With all this buildup, it's finally time for Sango's performance! She's worked hard, but she stumbled in thinking about what to do for the Cuteness Competition. Is Sango cute? I think a lot of people think so, the question is whether or not she can show it! Remember to review!

KedharS: Sango would kind of bomb as an idol lol.

Thunder Fire: One of my all-time favorite episodes, back when Pokemon anime was really creative and original.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Glad this chapter could make your day a little better.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: K-Pop is definitely something to aspire to.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 744

The mood of the crowd was uproarious as Lila and Darla finished their song, the Milotic Dome shaking with their shouts and applause. They ended on an amazing finale, posing for their cheering fans with big smiles on their faces.

"Thank you all soooooo much for your cheers!" Lila cooed.

"It really means the world to us that you're here today," Darla agreed, winking at the crowd and giving them a thumbs' up.

"Well, that was an amazing show," Kanone applauded. "Truly well-done, I think you two were simply adorable."

"See, Darla?" Lila smirked, turning to her partner. "Kanone called us 'adorable'. Not cool, 'adorable', meaning cute! So Kanone thinks we… that is to say, I, am cute!"

Darla looked miffed. "He was enamored with my charms, of course," she scoffed, turning her head to the side.

More performance. More lies. Truthfully neither girl gave a damn what Kanone Harker thought about them, but since their roles were to play as starstruck pop idols, they would pretend to have cute little crushes on him. So long as they didn't go too overboard and their obsessive fans didn't snap and get upset with them, of course.

"I agree, I think that was an excellent performance, showing just how talented those two are, not just at singing, but at dancing, acting, drawing in the crowd, all sorts of things necessary for Pokemon Idols," Ian agreed. "I think in my eyes, they're currently leading. What do you think, Akira?" He asked, turning to the last judge to see what he thought.

"I'm not a fan of pop idols," Akira scowled.

Ian wasn't quite sure why Akira had agreed to be a judge for this contest if he was just going to be a buzzkill like this and talk down on everyone's performances. But he wasn't going to rock the boat, so he just laughed it off with a smile and a shrug.

"I think that was a marvelous performance, thank you, ladies!" Lukas said, walking onstage and applauding the two of them. "Let's give them another round of applause!"

The audience clapped and cheered for Darla and Lila as the girls took another bow, and headed off the stage.

"Now, after that double performance, our next competitor is going to find that she has a tough act to follow," Lukas mused. "What she do? But knowing a girl as clever as her, getting first place in the Cleverness Competition, I'm sure that she'll think of something! So without further ado, let me present Sango Akana!"

The crowd clapped, and no one clapped as hard as Sango's friends. Sango walked onstage, but to everyone's surprise she wasn't wearing her dress anymore. She had changed that ensemble out for something else.

Her old Pokemon Ranger uniform from the brief period she had been stationed in Galar. Everyone was surprised by that. The other surprise was that, unlike the other girls, Sango had come out with a pokemon, her Castform.

"What's she wearing that for?" Cynthia asked, confused. "It's not that cute at all."

Indeed, while Sango's shorts would reveal her legs, and her orange crop top would reveal a lot of her arms and her midriff, the black shirt and tights she wore underneath them gave her outfit a significant amount of modesty.

Cynthia was disappointed, but she was more curious than disappointed.

"I mean, she is a ranger," Maddi murmured. "I suppose it seems fitting… that annoying MC guy did say that the competitors would be showing off their own form of 'cuteness' after all, so for Sango, maybe that's her cuteness?"

It was the most sense Maddi could make of things, not that she was that invested. Cynthia looked at her in awe, though.

"Oh, yeah, that's totally gotta be it!" She gushed, nodding her head vigorously. "It's Sango, after all, she's definitely the cutest when she's acting all tough and energized, it's her boyish charms showing through!"

Maddi raised her eyebrow, surprised. She knew that Cynthia was interested in girls, but she never thought that would extend to Sango.

…Maddi really hoped Cynthia didn't take that kind of interest in her…

Sango nodded to Lukas, who vacated the stage. Then she turned back to the audience, a bold smile on her face as she puffed her chest out, holding her head up high. "Hello, everyone!" She called, waving to the audience. "Today, I'm going to show you something that a lot of you probably don't get a chance to see very often!"

