Chapter 26 - Snowflake Cup: The first Round
Waaake up! Up you wake! This is DJ Jiggly Jams on the ThreeTop radio, bringing you all the raves from across the waves. So let's spice up the coffee this morning 'cause my partner is telling all the folks out there, from one-to-three and seven-to-five, that it is time to rock ya boat 'till you get to that sweet number four. You heard me right, my savvy Seviites, it's THAT time of the year again. The leaves are gold and the weather is cold—and if it ain't, you are in the wro-ong place. But I'm a nice host, so I've got ya. Today, my lovely jammers, is the start of another Ice Fall festi-val, and thanks to our new sponsor, the fabulous Razzo Cosmetics, we are live and ready to jive, here at the heart of island number four…
—*—*—
The aroma of cinnamon and pecha berries filled the air, and colourful balloons dotted the sky. In a booth in one corner, a snover crafted ice sculptures of other pokémon, while in another, kids tried to hit snowballs on a target in order to win a PokéDoll. Celeste might have woken up a wreck of nerves, but the atmosphere around the main festival plaza took care of it in minutes.
For once, being easily distracted was a blessing.
Not all people in the world, however, will stop by a darumaka float and appreciate it like a work of art. By Celeste's side, was Delia. Unusually quiet, obsessively running her fingers through the braids in her hair and shirt to make sure there was not even a wrinkle there.
A wooloo being taken to the slaughter if there was ever one.
"Hey, it's okay," Celeste told Delia as gently as she could. By her feet Patrick, the slowpoke, nuzzled the pallet girl's leg in an uncharacteristic sign of support. "We just need to have fun," she continued, trying to hide how much doing good actually meant to her and her pokémon. "And if it's not fun, you don't need to do it."
Delia finally looked up at her friend. "I promised Olga…"
"You were backed into a corner." Celeste shrugged as she glanced at the small battlefield that was set up in the middle of the plaza. On both sides there were stands for the spectators to watch and people had been slowly flocking in. "Anyway, I know you worry about disappointing her. So… what I'm saying here is that if it's too much, you can just throw the match, you know? She can't fault you for trying."
Delia peered at the eevee, who had somehow found a comfortable position on Celeste's head. The little pokémon blinked lazily, as one would expect from a slowpoke, and the girl let out a sigh. "I know, but part of me thinks it's good to try. Shelly needs… to get out of her shell? It's been years, Cee…"
Celeste frowned at her friend. "I… Is it okay if I ask about it? How it was before…"
"Before I lost my mother and released my team?" Delia offered a small smile to Celeste. "I'm making it sound like everything was so grand… Honestly, I was just having fun back then. Like any other very young kid who gets their first taste of independence, you know?"
"I feel called out…"
Delia chuckled. "You are being called out. I've been hearing you say you are going to call your parents every single day for the past week. Be happy you can call them and get this over with, Cee."
"And now you are trying to guilt trip me…." Celeste looked away from Delia, but from the corner of her eyes saw her friend shaking her head. "I just wanted to ask about the battles you had back then."
A little boy with a darumaka-shaped balloon, a smaller version of the giant float they had seen earlier, ran past the girls and called for his mother to go see the battlefield. The air was filled with an awkward silence until Delia finally spoke up.
"I had a pidgey and a male nidoran," she said, still watching the boy drag his mother to the battlefield. "And Shelly, of course. We tried beating the Pewter gym, but like most clueless ten-year-olds out there, we never got the badge. Though I won some battles against the occasional bug catcher on the routes."
The way Delia spoke, it was hard for Celeste to understand. Despite having lost so much of what she loved, Delia's tone was not sorrowful… instead, it was nostalgic and accepting.
Celeste pressed her lips together in a smile and decided that whatever Delia was feeling, she needed a hug. Unfortunately, someone beat her to it.
Showing up out of nowhere, Luan lazily put his arms around both girls and greeted them with a wide grin. "Hey there, gang." When both girls turned to look at him, however, he immediately blushed and tucked his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Sorry, my cousin told me to be cool."
"Aw, you're so cool, Luan," Celeste said with a playful grin, feeling Aria's silent laugh in her head. "Don't you agree, Delia?"
