It was a few hours before the TriPokalon. Shauna and Kisai helped Emma sigh up for the competition. Emma sighed out part of the registration, but the rest she couldn't understand.
"Now what do I do?" Emma asked.
"We help you get ready," Shauna said.
"The guys are outside waiting for us," Kisai added.
"Al-alright," Emma repiled.
When the two girls came out they found a group of thugs circling Calem, Trevor, and Tierno. Shauna and Kisai ran over in order to help out if needed. Emma simply titled her head.
"What are y-you guys doing here?" Emma asked.
"Boss!" a woman with pink ponytails yelled.
The two ladies ran over to Emma to make sure that she was ok. The man that was with them strolled over to her. He knew that she could take care of herself. Mimi popped his head out of Emma's shirt to see what was going on. He waved at the familiar figures.
"Smaller Boss is here to," a different woman with short black hair commented.
"You had us worried," the first woman said.
"You can't run off like that," the other woman added.
"Sorry Sedna. Sorry Eris," Emma apologized.
"What's going on?" Shauna asked.
"I don't know," Kisai answered.
"Did you just pick up a leader of a gang?" Calem asked.
"Guess I did," Kisai repiled.
"Emma who are these people with you?" the man asked.
"These are my new friends Nix," Emma explained.
"And the jacket?" Nix questioned.
"Kisai gave it to me," Emma answered.
"Hello there," Kisai greeted.
"Do-oo you not like it?" Emma asked.
"Of course I do!" Nix yelled.
"Everything looks good on you," Eris said.
Emma looked down and blushed. Kisai's group looked at each other. They had no idea what was going on. Kisai walked over to Emma and tapped on her shoulder.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"They are my family," Emma explained.
"We look out for each other," Sedna said.
"And since you're Boss's friends we'll look after you guys to," Eris added.
"You're Kisai?" Nix questioned.
"Yeah," Kisai repiled.
"You don't seem to be a bad kid," he said.
"Thanks!"
"Boss what are you doing here?" Eris asked.
"I'm going to be in a Tri-i-i-"
"TriPokalon," Calem finished.
"That."
"Are you going to join with just Mimi?" Nix asked.
"You can use one of my Pokémon," Eris said.
"No need."
"Why?"
"I have Bloom with me," Emma said.
"Who's Bloom?" Sedna asked.
"That's you're new Bulbasaur's nickname?" Trevor questioned.
"Hmm?" Nix hummed.
He glanced over to Trevor. The small child made a little squeak noise and hid behind Tierno. Nix rolled his eyes and looked back at Emma.
"That's such a good name for a Bulbasaur," Eris complemented.
"Of course! Boss always gives the best nicknames!" Senda added.
"Guys s-stop saying those things," Emma blushed.
"You're so cute when you blush," Kisai laughed.
"Can we get down to business here?" Calem asked.
"Y-yes! I want do go-ood!"
"Then send out your Pokémon," Calem snapped.
Nix glared at Calem. Calem let out a nervous chuckled. He had to learn to watch his mouth.
"Please," he added.
Emma first started off her training with Shauna and Kisai. They learned from Trevor that the first round was Pokémon styling. The girls help Emma understand what colors would look good on Bloom since she was going to be used for the first round.
"What's a good style for Emma and Bloom?" Shauna wondered.
"We should give them a comfy look," Kisai answered. "This is their first time doing something like this and Emma seems to get embarrassed easily."
"Maybe a pale pink dress," Emma said.
"Yeah. I think that be a color on her."
"Done!" Emma yelled.
"Done?" they repeated.
Bloom walked up to them. She was painted all over with bright colors. It made Kisai sick since she wasn't the biggest fan of bright colors.
"What do you think?" Emma asked.
"It's something," Shauna repiled.
"Do you like it?" Kisai asked.
Emma nodded excitedly. A small smile formed on Kisai's face.
"It's not something that I would do," Kisai explained, "but if you like it that's ok."
"This re-eminds me of the birthday present I gave to Nix once," Emma said.
"Let's keep working," Shauna said.
"Right!"
Next, Emma started to train with Tierno. The dancer showed her some moves that she could use if she made it to the next round. Emma had trouble following his lead. She would forget what would happen next in the routine. Bloom and Mimi tried to do the same thing as their trainer, but they couldn't do it either.
