Chapter 4 - Jubilife Ramen Part 1
Cyan sat down in the Pokémon Center cafeteria and ate one of the rice balls. In Alola, he would often spend a lot of time in the individual cities during his travels. There weren't a lot of cities in Alola, but there was still a lot to see. Because of this, he was so used to spending so much time in one place. However, he knew that if he wanted to get his journey started, he'd have to leave Jubilife City sooner than later.
He pulled out his Pokédex and fiddled with the different applications. One of them would find news on things specific to the area where he was at. He opened it up, finding a picture of a cute girl in a blue dress on the main page.
"A Pokémon Contest?" he wondered aloud. His Vulpix and newly acquired Chimchared eyed one another. "I've never seen one before."
"Vul?"
Cyan smiled. "But you know what's better than seeing one?"
"Chim-char!"
"That's right! Let's give it a try!"
It had been a few months since Yurie did a contest. She walked into the hall the morning of the contest and looked around the stage. It was one of the larger ones that she had seen, as Jubilife was the biggest city in Sinnoh.
She got early access to the stage and locker room since she came to the venue with Michika. However, they didn't have much time together. Once Michika was asked to leave to prepare for her role as the host, Yurie released her Pokémon from their Poké Balls and started to warm up for the contest.
Slowly, other coordinators and new trainers piled into the locker room. With around fifty trainers, all of their faces started to blur, and Yurie knew that it was best to simply focus on what she'd be doing. She had learned to always be friendly, but deep down, she was competitive like her brother.
Eventually, the time came for the contest to start. The crowd was large and very loud. Yurie could hear the rumble that they caused backstage. She looked up at the television where the stage was displayed.
Michika slowly walked onto the stage. She wore a light green dress, and her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The microphone that she held violently shook in her hands.
"Welcome one and all to the first contest of the season!" Michika said into the microphone. Her voice was naturally quiet, and she was already a bit mousey. She never had to do a microphone performance, and it showed. However, the people of Jubilife City cheered for their hometown girl.
"We have over fifty competitors today, some new and some experienced! In just a moment, I'll give the signal and we will start the first round! Coordinators, you have one minute to appeal with your Pokémon! Make sure to show off a quality that is unique to them, whether that be their power or cuteness!" Michika explained.
Yurie looked down at her Torchic and smiled. She was going to go with him, as the Pokémon hadn't done an appeal in so long. He had become Yurie's ace in battles.
"Only four competitors will make it to the second round! These four will battle it out to try to earn themselves this!" Michika raised her hand, revealing a pink ribbon with blue edges. "The Sinnoh Saisho Ribbon!"
The crowd cheered for the beautiful ribbon.
"Let's start!"
One by one the other contestants performed their appeals. Yurie could tell that there were a lot of rookies at this contest, which didn't surprise her. It also put her at ease, as unless something went wrong with her appeal, she would probably be getting to the second round.
Then, a boy who Yurie vaguely recognized took the stage, a white Vulpix by his side.
"Everyone, please welcome from the Alola region, Cyan Kokura!" Michika said. She had roughly fifty notecards that she had to read from. It was impossible for her to remember everyone's information.
The crowd reaction to Cyan was a bit louder than other rookies, as some had recognized him from his television battle with the champion of Alola. He just thought that the reaction sounded louder because he was finally on stage instead of in the back. He looked at Vulpix and then pointed to the stage.
"Let's go! Use Ice Beam!" Cyan ordered.
Vulpix slowly moved her body back and then looked up. She howled and unleashed crystalized energy from her mouth directly into the air.
"And catch it with Extrasensory!"
Vulpix's purple eyes started to glow, and she warped the air with kinetic energy. She tried to catch her own jagged beam of ice. However, she only was able to catch the lower half, stopping it mid-air. The rest of the beam continued, connecting with one of the light fixtures. It froze instantly, and part of the stage became dim. The portion of the ice that she had caught slowly swirled around, resembling a giant snow globe.
"Just like I imagined!" Cyan exclaimed. He slowly scratched the side of his head while he looked at the frozen light fixture. The crowd had gone silent. "Alright, Dark Pulse!"
Dark Pulse was not a part of the plan, and Vulpix looked back at her trainer. She shrugged and then leaped into the air. She blasted a ball of black energy at the ground, causing an explosion and a single pulsating wave of darkness. She then came back down, and the crowd continued their confused silence.
"I meant in the air!" Cyan exclaimed with a laugh.
Vulpix nodded, but before she could redo her attack, the buzzer sounded.
"It was good for a first try!" Michika said as she came back to the stage. She took her place next to Cyan and then put her microphone down so no one could hear her. "Hey, long time no see! It's okay! Practice will make perfect!"
Cyan shrugged and then waved his Pokémon back. "At least we were cute!" Cyan then paused for a moment. "Long time no see?" He hadn't yet fully recognized Michika.
