Before I begin, I have a sad bit of news that you've probably heard already. I heard that last week Madeleine Blaustein, who was the original voice actress of Meowth on the Pokémon anime as well as Chatot in the second Mystery Dungeon special, passed away in her sleep. She was one of my favorite voice actresses and she will be sorely missed. I can vouch for that.

So right now, let's have a moment of silence for Maddie Blaustein.

-pause-

Thank you. You're all too kind.


Chapter 12 – Peridot City Contest: Let's Appeal!

Later…

Kimberly had taken the group to a diner about two blocks away from the Contest Hall. Faith and Kimberly were cringing as they watched the steam coming out of David's ears as he ate his spicy chicken. Jamie, however, was busy chugging down a glass of milk (Apparently, he'd already eaten earlier) while the girls both ordered a salad.

"How can you eat that stuff?" Faith asked, clearly freaked out.

"Adaptation, I guess," David said. "One time when I was seven, an older kid dared me to swallow half a Tamato Berry. I did it and I didn't even tear up or anything. I've been eating spicy stuff ever since, but there's nothing out there that compares to my Mom's 'killer curry!' Guess my stomach's heatproof. Either way, it was the easiest 500 PokéDollars I've ever made!"

"You are unbelievable," Faith said with a sweatdrop. "By the way, Kimberly, did you register for the Contest here?"

"Yup," Kimberly said with a nod. "I just registered a few minutes ago. I was about to head to the Pokémon Center when I heard your Azurill screaming. Funny, though," she added with a smirk, "I thought you were going to catch a Marill."

"I did," Faith said, glancing here and there, "but the instant Marina we looked into each other's eyes for the first time, we just seemed to click. Isn't that right, Marina?"

Marina didn't answer. She and all the other Pokémon were eating their food on the floor. Marina, however, didn't take a single bite and simply stared at her bowl.

"What's wrong, Marina?" Faith asked as she picked up the little Polka Dot. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Well, maybe she can't eat normal food," Jamie suggested. "I mean, she's still just a baby, right?"

"She is? I'll handle this then." Kimberly raised her hand. "Excuse me, waiter!"

"Yes, Miss?"

"Can I have a small cup of Oran Juice please?"

"Coming right up!"

"Are you always this nice to your competition, Kimberly?" David asked.

"We're competitors tomorrow, David," Kimberly said, putting her fingers together. "That doesn't mean we can't be friends tonight. Besides, it's not often that I get to eat with other people. I travel by myself, so usually it's just me and Lickitung."

A moment of silence passed as the waiter returned to hand Faith her Oran Juice, upon which, Marina hopped into her arms and drank down the whole thing.

"We're paying for our own food, aren't we?" David asked.

"Yup."

Two days later…

"Welcome to the Peridot City Pokémon Contest!"

The audience in the Contest Hall roared with excitement as Damien's voice blasted from the speakers. Jamie was sure to get seats way up front for him and his Pokémon. Wurmple, however, shared a seat with Venonat by sitting on top of its head.

"Remember to cheer real loud when David and Faith come out, okay?" Jamie said to his Pokémon, who nodded promptly.

"My name is Damien and I'll be your host for today," Damien said into his wireless microphone which, for some reason, he insisted on having on a stand. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time, I hope you guys have a lot of fun. We've got a whole lot of new faces in the Contest World who are itching to make a big impression. It should be interesting," he added with a flick of his bangs. "Don't you think?"

In that instant, every girl in the audience shrieked in delight. Backstage, however, David couldn't help but press his palm against his face. He didn't have anything formal to wear, so he decided to wear his jacket over his usual clothes.

I didn't know I was gonna be on TV, David thought with a gloomy look on his face. I hate being on camera.

"Well? How do we look?"

As soon as David turned around, he felt his face turning bright red. In her yellow dress, matching yellow shoes, and black stockings, Faith looked even cuter than usual. Kimberly, however, wore a violet sarong with silver accents as well as a matching torso wrap and violet heels.

"Aww, lookit him blushing," Faith said with a cute smile.

Kimberly couldn't help but snicker. "Davy looks like he's gonna asplode!"

"I am not gonna asplode, I mean, explode!" David nearly yelled frantically.

Back onstage…

"Before we begin," Damien continued, "let's say hello to our judges!"

The spotlight moved over to a table where three people sat: a middle aged man in a red suit, a short man with short brown hair and a navy blue suit, and, unmistakably, the same Nurse Joy from before.

"Our first judge is the director of the Pokémon Contest Committee, Mr. Contesta!"

"Great to be here, folks," the man in red said.

"Next up we have the president of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

"Peridot City," the man in navy blue said with a smile. "Simply remarkable!"

"And last, but not least, Peridot City's own lovely Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy blushed heavily at Damien's "lovely" comment. "Th-Thank you."

"And before we forget," Damien continued, "our coordinators are competing for the official Peridot Contest Ribbon!"

