Chapter 19: Class Appeals
"Now, first up, we have Dawn!" Teacher Wallace announced.
Dawn walks onto the Contest stage. There's a room in the school that anyone can use at any time during the school day. It's a giant Contest arena with more than enough seats for an audience. The first period Contest class is here right now because it's time for the students to show off their planned Appeals from earlier in the month. The three judges that Wallace brought to grade everybody's Appeals were Petalburg's Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and himself.
"Now Piplup, Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn said as she tossed the two Pokéballs in the air.
The Penguin Pokémon materialized in the air while spinning and using Bubble Beam towards the sky. The bubbles are spiraling upward. The Rabbit Pokémon materialized in the middle of the spiral of bubbles. Buneary started spinning while using Ice Beam. The Ice Beam popped all of the bubbles, sparkles started floating to the ground as Piplup and Buneary floated down as well, ending their attacks, and they made a safe landing.
"Wow, that was quite an entrance done by Piplup and Buneary!" Wallace said.
"Absolutely beautiful…" Nurse Joy breathed.
"Now Piplup, use Hydro Pump!" Dawn ordered.
Piplup launched a Hydro Pump towards the sky. It was just weak enough so that it doesn't hit the ceiling, but instead it creates a fountain of water halfway.
"Ice Beam, Buneary!"
Buneary launched an Ice Beam at the fountain of water and froze it completely, making sure to not freeze Piplup. After freezing the fountain, Buneary then started bouncing around, using Ice Beam all over the floor. Buneary created a small crater of ice that the bottom of the fountain slipped into. The entire floor was now frozen with the fountain of ice in the center. Piplup and Buneary started skating around on the ice and around the fountain.
"Look at that!" Wallace said. "Buneary turned the entire floor into a skating rink with Ice Beam!"
"Wow, that fountain is beautiful." May/Daisy said.
"It's alright." Drew said.
"Do you have to be rude to everyone now?" May questioned angrily.
"No. Only to non-fans of me." Drew answered.
"Piplup, Bubble Beam!" Dawn ordered.
Piplup used the slipperiness of the ice to spin incredibly fast while using Bubble Beam towards the sky. The bubbles spiraled upward.
"Buneary, Bounce and Dizzy Punch!"
Buneary sprung up to the top of the fountain by using Bounce. She then used her ears, which were glowing multicolored, to pop all the bubbles. Piplup stopped the Bubble Beam and Buneary finished popping every bubble, causing billions of sparkles to shower down on them slowly. Buneary made her graceful landing next to Piplup and they all bowed at the audience. The class erupted into applause for Dawn's amazing performance.
"Okay, let's hear what the judges think!" Wallace said.
"It was an excellent start to all the Appeals we'll see today." Nurse Joy said. She gave Dawn a 9.4.
"It was an excellent showcase of beauty and cuteness." Officer Jenny said. She gave Dawn a 9.2.
"And as for me, I really liked how you made use of the entire stage." Wallace said. He gave her an 8.9.
The big monitor above the stage showed Dawn's final score of a 27.5.
"Wallace didn't give her a score above nine." May said.
"Yeah, him being the teacher and all, makes him a tough judge." Drew said.
Dawn walked off the stage after returning her Pokémon and some school workers came into the Contest Arena, bringing out their fire Pokémon, and they started melting the stage.
"Good job Dawn." May/Daisy said once Dawn joined them in the audience.
"Thanks." Dawn said. "Looks like I passed this project."
"How much is passing?" May asked.
"As long as you get a 20 or higher, you pass." Drew said. "Anything lower than that will put a hit on your grade."
"Okay." May said.
Drew smirked. "Scared you'll fail?"
May's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course not. I think you're the one that oughta be afraid."
"Oh really?" Drew questioned. "You sound awfully confident that you'll beat my score."
"That's because I will beat your score."
Drew chuckled. "I don't think so."
"Well, we'll just have to wait and see." May said.
"Next on stage...we have Drew!" Wallace announced.
There was tons of applause for Drew, and I mean tons. Drew stood up and walked on stage.
"Wow, these girls are all his fans?!" May yelled over the loud applause.
"Sure are!" Dawn yelled back.
The Arena became quiet as Drew took out two Pokéballs. "Go Roselia and Masquerain!" He said as he tossed the Pokéballs in the air.
As soon as the Pokéballs opened in midair, pink rose petals came out of one. Everyone stared in awe at the sparkling petals falling to the ground. The Thorn Pokémon and the Eyeball Pokémon materialized in the center of the rose petals. Roselia made a graceful landing on the floor while Masquerain stayed in the air, showing off his perfect, sparkling wings.
"An amazing entrance done by Roselia using Petal Dance!" Wallace said.
"There goes Drew again, making the most beautiful entrance ever." Dawn said.
"I hate to say this...but that was beautiful…" May said.
"Use Hidden Power and Magical Leaf!" Drew ordered.
A ring of white circles appeared above Masquerain's head. Masquerain aimed downward and launched the Hidden Power at Roselia. Roselia releases glowing green leaves from its rose hands up at the Hidden Power, hitting each white circle with one leaf. The Hidden Power bursted into tiny white sparkles showering down on Roselia.
"Such accuracy!" Wallace commented.
