Author's Note: Hello, it's me with another update! I've spent some weekend time organizing this fic, and now I can tell you that this fic will be twenty chapters long. This is the fifteenth chapter! Huzzah!
~ Meteor Mashed! ~
That was how it was: Froslass turned out to be really good at dancing to classical music, but turned into an awkward ice statue whenever any kind of faster music played. Gremlin had had to lend a helping claw — literally — by offering to hold her hand and help her dance to the music she had no knowledge of. Then he had walked backwards, guiding her to the center of the stage.
Or what he thought was the center of the stage.
He was walking backwards, so he wouldn't know where he was going. However, Froslass did.
"Uhh... Gremlin... you may want to stop before you—"
Too late!
Gremlin had actually been nearing the edge of the stage instead, and now he had reached the very edge. He lost his footing and fell off the stage and right onto Lopunny! Luckily, he let go of Froslass' hand as he fell, so she didn't get pulled down with him.
Of course, ditzy Lopunny let out a yelp when the Sableye fell on top of her. Even more embarassing, she was still holding her microphone which meant that her yelp got amplified for everyone to hear. For a second, everyone stopped and stared. Even Chandelure stopped the music. Gremlin was still offstage and in a tangled heap with Lopunny, so of course who everyone stared at was Froslass, who was frozen on the stage.
For a second, everything was completely silent except for Gremlin's many apologies to Lopunny. However, Medicham and Jynx were smirking and whispering to each other.
And then Froslass seemed to regain control of things as the room got colder by a few Fahrenheit. She coolly turned to the sniggering Medicham and Jynx and in the coldest voice ever in the history of cold voices said, "Please. Have you never seen anyone fall? It is not anything out of the ordinary." Then she turned her back on them and stretched out a freezing hand to help Gremlin up.
Finally, the Sableye managed to climb back onto the stage after thirty or so more of his apologies. Even when he was firmly back onto the stage, everyone was still staring although Medicham and Jynx had turned their backs on them after Froslass' cold shoulder.
"I meant to do that," Gremlin blurted.
Several chuckles rippled through the room, and the other pairs finally turned away from them as Chandelure restarted the music. Lopunny was exclaiming into the microphone, "Whooooops! I am so embarrassed! That was quite a farce, I hope I didn't yelp too loud, ahahaha~! Welp, all that aside, the music's back on so you can finally resume your dancing, ahahahahaha~!"
Everyone cheered and went back to dancing. However, Froslass' face was red.
Suddenly, there was another tap on Froslass' shoulder. She looked down and met Gremlin's innocent sapphire eyes.
"Froslass, I'm sorry I messed up! I don't think we have any hope of winning now, since I was so lucky I picked Lopunny to fall onto, of all Pokémon. And after all your expert waltzing. I'm so sorry I messed things up for us."
He played with his fingers. "You're mad at me, aren't you?"
Froslass didn't answer. Her face was still red.
"Not to worry, Wish Park FM listeners!" Lopunny laughs it off. "Lopunny's A-OK!"
...OK, she's lying. How can she be OK?! She's just been humiliated right in front all of the Pokémon participating in the Dance Inferno!
And GASP! Everything is also being broadcasted on radio, which means...
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Everyone listening to Wish Park FM will also hear that little farce...!
EEEEEEEEEEEEE...
...Ahem.
OK, let's ignore Lopunny while she screams her head off and is generally being a drama queen. Let's move on and see what came out of that little incident.
Oops. Froslass certainly doesn't look happy, does she?
Meanwhile, at the Beach Cove, Oshawott and Lizzy were about to play a game with the cards Lizzy had magically pulled out of her fleece.
"OK, so this game is c-called Slap the Mosquito," Lizzy said. "My older sister once taught it to me. First, we divide the shuffled pack of cards into two because there are two players. We're not to look at our pack of cards so we hold them face down. Suppose I go first; I'll take the top card from my pile and place it face up in the middle, at the same time saying, "Two". After that it will be your turn to take a card from the top of your pile, at the same time saying, "Three" and so on."