Damien raised his hand and the screen behind him lit up. On it was a 3D rendering of the Ribbon in question: a metallic oval painted gold on a lime green ribbon with white trim. It was this that caused the audience to go "Oooooh" and "Aaaaah."

"Yes, it is impressive," Damien said, "but we only have one of these, and as such, only one coordinator will be going home with it. Now I've rambled on long enough, so let's get this party started!"

Once again, the crowd cheered wildly.

"He certainly knows how to get the crowd going," Jamie said with a sweatdrop.

"Our first coordinator," Damien continued, "hails from Amethyst Town and thus far has already won her first ribbon. Introducing Kimberly Sharpe!"

Kimberly walked out on stage and took a deep breath as the crowd cheered her on.

"Well, how about that?" Faith said. "I didn't know she'd won a ribbon already."

"Time to play, Drifloon!" Kimberly tossed out her Poké ball and, with the usual white light, the little balloon Pokémon emerged with a burst of black hearts.

"What the…?" David started.

"A Ball Capsule?!" Faith shouted in shock. "I can't believe we forgot to get those! I've gotta get one for the next contest!"

"No kidding," David said. "Still, I've never seen a Drifloon before," he added, taking out his Pokédex.

"Drifloon – the Balloon Pokémon. It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead."

"Oh. That's pleasant," David said with a sweatdrop. He had to wonder if his mother personally added that entry just for the fun of it.

"Start off with Stockpile!" Kimberly ordered.

Drifloon started to suck in air, causing its rubbery body to grow bigger and bigger.

"Looks like Drifloon's starting to store up energy," Damien said. "But the big question is what will Drifloon do with it?"

"I'll show you," Kimberly said, taking hold of Drifloon's stringy arms. "Use Spit Up!"

Drifloon suddenly let loose a stream of energy from its mouth, pushing it back. And with Kimberly holding onto its arms, Drifloon's attack was making them both spin faster and faster.

"Will you look at that!" Damien said. "That Spit Up attack makes it look like those two are dancing. And what's more, it seems to be making an amazing spiral pattern too! Everyone in the higher seats must be getting quite an eyeful."

Jamie was a little upset with himself that he chose to sit up front.

Eventually, Kimberly and her Drifloon stopped spinning and the audience burst into cheers.

"That's awesome!" Faith said happily.

"I see," David said with his hand to his chin. He seemed to be studying Kimberly's appeal to get a good feel for the contest.

"Looks like she's finished," Damien said. "What do you think, judges?"

"The way she used those particular attacks showed just how cute and powerful her Drifloon is," said Mr. Contesta.

"Indeed," Mr. Sukizo said. "Remarkable!"

"It's great and all," Nurse Joy said, "but I wouldn't recommend using an appeal that makes you dizzy."

"Hm?" Damien took a closer look at Kimberly. She hadn't moved an inch since she finished her appeal. Her smile was there, but her eyes were definitely swirling. "I see. Hopefully, she'll be all right. Let's have another big hand for Kimberly everyone!"

The audience both cheered and laughed at the same time as Kimberly staggered backstage. Everyone who was watching backstage couldn't help but sweatdrop.

"Well, at least she's having fun," Faith said sheepishly.

"Now, let's move on to our next contestant!" Damien said with a wave of his arms.

The appeals were varied, for sure. There was a Chimecho using Heal Bell, a Lombre dancing around with Water Sport, and a Mareep using Signal Beam, just to name a few. Eventually…

"Our next contestant hails from nearby Amber Town," Damien said. "Please welcome David Cedar!"

David walked out onstage with unsteady steps. He could feel the heat from the spotlights bearing down on him and the cheers from the audience seemed to echo in his mind.

I have to remain calm, David thought to himself, hastily pushing up his glasses. After studying the other coordinators, I think I know what to do.

Jamie stared up at the stage. What's the matter? What is he doing?

David wound up and tossed out his Poké Ball. "Take it away, Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil emerged from the ball and nearly stumbled over as it landed on stage.

"Use Smokescreen!"

Cyndaquil fired off a thick jet of smoke from its back, taking up a good portion of the stage, but also getting David completely engulfed in the attack as well.

"Cyndaquil!" David coughed out. "I think you overdid it!"

Cyndaquil turned around, but couldn't find its trainer. The audience couldn't help but laugh at this predicament.

"Well, well," Damien said. "It appears that things aren't going quite as planned. But just look at how thick that smoke is. You can barely see what's going on in there."

"We can't stop, Cyndaquil," David said. "Use Ember!"

Cyndaquil responded and shot a flurry of sparks from its mouth, but…

"OW! OW! OW! STOP! STOP!"

David emerged from the smoke, his clothes and glasses covered in soot from the Smokescreen attack. His jacket also got slightly burned from the Ember attack. He put his hand to his mouth as he nearly coughed his lungs up. The audience fell silent, except for Jamie who smacked himself in the face.

"Oh man," Jamie said. "What a mess."

"Uh…David, are you able to continue?" Damien asked.

"Screw that," David coughed. "I'm withdrawing."

"I understand," Damien said. "Well, you heard him, folks. David is withdrawing from the Contest."

