Not all Pokemon are born fighters.
Whether due to pure physical weakness, competitive unviability or personal preference, there are many mons that take up the job of a Contester. Unlike battling, in this profession the only thing determining your success is your own movepool and how creatively you use it. Contests are the fundamental part of Pokemon culture. It is how talented artists, musicians and other creative folk can express their feelings to the entire world, show their value and emotionally connect with their audience. The concept has expanded greatly throughout the years, as creators experimented and questioned the rules of what a Contest even is.
Does it need an audience? If everything else is in place, but there are no people to see it, even if the performance is amazing, does it count?
Does it need to resonate with the audience, or should it be worthwhile enough in itself because the Contester has expressed their own feelings?
Does it need to be on a stage? When you throw out the need for an audience, the place of the performance shouldn't have any more significance, right?
Should the performance be temporary in nature, or should there be measures taken to preserve it's beauty?
Does there exist a need for judges, when the quality of a piece is purely subjective and the wrong kind of judge might, ironically, 'misjudge' a piece that could resonate with millions if looked at just a bit differently?
While some people might instinctually gravitate towards certain answers, no honest Contester could say that they have a definite solution.
The sound of a slightly rusty doorbell rings through a small, cozy bar. Generic jazz gently grazes the guest's ears. A small, slender figure shyly rummages to the counter. She sits next to a peculiar-looking medicham. At first Jean notices the lack of oversized lips and a distinct, swirly yellow pattern on her baggy pants. Upon ordering a drink and taking a look at her neighbor's beverage to come up with a conversational ice breaker, another detail catches her eye - unmistakable for the liquid's distortions, all of the stranger's five fingertips are oversized, with pink circles on the insides. While the other differences seemed innocuous, this one is too noticable to not spur Jean's mind into speculation. Upon closer inspection, the glass held in the medi's hand seems the most suspicious. It's almost "Hey, mind introducing yourself?"
- "OH! Right. Sorry. It's Jean."
- "Li. Who're you here for?"
- "The Ledian. All I saw of him were Youtube vids, but he looks really promising."
- "Don't know a thing about him. I'm here for the Gardevoir."
- "*sigh*, everyone always is."
- "*SIGH*, what are you, a hipster?"
- "The worst kind."
- "Ooooh nooo."
They laugh in that way where they already feel comfortable around each other, but aren't yet capable taking on an entire barfight, staring down pissed off veterans, standing back to back against impossible odds...for being too loud. Yeah, it happens. A lot. Or maybe not. You'll never know~. Go out into the real world to learn about that kinda stuff. Don't rely on me as a source of information. Don't be a mareep. Take the red pill.
The lights of a small, crummy stage dimmed and a small figure walked up to it's center. With a formal, slightly nervous, yet excited tone he spoke to the mic.
- "Please enjoy the show"
He took to the air with a burning hiss that was drowned out by the first notes of Urszula Dudziak's well-known "Papaya".
Talalalala!
In sync with the singer's gibberish, clones of the original ladybug flew out in every direction, as if they were behind him all the while. The first 2 inner circles had them appear all at the same time, while the outer ring was created one-by-one, to match Urszula's change of tone. During the second verse(?) the ledians turned on their Tailglows, changing the color of their pseudo-jetpacks's flames, all in accordance to the rhythm, just like in the previous verse. At the third repeating of the "refrain", they did the same to their arms, using Fiery Dance to put them on fire, creating a web of multicolored dots.
The fourth repeat made the bugs start to rapidly circle each other, creating concentric rings of fire with their pure speed.
A sudden tempo shift to Dudziak's, for lack of a better word, "solo", made the outer ring of ledians scatter randomly, before going back to their place. The same took place with the second and first rings, until the central ledian flew with more velocity and finesse than all of them combined.
From then on, describing the lightshow would be impossible in less than a whole book. From ledians creating distinct shapes out of their formations, to downright psychedelic flurries of multi-colored flames, to the finale, wherein they flew to the edges of the stage, leaving a ton of empty space, before using Fiery Dance to throw multi-colored embers at each other, catching the ones lobbed by others, almost like a juggling act.
- "Seems inspired by Itano Missile Circuses, right?"
-"Shh!"
As the song slowly faded out, so did the flames, burning out one by one until the last one was thrown upwards by the main ledian and exploded like a small firework.
This level of quality was not expected by the customers. The only reason people weren't enthusiastically cheering on was because all of their jaws were floored by second 5. While a normal curtain call would start once the performance ends and last for about a minute, this one had a delayed beginning and no end.
After running away from the scary herd of new fans and hiding in a back alley, Seth could finally sigh in relief. This show was supposed to be his magnum opus, his first step into the life of a Contester, but while he already stole the audience's hearts, he was worried, due to the fact he didn't notice any recognizable Trainers or Contesters that he could exchange contact info with.
After coming back home, he found an unfamiliar girl standing in front of his doorway, almost as if she was waiting for him. He was surprised by her dedication, considering that he went back home over 3 hours after ending the show. Once they made eye contact, her body language quickly shifted from "god-how-much-longer-do-I-have-to-wait" to "oh-hi-there-I-was-just-passing-by-I-didn't-notice-you-there".
- "Heya. Sorry if it seems creepy to go to your house when you're not there-"
- "It is."
- "Yeah, again, sorry. Anyways, I just wanted to congratulate you on the show and- *achoo!*-... ask if you wanted to do a show together sometimes?name's Jean, by the way."
-"Seth. You're that dancing lopunny, right? I remember that you're one of the people who also do battles, even though you apparently lose a lot."
- "Um, it's a...side hobby?"
- "Whatever. I'm just really tired right now. You could've just sent me an email. My address is public, you know."
- "REALLY? Oh man, I should've checked more thoroughly. Well, either way I would've chosen to wait for you here."
- "Why-"
- "Well, anyways. Here's my info. Let's go out for coffee sometime!"
And so, Jean caught a nasty cold for a whole week, just to impress a single amateur with her perseverance, managing only to weird him out with her aloofness. Yeah. I guess confusing people is the thing she's the best at.
review and cnstrctv crtcsm only plz kthxbye.
