Thanks for the...um...not reviews on Chapter 10. Let's keep it moving.
Chapter 11 – Welcome to Peridot City!
4:30 pm. Peridot City.
David, Faith, and their new companion, Jamie the "gatekeeper" had finally arrived in Peridot City. Even from street level, David could tell the place was at least twice the size of Amber Town. Trees were dotted left and right and there were also a few patches of flowers here and there. Faith couldn't help but smile in awe of the place.
"This place is amazing!" Faith said happily.
"Eh, it's all right," Jamie said with a shrug. "I've lived here my whole life and nothing surprises me anymore."
"All right, first thing's first," David said. "I really need to get my Cyndaquil healed up at the Pokémon Center. And Faith needs to pick something up."
"Huh?" Faith blinked absentmindedly before a light bulb lit up in her brain. "Oh, right! The package! I forgot about that!"
"I'll show you the way," Jamie said. "I need to get my bugs healed up too."
A few minutes later, at the Pokémon Center…
"Welcome to our Pokémon Center!"
"Hiya, Nurse Joy!"
David and Faith were both stunned, to say the least, to see Jamie happily greeting…the nurse from Lazuli Town?!
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Jamie," Nurse Joy said.
"Uh…Nurse Joy?" David started, unsure of what to say. "Not that I'm happy to see you again or anything, but how did you get here from Lazuli Town so fast?"
Nurse Joy blinked. "Lazuli Town? Oh, I see you've met my sister!"
"Sister?!" David said. "Is this a joke?!"
"It's the truth!" Jamie said. "Every Pokémon Center is run by a Nurse Joy and they're all related!"
"Yup," Nurse Joy said with her "usual" heartwarming smile. "The Joy in Lazuli Town is my older sister."
"But personally," Jamie added in a whisper, "I think it's all a big cloning conspiracy organized by the government."
"That's ridiculous," Faith said. "There's no such thing as clones." (Elsewhere, Mewtwo sneezed.)
"So what can I do for you three?" Nurse Joy asked.
"We'd like our Pokémon healed up," David said, placing his Poké balls on the counter with Jamie's.
"And I think there's a package for me here, too," Faith added, placing her Poké balls on the counter as well.
"Oh, so you're Faith then?" Nurse Joy asked, to which Faith nodded. "I've been holding onto this for three days now. I didn't think the recipient would ever show up." Nurse Joy bent down behind her counter and took out a small rectangular package, which Faith took and opened promptly. Her eyes widened dramatically when she took out a flowy yellow dress with daisies embroidered near the hem.
"A dress?" David asked, confused.
"It's so beautiful!" Faith said, tearing up a bit. "I can't believe Mom bought this for me!"
"But why did she send it?" David asked.
"I know why," Jamie answered. "It's optional, but to make a better impression on the judges during contests, you can dress up all fancy-like."
"Mom used to wear a dress like this when she participated in the Contests," Faith said, hugging the dress as though it were her own child. "Look at these patterns! And all the measurements are just perfect!"
The group allowed Faith to cling to her dress for a little longer, until she noticed that Nurse Joy was gone. "Where'd Nurse Joy go?"
"I'm right here," Nurse Joy said, emerging from the back room. "Sorry for disappearing on you. But I'm happy to tell you that your Pokémon will recover in 30 minutes."
"Thirty minutes?" David asked. "It only took 15 the last time."
"Well, it takes longer for a larger group," Nurse Joy said.
"I guess that makes sense," David said with a nod. "So what do we do until then?"
"We never had lunch," Faith said, folding her dress back into the box.
"I got a better idea!" Jamie chimed in. "Let's take a look at the Contest Hall!"
Faith pressed a finger to her lips. "That is a better idea. Let's go!" Faith immediately grabbed both boys' arms and dragged them out of the Pokémon Center. She didn't realize, however, that Nurse Joy was now in charge of watching her dress.
"Oooookay, then."
A few minutes later…
"Is this the place?" David asked.
"Yup, that's it," Jamie said. "Peridot City Contest Hall!"
