This chapter is going to be a breather after how intense the last one was.
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CHAPTER 34: House of Cards
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"Hiii, ev-er-y-bo-dy! Lisia here! The day you've been waiting for has finally arrived! That's right, it's… dazzling! Dizzying! Doldrums defying! It's… A Galaxy of Stars! The Grand Festival Live!"
At the heart of Kanto's commerce capital, Saffron City, a FlareNet crew had set up outside the metropolis's Contest Hall. The huge, domed arena stood out even among the glittering skyscrapers that surrounded it. Its glass shape had supports constructed of polished black marble, with a smaller, silver dome atop it. The area around it was appropriately extravagant, with a golden foot path flanked by palm trees and pools of water leading right to its entrance.
Malva was in front of the camera, holding a microphone. At her side, twirling and waving her hands at the audience beyond the lens, was a younger woman clad in a purple, pink and white skirt and cropped top, both of which had a generous supply of glitter in their material. Her bluegreen hair was styled into a pair of ponytails, one long and thin that swept out to the right, the other sprouting from the top of her head in a thicker, jagged shape. Complementing the rest of her appearance, she wore fluffy, white cuffs around her neck, waist, wrists and ankles.
"You heard right," Malva said to the camera, picking up for her energetic co-star. "Welcome to FlareNet's exclusive coverage of the Tohjo Continent Grand Festival, coming to you live from Saffron City. We'll be bringing you all the action as it happens, and the excitement will burn you up! Isn't that right, Lisia?"
"Thaaaat's right, folks! All the dazzling, heart-pounding passion, coming straight to you on the double! Someone's gonna become the newest shining star in the Contest galaxy, but whoooo's it gonna be? Let's meet one of the contenders, right here and now!"
The cameraman adjusted his lens, widening the shot to allow Nando, who had been standing peacefully nearby, to come into view. Lisia bounced up to him with a literal spring in her step, while Malva followed behind.
"Nando here is a familiar face to you, if you've been watching Pokémon Contests. He's even been in a few Grand Festivals before! Now, Nando… how do you think this chapter of your story will go? Will this be the time you take that Ribbon Cup home?"
"I am certainly hopeful, Miss Lisia. I've prepared quite extensively for this day, including a special performance I hope to claim the Ribbon Cup with." With a gentle strum of his harp, he finished his reply in his signature sing-song fashion, "A feast for the senses delivered through sight and sound, this is what I will bring to you all~"
"I can't wait to see it!" Lisia exclaimed. "Now, as for the Pokémon you'll be bringing to our dazzling stage…"
Meanwhile, as the interview continued on, Bunny and Bill waited a short distance away. Saffron had been an easy enough detour on their journey to the Sevii Islands, so Nando's request to stop there was one they could grant without hesitation. Besides, Bunny thought, the break would be good before heading off to whatever the next step of their work would bring.
Much to her surprise, however, Bunny suddenly heard a familiar voice calling her name. When she turned in its direction, she spotted Olivia running toward her, with Anabel following behind. It took Bunny a moment to recognize her. Since the last time they'd seen each other, Olivia's appearance had changed quite a bit - not only had she cut her hair and gotten new clothing, she now completed her new look with the Team Rocket cap given to her by Nekou and a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses she'd picked up upon arriving in Saffron. Her new Key Stone glistened in the sun, attached to her hat as part of a Sneasel ear-shaped pin.
"Oh, Olivia, Anabel!" Bunny greeted her periodic travel companions as they caught up with her. Bill acknowledged them with a nod and a smile, but hung back to let Bunny take the lead. "I almost didn't recognize you with the new look."
"Yeah, I know it's different," Olivia replied, lowering her sunglasses and smirking, "but I like it."
"It's good to see you back on your feet." Turning back to Anabel, Bunny asked, "Where's everybody else?"
Anabel sighed "A lot has happened. Underline a lot. They weren't able to come with us, as much as they wanted to."
The truth was, obviously, more complex. A few days had passed since Nekou woke up, but since she was still unwell, she wasn't able to accompany them, and Matt and Amanda both elected to stay behind as well. Olivia herself had been torn initially, but Anabel insisted that she go along with her to the Grand Festival, promising that there would be something Olivia would want to see. That promise intrigued her enough to get her to go.
Explaining all of that would have taken time that Anabel didn't have, especially since Nando's interview was ending, giving him the opportunity to take notice of her and Olivia's arrival. Yet, he wasn't the first one out of the trio involved in the broadcast to approach them.
"Anabel!" Lisia happily exclaimed, practically skipping over and taking Anabel's hands in her own. "You made it! You really made it!"
"I wouldn't have missed it, Lissi."
"Thank you so much!" That was when Lisia turned her eyes to Olivia. She reached out as if to grab Olivia's hands, too, but stopped herself partway there. "And Olivia, i-it's…" Lisia's emotions seemingly flipped in an instant, and she became so overwhelmed she started to tear up. "It's been such a long time, I'm sure you don't even remember. You've gotten so big."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Seeking to soothe her confusion, Olivia looked to Anabel. "Mom, what's she-?"
"This is what I wanted you to see," Anabel replied. "Not only were you going to meet the famous Contest idol Lisia, she's your cousin, too."
"You- what did you just say?!" Olivia jumped back a step, though more out of reflex and shock than anything else. Her gaze shot back and forth between her mother and her newfound relative, eyes wide the entire time. "You're… you're saying… but how?"
"I expected you'd have questions," Anabel said, crossing her arms and smiling. "Lissi, do you want to take this one?"
"Sure thing." Having recovered from her initial emotional outburst, Lisia landed somewhere between her previous states as she offered Olivia some answers. "You know your dad's brother, Olivia, but they had an older sister, too. I'm her daughter. The family wasn't all that close for a while… I regret we couldn't reconcile before…" Lisia caught herself before going any further down that line of thought, and adjusted what she was saying. "We only met once before, right after you were born. I'm sure that's why you don't remember me. But we're here together now, that's what matters. Wallace - I mean, your uncle - he's at that big tournament they're having off in Orre, but I talked to him and he sends you his best wishes, too."
The day had just begun and yet Olivia felt like she'd pulled an all-nighter emotionally. She'd been ready to forget about her recent problems by throwing herself into the Grand Festival, but after being unexpectedly confronted with her family situation, that was no longer an option. It wasn't just her feelings about her father, whether he was alive or dead or whatever he was now. Nor was it just about Anabel and their still-fresh conflict, even if they'd already for the most part reconciled.
She had a whole other branch on her family tree she didn't even know about, and one of the leaves on that branch was someone as famous as Lisia? A celebrity known for always being upbeat and energetic?
Olivia had rejected her extended family following her father's apparent demise, choosing instead to seek comfort in fantasies she could control. At the time, she had been dimly aware of Wallace and others reaching out, but she shunned all of their attempts. Now, though, she knew how her closing herself off affected her family members, and it only made her feelings of guilt all the more intense. Faced with this overwhelming realization, all she could do was shut down even further, shrinking down into herself.
The sensation of Lisia's hand on her shoulder snapped Olivia back into reality, and her cousin said to her, "Olivia, I want to talk to you a lot more, but right now, your mom and I have to get a few details for the Grand Festival ironed out, alright?"
"Y-yeah… I guess."
"I'm looking forward to it. I promise."
Before leaving with Lisia, Anabel withdrew an envelope from her coat and handed it to Olivia. "Here, I also got you this. A ticket for a special box seat to watch the Grand Festival from."
