Hello and welcome to another chapter of Pokémon Journey: Hoenn!
And not just any chapter!
I present to you the new largest permanent chapter in the entire Pokémon Journey series, at 10,300 (plus an extra 150-odd after last minute editing and however many are added in the author notes). This makes it larger than the previous record holder (Pokémon Journey: Kanto's Chapter 31 – Celadon's Shopping Scene) by roughly 1,000 words.
Anyway, enough bragging! Last chapter saw the group set off to cross Mt. Unzen to get to Anamarc Town, during which a wild electrike who helped them out decided that he needed to babysit Nicola. Nicola, for her part, didn't turn down the opportunity to get a new pokémon on her team.
Upload Date: 21st November 2017
Chapter 38: A Deceptive Opponent
Route 110, Hoenn
5:15pm, 10th May 2006
The view from the mountains that lay around the eastern end of the peninsula was certainly impressive. The sea stretched out from Anamarc Town below, with the far shore just about visible in the distance. A handful of ships were crossing the water, heading in all directions, some large, some small. At this distance, they seemed to glide silently across the water's surface.
Below, Anamarc Town lay between the foot of the mountain and the coast, a ferry pulling out of its port to set off across the strait as they watched. A handful of small, tree-covered islands dotted the coast, so close that it must have been possible to swim to them from the shore without any trouble. The lights of the town were already lit up; the sun had dipped behind the mountains, leaving the town in shadow. The effect this created, with the sea in the distance still glittering in the evening light, felt quite strange.
"Ah!"
Breaking the atmosphere, Nicola suddenly let out a shout of alarm.
James, Richard and Will all looked back at her in time to see the last threads holding one of her backpack straps together give way. The bag dropped down, the sudden pressure causing some of the threads in the other, still-intact strap to fray.
"Phew!" Nicola expressed everyone's relief as she realised that the other strap was going to hold. "That was close!"
"You're definitely going to need to get a new bag," Richard said unhelpfully. As if she hadn't realised that already!
"There'll be somewhere in Anamarc Town for sure," James said. "But I think we should worry about other things first."
"Such as?" Will asked.
"The contest," James replied. He gazed back at the town below them. "Nicola and I should register as soon as possible."
"Do you know where we need to go for that?" Nicola asked. She looked out over Anamarc Town as well, trying to pinpoint a building that could be the contest hall.
"I've got my map." James patted his backpack, where the guidebook was currently stored. "I think it's quite a way from the pokémon centre though."
"You want us to go on to the pokémon centre with Nicola's backpack, don't you?" Richard sighed, guessing what James was going to say.
"Impressive," James replied. "But I was also hoping you'd take mine as well!"
"No way."
"Thought so."
"I don't mind taking Nicola's though." Richard turned to look at her. "It looks like it could fall apart at any moment."
"That would be a big help," Nicola replied gratefully. "I'll hold onto it until we separate."
"Once we get back from the contest hall, we should have some time to stock up on supplies," James said. "But we can discuss that later."
"Let's get moving then," Will said impatiently. "We're almost there – I want to get to the pokémon centre and have a rest."
"Don't we all?" Nicola sighed. It had been a challenging journey across the mountain and the whole crisis with her bag had only worn them out even more. Privately, she wished that she could go straight to the pokémon centre and rest.
"Straight on then!" James called, setting off along the mountainside road. "This will lead us down to that road there. We follow it to the main road and then the pokémon centre should be somewhere on our right!"
"Got it!" Richard called wearily as he started walking after him. "That works out quite well for me and Will then – we only have to carry Nicola's bag through the door!"
"Which is why I asked you to take mine as well," James sighed.
Anamarc Town, Hoenn
5:28pm, 10th May 2006
"Wow! There are loads of people here!" Nicola gasped as she and James walked through the front entrance to the contest hall. "Are you sure that it's tomorrow and not today?"
"I'm sure," James replied. "None of these people look like they're about to head inside."
Though there certainly was a lot of people milling about in the entrance hall, the bulk of them were either standing around talking to friends or waiting patiently in line to get to the front desk. There were some who had gone upstairs, by the looks of things, but James suspected that they were probably only up there to use the berry blenders.
"I guess it's going to be a pretty big one," Nicola sighed as she and James joined the queue.
"We're on the main route from Slateport to Mauville," James replied. "There was always going to be lots of people trying to enter."
"Will there be enough room for us?" Nicola wondered.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," James said, giving her a reassuring grin. "It looks like there's a lot of people because the contest hall in Slateport was almost deserted when we got there."
"I guess so," Nicola murmured.
"Anyway, we need to start thinking about how we're going to put together our combinations for our appeals," James said. "I picked up some ideas from that taster session we did, but it's going to be completely different putting something together that's supposed to win a contest."
"…And we'll be up against each other as well," Nicola muttered, her heart sinking. There was only one ribbon up for grabs here, after all. She was used to her, James and Richard all walking away from a gym with a badge. There was no way for both of them to leave the contest satisfied.
"Well, that's just how it works." James didn't seem daunted. "We'll have to fight each other at the league as well."
"But imagine if you had to fight Richard for every gym badge," Nicola replied. "We'd be taking away each other's chances at even getting to the league."
"The rules are the rules." James shrugged. "The important thing is that we both give it our all and try our hardest to win, even if it's against each other." He suddenly snorted in laughter. "But let's face it – this is our first contest! We'd have to be very lucky to win first time!"
"I guess you're right there!" Nicola couldn't help but laugh as well.
The people in front of them were finished, so the two of them stepped forwards to speak to the receptionists.
Fortunately, the process was quick and largely effortless. The receptionists manning the desk seemed keen to get through the queue as quickly as possible as well. After turning over their trainer cards to be scanned, they were reminded of the rules of the contest, as well as the time that they had to be there for. Being late was severely frowned upon.
"I'm starting to get nervous," Nicola said breathlessly as she stepped away from the desk and re-joined James. "There's no going back now!"
"I get what you mean." James nodded. "It feels like it's really happening now."
"So, what should we do now?" Nicola asked.
"The contest isn't until tomorrow afternoon, so we should have plenty of time to work on our appeals in the morning," James said, crossing his arms as he thought. "You still need to get a new bag, don't you?"
"Yeah." Nicola nodded. "It's probably better to do that sooner, right?"
James nodded. "We need to get some supplies as well…" Pausing briefly, he turned back to her. "Let's head back to the others first. Then we can decide who's doing what."
"Sure." Nicola nodded.
6:13pm, 10th May 2006
Right! James thought as he stepped through the automatic door into the Poké Mart. Let's double check what we need again.
