(Part 2)
~*~*~
“I still have that horrible taste in my mouth!” Precita snarled, steering the surfboard in the water.
“A pity, huh? To have you taste such vermin,” Dan replied.
“Maybe you should have thought of a better plan. The fact that I actually had to use my teeth to bite those vines until they let go of our board really degrades me,” Precita said angrily, “I hope those pathetic grass Pokemon learned their lesson, I nearly tore their vines off with my teeth.”
“I heard them whimpering behind the reefs, no doubt about that,” Dan laughed.
Precita wiped her mouth. “When we get back to the hotel remind me to wash my mouth out. Disgusting.”
Sharpedo and Gorebyss slid past the current 4th place participants by shooting them into a canyon wall with their Water Gun attacks. The other participants struggled to get back on their board after the assault, only to find out that the tethers connecting their Pokemon had been torn.
“Entry #20 is DONE FOR!” Fredrick shouted.
“Sharpedo!” Sharpedo grunted, its fin moving in the air.
“Sharpedo is trying to warn us about something…” Precita pondered.
The surfboard surfed through a narrow river surrounded by large canyon walls, but parts of the walls looked like they were made out of metal.
“Pedo!” Sharpedo screamed.
“GET DOWN!” Precita yelled, ducking while still holding onto the tethers.
Pieces of the canyon wall began to open and slide up into a compartment. It wasn’t a real canyon at all, but a fake one made out of metal and plastic. There were several holes in the canyon opening up, each with a certain Pokemon standing behind ready to attack.
Dan cowered behind his girl, placing his hands on her lower back. “What the hell is going on?”
“They’re going to fire on us, you idiot!” Precita snapped.
Various elemental attacks shot out from the canyon walls toward their surfboard. Flamethrowers, Ice beams, Hyper Beams, Psywave, Water Pulse, and Thunderbolts were blazing out from every which direction. The canyon was illuminated in pretty but threatening colors, as every attack threatened to send Precita and Dan overboard.
“Avoid these attacks if you don’t want to become lunch meat!” Precita glared.
Sharpedo and Gorebyss desperately tried to avoid the beams, pulling the surfboard erratically as some elemental attacks combined with one another and exploded in the distance. Some beams directly hit the surfboard, destroying pieces of it before Sharpedo and Gorebyss pulled it out of harms way. The surfboard bumped along the waves, crashing into the canyon walls a few times which shook the young couple violently.
Precita nervously stood up on the surfboard to see if they had left the canyon, only to be struck with a Thunderbolt attack herself.
“GAAAAAAAH!” she cried, feeling the jolts of electricity coursing through her veins.
“Precita!” Dan cried, grabbing onto her only to share her electric fate.
Sharpedo and Gorebyss then cheered triumphantly once they exited the canyon, thus leaving the crazy elemental attacks behind. Precita and Dan stood silently clinging together, their bodies burnt and their hard frizzled. The electric pain soon ceased, but it had left its mark.
“That was shocking, wasn’t it?” Fredrick laughed.
The crowd joined in on the laughter, many amused to see that Precita and Dan
didn’t escape the elemental attacks unscathed.
“GOD DAMN THIS!” Precita screamed, “My silky dark hair is now totally ruined!”
“NOBODY treats us like this,” Dan snarled, “C’mon, we gotta be close to first place now, let’s take out whoever there is ahead of us, then we’ll beat the crap out of that French announcer.”
“Good idea,” Precita grunted furiously, “I’ve had it with this crap. Once I get those swimsuits and the prize money, I’m going to have to show quite a few people that nobody messes with me.”
~*~*~*
The race poured on with only four participants left on the course, the others all disqualified for various reasons during the race. Ash and May were in current 1st place, the shortcut they took underwater really helped them to catch up to the surfers ahead of them. Having passed up the now second place participants just a few minutes ago, Ash and May were filled with confidence.
They were getting close to the finish line which was only several miles away. The audience went wild, many cheering on the side of Ash and May, awaiting them to win the race. Scattered on the course were the last remaining obstacles, several red and yellow buoys that had to be avoided to remain at a good pace.
