Well, I'm back.

Honestly, I was planning to be done with this story until seeing if I wanted to pick it up in May. Reading all the interesting comments, good and the bad, was just so fun that I decided to pick it up again...

(Except the guy who called Zigzagoon lame and the one who made like 8 comments about the stat page at the bottom. I was gonna fix it when you only made one, but after repeating yourself so many times, screw that.)

Anyways...

Enjoy!


During the walk back to Petalburg city, I can't help but notice how strikingly silent the forest is. Now that I've done so much camping in this life, I have become quite accustomed to the sounds of the wilderness. At the very least, I know that they're pretty much ever-present.

In fact, the very woods that I'm currently walking through had been abuzz with activity and noise all the way up until I finished speaking during our little team meeting. The fact that it has suddenly become so quiet is more than a little concerning. While it is true that most Pokemon living near human settlements have adopted a much tamer lifestyle than their more isolated peers, that isn't a universal truth. Silence in a forest is synonymous with danger.

"Goly, Eris, Belle: let's pick up the pace." My decision is to clear out as soon as possible.

"Tropius!" Mirabelle screams out in a panicked fright behind me.

Unfortunately, my decision wasn't quick enough. I whirl around to see what happened, or, at least, I try to. With a rising sense of dread, I find myself unable to move. My muscles strain against my binds with my might, but the only things I can move are my fingers, toes, and mouth. At least that means I'm not paralyzed, but something is clearly holding me down. For a moment, I wonder if it is psychic power.

"Noone! Linoone!" Goly growls angrily and runs until he is in front of me and in my sight.

He stares up above my head and into the tree canopies with a baleful glare. Eris soon emerges from the shadows at his side, but her usual grin and laugh are nowhere to be found. Looking at the two of them, I can't help but worry about Belle. After her initial scream, all I've been able to hear behind me are muffled sounds of exertion and struggle. A weight landing on my shoulder quickly reminds me to worry about myself first.

"Noone!" Goly barks out a furious noise and leaps at me.

"Careful!" I yell out a warning to my incensed partner. The creature on my shoulder jumps forward to meet him and Goly swats the wild Pokemon down with a single Shadow Claw.

Still, at least I can now identify our attackers. A green Bug-Type Pokemon that I know all too well lies unconscious below Goly. Immediately, it becomes clear to me why I am incapable of moving.

On the forest floor lies an unremarkable Pokemon from the Johto region. As a matter of fact, it's one of the Bug-Types that I used to find the most adorable and endearing, all the while wishing it had more potential. Granted, this was back when all this was little more than a game franchise.

A green abdomen with a cute face design. Six legs sprout from the circular thorax, an unusual choice for a Pokemon so clearly based on an arachnid. Finally, a rotund head with two big eyes, red fangs, and a single horn.

I take a moment to ponder why I'm encountering a Johto Pokemon just outside of Petalburg City but quickly decide that this isn't the kind of situation where I can leisurely be distracted by such thoughts. At the same time, a nasty shiver runs down my spine. Being trapped in a giant spider web is, quite literally, the stuff of nightmares.

It doesn't help one bit that the Spinarak before me is much larger than I would have imagined. I've never had any kind of aversion to spiders, but the damned thing is around two feet long! The idea of being as helpless as a fly in a web is actually terrifying when the baby spiders are two feet long. How big is an Ariados then?

"Sableye!" Eris calls out a warning to Goly, who had been circling me and inspecting the spider webs holding me in place.

The warning comes just in time, as the forest seemingly begins to rain green spiders. One Spinarak after another rapidly descends from the tree canopies by a silky thread. Just a rough estimate tells me that there are at least three or four dozen of the venomous spiders. The idea that so many Pokemon had been watching us without making so much as a hint of noise is disconcerting to the extreme. Even as they launch a barrage of attacks, mostly Poison Sting and String Shot, at my partners, not a single one of the oversized arachnids make a peep.

"Lin! Noone!" My partner, on the other hand, has no such reservations. Goly bellows out a roar of challenge as he expertly dodges the assault with a brilliant display of acrobatics. All the while, he closes the distance to his assailants and puts one after another out of commission with his deadly Slash attacks.

"Sable!" Eris is a menace to her foes. Her face, like Goly's, is also warped in a furious scowl. However, her anger stems from the fact that these inferior creatures would dare to treat her as prey, rather than from the fact that her Trainer's life is being threatened. To Eris, that is of secondary importance.

She warps between the shadows of her enemies, maiming their undefended flanks with Shadow Claw. Nowhere to be seen is her calculated control and tactical taunting. No, the Eris I'm witnessing right now is nothing but fury and indignation.

Relief begins to build in my chest at the sight of my Pokemon handling the situation so easily. I'm still concerned about Mirabelle, whose struggle has become much more muted behind me, but my confidence in my Pokemon's ability to overcome this situation grows with every downed foe. Already, the two of them have defeated over a third of the Bug-Types.

"Good work you two!" I call out from my entrapment, not feeling the need to give specific orders. "Just try to calm down and take them one by o- Gah!" I cut off my own sentence with a shout as a needle pierces my ankle. A throbbing pain is soon to follow as the poison does its magic. A Spinarak had managed to sneak past Goly's defense and reach my legs. It wastes no time binding my legs tightly together with its web after ensuring that I've been injected with its poison.

At the sound of my shout, both of my Pokemon turn to face me in alarm. The instant that all my team's attention is on me, it strikes.

"Sableye!" Eris yells in panic as a red powder falls on her from above. She quickly descends into a fit of coughing and yelling. Before she can recover, a dark purple glob of viscous liquid drops on her head and I swear her skin begins to sizzle! "SABLEYE!" Her screams rise to a new crescendo, only to break as she falls into another painful fit of coughs.

I can guess that the purple glob is Toxic, but I have no clue what the powder that hit her first is. Whatever it is, the combination attack is putting her through it. Eris is a complete mess at the moment. Even as the painful poison in my own body throbs up my leg, I can tell that my poor Eris is in absolutely excruciating pain at the moment.

Unfortunately, I can only watch as she snarls and coughs, chokes and cries, and lashes out at everything around her in a blind rage. Small and clear, jeweled tears fall from the Darkness Pokemon's eyes and she even scratches at her own throat with Shadow Claw in her desperation to be rid of the terrible feeling brought on by the red powder. I can't even move my hands to return her.

"Goly, use Iron Tail to knock out Eris," I give Goly an order that I hope will be forgiven when the little ghost wakes up. "Then tear these bastards apart." My voice is as cold as my fury at seeing my mischievous little girl like that. Not even the Spinarak wrapping its thread up to my knees can distract me from this anger. That's my little girl over there.

"Lin." Goly's answer is just as solemn. His tone is dangerously even.

The leader of our team charges towards his most junior member and hardens his tail with silvery energy. Just before reaching her, he leaps into the air and initiates a forward flip to ensure a smooth knockout.