Having made the mistake of offering the others a choice between coming with him to stock up on general supplies and going with Nicola to help her find a new backpack, James had found himself heading out to the Poké Mart by himself. He didn't mind too much, but it meant that he'd had to completely empty his own bag out before he left so that he'd have room for all the shopping.
Still, that meant that he wouldn't have the others pestering him to buy whatever nifty but useless gadget they'd found in the technology aisle, or one of those ridiculous novelty poké balls. It would make a nice change.
"Let's see," he mumbled to himself as he grabbed a basket from the side of the entrance and glanced back at his list. Food was going to be the most important thing they needed, but that could wait until tomorrow. Carrying food in the same basket as medicine, poké balls and other trainer essentials tended to be a bad idea. If one of the others had come with him, then this wouldn't have been an issue.
Not, of course, that he wanted to sound bitter.
Instead, he concluded that it would be best to settle with the rest of what they needed. They could always come back tomorrow evening after the contest, or the morning after, when they planned to leave Anamarc Town.
Definitely need this, James thought, picking a small bottle of fuel for their portable stove off the shelf as he strode down one aisle. After that, he needed to add some potions to the basket – about ten for each of them would be enough for now – and some specific medicine. After Will's battle with Gulpy the previous day, they'd been short on antidotes in particular.
"What next?" James looked at this list again as he left the medicine aisle.
Repel.
James let out a sigh of relief as he turned into the next aisle and spotted that there were still some bottles of repel sitting on the shelf. An entire Poké Mart could be emptied if a large wave of trainers passed through, but repel was the only item that was consistently in short supply. They still had three spray bottles with them, but it was a good idea to stock up while there were some in the shop.
Dropping five bottles into his basket, James glanced back at his list again. Will and Nicola both wanted more poké balls to replace the ones they'd used over the last couple of days, and Richard had accidentally broken a couple of his as well.
They were closest to the checkout though, so James decided to head to the pokémon care aisle instead.
"There's lots of contest-related stuff here," he murmured, glancing from side to side.
As well as various types of brushes, food bowls and other tools for taking care of pokémon, there were a selection of coloured scarves which apparently increased a pokémon's appeal, a handful of props which could be used to enhance a performance, and, of course, pokéblocks.
This might be useful. James stopped and looked at a box containing an assorted mix of different flavoured pokéblocks. They were pretty cheap, so they probably weren't going to be the greatest, but he and Nicola hadn't had the opportunity to make their own since leaving Slateport. Given that they needed to spend time on their training, it might be useful to have some of these to give to the pokémon before the contest.
He put the box in his basket and moved on to look at some of the props next to them.
How would this work in a contest? He frowned as he noticed a bright red plastic ring, packaged and hanging from a rail. A frisbee didn't seem like the sort of thing that would have a place in a contest. He reached out to grab it so that he could have a closer look.
His hand bumped into another hand coming the other way.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
James looked to his right to find a well-dressed girl, probably about his age, standing there, also reaching out for the frisbee.
"I-I'm sorry!" the girl exclaimed, immediately withdrawing her hand. "After you!"
"Ah, no, it's fine," James replied quickly, pulling his hand back as well. "I was just looking."
"Thanks." The girl reached out and took the frisbee, her long, blonde hair shimmering slightly from the overhead light as she studied it. She pressed her thumb against the plastic and frowned. She then gripped it in her hands and tugged at it. Finally satisfied, she dropped it into her basket.
"Umm, if you don't mind me asking," James blurted out. "How does a frisbee fit into a pokémon contest?"
"Huh?" The girl looked back at him. "Oh, are you new to contests?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, okay." The girl gave a nod. "There are lots of different styles in contests. Some coordinators like to use flashy moves and others like to use brute force. But there's another style that involves using props in your performance."
"That makes sense," James replied. "So, are you using that frisbee in your next performance?"
The girl nodded eagerly. "I've been a coordinator for a year now, but I started using this style recently. It's been tough for my pokémon to get used to it…"
James suddenly noticed a small, yellow pokémon with black hands and large, red eyes standing by the girl's feet.
"Is this your pokémon?" he asked, squatting down in front of it.
"Ah, yes." The girl nodded. "This is Mawa, my mawile."
"Never seen one of them before," James said, pulling out his Pokédex. "It looks pretty cute."
"Well…" the girl began awkwardly.
"Mawile, the deceiver pokémon. Don't be taken by a mawile's cute face – they are very dangerous pokémon. Mawile fool their foes into letting down their guard then chomp down with their massive jaws. The steel jaws are really horns that have been transformed."
"Jaws?" James looked up from the Pokédex. He tumbled backwards in shock – the mawile's cute face had disappeared. A large, black jaw with sharp teeth was now facing him.
"Ah! Are you alright?" the girl cried in alarm. She turned to her mawile, who had spun around again to face James. "How many times do I have to tell you not to scare people like that!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" James assured her as he got back to his feet. "So, can this mawile do performances using frisbees?"
"She's one of the only members of my team that can manage it every time." The girl nodded.
"Wow! I'd love to see it!" James said. What kind of a performance could it be?
"Oh! Are you taking part in the Anamarc contest as well?" the girl asked.
"That's right." James nodded.
"Then you'll be able to see then!" The girl smiled at him.
"I'll look forward to it!" James grinned. "Anyway, I'd better get on. See you in the contest tomorrow!"
"Sure!" the girl replied enthusiastically.
After picking up some poké balls for the others and deciding to get a couple of spares for himself, James headed for the checkout.
"After your trainer discount, that's 25,025 poké," the clerk said. "Would you like me to register the poké balls while you're here?" he added as James started rummaging around for the money.
"Just three of them," James replied. "The others are for my friends."
"Certainly." The clerk nodded as he took the money. He placed three of the poké balls onto a small, circular reader one by one as James put the remainder into the main pocket of his backpack. With each of them, he tapped some keys and registered the balls to James's trainer card.
"Thanks," James said as the clerk handed the three newly-registered balls to him.
"My pleasure!" the clerk replied cheerfully. "We look forward to your next visit!"
As James stepped back out of the Poké Mart, he pulled his backpack back over his shoulders. He was glad he'd brought it. It would have been a real pain to haul it all back in plastic bags.
At that moment, he noticed the girl he'd spoken to earlier attempting to do just that.
"Are you okay?" he asked, walking over towards her.
"Ah!" The girl looked up as he approached. "Oh, from earlier…"
"Do you need a hand?" James asked. "It's hard to carry lots of bags all at once."
"…" The girl looked at the bags she was trying to carry. "…If you don't mind," she replied bashfully.