"Everyone give it up one more time for Cyan Kokura! And please give us a moment to fix our lighting situation!"
Yurie put her hands on her hips while she watched the boy run off the stage. She knew him, but she couldn't remember from where.
The crew quickly fixed the lighting, and the show continued. Yurie couldn't watch many more of the appeals, as her turn was coming up soon, and she needed to focus. She walked into the hallway with Torchic and slowly made her way to the curtain. She watched the performance before her on the television, and when it was her turn, she walked up the steel steps and onto the stage.
"And now, someone that you should all be familiar with, from Hoenn, it's Yurie Kawahara!" Michika announced.
The crowd cheered louder than they had before once Yurie came onto the stage. She wore her red dress with an orange corset, doing her best to match Torchic.
Yurie grinned and then held her hand up. "Show them that you're a master of fire techniques! Use Will-O-Wisp!"
Torchic ran to the middle of the stage and leaped into the air. Black flames encircled him, and once he came back down to the stage, he let out a battle cry, and the flames ascended. They created a staircase of black flames, leaving the crowd in awe.
"Let's keep it simple," Yurie said. "Use Aerial Ace and climb!"
Torchic's beak started to glow, and he turned his body. He dashed forward, tackling the bottom wisp. He then continued his upward trajectory, hitting each and every wisp and extinguishing on contact. When he hit the last one, he started to fall. The crowd gasp as he picked up speed at an alarming rate. But once he hit the ground, black flames bellowed out around him, wafting across the stage. He slowly stood up straight and took in the lights. The crowd erupted into cheers.
"What an amazing performance by the veteran, Little Miss Kawahara!" Michika said. "She and Torchic demonstrated perfect control over their craft! Take note, rookie coordinators! That is how you make an appeal!"
Yurie smiled at Michika's compliments and then waved over Torchic. The Fire-type Pokémon cooly turned around and then walked back to his trainer, making a concentrated effort to not look back at the crowd.
Cyan crossed his arms while he watched the screen. "Wait up. Do I know her?"
"Vulpix," his Pokémon confidently answered.
Cyan thought about it for a moment, and slowly, his usual smile faded. "Silph Co."
"Good effort!" Michika said as another rookie coordinator finished their appeal, getting a lackluster response from the crowd. She then checked her notecards and put the microphone to her mouth. "Our next coordinator comes from Kanto! He's in his third year of competition, so everyone buckle up! Welcome to the stage, Fujita Tashiro!"
The crowd half-heartedly clapped as a boy with black curly hair came onto the stage. He wore a suit jacket with sleeves longer than his arms and baggy shorts that were held up by a loose cloth belt. He pulled up his sleeves and then held out his Poké Ball.
Cyan watched as Yurie came to the backroom. He wanted to approach her, but once he noticed that her full attention was on the television, he was reluctant.
"Gligar, use Swords Dance!" Fujita shouted while throwing his Poké Ball forward. His sleeve immediately fell back into place, but Fujita no longer cared.
His Pokémon emerged from his Poké Ball and let out a growl. He slowly glided to the ground and crossed his small arms. His claws then expanded, almost tripling in size. The crowd was now completely silent.
"Earthquake!"
Gligar lifted his claws in the air and then slowly drove them into the stage. The stage shook violently under Gligar before a large chunk of the earth exploded from the ground.
"And now, X-Scissor!"
Gligar violently and quickly slashed at the rock. It took a few moments, and dust and debris were kicked into the air. But once Gligar was finished, the crowd started to clap and whoop.
Michika's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she looked at what now stood in the middle of the field. A picture-perfect statue of Michika and her signature Piplup had been carved before her very eyes, and she was left speechless.
"Michika!" one of the judges shouted, bringing Michika back to reality.
"Wh-what an amazing appeal! And may I say that I'm honored!" Michika said. "Everyone give it up for Fuijita Tashiro!"
Fujita bowed and then extended his hand toward Michika. She paused but then reached out her hand. He then suddenly twitched and motioned for the microphone. Michika blushed and handed it over, unsure of what to do, as no one else had asked for the microphone, or her hand.
"I present to Jubilife City this statue of Michika Imamura! Jubilife, you should be proud to have such a talented coordinator from this city! Thank you for having me at this contest!" Fujita said before he flipped the microphone around and handed it back. Gligar flew onto his shoulder, and he quickly left the field, leaving the crowd in a mix of emotions.
"What's this guy's deal?" Yurie asked herself. And almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Fujita came back through the doors. "What's your deal?"
"Hey, Yurie Kawahara, right?" Fujita asked. He petted his Gligar on the head. "Your performance was excellent!"
"Don't perve on Michika!" Yurie exclaimed.
Fujita's eyes widened. "Huh?"
