For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP146: Dressed for Jess Success! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.
Chapter 34
It only took a half a day's time to get to Oreburgh City the next day. The Pokémon Center was nice enough to let them borrow a bunch of bikes to go down Cycling Road with, so they got to the southern city much faster than they would have on foot.
The city itself was covered with buildings, and had a musky coal-like smell to it, but Lyra didn't mind it one bit. Following Ash, Dawn and Brock, the group arrived at the Pokémon Center there and gave the Nurse Joy of the city their bikes. "Hey Ash, I need a training partner so I can brush up on a few of my moves. Are you in?" Dawn asked the spiky-haired boy, and he smiled and nodded.
"Sure! No problem!" he replied, and the group walked into the back of the Pokémon Center where they had a battlefield. Lyra, Khoury and Brock stayed off to the side and waited for Ash and Dawn to get on the battlefield. Smiling, Dawn took out a Poké Ball and tossed it forward.
"Alright Mamoswine, spotlight!" she called, and from out of her Poké Ball, a huge, brown Pokémon with a pig-like nose and two long tusks coming out from the sides of its mouth appeared.
"Wow, Dane, that's some Pokémon you got there!" Lyra complimented as an excited smile formed across Khoury's face and he took out his Pokédex to scan the creature. "Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon, and the evolved form of Piloswine. Distinguished by its large tusks, its weight is more than five times that of Piloswine, and is less commonly found since the end of the Ice Age."
"Now it's my turn," Ash said, selecting his own Poké Ball from his belt. "Grotle, I choose you!" In a flash of white light, the green and yellow turtle Pokémon burst out from the ball, calling its name as it appeared. This time, it was Lyra's turn to take out her Pokédex. "Grotle, the Grove Pokémon, and the evolved form of Turtwig. Grotle lives near water in forests, and leaves the forest during the day to allow light to shine on the tree on its shell." "Ready, Dawn?"
"Yeah, Ash!"
"'Kay, Energy Ball!" the boy commanded, and the two bushes on its back started to glow brightly as the Grove Pokémon opened its mouth, forming a green energy orb in front of its mouth.
"Mamoswine, Ice Shard!" Dawn countered, and the large Pokémon opened its gaping mouth right away, forming a bright and beautiful round circle of ice in between its tusks.
"Let's go!" both Ash and Dawn said together, and to both Lyra and Khoury's surprise, the two Pokémon lurched forward and ate their own attacks.
"Woah, they ate them?" the brunette exclaimed.
"Why'd they do that?" Khoury questioned, flabbergasted.
"It all began back with an energy charge that Grotle discovered by accident," Brock explained. Just then, the bushes on Grotle's back started to shine light green brightly and release sparkles of light green particles off the bushes. Each leaf seemed to surge with green electricity as well. Meanwhile, the fur on Mamoswine's back spiked out and each spike became covered in ice. "You see, if a Pokémon swallows a move that's the same type as itself, and then releases the energy throughout its body..."
"Yes!" Ash cheered as the spikes formed on Mamoswine's back. Pikachu also cheered. At her feet, Dawn's Piplup and Cyndaquil gasped at the move, and a big smile grew across Dawn's face.
"It worked great!" she cried.
"Amazing!" Lyra commented, fascinated by the technique.
"Mamoswine really gets it now!" Brock told them, nodding with approval.
"One surprise after another," Khoury added. Rearing for battle, Mamoswine started to slam its front foot into the ground and drag it across the ground. This made the ice sticking out of its back sparkle brilliantly in the afternoon sun.
"What do you think, Ash?" Dawn asked her friend. Ash ran forward and stopped next to his Grotle.
"You guys got it down!" he told them, and beside him, the energy surging through the bushes on Grotle's back faded.
"Grotle!" his Pokémon agreed, nodding and grinning at Mamoswine.
"Thanks, you two!" Dawn thanked, walking up beside her Mamoswine as well. She looked and her Pokémon and grinned. "Mamoswine, we did it!"
"Mamoswine," the Pokémon replied, bobbing its head up and down at its Trainer.
"Quil, quil!" Cyndaquil cried, running up in front of Dawn and waving its arms.
"Hey, Cyndaquil, what's wrong?" Dawn asked it. Taking in a deep breath, the Fire Mouse Pokémon curled its back slightly and released the fire on its back, but the fire shot out in a v-shape and extended more than its usual flames did.
"Awesome!" Ash commented.
"That's amazing, Cyndaquil!" the Coordinator praised, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I know what Cyndaquil wants: to be in a contest," Brock said to her.
"Oh," Dawn muttered, and kneeled down to her Pokémon, who was still producing the flames on its back. "Cyndaquil, I'm sorry. I really want you to watch us from the audience." The Pokémon gasped and the fire on its back disappeared as it looked at its Trainer in surprise. It then fell forward onto its stomach in disappointment. "I was already planning to compete with Mamoswine, see? Here's my strategy: Piplup, you're a pro on stage, so we'll use your pretty moves for Round one!" Piplup proudly put its wings on its hips and stuck out its chest in confidence while Cyndaquil puffed out its cheeks in disapproval. Dawn then turned and looked at her Mamoswine. "For Round two, you'll show off your flashy battle moves." Mamoswine let out a confident puff of air from its nose, but Cyndaquil didn't want to hear it and turned its head away from them.
"Aw, someone's a brat," Lyra commented, smiling nervously at the Fire-type Pokémon. Dawn, however, smiled and reached forward, picking up her Pokémon.
"Sweet Cyndaquil," she muttered, and it looked at her. "See, if you cheer us on, you'll really energize us! And then the Oreburgh Ribbon is as good as ours! 'Kay, dear?" She then pulled the Pokémon in and hugged it tightly, but Piplup's eyes widened at the sight of them and started flailing its arms in jealousy. Cyndaquil grinned widely and suddenly shot the flames on its back up, and Dawn screamed as the fire flared up.