"Thank you…" Olivia muttered.
Anabel hesitated. Was leaving her daughter to her devices the best idea? She'd agreed to take part in the Grand Festival, true, but Olivia still had to take priority. While pondering what to do, she happened to lock eyes with Nando, who gave her a knowing smile and nodded in acknowledgment of her dilemma. That helped put her doubts to rest, and she went with Lisia into the Contest Hall, Malva and her film crew following close behind.
"Speaking of seats, we ought to go get ours," Bill suggested to Bunny.
"You're right." Raising her hand, Bunny said, "Olivia, it was good to see you again. Let's reconnect soon, okay?"
"Yeah…" Olivia mimicked the gesture in a half-hearted fashion, her hand limp.
Just like that, Olivia was practically alone. Her mother was gone, as was her newfound relative and her friend. It only served to externalize her inner feelings of isolation and self-blame. Of course they'd all leave her, she thought. She deserved it. After pushing away and hurting Lisia, who was someone she didn't even know, there was nothing else she deserved but to be alone.
But the reality was that she wasn't actually alone. As she bit her thumb in frustration, Nando approached her and said, "Miss Olivia, you appear to be quite troubled. Would you care to talk about it?"
"O-oh… uh…" Olivia had become so distracted that she legitimately forgot Nando was even there. "Sure, I… I guess. Thanks."
"Think nothing of it. Come, let us walk while we speak."
-:-
Nando brought Olivia to the shopping area within the Contest Hall, sensing that the bustling activity there would help her feel more comfortable. As they walked past the rows of stores that pitched clothing, food and other goods to the visiting crowds, Olivia found herself pouring her heart out regarding all that had taken place since she and Nando last met. While she did leave out the full picture of Nekou's condition, she confessed to completely misunderstanding Anabel's intentions regarding her seizures, their subsequent falling out and reconciliation, her belief that her father was Polaris's leader, and learning of the true apocalyptic scale of Polaris's vision.
The more she talked, the more she felt compelled to keep talking. Nando's gentle, nonjudgmental personality helped to relax her nerves, reminding her that he could understand what she was going through.
And if someone she wasn't even related to could understand her pain, maybe there was still hope for her relationships with those who were?
"I just… I just don't know anymore," she concluded at the end of her venting. "It feels like I haven't got anything left but getting to the Pokémon League and winning so I can stop my dad from doing what he's planning… and if I couldn't trust him, how can I trust anyone? Even Lisia… I don't even know her, and I rejected her anyway…"
"Olivia." The unusual assertiveness in Nando's voice, added to the fact that he hadn't called her 'Miss Olivia' like he typically did, made her pause. "Please listen to what I have to say. There are more who care about you than you know, both human and Pokémon. I assure you, it is not too late to reach out and form these bonds."
"Even after I've pushed them away for so long?" Olivia sniffed, fighting back her emotions. "I wouldn't blame them if they hated me for all of it…"
"They will still want to know you," Nando promised her. "There is still time. Please do not forget that."
-:-
Roughly an hour later, Olivia was seated in her box in the Contest Hall's stadium, eating a sandwich she'd purchased from the Artisan Bakery on the way there. As she savored the sweet taste of its apple and banana accented with salty and bitter flavors from its cheese and basil, she had much on her mind.
Was what Nando told her really true? For as long as she'd known him, he'd been so easygoing that he could get along with virtually anyone or anything. She wasn't the same, no matter how much she tried to reconcile her image with his. If nothing else, even if Lisia didn't hold her hostility against her, she certainly hadn't hesitated to pay back Renzo's hatred of her in kind.
Yes, Renzo was the one who started all of that, she pondered. But did she actually understand what made him so angry at her family? She didn't even start to comprehend it, and that was the door through which doubt was creeping in. Maybe she should have listened to him. Maybe she should have tried to figure out what drove him to such extremes. Could he actually have been like her all along, lashing out because of some kind of pain? The mere possibility made her think, could she still reach out to him? Could she extend him the sympathy she would have wanted for herself?
She remained lost in thought until the stadium lights dimmed, leaving only a single spotlight on the center of its golden stage. A circular doorway opened up in that space, allowing Malva to enter on an elevator platform.
"Welcome, Contest fans of Kanto and Johto!" Malva announced, to the crowd's vociferous approval. "And welcome to those beyond our borders, watching on FlareNet, as well. I welcome all of you to the Tohjo Continent Grand Festival! The finest Coordinators of Kanto and Johto have converged upon Saffron City for the ultimate Pokémon Contest, the one that will determine who wins the prestigious Ribbon Cup and stands supreme as the most talented in these lands! My name is Malva, and I'll be your guide for all of the blazing hot action. But, you know, I can't do it all by myself, so allow me to introduce the three judges who will take part in our show. First, the superstar Contest idol from the Hoenn region, who has blazed a dizzying, dazzling trail around the world, Lisia!"
The audience erupted in even more intense adulation for Lisia as she entered the arena, returning their affection by waving at them with both hands. Once she reached center stage, Malva gave her the microphone.
"Thank you, everyone!" she beamed. "By the way, Malva… it's dazzling, dizzying… but I forgive you!" Malva grimaced at Lisia's correction, but Olivia's cousin didn't notice. Lisia just pirouetted on her right foot and winked at the audience, saying afterward, "Everyone's Dream! The Ribbon Cup Showdown! That's what I think we'll be calling this. All the Coordinators we've gathered here are reaching toward the same thing, and it's that dazzling ol' Ribbon Cup and all the glory that comes along with it! And I ain't the only one who's gonna help present this spectacular Contest. Anabel, come out here!"
Anabel made her entrance from the same passage Lisia did, but her movements were slower and more deliberate. She also waved to the crowd, who greeted her relatively warmly, but with noticeably less intensity than Lisia received. The reasoning seemed obvious to her - of course Lisia would get more of a reception at a Contest - but she still had doubts. Were Polaris elements present even there? Had they worked their way into society that deeply?
Regardless, once she joined Lisia and Malva at the center of the stage, she accepted the microphone.
"Thank you for that warm welcome," Anabel said to the audience, unwittingly letting a hint of her doubt worm its way into her speech. "As an ex-Coordinator and former Ribbon Cup winner myself, when I was approached with the offer to join Lisia as a judge for this Grand Festival, I couldn't turn it down. I hope that our collaboration will provide you all with the highest-quality entertainment you could wish for. Now, allow me to introduce the final member of our three-judge panel. She's another Ribbon Cup winner, and after hanging it up as a Coordinator, she's become the Aether Foundation's Kanto branch chief. Please welcome back to the stage, Daisy!"
The spotlights returned to the runway Lisia and Anabel used to enter, this time casting their glow upon a youthful-looking young woman with shoulder-length green hair, dressed in an immaculate white uniform bearing the Aether Foundation's symbol. Anabel had improvised a bit in introducing her. Her full name was actually Daisy Oak, and she was the granddaughter of Kanto's Pokémon expert, Professor Oak. This fact was in the introduction Anabel had planned, but once she realized her doubts over the presence of Polaris's beliefs in the audience, she quickly decided to discard it. Daisy appeared to not notice or care, so she concluded it was a good choice.