"Come on you can do it!" Kisai cheered.
"She could never dance," Nix commented.
"You can do it Emma," Tierno said. "Just go with the flow."
Emma tried to do a spin but only managed to fall backwards. A pair of feet came into her vision. Emma wondered who they were since she didn't recognized the shoes. She looked up to see a young teen in a pure white dress with matching shoes. She was accompanying by a Pokémon that Emma didn't recognized.
"You're in my way," she said.
Emma rolled over to let her through. She walked through the group without a glance in there direction. This was a good thing since all of them were glaring at her. Sedna and Eris was about to her, but Nix grabbed both of them by the arm.
"Who does she think she is?" Eris asked.
"We could have taken her Nix," Sedna said.
"If we started a fight here that could cause Emma to forfeit her chance to do this," Nix answered.
"Fine then," Senda snapped.
Nix pulled her in closer so that only she could hear him.
"You can't have another stirke against you remember," he whispered.
"Whatever."
"Trevor do you know who that was?" Shauna asked.
"That was Alouette," he answered. "She's a Pokémon Performer."
"What do you know about her?" Eris asked.
"Speak loud Smarts," Sedna growled.
"H-help."
"Stop it the both of you," Nix ordered.
"Please don't hurt my new friend," Emma begged.
"Sorry," they apologized at the same time.
"Are you ok?" Tierno asked.
"I think so," he answered.
"Trevor right?" Nix questioned.
"Yes sir," Trevor repiled.
"What do you know about Alouette?" Nix asked.
"When I was researching about the TriPokalon her family name kept coming up. It seems that a lot of the women in her family were Performers."
"It seems like she was born for this stuff," Kisai commented.
"She sounds amazing," Emma whispered.
"Well you're amazing to," Kisai said.
"Emma you're going to do great for your first TriPokalon," Shauna said.
"Then let's get back to working," Calem said. "We only have an hour left before it starts."
"What's ne-ext?" Emma answered.
"You will combine your moves together with your dance," Calem answered.
Emma nodded. Bloom and Mimi got into position. Emma started to spin. Bloom and Mimi went with it. This was the last bit of training they had before the performance.
An hour later
Emma was sitting down on the couch with Bloom on her lap. She was looking at the other competitors. She noticed that Alouette was brushing her Furfrou. Emma wondered if she should be doing something to Bloom.
"I got it," she thought.
Emma got a damp towel and started to wash Bloom's face. She then water Bloom's bud that was on her back.
"Saur!"
"You must like that."
"Saur. Saur."
Emma glanced over to Alouette. She just got done grooming Furfrou. Emma decided this would be the time to introduce herself. She got up and walked over to her.
"H-hello," Emma greeted.
Alouette looked up at her. Emma waited for her to say something. When she didn't Emma started to talk.
"My name is Emma and this is Bloom."
"Bulbasaur," Bloom greeted.
"Frou," Furfrou said.
Alouette glanced at Furfrou. She got up from the floor and looked at Emma. Emma felt self-conscious when she did. Emma never understood why everyone had to be either taller then her or same size as her. She was grateful when she met Trevor because he was much shorter then her.
"Alouette and this is Lily," Alouette said.
"That's a nice name."
"I know."
"Well what was the na-ame of that Pokémon from eailer?" Emma asked.
"That was Ace my Gallade," she answered.
"H-he looks really cool," Emma said.
"He doesn't need to be cool he needs to protect me."
"Protect?"
"Alouette, Mai, and Nora you're up first!" a woman yelled.
"Lily," Alouette called.
"Furfrou!"
The two walked out of the room. Emma walked back to the area where she was at first. All of the girls stopped what they were doing and watched the television that was in front of them.
"Bonjor everyone!" a woman yelled. "I'm your MC Nami! Welcome to one of the two TriPokalon that is held here in the lovely Lumiose City!"
"Fki."
"What's this Klefki?" Nami asked. "Is this a Princess Key?"
"Lefki," Klefki said.
"Your right Klefki I should tell the audience about the key," Nami said. "Princess Keys are given to the lovely ladies who when they when a rookie class TriPokalon. If you win three keys you will be able to go to the master rank class. Does anyone know what happens next?"
