Chapter 52: Big dreams
Everything is decided now. I'm heading to Josh's house at Littleroot Town with the two contest tickets on my pocket, ready to hand them to him. He has no idea that we are going to the Slateport contest, I only told him that we could hang out a bit today and as you can see, he accepted. Now I'm wondering how his reaction will be like when I tell him what we are actually going to do!
I'm in front of the door of his house now, I ring the doorbell once and I wait for someone to come and open the door. In the meanwhile, I look around to observe the small town, which is pretty quiet as usual. Finally, I hear somebody approaching the door. A woman in her late thirties opens the door.
"Hi! You must be Josh's friend." She greets kindly.
"Hi! Yes, that's me." I greet the woman back.
"Alright, I will go tell him that you are here. He will be there soon!" She leaves the door ajar and walks away from it. "Josh, your friend is here!" I can hear her as she leaves.
Again, I stand in front of the door, waiting for Josh to come. But it doesn't look like I'm going to have to wait too much, because after a little while, I hear somebody walking towards the door again. This time the one opening it is Josh.
"Hey Emily! How have you been?" Josh salutes as he gestures me to enter the house.
"I've been doing pretty well!" I respond with a big smile, mostly thinking about what happened yesterday.
"I can tell, you look like you won the lottery or something. Also, that haircut rocks!" He says giving a thumbs up.
"Thank you!" It's a bit uncommon to see Josh complimenting somebody, but today there's a person he will want to compliment… "Do you want to know about something else that rocks?" Time to reveal the surprise!
"Sure." Josh answers calmly, he can't see this coming.
I grab the tickets from my jacket's pocket and I show them to him, paying close attention to his reaction.
"Tickets for a contest?" Josh seems puzzled. "My sister isn't participating…"
"But Lisia is!" I exclaim. "What do you say to that?"
Now Josh is looking at me like if I said that I just saw a Mew outside the window. "Lisia is on the contest?" He asks with his eyes wide open.
"Yes!" I answer as I hand Josh one of the tickets, waiting for him to grab it.
"Where did you get those?" He seems unsure about grabbing the ticket.
"Are you implying that I'm a criminal?" I ask jokingly. "An important person gave them to me." I can't help but blush as I say that…
"Who's that important person?" Now Josh goes from being shocked to being curious. We weren't talking about me!
Now I'm nervous. Do I really have to tell him about Steven? I don't even know what to say or where to start!
"Let's make it simple… Do you know who the Hoenn Champion is?" I say in one go.
"Err… The son of the Devon Corporation dude, right?"
"Yes, the son of the Devon Corporation dude." I echo his words.
"What's your business with him?" Josh inquiries still without grabbing the ticket I'm offering.
"Well… Remember the day we challenged the Pokémon League?"
"Yeah." Now Josh has his arms crossed.
"As you already know, I lost that battle, but something happened after the battle ended." I continue with my explanation, I really want to finish! Josh nods, encouraging me to continue. "There's the thing: I happened to encounter him several times during my journey and as time went by, I fell for him. So after the battle, I told him everything and…"
"Wait, YOU ARE DATING THE SON OF THE PRESIDENT OF DEVON CORPORATION?" Josh interrupts all of sudden, he is clearly very surprised.
"Yes, I am!" Well, I finally said it!
"How did you manage to do that?" Now Josh is really enthused.
"Do what? I don't know, I didn't do anything…" Josh is talking about it just like if I did something unbelievable, although it could be said it is something incredible.
"So, you got those tickets from him?" He says pointing at the piece of paper that I'm still holding out to him.
"Yes, last night we had a date and he gave me those because he couldn't attend the contest. That's why I came here; since I know that you like Lisia I thought you would want to see the contest!"
"Of course I want to!" Josh finally grabs the ticket and puts it on his jeans's pocket with a quick movement. "Well, are we leaving now?"
"Yes! The contest will start in about forty minutes or so. But first, we have to make a little stop." I say as I put my own ticket back on my pocket.
"Where are we going?" Josh asks with curiosity.
"You are going to buy something for Lisia!" I announce with excitement.
"Me? What I am supposed to buy? How will I give it to her?" Josh starts walking around the room; he is clearly very excited and nervous!
"I'm pretty sure you can give it to her right after the contest ends!"
