Chapter 28
Night was breaking steadily, streaks of blue streaming across the blackened sky, littered
with tiny specs of sparkle, as Setijin, Lucia and Winona awoke from their slumber. The
S.S.Aqua continued to briskly sail along the crystalline seas, swaying ever so slightly in
the sea breeze. The windows of the ship lit up one by one, as more passengers gently
awoke, readying themselves for the new day. Through the group's window peered
Setijin, edging back the curtains to look at the world outside.
"Best night's sleep I've had in a long time," he commented, turning back into the room.
"It's a good thing that the only spare rooms they had were a step up from first class."
"I still can't help feeling guilty…I mean it is our fault that our pokémon destroyed one of
their rooms beyond repair," returned Winona. She folded her clothes into her bag,
twisting to look at Lucia. "So, what are you going to do today?"
"Well, since we're not going to dock until the afternoon, I thought I might try entering
one of those pokémon contests," she replied. "I've always though my pokémon were the
cutest, and no is my chance to prove it!"
"They have contests on this ship?" Setijin asked.
"Yup. Ones that focus on appearance and style rather than battling."
"Cool. I might just have to try my hand at one of those."
"Why don't we all go?" Winona suggested. "I want to go to, so lets make it a 'group
thing'."
"Sounds like a good idea!" Lucia agreed. "The contest starts at Eleven O'clock, so we
still have a little while left."
"Do we have to do anything before entering?" Setijin inquired.
"Not that I know of. There will be small groups for different categories…and there are
supposed to be several contests a day for each of them, so getting in wont be a problem,"
Lucia explained.
"Well, lets go and make sure we get a place now…I need to decide which pokémon to
enter too…" Winona pondered, leading the group out of their room.
"How far along are we now?" asked the Rocket Boss, the scientist replying with a hint of
excitement on his breath.
"Not too long now!" he exclaimed. "We are getting in a lot more feedback than we
expected, so we may even be able start the process by this time tomorrow!"
"Brilliant!" returned the Boss. "When do I get to 'test drive' it then?"
"Well, once we've started transferring information into it, we should probably have
enough data on it to start field tests in, say, three days."
"Great work! And you're still positive that this will hold together?"
"Yes. Providing our rockets keep up their 'good work', everything will continue to go
according to plan!"
"I am thoroughly impressed. Anyway, I'm heading back up to the office for now. I need
to sort out things," the boss explained, unsure of exactly what to do with himself. "Keep
up the good work."
"We will sir!" returned the scientist, smiling sinisterly.
The trio stood side by side in a line, peering over the heads and shoulders of the small
crowd of people in front of them, observing the pokémon contest proceedings in the
center of a small arena. Up on the stage in the center stood 4 trainers and their pokémon,
and a small wooden desk, with an man, donning glasses, with graying hair, thick, busy
mustache, and a dull, dusty gray suit sitting behind it, jotting down notes onto a sheet of
paper. Around the stage stood the crowds of spectators; numbering no more than thirty,
but still shuffling enough to cause a squeeze.
"So, what contests did you two enter?" Asked Winona to Setijin and Lucia.
"I'm taking my Espeon into a 'cute contest'," replied Lucia. "I bought a set of adorable
scarves for pokémon in contests," she continued, holding up a paper bag with white string
handles, carrying a collection of puffy colored scarves. Setijin and Winona peered in,
removing a scarf each.
"Can we borrow these?" Winona checked. Lucia nodded, Winona rolling up her scarf,
clasping it in her hand. "So, how about you Setijin?"
"I'm still not sure. I don't know how cool my Ninjask will look, how tough Umbreon is,
how cool Barboach acts or…how smart Medicham is."
"I say go for the last one…if anything, it might be fun!" suggested Winona.
"I suppose," he sighed, reluctantly releasing Medicham from his pokéball. "Medicham,
how would you feel about entering a contest?"