"Thanks!" Daisy greeted the crowd once she joined the others. "It's exciting to be standing on the same stage with so many highly decorated Coordinators once again, both past and present. I also want to thank President Lusamine and the Aether Foundation for their generous sponsorship of this event. We hope all of you will decide to be a part of the mission of Pokémon conservation the Foundation has dedicated itself to."
"And to kick this all off in true blazing fashion," Malva declared to the audience after reclaiming the microphone, "we've arranged a special surprise for you all. A showdown between two titans of the stage, who will face each other for the first time ever right here in Saffron City… that's right, it's a special exhibition battle between two of our judges, Lisia and Anabel!"
Olivia practically choked on her sandwich when she heard the announcement. Her mother and her cousin against each other? How many more turns would this one day take?
As she made her way to her side of the arena, Anabel wordlessly hoped, "Please enjoy this, Olivia…"
Lisia, meanwhile, bounded across to her space on the opposite end of the stage, reveling in the audience's admiration. Wearing her heart on her sleeve as she always did, she shouted out to all who would hear, "This one, I think I'll call it A Dazzling, Dizzying Family Reunion! I hope you'll enjoy the show we're going to put on!"
"You really eat the spotlight up, Lissi," Anabel teased her with a playful shrug.
"Well, of course I do! This is where I feel most at home. Besides…" Lisia struck a wry grin that Olivia thought resembled Nekou's. "You must be like me, deep down. You came out of retirement to do this."
"You've got me there," Anabel admitted. With nothing more to be said, she plucked two Poké Balls from her jacket and threw them, calling out, "Go, my friends, Gallade and Gardevoir!"
The spheres burst open in a cloud of sparkling stars, born from the stickers laid out on their capsules, to release Anabel's Gallade and Gardevoir. The duo locked hands and struck a pose like a pair of elegant dancers as the stars faded around them.
"What wonderful form!" Lisia exclaimed, planting her hands on the sides of her face in her excitement. "I can't wait to see what kind of performance you've got in store with them! Of course, I don't intend to lose, either… so take the stage, Ali, Rina!"
To match Anabel's action, Lisia threw out two Poké Balls of her own. An Altaria emerged from the smoke and bubbles generated by their Ball Seals, and at his side was a white sea lion with a blue, mermaid-like tail and long aqua hair held back in a ponytail by twin strings of pearls. A tiara made of more pearls and ending in a star rested upon her forehead.
"That Pokémon…" Olivia uttered in awe, fumbling for her Pokédex in hopes of learning more about the creature.
"Primarina, the Soloist Pokémon," reported the device. "Type is Water and Fairy. Evolved form of Brionne, and the final evolution of Popplio. With its mouth, it makes sonic waves that sound like beautiful singing. It uses the sonic waves to control its water balloons. For Primarina, every battle's a stage. Its singing and dancing will mesmerize the audience."
"Sure fits an idol…"
Stepping back from the stage, Malva raised her hand toward the scoreboard above her head, which displayed Anabel and Lisia's faces along with their point meters and a five-minute timer. "Who will burn the brightest in this exhibition match? We've got five minutes on the clock to find out. And… go!"
"If you think I'm going to pull my punches just because it's you, Anabel, you're wrong!" Lisia's demeanor, while still as playful and flamboyant as ever, gained a harder edge to it as soon as Malva kicked things off. "I'm always going to deliver the kind of show my fans want! Ali, Sky Attack! Rina, Wonder Room!"
Both of Lisia's Pokémon hung back at first. Her Altaria, Ali, drew in light and enveloped himself in a gradually intensifying blue aura, but beyond that, neither took immediate action.
"I haven't done this sort of thing in a while, but let's give it a shot," Anabel said in response, cracking her neck. "Gardevoir, Thunderbolt! Gallade, Psycho Cut!"
Golden sparks flared up between the duo's joined hands as Gardevoir transferred electricity from her own body into Gallade's. They then split up, and Gallade's elbow blades extended to contain the voltage he'd received. He funneled his own psychic energy into his arms to further the combination, turning the tint of the light radiating from them into a greenish color, before he finally slashed in Rina's direction, unleashing the fused power in a pair of matching arcs. Rina, still readying herself for her own move, took both blows just below her neck, making her squeal and cough. Accordingly, Lisia lost a small amount of points from her meter.
"Nice move, Anabel!" Lisia complimented her. "I'm going to have a good time with this, I can already tell. But now it's our turn! Go for it, you guys!"
Ali was the first of Lisia's Pokémon to make their move. The blue aura had grown to the point where it was erupting from his body, and he shot toward Gallade like a rocket.
"Gardevoir, help out!"
Gardevoir dove in to protect her partner, pushing him out of the Altaria's trajectory moments before Ali could strike. He sailed past them, having expended much of the power he'd charged up. Since he still had some left, though, he pivoted in midair and tackled the stumbling pair, hitting Gardevoir in the back and knocking them both down.
Meanwhile, Rina stayed in place and performed a hypnotic chant. The spell she cast created a cage of interlocking purple squares around the stage, granting both sides a dramatic backdrop for their clash.
While Lisia's point meter suffered a slight drop as a result of Ali's Sky Attack missing its initial mark, Anabel was the one to take a bigger hit. Her gauge fell enough to put her just behind Lisia, although the deficit was so slight that a quick glance would see a tie instead.
"Looks like I'm going to have to get things into gear," Anabel uttered to herself. "Gardevoir, target Primarina with Thunderbolt! Gallade, use Life Dew!"
Gardevoir brought her hands together, while Gallade jumped behind her and raised his arms into the air. A drop of water, shimmering from the psychic energy he'd charged it with, fell over him, creating waves that rippled out around him. When the waves reached Gardevoir, they reacted with the electricity surrounding her, creating a sparkling burst upon her releasing it to strike Rina.
"Anabel's Pokémon heal themselves and deliver a stunning combo move!" Malva proclaimed, while a noticeable amount of Lisia's point gauge fell away. "She's still got it, folks!"
Up in her box, Olivia stared down at her mother, her gaze steady and unbroken. "That's her true talent… have I got that in me, too?" she wondered out loud. "Do I really fit in with them? Lisia's even… could I call her my big sister?"
"Again, I gotta tell you how impressive that was, Anabel!" Lisia expressed to her. "But I want more! I want to see you step up and really dazzle this audience right alongside me! Ali, give me a Moonblast! Rina, you show 'em your Sparkling Aria!"
Rina hung back, allowing Ali to take the lead once again. The Altaria drew light from above himself into his cottony wings, then swung them forward, touching them against each other and shooting the light out in a concentrated beam. Gallade, seeing that he was the target, leapt out of its trajectory, leaving the ray to explode in a burst of sparks where he had been standing.
Little did he realize that such an action was exactly what Lisia was planning for. Rina stood up on her tail and started singing, her hair tie coming undone as she did so. Her voice, as smooth and fluid as the very water her species called home, swept over the the audience like a wave, bringing the crowds under her spell.
Even Olivia couldn't resist its appeal. "I almost wish she was battling Nando, at this rate…" she thought, slowly chewing on her sandwich.
As Rina beguiled the audience with her voice, her swaying movements filled the air around the battlefield with bubbles. Both Gallade and Gardevoir warily watched the watery spheres drift around, knowing a threat was among them but unsure of where it would be coming from.
Finally, one bubble emerged from the swarm, drifting toward Gallade with clear intent. Seeing this, Anabel threw her hand forward and called out, "Gardevoir, protect Gallade! Thunderbolt!"
