Chapter 13:
Cerulean City Pokemon Contest!
Hue's Current Team: Douglas(Squirtle): Water Gun, Withdraw, Tackle, Bubble
Ace(Pidgey): Mud-Slap, Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind
Gumshoe(Growlithe): Odor Sleuth, Dig, Reversal, Flame Wheel
?(Ralts): Growl, ?, ?, ?
Hue lifted his pokedex to his newly hatched pokemon. "The hell is this?" He asked Dean,
"[Ralts]." Dean replied. "The [Feeling] Pokemon."
"It's male…" Aura pointed to the blue male symbol on Hue's pokedex.
"Yes, I know." Hue said as he nervously moved away from Aura.
"What's wrong?" Aura asked, confused. "I just want to see the pokedex… I didn't know that yours could identify pokemon not from the Kanto region…"
Hue gulped.
Keeping you from seeing the updated pokedex was why I backed away! Guess the Meowth's out of the bag though.
He didn't want Aura to find out he had met with the leader of TNR...She would flip out, and Hue wasn't in the mood for another trip into Mt. Moon again.
"I-It's a gift from Officer Jenny…" Hue lied as he allowed Aura to look at his pokedex again. "In case any foreign pokemon are used to commit any crimes…Now let's listen to what Dean has to say...Again Dean."
"[Ralts], The [Feeling] Pokemon. It can use the horns on its head to read human emotions. Ralts rarely shows itself to humans, but may occasionally approach if it senses positive or happy feelings."
"Sensing human emotions?" Aura asked. "Sounds like a good lie-detector. Perfect for a make believe detective like you, Huey!" She chimed.
"Junior detective. Official." Hue replied quite curtly.
"Yeah yeah." Aura rolled her eyes. "But still, emotion sensing might be advantageous for you, since you can be oblivious an' all."
"What about pokemon?" Hue inquired, ignoring Aura's jab at him. "Can Ralts sense their emotions too?"
"A Ralts is highly attuned to the emotions of people and pokemon, but it hides if it senses any hostility." Dean informed Hue and Aura
"Meaning...It will run away from wild pokemon battles…"Aura said. "And possibly the pokemon of other trainers…"
"I can still work with him." Hue said as he picked up his Ralts, just happy that his friggin egg had finally hatched.
"So little guy...let's give you a name!"
"Raaaaalllllts." The Ralts yawned.
"How about Arthur? That sound good?"
"Ralts…" The Ralts yawned again.
Guess that's good enough…
"Now...To find out the moves Arthur knows…." Aura pressed a button on Hue's pokedex. "As well as his ability…"
"Arthur." Dean stated. "Species: Ralts, Ability: Trace, Moves: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport."
"Did it just say Teleport?" Hue asked.
"Ralts!" Arthur saluted as it teleported out of Hue's arms and into Freddie's.
"O-oh...Hello little buddy!" Freddie laughed nervously.
"Hey, Hue!" He called. "Your Ralts is over here!"
As Hue went to retrieve the Ralts. Freddie took him aside.
"So um…." Freddie gritted his teeth. "What are we going to do about...him?" He tilted his head to where a still handcuffed Morren Rex was sitting at a camping table that had been set up for the four of them. "Karen's already left for Pewter...And I'm pretty sure that Davon took off after her…So, what do we do with this guy?"
"Cheer him up." Hue said with a shrug as he took Arthur out of Freddie's arms. "Otherwise he'll scare Arthur."
"Ralts…" Arthur nodded, as if to say that he agreed with Hue.
As the four of them entered Cerulean City, Aura's eyes lit up.
"Huey, look!" She tugged on his jacket sleeve as she pointed towards a grandiose building.
"Pokemon Contest Hall…." Hue read aloud.
"What's a Pokemon Contest?"
"Only one of the most exciting things to watch ever!" Aura hummed. "Come on! We should watch one!"
"But….We should get to the gym first…" Hue mumbled.
He wanted a badge more than he wanted to see whatever a pokemon contest was.
"What about...the Taste of Cerulean Festival?" Freddie asked.
Oh yeah, that's right.
