Since the Little League was an elimination style tournament, half of the contenders would be eliminated at each stage. From forty to twenty to ten and so on. There would be no singular winner, since this was a kid’s tournament after all. Instead, the top five would all receive medals, while the losers would all receive participation prizes in the form of a certificate.

By the time that the first stage had concluded, there was no shortage of children crying and complaining to their parents about their failure. Some were even reluctant to part with their loaner pokemon, causing quite the headache among the adults.

Meanwhile, Nina was by the edge of the pool, happily feeding Oran Berries to Goldeen and complimenting the pokemon on her stellar performance. She had just returned from the nurse’s station as well, after a quick check up on the goldfish Pokemon’s condition.

Goldeen was technically not damaged during her first match, but it was good to play it safe. Especially since that was Goldeen’s first time using Tackle, a move that she shouldn't have been able to learn on her own. There was a chance that she might have accidentally damaged herself from recoil or something.

Nina’s next match was against another girl who was also using a Goldeen. She seemed like the shy sort, nervously clutching her sundress. So Nina tried to be friendly by waving at her and saying hello, only for the girl to nervously avert her gaze.

However, when Lily, the red haired Cerulean Sister, called for the match to begin, it was like Nina’s opponent became a different person. The previously reserved girl glared at her with a determined gaze, and called for her Goldeen to use Supersonic.

“Splash and Flail, Goldeen,” called out Nina in return. “Just like we discuss, don’t let the other Goldeen catch you.”

Nina’s Goldeen then proceeded to slap her tail against the water whilst flailing her body to launch herself into the air, repeating the motion over and over again every time she landed. She jumped all around the opposing Goldeen, causing the Supersonic to miss its mark.

Nina’s opponent was flabbergasted, looking at her with mouth wide open like she could not believe what was happening. And since her loaner Goldeen wasn’t an experienced battler, it did not know what to do without a trainer’s input, leaving it to float idly in the water, desperately trying to track the movements of its brethren.

Nina could see Lily’s shoulders shaking with her mouth covered in her periphery, trying hard not to burst out laughing.

After a certain point, Goldeen made her biggest jump yet, positioning herself perfectly above the opponent. Her horns glowed with Type Energy, having remembered what Nina discussed with her beforehand.

“Now, Goldeen. Use Peck!”

At the apex of her jump, Goldeen slammed right down onto her target as instructed, causing her opponent to let out a pained moan.

“Don’t let up and go for a Tackle!”

Not wanting to allow the other Pokemon any breathing room, Goldeen dove deep into the pool to rebuild her momentum, and swam back up again for a follow up Tackle.

“Don’t give up, Goldeen! Use Supersonic!” Yelled the panicking girl under Nina’s relentless onslaught.

Unfortunately, her Goldeen was launched out of the pool from the previous Tackle and was still trying to reorient itself, leaving it open for a Supersonic from Nina’s Goldeen instead.

“Now’s your chance, Supersonic that Goldeen before it recovers,” ordered Nina.

And in a stroke of luck, or perhaps it was because her opponent was already disorientated, Goldeen’s Supersonic managed a confusion on her first try. Sealing the match in Nina’s favor.

“Winner of the match is Nina!” Declared Lily, after Nina’s Goldeen finished the match with another Tackle.

After the match, Lily reassured the dejected girl, who Nina learned was named Susie, and gave her some tips. Then went on to compliment Nina on her performance. “You did great there, Nina. Very creative use of Splash and Flail. Mind telling me where you learned that from?” She asked.

“I once saw a match where a trainer’s Azumarill used Splash with its tail to bounce around on water and got inspired,” replied Nina, while she gently caressed Goldeen by the water. “I wasn’t sure if Goldeen could pull it off since, physically, she wasn’t as strong as that Azumarill. So I thought to incorporate Flail instead.

“We practiced earlier and Goldeen was really struggling. But she managed to pull it off in the end when it counted… I’m super proud of her,” she concluded, as she fed an Oran Berry to Goldeen.

Lily nodded in approval. “You show a lot of promise Nina. I can tell that you have the makings of a top tier Water Type Master.”

