Chapter 20: Putting it to the Contest
Verdanturf Town is a popular town where people live. It was almost like Littleroot, but a lot a bigger. I walked past a boy shouting "the air is so tasty here!" That was some of the only noise here. It was refreshingly quiet.
"Brendan!" I saw Wally and his father. "So nice of you to come all this way" said Wally's father as he took me to their house.
The house was nice and quaint. There was a kitchen and a tv with a Nintendo Gamecube hooked up to it. "This is actually my cousins house" Wally said. "To tell the truth, I'm not really from Hoenn. I'm from Fuschia City in Kanto. I came here to improve my health. I do miss home though."
Later that day, we sat back with the Gamecube. "No. I will not do just Vulpix without items" Wally told me as his father entered the room. "Where is Wanda?" Wally leaned over the sofa. "Gone to see Omar. Or at least as close as she can get to him." I asked him what he meant. "Omar live in Rustboro. But of course, construction on the Rusturf Tunnel stopped so they are separated." At that point, I clicked my finger and went out. "Where are you going?" Wally asked.
I ran through the town and bumped into Shannon. "Brendan! Nice to see you! Have you been training for today?" I kept running past her. "Hey, wait! This is important!"
Running into the cave, I saw a girl of about 18. I asked if she was Wanda. "Yes I am. How do you know?" From the other side of the rocks of the cave, I heard "Wanda, who are you with? Oh no, I hope you haven't dumped me for someone else!" I sent out Nuzleaf and it used Rock Smash on a rock, crumbling it to pieces. I saw Omar. He turned his eyes to Wanda and hugged her. "Wanda I've missed you!" he cried. "Me to" she said.
She turned to me. "Thank you, Brendan. I hope HM06 for Strength will make a good thank you". It did.
"Wanda, you're home!" Wally said when she got back to the house. "Hello Wally!" Wanda replied. Omar gave me a smile. "Thanks dude" he told me. "Question, are you going to be watching the Smart Pokémon Contest today? I was hoping I would participate." I told him yes as I would be doing the Cool Contest later. "Okay. If you watch me then we'll watch you. It's only fair."
We all walked to the Pokémon Contest Hall and met Shannon. "So. No training then?" she asked me. "Shannon not this again" said Wanda. "Did she by any chance self-employ herself as your mentor Brendan?" I said yes. "Shannon. People don't always want to be trained. Leave them alone and let them follow their own path." Shannon sighed. "Let's just sign up" she said.
Both Omar and Shannon wrote down their names for the Great Rank Smart Contest. "Allow me to explain what Ranks are" Omar said. "I insist I will!" Shannon said, butting in. "There are four ranks. Normal, Super, Hyper and Master. Each time you win a different rank, you get a ribbon and you can take on the next rank. We both have beaten the Normal Rank Smart Contest, so it's Great Rank Time!"
At that point, I realized I needed to register, so I did. I wished the two luck as me, Wally, Wanda and Wally's father went to the Main Hall.
"Hello and welcome to the Great Rank Smart Contest here in the lovely town of Verdanturf!" shouted the host, Rudy. "Without further ado, let's get things started with the first round! In this round, we show how Smart your Pokémon is upon first appearance! First up, we have Theodore and Grimbo from Mossdeep City!" A Super Nerd ran onto the stage and sent out a Grimer, just a purple blob Pokémon.
Grimer
106
Poison Type
Sludge Pokémon
2'11" (0.9 m)
66.1 lbs (30 kg)
Grimer's sludgy and rubbery body can be forced through any opening, however small it may be. This Pokémon enters sewer pipes to drink filthy wastewater.
When Grimer was sent out, it seemed to shift is appearance multiple times. There was a rough cheer from the audience. "Not bad" said Wanda.
"Next up, from the City of Rustboro, it's Omar and Brell!" Omar ran on as Wanda started shouting that she loved him. He sent out a Pokémon that looked like a mushroom with arms, complete with a long tail.
Breloom
Grass/Fighting Type
Mushroom Pokémon
3'11" (1.2 m)
86.4 lbs (39.2 kg)
The seeds ringing Breloom's tail are made of hardened toxic spores. It is horrible to eat the seeds. Jus taking a bit of this Pokémon's seed will cause your stomach to rumble.
Shroomish -Lv 23 Breloom
Breloom bounced on its tail and did a front flip through the air. The crowd went wild.
"Our next contestant is all the way from Azelea Town in Johto, it's Ralphie and Oddie!" A young boy ran on and sent out his Oddish. Oddish just sort of stood there. Ralphie looks confused. We sort of gave him a pity clap. A for effort, I guess.
"Finally, from our very own Verdanturf, it's Shannon and Rosie!" Shannon ran on in a green prom like dress and sent out Roselia. Roselia did a fast twirl then jumped in the air, letting off some harmless spores. It landed on one foot and got a pretty good applause from the crowd.
"Okay everyone. It's time for the other round, the appeals! This is where you show off how Clever your moves are to the audience!"