"OK," Oshawott said, although he was still looking a bit clueless. He and Lizzy were about to play a card game Lizzy had learned from her older sister. She claimed it was a fun game to play when there were only two players. "What's the objective of the game, anyway?"
"If the number on the newest card matches the number that's being mentioned, we need to slap the pile of cards in the middle as fast as we can," Lizzy went on. "For example, I take a card from the top of my pile and place it face up in the middle, saying, "Eight." If the card I'd just placed in the middle has the number eight, we both need to beat the other at slapping the pile first. Whoever slaps the pile slower will collect all the cards in the middle. Whoever manages to place all their cards onto the pile in the middle wins. See, it's a game of reflex."
"Oh, reflex, yes, I get it now." Oshawott nodded. "I'm rather good at that."
...
And that was how Oshawott and Lizzy found themselves sitting in front of each other at the beach, each holding a facedown pile of cards.
"I'll start first," Oshawott said. He took the top card from his deck and placed it face up between himself and Lizzy.
"Two."
Lizzy's turn. "Three."
"Four."
Slap!
Lizzy laughed. "Oshawott, why did you slap it?" she asked gleefully. "The card is a five of hearts, not four. Well, that means you have to take all three cards in the middle pile."
Oshawott huffed proudly. "It's only three cards," he said. "Besides, I'm warning you, I'm just getting started. Getting my reflexes in check, you see."
Lizzy chuckled. "U-uh, yeah, I see. Well then, I'll start over. Two."
And it started all over again.
Lopunny giggles and rolls her eyes. Getting his reflexes in check. Right.
Well, at least Pairing 3: Oshawott x Lizzy is progressing just beautifully. Nice.
Over in Haxorus' dojo in the Power Zone, the Power Bash in which Breloom, Braixen, and Hariyama were participating had just started.
First up was Breloom. He used Mach Punch to send Pokémon flying. He pressed the trapdoor button to drop bombs. OK, so there were a few times when he almost punched bombs, but whenever he was about to shoot out those stretchy arms, Braixen would warn him by shouting, "BOMB!"
Finally, it was Braixen's turn. She raised an eyebrow at Breloom when they switched places. "You'd have been bombed many times if it wasn't for me," she said pointedly.
"Forgive me, Lady Braixen," Breloom said with a roll of his eyes.
He couldn't actually imagine Braixen being good at Power Bash. However, he found out soon enough that she was. She dropped bombs into the trapdoor quickly, and when it came to Pokémon, she sent them flying with a powerful Flame Charge, twirling her stick and getting surrounded by crackling fire.
He found out soon enough that Braixen had been right. Appearance deceives.
After a few minutes, it was Breloom's turn again.
And it went on and on.
By the time Axew announced that the time was up, both Breloom and Braixen were tired and breathless. Breloom's arms were sore and Braixen looked rather pale.
"Do ya think... we beat Hariyama?" Breloom asked haltingly.
Braixen shrugged, sticking her stick back into her tail. There was no way she could know. The only thing she did know was that she thought her teamwork with Breloom had been pretty good, and that they'd done a rather nice job.
Lopunny agrees with Braixen. She does think that the teamwork and strategy of Pairing 1: Breloom x Braixen are good, at least good enough to send those Pokémon flying.
But are they good enough to send Hariyama flying?
Now, let us move to the cave that leads out of the Crag Area, in which Cleffy Clefairy was about to tell Darwin the name of the Pokémon she liked.
...
"OK, I'll t-tell you b-but please do not laugh or b-behave overdramatically," Cleffy said.
"Sure, it's a deal," Darwin said quickly. "So, who is it~?"
"It's..." Cleffy looked down. "It's..."
"Yeah?"
Cleffy still kept her head down when she finally said his name, so Darwin couldn't see the lingering blush and smile. Her voice was only above a whisper when she said, "Roselio."
Darwin was silent for a few seconds.