“The “Little Rookies” are almost at the end, folks, will they come in 1st place and win their prize money and swimsuits?” Fredrick shouted.
“You better believe we will!” May exclaimed in a collected manner.
“Just keep avoiding these buoys, after this we’re home free, you guys!” Ash commanded.
Corphish and Squirtle acknowledged their trainer and zigzagged the surfboard carefully through the buoys. Corphish used its pincers to knock away some of the buoys that it would otherwise smack into.
“I can’t believe it, Ash! After all we’ve been through we’re actually going to win!” May said jovially.
“I’m pretty excited too, I’m glad to finally pay back our debt to Prof. Latrommi for one thing. At least I won’t have that guilt anymore for breaking his machines,” Ash said.
“And that pink bikini with the Skitty and Torchic designs will be mine…along with all the other ones!” May giggled, “I’m going to try them all on first thing after we win! I need to have someone tell me how I look in them though, you’ll do that right, Ash?”
“Well I guess, but I was hoping we could get a bite to eat after the race,” Ash said, “Nearly drowning really does work up an appetite.”
“Er…ok then! First food and then the swimsuits!” May said, “I’d like to wash this horrible taste of salt water out of my mouth too for that matter….yuck.”
There were several ramps ahead that were surrounded by buoys, apparently they were meant to give the winning participants a last boost of speed if they were neck and neck with their opponents.
“Our current 1st place participants are only a few miles from the goal now, with no opposition in sight!” Fredrick screamed, “So unless we’re going to experience some kind of upset, looks like they have it in the bag!”
“FASTER!” Precita yelled, “We gotta catch up to them before it’s too late!”
“Fine then, Gorebyss use your Ice beam attack on the water, we’ll have to slide our way to the top!” Dan commanded.
Gorebyss obeyed its trainer and unleashed the energy attack on the water, crystallizing it and turning it into a slippery icy surface. The surfboard was then pulled on top of the ice while Sharpedo and Gorebyss swam on opposite ends of the icy path. With the surfboard sliding as fast as the Pokemon, this was nearly the only way they’d manage to keep up.
“I see the back of their surfboard,” Precita squinted, “Use Water Gun on the target, Sharpedo!”
“Sharpedo!” the Pokemon cried, unleashing a jet of water on the back of Ash and May’s surfboard.
Their surfboard shook upon impact, and since May wasn’t holding on too tightly, the shock made her lose her grip as she fell off the back of the board into the water.
“What the heck?” May cried as she splashed backward into the waves.
“Corphish, Squirtle stop swimming!” Ash commanded, the Pokemon quickly brought their board to a halt.
Ash turned around to see May treading water innocently. She coughed and wiped her wet hair out of her eyes.
“Something must have hit us from behind,” May said softly, “It couldn’t be another racer though, we’re so far ahead of everyone, aren’t we?”
“Maybe it’s another Pokemon trap? You know, something to catch us off guard before we get to the finish line?” Ash wondered.
May turned around, looking in the direction they came from. She was still treading in the water, but since they were nearly finished with the race, she wasn’t in a rush to get back on board. “Oh well, I might as well get back on the board then. We’d be disqualified if you cross the finish line without me standing with you, remember?”
May noticed that Ash’s face was focused on something, he was staring at something speeding in the distance.
“There’s…someone coming from behind us!” Ash yelled.
“Entry # 13 is coming up the rear folks…it's Precita and Dan, the rightfully named “Aggressors!” Fredrick gasped, “Could they take the lead from the “Little rookies?”
“What?” May gasped, “I thought we were so far ahead of them that they’d never catch up!”
Suddenly May gasped in fear as the menacing Sharpedo opened its mouth and darted toward her. Its jaws were filled with razor sharp teeth, enough to tear a human to shreds in an instant. The Gorebyss swam on the other side, determined to take a stab at the girl as well. Precita and Dan’s board was no longer on the icy path, but floating along on the water again.
“Sharpedo, there’s your lunch! Have a taste of the girl if you please,” Precita laughed devilishly.
May completely froze in fear, staring into the giant mouth that threatened to consume her.
