face turned cherry red as he released her, and took a step back. "Looks like it's my turn!" He quickly ran back behind the curtain, taking deep breaths to recover his normal color.

When the curtains opened, Cairo stepped out, taking hold of the two Pokeballs that were encased in the pods. He threw them into the air, one after the other. "Butterfree, Coal! Come on out!" There was sheer confidence on his face, and in his voice.The first Pokeball hit the ground, the orb releasing the effect of tiny butterflies scattering in every direction as Butterfree emerged. Immediately after, the second ball hit the ground, releasing a mass of illusionary flames, which interacted with he first ball, dissipating the butterflies in a beautiful array of fire. The crowd seemed to be impressed by his selection of Image orbs, however, they seemed to be awestruck when they realized that Cairo's charmander was a dark grey color. But they hadn't seen anything yet. "Butterfree, Stun Spore!" He said. The purple butterfly flew up high as it could, and began flying in circles, releasing it's orange stun spore, which seemed to float in midair. "Now sleep powder!" It then mixed in bits of the blue sleep powder with the stun spore, scattered within the cloud. The sleep powder seemed to have a slight glow to it.

The crowd seemed to be taken back by the beautiful combination of the powders, but the appeal was only half over. "Coal, use Ember!" this was perfect. Coal had been doing this training since the day they left Pallet Town, and surely it would have no trouble doing it again. Flicking its tail at the mass of powder, the flames managed to hit their mark only on the flamable sleep powder, which took of a green color as it burned. "Now Butterfree, Whirlwind!" It flapped its wings rapidly, sending the mass of powders into a cyclone of colors, the burning sleep powder glowing through the orange stun spore. The crowd was going wild!! Cairo looked proud. Butterfree and Cairo had executed everything perfectly! But suddenly, something hit him. He had failed, and he knew it... As his appeal ended, the powder began to fall toward the ground. It wouldn't be as pretty laying there in such a mess. He couldn't have butterfree blow it away, or it would paralyze the crowd. All he could do was keep smiling and bow to the crowd. He took his exit and congratulated his Pokemon. "You guys were great! I'm sorry I didn't plan better though. We'll probably lose some points for the powder on the ground." He knew Stun spore washed away in water, but there was no way he could have produced it with Butterfree or Coal. If he was allowed to use three Pokemon, it would have been perfect. But then, he didn't have any water Pokemon anyway... "Up next is MATSUKO!!!" He walked back and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck!"

As she watched the different appeals, the attacks of her own Pokemon were running through her head. She’d decided to use Mira and Squirtle, but what they would do, she still hadn’t thought of yet. Lance’s appeal caused a crimson blush to spread on her cheeks, and it didn’t help that Cairo squeezed her hand either. The appeal was impressive, but she would definitely get him for the little shout out at the end. When Lance came back, she kissed him on the cheek.

“That was for a great performance.” She hit him on the shoulder playfully, but still with some force. “And that was for the little note at the end.” She returned to her spot and was delighted when she felt Cairo’s hands on hers, heart racing when he placed his arms around her. She leaned against him and gave him a kiss on the forehead when his name was called. She knew her face was red from how he was holding her, but why hide it now? “Good luck!” she knew that his appeal would turn out great; a flawless performance. Watching the capsules’ special effects, she put one around Mira’s pokeball after watching them murmur about something and giggle every now and then. She was curious as to what they were talking about, but they had to discuss their appeal first. The two nodded as she explained what they would do, but they had a gleam in their eyes. Matsuko looked back up to the screen and smiled at the beautiful mixture of powders. The crowd was loving it, and so was she. But then she caught something and couldn’t hold back a soft gasp. “Oh, Cairo…” she watched as the powder fell to the ground and just made a mess. She bit her lip and hugged him when he came back. When his lips touched her cheek, she blushed again and smiled. “Thanks… I’m gonna need it.”

When she walked out, she couldn’t help but tremble slightly. It wasn’t the crowd, she never got stage fright, but she was scared she would mess up. She took a deep breath and threw the two pokeballs in the air, figuring she’d held the crowd’s attention long enough to start. “Come out, Mira, Squirtle!” Squirtle’s Pokeball was normal so it just appeared regularly, but at the same time, it shot water from its mouth to the ground, lifting the small Pokemon into the air. And as they planned, Squirtle froze it, making a kind of platform in the middle. Mira’s Pokeball erupted into flames as the Charmander landed on Squirtle’s back. Squirtle did the same for Matsuko so that there were two separate platforms; Matsuko’s being the higher one. “Squirtle, withdraw into your shell. Mira, you know what to do.” Squirtle withdrew into its shell and started spinning fast, Mira on its back with flames coming from its mouth. Water came from the holes in Squrtle’s shell as it spun and the water collected on the ground in a pool.
“Stop.” Matsuko spoke and everything-the spiraling fire and the water-stopped. “Squirtle,” she looked at it and it nodded, freezing the water on the ground with icebeam. The pool of water was now turned into an ice rink. “Mira, if you’ll do the honors.” Neither of the Pokemon moved for a second and then Mira seemed to smirk. Matsuko’s heart beat fast in her chest. If they didn’t react in the next few seconds, the judges wouldn’t like that. She bit her lip and tried to keep the bright smile on her face, but worry filled her eyes. Finally, Mira moved and fire shot from her mouth once again, at the ice. For a few seconds, it was normal, the exact pattern Matsuko expected, but then it changed. Mira… She thought to herself, please, whatever you do, don’t do something stupid. Her amber eyes followed the lines in the ice and found that there was a heart, and they were in the center of it. Next, Mira drew out an ‘M’ and a ‘C’. Mira traced lace along the sides of the heart and added in roses and ever other flower that Matsuko knew by name. It was beautiful. She bit her tongue and smiled at the crowd as if this was her plan all along, trying to block out the cheering, especially from some of the kids. When Mira finished with a puff of fire into the air, the crowd applauded and whistled, doing pretty much all they could to make noise. The two Pokemon leapt to the ground and Squirtle spun again, but this time, only fire came from Mira; melting and evaporating the ice into a bunch of steam rising from the ground. Matsuko turned and tried her best not to run back where nobody could see her; where the camera couldn’t see her and her face wouldn’t be up on the screen. Though her Pokemon did, she didn’t return to Cairo and Lance, but just quickly excused herself and went to an isolated place, taking a deep breath. “That was horrible.” She whispered softly to herself, her confidence gone from her body and determination stripped from her mind.