"But what am I going to give her? Pink diamonds? I'm pretty sure everyone loves pink diamonds!" It looks like he is talking to himself. "But pink diamonds are so rare… Maybe a pokémon could make them or something!"
"And exactly because of that we aren't getting pink diamonds… It's simply a bouquet of flowers." I say hoping Josh will stop acting so hyper, he has to focus!
"Well, people like flowers too!" Suddenly Josh goes silent, as if he was struck by a sudden revelation or something. "Are you trying to make me declare myself to Lisia?!"
"Not exactly… Although you could if you wanted to!" I wink as Josh turns red. "I just thought it would be nice if you showed Lisia your appreciation, who knows what could happen after that!"
"What do you mean?" Now Josh is even redder.
"Well, there have been cases of celebrities who started dating one of their fans!"
"Woah, really?! Do you think it could work?"
"Why not? You can't know if you don't try. Just look at me!" I exclaim referring to my relationship with Steven.
"Then let's get going, we already wasted enough time!" Josh starts walking towards the door. "Mom, dad, I'm going to watch a contest with my friend!"
With those words, we step out of the house and Josh closes the door very noisily. Now we start to walk towards Route 101.
"I think it would be nice if we got to the flower shop by flying, we could save up some time." I suggest as we walk into the route that leads outside of Littleroot Town.
"Wait, where's that shop?" Josh asks.
"It's on Route 104, but it will be better if we go there with our pokémon. I'm pretty sure we will end up spending quite a lot of time here, anyway."
"Okay, but I don't have a pokémon who can fly! How are we supposed to get there?" Josh questions loudly, startling a lone Zigzagoon.
"We can go with Hershey; he can carry the both of us with no problem." We both stop as I get ready to release Hershey from his pokéball. "Go, Hershey!"
"Are you sure he can carry more than one person?" Josh doesn't seem to be too confident about it. What does he think? Hershey is not a weakling!
I turn to talk to Josh. "Of course! Why wouldn't he?" Now I address Hershey again. "Hershey, I need you to take me and my friend near the flower shop on Route 104. Is that fine for you?"
Hershey answers with an energetic cry, spreading his wings. It looks like he is willing to do it! I get on Hershey's back at the same time I gesture Josh to do the same. Although he hesitates a bit, Josh comes and sits behind me, although he still looks unsure about it.
"Now hold on tight because it's time to take off!" Josh grabs my shoulders after I say this.
"Okay but… WOAH!" It looks like the takeoff really got him by surprise!
We are flying over Oldale Town. I can see my house from there! "Look Josh, that's my house!"
"Which one? I'm not a fortune-teller!"
"The one with the red rooftop." I specify as we fly over it.
"Ooh, that one? It looks good! How big is it on the inside?" Josh asks.
"It's big enough for a small family like mine, so I can't complain. And also, we have plenty of space for my pokémon in the backyard and that's a plus."
"I'm pretty sure you will end up living on a bigger house, anyway… If you know what I mean!" Josh snickers.
"Yeah… I guess." His comment is making me blush again!
We are nearing Petalburg City now, which means that our destination is not too far away. We still have plenty of time to arrive to the Contest Hall in Slateport City, so I don't think we have to worry about being late. Plus, Hershey flies pretty fast, that's why I'm never late to my classes on the Ranger School! It's always good to be punctual.
"Hey Emily, what if there's some toughie who won't let me approach Lisia and give her the flowers?" Josh sounds agitated again.
"I don't think so, she usually loves to interact with the fans and she doesn't look like the kind of person who likes to have bodyguards around her to keep the people away." At least that's the impression Lisia gave me the few times I've seen her, specially that time I got lost on my way to Mossdeep City.
"Well you're right but, what if that happens?"
"Then we will have to talk with that person and ask him to allow us to approach Lisia."
"I don't think it's as easy as you make it look like, but okay." A few seconds go by and Josh talks again. "I was just kidding."
"That's fine. Look, we are almost there now!"
Indeed, we are already on Route 104. Hershey is starting to fly lower as we approach the flower shop. I wonder how long it will take for Josh to decide, there's so many different kinds of flowers on that store! I used to visit it very often, that's why I know!
We finally land in front of the small building. We get off of Hershey's back and I thank him for bringing us here. I press the button in the middle of his pokéball and I put it back on my bag before opening the door of the shop. As soon as we enter, the scent of the various flowers welcomes us.