She was smiling when she turned back to Cleffy.
"Really? What's he like?" she asked, the smile still on her face. "Is he rowdy or is he prissy? I bet he's a Grass-type. What's his star sign? His favorite smoothie? What do you love about him?"
"Wh-what?" Cleffy blinked, totally astonished by Darwin's response. "D-Darwin, y-you of all people should know b-best!"
"Whoa, whoa. Hold on just a second." Darwin held up her roses. She scrutinized Cleffy with narrowed eyes. "Surely you're talking about some other guy in the Pokémon world coincidentally named Roselio, right? Not the Roselio who happens to be my annoying brother?"
Cleffy groaned exasperatedly. "Oh, D-Darwin! Of c-course I was t-talking about y-your brother. H-how many other Roselio are there in the Pokémon world?"
"Wait. Wait. Wait." Darwin stood up as if she was about to pace back and forth deep in thought, but thought better of it as she sat back down. The truth finally hit her like a brick or a thunderbolt and she whipped back to Cleffy in disbelief.
"Whaddya mean, you like my brother?!"
The Clefairy blushed. "Is there s-something wrong with th-that?"
The Bouquet Pokémon continued to stare open-mouthed. "But he's obnoxious!"
"No!" Cleffy exclaimed, but after a few moments of thinking even she had to admit, "OK, maybe sometimes. "
"And he's a loudmouth!"
Cleffy thought it over. "Yes."
"And he's a total lazybones because he always goes to sleep the earliest and wakes up the latest!"
"Yes."
"And he's accident-prone!"
"Yes."
"Oh! And he's actually two years younger than Froslass and Staraptor. So he's also two years younger than you, which makes it really weird for you to have a crush on him! Especially when the guy is younger than the girl. At least that's what all my girl friends say."
"No, he's not younger than me at all," Cleffy protested. "I-I'm also two years younger than Froslass and Staraptor and Breloom and Treecko and Lombre and all the others, so I'm the same age as him."
"Really?" Darwin looked doubtful. "That's quite hard to imagine, since you worry as much as ma grand-mère. See, try not to worry too much, dear Cleffy, you'll get wrinkles all over your face."
Even after putting in that spontaneous beauty tip, Darwin felt the need to resume her barrage of reasons why it was irrational to have a crush on her brother. "He can never shut up even if his life depended on it."
And even so Cleffy's sole answer stayed, "Yes."
"He can never take anything seriously, either. He's always joking around."
"Yes."
Darwin stared. "And you still like him?"
"O-of c-course I do," Cleffy said in a really small voice.
Darwin tried a different approach. "Let me touch your forehead, Cleffy," she said. "Are you feeling fine? Did you take your medications this morning?"
"Yes, and no!" Cleffy burst out. "I'm fine, Darwin. I'm t-t-totally fine. Yes, I d-do know he has many weaknesses - we all have our own weaknesses, right? - but that's exactly the way I like him." She blushed even harder and looked down. "B-besides, all those weaknesses are what make Roselio Roselio, right?"
Darwin was speechless for a moment. Then she seemed to look at Cleffy in a new light - if you paid close attention, you might even catch some of her awe.
"Finally, one of you young ones who actually talks sense." She leaned towards the younger Pokémon. "We're on the same wavelength, then," she said with satisfaction. "I have a feeling we can get along pretty fine. Pretty fine, indeed."
Ooohhhh! So Cleffy likes the red-bowtie-wearing, smoothie-liking Roselia with the French last name.
Lopunny frowns. Cleffy and Roselio are so different. Cleffy is shy and unconfident and feels as if the whole world is out to get her, whereas Roselio is happy-go-lucky; an obnoxious loudmouth who practically wants to befriend the whole world.
Even worse, although Cleffy is hopelessly lovestruck, he doesn't seem to notice a thing.
Suddenly it seems as if a new love story has just started in the middle of the Meteor Mash-up! I wonder if this will be a happy ending? And what about Darwin herself?
Stay tuned on Wish Park FM~!