In the end, Matsuko was glad Cairo come to sit with her, but she didn’t say anything. Him being there made her feel a bit better, but it wasn’t until she heard her name on the speaker that the whole appeal was forgotten. “Wh-What?” she sat there shocked for a moment and still looked surprised when Cairo pulled her onto the stage with Lance and her Pokemon. She took the ribbon and thanked the host with her wide grin and waved at the crowd with her free hand. She ignored the announcer’s choice of words and the Pokemon dying of laughter as she looked at the ribbon in her hands. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen at that moment. When Cairo came up to her, her heart stopped. Whenever someone had to talk, it was never anything good. Chewing on her bottom lip, she followed Cairo away from the others and looked into his eyes. He looked and acted nervous; the hesitation, the deep breath.

‘I wanted to ask you… If you wanted to do something to celebrate. Just the two of us.’

Matsuko didn’t answer at first, because in her head, everything was making sense. Why his face changed color when he was around her, how he acted, how he always took care of her, it all clicked now. She knew the answer, but for some reason, didn’t know how to say it. Words weren’t coming from her mouth and her throat closed up. “I… Wow, um… Really? Y-You mean, like a… date? I mean, what I meant to say was.” A blush spread on her cheeks and she took a deep breath to calm herself before giving him a bright smile. “I’d love to!” she wondered what he had planned for the two of them, if he had anything planned at all. She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her and hugging him tightly before giving him a light kiss on the cheek. “We should get back to the others before they get too suspicious.” When they got back, Matsuko was surprised to see that Lance had everything already taken care of. She smiled and hugged him tight. "Oh, thank you, Lance. You're a dear."

It was all over... The gym battle, the contest... And they had come through victorious in both. Team Pallet was on a roll! But Cairo still had one battle left to go, and it was the hardest one yet. He struggled with his words and emotions when he pulled Matsuko to the side, and his heart nearly sank to the floor when she paused, and didn't answer him immediately. She wasn't into it. She couldn't see him that way. She would hate him now... All these thoughts rang through the boys mind, as Matsuko was simply putting the pieces of the puzzle together. When she finally began to speak, Cairo was still unsure what to expect, though he was bracing himself for rejection. His eyes searched the room for an unknown protector. His heart raced, he rocked back and forward slightly. But then he heard it...

"I'd love to!"

The worry on his face turned to shock. wide eyes, followed by a brilliant smile "Really?!" The entire group back there probably heard him, but he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that she said YES!!! Followed by a hug and a kiss, which turned his face bright red. If anyone doubted the two were a couple before, they would have a hard time convincing them now... He knew what he waned to do, but he hadn't had time to prepare because the two of them had gone to the museum earlier. "How about you go with JD to get everyone back to the Pokemon Center, and I'll meet you outside in fifteen minutes?" This would give him just enough time to get together the things he needed. He wanted to show her a good time. "Here." He told her, handing her the Pokeballs containing all his Pokemon except Coal to give to Lance. "See you in a minute." He then returned the kiss on her cheek, and turned out the door to prepare.

Matsuko nodded and smiled when he returned the kiss. "Okay, I'll see you in 15 minutes, then!" She took his Pokemon and pretty much skipped out of the contest hall. She was so excited! Cairo knew her better than anyone, and he knew all of the things she loved to do. She could barely wait those 15 minutes and while she sat in the Pokemon Center, she tapped her fingers on the table in front of her, checking the clock every few seconds. Mira bounded up to her and danced around, pretending to be an overly dramatic girl in love to mock her. Matsuko giggled and picked her up, placing her on the table. "Oh, come on. I'm just excited. Nervous too, what if I say something stupid? Knowing me, I probably won't say one sensible thing the whole time!"

Mira hit her on the forehead, which only felt like a tap and tried to explain how to act. With a small laugh, she realized she was actually considering dating advice from a Pokemon. How lame was that? But then again, it wasn't like she had anyone to ask about this. Her friends were all back in Pallet Town and Lance probably didn't know anything about it either. She thought back to how her friends acted around their boyfriend or girlfriend, but couldn't really get anything from it. They looked happy and they tried to hold hands whenever they could. Suddenly, the clock seemed to be moving too fast and fifteen minutes passed exactly. She bolted out of her seat and opened the door, looking around for Cairo.

Matsuko looked at the basket in his hands and curiosity immediately started eating at her. So they were going to have a picnic? Oh, did he get any sweets? She loved sweets! The thought of food put her in a great mood and shewas almost skipping with him, holding his hand tightly. She stopped once they got to Mount Moon and followed him up the mountain to the gondola and watched as he spread out the blanket. She tilted her round face up towards the sky and looked at the twinkling stars. It was so beautiful, and the view was gorgeous up here. "What do I think? I love it!" She took a seat on the blanket and pulled him down close to her. "Thanks for this, really. It's wonderful, and we haven't even started eating yet..." she blushed and peeked inside the basket, looking for what kind of food he'd gotten.