Unfortunately, something had been waiting for precisely this moment to make its move. A dark figure, well over twice the size of Goly, takes advantage of his upside and indefensible positioning to strike. As the dark creature descends on Goly at an incredible speed, its large horn glows with a sickly green light and more than doubles in size.

"Lin?!" Goly's battle instincts tell him that he is about to be hit, but he can't see the enemy in his current position. Despite being an incredibly gifted fighter, he can't just cancel his action along with killing his momentum once it has begun. Nor can he use Protect on top of his current use of Iron Tail. He quickly recognizes that his only choice is the brace for the impact to come. It's too bad that that impact is much harder than he had expected "NOONE!"

As the new Pokemon's Megahorn attack connects with Goly's soft underbelly, I can only wince at the massive impact. My first partner is slammed into the ground with so much force that he actually bounces back up to the height he had just been at from his leap. The attacking Pokemon doesn't have time to follow up as Eris leaps at it in a frothing rage.

A single thread pulls the large Pokemon back to a safe distance, hanging suspended in the air as Eris swipes and snarls at it from below. Eris gathers her energy and leaps up with her claws shining with ghastly energy, but she is thwarted just before he reaches her target. A stream of liquid that I recognize from my first-ever battle as Venoshock washes over Eris.

"SABLE!" A final, heart-wrenching scream of immense pain rings out as Eris falls to the earthen forest floor. She lies there unresponsive, her only movements being occasional twitches and spasms as the remnants of the Toxic attack continue to wreak havoc in her body. The only saving grace is her innate heartiness as a Ghost-Type.

Still, when a Spinarak begins to roll her prone body up into a ball of webbing, I feel my heart sink. Despite being near enough to civilization that this shouldn't have been a concern, I have little doubt about what our fate will be if the entire team is fully subdued like that. With my own body being wrapped all the way up to my stomach, Goly is our only remaining hope.

"Goly, we're counting on you again," I look into my partner's eyes as he staggers to his feet and I see the guardian Zigzagoon who fate paired me with back when I first fell into this world. This isn't the immature deviant, Goly the troublemaker, who is looking at me. No, this is the protector of the pack, Goliath. This is the Zigzagoon who stood alone against a swarm of hundreds of Beedrill to protect his fallen packmates. "The stakes are higher than usual here, but it's nothing new for you. Just treat this like a reminder of where we started. You've come a long way since a mere Beedrill nearly did us in." My vision blurs as the poison continues to throb throughout my body. "I don't know how long I can give orders, so you need to be ready to take over."

"Lin." Goliath's tone is firm and assured. He knows what his job is and he knows that he has no choice but to complete it.

As Goliath hardens his resolve, he turns away from Eris and me. He knows that he can't turn from his foe and attack the Spinaraks on us, nor can he afford to be distracted by his concern with us. His only option is to defeat the one before him first, then he can save us.

I also take the opportunity to study the Pokemon who so quickly turned the tides of the situation. The first thing that comes to mind is the answer to my previous question: an Ariados is very big. At easily over double my Linoone's size in overall mass, this thing is truly the stuff of nightmares. Honestly, there's no way that this kind of size is normal for the species. The second thing I notice is its coloration. Rather than the typical pink and black body with yellow and purple striped legs, the Ariados before me has a very dark purple body with blue accents on its legs.

Before I have the chance to further ponder on the Ariados' shiny nature, the Long Leg Pokemon springs into action. Ariados spits Spider Webs all around us, attempting to limit Goliath's mobility while enhancing its own.

"Don't let it control the field," I yell out, Spinarak now at my lower chest. "Extreme Speed!"

Goliath disappears and Ariados is sent careening back. However, the spider's involuntary flight rapidly loses momentum and soon the Pokemon has completely stopped, seemingly halted in mid-air. I quickly realize that a net of spider webs had brought it to a halt before it could collide with any of the hard trees around us. Just like that, the damage was nearly halved.

Boom!*

Without warning, a loud noise shakes the forest and dust fills my vision. It quickly clears and I see Ariados standing silently where Goliath had once stood. As for Goliath himself, he has apparently been knocked out of my current field of vision.

"Noone?" I can hear his voice, filled with equal parts confusion and pain, from somewhere behind me.

I can understand his confusion though. Ariados' attack just now wasn't any slower than our own. I know damn well that Ariados can't learn Extreme Speed, so what the hell was that?!

"You okay, buddy?" I call out without much worry. No matter how crazy what just happened was, I have nothing but faith in my partner. He won't lose a battle with our lives on the line.

"Lin! Linoone!" As expected, I get a quick and spirited response, albeit one with a lot of restrained pain in it.

While I hear Goliath approaching me from behind, I see three notable things in front of me. First, the Spinarak that is slowly turning me into a neatly wrapped, human-shaped juice box is currently at my shoulders and will need little time to finish the job. Second, Eris has been fully wrapped and is being lifted up into the tree canopy by a thread. Three, the Ariados is retreating to the treetops too, climbing up a web while its legs shake and twitch. The silent Pokemon is clearly in pain from moving at such a speed.

Interesting. That means Ariados isn't used to moving at such speeds. Its legs are not used to the strain.

"Don't let it retreat!" I yell to the recovering Linoone. "Extreme Speed!"

"Noone." Goliath's response is one of denial. However, it isn't defiant denial. Rather, it's more like he's helplessly saying he can't do that right now.

When Goliath trudges back into my view, I clearly see why he doesn't think he can do it. The poor guy is covered head to tail in a mixture of spider webs, dirt, and foliage. When Ariados sent him flying, he must have rolled across several webs. He strains against them with all his strength, but the silky threads are numerous enough that they show no signs of breaking.

"Goly," I call out his name when the Spinarak begins to wrap my neck. I have very little time before I'm fully encased in the webbing. Even as I speak, dozens more of the little green spiders descend from the treetops and stare silently at Goliath. I take a deep breath and harden my resolve. "Find a chance to escape and return to Petalburg. Get help from Norman."

Goly turns to me with wide eyes at my words. Of course, the Spinarak colony sees this as the perfect chance to launch an attack, uncaring for Goly's inner turmoil. A dozen spiders, all between 1 and 2 feet long, leap at a solitary Linoone. Bug Bite, Poison Jab, Pounce: an onslaught of attacks close in on the Pokemon trapped in cobwebs.

Just before impact, five things happen at once.

The Spinarak turning me into a portable juice box wraps its silken threads around my mouth and nose. Fortunately, I can still breathe through it all, albeit a little strained. Before my eyes can be blocked, the second occurrence causes the Spinarak to fall off my head and down to the ground.

"TROOOOOOO!" A mighty bellow of pure outrage comes from behind me and the ground trembles with a series of loud thuds. A massive white form charges in front of me and punts the Spinarak back up to the treetops.

Mirabelle is just as covered in webs as I am, no, even more so than I am. Her body looks like a huge ball of silk, fully spherical with how much they covered her in. The only parts of her actual body that I can see are her legs, which clearly ripped through the webs, and her mouth, which did the same during her roar. What I can see clearly though, is that she is covered in a dark blue aura as she continues to rampage against the Bug-Types with no signs of stopping. Fortunately, she is far from alone in her assault.

