In our last episode, Ri and Billy attended a pokémon convention aboard the SS Dove.  She met another breeder named Mary who gave Ri some cooking supplies so she could learn how to prepare special foods for her pokémon.  After Ri and Billy shared a dance along with their Nidorans.  Now, they are less than a day from arriving at the Golden Islands…

    “Attention passengers, we will be arriving at the Golden Port by late afternoon.  Please be sure to have your belongings packed up for the porters to take ashore once we land.”
    “Ri, did you hear that?” Billy said excitedly.
    “Yeah, I can’t wait!”  Ri said with a smile.  She began to pack her bags so they’d be ready when the ship landed.  Billy began to do the same.  Meanwhile, their pokémon played nicely in the other room.
    Travis came by later that morning.  “Hey you two, you hear we’ll be landing soon.”
    “Yeah, we heard the announcement this morning,” Billy said.
    “Hey, I’d love to stay and chat, but I gotta see Heather before we land.  It was great meeting you two.  Ri, good luck in that breeder thing, and Billy, good luck becoming a pokémon trainer.  I know you’ll make it.”
    “Thanks Travis.  Cya.”  Travis ran off.  Ri and Billy finished their packing and went to have lunch together.
    “So Ri, are you excited?”
    “Of course.  I can’t wait to find out some more about the breeder competition.”
    “Attention.  Attention all passengers.  Please have your bags ready for the porters.  We are arriving at the Golden Port.  We hope you have enjoyed your cruise and will tell all your friends.  Have a wonderful time on the Golden Islands.”  With that, ship began to dock.
    “Oh.  We better return the room.”  Ri and Billy went back and gave their stuff to a porter who got it ashore.
    “WOW!!!  It’s awesome!”  Billy looked all over.  The port itself was fantastic.  Completely clean, not like most seaports.  “Ri, we are in paradise!”
    “Yeah, this place is totally awesome!”  Ri jumped in front of Billy.  “C’mon, don’t be a Slowpoke, let’s fly like an Articuno and check everything out!”
    “What’s a Slowpoke?  What’s an Articuno???”  Billy pondered for a sec then ran to catch up to Ri.
    “Oh cool!!!”  Ri stopped and stared at the shopping mall in front of her.
    “Figures…  Typical girl hang out, hwaah…”  Ri grabbed Billy by the wrist and ran inside.  “Oww oww, Ri!”
    “Opps.  OH LOOK!!!”  Ri ran over to a counter where there were tiny pokémon crystal figures.  “Billy, aren’t they cute?”
    “Yes Ri, very cute.”  Something else had caught Billy’s attention.  A poster on the wall near them announcing the start of the Gold and Silver League.  This Pokémon League was only held on the two islands and had only four gyms, two per island.  The final championship was help at a new location each year.
    “What are you looking at?  Hey!  Hello?”
    “Ri, I gotta enter this league.  This could be my chance.  I’ll show my mom and dad that I found my true calling in life and compete in the Gold and Silver League.”
    “Right.  I think you and your pokémon need a bit more training before you can do that.”
    Billy sweatdropped.  “I think you’re right.”
    “Hey look.  There’s something about that Breeder’s Competition.”  Ri read the poster carefully.  The Golden Island Breeder’s Competition was held annually to see who the top breeders were.  Breeders from all around the world attend this competition and the winner is awarded a huge cash prize, not to mention a cool looking trophy.  The contest tested their skills in food preparation, basic pokémon care, attention, raising, and some other common fields that Ri had already been studying.
    “Think you can enter that Ri?”
    “Breeders from… all over the world?”
    “Ri?”
    Her eyes began to water.
    “Ri, hey, you can still enter it.”
    “I can’t compete in that.  This is the big league of breeders.  I’m just a kid.”
    “When does it start?  Let’s see.  Hey, you still got two whole months before it actually begins.”
    She let a tear fall.  “It doesn’t matter.  I can’t do it.”  With that she ran out of the mall.  Billy shrugged and chased her out.
    “Ri c’mon.  You never act like this.  What’s really wrong?”
    “Billy…  I’m not that good.”
    “Oh course you are Ri.  Look at Aqua, and that Marril I gave you.  And don’t forget Julie.  They all look totally spectacular.  I bet if you showed them to any person, they would know you were a professional trainer.”
    “Billy, we are still just ten years old.  I’m too young to be anything professional.”
    “Aw c’mon Ri.  Don’t beat yourself up.  I believe in you.  Didn’t you have to believe in me to want ta… well… you know…”
    “I… I know Billy.”  She became very quiet all of the sudden.  “It’s just…  Well…  I don’t want to look like a little kid in front of all those pros.”
    “So what.  What if you outdo them?  What will people think of that?”
    “Billy, I don’t want to make a mistake.  I will…  I know I will.  I’m not ready for it.”
    “Hey, I’m nowhere near as ready for the Pokémon League, but you don’t see that getting to me do you?”
    “That’s different.”
    “Not really.  We have to take defeats in life.  I think one of my teachers said that after giving me an ‘F’ on my project.”
