New Rival
Evening began to set in quietly and peacefully on the third night in Verdanturf Town. The serene twilight belied the level of activity that had occurred in the past couple of days. A sudden influx of visitors flooded the town and its accommodation so quickly that to the few occupants of the Pokémon Centre they seemed to have appeared from nowhere. A quick survey by Hilary, Mari, and the bladers found that all of them had arrived for a 'special showcase' event at the Contest Hall, not that Mari and the bladers were especially interested. Hilary hoped she could attend but quickly discarded that hope after finding out that not only were the tickets frighteningly expensive they were also completely sold out. For now though, most of the town's activity was concentrated within the Contest Hall, both in the murmuring crowd and the bustling backstage area.
Hilary sat nervously in the green room with twelve other Contest hopefuls waiting to show their Pokémon on stage. Not only was this group of contestants quite large but from her perspective they all appeared much more prepared than she was. They were all dressed impeccably and some of them even had their Pokémon out, also dressed and adorned, sometimes ridiculously so. Many of the co-ordinators were amicably chatting, complimenting each other's outfits and accessories. One girl was staring absentmindedly out a window, one boy passed the time playing a game on his Pokégear, and someone else sat in an armchair working on the latest ribbon-y accessory for their Pokémon.
Hilary's gaze panned the room and then suddenly stopped. Darcy Knight was here, sitting haughtily on the edge of an ottoman and admiring her glittery, black manicure. She had a different showy outfit tonight consisting of a short dress made of fluffy material that had a big fur collar, knee-high white stiletto boots and a white bob wig. Though Hilary was curious as to what the previous normal rank winner was doing back at the normal rank before she could complete her thoughts a stagehand with a wireless headset arrived and announced that all of the contestants needed to move to the stage.
The mostly young contestants followed her out excitedly. When the group got to the black curtains behind the main stage the staff member stopped them at a table covered in black velvet with an arrangement of twenty gold-backed crystal brooches on it. She instructed each contestant to pick a brooch from the table one at a time and then go straight to the stage area. Darcy strode out to the front of the group and swiped a navy blue crescent moon – the same one she'd had at the last Contest. Most of the contestants stood back admiring the brooches and debating which one they should pick while there were some more experienced co-ordinators who knew the one they wanted. Hilary looked over the table and picked up a fan-shaped one that was a bright, fruity orange. It matched her shirt well when she pinned it to her right breast like she'd seen the other co-ordinators do.
"What exactly is this for?" she asked the stagehand, pointing to the brooch.
"Picking up the votes on your holocaster channel," she answered quickly, checking her digital watch and then hurrying Hilary to the stage.
Unlike at Rustboro Contest Hall the contestants were arranged on stage behind the thick red curtain. The stage was set up exactly the same way it had been during Shido's Contest. Two stagehands worked each side of the stage, telling contestants where to stand, ushering them and sometimes even manhandling them into the exact perfect position. They'd only just finished when a deeper darkness faded over the stage as the house lights went out and Rose's sweet, enthusiastic voice boomed into the audience from the speakers.
"Good Evening! I'm Rose, MC-ing as always, and welcome to tonight's normal rank Pokémon Contest."
As she went through the housekeeping details the stagehands scuttled hurriedly to make last minute adjustments to the blocking arrangements before skittering away.
"Got a special panel of judges here tonight," Rose gushed, "that includes special guests from the Pokémon Showcase Ribbon Gala that took place over the previous two nights. Allow me to introduce: The Light of Olivine City all the way from Johto, Jasmine Quartz!" The audience began to cheer and scream as if the show had already started. "Hoenn's very own spectacular co-ordinator, Lisia Fall!" The crowd went wild. "That's not all. Also graced with the royal presence of the Kalos Queen, Serena Xanthus!"
There was a long, loud pause while Rose waited for the crowd's excitement to die down. Hilary gulped. Was Serena literally royalty? She'd hoped to be judged by the gentle, friendly faces of Frieda and Wally but it sounded like tonight's panel was full of celebrities. With such pressure mounted upon her, Hilary's knees began to wobble.
"What a panel! Now let's see the lucky contestants who get to show their Pokémon to these star-studded experts. Time for the visual appeal."