"Welcome to Pretty Petal flower shop!" The clerk greets us as she fixes a tiny bouquet of flowers.
We both answer to her greeting and we head for the shelf where lots of different kinds of flowers of almost all of the possible colors are on display: roses, orchids, tulips, lilies… There's a lot to choose from. I can tell Josh is looking carefully at each and every one of them, thinking which one could be the best for his favorite performer and crush!
"Do you think she will like these pink tulips? Or maybe these lilies?"
"Take this as a suggestion; her favorite color seems to be blue, so maybe blue flowers would be a good choice." I advise as I take a look at the flowers myself.
"You're right! I bet she would love some blue flowers. Now the question is, what kind of flowers?" Of course, Josh still can't make up his mind.
"I don't know, I guess you could go with the ones you like the most." I suggest again.
"Anyway, I don't think she will be too impressed. The possibilities of her being flattered by my gift are lower than the chances of a Fire and Water type pokémon existing out there!"
"Don't talk too much; you never know if a pokémon like that could be discovered! But what really matters now is, you are being way too insecure. Where's the Josh I first met? I think this could be a good moment to bring him back!" I try not to talk too loud, I don't want to bother the other people in the shop, but I can't help but raise my voice!
Josh ponders for a bit. "I think you are right, I should be more confident! I'm usually not like this; if I act too shy around her then I won't get anywhere!"
"That's right!" I cheer.
Taking a look at the flowers yet again, it looks like Josh finally decided. "I think it would be nice to get a bouquet of blue and white roses. I'll go tell the florist!"
I follow Josh on his way to the counter, now he seems to be so much more self-assured than before!
"Hi! I would like to buy a bouquet of white and blue flowers." He says putting both hands on the counter with an eager look on his face.
"Sure! How many of each do you want?" The shopkeeper questions kindly.
"Hmm… I think six of each will do."
"Alright! I will go and arrange the bouquet, it will be ready in a little bit."
The young woman walks towards the shelf that contains the flowers and grabs six white roses and six blue roses. Now she approaches a table and starts working on them, carefully alternating the two kinds of flowers and putting some green in between of them. To add the finishing touch, she wraps the flowers with shiny white paper and adds a blue ribbon that matches with the blue roses. The bouquet looks so gorgeous! Now she approaches us holding the bunch of flowers.
"Here you go! That will be 752 pokédollars."
Josh gets his purse out of his pocket and after rummaging for a little bit, he hands the money over to the florist and gets a hold of the bouquet. "Thanks a lot!" He says right before heading towards the door.
"You're most welcome. Have a nice day!" The shopkeeper answers with a smile.
We exit the shop and again, I release Hershey from his pokéball, which alarms Josh a little bit.
"Wait, do you think I will be able to ride on his back with the bouquet?"
"Yes, just give it to me. I will be very careful!" I say trying to grab the bunch of flowers.
"I'm not too sure, but okay."
I get on Hershey's back and soon Josh does the same. "Hershey, this time we are going to Slateport City, alright?" Hershey chirps as a response. "Okay, let's go!" Now Josh grabs my shoulders just like last time. Now, we are flying towards Slateport City.
The view is incredible, I look at my right and I can see Rustboro City on its entirety. Of course the view of Mount Chimney, which can be seen from afar, is also stunning.
"Hey Josh, remember when we went to Mount Chimney together and we had to deal with Team Aqua?" I ask remembering the intensity of those moments.
"I sure do! Those guys were very weird. I'm glad you could get rid of them!" Josh says loudly, probably retrospecting that tension as well!
"Getting rid of them? You make it sound like I made them disappear!" I laugh as I imagine some Team Aqua grunts disappearing down a magician's hat.
"Well, you could do that the next time a bad guy pops up. Imagine pushing them through a portal or something that can lead them somewhere way too far for them to find their way back! I'm pretty sure out there there's a pokémon able of doing that kind of things. Wouldn't that be awesome?" Josh sounds amazed by that idea.
"It would be awesome indeed, and very convenient!" To be honest, I wouldn't mind coming across new pokémon. I'm sure there's lots of interesting ones to see and I'm not even close to having seen all the pokémon living in Hoenn!