Gardevoir pointed her arm at the bubble descending upon her partner, shooting it down with a bolt of lightning from her fingertips. The glittering sparkle left behind was enough to score Anabel a small number of points, edging Lisia's gauge down.
Lisia seemed completely unconcerned, however. "Take your stage, Rina!"
At that direction, Rina twisted upward, gracefully weaving her way between the bubbles she created. She came to settle on one a fair distance above the ground, where she hummed to herself. That vocalization, though serene in sound, struck Anabel, Gardevoir and Gallade as a taunt, and Olivia's mother tightened her gloved hand into a fist.
"If she can do that, so can we," Anabel told Gallade. "Go up there and get Primarina! Close Combat!"
"There we go," Lisia thought, smirking.
Unaware of the trap he was walking into, Gallade sprang up and landed on one of the bubbles. Its squishy, pliable surface didn't serve as a firm footing, but he adapted all the same, finding his balance as he got used to it.
"Ali, Moonblast!"
Suddenly faced with another of Ali's gleaming blasts heading towards him, Gallade flipped backward, dodging the attack by landing on another bubble behind him. However, the glare from Ali's seemingly failed Moonblast reflected off of the bubbles, creating a cage of blinding light that kept Gallade from advancing any further.
"That's it!" Lisia declared to Anabel, the audience and even herself, throwing her arms wide open in excitement. "Hear that, Ali, Rina? The audience is cheering us on, so it's time to give 'em the show they came here to see! Let's put a smile on their faces! Ali, Disarming Voice! Rina, Hyper Voice!"
Lisia's Altaria gracefully ascended to her Primarina's side. The pair exchanged nods of confidence, then started singing in tandem. Ali's melody was gentler and more elegant, traits reflected in the soundwaves he produced taking the shape of pinkish hearts. Rina, on the other hand, provided the intense edge Ali's performance lacked, and her high-pitched chant formed simple rings of sound that encircled Ali's.
Gardevoir and Gallade braced themselves as the sonic tsunami washed over them, but their foes' singing wasn't the only hazard they faced. The soundwaves also tore through the bubbles from Sparkling Aria, bursting each one into a shower of aquamarine glitter. Anabel's Pokémon were caught in the middle of the maelstrom with no way to escape.
"What an absolutely mind-blowing combo move from Lisia!" Malva exclaimed, her narration nearly drowned out by the roar of approval from the audience. Up above her, the screen showed Anabel's point gauge plummet, leaving her significantly behind the Contest idol.
"Whoa… amazing," Olivia said to herself. "I haven't seen something like that in person for so long… this is what I was missing?"
Anabel, meanwhile, lost track of Gardevoir and Gallade in the midst of Lisia's onslaught. By the time the shining light faded and she could see them again, they were both pushing themselves up from the floor after being overwhelmed.
And yet, despite the disadvantage made plain to her by both the physical states of her Pokémon and the prominent difference between her score and Lisia's, Anabel didn't feel at all flustered. There was electricity in the air from the crowd's enjoyment of their battle, and Anabel could feel it flowing through her, filling her with an exhilarated rush.
"You deserve your reputation, Lisia," Anabel remarked, loosening her scarf so cooler air could reach her neck. "That really was stunning."
"Aw, thanks!" Lisia beamed. "I do try to stay on top of my game, after all!"
"I can tell. But at the same time… I'm nowhere near finished, either." Checking the scoreboard again, Anabel knew that even if she couldn't refill her own score meter, if her Pokémon were to be knocked out, the points wouldn't matter at all. "Gardevoir, Life Dew!"
"Oh, no you don't! Ali, hold Gardevoir down with Fire Spin!"
Anabel was ready for Lisia's attempt to stop her Pokémon from healing themselves. "Gallade, use Aqua Cutter to make a shield!"
Ali exhaled a stream of fire that spiraled through the air as it drew closer to Gardevoir, but before it could close a ring around her, Gallade jumped in from her side. His right arm was surrounded entirely by water, and he slammed it down into the waves rippling out around his partner, kicking up a splash that blocked the Fire Spin. Altaria's move amounted to little more than a cloud of steam, and when it cleared, both Gardevoir and Gallade had become visibly revitalized.
"Gardevoir and Gallade are back in the game yet again," Malva commented, "but will it be enough to turn the tables in Anabel's favor?"
"Anabel, I'm having such a great time here! I don't ever want this to end! What d'ya say we kick it into high gear and really give all these fine folks a show to remember?"
"I'm on board," Anabel replied with a warm smile. "Let's do it."
"Alright, then! It's time! Mega shining, let's go!" Lisia touched her diamond-shaped hair clip with two fingers, activating the Key Stone she had attached to it. Light poured out of the item, linked with the Mega Stone hidden in Ali's wing, and grew until it completely enveloped him. "And now, even more shine!"
Lisia and Ali had practiced this performance so thoroughly that they could practically do it in their sleep, and that day in Saffron City was no different. At her cue, Ali burst out of his gleaming cocoon, revealing that his cottony feathers had grown even more prominent. They no longer covered only his wings, but now took up space on his neck and head as well. A huge, fluffy cloud sat on his back, completing his metamorphosis.
"It's Mega Altaria!" Malva called out to her audience, both in the stadium and beyond its walls. "Lisia's ace! How will Anabel respond?!"
"That's right!" Playing off of the energy she felt from Malva and the crowd, Lisia challenged Anabel, "Come on, do it! Bring it out! Go all out!"
"Heh. How will I ever keep up with you?"
With that, Anabel reached into her suit and took out a black sphere. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a Poké Ball, but not one Olivia had ever seen. She nearly choked on a bite of her sandwich when instead of opening like any other Poké Ball would, the gem inside the sphere started drawing light and energy into itself. It released pulses as it grew brighter and brighter, leaving Anabel's ponytail and scarf to blow in the winds it generated.
Once the orb reached its peak radiance, Anabel pulled her arm back and threw it in Gallade's direction, causing a shell of crystals to form around him. A few seconds later Gallade burst from the shell, his body gleaming like a gem. A crystalline structure in the shape of a purple eye floated just above his head - or was he wearing it like a crown? Olivia couldn't tell, but she was stunned by the sight all the same.
"And we have our answer," Malva breathlessly narrated. "Anabel uses the Terastal phenomenon to turn Gallade pure Psychic-type! This is not something we see every day, and it's burning me up!"
"Finally!" Lisia exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement. "Now we can have the sort of dazzling battle that'll leave everyone dizzy!"
"You mean we weren't already doing that?" Anabel teased. "Thanks for giving me that Tera Orb, Lisia… I know you wanted me to have it just so we could have this sort of battle, so let's get started. Gallade, Psycho Cut!"
Olivia still hadn't fully absorbed the meaning of the new tool her mother revealed. Changing types? Sure, she knew of certain Pokémon who could do such a thing, but Gallade wasn't one of them. And Malva said he'd turned into a pure Psychic-type? Was he really not a Fighting-type anymore?
Yet, answers to those questions would have to wait. Upon Anabel's direction hitting his ears, Gallade reared back and let loose with a shrill cry. A purple aura burst out of the jewel on his head, and his arm blades grew to a length greater than any Olivia had ever witnessed him wield. She wondered what all of this would mean for the direction the battle would take, but the look of stoic confidence in her mother's face reassured her.
