Part 2 - A Trip to the Lilycove Contest Hall
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The Next Day.
Lilycove City
9:00 AM
"Oh my gosh!" Shauna squealed with excitement. "I read about this city in the pamphlet I heard there's a mall in here! Oh, I can't wait to do some shopping!"
Tierno laughed at her behavior. "It wasn't like you to read a pamphlet, though."
Shauna glared and pouted at him. "I was bored, okay?"
"Ah!" Trevor smiled. "This is Lilycove City. The tourist spots here are the mall and the Contest Hall. Hoenn is also famous for its Pokemon Contests!"
"That's right!" Ruby chirped happily. "We're off to see a Pokemon Contest performance today if there's any and if not, Sapphire and I can always perform for you kids!"
"We're 15," X corrected.
"Hold the phone!" Y grabbed everyone's attention. "You guys performed in a contest together?!"
Ruby had a pleasing appearance. He nodded. "Well, of course. We're actually the first to do a contest as partners and—"
"Yeah, a contest duo who does contests sometimes—everyone knows," Emerald interrupted, making Ruby glare at him.
"I wasn't finished!" he complained while Sapphire placed a hand on his shoulders to calm him down.
"Whatever," Emerald yawned with his arms placed at the back of his neck. "Let's just get this over already."
"I have a question, Mr. Ruby!" Shauna raised her hand. "How does a Pokemon Contest work, actually? I heard about it from my customer, but I didn't pay attention to it since I was focusing on the Furfrou."
The teenagers swear they saw Ruby's eyes sparkle like glitters. The Charmer clasped his hands together whilst Emerald placed a hand on his face.
"Oh boy—ya have to ask."
Shauna gave him a confused look. What was wrong in asking?
"Pokemon Contest is art!" Ruby declared passionately, as if he was about to make a long speech about it. "It's a masterpiece! It's where every Pokemon compete to see who is the toughest, coolest, cutest, smartest, and most beautiful!"
"The one Ruby mentioned are actually the categories of the contest, so ya can choose which one to compete!" Sapphire added with a smile.
Ruby looked at her and winked. "Thank you, love. I taught you very well."
Sapphire winked back. "Well, of course. It's whatcha always talk about!"
Ruby chuckled at her attentiveness. "I'm so glad you're listening."
Emerald could feel his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "Just quit flirting and start explaining it, dammit!"
Ruby and Sapphire stopped to lour at Emerald. "We weren't flirting!"
"You both are!" Emerald countered. "Ask them," He pointed his thumb at the Kalosian kids. "They know I'm right."
"He's right," X commented, making Ruby cough.
"Anyway," the Charmer continued. "What Sapphire said: there are five categories to choose from—beauty, cool, cute, smart, and tough. There are two rounds—primary judging where the audience decides who's the most beautiful, coolest, cutest, smartest, and toughest Pokemon just by their appearance and the secondary judging where the judges themselves will decide which Pokemon is which in one of those conditions by showing their moves. You have to be careful, though," Ruby warned, making them furrow their eyebrows. "A Pokemon's move has to match the category. If you entered the cuteness category, your Pokemon has to use a cute-like move, and so on. We also have this thing called Contest Spectaculars, but I think we should start with the basics."
"I always thought contests were a pain in the butt, but they were actually gorgeous. You'll love it!" Sapphire added with a smile.
The Kalsians were left amazed and a little confused. Pokemon Contests sounded intriguing but one had to make sure that one's Pokemon had to be either beautiful, cool, cute, smart, or tough, especially in terms of appearances. Their respect for Ruby somewhat increased knowing those difficulties. Still, it was quite odd to see him interested in contests more than his girlfriend. One would think that it was the other way around.
Shauna pondered about Ruby's words even further. It probably explained why the Furfrou of her customer looked so beautiful despite the messy fur. That customer was probably doing Pokemon Contests. "I wanna try it," she said, surprising everyone.
