Tails had just finished up his pile of treats when he heard Winona speaking over the speaker systems.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the opening ceremonies will begin in five minutes! Please make your way to this year's designated outside auditorium!"
Tails said, "Okay, time to go find where that is!" before walking off with the flow of people migrating towards their destination. After some time of walking and listening to the chat of the surrounding people, Tails gathered that RC and his brother, Robert, were indeed involved in this race for quite some time, and were infamous for one-two finishes, followed by Falkner and Winona or Winona and Falkner. He knew he'd have to do his best if he wanted to win this. He just hoped he was up to the challenge.
But two hours and some minutes would be real hard to beat on the first try.
He continued walking along with the others towards their destination until finally, they came to a lining seats arranged neatly before the stage where Winona was standing. Behind the stage, there laid a nest of countless pokemon eggs, most likely bird pokemon eggs.. Speeding up, Tails started weaving in and out of people to get a good seat, bumping into more people than he meant to, but at least no one tried to grab him by his tails. He triumphantly planted his little butt on the third seat from the front row, center. Then he got scooted over by the others who wanted to sit down and he reluctantly gave up his seat, scooting further down the row until he was seated on the last chair in the row, far away from the center and not even able to see above the chairs, much less the people sitting in them.
"Aw, man..." Tails whined to himself. He shifted his attention to a couple of Vulpix playing in the mud several yards away. Mud was once one of the things he hated most, which clashed for his being a kid, and kids naturally love playing in the mud. But Tails didn't. He'd always been afraid of it ever since he was four years old. He almost drowned in a muddy swamp and certainly wouldn't be on this planet if it weren't for his best friend who saved him. Ever since then, he's avoided anything like mud like the plague.
But several weeks ago, after being prodded by a friend to face his fear, he finally mustered the courage to meet it head-on. With help, of course. Without his Swampert, he'd still be held by that irrational fear. But now, though he still doesn't believe it, he actually found the whole experience fun. He was brought back from his musing by the beginning of the festival.
"Welcome everyone, and thank you for visiting once again to the twentieth annual Wild Blue Yonder festival!"
The crowd cheered and applauded and Winona paused. When it went silent, she continued.
"This year, just like every year, we congregate in celebration of the grace and beauty of the flying type Pokemon. We join to share the skies with our pokemon, to teach each other the graces of our natures and to fortify the beauty of the relationship between trainer and pokemon. To accomplish this, we brave the skies themselves with our pokemon to hone our instincts and our connection between us. This race is the ultimate test for all who participate."
Winona paused and the silence was eerie, even for an outdoor setting like this.
"But there's more to this festival than just the race," she continued. "Every year, long before this very festival came to be, the mating season had long since ended and there was a sight in the skies that awed the citizens of Fortree yearly. The hatching season left the skies filled with new life, new beauty and new grace."
Even now, that was apparently so as the sounds of hatching began to cut into Winona's speech, but she continued on.
"And so we celebrate that new life today by honor of festival. This is our reminder that pokemon aren't just 'things' we use to battle or collect. This is our reminder that the sky sheds its winds of grace on us all, human or pokemon. This is our reminder," Winona pressed on as the hatching started giving way to pokemon cries, "That for humans and pokemon to live together means to guide and keep each other aloft in our hopes and dreams, whether they're strewn with stormy skies or rays of sun."
The cries of the newborn pokemon rang clearer now. And though they were just born, several of the pokemon, Spearow, Pidgey, Swablu, even evolved pokemon that are rare to hatch from eggs like Pidgeotto, small Fearow, and Altaria started to fly out from the bunch of newly hatched eggs and fill the sky, just like Winona said.
"And so again, this year, we celebrate the sky, our flying pokemon and the grace that connects and binds us together and lift us to the sky! This is the true meaning behind the Wild Blue Yonder!"
As soon as Winona finished with those words, she was met with cheers and applause from the front and chirps and cries behind her. Tails joined in the clapping when the standing ovation started. So this was what the festival was about, Tails thought to himself, celebrating the hatching season of the local flying pokemon. What made Tails feel real special is that his intervention with Julian could very well have saved the festival this year. He decided that since the speech was over, he'd start flying above the crowd to get a better look, causing some stares and pointing, but he didn't pay it too much mind.
The applause died down and people started sitting back down, and soon, the bird pokemon that didn't fly off started hopping around. Tails noticed someone walk away from the the rest of the audience and walk up the stage next to Winona. She conceded the podium for him.