"Shut up," the boy muttered, his eyes eventually falling back to Delia, who had ignored her friend altogether. "A-are you okay? You look a little…"
"I'm fine!" Delia blurted out, as she ran her hands through her hair once more.
Celeste spotted Mia moving towards them and waved at the older woman. "Delia is nervous because she is taking part in the tournament too," she said, making Luan's eyes shine with excitement. "You would have known that if you guys hadn't disappeared for the whole week."
"Oh…" Luan said, turning to his cousin, who had just stopped by the group. "Mia had to mention to her boss where we were… We actually ended up spending the week working."
"Don't complain, cus," Mia said as she greeted the girls. "We are getting paid extra."
The boy deflated like one of the balloons floating around. "Not enough…"
Mia chuckled, but it was Delia who spoke up, tilting her head. "I went by your boat a few times to return the PokéNav. We got worried that you were never around."
"We really weren't," Mia answered, rolling a strand of her purple hair around her fingers. "See, Razzo is trying to expand. I think I said that before…?" The woman looked up, still not letting go of her hair, and let her perfectly painted lips curve into a smile. "Anyway, I don't think you kids are interested in my business talk, so let's just say we are looking forward to extending our reach to Kanto's Overseas Territories."
A cheer erupted from the stands close by, and Celeste could hear someone speaking loudly into a microphone. It was starting, she realised, feeling the knot of nervousness in her stomach return. "I'm interested in your business talk," the girl said, as she picked up her slowpoke from the floor and hugged him tightly.
"Well…" Mia glanced back at the young girl, a little uncertain. "There is a lot of opportunity on the islands. See, the market here is… I guess you can say fragmented? Most of the businesses around are small and family owned, like your friend's Olga. She has a presence in Sevii, but no one in Kanto would bat an eye at the name Ice Boutique."
Delia, the more business savvy of the girls, took a page of Celeste's book and welcomed the distraction. "She is actually going to open a new branch in Viridian soon…"
Mia laughed. "You've already got inside information about Olga's business? Maybe Razzo should scout you."
In the background, someone was speaking up with a lot of energy and the crowd seemed to be loving it, as cheers grew louder and louder. So, of course, Celeste pressed on. "Okay, so your big name cosmetics company wants a foothold on the Sevii Islands. That shouldn't be a big deal, right? You just need to open a store or something?"
Mia shook her head and turned to Luan. "He said the same thing. You think too small." Mia smiled, watching her cousin pout in protest. "Opening a store is not enough. For any brand, the image we project is crucial. The market here is fragmented, meaning there are other options. If there are alternatives and family ventures are valued, why would they choose us? We need to offer quality and more. And word of mouth is key. Now, Luan, let's see if you are learning. Why don't you tell the girls about Razzo?"
The boy opened his mouth to protest, but closed it and instead, with a sigh, did as his cousin asked. "At Razzo, we believe in beauty. The beauty of family and community. After all, a star may shine brightly, but it's the constellations that light up the night sky."
Celeste giggled. "People have been so corny lately."
"It's catchy," Mia shrugged. "But see, we have a whole manifesto on our website about beauty, community and family. Most people will never bother reading it, though. What we can do to hammer the message is advertise and take positive action. And this festival is a gold-mine for positive action. We are sponsoring a ton of activities here, and that guy," Mia pointed to the loud man who was talking way too fast in the middle of the battlefield. "He is a famous DJ here on the Sevii Islands. We brought him in to cover the festival, and people are loving it."
"We should have stopped at that," Luan said, in a mix of annoyance and resentment.
"What happened?" Delia asked without turning away from the dark-skinned, energetic DJ who was pumping up the crowd with his wigglytuff.
Luan groaned, but Mia explained, "Apparently, the people running businesses in town have this tradition of sponsoring trainers on the Snowflake Cup," she said, patting her cousin on the back. "I think their mindset is that if you sponsor trainers, more people will take part in the tournament and this will foment the battle spirit on the island and give a boost to the younger local trainers."