The curtain rose and suddenly the stage was awash with light. Hilary stiffened at the exposure and smiled, trying not to let her feelings of inadequacy next to her opponents show.
"Use your holocaster to cast your vote when a contestant presents their Pokémon," Rose explained obligatorily. "Ready? Vote channel one for contestant Number 1: Darcy Knight and Sola!"
Hilary set her jaw as Darcy stepped out ahead of her. She'd already figured out that during the visual appeal the contestants were sorted in order of sign up but she didn't think anybody had a chance to sign up for this Contest before her. Going first would have meant no pressure or overshadowing from a previous act and she knew from the Contest three days ago that Darcy was an expert at overshadowing.
Darcy took centre stage confidently. She held a black and gold Pokéball that opened in her hand with powdery snow effects coming from the seals as her Pokémon burst forth. Her new Pokémon was a quadruped creature with glossy white fur, a black face, and a crescent-shaped black horn on the side of its head. It was adorned simply with a crystal diadem drooping over its forehead and a multi-stringed crystal necklace resting softly against the thick fur of its ruff. Its cry was hauntingly beautiful and the audience was charmed almost completely judging by how many navy blue lights converged on the stage, absorbed by Darcy's brooch.
With the appeal concluded, Darcy returned to her original place next to Hilary with her Pokémon at her heel. Hilary glared at her enviously but didn't have time to ruminate on jealous thoughts before Rose called: "Your vote on channel two goes to contestant Number 2: Hilary Tachibana and Wurmple!"
A lump pressed into the front of her throat as if to push her back when she went forward, trying hard with each step to appear just as confident as her predecessor. Regrets already poured through her mind: she hadn't secured an outfit, even just a rental; she should have chosen Ralts because she had a dress for Ralts and nothing for her other Pokémon; she still didn't have any seals to give her Pokémon a more impressive entrance.
"Go, Hilary!"
She looked out to the audience in surprise. It was an alarmingly full house but she could still see Mari up the back of the dress circle with the boys, pumping her fist in the air as if she was cheering on a battle.
"Be awesome!" Daichi yelled between cupped hands.
"Yeah! Bring it home!" Tyson shouted, ignoring the annoyed looks other people in the audience were shooting them now.
"Show them how cute you are!" Max added in defiance of Ray trying to tell the others not to shout.
Kai was there next to them as well but he kept an expressionless gaze on the stage while Togepi jumped up and down on his lap trying to cheer.
"Right," Hilary thought, grinning with rising confidence, "you bet I'm cute."
She put a hand on her hip and threw her Pokéball high up where the bright stage lights would make the flash from the ball almost too blinding to look at. The light placed Wurmple on the stage, lacking any special adornment yet she'd still managed to make him look special. Hilary had long ago noticed that Wurmple had fine, clear hairs along its body but recently discovered that they stood on end when brushed backwards. In the harsh light the sparse fuzz refracted the beams, making a glowing halo of diffused light around his body. He shook himself a little; he didn't want Hilary to be angry for flattening his hairs but having so rigidly erect made his skin itch. The hairs waved, turning the light dazzlingly. However, unlike Darcy's appeal, the only lights that immediately turned on in the audience were the six that came from her friends' bloc. There was only a breathy hush in the rest of the audience for several seconds. Hilary's heart dropped. It hadn't been good enough after all.
Three more lights lit up in the audience. Her gaze moved to the source of the lights: the judges' box. Then, like a trigger, a lot of lights blinked on in bright orange all over the audience. Hilary covered her mouth, feeling that she would burst with joy as the light converged on her like a swarm of fireflies to be counted in the orange, fan-shaped badge.
The wave of light eventually subsided and Hilary took her cue to get back in position when Rose announced: "Simple yet stunning! Can the next contestant continue this strong start to the visual appeals?"
Being so giddy and proud of herself, Hilary didn't notice the bitter glare Darcy sent her way after she returned to her place. Rose went around the stage until all twelve Pokémon were revealed and the holocaster results were in. All the contestants looked up, unable to stay in suspense for Rose's announcements.
"Marks the end of the visual appeals. Four eliminations in this round, who will be leaving us?"
She gestured up to the coloured holograms in twelve different colours with twelve different shapes. The pink heart, the green clover, the blue droplet, and the red diamond tilted and dropped out of existence. Hilary gasped, shocked to see that not only had she survived the first round, she had done so by a large margin.