"Dane, are you okay?" Lyra gasped. Dawn coughed a bit, and turned to Lyra, smiling nervously at her. Like before, her hair had puffed up from the intense heat and looked like a blue cloud around her face.
"No need to worry," she replied, then a confident look appeared on her face. "I know this: today, I get my fifth ribbon!"
o 0 o
Back inside the Pokémon Center, Lyra and Dawn tried their hardest, and after a while, they managed to get Dawn's hair back down into its regular shape. Dawn let out a sigh of relief after it was down, and looked down at the red Pokétch on her wrist to look at the time. Suddenly, she gasped and jumped up. "Oh no! The Contest starts in an hour! And I still have to get ready!" Quickly gathering everyone up, Dawn rushed out as fast as she could and the group ran down the streets, narrowly avoiding people on the sidewalk as they ran to keep up with Dawn.
Finally, they arrived at the Contest Hall, a tall round building that was pink with a flattened dome-like blue roof on the top. "We should let Dawn change with the other Coordinators and save our seats," Brock suggested. The others nodded and they walked out into the arena. Lyra and Khoury both gasped when they walked in at the size of the area. All around the area along three of the walls were rows of seats for people to sit in. A handful of people were sitting in a desired seat already to save it. In the middle was a huge battle arena with a polished floor. Directly in front of them, on the wall that didn't have any seats was a huge flat screen monitor that was turned off at the moment. Below it, there was an archway with a turquoise curtain in front of it, and on both sides, there were two huge flower beds with orange, pink, purple and green flowers that made a beautiful design. In between the monitor and the curtain was a large design made of yellow, pink, green and white flowers made to look like a contest ribbon, and it was very successful in looking like one.
The group looked around to see if they could find a seat up front for everyone, and amazingly, there were a handful of seats that were open, so the group dropped their bags on their seats to save them and sat, waiting for the contest to begin. Brock sat at the end, and to his left was Ash. Beside him, Lyra sat, and Khoury next to her. As the minutes rolled by, people started to flood in and take their seats around them. Finally, an hour had passed and it was time for the contest to begin. As everyone sat down, a loud popping noise was heard outside as fireworks were launched, and a woman with curly brown hair that was chin-length and a yellow and pink outfit walked out, holding a microphone in her hand. "We should go find Dawn and wish her luck," Ash suggested. Everyone agreed and they stood up and through the crowd of people. As they walked through the hallway, the speakers and monitors scattered around the hallways still let them know what was going on in the main arena.
"The flowering beauty of Oreburgh City beckons, and welcomes you to the star-studded, flower-studded Contest stage, where Pokémon will shine and Coordinators compete," the MC began, and everyone in the audience began to cheer loudly. "Ladies and gentlemen, your patience will be rewarded because it's finally time for the Oreburgh City Pokémon Contest! And of course, today we are coming to you live and in person, right from Oreburgh City!" The MC then reached into the pocket of her long yellow jacket and held up a Ribbon with a metal gold piece that looked was shaped almost like a top hat with a small crown sticking out of the top. In the middle, there was a large ruby gem, and the cloth was pink with white stripes at the tips. "Our winning Contest Coordinator will receive this: the prestigious Oreburgh Ribbon! And after winning five Contest Ribbons Coordinators are eligible to compete in the Grande Festival!"
As she held out the Ribbon, Lyra's eyebrows raised at the sight of it, and just then, Ash found the room where the Coordinators were and opened the door to walk in. They looked around for a moment to find her, but Ash caught sight of her right away. "Hi there, Dawn," he said, and a girl in front of them turned around and smiled at them.
"Hey guys!" she said, and Lyra realized that it was Dawn. She looked completely unrecognizable in her bright pink dress. There was a line of white fur around the chest and arms of the dress that held it up, and three red bows on the front of it. Around her neck was a black choker with a smaller bow on it as well. She also wore long white gloves. Her blue hair was pulled up into a perfect ponytail, and her yellow hair clips were at the sides of her face, holding a section of hair that corkscrewed and danced on her shoulders.
"Wow!" Lyra gasped as she looked at her friend. "Dane, you look so pretty!" Dawn laughed nervously at her comment.
"Really?"
"Yeah! You're number one of the bunch, no doubt!" Lyra added, looking around. She then looked at Ash beside her and sneered sneakily at him. "Hey Ash, don't you think so, too?"
"Of course she's number one! Because Dawn's gonna win!" Ash replied, clenching his fist confidently and smiling at the girl in front of him.
"That's for sure!" Dawn agreed, and Lyra frowned as the spiky-haired boy completely misinterpreted her question.
"That's not what I meant by number one..." she muttered, and turned around and looked at Brock and Khoury behind her. "It went over Ash's head, didn't it?" Brock chuckled and nodded at her.
"And Dawn's, too," he added, and Lyra turned back and saw that Dawn wasn't even affected by her teasing at all.
"Hey, thanks a lot, Ash! I know today's the day for my fifth Ribbon!" she said to him.
"Yeah, show 'em how, Dawn!" he cheered, and both of them reached forward and gave each other a high-five.
"Alright!" they cried at the same time, and Lyra smiled at them.
"Like two peas in a pod," she mumbled to herself, and chuckled. In the corner of the room, movement caught her eye, and she saw a woman in an orange and cream dress that was a little old-fashion, but still fashionable. Her belt was tied around so a large yellow bow was tied in the back of it, and the woman's magenta-colored hair was tied in two pigtails with matching yellow bows. On the woman's shoulder was a Meowth, but she was facing away and standing slouched over and facing the corner. Seeing her, Lyra smiled and walked up to the woman. "Wow, I think your dress is so cute!" the brunette complimented. Ash and Dawn turned to see who Lyra was talking to, and they both smiled when they saw her.
