"Get lost kid. If you don't have a ticket, you can't go in" one of the circus performers, a large shirtless man wearing a taming uniform, said by front doors as the last ticket holder was walking in. Crystal stayed silent while West tried to reason with them

"Come on. You won't even let us explain! Hear us out! This guy-" the large man lifted his large hand

"I told you I don't want to hear it!" His deep voice could cause a vibration around them "Get lost! And take your little girlfriend with you too!"

"Cris! Help me out here!" She just stared at Samantha's poster on the wall "Oh... Right" he sighed. He didn't want to push her into talking too much.

After finding out what exactly happened to her body, he thought it would be best if he tried to explain Dave's promise instead, even if he doesn't know how she convinced the guy to let them in "Just listen to me! This is important-!" The large man pushed him against the floor. Crystal watched him fall, slightly widening her eyes

"West..!" she gasped, watching him groaning and then sat up with a glare on his face. He lifted his hand to keep her out of it and stood himself

"What's going on here, Timmy?" Another member of the circus walked into the scene, wearing some genie costume with a headscarf, baggy pants, a single vest, and no shirt.

"These guys are trying to get in without a ticket" the large man, Timmy, explained

"If you'd just listen-" West said

"I'm done talking to you, kid! Go away!" West got knocked down again. The genie guy noticed Crystal glaring at them, making it obvious how much anger she was building

"Uh... Timmy?" He took a step back when staring at her "Maybe we should listen to them-"

"Oh? Now that you hurt my friend, you want to listen?" She shakily stood up

"Cris! Don't do that!" West gasped

"Timmy!" The genie guy gasped, staring at the identical sight of Crystal's eyes to Samantha's eyes. Crystal smirked, trying to keep her balance

"What? You want some too? Little girl?" Timmy laughed. That's when Crystal snapped and threw a high round kick to his cheek, causing him to fall sideways. The genie guy was blue in terror as she fell back onto West's body on the floor

"Cris!"

"Next time, might want to listen to those who are talking to you" she huffed. Timmy stared at her darkened eyes, comparing them to Samantha's when she first arrived at the circus and wanted to have others take her seriously.

Those eyes were the same ones that convinced them all she wasn't someone to play with, even as a lover and non-fighter

"My name is Crystal, and this is West" she crawled back to her chair "We're the ones who talked to Dave earlier about getting seats" Timmy hurried to stand, dusting himself off and nodded nervously

"You're right... Sorry about that" he stepped aside "Please step in. Please enjoy the show" she huffed, turning away. West sighed in relief and walked her into the tent "That was scary..."

"You can't just push people like that, man. He tried explaining himself, but you never let him. Don't you remember what Dave said? We should keep an eye out for two guests"

"Yeah, I just forgot. I was eating when he said that" a figure appeared behind the shadows with her Flareon beside her

"Good evening, gentlemen!" She waved

"Hey, Sam!" The genie, Henry, smiled

"How are you, Miss Samantha?" Timmy asked

"I'm doing fantastic" she held her hips "I've been waiting months for this! I hope everyone is ready for the show!"

"Of course" She hummed happily

"I don't know why, but I'm in a really good mood! Oh! I've been meaning to ask. Dave was talking about two important guests earlier, did you know? I missed the commotion. Who were they?"

"I heard one of them is trying to get a battle after your first challenger" Henry said

"Oh! Two battles? Gee... that sounds tiring" she sighed, then smirked "but that's okay! I can handle this! I'm a proud gym leader after all! Let's get inside before it starts!" She noticed Flareon sniffing the floor "What is it, boy?" Flareon started whining and ran into the tent "Flareon!" Her feet began to run before coming to a stop, feeling someone staring at her from a distance in the darkness

She looked over to see a dark figure under a tree with a blue ball of light floating above his head. Getting chills from the scary looking sight, she hurried in without looking back again, followed by her crew

Wyatt stepped away from the tree to lean on it "it's been a while since I've seen one of Sam's shows... She was always clumsy at first, but now look at her" he smiled "It looks like the family grew after a few years" Litwick floated around, wanting to see Crystal and Froslass again, but knew to pretend not to know where they are "Well, I can't worry about that now. Come on, Litwick. Let's continue looking for her, oh... and stop stalling."