If Anabel was cool and confident, though, Lisia's enthusiasm was growing nearly unhinged in equal amounts. "This is just so exciting!" she cheered, clenching her fists near her face. Pumping one into the air, she called out, "Rina, protect yourself with Water Pledge!"
Rina obliged her trainer's command, summoning several geysers of water to surround herself with a wave of her fin. As formidable as the aquatic pillars appeared, though, they were no match for the Terastallized Gallade's Psycho Cut, which sliced through them like they were nothing and easily hit their creator, exploding into purple sparks on impact.
"It's like he just got stronger from whatever those crystals did," Olivia mused out loud.
If she were honest with herself, it wasn't just the change brought on by Anabel's Tera Orb that had her enraptured. Nor was it solely the Pokémon putting on their best show before her eyes. No, as she watched Gallade rush toward Rina, only for her to leap over his slash then get cut down by a Thunderbolt from Gardevoir, Olivia came to an understanding of what was on her mind.
The performance - Ali swooping down to strike Gardevoir with Sky Attack, Gardevoir reflexively healing with Life Dew, and every other move before - wasn't really for all the people crowded into the Contest Hall, nor was it for those watching on their televisions, phones, and other devices. No, this show had a target audience of only one.
Olivia herself.
Primarina and Altaria singing for their lives, as if the match had something on the line. Gardevoir and Gallade swaying, hand-in-hand, around the bubbles and tongues of fire produced by Sparkling Aria and Fire Spin. They were really reaching out to her, inviting - no, pleading with - her to join hands with her family and step back out of the shell she'd spent the past five years trapped in.
Five years. Five years. Had it really been that long? Had she been running from reality for that long?
Olivia brought her free hand to her face, only then discovering that she had started to tear up. It suddenly all made sense. There were others who cared about her, plenty of them in fact. Her own unwillingness to process her grief just made her snub them all - the same mistake Anabel herself had made for so long. They were all the same, which meant that if their grief was identical, so was the comfort they could offer each other.
"Mom… I…" Olivia sniffed, trying to maintain her composure. "I get it now…"
Down on the field, the two sides separated after yet another clash. Both pairs of Pokémon paused to catch their breath, their furious competition beginning to take its toll on them.
"We're down to the final blazing stretch!" Malva declared, raising her hand toward the scoreboard above her. "It's the last thirty seconds, and we're still neck-and-neck!"
"Well, well, well, Anabel…" Lisia said, maintaining her near-perpetual grin. "It's been fun, but I think it's about time to bring this performance to a close. Let's go all out and really make our last curtain call an unforgettable one!"
Understanding what Lisia was suggesting, Anabel nodded and answered, "I'm on the same page. Let's do it."
Going all out meant using every ounce of her strength, so Anabel fell back to the last thing she had left unused, pulling up her sleeve to uncover her Z-Ring. Lisia matched her action, sliding down one of her fluffy armbands to reveal a Z-Ring of her own underneath. The gems set in both bracelets released their power, causing bursts of energy to surround their wielders. Those flares would have been enough to impress Olivia by themselves, but the way they reflected off of Gallade's Terastallized body created a light show that left her truly in awe.
But there was still more to be done. Anabel and Lisia carried out the poses necessary to build Z-Power for their moves, the latter of the two waving her arms and hips in a hula-like dance while Anabel pointed to her head with both hands before extending her left arm toward her Pokémon. Both Gardevoir and Primarina mimicked their trainers' actions as the energy transferred into them, and their preparations reached a climax when arrows of light appeared in front of them both.
"Rina, use Oceanic Operetta!"
"Gardevoir, Shattered Psyche!"
Rina was the first to act, standing up on her tail and spreading her arms as she started to sing a song unlike any she'd already performed. Smoother and richer in its sound, it brought the audience under her sway in mere moments. Even Olivia couldn't resist - before she even realized it, she too was bobbing side-to-side in tune to Rina's vocals.
As her song went on, the shape of Rina's actual attack became clear. A huge water balloon, far bigger than any of her previous ones, formed from her nose. It dwarfed everything around her, but Anabel and her Pokémon refused to back down, even in the face of it.
"Now, Gardevoir!"
On Anabel's cue, Gardevoir locked her gaze on Ali, taking hold of him with her psychic power. She twisted her head back and forth, swinging Lisia's Altaria along with her, until finally forcing him straight into his partner's own impending move. The giant water bubble burst when Ali impacted it, driving Rina back.
"Incredible!" Malva exclaimed, while above her, Lisia's point meter shrank in response. "One Z-Move completely canceling out another! How will Lisia respond to this turn of events?"
Having finished her sandwich, Olivia leaned forward in her chair and pressed her hands together. From where she was sitting, it looked like Lisia bore no concern whatsoever, even in the face of her Z-Move being rendered useless.
"She's up to something…" Olivia thought, fidgeting nervously.
"Anabel, if you're gonna turn my power against me, I'm going to turn you turning my power against me against you! Ali, ride that right into Sky Attack!"
Ali had been getting thrown around like a ragdoll by Gardevoir's power, but when Lisia's instruction reached his ears, he regained his focus. Straightening himself out in midair, he capitalized on the momentum from Shattered Psyche, sailing back around in a wide, graceful curve.
"So that's it!" Olivia realized when she saw Ali dive at his opponents. "Take advantage of what Mom did, and use it to go right into Sky Attack! She really is… she really is good…"
Lisia's gambit caught Anabel by surprise, too. Her facade of control slipping, she swung her hand and hastily called out with strain in her voice, "Psycho Cut!"
With purple light bursting from his Terastal crown, Gallade bravely sprinted straight for Ali, gaining a boost by leaping deftly off Gardevoir's hands to propel himself further. Olivia felt something stirring deep in her soul from watching his display of almost foolhardy courage, but she was so caught up in the spectacle that she lacked the time or mental acuity to think about it.
Carrying the weight of their trainers' will to win on their shoulders, Gallade and Ali finally collided. A high-pitched grinding noise split the air in the stadium as Ali pushed against Gallade's crystallized arms, which he'd crossed and was trying with all his might to repel the Altaria with. The force they brought to bear against each other was roughly equal, but as their clash wore on, tiny cracks started to form in Gallade's gemstone-like carapace.
After what seemed like an eternity, Gallade's crystalline shell shattered and the eye-shaped crown faded away into nothingness. Neither initially gave an inch to the other, but after sharing one last glare of respect with Ali, Gallade fell to one knee. That was the moment the timer expired, and at the sound of the horn confirming the end of the match, Olivia and the entire rest of the audience, both live and remote, turned their eyes to the scoreboard.
Lisia and Anabel's gauges were almost identical in how many points still remained, but a careful look revealed the truth - Lisia's was just a sliver more full.
Seeing this, and listening to Malva announce the result to the crowd, Olivia fell back into her chair. Only then did she realize how short of breath she felt, and allow herself to actually exhale for the first time in too long.
"That was amazing," she said out loud to no one in particular. "Thank you…"
Staring up at the lights on the arena ceiling, however, she felt doubt start to creep back in, and her expression darkened. There was still more she had to think about. Much more.
-:-
That night, Olivia slipped away from Anabel and everyone else and headed to one of Saffron City's parks to be alone with her thoughts. What she had on her mind was certainly enough to crowd out her capacity for dealing with others.