"Queen Nico!" most of the audience yelled.
"That's right," Nami said. "You will be given the chance to become Kalos Queen like our current one Nico. Now let's begin! The ladies will have to style their Pokémon in a limited amount of time. Aller!"
An hourglass appeared above her. It flipped over and sand started to fall out. Alouette and the other two girls ran into their booths with their Pokémon. The door open automatically.
"It's going to be a surprise then," Kisai commented.
"I wonder what Alouette is going to do," Shauna said.
"We're gonna have to wait and see," Tierno repiled.
After three minutes, the last of the sand dropped signaling the end of their time. The doors opened at once.
"First off Alouette!" Nami yelled.
Alouette came out with Lily next to her. Alouette gave Lily a La Reine Trim. She also gave the normal type a big blue ribbon with white spots that was tied around her body at the stomach and a crown. The two walked down the catwalk like pros.
"She's good," Nix said.
"Trimming a Furfrou is hard work," Shauna said.
"She must been working hard to do that," Trevor said.
After the other to girls showed their Pokémon, it was time for the audience to pick which girl would go to the final round. The group voted for Alouette even though some of them didn't want to. They agreed that she was good. Kisai jumped when she saw bubbles floating around. The hearts went into the hearts that was above each girl.
After another set of girls went on, it was Emma's turned. The newbie froze when she saw the audience. She looked over to see the the other two girls were fine.
"Feel the flow," she thought.
"Aller!" Nami yelled.
All three of the girls ran into their booth. When the doors closed Emma looked at her options. She didn't know what half of the things of.
"Bloom p-please help me-e with this," Emma begged.
One of Bloom's vines started to pat Emma on the head to calm her down. After a deep breath, they got to work. Emma started to use the paint while Bloom picked up some of the more wild looking flowers.
"Thirty seconds left!" Nami yelled.
"What!?" Emma freaked.
When Emma freaked some green paint feel on her dress.
"Kisai and Shauna gave me this," she said to herself.
"Saur," Bloom said.
She started to paint Emma's dress to match her. Emma nodded and kept working on Bloom. She just finished doing Bloom's nails when the time was up.
"Next is Emma!" Nami yelled.
Emma walked out with Bloom by her side. She knew that she had to walk down towards the audience, but her legs didn't let her. Bloom saw this and grabbed Emma's hand with one of her vines.
"Bulb."
Emma smiled. Her fears seemed to disappear.
"Let's go Bloom," Emma said.
The two of them walked down the catwalk. Both of them were waving at the audience. When Emma saw the others she waved harder at them. Some of the audience members wondered what happens to Emma's dress. They did like how it goes with Bloom's wild look.
Shauna and Kisai analyzed their outfits. Instead of using bright colors like eailer on Bloom, Emma used darker colors like black and purple. Emma also took the time to paint Bloom's nails black. It was uneven, but it still look good. The flowers on Bloom's was brought in a lot of attention. The wild looking flowers were made up of the color red. Emma's dress was not just pink now. It had different colors of greens, reds, and black. It all seemed to be in the form of Bloom's vines.
"I wonder why she did that to her dress," Shauna said.
"This is why I want to be able to see in there," Kisai pouted.
"Boss looks so cute!" Sedna cheered.
After the last girl walked down the catwalk, it was time to vote. The group all votes for Emma to go to the next round. After all of the vote bubbles flew into the hearts, it was announced that Emma would go to the next round.
"So tried," Emma said as she sat down on the couch in the waiting room.
"Bulbasaur," Bloom agreed.
Emma saw Alouette and Lily walking up to her. She gave them a big smile.
"Hello there," she greeted.
"What happen to your dress?" Alouette asked.
"Paint," Emma answered.
"It's paint mixed in with make up," Alouette corrected. "It's used for Pokémon only."
"I didn't kno-ow that," Emma said.
"Alouette it's your turned!" the woman from eailer announced.
"Good luck."
Alouette looked at Emma before leaving. Emma turned to the television to see what Alouette was going to do. She was on the stage with Lily and another Pokémon she didn't recognize. In each hand Alouette held two hula hoops.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Tierno asked.
"It's a Duosion," Kisai answered. "I seen some in Unova."
