This chapter concludes the first part of the Wallace Cup. The more advanced version will start in the next one with the appeals and there is still the matter of the threat.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its characters.
Chapter 37: Family Matters
The introduction of the coordinators had begun and the first part, the introduction of those competing in the classic Wallace Cup came to an end just when Dawn finally found her seat next to Zoey and Misty. Trying to find her way left her pretty tired so she sank into the seat. Naturally, the redheads wanted to know what this meeting with Wallace had been about.
"So what did he want?" Misty asked.
"We could see you from here but you didn't stay for very long," Zoey added. "I thought you would want to spend more time with your idol-"
"Maybe under different circumstances. He looked tired and sad this time so I didn't really want to bother him longer than necessary. I guess Shira's threat worries him deeply," Dawn explained, lowering her gaze. "We just talked about the battle and that's pretty much it."
"I see." Zoey stared at the stage for a while with an unfocused gaze. "It's a shame a matter like that overshadows this great event."
"I still don't think that bitch will attack here. It doesn't make sense and many of the strongest trainers in the world are here, ready to fight." Misty looked determined to help as well in the case of an attack.
"Let's hope it won't be necessary." Dawn tried to change the topic to something else. "By the way, Zoey, was one of your pupils among the introduced ones? I wasn't exactly paying attention and I'm sure one of them winning would also increase your reputation."
"No, they're still too young," she replied. "I hope to see them participating in the near future, though."
The introduction of the more experienced coordinators was pretty much the same. Their names, which were often well known, and their home region along with a short history of their contest achievements were announced. Of course, that made it take much longer than before, but it was also important for the coordinators themselves, who got to know their rivals that way.
It took a while for the more interesting coordinators to appear, Drew was the first one of them. His outfit consisted of a white tuxedo, white shoes and a big cape, which was white on the outside whereas the inner side was green. It was held together by a silver brooch with a huge emerald in the center. There were also fine, green markings on the tuxedo itself, which looked like vines. When he did his hair flip, many of the female spectators went wild.
"Let's welcome Drew, top coordinator from Hoenn, also known as the Emerald Blossom," the MC announced. "He has already been victorious at three grand festivals and made it to the finale at the very first advanced Wallace Cup. So far, he hasn't won it yet but maybe this time will be different? Let's find out whether this great coordinator can claim the Ocean Ribbon!"
He waved to the crowd before leaving the stage, where a female coordinator stepped into the light. After a few people Dawn didn't know, Serena appeared, wearing what looked like a summer outfit. It was a light yellow dress, which still exposed one of her legs and there were many ribbons attached to it. She was also wearing high heels of the same color and a wide hat, which could've served as an umbrella if it wasn't so thin. All in all, it was pretty simple yet it made her look quite beautiful.
"This is Serena, a young coordinator from Kalos." She curtsied towards the audience. "Compared to many others here, she is still inexperienced and as such, she is easy to underestimate. But contests are full of surprises so maybe she will prove a dangerous opponent."
Serena made place for her most bitter rival. Miranda walked into the light, revealing a massive silver and purple dress. It consisted of countless layers and ribbons and would have even put real princesses to shame. The most prominent feature was a huge collar made of shimmering black feathers. An ornate silver mask with a laughing expression on it was covering her face, only her eyes were still visible.
"Here we have another coordinator from Kalos. Miranda is a top coordinator, who has won the grand festival in her home region thrice already and now she has come to show her abilities here as well. We will see whether she will be just as successful." Miranda waved at the audience and slowly made way for the next one.
Several coordinators later, it was May's turn. On first glance, her dress looked extremely simple. I was basically a white evening dress, which hugged her body tightly, showing off her curves. There was also a broad cape, which was attached to her gloves and shoulder straps. On the outside it had the same color as the dress itself but when May spread her arms, she revealed the inside to be black and glittering, making it look like the night sky. Dawn smirked, imagining Miranda's face upon seeing this.
"May, top coordinator from Hoenn and sometimes referred to as the Princess of Hoenn, has taken a break from coordinating after her second and, so far, final victory at a grand Festival. As a result, she might still be unused to contests but I highly doubt anyone will have it easy against her. Her return will make her opponents despair and her fans rejoice." The MC sounded even more enthusiastic than usual, probably because she was among the latter.
Then it took a while until Ash was introduced. His outfit was simple, yet made him look handsome. It consisted of a black suit, black shoes, a white shirt, and a blue tie, which fit the blue rose attached next to it.
