Misty was walking to the backstage of the performers tent. She had agreed to help the resident magician with his magic show purely out of pity, and was going to the back room to change into her performing costume.
When she opened the door to the dressing room, and found it to be just as dull as the rest of the place.
"Oh, what am I getting into?" Misty sighed.
"Hi," said a cheery voice.
"Wha-!" Misty said, as she jumped away from the voice.
There, standing to the side of the door at a makeup station was a girl at least a year older than Misty was. She had long, brown hair that went down to the middle of her back. She was wearing a brown strapless leotard that was sand colored on the stomach area. Other than that, she wore nothing but a pair of sand colored stockings on her legs.
"sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," the girl giggled. "Are you another one of the stage assistants?"
"Uh, yeah. I just started just now. I'm Misty," Misty introduced herself.
"Hi. I'm Helen. Nice to meet you Misty. I'm an eevee," the other girl said, showing off her costume.
"Uh...you're what?" Misty said, as if she thought this girl was crazy.
"Well, I'm not an eevee yet. But, I will be when I'm finished dressing up. Hey, why don't you dress up too? It'd be great for the show," Helen said.
"I don't thinks so. Dressing up isn't really my thing," Misty said.
"Don't be shy. I've got all these costumes here I think would look great on you," Helen said, as she dragged over a rack full of costumes. "Let me see...I know. You want to try on the mr. mime costume?" Helen said, as she placed the entire costume on Misty's front.
"Uh..." Misty said, thinking of a polite way to turn down the ridiculous leotard.
"You're right. It doesn't suit you that well. Mr. mime's more of a silly pokemon, and you don't strike me as silly," helen said. She went back to the costume rack. "I know. How about a scyther?"
"Uh..." Misty said again, as she looked at the costume that was placed on her frontside.
"No? I think it looks great. It almost looks like a supervillain costume. Like you would have the hero your secretly in love with in your arms after you seduced him, or something. Or do you want to go for a more congenial look?" Helen asked, as she placed a butterfree costume, complete with wings on the back over Misty.
"No!" Misty said, as she pushed the costumes away. Misty realized that she may have overreacted when she saw Helen's hurt expression. "Helen, I'm sorry. I just-"
"It's alright. I know why you said what you did. It's just that none of these works for what you're like as a person," Helen said.
"Actually-" Misty stopped herself from talking. She didn't want to hurt Helen's feelings any further by telling her how ridiculous she thought she would look in any of the costumes that were shown to her. "You're right. None of them really show people what I'm really like. I don't want to seem silly, or congenial, or even villainous. I want what I'm wearing to show people what they don't see when I'm just, you know, being Misty," Misty said, as she indicated her clothes.
Helen didn't answer right away. She simply looked Misty up and down from the tip of her hair to the soles of her shoes. The, she started walking circles around Misty. Everything she saw made her start thinking more clearly about what she would suggest next.
Misty stayed perfectly still, with only her eyes moving as she followed Helen around in circles. She was taken by surprise when Helen lifted both of her arms and stretched them outward. Things became more uncomfortable when she looked down and saw helen's hands hovering just an inch above her body, and were moving down, following the contours of her body.
"You aren't going to pick my pocket, are you?" Misty asked.
"Of course not, silly. I'm just trying to size you up," Helen said.
misty felt suddenly conscious of herself. She had eaten at least three ice cream cones before she took this job at the magic show. She wasn't worried about indulging herself then, but it was now coming back to bite her like an angry growlithe. She was growing more uncomfortable when she saw Helen standing at her front and hovering her hands over her legs.
"Are you done yet?" Misty said, hoping for it to end.
"Just for your body. Let me see your face now," Helen said, as she suddenly popped back to standing. She took hold of misty's cheeks and turned her face from side to side. "You're really pretty. You know that? I bet boys can't stay away from you."
"Th-That's not true! I'm only following him until he pays me back for my bike!" Misty said, feeling suddenly even more uncomfortable.