The three kids stared up at the large building wide-eyed. The Contest Hall appeared to be about two stories tall. The white bricks holding the place together were bordered at the corners by a metal that seemed to be painted lime green. There was a silhouette of a Contest Ribbon painted on the double doors and a huge screen mounted above the entrance, presumably for people who preferred to watch outside or couldn't buy a ticket.
"This place is swanky," David said, checking out the building. "Not a speck of dirt on it."
"I've gotta see the inside!" Faith said, rushing through the double doors.
"Wait, hang on!" David said, following her while Jamie took up the rear.
Faith, of course, was the first to enter the main hall. The main stage was built like an ampitheater with rising stadium seats from the front to the back. The floor was painted with a Poké ball symbol and there was a big screen in the back of the main stage, presumably for the scoreboard. There were also maintenance people setting up spotlights and speakers.
"This is awesome," David said, looking around.
"Hey," Jamie said, pointing towards the stage. "Who's he?"
Everyone looked to the main stage to see a man with brown eyes and well tamed brown hair. The bangs on the left side of his head had a very slight curl. He wore a white buttondown shirt, red vest, tight black pants, and a leather bolo tie.
"I guess it's practice time," the man said, tossing out a Poké ball. "Gardevoir, come on!"
From the ball emerged the most humanoid Pokémon David and the others had laid eyes on, spinning gracefully. Gardevoir appeared to be wearing a white gown and sported green arms and shoulder length hair as well as piercing red eyes.
"That has to be the most beautiful Pokémon I've ever seen," Faith said as she took out her Pokédex.
"Gardevoir – the Embrace Pokémon. It will try to guard its trusted Trainer with its life. It has the ability to see the future."
"Start off with Double Team," the man said.
Gardevoir placed its hands on its heart and glowed white for an instant before splitting into seven Gardevoir copies, surrounding its trainer.
"Good. Now, Calm Mind."
The Gardevoir copies closed their eyes and glowed a glorious pink. The pink energy seemed to snake higher and higher.
"Incredible," Faith said, taking out her Poké Balls and opening them both. "You girls have gotta see this!"
Wildleaf and Marina both emerged from the white light. Their eyes widened as they watched Gardevoir's performance. David and Jamie also gazed in amazement with sparkly eyes.
"Follow up with Psychic!" the man said with a flick of his wrist.
Gardevoir's eyes glowed blue as the seven copies rose gracefully into the air along with its trainer. Marina, unable to contain herself, immediately bounced toward the stage with Wildleaf following to stop her.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Faith shouted, running after them. "We can't interrupt!"
"Faith, where are you going?!" David shouted as he and Jamie followed her.
Gardevoir and its trainer immediately stopped and floated back down as they watched Marina happily bouncing towards the stage with the others not too far behind.
"Marina," Faith said, scooping up the Polka Dot Pokémon, "don't go running off like that again!"
Marina only responded by blowing several glossy bubbles from her mouth. Gardevoir's trainer looked certainly amazed.
"That's quite a Bubble Attack," the man said with a smile. "I'm impressed."
"Oh!" Faith tried futilely to cover up her blush. "Um…yeah, I guess it is."
David and Jamie couldn't help but sweatdrop at Faith's blush.
Typical girl, David thought. Falls to pieces at the sight of a pretty face.
"But your Gardevoir," Jamie spoke up, "was really impressive!"
"Thank you," the man said. "Gardevoir and I have been together since I was a kid. We've become like…brothers of sorts."
"Brothers, huh?" David said. "Wait. Gardevoir's a dude?!"
Gardevoir giggled while his trainer merely shrugged. "I know what you're thinking. Male or female, this is how all Gardevoir look. But you know, there's one surefire way to check…"
"I think I'll pass," David quickly interrupted.
"Fair enough," the man said. "By the way, my name is Damien. I'm the host of the Contests held in the Awani Region. By any chance, are you three coordinators?"
"I'm just getting started," Faith said happily.
"I…haven't decided yet," David said, scratching his head.
"Nah," Jamie said, folding his arms. "Contests are too complicated for me."
Damien laughed. "Well, in any case, you should probably head to the front desk and register. The Contest begins in two days."
"TWO DAYS?!"
