Chapter 2: Training for the Show
It took a couple of days for Dawn to arrive. Sinnoh was a long, long flight away from Galar so Ruby and Emerald had to wait for her before any training could begin.
As they waited for their friend to arrive, the girls had kept an eye on social media for when the tutorial videos that Nessa was planning to release. They hadn't come yet, but the sisters did at least see an advertisement for the contest as they were watching TV the day before Dawn arrived. They'd been watching The Owl House together at the time and during the commercial break, an advert had aired revealing that there was going to be a Pokémon Contest coming next year. Nessa herself was in the advert, dressed in a sparkling ocean blue dress that made her look like a living ocean wave. It was an appropriate choice considering her speciality as a Water Pokémon trainer. She was standing in front of a black background with a single spotlight focused on her. She gazed ahead of her, her dazzling eyes bearing into all viewers who were currently watching the commercial.
"Greetings all." she said, her soft silky voice a whimsical whisper to further entice the viewers, "Our beloved region has seen much action with the sport of Pokémon battles. Now I believe is the time for us to try something new. Show that our Pokémon are capable of more than just battles…"
She stepped aside as the lights in the background turned on to reveal a trio of smartly dressed women with a Pokémon each. They were all smiling, presumably for the benefit of the cameras but they also looked enthusiastic to be taking part in this advert.
"…we can show what showman Pokémon can be!" Nessa continued, her voice rising to show her excitement, "Here in Hulbury Town, I will be the host of Galar's first ever Pokémon Contest! Some of you maybe fans of the shows they host in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and now I'm giving you the opportunity to be part of that show yourself!"
As Nessa talked, the women gave commands to their Pokémon to show off their coordinator skills. There was a Buneary, an Eevee and a Purrloin respectively and they all showed off a variety of dazzling moves, cute dances and nifty tricks to show what Pokémon contests were about. What made the advert more enticing to watch was that there were no special effects to enhance the visuals whatsoever. What the viewers saw from the Pokémon in action was all real.
"The Hulbury Pokémon Contest will be held a year from now, but we can't hold it without YOU." Nessa continued, stepping back into view and looking directly at the viewers, "Contest Coordinators are needed to make this show possible and we hope that you will be interested in participating! If you want to learn how to be a coordinator, follow me on social media and I'll be releasing tutorial videos where some of Sinnoh and Hoenn's top coordinators will teach you the basics on how to be a Contest Coordinator. They'll be free to stream or you can buy them on DVD at your local shops! For those who wish to enter the contest, call this number below…"
She pointed at the bottom of the screen and a phone number, 0800 8643 9528, flashed up below her.
"…and we'll have you registered in no time." the model added, "We hope to hear from you soon, potential coordinators. Unleash your Pokémon's inner beauty and talent by participating in the Hulbury Pokémon Contest Spectacular!" she concluded, giving a wink as if she felt the viewer needed extra enticing to enter.
As the advert finished and the next one played, Ruby and Emerald turned to one another.
"She sure made that look impressive." Ruby complimented, "I think this advert might get a lot of people interested."
"I was already interested and now that advert's fully convinced me to sign up!" Emerald cried eagerly, "How about you?"
"Yeah, I want to give it a try." Ruby said casually, "It'll be fun to try being a coordinator instead of a trainer and see what a contest is like. Not to mention with my status as Champion, I can help Nessa generate more interest in the show and help make it successful. It's clear she's very enthusiastic about bringing contests to Galar and it'd suck if it just crashed and burned like so."
"You bet. It'd make her so happy to see her dream become a reality." Emerald agreed, "I bet Dawn will want to give this a go as well when she arrives."
"Oh she's already making sure there's no other contests going on at the time so she can take part in this one." Ruby confirmed, "It's gonna be funny having her as our mentor and then have her as an opponent in the contest itself."
Emerald giggled. It sure was a funny thought. Whether she was mentor or opponent, Dawn would still be their friend and her advice was going to be most valuable to the two sisters.
The day after the commercial had aired, Dawn finally arrived. Her plane had touched down in the early hours of the morning and she'd arrived at the hotel she had booked to rest in upon arriving. She slept the rest of the morning and then made her way over to the Silverlock family home. Ruby had naturally given Dawn her address so the Sinnoh girl had no problem finding the house. She arrived in Postwick in the middle of the afternoon and knocked on the door. Annie answered.
"Hello love. You must be Dawn. My daughters have been very excited to see you again." she said kindly.
"Afternoon, Mrs. Silverlock!" Dawn piped cheerfully, "Where are Ruby and Emerald?"
"They're in the garden with their Pokémon. That's all they ever do these days, bless them." Annie chuckled, "And with you here, there's bound to be even more Pokémon action."
Dawn knew what Annie meant. She went through the house and out the back door into the garden. Ruby and Emerald saw her approach them and they returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs so they could say hi to her. Dawn hadn't changed at all since the last time the Silverlock sisters had seen her. She was still wearing her usual outfit of a sleeveless V-neck top, pink miniskirt that barely covered her hips, pink knee-high boots and white beanie hat. Her blue hair was neatly brushed as usual. Dawn was not the kind of girl to let her hair be out of place. She waved to the sisters as they approached her.
"Dawn! You're here at last!" Emerald piped, her voice so high with glee that it was a miracle she hadn't shattered any windows, "How are you doing? Are you suffering any jet lag from that long flight? Can we get you anything."
"H-hey! No need to worry! I'm perfectly fine!" Dawn said frantically, "Don't fuss over me too much Emerald!"
"Do forgive my little sister. She's always excited when friends come over." Ruby said apologetically, "In fact, she gets excited over lots of things. That's just Em."
