Hi everyone! The second chapter of my fanfic is up. Yay! I've decided to combine what I previously had as many short chapters into one longer but still managable chapter. that means, if you read my opening chapter when I first published it, its had another few thousand words added, so you might want to check that out. As always, I hope you enjoy this new edition to my story and please leave me a review. good or bad, I just want to know people are actually enjoying this (or not, as the case may be). Next chapter shoud be up in a week or so as it is just under the final review stages by my beta reader, L.P. See you all soon!
Chapter 2 - The Pokémon Ballet
Tristan and Cato took their seats in the VIP section of the audience – a thank you upgrade from Emily. Tristan wondered whether the soft plushy seats were going to be that useful right at the front of the stage, in what he deemed the 'wet-zone', but Cato didn't seem to mind and had nestled with his feet tucked under him next to his master. The VIP section was full, but it still seemed that Tristan and Cato were seated with the best view in the house. Tristan smiled, realizing of course that Emily had already reserved the seats for the two of them and the 'thank you' guise was just a way of avoiding the awkward pleasantries, as she would call them. Looking around, Tristan didn't seem to recognize anyone. The section was mainly filled with families of avid water Pokémon fans, but here and there the odd adult and younger trainer could be spotted relaxing in the velvet covered seats, the eager anticipation evident in their gazing eyes and broad smiles.
Looking round towards the rest of the stadium, it was obvious, as usual, that the ballet was a sell-out performance. Excited faces filled every available space in the contest hall and where there weren't seats, there were banners and flags waving and Pokéfans in varying costumes jumping excitably on the spot.
After a few minutes of scanning the room, the lights began to dim and spotlights scanned the contest hall floor. Echoing out of multiple speakers, a slightly nervous voice exclaimed "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls. Pokémon fans of all ages, welcome to the 14th quarterly Water Pokémon Ballet!" With that, all lights on the central stage came up and the hall began to shake. Opening from the centre, the floor split into two halves, retracting to reveal a giant glass tank with a rocky island in the middle. Slowly, the tank began to rise out of the ground revealing the rest of the aquatic scenery it contained before stopping about half way up the height of the hall. Even Tristan was taken aback and he had been coming to these shows for as long as Emily had been involved with them. She sure wasn't going to make things easy for herself for her first solo production.
The island that had been seen in the middle continued down through the tank, splitting near the bottom to create an inverted v-shaped tunnel, the centre of which was hidden and probably contained a connecting tunnel to the holding tanks in the rear of the facility. The floor of the watery stage was littered with rocks and boulders and aquatic plants with a large clam shell in the middle. The lights began to fade again as a spotlight focused on the entrances to the tunnel. A slow piece of music began to play over the speakers and gradually a school of Finneon emerged, forming themselves into the rough shape of a female form, flowing hair and billowy skirt included.
The school of navy and pink Pokémon swam around the tank in formation to make it appear that the female figure was dancing and the crowd exploded in cheer and applause. Even Cato had raised and tilted his head in response to the impressive display and was watching the performance intently. To his left, Tristan heard a small excited voice exclaim "Look mama! At the other entrance to the cave, there's something moving!" and adjusted his view accordingly. Sure enough, moments later, a school of Remoraid emerged in the form of a gentleman with a top hat and began to court the Finneon's female form by bowing and joining in a waltz.
The effect was incredible. Sure, the figures weren't always perfect and in the confusion of the twirling waltz the figures occasionally lost their shape, but on the whole, the Jet and Wing Fish Pokémon put on an amazing display. After a short waltz, the figures met in the centre of the tank and the male Remoraid bowed while the female Finneon curtseyed before leaning in for a kiss. The same boy from before began to squeal in his youthful disgust of anything romantic and Tristan quietly chuckled to himself. Before the two figures could touch however, a Mantine swam out from the tunnel and formed a privacy screen for the courting couple, a group of Luvdisc on its back forming a heart made from their heart-shaped bodies. The result was timed perfectly. The crowd screamed their approval, jumping from their seats with rounds of continued applause and cheers that echoed round the contest hall.
After the applause had died down, the schools of fish Pokémon swam back into the cave and the lights dimmed once again. Emily's voice, more confident this time and evidently happy with the way the first performance had gone, sounded over the loudspeaker. "Thank you, thank you, everyone. We are now about to start our main performance. This is a story of hardships, of solitude and abandonment, of fear and danger, of love and self-respect. Without further ado, please sit back and enjoy the Canalave Marine Reserve's performance of 'The Ugly Feebas!'". More cheering erupted at the mention of the favourite fairy tale but hushed immediately as a spotlight was raised on a pair of Luvdisc courting in the water.