"Ash from Kanto is not your typical coordinator. In fact, he's more of a regular trainer who just likes to enter the Wallace Cup every year but we don't mind. He has shown to be perfectly capable of standing his ground in contest battles even against seasoned coordinators and surprised us again and again with his combinations. His power has earned him the stage name Dragon." Dawn cheered and clapped louder than anyone else but he also had to leave the stage eventually.
The next coordinator looked familiar, a woman with red hair and pigtails. She was sporting a red and black dress, which resembled a robe, almost like that of a priest. It had golden markings on the chest and there was also a crescent-shaped part on the back and a veil attached to it. It somewhat resembled a cape but nobody could deny that it looked quite good on her as it was like an ethereal trace in the air following her every step.
She was Ursula, Dawn rival from Sinnoh. They hadn't met ever since Dawn's victory at the Hoenn Grand Festival, something both of them appreciated. Although their rivalry had been difficult at best and hateful at worst, Dawn was willing to start anew as she had never been one to bear grudges for very long. It was doubtful whether Ursula was also willing, though. Yes, she'd done a lot of bad things but at least she never mistreated her pokémon as far as Dawn knew, which was the main reason she wanted to give her that chance.
"Ursula is a top-coordinator from Sinnoh. She has won one grand festival and also made some experiences with gym battles lately so it would be foolish to underestimate her power." Dawn didn't know that Ursula was a top-coordinator but she wasn't really surprised. There was no denying that she was strong enough to be one. "We'll see whether she can leave a lasting impression."
The rest of the coordinators weren't too exciting. Nonetheless, the sheer amount of coordinators would make this event quite entertaining. As soon as the introduction was finally over, everyone but Dawn, Misty and Zoey changed into their normal clothes before they met in front of the contest hall. It was so late by now that it was almost time for supper but instead of going back home already, they formed small groups to discuss mostly unimportant matters. While they were slowly making their way back into the city, Serena asked Dawn about something that had been bothering her lately.
"They used that name again. Sapphire Phoenix. I've heard it a few times already so why are they calling you that?" she asked.
"Oh, that stupid name," Dawn groaned. "It's all because of Zoroark and Ninetales, mostly Zorark. During a rather unimportant contest with double battles, I was just about to finish an opponent, when he decided that just finishing him wasn't enough. Ninetales shot a strong but otherwise ordinary fireblast at the pokémon and Zoroark decided to use his illusions to make it a bit more ... exciting. He turned the flames blue and made the move look like a giant, fiery bird enveloping them with its wings. They were pretty much trembling with fear and didn't even attempt to dodge. Well, to be fair, they were almost done for so maybe they just couldn't. Anyway, the color of the flames kind of resembled my eye color as some people liked to point out so they started calling me Sapphire Phoenix. It's silly but I haven't found a way to stop it so far."
"I see." Serena saw Ash rolling his eyes at the mention of that old story. "I think it's a nice name, though. Are you mad at Zoroark?"
"He never intended to create a stage name although-" She raised a finger. "- I'm sure he would've done if he knew of the consequences. But I appreciate pokémon that can think for themselves and can also improvise. Their ideas are sometimes even better than mine but they shouldn't go overboard. Otherwise there would be no need for me to command them in the first place."
Actually, there was another reason for that name. It symbolized her rise from the ashes after the Johto disaster. The change in style and power was so significant that many people called it a rebirth, which made the name even more fitting in hindsight.
Even when they reached the pokémon center, they stayed in front of it, talking, making jokes and just having fun. The following days would prove a challenge for all of them so they tried to relax as much as possible for now. Because of the light-hearted atmosphere, they didn't notice that Miranda was listening to them from next to the pokémon center, determined to find out everything she could about her rivals. Of course, the topics of their conversations didn't allow her to get to know anything useful so she got frustrated after some time and just left. They didn't even notice it as they were having too much fun, especially Dawn, who had had so little time for talking to the others during Ash's birthday and thus had a lot to tell and a lot of things to hear. In the end, it even made Ash and May forget about their hunger, at least until it was starting to get dark.
They decided to leave for their respective places. In Ash's and Dawn's case, it was their home in Pallet Town, May, Drew and Serena stayed at the pokémon center, albeit Drew and Serena hopefully didn't share a room, Misty returned to her gym and Zoey stayed with friends at Saffron City nearby. Before Ash and Dawn went home, they quickly went to the Oak lab to pick up the pokémon against the nightmares. They were surprised but also happy that their trainers had talked about it as trying to keep it a secret made things awkward for them at times.