"I understand." Dawn said kindly, "Where's your other sister? Is Sapphire not around?"
"She's on the Isle of Armour." Ruby explained, "Would you believe it if I told you she's being promoted to Dojo Master over there? Next time me and Em visit, she'll be the one in charge instead of Mustard now!"
"Oh wow, that's amazing!" Dawn cried, "She must've had a great time there if they wanna make her the new Dojo Master!"
"She saved the entire island, and possibly all of Galar too!" Emerald exclaimed, "She helped the people on the island stop a mean Zeraora that wanted to kill Mustard because he mistakenly thought he'd abandoned him! Sapph nearly died, which was horrifying, but she survived at least!"
"No way, she fought a Zeraora?!" Dawn gasped, "Wow…it must've been real scary fighting a Legendary Pokémon like that! I'll never forget that time me, Ash and Brock met Arceus himself! THAT was quite an adventure that I'm amazed we got out of alive…"
Ruby and Emerald stared at Dawn as if she'd turned into a Ditto.
"Shut…up…" Ruby blurted, "You met THE Pokémon God itself?! You never told me something that awesome last time we met!"
"Heh, heh, I guess the conversation just didn't steer in that direction." the Sinnoh teen said meekly, "But I swear it's true! I really did meet it during my travels with Ash and Brock! And if that wasn't amazing enough, I soon learnt my ancient ancestor, Akari, was one of the first people to discover Arceus back when Sinnoh had a different name."
"Oh wow, really?! You gotta tell us that story!" Emerald piped eagerly.
"Another time perhaps." Ruby said hastily, "We're never going to get anywhere if we just stand here gobbing all day. So, are you ready to teach us how to be coordinators Dawn? Or would you rather we waited another day?" the Champion asked, turning to their visitor, "I wouldn't want you to get started if you're still not fully rested from your trip here."
"I'm rested enough! No need to worry!" Dawn insisted, "I'll just start with the basics and tomorrow, when we have more time, we'll go bigger. OK?"
Ruby and Emerald nodded.
"Then let's get started. Everybody, come on out!" Dawn cried, throwing out all six of her Pokéballs.
Her usual Pokémon team consisted of Pingu the Empoleon, Eruption the Typhlosion, Uppercut the Ambipom, Chomper the Pachirisu, Martha the Mamoswine and Angel the Togekiss. Togekiss and Mamoswine were the only Pokémon Dawn had on her that were also native to Galar so the rest were exciting and interesting for Ruby and Emerald to see as Galar didn't have an Empoleon, a Typhlosion, a Pachirisu or an Ambipom. Ruby remembered all of them very well. All six had proven to be tough opponents for her when she and Dawn had battled in the Champion Cup finals earlier this year. Dawn had even become the first trainer since she'd become Champion to ever bring her down to her last Pokémon! Dawn's team recognized Ruby and they all greeted her enthusiastically.
"Ha, ha, I'm glad to see you two, mates!" Ruby giggled, "You all look well."
"They're always well! I'm always working on keeping them in excellent shape for any future battles and contests we may participate in." Dawn concurred, "Speaking of contests, I'm naturally gonna sign up for this one. I'd love to see how Galar handles a Pokémon Contest!"
"I'm sure we'll do them justice like over in Sinnoh." Ruby declared, "But if me and Em have any chance of succeeding, we'll need your help of course. Where do we begin?"
"I'll give a quick demonstration to start." Dawn offered, "I think Uppercut will be able to show you one example of coordinating. Uppercut, would you like to demonstrate some of our moves for our friends?"
The show-loving Ambipom nodded excitedly. Ambipom were Normal-type Pokémon that resembled monkeys. They were purple in colour with large round ears, two tufts of hair on the top of their heads, stubby arms and two tails with huge three-fingered hands on the ends of them. Ambipom were more likely to use those hands instead of their own and were very adept at swinging around with their twin-tails. Dawn's Ambipom had actually once belonged to Ash back when he met it in the Hoenn region as an Aipom. She had served Ash well in a couple of Gym Battles but had developed a taste in contests and so Ash had traded her over to Dawn in exchange for a Buizel she'd caught that was more interested in battles than contests. Under Dawn's ownership, Uppercut had evolved into an Ambipom and had helped her win some big contests despite also costing her some important wins in others. She was still reliable in a fight too, as Ruby had seen for herself. She was interested to see how Uppercut performed as a performer instead of a fighter. How would it use its moves compared to how it battled her Pokémon?
"I'm not surprised. Uppercut LOVES to show off. She's always been a performer at heart!" Dawn giggled, "Let's show our friends one of your favourite moves!"
Uppercut chattered excitedly, thrilled to get the chance to show her stuff. She performed a handstand, using her actual hand and none of the ones on her tails, and balanced herself perfectly on just one hand, her body completely straight and her tails held out to the side to keep herself balanced.
"Keep up that balance." Dawn commanded, "Now when you're ready, start spinning and use Swift!"
Uppercut obeyed. She swung her tails around to make herself spin. Slowly but gradually, the purple monkey began to spin around quicker and quicker, still balancing on one hand. Ruby and Emerald watched in astonishment. That was some feat, being able to spin around like that while doing a handstand! Dawn must've practiced very hard to get Uppercut to do something as complex as this! The performance only get better as Uppercut reached her top speed and began using Swift as Dawn had commanded. A shower of golden stars began trailing from out of her twin tails and they spiralled around Uppercut as she spun. The Ambipom had become a dazzling tornado of sparkling stars and it was one of the most spectacular things Ruby and Emerald had ever seen. The stars spun around Uppercut but didn't obscure anyone's vision of her as it was still possible to see her. That was something Dawn had learned from a previous loss in a contest where Uppercut had tried this move but overdoing the Swift move had obscured Uppercut from view, which lost points with the judges. Once Dawn thought she'd done enough, she gave another command.
