Author's Note: Happy New Year, loyal readers! And Happy New Decade, too!
Let's kick off 2020 with a brand new chapter of Pokemon NG!
Megan's POV
I was in the dressing room, preparing myself for my second contest in Hoenn. Adam and Jason had already left to get their seats after I parted ways with them. I had briefly seen my sister April as I'd entered the dressing room, but I needed to get myself ready.
I sprayed on some perfume and applied some lip gloss before I walked out into the waiting area. I found April sitting with the other girls that I had became friends with: Skye, Ashlyn, and Amber.
As I went over to sit with them, I noticed Christina, who was leaning against the wall, not paying any attention to us.
I'm confident that I can beat her, if given the chance. It won't be like last time! I've trained and I have a new Pokemon! I thought, confident that I could beat her this time if we faced off in battle.
As I listened to my friends chat, Sofia appeared on the screen and proceeded with the introductions to the contest until it was time for the first coordinator to perform.
I had decided that I would use Kirlia in the first round because when I had caught her, the Pokedex had told me that Kirlia spins and dances when happy, so we had been practicing to perfect an appeal that would show off her graceful dancing and Psychic powers.
... ...
"Next up is Ashlyn!"
Ashlyn ran out and spun, tossing her Pokeball.
"Spotlight, Swinub!" Swinub appeared, surrounded by bubbles.
"Icy Wind!" The bubbles were frozen around Swinub.
"Now use Take Down!" From within the frozen bubbles, Swinub shattered the icicles and made shards fly out. The light hit the shards, making them glow, and it also cast a shine to Swinub's fur.
Ashlyn curtsied and her score was totalled 7.5, 8, and 7, which ended up being 22.5.
After three more coordinators, it was my turn.
"Next up is Megan!"
I ran out and jumped over the stairs, spinning and tossing my Pokeball.
"Showtime, Kirlia!" I yelled. Kirlia appeared, surrounded by multiple hearts.
"Use Psychic!" Kirlia froze the hearts in mid-air and began to dance and spin around while using Psychic to control the hearts around herself, making them spin around her as she danced.
"Amazing!" Sofia cried.
"Now use Psybeam!" I cried, as Kirlia sent the hearts flying high above her. Psybeam hit the hearts and they burst into glitter, which fell downwards as Kirlia continued to dance and twirl around the stage.
"Now use Calm Mind." Kirlia clasped her hands together and a light enveloped her as she danced, her silhouette being what was seen from the brightness of the move. Slowly, the light faded and Kirlia's dancing came to an end.
The crowd cheered loudly as I curtsied and Kirlia did the same.
I waited, looking at the screen to see my total. 8.7, 9.2, and 9, totalling to 26.9! I was one of the highest scoring coordinators so far! I had even scored higher than Ashlyn!
"Wow! Look at you!" Ashlyn cried when I rejoined the girls backstage.
"That was a great performance! I loved it!" Amber cried.
"It was a good one, Sis. Kirlia seems like a natural performer." April said.
"Kirlia looked like she enjoyed herself. It's obvious that she was having fun and loves to dance." Skye commented.
I smiled at my friends and sister. I couldn't believe the praise that my performance had received, plus being one of the highest scoring coordinators. I was feeling very confident!
I scanned the waiting area to see if I could see Christina's reaction to my performance and score, but she wasn't there. That meant that she must be up next.
"Next up is Christina!"
"It's showtime, Lotad!"
That must be the Lotad that she caught from the sisters' garden that I visited. I thought.
Lotad appeared, surrounded by confetti, and landed on the stage.
"Use Mist!" Mist covered the stage, but Lotad was still visible.
"Now use Water Gun, followed by Mega Drain!" Water Gun shot through the mist and was quickly wrapped around with Mega Drain, making a beautiful color combination of blue and green.
"Finish off with Energy Ball!" Lotad shot the Energy Ball into the sky and as it fell back towards the stage, Lotad hit it and shattered it, causing the green and blue colors to fly into the air.
