Previously in A Poke Tail, most of the members went with Lizabeth to meet the rest of her pokemon and got to see a baby pokemon being born! Meanwhile Natsu won a pokemon egg in a pie eating contest. Now, what will our adventurers experience today at their very first Pokemon Contest?

Chapter 12

Poke Inspiration!

Later that night when everyone made it back at the dorm rooms, Natsu showed the rest of the gang the pokemon egg he had won.

Lizabeth "Natsu that egg will hatch into a baby pokemon soon, you have to promise that you will take good care of it."

Natsu promised

Lucy "Wow Natsu that means you're going to have your very own pokemon soon. I'm so jealous!"

Everyone agreed, but still congratulated him on his victory.

Lizabeth "Say you guys tomorrow they are having a Pokemon Contest at the Contest hall outside of town. Do you all want to go?"

Levy "What's a pokemon contest?"

Andrew "It's where pokemon coordinators compete for ribbons. The object of the competition is to show off powerful moves and make your pokemon looks its best. It's like a hyped up beauty pageant for pokemon."

Blaire frowned "You make it sound so unimpressive. Pokemon contest are very competitive and only the best are allowed to compete in the Grand festival. You should be quiet and let Lizabeth explain, after all she is a top coordinator."

Lucy "Wow really? That's sounds amazing Lizabeth!"

Lizabeth blushed "What Andrew said is fairly correct, but I think the best way to understand is to see a Contest in person. Coordinators travel all over the country and train really hard with their pokemon in order win five ribbons and enter the Grand Festival. Coordinators who win the Grand Festival are given the title Top Coordinator. I won a few years ago."

Blaire "We can take you all to the Competition tomorrow, if you want to go."

All the members excitedly agreed and turned in early. They wanted to get up early so that they could get good seats at the Contest Hall the next day.


The next morning was beautiful, it was a perfect day for a contest. The gang set out early, headed for the Contest Hall. The dragon slayers weren't too thrilled when they found out the fastest way to get there was by trolley, so they had the exceeds fly them and followed the trolley instead.

Even though it was still early in the morning, the courtyard in front of the Contest Hall was already packed with people. They were amazed to see all the vendors, and all the different types of items and foods they were selling. There were even some carnival games with prizes as well. The members had to work very hard to not get distracted as they waited in line for their tickets. When they made it to the front of the line Lizabeth excused herself.

Yukino "Lizabeth where are you going?"

Lizabeth "Oh that's right I forgot to tell you. I won't be able to watch the competition with you guys because I have a guild mission today. Blaire, Andrew will you guys look after them for me?"

Blaire and Andrew nodded, then everyone said goodbye to Lizabeth. The members filed into the Contest Hall and found their seats. The competition would be starting soon.

Gracie Joy walked up to them "Hey everyone! I see you guys made it."

Wendy waved "Gracie hi! Come sit next to me."

Gracie "Ok. Guys this is my friend Max. He is a pokemon trainer."

Max smiled "Hi."

All the members greeted him happily.

Max "Do you all have friends in the Contest too?"

Lucy "No we're from Fiore, so we came to the contest to learn more about pokemon."

"Whoa! I've never met anyone from outside the barrier. It's great that you want to learn more about pokemon, but you know the best way to get to know them is by traveling with pokemon. You guys should try it." he said.

Just then a spotlight appeared on the stage a whirlpool rose from the middle of the stage floor. It stopped and the water scattered into brillant sparkles and mist. When the mist cleared Lizabeth and her Gorebyss were standing in the middle of the stage.

Lizabeth smiled and shouted "Hello Palladium City!"

The crowd applauded, amazed by the grand entrance.

Gray "Wow it's Lizabeth! She looks beautiful."

Juvia "Lizabeth you are now my romantic rival #1!"

Lizabeth was wearing a strapless, dark blue dress with an ocean wave pattern at the bottom. Around her waist was a purple sash tied into a bow in the back, the skirt flared out at the waist and reached down to her knees. She was also wearing her hair down.

Erza "Hosting this contest must have been her mission for today."

Lizabeth "Welcome to the Palladium City Pokemon Contest! I'm your announcer for today Lizabeth! I'm filling in for Marian who is feeling a little under the weather today. Now let's meet our judges."

A second spotlight appeared on the judges' table. "First up is the Chairman of the Pokemon Contest, Mr. Contestant!" she said.

Mr. Contesta "Hello everyone! It's great to be here in Palladium City. I'm looking forward to seeing all the talented Coordinators competing in today's competition."

Lizabeth "Our second judge is the President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

Mr. Sukizo "Palladium City is Remarkable!"

Lizabeth "And our final judge is Palladium City's very own Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy "Thank yo all for coming out today and good luck to all our contestants."

Gracie "Mom sure looks pretty today. I wonder if she put some makeup on?"

Lizabeth "Thank you judges. Now today our Coordinators will be competing for the highly coveted Palladium City ribbon!"

She held up a red and white bow tie ribbon with a golden anchor in the center.

Lizabeth "This is an official contest, so this ribbon will count towards our winning contestants entry into the Grand Festival!"

The crowd cheered as the camera lacrima got a close up of the ribbon.

Wendy "Wow it's so pretty!"

Lizabeth "Now let's get on with the show! Our first Coordinator is Nando the Minstrel!"