"Cham?" Medicham stared back blankly, before snatching away the green scarf crumbled
up in Setijin's hand.
"Yes, you can wear the scarf," he moaned, Medicham swinging it around his neck,
petting it as if it were a small animal.
"Chaaam," he smiled.
"So how about it? You want to enter a contest?" Medicham pondered, eventually nodding
in agreement. Both turned back to Winona as she continued.
"Anyway, I'm taking Graveler to a tough contest. I have a feeling he'll do really well: he
is a rock pokémon after all." Lucia jumped as her watch began to bleep.
"Oh, I have to get to the next contest arena!" she cried, darting around and away.
"Good luck!" called Winona, as Lucia shot up a set of stairs up to the next deck.
"I guess that means I better be off now to," Winona decided, waving Setijin 'good bye' as
she followed Lucia's path up the stairs. Setijin turned back around to watch the end of the
contest in front of him. It seemed that a rather plush looking Pikachu had managed to
win, the other pokémon standing solemnly as the Yellow mouse and its ecstatic trainer
strode up to the woman, now on stage, standing next to the Judge's desk, to receive their
prize ribbons. The audience clapped and whistled as the trainers left the spotlight, the
woman announcing the next contest.
"In fifteen minutes, we shall start the next 'Smart Contest'. If you would like to enter,
please come and speak to me and I'll sign you right up!" she said, Setijin pushing
forwards through the crowds.
"Uh, excuse me," he started, "I'd like to sign up my Medicham for this contest."
"Sure thing. Do you have a contest pass?" she asked. Setijin removed a ticket from his
pocket, with a small logo in the corner, a collection of printed text and small strips of
pink.
"You mean this thing?"
"That's the one. Ok, aaaaand you're all signed up," she finished, ticking off her sheet of
paper fastened to a clipboard. "Like I said before, the contest starts in Fifteen
Minutes…It'd be great if you were ready, say, five minutes before then, so we can get
everything ready."
"Fine," he returned, making his way back through the crowds to Medicham, still standing
in place toying with his green scarf. "How about we get a drink," Setijin thought out
loud. He nudged Medicham forwards, heading towards a small bar on the other side of
the deck level. The two took their seats; tall, black leather lined stools with one long
metal leg as a bartender with slicked back black hair stood walked over to them. He was
almost comically stereotypical, wearing a white and blue striped shirt, with a thin towel
slung over his shoulder while he rubbed away at a small whisky glass.
"What can I get for you two?" he asked.
"We'll just have two waters," Setijin requested, Medicham grunting in disapproval.
"Cham!"
"Okay, fine. I'll have a water, he'll have a chocolate milkshake." The Bartender nodded,
walking over to his collection of liquids as Medicham smiled in anticipation. He returned,
armed with a small glass of ice cold water, and a large, frothing ice cream glass of
milkshake, thick, creamy and brown, with snow white whipped cream swirled on the top,
two straws emerging from its head. Medicham clapped before tipping the glass up,
writhing in delight as the chocolaty solution slithered down his throat.
"Good?" Setijin inquired, his partner nodding profusely. "Well as long as it doesn't make
you feel sick for the contest." He turned towards Medicham while sipping his water,
almost crying as he watched Medicham curl forwards, holding his stomach in discomfort,
brown milk encircling his lips, his eyes rolling back, groaning miserably.
"I'm not surprised he feels like that…no-one should be able to drink stuff like that THAT
fast," the bartender commented.
"This is just terrific," Setijin responded in frustration.
"Meeedi…churm," he burped, tipping backwards off the chair. The bartender leant over
the side to look at the collapsed pokémon while Setijin dropped his head into his folded
arms.