Tierno scratched his chin. "I thought you were interested in shopping."
Shauna rolled her eyes. "Obviously, I'm curious about Pokemon Contests. Got a problem with that?"
Tierno laughed at her sarcasm. He was used to it and he did find it endearing. "No, no, not at all. It's nice to see you trying new things."
Y placed a hand on her chin, pondering about Shauna's words. It did pique her interest too, now that she thought about. True, it was very different from regular Pokemon Battles but something in her wanted to try it for the sake of fun and experience. "It does sound interesting. I guess trying wouldn't hurt."
"Perfect!" Ruby snapped his fingers. "I'll hand you a contest pass once we go to the Contest Hall. Also, we have these things called Poke Blocks. They increase a Pokemon's conditions so if you wanna make your Pokemon look more beautiful, I can feed it some Poke Blocks."
"Of course!" Trevor jumped. "I forgot that Poke Blocks are also Hoenn's specialties. I never knew it was used for Pokemon Contests, though."
Ruby laughed. "Well, now you know. Now, come on, let's go to the contest hall!"
"Roger that, Mr. Ruby!" Shauna ran, leading the way. Sapphire giggled at her zealousness and ran after her before the girl managed to get lost in this big city.
Contest Hall
9:15 AM
"I'm sorry, dear," the receptionist apologized. "If you don't have a Contest Pass, you are not qualified to sign up. I'm really really sorry."
Shauna grumbled, as her head started heating up. The receptionist swore she saw some steam coming out from it, too. The brunette stomped her foot on the ground and turned around with her arms folded across her chest. "I told you I know Mr. Ruby! Why can't you let me register?!"
"There she is!" Sapphire went inside the contest with the gang trailing behind her. She ran to Shauna.
The Furfrou Hair Stylist noticed this and started crying. "Ms. Sapphire!" she wailed, her body slowly dropping on the ground. "They don't wanna let me in! They said I have no Contest Pass!" she wept loudly, causing a ruckus in the building. Everyone looked at the whining teenager while the receptionist repeatedly bowed her head to apologize.
Emerald gritted his teeth and groused loudly. And that girl said they weren't 'kids'; she was clearly acting like one.
"Hey, don't cry," Sapphire patted the girl's shoulder as gently as she could. It seemed to be working since Shauna was sniffing quietly now. "Ruby will talk to the receptionist. Just ya wait."
"They're tourists," Ruby explained to the receptionist. "I would like to register two of them in a Pokemon Contest. I'll take care of the rest afterwards."
The receptionist sighed. Well, if one of the Contest Officials said so then who was she to complain? She placed her fingers on the keyboard and started typing. "Okay," she gave in. "Please tell me what category you'll be participating along with your partner Pokemon."
Those were music to Shauna's ears. Her mood swiftly shifted into a chirpy one. She turned to look at the receptionist as if nothing happened earlier and replied happily, "Cute Category, please! You okay with that, Y-ey?"
Y bobbed her head. "Yeah, I don't mind it. As for my Pokemon, I'll enter with Veevee, my Sylveon."
"I'll enter with Kitty the Skitty!"
"Ya have a Skitty?" Sapphire asked the younger girl and Shauna smiled.
"I do, yes!" Shauna grabbed her Skitty's Poke Ball and sent it out. "Isn't she precious?!"
Sapphire clasped her hands together and her eyes sparkled. The teenagers thought she acted exactly like her boyfriend, especially with that endearing facial expression. "So cute!" the Conqueror complimented. "Ya know, Ruby has a Delcatty who used to be a Skitty!"
"That's interesting," Shauna thought with a smile. Her Skitty yawned and looked around the unfamiliar place.
"Alright," the receptionist commented. "The next performance will start in ten minutes. I will take you to the—"
"I'll take it from here," Ruby dismissed the receptionists and grabbed his Poke Block case. He gave three pink Poke Blocks to both the Skitty and the Sylveon. "Eat up," he encouraged, placing the treats on the ground. "Those will help increase your cuteness condition. Are you two ready?"
