All I could hear was the deafening crowds cheering. I had my eyes clenched tightly shut, not letting any of the dazzling lights on the stage catch my already dry and sore eyes. My heartbeat sounded out loudly in my pounding head and it clashed with the voices I could hear surrounding me. Soft white gloves encased my shaking hand, swamped with nervous sweat. Harsh breaths came from my nose and chest was tight, painfully anticipating when I could breathe easy again. It would be either when I received really good news, or really bad. Either way it would stop this tension building up in my body and mind.
I wanted the answer over and done with. A year of preparation and it all came down to one sentence, ready to tear my world apart or build me a new one.
"And the winner of the title of Kalos Queen is…"
HONK HONK
I spun round and came face to face with an obnoxiously bright yellow taxi. The driver yelled at me, irate, and I sheepishly smiled and waved. His words danced around my ears before leaving me without injury, as I knew I was in the wrong. Then a gloved hand clutched my arm and yanked me to the pavement. I looked up at my brothers face, his eyes rolling and his mouth a scowl.
"Try not to die before your first showcase," he mumbled, his voice muffled by his scarf tightly wound round his neck. The nippy wind of the coming cold season bit at my exposed hands and head, and I cursed myself for not choosing to travel with gloves or at least a larger scarf.
I chose to ignore my brother's comment and simply shrug. Not that I wasn't thrilled for my first showcase. In fact, on the inside I was dying of excitement and wanted to sprint to the hall where it was taking place. However, on the outside I hardly seemed like I cared. And my older brother Zane picked up on that immediately, as did my older sister Sarah.
"What's the matter, Bell?" She asked, using the nickname that annoyed me to no end as usual.
I shrugged in answer to that as well. A lot of things were running through my mind. Feelings of doubt, nerves, annoyance, excitement, joy and hope. They all meshed together into an unholy amalgamation of confusion. That shrug held a plethora of hidden emotions.
"You have such a way with words," Zane replied sarcastically, once again rolling his eyes. He walked slightly ahead, leaving my side, as if he no longer wanted to be seen as with me.
I was overjoyed, and let all my answers to their questions roam around in my head only. My hands found themselves clamping round my bag, and my eyes staying on the pokeballs rolling around in them. There were six of them, all shiny and ready to be used. Most people don't have even two pokemon starting their journey, but this wasn't my first journey.
When I was twelve, I started my journey back home in Hoenn, with only a mudkip by my side. It would have been when I was ten, but I hadn't really decided what I wanted to do or what pokemon I wanted. It was put off for another two years as I was dubbed 'too irresponsible and immature' when in reality I was just unsure. Both my siblings were in their mid-teens and training under Wattson, the Mauville City Gym Leader. Therefore, I assumed being a good trainer and battling would be in my future too. So I started off heading to Rustboro City to challenge the Gym there.
I hated it.
There was just something about battling I never liked. Maybe it was the brutality of it at times, maybe it was the blandness of just hitting over and over again until the other pokemon is unable to continue. Whatever the reason was, almost as soon as the battle had started, I cried out to stop and called it off. My siblings said it was stupid of me to do that because I had the upper hand anyway, what with my mudkip being a water type. I didn't care though, and I expressed immediately to my family the distaste I had for battling.
They didn't really mind. My parents were more concerned with Jacob, my three year old brother at the time to be worried about my future. So Sarah, having a rare moment of true sibling love, decided to cheer me up and bring me to a contest in a town next to our home city. I instantly fell in love. It brought more to what was missing from battling. It gave it skill and practise to turn it into a brilliant performing art. So I dedicated a year to catching pokemon, building a team fit for performing at contest, practising acts and going to contests.
The fact I was twelve worked well for me, because I had the cute factor. Help was gained even more so from the fact that I had been taking dance classes since I was two. It was probably the only thing I held against my siblings, and I used it to my advantage when training for contests.
My team increased as I caught a wurmple, a ralts, a pikachu, and a shuppet. They too had a fondness for performing and I worked my way up, for the first year collecting two ribbons, then the next year the last three. I had plenty of help from my older siblings. They gave me tips on the battling parts, and made sure my routines were in top shape.
