Prologue
She rubbed her numb hands together. It was cold in autumn, especially sitting there in the waiting area, you'd think they had no idea what heating was. She watched the screen as many appeals came and went. She knew she'd have to set the standards high for her well-known rival.
Her name sounded in the speaker as a five minute warning. She stood and smoothed down her new white dress with a light blue sash around the waist. She reached towards the hairbrush to quickly sort her hair out and fix her fringe to the side, then began walking towards the podium. Certainly wasn't cold anymore.
"And for our next appeal is May! Came in the top four of the Jhoto and Kanto Grande Festival and runner up of the Wallace Cup!"
Cheers rippled through the crowd. She smiled and waved, trying to see if she recognised anyone. Apparently not…
She ran onto the stage and waited for her cue to start.
"Now let's see what May has got for us today!"
She reached towards her Pokéball which was a purple colour due to her seals. "Glaceon, take the stage!" she said, throwing her Pokéball as she jumped into her usual position.
Her Pokémon jumped proudly onto the arena. Small snowflakes floated down around it.
"Jump back and Shadow ball on the snowflakes!" Glaceon did an elegant backflip and released its Shadow Ball a few moments before its feet touched the ground.
It shot through all the snowflakes, gathering them up and making them whisk round inside and around it.
"Now Ice Shard!" Icicles were fired towards the ball of darkness.
It burst into a fine dark powder around Glaceon with snowflakes floating alongside it.
"Wow! What a fantastic appeal. The bright snowflakes and dark glitter both complimenting each other. We couldn't expect any less from May!"
The judges appeared to like it to, much to her delight.
"Such a fantastic combination to use alongside each other."
"That was remarkable."
"A great use of seals and moves alike, and I love how it brought out Glaceon's natural beauty."
The crowd cheered in approval as May stepped off the podium alongside her Pokémon. That went well…
She sat down and cuddled Glaceon briefly as it jumped up beside her. "You did great." she whispered, pulling away then returning it.
"Great, now I have to beat that." someone chuckled from behind her. She jumped and looked over her shoulder at the green haired boy who stood there holding a rose.
"Which you wont." she said, plucking the rose from between his fingers blushing.
He laughed quietly and flicked his hair in his usual way. "We'll see."
He looked up at the screen, she followed his gaze. There was quite a desperate appeal going on at the moment. Some lavender-haired girl with her Jiggypuff. It must have been their first contest as they were completely out of sync.
He moaned to himself, taking a seat beside May; "You're about the only competition I have till Harley and Solidad shows up."
"Mmm" Harley had gotten stronger since he first started his grudge against her in Hoenn. It's more a friendly rivalry now.
"They're travelling together, right?" she asked smirking. He nodded.
After a moment he spoke up; "You better watch out for that Dawn girl who beat you before too."
She remembered back to the Wallace Cup. Could Dawn still beat her? They're probably not even here anymore…
Drew's name was sounded in the speaker for his five minute warning. He smirked and stood up; "Better get ready."
She looked him up and down. "You are ready." she muttered as he turned to go.
He waved his Pokéball over his shoulder so she could see it was its normal colour. Seals…
"The next Co-ordinator was runner up in the Jhoto Grande Festival! Let's here it for the well known Drew!"
May watched him on the big screen as he walked out, head held high. The crowd went silent, waiting in expectation.
He smirked, holding up his Pokéball; "Roserade!"
His Pokémon jumped elegantly onto the stage. Glitter fell over it
"Sunny Day!"
The glitter shimmered fantastically in the sunlight.
"And Petal Dance!"
Small pink petals danced around Roserade, combined with the glitter which the sunlight reflected off made them seem to glow.
"Well what a great appeal! So simple, yet so effective! Let's see what the judges think!"
"The sunlight really made the glitter shimmer beautifully which then reflected off the petals. What a great use of moves."
"Remarkable."
"What a lovely use of sunlight and seals. I'm truly impressed, and such a straightforward combination."
The crowd began cheering wildly. Drew smiled and walked off the stage, returning Roserade before he came back into the waiting area.
May sat there on the bench, waiting for him to come back while she sniffed the rose. "You did great." she said when he appeared next to her after battling through a few co-ordinators.
He shrugged. "Didn't expect them to like it so much." he said, then paused before continuing; "Shows how high the standards are here."
"Well its just after summer, so there's going to be lots of new trainers and co-ordinators."
He laughed slightly, watching the next appeal that came on. She watched too, suddenly interested as he didn't seem too bad.
It was a guy with red hair, messily ruffled on his head. His Luxray stood proudly with a thin mist hovering around it.
"Discharge!"
Blue electricity emitted from his body which engulfed all the mist. It hung loosely in the blue light, giving it an eerie look.
"Now Double Team!"
While the original still released the never ending electricity, copies were made which circled the appeal.
"And Iron Tail!"
All the copies' tails glistened white simultaneously. They smashed into the electrical charge, which released it into thunderbolts that shot across the arena. The sight appeared creepy, due to the slight distortion the mist gave.
Then the lightning show ended, Luxray was revealed coated in electric sparks that flashed occasionally.
The crowd roared, truly impressed with the magnificent sight.
"Well what a great appeal from last years Kanto's Grande Festival Champion! What do the judges think?"
"Its amazing your Luxray could still maintain its first move and manage to pull off another. A great use of the copies also."
"Absolutely remarkable."
"The beauty of the lightning and the eerie feel the mist gave, all I can say if brilliant."
He waved and walked off the podium with his Luxray which sparked with static electricity. The crowd were still cheering when he disappeared.
May saw from the corner of her eye Drew smirk; "Maybe there might be some competition."