"Sorry for getting out of topic, but how far are we from Slateport City?" Suddenly Josh's voice has a hint of impatience, which is totally understandable.
I can already see Slateport City. "We are not too far away so, don't worry, we have ample time!"
"Alright, I just hope our seats won't be taken by somebody else!" It looks like Josh is nervous again.
"Why would they be taken? The seats are assigned to the tickets, so there's no way somebody else would occupy them unless they are really cheeky."
"I guess so… It's just that I feel so anxious! I don't know how to explain it, this was totally unplanned and I had no idea that today I was going there. I didn't even know that Lisia was coming to Slateport City! I guess you can say that I'm an awful fan…" Josh mutters.
"No, you're not an awful fan; it's just that you didn't notice. That's all!" Suddenly, I notice that we are practically on Slateport City. "Josh, we are almost there!" Now I address to Hershey. "Now it's time to land!"
Progressively, we lose altitude as Hershey descends into Slateport City, leaving us near the Contest Hall. I hand the bouquet of flowers over to Josh, who holds it like if it was a treasure or something, and I return Hershey to his pokéball. There's already a fair amount of people congregated there. After all, the contest will start in a bit less than twenty minutes and nobody wants to be late! But I'm sure that nobody is more eager to see the contest start than a certain person…
"Wow, there are lots and lots of people! I hope there's not a problem when the time of entering the hall comes because…" Josh can't finish his sentence; he seems to be thinking about something else all of sudden. "Nevermind, I should stop stressing myself out with dumb thoughts. Although after all, I guess I'm acting just like any fan would, don't you think?"
Suddenly a group of teenage girls appears running past us. They are screaming as if there were no tomorrow and one of them is holding a sign.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE FINALLY GETTING TO SEE CHAZ!" Says the girl who holds the sign.
"I KNOW RIGHT?" Another one says after bumping into an old man who dedicates a harsh glare to her.
"I SWEAR TO ARCEUS THAT IF I DON'T GET CHAZ TO SIGN MY SHIRT I WILL HAVE A HEART ATTACK OR SOMETHING!" Yet another young girl yells as she flails her arms in a frantic manner.
"NYUUUUUUUUUU!" A fourth girl tries to say something, but she can only squeal in excitement.
Josh has been watching the whole scene with perplexity. "And I thought I was acting like a hysteric fan…"
"You are nowhere near as agitated as those girls are." I observe the group as they approach the Contest Hall's door, annoying many people on the way. "By the way, who is that Chaz? He seems to be pretty popular."
"Chaz is Lisia's rival, although she denies it, saying that contests aren't about rivalry. He is very popular among girls, as you can see." Josh talks like a contest expert. But of course he knows about contests, his sister participates in them, after all!
Now a very well dressed man comes out of the Contest Hall. "Ladies and gentleman, it's time to enter the building! The contest will start soon, so it's time to get ready to watch the show. Please enter in an orderly manner and avoid fighting. Thank you all for coming!" The man enters the building again, this time standing at one side of the door allowing the crowd to enter.
Before I can realize, Josh is already walking towards the entrance. "Hey, wait!" I protest while I walk quickly, catching up with him.
"Were you distracted or something? Don't be as slow as a Torkoal!" Josh jokes as we finally enter the building.
"I can tell you are really eager to get there..." I mutter as we follow the crowd.
The place is very noisy, everybody is talking and laughing, the same girls from before can be heard very clearly. They say something about ambushing Chaz on his dressing room. If I was Chaz I would be concerned about my safety!
We are now near the room where the contest will take place. A woman is on the door checking everybody's tickets and telling them where their seats are located.
"Josh, get your ticket ready." I murmur as I grab mine, which I had inside my pocket.
"Alright…" He answers while he does the same.
The line advances and we are now closer to the door of the theatre. Josh sighs with impatience as he glances at the bouquet of flowers, which now he is firmly holding with a single hand. From there I can see how the room slowly fills. I take a look at my ticket; it says the seat is on the fourth row. I'm sure we will have an amazing view from there!
It's almost our turn, only a few people left before we can enter! I take another look at Josh, who looks like he wishes to push his way towards the remaining people so he can enter once and for all.
"Hey Josh, be careful and don't act like those girls we saw before!" I nudge him in a jokingly manner.
"No worries, I'm being patient." Josh assures with a slight smile.