Christina curtsied and her score was totalled. 7.4, 7.8, and 8.6, which made her final score 23.8.
It was Amber's turn next. She ran out onto the stage and spun, tossing her Pokeball.
"Whismur, spotlight!" Whismur appeared, surrounded by bubbles.
"Use Uproar!" The sound waves caused the bubbles to burst.
"Now use Pound, Whismur!" Amber cried, tossing a small ball into the air. Whismur jumped and hit the ball higher into the air.
"Now use Hyper Voice!" The sound waves kept the ball bouncing in the air as each wave hit it, causing it to either go higher or fall lower towards the stage. Whismur was able to move the ball up or down with its voice, showing an impressive level of control regarding the attack.
As the ball fell towards the stage as Hyper Voice ended, Amber called out for Whismur to use Pound. Whismur hit the ball with it and Amber caught the ball and curtsied.
Her score was 7.2, 7.5, and 7.8, making her score 22.5.
"Next up is April!"
She ran out and tossed her Pokeball into the air.
"Curtain, Surskit!"
Surskit was apparently one of my sister's new Pokemon.
"Use Agility, Surskit! Then use Quick Attack!" With the added speed, Surskit appeared to have multiples of itself.
"Now use Bubble Beam!" While Quick Attack was still in affect, Bubble Beam began and the bubbles were burst by Surskit as it sped around. Afterwards, the bubbles that weren't popped gracefully floated around the stage.
April's points were 8.8, 8.4, and 7.3, making her score 24.5.
After a few more coordinators, it was Skye's turn. She was close to being one of the last coordinators to perform.
"Spotlight, Taillow! Use Agility!" Taillow shot forward at a quick speed.
"Now use Quick Wing!" This was a combination of Quick Attack and Wing Attack. But judging by the look on Skye's face, something didn't go right with the appeal. Taillow was moving very quick with the added speed from Agility, but its wings weren't quite glowing or doing what it should have with Wing Attack.
Skye curtsied, but looking at her, I could see that she was disappointed with her performance. It was 7, 7.3, and 6.7, making her score 21 points.
... ...
As we sat in the waiting area while the points were totalled to determine who would move on, we were chatting with one another.
"I'm worried about the results. That didn't go how I'd planned at all and I had one of the lowest scores." Skye said, worried.
"It'll be okay. Just relax until the results are announced." Amber said.
"Yeah, you win some and you lose some. But you'll learn from this if it doesn't go well." Ashlyn added.
I looked over at April and motioned to Christina, who was standing against the wall opposite of us. April nodded her head. We had decided that the next time we saw Christina, we would confront her and ask about our parents' history. Specifically, the history between our mom and her dad.
"What do you want?" Christina asked as we reached her.
"What did our mom do to your dad that makes you hate us so much?" I asked.
She scoffed and looked at us in offense. "Don't pretend like you don't know!"
"But we really don't." April insisted.
"Honestly, we have no idea." I said.
"She stole his lunch when they were children! And she didn't even apologize for it!"
"...But that was years ago." I said, confused. I didn't know what else to say, since Mom had never mentioned this to either me or April.
"They were young. Surely that can be forgiven now." April said.
Christina just remained quiet and walked away with a frown. April shrugged and we walked back over to our friends. I made a mental note to talk to Mom about this later.
"Now it's time to show the eight coordinators that will be moving on!" Sofia cried as she reappeared on the screen.
One by one, our pictures were all shown, along with Christina. But as the eighth picture was shown, it wasn't Skye. She hadn't scored high enough.
Skye collapsed to her knees and started crying into her hands, "I was...h-hoping to improve fr-from last time. B-B-But...I did even worse!"
"Skye, you didn't fail. You're still starting out and learning." I said.
"It's a learning experience." said Ashlyn.
"Like it was said earlier, you win some and lose some." April said.
"Keep your head up, Skye." said Amber.
Skye wiped at her face and looked at us.
"You don't understand! I have more pressure from my parents to succeed than any of you do. If I can't win any ribbons, then I might as well quit being a coordinator now instead of embarrassing myself and making my family ashamed of me!"