"Lin! NOONE!" At the same time as Mirabelle's furious bellow, Goliath lit up the forest while roaring his own challenge. A powerful burst of electricity fried the webs off of him and zapped the bugs that had been swarming him in his vulnerable state.

Upon being freed and seeing Mirabelle at his side, he wastes no time firing another Thunderbolt at the web still lofting Eris into the trees. After turning the thread brittle with his lightning, he leaps up and cuts his teammate down with a slash, catching her unconscious and encased form in his mouth before she can hit the forest floor.

Before I can even begin to feel hopeful for a turnaround of this impossible situation, the fourth significant occurrence crushes that budding hope. Along with the twenty or so Spinarak that I can still see up and unharmed, four Ariados leap down to the forest floor and surround my two Pokemon. None of them even come close to the imposing size of the shiny Ariados that ambushed Goly, but they still represent a formidable obstacle for my crippled team. Not to mention the fact that their presumed leader is no doubt still lurking around, looking for a chance to strike.

"Talonflame, Altaria: Flamethrower!" A familiar voice rings out clearly in the silent woods and signals to me that my luck hasn't yet run dry.

Two large streams of fire strafe through the webs, trees, and Pokemon alike; indiscriminate in their destructive paths. A burning hawk and a fluffy cloud dive down from the sky and wreak havoc on our assailants. As they fly circles around the scuttling Bug-Types, the spider colony is forced into a silent retreat. The four Ariados go around collecting the fallen Spinaraks as they leave.

At the same time, two figures pop into existence before me. A Xatu that I believe I recognize is the first. The second is a rather angry-looking woman whom I know that I recognize. Through the throbbing pain of the poison in my system, I force out a brazen smile at my life's benefactor.

"Hey Tracy, what brings you here?" Only, my words are badly muffled and I'm reminded of the fact that an extensive amount of silky threads are currently blocking her from seeing my charming smile.

"Oh? I don't know," She slowly walks up to me with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Altaria lands next to Xatu behind her and Talonflame perches himself on Tracy's shoulder. The two of them already completed their task of routing the entire colony. "I originally came to Petalburg after seeing a certain video that was posted online a couple hours ago. You see," She stops in front of my suspended form and places a hand on her hip. "I was planning on beating some manners into a delinquent kid who doesn't know how to act. Violently and thoroughly reforming his moral code sounded like the best way to keep him out of trouble."

"I see. You're truly such a considerate and compassionate person that I'm in awe," I can feel a cold sweat overtaking my entire body. If handled incorrectly, this could be more dangerous than the Ariados. "Before you set off looking for that unruly kid, do you think you could help out my Pokemon quickly? Eris, my Sableye, took a really nasty surprise attack from Toxic and some other red powder move. She's wrapped in webbing over there." I point at the unmoving ball of cobwebs between Goly and Belle.

Speaking of Belle, ever since the spider colony fled, she has been looking around as if she's lost. I would almost say that she doesn't seem to remember anything from her previous rampage. I suppose that's something to consider later, but I do have an idea of what it could mean.

"Xatu, bring them all to Nurse Joy. Come back here once you have confirmed that they are safe."

After receiving Tracy's orders, the Psychic bird's eyes light up and I feel something happen. That something is soon made clear when the webs holding me in place simply disappear and reappear three feet to my left, falling to the ground in a heap. I hardly have time to react to my bindings being released before all three of my Pokeballs float up from my belt and return my partners.

Goly attempts to dodge the beam, but a Psychic force temporarily holds him in place and renders his attempt meaningless. Belle hardly even notices as the red light envelopes her. It takes a little longer as Xatu fails to teleport Eris's bindings off of her, no doubt due to her Dark-Type nature, but after using Psychic to simply rip a hole in the webs, it manages to tag her with the return beam as well.

With all three Pokemon safely tucked away, Xatu poofs out of existence, no doubt reappearing in the Petalburg Pokemon Center at the same time.

"Now," Tracy continues, unfazed by the activity around her. However, her eyes do narrow at the Poison Sting needle still in my ankle. "Care to tell me why you were about to become an Ariados colony's food rations?"

"Well," I slump to the ground and sit on my backside while I pull the needle from my leg. "After my battle with Tyson, I brought the team out here for a nice heart-to-heart about our goals…" I talk through the entire encounter, occasionally pausing as Tracy asks questions for clarification. "Then I lucked out when you showed up."

"Reid," The veteran Ranger sighs and rubs her temples to ease the oncoming stress headache. "When you realized that you couldn't move and a third of your team was trapped, why didn't you Eris to Petalburg for help? With all these shadows it would take her no more than a couple minutes to get there while Goly defended you."

"I guess I thought that those two could win," I sheepishly admit, fully realizing the ignorance of my decision. "Spinarak and Ariados aren't that strong and Goly had just gone toe-to-toe with a Metagross. It felt doable."

"Idiot!" Tracy yells out with exasperation, slapping me upside the head as she does so. "This isn't a battle! This is a hunt! No matter how talented you and your Pokemon are, that only extends to fair Pokemon battles with rules. That means nothing to a hunter. I saw the matriarch of that colony from the sky and she's old, ancient even. That kind of experienced hunter knows exactly how to dismantle a powerful Pokemon team. On top of all that, Goly's legs were damaged after his battle, weakening your trump card. How could you be so stupid?!"

Tracy's rant has me reeling. This is the first human I ever met in this new world. However, Tracy Marks means much more to me than just that. She's someone who has been there for me in more ways than I can ever repay. In this crazy new life, she might be the closest thing I have to a family.

"I…" I look up at her, ready to fire back, to justify my actions. Only, I stop short of saying the words. She's right. I very well could have gotten my entire team killed tonight. More than that realization, it's the look in her eyes that catches my words in my throat. There's anger, true, but I'd be blind if I thought that that's all there is. "I'm sorry. I guess I've gotten pretty high on myself lately."

"Damned right you have," She reaches out for my hand and pulls me to my feet. "Well, that settles it. I still need to give you that ass beating, but I suppose this isn't a problem that one beating can fix. You said you've got just under three weeks left until your first Contest, right? I've got some time off, so I'll beat the stupid out of you for 18 days starting tomorrow. With that much help from me, even if we don't get all the dumb ideas and arrogance out of your head, you should be strong enough to handle whatever problems you still manage to find."

"Tracy, no need to be bashful," I tease with a smirk. "If you care about me so much that you want to personally train me, you can just say so. You don't have to hide it by saying that you're going to beat me up."

At my words, Tracy's mouth warps into a feral grin and she walks right up into my face. As I look up to meet her eyes, I'm stricken by how imposing of a person Tracy Marks is. I'd never thought about it before, but she stands at least 6'1" and has a decent amount of muscle definition. Her tanned skin reminds me of the fact that this is a woman who spends the majority of her life roughing it out in the most dangerous wild areas of the Hoenn region.