Lucia called orders to her Espeon, as it stood, 3rd in a line of 4 trainers, all undeniably
cute. 1st in the line sat a Jigglypuff, with a large red cocktail umbrella clipped to the side
of her head, rocking rhythmically as she sang her melodious lullaby. Standing next to her
waited a tiny Whismur, trembling as Jigglypuff continued its song, retuning with a
deafening scream, its mouth stretching right open, the force of the cry blowing Jigglypuff
backwards. Espeon was next, steadily dropping off to sleep; the side affect of Jigglypuff
song. Although incapacitated, it received large applause from the crowd as it curled into a
small ball on the ground, adorable to an extent. Finally waited a Magikarp, flopping
feebly on stage, flailing due to lack of water. At first, it received commendation, but as it
continued, the crowd became less excited and returned to watching the other three
pokémon.
"Well, this is quite some show!" exclaimed the judge, standing up at the end. He held up
sheets of paper with numbers on for each appeal: 8 for Jigglypuff, 6 for Whismur, 7 for
Espeon and 4 for Magikarp. A woman, almost identical to the one in the smart contest
downstairs took her place on the stage, announcing the results of the crowds' votes. As
the polls scores were added to the totals of appeal ratings, the trainers waited anxiously,
relieved as the woman stepped forward once more, reciting the information on her
clipboard.
"And the final results are as follows. In forth place was Magikarp, with 6 points overall.
Then in third was Whismur with 12 points. And in second…" she hesitated, Lucia and
Jigglypuff's trainer impatiently awaiting the results. "…is Jigglypuff, with 15 points, so
that means this contests winner is Espeon, with a grand total of 17 points!" Lucia leapt
into the air ecstatically, clapping her hands uncontrollably as she led Espeon over to the
woman.
"I won a contest!" she giggled, the woman drooping a small pink ribbon strung medal
around Espeon's neck, flopping against the bottom of its pink scarf. She then rose, to
shake Lucia's hand.
"Congratulations," she continued. "I hope we get to see you and your pokémon again
soon!" Grabbing microphone, she initiated an identical speech to the contest below,
informing the audience on the next sets of contests, while Lucia squeezed Espeon
triumphantly.
"We won, we won, we won!" she squealed, Espeon's cheeks glowing blue from
constricting hug.
Night was breaking steadily, streaks of blue streaming across the blackened sky, littered
with tiny specs of sparkle, as Setijin, Lucia and Winona awoke from their slumber. The
S.S.Aqua continued to briskly sail along the crystalline seas, swaying ever so slightly in
the sea breeze. The windows of the ship lit up one by one, as more passengers gently
awoke, readying themselves for the new day. Through the group's window peered
Setijin, edging back the curtains to look at the world outside.
"Best night's sleep I've had in a long time," he commented, turning back into the room.
"It's a good thing that the only spare rooms they had were a step up from first class."
"I still can't help feeling guilty…I mean it is our fault that our pokémon destroyed one of
their rooms beyond repair," returned Winona. She folded her clothes into her bag,
twisting to look at Lucia. "So, what are you going to do today?"
"Well, since we're not going to dock until the afternoon, I thought I might try entering
one of those pokémon contests," she replied. "I've always though my pokémon were the
cutest, and no is my chance to prove it!"
"They have contests on this ship?" Setijin asked.
"Yup. Ones that focus on appearance and style rather than battling."
"Cool. I might just have to try my hand at one of those."
"Why don't we all go?" Winona suggested. "I want to go to, so lets make it a 'group
thing'."
"Sounds like a good idea!" Lucia agreed. "The contest starts at Eleven O'clock, so we
still have a little while left."
"Do we have to do anything before entering?" Setijin inquired.
"Not that I know of. There will be small groups for different categories…and there are
supposed to be several contests a day for each of them, so getting in wont be a problem,"
Lucia explained.
"Well, lets go and make sure we get a place now…I need to decide which pokémon to
enter too…" Winona pondered, leading the group out of their room.
"How far along are we now?" asked the Rocket Boss, the scientist replying with a hint of
excitement on his breath.
"Not too long now!" he exclaimed. "We are getting in a lot more feedback than we
expected, so we may even be able start the process by this time tomorrow!"
