"The Best That Ever Was" - A Short Story

This is a story that I wrote a while ago for my Theatre I class, in my Senior Year of high school. Our prompt was to write a "nerdy" story. I think I managed that rather well...

******

"Come on, Mom!"

"Be quiet, Clarissa. I'm coming as fast as I can."

"Mo-om! Don't call me 'Clarissa!' My name is Aria!" Aria/Clarissa wailed. "Please! You'd never see a 'Clarissa' in Unova!"

"You and your Pokémon. I just don't understand." Clarissa's mom shook her head and sighed. "Really, Aria. Why do we have to go to this thing?"

"It's only the most awesome thing EVER!" Aria shouted. "They're opening a Pokémon store! I must get there! I've been saving my money for months! I will have plushies of all six of my Master Team - Espeon, Mew, Furret, Lilligant, Resharim, and Vaporeon!"

"Slow down, Cl--Aria. They'll still be there when we get there." Her mom shook her head. What was wrong with her child? These monster-things were downright creepy.

"Mom!" Aria shrieked.

"I'm coming!'

It took only ten minutes to get to the not-yet-open Pokémon store. There was already a large crowd gathered outside the door.

Aria promptly wriggled her way towards the front door. To her horror, she discovered that she was not the only one dressed as the girl trainer from Unova; thankfully, though, it looked like she was the only one with a real ponytail. Her long, wavy black hair was perfect for this cosplay.

She was not the only one with a utility belt, either. Aria had spent hours altering a beer-can-six-pack-holding belt so that it would hold six Pokéballs, her Pokédex, and her Pokétech, not to mention her asthma inhaler. Several other people had utility belts, but none of them were as well-made as hers.

Aria glanced at the Pokémon watch on her wrist. It was set to perfect satellite time; it read 8:58.

"Two minutes!" she squealed. The announcement raced through the crowd like a hyperactive Weavile. The crowd pressed forward. Aria found herself face-to-window-to-face with a scared-looking employee on the other side of the glass.

The clock hit 8:59.

Mira watched as the employees raced around the store, tidying shelves and instructing bouncers.

9:00.

The nervous man in the store pulled the doors open. Two bouncers immediately blocked the path.

"Attention!" he called. "It is with greatest pleasure that I welcome you to the store. Now, a few rules."

The crowd groaned and pressed forward a little more. Aria was now face-to-gun with the scariest-looking bouncer. He growled.

"Please, no fighting. These bouncers are here for everybody's protection, but please don't make them have to act. Next, no claiming. If we don't have it on the shelves, we probably have it in the back." The man paused to dab at his forehead with a Pokémon-embroidered handkerchief. "Third, if you break, rip, damage, or harm any item, you've just bought it. Now, have fun!" The man leaped aside as the crowd poured into the store.

Aria passed the card-battling tables, the game-battling tables, and the clothes. She zig-zagged through the store, heading for the towering shelves of plushies that dominated the back wall.

Furret was easy to find; he was one of the Second Generation. Only the hard-core fans knew he existed. Aria stuffed him in the reuseable shopping bag one of the employees had handed her on the way in.

She went hunting for Mew. Since it was a legendary, there was a good chance that it would be a hot item. She sprinted down the wall to number 151 (the plushies were arranged in Pokédex-Number order) and found a little boy on a leash struggling to climb the shelves to reaech the last Mew. She tapped the boy's mother (who was holding the leash and not paying attention, as she was talking on her cell phone) on the shoulder, and the woman yanked her child down. Aria did a small victory dance, grabbed Mew off the shelf, and ran, leaving a wailing child behind her.

Vaporeon was easily secured, as most people were fighting over a Shiny Umbreon nearby.

Espeon was slightly more difficult; she had to climb a very unsteady ladder (it had already been used by several hefty men that morning) to reach the top shelf. Luckily, the Espeons were bright and cheery. She shoved one in her bag.

That just left the two Unova Pokémon. As Black and White were the two most recent games, all the little children would know the Unova Pokémon best of all.

Aria headed for the Legendary Reshiram first. There was one left. Just as her hand closed around its left wing, another hand closed around its right.

"Hey! I claimed that!" a very tall (and very cute) boy dressed as Gary Oak growled.

"Ah, no, Gary," Aria said sweetly, tugging Reshiram towards her. "No claiming. Besides, I was here first."

Gary glowered. "I'm Gary ******* Oak!"

"I don't care if you're Red; you're not getting MY Reshiram!" Aria cried, yanking the plushie towards her. "Why don't you ask them to look in the back?"