"Right, that is why experienced pokémon are not allowed in…" Celeste said, but concluded. "Although experienced trainers, like Lori, are. Anyway, that means me and Delia have a shot. That is a good thing, so why are you skulking, Luan?"
"Because Razzo Cosmetics also wanted to sponsor a trainer and Luan here thought this was his big chance." Mia let out a loud laugh. "But he didn't manage to catch an ice-type on time."
Luan sighed. "I was so close…" he slumped his shoulders and sighed again. "I found the perfect sneasel. It was super distracted collecting berries. I didn't waste time and sent my munna into battle to catch it. But as soon as I picked a pokéball, it ran away, terrified."
Delia crossed her arms. "That is strange. Sneasel are usually pretty aggressive."
"R-right…" Celeste said, feeling her cheeks burn as she avoided eye contact. "No idea whatsoever why a sneasel would act like that… Anyway… who are they sponsoring?"
Mia, distracted by another wave of applauses simply said. "Me, actually."
Celeste's eyes widened, but she had no time to process this new information as she heard the loud, energetic voice calling out. "And it's time! The event you have all been waiting for: the Snowflake Cup!"
The girl's heart started to pound in her chest, and all the conversations about businesses and cosmetic companies suddenly became meaningless.
For a moment, the world was quiet.
And then it erupted.
"For our first battle, we have youngster Joey representing Snover Sculptures and… lass Celeste, sponsored by the delicious Ice Boutique! Come on trainers, it's time you make the temperature droop!"
—*—*—
"This is DJ Jiggly Jams live from Articuno Plaza, bringing you all the raves from across the waves." The man in the middle of the plaza spoke energetically into his microphone, eliciting loud cheers from the audience. "And for all the folks that didn't make it here today, and also those living in one of those colourful towns across the ocean, I will say, Articuno Plaza is a fitting place for what is about to go down, 'cause we are going to see le-gen-ds in the making."
On the north side of the battlefield, a young boy, no older than eleven, with way too many freckles and a backward cap, walked in with an overconfident grin. He positioned himself in the square where trainers were supposed to be and put his hands on his hips.
Celeste, unable to ignore her nervousness any longer, walked over to her designated position, occasionally glancing back at the slowpoke trailing behind her. When she reached her square, she gently lifted Aria from her head and placed her next to Pat.
"You guys are here to cheer extra hard for me and Powder," she whispered, before picking up the premier ball her vulpix was in and turning to face her opponent. She hated to be the first, but at least she was going against another kid. Starting out by battling someone like Lorelei or even Mia would have been horrible.
Taking a cue from his wigglytuff, who spun around as soon as the two challengers got into position, the DJ nodded to the judge beside him. "Well kiddos, let's see what you've got. Let your pokémon out," he said, before bringing his microphone back to his mouth. "Battle, begin!"
The boy didn't waste time and threw his pokéball in the field, releasing a clapping seel. The water type, much like Shelly, was allowed in because it would eventually evolve into an ice-type. Still, the audience didn't seem too enthusiastic about it.
Well, people are never disappointed when they see Powder, Celeste thought, throwing her own premier ball in the ring. Case in point. Just as the red light dissipated and the vulpix emerged, puffing with pride, the spectators came alive with excited claps and squeals.
"Wow, that is going to be a foxy battle indeed," the amused DJ spoke, and his wigglytuff pumped his fist in the air. "It is not every day that we get to see a vulpix, let alone an alolan one."
Celeste smirked at the comment, but with Aria's loud cheer and Pat's slow words of encouragement, she shook her head and slapped her cheeks to snap out of her distraction. It was time to tune the entire world out and focus on what mattered. "Powder, get ready for battle," the girl yelled, and her pokémon howled in response, commanding a large cloud to form above them.
"You didn't notice the hail?" Olga had asked her during one of her training sessions. Of course Celeste did. Every time Powder got into her battle rhythm, as well as when she got angry or upset, like during their argument, hail would fall. "That is her ability, Celeste. It's called Snow Warning. As long as she is in an open space, she can affect the surrounding weather."