"Hey look! Jessilina!" the blue-haired girl stated, and the woman whipped around and smiled at them, but somewhat nervously.
"Oh, hello!" she replied in a strange voice, and sounded as if she was a man with a high-pitched voice. On her face were a pair of large round paper glasses that were orange and yellow, and strangely, a blue strand of hair hung down from her hair in between her eyes.
"You know each other?" Lyra asked Dawn and Ash. The blue-haired girl nodded, and Lyra took a step forward to examine her unique dress more. "Oh, cool!" Jessilina stood up straight and watched nervously as Lyra overlooked her dress. The brunette reached out and placed her hand under the loose black shoelace bow tie tied around the dress's neck. "This outfit is adorable!" She then looked up and smiled, looking right into Jessilina's green eyes. "So where did you get it?"
"Well... you see..." she started, though she looked extremely nervous for some reason. "Uh... The store name escapes me!" She then darted through the group and lifted her leg up. "Okay then, ta ta for now!" And with a strange cackle that sounded somewhat maniacal, she opened up the door exiting the room and jumped out.
"Well... that was weird," Lyra commented. "Is she always that nervous?"
"Actually, she's usually anything but," Dawn replied, putting her hands on her hips. "She must be having an off day."
"So, let's begin Round one!" the MC, who's name was Marian, began again. "Each Coordinator's Pokémon will display an array of dazzling moves on the Performance Stage!"
"Oh! The Contest is about to begin!" Dawn gasped, and reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a shrunken Poké Ball. "Can you let Cyndaquil out when you get to your seats?" Ash reached out to take the Poké Ball, but Lyra's hand whipped out like lightning and she snatched the Poké Ball up, holding it in her fingers confidently.
"You bet, Dane! Break a leg!" she said, and the group walked out of the room and rushed back to their seats in the audience. Pressing the button in the middle, Lyra tossed the Poké Ball into the air above them. "Alright Cyndaquil, come on out!" The Poké Ball opened and released a light that poured out onto the edge of the wall separating the arena from the audience, and Cyndaquil appeared, looking around for its Trainer.
"You ready to watch your first Contest, Cyndaquil?" Ash asked it, and it nodded, turning around. Pikachu jumped off Ash's lap as well and jumped up beside it, sitting down in between Lyra and Khoury.
"And here's Entrant number one! You're on!" Marian called, gesturing her arm towards the curtain and moving off the arena. The curtain opened up and standing in the middle was Dawn, smiling confidently out into the audience as everyone cheered with excitement.
"Alright! There's Dane!" Lyra stated.
"Go Dawn! Show 'em!" Ash cried. Khoury turned and looked at him and Brock with a questioning look on his face.
"So what's the Performance Stage?" he asked them.
"It's the round where the Coordinators see who shows off their Pokémon and their moves the best," Brock explained to them.
"You'll see; just wait!" Ash added, looking forward as Dawn began, pulling out an already enlarged Poké Ball.
"Piplup, spotlight!" The Poké Ball soared through the air, and Lyra noticed that it looked a little darker than regular Poké Balls. Then, it stopped spinning and she saw a sticker on the front of it just above the button that was in the shape of a white star with a purple outline. When the Poké Ball opened up, when it released the bright light, it also released blue, gold, pink and purple stars from inside. When the light faded around Piplup, little stars came off its body.
"How could a Poké Ball do that?" Lyra inquired.
"That's comes from what's called a Ball Capsule and Seal, which can create all sorts of different special effects and make the Pokémon's entrance really shine!" Brock explained.
"Wow..." both Lyra and Khoury muttered in fascination.
"Say, that's what I call cool!" the male added.
"Now Piplup, Whirlpool, go!" Dawn ordered, raising her hand in the air. Piplup pointed its beak and both of its wings into the air and its body started to glow light blue. Just then, a huge whirlpool rose out from Piplup's body and hovered above its hands. When the whirlpool formed, the glow around Piplup's body disappeared, and it jumped up slight, causing the whirlpool to fly high into the air. "Follow it with Bide!" Lowering its arms, Piplup crouched its body together and a white glow outlined the Penguin Pokémon's body.
"Piplup's using Bide?" Lyra asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah, but Piplup's not being attacked by anyone..." Khoury added, who was equally confused.
"Piplup's Whirlpool coming straight down on it!" Marian exclaimed as the attack started to fall down on top of the Penguin Pokémon. With a huge splash, the Whirlpool crashed over Piplup, but instead of sucking it in, Piplup went through the whirlpool and stuck out of the middle at the top. The Bide attack also absorbed some of the Whirlpool's power, and its body became surrounded by a beautiful water-like blue glow. "And now, Bide and Whirlpool have joined forces, leaving Piplup glowing in an intense blue from the energy reaction!" Finally, the Whirlpool and Bide attacks faded, and Piplup landed on the ground gracefully as the crowd began to cheer loudly. Dawn ran up and grinned at her Pokémon.
"Piplup, we did it!" she told it, and the Pokémon put its wings on its hands proudly.
"They sure nailed that one!" Ash commented beside Lyra. Pikachu and Cyndaquil muttered and nodded in agreement.
"It was really obvious Dawn wanted to show off Piplup's blue body, don't you think?" Khoury asked everyone, and Lyra also nodded.
"I thought so too," she agreed. She grinned and pointed her finger up as if she finally understood what was going on. "Wow, I guess you could say the first round is kinda like a talent show!"
"Works for me!" Khoury replied, smacking the side of his fist in his opened hand in realization.
"A talent show..?" Ash muttered beside them, then both him and Brock chuckled nervously to themselves.
"That truly was an impressive example of a performance of the highest caliber," one of the judges, a man with his dark hair with streaks of gray in it slicked back, said. He wore a red suit with a black bow tie.
