Chapter 10: Camera! Lights! Appeal!
Excitement rose through the streets of Floaroma Town as the day of the contest drew near. The townspeople and tourists all began to pour into the hall to grab their seats and confectionarys as the contestants prepared themselves for the coming event.
Sulfur was among those contestants. Sulfur stood in the contestant lobby looking bewildered with a Ralts on his head wondering where Topaz was with his contest outfit.
"Where is the woman?" Sulfur asked annoyed. As he was asking that, Sulfur was pulled aside by a tired Topaz.
"Okay, I finally finished everything. All the buttons are on and here's Ren's headband. Go change and make sure the flower is on the higher part of the left side of her head. I'll meet you at the contestant lobby when you're done." Topaz quickly explained.
"Flower, wha-?" Sulfur said asked but was quickly pushed into his booth. Sulfur quickly changed into the new outfit made for him.
The first thing Sulfur changed into was the light green, dress shirt that fitted quite comfortably. He then placed on the well fitted pants that were a slightly darker shade of green. After tucking in the dress shirt and putting on his shoes, Sulfur went forth to putting on the matching yellow tie. The brown vest was the final garment to be worn to make the outfit complete. Sulfur turned to Ren who had been standing patiently and placed the headband how he was instructed to.
Exiting the booth, both Pokémon and trainer were ready for the upcoming event. Both Sulfur and Ren quickly made their way to the coordinator lobby waiting to be called out. The lobby was a reasonably sized room with many coordinators and Pokémon talking amongst themselves and intently watching a big monitor. There were seven minutes to showtime.
Sulfur looked around the lobby and noticed a certain dark haired coordinator from before. He was wearing a blue suit that made his hair color pop out more.
*Had it always been blue?* Sulfur thought to himself.
The mystery coordinator had a Kirlia wearing a red bowtie. The coordinator looked over to Sulfur and began making his way to greet him.
"Hey, you made it! I was wondering when you'd get here." the trainer said as he looked over Ren. "Didn't know you had a cute little Ralts if your own."
"Of course I would make it. I have put too much effort into this to just let it go to waste." Sulfur replied while Ren blushed slightly at the compliment. "Your Kirlia is also well kept. I am assuming it's male." The trainer smiled at the mention of his Pokémon.
"Yup! Little Rico here is all male despite wearing a skirt." The trainer teased has the Kirlia sent a wink over to Ren.
Ren flinched and hid behind Sulfur's head uncomfortably. The sound of music and a cheering crowd drew everyone's attention to the monitor as the hostess began her introduction speech to the crowd. It wouldn't be long now before the contest truly began.
"Cy?!"
The dark haired trainer turned around at the sound of his apparent name and smiled when he saw who had called out to him.
"Paz!"
Topaz ran over to the male trainer and gave the trainer a hug.
"Cyan I can't believe you're here! I thought you wouldn't be back until another month. And if you're here, then where's…?" Topaz looked over behind Cyan and found Rico playfully hiding behind his trainer. "Rico!" The Kirlia let out a happy cry and jumped onto Topaz, who gave the Pokémon a tight hug. Topaz giggled the entire time.
Sulfur looked onto the scene that unraveled before him. Clearly there was some history between the two. As the small reunion was unfolding, Ren tapped Sulfur's head bringing his attention to the monitor up above. The contestant names were being lined up in order of their assigned number to start the appeals stage.
"It seems as if we will have to move this little reunion until after the contest." Sulfur stated. Topaz looked over to Sulfur and sighed.
"Yeah, fine. I guess you're right, Goldie. Oh, right. One last thing before you both perform. Cy, this is Sulfur. He's our new neighbor from Hoenn." Topaz said as she handed back Rico.
"Well, I'm finally glad to know your name. I forgot to introduce myself the other day during our battle. Sorry." Cyan said while looking over to Sulfur.
Sulfur nodded as Topaz left the lobby. Now everyone sat eagerly waiting to be called up.
"Let's topple the competition, Ren." Sulfur said to his Ralts. Ren gave her bell in agreement.
Out on the stage, the hostess was finishing introducing the judges.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen I hope you're pumped! Get ready to see trainer and Pokémon give it their all on stage!" The hostess said while the crowd cheered. "Let's get started!"
The crowd cheered for each trainer that ran up on stage. One after another, each showed off the best they could, earning the crowd's aprovement and scoring some points with the judges. Finally, it was Sulfur's turn.
The hostess began. "I hope you're ready for our next competitor! All the the way from Hoenn! Sulfur and his Ralts, Ren!"
Sulfur ran on stage, pokéball and capsule ready. "Let's do this." Sulfur said giving his pokeball a quick kiss. "Ren! Appeal!.
The pokeball burst open with a shower of flower petals as the small Ralts landed on stage. All cameras focused on Ren as she began to feel nervous of all the eyes looking her way.
"*I've never seen so many humans in one place.*" Ren whispered nervously to herself.
Topaz sat in the crowd, taking part in making Ren nervous, which was clear from far away.
"C'mon, Ren. It's not the time to get stage fright. You have to perform." Topaz said to herself.
Slowly, feelings of cheerfulness and happiness began to fill Ren, calming her down and warming her body up a little. Despite his calm demeanor, Sulfur felt joy rise up inside him from being on stage. The cheering crowd and bright lights had gotten the better of him. Now with both contestants ready, Sulfur felt a big grin stretch across his face as he began.