The two Luvdisc swam together in an intricate weaving pattern, the male Luvdisc performing the attack Attract, circling his female companion with a flurry of pink and white hearts and slowing her movements. After catching up with the female, the male Luvdisc performed a Sweet Kiss move, delicately sending a kiss-laden love heart towards the female Luvdisc's cheek. Upon impact, the female Luvdisc did a comical somersault in the water and the two Rendezvous Pokémon swam down into the tunnel.
As the lights came up, a jingle of bells began to play over the music and both Luvdisc swam out of the tunnel, followed in tow by 5 smaller Luvdisc and in the rear, a solitary Feebas. The family of Rendezvous Pokémon proceeded to play in the water, however whenever the solitary Feebas came close, one of the smaller Luvdisc attacked it with a Water Gun, and the Fish Pokémon would retreat. This continued in the tank before the seven Luvdisc retreated into the tunnel, leaving the lonely Feebas dejected and alone.
Suddenly, the music changed. A threatening drum beat slowly rose to crescendo as the lights on the water changed from bright white to red. Around him, Tristan could see small children huddling closer to their parents, and even one small boy pulling his t-shirt over his eyes. Tristan smiled. Of course, this would be where Aquinas came in. The small Feebas continued swimming alone in the tank, seemingly unaware of the dangers the audience were preparing themselves for. Out of the tunnel slunk a large, serpentine shadow that lingered around the bottom of the tank. The snare drums started to thunder and with a blast of a few trumpets, the lights rose and in front of the tiny Feebas floated Tristan's Gyarados, its Intimidate threatening not only the small Fish Pokémon, but also all but the hardiest of audience members.
What ensued was an immense battle between the raging, hungry Gyarados and the fleeing Feebas. Gyarados would fire Hyper Beams and Hydro Pumps in the Fish Pokémon's direction, but the Feebas would manage to dodge the attacks by the millimetre each and every time, causing explosions of water in the tank that sent splashes of water over the closer members of the audience and a thin veil of mist to douse everyone else. As he squeezed the water from his hair, Tristan muttered something under his breath which probably translated as a bitter "I knew it".
The spectacle was intense to watch, every eye was glued on the terrified Feebas as it tried to escape its predatory foe. The pace of the music kept the audience on their seats, and although everyone knew how the fairytale ended, they all at that moment were praying for a miraculous and sudden escape for the poor Feebas. As the music reached another crescendo, the Feebas fled into the tunnel, the hungry Gyarados still hot on its tail. Suddenly, it seemed, the Gyarados was stuck. The Feebas had emerged from the tunnel unscathed, but in the middle still writhed the trapped Gyarados. Aquinas began to thrash his tail in an attempt to escape, loosening some rocks in the island and with a crash of cymbals, the rocks came tumbling down entombing the predator and saving the poor Feebas. The lights went down.
The interval. The crowd was on their feet, screaming their applause while a few of the hungrier patrons were already up the stairs heading to the concession stands. Tristan stood up and stretched his arms in front of him. Though the performance was breathtaking and kept him alert and fascinated, as soon as the lights went down, the sinking softness of the velvet chairs had their effect on his fatigue. He had been up all the previous night training with Aquinas for the show and every night for a week before that in Canalave library. Cato seemed to share the sentiment and stretched his paws out in front of the seat. "Ab-sol."
Smiling, Tristan handed his friend a poffin and rubbed his head in the usual position. "What say you and I go visit Aquinas and congratulate him on his performance?"
"Absol!" The two of them lifted themselves from their chairs (with great difficulty on Tristan's part) and headed backstage to the holding room. Tristan checked his Pokétch, 14:34, they had another 16 minutes until the second act started. That should be enough time.
Emily was backstage in the water when the two of them arrived, embracing her Pokémon for all their hard work, tears rolling down her eyes. "Guys, you were fantastic! Did you see the crowd? They loved you! I couldn't have asked for anything better. Aquinas, thank you so much for stepping in. You really saved us. With Calypso sick I didn't know what to do." Aquinas raised his head and let out a mighty roar, causing a few of the smaller water Pokémon to shrink away in fear. Emily giggled and turned to see Tristan and Cato entering the room. "Tristan! Cato! What did you think?"