Freddie was in Cerulean for some sort of cooking festival…
"That's not for another week." Aura rolled her eyes. "Contest, come on!"
"But...the gym…" Hue said.
"It'll still be there afterwards." Aura's eyes began to shoot daggers. "We're going to check out the contest hall. Now."
"Can I...be let out now?" Morren asked. He was still in handcuffs.
"Not until I find an officer to foist you off onto." Hue said.
"What's all this about officers?" a voice asked from behind them.
Hue turned around.
It was...that one blonde girl from Pewter…
"You're the girl that Davon beat in the Pewter Tournament right?" Hue asked.
"Cherry Devonshire." The girl confirmed. "And you're the boy he beat in the first round."
Ouch. She's not in the best mood.
"Hue…" Morren whispered. "Who is she?"
"Don't ask me…" Hue whispered back. "She competed in a tournament in pewter city. She and her Meowth made it to the final round of the tournament."
"She's really pretty…" Morren whispered.
"Cherry…" The other girl from Pewter walked up to Cherry. "We're going to be late if we don't hur-." She stopped as she took notice of Hue and Aura. She looked directly at Hue with her mismatched eyes. One was blue, and one was green.
"You were in the Pewter tournament that we competed in." She said. "You lost, and you dropped out right afterwards…"
Guess they're both in bad moods.
"A little embarrassing to remember…" Hue scratched his head, doing his best to not let the attitude these women were exuding get to him. "But yeah, that's us. I'm Hue Swanson."
"Aura Jones." Aura curtseyed.
"I couldn't care less who you are." The husky faced girl said. "I don't remember the names of weak trainers."
Perhaps a normal trainer would have only gotten slightly upset at that remark, but for Hue...for Hue it was something he couldn't ignore.
The reason he become a strainer was to become strong enough to protect others.
If this bitch was going to call him weak based on only a single match, he'd make her see that he wasn't!
"Then, how about a battle?" Hue asked. "We're already looking each other in the eye, so you have to oblige!"
"Ugh…" The girl with the mismatched eyes sighed. She flicked her pink highlight back behind her ear.
"I've already wasted enough time talking to you. I'm busy. I have a contest to perform in. Unless you want to wait until tomorrow, I suggest you enter it too if you want to battle me…"
She started to walk towards the contest hall.
"You shouldn't battle her." Cherry warned as she followed suit. "From your pitiful display at the tournament, you don't stand a chance against Twilight."
"So her name's Twilight…" Hue said. He turned to Aura.
"Aura, we're signing up for that Contest!"
"S-signing up?" Aura asked, for the first time ever actually giving off a legitimately shy vibe.
"I-I don't think I'm quite ready to go up on stage like that...I mean…"
"I'll sign up with you." Freddie shrugged with a half smile.
"You will?" Morren asked, dumbfounded.
"You will?" Hue asked, equally dumbfounded.
"I'm a Professional Chef…" Freddie said with a bow. "I often do public cooking. I'm sure I can handle crowd pleasing entertainment…"
"I...I guess I'll sign up for it then…" Aura said. "B-but...you all have to promise to not laugh at what I end up wearing on stage…"
"Aura, you wear a hakama as your everyday clothes…" Hue chuckled. "If we aren't laughing at them, we won't laugh at whatever you wear while performing."
"What about me?" Morren asked.
"Hmm...Yeah, bringing you would be a problem…" Hue said. "We can't let you out of your cuffs….I guess we have to hand you off to an officer first."
After handing Morren over to the nearest patrolman, Hue, Aura, and Freddie all double timed it towards the concert hall.
When they got to the counter….
Hue skidded to a halt.
"You're here too?" He asked, in disbelief.
Turning around to face him was Ethel Ross.
"Oh...Hello Hue." She said with her monotone expressions and voice. "I didn't expect you to be signing up for this as well...Perhaps we will get our one on one battle after all…"
"Umm...About that…" Hue said with a nervous laugh. "Do you mind explaining the rules of a Pokemon Contest to me?"
"Very well." Ethel nodded.
Hue detected a hint of eagerness in her voice. It sounded like she was very happy to be explaining this.