Nina smiled politely at Nina’s high regard, but deep down she was thinking that there was no way she would specialize in Water Types. She just wasn’t that into swimming and other water sports. Besides, the thought of wearing a string bikini and performing in front of thousands of people made her shudder. Not that that was strictly necessary, Nina was just letting her imagination get the better of her.

With that, Nina made it into the top ten, which meant there was one more match remaining.

It was kind of awkward, because the last stage was a five versus five. And since there was only room for four matches at any given round, one pair would have to fight separately, under the combined scrutiny of everyone present. Just so happens, that pair included Nina, much to her dismay.

The final match was between Nina and an older boy with a very serious look on his face, named Charlie. Unlike Jimmy before him, Charlie was not underestimating Nina in any way.

“I saw your previous matches,” he said. “You’re probably one of the stronger trainers here today. But that’s all the more reason why I’m not gonna go easy on you!”

Outwardly, Nina smiled, saying that she was looking forward to the match too. Inside however, she was wincing. Nina would have much preferred being underestimated and scoring an easy win.

“Go, Staryu.”

The pokemon that Charlie sent out was a Staryu, which made Nina frown. Nina was actually not sure on how to deal with a Staryu. The strategies Nina went over with Goldeen regarding the starfish pokemon were mostly just vague suggestions more than anything else.

“Careful Goldeen, this one’s gonna be hard to crack,” advised Nina. And she meant that literally, since Staryu knew Harden. “Focus on juking it and slowly wear it down.”

“Deeen~”

“Alright folks, are you ready for the final match of today?!” Cried Misty, eliciting cheers of excitement from the audience.

Misty flung her arm out with a flourish. “To my right, we have Charlie and his hard hitting STAAAARYUUUUU!” The audience, both young and old, cheered, chanting Charlie’s name in encouragement.

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“Hard hitting eh?” Misty’s introduction inadvertently gave Nina some hints, since she was ashamed to say that she did not remember what Charlie’s matches were like.

“And to my left… We have the cutie Nina and her tricky GOLDEEEEEN!”

The audience cheered for Nina the same way that they cheered for Charlie, only this time, Nina could clearly hear the voices of Patrick and Pikachu standing out from the rest. Goldeen seemed to revel in the attention as she jumped out of the water and did a flashy sweep of her beautiful tail, much to the audience’s pleasure.

“Trainers! Are you ready?!”

“Ready!”

“Three… Two… One, and begin!” Announced Misty with a swipe of her hand.

“Supersonic spam.”

“Harden!”

Both contenders called out their instructions at the same time. And as Nina expected, Charlie started off with Harden. Nina wanted to sigh. “This kid knows what he’s doing…”

Unfortunately, Goldeen’s Supersonic could not get to Staryu in time before it hardened, since she needed to swim a little closer. Type Energy suffused Staryu as it took on a metallic gleam.

When Goldeen eventually got into position, Charlie called out for evasive maneuvers. “Use Water Gun to get away, keep your distance.”

To Nina’s surprise, a stream of water was shot out from Staryu’s mouth, which was located on its underside, much like a regular starfish. The Water Gun helped Propel Staryu away from the influence of Goldeen’s Supersonic, dodging the move entirely.

The audience cheered at the skillful maneuver. Due to the water’s refraction, it was actually quite hard to see the two Pokemon who were fighting underwater. So there were cameras set up within the pool to display a feed of the action on a giant screen. Nina would occasionally glance at the screen as well, because it was hard to make out much detail with her naked eyes.

“Time to start spinning, Staryu.” Faithful to its trainer’s order, Staryu began spinning in place like a shuriken.

Nina was really starting to sweat, not liking the looks of what Charlie and Staryu were cooking up. “Get close and Supersonic, Goldeen. Use Tackle to boost yourself forward.”

Goldeen did as she was told, but Staryu dodged out of the way again with a last minute Water Gun, even while it was still spinning. Although, the spinning did slow down a bit from that momentary distraction. It was not enough to completely halt Staryu’s actions however.