"That's beautiful! Now hit the stars with Double Hit!" Dawn ordered.
Uppercut stopped spinning and sprang up into the air outside the starry vortex she'd created. Then using her twin-tails simultaneously, she punched at the stars with both hands at the ends. As soon as the huge fists hit the stars, they exploded into a spellbinding shower of colourful rainbow sparkles that showered down over the entire garden. Annie had looked out the window to see what was happening and she was now staring open-mouthed in utter awe at the gorgeous display she'd seen.
"Blimey, it's amazing what these kids can do with their Pokémon!" she whispered to herself in wonder.
Ruby and Emerald were speechless. What they'd witnessed looked like something they would see in a fairy's magic show. Uppercut concluded her act with an adorable pirouette on the spot and then took a bow, inviting her audience to applaud her. Ruby and Emerald were still stunned by what they'd witnessed so it took them a minute or two to finally snap out of their gaze and applaud the monkey Pokémon.
"Wow! That was gorgeous! Absolutely spellbinding!" Ruby gasped, her face wide with the biggest smile she'd worn in a while.
"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Emerald exclaimed, "You and Uppercut are a perfect pair to pull off such a great act!"
"Thank you, thank you! You're both too kind, really!" Dawn said modestly, "It hasn't been easy, but through trial and error, both me and my Pokémon have become a well-oiled machined when it comes to contests. Uppercut especially has rarely let me down with her adorable and dazzling performances."
She patted the Ambipom on the head. Uppercut chattered with pleasure. Nothing made her swell with pride more than people enjoying her performances.
"So did that demonstration help you out, any?" Dawn asked curiously.
"It's given me an idea on how coordinating works." Ruby observed, "It seems to be pretty much like training, but you have your Pokémon carry out a performance with their attacks rather than hitting each other."
"Absolutely!" Dawn confirmed, "But you get the Contest Battles in where you do use your Pokémon's skills more traditionally, but with a contest twist to them."
"I get it." Emerald put in, "From the ones I've seen on TV, don't the Pokémon battle each other and the goal is more to use attacks to counter your opponent's attacks and make yours look better by comparison?"
"Right again!" the blue-haired girl confirmed, "It may seem pretty complicated and believe me, it IS, but you'll get the hang of it when you practice at it. Do you wanna demonstration?"
"Maybe another time." Ruby suggested, "We're better off starting small with the performance parts and then move onto Contest Battles when we've got it down."
"OK! That's fine! Do you wanna see another performance before you two give it a try?" Dawn asked.
"Yes please. I'd love to see what else your Pokémon can do that's utterly dazzling like your Ambipom's act!" Emerald cried excitedly.
"Then you better hold onto your hat, because this one's going to really dazzle you!" Dawn said enthusiastically.
For the next half hour, Dawn had her Pokémon perform some more acts to show Ruby and Emerald more examples of how to use a Pokémon's moves as part of a contest performance. The next act had come from Angel the Togekiss. The Silverlock sisters had been interested to hear that this very Togekiss had been given to her by a princess of all people, and one that amusingly bore a striking resemblance to Dawn herself. Angel still had some of that royal upbringing in her performance as every move she carried out was done with such beauty and grace and Ruby & Emerald got the idea that Angel wanted to look as fabulous as possible in her act. Her act had seen her spin around using aerial acrobatics while using Heat Wave at the same time, creating a fiery tornado that twisted through the air and then she'd used Air Slash to slice her way through the flames and follow up with an Aura Sphere attack to make the flames explode into glittering fireballs that sparkled in the sunlight. Ruby & Emerald weren't sure how it was possible to make a firestorm look pretty, but Angel the Togekiss had managed!
Pingu the Empoleon went next and carried out an act that saw a beautiful combination of water and steel attacks that made for a dazzling show to watch. Empoleon were Water/Steel type Pokémon resembling large penguins that hard sharp powerful flippers with three claws at the tips and a golden crown like structure on their heads that gave them a somewhat regal appearance. Pingu had been Dawn's first Pokémon and she'd raised it from a Piplup to the Empoleon that Ruby and Emerald were seeing now. He had also been Dawn's last Pokémon Ruby had defeated in their battle together with Freddy the Toxtricity being the one to finish it off in the end. Now Ruby was seeing Pingu as a performer, and she was very impressed with what she'd seen. Pingu had started off by using Whirlpool, pirouetting on the spot as he used the move, and once a huge funnel of spiralling water had been created, Pingu broke it up with a sparkling blast of Flash Cannon. The Steel-type move ploughed through the Whirlpool, creating a gorgeous rainbow aura that snaked through the Whirlpool and the water rained down all over the garden in a sparkling shower of light and beauty. Ruby & Emerald had enjoyed that the most of all, especially when they'd been caught up in the refreshing, watery mist that fell down after the act had concluded.
"I'm sure those two acts will be enough." Dawn said, her voice full of awe and delight for her Pokémon, "I hope they're already inspiring you two to think up your own sensational performances your Pokémon can try!"
"Oh I'm already buzzing with ideas." Ruby answered, "And I know just who I want to start with…"
She brought Bugs out of his Pokéball. As he materialized into view, he immediately noticed that Dawn and her Pokémon were here and quickly greeted them.
"Hey Dawn. Haven't seen ya since dat battle fer da Champion title earlier dis year." he said politely.
"Hi Bugs! Glad to see you again." Dawn replied, "And yeah, it's been a while. Hope you're up for a new kind of training, because you're about to learn how to perform!"
