Judy

I feel incredibly guilty. My actions cannot be justified. I was selfish. The temptation of having a legendary by your side was to much. The pull of it was too great. And I gave in.

The light red pokeball in front of me was shaking, violently. I carefully tapped the release button, and he materialized in front if me, his back turned.

"Pineapple...," I started before I was cut off by a surprised, "Olu!" from Bruiser and I realized Pineapple was gone. Not a trace. I fell to my knees in defeat, knowing that I had broken his trust. You didn't deserve him anyway, my conscious piped up, making me groan in irritation. Looking at my Pokemon, I nodded towards them, silently letting them know we were going after him. But as I took my first step, a bright blue light encased me and my mind slipped into darkness.

🌺-----🌺

I awoke in a room, seemingly made out of rock. It was lit by only a few dim lanterns, providing little light to the room. The floor was littered with weapons, like bows, swords, staffs, and other deadly items meant to kill.

I picked up a bow, examining it. It was made out of steel, curved sharply with wicked edges. It seemed to be good for shooting as well as stabbing. I slung it over my back, in case I needed it later.

Carefully sifting through the other weapons, I found a spear. Memories of kendo classes began to replay in my mind as I ran my hand along it, taking me into the past as the white mist encased my mind.

"Judy Plant!"

I stood sharply to attention, waiting for our sensei to select my sparring partner.

"Cade Flow!"

We stood directly across from each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Cade lunged, his weapon, a wooden katana, aimed right at my arm. I side stepped is attack, and hit him with a sharp, WACK, on the back as gravity took hold and he started to fall.

He recovered quickly, running at me as his sword tip dragged on the ground behind him. He stabbed at me twice, only to meet the oak wood that made my staff.

With my hand in the middle, I attempted to hit him, but he caught both ends of the staff, a smug smile gracing his lips. I smirked and flipped my hair back with my spare hand before cocking my head to the side to motion his fallen katana.

"You have a choice here Cade," I spoke, letting mock sincereness poison my words, "You could give up the fight. Surrender and declare me as winner."

Gritting his teeth, he spat, "Never!" I sighed. Men are so difficult sometimes.

"Or you could attempt to pick up your sword and hope to be fast enough to evade my attack. You have five seconds to decide."

As the gears turned in his head, I cheerfully counted down the seconds, and when I got to one, he was still undecided. I grinned evilly, knowing I could now use the third option.

I yanked the staff back with so much force he fell forward in surprise. Unfortunately for him, he fell on my knee and I was declared the winner.

Coming back into the world of the present, I quickly whirled around, spear in hand, and began to attack imaginary enemies. Stabbing and jabbing, I moved so fast it looked like a whirlwind of silver and green, my outfit blending with the shiny steel of the spear.

I stopped and lay panting, musing over how impressive my skills with a spear were and how I didn't even know how to use the bow I had over my back.

"Are you done trying to kill me?" I spun around, looking for the source if the sudden disruption, only to find the livid gaze of Pineapple. I rushed forward, attempting to hug him, but he vanished before reappearing a few inches in front of me.

I promptly fell, earning a hearty laugh from the small legendary floating above me. I groaned and asked him, "What's going on? What happened?" He gave me an incredulous look, as if I should know the answer.

"Well, the Clash of the Ages is about to start. In a couple of minutes, you and I are going to go out there against nine other trainers and nine other legendaries. By the way, they're going to try to kill us. That's why you have those weapons," he answered plainly.

My mouth hit the floor at his reply. I was going to have to kill others? Surely not. I opened my mouth to say so, but he shook his head and gazed at me with somber eyes.

"Why?" The question seemingly flew out of my mouth, for no apparent reason. Tilting his head,bas if curious to why I wouldn't want to take another life, he watched me silently. I waited patiently for an answer.

The announcer took this moment of tense silence to start the games. "Let's open those doors in...."

"Whatever happens, know that I only caught you because I didn't want to leave you in the cave. I wanted to bring you with me," I blurted randomly.

"Five!"

"Four!

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The doors sprang open, heavy, ancient oak squealing and groaning as their hinges seemed to work for the first time in forever.