Nando calmly walked out on to the stage and bowed then he threw a pokeball into the air, "Roserade, if you please!"

A flurry of pink flower petals came out of the pokeball and an elegant roserade spun down onto the stage floor.

Nando strummed his harp "Roserade use leaf storm!"

The green leaves of Roserade's leaf storm swept up the pink flowers and it became surrounded by a green and pink veil.

Nando "Now use synthesis."

Roserade lifted its rose buds and began to glow. Its silhouette appeared beautifully behind the veil.

Nando strummed his harp once more "Now finish up with Solar Beam, if you please!"

The powerful solar beam shot up into the air taking the petals and leaves with it. Then it exploded and showered the audience with sparkles, flower, and leaves. Roserade gave a final elegant turn and took a bow as the crowd cheered.

Lizabeth "Well now that was a great start to today's competition, let's hear what the judges thought!"

Mr. Contesta "That was a beautiful performance. Very elegant and very creative!"

Mr. Sukizo "Roserade was absolutely remarkable!"

Frosch "Fro thinks so too!"

Nurse Joy "I especially enjoyed how they used the leaf storm and synthesis combination to highlight roserade's silhouette."

Lizabeth "Wow what great comments from the judges. Thank you Nando and now let's move on to our next contestant!"

Mirajane blushed "He's absolutely amazing!"

Max "Yeah Nando is serious competition. His pokemon are all well trained, elegant, and powerful."

Gracie "He made it to the finals in last years Grand Festival, and is favorite for this year too."

Mirajane started gushing "So he is not only handsome, but powerful too! Amazing!"

Lisanna "Umm Mira?"

Yukino "I think she is gonna become a fan girl."

The members watched and applauded for ten more contestants as they came up on the stage and appealed to the judges.

Lizabeth "That was another beautiful appeal! Now next up is Bonnie from Luminose City!"

Max smiled "It's finally Bonnie's turn!"

Sting "Is that the friend you came to watch?"

Max nodded "Yeah her dream is to become a Poke stylist!"

Wendy "That sounds like a great dream. What's your dream Max?"

Max "I wanna become a great gym leader like my dad!"

Bonnie ran out onto the stage and threw a pokeball. "Dedenne, showtime!" she shouted.

In the middle of a flurry of cute bubbles appeared the little electric mouse pokemon dedenne.

Bonnie "Dedenne start with discharge!"

The bubbles lit up with electricity but didn't break. "Now jump and use iron tail!" she said.

Dedenne jumped up and started spinning as its iron tail hit the electrified bubbles, when they popped they made a chiming sound. When dedenne landed it was surrounded by thousands of electrified sparkles.

Bonnie "Now use hyper voice!"

Dedenne flattened its ears and made a loud call. The vibrations from the hyper voice made the sparkles disappear and dedenne bowed cutely as Bonnie waved to the audience.

Lizabeth "Wow what a dazzling performance! Lets see if the judges liked it."

Mr. Contesta "That was a splendid show. Truly electrifying right up to the end."

Mr. Sukizo "The performance was Remarkable!"

Nurse Joy "Yes. Bonnie really showed off how cute and tough dedenne can be.

Lucy "Wow they gave her really good reviews as well."

Levy "Yeah it looks like it's gonna be a close competition."

Max shouted "Yeah Bonnie! You did great!"

Natsu "Hey does that short guy ever say anything other than remarkable?"

Another fourteen contestants showcased their pokemon, before the intermission. Gracie told them they could go backstage and see Lizabeth while the judges were deliberating.


Back stage the gang met up with Lizabeth in her dressing room.

Lizabeth "Hi everyone! Are you guys enjoying the show so far?"

They all nodded. "Lizabeth do you think you could introduce us to some of the contestants? Like Nando perhaps?" said Mirajane.

Lizabeth giggled "Sure i'll try and catch before he sets off again after the contest."

Mirajane "Thank you!"

Erza "So hosting this contest was your mission for today?"

Lizabeth nodded "Nurse Joy asked me yesterday to do it. It's not unusual for top coordinators to MC."

Gray "What's gonna happen next? Do the semifinalists have to appeal again?"

Lizabeth "No the next round is the battle stage. Coordinators have pokemon battles but have to keep in mind that showcasing their pokemon's beauty is important as well."

Natsu smirked "Battling pokemon! It sounds great!"

Romeo "Lizabeth, a boy named Max said that the best way to learn about pokemon is to travel with them."

Lizabeth nodded "That's right. Here in Sinnoh, pokemon trainers travel the countryside with their pokemon. Some either compete in gym battles or pokemon contests. If you're interested in seeing a lot of pokemon it is defiantly the best way. It's what I did after my mom left."

Romeo smiled "That sounds cool. I wish I could do that."

Stage manager "Lizabeth they've finished scoring your needed back up on stage."

Lizabeth "Okay, I'm coming. You guys better get back to your seats. You don't want to miss any of the action. Romeo i'll talk to you later about the traveling idea!"

The members left out the room and quickly made their way back to their seats.

I'm sorry if my contest scenes were a little boring. I promise to do better in the future. A little side note, Bonnie and Max are both ten years old in my story. They're pokemon journey's are just beginning as well. Bonnie's brother let her keep his dedenne as her first pokemon. Thank you for reading and look forward to the following chapters!