It wasn't that the Grand Festival appeals that took place immediately following Anabel and Lisia's battle weren't impressive. They were. Nando's performance was a remarkably polished version of his usual music-themed presentations, this time using his Dragonite to play notes with Heal Bell before trapping them in water using Water Pulse, all so his Leavanny could break them in sequence with Air Slash to play a song. That was exactly the kind of thing Olivia had hoped to see him do, and it more than lived up to her expectations.
Nando wasn't the only Coordinator Olivia knew taking part in the Grand Festival either, as it turned out. His old friendly rival Trista, who they'd last seen when she helped turn back Ghetsis's multi-pronged attack on Ecruteak City, was there too. Her appeal was focused on presenting the strength of her Salamence and Politoed through a lens of visual ingenuity, combining Draco Meteor, Fire Blast, Hydro Pump and Ice Beam with the rain brought on by Politoed's Drizzle ability to impressive effect. Olivia believed, at the conclusion of all the performances, that Trista and Nando were the most likely to win and anticipated with some excitement the idea of seeing them go against each other again.
Yet, for all she'd seen, nothing could compare to seeing her mother and cousin compete against each other. She knew what they had wanted to say to her - that there was something she could believe in and be a part of - yet, even though she was also well aware they were willing to forgive her mistakes, doubt still ate at her.
As she mused on her situation, she had been tossing Poké Beans to a flock of Pidove that gathered near the park bench she'd sat down on. Watching how well they got along with each other, and how they managed to share with each other, made her laugh bitterly to herself.
"Even they can stick together…" she murmured, "so what excuse do I have? My family needed me, I needed them, and all I did was push them away…"
A jogger passed by, but Olivia was so trapped in her own bubble that she barely noticed them. Of course others would be out. Even though the nighttime air carried the chill of winter, Saffron's citizens and visitors to the city wouldn't let that stop them. If one asked random people, most of them would likely say that Saffron life didn't even truly start until night. In a sense, Olivia thanked her fortunes for that. The people around her would be too preoccupied with their own lives to notice her, so she could hide away from the world in plain sight.
"Olivia?"
Or so she thought, until the jogger abruptly stopped and turned around to address her.
Much to Olivia's surprise, she recognized the voice, even though she had to stare at the person it belonged to for a minute before their identity fully registered in her head. It was Lisia, of all people. Dressed in a plain blue tracksuit and wearing her hair down, it was hard to connect her to the energetic Contest idol persona she usually portrayed.
"Oh… hey, Lisia…"
"Wasn't expecting to see you around these parts." Lisia returned to the bench and sat down next to Olivia, who barely even looked up to meet her cousin.
"I could say the same to you."
"Oh, what I was up to? Just a little late night exercise at the Fighting Dojo." As a humorous way to emphasize her point, Lisia flexed her right arm. "I gotta stay in shape for my job, y'know?"
"Yeah. Don't you need to get sleep too, though?"
Between the listless way Olivia was speaking and the specific question she posed, Lisia was able to intuit what she was really asking. It wasn't about anything Lisia needed to do for her work at all. No, the real action in question was something else, something Olivia was implying she didn't think her cousin should be doing.
"Olivia, listen…" Shifting herself closer, Lisia gently took Olivia's hand in her own; she still didn't look up, but that was fine; contact had still been established either way. "I know there's so much you've heard today. It's not your fault if it feels like a lot."
"That's not it!" Olivia fumed, far louder than she had intended. Her outburst startled the Pidove, who scattered in all directions. "No… it's… I mean, yeah, there's been a lot I've found out today… but that's exactly it. I didn't…" Feeling the dam keeping her emotions in check starting to break, Olivia lost her composure. Tears streamed down her face as she ranted, "Why do you care about me so much when I didn't want any of you around? You all have your own lives! Why are you even worrying about-"
"It's okay," Lisia assured her, trying to calm Olivia by embracing her. "I promise you, it's okay."
"B-but…" Though her tears slowed, Olivia couldn't completely stop, and she sniffed loudly. "Look at what's happened to everyone around me. Dad, and Mom, and everyone else… what happens if I get close to you? I can't lose anyone else…"
"Olivia, listen to me." Lisia's tone had turned so uncharacteristically serious that Olivia had to finally look up at her. "I understand what it's like to have such big feelings. Believe me, I do. It's like riding a roller coaster at a million miles an hour with a blindfold on. You've got no idea what's going to happen and it's scary. But, you know… Olivia, you're like me, your dad and Uncle Wallace. We've all got the blood of the ancient Sootopolitans in us, and our people have always pulled together for each other. We all never forgot about you, Olivia. Whenever you decided to reach out to us, we were ready to be there for you."
It wasn't just Lisia. It wasn't just Lisia. On some level, Olivia knew that. Of course, there was no way around it. Lisia's mother was an aunt she didn't know of before that day, too. Somehow she had just compartmentalized the idea, and put it away so she didn't have to wrestle with it. Now, she did. Beyond Lisia there was an entire extended family, and even further past that, the heritage they shared with many, many others.
And it was that realization that finally shattered what hold Olivia still had over her emotions. Completely, utterly breaking down, she threw her arms around Lisia, her cousin's shoulder as good a place as any to finally release everything that had been weighing on her.
"It's just not fair! None of it's fair!" she sobbed into Lisia's jacket, clutching the material with both hands. As far as Olivia cared, the world outside her bubble may as well have not existed. It didn't matter who saw or heard. "Why did it have to be me? Why did I have to be the one to get all this shit dropped on me?! All I wanted was to go home with Mom and Dad and be happy like I always was! But they took my sisters away and they took Dad away and Mom couldn't take it and… a-and…" Olivia turned her red eyes straight up to meet Lisia's. "Is it too much to ask to have Dad back? Is it?! That's all I ever wanted and just by trying to get him back I'm all caught up in this Polaris shit and there's some crazy asshole trying to humiliate Mom and I for some reason I don't understand at all! All because I just wanted to get Dad back! What did I do to deserve all of this?!"
"You didn't do anything. This isn't your fault." Lisia gently stroked Olivia's hair, hoping that the gesture would give her some degree of comfort. "Just… listen to me, okay? There's more of us out there who miss him, the same way you do. You don't have to go through this on your own."
Olivia paused and sharply inhaled. Right, there were others. She knew that, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Yet somehow it just didn't feel right. How could they connect with her over their shared experience if she hadn't actually shared it with anyone?
Posing that question to herself led Olivia straight to a sudden realization - one of them was right there in front of her, sharing the experience with her. How could she have been so blind as to miss what was directly in front of her?
"L-Lisia, you really… you really want to help me? But why?"
"It's what we do, y'know? Our people have always come together, it's how we've survived all the trials we've faced throughout history. But it's more than that, too. Your mom reached out to me when the Grand Festival organizers contacted her about appearing. She wanted me to show you that I wasn't just family to you, but a friend, too."
"A f-friend…? You're… you're my… friend?"
"I'd certainly like to think I am, if you'd have me."
Something about the idea that Lisia could be a friend and not just family calmed Olivia. She couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly it was, but the ability to see Lisia as a friend made opening up to her feel less intimidating somehow. If she could connect with her cousin as a friend first, she reasoned, she could ease into a familial relationship at her own pace.
Pulling away from Lisia, she quietly said, "Thanks for being my friend, then… but, do you get it? My dad, he… he was always there. When he wasn't anymore… it just… everything fell apart. I never got a chance to say goodbye to him, and then before I knew it my mom wasn't dealing with it all… and I had to go to Rustboro so Matt could look after me. I know it was what my dad wanted, but… I was so mean to him, too, and he didn't do anything to deserve it…"
"Your mom told me about that, too. I might not know Matt myself, but… if your dad trusted him to watch out for you, I think he understands."