"Ab-sol!" the disaster Pokémon bounded up to the tank and started communicating with Aquinas while Emily jumped down from the tank and threw her arms around Tristan. "Thank you, so much! Aquinas really saved the day!"
"He was pretty awesome, wasn't he?" Blushing slightly, Tristan rearranged his skewed bowtie to give him something to do in the awkward silence that occupied his embarrassed mind.
Emily proceeded to drag Tristan towards another of the tanks. "This is Galatea's first performance you know!" A young Lapras circled the tank, evidently nervous. "It would mean a lot to me if you could give her a little comfort."
"When did you catch a Lapras, Em?" Tristan put out his hand and started rubbing the blue plesiosaur-like Pokémon on its nose, before working his hand up to behind the creature's ear. Galatea started humming a pleasant tune and Tristan worked his hands over the Pokémon's face, trying to ease some of the worry away.
"I didn't really. She came into the reserve a few months ago with a damaged flipper and I nursed her back to health. There's been no news of her pod, so she decided to stay with me. I'm quite fond of her company, actually. She's really playful and hums the sweetest tunes." Emily joined in rubbing Lapras' nose and fed the Pokémon one of her favourite dry poffins. "You should head back to your seats now, Tristan. The second act is about to start."
Tristan nodded and called his Absol to his side. "We'll see you after the show, Em!"
Tristan arrived back in his seat just as the lights were beginning to go down, signaling the start of the second act. Cato rested his head on Tristan's shoulder, careful not to impale him with his sickle, "Absol". Without turning his head, Tristan scratched his friend under the chin and fed him a poffin. Eagerly, the Disaster Pokémon sat back in his seat and focused on the stage.
The lights dimmed as the lone Feebas emerged from the tunnel. Somewhat bigger now, the Fish Pokémon swam through the water, avoiding all other Pokémon in the tank as the lights changed colour with the seasons, from yellows to oranges, to reds to purples and finally to blue. The Feebas would now have to survive winter. On cue, Galatea and a Vaporeon entered the tank. They took it in turns firing Water Guns which their opposite would freeze with an Ice Beam, creating a constant barrage of icy obstacles for the Feebas to navigate. The music coming through the speakers was eerie and chilling and the blue lights shining through the water and ice did nothing to warm the mood. In a final pièce de resistance, the Vaporeon swam ahead and, swimming in a circular motion, fired a Hydro Pump which formed a perfect spiral around the Feebas. Galatea, in turn, froze the Hydro Pump causing the now coil of ice to close in on the weak Feebas. Defenceless and defeated by the weather, the Feebas retreated to the clam shell at the bottom of the tank and hid away.
The crowd applauded as the Vaporeon and Lapras took their exits. All eyes were now firmly set on the giant clam shell at the pool, the single spotlight increasing the anticipation. Slowly, warm lighting began to fill the stage and the sound of bells signified the arrival of spring. The clam shell crept open, inch by inch, and from inside a beautiful Milotic emerged, still unaware of its complete transfiguration.
On top of the island, Emily appeared, fishing rod in hand, depicting a young trainer searching for a new Pokémon. Many of the water Pokémon swam up to the surface to try and entice the trainer, but none could catch her eye. Emily, suddenly spying Milotic under the water, called for the Tender Pokémon to surface, which Milotic obeyed and swam up. Astonished by its beauty, all of the other Pokémon gave the Milotic room, which only fuelled the Milotic's sense of hideous shame and it tried to dive. However, in no mood to let the beautiful Pokémon escape, Emily threw a Pokéball at in an attempt to catch it. The Pokéball bounced off harmlessly and the Milotic turned round to face the young trainer.
Milotic made a melancholy cry and electronic boards around the contest hall translated the Pokémon's speech into text. "Don't try and mock me, young trainer. I know I am hideous, why would you want a Pokémon like me?"
Emily stepped back and laughed. "You aren't hideous; you are the most beautiful Pokémon I have ever seen! Look at your reflection in the water." The Milotic bent its head down and gazed. Staring back was not the ugly Feebas it had once been but the beautiful and strong Tender Pokémon it had evolved into. Milotic gave a joyful cry and Emily dived into the tank and swam up to the Pokémon. Throwing her arms around the Milotic's neck, she cried "Oh, beautiful, Milotic. I choose YOU!"