"Oh I'm aware of dat, doll-face." Bugs retorted, "Ruby and Emerald have been very excited ta try out dis Pokémon Contest ting. I'm not so sure if I'll be any good but eh, it's worth a shot."
"You'll be great Bugs, I'm confident you will." Ruby reassured her starter, "Now for the first idea I have…"
Bugs stood to attention, ready for any kind of command that Ruby was going to give him. He had no idea what to expect so he braced himself. He wouldn't be surprised if Ruby would ask him to start spinning plates or balancing on top of a ball like some circus performer!
"I bet this'll give us an awesome show. Use Pyro Ball and kick it straight up!" Ruby commanded.
Although Bugs had been ready for whatever command Ruby was going to give, he was a little thrown by this one. Seriously, just use Pyro Ball like usual? That didn't seem very performative! The rabbit Pokémon shrugged and began kicking his usual pebble from one foot to the other. Maybe there was more to this than he thought. As soon as the Pyro Ball had finished building up, he kicked it straight up into the air. It was unusual using his trademark move without an opponent to aim at for a change. The huge fireball shot up as if launched from a cannon and Ruby waited for it to come back down before she gave her next order.
"OK, now jump up and smash into that Pyro Ball with Zen Headbutt!" the silver-haired teen yelled.
Bugs obeyed. Now he saw what Ruby was thinking. Hopefully this collision of fire and psychic energy would give off the kind of spectacle that people expected from contest performances. His strong legs catapulted him into the air and he soared straight up towards the Pyro Ball with psychic energy coating his head. It was lucky for him he was a Fire-type otherwise this would be a dangerous act to try out. Ruby, Emerald and Dawn all watched as Bugs head-butted the Pyro Ball, breaking it up into tiny specks of fire. The resulting clash of the fiery Pyro Ball and the psychic energy from Zen Headbutt created a shockwave of sparkling energy that swept through the air over everyone's heads. The mix of pink and orange energy looked very colourful and dazzling to the eye and the girls oohed in amazement. Ruby was the most excited of the trio, glad to see her act had worked just as planned…or at least mostly. She suddenly yelped as small nuggets of flames showered down towards her, Emerald and Dawn and they quickly ran around frantically to avoid behind hit.
One speck of fire landed on Ruby's head and her hair started to catch fire. Ruby could feel it and she ran around furiously, clutching her scalp in terror.
"GAH! HELP! SOMEONE DO SOMETHING! MY HAIR'S ON FIRE!" the Champion squealed frantically.
"Pingu, use Hydro Pump to put her out!" Dawn shrieked quickly.
The Empoleon opened his beak and blasted Ruby with a huge torrent of water that knocked the teenager clean off her feet. To Ruby, it felt as if she'd been hit by a geyser that she just happened to be in the way of as it erupted. Ruby lay on her back, soaked to the bone but otherwise relieved the fire had been put out. There was a black spot on her scalp where her hair had been burnt but she thankfully hadn't lost any and she didn't appear to be in too much pain. She just rubbed her head and groaned as she sat up. Emerald and Dawn ran over to her in concern. Bugs had landed on the ground and was stood frozen with shock on what had happened.
"Are you OK Ruby?!" Emerald screamed.
"I'm so sorry! Was that too much?!" Dawn cried apologetically.
"I'll live…thankfully." Ruby muttered, still rubbing her scalp, "Well, the act was great…I'm just gonna have to work on that after effect." she observed, "I wouldn't want Bugs to potentially endanger the audience."
"Neither would I, doc. I'd be ashamed if I burnt anyone with my act…" Bugs said guiltily. He was already ashamed he'd accidentally set his trainer's hair on fire, he didn't want to potentially hurt anyone else too.
"Maybe next time, try using Zen Headbutt on a smaller Pyro Ball?" Dawn suggested, "That's probably what went wrong. The fire ball was so big that when Bugs broke it up, there were still big bits of flame left to rain down on everyone. If Bugs uses Zen Headbutt on a smaller Pyro Ball, it'll break up more and there won't be any bits of flame left to shower down afterwards."
Ruby nodded agreeably.
"I was thinking the same thing." she concurred, "I obviously overdid it and that was the result. Do you want to try again, Bugs?"
"Oh no! No, no, no! I don't wanna burn ya again!" Bugs exclaimed worriedly.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Ruby reassured him, "We'll take cover this time so if anything goes wrong, we won't get burnt."
Bugs was still unsure about trying anything like this again as he was sure he would still cause some damage. But he didn't want to disappoint Ruby by giving up after one mishap. Besides, accidents happen between trainer and Pokémon all the time and they were going to happen whether it was through training or coordinating. Constant practice made sure these accidents didn't happen again. Bugs took up his position again while Ruby, Emerald and Dawn took shelter by going inside the house. Ruby stood in the doorway so she could still give Bugs the commands. They tried the act again, only this time Ruby waited until Bug's Pyro Ball was half the size it usually was and then told him to kick it into the air. The Cinderace obeyed and after it was sent flying, he jumped up towards it with another Zen Headbutt. He slammed into the Pyro Ball and just like before, created a wave of psychic energy and flames that spread through the sky and dazzled everyone with a sparkling display of light and energy. Even if the Pyro Ball had been smaller, it still looked as spectacular as before, no doubt caused by the psychic energy of Zen Headbutt more than the Pyro Ball itself.
Bugs landed on the ground and braced himself for any falling fireballs. But none came. The most everyone saw were just a few specks of flames that drifted harmlessly down to the ground and went out before they even touched it. Dawn was glad to see that her advice had worked. There was no chance of anyone getting burned now! Ruby, Emerald and Dawn came out of the house and applauded the rabbit Pokémon.