~

"Hey, guys!" Dave waved from the middle of the staircase and hurried over to the couple looking for a way to use a handicap access. It's so embarrassing to even need this wheelchair... "Glad you made it! What happened?"

"Nothing! Cris here accidentally touched a flower that paralyzed her. The nurse said it shouldn't last too long!" West lied. The two of them went to the Pokémon center to rent a wheelchair, but not after getting checked up on. The nurse theorized that she touched a flower that causes paralyzation, which was a good theory, but clearly not the case

"That's a relief! At least you look better now"

"Thanks... Can we find our seats now?" Crystal sweatdropped

"Sure!" He led the two to the very front seats to get a better look at the show and left to start it. West went to get some popcorn while Crystal adjusted her hood and brushed away her low twin tails from her shoulder to make Cleffa comfortable

"This is it..." she took a deep breath "I know this is the weirdest time to meet her, but I already know what's going to happen. Surprise, Aaron is going to be at fault" Cleffa tilted its head confused "If he doesn't say his last name, that is" with the whole incident with Rhea, Crystal can tell that none of her sisters are going to want to deal with another Kimana, let alone West who will try to go after Aaron does

All of a sudden, something heavy jumped on her body and started to lick her face and whine at the same time. She expected this to happen eventually

"Hey boy" she chuckled, petting its fluffy fur as much as possible "I thought I'd see you. I can't believe you still remember my scent after so long" Flareon calmed its rapid movement and stared into her eyes. She widened her smile a little more and embraced its head "It's good to see you again, but I'm trying to stay hidden. Run along now and I'll see you later, okay?" It whined, but obeyed, hurrying to leave

"Flareon! Wait!" Samantha ran pass Crystal's seat, not even looking her direction "Wait!!" Crystal smiled, hiding her smile as Sam disappeared to the back of the stage

"Nothing changed... She still fails to control her Pokémon, even if she's a ringmaster" She giggled and watched West sit next to her

"Was that Samantha?"

"Was it? I didn't notice" he offered the popcorn. The two of them started talking about West's chances in winning even if he planned on using two pokémon; Eevee and Houndour, but if he comes down to being close to losing, he has no choice but to use his star Pokémon Crystal's been curious to know what it can be. This mysterious creature that saved his life. Usually, Pokémon wouldn't just approach someone without a particular reason

The show was starting as soon as the entire tent went black. Spotlights pointed at a single spot on a very high point in a diving board, where Samantha stood tall in her costume she wore earlier, with her arms up to present herself

"This is going to be great!" West spoke with his mouth full of funnel cake. Crystal ate her popcorn slowly, watching every detail of the show of her little sister diving into a small pool, Pokémon doing cool tricks, people doing amazing acts, Zorua making illusions to help Dave's magic act, some girls balancing on single strings with only a net below them, and Samantha breathing fire with her Flareon making pretty designs with his own fire blast, all without blinking. Though she was impressed by the show, she stared at the joy on Sam's face the entire time, happy to see her enjoy herself.

The crowd roared in cheers after her fire show. She was fantastic at it! The amount of practice she's done paid off in the end. Aside from broken body parts she'd always get after failing a stunt, she would always wear burns on her skin.