"Yes, that's it!" I answer as the person before us walks into the theatre, which means that it's our turn now!
"The ticket, please." The woman says calmly. I hand the piece of paper to her and as soon as I do, she checks it with a quick glance. "Alright, you can enter."
I enter into the theatre and at the same time, Josh gives his ticket to the usher, who pronounces the exact same words that she said to me. Now we only have to sit down and wait for the show to start! We make our way through the stairs with a bit of difficulty, there's a bunch of people trying to find their seats. The bustle gets more and more intense as people enter the room; the excitement is more than evident!
Finally, we manage to get to our seats. After politely asking some people to allow us to reach our seats, we sit down on them.
"We finally made it! I thought we would never do it." Josh places the bouquet of flowers on his laps and stretches his arms indiscreetly, earning himself a few bad looks from people sitting around us.
"Yes, it won't take too long until the contest starts. Now we only have to wait a bit more!" I answer eyeing the red curtains that cover the stage.
The theatre is still getting filled with eager fans, their voices spread over the whole room creating an odd blend of sounds. Of course, the girls I keep mentioning are the ones who can be heard more clearly. Some people is clapping, cheering and demanding for the contest to start already. I don't know if I've ever been in such a noisy place before… The last time I attended a contest, people were calmer or at least, I don't remember such a commotion!
I look behind me and I instantly verify that the room is almost full, only a small group of people is left and then all the seats will be occupied. It's no surprise that all the tickets sold out.
I can hear the door closing, which means everybody is inside already! Now the lights go out, only leaving a few spotlights on the sides of the stage to illuminate the place.
"It's starting!" Josh says trying to contain his excitement.
"Yes, finally!" I answer being suddenly caught up by the general enthusiasm.
A masculine voice-over booms through the speakers. "Welcome to Slateport City's Contest Hall. Today we are celebrating a Super Rank Cuteness contest! In a moment we will introduce our amazing contestants but first, remember to turn off your mobile phones to avoid disrupting the show and don't forget that entering food and drinks into the theatre is forbidden." A cheerful music starts playing as the curtain rises. At the moment, the stage is empty. "It's time to introduce the four talented contestants that will show us today their skills… And their pokémon too, of course! First up we have Annette and her Lopunny, Lady Fluff!"
The crowd claps and cheers as a young woman and her pokémon enter the stage. The pokémon that the man speaking identified as Lopunny is definitely fit for a cuteness contest, she moves in a very graceful way swaying her long, fluffy ears as she accompanies her trainer to the right side of the stage. I can hear more than one person going "Aww!"
The voice-over can be heard again. "Next up, we have somebody very recognized among contest enthusiasts… Chaz and his Machoke, Macherie!"
Now all the girls on the room go insane, nothing but their overly excited screams can be heard! The intensity of the clapping is making the room tremble and it's more than evident that Chaz really likes that. His Machoke also seems to be more than happy with all the attention that she and her trainer are getting. Seeing the way people have reacted with Chaz's entrance, I'm thinking that the ceiling might fall down when Lisia shows up!
"It's turn for our next contestant and that's Ben with his Poliwhirl, Glover!"
A young boy enters the stage, holding his Poliwhirl on his arms. Compared to the response to Chaz's arrival, the crowd is less excited. Of course, a lot of people is cheering for Ben and his pokémon. Everybody has some admirers, after all!
"And now the moment everybody has been waiting…" The voice-over catches the attention of everybody on the room. "…it's time to welcome Hoenn's number one Contest idol and her fabulous partner. Let me hear it for Lisia and her Altaria, Ali!"
As I predicted, the whole room goes bonkers. The noise is starting to make my ears hurt, but I guess that's what comes with attending a contest! I take a look at Josh and I can tell he is containing his excitement, probably afraid of looking like an insane fanboy or something. But everybody is acting like an insane fanboy (and fangirl) right now so, there's no use in being ashamed!
"Just do it!" I say loudly trying to get Josh to hear me. Surprisingly enough, he does. Josh looks at me with a face full of doubt.
He seems to hesitate but, finally, he starts clapping and cheering shyly. Well, at least that's something! The crowd progressively calms down, relieving the pain in my ears… But Josh is not calming down. In fact, his cheering is raising its intensity but once he realizes that it's time to stop and let the show go on, he abruptly stops clapping. I guess his emotions are betraying him!
