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Chapter 30: Booth Lady is Mean

"-so be sure to tune in three days from now for this city's twelfth annual Pokemon Contest!" the TV announcer concluded.

Sitting on the couch across from the television set were a five year old boy and a ten year old girl. On the boy's lap lay a Zigzagoon, eagerly staring at the screen. The boy too had a look of wonder on his face. "Wow, did you see that hyper beam used in the commercial?!" Sam asked.

"I'm sitting here with you, how could I not see?" Claire responded.

"You could've been looking at the ceiling," Sam said. "So, what do you think about the Pokemon Contest?"

"Me? I don't really care much for it. It looks like just a way to show off your pokemon."

"Aren't you going to show off your pokemon when you become a trainer?"

"Trainers show off their pokemon through battle. I doubt any other battler would care how much my pokemon's attack sparkles."

Sam decided to take this opportunity to ask his sister a question, "Clair, what starter pokemon will you take with you on your journey?"

Clair thought about it for a good while before answering. "I don't know."

Sam's jaw dropped, "You don't know yet?! But you're almost a trainer!"

"Is it my fault that our city is smack dab in the middle of four other regions that our city alone gets the privilege of choosing from twelve starters?" she responded. "It's really hard to choose." Another commercial for the contest appeared on screen, "Don't they advertise this enough?"

"You were thinking about your answer for fifteen minutes. This is another set of commercials." Sam looked down at Ziggy as she shifted her position to get more comfortable. He noticed how her face was brightening up at the commercial. "What is it, girl? Do you wanna enter the contest?"

"Zig!" she responded cheerfully.

"Hey, Claire, Ziggy wants to enter the contest!" Sam said.

"What makes you think she really wants to? Maybe she was just saying something else and you misunderstood."

A little frown appeared on the five year old's face, "What makes you think she doesn't?"

Clair gave a sigh, "Does it really matter? If you want to enter the contest, then go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

This made Sam happy, "Thanks Claire!"

"You don't have to thank me, just quit hugging me!"

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"BARF!!!"

Jonathan's head was hanging over the toilet bowl, his face as green as spinach. There are sick, sick things on the internet, he thought to himself as the banana he ate that morning exited from where it had entered. Once done, he headed back to the computed, turning it off in disgust.

Hearing a tapping on the window, he went to answer it. "Hey, Ziggy," Jonathan greeted.

"Hello, Jonathan," Ziggy responded as she got off Jonathan.

"I take it you've picked up some of Ember's traits, like Rocky?"

"Well, it's fun. You'd like it too if you could tackle yourself," Ziggy said. She then remembered why she was there to begin with, "Hey, Jonathan, I'm gonna be in a pokemon contest!"

Jonathan stood there for a while. "What's a pokemon contest?"

Ziggy gave Jonathan a 'have you been sleeping under a rock' look. "It's only the thing most talked about on the TV!" she exclaimed. "How could you not know about it?!"

"I know what it is," Jonathan said, "I just don't remember fully."

"Oh. Well, it's a contest between pokemon that determine which one best suits the category," Ziggy explained, remembering as much as she had learned on TV. "The contest itself has three parts. One is where you dress up, another is where you dance, and the last is where you show off your moves."

"Ah, now I remember," Jonathan said. As a human, he didn't go to many contests. They didn't interest him much. "Good luck with that."

A tapping at the window signaled that another of his friends had arrived. "I'll go get that," he said as he left for the window.

Upon opening it, he was surprised that he wasn't pounced on. His horns felt a feeling of self-restraint coming from Rocky who was in front of him. Jonathan guessed that he was restraining himself so as not to make himself look like an idiot in front of Nutty.

"Hiya, Jonathan!" Rocky said, "I brought Nutty along to help you train!"

"Train?" Ziggy asked.

"I heard it from Ember yesterday!" Rocky began. "He and Jonathan were being attacked by a Primeape, and just when it seemed like they were about to lose, Jonathan used his powers to drive it off!"