She would also always have burned short hair when tempting to do her fire-breathing as a child. Her short burns on the edges of her hair were now replaced with long, shiny, brown/orangish hair that matched the color of fire almost perfectly

"Thank you! Everyone! We're honored to have all of you join us tonight and watch how much we worked to make this show happen!" Sam announced from a clothe in the sky she's using as a swing "To end tonight's show, we're going to have our first ever Pokémon battle right here for all of you to watch!" Everyone cheered "and if things go well! Two will be taking place tonight!" West shouted, yelling like a lunatic about how excited he was to battle. Crystal sighed and clapped for Samantha

"Please welcome the first challenger!" She asked Dave, next to her, a question "row E, seat 543!?" The spotlight pointed at a seat Aaron was standing on. He looks rather cocky than confident. This isn't going to go well... "come on up and be the first in history to get a chance to have a battle for our circus!" Aaron was on his way "I'm not much of a fighter, everyone! My passion is to show people a good time and have them see our show in action! I love making people happy! Don't underestimate me though! I'm a proud daughter of the Otashi family! I was taught to battle hard and win! I look forward to this match! Please cheer us on!" The crowd cheered even louder

"She's pretty proud of her family, even when she said she isn't a fighter" West said

"Well, it's her family after all. She's not going to let them down. You're in the same situation, aren't you?" He nodded slowly, taking a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth

"I guess..." he swallowed "but if he ends up winning, I wonder if I'll embarrass myself and the family again if I end up losing right after."

"Uh... What if he loses?" he glared at nothing

"I'll try my best to represent" as usual, the family doesn't care about anything but trying to show off for their family. Aaron might not be doing it for that reason, just wanting to get stronger, but he's still a battle addict. All of them are

"Of course" she sipped her fruit juice he got her. West turned over to look at the annoyed look on her face

"Is something wrong?" He felt her head "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing better" she sighed "Nothing is wrong... I just want to see my sister."

"Oh, Arceus! That's right! You wanted to come here for that purpose, didn't you? I totally forgot! I'm sorry!" She smiled a little at his panic "We can go after this if you want! Or... I can always battle Sam another day when she's available so you and your sister can have enough time together!" That sounds nice, but she doesn't have time to wait. Even if she wants to spend time with Sam, she can't

"I'll figure it out, thanks..." he smiled, wrapping his arm around her and look back at his cousin battling Sam with his Ambipom vs. her Rapidash. Sam didn't seem all that amused, probably because he said his full name while West was talking to Crystal

"Double Slap!" Aaron shouted. Sam snorted, swinging on her seat

"Agility!" Her Rapidash hurried to circle his Pokémon, not letting it do what it had to do. Aaron's pokémon became confused and dizzy "Are you really even trying!?" She glared and stood on the floor "You better not be another Kimana who's going to waste my time, are you?"

"Shut up! You brat! I'm not going to lose! I'll make this battle worth wild! Use swift!" His Pokémon threw stars from its tail in all direction, hitting the correct target "Great! Use Double team!" Sam giggled

"Not bad!" Her eyes turned fierce "but you've got to do better than that! Fire blast!" The fire blast had the expansion to hit every multiple Ambipom filling the stage. Ambipom was out like a light

"Ambipom!" He shouted, staring at the fire light out and show his fainted Pokémon "again..?" He looked up, gasping to see his opponents eyes staring at him. Those eyes... he suddenly thought about Rhea and how her behavior changed when suddenly figuring out something "Y-You've got to be kidding me"

"Oh, no..." West gasped. Froslass looked over at him, and Crystal sipping on her drink and knowing this was going to happen

"Gee! That wasn't fun at all! I better hope your next Pokémon is tougher than this!" Aaron glared, now getting angry when figuring out who Crystal is now, and Sam is just the same in a way

"You little brat! You're not as bad as her... but I'm not going to let you think you can talk to me like that!" Sam blinked confusedly. Not as bad as who? "Go Haunter!" He released his last Pokemon he can use in the field

"Aaron! No!" West shouted "You can't control Haunter!" Crystal snorted

"Idiot..." Sam overheard this and held her chin

"In my years of battling, I come to see trainers trying to beat me, but they lack the ability of control. If you can give out a single demand to this Pokémon, we'll continue this battle. If you can't, we'll end this right here" Aaron's face went pale. Haunter laughed and made faces, making the audience laugh. In a way, he felt like the laughing was towards him. His ego was getting crushed fast, but he held on... He's not going to give up