"Follow me." She said as she twirled around in her white skirt and began walking towards the stage.
"This is where the event takes place. It's known as a Contest Hall. The contestants, that's us, are known as Pokemon Coordinators."
"Coordinators...got it…" Hue said as he began to take some notes.
"The goal of pokemon contests is to appeal to judges and the audience." Ethel continued. "The winner of a contest is awarded a ribbon as a prize."
"So...ribbons are like the Badges of the contest world…" Freddie said.
"That's correct." Ethel confirmed. "Although, Coordinators only need Five ribbons to participate in the Grand Festival."
"Which is like the contest version of the Pokemon League Tournament!" Aura chimed in. "And the winner of the Grand Festival is given the title of Top Coordinator! Just like how Pokemon League Champion is given to trainers who win the Pokemon League Tournament!"
"Aura is correct." Ethel said. "Now Hue, ask anything you want…"
"Yeah...um...what do you do in contests, exactly?"
"Well…" Ethel sighed, clearly upset at the lack of basic knowledge. "The rules vary from region to region...So I'll explain the Kanto region's rules for pokemon contests. The contests are divided into two separate rounds, or 'stages'. The first round is called the Performance Stage. All coordinators participate by using a single one of their pokemon and they attempt to appeal their pokemon to the audience and the judges by showing off various moves and routines. The judges will then choose a number of coordinators to move onto the next stage. Those that are not chosen will be out of the contest."
"So, public appeal and appearance of your pokemon is paramount to going far in the contest." Hue reasoned.
"Yes, glad to see you were paying attention. That is something you should always be keeping in mind if you plan to double as a coordinator." Ethel nodded. " In fact, it is even more important in the second stage: The Battle Stage."
"Battle Stage?" Hue asked confused.
"Coordinators are first and foremost, still pokemon trainers." Ethel said. "The Battle Stage is built much like a small tournament during which coordinators use their pokemon in one on one battles against other coordinators while continuing to show off their pokemon's style and skill. These battles only last for five minutes maximum, and should the time run up, the coordinator with the most points remaining will be awarded victory."
"But you can still use force right?" Hue asked.
"You can…" Ethel nodded. "After all, if a pokemon is unable to battle, victory goes to the other trainer...but the more important thing to pay attention to is the amount of points you have. They are removed if any moves you try to pull off don't appeal to the audience or the judges, if your opponent uses a particularly appealing move, and I'm sure you get the gist of it by now."
"Jeez, if stylish is the name of the game in a contest...I think I might be in over my head…" Hue looked over his unassuming outfit.
"Just think of it as a chance to learn about more pokemon…" Ethel said as she let a small laugh escape her stoic exterior. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah….The two stages...I'm allowed to switch the pokemon I use in between them right?"
"In Kanto, you are allowed to switch yes." Ethel nodded.
"In Kanto?" Aura asked. "Is there a different rule elsewhere?"
"In Hoenn, coordinators must use the same pokemon for both stages of the contest." Ethel explained. "And in Sinnoh, sometimes a Double-battle format for the Battle Stage is used, which allows for all manner of either switching or not switching. Here in Kanto though, it's very straightforward. One pokemon per Stage."
"Got it." Hue said. "Thanks a millions Ethel. I guess we'll go s-"
"Hold on." Aura raised her hand. "I have a question for Ethel."
"What is it?" Ethel asked, surprised.
"Your Egg from Pewter City…" Aura said. "Was the pokemon that hatched from the egg native to a region other than Kanto?"
"You'll find out soon enough." Ethel managed to curve her lips into a taunting smirk. "I plan to use that pokemon in the Performance Stage. The audience loves seeing exotic pokemon after all."
"Alright then…" Aura said.
Hue found himself wondering what was going though Aura's mind.
She had that 'look' again… Rather than ask about it though, Hue focused on his own thoughts.
Well, I'm still not sure if I'm going to pursue being a coordinator seriously or not, but I do know that I'm not about to just let Twilight say whatever she pleases. I want to battle her, and I want to defeat her!
It was kind of a win-win, since Aura clearly wanted to do this, but was nervous about it. with Hue participating too, she wasn't alone in it.