"Remarkable, too!" the judge in the middle added. He was a short man with squinted eyes and wearing a indigo-colored suit.
"The synchronicity between Coordinator and Pokémon was perfect!" the last judge, the Nurse Joy of Oreburgh City, stated, and everyone in the audience began to cheer once again for Dawn and Piplup.
"Thank you, Judges!" Marian thanked, and Dawn bowed to the audience and her and Piplup walked out through the curtain from which they entered. "Now, Entrant number two, you're next!" As Marian moved off the stage, a man wearing a fedora with a red feather sticking out from the side stepped out. He wore a red vest with a sky blue button-up shirt. He reached into the pocket on the inside of his vest and pulled out a Poké Ball already in a Ball Capsule.
"Sentret, let's go!" he called, tossing his Poké Ball through the air. The Poké Ball opened up and a white light poured from the inside. However, along with the light, multiple pink hearts also came out with it, spinning around the light as it landed on the ground. Finally, the light faded and a brown Pokémon with long rabbit-like black ears and a long ringed tail appeared on the stage. The Pokémon stood up on its tail and opened its arms.
"Sentret!" the Pokémon cried, and the hearts surrounding its body scattered and disappeared as they hit the ground.
"Now Sentret, Hyper Voice!" the man commanded. Taking in a deep breath, the Pokémon opened its mouth and let out a loud cry. As it did, it released multiple light blue circles of energy from its mouth. As the rings moved through the air, they expanded and grew larger.
"By using Hyper Voice, Sentret's really showing us why it's known for its loud, shrill call!" Marian commented, wincing and trying to cover her ears with her hands while still holding the microphone in her hand.
"Now Sentret, Defense Curl and Rollout!" The Scout Pokémon nodded and quickly curled its body into a ball. It then began to roll in place at a high speed, and it dashed forward, speeding at the rings from the Hyper Voice and leaping inside them. Right away, it seemed as if Sentret had its own gravitational pull and the rings hooked onto it. As it landed, the rings followed it, and they stayed with it as Sentret rolled around the stage in the shape of a Figure Eight.
"Oh my! The Hyper Voice attack seems to be following Sentret around! It looks like a pinball moving at supersonic speeds!" Finally, after a bit, Sentret bounced high into the air. When the rings followed it, it quickly broke free of its Defense Curl and Rollout combination, and the energy from the Hyper Voice that was following it broke apart with light blue static briefly surrounding the Scout Pokémon's body. After the energy fizzled away, Sentret somersaulted as fell, and landed gracefully on its tail, holding out its arms as if it was saying 'Ta da!' The crowd cheered at the performance and the Trainer walked up to his Pokémon, petting it happily.
"Wow, that was so cool!" Lyra commented.
"Normally, when Defense Curl is used before Rollout, it powers it up, but he used it as a combination, right?" Khoury asked Brock.
"Yeah. Keep in mind that the Performance Stage is for Coordinators to show off their Pokémon and moves, and this Trainer knew exactly what he was doing," he reminded. "Sentret is known for its high-pitched voice and its flexible body, so he used both of those to his advantage."
"This performance was quite unique, and made me remember why Sentret is called 'the Scout Pokémon'," the red-suited judge said.
"Remarkable!" the middle judge simply stated.
"Sentret has many marvelous qualities, and you showed off each and every one here in just a short couple of minutes. Great job!" Nurse Joy praised, smiling at the Trainer. He grinned and bowed to the three judges before moving off the stage with his Sentret.
"Great job, Entrant number two, but let's clear the stage for... Entrant number three!" As Marian said this, the curtain opened up and a woman wearing a long white shirt and a matching pale red skirt stepped out on stage. She ran her hands through her dark red hair nervously before pulling out a pink Poké Ball with yellow markings on it and a blue rim and button instead of a black one. It was also darkened and there was a teardrop-shaped pink sticker on the top of it. The woman took a deep breath and began.
"Jumpluff, it's you now!" she cried, and the ball opened up. Not only did a white light pour out from the ball, but this time a rainfall of delicate pink petals came out. As the light cleared, a blue Pokémon with three stems sticking out of the top and sides of its body appeared and floated delicately in the air. The stems each had puffy white seeds sticking out from them, and the two stems at its sides acted as its hands. It also spun in the air, showing off that it was as light as a feather. The petals also spun around it gently from the light breeze that was produced by its spinning.
"Without even having to use any moves, Jumpluff is already receiving an 'ah' from the audience as it shows us how light it is," Marian commented, watching Jumpluff as it spun.
"Now Jumpluff, break out and use Stun Spore!" the woman instructed. The Cottonweed Pokémon let out a gleeful cry as it floated down from the petals. As it did, the petals followed the slight breeze it produced. However, Jumpluff faced the petals and raised both of its arms, as well as the stem on its head, at them and released a sparkling light yellow powder from the three flowers on the end of the stems on its body. As the petals hit, they were pushed up, and the powder latched onto them. As they moved, the gold powder caused the petals to sparkle beautifully. "Finally, let's wrap this up with Secret Power!"
"Jumpluff!" the Pokémon cried out, and floated back up, getting right in the middle of the flower petals and started spinning around once again. As the petals were picked up in the breeze, the Pokémon's body started to glow bright pink. The glow shined brightly, and the sparkly dust on the petals glittered, bringing out the pink in the flowers and around Jumpluff. Finally, Jumpluff slowly floated to the ground, the flower petals following it down and fading as they did. The crowd applauded the two at their performance, and everyone's heads turned to the judge's table to hear what they had to say.
"Beautiful beyond words, my dear. It's hard to tell that this is your first Pokémon Contest!" the red-suited judge told her, smiling warmly at her.
"Simply remarkable!" the middle judge added, and said nothing more.