"No," Her smile deepens, and my cold sweat returns. "I'm not hiding anything. You're going to bleed, but you will come out stronger for it."

I turn around and start to sprint away, deeper into the forest, but Xatu appears to block my path. The next instant, I find myself standing in the reception hall of Petalburg's human hospital and I realize that there will be no escape when Tracy's hand rests on my shoulder.

Eighteen unavoidable days in hell await me.


That night, lying in the hospital bed after getting treated for the poison in my bloodstream, I find my thoughts constantly drifting back to that encounter.

By all rights, that shouldn't have been such a hopeless scenario. Even with Mirabelle trapped and Goly at less than 100%, a bunch of low-level Spinarak and a few Ariados shouldn't have been enough to handle us so easily.

Even that Shiny Ariados, while large and impressive, wasn't anywhere near the threat posed by Metagross, or even Brawly's Hariyama. If that Ariados was our opponent in a battle, I doubt it, no, she would last five attacks against Goly. So why didn't it turn out that way?

"It's not a battle," I mumble to myself in the hospital bed, remembering Tracy's. "It's a hunt."

I'm far from unfamiliar with fighting unfair, Eris's strategy is all about that. However, what Eris does is still fundamentally a regular battle following fair rules of competition. What Ariados did was entirely different. She set the field long in advance, ensuring that her side had advantageous terrain. She then immobilized the largest enemy and the control tower to initiate the hunt. Low-level members of her swarm came in to cause chaos and she attacked the Trainer to create an opening. From there she completely controlled the pace of the hunt, attacking and retreating at all the right times.

As I replay the encounter in my brain, I can help but be reminded of a video from my old world where a pack of Hyenas picks apart a lion. Even though the lion could easily kill any of them, it couldn't do so without exposing itself to being attacked by the rest.

Even when she had Goly wounded and wrapped in webbing, she didn't rush to finish him off. Instead, she used that chance to bring herself back out of sight. She knew that she could simply wait him out and continue to pick at him. This turned out to be the right call as Goly proved himself capable of escaping her webs. If it hadn't been for Tracy, I have little doubt that she would have found a chance to strike once again.

Even after thinking all that through and acknowledging that it was only effective because it was a hunt, and not a battle, I still can't get Ariados out of my head. Her intricate trap. Her powerful ambush. The patient, calculating silence. The vast intelligence in her ancient eyes. I can't help but feel that it would be a waste to let this encounter simply end like this.

Do I want her on my team?

While I do admit that she has a completely badass-looking shiny coloration, I can't help but feel the bitter irony of this being my first encounter with a true rarity of a wild Pokémon. For one, she tried her damnedest to kill and eat me, which she came pretty damned close to succeeding in! She certainly is the first truly rare wild Pokémon I've found due to being shiny, but that is purely aesthetic. As someone aiming for the top of the world, I can't afford to keep Pokémon around for such a shallow reason. I need to have a vision to reach the top of the world with each and every Pokémon I catch. I can't waste time and resources on catching something just because it is rare. Finally, the biggest problem with catching her stems from the fact that she happens to be an Ariados.

While I'm a fan of all the spider-based Pokémon, even I can admit that Ariados is a species with few redeeming qualities in battle. Similar to when I refused to catch that wild Swalot, I don't know of a method to make an Ariados a formidable battler. While I can admit that she is an incredibly adept hunter, I don't think that would translate well in a battle if left as is. After all, even Tracy said that battles and hunts are two very different things.

Still, even though I would have immediately said no to catching an Ariados before this, I can't stop thinking of how I could use her in a battle. What could I do to turn her hunts into a genuine battle style?

Honestly, I have no clue. However, this entire situation has taught me that there is still a lot about this world and surviving in it that I don't know. Beyond that, there is a lot to being strong that I don't know. If I only stick with what I do know, my 'game knowledge' I'm starting to think that I will never make it to the true top of the world. Unless I challenge myself to take on the unknown and seek out new knowledge and strategies, I won't be satisfied.

Even if I defeat all the strongest trainers like that, if I only use strategies and knowledge from my old world, doesn't that mean anyone could have done it if they were in my place? If I truly wish to prove myself the best, it's time for me to stop being bound by what I already know. I'm going to follow my gut on this one.

I'm going to catch that Ariados!

Only, I have no idea where it is now. I heard Tracy talking on her Transceiver with another Ranger, some guy named Matthew, about it though. She was chewing him out for letting such a dangerous Pokémon expand its territory out of the Petalburg forest depths that Matthew monitors. He claimed that this Ariados has always been a pain to monitor due to how cunning and sneaky she is. Tracy responded with, and I quote, "I don't give a damn. Find her before I report this up and be glad that I don't personally come over there and slap the incompetence out of you."

I guess I'll ask Tracy to let me know when he finds her.


Tentatively, I peek out of the dark entrance tunnel and take in the crowd. Around two thousand spectators sit behind a three-person judge panel and await the start of our performance. While there is nowhere near the level of energy that my battle against Wattson had, the auditorium gives off a different type of pressure with its even larger audience. However, the most pressure is coming from a woman in a red Ranger outfit sitting in the front row.

That's right, after beating me black and blue for eighteen consecutive days, Tracy gave me two days of recovery time to get ready for Eris' Contest debut. To make matters worse, as she sits there in the front row, Skarmory at her side, I can't help but notice the conspicuously large camera set up on a tripod next to her.

I'm not sure if she realizes how much pressure she is adding, but the fact that she is recording tells me that she definitely realizes that this is a chance for her to gather more blackmail against me if I mess up. You see, over the course of her torture sessions (read training sessions) I've found out that Tracy has just about every video ever taken of me saved on her Transceiver. This ranges from my battles and interviews to the random public videos that were posted of me.

She takes special care to remind me of the physical evidence of any cringeworthy lines or behaviors of mine. I can't even tell you how many times I've been forced to listen to my voice after my first Gym battle and my recent outburst against Tyson. It's gotten to the point where I physically cringe just from hearing the words: "We'll bury you." or "Even though I'm competing this year…"

It almost feels like Tracy was running her very own episode of Scared Straight… That's not what she was doing, right?

I turn my back to the stage and walk down the tunnel to my waiting room. I share the room with 9 other contestants, but I hardly even give them a glance as I make a beeline straight for the little star of the show. Eris is sitting on the bench with her feet swinging and her hands clasped. Even without me in the room, she stayed put and didn't cause any trouble, so I know she's nervous.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your patience! The Hoenn region Pokémon contest and the pride of Rustboro City will now begin!" A loud voice rings out from the various speakers and televisions across the building. It sounds like things are finally getting started. "Now, let's meet our judges. I'll begin by first introducing the director of the contest committee Mr. Contesta. All of our judges are well known for being fair but firm. Next, we have Mr. Sukizo from the Pokémon Enthusiasts Club. Finally, Rustboro City's very own, Nurse Joy!"

The thunderous applause of two thousand spectators shakes the building and causes more than a few of the tense young Trainers and Coordinators sharing the room with me to take a deep gulp.