The lights dropped and crowd erupted simultaneously. The applause was deafening and there were even a few trainers wiping away the tears from their eyes. The show had been a phenomenal success. Every able person was standing on their feet, giving the performance the standing ovation it deserved and the lights rose to reveal Emily standing on the island with Vaporeon and Lapras bowing, while all the aquatic Pokémon had risen to the surface and were giving their bows too. The applause lasted several minutes, with several cries of "encore!" echoing round the walls.
Emily continued waving as the water Pokémon swam to the sides of the tank. Taking aim, they each let off a Water Gun attack that shot into the air and across to the far side of the tank. The spotlights swam through the air, highlighting the water jets in a multitude of colours as the music blared out for the finale and conclusion of the production. The lights went up and people began to leave their seats and head for the exits, excited children still pulling at their parents coats and talking about the spectacle they had just seen. Tristan alone sat in his chair and stared at the tank smiling. "What do you know? She actually pulled it off."
Standing nervously behind the barriers in front of the contest hall along with a few other well-wishers, Tristan stood waiting for Emily to emerge. He fumbled along his belt and pulled out one of his Pokéballs. Unlike the standard red and white Pokéballs, this device was black and white in colour, with golden lines adorning the black upper half. Holding the Ultra Ball to his forehead and tapping it with his index finger, Tristan sighed and thought about his actions. Would it be too much? Would it be too cheesy? Cato sat in front of his master and placed a paw on Tristan's foot. Looking up at Tristan, Cato nodded his head and gave an energetic "Absol!" to indicate his feelings towards the plan formulating in Tristan's mind.
"You don't think it will be too much, Cato?"
The Disaster Pokémon shook his head and looked towards the Ultra Ball in Tristan's hand. "Absol!"
Smiling, Tristan nodded his agreement and threw the Pokéball into the air. "Panacea, come out!" A white light erupted from the device and a Roserade materialised in front of them, shiny stars glittering around its body.
"Roserade!"
A lot of the crowd stared at the Pokémon, a little taken aback. Roserade wasn't exactly a rare Pokémon, but this one was different somehow, oddly coloured. Instead of the usual forest green colouration to the Pokémon's body, Panacea was a lighter, almost lime green. Furthermore, the bouquets of poisonous flowers that comprised her hands were purple and black as opposed to the common blue and red. An acne-ridden trainer blindly fumbled in his bag, taking out his camera, his eyes never once leaving the oddly coloured Pokémon. A few of the other people gathered followed suit and a barrage of flashes headed in the Pokémon's direction. Panacea saw the first flash and turned to the acne-faced trainer. "Roseade!"
The Bouquet Pokémon took an aggressive stance as if preparing for an attack and the young trainer shuffled back nervously, still clicking away at his camera in the process. Laughing, Tristan walked over and placed his hand on the young boy's shoulders. "Ha, it's alright. She won't attack. Panacea is just a bit of a poser, aren't you?"
The Roserade looked up and smiled, emitting a jolly "Roserade!" before changing her position to a different pose, though still equally threatening in the young trainer's eyes. While still sweating under his collar, the young trainer took Tristan's leave and approached the Shiny Pokémon with his camera clasped firmly in his hands. "D-d-do you mind if I take a few pictures, miss Panacea?"
"Roserade". The Bouquet Pokémon shook her head and smiled, indicating her willingness and indeed eagerness to be photographed. The acne riddled boy gave a small (though still noticeably embarrassing for everyone else present) jump for joy and started circling the Bouquet Pokémon, taking photos from every angle he could. Seeing as it was now seemingly safe to do so, soon the entire crowd joined in and before long there was a queue of people waiting to pose with the Roserade, either by her side displaying cute 'V' signs with their fingers, or, in a few braver cases, imitating the attack pose she was performing and pretending they were in a real fight.
The clock in front of the contest hall doors struck 5 and Tristan raised his arms to get everybody's attention. "I'm afraid I have to take Panacea away from you now, we have some work to do". This was met with universal groans and pleads of "just 5 more minutes!" from the surrounding crowd, but Tristan knew if he really wanted to impress Emily, it would have to be now or never. "Sorry guys, but we have got something to do. If you haven't finished, I'm sure Panacea won't mind posing some more if you meet us at the Pokémon Center after we've eaten. Let's say sometime around 7?" The student winked at his slightly vain Pokémon who was trying desperately to hide her overly keen eagerness at being a model again, and failing miserably at it. The young trainers grumbled slightly, kicking their shoes in the dirt but decided that an extra two hours to wait wouldn't be too bad and so they went back to their own conversations.