"That was great! And much safer this time! Well done!" Emerald congratulated.
"Your advice paid off Dawn." Ruby thanked, "A smaller Pyro Ball was just what we needed to make it perfect! Thanks so much."
"You're welcome!" Dawn said cheerfully, "I'm glad I could help! I've been given much constructive feedback on my own performances during my contest journeys back in Sinnoh so I'm glad I can do the same for any upcoming coordinators myself!"
"Must feel great to go from the learner to the teacher, eh?" Emerald said.
"It just allows me to reflect on how far I've come since I started my Pokémon journey." Dawn said casually, "I was pretty hopeless at first but I've come a long way since then. I finished as a runner-up in the Grand Festival in my first year as a coordinator, and after going at it again the next year, I managed to win it for real!" she cried excitedly.
"That's brill! So glad to hear it!" Emerald piped.
"It really was! I still couldn't believe that I finally beat Zoey after losing to her so many times before!" Dawn gasped, "She was like that one person who was always better than me…and then I beat her! She took it well of course, don't worry. Zoey's no sore loser. She was still as shocked as I was when it happened."
"I'll bet." Ruby put in, "It must be shocking to lose to that one person over and over and then finally defeat them. So Zoey was your contest rival, I take it? I bet she's very skilled if she won the Grand Festival."
"Oh compared to me, Zoey's in a league of her own!" Dawn exclaimed, "But she's also very friendly and she was one of those people that helped me improve my coordinator skills. Her advice especially helped Uppercut improve her performances and got me past the appeal round in the Wallace Cup, which I even went on to go and win! If she were here now, I bet she'd be very helpful to you two."
"I'd say you're helpful enough." Ruby complimented, "But I'm sure it'd be nice to meet Zoey one day. Anyway, let's get back to training. Em, have you got any ideas?" she asked, turning to her sister.
Emerald fell silent for the moment. She'd been so captivated by what she'd been seeing from Dawn's demonstrations and Ruby's attempt at coordinating that she hadn't really thought about what she'd get her own Pokémon to do. What kind of acts could she think up that could possibly match up to what Dawn's Pokémon could do?
"Oh…um…I don't really know." she said feebly, "I'm so used to being a trainer that I don't really know what I could get my Pokémon to do. How do I change them from fighters to performers?"
"You've seen me and Bugs, Em. If I can get Bugs to perform instead of fight, I'm sure you can too." Ruby said reassuringly.
"I suppose I could see what Kerchak could do." Emerald suggested, "Though his move set isn't exactly…flashy. He only really knows Drum Beating, Darkest Lariat, U-turn and Brick Break. Do you think any of those moves could ever be used in a way to wow the audience?"
"Why don't you show us Kerchak's moves and I'll see how he can use them in a way to perform in a contest?" Dawn suggested.
Emerald shrugged. If anyone could help her out, it was Dawn. She brought Kerchak out of his Pokéball and had him demonstrate his whole move set so Dawn could see what he did when fighting with those attacks. Dawn had seen moves like Brick Break and U-turn before but Darkest Lariat and Drum Beating were new to her. She was especially interested in how Drum Beating worked and already had an idea on how it could be used in a contest performance.
"How about Kerchak uses Drum Beating to get those vines up and he can use them to swing around and perform acrobatics? That would impress the audience!" Dawn suggested, sounding very much like an enthusiastic child who's had a great idea and wanted to share it with the world, "And then he could use Darkest Lariat as a sort of dance move to weave around the waving vines, dodging each one while showing impressive twirls to further impress the audience!"
"Wow, that's an awesome idea! Let's try it!" Emerald cried excitedly, "OK Kerchak, use Drum Beating and get as many vines out of the ground as possible!"
Kerchak obeyed. He had heard Dawn's idea and thought it had merit. He was keen to see if he could execute it well. He banged on his drum kit and a wall of eight vines snaked up from the under the grass. The vines stretched up high and began to wave around like monstrous tentacles hoping to ensnare their unlucky victim. Then Kerchak jumped up from his drum kit and grabbed onto one vine. It flicked him into the air and her curled up into a ball, somersaulting through the air in a neat forwards roll that sent him flying towards another vine. He grabbed it, swung his body upwards and performed a backflip like one might see in a circus trapeze act. Ruby and Dawn watched in astonishment. What a sight it was to see the powerful grassy gorilla looking like a graceful gymnast out there! Emerald whooped with excitement, glad that things were going well so far. This act was sure to be a bit with the audience!
But then things went wrong. As Kerchak flung himself towards another vine, he realized too late he'd badly mistimed his jump and he sailed over the vine as it flicked upwards and walloped him hard in the gut. He cried out, winded by the blow and shot straight up into the air. Emerald gasped in shock. Oh no! This wouldn't do at all! Nobody was going to be impressed by that! Then Kerchak started to plummet down, crying out wildly and flailing his hands furiously. Ruby and Dawn jumped out the way while Emerald was in too much of a panic to move. She just jumped from one foot to another as Kerchak came plummeting towards her like some leafy missile that had been trained on her.
"Oh crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!" Emerald screamed in panic.
Kerchak landed straight on top of her. Poor Emerald was flattened against the ground as the huge ape-like Pokémon crashed down. Kerchak was left in a daze, wondering what had just happened. Ruby and Dawn winced from the impact. Even if it hadn't been them, they still felt like that must've hurt. They ran over to Kerchak and rolled him aside to see to Emerald. Emerald lay where she was, imprinted into the grass with her arms and legs splayed out. She looked like she'd been subjected to a typical Looney Tunes gag complete with her tongue sticking out and her eyes becoming a pair of Xs to signify a knock out.
