Liam turned his head up towards the gleaming sun--it seemed relentless in its mission to superheat the sand of the beach and its inhabitants. The usual crowd of swimmers and beach trainers were here like they were on any day, but today they were far outnumbered by the trainers competing in the littles tourney. Liam wanted to compete in the Pokemon League Challenge and winning the littles tourney would have gained him the prestige to challenge a gym leader to a battle, but he had already been eliminated.

Torchic, comfortable and seated in Liam’s lap, was enjoying the sun more than Liam. [color=f7941d]“Torrrrr”[/color] it cooed, eyes drooping. Liam scratched its head, watching the battle. A Litwick was facing a Darumaka, the Litwick’s trainer blazing with confidence. The Litwick and the little girl did seem to be on the same page more than the Darumaka and its trainer. The Darumaka launched itself up into the air off a boulder and landed an impressive hit on the Litwick. Perhaps the timid girl had a chance.

Liam felt a tug on his shoulder. [color=00aeef]“That’s the girl who creamed my Scraggy,”[/color] Thomas Preston pointed at the Darumaka’s trainer, [color=00aeef]“only with Swinub.”[/color]

[color=f7941d]“I still can’t believe you lost to a Swinub,”[/color] Liam laughed. 

[color=00aeef]“I still can’t believe you lost to my Scraggy,”[/color] Thomas howled, [color=00aeef]“maybe you would have had a better time with the Swinub. Scraggy didn’t even get to land an attack.” [/color]

If only Liam could have seen it. He had missed the battle between his friend Thomas and the girl even though he had planned to watch all the matches to learn as much strategy as he could. [color=f7941d]“I was busy battling down the beach in the loser’s bracket, where you so kindly put me.” [/color]

There was no official loser’s bracket, but Julio Garza didn’t feel his Lotad had gotten a fair fight, as his opponent’s Electrike had paralyzed and finished the lilypad pokemon almost immediately. Julio wasted no time in challenging Jake Xeva and his Hitmonlee, and gathering Liam and the kid with the small Sandshrew to battle each other as well. They all walked down the beach and marked out an area in the sand. Julio was the sort of handsome, tan devil who could get you to agree to anything with his eyes and his smile.

Julio’s other pokemon, a Natu, had the advantage against Jake’s Hitmonlee, as did Liam’s Cacnea against the small sandshrew, so both battles went quickly and Liam had found himself up against Julio. There were no bleachers, but a few spectators had gathered nonetheless.

Liam knew Julio would choose Natu again. He smiled, and waited for Julio to choose his pokemon. Sure enough, Julio called, [color=00a651]“Natu! You’ve got this one!”[/color] and Natu was once more soaring over the sand. [color=f7941d]“Go, Torchic! It’s your turn!”[/color] Liam called. He had used Cacnea for both of the earlier battles, so it seemed fair to let Torchic have a go. Plus, Cacnea would fare about the same as Hitmonlee, without any good tools for catching a pokemon in the air. [color=f7941d]“Now Torchic, ember!”[/color] Liam called. 

[color=00a651]“Dodge it, and hit him with Peck!”[/color] Julio reacted at lightspeed. Torchic’s stream of flames missed wide, and Natu swooped in, landing Peck right in Torchic’s chest. Torchic stumbled backwards, but didn’t fall down and wasn’t through yet. [color=00a651]“Peck, again!”[/color] came the call from Julio.

[color=f7941d]“Use your speed, Torchic! Dodge it!”[/color] Torchic jumped at the last moment, straight upward, having run out of time to dodge left or right. Natu flew straight underneath, but Torchic was already falling and landed squarely on Natu’s head. Torchic was slightly bigger than Natu, who hit the ground under the extra weight.

[color=f7941d]“Torchic, now’s your chance! Low kick!”[/color] Liam called. Torchic performed a somersault and kicked the small bird with a glowing claw. Liam could not hear Julio’s call for a move, but a darkness was enveloping both of the pokemon as Natu used Night Shade. But the two pokemon were still point-black, so Liam called for an ember, and Natu was not prepared to block. The night shade faded away and Julio returned Natu to his pokeball, sooner than Liam had expected.

Julio told Natu what a great job he had done. Liam wanted to be just like that, to be proud of his pokemon even in defeat. If they worked hard, a win or loss would not matter.

[color=00aeef]“And you’re the champion of the loser’s bracket so far, so you can thank me for that,”[/color] Thomas laughed. Thomas' reply brought Liam back to the present, and back to the official battle. The Darumaka and Litwick were still brawling. One of the pokemon created a big splash of water that washed over the battlefield and caused both fire types to faint. There was a panel of judges ready to determine the winner. In Liam’s opinion, both trainers were pretty underhanded in their attempts to exploit the enemy’s weakness to water. Especially since it could easily have backfired for either pokemon. Torchic didn't like the slightest splash of water.