    “You got an ‘F’?”
    Billy shuffles his feet.  “Yes… Don’t tell anyone.”
    “Wow, and here I thought you were some brainiac.”
    “Ri, the point is, even if you don’t win, how will it feel to know you could have won?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “If you don’t compete in that thing, you’ll regret it your entire life.  I know if I didn’t go up to you on that summer day, I’d regret having not done so, especially after seeing where it’s taken me.  Look at us now.  Because I finally brought the nerve to talk to you, we became great friends.”
    “I think I see what you mean.”
    “So will you join it?”
    “Yes.  Yes and I’ll study and train hard just like you will for that pokémon league.”
    “Oh yeah.”
    “HELP HELP!!!  Someone please.  There’s a hurt pokémon on the beach.  Please, someone calla doctor.”
    “Ri, go.  This is your chance.”
    “Nooo, I can’t.  This is for real Billy.”
    “Exactly, you can save that pokémon.  I know you can because you saved Aqua.”
    “Aqua.  Ok.”  Ri shouted to the man.  “Sir, where is this hurt pokémon?”
    “It’s a Seel and if got severely injured and is now washed up on the beach.  Are you a trained doctor, you look kind young?”
    “I know pokémon well sir.  Please, take me to the Seel.”
    “Ok little girl, but I hope you can save him.  There aren’t many doctors on these islands and emergencies occur so often.  Nurse Joy has her hands full or I’d call her.  Too many tourists.”
    The man led Ri and Billy to the injured Seel.  Its left flipper was cut deep and it had some scratch marks on other parts of its body as well.
    “It was attacked by humans first, then, some other mean pokémon.  Probably owned by a human too.”
    “How do you know this?”
    “I’m a breeder in training.  This is simple stuff all breeders should know.”  Ri smiled with satisfaction.  The man watched as she tended to the Seel.  Soon, more people started to gather around Ri and Seel.
    Seel’s eyes were shut.  Ri felt for a heartbeat.  It was faint.  She started to give Seel CPR to get it to wake out.  “C’mon Seel,” she thought.  Flashbacks of that day on the beach with Aqua went through her head.
    “NOOOO!!!!  WHY???  WHY WON’T YOU LIVE???” the memory played back.
    She held the Seel very tight.  The people were watching her every move.  She had to revive the pokémon.  She began tending to the wounds instead hoping if she at least repaired that damage, Seel’s body could concentrate of waking itself.  She took out a few potion sprays and started regenerating the skin over the big cut.  “They must have been hunters,” she thought.  She mended the skin of the cut and felt Seel’s pulse again.  It was a tad stronger now.
    “Is it going to be alright?”  “Is she even a doctor?”  “Look at that, she’s just some kid.”  “Why is she operating on that poor pokémon?”  “Someone should take that kid away from it.”  All murmurs from the crowd that Ri simply blocked out.  The only thing that mattered right now to Ri was the health of this Seel.
    “Please Seel, please live.  Please open you eyes.  Please breathe.”  Ri was starting to feel faint.  The crowd was watching still, waiting for what they thought was inevitable.  Ri pushed on more time on Seel then collapsed.  Billy was there to support her.  Tears rolled down her cheeks.
    “You did the best you could Ri.”
    “Oh Billy…”  She threw herself on his shoulders and started crying.
    “Hey kid, look.”  “Oh my goodness, it’s alive.!”  “Hey look.  That little girl did it.”
    Ri whipped her eyes and turned to see Seel slowly move.  It’s two medium sized eyes slowly opened.  “SEEL!!!”
    The pokémon recognized the voice that was present when if was being healed.
    Just then, a doctor rushed through the crowd.  “Stand aside, I’m a doctor.  Where is the injured pokémon?”
    “It’s right over there with the little girl who saved it’s life.”
    “Me?” Ri asked.
    “Yes young one.  If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t think Seel here would have lived till the doctor arrived.”
    “You mean this little girl saved this pokémon’s life?”
    “That’s correct.  Little girl, what is your name?”
    “I… I… I’m Ri.”
    “Well Ri, you have proven yourself to be a great person who cares for all living creatures.  And for saving this Seel’s life, a mayor of the Golden Island, I’d like to offer you a reward.  Please come to my mansion tonight with your friend there to accept my thanks.”
    Ri blushed.  “Thank you,” she said.  Seel looked at her and happily barked.  “Mr doctor, can you please watch over Seel’s recovery for me.”
    “It would be an honor Miss Ri.  Say, you were going to sign up for that Breeder’s Competition weren’t you.  You know, even though you are still very young, they do hold different levels.  There’s one just for starters like yourself.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes.  Hey, come with me and I can sign you up at the Hospital.”
    “Thank you very much Mr…”
    “Call me Fred.”
    “Thank you Fred.”

    And so, as Ri, Billy, and Fred take the revived Seel back to the Pokémon Hospital, Ri has gained a whole new sense of courage to do her best in the Breeder’s Competition.  Find out what happens next time on The Tale of a Pokémon Breeder.