Cynthia nodded encouragingly, this was a good sign! Alcea and Olivia's performances had been astounding, but in the end they had come out and performed. Even Olivia barely addressed the audience, only saying she would be delivering a soliloquy. And while that perfectly fit the tone for her performance, Lila and Darla had really raised the bar by drawing interactions out of their fans, and to Cynthia's delight it seemed like Sango was doing the exact same thing!

"I'm going to show you…" Sango began, pulling her capture styler off of the pouch on her waist, "…how a Pokemon Ranger uses a poke assist!"

"Oh, wow, really?" Kitty asked, her eyes widening. She leaned forward in her seat eagerly, and Cynthia found herself doing the same. Cynthia knew that Sango loved all that ranger stuff, but now that it was being brought up, she realized that she'd never actually seen Sango do any ranger stuff, not really. Sure, she'd subdued some wild and rampaging pokemon, but things she'd heard about like target clears and poke assists, those were completely foreign to her.

The thought that Sango would be showing off some of those was getting her excited! Cynthia began to fidget.

"Still, though, wasn't this supposed to be a competition about showing off your own talents?" Kate scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Why's she using her pokemon, huh? I thought she was supposed to be making herself stand out."

"Hush!" Cynthia shushed her. "Sango knows what she's doing!"

"Definitely," Julia said, nodding in agreement. "Yo, Sango, go for it!" She called.

Sango didn't hear their voices, but she knew her friends were cheering for her right now. She lifted her capture styler and released the capture disk, which arced through the air and traced a path of light behind it.

"Now, Silver, you know what to do!" Sango said, nodding to her Castform.

"Castform!" Silver said, intensifying the lights in the stadium with his sunny day. He transformed into his sunny form again, and then turned into a shining ball of light.

"Okay, Castform Poke Assist! Go!" Sango shouted, Silver entering the capture styler like he would a pokeball. As he did, the capture styler burned a bright reddish-orange, and the track of light it drew in the sky turned scarlet as well. The heat in the dome intensified even more.

"Now, let's show 'em what we've got," Sango said, twirling her capture styler excitedly, spinning on her heel.

It was quite a sight to see. Like a conductor leading an orchestra, Sango guided the capture disk with the antenna of her capture styler, turning it this way and that. She made loop de loops and zigzags, showing off just how much control she had over the disk, and as anticipation grew, she finally she showed the real use of a poke assist.

Above her head, she twirled the capture styler quickly and the disk followed along, circling around above her and connecting a single loop.

And then, in the center of that crimson halo, a large firework exploded, raining tiny harmless embers down on the stage.

The audience gasped in shock, pulling back in their seats. Being a Pokemon Ranger was about a whole lot more than just drawing circles of light around pokemon! The power of Silver's Fire Poke Assist released powerful bursts of flame that burned the pokemon captured by the styler, it was quite a dangerous feat!

She grinned.

"Next, let's show them some more!" She cheered, flinging her styler to the side. The disk shot after it and she drew more loops in the sky, some small and some large, some in sequence one after the other without even a pause. Sango was a one-woman fireworks display, using Silver's natural abilities to light the stage up all on her own.

The audience was enraptured by the feat of dexterity and control. Sango had been right in her prediction that a lot of them hadn't really gotten much of a chance to see a poke assist up close and personal before, and while this wasn't EXACTLY the same as doing it in the wild where people could watch her capture something, it was a damn good approximation, showing off exactly how much skill one needed to be a Pokemon Ranger.

But that was just the start.

"Now, Silver, to me!" Sango said, flinging the antenna of the styler sharply down. The disk plummeted towards the stage, hitting the floor and shooting towards her like a top. Sango drew the capture styler up and twirled it like a baton through her fingers, and what happened next took everyone's breath away.

The capture disk and Silver began to circle her. That would have been a serious cause for concern under normal circumstances, of course. Capture stylers weren't toys. They were high-tech ranger equipment that could cause serious harm to people and pokemon. With a Fire Poke Assist like this, one loop around someone and they would need an emergency trip to the burn ward.

But Sango had the skill. Silver spiraled up around her, circling her body in a series of tight loops, Sango taking special care not to let the disk make contact with any part of the capture line; one wrong move and she would go up like a tinderbox.