"Em! EM! By Arceus Em, are you OK?! Speak to me! Let me know you're alright!" Ruby shrieked worriedly.
"My everything hurts…" Emerald croaked.
Ruby sighed with relief. Only Emerald could have a 198 pound Pokémon land on top of her and come out with a response like that.
"She's alright." she said happily, "That was quite a collision there!"
Ruby and Dawn helped Emerald up, peeling her out of the imprint. Kerchak ran over to her and wrapped his arms around his trainer.
"I hope I didn't hurt you too badly!" he wailed, sounding on the edge of tears "I'm so sorry I landed on you like that, I…"
"Please Kerchak, don't worry about me." Emerald interrupted, her voice croaky but she otherwise didn't sound too badly hurt, "It was an accident. You just mistimed that jump is all and it led to this. We just gotta practice at it and we'll get it right! You'll see." she concluded, her voice reassuring to convince her Pokémon that was the case.
Kerchak relaxed. It was clear that crashing on top of Emerald hadn't damaged her any. If anything, her optimism hadn't been bruised at least!
"I think that's enough for one day." Ruby said tightly, "Let's end it here and give you some time to recover from that, Em. We can practice some more tomorrow."
"But I feel fine!" Emerald protested.
"Yes, but I'd rather we end this session with you still feeling fine then end this session with you in the hospital." Ruby said firmly, "We can't practice if you're all bashed up."
Emerald wanted to argue but she knew that it was useless. Nobody ever argued with Ruby and won, especially not her or Sapphire.
"Thanks for coming Dawn. If you want, you can stay for dinner while you're here." Ruby offered kindly, "Mum would be happy to cook extra."
"That's very nice of you! Thank you!" Dawn accepted, "In fact, would you care if I stayed the night too? It'd be better than me going back and forth from here to my hotel every day to continue teaching you two."
"We're OK with that." Ruby said brightly, "Sapph's not here anyway so we've got her room spare for you. Just don't mess it up, OK? She'd have a fit if she came home and found her room messed up."
"No need to worry! I'll make sure there's not so much as a bedsheet outta place!" the Sinnoh girl declared.
The next day, the girls were all out in the garden again to continue practicing for the contest. It seemed strange how it was only a year away from now and yet Ruby and Emerald felt as if they were still racing against the clock to get everything right before the big event itself. The contest could be TWO years from now for all they knew and they'd still feel as if it was about to happen right now!
Emerald had Kerchak out once again and was getting him to practice Dawn's suggested act again. This time, he had greater success with not a single jump mistimed as he swung from vine-to-vine with acrobatic flips and somersaults. Once Kerchak had finished that, he carried out the next part. Emerald commanded him to use Darkest Lariat and dance around the vines as Dawn had suggested. Kerchak spun around, dark energy coating his body as he spun around at top speed. He looked like a black tornado about to tear up a jungle with the vines around him as they were. He weaved around the vines while continuing to spin. Emerald watched excitedly. It looked as if this was going to go as planned! But unfortunately, another slip-up occurred. Kerchak spun too close to one of the vines and was knocked aside by it as it flexed to one side and bumped him. It was the one downside to the act, that Kerchak couldn't see too great as he was spinning around with Darkest Lariat. Emerald watched with horror as he was knocked aside and he rolled to a stop just by the garden fence. He groaned and rubbed his head as he felt a small bump beginning to protrude from where he'd hit it. Emerald ran over to him.
"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
"I feel as if I've had a coconut drop on my head." Kerchak muttered, "But it's nothing I can't handle."
"Thank goodness." Emerald sighed, "That was much better than yesterday at least. It's just the Darkest Lariat part that we slipped up on."
"I agree. We should change that last part." Ruby suggested, "Kerchak can't really see when he's spinning around like that. It'll be near impossible for him to dodge all the vines without hitting one. Do you think he could work U-turn into the act somehow?" she asked, looking to Dawn.
"I don't see why not." Dawn proposed, "He could possibly use U-turn to rush through all the vines and then grab one to perform one last somersault to finish the act. Why don't we try it out?"
"Anything to get Kerchak's act right." Emerald declared, "You up for it Kerchak?"
"The headache's already gone so yeah, let's go!" Kerchak cried, clenching his huge fists.
Emerald gave the order and Kerchak once again used Drum Beating to conjure up all the vines necessary for the act. He carried out the same acrobatic routine as before, only now he landed on the ground and used U-turn instead of Darkest Lariat. Usually, this attack would have him hit an opponent and then return to his Pokéball to switch out for someone else, but there was no opponent so all Kerchak did was move very quickly. He could actually see where he was going now he wasn't spinning around like before and he weaved around all the vines effortlessly. They would try to bump him but they missed every time. Then Kerchak grabbed one of the vines as it bent down as if to receive him and he was flung into the air as it swung him up. He curled up into a ball and somersaulted, spinning several times before he landed on the ground. He wobbled for a moment but quickly caught himself and held up his arms in a victory pose. The girls clapped for him.
"Bravo! That was excellent!" Emerald cheered, "I think we've got ourselves the perfect act!"
"We just gotta work on sticking that landing and it WILL be perfect!" Dawn agreed, "This feat of gymnastics will make for a sensational appeal round performance!"
"No kidding." Ruby concurred, "It'll be tough to imagine another Pokémon performing an act like this. Just got to practice and practice and you'll nail it on the day of the contest itself."
"Provided we don't have one of those situations where we practice for months on end and then screw up on the day itself." Emerald said nervously, "That's always a possibility."
"Believe me, I know." Dawn murmured grimly, "But you don't need to worry about that yet. It's still a long way to the contest! Speaking of, have we had any updates on that yet?" she asked.