Turning to his grass and poison type friend, Tristan explained the plan that had been formulating in the back of his mind. "Panacea, as soon as the door opens and Emily walks out, I need you to shower her in petals using your Petal Dance attack. Don't make it too powerful or you might hurt her, just cover her in as many rose petals as you can, okay?" The Bouquet Pokémon smiled and nodded, preparing herself for the chance to help her master in his romantic conquests. Panacea raised her bouquet arms above her head and braced her right foot behind her, preparing to unleash her Petal Dance attack the moment the door opened.
At 5:07, the doors finally opened and Emily walked out of the building, her trademark windcheater tied around her waist. People turned and started cheering, applauding her for her outstanding debut. As soon as she had taken two steps out of the door, Panacea stepped back and threw herself into a pirouette, red blossoms pouring out of her bouquet hands and spiraling through their air, surrounding the oblivious Emily, as well as the rest of the crowd, in a shower of rose petals. Within moments, Panacea stopped spinning and focused all her energy in firing off as many petals as she could, their colours now ranging from red to pink and white, at an imaginary target about a metre above Emily's head. The flurry of flowers filled the air and rained down in a torrent of silken beauty. Tristan stepped out of the path and smiled sheepishly up at the girl in the rainstorm of flowers. "I couldn't find any roses in the florist to give you as congratulations, so I thought Panacea would help me out".
"Aha! Tristan, it's spectacular! Thank you. You too, Panacea." Emily began to twirl in the flurry of roses, her arms outstretched to catch the delicate petals on her skin. At the sudden, though well-deserved praise, the Roserade sent a final energetic burst of petals in the air, as high as she could send them. Bracing her legs into the ground, she then pushed her hands together and drew them apart slowing, forming a growing orb of pure green energy in the centre. Aiming the energy ball into the centre of a large clump of descending petals, Panacea leaned back, gritting her teeth, before sending the attack towards the flowers with all her might. Upon impact, the energy ball exploded in a dazzling spectacle of green and white sparkles as the flowers disintegrated into red, pink and white particles, evaporating with the excess energy in a natural firework display that was nothing short of beautiful. Awestruck, the crowd was silent for a few moments before erupting into a bout of applause and cheer that nearly rivaled that of the water ballet's.
Blushing further, Tristan ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and turned to his still mesmerised friend. "I guess Panacea likes to show off a bit, huh?"
Emily turned back to Tristan, her smile beaming from ear to ear and what were almost tears welling in her eyes. "Just a bit. You're one to talk though, Mr I-always-wear-a-bow-tie". Giggling, she proceeded to straighten out the wonky accessory and throw her arms around her friend. "Thank you, Tristan. Though I don't appreciate you trying to outshine me outside my own contest hall, it was lovely. Really lovely". Glad she could not see the rush of crimson that had filled his cheeks, Tristan leant his chin upon Emily's shoulder and relished in the moment's embrace.
Within seconds, the moment was over. With a high-pitched squeal directly leveled at his hear, Emily pushed Tristan aside and ran towards a previously unseen member of the crowd. "Oh, Arceus above! It's you! I can't believe you actually came!"
"Well, it was fun while it lasted." Tristan recalled his Roserade back into its Pokéball in a beam of red light as Cato rubbed up against his legs and let out a sympathetic whine. Tristan smiled meekly and pulled half a poffin from his pocket. Crouching down beside his Absol, he proceeded to feed Cato with his left hand whilst simultaneously rubbing the fur on his head with his right. "It's alright buddy. I got a hug, at least. There's always next time, right?" The Disaster Pokémon looked up at his trainer, his mouth still full of poffin and nodded his assent, poffin crumbs dropping from the fur around his mouth. "When you finish that what say you and I go see what the commotion is about?"
"Mhab-Schol!"