"The Coordinator who earns their way to victory will be honored with the much esteemed Rustboro Ribbon! For those of you skilled enough to earn 5 ribbons at the contests throughout the region, you'll be allowed to compete in the ultimate test for all Coordinators: the Pokémon Grand Festival!" The excitement rises to a crescendo at the mention of what is essentially the Coordinators' Ever Grande. "My name is Vivian Meridian, and I'm completely honored to be your MC today."

I tone her out as she moves on to describe the two separate rounds of Pokémon Contests: free performance and battle. The only thing that catches my attention is when Vivian mentions that 8 of the 67 contestants will be moving on to the second round. My own contestant number of 65 tells me that I've got quite a long wait ahead of me.

It's honestly kind of amazing how many people come out to compete in these Contests. Everyone from clear veterans with Delcattys and Sunfloras to complete beginners with Poochyenas and Lotads; it seems like just about anyone signs up for these.

Still, despite there being so many people involved in the Pokémon Contests, I can only remember a slim few notable figures from the Anime. In the Hoenn circuit, those that I remember are May, Drew, Soledad, some guy with a Mylotic, and…

"Now, it's finally time to get things kicked off!" Vivian's announcement of the first Coordinator has me turning to face the screen. "Please join me in welcoming to the stage contestant number 1, Harley!"

A tall man dressed in a ridiculous Cacturne outfit struts out to the stage. Harley waves both hands to the crowd before tossing up his Pokeball with a shout of "Kyaa! Let's go, Cacturne!" and a flamboyant leg kick.

Harley is the only other contestant here who I've clearly recognized, and I'm not enthused about it. From what I remember about him, which is admittedly precious little, he uses his upbeat and feminine personality as a front to mask his malicious and perverse personality. Honestly speaking, he's the last person I want to have any kind of interaction with, but it seems inevitable at this point. Even though we haven't interacted yet, I have little doubt that he will advance to round two, lose to me, and then hold some stupid grudge.

"Eris," My cute little ghost perks up when I sit next to her and call her name. "Pay attention to this one, this guy is probably going to be one of the best contestants here."

"Sableye," Eris responds with a firm and determined voice, climbing up my shoulder to get a better view of the television.

I hand her a poffin I made last night and settle in to watch for myself. However, I'm not expecting much. From what I remember of the Anime and the few Contests that I watched when living in Mauville, I have determined that Hoenn and Kanto are both quite a ways behind in terms of Contest quality. Sinnoh is the holy land of Contests and Kalos is the motherland of Showcases and true performances. In comparison, Hoenn contestants just sit back and watch as their Pokémon fire off a couple combination moves. There's no true showmanship.

"Cacturne, use Sandstorm," After the Scarecrow Pokémon appeared on stage and finished bowing to the judge's panel, Harley put him straight to work whipping up a localized tornado of sand around him. Within that veil of sand, all the onlookers can see is the dark silhouette of Cacturne.

"Oh my, what precise control over the raging storm," Vivian exclaims. "Even standing right next to it all, not a single grain of sand has hit me. All of the storm is being centered and contained around Cacturne!"

"Now, Toxic Spikes and Magical Leaf!" At Harley's behest, dozens of purple spikes, dripping with poison, enter the torrent of sand and are pulled along. Before their weight can pull them down, a multitude of glowing leaves precisely hit every one of them and cut them into small and sparkling flecks of purple.

"Incredible, in just three moves the simple sandstorm has become a glamorous swirl of browns, purples, and greens. The combination of the razor-sharp leaves and the sparkling specks of poison give this Sandstorm the impression of lethal beauty!" Vivian is really putting in the work as an A-grade hype man.

"Finish it with Growth and Scary Face, my cutie!" Harley calls out a move that doesn't match the cutesy pose he stands in.

From within the fatal storm, the dark form of Cacturne enlarges rapidly to twice its previous size. A dark red face with a jagged mouth and angry eyes lights up on the giant silhouette, giving off an ominous impression that has the crowd gasping in fright. That image remains for about 5 more seconds before the face fades and Cacturne allows the sandstorm to fade. Soon enough, Cacturne is back to his normal size and standing next to his Trainer as they give a bow together.

"What an excellent and frightening performance by Harley and Cacturne," Vivian exclaims, seeing that they have completed their routine. "Now, we await the judge's opinion."

The three panels below each judge read as follows: 10.0 from Contesta, 9.9 from Sukizo, and 9.8 from Nurse Joy.

"29.7! What an incredibly high bar our first contestant has set for the high score!" Vivian moves to Contesta with the mic. "Your comments?"

"I was very impressed by their juxtaposition of beauty and fear! They truly brought out the best of two traditionally opposing concepts!" Mr. Contesta smiles with appreciation befitting his perfect score.

"It was truly remarkable!" Sukizo gives his traditional response to a good performance. How this guy keeps getting paid to say the same thing never ceases to amaze me.

"It was a brilliant display of technique and control. Well done!" Nurse Joy gives the final comments from the judging panel and Harley exits the stage.

"Sableye?" Eris looks at me with her head tilted to the side. She seems to be a bit disbelieving. "Sable?" She points to the score.

"Yep, that was nearly a perfect score," I confirm what she sees to be true.

"Sableye!" Eris protests, seemingly having taken some offense to the score which she feels to be undeservedly high. "Sable Sabe! Sableye!"

"I know. I agree," I nod along and put my hands up in a gesture saying 'what can you do.' "It may have looked very beautiful, but that's it. It's like I told you before, very few Pokémon have your level of showmanship and stage presence. If you just be yourself and we pull off our performance just like we've practiced it, we'll run away with this thing."

The others in the room, all of whom have been intimidated by the high quality of the opening act, look at me with some hostility. There's no doubt that my brazen confidence and disregard for the quality of my competition have rubbed them the wrong way.

So what though? Who asked Hoenn Coordinators to be so unprofessional about what they do?

My eyes strafe the room and I see t-shirts, sandals, sunglasses, and bedhead. They all look like they just strolled up to a school talent show, not a professional Contest being broadcast live.

In comparison, my own outfit would fit right in at a Sinnoh contest. I wear a black butler's suit with a tailcoat and everything. A monocle rests on my right eye and my spiky hair has been gelled into submission. I even practiced with make-up over the last week to give myself an eerie pale pallor, all to match my ghost queen's theme.

I'm even wearing this uncomfortably stiff gimmick within my tailcoat. Seriously, this thing sucks, and learning how to move around naturally with it on was a serious chore. Still, that's all part of what you call professionalism. It is all these extra steps that will skyrocket me far beyond the level of my Hoenn competitors.

Do I need to do all of this to make it to the battle round and win the Contest?

Absolutely not. However, it's a matter of principle. If I'm going to enter the Contest circuit to make Eris shine, I'm going to put my full effort into making damned sure that she shines far brighter than anyone else.

"Just remember all the effort you put in during these last three weeks and you'll do perfectly."