"Not a problem," James replied. He took half of the bags she was carrying. "Are you staying at the pokémon centre in the town centre?"
"Actually, I'm staying in the one on the northern side of the town," the girl said apologetically. "If it's too far, then you don't need to-"
"Nah, it's fine!" James grinned. "I'd want someone else to help me if I was carrying too much as well, so, you know…"
The girl smiled gratefully. "Then thank you very much!"
It was actually a lot further to the northern end of Anamarc Town than James had been expecting. Not that it really bothered him that much. Once he'd committed to helping, there was no way that he was going to back out again.
"Thank you again." The girl bowed politely to him as he put the bags he was carrying down by the entrance to the other pokémon centre.
"Don't mention it," James said, smiling at her. "I guess I'll see you again at the contest tomorrow!"
"S-Sure!" The girl nodded. "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Mia Wilson."
"Mia, huh?" James said. "I'm James Burton. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand.
"Nice to meet you," Mia repeated softly, taking his hand.
"Well, I'd better get going." James took a step back the way he'd come. "My friends are going to be wondering where I've gone!"
"Umm! Before you go…" Mia suddenly blurted out. She rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag full of pokéblocks. "I made these when I was at the contest hall earlier. They're much better than the ones you get in Poké Marts, so…"
"Ah, so you saw that?" James chuckled in embarrassment, thinking back to the cheap ones he'd bought for his and Nicola's pokémon. "I haven't had the chance to make my own, but I figured I should give my team something before the contest."
"Then please accept these as my thanks!" Mia thrust the pokéblocks towards him. "I've got plenty more, so if they'll help you then I'd be happy to help!"
"That's very kind of you," James replied as he took the bag. "Thanks!"
"No, I should thank you for all your help." Mia shook her head. "See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah, see you!" James waved as she collected her bags and stepped through the doors into the lobby. Turning around, he started walking back the way he'd come. "Guess I'd better start thinking about my performance tomorrow…"
A performance using props sounded complicated and difficult. If there were coordinators like Mia who were going to be his opponents tomorrow, then it was going to be much more difficult than he originally thought.
He'd told Nicola that the two of them were unlikely to win the contest, but that didn't mean that he was going to go down without a struggle.
2:46pm, 11th May 2006
The sun was bright in the sky as James, Richard, Nicola and Will stepped through the doors into the lobby of the contest hall. It had been a stressful morning as both James and Nicola had experimented with different combinations, with mixed results. Neither was all that confident with what they'd come up with, but time was up, and they had no choice but to go with what they had.
The lobby was far more crowded today than it had been the previous evening. Spectators were already heading up to the upper lobby so that they could reach the stands. The coordinators were all gathering by an admissions desk at the right side of the lobby, being admitted one by one into the holding room.
"Isn't it exciting?" Nicola asked, slightly too forcefully. She couldn't stop fidgeting.
"It's fine to be nervous," Richard sighed. "Besides, you're not fooling anyone."
"Do we have to be here?" Will asked. "We could be training right now…"
"If you don't want to watch, then no one's forcing you!" James snapped.
Will frowned, but didn't move.
"Moral support is kind of the price for having a permanent training partner," Richard said. "You know that, Will."
"I guess we should head on in," James sighed. He could feel his heart hammering faster than normal. Now that he was actually stood here, the thought of having to perform his combination in front of a crowd of people was terrifying. A part of him wanted to hide under one of the benches until it was all over.
But Nicola looked about ready to join him, so he resisted. He was the older one – it was down to him to set the example.
As he was about to move off, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure. A pair of grey eyes lit up as they met his own.
"H-Hello," Mia said as she walked over towards him.
"Oh, hey!" James greeted her, trying to sound more confident than he actually was.
"Wow," said Will. "My big brother's hitting on a girl at a time like this."
"What are you talking about?" James turned to him. "This is the girl I told you guys about last night." He turned back to Mia. "Sorry about my younger brother."
"I-It's fine," Mia replied, her cheeks pink. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Mia Wilson," she said to Will.
"And these are my friends, Richard and Nicola." James quickly pointed to the other two.
"So, this is the other coordinator you met?" Nicola was also trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I'm Nicola. I'm competing in the contest as well."
"Both of you?" Mia looked between the two of them.
"Yeah." James nodded. "We've been practising our combinations together all morning. I still feel nervous, but we'll give it our best shot!"
"Huh?" Mia blinked a couple of times. "Together?"
A bell sounded over the intercom.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen! The contest will be starting shortly! Spectators, please make your way to your seats! Coordinators, please report to the admissions desk immediately!"
"I guess we've got to get going," said James, swallowing nervously. He turned to Richard and Will. "We'll catch up with you guys later."
"Got it! Give it your best shot, you two!" Richard gave them a thumbs-up.
"Th-Thanks!" Nicola called back. She turned to follow the others.
Just ahead of her, Mia suddenly shot her an icy glare before turning towards the admissions desk.
"H-Huh?" Nicola watched her with a confused look on her face. What was that about?
She shook her head.
She had bigger things to worry about now! Mia was a fellow competitor, after all. Once they were on the stage, they were fighting against each other.
3:01pm, 11th May 2006
"Hello and welcome to this contest here in Anamarc Town!" the MC called as she stood at the centre of the stage. "I hope you're all looking forward to seeing the wonderful performances our coordinators have in store for us this afternoon!"
All eyes in the holding room were fixed on the TV screen suspended from the ceiling in one corner. The scene out on the stage played in front of them, each one of them aware that they'd soon be standing on that stage themselves.
"There are more people watching than I was expecting. I wonder if I'll be alright."
"Lots of people come up from Slateport if there isn't a contest on there."
"I better go over my routine again."
"Maybe it would be better to lead with that move instead…"
The room was alive with whispers. No one was able to think of anything other than their imminent performances.
"Does my hair look alright?" Nicola asked James nervously. "I didn't realise that it was going to be filmed."
"Don't worry, you look fine," James said. "They're going to be looking at your pokémon's performance though. You know what you're doing?"
"Yeah." Nicola nodded.
"Good." James smiled. "Don't worry too much."
The two of them were sat next to each other on one of the benches in the centre of the room. Mia was sat a short distance away. She kept throwing glances in their direction, but her eyes shot away again whenever he looked back towards her. Weird.
James guessed that she was as nervous as they were, even though she'd been in contests before. Maybe it was one of those things that was terrifying no matter how many times you did it?
"First contestant!" A stagehand had entered the room. "Arran Thompson!"
"Here!" One of the other boys in the room jumped to his feet and walked over to the door.
