The next morning, Kaleigh and Riolu got packed up and after some much coaching, Riolu went back into his pokeball before she left the pokemon center. After leaving Camphrier, Kaleigh's mind started to wander to her dream. The mere thought of that man made her hands tremble, as she walked. She pulled the sleeves of her shirt further, her fists holding the hems tightly, to ensure her scars were covered.
"They don't know where I am…" Kaleigh told herself. Her heart started to pound in her chest before she stopped in her tracks and blinked. She quickly took a deep breath in and out as she relaxed her fists. "Gotta control myself." She reminded herself so Riolu wouldn't be anxious about her. But even after telling herself this she couldn't help but dwell on the how it.
"Maybe some company wouldn't be so bad…" She then was a small clearing up ahead and dashed over before taking out the two pokeballs.
"Hey, let's practice for the show!" Kaleigh announced throwing the pokeballs up. Riolu and Eevee appeared in front of her and watched as the pokeballs went back to Kaleigh. Quickly she reached her hands out to catch them, but had closed her eyes tightly as she turned her head away. One pokeball landed in her hands while the other tapped her side before it fell to the ground.
Proud of catching one Kaleigh smiled happily as she picked up the other pokeball and put the two away. She then turned back to her pokemon and smiled at them.
"I was thinking maybe we should practice." The two pokemon nodded their heads, both barked happily at their trainer.
"Okay, so I was thinking that we could use Eevee's star attack at first." Kaleigh began as she tried to put her idea into words for her pokemon to understand. She tried to use her arms to show what she wanted each move to do. "Okay?" Kaleigh asked. Both Eevee and Riolu nodded their heads. She then moved to stand behind them quickly.
"Okay lets go!" Kaleigh called out and Eevee quickly ran forward and sent out three sets of swift. Riolu then ran around Kaleigh as he charged up bullet punch but metal claws appeared over his paws instead. He paused for a second as he looked at them before he ran passed his trainer and jumped out at the stars and sliced them with the new move. Kaleigh blinked at the new move Riolu had learned as Eevee had turned back to Kaleigh and ran towards her before it jumped into Kaleigh's hands that were stretched out for it. As Eevee landed in her hands Kaleigh wasn't quite prepared to push her arms up to send Eevee up into the air and the two fell over.
"Ahh!" Kaleigh squealed, her eyes shut as she fell. When she opened her eyes she first saw Eevee, looking down at her with a concerned face before Riolu had came running into her vision. She slowly sat up and giggled at them.
"I'm okay you guys, can't be perfect on the first try right?" Eevee and Riolu smiled back at her. Kaleigh happily petted Eevee's head before she looked at Riolu. "You learned a new move too, great job!" Riolu puffed out his chest happily as he placed his paws on his hips. Kaleigh giggled at him and let out a relaxed sigh as she then pulled out their pokeballs. "Well, we'll practice more but we should get going." She then returned both pokemon and put the pokeballs away. She pushed herself up and continued down the path onto Lumiose City.
With ease, She made it to Lumiose City by nightfall, though the city wasn't dark. Many shops were still open as Kaleigh had spotted one that sold clothes. She quickly ran up to the door and went inside.
"Welcome~" She heard some staff call out. Kaleigh gave a hesitant wave before she moved to look around. There were numerous outfits to choose from, but all were very expensive. Kaleigh started to shuffle through the clothes and held a yellow and orange dress over herself as she looked down at it.
"Would you like to try it on?" A female voice startled her as she quickly turned her head toward the person. She blinked a few times as the lady was in her late 30s with a gentle welcoming smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you deary." The lady apologized. Kaleigh shook her head lightly and gave a small smile back. "N-No, it's okay."
The lady nodded as she looked at the outfit that was in the child's hands. "Hmm, this one is one of my favourites but I don't think it suits you, sweetie. Are you shopping for anything in particular?" The lady commented, making Kaleigh look back at the outfit and returned it to the spot where she found it.
"Oh! Uh, I am going to join the Pokemon Showcase… So I was just looking for something to wear for it." Kaleigh explained, looking up at the lady. "The Pokemon Showcase?!" The lady excitedly exclaimed and clapped her hands together before she turned to the selection of clothes. "We will find something for you, don't worry!" Kaleigh let out a soft giggle as she looked at all the clothing.
The two continued to comb through the wide selection and pulled some ideas for Kaleigh to try on. It wasn't too long before Kaleigh was taken to the changing rooms and was left to try the clothes on. She looked at the full-length mirror in the small room, her eyes adverted from it quickly as she slowly took off her clothes.
The first thing Kaleigh tried on was a pink mid-length dress it had a small opening in the front as the bottom wrapped around and the left was tucked under the right. Upon getting the dress on Kaleigh looked into the mirror, taking a step closer to get a better look. The dress was beautiful but it exposed a lot of skin that she didn't want people to see. She ran her right hand along the scars on her left forearm and sighed quietly.
"How are you doing in there?" The lady called as she was waiting outside the changing room. "Oh uh um… Is there anything I could put on to cover my hands and legs?" Kaleigh asked. The lady looked slightly confused and took a step closer. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes! I was umm just thinking of some umm just something to add to it!" Kaleigh quickly added. The shop lady thought about it and nodded her head. "Yes, you're right some accessories would maybe add a bit more flare to them. I'll be right back." Kaleigh let out a breath as she placed a hand over her chest. She looked back at the mirror and at her hair. It was still pulled back and tied with a lock of hair to stay in a loose, low ponytail. She pulled it out and let it fall naturally but it looked messy. She pulled it back to the ponytail just as a knock on the door alerted her.
"I brought a few different accessories." Kaleigh opened the door slightly and peeked out. "Thank you, umm." Kaleigh tried to think of how she would take the new items as she didn't want her arms exposed to the stranger. She looked at her top and quickly pulled her hand through the sleeve before she reached out and brought the items into the changing room.
Quickly scanning what was brought Kaleigh tried on some short white gloves and frowned as they weren't long enough. She then spotted some long black gloves and removed the white ones to replace them with the black ones and smiled as they came passed her elbow. She then looked and found some black tights. She then looked through the outfits she had and pulled on a navy blue flowy medium-length dress, with the top layer of the dress being toul with some glitter in it. She then put on the black tights and looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She smiled as she looked ready for the Showcase. She stepped out of the changing room and looked up at the consultant. The lady smiled at the child.
"This looks amazing, everything looks like it fits but how do you feel? Not too tight?"
Kaleigh looked down at the dress and nodded her head. "I feel good. Thank you for the help." The lady smiled more brightly and nodded her head. "Then I'll go wait for you up at the front." And with that, she left Kaleigh to change back. Once Kaleigh was done she picked up what she wanted and went to the register.