Eris shudders with a bit of residual trauma at my words, but the nervous jitters in her hands and legs have stilled and her usual cool confidence is back.

My words may have been a bit too effective though, as I spend the rest of my wait time reminiscing on the hellish punishment I endured in the name of training and behavior correction.


Day 1

"Isn't this a bit unfair!" I scream out at the devilish woman sipping a coffee watching me fight for my life at 3 in the damned morning.

"Lin! Linoone!" Goly screams in panicked agreement.

"Life isn't fair!" Tracy retorts with just a tad bit too much glee. "Was it fair that you were almost killed by a swarm of weak Bug-Types? I know that you're capable of handling yourself in a single battle, but it would be pointless to only practice things you know how to handle. Now, quit being a wimp and fight back! Aren't you supposed to be Mr. Almighty and Unbeatable prodigy?"

"Fine, damnit!" I plant my foot and turn to face my pursuers. "Let's make a stand and show them who they're messing with!"

"Tropius!" Mirabelle also stops her desperate flee and stands protectively in front of me.

Before her, descending from the sky is a very powerful group of Pokémon. Swellow and Talonflame are far in the lead, but behind them are four more dangerously strong Flying-Types: Altaria, Xatu, Tropius, and, of course, Skarmory.

It doesn't take long for me to realize that it is just me and Mirabelle versus the entirety of Tracy Marks' 6-man team. There are two Pokémon who are suspiciously missing from the equation.

My head whips around to see Goly still hightailing it away at full speed.

"Sassasa!" Eris sits on his back and gives me a cheeky wave.

"Oh, you sons of bitches!" As much as I'd like to continue berating them, the frontrunners of our attackers are nearly upon us. Tracy's unhinged laughter floods the background. "Belle, it's just you and me here. Let's show them what the toughest two members of our team are capable of!"

"Tropius?" Mirabelle's head rapidly turns back and forth and her eyes go wide as saucers. It would seem that she has only now noticed that her teammates have ditched her. She looks back at me with fat tears welling up in her eyes.

Before I can say anything to reassure her, Talonflame and Swellow reach us and we're fighting for our lives. Talonflame assaults Belle with speed and fire, while Swellow bombards me with winds and pecks.

We somehow manage to survive, both black and blue, until the rest of Tracy's team arrives. However, when they come over us, we fall in an instant. Just before blacking out, I'm gratified by the sight of Goly's wide-eyed shock as he is teleported right between Skarmory, Altaria, and Tropius. I have no doubt that Eris, too, will be hunted down soon.

"Serves you right," I mumble as my vision fades to black. Just when I feel the comforting rest of losing consciousness, a freezing wetness pulls me back into the land of the living. "Agh! What?!"

Tracy stands over me with an empty bucket and a wide smirk.

"Alright, I think you're just about softened up enough to start," She nods in satisfaction. "Now, your Pokémon are all off training with my own. I looked through the notes I had you write on each of them yesterday and all my Pokémon know what each of them should be working on. Since he can't work on Stop and Go until his legs are healed up, Goly's working on dealing with ambushes and fighting multiple opponents with Altaria, Skarmory, Swellow, and Talonflame. Honestly, they're really just beating him around the forest, but he's holding up much better than expected. That cute little Zigzagoon turned into a real monster, huh?"

"Heh, that he did," I groan as I force myself to my feet. "What about the others?"

"Belle's working on Outrage and Stomping Tantrum with her mother," I nod along to that. Outrage was a welcome surprise from yesterday's mess. "As for Eris, she's with Xatu, trying to figure out all those new moves you want for her."

"Great," I smile and shake out my legs. "Point out where they all are and I'll start jogging laps that let me pass by all their training areas to check it."

"Oh no," Tracy smirks and pulls out another Pokeball. "I already told you there's no point in doing the training you're already used to. This is going to be a little more intense than jogging or weight training."

She tosses up the Pokeball and a colorful creature just under three feet tall materializes before me. It's a bird with a much more solid body than most. The red, green, and white coloring is reminiscent of a professional wrestler.

"Hawlucha!" The luchador bird flexes at me and its beak curls into a smirk.

"You see, high-ranking Rangers are allowed to carry over the typical limit, and Hawlucha here felt perfect for the job." Tracy's smile takes on a sinister undertone.

"And what job is that?" I ask.

"Why, your sparring partner, of course!" Tracy's face takes resemblance to Giratina, the Pokémon devil itself. "Welcome to your exclusive course: beat the bitch out of Reid Redwood 101!"


Day 7

"Stop and Go, Goly!" I shout out the order, desperate to finally pull off a win after seven days of beatings. With this being the first single battle since we started, it's my best chance.

"Disable." Tracy's order to Xatu shuts that plan down real quick. After a single Extreme Speed, Goly can only run forward at his formidable, but regular, speed. "Didn't Joy tell you that he isn't ready for that yet? Don't rush to victory and forget that this is training. There is a lot more to learn from losing twenty times than from winning once with a fancy move you can't handle yet." I almost come to respect Tracy's wise words. That is until I hear how she ends them. "Now, watch how your favorite Ranger kicks your ass."

And indeed she did. While Goly managed to take out Talonflame, and Xatu, and Mirabelle beat Swellow; Altaria cleaned house with Belle and Eris when she came into battle.


Day 13

"Keep it up, Eris! You're doing awesome." I happily encourage the little ghost who had been growing increasingly frustrated with her inability to perfectly control the move combination that we decided to use for our appeals performance. "Just keep trying at it. You've already come so far since we started!"

"Sable," Eris grumbles some affirmation and continues to throw herself into her practice.

Under the Midnight moon, Eris and I toil and labor to make sure that her stage debut is perfect. Phantom pain from the burn of ghostly flames throbs in my hands, but even that can't wipe away the joyous smile on my face. I know we are going to kill this Contest!

High in the sky above, Tracy watches over our efforts from Tropius' back with a fond smile.


Day 15

"Oh, by the way, he's found her." Tracy suddenly speaks up from where she had been silently eating her spaghetti dinner next to me.

"Who found who?" My voice is utterly devoid of any kind of intonation or other indication of spirit. It honestly reminds me of a text-to-speech AI with how monotone I am. I simply don't have the energy to spare on emotions these days.

"Matthew, the Ranger in charge of this sector of the Petalburg Woods," Tracy answers, unbothered by the fact that she is speaking with the dead. "He sent me a message this morning saying he finally tracked that ancient Ariados matriarch to some dusty cave in the woods."

"Truly?!" I shoot up in my seat, the spark of life forced back into my body. My mind flashes to the empty Net ball sitting in my bag and I turn to take off for it. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Hold you Horseas, kiddo," Tracy steps in my way and holds her hands up to placate me. "If we leave now we're going to get there at night; bad idea against a colony of Ariados and Spinarak. If they've settled into a cave, they aren't moving any time soon. We'll go tomorrow morning, though I don't know why you want a Pokémon that nearly made you its lunch so badly."