"Head on through and get ready," the stagehand said.
The door shut behind them.
Everyone turned back to the screen. The MC had finished her speech and was starting to make way for the first contestant.
"Our first contestant, Arran Thompson from Rustboro City!"
Arran waved to the crowd as he walked out onto the stage. Pausing at the centre for a split second, he pulled out his poké ball.
"Go, Talu!"
A lithe, cream-coloured cat with a golden charm on its forehead burst out of the ball and landed smoothly on the ground.
"Wow! Fancy seeing a meowth all the way out here!" James said, watching the pokémon jump up and start scattering golden coins around, each of them glittering in the stage light.
"Yeah." Nicola nodded.
It felt like it had been going on for a while when the stagehand reappeared. "Second contestant!"
As the next coordinator left the room, all eyes turned back to the screen as Arran and Talu finished their performance and bowed to the audience.
They'd set a high standard.
Though each performance wasn't that long itself, they all stacked up. As each person was called up and left, their place was taken by the coordinator who had just finished. Some were beaming, confident in the performance they, or rather their pokémon, had just given. Others seemed less sure and sat in silence.
Eighteen minutes after the contest had first started, the stagehand reappeared again near the end of the sixth performance.
"Seventh contestant! Nicola Hewitt!"
"H-Here!" Nicola shot up in alarm.
"Good luck," James said to her as she started walking.
"Thanks." She gave him a wobbly smile in return.
Leaving the holding room, she followed the stagehand along a corridor and up a short set of stairs. Ahead of her stood the side entrance to the stage.
"Alright." The stagehand turned to her. "You'll have three minutes exactly. Make sure your performance doesn't overrun or you'll cause trouble for the remaining contestants. Remember that you're here as a coordinator, not a performer – the spectators are here to see your pokémon, not you, so make sure you don't speak unnecessarily or draw too much attention to yourself. Don't forget your etiquette and make sure you bow to the audience at the end of a performance. In addition…"
He was giving instructions so quickly and forcefully that it was difficult for Nicola to keep up.
By the entrance, a red light suddenly turned green.
"Alright, it's time." He gave her a gentle push on the shoulder. "Get out there and do your best!"
"G-Got it!" Nicola nodded, stumbling forwards.
"Now it's time for our seventh contestant, Nicola Hewitt from Littleroot Town!" the MC announced.
"It's finally Nicola's turn!" Richard grinned. "I hope she can hold it together in front of all these people!"
"So do I," Will said. "The other performances mostly seemed pretty good."
Nicola emerged onto the stage, treading carefully and trying to avoid squinting under the lights. She could hear the audience, but it was difficult to see them in the gloom beyond the main stage. That was probably for the best.
On the other hand, she could see all three judges sat at their panels directly in front of her. They all had serious expressions on their faces as they watched her. It felt like they were assessing everything about her, even though the performance hadn't begun.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled out a poké ball.
"Go, Kipa!"
Her voice echoed around the main stage as she threw the ball into the air.
The mudkip burst out of the ball and materialised on the stage with a cry. He momentarily winced in the face of the bright light, but quickly fixed a resolute gaze at the judges and, beyond them, the audience.
With a nod from Nicola, he began his performance.
Firing a small jet of water into the air, he jumped up and powered himself through it, scattering water around him and causing his skin to glisten in the light.
Landing, he spun around and did the same thing again, jumping through the small blast of water.
There was polite applause and a handful of cheers from the audience.
"It looks pretty good," Richard said. "But I hope she's not planning on just doing that. It'll get boring really quickly."
"Don't worry," said Will. "They practised different kinds of combinations for their appeals. She'll have something else."
Down on the stage, Kipa had completed his fourth jump. Landing on the wet surface, he momentarily slipped but managed to recover himself.
He now fired three clumps of mud into the air and started firing water at them. The first one was struck and burst apart, followed by the second one. However, his aim was slightly off for the third one.
There was splat as the mud fell to the stage.
"Argh! She was so close!" Richard groaned. He glanced down at Nicola, who had visibly winced when the third clump of mud had hit the ground. "Is she going to be alright?"
"We're over halfway through," Will replied, watching as Kipa fired a blast of water at the ground to shoot him into the air.
As well as somersaulting around, he quickly pulled himself the right way up and fired another jet of water as he started to approach the ground.
This seemed to impress the audience a bit more.
However, as he finally landed to begin the final part of the performance, he stood completely still for a couple of seconds. He turned and threw a frantic look back at Nicola.
Had he forgotten what he was supposed to be doing?
"W-Water Gun and Bide!" Nicola hissed uncertainly, remembering that she'd been told not to speak unnecessarily.
Kipa's eyes lit up in relief.
Turning back to face the audience, he fired a blast of water straight up into the air above him. As he finished, he stiffened up his body, storing up energy and bracing himself.
It was an impressive combination when they'd practised it. Kipa had unleashed the energy he had stored up the instant the water struck his back and, with enough power stored up, created an explosion of water all around him. Though it was dependent on precise timing, both Nicola and Kipa were very proud of it.
The crowd watched with bated breath as the water reached the peak of its arc. It dropped back down towards the stage below, gaining momentum as it went.
There was a splash as it struck the stage just to Kipa's right.
Water struck his side. A split second later, there was a burst of energy that blasted through the surrounding air, but did little more than send a few water droplets flying.
Nicola felt her legs go weak as the audience politely applauded and the judges started scribbling notes.
"Thank you for that great performance!" the MC called from the side of the stage. "Everyone, please give it up for Nicola!"
The cheers made Nicola feel even worse. She and Kipa quickly bowed to the audience and slunk away as fast as they could. Once they were out of sight, Nicola lent back against the wall and slumped down to the ground.
Kipa moved over and perched himself next to her, pressing himself against her in an attempt to reassure her.
"Sorry…" Nicola whispered. "It's my fault. I didn't give you enough time to practise."
She'd spoken almost on automatic pilot. Her mind had been cast into such disarray that she could hardly issue commands to the other parts of her body. Her heart ached with a heavy feeling, while she blinked furiously to hold back her emotions.
Her attention was suddenly draw to a figure walking past, her blonde hair shimmering in the light.
Mia briefly glanced down at her, a pitying look on her face, before continuing on towards the stage.
"Next up is our eighth contestant!" She heard the MC in what felt like the distance. "Mia Wilson from Oldale Town!"
"So, she's using her mawile?" James murmured, eyes fixed on the screen. Well, thinking about, Mia had given that impression when they'd spoken the previous day.