The boy looked up as the ice fell around the battlefield and Celeste smirked. This ability Powder had, it could be useful, but she knew it would not help a lot against other ice pokémon. Seel, however, was not an ice pokémon, which meant she was forcing her opponent's hand. The boy would have to act quick, or else the hail would keep battering his pokémon until it was out. Celeste, on the other hand, could play defence and take her time to make sure each of their moves counted.
"Salty, use headbutt," the youngster commanded, and his pokémon awkwardly hobbled itself towards Powder.
Seel might not be naturally fast, but Celeste had no idea how slow they were on land. Powder, even though she had her sharp, focused, I mean business expression, didn't have to do a lot to dodge the opposing pokémon.
"Use Ice Shard," Celeste said, feeling a tinge of panic. Battles had never been easy before. There has to be a catch here… right?
When the ice chunks connected with the seel's face, the pokémon let out a goofy "eeel" and stuck its tongue out. The boy, now much less relaxed than before, huffed and yelled, "We'll use our special technique, Salty! Water Sport!"
"Well folks, the situation is Salty indeed, at least for the seel," Celeste allowed herself to listen in to the DJ again. Powder kept hammering the opponent with one ice chunk after another, while the seel spat water all around itself. What was he even trying to do? Why not dodge?
It didn't matter. The girl might be curious, but she wanted to win, not waste time. "Keep up with the ice shards," Celeste commanded, her voice firm as she watched another chunk of ice materialise in front of the vulpix. With a quick movement, the icy missile sailed through the air towards the seel, who was still spraying water all around.
Before Powder's attack made contact, however, the freckled boy yelled, "Batter this one and use Icy Wind!"
With a clap, the seel turned around and hit the ice chunk away with its tail. Was that always a possibility? Celeste wondered, somewhat curious about what was coming next. Well, there was no need to speculate. The boy had already issued his command. Next was Ice Wind. Powder would not be able to dodge it, but she could surely take the hit.
"Brace yourself," Celeste simply said, watching the enemy closely. She could try to finish it with their fairy attack. It would be more effective than any of their ice-moves, but… Opal had told her pokémon battles were poker, not chess. It was a game of information, and she should not reveal her hand before it was time. And this battle… it was not the time yet.
The seel screeched, and a powerful gust of cold wind and snow swirled around, creating a chaotic flurry of snow and hail. Powder was caught in the midst of it, but it became apparent that she wasn't the target. The opponent was actually aiming for the ground.
When the wind finally stopped, the ground was frozen, and the seel was sliding at an incredible speed towards Powder.
"Well, now, that is what I call a slippery turn of events," the DJ said, making Celeste feel the panicking pit in her stomach again. "Seel might not run, but it sure as hell can skate."
"Powder, get out of the way," the trainer yelled urgently, but the vulpix, struggling to keep her balance on the slippery surface, was too slow to react. With a loud thud, the Salty slammed into Powder with a powerful headbutt, sending her spinning backward.
The boy commanded his seel to attack again, and Celeste watched in horror as the pokémon circled around back to Powder. Her vulpix was fast, but not in these conditions.
Celeste took a deep breath and, as she watched the seel slide towards them, it hit her. The icy floor had its disadvantages, too. "Powder Snow with all the wind you've got. The seel doesn't have friction to keep itself steady."
Powder nodded, and with a determined look, she carved her paws on the icy floor. Her Powder Snow move was not as strong as Ice Wind, but it did the job. The seel, with no traction to hold on to, was hurled back towards its trainer. It wouldn't be getting close to Powder again.
That battle was theirs.
"Finish it with Ice Shard. Use the hail to make it faster," Celeste exclaimed in triumph. Before the seel could even regain its balance, it was bombarded by one chunk of ice after another until it fainted.
The judge declared the seel was unable to battle, and the boy huffed as he returned his pokémon. "Looks like the little vulpix slid right through the finish line," the DJ commented, continuing with his rhythmic rhymes, but Celeste was not paying attention anymore.
With her two cheering pokémon trailing behind her, the trainer ran towards her vulpix, her heart filled with excitement. "You did it!" she exclaimed as she dropped to her knees beside Powder, who looked as proud and happy as she had ever been. As Celeste hugged her pokémon, Aria jumped onto her shoulder and Pat tried to copy the eevee, causing the girl to tumble around in a fit of laughter.
