9- Cherrygove contest! First ribbon?
-It's time I'm ready, everything is done, my pokémon are with Shinji… how weird did that just sound- Hikari laughed quietly to herself as she made a mental list. She was finishing brushing her hair in the coordinator's changing room, the contest had just begun and she would give her all.
-Coordinators, five minutes- A young man announced entering the changing rooms with a clipboard in his hands, letting everyone know that…
-…It's time- Hikari repeated, making a bow in her hair with the white ribbon.
Outside of pokémon center in the training field Shinji was practicing some aim with Lux and Flora, both were giving their best, excited to see Hikari on screen when she made her first appearance in Johto. Poffin was helping Lux giving her advice on how to control her electricity. Dusk, Hiela, Gliscor and Ro also trained together.
Inside at the pokémon center's lobby, Amy was sitting in one of the sofas with the egg beside her, protecting it with one of her tails and in the other one was one of the screens' remote (that Chansey had kindly handed to her) where she kept the channel at Cherrygrove's contest.
A crowd of fans have gathered today and everyone is here to see Cherrygove city's contest and I don't need to explain we are here live in this beautiful city!- Mimian, the host, exclaimed happily to her mic at the center stage –The winner of today's contest will obtain this – She said showing up something to the public and the cameras –The Cherrygrove ribbon!- That consisted in a circular golden badge with red and pink ribbons –Coordinator's must obtain 5 ribbons total to enter the Grand Festival- She explained.
Hikari saw the ribbon from the screen –That ribbon will be mine – She told herself *Guys, I hope you're giving your best but don't miss my first presentation, I just got here but it's time to shine!* She thought as she closed her eyes and concentrated.
-And now is time to meet our judges! - Mimian said gesturing to the judges –Mr. Contesta!
-Thanks, I'm joining you to see this marvelous competition- He commented with a smile.
-The club fans president, Mr. Sukizo!
-Ready to see the battles.
-And our dear Cherrygrove nurse joy.
-I can't wait to see all the wonderful pokémon that will compete.
-And without further ado is time to see the first round in the stage- Mimian said, heading to one of the sidelines to leave the center free.
-Here we go Glameow, even though she's far away, Hikari is counting on our support- Ayako told her star pokémon. They charismatic and extroverted gray cat, as she sat in the sofa with a glass of juice and some snacks.
-Miah wa! - Glameow moved her tail around expectantly.
-And here i sour first constant, Inuko and her Houndoom! - A brown haired girl came out of the tunnel that connected to the coordinator's changing rooms and tossed up a poké ball to the air. From it came out a bunch of fire speckles and an intimidating Houndoom.
-Now Houndoom, use swift and fire spin! - The dark pokémon shoot a rain of stars on top of itself all over the field and then spit a few fire rings from its mouth, catching some of the stars and creating a thin fire tornado spiraling down around it –Jump and finish it with iron tail! - The Houndoom jumped among the flames and finished everything with an iron tail, cutting through the fire and the small stars, leaving sparkles and speckles of fire all over the scenario.
-What an iron tail! It was a great hit! - Mimian exclaimed.
Various pokémon started to do their presentations, among them a Dustox, a Rattata, a Dusclops, a Breloom… and Hikari just sat patiently and attentive, waiting for her turn until it finally came.
-And now let's give a warm welcome to Hikari, a Sinnoh coordinator that will be debuting in Johto today!
Amy left the remote when she heard her trainer's name and ran up outside to the field, crossing the automatic slide doors.
-Embi, bipa bi bi ambipah!- She yelled excitedly, pointing to the pokémon center's lobby with the tail that wasn't holding the egg, all the other pokémon stopped what they were doing to pay attention and Hikari's pokémon ran inside. Shinji followed them, his pokémon looked at each other and then went to look as well, except Ro who was too huge but still peeked from the doors to see the debut.