"Showing that Jumpluff can move through the air easily, and using the Flora Seal as replacement petals really showed off both Jumpluff's Grass and Flying-type qualities," Nurse Joy commented, and the crowd began to cheer once again. The girl thanked the judges, bowing to them many times before recalling Jumpluff into its Heal Ball.
"Boy, a lot of these performances are wicked good. I just hope they all aren't as good as these ones, for Dane's sake," Lyra muttered to herself, biting to herself as she watched the girl disappear backstage.
"Quite an amazing performance. Now, Entrant number four, you're up!" Marian called, and gestured at the curtain. As it rose, a man with dark purple hair that stood up on the back of his head like a cowlick. He wore a dark green suit with a red bow tie around his neck. With a smirk of confidence, he pulled an Ultra Ball out with a sticker of a red X on the front.
"I choose Tyranitar!" he called, tossing the Poké Ball onto the stage. The ball opened up and a huge green dinosaur-like Pokémon with a blue stomach came out of the light. Around it, multiple vertical red lines appeared, and when the Pokémon cried out, the lines shot up into the air and exploded in a barrage of red particles.
"Woah, a Tyranitar!" Khoury exclaimed, and Lyra gasped at the size of the Pokémon.
"I wouldn't want to meet that thing late at night," she commented as it began the performance.
"Tyranitar, Double Team attack!" the Coordinator commanded, and the giant Armor Pokémon's body immediately started to glow white. It then split into three of the same Pokémon, and each of them roared out fiercely. "Now, use Scary Face!" Each of the three Tyranitar turned towards each other, then glared out towards the audience, each one looking at a different section.
"That look just sends shivers down your back, doesn't it? Tyranitar is showing us that it isn't a Pokémon we should be messing with," Marian commented, holding her arms and shivering. The crowd was completely quiet as the Tyranitars glared at them, but in the distance, a baby in the audience started to cry. Hearing the cry, the Coordinator smirked once again and snapped his fingers.
"Let's wrap this up with Sandstorm, Tyranitar!" Still using Scary Face, the three Tyranitar raised up their arms and heads up into towards the ceiling and a wind filled with sand appeared and spun around them until they were completely enveloped with a sand tornado. The three tornadoes then slowly started to move towards each other. When they met in the middle, they clashed for a moment before slowly forming into one tornado in the middle of the stage. With another snap of his fingers, the Sandstorm faded, and the one Tyranitar stood in the middle. The crowd clapped while looking around at each other with conflicting looks on their face.
"That was... quite the performance," Lyra remarked, clapping along with everybody.
"Yeah..." Ash replied, laughing nervously as the judges cleared their voices to speak.
"Like Marian said, your Tyranitar is not a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure," the male judge said.
"Remarkable!" the small judge with the buzz cut added.
"Your performance was good, but it didn't seem like you and Tyranitar were all that synchronized," Nurse Joy concluded, and the Coordinator frowned slightly at her comment, but nodded and him and his Tyranitar turned around and walked back behind the curtain.
"Moving along, Entrant number five, you're up!" Marian announced, and the turquoise curtain opened up once again. This time, a girl with her wisteria-colored hair tied up into two loose pigtails at the back of her head wearing an elegant sky blue dress stepped out, Poké Ball already in hand.
"Magby, dazzle us!" the girl cried, tossing the Poké Ball, which had a pale blue flame-like sticker on it. As the red and white ball opened, the burst of light that released the Pokémon was surrounded in a ring of ominous, pale blue fire balls. The light faded and a small red Pokémon with a yellow belly and a duck-like bill appeared.
"Magby!" the Live Coal Pokémon called, and the blue flames spun around it.
"Jump and use Flamethrower!" Obeying its Trainer, the Pokémon leaped out of the ring of flames and whipped around, turning towards the fire balls as it landed. Taking in a deep breath, it released a stream of red-yellow fire with rings of red fire around it from its mouth at the fireballs. The fire hit the pale blue fire balls. When it did, Magby turned its head, making the fire curl around the fireballs and absorbing them into the Flamethrower attack. The red fire mixed with the blue fire, and a ominous purple and yellow fire flickered on the stage.
"What is this! It seems the blue and red flames have merged together to form a beautiful lilac flame!" Marian exclaimed. "The question is, now what will Magby do?"
"Fire Punch now!"
"Magby!" the Pokémon replied, nodding its head and rushing towards the flames, pulling back one of its clenched fists. It then became surrounded in a red-yellow flame, and it skimmed it along the edge of the purple flames. As it spun, its other fist became surrounded in flames as well, and it did the same thing with the other fist. Finally, it looked towards the audience, holding out its fists as the purple flames danced along its hands. The crowd clapped as Magby flexed, showing off both the flames on its hands and its muscles. After everyone calmed down and the fire had faded from the stage and Magby's fists, everyone turned to the judges.
"What you did with the flames was impressive, but the end of the performance seemed to lack a proper ending," the judge criticized.
"The flames were remarkable," the middle judge told her.
"I agree with what Mr. Contesta said, but other than that, you did a very good job," Nurse Joy stated.
"Thank you all," the girl replied politely, curtseying before her and Magby exited the stage.
"And now, Entrant number six: come on out!" Marian announced, and she gestured towards the curtain. As it opened, a young man with long blond hair stepped out, wearing a light blue vest over his white shirt. The shoulders of the shirt puffed out, and the collars were frilled out. He wore black tight pants, and he walked out elegantly. He looked almost like a prince.
"Oh wow! Isn't he dreamy?" Lyra gasped, clasping her hands by her face. Her eyes widened with joy as he pulled out a Poké Ball from his pocket and held it close to his cheek. With a faint smile, he tossed the ball into the air. On the front, it had a light green lightning bolt sticker on the front.