“May, get back on the surfboard!” Ash cried.
“Cor-phish!” Corphish declared, opening its pincer and firing a Bubblebeam attack behind toward the Sharpedo.
The attack collided with the nose of the shark Pokemon, one of the weakest spots on its body. The Pokemon shook itself frantically to ease itself of the pain, which wobbled the surfboard quite erratically.
“Get a hold of yourself, Sharpedo!” Precita yelled, struggling to keep balanced on the bumpy surfboard.
Without realizing where it was going, Sharpedo slammed its fins against May’s arm in the water. The Pokemon had a trait called “Rough skin,” one in which would sting a person who came into contact with it.
May grunted, grabbing her left arm and rubbing it desperately to ease the pain. Precita and Dan’s surfboard then forcefully slammed into Ash’s, in which the boy fell off the surfboard as well. The board spun around a few times with Corphish and Squirtle attached in circles as Precita and Dan took the lead.
“What an upset!” Fredrick yelled, “Precita and Dan are now in the lead, and with both young trainers fallen off their surfboard, they’ll have to get it together quickly or else they lost the race!”
“Shar-pedo,” Sharpedo grunted, regaining its focus.
“Ha, I was hoping to get one more hit on the girl before we finished this race,” Precita sneered.
“We’re going to be passing through a few more buoys and ramps, and then we’re done!” Dan said happily.
Knowing that they had no time to waste, Ash and May quickly swam back to their surfboard and got into position. May rubbed her left arm one last time before wrapping herself around his torso again. Ash asked her if the sting hurt, but she told him to nevermind and hurry up to catch up to their opponents.
“Let’s get moving, guys!” Ash commanded, gripping the tethers, “This is the final stretch, we gotta catch up to them and win!”
“Corphish!”
“Squirtle!”
The board was pulled along rippling the water, with the two trainers as determined as ever to finally beat their opponents and end the race.
“Two can play at this game. Corphish, Squirtle…fire your attacks on the back of their surfboard!” May shouted.
Without hesitation, the two Pokemon aimed their elemental attacks at the back of Precita’s board. Unfortunately for Ash and May, while it did slow them down a bit, neither Precita or Dan fell off.
“Since we’re reaching the end of the race, no more penalties will be imposed on either side! Pokemon attacks are encouraged to gain a lead on your opponent, it’s now or never!” Fredrick shouted. He covered the mike one more time, “YOU CAN DO IT, CHILDREN!”
Max, Brock, Pikachu, Tana and Jamie gave their last minute cheers and encouragement from the stands.
Precita and Dan were too focused on Ash and May coming up from behind that they weren’t paying much attention to the obstacles on the course. They bumped into several small buoys which ended up slowing them down in the process. Meanwhile, Ash was carefully maneuvering his Pokemon around the buoys, and with all the training they did for the past week, this was a piece of cake.
The two surfboards met side by side, with both pairs glaring at each other with the same goal in mind, being number one.
“So you’ve caught up again, have you? Good, at least this won’t be a boring finish,” Precita said angrily.
Precita pulled the tethers to the right in which their surfboard collided with Ash and May’s, trying to forcefully knock them off their board. This time however Ash and May were more determined than ever to hold on, and even pushed back on their own. Ash ordered Corphish to knock their board aside, and the powerful lobster did so accordingly. Its left pincer glowed in a white light as it struck the side of the opposing surfboard, knocking them far to the right in the distance.
“Gorebyss, use Shadow ball!” Dan commanded.
The Pokemon fired a dark energy sphere at their surfboard which caught Ash and May completely off guard. The entire left side of the surfboard crummeled into pieces against the impact of the attack. There was no longer an enclosed ledge where the two were standing, the last pieces on the left side of the surfboard fell apart.
“Now, Sharpedo, get in close and give them a bite attack!” Precita said, bringing the surfboard into closer range, “Tear their board to pieces! If they don’t have anything to race on they won’t be able to finish!”
“Shar….pedo!” the vicious Pokemon snarled, moving in for the kill. It swam as close to their surfboard as possible without breaking apart from the tether it was attached to.