Seconds later…
Yeah. They ran that fast.
The receptionist, a young woman with blue hair, was a little surprised to see David and Faith both hunched over and out of breath.
"I'd like to…huff…register for the Contest," Faith wheezed out.
"Yeah…whew…me too," David gasped.
"Um…certainly," the receptionist said. "I'll just need to see your Contest Passes first."
David and Faith stared at each other before they both replied, "We don't have one."
"Oh." The receptionist blinked. "Then this must be your first Contest. I can issue your Contest Passes right now. I'll just need to see some ID."
David and Faith searched themselves for a few seconds before taking their Pokédexes out of their bags.
"That'll work," the receptionist said, taking their Pokédexes and sliding them into a console. She then tapped away at her keyboard for a few seconds until the Pokédexes slid back out along with two plastic cards with David and Faith's respective pictures.
"And there you go," the receptionist said, cheerfully handing back their possessions. "The two of you are now registered to enter Contests in the Awani Region."
"Yes!" Faith cheered, placing her things back in her handbag.
"Cool." David took his time examining his Pass.
"Also," the receptionist added, "a ribbon case for each of you." She placed two small rectangular cases on the counter. They both had a ribbon silhouette printed on the front, but the one on the left was colored green while the right case was yellow. "You will each need to win five ribbons in order to qualify for the Awani Grand Festival. I wish you both the best of luck!"
"Thanks a lot," David and Faith said in unison, just as Jamie arrived at the front desk.
"Are you guys all set?" Jamie asked, folding his arms.
"Yup," Faith said, packing her ribbon case in her handbag. "Well, we have two days to get ready, so I'm gonna go out and practice."
"Yeah, I'll go with you," David said, following her outside.
"Let me know if I can help!" Jamie said, nearly running into the door.
Back outside, behind the Pokémon Center…
David and Faith had already called out their respective Pokémon and were taking turns doing appeals. Jamie, Wurmple, and Venonat, however, were watching from the sidelines.
"Ready?" David asked.
"All set, David!" Faith shouted.
"Go!"
"Go Wildleaf! Use Razor Leaf!"
Wildleaf swung her big leaf, sending a volley of sharp leaves flying straight forward.
"Hmm," Faith pondered, "not quite. Try tilting it down a bit."
Wildleaf swung her leaf around again before tilting it at a slight angle. This time, the sharp leaves seemed to roll around the ground, much like a Frisbee rolling on end. However, they slowed down rather quick and fell flat on the ground.
"That was pretty good," Jamie said with a nod.
"Needs a little more oomph, though," Faith said. "Wildleaf, we'll work on that later. It's your turn, Marina!"
Marina, however, didn't move.
"Marina?" Faith asked. "Is something wrong?"
"AZUUUUUU!!!" Marina started crying at an earsplitting volume, freaking out the entire block. David and the others all had to cover their ears while Faith quickly picked up and rocked her in her arms.
"What's the matter, Marina?" Faith asked, a little panicked. "I need you to quiet down and tell me what's wrong!"
Marina's crying gradually died down and was replaced by the sound of her stomach grumbling.
"Oh." Faith blinked. "So you're hungry then. We need to buy some Pokémon food for the road."
"Oh yeah…" David suddenly clutched his stomach. "We still haven't eaten anything since this morning."
"Let's head back to the Pokémon Center and get some grub," Jamie said.
"I know a better place we can go."
The group turned and saw Kimberly smiling.
"No such thing as clones." I'm awesome. And here's the next profile for our ever gracious host.
Name: Damien
Age: 24
Sex: Male
Hometown: ???
Appearance: Brown hair with long bangs, white shirt, black pants, red vest, bolo tie
Bio: The ever gracious host of the Awani Region Contests. Whether or not he is related to Vivian, Lillian, or even Marian is unknown. He has a killer microphone voice and a fondness for Chamomile tea.
Pokémon: Gardevoir, Lopunny
The Pokémon Conest does start in the next chapter, but Kimberly's taking the gang to a local diner for some proper eats first.
By the way, if anyone can think of any cool appeals, please give me some ideas because I'm stuck!