Y pumped her fist in the air while Shauna smiled. "We're ready! We just gotta use cute moves, right?"
Ruby bobbed his head. "Yeah. Cute moves like Attract, Yawn, and Baby-Doll Eyes. Enjoy your—"
"Pardon me, sir," the receptionist said. "We don't have a judge for the Cuteness Category. Are you free to do it?"
Ruby smirked. "Well, of course!" he responded elatedly. Sparkles appeared around him and the teenagers wondered whether this was normal or not.
"No, you're not!" Lisia came out of nowhere and they all turned to look at the Contest Star. "Hi, Sapph!" she greeted and clung onto Sapphire's arm. Ruby's eye twitched at that. He definitely did not want to see his co-worker today. "Since Sapphire technically performed in a contest before, I vote her as a judge. She has waaay better taste than her husband anyway!"
"W-What do ya mean husband?!" Sapphire asked, too flustered to say anything else.
"Boyfriend. Husband—sounds the same to me," Emerald laughed and Lisia gave the small man a wink.
"It's so obvious that everyone's waiting for you two to get ma—"
"Alright, fine!" Ruby interceded before Lisia started teasing them. "Sapphire and I will both judge the contest," He grabbed his girlfriend's hand and removed Lisia away from her. "We'll meet you in that room," he pointed with his free hand and went inside with a complaining Sapphire.
"Hey, let go, Ruby! I didn't agree with this!"
They left their friends alone and Emerald sniggered. They all looked at him minus Lisia who had a smirk on her face.
"You had a long way to go when it comes to teasing them," Lisia remarked then giggled. "But hey, better job than Wally. That guy is hopeless when it comes to teasing Ruby and Sapphire."
"No kidding," Emerald cackled along with her with the Kalosians having no idea whom they were referring to, but they guessed it was their friend.
"Anyway, we should get inside the room. I can't wait to get this performance started," Y said to get their attention. Her friends agreed and followed her.
"Well, see ya. Good luck hosting another contest," Emerald bid farewell at Lisia and she waved at him. She watched him went inside the room along with the five foreigners.
The remaining minutes ran faster than a Rapidash. On the stage were four contestants—Y, Shauna, and two random people named Barly and Samantha. Y had her Sylveon with her, Shauna with her Skitty, Barly with his Poochyena, and Samantha with her Whismur.
The host, Lisia, went to the stage and greeted the audience with a high amount of energy that was almost similar to a sugar-high kid. "Welcome one and all!" she announced, as the audience applauded.
Trevor looked around and noticed there were more men watching the performance than women. He thought Pokemon Contests were a woman's thing but knowing Ruby was more interested in it than Sapphire, he could guess that gender stereotypes were nothing but a lie, which it was in his opinion. Ruby and Sapphire already proved it to him.
"Whatcha looking at?" Emerald asked and sat beside him. Trevor giggled nervously.
"I...didn't expect there were so many men here."
Emerald sighed and closed his eyes. "Just between you and me, most of them are only here to see Lisia—the host of this contest. Sure, that's what fans do but some of them are weird."
That piqued Trevor's curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"Best you don't know. It's a different level of weird," he muttered and ended the topic. Somehow, he remembered Gold and he didn't know why. (And he hated it.)
"And our first contestant—Y and her Sylveon, Veevee!"
Y and Veevee moved forward. "Now's our chance," she muttered. "Use your ability, Veevee, Cute Charm!"
Veevee the Sylveon cracked a smile at the audience and it went wild. Applause and whistles, and even stomps, were heard and Ruby was impressed that Y managed to use her Pokemon's ability as an advantage.
"Thank you, Y and your adorable Veevee! Next up, Shauna and her Skitty, Kitty!"
