Chapter 105

The Free-For-All at the Annual Fuschia Races was the biggest and most awaited event of the festival.

There were lots of people present here to witness the event. The crowd which numbered thousands was gathered at the finish line of a cross-country race of exactly 27 Km, which had a hill range, as well as a lake with floating tiles on it that needed to be crossed. And right before the final stretch was a sharp downward slope from a hill, which was one of the hardest obstacles in today's race.

On stage were today's chief guests, which included the Mayor of Fuschia City, an Official from Indigo Council, and the Nurse Joy of Fuschia City. And right next to Nurse Joy were two young Pokémon for the winner to choose from. They were the main reward, but the winner was also going to receive prize money of 75,000 Dollars and a beautiful golden trophy that was shining brightly under the morning sunlight.

Aizen, Sabrina, and Anira were in the stands cheering for their friends. Misty's Houndour and Leaf's Floette and Pichu were with them, and all of them were intently looking at the screen which showed all the participants of today's race.

There were lots of different Pokémon taking part in the race. There were Arcanine, Rapidash, Dodrio, Tauros, Meganium, Mamoswine, Stantler, and someone was even using a Houndoom.

Ash had fire burning in his eyes and he seemed completely focused on winning this race, which was a strange sight for Aizen and the girls. Brock had a light smile on his face, and he looked confident too. His Dodrio had been with him for years, and he trusted his Pokémon's ability.

The favourites of today's event were Leaf, Lara, and the guy named Dario. Their Tauros, Rapidash, and Dodrio were considered the fastest of the lot, and rightly so since they had won their respective races in the Festival.

As soon as the gunshot sounded out, all the Pokémon seemed to have smelled the scent of victory as they shot off with all they had got.

"Come on, Leaf!" Anira happily cheered for her friends. "Give your best, Misty!"

Their Pokémon were cheering along with her, and they all hopped in joy when Leaf emerged in the top 5 at the end of the first kilometre.

Lara and Dario were in the top 5 too, and the other two contestants were Brock with his Dodrio and a guy named Salim with his Arcanine.

Arcanine was leading the race with Dario's Dodrio in the second, and Leaf's Tauros in the third position. Lara's Rapidash was keeping up with Leaf's Tauros, and Brock's Dodrio was right behind them.

When the first set of sharp turns came, Leaf and her Tauros fell to the fifth position as Lara's Rapidash managed to get into second place. The way her Rapidash manoeuvred through the turns was a sight to behold, but Arcanine was just as good.

The screen then showed the other contestants in the Top 10, and Misty was in the 11th spot, her Rapidash gunning to overtake the Tauros in front of it.

It was a tough task, but as soon as the first set of sharp turns ended, Rapidash managed to enter the top 10. However, in the ninth spot was a Dodrio, and it just seemed too fast for Rapidash to catch up to.

The crowd cheered excitedly when the Top 5 appeared on the main screen again, and right now, they were ascending the hills.

All of them slowed down a little, and Tauros managed to overtake Brock and Dario as their Dodrio could not keep up with other Pokémon whilst ascending the hills.

With Arcanine in the lead, Rapidash right behind it, and Tauros seemingly invigorated as soon as they descended the first hills, it seemed like they would gain distance over the two Dodrio, but the audience was in for a surprise as the two Flying Pokémon, who could not really fly, dramatically sped up, and within a minute, Dario took the lead, and Brock took the third position, going neck to neck with the Arcanine.

Leaf was again in the fifth position, and Anira finally started worrying a little for her friend.

"Tauros will be fine," Aizen assured her. "We are not even halfway into the race. And Tauros are Pokémon known for their speed and stamina."

"I know. But that Arcanine is fast, and Lara's Rapidash is no joke." She said and then smiled as she stared at the fierce-looking Leaf. "She will make it!"

Aizen smiled at the confidence Anira suddenly seemed to have gained. And when he looked at how calm and focused Leaf was right now, he was quite impressed. She was indeed a talent worth nurturing and could one day become a great asset to their Family.

"Ash is gaining on Misty." Sabrina suddenly said, catching them off-guard and they immediately turned to look at the second screen where Ash's Tauros was right on the tail of Misty's Rapidash.

"What's up with his Tauros today?" Anira surprisedly asked.

"Who knows." Aizen shrugged and chuckled when he caught Misty throwing a glare at Ash before speaking some words to her Rapidash.