Skye stood up and ran off towards the dressing room, still crying. I felt sad for Skye. It had to be hard to have that much pressure on herself because of her family. Both of my parents were coordinators and I was competing alongside my sister, but they didn't make me feel overwhelmed. She was right, I didn't understand how she felt. I just hoped that she wouldn't give up her dream just because of the pressure that her family had put on her.
"We have to hope she'll be okay. For now, we have to focus on our battles." Ashlyn said, shaking her head and clasping her hands.
She was right. We had to put Skye out of our minds for now and focus on the contest. We all wanted to win and worrying about her while we needed to focus on the battles wouldn't help us.
The match-ups were randomly generated. Amber was facing Christina, I was facing a guy named Holden, April was going against a boy named William, Ashlyn was up against a boy named Adrian. Those three boys had qualified along with my sister, my friends, Christina, and myself.
As we were waiting to see which battle would be first, Adrian approached us.
"Good luck in our battle, Ashlyn." he said.
"Thanks..." she replied with a smile, but confused as to why he was acting so nice, despite being her opponent.
"The name's Adrian. I'm twelve years old. I've been a coordinator for two years and I've yet to win a Ribbon Cup."
Adrian had fair skin, spiked blonde hair, and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a dark green colored suit. A dark blue vest was underneath the jacket, which had a yellow stripe going around the trim, and the same yellow stripe was at the cuffs of his sleeves and collar. There was also a ruffled white shirt sleeve that poked out from beneath his jacket. The same ruffled look was with his tie and a red gem to keep it in place, and to add a pop of color.
As I listened to his voice, I realized that I'd heard it before! He was the mysterious boy from the flower shop! I could finally put a face to the voice. He was the one who was impressed by my performance as a new coordinator, and it being my first contest at that!
... ...
"It's now time for our battles to get underway! To start things off, we have Ashlyn to my right and Adrian to my left! Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Aron, spotlight!" Ashlyn cried.
"Mudkip, let's go!" Adrian cried.
Yikes, Ashlyn had a type disadvantage!
"Use Water Gun, Mudkip!"
"Dodge it!"
... ...
The battle wasn't going in Ashlyn's favor. Despite her best efforts to counter and land attacks, they didn't do much to help, since Aron was Steel and Rock type, so Mudkip could deal more damage to Aron than what Aron could deal to Mudkip.
"Use Metal Claw!"
"Meet it with Take Down, Mudkip!"
The two moves collided and fought for dominance.
"Water Gun!"
"No!"
Aron took a direct hit at point blank range and was sent flying backwards, landing on the ground right as the buzzer sounded to signal that time was up.
"Adrian wins!"
... ...
"To my right is Christina and to my left is Amber. Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Lotad, curtain!" Christina cried.
"Spotlight, Psyduck!"
"Use Absorb!" Christina cried.
"Disable, Psyduck!"
Smart of Amber to protect her Pokemon against a super-effective Grass attack.
... ...
"Dodge it!" Amber cried as an Energy Ball headed towards her Pokemon. Psyduck did dodge in time.
"Use Confusion!" Lotad was frozen in place.
"Now use Psybeam!" While still keeping Lotad in place with Confusion, Psyduck was able to use Psybeam and land a hit on Christina's Pokemon.
Then the buzzer sounded.
"Amber wins!"
... ...
It was my turn next and I waited as Sofia did the introductions.
"To my right is Holden and to my left is Megan. Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Eevee, spotlight!"
"Go, Wurmple! Use String Shot!"
"Dodge it, Eevee! Then use Swift!"
... ...
"Use Tackle!"
"Counter with your own Tackle, Eevee!"
The two collided and Eevee won the fight for dominance, sending Wurmple flying backwards.
"Poison Sting!" Holden cried, once his Pokemon had recovered.
"Counter with Swift!"
The two moves collided and canceled one another out.
"Use-"
But the buzzer sounded, cutting Holden off.
"Megan wins!"
... ...
