Chapter 95: EPISODE 95: The Grand Tauros Race!
"Alright, folks it looks like the competitors are coming in hot with their Tauros! Who will win the match!?" Dave the commentator announced as the two Tauros came rushing towards the finishing line!
"Come on Tauros, I believe in ya!" ??? uttered.
"Surpass them Tauros!" ??? beamed with determination.
Earlier this morning...
"Kalem! Kalem!" Camellia rushed inside my tent and woke me up with a happy and excited face!
"What is it Camellia? it's early in the morning!" I uttered with a drowsy voice.
"We're going to the cavern right? I was thinking... to make a little detour, don't worry... it's not that far! Right Flabebe?" Camellia explained hoping I would agree to her request.
<Flab! Flabebe!>The Pokemon smiled and nodded her head.
"Detour!? What kind of detour?" I queried and stood up right away with a shock and surprised face.
"Please Kalem! It's just one day, then we'll go back immediately! I promise... Please!" Camellia begged.
"What kind of detour are you talking about? I was so excited to go to the cavern." I uttered with disappointment.
"Just three kilometers away, is the grand Tauros stadium, they're hosting the 75th annual Grand Tauros Race today, and I want to participate!" Camellia stood up and beamed with determination.
"The Grand Tauros race!? What's a Tauros by the way?" I queried with confusion.
"Don't worry Kalem! Leave the information to me, Irys the Pokedex! A Tauros is the Wild Bull Pokemon! This POKéMON is not satisfied unless it is rampaging at all times. If there is no opponent for TAUROS to battle, it will charge at thick trees and knock them down to calm itself." Is the Pokedex interrupted and explained from my bag.
"Yup, that's right Irys! So, can we please go to the Grand Tauros Stadium! Please... Please... Please Kalem! I love to participate in Tauros races!" Camellia begged with her panda eyes.
"Don't tell me you're stalling me... I was so excited to meet my parents!" I uttered with disappointment.
"Gckk! Stalling? No! I'm not stalling... I just want to participate... that's all, heh heh." Camellia uttered with a worried tone.
"Hmph! Fine, we'll go to your Grand Cauros race." I uttered slowly and with slight disappointment.
"It's Tauros not Cauros!" Is the Pokedex interrupted from my bag?
"Really!? Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Camellia burst with joy and excitement.
So, from route twenty-six we had to go back to route twenty-four just to support Camellia in her Tauros thingy! I even forgot what it was called, ah! Now I remember! It was called the Grand Tauros Race!
"So Camellia, what's a grand Tauros race?" Zhery queried.
"The Grand Tauros Race is an annual event that I love to participate in! People across the region gather at the stadium, and participate at the event! In the race, you get to choose which Tauros you want to use, then... you are given one hour to practice racing with your Tauros! After one hour, the race will begin! The winner receives a ribbon and a trophy!" Camellia explained with excitement.
"So Camellia, how many trophies do you have? You probably have many right?" Glade hunched.
"The truth is, I don't have a single trophy, I'm always coming in second or third because of Alexa!" Camellia turned frustrated as she remembered her last competitions.
"Who's Alexa? Is she your rival?" I queried with confusion.
"Alexa is the worst rival! She's too arrogant, to boastful and very selfish!" Camellia uttered with irritation.
"Woah, Woah... You don't have to be angry!" Zhery calmed the frustrated Camellia!
"This time? I'll win for sure! She's definitely going to compete in this race, I've stored my brain with different kinds of strategies! I'll win the race, and no one can stop me!" Camellia beamed with determination and clenched her fist towards the sun.
The stadium was large, it had different and numerous food stalls surrounding it. There were banners clinging to lamp posts, there were mini markets and large wooden benches, and their bathroom had an aircon! Behind the stadium was the Tauros ranch wherein competitors train their chosen Tauros before the race began. There were hundreds of trainers who came to watch the grand event! I guess Tauros racing is a famous sport aside from the Pokemon League.
"Oh, Camellia! You'll be competing again I presume?" The cashier lady queried.
"Wait, you two know each other!?" Glade queried in shock.
"Yup! I've been competing for almost four years now! I'm not letting that Alexa defeat me again!" Camellia uttered with frustration as she remembered her past race.
"Will you be using the same Tauros as last year?" The cashier lady queried.
"Yup! I'm sticking with Torra!" Camellia charmed and deadpanned.
"Torra? Who's Torra?" I queried in confusion.