Shauna stepped in with her Skitty. The Skitty sat and smiled at the audience as well. It received the same reception but it didn't go as wild as earlier.
Poocheyena came in next and the viewers seemed pleased, but not as pleased as they behaved with the Sylveon. Whismur, however, received the same fate.
"Thank you all, participants!" Lisia declared happily. "Now that the Primary Judging is finished, let's move on to the second round. Since we have newbies here, the next judging is simple: there are five rounds and your Pokemon must show their cutest moves ever! Are you ready? Of course, you are! Let's start with Y and her Sylveon!"
"Let's show them how cute you are, Veevee!" Y shouted and everyone tried to cover their ears. "Baby-Doll Eyes!"
Veevee let out a cry and stopped in front of the audience. It blinked, showing the audience its cute pair of eyes and an 'aww' was heard.
Shauna came in next and commanded her Skitty to use Fake Turn. The audience reacted the same way they reacted before. Poochyena was next and it let out the cutest yawn. Lisia swore she shed a tear from how cute it was.
The move was bad news to the Whismur, however, for it was too nervous to move. The crowd looked at it and blinked, waiting for something to happen but there was no result.
The first round came in pretty quickly and Y and her Sylveon were the first to perform again. The Flyer commanded her Pokemon to use Disarming Voice and the onlookers somehow had hearts appearing in their eyes.
However, one of them was trying to control himself.
I mustn't... not like them... X struggled, closing his eyes. He didn't expect to react with the people watching this contest, but yet, here he was. It was a good thing Kalos didn't have this sort of entertainment. He would lose his mind if that was the case.
"I can't even tell who is cuter now. At first, I thought it was Veevee but now, I'm not so sure," Trevor observed. He also had hearts in his eyes. X wondered how that was possible.
Tierno nodded. "Well, this isn't the cuteness category for nothing."
The next round came in with Poochyena performing its cutest Play Rough, but it didn't leave the audience as impressed as before. Veevee performed next with a Disarming Voice and it, too, didn't impress the audience that much.
In the judging section, Sapphire turned her eyes at her boyfriend. She breathed. "Focus, Ruby," she advised, making her boyfriend chuckle.
"You know me too well, love," he responded with a wink. Sapphire tried to control her blush and just looked at the Skitty using its most adorable attract move.
"Ya see, this is why is why we can't be judging a contest together: ya get so distracted easily," she reprimanded with an irked tone. She had a feeling he would reply something like she was 'cuter' than the Pokemon. She heard him chuckle even louder and she braced herself.
"Can't help it that my girlfriend is the cutest one in this building."
The blush on Sapphire's cheeks increased tenfold. She expected that response but how come she was still speechless and surprised?!
The last round ended with a Facade, leaving everyone in the room clapped at the magnificent show. Lisia went to the center of the stage with the contestants behind her.
"What an amazing performance from all these cute Pokemon! Please, give me a moment to get the final results from the judges and—oh!"
"Here ya go," Sapphire handed her the envelope and went back to her seat once Lisia received it.
"That was quick. I knew our dear Champion was reliable," Lisia giggled and the crowd followed. She opened the piece of paper in her hand and smiled. "Well, before I announce the winner, let's look at the screen behind us to see who won each round!"
The screen behind the host and the contestants turned white, gesturing the people that it was working.
"The primary judging was so close!" Lisia exclaimed. "Every Pokemon did their best by being their cutest selves, but Y and Veevee won that round."
The screen showed the contestant's photos and what seemed to be their scores that looked like a health bar in a video game underneath. Y got the most ones but the rest were almost close to her score.
"Next was the secondary judging! It was an intense performance to see who was the cutest; we couldn't tell who would actually win since their scores were soo close, but in the end, Y and Veevee won because of their high score from the primary judging. Congratulations, Y and Veevee! You're today's winner of the Normal Rank Cute Category!"
The crowd went wild when the spotlight was placed under Y and Veevee.