Mawa was hopping around somewhat, emphasising her cuteness. This must be her warm-up. After a couple of seconds, Mia pulled out the frisbee she'd bought at the Poké Mart the previous day and threw it into the air.
A gasp travelled around the holding room as they all watched Mawa leapt into the air, somersaulting as she caught the frisbee with her massive jaw. She twisted and rolled in the air as she descended, occasionally pulling her body through the hole in the centre in a way that seemed almost impossible.
It was impressive.
They were all so fixated on what was happening on the main stage that almost no one noticed when the door opened and Nicola slunk into the room.
James had noticed though.
"These things happen," he said as she sat down in her space next to him. "It just means that we need to practise harder the next time around."
"Yeah," Nicola muttered. She too glanced up at the screen to watch Mia's performance. Her heart sank even more. She really was out of her depth, wasn't she?
The frisbee continued to play a key part in Mia's performance, with Mawa throwing it with surprising skill, catching it again, playing with it as she'd done earlier. Her agility and the smoothness of her movements was captivating.
When the performance finally ended, everyone felt a little bit disappointed that they couldn't see any more.
As Mia stepped back into the holding room afterwards, there was an explosion of noise.
"That was incredible!"
"How did you manage to train your mawile to act like that?"
"Can you teach me how to use that style?"
"I wish my performance could have gone even half as well as yours did!"
Mia seemed a little overwhelmed by the sudden attention, so when she spotted James waving to her, she quickly made her excuses and left the small crowd of other coordinators who'd gathered around her.
"How was it?" she asked James as soon as she was in range.
"It was brilliant!" James replied eagerly. "I can understand why you like using items now – it made it look much more impressive than just using moves. Actually, did you use any moves at all?"
"Just Crunch," Mia said. "Otherwise, it was just Mawa throwing the frisbee around."
"That's amazing!" James grinned.
"Y-You really think so?" Mia's eyes lit up.
"Yeah!" James nodded. "It's going to be hard following that up with my own performance!"
"You'll do fine!" Mia said enthusiastically. "Just make sure you stay confident and you'll have no problems!"
"I guess that's what went wrong with mine," Nicola said glumly.
"It was your first time," James replied. He patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "I thought it was great!"
"Thanks…"
"…" Mia frowned at them briefly. "I'm going to get back to watching the other coordinators," she said, her tone slightly colder than it had been before. "Make sure you're ready for when you get called up, James."
As it turned out, James's turn wasn't until almost the end of the appeal round.
"Fifteenth contestant!" the stagehand called. "James Burton!"
"Here!" James quickly got to his feet.
"Good luck!" Nicola quickly said as he started walking away.
"You can do it!" Mia swiftly added.
"Thanks." James smiled back at both of them as he walked away to join the stagehand.
Though he was trying to mask it as much as possible, he was feeling increasingly nervous. It didn't take someone familiar with contests to realise that going last, or nearly last in his case, was a bad slot to have. Surely the audience would be starting to get bored by this stage. And what about the judges? They'd probably been hard at work all this time. They probably wanted to get through the last of the contestants as soon as possible so that they could move on to the next stage.
He listened carefully to the stagehand's pep talk as he stood in the wings, waiting for the signal for him to head out onto the stage, though he was sure that he missed some of the things he said.
Finally, he saw the light switch from red to green as the previous contestant stepped back and started walking in his direction.
It was time.
"And now, contestant number 15!" the MC called. "James Burton from Pallet Town in the Kanto region!"
James stepped out onto the stage, taking a deep breath as he did.
"It's finally James's turn!" Will said, clearly frustrated by the long wait.
"Good luck, James!" Richard shouted.
Down on the stage, James pulled out a poké ball and threw it.
"Go, Nulin!" he called.
Nulin burst from the ball and started hovering confidently in the air. He started out by firing a small blast of water into the air, followed quickly by a second one. The second caught up with the first, causing a splash of water and droplets to start falling to the ground around him.
As they did, Nulin dived towards the ground as well. Rolling in the air, he fired a cloud of thin, white mist from his beak. It trailed out behind him as he pulled up and darted around all over the stage.
As it settled close to the ground, Nulin started diving through it, using his wings to scoop up some of the mist as he was passing and trailing it behind him as he left. The effect made the stage seem almost ethereal.
Sharing a brief nod with James, Nulin moved on to the next stage of his performance. Diving low amid the fading, but still present mist, he fired another blast of water into the air. With a flap of his wings, he shot after it and smashed his wing through it, scattering water drops. They glittered in the light as they descended, as did Nulin's damp feathers.
"It looks smoother than I was expecting," Richard said as he watched. "And it actually looks pretty good."
"Yeah, it didn't look so great when they were practising outside," Will sighed, thinking back. "But I guess they didn't have the light in the right place then."
"Didn't they practise with the light occasionally?" Richard asked.
"Yeah." Will nodded. "But there's nothing around at the pokémon centre that can really compare to the stage lights."
"I guess that makes James's performance a bit more impressive than I originally thought," Richard said. "He planned this out without knowing exactly what the environment would look like."
"It still seems a little repetitive though," Will said. "I don't think that James will come top here."
Nulin had swooped around and performed another strike using Water Gun and his wing. As he dived down towards the ground again, he prepared himself for his grand finale.
With a sudden, powerful flap of his wings, he shot straight up in the air in the centre of the stage. He fired out a small blast of water directly upwards, releasing mist from his beak as he caught up with it and crashed into it.
Water and mist sprayed out in all directions as Nulin extended his wings sharply. He gently drifted back down towards the ground surrounded by the sparkling water droplets and mist.
The crowd burst into applause as Nulin landed on James's shoulder. The two of them bowed to the audience before starting to walk off-stage.
"A wonderful performance there by James!" the MC called. "Let's give him another round of applause!"
The crowd let out another cheer, while in front of them the judges returned to scribbling notes on what they'd just seen.
"Whew!" James let out a sigh and allowed his muscles to relax as he stepped out of sight. "Thanks, Nulin." He patted the wingull on the head.
Nulin called out happily in response.
Ahead of them, the sixteenth and final contestant was approaching.
"Good luck," James said automatically.
The last contestant nodded in response as he passed.
James re-entered the holding room and walked over to join Nicola and Mia. Most of the other coordinators were too ensconced in the final performance to notice him, though a couple congratulated him as he passed.
"Great work, James!" Nicola smiled at him. "It looked really professional!"
"Thanks," James replied as he sat down. "There were still some areas that I thought needed some work, but I'm happy with how it went."
"I guess I'll be relying on you for contest training too from now on!" Nicola laughed, though it sounded a little forced.
"Any time," James replied. "You'll be able to help me as much as I can help you!"