"Haunter! Don't let me down! I really need this! I want to show that girl what I'm made of!" Something tells Sam that he's not talking about her "Please! Use Shadow Ball!" Haunter just disappeared, not appearing until it showed up next to Froslass staring at it annoyed. Aaron dropped to his knees in defeat. Sam huffed and climbed back on her swing

"What a joke" Aaron's eyes widened at the line, remembering Crystal saying that... "That's it for our battle! I certainly hope the next one will be stronger than you"

"Sam, why are you so angry?" Dave asked. Aaron slowly stood, returning his Haunter and ran out of the tent to avoid further humiliation

"Do I really have to explain?" she shook her head and watched Aaron leave "It's too bad... If he wasn't so caught up in battling for personal gain, he would have been able to train his pokémon properly. This was just like the other girl" she sighed and crossed her arms "So... where's this important guest you talked about before?"

Dave frowned, cleared his throat, and lifted his microphone "Let's give it up for Samantha for her win!" Everyone cheered "Our next challenger will be right up as soon as Sam makes the call" he showed Sam a piece of paper of where West's seat was. She took it and stared at it, using her visuals to see through the darkness the audience was around and spotted a young man and a young lady staring at her. She couldn't see properly, but that girl... her shadow looked a bit...

"I met this trainer earlier today and I could tell there was potential!" Sam looked at Dave confused "I'm sure he'll be promising! Please give it up for our next opponent!" he gave Sam the microphone. She looked away from what she was staring at and read the seating area out loud

"Step to the battlefield when you're ready!" She yelled out. West stood, looking down at Crystal. She stared at the determination in his eyes. One difference between him and the rest of his family was that he's the only one who's serious about what he wants for himself

"Wish me luck!" He smiled and jumped over to the battlefield at the same time Dave ran pass him after giving him a high five and approached Crystal

"You probably won't get the chance to see Sam after this battle. She'll probably be too tired to wait until you can come over from your seat, so would you like me to take you backstage?" she stood up and walked off

"Well then, I'll just have to approach her my own way. I don't have time"

West stood tall in front of the battlefield, eyeing Sam studying him "Welcome! Please state your full name!" Dave eyed a sudden cold white mist appearing in the field where Froslass was floating into and disappeared

"What the..?" It started growing by the second. Dave looked around for Crystal but saw that she was gone as well

"My name is Westly Kimana! And I'm here to represent my family's name!" West yelled. Sam made a face

"Seriously? Another Kimana? Didn't I battle one a second ago and probably a few weeks or months back? How annoying" she faced palm "Look if you really want to have this battle for that purpose, just take the stupid badge. My sisters will deal with you" West glared

"I won't accept that! Battle me fair and square!"

"I will not-!" The mist covered the field. Everything turned white. Sam looked at her surrounds, trying to make out any single figure close by "W-What's all this?" She looked around for her opponent, her friends, and the audience but couldn't see a thing "Davy, is this a part of an act..?" she hugged her bare arms, feeling a chill from the mist "W-What's going on..?"

"It's not wise to show those kinds of colors to people who look up to you" her eyes widened, body freezing when hearing the familiar voice "I understand your feelings, but it's not wise to criticize someone in front of so many people" she turned around, seeing a tall, blue-haired girl in a short pastel-colored dress and cloak, walking up to her with her hood up

"Y-You..?" Sam's eyes started to water

"That's my job" Crystal held her hip, looking down at her little sister holding her mouth "Unlike me, you have to keep a name for yourself" she lifted her hood, smiling softly while Sam bursts into tears "You're confident and full of life... I don't want to see my dear little sister making a face that's meant for me" Sam's sobbed loudly, running into her open arms

"Big sister!"

----------------------

Big sister! 😭 I love Crystal so freaking much!

edited on grammarly 12/6/18

Ai Samantha