However, the very first round in the Grand Contest I was knocked out. I was completely crushed. Angered, I vowed to never perform in a contest again. It took month for me to realise the real reason I had lost.
I realised I had no originality and I wasn't working on my own with my pokemon. I was heavily relying on my siblings, and they didn't mind so no question was raised. I knew to be stronger I had to go at it alone.
When I reached 14, my parents took me to Kalos and showed me the Showcases. That instantly took my interest and a new goal was set in my mind: Kalos Queen.
So in that way, to myself, my journey started on that day, walking to the Coumarine City Showcase Hall. And that was because that day, I relied on only myself and my pokemon. A new sense of peace came over me and as the hall came into view, all those tricky emotions drained away into a feeling of determination.
"Here we are," Sarah announced. "Now all you have to do is sign up for a performer's license. It's like a trainer's license except for-"
"Let me guess, a performer?" I said quietly, looking up at her with a small smirk. She smiled slightly and rolled her eyes, a habit now seemingly a family trait.
"Mum and Dad will be in the audience," Sarah continued, "Hopefully Jacob will be too, although the flashing lights may be a little much for him to handle."
I stared up at the hall with wide eyes. Floods of people and pokemon were excitedly bustling in and out of the building. I bit my lip.
"Bella?" I heard Zane's voice say. I look up at him. "It's time to register, unless you're changing your mind."
I shake my head.
"I'm fine," I mumble. "It's my first one, get off my back."
Zane puts his hands up.
"Calm down Bells," Sarah said. "Do you need help, or…"
I didn't let her finish the sentence before walking off. I hear her give an exaggerated sigh. A part of me felt slightly guilty, but I soon tucked it away and quickened my pace. I squeezed past the hordes of people, making myself as small as possible. A few peculiar pokemon native to the Kalos region caught my attention, but then I remembered what I was there for and hurried to the front desk.
The lady sat there gave me a bright smile.
"Are you here to sign up for the Coumarine Showcase?" She asked, turning slightly to her computer.
I nod, and hum in agreement.
"Have you done one before?" She continued.
"No, this will be my first one." I reply with a gulp.
She gave me an even brighter smile, making me slightly uncomfortable. I wasn't used to seeing people so happy about a competition before.
"I guarantee you'll love it. Okay so I'll just give you this," she says as she hands me a slip of paper. "If you just fill all the questions in then hand it back to me I can sign you up for a license. Then I'll add you to this evening's competition."
I thank her, and then use the pen she hands me to fill it in. It was just standard questions, like what my name was, my age, my home region and city. It was very similar to the other licenses forms I previously filled out. My mind flashed back to when I was twelve, and I filled out the coordinator forms, of course with my siblings help.
Once I had finished it, and handed it back to the woman at the desk, she started typing aggressively into her computer. Then she started to make small talk.
"So, you're from Hoenn then?" She asked, as if I didn't already know.
I nodded silently, then realised her gaze was glued to her computer.
"Yeah," I reply.
"And you come from Mauville City as well!" She exclaims. "Isn't that city's design inspired of Lumiose City?"
"Yeah, the gym leader Wattson wanted to redesign the whole thing, but decided on a more modern approach," I reply, remembering the hundreds of times Wattson would tell me and my siblings about the history of Mauville.
She finished up typing and turned back to me, a little printer beside her now whirring.
"Well, Bella," She said, emphasising my name that she now knew. "I am very excited to see you perform tonight. I have got you a license and simultaneously booked you a spot tonight."
She then hands me a piece of paper that stated my info and that I was now a pokemon performer.
"Here's your princess key ring, and your voting key for tonight," She said after digging around behind her desk.
A little silver ring was in her hand, and a golden coloured key with a sapphire gem heart placed in the handle. I thanked her and rushed out to show my siblings proudly.
"Nice," Sarah commented with a smile. She ruffled my hair like she used to before a contest when I was twelve. "You all ready? Need me to run through your performance or test you on the theme rounds?"