"Brilliant!" returned the Boss. "When do I get to 'test drive' it then?"
"Well, once we've started transferring information into it, we should probably have
enough data on it to start field tests in, say, three days."
"Great work! And you're still positive that this will hold together?"
"Yes. Providing our rockets keep up their 'good work', everything will continue to go
according to plan!"
"I am thoroughly impressed. Anyway, I'm heading back up to the office for now. I need
to sort out things," the boss explained, unsure of exactly what to do with himself. "Keep
up the good work."
"We will sir!" returned the scientist, smiling sinisterly.
The trio stood side by side in a line, peering over the heads and shoulders of the small
crowd of people in front of them, observing the pokémon contest proceedings in the
center of a small arena. Up on the stage in the center stood 4 trainers and their pokémon,
and a small wooden desk, with an man, donning glasses, with graying hair, thick, busy
mustache, and a dull, dusty gray suit sitting behind it, jotting down notes onto a sheet of
paper. Around the stage stood the crowds of spectators; numbering no more than thirty,
but still shuffling enough to cause a squeeze.
"So, what contests did you two enter?" Asked Winona to Setijin and Lucia.
"I'm taking my Espeon into a 'cute contest'," replied Lucia. "I bought a set of adorable
scarves for pokémon in contests," she continued, holding up a paper bag with white string
handles, carrying a collection of puffy colored scarves. Setijin and Winona peered in,
removing a scarf each.
"Can we borrow these?" Winona checked. Lucia nodded, Winona rolling up her scarf,
clasping it in her hand. "So, how about you Setijin?"
"I'm still not sure. I don't know how cool my Ninjask will look, how tough Umbreon is,
how cool Barboach acts or…how smart Medicham is."
"I say go for the last one…if anything, it might be fun!" suggested Winona.
"I suppose," he sighed, reluctantly releasing Medicham from his pokéball. "Medicham,
how would you feel about entering a contest?"
"Cham?" Medicham stared back blankly, before snatching away the green scarf crumbled
up in Setijin's hand.
"Yes, you can wear the scarf," he moaned, Medicham swinging it around his neck,
petting it as if it were a small animal.
"Chaaam," he smiled.
"So how about it? You want to enter a contest?" Medicham pondered, eventually nodding
in agreement. Both turned back to Winona as she continued.
"Anyway, I'm taking Graveler to a tough contest. I have a feeling he'll do really well: he
is a rock pokémon after all." Lucia jumped as her watch began to bleep.
"Oh, I have to get to the next contest arena!" she cried, darting around and away.
"Good luck!" called Winona, as Lucia shot up a set of stairs up to the next deck.
"I guess that means I better be off now to," Winona decided, waving Setijin 'good bye' as
she followed Lucia's path up the stairs. Setijin turned back around to watch the end of the
contest in front of him. It seemed that a rather plush looking Pikachu had managed to
win, the other pokémon standing solemnly as the Yellow mouse and its ecstatic trainer
strode up to the woman, now on stage, standing next to the Judge's desk, to receive their
prize ribbons. The audience clapped and whistled as the trainers left the spotlight, the
woman announcing the next contest.
"In fifteen minutes, we shall start the next 'Smart Contest'. If you would like to enter,
please come and speak to me and I'll sign you right up!" she said, Setijin pushing
forwards through the crowds.
"Uh, excuse me," he started, "I'd like to sign up my Medicham for this contest."
"Sure thing. Do you have a contest pass?" she asked. Setijin removed a ticket from his
pocket, with a small logo in the corner, a collection of printed text and small strips of
pink.
"You mean this thing?"
"That's the one. Ok, aaaaand you're all signed up," she finished, ticking off her sheet of
paper fastened to a clipboard. "Like I said before, the contest starts in Fifteen
Minutes…It'd be great if you were ready, say, five minutes before then, so we can get
everything ready."