Nina clicked her tongue. “Get out of the water with Peck. When you land, Splash and Flail. Keep yourself unpredictable.”

Charlie narrowed his eyes. “Steady, Staryu… Keep charging up and aim Tackle for when it lands.”

A tense atmosphere took over the arena as the two pokemon stood off against each other. Staryu spinning in place until its silhouette began to blur, while Goldeen jumped in and out of the water, trying her best to disorientate her opponent.

And just when it felt like everyone’s nerves were about to fray from the tension. Staryu struck, without any input from its trainer. The sentient shuriken shot through the water and blasted out into the air, barely grazing Goldeen’s flank as she flailed out of the way.

Nina winced, after seeing that Staryu had sheared a few of Goldeen’s translucent scales from her beautiful form.

“Go after it, Goldeen. Don’t let that jerk get away with it. Supersonic when you get close.”

There was a brief moment where Goldeen struggled to recover from her pain, but she pursed her luscious lips and forced herself to go after Staryu with a Tackle, using the residual momentum to rapidly swim towards the disorientated starfish pokemon.

“Get yourself together Staryu, it's coming!” Yelled Charlie, but having just been flung through the air, Staryu was still trying to regain its bearings.

That brief moment of pause was enough for Goldeen to reach it and pull off a Supersonic. Thankfully the confusion took hold, causing Staryu to wobble in place.

“Harden, Staryu! Keep going until you can’t Harden anymore!”

“Goldeen, Tackle! Don’t let up, try to force it out of bounds!”

Staryu was really close to the edge of the field, having flung itself too far from that initial supercharged Tackle. And given that Charlie was smart enough to tell his pokemon to hunker down and buff up, Nina had little choice but to try and win on a technicality.

Goldeen slammed into the Hardened Staryu, the delicate goldfish Pokemon recoiling from having impacted its reinforced surface, sending her reeling backwards while Staryu barely budged, still a few centimeters away from exceeding the buoys which marked the field.

“Go in for another Tackle!” Screamed Nina. But unfortunately for her, Staryu had just been knocked out of its confusion.

“Tackle, Staryu! Force it back!”

Staryu began charging forwards, but this time without the wind-up. Goldeen charged as well, her advantage being that she had a head start in building her momentum, having already guessed that Nina would call for a follow up Tackle.

Goldeen reached Staryu before it could get a fully powered Tackle going and the two pokemon impacted against each other, sending clouds of bubbles to burst out from the crash zone.

Once everything was settled, a series of gasps ran through the audience. Staryu was out of bounds, but Goldeen was now floating unconscious above the water.

Both Nina and Charlie were mouth agape, completely speechless at the outcome.

Misty grinned in amusement. “Well would you look at that. Looks like we got ourselves a double knockout folks!

“Match is over! I declare the winner to be…” She raised her hand up to the sky in a dramatic fashion, deliberately holding silent to keep people at the edge of their seats. “Both Charlie and Nina!!!! A round of applause for these two incredible Pokemon Trainers in the making!”

“What?!” Exclaimed Charlie. While Nina just stared at the Gym Leader with wide eyes. Misty gave them both a wink before turning off her mic.

“Truth be told, the two of you were singled out for this match due to your exceptional performance throughout this entire tournament. We wanted you to demonstrate the right mindset that a trainer should have to the other kids. So even if one of you had lost, I probably would have conjured up some nonsense to declare both of you as winners anyway.”

The orange haired beauty stuck out her tongue mischievously. “This is actually convenient because it makes my job a lot easier.”

Nina was flabbergasted. “Rigged! This match was rigged! Is this really okay? Is it fine to teach a bunch of impressionable children such twisted life lessons?!” She thought. Nina turned towards Charlie to gauge his reaction, only for the boy to return her sentiment with a helpless shrug.

***

“There you go, Goldeen is all healed up now,” said the Nurse Joy who was manning the little booth that the Pokemon Center had set up next to the Cerulean Gym’s arena.

Nina thanked the nurse and grabbed the Pokeball on the tray, before turning to the staff member who was hovering over her.