"Hitmontop, you're in charge!" the Coordinator called. The ball opened up, and in a flash of light, a brown and light blue Pokémon that had a single horn on the top of its head and a long tail appeared. A large amount of light green lightning bolts also appeared around Hitmontop's body. "Hitmontop, Rapid Spin!"
"Hitmontop!" the Pokémon cried, flipping around so it was balancing on the horn on its head, then started spinning around rapidly.
"And now Triple Kick!" Hitmontop started to spin faster on its head, almost like a top, and it reached its legs, and its tail, which was acting as a third leg, out. The legs kicked the green lightning bolts away, instantly shattering them with its strength and turning them into particles that fell over it.
"Hitmon... top!" the Handstand Pokémon called, swinging one of its legs forward for effect as it sped up and bounced high into the air.
"Now, let's wrap this up with Gyro Ball!" the Coordinator commanded, and the blue parts of Hitmontop's legs and tail started to glow bright blue as it spun, making it seem like a circle of blue was around it. The light from the Gyro Ball caused the sparkles from the shattered lightning bolts to brighten up and reflect, and it seemed like someone had shattered a disco ball into dust and misted it down over the stage. Finally, Hitmontop flipped back around and landed on the ground, striking a pose for the finish. The audience gasped at the performance and clapped for the pair.
"Wow! What a performance! Now let's see what the judges have to say," Marian commented, and looked at them. Like before, the judge Nurse Joy had referred to as Mr. Contesta began.
"I liked it. It was short, sweet, and to the point. Sometimes it's the quickest performances that get you far," he stated.
"Remarkable!" the smaller judge in the middle added.
"You really showed off Hitmontop's unique characteristics, and its Gyro Ball was beautiful as well," Nurse Joy complimented, smiling at the Coordinator. He smiled back at her, and shook his Hitmontop's hand as the two walked offstage.
"Boy, if Dane doesn't win this Contest, I sure hope he does," Lyra commented, gazing lovingly at the Coordinator as he stepped behind the curtain.
"You're just saying that because he's good-looking," Khoury groaned, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"How can you even say that, Lyra? Of course Dawn's gonna win!" Ash responded to the brunette confidently, then looked at Cyndaquil and Pikachu. "Right?"
"Cynda!"
"Pika!" the two Pokémon answered, nodding their head.
"Now our next Coordinator!" Marian announced, gesturing her arm to the curtain. "You're on!" The crowd cheered as the curtains rose, and the woman from before, Jessilina, was standing in the doorway, looking out at the crowd nervously. She stood there for a moment before taking a running start and putting her hands behind her back.
"Alrighty then, Meowth! Rock and roll!" she cried in her high-pitched shrilly voice. Instead of pulling out a Poké Ball, however, the Scratch Cat Pokémon jumped out from behind her, jumping on her head and taking out its claws.
"Meowth!" it cried, leaping off the top of Jessilina's head and onto the stage.
"An entrance without a Ball Capsule! Unique!" Marian commented as she watched Meowth jump through the air.
"This goes out to all the little fans in T.V. land! Meowth, use Fury Swipes!" she ordered, and tossed forward a large cream-colored ball, which was what she held behind her back. As the ball was thrown up to Meowth, the Pokémon produced its claws and they started to glow white. It then repeatedly slashed the ball with furious intent.
"Look at that Fury Swipes go!" Marian exclaimed.
"Woah, now that's what I would call 'lightning fast speed'!" Lyra said in amazement as she watched it continue to slash at the ball. Finally, with one last vertical slash of its paw, Meowth stopped and the ball broke apart into small, thin strings. Running forward, Jessilina pulled out what she was holding in her other hand: three bowls filled with a brown broth. Throwing one bowl into the air, she placed the other two in both of her hands and effortlessly caught some of the strings that fell. Her Pokémon also caught the bowl she threw up in its paws and caught what was left of it, and Lyra realized that Meowth had made noodles out of a round ball of dough. After catching everything, Jessilina kneeled down and Meowth landed on her head, the two of them holding the bowls in their hands. The crowd cheered as loud as they possibly could for the performance as Jessilina stood up and got a tray from the side of the stage, with three pairs of chopsticks all wrapped in a napkin and walked over to the judge's table,
"A standing ovation! The audience is going wild after seeing a performance style that's fresh and new, sending the normal fare of Contest performances on its head!" the MC raved as Jessilina handed out the three bowls to each of the three judges.
"Here you go," she sang, and placed the tray under her arm. "It's Meowth's Noodle Special, so please eat up while it's still hot!"
"Meowth!" the Pokémon on Jessilina's head responded as the judges looked down at the bowls.
"Looks good!" Ash commented beside Lyra.
"And served up with amazing finesse as well," Brock added. Lyra nodded as the hypothesis she made earlier was proven even more.
"You see? It is a talent show!" she told them.
"Such an unusual performance," the boy next to her muttered to himself, however. The crowd was silent as the judges tried some of it.
"Who would have thought using Fury Swipes could make delicious noodles!" Mr. Contesta praised.
"Remarkable, too!" the smaller judge said, sipping some of the broth. Next to him, Nurse Joy sipped some of hers as well.
"The noodles are al dente," she complimented with a bright grin on her face. "Great broth, too." After hearing the judges' comments, the crowd once again cheered and whistled, and Jessilina stood in the middle of the stage, waving her arms to the crowd in thanks. Meowth was also waving its arms on her head, a big smile planted on its face.
"Thank you for that wonderful performance! I'd hate to be the person that's coming on stage after her, ladies and gentlemen!" Marian said, and waited for Jessilina to go back stage before calling out the next person. "Okay, next!" From behind the curtain, a young man with dark maroon hair that shaped around his face stepped out. He wore a blue suit with a matching light blue bow tie around his neck. Pulling out a Poké Ball, he tossed it forward, and Lyra noticed it had a sticker on it that looked like three red misshapen rectangles on it.