"No! This Reshiram is MINE! Now move, *****!"

A bouncer sidled up to them. "Problem, Miss?"

Gary Oak snorted. "She's upset because I'm Gary ******** Oak!"

The bouncer shook his head. "Now, Mr. Oak. This is a family store. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Why the **** would I want to?" Gary snarled.

The bouncer pulled out his nightstick. "Well, I'll let you keep the white dragon if you leave."

"Score!" Gary let out a whoop and snatched the plushie from Aria's hands. He proceeded to pay for his six bags of Pokéstuff and walked out of the door.

"Hey!" Aria protested. "That Reshiram was mine!"

The bouncer shrugged. "I'm just here to keep the peace. What do I care about your white dragon?"

Aria glared and stalked away to find an employee. She requested a Reshiram, and when they brought her a Zekrom instead, she refused. It took the harrowed-looking employee six more tries to retrieve the appropriate plushie. Aria thanked the lady, who smiled eerily and headed to the break room for her sixth cup of coffee.

That just left Lilligant, a very popular (but thankfully quite common) Unovan Pokémon. Aria crossed her fingers and hoped to Arceus that nobody else loved Lilligant as much as she did. From the beautiful crown-like structure on her (for in the game, Lilligants are only female; Aria named hers Lily) head to the graceful, slender arms to the gorgeous, full-leaf skirt, Lilligant had to be the prettiest Pokémon ever.

When Aria arrived in the appropriate aisle, she found a furious Pokémon battle. Two teenage guys were battling over the last Lilligant plushie. On the left side was a guy dressed as Red; he had a Pikachu plushie guarding the left side of the Lilligant. On the right side was a guy dressed as Blue; he had a Gengar plushie guarding the right side of the Lilligant. The two were having a serious card throw-down.

"Totodile!"

"Togekiss!"

"Mud Cannon!"

"Psychic!"

An endless stream of Pokémon and moves poured from their mouths; cards were laid down, discarded, shuffled, and redrawn.

Aria boldly sat down beside them, making them jump.

"Get lost, Unovan!" Blue spat.

"Yeah! Kanto's where it's at!" Red cheered, slapping down a Ponyta card.

Aria slid out her aqua-blue 3DS. The sparkly exterior caught the eyes of the two guys. She opened it slowly, relishing the quiet thunk of the hinge.

"What do you say," she said, "that the winner plays me for the Lilligant plushie?"

The two guys were mesmerized by the shiny handheld. They nodded and continued their game.

Red slapped down Lapras and Moltres. Blue did a double-take on his HP.

"N-not possible," he whispered, checking and rechecking his calculations. Blue snatched Gengar and squeezed him tight. "Not again!" he wailed.

"Nice game, Blue." Red extended his hand.

"I'll get you next time, Brother," Blue shot back, but he shook Red's hand anyways.

"You're brothers?" Aria asked.

"Yeah," Red answered. "We can't even remember our real names. Our parents nicknamed us Red and Blue when we were five, because of how much we played those games. We even got into mock battles, playing our respective parts."

"Wow. So your whole life has revolved around Pokémon?" Aria asked, amazed. "I mean, I've been hooked since the first game, too...I even have my mom call me by my trainer name. Oh!" Aria facepalmed. "Sorry. I'm Aria."

"Lovely name," Blue murmured. "You probably already know us - Blue and Red." He gathered up his cards and snapped a rubber band around them. "Well, I suppose I'll stick around and see how this turns out." He bowed to Aria. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Aria lowered her eyes to her 3DS and booted up the game.

"No, really. He's had the same team for the past six years. He's not going to be easy to beat," Blue said.

Aria guided her trainer to the battle room. "Thanks."

TRAINER RED WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE. ACCEPT? the screen read.

Red had a sleek black DSi embossed with the words Pokémon Master and a Master Ball in silver. He caught Aria staring at it.

"You like?" he asked. "I won this at the last international tournament I played in Japan. Gorgeous, right? I've been crowned World Pokémon Master six years in a row. I'm unbeatable."

Aria's hands began to sweat. Her team didn't seem to fierce anymore. It was full of flufffy creatures. No doubt Red's team would be vicious.

Trainers RED and ARIA faced each other across the battlefield. Then the screen zoomed in to the actual battle.

Aria sent out Vaporeon, hoping that Red wouldn't send out a grass type. Red sent out a Vaporeon as well.

"Well." Red raised his eyebrows. "This is certainly...interesting."

The two Vaporeons duked it out, neither trainer willing to pull theirs out. Eventually, Aria's gave out and fainted.