Freddie's willingness to sign up was...unexpected, but the more the merrier in Hue's book.
The coordinators' waiting room was so freaking crowded…
"Hue?" Hue heard Freddie's voice call. "Hue, dude, you here at all?"
"Yeah, I'm here!" Hue said as he plowed his way towards Freddie's voice.
The two of them united with each other near a monitor.
"How many people are competing?" Hue asked.
"32 coordinators…" Freddie said. "And out of them only 4 will be chosen by the judges to move onto the Battle Stage…"
Hue counted on his fingers.
Him...Aura,..Freddie...Ethel...Twilight...Cherry…
That was six.
That was two more than four.
Someone was going to be upset very shortly…
"Where's Aura?" Hue asked. He wanted to at least see what she meant by 'don't laugh'...
"And now, the Performance Stage of the competition will begin!" The monitors said.
"Let's introduce our first coordinator! Please put your hands together for Aura Jones!"
The crowd cheered as Aura took the stage.
Hue looked up at the monitor, and his jaw dropped.
Aura had her long black hair curled, and was dressed in a gorgeous bright red kimono with a black floral pattern.
She looked….Beautiful...
"Koko, let's go!" Aura called as she sent out Koko the Beedrill.
"Use Swords Dance, Koko!" Aura cheered as she and Koko began to elegantly dance to what sounded like traditional Johto music…
"Aura and Beedrill are dancing!" The announcer said. "The judges and the audience seem to like it!"
"Now, Koko," Aura said. "Use Tailwind and keep up with Swords Dancing!"
"Drill!" Koko buzzed.
The wind being created by Koko's tailwind not only sped up their dance, but made them appear all the more elegant.
"Now…" Aura threw two sewing needles at Koko. "Twineedle!"
"Drill!" Koko hit both the needles expertly with the Twineedle at the same time.
"Fury Attack on the needles!" Aura exclaimed. "And remember to continue with Swords Dance and Tailwind!"
"Drilll! Beeedrilll!" Koko said as she continued to hit the two needles all over the place.
The more she did, the more Hue noticed that...there was thread attached to those needles!
Aura and Koko finished simultaneously in front of the completed tapestry...of a Beedrill pollinating a flower.
The crowd went wild.
"Well that's quite the opening act!" The announcer said. "Good job, Aura, go back down to the coordinators room for a well earned rest!"
As Aura entered the coordinator's room, she was met with many envious stares.
"Jeez…" She said as she rejoined Hue and Freddie, still in her kimono and with her hair curled.
"You'd think I killed someone with the stares I'm getting…"
"They might as well just hand you the ribbon now…" Freddie joked. "Not many beedrills can weave a tapestry that quickly…"
"Well, That's why I caught Koko anyway…." Aura said. "She used to use String Shot to make tapestries, but she lost that move when she evolved to help a little someone I know out of a jam…"
Aura looked Hue's way.
"H-Huey?" She asked as she tilted her head. "You okay?"
Hue couldn't really talk.
He just stood there.
He hadn't given it too much thought before because of her strange personality quirks, but Aura really was incredibly attractive.
"Huey…." She waved a hand in front of his face.
"HUE!" Freddie shouted in Hue's ear.
"Agh, fuck…" Hue covered his ear as he snapped back to reality.
"Oh hey…" Aura pointed. "That Twilight girl is up now…"
"Go!" Twilight yelled as she threw a pokeball. "Arbok!"
An Arbok slithered out of Twilight's pokeball.
"Use Acid Spray towards the ceiling!"
Arbok shot a spray of green acid upright, showering itself in it on the way down, with its stomach markings remaining untouched.
The audience was cheering. Arbok was appealing in a different kind of style than Aura's Beedrill, but it was still appealing quite well.
"Now Arbok, show them your Wrap attack!" Twilight yelled as she launched a steel oil drum at her Arbok.
"Arrrrbok!" The Arbok twisted its body around the shield, and crushed it in mid air with a single squeeze from its Wrap attack, before landing heading towards the ground.
"And now Dig!" Twilight yelled as Arbok burrowed into the ground.