"That was a wonderful performance!" Mia suddenly butted in. She sounded a little irritated. "It was a little rough around the edges, but I could really feel the bond between you and your wingull!"
"That's really kind of you," James said, suddenly feeling rather bashful. "It's still nothing compared to yours, but…"
"No, you're was really great!" Mia insisted. "The way you used Mist to create an atmosphere was something I'd expect from a top coordinator."
"Really?" James exclaimed. He was sharp enough to realise that his performance had gone well, but to be on the same level as a top coordinator?
No way.
"Yes! Atmosphere is a hard one since you need to recognise moves that can be used for it," Mia explained. "But there were some smaller problems with the performance that could use improving."
"That sounds more like it." James let out a sigh of relief.
The three of them continued talking amongst themselves as they watched the final performance on the screen in the corner. When it had ended and the final contestant had left the stage, the MC came back on.
"Thank you to all our contestants for their performances this afternoon! We'll now be taking a short break so that the judges can tally their scores! We'll be back in ten minutes to announce which coordinators will be advancing to the next round!"
"The Wait?" a fellow coordinator sighed. "I can never get used to it."
"I wonder if I did enough this time?"
"There are sixteen of us and only eight spots in the next round…"
There was a thick tension in the air as the contestants glanced around at each other. They all knew that half of them would be eliminated from the contest in just ten minutes' time.
3:44pm, 11th May 2006
"…That's the problem with the mud. It's just not that visually appealing."
"I know that, but if I just rely on water, then my performances will get boring really quickly."
"Maybe you should try using a different pokémon? Or perhaps teaching your mudkip some new moves that actually look nice?"
"They're not that bad!"
James, Nicola and Mia were stood around by a water cooler in the corridor outside the holding room. There was no point going back to the lobby since they had such little time, but they wanted to stretch their legs a little and get away from the atmosphere in the holding room.
"I get what you're saying, but it was a little harsh to put it that way," James said.
"I-I'm sorry," Mia stammered. She shot an icy glare at Nicola.
"Anyway, this can wait until later," Nicola sighed. She was starting to find Mia increasingly difficult to deal with. For some reason she just seemed to really dislike her. Playing nice was starting to get exhausting. "It's not like I'm going to get through anyway."
"There were some other pretty bad performances though," Mia said. That was probably the closest she was going to be to reassuring.
"Don't give up hope," said James. "You never know what might happen!"
They heard voices from inside the holding room.
"They're announcing the results!"
James, Nicola and Mia all looked at each other.
"I guess we'd better head back in," said James.
"Right behind you!" Mia said cheerfully, moving to walk alongside him.
Nicola trailed behind them, dragging her feet. She wasn't looking forward to it.
The TV screen now displayed eight empty boxes, one each for the coordinators who were through to the next round. The MC was just about to begin the announcement as the last of the contestants filed in and took their seats.
"The line-up for the first battle round has been decided! The coordinators displayed on the screen will be up against each other in the next round, while those who aren't listed will be eliminated from the competition!"
Names and photos of the successful coordinators appeared on the screen one-by-one.
"There I-" Mia had enough time to start reacting to her name's appearance when the name and picture of her opponent appeared as well.
"Looks like we're up against each other then," James said.
"Huh?" Mia looked at him in surprise and shock.
"Well, these things happen!" James grinned at her. "Let's have a good match!"
"S-Sure!" Mia nodded quickly.
Nicola continued staring at the final name to be revealed. Of course, she'd had her doubts and the eight empty slots at the start had left it quite ambiguous, but she'd still been left a little stunned by the reality now in front of her.
She hadn't made it through.
4:10pm, 11th May 2006
"It's finally time," Richard said.
"Yeah." Will nodded. "We've had two battles now. Just two to go until the next round. I hope James is ready to give it his all."
"He'll be fine," said Richard. "He's back on familiar territory now!"
"A contest battle isn't the same as a normal battle."
Richard and Will looked to their right.
"Even so, it's still more similar than the performances you guys did in the first round, Nicola," Richard said.
"I know," Nicola replied. "But that still won't make it easy."
She'd come up to join them after the first battle had ended. Staying around in the holding room had been too much for her, though Richard suspected that she'd been somewhere else in between, judging from her puffy eyes.
Neither Richard nor Will really knew what they could say to Nicola. When it came to losing gym battles, they could identify with her situation (or Richard could, at least). But contests were so different that it felt like they couldn't really spin out the ever-reliable 'you'll beat them next time'.
As a result, they had ended up mostly leaving her to herself. Better that than accidentally making the situation worse.
Down on the main stage, both Mia and James had emerged.
"Just so you know," James said as they walked forwards. "I'm not going to hold back."
"Same here!" Mia replied, smiling at him. "It would be embarrassing to lose to someone who's only just started doing contests."
They separated and took their positions at opposite ends of the arena.
"Are you both ready?" the MC called, looking between the two of them.
Both James and Mia nodded.
"Alright, begin!"
"Go, Mawa!" Mia threw out her poké ball.
Mawa burst out of the ball and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
"Go, Charka!" James called.
Charka let out a shout as he materialised, the flame on the tip of his tail flaring up in excitement.
Above them, the screen lit up with the timer, pictures of Mia and Mawa and James and Charka and each side's points bar. The timer started counting down immediately. They had five minutes.
"Use Crunch!" Mia moved first.
Mawa shot forwards, her jaw swinging round from the side. Charka, though momentarily stunned by the speed of the attack, held his ground.
"Use Flamethrower!" James called, also keeping a cool head.
With a shout, Charka expelled a burst of flames towards Mawa. The mawile, however, suddenly stopped her attack and dropped low. Charka's attack flew over her, a heat haze forming over the arena. Even though he hadn't scored a hit, the beauty of the flames was appealing in and of itself, and Mawa's points had started to drop.
"Iron Defence!" Mia shouted.
Mawa quickly cloaked her body in an iron coating, the shiny surface now lighting up with flowing orange patterns as it reflected the flames soaring overhead. It only grew more intense as Charka dropped the direction of his attack. With his own points now taking a hit, he was determined to hit Mawa with everything he had.
However, as he got closer, he suddenly spotted that Mawa's face was streaked with tears as the flames closed in. She looked directly at him, as if pleading.
Charka dropped his guard for a split second, but it was enough. Running out of breath, he halted his attack. And in that same instant, Mawa had thrown herself towards him.
"Watch out!" James cried, watching the jaw that hung from the back of Mawa's head as it swung towards him.