"Not that I'm aware of." Ruby said, shaking her head, "I imagine Nessa's still working on organizing everything before she tells us what to expect. I'm sure the contest will go the way the others usually do with the appeal round and the Contests battles, though I also imagine Nessa would want to add something else to give Galar's first contest something that makes it stand out from the Hoenn and Sinnoh contests. It won't make much of an impression if it's too samey."
Emerald and Dawn agreed. If they were running the show, they'd be doing the same thing. Why put so much time and effort into bringing contests to Galar if they were pretty much the same as what you'd get in Hoenn and Sinnoh? They'd keep an eye on social media to see if further details of the contest would be made public soon. They didn't think Nessa would take too long to reveal that, probably in a few days or a week or two from now.
Before anything else could happen, a pair of hands suddenly closed themselves around Emerald's eyes. The Galarian girl yelped and Ruby and Dawn jumped, anxious on what was happening. But then Ruby and Emerald relaxed as a familiar voiced cooed to the sister in green.
"Guess whoooo, my little gem?"
Emerald smiled.
"Hmm…let's see: strong firm hands? Lovely deep voice? Goofball personality? Who else but YOU Tony Summers!" she deduced, lifting the hands away from her eyes and spinning around so she could embrace her childhood friend.
Tony was fourteen years old and quite tall for a teenage boy his age. He was also very handsome, already looking closer to the adult he was becoming than the boy he had been. He had gentle blue eyes and long brown hair with a small strand hanging over one of his eyes. He wore a navy blue shirt, a red jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a brown belt with a silver buckle and a grey pair of jeans. Dawn could see that Emerald knew Tony well from the way they embraced each other. She whispered to Ruby.
"Soooooo…who's he then? Is he Emerald's boyfriend?" the Sinnoh girl asked.
"Not yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happens given how cute they are together." Ruby snickered.
"Hey Tony! I'm so glad you came over!" Emerald piped, bouncing up and down like a Spoink on a sugar-rush, "How are you? Are you well? Well you wouldn't be here if you weren't so you must be! How are your Pokémon? Are they training hard? Are they…"
"Em, slow down! I just got here! No need to bury me with questions!" Tony laughed, "Blimey, did you drink ten tonnes of coffee this morning?"
"Tony, it's Emerald. She's ALWAYS an over-excited nutcase." Ruby retorted, "That literally hasn't changed since childhood."
"And a good thing too as I wouldn't want my little gem any other way." Tony said kindly, "Oh bother, did I say that out loud?" he blurted, "Goodness, my mouth can run away with my head sometimes…"
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while Emerald blushed. Dawn couldn't help but giggle. No wonder Ruby could see those two getting together! Tony noticed Dawn for the first time and approached her.
"And who might you be, love?" he asked, flashing Dawn a charming smile.
"Tony, what have I said about flirting with every girl you meet?" Emerald said sternly.
"I only asked who she was, how was that flirting?" Tony asked indignantly.
"We know what you're like you ladies' man, anytime you ask a girl's name is your idea of flirting." Emerald retorted, "It was like that when we first met back in school."
"Yeah, and it was that meeting where he gave you that adorable nickname." Ruby put in, "I still remember it so clearly: he asked your name and when you told him, he said "No wonder your name's Emerald. Your eyes are like sparkling little gems!" and that was that. So come on Em, it's not all bad."
Emerald blushed even harder. Dawn couldn't help but giggle at the reaction. At least Emerald's nickname didn't have some embarrassing story behind it like those that used to bully her with the nickname "Dee-Dee"!
"So that's why he calls you "little gem" I guess? I think that's sweet!" she said in awe, "Oh and in answer to your question, Tony, I'm Dawn." she quickly added, almost as if she'd forgotten he was there, "I'm…"
"…that girl who challenged Ruby for the Champion title. Yes, I thought you looked familiar." Tony interrupted, "I still remember watching that battle earlier this year. You really came close to winning but Ruby was just too tough for you in the end."
"She sure was!" Dawn chuckled, her voice displaying no hard feelings acknowledging that, "But now she and Emerald have asked for my help in preparing them for the upcoming Pokémon Contest that Nessa's hosting next year."
"So is that what that was about?" Tony asked, "I saw a bunch of vines coming up from your back garden and wondered what was happening. I actually worried that you might be under attack or something!" he gasped, "But as I approached, I soon saw that you weren't, thank goodness."
"Oh no, we were practicing! No one's attacking us!" Emerald laughed, "I got Kerchak to perform a great act that I think will impress a lot of people!"
"I'd love to see it." the brunette boy said enthusiastically, "It's also funny you should mention that as that's why I set out to visit you today. I've also been interested in entering the contest and I'd love to show you my Flossy's act."
"You're entering too?!" Emerald gasped, "Oh wow, just when I thought this couldn't get more exciting! That's awesome Tony!"
"Thanks, little gem." Tony said appreciatively, "I saw the advert yesterday and thought "This should be interesting to try", and so here we are. If you lovely ladies would care to watch, I think this act might be quite a wonder to watch."
Ruby, Emerald and Dawn all watched as Tony reached to his belt and whipped out a Pokéball.
"OK Flossy, come on out!" he cried, throwing the Pokéball.
The ball opened up and out came Flossy the Alcremie. Dawn stared at her in awe, captivated by the adorable appearance of this new Pokémon she'd never seen before and already picking up the sweet smell of the cream she was made of. Flossy looked the same as the usual Alcremie species but unlike the more common kind that Gym Leader Opal used, she had green colouring on her body to signify that she was the Mint-Cream flavour variant of the species. The girls could even smell the mint on her. Flossy looked up at the girls and hid her face shyly behind her hands.