"Torra is my Tauros' name! We always raced together!" Camellia explained.
"Alright Camellia! Torra's waiting for you at the training grounds!" The cashier lady chuckled.
"Come on guys! It's time for you to meet Torra!" Camellia beamed with excitement and ran towards the training grounds.
"Wait, you don't have to rush you know!" I called while trying to keep up with her speed.
"Sounds a lot like you Kalem!" Zhery caught up and teased.
The Tauros Training grounds were amazing! There were a lot of Tauros playing at the lush grass, some of the Tauros were training with their competitor, while others? Were stubborn to follow their competitors. The field was huge! It was larger than the stadium in Enkephalos town! Still, the field scented atrocious. It scented like Tauros poopies.
"How are you able to handle the smell Camellia?" I queried while covering my nose.
"Simple! I'm used to the smell already! Torra! Torra! It's me Camellia, come on out!" Camellia explained and called her Tauros.
<Tau? Tau? Tauros!>The Pokemon looked around the field and saw Camellia! Tauros rushed towards Camellia!
<Tauros!>The Pokemon licked Camellia's face.
"Long time no see Torra! These are my friends Zhery, Glade, and Kalem!" Camellia pointed and introduced us to the bull with three tails.
At first, Torra appeared to be scary, but in fact, Torra is a friendly little Tauros who loves to lick people's faces.
"See, I told you Torra's friendly! There's nothing to be afraid of!" Camellia comforted while Tauros licked our face.
"Look who decided to show up? If it isn't Camellia, the girl who couldn't win!" A girl walked forward while riding her Tauros.
"Huh? Alexa!" Camellia looked behind and saw Alexa, her mood quickly changed when she saw Alexa her rival.
"You think a bunch of supportive friends can make you win the Tauros race? I'll be crowned champion again... just accept your defeat!" Alexa uttered with an arrogant smile.
"Hmph! I'm going to defeat you this time Alexa! So better prepare!" Camellia warned.
"We'll see about that!" Alexa uttered as she and Camellia squinted their eyes towards each other.
"Hey you three! Show some respect and tell me your names!" Alexa demanded.
"What do you mean respect!? Just because you're champion for many years, doesn't mean we're going to worship you or something!" Zhery infuriated.
"Oh? Look at this weak earthly being! How dare you infuriate against the Tauros champion!?" Alexa uttered boastfully.
"Well yeah!? My name is Zhery and I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle!" Zhery demanded.
"I said I was the Tauros champion, not the battle champion! About you two?" Alexa demanded us to introduce before her.
"My name is Glade, and this is Luxray! He's extremely strong!" Glade introduced while playing with Luxray's chin.
"Hmm... Doesn't look strong to me!" Alexa took a closer look at the Pokemon and observed his face.
"What do you mean!? Luxray is extremely strong! Come and battle me, I'll prove how strong my Luxray is!" Glade challenged.
"Nah! I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends! Hey, the one with the red cap, what's your name?"
"My name is Kalem, and this is my buddy Riolu! We're on a journey to become a Pokemon Master!" I introduced myself while playing with Riolu's neck.
"Hmm, your Riolu is extremely weak, even weaker than Luxray! Do you think you'll become a Pokemon Master someday!? Don't worry, I'll be laughing at your defeat in the Pokemon league!" Alexa insulted which triggered Riolu too much.
<Riolu! Riolu!>The Pokemon badgered and infuriated.
"Hey, it's too early to make assumptions! You're right, we're weak, but we're getting stronger!" I beamed with determination.
"Nah, you'll never be a champion!" Alexa insulted.
"Hey, you can mock anybody else but not Kalem!" Camellia infuriated.
"Oh, so this is the boy you were always talking about. Hey Kalem, wanna know a secret!" Alexa winked and enunciated.
"A secret? What kind of secret?" I queried.
"Did you know Camellia has a-" Alexa was suddenly interrupted by Camellia as she covered Camellia's mouth.
"Huh? Come on Camellia? What kind of secret?" I queried and begged Camellia to tell her secret.
"Camellia has a-"
"I have nothing, heh heh! Don't listen to this big mouth!" Camellia covered Alexa's mouth while interrupting her statement.
"Competitors, you have thirty minutes left to train with your Tauros! Those who are not competitors of the Grand Tauros Race, please proceed to the stadium immediately!" The speaker announced.
"Alright Camellia, we'll be going now! Good luck with your Tauros race. We'll be cheering for you!" I beamed with excitement.