Unsurprisingly, Ash urged Dawn to prepare supper quickly as soon as they were back home and she was going to use it to her, or rather their, advantage even if Ash wasn't going to like it. She started cooking intentionally slow until he couldn't wait any longer and entered the kitchen, just to take in the scent.
"Well, since you obviously have so much time left, you might as well clean the house," she said casually, making his eyes widen.
"What? Now? But it's already late," he complained.
"Yes, now. The whole house is a mess. You've been too busy with training and other things lately. I don't expect you to clean everything, just maybe the upper floor. Otherwise I have to do it and then I won't be able to finish this delicious meal. It would be a real shame, wouldn't it?" She wasn't looking at him but she could still imagine his face all too well. "Come on, it has to be done. Unlike you, I had a an exhausting battle today so I should be the one complaining about too much work."
Over the years, she'd learnt how to persuade him to do things he didn't like and situations like this one were perfect to use her skills. Ash, in turn, had learnt when he was defeated and, unlike in pokémon battles, he usually accepted it. After all, a bit of cleaning wasn't too bad and would probably even distract him from his hunger. Besides, he was often the one to do the cleaning as Dawn was the one to prepare the food for both them and their pokémon, which took an awful lot of time. Tasks like bathing the pokémon were done by both of them. All in all, they thought it was fair and rarely complained.
The night was uneventful and without dreams, or rather, they couldn't remember them. Apparently there had been a storm during the night and although it wasn't raining in the morning, more dark clouds could be seen approaching so it was only a matter of time. When Ash realized that Dawn wasn't at home, he got worried despite a small note telling him that she was visiting her mother. This time, however, her pokémon could confirm everything, much to his relief. Since she rarely went there without him, it had to be something very private and very important and hopefully, she'd tell him about it later.
Meanwhile Dawn sitting in the kitchen in Johanna's house. Her mother was sitting nearby and there was an awkward silence between them. Dawn didn't really know how to start and Johanna felt that her daughter was trying to say something so she waited. In the end, Dawn couldn't find a way of asking her without mentioning Wallace so she tried the direct approach.
"Yesterday Wallace asked me something. He wanted to know whether I wanted to battle him because of you." Johanna visibly paled and looked away. "I don't know what he meant by that and he wouldn't tell me and instead advised me to ask you instead. And ... well, that's what I'm doing right now. What did he mean by that?" There was another long silence. "You don't want to tell me?"
"No, that's not it. The question is how," she explained. "When I was at my peak, Wallace was a young and ambitious coordinator. He was dreaming of an advanced contest, which would grant a title similar to the local champion. Some people believed I should challenge him and become the greatest coordinator in the world. I don't know whether I could've done it as he was stronger at that time, but I thought that with hard training, I could defeat him. So I was determined to do it, but something or rather someone got in my way." Dawn was afraid of what she was about to say. "I met your father and fell in love with him soon. I was young, foolish, careless. I got pregnant and he left me. Now I could either have an abortion or give up on my dream and raise the child. That child was you and now you can probably guess my decision."
Dawn didn't really know what it say, it was worse than she'd expected.
"So ... it's basically my fault that you couldn't achieve your dream?" she asked with such a quiet voice that it was almost a whisper.
That was exactly what Johanna had feared. She stood up, put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.
"Don't ever think that!" she said so aggressively that Dawn was a bit shocked at first. "It's definitely not your fault. With your father's support I could've done both, but the bastard abandoned me. For me, he died the moment he left. Although many people wanted me to have an abortion, I raised you and never regretted. So don't ever think ridiculous things like you've ruined my life or other nonsense."
It was still bothering her, though, especially since it was reminding her of the situation in her last nightmare. Moreover, it raised a lot of questions. What would've happened without her? What would've happened if her father hadn't abandoned her mother? It was impossible to say but it didn't stop her from wondering, in particular about her father. Who was he and where was he right now? Unfortunately, Johanna didn't want to talk about him at all, no matter how often Dawn asked.
"Still ... I'm wondering what your life would be like," Dawn admitted. "Do you want me to defeat Wallace? Do you want me to finish what you didn't have the chance to do?"
"I can't deny that it would make me incredibly proud but ... it's your life and your decision. You have to do it for yourself, not for my foolish dreams." Johanna embraced Dawn and they stayed like that for a while. "You know, I've been fearing this moment for years. I was afraid that you'd blame yourself. That's why I've always kept it a secret from you. It didn't really concern you, after all."
"But it does!" She replied, pulling back. "Well, indirectly. Anyway, I need to think about it. Thank you for telling me so quickly, but I better go back home or Ash will worry."