“I’m sorry Miss, I know that you have a very important job to do, but do you mind if I say my goodbyes to Goldeen before returning her?” Nina did not manage to say anything to the loaner Pokemon after their last match on account of the fact that she had fainted.

The Lady that Nina was addressing gave a troubled smile, but ultimately relented to the pitiful look that Nina was giving her.

Nina thanked the staff member and ran back to the pool to release Goldeen. When the goldfish Pokemon reappeared in a flash of light, Nina reached into her Berry Pouch and took out the last few remaining Oran Berries she had on hand.

“Here, Goldeen,” she said as she offered the berries to the Pokemon. “I’m so sorry for pushing you so hard in that last match. I didn’t mean to get you all banged up like that.”

Nurse Joy said that Goldeen would have a couple of bruises from hitting Staryu's hardened body, and that the scales she lost would regrow over the course of a few days. So overall, it was no big deal. Pokemon are quite sturdy after all.

“Deeen~” replied Goldeen, as she happily munched down on the berries. Not seeming to mind the rough match at all.

“Thanks for working so hard for me today. I promise I’ll do my best to keep improving and make sure that my future Pokemon will be able to handle whatever tricks come my way.” Nina gave Goldeen a gentle scratch underneath her fin, just the way she liked it. “And who knows? Maybe we’ll get to face you in the Gym circuit one day?”

“Deeen~~” Goldeen did a swish in the water before gracefully settling back down, her tail billowing like an elegant dress in the wind.

“That was a great match,” came a boyish voice behind Nina. She turned around and found that Charlie had approached her at some point.

Nina dusted off her knees and stood up to greet the spiky haired boy. “Likewise, I didn’t know Staryu could charge up its Tackle like that.”

Charlie gave a sheepish smile. “I have my mom to thank for that, she has a Starmie that’s been with her since the start of her journey. So she knows all the little tricks to use with them.”

“Oh, Your mom used to be a Pokemon Trainer? That must be nice.”

Charlie scratched the back of his head. “Both my parents actually. They met during their journey. I heard from your dad that you're aiming for trainer school as well?”

Nina looked around and saw that Patrick was speaking with an energetic looking couple nearby, presumably Charlie’s parents. “Yeah, but that’s still a few years away. No harm in preparing early though.”

“Yeah… Sometimes I wished I had started a bit earlier as well,” confessed Charlie, sounding a little downtrodden. “That’s kind of why I joined the Little League today, because I wanted to get a commendation under my belt. You know? Just to pad out my resume as my old man likes to say.”

Nina giggled, making Charlie blush for some reason. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“So erm… Anyway, I’m aiming for the Vermillion Flame. I only have less than a year left before the start of the enrollment date, but I’ll work hard to get in. And I think someone like you should be able to get in no problem,” said Charlie, his eyes briefly blazing with the fires of determination, before he shyly averted from Nina’s gaze again.

“So.. I mean… I think you’ll be a good fit for the school. Maybe it's something you want to consider? By then I’ll already be in my second to last year, so I’ll be able to show you around…”

The Vermillion Flame that Charlie mentioned was renowned for being the number one trainer school in all of Kanto. And like the name suggests, it was located in Vermillion City, the largest and most populous city in the region.

Nina had not really considered going that far for school. She always assumed that she would just attend Cerulean Blue, the local trainer school, thinking that Leanette wouldn’t let her “baby” stray too far out of sight.

“VF has dorms for boarding students right?” Asked Nina.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah they do. I’m actually gonna try applying for a spot in their dorms as well. They say that each student gets a whole studio to themselves, but availability is limited. If I don’t get a spot in the dorms then no problems, I have relatives in the city… Though I’d rather not, if I’m being honest.” That last sentence was punctuated with a heavy sigh.

“The Vermillion Flame…” considered Nina. “Might not be too bad to live independently, get a bit of freedom.” But this would be subject to her parents approval as well. Nina knows that her father would be open to a discussion. Her clinically insane mother on the other hand…

“I suppose I’ll just have to take this one step at a time.”