Day 18

"You really are a monster," Tracy shakes her head as she looks between her exhausted and barely standing starter, Skarmory, and Goly's fallen form. She's all too aware of the fact that five of the Pokeballs on her waist contain unconscious Pokémon. "Didn't you grow, like, way too much over these three weeks?"

"I better have after what you put me through, otherwise it just wouldn't be a fair trade," I quip back, bitter about the fact that I couldn't win the battle, even if it was 4 vs 6. "After all, because of you, I'll need to rush around to win four badges in two months now. Unless that is, I want to snub an Elite Four member."

"Whatever, don't even act like you're worried about not winning those badges in time. I know you better than that, Reid" Tracy shakes her head at me as she returns her Skarmory. "It's just too bad that I don't get more time with you, I don't think I was able to beat the stupid punk out of you. At least, not all of it."

"Well, you're never gonna get another chance, so you'll just have to make do with what you got." I give her a challenging grin. "From here on out, I'm going to get so much stronger than you that you'll be scared to even consider beating me."

Instead of responding verbally, Tracy simply presses a button on her Transceiver.

"If you don't like that, just come and try to stop us. We'll bury you." My voice plays from the device.

Instinctually, I duck my head down to dodge the incoming strike. Only, no strike comes. Tracy is standing right in front of me, so she obviously can't swat the back of my head like she always does when she plays that video but ducking has become an instinctual response to hearing that interview. My ears burn red and Tracy simply smirks at me.

"No, I somehow doubt I'll ever be scared of you."


"Now, join me in welcoming contestant number 65: Reid!" Vivian's voice beckons me to leave the tunnel and enter the stage, but I take my time in doing so. After all, the performance has already begun.

Are you ready to go, Eris?" I ask the small figure standing next to me.

"Sable." Eris gives me a solemn nod and impatiently beckons me to proceed.

Alright then," I smile at her. "Let's shock the world!"

I adjust the mic on my collar and straighten up my posture. With the practiced walk of a royal's butler, I enter the stage with precise steps. However, instead of walking straight to center stage I turn sharply to the side and position myself at attention to the side of the tunnel entrance.

"Ahem," I clear my throat into the mic to gather all the audience's attention onto myself. "Respected judges and spectators, please join me on this joyous occasion in welcoming our noble court to the ballroom." I pause and smile at Vivian, grateful that she seems to have picked up on our concept enough to not interrupt with commentary. "But first, how might we have a ball without the proper music to accompany it?"

At my words, a music box floats out of the tunnel and hovers in the air next to my shoulder, close enough to the mic for the sound to be picked up nicely. Before everyone's eyes, the handle cranks itself, and soft piano music soon rings out through the building's speakers. The melody is reminiscent of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

"Incredible," Vivian's voice in the microphone is a low whisper. She doesn't take away from the performance, but she ensures that everyone understands what is going on. "It appears that Reid's Pokémon has already been released and is controlling the music box with some sort of Psychic power."

"Now then, it looks like we are finally ready to begin the merriment!" I clap my hands together with a crisp noise. "Announcing to the ballroom, the entrance of Lady Froslass and Sir Banette."

From the tunnel, two Pokémon emerge hand-in-hand. A white ghost of ice and a black puppet glide through the air to the center of the stage. Upon arriving, they begin to sway together in a ballroom waltz. Before the crowd can react to the fact that multiple Pokémon are on the stage at once, I continue to speak.

"Announcing to the ballroom, Lady Gardevoir and Sir Gallade."

The next to emerge from the tunnel is a pair of knights. As they, too, glide to the center without their legs moving, the audience begins to pick up on what's going on, and astonished gasps ring out through the crowd. While Gallade twirls Gardevoir with fanciful dance moves, the more sharp spectators' eyes drift back to the pair of ghosts to confirm their suspicions.

Sure enough, it's true! Their movement appears so typical for Ghost-Types, who already move somewhat unnaturally, that it's now, after seeing the larger Psychic-Types moving in the same fashion, that the viewers realize what's going on.

"Amazing," Vivian gasps. "I had been concerned that Reid might be disqualified for using more than one partner, but all the Pokémon on stage are actually life-sized plushies! Some, still yet to be seen, Pokémon is expertly puppeteering all of them!"

"Hmm," I dramatically put a hand to my chin as I scrutinize the scene. "This won't do at all. Such a bland scene is unfit for our queen. Let us fix up some proper lighting, shall we?"

Large blue balls of ghost flame float out from the tunnel and rise up in a circle around the two pairs of dancers. It's unfortunate that I'm not allowed to shut off the bright arena lights, but this will have to do. The eerie atmosphere of puppeteered dolls dancing under a ring of blue flames has still been set. All that's left is to welcome the star of today's show.

"Perfect! Now then, attention, all spectators and participants," Eris makes the dancers stop in their tracks and face the tunnel. "Please allow me the revered honor of welcoming to the stage your bewitching ruler. Pack your respects to the entrance of the Ghostflame Queen, Lady Eris."

All eyes and cameras are on the dark tunnel. Everyone sees the flames long before they see the Pokémon. Pale blue flames flicker into existence, low to the ground. First, a small semicircle, then a long blanket behind it. The flames take the shape of a crown and a long mantle that drags across the floor.

With perfect, measured steps, the Ghostflame Queen emerges from the darkness. At the sight of her burning crown, the butler and dancers all take a knee and bow their heads. Following her entrance is a bitter chill. The ghost flames flicker and waver and a sparkly Icy Wind blows through the stage and into the first few rows of the audience.

At this point, Eris is actively controlling an entire three separate moves at the same time. It's a feat that goes beyond just being simply impressive and the true experts amongst the spectators have realized this. Beyond the soft piano music of the music box, not a single sound can be heard in the building.


Eris POV

Step by step, Eris lavishes in the complete control she has over this place. This is it! This is what she dreamed of! Thousands watch on in awe of her beauty with every movement she makes. Offhandedly, she takes a mental note of the fact that her Trainer has stepped up behind her. When he reaches down, she controls the ghost flames such that it appears as though he has grabbed the mantle and lifts it behind her.

Just this action, just this tiny detail; in order to add just this little bit more quality to their performance, Eris can't even count how many times she has burned her Trainer's hands in their practice. She isn't a Rapidash! She can't just decide not to make her fire hurt people. Besides, she only just recently learned Will-O-Wisp. He's asking her to hover the flames just barely over his hands, close enough that it looks like he's holding them. How could he have expected such control from her?

Still, despite the pain he felt at each and every one of her mishaps, her Trainer insisted on keeping this part in order to make her debut as perfect as possible. It's a concept she can hardly understand but cherishes nonetheless.

Eris arrives at center stage and knows that it is time to move on to the next part of their act.

With dramatic emphasis, her gaze strafes across the four plushies before landing on Banette. She slowly raises her hand and points a single claw at the Marionette Pokémon plushie. Her Trainer takes his cue and sets down the train of the mantle.