"I'm sorry, River," she whispered as he slid out of sight, unable to battle further.

"Score one to Red," Blue announced. He pulled on his referee cap and continued to watch the battle.

Aria sent out Lilligant to avenge the Vaporeon. Red chuckled.

"Ah. I knew she'd be in there somewhere." Red pressed one button. "Someone willing to battle over a plushie always has a slot in their Master Team for it. But I'm afraid even a grass-type won't help you." Vaporeon traded out for Blaziken, a fire type. One Meteor later, Lilligant joined Vaporeon in the fainted pile.

"I told you he was good!" Blue sighed.

Aria's next Pokemon, Espeon, was able to eliminate Blaziken. "Take that!" she shouted as it fainted. Eve the Espeon also made short work of what was left of Red's Vaporeon.

"Each trainer has four Pokémon left!" Blue announced. By now, the two trainers had drawn a crowd of curious onlookers. Most were cheering for Red, but a few were backing Aria.

It took half an hour for Red and Aria to be brought down to their last Pokémon. The crowd was now split evenly between them.

"Go! Mew!" Aria called to an echo of cheers.

Red smirked. "Go, Mudkip!"

The crowd gasped. Hushed whispers raced through it.

"She's done for!"

"No! How could he?!"

"Ten bucks on the Mudkip!"

The crowd began taking bets on the winner. Cash was dispensed to Blue, who gave out slips in exchange.

"Time to end this," Red growled.

"Bring it," Aria taunted.

It took ten minutes to reduce the two combatants to their last fifty HP.

"Psychic!" Aria shouted.

"Surf!" Red yelled.

The crowd watched as Mudkip attacked first. Mew's health slowly drained down...to two.

"What?! NO!" Red shrieked, his voice snapping up three octaves and cracking. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO WIN! I AM THE BEST THAT EVER WAS!" He began to sob.

Mew used Psychic.

Mudkip fainted.

Half the crowd erupted into cheers, looking for their money. The other half groaned.

Blue hugged Aria, shouting, "YOU WON!"

Red saved his game and carefully closed his DSi. "Congratulations." He shook Aria's hand. "Guess this means you're the Master now."

"Don't be silly. It wasn't an official match." Aria rolled her neck.

Red picked up the Lilligant doll. "Here's your prize, Pokémon Master Aria."

Aria accepted it with a smile. "Thank you." She turned to go.

"Oh, and one more thing." Red spun her around and dropped to his knees, pulling a Pokéball from his utility belt. "May I choose you?"

Aria reached for the Pokéball and clicked it open. Inside was Red's address and phone number, taped to the top along with the words If found, return to...

She smiled and handed him a Pokéball of her own. "Can I choose you?" Inside was a similar return to label.

Red got off his knees and hugged her. Then he walked her to the front of the store, where Aria's mother had been watching reruns of the original Pokémon for the past three hours.

"Pikachu's adorable!" she gushed. Then she shook her head as she noticed Red standing beside Aria. "Who are you, and why are you with Clarissa?"

"Aria, Mom." Aria winced.

Clarissa? Red mouthed, laughing. "I'm here to ask your permission to date your daughter."

Aria expected her mother to freak out and say no. What happened next was completely unexpected.

"Hallelujah!" Aria's mom jumped up and squeezed Red as tight as she could. "Oh, yes, yes, yes! Finally! Aria, after seventeen years you've finally found a boyfriend!" After a few more squeals, she released Red and allowed him to breathe. She then continued to dance around the store.

"Wow," Red gasped, rubbing his throat. "Well?"

"Sorry," Aria mumbled.

Red laughed. "It's cool. Hey, you wanna grab some lunch? I know a great deli nearby."

"I'd like that." The two of them paid for their items and walked out hand-in-hand, leaving Aria's ecstatic mom behind them.

*** 15 years Later ***

"Dawn! You get over here this instant!" Aria shouted. Dawn scampered over to her.

"Yes, mommy?"

"Go find your twin sisters, please."

Dawn pouted. "Joy and Jenny won't let me play with them."

"I'll make Brock play with you, all right?" Aria said gently.

Brock looked up from his gaming magazine. "As long as she doesn't make me squint."

"You'll be fine," Red laughed, coming up behind Aria and kissing her hair. "Now, run along."

Dawn dragged a very-scared-looking Brock away with a spring in her step, and Aria sat down on the couch. A Pokéball landed in her lap.

"Ready for a game?" Red asked, sliding his black and silver DSi out.

Aria smiled and pulled out her new Pokémon Master 3DS. "Bring it."