"Well, technically, the Porygons did most of the work," Jonathan pointed out.

"So how was it like?" Rocky asked, "When you teleported, did you go through some sort of tunnel of bright light, or did you just pop in front of Jennifer? Oh, and did you make the Primeape fly around with your psychic powers?"

"Young lord, you're overwhelming him with questions," Nutty interrupted. "If what your friend, Ember, said was true, then he's unable to use his powers at the moment. I doubt he remembers what it was like."

"Why wouldn't he remember?" Rocky asked.

"I learned somewhere that a Ralts's powers are amplified when its trainer or a loved one is in danger, which explains why he's unable to use them at the moment," Nutty finished.

"C'mon, Jonathan! I convinced Nutty to help you train with us in the woods!" Rocky exclaimed.

"Alright, I guess," Jonathan said, stepping out the window, "Jenny's alright with me going out without a trainer due to the fact that I always turn up alright."

"Oh!" Ziggy gasped, remembering something, "I've got to go with my buddy to sign up for the contest! They won't let Sam enter without a pokemon, so I've got to hurry and get to him before he leaves!" She jumped out the window and quickly climbed down the tree, heading in the direction of her home.

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Sam was waiting in front of his home. Not having found his Zigzagoon anywhere, he came to the realization that she had gone to play with her friends for a while.

"(Sigh) How long are we going to wait?" Claire asked.

"Just a little while longer, Ziggy should come back any moment now."

Hearing footprints coming from behind him, he turned around just as Ziggy jumped into his arms. "Zigzagoon!" she yelped in happiness at the thought of getting to be one of the pokemon that got to play in the contests.

"Finally!" Claire sighed, "Let's get going now!"

There was a small crowd of people formed in front of the contest hall. Some had their pokemon out in the open to show them off, but most had them safely stored in their poke balls.

Claire was having a tough time keeping track of Sam in the crowd, as he kept wandering to and fro trying to find as much pokemon as he could that he'd never seen before.

"Sam!" Claire called out, "the entry booth's over there!" she yelled, pointing towards a woman in a booth with a line in front.

Sam ran up to Claire, grabbed her hand, and dragged her to the line with him. "Mommy told you not to leave me alone," Sam said, thinking his sister had forgotten.

"I remember, there's no need to remind me," she told him.

They didn't have to wait very long until they got to the front of the line. It wasn't really that long, mostly due to the fact that most contestants had signed up days before the contest had begun.

"Hello, little girl," the woman said with a fake smile plastered on her face, "May you please sign your name and your pokemon's name here to enter the contest?"

"Don't call me a little girl!" Claire snapped, "I'm ten years old, that's old enough to go on a pokemon journey unattended!"

"I'm sorry, young girl. I didn't know you would be such a brat about it," she said, the fake smile still on.

"Did you just call me a brat?!"

"Yes I did, I've been stuck in this booth for eight hours for the past ten days, so I don't give a damn if you're offended or not. You may address all complaints to the phone number printed on the side of this booth, but I doubt they would do anything to solve your problems as they seem to do nothing but give a short one minute talking to to the person who caused the problem." The woman said, fake smile across her face.

Ignoring the intense feeling of punching her in the face, Claire got the slip of paper that needed to be signed and handed it to Sam. "Oh, I'm sorry, little girl, (angry glare) but the boy is too young to enter any pokemon contest."

"What?!" Sam exclaimed in disbelief.

"Zig?!" Ziggy exclaimed in disbelief.

"You're too young to enter pokemon contests," the woman repeated, smile on her face. "You have to be old enough to be a trainer in order to enter a contest."

"But Ziggy wants to enter the contest!" Sam protested.

"Sorry, if you have a problem, then you can complain to the number printed on-"

"Yeah, we know. The side of the booth," Claire interrupted. "C'mon, Sam, let's go home now."