First up was Theodore and Grimer. "Grimer, Poison Gas!" he commanded as Grimer let out some Poison Gas across the Hall. Everyone applauded and he got three appeal points. Omar came on next with Breloom. "Breloom, Leech Seed!" Brelloom sent out multiple seeds onto the stage and it seemed to drain some of Grimer's appeal away. Two hearts were removed from Grimer and Breloom got two back. The audience really applauded at that one, giving an extra point to Breloom. Next was Ralph and Oddish. "Oddie! Ingrain!" Oddish seemed to grow some roots into the ground and got one point. This came with an applause giving him an extra point. Finally was Roselia and Shannon. "Rosie, use Poison Sting!" Roselia sent out some poisonous needles onto the ground. Roselia got 2 points but didn't Jam, not that it could do anything to Oddish at Ingrain prevents it.
There was one point where Grimer was in the lead. It used Secret Power which sent the audience nuts. This gave it five points on top of the one it earned from its move. Thankfully Roselia was able to jam some away with Mega Drain, as she was right after Grimer and it got rid of 4 points.
"So. We come to the end of another wonderful Contest!" Rudy said. "But there can only be one winner". There was a drum roll as the headlights swept around the stage. The lights shone on Theodore and Grimer. "After an impressive 1st and 2nd round, Theodore is the winner!" Rudy put a green ribbon onto Grimer, holding his nose whilst doing so. He put it next to the slightly smaller green ribbon.
We waited outside for Omar and Shannon. "We gave it our best" Shannon said. "Okay Brendan. It's your turn. But first, a little present." She gave me some berries. "These are Pomeg berries. Take them over to the machine over there and put them in."
I did and out came some red cubes. "Those are Pokeblock" she told me. "Remember the first round where you have to show a Pokémon's appeal? These will help improve Swellow's Coolness". I gave them to Swellow. It loved it. "Swellow has a lonely nature, so it loves Spicy Pokeblock. Don't give is the Sour Stuff though."
"It's time!" said Rudy. "Welcome to the Basic Rank Cool Contest!" The crowd cheered. "Remember. Some of these guys are just starting out so wish these rookies all the best. First, from the City of Mauville, you may know him (for being a bit of a nuisance), it's Tyler and Ellie!" A teenager on a skateboard rolled on and sent out Electrike. As it landed, sparks went flying everywhere. The crowd cheered. "Next up, from Rustboro City, it's the Bug Maniac himself, Melman and Nini!" A boy with a net ran out and threw a Pokeball from his net. He sent out a Pokémon named Ninjask which was yellow, had red eyes, scythes and was really fast.
Ninjask
043
Bug/Flying Type
Ninja Pokémon
2'07" (0.8 m)
26.5 lbs (12 kg)
Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that is cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible.
Nincada -Lv 20 Ninjask. (May also yield Shedinja if empty slot in party and Pokeball in bag).
Ninjask darted around the stage, almost appearing out of nowhere when it stopped. The audience gave a small cheer. "Next, all the way from Johto but now settled in Littleroot Town, it's Gym Leader Norman's son Brendan and Swellow!" I ran on and sent out Swellow. Swellow flew high into the sky until it was only just viewable. It then dived down and fly just over the audience. I got a big cheer. "Finally, his music career trying desperately to blossom, it's Axl and Loudoom!" A guitarist came on stage and sent out a purple Pokémon with a large mouth.
Loudred
046
Normal Type
Big Voice Pokémon
3'03" (1 m)
89.3 lbs (40.5 kg)
Loudred shouts while stamping its feet. After it finishes shouting, this Pokémon becomes incapable of hearing anything for a while. This is considered to be a weak point.
Whismur -Lv 20 Loudred
Let's just say the audience almost went deaf and little audience came afterwards. The microphone used by Rudy started letting out that awful screeching sound.
There were many highlights of the second round. I went first and had Swellow use Double Team to make sure I don't get jammed. There was a time I used Quick Attack but Ninjask did afterwards so Ninjask didn't do very well in that round, but it did get a huge applause at one point to.
"Okay everyone, that was some great moves. But who is the winner?" The lights danced on the stage as everyone felt nervous. My heart skipped a beat as the lights landed on me. "Congratulations Brendan!" said Rudy as he put a small red ribbon on Swellow. "So. Are you going to continue your Contest career?"
You know what? This was fun. Yes, I would.
As I walked out, I saw Wanda, Omar and Shannon. Wanda ran over to me and hugged me tight. Wanda then came over. "Congrats!" she said, basically twirling me around. "Nice one!" Omar said giving me a man hug. "Your first victory" Shannon said. I then asked where Wally and his father was. "Wally is watching at home because the Poison Gas early got him a little wheezy" Wanda told me.
Later that night, I watched the stars with Swellow. "So. You will continue this?" Shannon asked finding me. I said yes, but I was going to head to Lavaridge first if possible. "Well the next Contest Hall is in Fallarbor Town. I'll wait there for you, so I'll leave tomorrow with ya." At that point, Wally came out. "Sorry about that. I'll hit the road tomorrow to. I'm going to take on the Dewford Gym!"
Then the three of us would make way tomorrow.