"That's the thing." Still gripped by feelings of shame, Olivia looked downward. "Dad did trust him, and all I did was act like a jerk. If Dad saw what I did he would hate me for it."
"Olivia, no," Lisia firmly told her. "Your dad might have been a complicated guy with a rough past, but I feel one hundred percent certain when I tell you that he loved you more than anything, and nothing could change that. Honestly, I don't even think death could change it. Wherever he is now, somewhere in time and space with our Sootopolitan ancestors… wherever he is, he still loves you."
"Lisia… what do you think he'd say to me right now, if he could?"
"I can only speak for myself and nobody else," Lisia replied, squeezing Olivia's hand, "but that said… I think he'd tell you to keep chasing your dreams. You're stronger than you know. He'd tell you to stand up and fight for what you believe in, because you can do anything. I know that's the way your mom and I feel, at least… we wanted to use the Grand Festival to inspire you. And inspiring each other, growing together… that's what friends are for, isn't it?"
"You're…" Olivia stopped to contemplate what she'd heard. Would it really be so bad to open up? Lisia wasn't backing down from her own enthusiasm, and again, it didn't need to be all at once. "You're right," she finally conceded, straightening up. "I really needed to hear that. Thank you, Lisia."
"There you go!" Lisia said, flashing a big grin at her cousin. "You gotta get out there and live your life, you know?"
"Nekou said the same thing…" Olivia thought. "Yeah, I've heard that before, but… I think I get it now. And since you brought it up… the Grand Festival really is inspiring. The idea you and Mom had… it's working."
"Now that's what I want to hear!" Unable to contain her cheer, Lisia pumped her fist into the air, though she quickly regained her composure. "Y'know, Olivia… the truth is, I was heading on over to where you and Anabel are staying when I ran into you here. I'd even call it fate, if I thought about it. I had something I wanted to give you so you could become even more of a star yourself."
Reaching into her pocket, Lisia retrieved a pale yellow stone and handed it over to Olivia. The bright, golden glow radiating from its core hypnotized Olivia, who couldn't stop staring into it.
"It's a Shiny Stone," Lisia started to explain, "so you can-"
"I know, it's for Roselia, right?!"
Lisia laughed. "You're clearly one step ahead of me on this one, Olivia."
"I got one from Ecruteak Gym to evolve my Minccino a while back. Now Roselia can finally evolve, too… thank you, Lisia! Thank you so much!"
"It's what we do for each other."
While their initial meeting in the park had been tense, with Olivia's emotions hanging over them like a cloud, the ice had finally been broken between the cousins. A weight had been lifted from Olivia's shoulders thanks to Lisia's compassion, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt alive again. Alive and free, ready to try facing the future again.
-:-
Fueled by her newfound vigor, Olivia returned to the Contest Hall with a renewed sense of purpose. Lisia had said they wanted the Grand Festival to inspire her, and she made sure to capitalize on it. Over the next several days, as the competition progressed, Olivia recorded every detail she could on her Pokégear. She took in each battle with a voracious hunger for knowledge, taking notes on every Pokémon and technique she saw. By the time the final battle came around, she had a document over a dozen pages long with all her observations. Even if the Coordinators themselves didn't know Anabel and Lisia's larger goal to inspire her, viewing their performances in that context still lit a fire in her heart.
Nando had survived all the way to the end, and as Olivia expected, Trista was his opponent. Before the eyes of the judges, Olivia, Bunny, Bill, and the rest of the audience both in the stadium and around the world, they clashed to determine who would claim the prestigious Ribbon Cup, the award that signified victory in a Grand Festival. And clash they did, putting on a performance that engrossed all watching it, leaving them needing to see who would win. Their battle surpassed even Olivia's highest hopes, every move drawing her in deeper.
The stars of Nando's special performance turned out to be a pair of Pokémon native to the Galar region, both of whom Olivia had never seen before. First in the duo was a Rillaboom, who her Pokédex informed her was the final evolution of Galar's Grass-type starter Pokémon, Grookey. Olivia didn't understand the reason for the burly, brown gorilla's presence on Nando's team until he produced a disc-shaped tree stump and a pair of finely carved sticks, the latter of which he used to hit the stump like a drum. Through his drumming, he was able to provide an intense, relentless beat that carried the entirety of Nando's performance on its proverbial shoulders.
It also gave Nando's other Pokémon, a Mr. Rime, a suitable backing track for his own skills. Olivia was able to deduce his relationship to Mr. Mime just from his name, with her Pokédex filling her in on the fact that he evolved from Galar's regional form of said Pokémon, not the one she knew. Unlike her Mr. Mime, Mr. Rime and his evolutionary predecessor were Ice and Psychic-types. He had the appearance of a rotund, mustachioed human wearing a black bowler hat and a coat of similar coloration, and carried a jagged cane forged from ice. Unlike Rillaboom, his role in Nando's performance was clear to Olivia right away - from the moment he appeared out of the Ultra Ball Nando kept him in, he was dancing. His spinning and swaying, plus the tapping of his shoe-like feet against the floor, was the accompaniment Rillaboom's drumming needed to complete the show Nando had planned out.
Together, Rillaboom and Mr. Rime kept their opponents, Trista's Salamence and Togekiss, locked in a fierce yet fascinating struggle. As the battle got underway, Nando opened up an early lead thanks to Rillaboom's ability, Grassy Surge, transforming the battlefield into a vivid, verdant plain. Such an environment not only gave Mr. Rime a visually striking stage for his dancing, but empowered Rillaboom's move Grassy Glide, granting the gorilla heightened speed and agility. However, Trista's strategy prioritized strength through movement, and once she, Salamence and Togekiss acclimated themselves to Nando's tactics, they were able to slow down his offense by dodging his team's attacks and begin slowly wearing the Galarian duo down.
"We've got only a minute left!" Malva declared, her microphone just barely bringing her voice above the din of the crowd. "Sixty seconds, then we'll know who'll claim the Ribbon Cup! And it couldn't be more of a Rapidash race, either! We're all burning up right now, but one of these Coordinators will flame out while the other blazes with true glory!"
True to Malva's word, both Nando and Trista had about the same amount of points left in their respective gauges. Seeing them running neck-and-neck had Olivia quite literally at the edge of her seat, recording everything she could get with her Pokégear.
"The grass is gone," she observed, "so Rillaboom hasn't got any of the boosts from it anymore. If he can't find a way to get it back, Trista will probably outpace him at this point."
Nando had come to the same conclusion about his situation. "Rillaboom, Grassy Terrain, if you please."
At his trainer's direction, Rillaboom began striking his drum, hammering out a steady dum-da-dum rhythm. Every note he played brought more of his innate power to the forefront, manifesting in a rapidly intensifying green aura around his body.
"He does have a way to get it back…" Olivia leaned in closer, subconsciously tapping her foot to the beat of Rillaboom's drum. "She'll try to stop him, I bet."
That turned out to be another prediction Olivia was right about. Well aware of both how even things would become if the Grassy Terrain returned and of the dwindling time limit, Trista pointed straight at Rillaboom and called out, "Prudence, Fire Blast! Cupid, Mystical Fire!"