"Roselia, jump! Masquerain, use Bubble!" Drew ordered.
Roselia spun around and gracefully jumped high into the air, above Masquerain. Masquerain used Bubble towards the floor. The stage filled up with bubbles.
"Solar Beam, Roselia!"
Roselia lifted his rose hands and started charging up a Solar Beam while slowly floating down.
"Masquerain, Silver Wind."
Masquerain flaps his wings and releases a strong gust of wind with silver crescents in it towards the floor of bubbles. The wind of the Silver Wind made the bubbles divert, creating a wall of bubbles, blocking the left, right, and front of the stage.
Roselia's Solar Beam was done charging, so she released it towards the ground. The Solar Beam caused all of the bubbles to pop all at once and a billion blue sparkles were the remains. Roselia landed on the floor with a graceful bow. Drew was bowing the exact same way, right arm crossed over his stomach, his left foot crossing in front of his right, his eyes closed, his body leaning slightly forward, and a small smug smile on his face. Masquerain perched itself on Drew's head, finishing their Appeal.
The arena roared with applause and screams from Drew's fans. May and Dawn covered their ears from how loud it got. Drew stood up straight again and flicked his bangs. That only caused the place to get louder.
"I love you Drew!"
"You were perfect!"
"Best Appeal ever!"
"Well, let's hear what the judges have to say." Wallace said. The place got quiet.
"It was an absolutely beautiful performance." Nurse Joy said. She gave Drew a 9.7.
"Excellent combinations!" Officer Jenny said. She gave Drew a 9.6.
"It was an absolutely stunning display of power and beauty!" Wallace said. He gave Drew a 9.4.
The final score of 28.7 displayed on the big monitor. May's mouth hung open in shock and amazement. Somehow, she didn't expect him to get that high of a score.
Drew returned his Pokémon and walked off the stage. He sat back down next to May and smirked.
"So, you liked the performance?" Drew asked.
May immediately closed her mouth. "Umm...it was fine."
"I know you thought that it was more than just 'fine'." Drew said.
"Well Mister, maybe yours was fine, but mine will crush your score." May said angrily.
"Next up is Daisy." Wallace said.
"Break a leg." Drew said.
"This isn't theater class." May said, standing up.
"Okay then. Try not to mess up." Drew said.
May glared at him and then walked to the stage.
"Okay. Espeon, Delcatty, take the stage!" May said as she tossed her Pokéballs in the air.
As soon as the Pokéballs opened, yellow stars came out of one and spiraled around the two Pokéballs. The Sun Pokémon and the Prim Pokémon materialized in the middle of the spiraling stars. Delcatty immediately used Iron Tail to hit one of the stars which created a domino effect, that hit star hitting another which hits another which hits another. All of the yellow stars got hit in that way, each one disappearing into tiny sparkles. Espeon and Delcatty made their graceful landing on the floor and the yellow sparkles showered on them.
"That was an amazing entrance of Swift and Iron Tail!" Wallace said.
"That was great! Don't you think so Drew?" Dawn asked.
"It was alright." Drew answered. May does the next part of their routine.
"You know what Drew? I think she might actually beat your score." Dawn said.
"Not possible." Drew said. "There's no way she'll ever beat my score. I've been at this for awhile and this is only her third month."
"What if she did Appeals while being homeschooled?" Dawn questioned.
"I never thought of that before…" Drew said. "But still, she might come close, but she won't beat it."
"Let's finish this up!" May said. "Solar Beam and Psybeam!"
Delcatty charged up a Solar Beam and launched it to the sky while Delcatty used Psybeam to the sky as well. The two moves spiraled around each other and exploded 20 feet above the stage, creating beautiful rainbow-colored fireworks. The audience was saying "ooh" and "ahh" as the fireworks continued. Everyone except Drew. His mouth was just slightly open in shock that Daisy was able to pull that off.
"Amazing! The entire audience has become enraptured by this amazing fireworks show!" Wallace commented.
The fireworks ended and the remaining sparkles sprinkled down on Espeon and Delcatty who were gracefully bowing with May giving a small curtsy behind them. The arena erupted into applause and cheers. May stood up straight and beamed.
Drew smiled. ("Hmm...she's better than I thought.")
"An excellent performance. Let's see what the judges think!" Wallace said.
"I absolutely loved the fireworks show!" Nurse Joy said. She gave May a 9.6.
"Such beautiful colors!" Officer Jenny said. She gave May a 9.7.
"You showed off your Pokémon in the best way possible!" Wallace said. He gave May a 9.4.
Her final score of 28.7 showed on the big screen. May happily returned her Pokémon and walked off the stage and sat down next to Drew.
"So, do you think that I was amazing?" May asked. "I tied in points with you."
"...you were alright." Drew answered.
"Alright?!" May yelled at Drew. "It was more than alright! I tied with-"
Drew cut her off by holding out a rose in front of her face. "You were fine. It obviously could've been better though."
"Why you-!" May said angrily. She snatched the rose out of his hand and looked away from him, smelling the aroma of the rose. She fiddled with the rose between her fingers and she blushed.
Drew chuckled. May quickly turned her body back to face him and she glared at him. "Jerk." May said angrily.