"I don't care if you're faking it to gain popularity or something, but cut it out before it's too late," Yurie said. She folded her arms, and Torchic took his place in front of her, ready to fight if necessary.
Fujita chuckled to himself. "I'm not trying anything like that. Gligar and I have been practicing that appeal all summer. We finally got a chance to do it, but we didn't know who to make a statue out of. We saw that Michika was going to be announcing at this contest, so we thought, with her popularity, she'd be the best. It's really nothing."
Yurie's arms slowly fell to her side, and she said with a pout, "Well, it was pretty cool."
"We can make you a statue if you want?"
"No thank you."
The final few coordinators performed, and within the hour, everyone had finished. The crowd was exhausted. Some of the appeals were great while others were simply disappointing or bad. A lot of the trainers knew that there was no chance that they'd move on, so they left the locker room early while others were simply hoping that they could squeeze by.
Cyan was one of those trainers. He sat with Vulpix on his lap and watched the television. Even if he didn't make it through to the next round, he still wanted to enjoy the show.
"Coordinators, you all did very well today. Many trainers made their debut, and if, for some reason, you don't make it to the next round, don't let that get you down! Everyone has the potential to be a star!" Michika said into her microphone. She had slowly gotten used to talking to the crowd. "But now it's time to reveal who is moving on to the battle round!"
Everyone looked up to the screen where a small, four-person tournament bracket appeared. There were generic silhouetted figures on cards so as to not immediately give away who was going onto the next round.
"First up is," Michika started to say.
The first card flipped, revealing the face of the boy with the Gligar.
"Fujita Tashiro from Kanto!"
Fujita adjusted his long sleeves and then rubbed the back of his head. He smiled at Gligar and then turned his attention to the screen.
"And next?"
There was a drumroll followed by a face reveal. It was a girl that had used a large and strong Pokémon to make her appeal, which was almost fitting that she'd end up battling with Fujita, who appealed with strength as well.
"Camila Pérez from Paldea!"
Camila clapped her hands together and then did a fist bump. She appeared to be the same age as Yurie and Fujita, but she was only now making her contest debut.
Everyone focused on the right side of the bracket and the two remaining spots. The card flipped over, revealing Yurie's face.
"Little Miss Yurie Kawahara from Hoenn!" Michika exclaimed excitedly.
Yurie sighed with relief. Even though she was experienced, performing in contests always carried some doubt. She could never phone it in, but even when she gave it her all, she always felt like it wasn't enough.
"And our final contestant is!"
Cyan sat forward, squishing Vulplix between his stomach and thighs.
The card flipped, revealing the face of a young boy with neat hair. He had made an appeal with an electric Pokémon.
"Kei Ishimori from Sinnoh!" Michika announced.
While Cyan sighed and relaxed, the young Kei jumped up and down. He was a rookie trainer, only getting his first Pokémon a week before. Cyan was disappointed that he wouldn't be moving on, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
Cyan looked at Yurie, who was now looking at her Poké Balls, trying to decide on what to do for the next round. He stood up, slightly angering Vulpix, and started to approach her.
"Alright, I'm sorry, but if you're not moving on, then we're gonna have to ask you to leave the locker room!" an official announced, forcing Cyan to stop. "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
Cyan took one more look at Yurie. He then nodded and smiled down at his Vulpix. "We'll try after the contest is over, yeah?"
"Vul?"
"But, if she's here, does that mean that he's around?" Cyan wondered aloud. He shrugged. "Hey, let's go find a bowl of Jubilife ramen to eat while we watch!"
"Vulpix!"
Yurie looked up at the television. She wasn't going to underestimate the rookie trainer from Sinnoh, but her concern was with Fujita. His appeal was flawless. How was his skill in battle?
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So, as a reminder, Yurie, Cyan, and Michika were all a part of the group that took down Team Rocket. That's why they vaguely recognize each other.
Yurie moves on! And it looks like she's got a new rival in Fujita. Don't worry! He's not going to be a creep like Omori was!
REVIEWS:
Besprizornye - "While the plot summary, and past experience, promise harrowing adventures and danger, I appreciate the slower pace of these early chapters. Getting reacquainted with these characters, and your writing style, is like slipping into a pair of comfortable slippers. The detail that you pay to the food that your characters encounter is as charming as always, and the description of the cities which Yurie and Cyan are encountering are welcome as well." - I've been trying to read more recently, and seeing how much effort people go into describing makes me want to at least put enough detail into the cities and food.
pokemonking0924 - "Cyan certainly had a very eventful day today. But he also met a brutal trainer Masamune and his Infernape, this guy is very disrespectful and is willing to injure a downed opponent, even Paul from the anime wasn't this bad." - I want to make Masamune the fiercest rival I've introduced. The key is to try to eventually write him in a way that people will like him