“Watch out, Ash!” May cried, tugging on his arm.
The jaws of the shark Pokemon bit down on the edge of the surfboard, tearing off another large piece of the bottom. Ash and May desperately moved their feet out of the way and toward the right side of the board, otherwise the shark would have bit them clean off!
“This is just like you, Precita, sinking so low as to destroy our surfboard since you know we would beat you!” May yelled.
“What can I say? I do what I have to do to win,” Precita chuckled, flicking her hair, “As I said before, the swimsuits are mine, little girl.”
“In your dreams!” May retaliated, quite childishly.
Sharpedo moved in for another bite of the board, but an irritated Corphish slammed the Pokemon right on its head with its Crabhammer attack. The shark retreated and whimpered in pain.
With some quick thinking, Precita brought their surfboard to a halt and let Ash and May get in the lead. She then pulled the tethers to the right, hoping to get on the opposite side of their opposition. After a few more seconds the two surfboards were now side by side again, only this time Precita was on the right side instead of the left.
“Gorebyss, work your magic on that pathetic little Squirtle,” Precita said.
“Squirtle move out of the way!” May cried, desperately.
Unable to react in time, Gorebyss stuck its long snout into Squirtles’ hind leg. The tiny turtle Pokemon cried in pain as it felt its blood being drained by the malicious but beautiful Gorebyss.
“Squirt…squirtle…squirt!” Squirtle panted and gasped, unabled to shake its leg from Gorebyss’ mouth.
May was enraged with small tears in her eyes, she moved to the edge of her board and started stomping on Gorebyss with her own feet.
“Get off my Squirtle!” May yelled, infuriated.
“Bysssssssssss,” Gorebyss hissed, feeling the pounding on its head.
“Maybe we’ll pull away,” Ash grunted, pulling the tethers to the left.
The surfboard waded to the left hoping to pull away from Gorebyss’ attack on the young Squirtle. Squirtle continued to cry helplessly as its leg started to feel numb.
“PHEESH!” Corphish screamed.
It fired its Bubblebeam attack over the other side of the surfboard hoping to hit Gorebyss, but it instead slammed into the edge of Precita’s surfboard.
“That’s enough, Gorebyss, pull back!” Dan commanded.
“Bysss?” Gorebyss was confused. It didn’t want to retreat from its meal.
“Don’t second guess me! PULL BACK, DAMMIT!”
“Bysssssss, Gorebysssssssssss,” Gorebyss shook its head, its desire for blood was more satisfying.
“Obey me, you damn Pokemon!” Dan commanded, gripping the tethers, yanking it which harshly pulled the tether around Gorebyss’ neck.
“BYSSSSSSSS…..byssssss!” Gorebyss cried, feeling the harsh tugs on its body. It pulled its mouth out of Squirtle’s leg and returned to its masters’ side.
“Squirtle, are you ok?” May asked frantically, peering over the edge of the board.
“Squirt…squirtle…” the Pokemon whined, still in a great deal of pain from having lost a lot of blood.
“Why’d you pull your Gorebyss back?” Precita asked.
“Because now we’re going to go up a ramp!” Dan declared.
Their Pokemon and their surfboard then flew up a ramp which caught them several added seconds in the air ahead of Ash and May. Noticing that they were now in the lead, Ash and May had little options left with a half-destroyed surfboard and an injured Squirtle.
“Only two miles to the finish line, and Precita’s team is currently in the lead!” Fredrick said, “The “Little Rookies” surfboard isn’t looking too hot. It’s taken a beaten and the board looks like its ready to fall to pieces! If they don’t have something to surf on, they’ll be
disqualifiiiiiiiiied!”
“Damn it,” Ash grunted, noticing more pieces of the surfboard break off from the abuse it took.
Squirtle struggled to keep swimming even with its leg injury, it knew it couldn’t let is master down when they were so close to winning the race.
“We’re catching up to them again…!” Ash screamed.
“Cor-cor phish!” Corphish grunted, propelling its pincers faster than ever before in the water.
“Dammit, them again!” Precita yelled, “Don’t they know when to give up? Sharpedo use your Skull Bash on their surfboard!”