"Thanks everyone, I'll make all of you proud!" Camellia waved and smiled back as we left the training grounds.
"Alright Torra! It's time to train!" Camellia uttered with determination.
The guards directed us to our seat, seat 41C to 43C to be specific. The racing field was so vast, it was filled with different kinds of obstacles and trials for the Tauros and competitor. The crowd came in large numbers, it was like a Pokemon League, except, it's a race filled with Tauros.
30 minutes wasn't too long, my eyes would travel across the vast stadium, when all of a sudden, the commentator came forth.
"Welcome folks to the 75th annual of the Grand Tauros Race! Today we have fifty competitors and once reigning champion!" The commentator announced and officially started the event.
"Alright, it's gonna start now! Can't wait to see what kind of racing skills Camellia has to offer!" Zhery beamed with excitement.
"Now! Let me present to you... The fifty competitors, but first thing's first... it's your reigning champion, Alexa!" The commentator announced as Alexa riding her Tauros dashed through the stadium while waving her hands!
Alexa was followed by the fifty competitors, all of them dashed through the stadium!
"There's Camellia, she's number 23!" I beamed and pointed.
"Who among them shall be crowned the Tauros Champion? Will Alexa take the throne was once more? Laps vary according to the competitors, Now... it's time to explain the obstacles that each competitor must surpass!
*Drive Hoop(Competitors alongside with their Tauros must dash through the hoops, the competitors which fail to do so shall be disqualified!)
*Fire Dash(Competitors alongside with their Tauros must dash through the fiery grounds! Competitors who failed to do so shall be disqualified!)
*Leap of Faith(Competitors alongside with their Tauros must leap a total distance of 20 meters, a distance below 20 meters shall be disqualified!)
*Tantrum of Death(Competitors alongside with their Tauros shall pass through dozens of Onix which would be screeching towards them. Competitors who get distracted shall be disqualified.)
*Swimming haze! (Competitors alongside with their Tauros shall swim through the long swimming pool, the last five competitors shall be disqualified!)
Rules: You are not allowed to distract your opponent or unleash any attack towards it!" The commentator announced as all the competitors aligned in three rows and four columns. The crowd began to cheer for their competitors! The screen displayed the fifty names and shows which competitor is leading, without further ado...
"Alright, let the race begin!" The Tauros began to dash through the stadium while glaring at each other.
"Torra, let's win the race!" Camellia shouted and beamed with determination as she and Torra scooted through the stadium.
"Alright folks it looks like number one(Alexa) is on the lead, followed by numbers six and eight! Oh, and it looks like number twenty-three places in the top 15!" The commentator announced.
"Great! Keep it up Camellia!" The three of us cheered.
Start------------(23)------------------(13)------------------------(8)--------(6)---------(1)...
"Alright folks, we're about to reach the Drive Hoop with Alexa on the lead!" The commentator announced.
<Tauros!>Alexa's Tauros jumped and surpassed the hoop! Followed by numbers 12,34,9,5, then 23!
Alright, we have our disqualified list:
{46,43,22,11,6,5,32,12,19,45} (10)
"Great! Camellia made it through the first obstacle!" I cheered and complemented as I watched Torra leap through the stadium.
DH--------(23)---(others)------------------(1)
"Alexa is still in the lead, come on Torra! Let's dash faster!" Camellia and Torra boosted their speed to about thirty percent!
"Number 23 is catching up!" The commentator announced as the crowd cheered wildly.
"We're now on the fire dash obstacle and look at Alexa's Tauros! It was able to withstand blaze and flare! Here are the disqualified tier:
{30, 16, 31, 35, 39, 42, 2, 50, 49, and 21}(10)
We have 30 more competitors folks!" The commentator announced.
Camellia was able to dash through while riding her Torra as well! Their speed was amazing, Tauros was like using the move called Agility! Still, Alexa remained in the lead.
FD------------------(Others)--------(23)-------(top 10)--------------(1)
"Camellia made it to the top twelve! Come on Camellia! Go! Go! Go!" Zhery cheered.
"So, Camellia's top twelve eigh? Hee hee!" Alexa uttered slowly and spilled water to the stadium without me or anybody seeing Alexa cheat!
"Ahh!? It looks like some of the Tauros slipped for now reason! But look at Tauros 23, it's keen eyes were able to detect the water puddle immediately!" The announcer commented which lift the spirits of the audience and crowd.
