1

"By the way, I love you too," I whispered out loud to myself and squeezed my pillow.

Tears flowed from my eyes as I sat in the darkness and repeated Reef's last words to me.

"All we wanted was each other, why was that impossible for us?" I said and threw the pillow across the room.

The pillow hit the table beside my bed and made something crash to the floor. At any moment some servant would be in to check on me. They couldn't let anything happen to Angel, not now. Three months ago, none of them cared about me. Well her, Samantha died on that boat with Reef.

"Is everything alright, young mistress?" Annabelle called from behind the closed door.

"I'm fine, and please call me Angel," I said and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"Have you been thinking about the explosion again?" she said and turned on my room light, before she sat on the bed next to me.

"Not the explosion this time, I just miss Reef," I said and wiped away a tear that had made it all the way to my chin.

"It's truly devastating to lose a loved one, especially at your age, but you survived that night for a reason," she said.

"I know, I know I can't just give up and fade away. I wish I could though, everything that mattered to me was taken from me on that boat." I said and let my head drop.

Only Reef was there for me when it mattered the most and now what, dead? That wasn't a reality I wanted to be a part of.

"It may feel that way now, but life has a way of forcing us to keep living it whether we want to or not," she said and stood up.

As she picked up my pillow and lamp I thought about my current situation. I was currently a legal ward of the Cane Family of Goldenrod City. The night of the explosion it was Kimberly that pulled me from the burning wreckage.

"How do you feel without the bandages?" Annabelle asked.

"I honestly forgot all about them, until you mentioned them," I said and pretended to smile.

"That's very fortunate, it's not often someone who's had to have multiple surgeries can say that" she said and smiled.

"I wouldn't consider having half of my body covered in third degree burn scars fortunate," I said bitterly.

I knew she was trying to help me find something to feel good about, but I just wasn't ready to yet.

"Oh no, of course not, I just meant that there's hope. As long as there is hope, there's a reason to push forward. Are you ready to take part in the tryouts tomorrow?" She asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not even sure if I should take part in those stupid tryouts," I said and folded my arms in front of me.

"Well, not that you asked for my opinion, but it seems to me that they present you with exactly what you've been looking for," she said and waited for me to engage her further.

"What is it you think I've been waiting for?" I asked impatiently.

"You told me that when you and Reef first met, one of the things you bonded over was your shared desire to be champions someday. If you are chosen after these tryouts, you will be on the path to doing just that," she said.

"I did want that at one time, I could care less about that now though," I said.

"No, the thing you are looking for is purpose. A reason to keep living and moving forward. Pass these tryouts and become the greatest champion the world has ever seen, for Reef. Do all the things he wanted to and never got the chance to," she said and turned to walk out the door.

It was true that Reef and I wanted to be champions someday. We wanted to prove that you didn't have to be one of Professor Oak's prized pupils to become great someday. I picked up my backpack from beside my bed and reached inside as Annabelle closed my door behind her. I pulled out the only thing I had left to remember Reef by, a poké ball.

I released the Pokémon it held. A black, two-headed feline, named Spike. Once he was out of his ball, he began nuzzling both his heads against my stomach and purring. I ran my hand through his thick quill like fur.

"Do you wanna help me dominate the Pokémon world? We'll do it for Reef okay, and I promise every time we see a member of Team Rocket we will show them no mercy," I said as I pet spike.

One of his heads looked up at me and meowed.

"I'll take that as an agreement," I said and giggled.

I lay down and held Spike until I fell asleep.

The next afternoon I was stopped as I walked into the Cane's crowded private arena.

"So, was I right?" Annabelle asked me. Her bright pink hair gave her face a reddish tint as the sunlight streaming in through the windows hit it.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said and slipped my hands into my pockets.

"Angel, is that really you?" I heard Kai's voice call from behind me.

I turned around and saw him quickly approaching me. His gray sweatsuit, and black sneakers was a far cry from the expensive suits, and shoes he normally wore.

"Yes Mr. Cane, I'm really standing here and I'm ready to win this thing," I said as confidently as I could manage.

"Are you sure your body can handle the stress? Kimberly and I really don't want anything to go wrong with your recovery," he said, with concern in his eyes.

"I promise the moment I feel like something's wrong I will go and see Rebecca," I said and smiled.

"Okay, I'm holding you to that. Kimberly's finally ready, I'll let her know you're joining. As the unbiased holder of this tournament, I'll say good luck. But as Kai Cane, I'll say I am 110 percent routing for you to win this," he said and jogged over to his wife.

The crowd quieted as Kimberly raised the microphone to her mouth. She, like her husband, was wearing a gray sweatsuit and sneakers. It was strange to Angel to see a woman who owned earrings worth more than some of the cities in the region, wearing a sweatsuit.

"Welcome hopefuls, we are so grateful that all of you took time away from your otherwise busy lives to come and be a part of our competition. I wish we could offer you all contracts but sadly, we cannot. So, today's victor will be given an exclusive contract to become the Cane family's Pokémon champion. We will discuss the finer details of what that entails with the actual winner, but for now I can say that the position pays 3000 per week. So, if anyone needed more convincing, I hope that did it for you.," Kimberly said as the room filled with whispers from the contestants.

I patted my pocket and closed my eyes.

None of these people stand a chance. I'm going to destroy anything and anyone that tries to stop me from achieving your goal. That's how much I love you!