Hikari went up to stage in her new dress –Riri, charm up!- She yelled tossing the poké ball, that upon opening let out a bunch of pink confetti and the Buneary –Let's go, use your ice beam and dizzy punch combo!- She ordered pointing to the center of the stage.
Riri used ice beam to freeze the floor making an ice rink and then her ear's fur started glowing multicolored as she skated along the whole field, using her paws and ears, jumping and making patterns and other movements like a professional, her experience really shone through.
-Now use bounce!- Riri jumped up with force and when she fell down she hit the floor with her ears, breaking part of the ice with a huge impact and making ice shards fly all over the field creating sparkles –Well done!- Riri landed in the center of the stage and made a reverence with Hikari.
-Brilliant! Buneary really knows how to use colors and shines! - Mimian said as the public clapped.
-She did very well don't you think? - Ayako asked her Glameow.
-Miah!
-Even though is not a new appeal presentation she's got more experience and has improved.
All the pokémon looked excited after the presentation, Flora was swaying her leaf around, Amy was jumping in one foot, Poffin was giving little jumps as well, Dusk cawed loudly, Lux moved her tail around happily, Hiela raised a clawed hand in approval and Gliscor just looked at the scene. Shinji looked thoughtful as the pokémon commented around, outside Ro nodded and went back to the field, followed by Gliscor.
-She did pretty well- The boy murmured to himself, remembering how Riri and Hikari had been practicing a four loop jump until the bunny could land it well.
-And that was our last participant, now the judge's scores will decide who are the lucky eight that advanced to the next round- Mimian explained, while in the screen appeared a few cards that started shuffling around –And here they are! - Among the ones that passed to the next round Hikari appeared in second place and the Houndoom girl Inuko was in third, the rest were unknown yet. Immediately, pairs were formed with the cards and Hikari was going against a short black-haired and blue-eyed girl for the first battle.
-I'm first- Hikari told herself between nervous and excited –Then I'm sure I won't interrupt training that much- She stood from the bench, grabbed her poké ball and went to the exit of the dressing room.
-Now we have the first battle of the second round, the clock marks 5 minutes, the first to be knocked out, lose all their points or have lowest score when the time is over will lose… are you ready coordinators?- Mimian did a quick rundown of the rules as both participants took their places in the field –Begin!
-Riri charm up!
-Let's go Murkrow!
-It'll be Mikan's Murkrow against Hikari's Buneary
-Murkrow huh? Riri ice beam quick! - Hikari ordered pointing at the field; the bunny pokémon launched a cold beam from her mouth.
-Murkrow feint attack!- The crow pokémon disappeared in a second and reappeared behind Riri, hitting her and tossing her in the air with a wing slap, Hikari's points decreased a bit.
-Riri another ice beam! - Riri managed to shoot another ice beam while she was in the air.
-Use a combo, steel wing and aerial ace! - Mikan ordered calmly. Murkrow went straight to the ice beam with its silver-colored wings, the ice got stuck on them and Murkrow winced but kept going forward, did a flip in the air and hit Riri with the combination, taking away a lot of points from Hikari.
-That was amazing; the steel wing covered by ice and combined with a powerful aerial ace sure did a lot of damage- Mimian commented.
-Riri no! - Hikari yelled out worried, she tossed an annoyed glance at her opponent and noticed that the Murkrow's wings still had some ice leftovers, which was weakening it and slowing it down-Perfect- She mumbled –Riri use dizzy punch no! - Riri ran up against the small black bird and with a jump she was all over him hitting repeatedly with her sparkling ears, decreasing many points from Mikan.
-Don't take that from a Buneary, use peck! - The black-haired girl said, however the Murkrow just fell flat on the ground dizzily, its red eyes has a slight pink-ish hue.
-Great, now is the time use ice beam! - This time it was a direct hit, doing lots of damage to the dark-type.
-Murkrow, try to use shadow ball now!- At this point the Murkrow's trainer was started to get impatient and a bit desperate, however her still-confused pokémon simply shot a shadow ball to the ceiling of the contest hall.
