I was in extremely high spirits as I headed home. There was a skip to my step and a song in my voice. I couldn't remember being this happy in my entire life. I threw open my front door and squealed, "Mom! I just caught a Dragonair! . . . Sort of," I muttered under my breath.

A familiar male face turned around from the kitchen table to smile at me. "DraggyWaggy, right?" Nick asked. I nodded excitedly and released her from my Pokeball. Mom set down the plate of quesadillas she had been holding and walked towards me in awe.

DraggyWaggy shied away from her and tried to hide behind me. I giggled nervously and shook my head at my mother. "Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered. "I must have scared it. Aren't these creatures extremely rare?"

I nodded, kneeling to stroke my friend behind the wings. "Yep," I said proudly. "It's a shame they're not more common. They're so freaking pretty. . ."

"Danni," my mom said warningly at my "language". I merely rolled my eyes and continued to scratch.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Nick distractedly.

He shrugged. "Your mom invited me to dinner. She said she wanted to catch up with us on everything from the past few years."

I glanced at my pouting mother guiltily. It was true that I hadn't visited much, besides to refuel for visiting new regions. When I would visit, we would exchange basic conversations ("How have you been?" "Great." "Have you had enough food?" "Plenty." "Did you catch anything?" "Oh, yes. A Jigglypuff." "Have you been doing your schoolwork?" "Of course, Mom, of course. I'm managing A's as I gain badges. . ." "Oh. Good, good."), but not much. When I told Mom that I was visiting for an extended period, she nearly died of happiness.

"So, Danni, are you thinking about using your new Pokémon in the Pokémon Contest?" Nick asked, grabbing for a slice of quesadilla.

"Contest? Nick, Johto doesn't have contests," I said with a little laugh.Nick shook his head and took a bite out of the quesadilla. I watched him chew and realized just how hungry I was, so I sat down at the table with the two of them. DraggyWaggy slithered over by my heels and nestled in the soft carpet. When Nick was done chewing, he grinned. "Actually, Johto is just starting its own contest league. And one of the halls will be right here, in Blackthorn."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, great. Just what we need, Johto kids growing up in gender segregation."

"Danni. . . " Nick started.

"No, I will not shut up. It's ridiculous! It's as if females can't be trainers anymore! I will not stand for it," I nodded curtly and took a bite out of the quesadilla, letting the grease and spices fill my mouth. Ah, if there's one thing I missed about home, it was the constant Easy Food. Nothing the Pokémon Centers served could beat good, old fashioned, microwavable junk.

"Forget that crap," Nick muttered. My mom gave him a quick glare, but he too ignored it. "I think you should try contests, maybe just one, just to see what it's like. You can't just diss something without giving it a chance. Besides, Dragonair would kick a—butt at the appeals."

I glared at him and continued to eat my quesadilla, but inside, his words churned through my brain. I imagined DraggyWaggy appealing with outstanding attacks: outrage, dragon rage, dragon dance. . . Anything unique, anything cool. The crowd went wild; the judges looked satisfied as they marked their numbers. At the end of the contest, DraggyWaggy was issued a master rank cool ribbon. It was an amazing day dream. It made coordinating seem almost as awesome as real battles.

I nearly slapped myself for thinking such things. Nobody seemed to notice that I was acting strangely though, so I continued to eat my quesadilla. But I was hatching a plan. . .