"Now, Granbull, go!" he called. The Poké Ball opened and the light from the Poké Ball poured down and formed into a large purple dog-like Pokémon with a huge bottom jaw. A large amount of confetti was also released from the Poké Ball and it fluttered down onto the battlefield. He smirked with confidence and began his appeal. "Okay Granbull, use Bite to collect all the confetti that's falling!"
"Gran!" the Pokémon replied, and, getting down on all fours, it dashed around the arena snapping its jaws as it rushed around and collecting all of the confetti in its mouth. Finally, after a short time passed by, it stopped. When it stood back up and grinned at the audience, the shiny red confetti lined its bottom jaw like a retainer.
"Now, use Fire Fang!" the Coordinator ordered. Granbull snapped its jaws and suddenly, the Fairy Pokémon's whole bottom jaw blazed with a red-yellow fire. The colors from the confetti then blended in with the fire, turning it into a sparkling rose color. The audience let out a 'ooh' at the flames as they flickered across Granbull's jaw.
"Wow, what a beautiful color! The color from the confetti has influenced the Fire Fang's flames into a wonderful, rich rose color!"
"Okay, now, Thunder Fang!" Granbull nodded and the two long fangs sticking out of its mouth started to glow bright yellow, and the fire sparkled with yellow static brilliantly. With a snap of its jaw, both attacks instantly faded, and the audience cheered loudly for the pair.
"Who knew that Fire Fang and Thunder Fang would make such a wonderful combination outside of battle," Mr. Contesta remarked.
"Remarkable!" the middle judge agreed.
"Let's not forget Granbull's speed! It takes a quick Pokémon to have collected all of the pieces of confetti that fell from the Poké Ball," Nurse Joy complimented.
"Thank you very much," the Coordinator thanked, him and his Granbull bowing their heads to them. He recalled his Granbull into its Poké Ball and walked backstage.
"A wonderful performance. Now, can the next Entrant please come out?" As Marian gestured, a male Coordinator with his spiky brown hair that stuck straight up rushed out onto the stage, leaping into the air with his Poké Ball in hand.
"Meganium, let's go!" The Poké Ball spun through the air and opened up, releasing a large green dinosaur-like Pokémon with a ring of pink and white petals around its neck. A ring of beautiful pink flowers also spun around Meganium's body and faded as it landed on the ground.
"Wow! That Pokémon looks so familiar!" Lyra muttered, tapping her chin to try and remember if she had seen it somewhere before.
"Well, it should! Meganium's the final evolved form of Chikorita," Brock explained, and the brunette gasped and quickly snatched out her Pokédex to scan the creature. "Meganium, the Herb Pokémon. Meganium's breath has the power to revive dead grass and plants, and the fragrance emanating from its flower petals could soothe any angry, hostile emotions."
"Okay Meganium, start out with Sweet Scent!" the Pokémon's Trainer ordered.
"Mega!" the Pokémon cried, and shook its neck, releasing a pink powder from the petals on its neck all around.
"And now, Aromatherapy!" As soon as the pink powder stopped coming out, a multicolored gas with bright sparkles inside poured out from the flower around the Herb Pokémon's neck, combining with the Sweet Scent attack as it wafted over the battlefield.
"Oh my! Do you smell that? Meganium's Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy combination should be used in a spa, because I feel instantly relaxed!" The audience was silent as everyone seemed to close their eyes as the pains and pressures of the world seemed to melt away from the smell. Even the judges were sitting back in their chairs and relaxing.
"Okay Meganium, wrap things up with Synthesis!" the Coordinator commanded. In the middle of the stage, Meganium looked up in the air and the flower petals on its neck started to glow a bright white. The glow then spread throughout its whole body, and the powder all around the field shone brightly, the light shining on the rainbow-colored mist and bringing out all the colors in it. Finally, the mist slowly faded away, and Meganium stopped glowing and bowed to the audience. The crowd cheered at the performance and clapped their hands loudly. Lyra even decided to clap herself, smiling as an image of her standing next to a Meganium in the middle of a battle stadium flashed through her head.
"Quite a performance. The Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy was enough for an appeal, but then you added Synthesis to intensify the colors," Mr. Contesta commented.
"Remarkable as well!"
"The amazing feeling your Meganium's attacks let out really shows how well you raised it and how happy it is. Great job." The crowd clapped at the judges' comments and the Coordinator and Meganium walked off the stage.
"And now, folks, here's our last Entrant for the Performance Round. Come on out!" From behind the curtain, a tall, bulky man stepped out with his Poké Ball in hand. The suit he wore looked like a captain of a boat's uniform, and he had a stern look on his face.
"Flaaffy, I choose you!" he yelled, tossing the ball forward. The ball opened up, and instead of a flash of light, a bright pink puff of smoke came out of the inside of the ball. The smog around it faded and a bright pink and white sheep-like Pokémon appeared in the middle of the stage. It crossed its arms confidently across its chest as the rest of the smoke evaporated. "Now Flaaffy, Swift, let's go!" The pink Pokémon let out a baa before looking into the air. Just then, multiple gold stars shot out from the while wool around Flaaffy's head and neck and started spinning in the air. As the stars traveled around, they left behind gold particles. It was almost like the move was made for Contests. "Okay, and now use Thunder!" The Pokémon nodded and fired a powerful blast of yellow electricity from its body into the circle of stars above. The stars were zapped and the electricity charged through them, but didn't fade away, instead forming around the stars like a bright yellow aura.
"Boy, look at the golden color of the Swift attack now!" Marian gasped in awe, as did the audience around her.