{3, 4, 10, 15,9} Disqualified.
"How would the stadium be wet all of a sudden?" Glade wondered.
"Maybe Tauros went pee-pee!" I teased and laughed.
"Number 23 places in the top nine! Alexa is still on the lead and we have twenty-five competitors left, we now arrive at the leap of faith! Number one was able to leap for a total of 46 meters!? Alexa defeated her old record of 45 meters! .... and now we have Number 23 which leaped a total distance of 42 meters! She nearly defeated Alexa's record! 15 competitors remain!" The announcer commented.
"Camellia's catching up, she's now in the fifth place!" Zhery pointed and cheered.
"Hmph! No one can be a champion except for me!" Alexa uttered slowly and blinded her opponent with a mirror, I and the whole crowd including the commentator weren't able to see what Alexa did. The mirror was too small, so the commentator hunched that it was the sunlight that blinded the opponent!
"There are 14 competitors left, and we finally make it to the tantrum of death!" The mix began to use screech as the Tauros passed by.
"Alright Torra, don't focus on the screech, focus on winning!" Camellia beamed with determination.
<Tauros!>The Pokemon agreed and beamed with determination.
------------------------(23)---------(top 3)------------------------------(1)
"Number twenty-three made it to the top four as only ten competitors remain!" The commentator announced.
"Alright dash even faster Torra!" Camellia uttered with determination.
"Go Camellia, go! go! go!" I cheered her on.
"Alright folks it's time for the last trial! We made it to the swimming haze, due to the amount of competitors left, the first two passers may proceed!" The commentator announced as the top four began to swim alongside their Tauros.
"Torra, we have to win this for those who are cheering for us, especially our friends!" Camellia beamed as Torra swam with all its strength.
"And we have our last two competitors, who will take the throne! 500meters remain!" The commentator announced-.
[500]
-----------------------------------------------(1)
-------------------------------(23)
"Camellia's catching up! Go! Camellia!" the three of us cheered loudly.
[400]
--------------------------------------(1)
------------------------------------(23)
"It looks like number one and 23 are in stable conditions!"
"You think you can take my throne!?" Alexa uttered as she bumped Torra with her Tauros! Everything else is not allowed except to bump your opponent by the way.
"It looks like number 23 is in a tight spot, as she and her Tauros gets pinned on the barrier!" Torra's skin was heating up as its skin glided across the barrier.
"Torra, handle the pain for a while, I know you can do this!"
"Squeeze number 23 even tighter!"
<Tauros!>The Pokemon squeezed Torra.
[100]
---------------------------------------------(23)
----------------------------------------------(1)
"Tauros, kick Torra's leg!" Alexa commanded.
"Hey, that's cheating!"
"It's not considered cheating if no one sees it!" Alexa charmed as her Tauros was about to push Torra!
[50]
-------------------------------------------(23)
--------------------------------------------(1)
"They're approaching the finish line!" The commentator announced as the crowd cheered for Camellia and Alexa.
"Tauros, do it now!" Alexa commanded.
"Alright Torra, halt!"
<Tauros!>Torra halted as Alexa's Tauros bumped and crashed into the wall!
"What!? Alexa crashed into the wall!" The commentator was shocked!
"Cheaters never win Alexa!" Camellia charmed and passed through the finish line. The referee waved the flag and everybody stood up!
"The winner is Camellia and Torra! Congratulations!" The commentator announced.
"Finally! Camellia was crowned champion!" I beamed with joy and excitement!
She was given a golden Tauros trophy, and a small red ribbon. Camellia was crying in joy as she hugged Torra tightly.
Torra squeezed her face as Camellia and licked her face, while Alexa the arrogant, left the stadium.
Before the sunset, Camellia said goodbye to Torra. "I'll be needing you once I compete again! Bye Torra!" Camellia waved from the fence as Torra licked our face one more time.
"Alright Camellia, detours are over! Now it's time to move to the cavern of the deep!" I beamed with excitement.
"Gckkk! C...Cavern!?" Her mood turned worried as she remembered something in her mind.
"Why do you seem scared about the cavern? Hmmm!" Zhery squinted her eyes and looked at Camellia.
"Me? Scared? I'm not scared of the cavern!" Camellia uttered with worry.
Camellia finally defeated her rival Alexa, she won a golden Tauros trophy and a red shimmering ribbon! It's time to return to our original goal, and that's to go to the cavern! Watch out parents, I'm coming to get ya!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone