Nice to be posting again! Sorry for the long wait.

Alexa laid in the back of the van, asleep. The night before, after her mother tucked her into bed and left the room, she secretly turned on her TV. The Unova region grand festival was being televised live, and she wasn't going to let a silly thing like time zones stop her from watching it.

"Honey? Wake up! We're here." Her mother beckoned to the back of the van.

Groggily waking up, she replied with a small "where?"

"Look for yourself!"

"Wow!" was all Alexa managed to say as she stepped out of the van. Her tiredness vanishing. In all of her six years she had never seen such a beautiful sight. Candy floss, Carnival games, and gigantic rides as far as the eye could see.

"Come on honey, let's go!" her mother said softly, sticking out her hand for Alexa to hold.

Alexa grabbed it and skipped giddily alongside her. Where to go first? The normally bland square was filled with fun opportunities. Did she want to test her luck at the games? Maybe ride the Ferris Wheel to the very top? As she looked around she saw the only thing that could make her more excited. The contest hall, with a bright banner that read 'Hearthome Festival Pokémon Contest' hung across the front.

"Mommy! Can we go to the-"

"Hey!" The interrupting shout came from the distance. She saw someone waving at them, a friend of her mom's.

"Well Hi! How are you doing?" Her mother said as they walked over to greet him. Alexa simply crossed her arms and pouted. The talking seemed to go on forever and ever. Any attempt to interrupt the conversation was met with a rather dismissive "Not now sweetie." What a great way to spend a festival.

Suddenly the Amity Square PA system suddenly rang out "Round 1 of the Hearthome Festival Pokémon Contest is about to begin!" Alexa wasn't about to miss the opportunity to see her first live Pokémon Contest. Being a coordinator was all she ever could think about. She dreamed that one day, she would be the best coordinator in all of Sinnoh. So after a quick glance up at her mother, still absentmindedly taking with her friend, she took off.

The Contest Hall was packed, people from all over had come to see the event. Fortunately for her there was one front row seat left, she rushed to it just as the next coordinator was introduced.

"And now for our next entry, It's Dawn!" The crowd cheered as the blue-haired coordinator approached center stage.

The crowd grew silent as she readied for her performance. "Piplup, Pachirisu... SPOTLIGHT!" Alexa was already on the edge of her seat as the two Pokémon burst from their Pokéballs in a cloud of confetti. Dawn ordered Pachirisu to use Sweet Kiss, with Piplup following it up with Bubblebeam. The Hall filled with bubble hearts as the crowd oohed and ahhed the lovely spheres.

As the display continued Alexa was mystified by the beautiful performance. How Pokémon could work together to create such beautiful displays was incredible.

"Alright, let's finish this up, Pachirisu, Discharge. Piplup, Whirlpool!" Sparks filled the air around Piplup as he created a monstrous funnel of water. With a simple gesture Pachirisu brought the electricity in on the whirlpool and it exploded into a sparking cloud of mist.

Of all of the cheers in the auditorium Alexa's had to have been the loudest. If she had doubts about wanting to be a coordinator before, they certainly were gone now.

Riley was startled awake by a hand grabbing her. The last thing she remembered was the box being placed onto a truck and taken away. The shock of yesterday's events had finally worn off and it was replaced with worry. How am I going to get out of this mess? She thought as she was hung up by the ribbon. Surprisingly being hung by the neck wasn't painful in the slightest, of course it was probably due to not being able to feel her body at all. RIley found herself hanging from the ceiling of a small booth filled with plushies, dolls, and other Pokémon toys. She watched as people scurried about in front of her. I'll never get anyone's attention with this many people here! The waves of emotions coming from these people were strong. Most of it was joy and excitement, a few had flashes of anxiety. But in this sea of feelings one emotion shot out, fear. It wasn't an ordinary fear though. It was the fear of loss, the same kind of feeling she felt from her father the day before. She saw a woman frantically run around the fair, one word on her mind. 'Alexa'.

"Mommy? Mommy!" Alexa yelled, receiving no answer in return. She thought for certain her mom would be talking forever, but as Alexa left the Contest Hall her mother was nowhere to be found. Most kids would be scared, but not Alexa. Alexa never got scared. Everyone at school knew that. Being the fearless girl she was she simply started walking, keeping an eye out for her mother.

I can't see! she thought to herself. Aha! Alexa darted behind one of the food booths. Using a milk crate as a stepping stool she got up on top of one of the trash cans. Still nothing. From her perch she grabbed the edge of the booth and pulled herself up onto the top. From there she could see almost the whole festival.

"There she is! Mommy! Mom-Woah!" Alexa screamed as she lost her footing and fell unnoticed into the candy floss bin below her. The machine churned out so much of the stuff she was quickly buried. Not a single person could see her for all the pink. It was comfortable, too comfortable, the lack of sleep caught up to her as she closed her eyes and dosed off.

Riley was bored. Literally hanging around was not the most fun thing. The people below her were definitely having more fun than her. From what she could gather, some sort of game was being played below. The winners would win a prize, one of the many plushes she was hanging next to. With each win came the hope someone would get her down, but it was shortly followed with disappointment as the winner chose to get something else.

Time to have some fun with this. Riley thought. She focused her thoughts on a random passerby, pulling on his emotions to compel him to sit down at the game. One by one she pulled people over, a young man, a blonde woman, a pair of young twins, she kept pulling people over until the seats were filled.

"Alright folks, Welcome to the Rhyhorn Races!" The game operator said over the loudspeaker. "Looks like we've got a full house! The winner of this game gets to pick any prize I got. The game is simple, roll your ball up the ramp into one of these holes. Miss the holes, your Rhyhorn only moves a little bit, the yellow holes make it move faster, the blue even faster, and the red is the fastest. The first person with a Rhyhorn across the finish line wins! At the sound of the bell get to racing! On your marks…. Get set…."

*BRRRRRIIIING!*

"And they're off! Looks like #3 is off to an early lead, 5, 6 and 12 are out of the gate. It looks like a tight race folks! 2, 10, and 8, you've got some catching up to do! Coming up at the halfway point it looks like 3 still has the lead with 5 and 12 right on its tail!"

Riley could sense the tense excitement between the three racers. She knew what she had to do now. Let's pump it up a little. She took those feelings of competition and turned them up to 11. The blond woman and the twins visibly reacted to this and zoned in on the goal.

"Looks like it's coming down to the wire here folks, they are neck and neck down the last stretch. OOH looks like #3 has slowed down!"

Riley felt one of the twin's hearts drop.

"This is it, a photo finish! Who will win?"

With the skill of a master carnie, the blonde flung her ball up the ramp one last time, landing straight in the red.

"12 is the winner! Congratulations! Pick a prize!"

She looked over the booth carefully, considering her options. "I'll take….. That one!"

Yes! Riley (mentally) shouted as she was lifted off of the hook and handed to the woman.

"One stuffed Ralts for the lovely lady! That's it for this race. Come back soon y'all!"

The woman let out a squeeish "So Cute!" as she gave Riley a squeeze. "I think I'm gonna name yo-, "She started, only to be cut off by the ringing in her pocket. "Yo, this is Bebe….. Wait WHAT!? The whole system's down?! I'll be right there." Bebe placed her new toy into her backpack, zipping it up so that the head was still poking out, and took off running.

Before you ask, Dawn is not going to be recurring. Figured a little cameo would be nice. While I did take her performance from "Dawn's Early Night", I did take some creative liberties since there wasn't a carnival going on outside.

As for other inspiration, two things came to mind. The game Bebe played is one of my favorites at our city's Fall Festival. Of course it's horses instead of Rhyhorn.

And secondly, come on. You KNOW laying down in candy floss would be freakin comfy.