"Queen Eris has chosen Sir Banette to accompany her in her dance this evening," His voice is nothing like it usually is. He sounds formal and entirely unusual. Eris likes it, it's fun. "As for the rest of you, you are excused. I hope you had a pleasant time."

Poltergeist is tricky, but, after the absurd amounts of practice she has done under that annoying bird's guidance, Eris can confidently say that it is now among her most familiar moves. With expert mastery, she leads the puppets to stand up, bow to her, then the crowd, and then glide gracefully out to the tunnel. Once in the tunnel, she releases control of them, allowing them to fall to the floor. This gives her even greater control over Banette and her flames.

When she controls Banette to bow before her and reach out a hand, she can feel her Trainer grab the music box from the air. One less thing for her to control.

With more attention allowed for her flames, she warps the mantle her trainer had been carrying into what those humans call a dress. Eris models the design off of one she had seen Diantha wearing in her treasured magazine.

She accepts the plushie's extended hand and time seems to melt away as her trainer plays a faster song on the music box and she spins and twirls with her puppeteered partner. Logically speaking, she knows that their performance can only be up to five minutes in total and she only dances for less than 60 seconds, but this feeling isn't logical. Her heart and soul are living this moment a hundred times over. It feels like an eternity and an instant, but when her Trainer drops the music box and the music cuts out, she knows it's time to bring her first performance to an end.

She schools a furious scowl on her face as she whirls towards him. All the ghost flames in the room erupt into angry, wild blazes of fire. Banette is rapidly thrown out of the stage and into the tunnel. The crowd is in silent shock, unsure if this is still part of the act. Good, Eris thinks to herself. It's time to shock the world, as her Trainer says.

"My deepest apologies, beautiful Queen Eris!" Her Trainer's voice is still perfectly stoic and controlled, even as he drops to a knee and bows his head. Eris really does like his 'old butler tone' as he calls it. "How can this humble servant possibly pay for ruining such a wondrous ball?"

Eris says nothing, but the ghost flames disappear one by one until only her crown remains. She then creates four flames on the ground in a square, directly in front of the tunnel. In her hand flames begin to form a certain shape. First a long staff, then a curved blade. When a reaper's scythe is formed in her hand, Eris simply points from her Trainer to the square of flame.

"Very well," The butler rises to his feet, his voice resolved. "If that is what will please you, my immortal queen." He walks over to the square and falls to both knees within, facing the tunnel.

Eris walks to his side, scythe in hand. His back is facing all the cameras, spectators, and judges. The stage is set.

Eris smiles a wicked smile and swings down the executioner's scythe. Before the eyes of all present and at home, the butler's head falls from his shoulders.

"Kyaa!" Nurse Joy jumps up with a scream which is mirrored by many others.

"Oh, my Arceus!" The woman called Vivian sounds faint."Contestant Reid! Are you okay?"

"Sassasa!" As the room nearly falls to panic, Eris can't hold back her laughter. Her Trainer, having decided enough is enough, stands up and turns to face the judge's panel.

Side by side, Eris and Reid take a deep bow upon the completion of their first Contest performance.

There are exactly seven seconds of complete silence and disbelief before thunderous applause like never before washes over the two on stage.

"Astonishing! Incredible! Unusual! What an absolutely unheard-of performance!" Vivian struggles to take back control of the atmosphere amidst the roaring crowd. "I know that I've never seen anything like this in my life, but what about the judges? How do they rate this performance?"

Eris looks at the table below the three humans who are rating her performance. Her Trainer already showed her which symbols are good and which are bad, not that she knows what the symbols actually mean.

The three panels below each judge read as follows: 10.0, 10.0, and 10.0. All the symbols that her Trainer called the best appear! Even though she has never cared, much for the opinions of others, much less humans, Eris feels a lightheaded fluffy feeling that she has never experienced before.

"Wow! How often do you see a perfect 30?!" Vivian exclaims in excitement. "We'll need to check the record books, but this may be the first time anyone has gotten a perfect score in their debut Contest! Let's hear what the judges have to say!"

"What a sensational performance!" The man with gray hair is the first to speak. Eris decides that she likes what he's saying. "It felt like a unique blend of a Sinnoh-style Contest, a Kalos Showcase, and one of Johto's stage plays. This is not only a near-perfect debut, but it is also a performance that goes far above and beyond the expectations of a local Contest. Truly outstanding work, both of you!"

"Presentation, stage presence, atmosphere, precision, technical skill: all of it was remarkable!" The smaller human sitting in the middle also only says good things.

"Reid, how many objects was your Sableye controlling at the same time with Poltergeist?" The pink one asks.

"Eris was moving four dolls along with the music box, which she was floating next to me."

"Along with Will-o-Wisp and Icy Wind when she entered, Eris displayed an absolutely astounding level of control and precision with her moves. She moved those dolls so naturally that I had originally mistaken them for live Pokémon!" The pink one's voice is loud with excitement and she leans forward in her chair. "I would have given a 10 just for that, but the beauty of the performance, the theatrical story, the emotional rollercoaster, everything about this was just such a novel and special experience. Just know that I only gave a 10 because that is the highest number I am allowed to give. I look forward to seeing you at the Grand Festival!"

"Wow!" Vivian takes over again. "What incredibly high praise from all three judges! Rookie Reid Redwood and today's superstar, Eris the Sableye, have just rocketed themselves into an indisputable first place with a perfect score. Now, we have two more contestants in today's preliminaries, so let's give these two one final round of applause!"

The adoration of all the humans and Pokémon in attendance wash over them once more. Even the devilish woman and the cruel steel bird join in the cheers, but Eris' attention isn't on the crowd this time.

Looking up at the human boy who promised to turn her far-off dream into a reality, Eris makes a promise of her own. It's a promise that she swears on her immortal soul to always hold deep within her heart. With a hint of amusement, she realizes that she can finally understand the feelings of her battle-freak teammates.

She will bring him to the top of the world.

No matter what.


Reid Redwood

Badges: 2

Ribbons: 0

Pokémon: 4

Goliath (Goly)

Linoone

Abilities:

Gluttony, Pick Up, Quick Feet

Moves:

Slash, Shadow Claw, Headbutt, Double Edge, Dig, Pin Missile, Iron Tail, Extreme Speed, Covet, Flail, Thunderbolt, Protect, Rest, Belly Drum, Double Team, Growl, Sand Attack, Tail Whip

Mirabelle (Belle)

Tropius

Abilities:

Harvest, Solar Power

Moves:

Outrage, Stomping Tantrum, Air Slash, Magical Leaf, Sunny Day, Protect, Whirlwind, Razor Leaf, Gust, Leaf Storm, Leech Seed, Curse, Growth, Stomp, Sweet Scent, Wide Guard, ?

Eris

Sableye

Abilities:

Prankster, Keen Eye

Moves:

Attract, Thunder Wave, Flatter, Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Claw, Fury Swipes, Taunt, Detect, Disable, Poltergeist, Will-o-Wisp, Icy Wind, ?

?Name?

?Species?

Abilities:

?

Moves:

?