"Lily. Jelly. Let's go!"
Alouette threw the hula hoops in the air. Jelly then used Psychic on the hoops. Alouette and Lily ran towards the hoops. They jumped through the hoops with ease.
"Let's fly Sponge!"
Sponge used Psychic to pick up both Alouette and Lily. Lily and Sponge then used Double Team to make a copy of themselves. In mid air they started to flip through hoops like they were in a circus.
"And," Alouette started.
Sponge drop them back onto the floor. Alouette cought two of the hula hoops while Lily and Sponge cought the other. In Sponge's case he used Psychic.
"Finish!"
The crowd cheered for Alouette's performance. She showed off her and her Pokémon's physical abilities and made it enjoyable.
"It was just like a circus," Kisai commented.
"That was pretty cool," Calem said.
"Next is Boss," Eris said.
"Emma," Nix thought.
"Last is Emma," Nami said.
Emma walked onto the stage. She took a deep breath.
"Mimi. Bloom."
Mimi used Confusion on himself to get up in the air. He then used Disarming Voice to make music. Emma and Bloom then started to dance to the music. Mimi would float along side them.
"Now."
Mimi landed on Emma's head. With all of the power it could muster, Mimi used Confusion on Emma to pick her up. It looked a little awkward.
"Bloom help."
Bloom took a deep breath and used Growl on them to push them up. The audience were surprised that the move was used like that. Bloom used her vines to keep them up in the air. This was a good thing since Mimi had just ran out of energy. Emma seemed like she was about to fall, but she didn't.
"Finish!"
The audience cheered for the act. Bloom slowly lowered the two. Emma noticed that Alouette and the other girl was here when she landed.
"Now vote for who you think should win the key!" Nami yelled.
Bubbles started to feel their hearts. Klefki started to fly around the girls. After the voting was done, Klefki dropped the key in front of the girl who one.
"And your winner for the first Lumiose City is Alouette!" Nami announced.
"Great job Alouette," Emma said.
"Winning is normal for me," Alouette said.
"I can't believe she didn't win," Shaun said.
"That's to bad," Trevor said.
"Boss!" Eris yelled.
"Till we meet again," Nami said.
It was later in the day when everyone meet up. Eris and Sedna ran up to Emma and gave her a big hug. They were surprised to see that she wasn't upset that she lost.
"Boss are you ok?" Sedna asked.
"O-of course."
"Let's head back to the base," Nix said.
"W-wait!"
"What is it Emma?"
"I want to travel," she answered.
"Travel?" Nix repeated.
"With Kisai and Shauna."
Nix looked back at the two girls. Trevor and Tierno were waving goodbye. Trevor had family matters and Tierno was going to help him. Calem wanted to get back on the road, so he left.
"Why them Boss?" Eris asked.
"Because they're my friends and I want to keep doing this," Emma answered. "I-I'm not afraid anymore."
"No way Boss!" Senda yelled.
"We need you!" Eris added.
"Stay safe kid," Nix said before leaving.
"Nix!" Senda yelled.
"What are you doing?" Eris questioned.
"Back in my home region kids like her would have been on their journey by now," he said. "Why should we hold her back."
"Th-thank you!" Emma yelled.
She ran up and gave his a hug. A smile formed on Nix's face. He hugged back and gave her a kiss on the head.
"We're here whenever," he whispered.
"I'll be back," Emma said before she ran over to Kisai and Shauna.
"Nix are you sure?" Sedna asked.
Nix pulled out a folded piece of paper from his jacket. He unfolded to see the picture that was drawn on it. It was made out of crayons that was found in the garbage. The picture was of him and a younger Emma.
"Yeah. I'm sure."
"Emma are you ready to go?" Kisai asked.
"Y-yes!"
"The next city with a badge for me is in Cyllage City," Shauna said.
"Is there no badge here?" Kisai asked.
"There is but I'm friends with the gym leader so I want to wait," Shauna answered.
"Makes sense," Kisai repiled.
"Then let's head out," Shauna said.
"Follow us Emma."
"R-right!"
Nix watched as they walked away. He folded the picture and put it back into his pocket. He walked in the opposite direction which was towards their base. Sedna and Eris was right behind them.
"Don't worry we'll see her again."