This was for a Wattpadian contest about competitions, which I used as a springboard to write something adjacent to an idea I have for a lucario character.

With joy shall I behold the day
that calls my willing soul away

The Rustboro Contest is the first real contest Winston and Joy have entered. It's smart to ease pokemon into contests, since so much of it is about performance and nerves, and so they've done a couple minor ones for practice, but a win there's just for fun, not something that you can point to with pride. Not like this one. This one's ranked, run under the Pokémon Activities Committee's official eye.

For the performance stage, Winston takes Joy through a routine of kicks that's almost a dance, flames whirling after him like ribbons. Riolu are adorable, and that's certainly not something Winston minds, but it is something he to take that into account as a coordinator when what you're aiming for is impressing everyone with your pokemon's coolness. So besides the flames there's a tough low kick thrown in there, making an arc in the dirt, and Joy flings himself through his moves with the help of agility, the speed giving the illusion of slightly longer limbs to Joy's puppy-cute form.

From the applause, Winston has nailed it.

And then it's just a matter of doing so again when the battle stage rolls around.

A regular trainer might've cursed their luck at being put up against a gallade, because type advantages, you know? And another coordinator might've cursed their luck being put up against a gallade in a coolness contest right when those were trending once again.

Winston sees it as the perfect opportunity for Joy to have the show-stopping debut they need. All the gallade's flashy slashes will do is frame his cool as a cucumber riolu.

"Psycho cut!" the other coordinator calls.

The trick to impressing the crowd is to roll right into the move, under the other pokemon's guard, sliding fearlessly between the attacks. And that's what he orders.

(-)

Winston's really here to talk to Beatrice, but when he heads to their room he only finds Beatrice's Lay Before The King. Or Layla, when you're not concerning yourself about the official registration rules for unique identifiers and the branding benefit a contest breeder gets from having a naming theme for their bloodlines.

And the thing is... Lucario...

I'm sorry, Layla tells him, getting up from where she was sitting at the foot of the bed. Beatrice wanted a soda and went to find a vending machine. She'll be back soon.

Rationally, of course, Layla isn't any different from any other pokemon. Rationally, he knows any other pokemon could say the same thing upon seeing him. Rationally, the fact the only difference is that he can understand one and not the other doesn't mean anything.

It still makes him feel a bit awkward.

"Thanks, it's fine, I can wait," he says. "I, uh, I figure I should say something to you, too. I, I'm Winston, I bought your eleventh egg, Your Joyous Strains Prolong. I - he was - he was amazing. I'd kept other pokemon, I mean, obviously, Beatrice isn't going to sell her eggs to anyone who hadn't proven they knew what they were doing, but Joy... He was something else. You'd have been proud of him."

She's across the room in a blink, patting at his leg with one paw and staring up at him with shimmering eyes. Lucario are so kind. I'm so sorry that happened to you, she says, her aura thick with her sincerity. To have worked so hard, and be on the cusp of success, only to have to it all snatched away in such a tragedy!

"Thank you," he says. "It's... It's not going to happen again. A freak accident. I don't blame the gallade, it just... A freak accident," he repeats. "I can't let it stop me from being a coordinator. Competing in contests has been my dream since I was a kid. Get right back on the rapidash that threw you and all that, like everyone says."

I'm so happy to hear that. Her silky tail wags, sending just a bit of glitter into the air. And I have some good news for you. I know she warned you she didn't think she could get you the same sire, but Beatrice just managed to get back in contact with Ann and she's agreed to using her lucario as a stud again. She'll be sticking around for a whole month, even, so there should be just enough time to try for a second egg. One of them's sure to be male.

"Yeah I mean... It's not like it's a thing for me," he says to her, because she is, obviously, female herself. "You know? I didn't have them check the egg's sex then, male, female, it didn't matter. But I want my riolu to be just like he was."

Oh, absolutely, Laya says, patting him again. I understand completely. You just want to be able to put this horrible experience behind you, and I'm so glad I'm able to do anything to help. And Beatrice finished with the paperwork to free up the name early, so it'll be available by the time your egg hatches.

"I hadn't even thought of that." The registration's purpose is for tracking awards and breeding, and obviously that's...well, no longer an issue. But they don't want strangers accidentally picking the names of someone else's newly-dead pokemon to enter into a contest, so yeah, he remembers now that there's a delay of some years after a death before the name's normally allowed back into use. "Thank you," he says, words getting thick with emotion. "You guys are so nice."

Her tail wags harder. It's a joy to be of service.

Title from the opening lyrics of the hymn With joy shall I behold the day.

Lay Before the King's name comes from the lyrics of the Christmas carol Little Drummer Boy.

Your Joyous Strains Prolong's name comes from the lyrics of the Christmas carol Angels We Have Heard on High.