"So, there is a boy. What's his name?" Helen giggled.
"Can we just get my costume," Misty said, deciding to pick the lesser of two embarassments.
"Alright. I think I know just the thing. You, Misty, are none of the things I thought before. You're elegant. You're graceful. You're beautiful. You carry yourself with an air of dignity," Helen said.
"Thanks," Misty said, smiling at the complements that were given to her. Maybe Helen wasn't so bad after all.
"And you hide it all really well," Helen finished.
"Thanks a lot..." Misty deadpanned.
"I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that you have so much potential inside of you. You're already such a great person. I think you just need something that reflects what's inside of you," Helen said, as she held up another costume.
Misty's mouth opened, as she slightly smiled at the sight of it. It was a white, strapless leotard with a frill on the breastline. On the back of it were tassels that looked like a goldeen's tail fins.
"Wow. Helen, this looks...wow," Misty said, unable to find words that fit her conflicting feelings of looking ridiciulous and hurting Helen's feelings again.
"I think it really suits you. Everything that you are can be said about a goldeen, can't it?" Helen said. "It's why I chose to be an eevee. Because eevee's are friendly, adaptable, and people are always learning something new about them. Plus, I just love how cute they are."
Misty managed a giggle as Helen spun around once. What Helen said was true. Misty was learning new things about Helen from the moment she met her. Maybe she was right about the goldeen costume.
"I guess you're right. Where do I get changed?" Misty wondered.
"There's a privacy screen over there. You can get changed behind it," Helen answered.
"Back there?" Misty said, apprehensively.
"don't worry. Nobody's going to peek. Just be careful not to step on my clothes back there," Helen said, as she pushed Misty behind the screen. "I'll be here if you need anything. Just say so."
Helen left, leaving Misty alone behind the screen. With that Misty started by taking off her suspenders from her shoulders.
Helen went back to the costume rack and started looking through it for anything to add to her appearance. First, she would need some shoes.
"So, you never did tell me who that boy is," Helen said, as she looked for footwear that would match her costume.
"Why do you want to know?" Misty asked, as she draped her clothes over the screen.
"No reason. I just think you can tell if a boy's cute or not from his name. Like Brenden. He sounds like he'd be really cute. He probably has freckles and dimples," Helen said.
"Who are you talking about?" Misty asked.
"A boy I made up named Brenden. Who else?" Helen giggled. "What about Charlie? He sounds like he'd be one of those guys who's really cute when he takes off his triple thick glasses and combs his hair."
"I guess so," Misty said, as the last of her clothes were draped over the screen. "I knew a boy named Logan once. He wasn't really that cute. Whenever he wore a red shirt, he looked like a sweaty tomato."
"That's so weird," Helen said, as she picked out a pair of brown thigh boots to wear. "When I think of Logan, I think of an older boy with spikey hair and a goatee."
"And he wears a leather jacket with no undershirt," Misty giggled behind the screen.
"Ooh, you know who else wears a leather jacket with no shirt? Brock," Helen said.
"NO!"
Helen jumped before she could finish putting on her other boot, and fell out of her seat. She watched as Misty's head peered around the screen.
"Brock is a sick-minded weirdo who's brain stops working whenever a girl's even in the next room!" Misty said. She would have continued yelling, if she didn't see Helen smiling the way she was.
"So, his name's Brock, huh?" Helen asked.
"Who?"
"That boy you like."
"Rrrgh! Get real! Brock's not anybody's type! His name's Ash-ulp!"
Misty's face turned bright red at what she let slip. And the feeling of embarasment only deepened the way she saw Helen smiling at her like she had just learned a secret. There was nothing but silence in the room, until Helen quickly zipped up her boots, and laid down on her stomach with her chin in her palms. Misty quickly hid back behind the screen.
"Ash? Is it short for Ashley? Because a boy named Ashley sounds like the kind of boy who wears makeup and gets his nails done," Helen said.
