"Whismur use Icy Wind again," Hitori Gotoh muttered. She'd apologize for pushing Whismur later. Just for now she wanted, hoped, and prayed that she'd be able to avoid going to the battle café tomorrow. Who even was the one who came up with the insane idea for someone like her who can barely even talk to strangers, participate in a tournament? Hitori looked shivered as her bath continued to get colder, her Whismur lowering the temperature more and more. "Oh. Right, that was me," Hitori mentioned. Pushing herself deeper into the ice water bath "Whismur that's enough," She muttered.

Her Whismur, the only friend she could talk to let up its attack and gave her a worried look. 'Please don't give me that look Whismur, your useless, unpopular, trainer is having second thoughts' Hitori thought. "Whismur… Whismur…" She whispered while reaching and patting the bathtub. Hitori couldn't take it and suddenly stood up in the bathtub. "I'm sorry Whismur… We'll do it, I'm sorry for being a useless trainer!" She suddenly exclaimed.

The sudden noise startled the Whismur who then began to loudly cry out "Whis! Whismur! Mur mur!". Responding Hitori then apologized further which only made Whismur cry out more trying to apologize back, a feedback loop began that didn't stop for another ten minutes when Hitori's mom knocked on the bathroom door and snapped her and Whismur out of her funk.

After her bath and attempt to skip out on the tournament she herself signed up for, Hitori sat in her room with Whismur in her Pokeball and her guitar in hand. Even though Whismur loved her music, or at least Hitori hoped it was that way, the volume was too loud for her so she'd be kept in her Pokeball. She always made sure to play it back for Whismur later with the volume really quiet though! At one point she imagined herself joining a band and becoming a rockstar, one adored by everyone and where she could easily laugh off these isolated days. But when she imagined having to actually join a band, to talk to the bandmates it made her too anxious.

Eventually, it was a streamer that changed her mind, a totally popular streamer who covered Pokemon topics by the name of Gurumin. After Hitori worked up the courage she asked a question in the chat and even got an answer suggesting that she could be a rockstar Pokemon trainer! It was a great idea, she'd have her Pokemon to talk to and not at all have to worry about things like being extorted by bandmates for money or kicked out for being a gloomy loner! Then again it was that same thought that led her to sign up for a tournament she was in no way ready to face, they'd take one look at her and kick her out knowing she was a newbie or something!

Hitori finished playing and airing out her many worries and other feelings. Setting her guitar back down onto its stand she shuffled over to Whismur's pokeball and let her out. "Whismur, you want to listen?" She asked. Her partner fidgeted a bit but nodded repeatedly after a few moments. Hitori let out a small smile at the response and set out her laptop which she had been recording with. The volume was already exactly where Whismur liked it so immediately she pushed the play button and very quietly her playing began to play back.

Whismur let out a quiet giggle and seemed to bob up and down at the music. Hitori's smile grew just a touch wider as she dragged out a second laptop that was technically her father's but he let her use it for just these occasions. She plugged a bluish-purple set of headphones in with pink and black rings like the ears of a Loudred into the second laptop. A quick file transfer later and she began to silently work on editing the video she had taken. The rest of her evening passed in a familiar routine, going perhaps a bit later than she should have into the night but she was in a groove when it came to her work and around two in the morning, long after Whismur finished listening and went over to Hitori's bed and squeezed herself between two sets of pillows to sleep, Hitori finished and uploaded her cover online.

Not that she was popular or anything, with barely more than a thousand followers. Well, she had only been uploading her videos for a month or two by now. With a yawn, Hitori closed the laptop, crawled over to her bed, and let herself fall onto her bed, avoiding the pillows altogether and using a bundled-up portion of the blanket to rest her head on, and fell asleep not too long after.

Despite her best efforts, Hitori woke up feeling well-rested and perfectly fine. Even if she did sleep in by a few hours beyond what she may have intended. As she wiped the drool off her chin, she looked over to see Whismur still asleep wedged between the two pillows. "Whismur… time to wake up it's…" Hitori whispered, lightly nudging her Pokemon while she checked her phone. Ten in the morning, so she still had an hour to get to the battle café she was scheduled to participate in her first tournament. "Ahh! We'll be late Whismur!" Hitori suddenly exclaimed as the math of getting ready and traveling was run in her head. Her loud exclamation was enough to startle Whismur who responded with the sudden start to her day by crying, loud enough that Hitori was forced to cover her ears as she rushed over to the headphones that were still connected to her father's laptop.