"Sadly, that's the nature of Contests," Rose consoled the disappointed contestants. The audience applauded encouragingly to praise their effort. "Don't give up! Might win it next time. Everyone else, it's now time for Round 2: performance appeals."
The curtain dropped over the stage, blocking most of the stage lights and concealing the crowd from the contestants. The stagehands returned in short order to direct the contestants off the stage. Hilary blithely waited for her instructions but then Darcy's voice piped up behind her:
"People sometimes get lucky."
Hilary blinked and turned to her. "What do you mean?"
"Wurmple," she said, glancing at the bug at Hilary's feet in distaste, "is such a dull Pokémon. Judges liked yours for whatever reason and they're celebrities so the audience just bowed to their opinion."
Wurmple bristled and clicked angrily, matching Hilary's expression. "How would you know? You can't read people's minds."
"Basic psychology," Darcy shrugged. Her Pokémon glanced at her nervously. "Celebrity culture saved you in the first round but there's nothing a mere Wurmple can do to impress in the performance appeals. Good effort, though."
"You don't even know what our appeal is," Hilary growled but didn't get in a further retort because one of the stagehands shoved her off stage.
As the pair with the highest score, Darcy and Sola got centre stage as the curtain rose. Rose's commentary had ended and the audience quietened in anticipation of their appeal. Darcy got straight to the point with her first order.
"Sola, begin with Hail."
The Pokémon howled with an eerie tone more like a note and its thick fur ruffled. Mysterious dark storm clouds grew and swirled above it. Small hailstones began to drop, tinkling like glass as they smashed on the floor.
"Now, Swift."
A flurry of shining stars burst from Sola's mane. They flew like heat-seeking missiles to collide with every midair hailstone with impossible precision and accuracy. The hail burst like tiny fireworks and became a twinkling mist of glitter.
"Time for the finale: Night Slash."
A dark aura flared around Sola. It lifted a paw and lashed out, cutting the air with a violet slash and sending the hail glitter whirling like they'd been buffeted by the wind. It slashed again in the opposite direction, blowing the glitter back across the stage. The attack went back and forth. Opposing gusts created eddies that swirled the hail glitter into curling spirals like galaxies framed by the dark energy of Night Slash. Sola stopped at a hand gesture from Darcy and stood to the side while its handiwork swirled. The galaxies gradually lost their shape and fluttered to the floor like snow.
The audience cheered, clapped, and squealed at the conclusion of the performance. Darcy and Sola both bowed to the audience and left the stage. A stagehand released a blue and brown Pokémon with a spike on its large head. It shocked Hilary by flipping upside down and spinning itself like a beyblade. It zoomed past her and blew away all the hail glitter in one smooth streak, clearing the stage before Rose even finished her announcement.
"Dazzling and dark, what a show! Hard act to follow for contestant Number 2: Hilary and Wurmple."
Wurmple made a nervous whine.
"Don't worry, we've got a plan, remember?" Hilary whispered to him encouragingly. "Let's go."
Hilary led him out onto the stage and directed him to crawl right into the middle while she went downstage to the far left. They only had 90 seconds to pull it off but they had practised a lot in the past two days.
"Okay, Wurmple, draw the pattern with String Shot."
Wurmple got right to work, spitting out long ropes of sticky, white silk onto the floor. Hilary stood out of the way carefully observing and making sure every string went in the correct position until the pattern was complete.
"Good job! Now, Bug Bite, just like we practised."
Starting from the centre Wurmple began to chew his own work. The silk didn't shred, rather it crimped and crumpled. Threads got chewed together such that they gained a thickness and structure that they didn't have before. As Wurmple went around and around outwards from the centre the pattern began to stand. It grew bit by bit but Hilary began to sweat seeing the time they had left on the teleprompter. Just as a bell chimed sternly to signal their final second was up, Wurmple bit on the very last piece of the pattern and leaned back from it with an exhausted sigh. Standing Hilary's height was a String Shot model of the Eifel Tower (at least, as close as she and Wurmple could get to replicating its shape). She turned to the audience with her arms out to Wurmple and the model. "Ta da!"