"I'll be fine," I stress. "I'm doing this on my own, remember? After tonight you'll be in another region."
Her smile fades.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" She inquires. "No one will blame you if Zane or I travels with you for a little while until you get settled in Kalos."
"I'm 14, Sarah!" I cry, getting increasingly annoyed. "I'm not a little kid!"
"Come on Sarah," Zane said aggressively, "Let's leave the big kid to her practise."
I sighed wearily, and Sarah bent down slightly.
"Don't take him too seriously," She whispered. "He's just upset you don't need him anymore."
She winks at me and I smile slightly.
"I'll always need you two," I muse quietly. "I just need you less so now."
"I know, Little Bell," my sister replied softly, before standing up and dragging Zane away by the arm. "If you're that desperate to leave Zane, you'll be willing to go shopping with me then."
He grins.
"You know I'm always willing to spend your money," he replied. Sarah just smiled, amused by his reply, and dragged him away from my view.
I turn then, on my heel and walk back in to the hall, this time heading to where the directions said 'changing rooms'. I hadn't had a dress rehearsal yet, and I wanted to make sure my routine worked well with a dress on.
Dresses never seemed to appeal to me until I started Coordinating, and the idea of wearing one to match performances seem to work better than casual travelling clothes. As Sarah and Zane took me shopping for more clothes for contests, I seem to have developed a love for dresses and fashion. I wasn't obsessed, and I certainly didn't make my own clothes, but I was pretty comfortable and even gained confidence in pretty dresses.
As I got ready in the dressing room, I released out my pokemon, to stretch and eat for a bit. The two I was focusing on for this showcase was my Kirlia and Beautifly. Therefore, my dress for this show was based around them. It consisted of a shin length, white dress with a green belt with a pink triangular shape to match a gardevoir's midriff. The sleeves were black, with holes where red, yellow and blue lace were stitched in to match a beautifly's wing. Then for a final touch, I had a black cloak that reached my waist, with a hood and a yellow ribbon around the neck to tie it on.
Every dress I had was made by my mother and her parents. She seemed to have come from a very creative and practical family, something that certainly did not pass down to me. My grandad especially was a great designer, and aided me with little things to add to my dresses. I looked forward to seeing him and granny in the audience along with my parents.
Once I had everything on, including my long white socks and green coloured dolly high heeled shoes, I went outside to a concreted area, secluded from most of the general public to practise. I had only a few hours to perfect everything, and I had no idea what the first themed performance was going to be. We had practised all the different things it could be, with my most confident being the pokemon quiz, and my least confident being the Poke Puff performance. I wasn't really the most skilled in baking, and adding a dance routine to that would just confuse me. But I did have a routine ready, just in case.
Kirlia and Beautifly were more than confident in their routine. They both preferred performing and dancing to battling, and they were both very easy to teach a routine to. Beautifly moved so effortlessly in the air, and her strongest point was her aerial abilities, especially when choreographed and practised. Her weakest point however, was the power of her moves. She always needed other pokemon to add to her moves to be effective enough to appear dazzling and amazing enough to make an audience impressed. Kirlia on the other hand, had the opposite problem. She had such power in her moves and had complete control of her abilities, but she struggled to follow a dance routine on top of that. So because these two coped with each other's weaknesses, they were perfect as a pair.
The sky darkened before I knew it, and soon all three of us was rushing backstage to where we would sit in nervous wait. Many of the other girls were chatting amongst each other, and sharing encouraging words. I sat awkwardly in the corner, dressing up the last touches of Beautifly and Kirlia's outfits. They had opposing colours, which at the same time matched my dress. Kirlia had a long black cloak with shiny patches to match Beautifly's wings, and Beautifly had on a bright white dress with the same belt as me. They would have to be taken off, depending on what the first round is.
Suddenly, Monsieur Pierre's voice came over the speakers. I looked up at the TV screens placed into the room and saw him announcing the start of the Showcase. I gulped slightly, then felt Beautifly nudge me slightly. A smile graces my lips, as I realise how lucky I was to have such supporting pokemon.
"And the themed round for tonight's Showcase is…"