Charka tried to dodge, but was too slow. However, Mawa's jaw never opened and instead simply bopped him of the head. The mawile somersaulted over him and landed softly, eliciting a cheer from the audience.
"Why didn't she attack?" James frowned, as confused as Charka was. It didn't take long for him to find his answer though. His and Charka's points had dropped significantly. The fact that Mawa had demonstrated her power without actually inflicting an injury was highly appealing.
As Charka span around to face her, Mawa fired a confident smirk at him. She already thought that the battle was hers.
"Use Smokescreen!" James called.
Charka nodded, firing out a cloud of thick, black smoke. Their points immediately started dropping again – this wasn't a nice move to look at.
"Now use Fire Spin!" James ordered.
A jet of flame shot out of the clearing smoke and straight towards Mawa.
"Fan it up!" Mia shouted.
Just as the flames were about to reach her, Mawa stood her jaw on its end and started whirling it in a circle. It must have taken great physical strength and endurance to keep it there. As Charka's attack reached her, it was sucked in by the air movement generated by the rotation. James and Charka could only watch in amazement as the fiery vortex formed around the jaw, instead of around Mawa.
With a particularly powerful flick of her jaw, the vortex scattered and burned out, tiny embers drifting down around her.
"Use Crunch again!" Mia called.
Mawa charged back towards Charka again. The charmeleon attempted to intercept her with another burst of flames, but she jumped up and avoided it. Descending towards him, she lightly tapped the side of his head with her jaw as she passed.
James and Charka's points continued dropping. Things were starting to look serious.
"Ah!" James suddenly realised something. Every time Mawa had made that kind of attack, she'd always kept her face pointed towards the audience and judges with the jaw on the far side, even when attacking from the other direction. Not only was she getting points for not causing any unsightly violence, she was keeping the audience's attention focused on her cute appearance.
So, this was how a coordinator fought.
James suddenly felt a defeated feeling come over him. The point balance was decisively against him and they were starting to run low on time. Mia's experience and the experience of her pokémon was really showing.
But James was quick to banish his reservations. He still had a chance, as long as he could adapt and learn.
He shared a nod with Charka. "Use Molten Claw! Avoid causing any damage!"
Charka grinned in response, his mood improving now that he felt his trainer's resolve. Turning his right claw to steel, he blasted it with an intense burst of flames. All his focus went into retaining his composure. He couldn't spoil his appeal by grimacing in pain.
He finally charged at Mawa, a shimmering heat haze rising from the red-hot metal coating his claw. His opponent's points had started to drop as he reached her. He swung out his right claw, deliberately swiping the air just in front of Mawa. As she stepped back instinctively to avoid it, she began to lunge towards the audience to avoid a second strike.
Charka was waiting for her. His unheated left claw shot out and knocked into her, disrupting her movement and sending her off-balance.
Mawa's points had dropped, but not by enough. They had less than a minute left to fight.
"Use Molten Claw again!" James called. It was all or nothing.
Charka jumped back and turned his left claw to steel. Quickly scorching it with his flames, he charged forwards again. He swung both claws towards Mawa, small jets of flame escaping from his super-heated claws as he did.
Mawa's points were dropping again. If they could keep this up…
"Use Vice Grip!" Mia shouted.
Mawa's jaw shot forwards, straight between Charka's claws, and latched onto his face. With a powerful leap, she soared over his head, wrenching him off the ground as she did. She landed softly, followed a split second later by a crash as Charka slammed onto the ground on his belly.
"Time's up!" the MC announced as the timer ticked down to zero.
Mawa still had about half of her points left, while Charka had dropped to just twenty per cent.
"This battle has now ended!" The head judge stood up. "The victor is Mia Wilson and her mawile!"
The audience cheered loudly. The judges and the MC all applauded.
In the arena, James and Mia both walked out to their pokémon.
"Well, I thought we were making a pretty good comeback," James said, patting Charka on the head. "How are your claws? Are they still hurting?"
Charka winced in response.
"I'll get a Super Potion for you once we're outside," James replied. He pulled out Charka's poké ball. "You did great out there!"
"Thanks, Mawa!" Mia and Mawa hugged each other. "You did everything perfectly!"
"That was a great battle," James said as he walked over to her. "You really were amazing!"
"A-Amazing?" Mia stuttered, blood rushing to her cheeks. "No, no! It was all down to Mawa! She really is a great pokémon – my number one partner!"
"You were both great," James said. He knelt down and patted Mawa on the head. "I don't think I truly understood how a contest battle should be fought when we first got out here." He stood up and offered his hand to Mia. "But I think I do now, thanks to the two of you."
"…It's nothing." Mia lowered her gaze and smiled softly as she took his hand.
5:07pm, 11th May 2006
The lobby of the Anamarc Town contest hall was alive with activity as coordinators and spectators alike poured out from further inside the building. The contest was over and, after a tense battle with Arran Thompson and his meowth, Talu, Mia and Mawa had emerged victorious.
"I guess it was pretty exciting to watch," Richard said, leading the way down the stairs from the upper lobby. "I'm still sticking to battling though."
"Same," said Will.
"No one was suggesting that you should change," James replied, sighing. "Still, I'm glad that you enjoyed it."
"You actually did pretty well, James!" Richard grinned at him. "You seemed a bit outmatched at first in your battle with Mia, but you were actually starting to make your moves look more polished."
"I've still got a long way to go," James replied. He glanced over at Nicola. "How are you feeling?"
"…I'll get over it," Nicola sighed. She seemed a little better than she had been earlier on, now that everything had sunk in a little.
"Don't worry – we're all here to help you!" Richard said. "And look on the bright side: at least you learned what doesn't work!"
Nicola didn't bother responding. She was too worn out from all the emotional pressure of the afternoon.
"So, what now?" Will asked.
"Well, I wanted to congratulate Mia," James replied. "But that looks like it could be a challenge…"
The lobby was absolutely packed with people standing around and talking about the contest. It would be difficult to track anyone down in all this. Besides, it would be no fun trying to avoid being squashed by the crowd.
"How about we wait outside?" Richard suggested.
"Good idea."
The four of them fought their way through the lobby, eventually pulling themselves out of the door and sighing with relief.
"Now we just need to wait," Will said as they moved over to the side and sat down on the edge of a nearby flowerbed.
They waited for what felt like a long time. James supposed that Mia was held up getting through the crowds. Everyone would recognise the victor, after all.
He eventually spotted her poking her head out of the door and waved to her.
"I thought you'd already gone," she said as she walked over to them.
"We were just trying to find somewhere away from the crowd," James replied. "Anyway, congrats on winning the contest!"