The two flying Pokémon aligned in the air, with Cupid, Trista's Togekiss, taking a position just above her Salamence, Prudence. It was Prudence that acted first, however, spitting out a huge fireball that Cupid encircled in a ring of her own glittering flames. Once the combination move was fully assembled, Prudence sent it on its way with a beat of her wings, kicking up a powerful gust that propelled it forward.
Her breath catching in her throat, Olivia thought to herself, "That could be trouble…"
Little did she suspect, Nando had a trick up his sleeve for exactly such a situation. "Mr. Rime, please use Rain Dance!"
Mr. Rime energetically tapped his feet and cane on the floor, then twirled around, beckoning forth dark clouds that filled the upper reaches of the Contest Hall. The downpour that fell from them snuffed out much of Trista's combined attack, dramatically blunting its effect on the Ice-and-Psychic-type. Right after Mr. Rime took the blow, Rillaboom completed his performance, restoring the presence of the ethereal savanna his ability had first conjured.
"Rillaboom, Mr. Rime, it's time for the final act." Shutting his eyes and plucking several notes from his harp, Nando instructed, "Rillaboom, help Mr. Rime get in close with Grassy Glide."
During the earlier stages of the match, when Nando called for Grassy Glide, Rillaboom had stashed his drumsticks in his leafy wrist cuffs and run around the field, so Olivia was caught completely by surprise when he kicked his drum over instead. Doubly so when he and Mr. Rime climbed on top of it. She couldn't help but stand up as she watched the duo jet across the shimmering landscape, drawing ever closer to Trista's Pokémon.
"We have to go for the win right now!" Trista called to her Togekiss and Salamence as their opponents closed in. "Cupid, Air Slash!"
"Rillaboom, help Mr. Rime out! Acrobatics!"
Mr. Rime backflipped onto Rillaboom's shoulders, and the Grass-type sprang off his drum with his powerful legs. From there, Mr. Rime leaped off and over Cupid, while Rillaboom protected him by tackling the Togekiss in midair, cutting off her budding Air Slash.
"Prudence, Draco Meteor!"
Trista's Salamence gazed up at Mr. Rime, who was descending toward her with ice surrounding his feet. Sensing as her trainer had that this was their last chance, she launched a burst of orange meteors from her mouth, but Mr. Rime pirouetted to try and absorb the blows he couldn't avoid. When he got within reach of his target, he stuck his right leg out and landed his most powerful kick squarely on the side of Prudence's head, and they plummeted to the ground together.
Right as the two of them crashed against the floor, the siren signifying the expiration of the match timer sounded.
"Time's up!" Malva proclaimed. The Contest Hall fell silent as everyone present - the crowd, Nando, Trista, the judges, and Olivia - all awaited the revelation of the final result. Nando and Trista had run so close to each other that the outcome depended on the victor in Mr. Rime and Prudence's clash. Their shared impact had kicked up a cloud of dust that initially obscured them from sight, but as it lifted, the picture became clear.
Mr. Rime was holding himself up on his cane, but he was on his feet. Prudence, having been critically weak to Triple Axel, had fallen.
Seeing this, Malva said to the crowd, "That's it! At the end of this absolutely blazing battle, victory in the Grand Festival goes to Nando!"
As the audience around her erupted, Olivia exhaled. It felt like the first time she'd been able to properly breathe in forever, and offered some degree of relief from all the tension she got caught up in. She hadn't even realized just how invested she was until it was already over.
"Oh man…" she sighed. "Oh man… that was awesome. I needed this."
Moving to the edge of her box, she watched Nando and Trista shake hands at the center of the battlefield, while her mother and the other judges wheeled the Ribbon Cup out on a cart for the formal award ceremony.
"So he finally won one…" Olivia turned to her Pokégear, still displaying all the notes she had made. "I know Nando's going to be at the Pokémon League, so there's a good chance I'll have to face him there. That means there's a good chance I'll have to play a part in that performance…"
Glancing back to the arena, she inadvertently locked eyes with Anabel, who happened to be looking up at her. That, and everything she had recorded, made her clench her free hand into a fist.
It wasn't a fist of frustration or fear, but one of excitement. Olivia was fired up for what lay ahead.
-:-
That evening, once all the festivities wound down, Olivia, Anabel, Nando, Bunny, Bill and Lisia convened outside the Contest Hall. Olivia had been able to reunite with her mother fairly soon after the conclusion of the final match, but filtering through the crowds in the building during the afterparty, she wasn't able to gather all the others together. Lisia had proved most elusive, and Olivia sensed her feelings building up further and further as the hours passed. Once they were finally able to gather, Olivia wasted no time in throwing her arms around her cousin.
"That was amazing!" Olivia beamed, tightly embracing Lisia while the others looked on and smiled. "I haven't seen anything like that since… since before Dad… well…"
"Sssh, Olivia, it's fine…" Lisia assured, comforting Olivia by stroking her hair. "I had just as much fun getting to perform for you, y'know? Anabel, what about you?"
"It really helped to clear my mind, too. And besides… anything I could do for Olivia, I would. I owe her that much."
"Mom, thank you," Olivia said, turning to her mother. "Lisia told me everything… I know you arranged everything for me here."
"I'm aware. Lisia let me know she talked to you. Lissi, I can't…" Anabel pressed her hand against her chest and took a deep breath, then extended it toward Lisia. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for us."
"Aw, Annie, it's like I told Olivia. This is what our people do for each other." Shaking Anabel's hand, Lisia added, "You can count yourself as one of us, too. I wanted to give you a hand just as much."
"I…" The suggestion gave Anabel pause. It had been a very, very long time since she had last thought of herself as having ties to the Sootopolitan people, but now that Lisia put the idea in her head, had she truly lost those ties? It was true that Rich was gone - but she still had Olivia. Had her own loss really caused her to lose her perspective so thoroughly? "Lisia, thank you. I needed to hear that."
"Of course."
While her mother and cousin shook hands and conversed, Olivia approached Nando, Bunny and Bill. "Nando, your new performance was fantastic. Totally lived up to my hopes."
"I am happy to hear that, Miss Olivia. It is my hope that you'll get to take part in it with me at the Pokémon League."
"Yup!" Olivia cheerfully agreed. "I'll be there, so don't lose until we get to battle! What are you guys going to be doing now, though?"
"Well," Bill replied, "I think we're going to be taking some time off to unwind after the Grand Festival, then we're off to the Sevii Islands."
Olivia furrowed her brow; that answer certainly wasn't one she expected. "The Sevii Islands?"
"We've been following the trail of the Coronet Rosary," Bunny explained.
"Still looking into that, huh?"
Bunny nodded in response to Olivia's question. "After we split up in Olivine, I met up with Nando in Ecruteak and we both found Bill in Goldenrod. It turns out there's an artifact in the Sevii Islands that's related to the Coronet Rosary, so we're going to head out there and see if we can find out anything about it."
"I hope you guys find what you're searching for, then."
"Thanks, Olivia." Scratching her chin, Bunny asked, "So what'll you be doing next?"
"I want to get right back on the road to the next Gyms," Olivia responded, breathless with the excitement she was feeling. "I think it'll be Lavender Town first, then Cerulean City…"
Taking several steps back from the others, Olivia turned and pumped both her fists into the air.
"Watch out, Pokémon League! Olivia Lynn Mistbloom is coming for you! And I'm bringing my dad home!"
END of CHAPTER 34