The voice-over can be heard once again. "Now that all our contestants have been introduced, it's time to start! First up, Ben and his Poliwhirl, Glover!"
The rest of participants leave the stage to Ben and his pokémon. The young boy seems pretty confident. "Alright Glover, start using bubble!" Poliwhirl's hands glow white as he starts throwing multiple bubbles into the air. "Now use facade!" An orange aura surrounds Poliwhirl as he proceeds to tackle all of the bubbles, spawning a sparkly explosion that leaves the audience absolutely fascinated. Most people is clapping and whistling, Ben bows slightly as a response. Now he and his pokémon leave the stage.
"That was a great performance, indeed!" The voice-over exclaims. "Now it's time to see what our next competitor has to offer. It's time for Annette and her Lopunny, Lady Fluff!"
Both trainer and pokémon enter the stage with enthusiasm, they are willing to give their all!
"Go Lady Fluff… After you!" The Lopunny runs towards the right side of the stage, disappearing from our sight. Everybody is pretty confused. "Now surprise everyone with teeter dance!" Lopunny reappears from the opposite side of the stage performing a wobbly dance moving her ears a lot as she does. Her movements sorta remind me of a dance they typically do in a faraway region. Lots of people start mimicking the pokémon's moves and suddenly I see myself being dragged in, I can't help it! Once the dance finishes, the room bursts into loud clapping and cheers. This performance has been awesome!
"What a lovely show that was! Next up, Chaz and his Machoke, Macherie!"
Just as the previous contestant leaves, Chaz bursts into the stage along with his Machoke. I think I don't need to say how the crowd is behaving now!
"Well Macherie… Show everyone how cute you can be and use swagger!" Machoke crosses her arms and stares at the audience, like if she wanted all of us to look at her and nothing else but her. "Now you have them eating out of your hand. Use fling!" The pokémon raises her left hand, making a dark blue ball appear. Now she throws said ball, causing a explosion of blue sparkles. Chaz looks at the crowd with a smug grin, waiting for the people's reaction. As it's evident, everybody reacts with huge levels of excitement. Chaz and Macherie leave the stage as if nothing happened, which somehow makes everybody go wild. I guess it's because of his attitude.
"That was an impressive performance! Now it's time to welcome everybody's favorite contest idol, Lisia and her Altaria, Ali!"
Lisia enters the stage riding on her Altaria's back. Once again, it feels like the ceiling can fall down at any moment. Lisia says something as she gets off from her Altaria's back, but with all the commotion is impossible to tell what she says.
"Here we are, finally! Ali, start with a dazzling attract!" Ali winks at the audience and a bunch of pink hearts surround him. He flies across the stage with the hearts following him. "Now use uproar!" Ali stops in the middle of the stage as he starts to sing a song and flap his wings vigorously. A bunch of blue waves come out of his beak. I can't help but cheer at the performance, Ali is sure doing a great job! Although I might be a bit biased since I interacted with him before. Needless to say, Josh is enjoying the performance quite a bit too, although he is paying more attention to Lisia that to Ali. The audience keeps cheering loudly as Lisia and Ali salute before leaving the stage.
"And this great performance finishes the first round, which means that it's time to start with the next and last round! Now it's your turn to show how much you like the performances, you will find glow sticks under your seat!" The voice-over announces as everyone grabs the glow sticks from under their seats. I think it will be quite entertaining to see everyone using them!
"Time to start with the talent round! Let's welcome again Ben and his Poliwhirl, Glover!" The boy and his Poliwhirl enter the stage again, they look even more determined than before. "Glover, refresh!" Ben opens his arms as he gives the instruction. Poliwhirl imitates his trainer's gesture and a blue aura now surrounds him. "Now use encore!" Poliwhirl forms a white ball of light between his hands and throws it at the audience. Everybody is enchanted but not too many glow sticks can be seen. I turn on mine as a way to show some support. Ben and his pokémon leave the stage looking slightly disappointed.