Sharpedo quickly darted for their board again and smashed its skull against the nose of their board, breaking off the entire frontal piece of their surfboard except for the small circular pillar that the tethers were tied through.
“Our whole surfboard is falling apart, Ash!” May exclaimed desperately. The bottom of the surfboard started to feel a little flimsy, almost as if what they were standing on would soon collapse.
“ONE MILE TO THE FINISH LINE!” Fredrick shouted, “IT’S COMING RIGHT DOWN TO THE WIRE, FOLKS!”
The lively crowd screamed and raved at the top of their lungs, many on the edge of their seats as to who would win.
“I’ve got an idea,” Dan said, “Their board is in shambles, all we need to do is break off the circular pillar on the surfboard and rip apart their tethers and they’ll be out of the race!”
“Hmmm, I love it when you’re assertive,” Precita licked her lips, “Remind me show my approval tonight in our room.”
“Heh, thanks babe.” Dan laughed.
Sharpedo and Gorebyss tried to ram into their surfboard once again, but this time completely missing their mark.
“They’re getting cocky now and getting careless!” Ash exclaimed, “You guys aren’t going to get another hit on us!”
“I beg to differ, Sharpedo use your Slash attack!” Precita declared.
Sharpedo opened its mouth and slashed the circular pillar with its teeth. The entire bottom of the pillar was loose off its foundation and looked like it was about to slide clean off.
“NO!” May shouted, forcing down the pillar with her hands, “If this comes off we lost the race!”
“Again, Sharpedo! Do whatever you have to to tear apart that pillar! Or better yet, try to tear off the tethers!” Precita instructed.
The feisty shark Pokemon returned for another strike, opening its jaws and ready to take apart the whole frontal part of the surfboard with one bite.
“Squirtllllee….” the tiny turtle muttered, firing a weak Water gun attack at Sharpedo’s face.
Suddenly, Ash’s foot crashed through the bottom of the board. He looked down in fear to see that the entire bottom of the surfboard was tearing in two! He desperately pulled his foot out of the bottom and stood on another part of the surfboard, only to have his foot break through the bottom once again!
“The “Little Rookies” surfboard looks like it hit rock bottom, folks! A few more tears in the right places, and they’ll have nothing left to race on!” Fredrick shouted.
“Sharpedo, AGAIN!” Precita shouted.
“It’s coming back!” May shrieked, still holding down the pillar with the circular opening so it wouldn’t break off.
“WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Ash yelled, pulling the tethers to the right.
He looked up, and spotted something. It caught his eye, something that would be the key to victory.
“Another ramp!” Ash said excitedly, “It’s the last one before the finish line! If we get on that we should get an extra boost of speed and make it past Precita!”
“That’s if this board holds together until then!” May panicked, her foot crashing through the bottom herself, “For Prof. Latrommi and the promise I made to myself to beat Precita, we just GOTTA win this!”
There were now three holes on the bottom of the surfboard, with large tears coming through the center. The enclosed sides were already torn clean off in previous attacks, leaving little foot room at all. The nose of the board was destroyed, and the pillar in the center had a large tear on the bottom. If that broke off, the tethers would fall off with it, thus giving them nothing to pull along the board with. The surfboard was in shambles, and in less than a minute the entire board would collapse altogether.
“We’re roughly 30 seconds away from the finish line, folks! THIS IS IT!” Fredrick shouted.
“The finish line is right ahead of them, I can see it!” Max shouted with joy.
“PIKACHU!”
“They just need to hold on a little more and they’ll make it, c’mon!” Brock urged them.
“They’re going to use the ramp to their advantage,” Dan said.
“Who cares, the finish line is right there! Whatever boost they’ll get will be too little too late,” Precita said, “Sharpedo, Gorebyss….put all your remaining strength into getting across that line first!”
The finish line was a large checkered flag floating above the water attached to two buoys at both ends. There was large enough room for ten surfboards to make it through at the same time, but there was only one ramp left to give only a certain surfboard a particular advantage over the others.
“Ash, here’s the ramp!” May gasped.