-Riri use bounce- Riri jumped up with her fluffy paws as high as she could and then fell on top of the Murkrow with all her strength and weight, making him crash to the ground and caw loudly in pain. When Buneary stepped back the dart pokémon was knocked out, at the judge's stalls three red X appeared, making it official.
-Ouch! Those attacks left poor Murkrow unable to battle, Hikari and Buneary advance to the next round!
-Good job Riri! - Hikari exclaimed happily hugging the little bunny that jumped to her arms.
At the other side of the field, Mikan returned her Murkrow as she mumbled something like 'I knew that combination would cost me the battle'
At the pokémon center, once more, the pokémon celebrated Hikari's victory. Shinji however just shook his head –That movement was pathetic, it was pretty obvious that Murkrow was not ready to endure the ice beam with a steel wing, it was a good plan but the execution… it was lacking experience.
-Krow! - Honchkrow closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.
-Let's keep practicing- All the pokémon went back to the field, when Honchkrow looked around once more he found himself alone and ran after the group gesturing wildly with his wings.
The next contest battles kept going consecutively. Hikari managed to get to the finals after Riri defeated a Cacnea and a Panphy, her pokémon however didn't see the battle due to Shinji's insistence of "If you're gonna watch every battle, we'll waste the whole afternoon on this" and things like that, so for the most part they were practicing until Amy called them all to see the finals…
-And now we're here at the finals of this magnificent contest, only two coordinators have gotten here and the winner of this battle… will receive the Cherrygrove ribbon!- She said showing again the red and pink ribbon –Here we have Inuko and her Houndoom against Hikari and Buneary! Begin!
-Houndoom flamethrower!
-Riri counter it with ice beam! - Both attacks clashed in the middle of the hall and canceled each other, creating a dense mist in the field.
-Bite! - It seemed like this didn't bother Inuko or her Houndoom at all. The dark pokémon jumped to attack baring its fangs.
Hikari took a quick decision –Use bounce to evade it!- Riri jumped up above the mist and managed to take a good look at the dark spot that was her opponent, falling on top of him with force.
-No you won't, iron tail!- The slender silver tail lashed out like a whip against Riri, sending her flying across the field –Swift now!- Houndoom immediately turned with momentum and shot a bunch of small brilliant stars against the Buneary.
Hikari saw that Riri could not evade the barricade of stars but a quick idea entered her mind –Riri use dizzy punch!
Her fluffy ears started shinning in different colors and Riri skidded on the ground before running up again in the Houndoom's direction, hitting any star that got close to her and turning them into mere brilliant dust that made the bunny stand out –Bun, bun, bun!
-Look at that good use of dizzy punch, it turns around Inuko's attack on her favor!
Riri managed to get close to the Houndoom and started landing some hits on it as well. Hikari clenched her fists, silently wishing for the confusion to act out again.
-Houndoom flamethrower again!
-Riri quick attack! - The flamethrower was immediate and being so close it hit Riri head on, burning her fur a bit –No! Use ice beam, aim for the horns! - The bunny gritted her teeth and managed another ice beam, having nothing on her way she managed to hit the pokémon, effectively freezing its horns.
-Oh yeah? Let's go with a headbutt then! - Inuko exclaimed, The Houndoom lowered its head and basically sprinted towards Riri like a battering ram, connecting another hit.
-Riri!- Hikari yelled out –Don't give u you can do it!- Hikari called out worriedly but still trying to support her, Riri was probably pretty tired and hurt already, just a little more.
-B-bun…- Riri stood up with some difficulty and ran up to the dark pokémon, her right foot started glowing and she gave a strong kick against her opponent's snout
–W-what was that?!
-Unbelievable! Mimian said –Looks like Buneary just learned…
-Buneary learned high jump kick- Shinji said, somewhat analyzing – That will do a lot of damage against a dark type like that Houndoom- Hikari's pokémon looked at the battle impressed, not daring to look away, all of them excited and at the same time expecting to see what would happen next.