"Wait for it….." Twilight told the audience as she took out a flute and began to play a tune.
Much like a Snake-Charmer's snake, the Arbok emerged from the hole it had just created, dancing to Twilight's music.
The crowd went wild again.
"Alright Arbok…" Twilight said. "Let's finish this off…"
She tossed her flute in the air.
"With a Screech!"
Arbok jumped into the air and caught Twilight's flute, and blew into it….playing the exact tune that Twilight had just played, with no errors.
The crowd freaking lost it.
A snake was playing the flute, of course they would…
Twilight and Arbok both took a bow.
"Well that's just great…" Hue said. "How am I supposed to outperform that?"
"You don't need to outperform it…" Freddie said. "You just need to outperform 28 other people…"
"Freddie, you'll be up soon!" One of the stage managers called.
Freddie shrugged and left Hue and Aura alone in the room.
Well, other people were there but they weren't going anywhere near Aura after her performance set the bar so high.
"It's Ethel up on stage!" Aura pointed.
Hue looked up at the monitor.
Ethel was about to use the pokemon she had hatched from her egg in Pewter City…
"Ethel Ross everyone!" The announcer said. Before Ethel even sent out her pokemon the crowd erupted into a frenzy.
"Well...that's odd…" Hue said. "She hasn't even sent out the pokemon yet."
"Do you really not know why they're cheering for her already?" Aura asked, with a sly smile.
"Even I didn't think you were that oblivious."
"Wait you mean you do know why?" Hue asked.
"Oh finally." Aura sighed. "You aren't just staring into space and you can talk to me. Yes, I do know why, but if Ethel hasn't told you herself, then...hehehe, I won't either! That'll be your punishment for not saying anything like 'great job out there, Aura.' to me."
"You did do a very great job." Hue said, doing his best not to look at her any further now that she'd reminded him she was right there.
I'll forget how to talk if I keep looking at her while she is still dressed like that…
"I found myself speechless for the whole thing. I can't believed you were embarrassed…"
"Well it's just…." Aura bit her nail and looked away. "I'd always wanted to do something like that since I was little...I must have looked like a goofy kid up there…"
"You looked great up there, Aura." Hue said, though he was only able to because he wasn't looking directly at her. "Everyone really loved your performance, myself included. You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the things you want to do as stuff that others will laugh at."
"You laughed when I said I wanted to catch a Jigglypuff…"
"That's because it was way out of left field, But this….this is something I would expect you to like. It's all about showing off, after all." Hue snickered.
"Hey!" Aura playfully socked him in the shoulder. "Shut up. Ethel's performing."
"What the heck is that?" Hue asked shocked as he took out his pokedex.
It was a pale serpentine pokemon, using water and mist moves to its advantage, and it seemed to have the audience incredibly excited.
"[Milotic]." Dean announced. "The [Tender] Pokemon. The evolved form of Feebas, Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all pokemon and is quite skilled in battle. Milotic able to soften human anger and hatred by emitting soothing frequencies from its body."
"Milotic is singing to the audience through the Mist, and using Flash to illuminate itself! All while creating such rainy weather all around the stage!" The announcer said. "It's creating the perfect blend of elegant, mysterious, and powerful!"
That was going to be the hardest one to beat yet...
"Wow…." Aura said as Freddie took the stage and began to dazzle everyone as he had his Ghastly create various food dishes in midair, appealing to the audience and judges' hunger.
Of course he was doing that….
Hue had to give Freddie credit...If he was a judge, Freddie would have just rocketed to the top of the list with that food...
"Hue, you're up after the next coordinator…" One of the stage managers said. "Come on."
As Hue said goodbye to Aura, and headed down the hallway, Freddie came down heading towards the waiting room.
"Did you see?" He asked excitedly.
"Yeah I saw...You've got this in the bag!" Hue said as he put his hand on his stomach.
"Here." Freddie handed Hue a sandwich. "Eat it quickly, before that blonde girl, Cherry, finishes her performance."
"Cherry's performing right now?" Hue asked. He scarfed his sandwich down and rushed to backstage so he could see what she was doing.