The result ended up being a rising spiral circling around her at high speed, drawing closer and closer as it encircled her body, rising higher and higher past her head. And soon, Sango began running out of line as it soared up, up, over her arm, past her styler, and towards the ceiling of the dome where the sunny day attack still burned brightly.

Right where Sango had positioned it.

The spiral of burning light rose until it was circling the orb of brilliant sunlight, and then with a flick of her wrist Sango pointed the capture styler right at the audience, and winked.

The spiral collapsed in on itself, and everything exploded. Countless loops were formed, colorful bursts of light sparking up across the stage ceiling, including the orb of sunlight, which exploded in the most brilliant burst of them all. It was absolutely dazzling, and at the peak of it the capture disk released Silver, the small pokemon twirling through the air and landing on Sango's head as the capture disk slotted back into place on the styler.

As glistening shards of blazing light tumbled down around her like diamond dust, Sango took a bow, returning her styler to her waist.

The crowd went wild, and Cynthia was cheering louder than anyone.

"That was amazing, Sango!" She exclaimed. "Absolutely amazing!"

"Way to go, girl!" Julia cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted.

Most surprising of all was that the timid Nikita and Kitty were getting in on the cheering, giving shouts of support and amazement aimed at their friend.

Even Kate gave her some begrudging claps. She was loathe to admit it, but Sango had put on a fine performance.

"Wow, wasn't that an amazing show of rangering? Rangerienteering? …I don't know," Lukas admitted, walking onstage and applauding Sango as she took another bow. "Let's see what our judges had to say about it!"

Lukas turned to the judges while Sango kept her eyes forward.

"I think that was a marvelous display of talent," Kanone said. "Pokemon Rangers are quite famous for their skills, and she exhibited a great showing for someone who's still a student. It really got me excited for her future."

"Definitely," Ian nodded. "Sango really has a lot of energy and passion, and I think that showed in her performance. I found the whole thing rather cute, honestly."

"It was fine," Akira admitted. "She certainly did her best, and the performance was impressive." He had other kind thoughts, but he didn't want to share them. Mainly because they were about how the way Sango had seized the stage with her bold smile struck a little too close to home in reminding him about a certain someone.

Sango stood tall, but didn't thank the judges. As eager as she was to embrace what they had to say about her, she knew that it would look a little tasteless to turn to them like a needy Growlithe. Right now, the important thing was putting on a good show, and like Olivia had told her during intermission, a big part of that was knowing when to stand tall in the spotlight and make it your own.

There was a lot that she had learned from Olivia that she was excited to show off to everyone, the Empress had been quite an excellent source of information.

"Sango, your problem is that you're trying way too damn hard to be my kind of cute," Olivia had told her.

Sango didn't understand what that meant. "Huh?"

Olivia sighed. "Don't you get anything about what Lukas said? This whole 'Cuteness Competition' thing? Cuteness is incredibly subjective."

Sango shook her head, she didn't get it, no.

"Okay, when you think about 'cute' what comes to your mind?" Olivia asked, sighing again.

"Uh… cute pokemon, I guess?" Sango said. "You know, like adorable Clefairy and Jigglypuff, and stuff like Eevee and Skitty. Pokemon that just make you go 'awwwww!' and want to give them a big old hug, you know?"

"Yeah, I definitely get that," Olivia said, nodding. "But do you remember what pokemon I use for my Cuteness Contests?"

Sango searched her thoughts and remembered, and then she made a face.

"You use a Slowbro, right?" She confirmed.

"Yep! Good old Ren!" Olivia laughed, nodding in agreement. "Now, when you look at him, do you see a cute pokemon?"

"Uh…" No, frankly, Sango did not. "I guess… to some people?" She asked, Kate's face flashing through her mind.

Olivia nodded. "Exactly. Different people find different pokemon cute. You know that little speck that clings to Alcea Vermeil, Kate Nomia?" Olivia said, casually dissing Sango's friend. She tried not to let it get to her.

"What about her?" Sango asked cautiously.

"She thinks Poison type pokemon are cute, even though a lot of people don't," Olivia reminded her. "That's just how things are. Different people think different things are cute. That can be pokemon, people clothes, anything."

"Yeah, I kind of get that," Sango said, nodding. "But… what does that have to do with me?" She asked. She was still confused about that.