Shrieks, gasps and excited applause rippled through the audience. Someone close to the front loudly exclaimed: "It's Prism Tower!" which Hilary hoped was this world's version of the Eifel Tower. They stayed in place for a few seconds for the audience to admire their work before Hilary had to pick up Wurmple and take leave of the stage. The spinning top Pokémon cleaner came out again while Rose segued to the next performance. It looked at the tower, unsure about spinning through a 3D web of String Shot. In the end it decided to shove it off stage with a powerful and well-aimed kick, just in time for the third performers to enter.
"Wurmple, you did great!" Hilary praised. Wurmple shook himself violently so she crouched beside him and stroked his hairs flat. The visual appeal was over so it didn't matter anymore. They only had to wait and see if they were going to make it to the final round.
When the curtain finally closed on the last performer and Rose went out to present the scores the contestants were left in the semi-dark again. They kept watch on the monitor showing the activity on stage. The eight adjusted scores from the visual appeal hovered above Rose, waiting to be filled further.
"End of Round 2 and the judges' scores are already coming in. So many stunning performances but only four will make the final round. Let's find out who, starting with Number 1."
The navy blue crescent moon sigil that indicated Darcy's score started to grow. The bar circled around the symbol and then stopped at about ten o'clock.
"High score for a well-done performance," Rose remarked. "Will anyone be able to top that? Next score belongs to Number 2."
Hilary kept her eyes fixed on the monitor. The orange bar around her fan extended almost achingly slow for her. It crept around the bottom, cycled past nine o'clock and then – to her joy – it surpassed Darcy's current score, stopping just past eleven o'clock. Hilary jumped with Wurmple in her arms and let out a squeal. Behind them, Darcy glared and curled her lip angrily. Sola slunk away from its co-ordinator by about a foot.
"Quirky performance from Wurmple and Hilary really impressed," Rose said. The crowd cheered in agreement.
Rose took some time to get through all eight scores but eventually she was able to announce the eliminations. Hilary had been confident she wouldn't be one of them but it was satisfying to have it confirmed nonetheless. While the four eliminated contestants went back to the green room, Hilary, Darcy and the other two finalists went on stage, ready for Round 3.
"Time for our final round," Rose declared. "The red curtain lifted and all four finalists stood in a line. Darcy and Sola stood stage right next to Hilary and Wurmple. On Darcy's other side was a round-faced girl with curly brown hair in a yellow puff dress and a little puppy-like Pokémon with a face covered in tawny brown whiskers. At stage right stood a teenage boy in loose blue and white trousers and shirt with a Pelipper dragging its wings on the floor next to him. "Contestants have to demonstrate a higher level of creativity and cunning in the improvised appeals. They will have to impress both the audience and the judges by taking it in turns to make one appeal move but no more than one each turn. Here are our finalists: contestant Number 2: Hilary and Wurmple, Number 1: Darcy and Sola, Number 12: Lillian and Lillipuppy, and Number 5: Thomas and Pelipper! Let's see some enthusiastic appeals!"
"We're first, Wurmple," Hilary said, "so do a Tackle, give it all you've got."
Wurmple faced the audience head on and leaped with the barb on his head pointed forward as if he was seriously attacking. With nothing to hit, he just flopped back to the floor. The audience erupted in laughter at the somewhat pathetic tackle but applauded him all the same.
"Hmph," Darcy grunted, unimpressed. "Sola, use Bite."
Though its mouth had looked small and cute before, Sola opened its maw wide, revealing two rows of needle-like teeth. It gnashed them together, giving Wurmple such a fright that his hairs stood on end again.
"Lillipuppy, do your Baby-Doll Eyes," Lillian said. Her Pokémon gazed out over the audience with wide, shining eyes. The collective coos and squeals sounded like the crowd was melting in its thrall.
"Well, Pelipper, we're in last place," Thomas muttered yet he was smiling congenially. "Give them all a Soak."
Pelipper trilled. It lifted its top jaw like a trapdoor and a large arc of water streamed out. Pelipper tilted his body to spill it over all of the other contestants ahead of it, getting them sodden wet.
"Wow, what a wash-out and it's just the first appeal," Rose said. "First three are going to have to get brave to regain lost ground."
Thomas grinned, having taken the top spot. "Pelipper, get ready with Stockpile."