"He's-He's not anything like that. He's dumb and obnoxious. And he's completely dense. The only thing he ever thinks about is becoming a pokemon master, but he doesn't know the first thing about it. And I bet if I asked him he wouldn't know what a pokemon master even is," Misty said.
"He's also really nice, isn't he. And caring and brave. Always there when you need him the most," Helen said.
Misty leaned out from behind the screen, now wearing her leotard. One look at her face, and Helen knew that she had Misty pegged.
"How did you know?" Misty asked.
"That's how my Ash was," Helen giggled.
"Short for Ashley?" Misty said smiling, still not completely coming out into full view.
"Yes," Helen said, giggling harder. She stood up from the ground and took Misty by the hand. "Come out now. Let's see how you look."
Misty was hesitant at first, but slowly walked out into view.
"Misty. Wow. You look beautiful," Helen gasped. "Here, have a look"
Helen guided Misty in front of a mirror and allowed Misty to see herself in full. Misty tried to smile at herself, but could only barely manage it. If anyone, especially Ash, saw her wearing this outfit, she might have died from embarassment.
"Wow. You're right. I look..." Misty could bear it no longer. with a sigh, she slumped her head. "I look ridiculous."
"I know," Helen said with a smile, as she hugged Misty from behind.
Misty sighed, and took hold of Helen's hands.
"But, you still look beautiful," Helen said.
"You think so?" Misty asked.
"Of course I do. And I bet Ash would think so too."
It was such a nice thing for Misty to hear her feelings validated with another girl. One who in such a short time Misty thought she could become friends with, even if the two of them were so different. Misty leaned slightly backwards and rested her head on Helen's shoulder.
"Thanks, Helen," Misty said.
"It's what I do," Helen said. She slowly removed her arms from around Misty and gently sat her down. "You still need shoes with that outfit. You can't go onstage barefoot after all. You might get splinters."
Misty watched as Helen pulled over the shoe rack and started putting various shoes on her feet.
"No," Helen said, as she put on a purple flat with a vileplume's petals on the toes. "No," she said again, as she put on a red open toed stiletto heel with growlithe fur on the straps. "No," she said again, as she put on a bulky clog with a snorlax face on it.
"Helen, I was just wondering, where's your friend Ash now?" Misty asked.
Helen paused a moment before she put a pair of yellow slippers with bellsprout vines on Misty's feet.
"Ash isn't around anymore..." Helen sighed. She placed the shoes back on the rack, and took a new pair off.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything sad," Misty apologized.
"It's alright. It's just that Ash was my only friend I had since I left home. We went everywhere together for almost a year. I was always there for him, and then one day he gets a scholarship to go to some school in Alola. I wanted to go with him but I didn't have enough money to make the trip. I've been alone ever since, trying to make my way as a performer. When I found this carnival, I thought that I finally made it, but the show is terrible. I just don't know if I can handle trying to live up to my dreams in a place that doesn't let me show what I can really do."
Misty watched as Helen stopped choosing shoes, and looked like she was about to start crying. As short a time as she knew Helen, Misty felt a small connection to her, and didn't want to see her sad. She placed her hands on Helen's shoulders and knelt down to the floor with her.
"Alright. You don't have to cry, because you're not alone. You have me now. And my other friends too. We can all stick with each other, and help each other's dreams come true. We can help you become a performer. And you can help Brock become a breeder. Then you can help Ash become a pokemon master. And you can help me become...well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Misty said.
"Do you mean it? Can I really go with you?" Helen asked, as her face became noticably sunnier.
"Of course. It would be really nice to have another girl along," Misty said. She was compltely unprepared when Helen suddenly hugged her tightly.
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou! You can't realize what it means that you're taking me away from this horrible place! You're like the knight in shining armor rescuing the princess from the evil wizard!" Helen said. As she had her head over Misty's shoulder, she noticed something else on the costume rack. "Hey. These are cute."