"Well, it's like this. I'm sorry to tell you, Sango, but you aren't going to get anywhere trying to appeal to people by being cute," Olivia said. Her words stung Sango, and she tried hard not to look hurt, but probably failed. Olivia held up her hand. "Wait. Let me explain what I mean by that, okay? I'm not trying to be rude."

Sango didn't think Olivia had to try very hard to be rude in the first place, but held her tongue and nodded timidly.

"Let's get back to Ren. Slowbro are far from what most people consider cute," Olivia explained. "And yes, it would be fine to use a more 'traditionally' cute pokemon, but the goal of my contest performance is to show the audience just how cute I can make him, by using this thing called gap moe."

Sango was baffled by that. "G-Gap moe? What's that?" She asked.

"It's when someone or something acts in a way we don't expect, causing a contrast. That difference between our expectations causes us to find those things cute. Think about it like this. You know Aya? Can you imagine her being all bouncy and cutesy like, say, Lila?" Olivia asked.

Sango tried to picture Ayame in a frilly pink dress rocking on her feet, being all giggly and airy like a vapid bimbo.

She threw up in her mouth a little.

"…Please don't make me picture that," Sango groaned.

"Exactly, right? It just doesn't work. Hence why Aya focuses more on a style that plays to her strengths, by going cool and bold," Olivia said, shrugging her shoulders. "Now, that doesn't mean to say that she can't be cute, either, that's the thing. She's actually one of the cutest girls I know. And in a dress? God, heart attack! Sometimes I wish she'd dump that stupid Blake and give ME a chance!"

Sango wasn't sure she liked this line of conversation.

"But she has to pull it off in a very specific way," Olivia explained. "So, do you know when Aya's at her cutest?"

Sango shook her head. "Cute" wasn't really something she paid much attention to, let along in her friends.

Olivia smirked. "When she's getting all embarrassed and flustered, of course," she laughed. "That's something Blake picked up on right away. When Aya loses her cool, that handsome demeanor falls away and reveals her inner awkwardness, as she frantically tries to make the best of things and stay in control of the situation. And that's the most adorable thing in the world."

Sango had seen that several times, and she had to admit, it did seem kind of cute. Like watching a Growlithe giving big frantic puppy dog eyes.

"That right there, that's gap moe," Olivia explained. "Now, if you had to think of a friend of yours who you considered cute, who would it be? Who's your cutest friend, boy or girl?"

Sango paused to think. She'd never really spent much time on it, but with the question posed to her, there was really only one right answer.

"Kitty."

"Yup, that's just traditional cuteness right there," Olivia said, nodding. "Small and meek and adorable, like a little pokemon you just want to hug and tell everything is alright."

Sango definitely got that vibe off the girl more than a few times.

"So I think that's where you're stuck," Olivia said. "Your thoughts about 'cute' are too shallow, Sango, and if you try to imitate, say, Kitty's cuteness, or even Lila's, or mine, it won't go well for you." She paused. "Heck, even copying Aya's, I don't think the flustered look would be what really makes you shine, even if it's generally cute on most anybody."

"So what should I do?" Sango asked.

"Well, find the way you stand out the most, obviously," Olivia winked. "What's going to make that audience just melt their hearts when they see you? What's something that that draws people to you? There's all sorts of cute, Sango, you just gotta find the kind that fits you best. Good luck!"

Olivia had finished touching up Sango's makeup. She rose from the couch and gave her a wink.

"Olivia, why are you telling me all this?" Sango asked, confused. "And my makeup, too, why would you want to help me? I don't get it."

Olivia swatted her lightly on the head. "Because this is a competition. A competition isn't any fun if it's not a competition. I want to see you do your best. And if I lose, then I lose. It just means that I could have done better," she shrugged. "In the meantime, I'll leave it up to you to figure out just how cute you really are."

And Sango had. She was at her cutest when she was all smiles and energy, doing her best and showing off to everyone! Sango sad Marion's cute smile in her mind as she performed on that stage, knowing now why she found herself admiring her friend so much.

Just like her… I like showing everyone my passion! And if there's something that makes me who I am, it's this! She decided, accepting the cheers and applause heartily.

Sango pulled off a marvelous performance! However, will that be enough for her to seize the lead? And even if she does come out ahead of Darla and Lila… "miss gap moe" herself is coming up next! And what will Ayame do for her performance, I wonder?