They really did it.
—*—*—
Still high from the excitement, Celeste spotted Luan, Delia, and unfortunately, Rey sitting on the stands near the edge of the battlefield. With an eevee perched on her head, a vulpix on her shoulder, and a heavy slowpoke in her arms, she struggled to make her way up the stairs to join them.
"You were great," Luan said excitedly. He squeezed suspiciously closer to Delia to create some space between him and Rey. "I must have missed a lot because your vulpix seems like a totally different pokémon."
Celeste plopped down onto the seat, panting and smiling at her friends. "We've been training. I guess it paid off," she said, feeling both the rush of adrenaline from the battle and a tinge of thoughtfulness about the outcome.
Luan tilted his head, but it was Delia who asked the question. "Was it easier than you expected?"
The girl nodded as she petted her vulpix. "We got thrown off a bit by that ice rink trick, but that was it. I never expected a battle, of all things, to be easy."
The crowd erupted around them as two more trainers entered the battlefield, but the excitement quickly faded as soon as their pokémon were released. One of them had another seel, and the other had a shellder.
"You trained hard, Cee," Delia said, also proud of her friend. "And you got a lot better."
Rey scoffed. "Also, you fought a seel."
Celeste rolled her eyes. Somehow, the intense training week was not the most tiresome and difficult thing she had to deal with. Rey was. "What's wrong with the seel?" the girl asked. She had tried ignoring Rey at the beginning of the week, but patience was not one of her virtues.
"They are how you spot the weaker trainers in this tournament." Rey shrugged, but decided to elaborate. "You find seel and shellder all around the islands. Easy to catch and easy to raise. It's pretty obvious they end up being most kids' starters."
On the battlefield, the seel was head-butting the shellder's closed shell. "This is what I'd call a glacial battle, folks. 'Cause it's really leaving me cold," the DJ said, turning to his pokémon. "Shall we play some music, Jukebox?"
Jukebox, the wigglytuff, twirled, and an energetic pop song blasted from the speakers installed throughout the arena. Celeste was glad he hadn't done that during her battle. She loved that song, but it might have thrown her off.
"Your starter can end up being your strongest team member," Celeste muttered, getting a "Ve" of support from the eevee still perched in her head.
"True, but in case that pretty empty head of yours didn't notice, people here aren't excited to see yet another seel versus shellder battle. So if a trainer has a little talent, they can at least explore a bit further down in the caves to find a swinub, or something."
"That is encouraging," Delia said quietly, more to herself than to anyone else.
With some faint claps from the audience, the judges announced the shellder had fainted. The next two battles, however, were quite the improvement. In the first one, a swinub destroyed a bergmite with a combination of dig and mud-slap. The following battle featured another seel, but this time against a snom. To Celeste's surprise, the bug pokémon claimed a decisive victory. Begrudgingly, she started to accept that maybe she was lucky to have a seel as her first opponent.
Still, none of the others tried to be creative.
Finally, the DJ announced the last battle of the morning: Lorelei against a girl with a spheal.
—*—*—
"What a gift!" the DJ said, his voice tired despite the smile. "Mia and her delibird have unleashed a powerful Drill Peck against the opposing snover and it just could not take it. Fan-tas-tic! I must say, not even on the battlefield, our sponsors at Razzo disappoint."
Delia, tapping her feet on the floor, watched as the boy recalled her pokémon and Mia winked at the audience. By her side, Luan was cheering incredibly loudly for his cousin and Celeste was absolutely distracted, feeding her pokémon berries dipped in chocolate.
Mia's battle was impressive, but Delia was certain that Lorelei's amazing showing during the morning would be the one people talked about the most. Despite only having her smoochum for a week, Lorelei and her pokémon battled in complete sync. The spheal they faced had no chance, as it was barraged by one status condition after another and then pounded until it fainted.
"What a day this has been, right, Juke?" the DJ asked his wigglytuff. "And it's not over yet. That is right, my jammers, we have one more battle to close off our first round with a bang."
Delia stood up immediately, barely registering her name being called by both the announcer and her friends. Luan pulled on her arm, giving her a supportive smile, while Celeste beamed at her and Rey muttered something about making sure not to disappoint his mother.