Pelipper took several deep breaths and its feathers fluffed. It sat still, puffed up like that and waiting. Darcy growled under her breath in frustration. She glanced to either side of her and ordered Sola to use Taunt. All of a sudden Sola's elegant face turned wicked and she turned to each of the other Pokémon making a goading snicker. Pelipper remained unruffled. Wurmple huffed irritably. However, Lillipuppy squeaked and began to shudder nervously. Lillian tried to comfort her Pokémon verbally and urged it to use Take Down.
"Ha! There's such a thing as being too brave," Hilary thought. "Wurmple, show them your Poison Sting!"
Wurmple wriggled forward a bit and turned to spit his poison bard across the stage. Lillipuppy whined loudly and scurried about anxiously before coming to hide behind Lillian's legs.
Hilary congratulated herself as the turn counter ticked over to the third appeal and she had clawed back to second place from last. Taking advantage of first place, Darcy got Sola to perform a Sucker Punch. Not letting her get too far ahead, Hilary got Wurmple to swing his String Shot around like a fountain. Sola recoiled from the sticky mess even though it wasn't in any danger of being caught in it. Thomas got Pelipper to use a move called Swallow. With a big gulp its feathers suddenly smoothed down and shone as though they'd been restored to newness. The audience gasped as if they'd seen something glamorous. Lillian managed to coax Lillipuppy out of hiding by then and instructed it to use a 'scary' Leer. Lillipuppy focused its glare on Pelipper specifically, unnerving it.
"Yowza! Back and forth in this round has been fierce," Rose commented, "but this is the final appeal turn. Whatever happens now is the decider."
Despite the vicious third turn, nobody had moved up or down the ladder. It suited Darcy just fine. "Sola, finish this with Perish Song."
Sola raised its head. The first note started hauntingly beautiful. The next was somehow even more. Notes in soprano flew from Sola's lips in a five second aria that had even the other co-ordinators wondering how they were going to top that.
"Wurmple, another Poison Sting!" Hilary commanded. The sharp spit instilled the fear of the sting in Sola, making it flinch.
"Pelipper, Protect," Thomas said. His Pelipper squawked and was magically surrounded with a sea green barrier.
"Lillipuppy, finish off with Bite," Lillian said. Lillipuppy lunged and gnashed its cute little teeth. Having already endured such a thing once, Wurmple was only a little affected but behind the Protect shield Pelipper remained oblivious. Even so, the audience cheered, almost as impressed as they were by Sola's Perish Song.
"That's Round 3!" Rose declared forcefully. "Give our contestants a huge round of applause for their extraordinary efforts in these unusually hot normal rank appeals."
The noise from the audience was almost deafening. All four co-ordinators took a bow (or a curtsey) and their Pokémon did their best to do the same despite not necessarily having all the right limbs. The curtain slowly rolled down and the spinning top Pokémon came back for a final round of cleaning, spinning back and forth across the front of the stage to clear the water, barbs, and silk while Rose talked. It tripped over the String Shot once and fell flat on its face.
"Now time for a countdown of the final scores. Will the high scorers from the earlier rounds keep up their good standing or can the underpooches pull the rug out from under them? They are, of course, all competing for Verdanturf Contest Hall's normal rank ribbon."
A tiny, green seedling of a Pokémon tottered out onto the stage like a toddler with a velveteen box balanced precariously between the two leaves on its head. Rose kneeled down to receive the box from its proud carrier and opened the lid, displaying the round, golden medal with two green ribbons. "Presented tonight by one of our judges: Lisia!"
Most of the audience began to scream, unable to wait for her to get on stage. She was professionally on time too, making her way past the backstage area just as Rose announced her. Hilary watched the blue-haired girl pass in wonder. She had the air of a pop star about her, which Hilary thought she would immediately hate but there was a sincere softness in her face that settled her. She looked at the contestants on her way out and waved to them with a smile that radiated good vibes. A stagehand quickly approached to whisper an instruction: that the four finalists had to follow her out and stand in a small group at the far stage left. Darcy was already going, as if she knew that already.