"Oh d-d-dear. I-I have a-an audience…" she mumbled worriedly, "Th-this is g-going to be s-scary…"
"Come on love, you don't need to be shy." Tony said kindly, "There's only us four watching. It's not that big an audience. They'd all love to watch you perform, if you please."
Flossy still looked nervous but was otherwise willing to give it a go.
"O-O-OK…I-I'll try." she mumbled.
"Thank you." Tony said brightly, "Please forgive her, girls. She's always been a bit shy. Once her confidence gets going, she really gets going."
"That's OK." Ruby reassured, "We'll be patient. Just perform in your own time, Flossy." she added kindly.
Flossy nodded. It was nice to have a sympathetic audience to watch her. She took up position as Tony gave his first command.
"Remember what we practiced." he reminded, "Use Dazzling Gleam."
Ruby and Emerald watched intently. This would be their first time watching Tony in action as neither of them had seen him battle or perform with his Pokémon. Already they noticed he was different to them in how he would give his commands politely and in a normal tone of voice. Maybe he felt that it was more encouraging to his Pokémon than shouting? They watched as Flossy held up her hands and created a sparkling aura of fairy magic. The girls knew full well what Dazzling Gleam did, but they'd never seen anyone use it like this before. Flossy formed an arch with her Dazzling Gleam, making it look as if she was creating some fairy rainbow. The sparkling lights even flashed all seven colours, but not too quickly so it wouldn't be uncomfortable to watch.
"Now if you please, use Mystical Fire." Tony continued.
Flossy obeyed. She sucked in air and then breathed out a tongue of gleaming flames at the Dazzling Gleam arch. Ruby could see that Tony was taking type-advantage in mind with his training as Fairy-types were weak to Steel-types, so a fire attack would give Flossy a way to fight back against that weakness. Here, it was being used as part of what was already a most spectacular act. The flames were nothing like what most Fire-types used, being a mixture of fire and fairy-magic to give the flames a truly mystical look. The flames swept over the Dazzling Gleam arch, creating a spellbinding arch of lights with the sparkling fairy magic and the dancing flames all seeming to work in harmony with each other to make this look as amazing as possible. Even Dawn felt like she needed to catch her breath after seeing this. And then Tony concluded by ordering Flossy to use Psychic. Flossy held out her hands and her eyes glowed as she unleashed her psychic powers. She used the psychic energy she controlled to grab the fairy/fire mix above her and then with a wave of her hands, she made the flaming fairy fire dance around like a paper dragon in a Chinese festival. It snaked through the air, forming many shapes as Flossy conducted its movements. She looked like she was conducting a band with her many hand gestures, only instead of orchestrating music she was making a fiery light show dance around. Ruby, Emerald and Dawn gasped, awestruck by the incredible use of Flossy's psychic to make this happen. It was incredible what Pokémon could do with their powers! This was easily going to be the show-stealing act Nessa would need to make her show a success!
Flossy concluded the act by thrusting her hands out and making the fiery fairy lights explode into a shower of sparkles that gently drifted down to the ground. She then performed a neat little pirouette, presumably just to look cute to the audience, and took a bow with the lights drifting down around her. Ruby, Emerald and Dawn were so amazed that they couldn't speak for a minute. Then they clapped.
"Bloody hell…that's the most creative use of Dazzling Gleam, Mystic Fire AND Psychic I've ever seen!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Nessa may as well declare you the winner right now! No other performance will match that!" Emerald cheered.
"You'll have no problem passing the performance stage with that act! That was incredible!" Dawn screeched.
Tony just smiled shyly.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thought it would make for a good act" he said casually, "To think I coined the whole thing up myself…"
He suddenly paused as his eyes fluttered for a moment and he put a hand to his head. Emerald was worried. What was that about? Was Tony about to pass out? But he remained conscious and even seemed to shake off whatever it was that had happened. He massaged his temples.
"Oooh, sorry about that. I kinda had a funny turn there." he murmured.
"Has that happened a lot?" Emerald asked curiously, her voice etched with concern.
"No. It's nothing to worry about, I assure you." Tony insisted.
But Emerald could tell Tony was lying. Once again, it was clear there was something he wasn't telling her, and it was making her worry for her friend. What was it that he seemed so unwilling to talk about? Was his health becoming an issue? If so, she hoped Tony's adopted parents would work on that. The last thing she wanted was for Tony to have problems down the line. She was glad he was going to enter the contest as well and it would be a shame if he had to miss out…
Despite a few hiccups, it seems things are going well enough. Ruby, Emerald and Tony will be ready in no time for the contest next year. But it won't just be them competing for the title of Master Coordinator as next time, we're going to see who the entrants will be. Tune in as our heroes undergo some "Last Minute Tune-ups" for the big event...
Trivia: As you can see here, Dawn is a mixture of her anime counterpart and the player character from the games due to having a fully evolved team but also having pretty much the same roster she has in the anime (with Ambipom in place of Buneary as I don't like Buneary or Lopunny). She has the experience of a winning player but the personality of the anime version right down to her "No need to worry" catchphrase. In this universe, she's also more successful in her coordinating, even defeating Zooey, which was something she never did in the anime.
Of course with Dawn's presence here, there's lots of callbacks to the anime and even some of the movies like Arceus and the Jewel of Life. I haven't actually seen it but I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up for Ruby and Emerald to hear that Dawn alongside Ash and Brock have met Arceus himself.
Oh and I bet everyone reading this can smell the practically obvious Legends Arceus reference I slipped in there. ;) Makes sense to throw one in given it comes out this month. XD