This was it. From now, she was a trainer again. Delia would not be stopped by one poor decision she made years ago any longer. For Shelly.
To Delia, it felt like she blinked and suddenly found herself on the battlefield, standing behind Shelly and facing off against a cubchoo with sticky frozen snot dripping from its nose. The opposing trainer quickly commanded it to sniff in and launch a Powder Snow attack towards the shellder.
As the temperature dropped, Delia snapped out of her nervous daze and yelled. "Withdraw, Shelly!"
As soon as the cubchoo unleashed its Powder Snow attack, a chilling wind swept across the battlefield. Delia's heart raced as she watched Shelly retreat into her shell, narrowly avoiding the freezing gusts. The cubchoo stamped its feet in frustration, its nose running as it waited for its trainer's next command. The opposing trainer, a girl that kept sniffing just as much as her pokémon, ordered, "Play Nice, Cubbie!"
The cubchoo carefully walked over to the shellder and gently knocked on its shell, somehow making the withdrawn pokémon peek. The bear-like creature waved shyly yet friendly, making Shelly a little less wary.
"Don't fall for that," Delia yelled. She had to take charge and attack, too. Even though she wasn't as interested as Celeste in training and becoming stronger, she had also worked hard during the week. "Clamp it!"
With a glint in her eyes, Shelly closed her shell over the cubchoo's hand, making it shriek in pain. The chill pokémon ran around, completely ignoring its trainer as it desperately tried to get itself free.
As Shelly clamped down harder on the opponent's hand, it moved around in panic. Delia had regained control, but she knew that the clamp alone wouldn't be enough to win the battle. She needed to continue to keep her defences up, but also attack more decisively. "Let go and fall back. Use Supersonic and follow with another Withdraw."
On her command, the shellder let go of Cubbie's hand and, while still in the air, screeched and filled the arena with a strange sound. Delia could feel some vibrations, but the cubchoo would get the worse of it.
As the bear-like pokémon complained, snot falling from its nose once again, it tried growling in frustration. "Calm down, Cubbie," the other trainer said. "Try attacking with Powder Snow once more!"
It was not going to work, Delia realised as she looked at her shellder, safely tucked inside her thick shell. As expected, the Powder Snow did nothing, but she noticed something else - as she watched the opponent launch its attack, its movements were uncoordinated and its aim was off. It was confused!
"Shelly, take your chance to finish this," Delia yelled. "Icicle Spear!"
The shellder cautiously emerged from its shell and witnessed the cubchoo stumbling towards it with glowing claws. Despite its disorientation, the cubchoo still tried to attack. It didn't matter, though. The shellder responded with a powerful jet of water that rapidly froze into sharp ice spears that flew towards Cubbie. The opposing pokémon fainted after the third spear hit and Delia let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
"Whoever said we need to put ourselves out there certainly never met this shellder," the DJ cheered, and the audience followed. Among the claps Delia could hear Celeste and Luan being way too loud, whistling and cheering.
Delia returned her shellder with warm words of gratitude and smiled to herself. It turns out that being a trainer again did not feel as awful as she thought it would.
—*—*—
"Goodnight to all those still tuned in to ThreeTop radio for our cool down hour. And let me tell you, at Four Island, cooling down is quite literal. So please, pour yourself a good one, and let's unwind after all the excitement of the day. As always, this is DJ Jiggly Jam, bringing you all the raves from across the waves."
A/N: Soo hopefully I managed to make the first round entertaining? At first I was going to add all the battles (including Lorelei's and Mia's), but the chapter was already way too big big and there were still the other rounds, so I decided it was better to cut it.
Also, DJ Jiggly Jams is now a thing. Hopefully not a very ridiculous thing, :D.
I kind of wanted a commentator character that could pop up from time to time. He is kind of inspired by Samuel L Jackson's character in "Do The Right Thing" (and maybe a little by Good Morning Vietnam too). Anyway, I do imagine him as a young Samuel L Jackson with a overly excited Wigglytuff by his side, so, there is that.
NEXT CHAPTER: Pumpkaboo Night