-Yes! Well done Riri, let's finish this! - Her trainer said recovering confidence, extending a fist forward.
-Bun!
-Houndoom, we can't let them win! Attack from a distance with your flamethrower!
-Rawr! - The Houndoom shot another barricade of flames against the Buneary.
- Twirl around and high jump kick!- Buneary jumped around the flames, evading and taking points from Inuko and then hitting Houndoom with another fighting-type move, the dark-type pokémon fell to the ground.
-Houndoom can you keep going? - Inuko asked worried that it was the end of the line.
-Tiiiime up! - Mimian yelled stopping the battle. Bot coordinators immediately shot a glance to the orange-haired woman and then towards the screen –Time is up dear audience and participants, leaving as our winner… Hikari from Twinleaf, Sinnoh!- The people started applauding and cheering the blue-haired girl, Riri ran up to her trainer once more and hugged her.
-Thank you so much Riri, good job! Congratulations- The girl praised.
Inuko had immediately approached her pokémon in the field, giving it kind words and thanking it for all the hard work.
As expected, at the Cherrygrove pokémon center, Hikari's pokémon celebrated happily the great victory and back in Twinleaf at Hikari's house Ayako smiled proudly as Glameow and Umbreon jumped up and down happily in the sofa beside her.
A few minutes later the Cherrygrove ribbon was handed to the girl, Hikari took it with a smile from the tray held by Mr. Contesta and showed it to the audience with pride as Buneary gave small excited jumps.
Approximately an hour later Hikari was back in her room at the pokémon center after having been congratulated by al her pokémon and even Shinji. Tired, she had decided to lie down; after all they would continue their journey to Violet the next day.
-How's that? My first Johto ribbon!- She mentioned proudly, taking her ribbon and sitting on her bed, she pulled her bag next to her and too out two ribbon cases, a dark blue one and a pink one. She picked a handkerchief and started polishing the ribbon's badge until it was shiny. She opened both cases and put the ribbon in the dark blue one, it was the first to be there. The pink one had other 4 ribbons which she started to polish as well.
-What's up with those 4 ribbons? - Shinji asked raising n eyebrow, he was also lying down on his bed checking something on his pokédex.
-Well these are my special ribbons- She said showing the pink case –This one is the first ribbon my mom won, she gave it to me as a symbol of support and a start for me- She showed on with pink ribbons, it looked old wit the ribbons a bit ragged and the metal color faded but still looked good –This was the first one I won- She showed another with the same ribbon color –This one is from the Mikuri cup, the Aqua ribbon, it's from an event almost as good as the Grand Festival itself, dare I say- She showed the beautiful aqua ribbon with light green and blue hues –And this one I won a few days ago, the Veilstone ribbon , when I reunited with Haruka, met Shuu and before coming to Johto- She showed a green ribbon in her hand.
-You take them with you all the time? - He asked showing some curiosity.
-Yes I wanted to- She smiled with a bit of melancholy –I feel like they bring me good luck and they're very important for me. The Veilstone one I could even use it later, it doesn't matter how old is it as long as it hasn't been used to register in a Grand Festival I can use it at any time… I mean, if I go back to Sinnoh next year and win other 4 ribbons I can use this one as fifth- She said, putting away both cases.
-Same goes for badges- He commented –It doesn't really matter how long you take to get al 8, you can only use them once, and even if a gym closes or the leader changes the badge is still valid as long as it was given by an official recognized gym.
-What if they break or get lost? - She asked, somewhat curious and amused about the similarities, she had no idea.
-Like my mineral? That's registered in the trainer's history and can be replaced.
-Ooohh just like ribbons.
-Anyway- He said getting up and stretching a bit after looking at the pokégear –It's almost time to dinner, we should go to the cafeteria.
-All right- The girl put the cases back in her bag and went after Shinji.