Y blinked while Veevee enjoyed the attention. The Sylveon ran in circles whilst its trainer was still having a hard time processing everything. They...won…? They actually won?! She didn't expect it, honestly. She was having so much fun with her Sylveon that she didn't notice that she actually won a Pokemon Contest, and it was her first time to boot!
"Congrats, Y-ey!" Shauna congratulated and gave her a big hug. Her Skitty went closer to the Sylveon and smiled. Both Pokemon started chasing each other and the crowd just commented an 'aww' from how lovely it was.
Y went out of her trance and her arms returned the embrace. She grinned. "Thanks, Shauna! Although, I didn't expect it."
"Are you kidding?" Shauna removed herself from their hug. "No need to be humble! Go on and brag about your win! If Mr. Ruby can do then so can you!"
Y laughed at her friend's reply. She did have a point, but she wasn't as boastful as Ruby.
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"Oh boy!" Tierno shouted and grabbed a piece of meat. He was drooling, as he observed the beautiful, luscious meat in front of him. "This is what I needed after watching that contest!" he declared and chowed down. Everyone gave him an odd look. As far as X, Trevor, and Emerald were concerned, Tierno was eating a bag of chips during the contest performance. They also thought that the contest didn't last for that long. It was around 45 minutes or so.
"Why are we eating here again?" Emerald asked, looking at his own plate. There were fried fish and chips on it. It looked appetizing but he wasn't really hungry.
"Well, we're here to celebrate," Ruby said, grabbing his own food. "Y won so Sapphire and I thought we should eat here."
"I'm not paying for it," Emerald added and grabbed a chip.
"Nah, it's fine," Sapphire reassured, swallowing her meal. "I'll pay for all of it. I don't mind."
"Good," Emerald grinned, his mood promptly changed from a sour one to a sweet one. He keenly ate his food like Tierno, making Ruby gave him a 'you got away from this one for now' look.
The Charmer sighed. He looked at Sapphire who was peacefully eating her meal. She was a messy eater at first but now, she eats quite elegantly. He didn't know if he taught her too much table manners or the fact that she was just pretending to eat like a feral animal to get rid of her former self. Though he admits that the way she eats when they were reunited was kind of cute. Of course, he wouldn't tell it in front of the kids and Emerald.
"Did you see how Y-ey won?!" Shauna asked her friends. She didn't seem disappointed when she lost the contest despite her huge interest in it. "She and Veevee were so cute! Who knew Y-ey has a hidden talent in contests!"
"Not just Y, but X did pretty wicked too at the Battle Palace!" Tierno said between bites. "Salamé sure knows what it's doing!"
"I really can't wait to see how gym battles work in Hoenn!" It was now Trevor's turn to talk. He was looking at his phone while eating his own meal. "I heard gym battles in every region may be similar, but you can still differentiate them."
"Yeah, that's what I heard too!" Y added with a smile.
Ruby smiled as he observed the five friends. They seemed very close and it felt like they could talk about almost anything they wanted. He and Sapphire were definitely close, even before he started asking her out, but among him, Sapphire, Emerald, and even Wally and Lisia, they didn't have that same kind of 'closeness' as those five. He couldn't do anything about it, but he was glad to see those five getting along so well.
"Ya see it too, huh," Sapphire asked and placed her glass back on the coaster.
Ruby chuckled and held her hand under the table. "Yeah, they seem really close."
"Yeah," Sapphire agreed. "I find that really nice. I really hope they remain friends for as long as it takes."
Ruby gave her an endearing look. He wished the same for their relationship, and maybe it would go beyond that in the near future.
Their ages were from the Pokespe Timeline I made which is based on the canon evidence we got so far. You can find that post on Tumblr or you can DM me for the google docs version.
First time writing a contest performance and boy I'm tired.
PS: Don't ask me where the meat and the fish came from.
Big shoutout to Myth for the feedback! Thank you so much!