Misty let go of Helen, and saw that her new friend had taken two pairs of long shoulder length gloves off the rack. One pair colored white, the other pair colored deep brown.
"We can wear these with our costumes," Helen said.
"Do you really think those are necessary?" Misty asked, not wanting to add too much to her already silly costume.
"Of course they are. After all, if I'm the rescued princess, we can at least look the part," Helen said, as she quickly slipped on her gloves and straightened out the seams.
"I thought i was the knight in shining armor," Misty said.
"Well, now you're disguising yourself as a princess to help with the escape from the tower."
"How does that help the knight?"
"I don't know. Maybe the dragon that kidnapped her would be confused when he saw he had one too many princesses."
"But, you said the princess was held captive by an evil wizard."
"Oh, what do you want? It's a fairy tale," Helen said. "But first, we still need to get you some shoes, Cinderella."
"Wulp!" Misty said, as Helen grabbed her ankle and thrusted her foot toward the shoe rack.
Helen hovered Misty's bare foot back and forth over the shoes that were laid out as if it were a metal detector.
"Here it is. Jackpot," Helen said, before placing a pair of white high heels on Misty's feet. "What do you think? do they match your costume, or what? Unless you want them in orange."
"White's fine, thanks," Misty said, as she stood back up, followed by Helen.
"You look good. Now, put your hand up like this," Helen said, holding up her own hand with the palm facing forward.
"Like this?" Misty asked.
In one swift movement, Helen placed the bunched up white glove over Misty's hand, and was working her fingers into their place. Once that was done, Helen placed Misty's hand on her shoulder so her arm was outstretched and started smoothing out the lenght of the glove along Misty's arm.
"Okay. Other side now," Helen said, as she took Misty's hand and repeated the process. She then turned Misty toward the mirror again. "So, how do you like it?"
"This just keeps getting worse..." Misty groaned.
"I know. I can't seem to find what really can make you put yourself out there," Helen said, missing what Misty meant. Her face lit up and she snapped her fingers. "I know just what you need."
"Heaven forbid it's a headdress," Misty muttered, dreading the thought of a plume of feathers coming out of her head.
Helen looked through her backpack, which was laying against the makeup table, and produced someting new. Misty's eyes sparkled at the sight of what was shown to her. it was a green stone with a gold pin on it.
"This is something really special to me. It belonged to my grandma, who wore it to every show she performed. She said that it made the audience watch her more than anyone else onstage. And I think you should wear it now," helen said.
"Helen, I don't know if I can. It's so precious to to you," Misty said. However much she would have loved to wear that jewel, she didn't want to offend her new friend by doing it injustice.
"Don't worry. I just want you to wear it for your first performance," Helen said, as she pinned the jewel to the front of Misty's leotard.
"You can tell it's my first performance, huh?" Misty said sheepishly.
"It's another one of my special talents. I may not know what costume can make someone show their soul right away, but I can smell a performer a mile away," Helen said. She looked at the jewel, then looked at Misty's face. "It matches your eyes so well. I think you were meant to wear this jewel for this show."
Misty smiled at the complement.
"I think we still need to bring out your eyes a bit more," Helen said, as she reached for a brush and eyeshadow kit.
"Do you think so?" Misty asked.
"Sure I do. You have such beautiful eyes. I want the audience to see everything that's beautiful about you. Now, let me see..." Helen said, as she placed her hands on Misty's cheeks and took a close look at her eyes. "Hm...I'm so jealous of the color. I wish I had eyes that were this pretty."
"Well, you have really nice eyes too. Just not the same way as mine, I guess," Misty said, noticing Helen's coffee colored eyes that had spots of amber. If Helen was going to bring out her own eyes, Misty thought she would at least do the same for her new friend. And there was something on the costume rack that would do just fine. It was a choker necklace with a black band and a stone the same brown color as Helen's eyes. She reached for it.