On stage and in front of the red curtain they waited as Rose passed the velveteen box to Lisia. The navy blue crescent moon, the yellow star, the orange fan, and the white shell reappeared over Rose and Lisia in turn with their scores once again adjusted ahead of the final round. Unlike the previous rounds, the scores increased simultaneously. As they rounded close to the top they ceased in order of the lowest overall scorer to the highest overall scorer, starting with Lillipuppy, then Pelipper. The score for Sola and Wurmple seemed to move together almost to the very top but it was Wurmple's score that ceased just a split second before Sola's.
"The winner − by a hair's breadth − is contestant Number 1: Darcy and Sola!"
Sola cried out and stamped its feet excitedly along with the cheers of the crowd but Darcy stayed completely cool. She walked up to Rose and Lisia stonily. Sola bounded ahead of her and wound around Lisia like an affectionate dog. Lisia gave it a pat on the head and then turned to Darcy.
"Great work tonight," Lisia praised, holding out the Contest ribbon. "Hope to see you scale greater heights in the future and maybe meet in master rank."
"Maybe," Darcy replied noncommittally. She took the ribbon from the case and looked down at Sola. It was still weaving around the judge and the MC. "Sola, stop that! Rude!"
Sola did a few more turns and then returned to Darcy's side where Darcy was able to fix the ribbon to its mane.
"Congratulations Darcy and Sola," Rose finalised. "One more Contest has come to an end. Thank-you everyone for all of your encouragement and participation. There'll be more wonderful Contests in the Verdanturf Contest Hall in the days to come, starting with tomorrow's super rank competitions. Find more information about future Contests at the front desk in the lobby. Until next time, goodnight!"
The house lights came back on and chatter buzzed throughout the audience now that the show was over. Thomas returned his Pelipper as it cawed in disappointment and Lillian carried Lillipuppy off stage. Hilary picked up her Wurmple and followed them sombrely. She had been so close that time, she could have almost won. On one hand it ached to lose twice in a row but on the other she could also feel some prideful swell knowing that she'd been so close. If she just had another try she would win it for sure.
Sola ran past her happily, ribbon streamers flying with its hair while it dropped all pretence of being a well-disciplined creature. Darcy returned it quickly, growling through her teeth in frustration over its misbehaviour. "Original trainer said you were sparky but this is too much," she muttered at the Pokéball.
"Congratulations."
She looked up, surprised. Hilary stood before her and held out a hand to shake. "Maybe we were just off on the wrong foot before but it was really challenging competing against you. I hope you do well in the super rank."
Darcy limply smacked her hand away. "Not going to the super rank. Not with this Pokémon, anyway."
"What? Why?" Hilary asked, clenching her back teeth and staring at their hands in offence.
"Doubt Sola would win it. Could barely overshadow the competition here. What's the point if you don't win?"
"What's the point?! Don't you like Contests?"
Darcy shrugged. "Not about liking or disliking anything but you have to keep winning if you want to stay on top. I'll just trade Sola for another Pokémon that doesn't have a ribbon and train it to win the next normal rank."
"It's not all about winning," Hilary snapped, feeling like she was about to cry. "Losing has important lessons too, you know. I haven't won a ribbon yet but I'm gonna and I am going to raise my Pokémon all the way up to master rank."
Darcy snickered, barely able to hold back her laughter. "Don't be an idiot. Takes years for most people to reach master rank. But if you like learning so much, sure you'll enjoy all the losing, loser." She turned on her skinny stiletto heel and strutted away.
"You jerk! I'll make you see! By the time I get all eight badges I'll already be master rank and then you'll see that winning isn't everything because no matter how many times I lose I'm going to end up being the best!"
Darcy just laughed harder but she kept walking away and didn't look back. Hilary's cheeks felt hot. She thought she really was going to cry but then she felt the tickle of Wurmple's mouth parts trying to kiss the side of her cheek.
"Aw, thanks," she smiled at him, lifting him up to look at him face-to-face. "I'm not really all that sad, though, just really mad. And I feel bad for poor Sola. It looked so happy to win and performed so well that it just seems so cruel not to even try the super rank. But we'll show her won't we?"
Wurmple trilled his agreement.
The Contest Hall had cleared out quite quickly. By the time Hilary had gone back to the green room to collect her bag and exit to the lobby it was already mostly cleared of people and most of those people were in the process of leaving. Only Mari and the bladers were milling around on the lobby bench seats.