"And now finally, finish with Signal Beam!" the Coordinator commanded, and this time, Flaaffy leaped up into the air so that it was in the middle of the circle of stars. Two white orbs of light then formed at the end of each of its hands, and it extended them and spun around in the opposite direction of the Swift attack. It then fired a rainbow-colored beam from the white orbs straight at the Swift attack. The attack hit the stars, and as soon as it did, the stars and electricity absorbed the Signal Beam attack, and the once-golden stars turned rainbow colored.
"It seems the Signal Beam has turned the Swift attack into a rainbow color! The electricity around the Swift seemed to have absorbed it in, and Flaaffy used this to its advantage!" Flaaffy and the stars spun around in mid-air for a second or two, and suddenly, the stars popped like fireworks, one by one. The Wool Pokémon landed on the stage and raised its hands as rainbow-colored particles rained down over and around it. The audience started to cheer, but the Coordinator smirked, showing he wasn't finished yet.
"One more! Use Charge!"
"Flaaaa!" the Pokémon cried, clenching its hands together and pulling its body together. Just then, yellow electricity appeared around it, and the sparkles that fell in the Wool Pokémon's fur and wool started to sparkle like a disco ball. Finally, the electricity broke away and Flaaffy shook its body, getting the particles off it. And once again, the audience started to cheer as loud as they could. Lyra and Khoury were smiling and clapping along with them.
"Wow, even though it seemed like they were done, Flaaffy still had one more trick up its sleeve, and it was a perfect ending to an amazing performance!" Marian complimented, clapping her hands as well.
"It was quite an array of attacks and they were all beautifully executed," Mr. Contesta judged, clapping his hands.
"Definitely remarkable!" the middle judge agreed.
"To use all of Flaaffy's moves like that was really impressive, since they all flowed so nicely. Great job," Nurse Joy commented, and the Coordinator recalled his Flaaffy and moved off the stage. As he did, Marian walked to the middle of the stage and looked up at the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of an exciting Round one!" she announced. "So please be patient while our judges' results are calculated!"
"Wow, that was so good! So which ones were your favorite, Khoury?" Lyra asked her friend.
"There were so many great ones. I can't decide," he admitted, and chuckled to himself. On the other side of her, Ash stood up.
"We should go into the backrooms and tell Dawn how great of a job she did up there!" he suggested.
"That's a great idea!" Lyra agreed, and everyone stood up and made their way back to the back room where the Coordinators were.
o 0 o
After making their way through the crowd, the group arrived at the door leading into the room, and they walked inside. Dawn and Piplup was sitting on the benches they had, patiently waiting the results. When she saw them, Dawn smiled and stood up. Lyra jumped forward and bent down to look at her friend's Pokémon. "You were awesome, Piplup!" she complimented, and the Penguin Pokémon put its wings on its hips and stuck out its chest proudly.
"Lup!" it agreed, and Lyra chuckled and stood up straight again, looking at her friend.
"Wow Dane, Contests are really fun to watch, y'know?"
"Glad you like it, Lyra!" Dawn replied.
"But still," she added, putting her hands together and placing them over her heart. "Waiting for the results can sure be a nerve-wracking time."
"No need to worry," Ash responded, placing his hands on his hips nonchalantly. "Piplup really did great out there!" Just then, the large television monitor in the front of the room came off the waiting screen and Marian's face appeared on it, catching all the Coordinators' attention.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for your patience!" she stated. "After careful consideration by our panel of judges, the eight Coordinators who will be moving along to Round two are... On the big screen now!" Just then, eight playing cards appeared on the screen, four in two rows, and starting from left to right, the cards flipped around, showing the Coordinator's pictures on the other side of the cards. The Trainer with the Sentret was the first one, then the girl with the Jumpluff, Dawn, the man with the Meganium, the man with the Flaaffy, Jessilina, the man with the Granbull, and the man with the Hitmontop. Dawn let out a big sigh and closed her eyes in relief, placing her hands on her chest.
"Thank goodness," she sighed as a smile grew across her face.
"You're in, Dawn!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
"Piplup knew it all along," Brock joked, chuckling to himself.
"Congratulations," Khoury cheered, and Piplup stuck its chest out and patted it with one of its wings confidently.
"Dane!" Lyra exclaimed, and reached forward, snatching the girl's hands in hers and shaking them excitedly. "You were simply amazing!" Dawn giggled to herself, but she looked confidently in Lyra's eyes.
"But, the real Contest starts now," the blue-haired girl replied, pulling out a Poké Ball from her dress pocket and looking at it. "I'm counting on you, Mamoswine."
"So it's Mamoswine's stage debut," Brock commented.
"Can't wait to see it!" Ash added, and Pikachu nodded its head in agreement. Lyra's eyebrows raised and she looked at Dawn.
"I just realized it's your chance to win your fifth and final Ribbon, so it's a really important Contest for you, right Dane?" the brunette asked.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Then why didn't you choose Piplup and Buneary?" Lyra asked, then placed her hands on her hips. "You're quite the daredevil, aren't you?"
"No need to worry! I'm fine!" she replied with her famous catchphrase, smiling confidently at her friend. "No reason I should do anything differently at this point." She grinned and giggled at Lyra. "As far as I'm concerned, it's battling as usual."
Overconfidence is never a good thing, Dawn. v-v Well, that was the first Contest anything I've ever written. The appeal rounds were kinda hard to think of some for certain Pokémon, but I think I managed. ^-^ It was definitely a fun experience, and so much different than writing battles, that's for sure! XD Personally, my favorite was the Tyranitar one, but he didn't make it to the second round. :(
As a side note, if you're wondering why Marian's speech is in bold, it's because she's speaking into a microphone, so her voice is projected. ^-^
Well, anyways, next chapter, Dawn moves on to Round two. Will she win her fifth and final Ribbon to be able to compete in the Grand Festival, or will she get beat and have to go somewhere else to get her Ribbon? You'll have to wait for next chapter! Alright guys, that's it for this update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading and reviewing! See you next update!