"To my right is April and to my left is William. Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Treecko, showtime!"
"Curtain, Abra!"
"Use Absorb!"
"Disable!"
... ...
So far, the battle wasn't going in April's favor. She would need to turn it around if she wanted to move on!
"Use Agility, Treecko! And follow it up with Mega Drain!" she shouted. Abra couldn't dodge in time, despite William's command.
"Now use Quick Attack and then Energy Ball!" April commanded. With the added speed and not giving her opponent time to recover, April was making a tremendous comeback.
"Abra, use-"
The buzzer sounded and I knew that this would be a close call!
"April wins! What a comeback!"
... ...
I was thinking of the possibility of having to face my sister when the second round battles were announced. Amber was facing Adrian, which meant that I would battle April in battle. We both knew that this would happen one day. I hadn't expected it to be so soon, but I was excited.
"May the best sister win." April said to me.
I knew that this wouldn't be easy. April had always wanted to prove that she was the more talented sister while we were growing up, since she was always more a competitive person than me. This was now my chance to show her that I was just as good! After all, I had scored the highest in the appeals.
"We'll see. I scored highest, remember?"
"A high score doesn't guarantee that you'll win!"
We turned our attention back to Amber and Adrian's battle, which was before ours.
... ...
"The coordinator moving on to the final round is...Adrian!"
I nodded to April and we made our way to the stage.
"Folks, we have a treat with this next battle! It's a battle between two sisters! Sisters who are the children of two well-known Top Coordinators! To my right is Megan Hayden and to my left is April Hayden! Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Eevee, spotlight!"
"Curtain, Treecko!"
"Use Swift, Eevee!"
"Use Absorb!"
... ...
"Dodge it!" I cried as Mega Drain headed towards Eevee. But Eevee wasn't able to dodge. And April was quick to have Treecko use Quick Attack while Eevee was still recovering from having her energy drained.
"Okay, we can do this, Eevee! Let's use Quick Attack then Swift!"
... ...
Eevee and Treecko were currently engaged in a fight of dominance and strength as both of us had commanded our Pokemon to use Tackle and Pound respectively. Eevee began to slide backwards.
"Pound once more!" With his second arm, Treecko landed a hit to Eevee unsuspectingly and Eevee was sent tumbling across the stage.
Then the buzzer sounded.
"The coordinator moving on to the finals is...April!"
I was very disappointed as I heard Sofia's announcement. I had trained even harder for this contest than I had for the first and I still didn't manage to win! I saw Eevee, who looked sad at the news, too.
I then looked up to see April walking across the stage towards me. She stopped in front of me and I braced myself for her teasing that was sure to come. But to my surprise, she gave me a sympathetic smile.
"You did great, Sis. And you were a tough opponent. It wasn't easy." April said, and pulled me into a hug.
I was surprised, but I hugged back. This wasn't usual behavior from her, since we were polar opposites in terms of personality. And we weren't that close to one another, either. But either way, I was glad that I had managed to impress my sister and prove to her that I was a worthy opponent and rival to have. I was also happy because even though we fought a lot and teased one another, it was rare moments like this that showed that we did care for each other and love each other as sisters.
"Thanks for cheering me up. Now go and win that ribbon." I said as we parted.
I picked up a sad Eevee, petting her head and praising her, and walked offstage.
I walked backstage and went to change back to my regular clothes. When I finished, I saw that no one else was there in the waiting area. Which made sense, since Adrian and my sister were the only coordinators left.
"Oh well." I muttered and sat down.
I decided to stay there and watch on the screen so that I would be the first person to see April backstage and congratulate her if she won. Eevee sat beside me quietly, still depressed.
"We did good, Eevee. We can only improve. We'll get it next time." I said to her.
"Folks, we've had an exciting contest and now it's time to see who will win and take home the ribbon! To my right is Adrian and to my left is April! Five minutes on the clock and begin!"
"Treecko, curtain!"
"Let's go, Mudkip!"
April had the type advantage, but could she win for a third time in one day?
... ...