"Don't blame yourself. Really. And please visit me and Delia more often," the former coordinator added.
Dawn stood up and went to the entrance, where she turned around, hugging her mother one more time.
"No need to worry. But you know how easily we get lost in training," she admitted. "I'll tell him, though, and we'll try to remember."
"And be careful." Dawn knew what she was talking about but just nodded and left.
The conversation hadn't been nearly as bad as Johanna had feared, yet she was still full of worry. With a sad and concerned look she was watching her daughter return home. Nobody knew whether she and Ash would still be alive in two or three days. The mere though made her sick but she just couldn't find a way to get into those thick heads, as their stubbornness was legendary. Delia was probably having similar thoughts so maybe it was a good idea to visit their children before something could happen. With newfound determination, she made her way to Delia to discuss further steps.
Ash was relieved when Dawn was finally back, but immediately noticed the strange look on her face. She wasn't as enthusiastic as usual so there was probably something troubling her, something important. She didn't even noticed his questioning and concerned looks, walking just past him as if nothing was wrong. Eventually, he stopped her, though, and finally asked the question.
"What's wrong? Does it have something to do with Johanna? Come on, you can tell me," he urged her.
Remembering the previous day and their discussion, she realized that she had to tell him, otherwise she wouldn't be able to look into a mirror ever again.
"You're right. It's about my mother." She took a deep breath. "Wallace mentioned something yesterday, something about her. So I asked her about it and her answer was ... unexpected. It appears she thought about challenging Wallace before she became pregnant and had to give up on that thought because my father had left her."
"And you're blaming yourself for that?" Ash asked. It didn't take much for him to realize this.
"I know it seems silly and mom also said that but I can't help but feel ... guilty." Her eyes were dull and expressionless, the way he loathed seeing them.
He wanted to ease the pain but his embrace could only do so much. Still, he put everything he had into it before picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom, dropping onto the bed along with her. He was lying on his back and she was lying on him, her head buried in his chest while his fingers were running through her hair.
"I don't even know why I'm like this," she whispered. "It's not like I had a choice, it was her choice. But it still hurts so much."
"It's alright. It's not your fault. It's because of your father. How can anyone leave your mother like this? Well, the fool missed out on a talented and gorgeous daughter." At least, his compliment made her smile.
Much to his discomfort, she got up and went to a window, staring outside with her hands behind her back as if she was deep in thought. She opened the window, letting warm air enter the room. Obviously, the storm hadn't helped against the heat in the slightest.
"Your father was also like that, wasn't he? Left your mother when you were young," she muttered.
Although Ash didn't like talking about his father at all, he didn't want to refuse her after the things she had told him. It was still difficult for him, though, as he had trouble hiding his contempt.
"You're right. He left us when I was but a small child because he wanted to become stronger or something like that. What a pathetic excuse to run from his responsibilities. He should've thought about it before getting a child instead of leaving all the work to the mother. Because of that, I have nothing but contempt for him. I hate him," he hissed.
Even though he remained calm, Dawn could almost feel the hatred he was radiating. It was rare for him to do that but given her own history, she could understand him. It wasn't surprising that he refused to talk about him so far and she certainly wouldn't ask again. Their fathers were little more than useless pieces of the past that could or rather had to be forgotten. Feeling the tension, Dawn decided to change the topic.
"Now that I know what happened, I'm even more eager to defeat Wallace. This isn't just for me and my pokémon, it's also for mom." If she ever had any doubts, they were erased this day. Unintentionally, she returned to the former topic. "Maybe he will watch the battle and regret having left mom. What am I saying? It doesn't matter."
They agreed that dropping the topic was the wisest choice and discussed the first part of the Wallace Cup instead, making first predictions although they knew that it was useless due to the large number of participants. Dawn in particular was excited about watching the appeals as she hadn't watched those of less experienced coordinators for quite some time. Of course, they wouldn't be as good as the others and full of mistakes. Maybe they would even fail outright, but that was also part of the excitement and made them unpredictable. From time to time, a combination worked better than intended or even had beneficial side effects but the judges usually knew when something was accidental and reduced its effect on the score. Anyway, it was going to be a lot of fun, they were convinced of that.
Before they left, Alakazam seized the opportunity to ask something of them. For some reason, she seemed to think that a lunar wing would be the best solution to their problems and urged them to go back to Fullmoon Island after the Wallace Cup for a more thorough search. It took her a while but in the end, they agreed, if only to make her happy. They had no idea that she'd visited it a few times by herself or with Dawn's Lucario and had a plan, which would never work if the trainers knew about it. Of course, it was uncertain whether it would work at all, but she was going to try nonetheless.