Whatever she said seemed to have invigorated Rapidash, who suddenly gained in speed. Though it was not enough to catch up with the Dodrio in front, who was already a good distance away, it did manage to thwart all of Ash's attempts to overtake her.

At the halfway point was a beautiful lake with floating discs on it, and Dario's Dodrio expertly jumped from one to the next, followed by Arcanine, who seemed quite comfortable too. Brock's Dodrio seemed fine too, but both Lara and Leaf fell a little behind the three as their Pokémon took more time to cross the lake.

"Yes!" Anira was just relieved when Leaf and Tauros successfully managed to cross it. It was the obstacle she considered the toughest of them all for Tauros, but it prevailed through it.

The second set of sharp turns arrived, and as expected Lara's Rapidash showed its skill as it managed to negate the distance between it and Brock's Dodrio, eventually overtaking it.

Arcanine was back in the lead this time. And at the next straight stretch, Lara managed to take the second spot.

It was quite evident now that both the Dodrio were slowing down. And when the final hurdle arrived, which was a series of tall hills that had to be ascended, both the birds fell behind.

Only Arcanine seemed comfortable, but it too had considerably slowed down. And though Leaf was in the third spot, the distance between her and Lara was increasing.

However, things took a turn that shocked everyone when the three Pokémon started descending the steepest hill.

Tauros and Leaf recklessly charged down, which flustered Lara's Rapidash. Arcanine too seemed taken off-guard, but it returned its focus to the race.

Leaf kept encouraging her Tauros, and soon it managed to overtake Rapidash, trying its best to catch up to Arcanine.

The final straight stretch was almost 4 km long, and the supporters of Lara were a little depressed when they realised that her Rapidash seemed unable to catch up with Leaf's Tauros or Salim's Arcanine.

Aizen could see that Arcanine was starting to panic a little as Tauros was catching up. He could see that the giant pup wanted to use Extreme Speed, but unfortunately, the use of any moves to aid itself in the race would lead to disqualification.

Salim whispered some calm words to his Arcanine, which seemed to work as it returned all its attention to the race.

The distance between the two Pokémon did not increase or decrease until the last kilometre when Tauros suddenly gained in speed.

Both Salim and Arcanine sensed the ones behind them catching up, but they could not do anything but focus on the race.

Aizen and Anira shot up to their feet as they could now see the two Pokémon heading towards the finish line. Most of the audience was on their feet too, and everyone was quiet, watching the Tauros who was hell-bent on winning.

People could hear their hearts thumping against their chests as Tauros finally caught up with Arcanine, and within the last 50 meters, it managed to get its head in front of Arcanine.

"Haaaaaa!!!!"

Deafening cheers rose and shook the sky when Tauros touched the ribbon first. It was the closest a race could get, and people had watched something sensational today.

"She won!!!!" Anira happily hugged Aizen before excitedly hoping on her feet together with their Pokémon, and then she led them all down to meet Leaf as soon as possible to congratulate her.

"Would you have won the race with your Arcanine?" Sabrina suddenly asked, but Aizen readily shook his head. "We would never know, but probably not." He smiled as he looked at Salim's Arcanine, who was in perfect health and trained expertly.

His Arcanine might be better trained for battles but was not necessarily faster than this Arcanine that almost won the race.

A few minutes later, to the surprise of Aizen, it was Misty who appeared in the sixth position with her Rapidash.

Their eyes met, and she understood when she saw his smile that her dear friend had won the race, and a brilliant smile adorned her face.

"Yes!!" Misty's shout took people by surprise, but no one paid much attention to her.

Everyone was focused on the Winner and the person who had come in second place.

After the race concluded, under the ruckus applause of the audience, Leaf, Salim, and Lara stepped on the stage to receive their medals.

Leaf was still riding her Tauros as she received the Medal and the Winner's Trophy, and her Pokémon loudly mooed in pride when it received a medal of its own.

After climbing off her Pokémon and shaking hands with the Chief Guests, the hazel-eyed girl excitedly stood next to Nurse Joy, who asked her to make her choice from the two little Pokémon by her side.

Having made her decision even before the start of the Festival, the girl from Pallet Town crouched next to the little Lotad before picking it up in her arms.

"You are mine!" She fondly declared to the Pokémon, who just stared at her, and then to the surprise of everyone, used Water Gun on her.

After the surprise wore off, people burst out laughing, and even Aizen failed to hold back his laughter.

Leaf had gotten her hands on a very mischievous Pokémon.