"Hey, you all waited for me," she said as she approached.
"Of course we did," Max said, standing up. Tyson stood up quickly after him.
"Oh man, you came so close!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, but don't worry. Next time, I'll win." She winked and held out her fist.
"That's what I like to hear," Tyson grinned, bumping fists with her.
"Oh, still here! Thank goodness!"
The group turned to the new voice that had piped up behind them. Blue-haired, pop-staresque Lisia in her flashy blue and white outfit jogged towards them from the direction of the dressing rooms. She carried another box but unlike the velvety ribbon case it was covered in shiny black lacquer and was a thinner, more rectangular shape.
"Lissi!?" Mari gasped.
"Yes, hi," she replied. She turned to Hilary. "Hilary Tachibana?"
"Yeah?" Hilary responded.
Lisia looked at the rest of the group. "These are your friends? Nice to meet you guys."
"Hey, I thought your name was Lisia, not Lissi," Daichi said, narrowing his eyes as if he'd just stumbled across a conspiracy.
Lisia giggled. "Most people call me Lissi. Like a nickname."
"I thought you weren't into Contests," Ray said to Mari.
"Everyone knows Lissi," Mari argued defensively. "Don't have to be into Contests to hear about her − she's famous."
"Yeah," Hilary murmured, remembering Darcy's comment. "What brings you here?"
"Was performing in the Ribbon Gala in past couple of days and the hall managers asked some of us if we would like to judge a normal rank Contest straight after, so of course I said yes because I love seeing what kinds of new talent are coming up in Contests and Showcases." Lisia paused to glance at her box then faced Hilary again. "Came looking for you because I wanted to give you this." She offered the box.
"Wh-why?" Hilary stammered, staring at it in disbelief.
"Well, was going to give it to the winner of this Contest but I think you'd appreciate it more. Darcy isn't a real novice. We were so impressed by what you did with your Pokémon using so little − me, Serena, and Jasmine − so I want you to have this to help you scale the Contest ranks with your Pokémon."
Hilary finally took the box from Lisia and opened it. Inside was a row of coloured rods with smooth, spongy tips covered with clear caps. There were ten colours in all (all colours of the rainbow plus pink, white, and black) and a pump bottle at the very end. "What are these?"
"Pokéshadows," Lisia replied. "A type of makeup that you can use on most Pokémon that don't have damp skin. Pump bottle is a primer to help them stay longer and more vibrant. Apply the primer then dab them on. Washes off pretty well with just the regular Pokémon grooming products and water."
"You're really just letting me have this?" Hilary asked. She nodded. "Thank-you! Oh, but... I haven't got much space to carry it."
"Fits in most accessory cases."
"And it will still shrink?"
"Course," Lisia said, giving Hilary a strange look.
"Wow, this is such an amazing gift," Hilary breathed. "Thank-you! Thank-you!"
"No need to thank me so much! I want new co-ordinators to succeed. Makes me happy to find new people who see all of the beautiful and non-violent potential of Pokémon and are trying to show it to others too. Even though Wurmple didn't win tonight, there are always other Contests and one day I hope I'll get to compete against you in the master rank."
"You bet! I'm already aiming for master rank anyway and I want to see what it is that made you so famous."
Lisia laughed. Hers was nice to listen to, full of real humour. "I'll be waiting."
She offered her hand and Hilary shook it determinedly. She had real purpose now; it wasn't just about humouring Ruby and impressing people. The path of the co-ordinator now seemed longer and steeper than it did before and for the first time Hilary thought she could see strength down the end of that road.
A/N: So, there was quite a bit of RL drama preceeding this chapter. Not only did I start it 5 times and scrap four different beginnings after about 1k+ words each time, my computer broke down 2 months ago and has had a slew of problems since. First it was the fan, then one of the background programs got corrupted and almost caused me to lose all of my data (including what I had of this chapter) but I managed to make a back-up by disassembling it and taking all my personal files from the hard disk directly only to put it back together, wipe the memory, and then discover that most of my drivers were no longer working. I am still in the process of reinstalling drivers. But while my computer was out of commission I kept writing long-hand, which is the main reason why this chapter isn't any later. Please review and let me know how you like the Contest installments. There will be fighting in the next chapter, promise.