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Ziggy laid on Sam's lap, her face gloomy. Sam was petting her in an attempt to cheer her up with one hand. His other was holding the sandwich Claire had bought him in an attempt to cheer him up.

"It's alright, Sam," Claire said, "One day, you'll be old enough to enter contests, and I'm sure you'll win lots of ribbons!"

"It's not that, Claire," Sam said, "I don't really want to enter the contests that much."

"Then why'd you drag me all the way to the contest hall if you didn't want to compete?"

Sam kept looking at Ziggy's face, which was close to crying, "Because Ziggy wanted to go."

"Oh," Claire muttered.

They went on eating for a few more minutes before they decided to leave. They went up to the counter to pay the bill before they left.

"Hello, I trust you had a good meal here at the Pineco Café?" said the brunette waitress behind the counter.

"Don't you usually take orders?" Claire asked.

"Our cashier was out sick today, so I'm filling in. Anyways, your meal will cost 5.99 plus tax."

As Claire handed her the money, the waitress looked over to Sam, "What's wrong, little boy?" she asked.

"I can't enter the pokemon contest because I'm too young," Sam answered, "I don't really care that I don't get to enter, I'm sad because my pokemon wanted to enter."

"So you don't care if you don't enter as long as you Zigzagoon does?"

"That's right."

"Then why don't you get your sister to enter instead?" the waitress suggested. Claire suddenly dropped the credits she was handing over in shock as Sam's face lit up like a lighthouse.

"That's a great idea, miss!" Sam exclaimed.

"M-me?! C-contest?!"

"Is something wrong?" the waitress asked.

"N-no, nothing's wrong, ma'am. We'll be leaving now."

"Wait, have this," she handed Claire a pink ribbon she had been wearing on her head to keep her hair from getting loose. "A pink ribbon may help you win the contest if you're entering in the cute category."

Claire took the ribbon, "Cute category?"

"It's one of the five categories. I think your Zigzagoon may be best for it," she explained, "Unlike someone I used to know, I watch them a lot."

"Th-thanks, I guess…." Claire then took Sam's hand that wasn't holding Ziggy and dragged him out of the café.

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"You'll really enter Ziggy?!" Sam asked in joy.

"N-no!" Claire yelped. Sam's smile left his face, "I'm sorry, but I don't like contests! I want to be a trainer, not a coordinator!"

Sam was about to cry, before someone's voice asked, "Did you say contest?"

Sam and Claire turned to see a girl about Claire's age. She was dressed in a way that suggested she listened to heavy metal. You know, with the spiked bands and the black fingernails. "So you're entering the contest too, huh?" she began.

"Um, actually-" the girl put up her hand in a 'be quiet' sort of manner.

"Please, don't start with that 'good luck, may the best coordinator win' nonsense. I get sick of hearing it from all the newbies," she said, "So what pokemon are you using?"

"She's using Ziggy!" Sam blurted out before Claire could say she wasn't entering.

The girl stared at Ziggy for a while before bursting out in laughter, "You can't seriously be planning on entering with a Zigzagoon that small? How old is it, three months?!"

"Shut up, girl," Clair snapped, stopping the girl's laughter, "I'm not even entering!"

"Good thing, too. You'd never stand a chance against me in a contest!"

"Like I would care. I plan on becoming a trainer, not a coordinator."

"Well, coordinators are trainers too, and I'm probably a much better one, since I do more than just battle."

"What do you mean 'better trainer?!" Claire asked, "I bet I could beat you in a battle!"

"You wanna bet?" the girl asked, taking a poke ball from her belt.

Claire suddenly felt very stupid, "Um… I don't have a pokemon yet…."

Now the girl really felt like laughing, "Hahaha, I knew I was better than you! Even if you had a pokemon, I'd beat you at both battles and contests!" The girl turned to leave, "My name's Ariel, by the way. Look for it on TV, I'm sure you'll find it listed as first place winner!" Claire breathed in deeply before turning to Sam.

"So you're sure she wants to enter a contest?" she asked.