Walking over to his friend, Tristan tried his best to evaluate the visitor that had made her so worked up. It was a girl, somewhere in her early to mid-twenties perhaps. She had bright blue eyes which acted only to compliment the mass of brilliant ginger hair that was tied in a slightly off-centre ponytail. She was wearing short denim hot pants and a tight-fitting pale yellow polo shirt, emblazoned on the right breast with the small silhouetted figure of a Psyduck. Obviously something from one of the new chain Pokéstores; the new range of clothing was all labeled with a silhouetted colour-matching Pokémon. Thinking back, Tristan was sure he'd been given a red pyjama set emblazoned with a Vulpix for Christmas one year (even though he'd stopped wearing pyjamas when he was 12 and was certain the size he had been given would have only fitted him at age 12 anyway. Thanks Grandma). For no obvious reason, the girl had red braces hanging down from her shorts too. To finish the outfit off, she was wearing a pair of clean white trainers and had a strange fishing lure in the shape of herself hanging from her belt. A lure? That was it. That was why Emily had become so excited. This girl was obviously another water Pokémon fanatic. This was going to be interesting.
Spying him coming closer, Emily called out to her friend. "Tristan! Come here, there's someone I want you to meet".
Tristan recalled looked down at his faithful companion and smiled. "No turning back now, Cato. We're going in!" The Absol laughed and happily trotted by his master's side.
"Tristan, this is Misty. She's the gym leader at the Cerulean Gym all the way in Kanto! She came all this way just to see my show! Isn't that awesome?!"
Tristan put out his hand to greet the young gym leader. "It's nice to meet you, Tristan! Emily has told me so much about you, I feel like we're friends already!"
Blushing profusely, a small look of concern crept across Tristan's face. "Sh-she has?"
"Yeah! Which means this must be Cato!" Misty knelt down beside the Absol and started petting the Disaster Pokémon on his back, rubbing her hand back and forth along his spine. "My, aren't you a cutie?"
"He prefers it if you scratch him just above the sickle there". Misty adjusted her position accordingly and Absol leant into her hand, emitting the growl-like purr that only Tristan could understand to be his sign of enjoyment.
"Oh, err. He doesn't sound too happy. Am I doing something wrong?"
"Nah. That's just the way he sounds when he's telling you you're doing it right", Tristan laughed and pulled another poffin out of his pocket. "Last one for the day buddy, else you'll end up getting fat".
"Ab-sol!" The Absol continued to sit by Misty's feet as she rubbed his head while continuing her conversation with Tristan.
"So, you came all this way to see the show? That's awfully nice of you. I'm sure Emily appreciates it". Tristan looked up to find Emily already off chatting with a few other fans. A little girl tugged at her windcheater and Emily crouched down to sign the girl's programme. She never could keep still.
"Sort of, yeah. I'm really here for the contest next week. I've never heard of a water Pokémon only contest before, and I thought I'd give it a go. I'm a water type specialist you see". Tristan nodded. He had figured as much. The lure was a dead giveaway. "When Emily told me about her show, I figured I may as well come over a little early and support her, not that she needed it. It was really a fantastic show performance". Tristan recalled having seen the gym leader sitting in the VIP section too, though of course he hadn't paid any attention to her at the time. "My sisters once put up a similar sort of performance in our gym, oh, a long time ago now. It was interrupted half way through by the arrival of a trio of thieves that my friends and I had had run-ins with, but everything seemed to turn out alright in the end. I don't envy Emily though; it's a heck of a lot of work to put in by yourself".
Tristan nodded. He knew exactly how much stress the project had caused Emily as he had received the blunt end of most of it. "What about your gym? Can you just leave it for a few weeks?"
The water specialist smiled. "Oh, no need to worry about that. One of my sisters will look after it for me while I'm gone. Mew knows I've done it enough for them over the years". Tristan smiled. He had never had any siblings so he couldn't relate himself, but growing up in the tiny village where he lived, almost everyone was considered part of the family and sharing both objects and time was something he was very much used to.
"How long are you planning on staying for? There's a lot to see in Sinnoh and a few water type Pokémon you won't find anywhere else in the world!" He liked Misty, she seemed like a friendly girl and Arceus knows, anyone who could keep Emily happy was a friend of his.
The gym leader sighed. "I don't know. I said my sisters will look after the gym, but well, I can only leave them so long. They're older than me but still act like children a lot of the time. If I leave it too long I'm scared there won't be much of a gym to go back to. I would like to stay a while though. I'll be here for the contest next week, as I said, and I'll probably stick around for another week after that before heading back. I would like to see Sinnoh, though. I've never been before".
Tristan nodded to show that he was listening, though his mind had wandered slightly off subject. A gym leader specialising in water Pokémon was entering the Canalave contest. Even though Emily wasn't competing this year because she was helping organize it, it was going to be an interesting performance.