"Thanks!" Mia smiled. "It was a tough fight in the end. I'm just relieved that Mawa was able to come through for me."
"How many ribbons do you have now?" James asked.
"This is actually my first," Mia admitted. "And it was the second contest I've taken part in since adopting my new style. I've been really worried!"
"You've only just started using it and you're already this good?" James let out a sigh. "It's going to be tough work catching up to you."
"A-Ah, no! I just got a bit lucky," Mia replied.
"You seemed pretty good to me," said Richard. "And that mawile is insane!"
"Thank you, umm…"
"Richard."
"Richard! That's it – sorry for not remembering!"
"It's fine."
"So, what now?" Will asked.
"I guess we'll head back to the pokémon centre," Richard replied. "Need to rest up ready for tomorrow."
"Yeah." James nodded. "Sorry for holding you up, guys."
"Oh, umm!" Mia started to speak, but her words got stuck on the way. She fidgeted nervously and looked down at her hands as James and the others looked back at her. There was something that she desperately wanted to ask, but now that she was stood there, she was getting too worried about what the answer might be.
"Mia."
"Y-Yes?" Mia looked up at James.
"I'm going to keep training so that I can become as good as you," James said. "So, let's have another battle the next time we meet!"
She let her body relax and smiled at him. "Sure!" She nodded eagerly. "I'll be waiting!"
"Me too!" Nicola cried. "I'm going to become a better coordinator as well!"
Mia briefly glanced at her before turning back to James. "So, which way are you guys heading now?"
"Huh? No reaction?" Nicola gasped.
"I guess you've got a lot more to prove than James," Richard said.
"We're heading over to Mauville City next," James said to Mia. "We've got gym battles we need to fight."
"I see." Mia nodded.
"What about you?"
"I was going to head down to Slateport City. I want to compete in the next contest there."
"Best of luck to you then," said James. "I guess we'll see you at the next contest!"
"Good luck to you too!" Mia called, waving after the four of them as they walked away. "Goodbye!"
She lowered her arm and let out a sigh. She watched them until they were out of sight.
"Well," she began, stretching her arms above her head. "I guess I'd better get moving too!"
It felt a little bit sad to part ways, but it wasn't really a 'goodbye'.
After all, as long as they were on the contest circuit, they see each other again in no time.
As I'm sure you've all gathered by now, I wasn't able to upload this chapter on Sunday. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that I didn't have as much time as I'd hoped for on Saturday and I wasn't in a fit state to do any work on Sunday itself either.
Part of the reasons for the delay was because I've been really looking forward to this chapter for quite a while – in fact from when I finished the original chapter plan back in April or May. I wanted to make sure that I got it right and that it was something I could be proud of (aside from it being the new largest chapter, which is something to be proud of in itself). As for what I've looked forward to the most in this chapter, it was, of course:
The Poké Mart.
I've been writing Pokémon Journey for almost five years now, but I've never really touched on how Poké Marts operate and the process of a trainer stocking up on supplies and whatnot. For a story that was supposed to be a reflection of a trainer's normal life, that seemed like quite an oversight. I particularly enjoyed putting in my take on how pokémon get registered to the trainer card (via a registered poké ball). I want to go into more detail about Poké Marts in the future (preferably before I'm forced to merge them with pokémon centres in Unova onwards).
The visit to the Poké Mart also seemed like a good opportunity for James to meet Mia, his contest rival (technically, anyway), for the first time. The original plan called for her to be haughty and a bit arrogant, but I thought that you'd probably had enough of arrogant rivals by this stage and wanted to try writing her differently. I hope that it came as a pleasant change.
My biggest regret this chapter was that I didn't have enough room to give Tricky some screen time, which he definitely needs given how new he still is. Still, I believe that we have some gym battles coming up soon, so maybe he'll get a chance to shine there?
Oh, and I guess there was a contest this chapter as well. Nothing much more I wanted to say about that.
As ever, I appreciate any comments you have on this chapter and remember to leave a like on the Facebook page so you'll know the next time I need to delay a chapter.
Until next time!
Team Listings:
James Burton:
Active:
Charka (Charmeleon): male, naïve, often scatters things, likes sweet food, fire type, Blaze ability, knows Fire Spin, Smokescreen, Flamethrower and Metal Claw.
Kacha (Pikachu): male, modest, sturdy body, likes dry food, electric type, Static ability, knows Thunderbolt, Agility, Slam and Thunder Wave.
Nulin (Wingull): male, impish, highly persistent, likes sour food, water-flying type, Keen Eye ability, knows Mist, Water Gun, Supersonic and Wing Attack.
Muro (Loudred): male, careful, loves to eat, likes bitter food, normal type, Soundproof ability, knows Howl, Stomp, Supersonic and Uproar.
Richard Winter:
Active:
Naro (Nidoking): male, mild, sturdy body, likes dry food, poison-ground type, Poison Point ability, knows Thrash, Megahorn, Poison Sting and Double Kick.
Chena (Poochyena): male, docile, capable of taking hits, eats anything, dark type, Run Away ability, knows Tackle, Howl, Sand Attack and Bite.
Dish (Lotad): female, gentle, capable of taking hits, likes bitter food, water-grass type, Rain Dish ability, knows Astonish, Growl, Absorb and Nature Power.
Arro (Aron): male, naïve, loves to eat, likes sweet food, steel-rock type, Sturdy ability, knows Mud Slap, Metal Claw, Harden and Headbutt.
Nicola Hewitt:
Active:
Kipa (Mudkip): male, quiet, somewhat vain, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Tackle, Bide, Mud Slap and Water Gun.
Mushy (Shroomish): female, calm, likes to relax, likes bitter food, grass type, Effect Spore ability, knows Mega Drain, Headbutt, Stun Spore and Leech Seed.
Zaggy (Zigzagoon): male, adamant, quick to flee, likes spicy food, normal type, Pick Up ability, knows Tackle, Tail Whip, Headbutt and Mud Sport.
Tricky (Electrike): male, quirky, somewhat of a clown, eats anything, electric type, Lightningrod ability, knows Leer, Spark, Quick Attack and Howl.
Will Burton:
Active:
Toya (Squirtle): male, modest, very finicky, likes dry food, water type, Torrent ability, knows Tackle, Bite, Water Gun and Withdraw.
Turkey (Swellow): male, mild, alert to sounds, likes dry food, normal-flying type, Guts ability, knows Peck, Steel Wing, Double Team and Quick Attack.
Gulpy (Gulpin): female, mild, nods off a lot, likes dry food, poison type, Sticky Hold ability, knows Pound, Yawn, Sludge and Poison Gas.