Faith's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she saw the whole thing backstage.

"Wow," Faith said, a little stupefied. "I hope no one we know saw that."

Back in Amber Town…

Professor Cedar and Caitlyn both had their eyes glued to the TV screen. They did, indeed, see that.

"What in the world was that?!" Caitlyn asked, hysterically.

Prof. Cedar placed a hand on her heart. "Oh David…"

Later…

David continued to watch the appeals from backstage (this time, a Wingull was doing a spinning variation with Wing Attack) with his chin resting on his knuckles. He shared a gloomy expression with his Cyndaquil, who sat next to him.

"Don't feel bad, Cyndaquil," David said. "Most of it was my fault anyway."

"What happened out there anyway?"

David slowly turned around to see a pouting Kimberly with her hands on her hips.

"You were completely out of sync with your Cyndaquil," Kimberly said. "What were you thinking?"

"That's just it," David said. "I couldn't think straight because I got flustered by those TV cameras."

Kimberly tilted her head. "Maybe Contests aren't quite your thing."

"I had a feeling they weren't." David turned around to watch the monitor again. However, he turned back when Kimberly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Faith told me about your friends back in Amber Town," Kimberly said. "The way you're traveling and training to become a better person, I admire that. But I have to tell you, if you can't handle being on camera at a small Pokémon Contest like this, how can you think you can handle being at the Awani League Finals?"

"Huh?"

"It's one of the biggest events in the world!" Kimberly practically yelled, waving her arms. "You think the media won't be all over that?!"

David looked down at the floor. "I…hadn't really thought of that."

Cyndaquil stared up at his trainer, who rubbed his head again.

"Don't you worry," David said. "I've been through worse. I'll worry about my camera thing once I get past the gym leaders first."

"Glad to hear it, David," Kimberly said with a smile.

"Our next contestant is the younger sister of one of our fan favorites, Samantha Treeborne," Damien announced on his mic. "This is bound to be interesting, so let's welcome Faith Treeborne!"

"Huh?!" Kimberly promptly shoved David out of the way to get a better view of the screen. "Faith is Sammy's sister?!"

"You know her sister?" David said, adjusting his glasses.

"Do I?!" Kimberly said fanatically. "Samantha's an idol among us girl coordinators! She mentioned having a kid sister, but she never told us her name."

Faith's legs shook a bit as the crowd's eyes and voices bore down on her. She couldn't help biting her lower lip. It's just as I thought. They're only recognizing me for being Sammy's kid sister.

Jamie, Venonat, and Wurmple stared up at Faith in concern. She looks nervous too. I hope she doesn't mess this up too.

Suddenly, Faith smiled as she tossed out a Poké Ball. So what? I'll show them! "Here goes! Wildleaf, Showtime!"

Wildleaf emerged from the white light in the ball, doing a somersault before landing on stage, flipping that big leaf out of her face.

"Use Sweet Scent!" Faith said.

Wildleaf swung her leaf around, giving off a pleasant aroma that seemed to put the entire audience at ease.

"Well, this is interesting," Damien said. "Rather than a visual presentation, Faith's Chikorita is giving our sense of smell a good time."

"I'm getting woozy just watching that," Kimberly said with her hand on her chest.

"It's certainly better than the smell of smoke," David said, accidentally making his Cyndaquil even more depressed. "No, wait! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Follow up with Synthesis!" Faith ordered, raising her hand.

As she swung the leaf around, Wildleaf began to glow with a sort of yellow light.

"Amazing!" Damien said. "Now there's an appeal that looks good and smells good. What's more, she seems to be using the stage's spotlights to fuel that Synthesis as opposed to actual sunlight! How clever!"

Once again, Wildleaf flipped her big leaf out of her face. "Chi-koriiii!"

"Finished!" Faith said happily, causing the audience to cheer with lots of excitement. Jamie was clapping so hard, his hands were turning red.

"She's a natural at this!" Kimberly said, hopping on her toes.

"Yeah, she's definitely better than me," David said.

"Well, judges?" Damien asked. "Let's hear it."

"It's not every day you use a stage prop for an appeal," Mr. Contesta said. "That's a sign of real ingenuity."

"Too true," Mr. Sukizo said. "Remarkable!"

"The smell of that Sweet Scent shows just how healthy Chikorita is," Nurse Joy said with a semi-spaced-out look on her face.

"And there you have it, folks!" Damien said. "Let's have another big hand for Faith and her Chikorita!"

The audience cheered once again as Wildleaf jumped into Faith's arms.

"You were amazing, Wildleaf!" Faith said with a smile.

"And as sorry as I am to say this," Damien spoke into his microphone, "this marks the last of our appeals for the first round. We'll take a short break while the judges decide who's going to Round Two! Don't go too far, folks!"


You have to wonder what kind of aroma that Sweet Scent is. So what do you guys think? David's obviously out, but will Faith make it to the next round? And even if she does, can she take home that ribbon?

R.I.P. Madeleine Blaustein. 1960-2008