About half an hour later, when everyone was back to normal, they left for the Wallace Cup. This time, they waited directly in front of the contest hall for their friends, who arrived soon after. Everyone seemed much more relaxed than before, even Drew and Serena remained civilized, at least compared to the previous day. Unsurprisingly, Zoey was even more interested in this part of the Wallace Cup than others and she even had a camera, maybe to record some battles or appeals to show them later to her pupils as good or bad examples. Unfortunately, it also meant probably missing a lot of details while filming which was a risk she was going to take.
The appeals were just as expected. Most of them were quite entertaining, several failed horribly and a few were that good that the corresponding coordinators could've even made it to the battle round of the advanced cup. Whether they could have succeeded there was a different matter, they would've been crushed for certain. Nevertheless, everyone respected their performance and choosing the best 32 wouldn't be easy, not only because there so many of them. When it was time for dinner, only about a third of them were done so the afternoon was sure to be fun as well.
However, after so many appeals, it was kind of getting tiring eventually, yet they didn't want to just leave. After all, the coordinators couldn't chose the time of their appeal and people leaving during an appeal can have a demoralizing effect, which could cause failure in the worst case so it would have been extremely unfair to the coordinators doing the last appeals. It was a good thing the whole audience seemed to think that way or the competition would've become highly unfair. The results were shown shortly after the last one. The remaining 32 coordinators had the rest of the day to prepare for the battles, the rest had to leave or watch the rest. Although it was sad seeing the disappointment on their faces, it had to happen to someone and their appeals simply weren't good enough. If they were strong, they would learn from the experience and return with more determination next year.
This time, Ash, Dawn, Misty, May, Drew, Serena and Zoey didn't stay for long after the event both because they were tired and because it was starting to rain. They were truly glad about their decision when it turned into a real storm and even in Pallet Town, it wasn't much better. Ash's original plan was to train a bit so his pokémon would stay in shape and he usually didn't mind training in the rain, but this was just ridiculous. It didn't take long for lightning to strike periodically and the weather stayed like that the whole evening, only improving for a short time before worsening again. It wasn't until it was time to go to bed that it calmed down a bit.
The following day was pretty much like the previous one, it was only much colder. However, at least it wasn't raining anymore. The battles weren't always exciting, a few pokémon were rather weak and couldn't remain in battle for very long. That was to be expected, though, because a good appeal didn't necessarily mean that the pokémon were tough. Naturally, those coordinators tried to win by reducing the opponent's score, which didn't always work since a lot of them were quite powerful in that regard as well. When the first round was over, it was already time for dinner and everyone left the hall, hoping that the next one would be a bit more balanced. Once they were back, it didn't take them long to realize that their hopes had been fulfilled. Ash, Dawn and their friends were reminded of the first Wallace Cup they had entered while watching the young coordinators making a name for themselves.
One by one, they got eliminated from the tournament, sometimes the defeats were extremely bitter, sometimes deserved, but in every case, they put up a fight. In the finale, a boy from Sinnoh with his prinplup and drifloon was facing a girl from Kanto with an ivysaur and a golduck. It was a glorious battle, in which every pokémon lasted until the time was up. In the end, the coordinator from Sinnoh won by a small margin. Needless to say, the girl from Kanto was devastated but the expression of pure bliss on the boy's face made watching it somewhat easier. His victory was absolutely deserved, his style reminded Ash of May's. That boy would probably get far, but one could never be entirely sure of that as not even the Aqua Ribbon guaranteed a bright future.
For the boy, it didn't matter at that moment, when he finally received it from Wallace himself. It was like a dream come true and they even had a small conversation, whose topic remained a secret between them. With the conclusion of the classic Wallace Cup, the mood got gloomy all of sudden, as everyone remembered what was supposed to happen the next day. Would Shira attack the contest hall directly? Would she attack somewhere else, using the threat as a bait for the police? Or would she do something completely unexpected? Everyone kept asking those questions.
Just like before, the coordinators and trainers left quickly without much talking, albeit for a different reason this time. They weren't tired, but simply not in the mood for talking because of nervousness and even fear. No matter how much they tried to deny it, a threat by Shira had quite an effect on them and with good reason. She was infamous for her ruthlessness so ignoring it would be foolish at best. Therefore their sleep was uneasy and short. Nobody doubted that the fourth day of the Wallace Cup was going to be the most interesting by far, and almost certainly in a negative way.