"Fine," he returned, making his way back through the crowds to Medicham, still standing
in place toying with his green scarf. "How about we get a drink," Setijin thought out
loud. He nudged Medicham forwards, heading towards a small bar on the other side of
the deck level. The two took their seats; tall, black leather lined stools with one long
metal leg as a bartender with slicked back black hair stood walked over to them. He was
almost comically stereotypical, wearing a white and blue striped shirt, with a thin towel
slung over his shoulder while he rubbed away at a small whisky glass.
"What can I get for you two?" he asked.
"We'll just have two waters," Setijin requested, Medicham grunting in disapproval.
"Cham!"
"Okay, fine. I'll have a water, he'll have a chocolate milkshake." The Bartender nodded,
walking over to his collection of liquids as Medicham smiled in anticipation. He returned,
armed with a small glass of ice cold water, and a large, frothing ice cream glass of
milkshake, thick, creamy and brown, with snow white whipped cream swirled on the top,
two straws emerging from its head. Medicham clapped before tipping the glass up,
writhing in delight as the chocolaty solution slithered down his throat.
"Good?" Setijin inquired, his partner nodding profusely. "Well as long as it doesn't make
you feel sick for the contest." He turned towards Medicham while sipping his water,
almost crying as he watched Medicham curl forwards, holding his stomach in discomfort,
brown milk encircling his lips, his eyes rolling back, groaning miserably.
"I'm not surprised he feels like that…no-one should be able to drink stuff like that THAT
fast," the bartender commented.
"This is just terrific," Setijin responded in frustration.
"Meeedi…churm," he burped, tipping backwards off the chair. The bartender leant over
the side to look at the collapsed pokémon while Setijin dropped his head into his folded
arms.
Lucia called orders to her Espeon, as it stood, 3rd in a line of 4 trainers, all undeniably
cute. 1st in the line sat a Jigglypuff, with a large red cocktail umbrella clipped to the side
of her head, rocking rhythmically as she sang her melodious lullaby. Standing next to her
waited a tiny Whismur, trembling as Jigglypuff continued its song, retuning with a
deafening scream, its mouth stretching right open, the force of the cry blowing Jigglypuff
backwards. Espeon was next, steadily dropping off to sleep; the side affect of Jigglypuff
song. Although incapacitated, it received large applause from the crowd as it curled into a
small ball on the ground, adorable to an extent. Finally waited a Magikarp, flopping
feebly on stage, flailing due to lack of water. At first, it received commendation, but as it
continued, the crowd became less excited and returned to watching the other three
pokémon.
"Well, this is quite some show!" exclaimed the judge, standing up at the end. He held up
sheets of paper with numbers on for each appeal: 8 for Jigglypuff, 6 for Whismur, 7 for
Espeon and 4 for Magikarp. A woman, almost identical to the one in the smart contest
downstairs took her place on the stage, announcing the results of the crowds' votes. As
the polls scores were added to the totals of appeal ratings, the trainers waited anxiously,
relieved as the woman stepped forward once more, reciting the information on her
clipboard.
"And the final results are as follows. In forth place was Magikarp, with 6 points overall.
Then in third was Whismur with 12 points. And in second…" she hesitated, Lucia and
Jigglypuff's trainer impatiently awaiting the results. "…is Jigglypuff, with 15 points, so
that means this contests winner is Espeon, with a grand total of 17 points!" Lucia leapt
into the air ecstatically, clapping her hands uncontrollably as she led Espeon over to the
woman.
"I won a contest!" she giggled, the woman drooping a small pink ribbon strung medal
around Espeon's neck, flopping against the bottom of its pink scarf. She then rose, to
shake Lucia's hand.
"Congratulations," she continued. "I hope we get to see you and your pokémon again
soon!" Grabbing microphone, she initiated an identical speech to the contest below,
informing the audience on the next sets of contests, while Lucia squeezed Espeon
triumphantly.
"We won, we won, we won!" she squealed, Espeon's cheeks glowing blue from
constricting hug.