"Ren! Let's begin! Double team!" Sulfur command excitedly.
Picking up on Sulfur's emotions, Ren continued more confidently. Ren created various clones of herself, each one danced around cutely while two began to face each other.
"Growl!" Sulfur continued.
The two Ralts used growl loud enough for two rings to come forth, continually slamming into each other behind the prancing Ralts.
"Alright! Finish it off with confusion." Sulfur said giving his last command.
One of the prancing Ralts turned and caught a ring of sound using her psychic abilities and held it above herself. The other clones began to dance around the circle for a short while before lining up side by side with the Ralts holding the ring. Finally the center Ralts unleashed the psychic circle, sending the sound of a Ralts Bell cry into the audience. Each Ralts bowed and disappeared until Ren was left in the center. Suddenly a huge roar of cheering came from the stage.
The hostess began. "That was adorable! This pair knew how to deliver!"
The judges, looking impressed, wrote down their scores for the computer. They gave Sulfur and Ren all circles, signifying they were satisfied with the performance. Overwhelmed with happiness, Sulfur picked up Ren and ran off stage.
The hostess continued. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're all excited for our next contender! Let's all give them a hand!"
Cyan stepped out onto the stage once the hostess presented.
*It's great to be back on stage!* Cyan pulled out a pokéball and tossed up.
"Let's go, Rico! Be ready!" As the capsule opened, a line of confetti flew up and formed a ball which then fell to the ground and exploded, revealing a posing Kirlia, ready to provide a show. Cyan smiled at his ridiculous acting Pokémon.
"Rico, calm mind!" Rico closed his eyes and began to spin around as his body began to glow a faint blue color. Upon spinning a full circle, Rico opened his eyes which also had a faint blue glow to them before fading.
"Now, magical leaf!" Rico brought his arms above his head and as he brought them down to his sides, two sets out magical leaves flew out in opposite directions. Timing it right, Cyan called out his next attack.
"Quickly, psychic!" With a look of concentration, Rico's eyes began to glow a light blue as he captured both sets of magical leaves in a blue aura. As he moved his arms smoothly, Rico formed two small butterflies with the glowing leaves. Moving them around quickly, Rico moved the butterflies closer together.
"Finish it with teleport!" Rico released the leaf butterflies and disappeared as they began to collide with one another, showering down sparkles toward the ground. Rico reappeared in the midst of the shower, posing once more and ending his performance. Cyan rushed to catch his Kirlia, smiling all the while. Both Cyan and Rico turned toward the judges, waiting for their final score.
Sulfur was amazed, certainly less complicated and yet they were able to provide such an amazing performance.
Clearly there was more to this contest business than Sulfur had originally anticipated.
The hostess again spoke interrupting Sulfurs thoughts. "Amazing performance! Let's all give them a round of applause!"
The entire stadium erupted in cheers of applause as the judge showed their scores. The duo left the stage content and confident they would advance. Sulfur looked on from back stage.
*They might prove to be more of an obstacle than I originally thought.* Sulfur thought to himself. .
Topaz smiled at the end of Cyan and Rico's performance. She quickly got out of her seat and made her way back to the contestant lobby.
Cyan and Rico also made their way back to the lobby. Upon spotting Sulfur, Cyan walked up to the trainer and his Ralts.
"You did pretty great for your first time. Your Ralts was extremely adorable, too." Cyan commented.
"Yes, hopefully that will be enough to make the cut as well." Sulfur replied.
"Don't worry too much about it. That was a really unique way of using growl. I would have never thought of that." Cyan said admiringly. As the two contestants were talking, Topaz finally walked in the lobby.
"Well, there's my little cute guy. Perfectly silly like always." Topaz said as she grabbed Rico. Topaz then looked over at Sulfur and Ren. "Way to go out there, you two. You really made that performance your own. Especially with that growl in the end. Nice work, Ren." Topaz said.
Ren smiled at the short praise as Sulfur gave a thankful nod. The act had been greatly altered by Sulfur much to Topaz's surprise. Ren did get cold feet upon her entrance but in the end, the performance was executed flawlessly.
Some time past as coordinator after coordinator attempted to appeal to the judges. Appeals of all kinds showing off the Pokémon best attributes. The crowd went crazy for each new Pokémon, excited to see what the next team would provide for them. However, not all will make the cut and that was made evident as soon as the screen in the lobby began to list photos of those who had passed.
"Everyone give it up for our coordinators who made it to the next round!" The hostess cheered as the crowd applauded. "We're going to take a quick intermission while our coordinators prepare for the next round! Get ready to see battles that will make you say wow!"
Sulfur smiled as he saw his face displayed on the screen. He had made a good enough impression to move on to the second round. Upon closer inspection, Sulfur noticed Cyan was among those also chosen.
"This will certainly be interesting." Sulfur said to himself. Ren smiled as she felt Sulfurs feeling of excitement build inside her as well. Cyan smiled as well.
"Yup, it will be interesting. Hopefully, we might get to battle each other at the finals. On either case, may the best man win." Cyan said.
Sulfur gave one final nod as the the competitors were matched at random. His feelings of determination grew inside him as he looked on, feelings he had never before felt. Truly this was the rush Sulfur was searching for.