"Well that wasn't bad at all!" The voice-over says. "Let's see what the next participant has ready for us now. This time it's the turn of Lisia and her Altaria, Ali!" Obviously, everybody is more than happy to see these two again, both Lisia and Ali are pretty happy about the attention they get. "Ali, let's start with cotton guard this time!" Ali's wings start glowing white as the fluff puffs up considerably. "Now use return!" With a swift move, Ali suddenly sheds the extra fluff. Now the stage is full of big cotton balls… but Ali remedies that by tackling them with great force, pushing the cotton balls out of the stage. The whole audience is enthused, this time the crowd has turned into a bunch of glow sticks. Josh has obviously turned on his and of course, I do the same. I really liked that! Lisia gets on Ali's back and waves goodbye to the crowd before disappearing through the left side of the stage.
"That was an amazing show, like always!" Everyone agrees with the voice-over by clapping very loudly. "Now it's time for us to see what the next contestant has in store. Let's welcome Annette and her Lopunny, Lady Fluff!" Pokémon and trainer enter the stage with a calm stance. They are ready to give their best in this second round. "Lady Fluff, use charm!" The Lopunny makes a very cute face and places her paws on her chins, taking a look at the whole audience and making sure that everyone is looking at her. "Time to use bounce!" Taking everybody by surprise, Lopunny starts jumping all around the stage with agile movements. Again, many people turns on their glow sticks to show support, but there's not as many as before with Lisia and Ali's performance. I decide to use mine as well, all the performances are fantastic! Annette and her Lopunny exit the stage, seemingly very satisfied with their performance.
"The Contest is coming to an end and that means it's time to see what our last participant has to offer. Last but not least, Chaz and his Machoke, Macherie!" Despite the ruckus, Chaz barely pays attention to the people cheering for him and he appears to be mostly concentrated on himself and his pokémon. "Macherie, start by using protect!" A light green force field surrounds the Machoke, who is flexing her arms. "Alright, now use substitute!" Machoke glows white and suddenly, another Machoke appears outside of the force field. Now the Machoke inside the force field stops flexing her arms, making the aura surrounding her and the fake Machoke disappear. The audience answers by lighting up their glow sticks, almost at the same time. The ones giving a more intense response are girls, of course. Not saying that everybody else is less excited because there are lots of boys losing their minds as well.
Chaz and his pokémon leave as the same music that could be heard before starts playing. "Ladies and gentleman, the Contest is not over yet! We still have to see the results. This ranking is made judging by the amount of glow sticks that the audience has shown during the performances." A huge screen appears in the back of the stage. "Let's start! The fourth place goes to Ben and his Poliwhirl, Glover!"
The boy and his Poliwhirl enter again the stage, this time with a resigned expression. They wave and the crowd answers with cheers, whistles and applauses. "Next up, the third place goes to Annette and her Lopunny, Lady Fluff!"
Both pokémon and trainer enter the stage with their arms intertwined, they actually look pretty satisfied with their result! I can't help but join the round of applause. "Now in the second place of our ranking we have Chaz and his Machoke, Macherie!"
Chaz doesn't look happy, it's clear that he wanted to reach the first place. His Machoke appears to be worried about her trainer's attitude, but she manages to salute the public with a smile. Anyway, Chaz's bad mood doesn't stop the fans from going crazy again.
"And now, here's the moment everybody was waiting for. In the first place we have LISIA AND HER ALTARIA, ALI!" Almost all of the people on the room stand up as Lisia and her pokémon enter the stage with a great enthusiasm, blowing kisses at random people on the crowd. Josh is not standing up because the bouquet is sitting on his lap, but he claps and cheers with the same intensity as anyone else does.
A young woman comes out of the left side of the stage and places a ribbon on Lisia's top, which symbolizes her victory on today's contest. Chaz looks at Lisia with an annoyed frown while his Machoke stares at Lisia's Altaria in an endearing way. I would say she likes Ali quite a bit!
"And now we are done with this Super Rank Cuteness contest! Please leave the theatre orderly and of course, thank you for coming to witness this Contest. Until next time!" As soon as the voice-over is done speaking, everybody stands up and starts walking towards the exit.
"The moment of truth is approaching…" Josh murmurs as he takes a look at the flower bouquet he is holding.
"Yes, you must give the flowers to her! I'm sure she will love them." I encourage him as we approach the door that leads outside the room.
We pass several people, trying to exit the theatre quickly so we can get to see Lisia before she leaves. Josh is more than eager to be out of here and I understand him, I would feel the same way if I was on his place!