"Thank you everyone. As you all may know, I am Falkner of the Violet City gym, and I'm glad to be out here in Fortree again," he said before being interrupted by some applause. "And don't worry, for we've readied the track of the Wild Blue Yonder just like we have every other year. Our veterans won't be disappointed and our newcomers will be in for the ride of their lives!"
Tails started paying close attention, now. He was a newcomer, after all.
"For those who don't know, this race is an aerial trek through the regions, all four of them, Kanto, Jhoto, Orre and Hoenn, all of which have been given five checkpoints. The goal is to race through the regions, following this airborne checkpoints to the best of your ability and make it back here by this time tomorrow. A true test for anyone who wishes to call themselves a flying pokemon trainer. Now, be wary now, for there's more than just the racing involved," Falkner warned, "As high up as those checkpoints are, the air will be more than thin enough to test the fortitude of both the trainers and the pokemon. It will be a flight of endurance, no doubt."
Tails sighed, listening. He hoped that since he could breathe out in space on Mobius, he wouldn't have trouble breathing too high up in the sky on this planet. But he could never be sure about anything on this planet. At least he used his Pidgeot enough. That gave him some confidence.
"And any pokemon you have are fair game to you to use, so long as they can fly. A Shuckle or a Snorlax won't be any use to you, flying. And though they might make great projectile weapons from that high up, you're a trainer, not a terrorist, so do the earth a favor and let's not leave it massive craters, okay?"
Some laughter was heard, and Tails imagined a Snorlax falling from at least ten thousand feet in the air, reaching terminal velocity of at least three hundred miles per hour before leaving a massive divot in the ground as it remains blissfully sleeping though it all. He concluded that it was indeed, not a very good idea.
"And though you may want to use them, after studying the results of the races over the past several years, legendary pokemon are prohibited this year, much to our collective dismay."
And it appeared there was collective dismay from half the audience. But Tails didn't have any legendary pokemon, so he didn't mind the restriction.
"We want this to be a fair affair, pardon the pun, and if someone planned on using a Rayquaza in this race, it would be anything but fair to those who don't have access to such pokemon."
Tails remembered how RC said he would one of these days show him how fast Canth could go by using Agility and Extreme speed and it made sense to him.
"Last but not least, people, " Falkner continued, "Have fun and don't try too hard to make life miserable for your opponents. As much as the competitive spirit can make those competing feel invincible, we don't want this to turn into a battlefield of people forcing others off off their pokemon, that's no good. And unlike that flying thing up there above the audience right now," Falkner said, pointing up at Tails, causing the rest of the audience to gawk at him, "Humans can't fly, so be careful racers."
Tails meekly waved at the audience below before settling down back in his seat. Giggling nervously to himself, he continued listening. Falkner conceded the podium for Winona and he sat down in a chair nearby.
"Thank you, Falkner. And so we have it. Those are the rules for the race. And once we receive confirmation that the track is ready for the racers, the time will be set for the race to begin. That's all!"
Once more, applause rang through the audience.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So this was why Winona was so defensive about the forests around Fortree. No forest, no festival. The profits for Vince still would have been there for him, and he would have never had met that flea-bitten fox. But now he knew that that fox was indeed here for the festival and Falkner only oh so kindly directed his attention to him. Perhaps he would repay him by inot/i knocking Falkner off his pokemon like he had so planned. That only left Winona and that fox boy to contend with.
But once he would get those two out of the picture, he might feel up to the challenge of dealing with Falkner anyway. It didn't matter to him who won or lost, as long as he could get revenge and swipe pokemon while he's at it. Heck, there wasn't even a reward mentioned during that whole speech. There was nothing truly in it for him to waste his time finishing a race when he could just as well make a getaway.
He stood up and made his way out of the audience to go look for something to toast his future victory with. He was thirsty, anyhow. And it wasn't until something small ran into him that he would find out whether or not his new identity could hold steady.
"Ack! Sorry about that!" the kid said.
Vince looked down and saw that it was the last thing he needed to see before the race, that pesky two tailed fox. "Erm, excuse me." he roughly said.
The fox got back up and brushed himself off. "I was hoping not to run into people today... hey, do I know you or something?" the kid asked when he looked up. "You look kinda familiar."
Maybe his new guise wasn't enough if a kid could see right through it. But maybe a lie could keep him safe for now. "Erm... perhaps you might have seen me on the television. I'm a..." He had to think of something half believable quickly. "I'm a manager of a department store chain. And I was just uh... on my way to meet my colleagues for a toast to our racer today." he made up.
"Oh, okay. I'll be racing today, too. I was just gonna go up and see Winona," the kid told him.
"Ah, I see. But aren't you perhaps a little small for a race like this? It could be dangerous for someone like you." Vince continued, not wanting to break off the conversation suspiciously early.