She was using….her Meowth again…
It was...playing with a laser pointer...and doing a bunch of flips in the air…
"Awww!" The audience would repeatedly say.
Occasionally, Cherry would throw a yarn ball out that the Meowth would shred to bits with a Fury Swipes.
It was definitely appealing to the audience in a much different way than the other pokemon Hue had seen so far had been appealing.
It was at that particular moment that Hue realized something important.
I have absolutely no clue what to do.
He didn't have a performance ready or anything…
Even if he did, it was clear that everyone else had at least practiced their performance…
Hue gulped.
"And now, for our next coordinator...Hue Swanson!" The announcer said.
Hue walked out onto the stage.
He needed something and quick.
"The audience loves seeing exotic pokemon, after all…"
Ethel's words rang through his head.
That was it! That could be Hue's ticket out of this mess…
"Arthur, I choose you!" Hue yelled as he sent out his Ralts.
"Ralllts!" Arthur called as he appeared in front of the crowd.
The crowd went wild. After all, seeing a rare pokemon was fun for everyone.
Okay. I can use this to my advantage. Arthur can pick up on happiness and positive emotions after all.
"Arthur!" Hue said, "Double Team!"
"Ralts, Ralts!" Arthur multiplied himself.
The crowd cheered even more.
"Now…Confusion!"
Arthur and all his copies used Confusion on each other, creating a floating ring of Ralts.
"Now, one by one, use Teleport, and Growl in ascending pitch as you stand on top of each other!"
"Ralts…." Do
"Ralts…." Re
"Ralts…." Mi
"Ralts…." Fa
"Ralts…." So
"Ralts…." La
"Ralts…." Ti
"Raaaaaaalts!" Do
The Real Arthur was the one on the bottom. Hue knew that.
"Now Arthur, say goodbye to your friends with a Growl for each of them, and then finish with a goodbye to the audience!"
As Arthur growled goodbye to his copies, he did so in descending pitch.
Do "Ralts."
Ti "Ralts."
La "Ralts."
So "Ralts."
Fa "Ralts."
Mi "Ralts."
Re "Ralts."
And the low Do…
"Raaaaaaaaalts…." Arthur yelled at the audience, which erupted into applause at how adorable Hue was able to make the little guy…
Hue was so pleased, he almost didn't notice the pinkish-purple notes and sound waves that had appeared in the air when Arthur had called out to the audience...
It might not have been as good as Aura's dance, at least in Hue's mind, but he still thought that he did a great job of showing off what Arthur could do, and that was what contests were all about.
"That was amazing, Huey!" Aura said as Hue entered the room and noticed that she had reverted back to her hakama and her black hair was no longer curled. "But that move at the end…"
"Was it bad?" Freddie asked. "I liked it…"
"No…" Aura shook her head. "It was good but...That wasn't a Growl…".
"[Disarming Voice]." Dean informed Hue. "A [Fairy] type move."
"Disarming Voice was the same move that Ethel's Milotic was using to sing to the audience…" Aura said. "In battle, the move is almost a guaranteed hit on its target."
Arthur already learned a new move? By accident?
"Well, if nothing else comes out of this...at least Arthur learned a new move…" Hue said.
"Hey, that's the spirit!" Aura said.
"And..I've also got our dinner." Freddie shrugged as he took out some more sandwiches.
"And I got to do my dance…" Aura said happily.
Hue smiled. Everyone seemed to have already decided that, move on or not, they had fun participating.
It was a welcome change of pace from the seriousness that they had been putting up with for the past week.
"May I have your attention?" The announcer asked from the monitors. She was alone on the stage.
"All of you coordinators have been a pleasure to watch for our audience. If it was up to them, you would all get ribbons today, but only one ribbon is available, and only 4 coordinators can move on to the Battle Stage! The Judges have made their decisions, so please direct your eyes to the monitor to see the lucky 4 trainers that will get to move on to the Battle Stage of the contest!"
Everyone looked at the monitor.
Lots of gasps rang out.
And a bunch of exaggerated sighs…
Trainers began to leave the waiting room one by one, grumbling about how they'll 'do better next time.'
As for Hue...
He couldn't believe his eyes...