Finally, we are outside the room. "Quick, let's go down the stairs!" Josh exclaims as he races towards a set of stairs that leads to the entrance level. I have to run too in order to reach Josh; I didn't see people running that fast in a long time!
"Be careful or you might trip and fall!" I warn Josh as I finally catch up to him.
"No worries, no such luck!" He says as we finish walking down the stairs.
The hall is still full of people, probably they are waiting for their favorite contestants, pretty much just like us. I wonder if any of them is as eager to see their idol as Josh is right now…
We approach the door of the dressing room, guessing that Lisia will be here at any moment now. A few other fans had the same idea as us and they are walking near the dressing room too. Some stare at Josh's bouquet, correctly guessing that it is for Lisia.
Suddenly there's a great commotion, Lisia is here! Of course, Ali is right next to her. Some fans stop the pokémon to pet his wings, a gesture that neither Ali nor Lisia mind. I take a quick look at Josh and he looks kinda annoyed, he just wishes Lisia finally approached us so he can give her her gift.
Lisia signs a couple of autographs before finally walking in our direction. Josh also starts walking towards her and it looks like she just noticed him! I wonder if Lisia still remembers Josh from that time she invited me to the contest…
"Lisia! I…" Suddenly Josh gets interrupted.
"Humph, good job with ruining my performance once again!" It's Chaz, who appeared out of nowhere followed by his Machoke, who is now standing at Ali's right side.
"Oh, come on! I didn't ruin your performance, you did a great job! I really think you should stop with the rivalry thing, it's not cool!" Now Chaz's has all of Lisia's attention, which leaves Josh with a puzzled expression.
"I will never stop! What's the fun in participating on Contests without somebody to look up to or a little rivalry?" Chaz answers with a slight frown.
"But Chaz, contests are meant to be funny! You can't have fun if you are constantly thinking of being better than somebody, especially if that somebody happens to be your best friend!" Lisia's answer makes Chaz blush subtly. As for Josh…Well, do I need to say what Josh's face is right now? It looks like he wants to hit Chaz with the flower bouquet!
"Of course we are friends, but I will never stop wanting to be better than you in contests!" Chaz blurts.
"You will never change!" Lisia says jokingly as she heads for the dress room.
Josh observes how Chaz walks away but soon he notices Lisia, who is being followed by Ali, opening the door to her changing room.
"W-wait, Lisia! I have something for you!" Josh is literally chasing Lisia, who turns around and almost gets a flower bouquet to the face.
"Aww, these are for me? What a cute gesture from you!" Lisia smiles as she takes the bouquet from Josh's hands, who is as happy as he can be… But suddenly a ringing sound can be heard from within the dressing room. "Oops, it looks like I got a call! But really, thanks a lot for the flowers; they happen to be my favorite kind." The blue haired girl smiles again before closing the door.
Josh stares at the door. "I expected something else…" He mutters. "That damn Chaz guy… If only he didn't distract Lisia!"
"But at least you got to give her the flowers and she loved them! What else are you asking for?" I ask as we still stand in front of the room.
"I don't know… A longer conversation or something. That would have been awesome!"
"Well, maybe that can happen next time, you only have to keep trying. Just attend all the contests you can and maybe eventually, you will get to build up a friendship with Lisia!" I pat his back in an encouraging gesture.
"Even better than the one she has with that obnoxiously snob guy?" Josh questions with a more cheerful tone.
"Yes! That can be possible. If it's your dream, only you can make it come true. Just like I did; I started a journey because I wanted to meet lots of pokémon, see new places and meet new people and if it was possible, maybe even become the Champion, but in the end that was not possible… And that doesn't keep me from wanting to keep enjoying of the things that come with being around pokémon! Do you get what I mean?" Maybe I'm a bit too excited!
"Yes, I do! I mustn't let this bring me down. If I want to get closer to Lisia, then I should persevere. Maybe I will bring her another bouquet of flowers next time!" Now Josh is finally his true self!
"That sounds like a great idea, make sure you buy her favourite flowers next time too!" I exclaim as we walk away from the door that leads to Lisia's changing room, heading for the exit of the Contest Hall. I hope Josh is now more motivated to chase his dream, I will make sure to keep on working on my dream of becoming a Pokémon Ranger…
i"Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true."/i