"Alright. I think a reddish purple is the color, since it's a shade between your eyes and your hair," Helen giggled as she dusted the brush in the makeup. "Now, close your eyes for me."
Misty did as instructed, just after she took hold of the necklace on the rack, and started groping around for Helen's neck.
"Misty, what are you doing?" Helen giggled, as she felt her friend's hands blindly touching her chin.
"Hold on...there's your neck," Misty giggled too, as the makeup brush tickled her eyelids.
The two placed the finishing touches on one another. Misty fastened the necklace around Helen's neck. Helen applied the last bit of makeup to Misty's eyes. Finally, they both looked in the mirror.
"You know, I think I finally like the way I look," Misty said, seeing how much her eyes were accented by just the little bit of makeup.
"I knew you would. But, we're not done just yet. You still need some lip gloss," Helen said, as she looked through the options available at the makeup station. "This looks like a good color for you."
"Alright. And you hold still," Misty said, as she took an elastic hair tie from the table and reached up to Helen's hair.
Both friends stayed perfectly still for one another. Misty remained motionless as the lip gloss was glided across her lips. Helen stayed still for Misty, as her hair was slowly bunched up and placed through the tie. Finally, they were both finished.
"I like the goldeen lips you gave me," Misty said, before smooching at her reflection like a goldeen.
"And my hair's just like an eevee tail!" Helen giggled when she saw her hair tied up.
"That was the idea. Just like an eevee," Misty said, as she placed one last accessory on Helen's head. A hair band with a pair of eevee ears on top.
"Misty, I'm so glad I have you now," Helen said, as she hugged Misty again.
This time, Misty was fully prepared to return the affection.
"I'm glad I met you too," Misty said.
For the first time she could remember, Misty had found someone she could be a girl with. Someone to do makeup with, and talk about things that no boy would understand or appreciate. Someone she could express her frustrations to when the boys became overwhelming. Someone who was so different from her, but so alike. It was going to be great.
"come on. I want to show you some of my choreography for the show," Helen said, as she took Misty by the hand and led her to the middle of the room.
"But, I don't even know how to dance," Misty said.
"Don't worry. It's not dancing. We're just going to do a few simple steps. It's not like the show's going to be spectacular anyway. Chances are, the tent will just burn down again."
"What!?"
"It's alright. I've already figured out where we'll run to if that happens. Anyway, here's what we do. Just a quick greeting to the crowd," Helen said, as she demonstrated an emphasized wave to an imaginary crowd. "Present the performer," Helen said, stopping with one leg stepped forward, one hand on her hip, and one hand outstretched to an imaginary performer. "And just wow the crowd after each act with a few sweeps of your arms and a spin or two."
Misty watched as Helen performed her steps. They looked simple enough to duplicate.
"Like this?" Misty said, as she started to spin with her arms sweeping. She swept a little too hard, and ended up spinning herself around. Before she fell, she was caught by Helen.
"You almost had it. How about we practice some more, before the show starts?" Helen giggled.
There came a noise from the stage area like something heavy had been wheeled out.
"Oop. No time. Looks like you'll have to wing your performance," Helen said, as she walked to the door.
"You mean, it's already showtime!?" Misty said, visibly distressed. Her worry faded some when Helen gently took her hand.
"You don't need to worry. You have my grandma's jewel. It'll help you through your first performance. And I'll be out there too. Remember, Misty, elegant, graceful, beautiful, dignified. That's you. Now, it's time to show it," Helen said.
Misty couldn't stop the smile from her face. Even if Helen was just being nice, she had made Misty feel as if she could conquer this ridiculous show she was about to perform. She took one step to the door, and then another. Still holding Helen's hand, she and her new friend began walking toward the stage area. It was still embarassing, but also exciting for her. After this show was over, she would have a new friend to travel with the others. One who she could almost relate to better than Ash or Brock.