"Well, I can fly if anything happens, and after everything I've been doing on this planet, I think I'll be able to handle it." the fox continued, rubbing the back of his head.
"I see. You are an endearing kid. Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend a toast," Vince said before turning around and walking off. Hopefully that would shake the brat off his tail for now. He looked back and saw that the kid had already turned around to go meet with Winona just as he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falkner looked out at the audience, trying to figure who'd be racing today and who looks like they might have an edge over the others. Legendaries were forbidden now so he had to rely on Zephyr, though he had no qualms in particular over using him. He still couldn't get over the fact that there was something flying in the audience by what looked like its tails. It certainly didn't look like any pokemon he had ever seen before. He didn't know whether or not it was in fact, someone's pokemon, or a fully developed thing that no one's ever seen before and whether or not it would be racing today. It looked a little too small to be that high up for too long without passing out.
A pair of hands were placed on his shoulder that broke him from his train of thought. "Thanks, Falkner. You were right. All I had to do is do what I usually do, and it worked out so far."
"Don't worry, Winona," Falkner said, placing a hand on one of hers. "You're doing fine, and this race will just as fun as it is any other year."
"So did you notice anyone in particular in the audience that might cause trouble?" Winona inquired.
"No, no one."
"Hmm...Maybe I was just imagining things."
"The only thing I thought was odd," Falkner said, "was that thing flying above the audience."
"Oh, yeah, I think that was Tails."
"You mean that thing actually signed up for the race?" Falkner asked surprised. "He has to be a little small for it, don't you think?"
"Yes, well, he's also the one I told you that helped me rid the forests of the problem Fortree had several months ago." Winona said, glancing out at those same forests.
"I see. And you don't think the thin air will take him out of the race too early?"
"If he's that young and could handle the problem back then, I'd like to see what he's capable of, now."
Falkner chuckled a bit. "I still have my doubts, but I'll take your word for it."
"Well, just take a look at him, he's not even from this world." Winona told him.
"So he isn't a pokemon, then..."
"Well, speaking of whom, hello, Tails." Winona said, taking her hands from off Falkner's shoulders.
The two tailed fox they had just been speaking of had just made his way onto the stage. Even from up close, Falkner's doubt's weren't put to rest.
"Hey, Winona! I guess you're right about pokemon and trainers," he said, "I've always had my own motto, too. 'I wanna fly high, so I can reach the highest of all my heavens.' And there are a lot of people that helped me out in the past, and now I have my pokemon to help me fly high." he said cheerfully.
"See, Falkner, he has the right idea." Winona said with a smile.
"Well, I guess he does, doesn't he?" Falkner agreed with a smile of his own, looking down at Tails now. "So you're the one who helped Winona?"
Tails nodded. "Yep. I only helped get rid of Julian. Winona went to get Officer Jenny."
"And I bet he felt real incompetent for losing to a kid," Falkner piped in.
"Falkner, be nice," Winona said with a bit of a chuckle.
"Don't worry about it," Tails said, rubbing the back of his head. "He just wasn't a good trainer. He was easy." he continued with a giggle.
"So this will be your first time in the Wild Blue Yonder, will it?" Falkner asked.
Tails nodded. "Yup."
"You think you'll win?" Falkner continued.
Tails shrugged. "I dunno," he admitted. "But I'll do my best to win." he added with a smile.
"You can't go wrong with that answer," Falkner said with a smile.
"No, no you can't." Winona added. She looked up at the sky, then at her watch, probably expecting the confirmation call to start off the race. And sure enough, her Pokenav rang and she picked it up to answer.
"Yes, hello? This is Winona speaking. They have? Good. And they've reached an altitude to where the air is still? Okay, good. And the dangling holograms are functional? Okay, then we're all set then. Thanks again." She shut her Pokenav and looked at Falkner and Tails with a smile. "They're all ready and the race can begin at any time. Tails, go get yourself ready while Falkner and I make our final preparations to our teams and the race, okay?" she asked.
Tails nodded. "Okay," he said, turning to walk off, but he looked back to ask one more thing. "Is there going to be an announcement when the race is ready to start?"
Winona nodded. "Yes there will."
Tails nodded back, then trotted off, waving. "See ya later, then!"
Falkner watched him run along his merry way, then looked back at Winona. "So, do you think he'll last? He's nice and everything, but with someone that small, I've still got my doubts," he stated.
"Well, I'm sure if he does have too much trouble, he'll know to drop out," Winona concluded. "Now, it's time to get the race ready."
"Yeah, let's get this show on the road. I bet Zephyr is getting restless."