The surfboard flew off the ramp and into the air. Corphish and Squirtle hovered in the sky for a few moments, the latter holding onto its hind leg with its hand. May clutched onto Ash’s waist in anticipation as their surfboard was starting to fall back down into the waves.
“We’re gonna make it!” Ash shouted.
“C’mon, c’mon!” May hoped excitedly.
Their water Pokemon plummeted back down into the water with what little there was left of the surfboard behind them. They were roughly neck and neck with Precita’s surfboard, the boost giving them a near one second advantage.
“We’re almost there!” Ash cried.
“NO, we’re going to make it!” Precita grunted.
“They’ll approach the finish line in 10 SECONDS!” Fredrick declared.
“Gah! We have almost nothing left to stand on!” May gasped. She was standing on the one small piece of surface left, the same one that Ash was. Their four feet were huddled together on one tiny piece of the bottom that was still holding by a thread.
“FIVE SECONDS!”
The two boards were right next to each other, neither party knowing which board was slightly ahead of the other. Corphish, Squirtle, Sharpedo and Gorebyss put all their last remaining strength into propelling through the finish line.
Ash, May, Precita and Dan were in the moment, all four of the knowing that it would be over in a second, and the winner would be declared. May made one last second wish to herself that she’d win the swimsuits, something she had trained to win for a full week. She was still obsessed with the swimsuits, particularly the Skitty/Torchic one, but she was also intent on finally putting Precita and Dan in their place for all the trouble they caused her. There was too much at stake; the pain and humiliation they caused her at the club when they first met, the fight they got into with Chaz and Eliza on the beach, where Ash was delivered a harsh blow to his stomach, the various and persistent ridicule and insults, and last but not least, the pain their Gorebyss caused to her Squirtle by sucking blood viciously out of its tiny leg.
Ash had thoughts of both the Professor and May filling his mind, knowing he couldn’t disappoint either. In the blink of an eye, this would be it…the moment of truth.
“AND IT’S OVER!” Fredrick shouted, shooting a signal into the sky.
Both surfboards passed the finish line, with neither participants’ knowing which one made it through first. Ash and May were relieved that their surfboard managed to hold together right until the end, but they were unsure whether they had won.
“Our camera and recordings will reveal who passed the finish line a second before their opponent!” Fredrick said.
“It’s just gotta be Ash and May!” Max shouted.
“I think it did look like it was them,” Tana said excitedly.
“That was a good race, they’re going to announce the winner in a second because it was so close that no human eye could catch it,” Brock said.
Pikachu pondered the win in its mind.
“Phew, good job, Corphish and Squirtle.” Ash said.
Off his last remark, the entire surfboard they were standing on collapsed. Ash and May fell through the bottom and into the water, with the entire pillar on the surfboard tearing off and falling into pieces as well.
Ash and May waded apart in the water and cradled their Water Pokemon in their arms. May hugged her Squirtle tightly, eyeing its leg where it had been assaulted. She promised to take the little turtle right to a Pokemon Center so it could heal.
Precita and Dan still stood on their surfboard, awaiting the results.
“Do you think we won, Ash?” May asked confidently.
“Sure we did!” Ash said triumphantly, “We passed through the finish line first, there’s no doubt about that.”
“Corphish, corphish, cor cor!” Corphish said energetically.
Ash and May shared a chuckle as Squirtle smiled in her arms.
“Alright, folks, the results are in!” Fredrick said, “The winners will receive the prize money as well as fifteen different two-piece bikinis for the female participant in the race!”
“Please please…be us…” May prayed one last time.
“C’mon…” Ash uttered.
Fredrick continued after building anticipation, “And the winners of this years’ Water Pokemon Surfing Competition are….”
He flung his arm around to the winners, and put on a huge smile while saying their names.
Spoiler:
“…Precita and Dan!”
_____________________
Spoiler text for the victors so nobody scrolls down and spoils themselves before reading the story. Of course, I'm sure a few people already highlighted that and spoiled themselves before reading the chapter anyway, but ah what can you do?
Expecting a happy ending? We'll see the aftermath in the next chapter!