"Dodge it, Treecko!" Treecko managed to successfully dodge Water Gun.
"Quick Attack! Then use Pound!" April commanded.
"Be ready, Mudkip! Use Mud Sport!"
That caught Treecko off-guard as the attack went upwards and then straight at him.
"Shake it off, Treecko."
... ...
Treecko had just successfully landed a direct hit with Absorb when the buzzer sounded.
"And the winner is...April!" Sofia announced.
Everyone cheered as April hugged Treecko. She had done it!
After she received her ribbon, she came backstage and saw me waiting for her.
"You did it! You won!" I cried, cheering for my sister.
"I know...yet I still can't believe it..." she said in shock. "It's my very first victory."
"You and Treecko did great. It's obvious that you spent a lot of time training to make sure that he was prepared. How do you feel?"
"I'm over the moon! I'm a step closer to the Grand Festival!"
A throat was cleared and we realized that Adrian was still here, having waited for April, too.
"Congratulations on winning, you've really earned it. I saw you in the contest in Petalburg City and I have to say that I'm impressed with how you've performed there and here. You're very talented for a brand new coordinator and I can see that you're going to be one of my toughest rivals, despite you being new at this."
April looked shocked at Adrian's words of praise. "Uh...well, I've had two great role models to aspire to be like. But you weren't an easy opponent to beat."
Adrian then pulled out a red rose from behind his back and handed it to April with a kind smile, saying, "Congratulations again. I'm looking forward to our next contest."
April lightly blushed and smiled at his kindness and his gift to her. "Thank you. That's very nice of you." she said in a quiet tone of voice.
As Adrian left the room, I was a little sad as I realized that he had been talking about April, not me, when I had overheard him in the flower shop.
But this interaction between him and April was so similar to our how parents used to interact. Like with my mom, it looked like April had an admirer who was a fellow coordinator.
"Looks like he likes you, judging by the rose." I teased. "After all, Dad did that to Mom when they were younger and they ended up getting married!"
"Shush! Maybe he gave it to me because he knows that I like roses. I wear one in my hair during my contests, after all. Besides, it's too early to tell. Stop teasing me about boys, that's my job."
"Turnabout is fair play, Sis. If you can tease me about boys, then I can tease you back! Anyway, you're in a dilemma. You told me that you like Adam, but now you have another boy who might like you." I said.
"Well, I only said that I liked Adam to make you jealous and give you the courage to step up and try to win his heart yourself."
I was shocked. She had been playing me since the beginning!
"Well, you had me fooled. I thought that you liked Adam. But I'm still trying to figure out if I even like him yet. Right now, I'm just enjoying his friendship."
After a slight pause, April said, "Uh, Megan?" April's attention had shifted to behind me and then to my feet.
"What?"
"Where's Eevee?"
I looked back to the bench that I had been sitting on with Eevee and found that it was empty! I had been so focused on watching the contest and talking with April that I hadn't realized she was gone!
"Eevee! Where did she go?!"
Author's Note: Megan fails to win a ribbon for the second straight contest, despite being even more prepared than the last time and despite having the highest score in the appeals round.
April wins her first ribbon instead and the girls gain a new rival in Adrian, who also seems to admire Megan's sister. She was the one that he was talking about when Megan overheard him in the flower shop when he bought that rose for April. He seems to be treating her in a similar way that April's dad treated her mom when they were young and competing in contests together.
April also reveals that she never liked Adam romantically and only said that to convince Megan to have the courage to make a move on him first before someone else did...which Megan still hasn't done.
Unfortunately, Skye doesn't even make it past the appeals round this time and seems to be giving up on her dream for good.
And now Eevee, saddened over her contest loss, has suddenly disappeared!
Will Megan ever succeed in winning a ribbon?
Will she ever try to win Adam's affection like her sister wanted her to do?
Will the girls ever see Skye in a contest again?
What are Adrian's intentions with April?
And where did Eevee go?
Let us know your thoughts on these questions and be sure to keep reading as the story continues in Pokemon NG!