While the noise-cancelling headphones were a boon, it still took her ten minutes to calm Whismur down. She made sure to apologize to her parents for having such a useless daughter who required them to pay to soundproof her room because she kept rudely startling Whismur. It took another fifteen minutes to get Whismur fed, brushed, and returned to her Pokeball. It was only then that Hitori could change into the pink tracksuit that she felt the most comfortable in, her blue and pink hair ornament put into her hair. Then in a hurry, she stuffed her guitar into its case, put her headphones around her neck, and fixed the Pokeball holder with its single Pokeball to her case before slinging it over her shoulder.

"I'm off…" Hitori muttered before she left her home. Despite how much time she had already spent getting ready, she wasn't exactly in a rush. Maybe if she dragged her feet enough, she'd be disqualified by default. Then she'd just have to use a new name if she ever got so stupid as to sign up for another one. Her destination was one of the commercial streets of Hammerlocke that didn't see much traffic from anyone except locals considering it was surrounded on all ends by residential area.

Even if Hitori arrived with still fifteen minutes to spare, as she looked over the café even if it looked like many others it still felt overwhelming for her. Maybe it was just the sheer size of a café, as inside was enough space to have a half-sized Pokemon battlefield set-up, but Hitori stood in front of the door. If she opened up, would she just be shooed away? How do sociable people enter such places? Five minutes passed, and Hitori was still standing at the door, her hand at her side as she half reached her hand out towards the handle before letting her hand drop. She repeated this motion several times, and each time her courage failed her at the last minute. It was only when another trainer, and it was a trainer if the belt with two Pokeballs was any indication entered. Seeing another person walk in destroyed the seemingly impossible wall as she caught the door handle as it was swinging back close and slinked into the café. She had done it! She went into a café all by herself!

-

The inside of the Café was one of those that felt too bright and sophisticated for someone like her, a few people were sitting around, a few pausing their drinks or snacks or other certainly important business to glance at who just entered. It was almost enough to make Hitori run right out. But despite herself, she only blanched at the brief attention. Quietly she approached a counter, the woman who was sitting there looking over at her.

"U-u-um, I… For the… um," Hitori started, mumbling quietly that even the quiet ambiance of the café was drowning her out.

"Sorry I didn't catch that, could you repeat that?" The woman asked patiently.

"T-Tournament… I, I am here for it…" Hitori got out. Surprising herself with how composed she was managing to be.

"Understood, may I see your trainer ID?" The woman replied.

Wordlessly Hitori pulled her card out, already she could feel herself start to sweat as the clerk took the card and checked the number through a computer. Would they find something wrong? Would she get kicked out for lying despite her being sure it was her actual ID? Maybe they just thought she was- Hitori was snapped out of it by her card being handed back to her.

"Thank you Hitori Gotoh. You are participant number five, so you'll be starting in the third battle of the first round. We'll call you up before your match begins. Until then please accept a complimentary drink and take a seat and enjoy the first matches," The clerk so politely explained. Hitori struggled for a bit but simply nodded back for a bit too long before rushing off without her free drink to find a nice gloomy corner to sit in.

As the hour of the tournament arrived, Hitori noticed that there were a few others who were carrying Pokeballs on their person. The tournament was small there were only sixteen participants. However, that may be in part because of the requirements that everyone must be in their first year as trainers, and no one who has already earned a recommendation to the gym challenge was allowed to compete. After all the prize for this tournament was for an invite to this year's gym challenge. She may have no confidence in herself, but it was thanks to Allister, an official gym leader whom she felt something of a kindred connection with giving an interview that she gained her confidence to even try.

During the first two battles of the tournament, Hitori watched as their Pokemon clashed. The rules were that everyone was only allowed to use a single Pokemon and so far she had seen a Rockruff, a Rookidee, a Yamper, and one she hadn't seen before, it was like a Tentacool with boxing gloves. Of them, the Rockruff won over the Rookidee, and as for the current round.

"Clobbopus Rock Smash!" the Pokemon's trainer shouted, dressed in a fighting gi of his own. The Pokemon pounded its fist against the ground before waddling towards the Yamper. Despite the faster electric type, the moment it got in close, the Clobbopus's fight glowed a vaguely orange-brown light and smashed its fist down against the Yamper cracking the ground under it, just a bit. With a single hit, the Yamper let out a bark and fell over knocked out.

For a moment Hitori thought she may have a chance but against a fighting type? She must pray for the Rockruff to win their next match!

-

"We'll now begin our third round of the day. In the red corner, Hitori Gotoh and in the blue corner Mike Taro," The judge spoke as he waved to the two sides of the arena. While it was technically a proper tournament. For such a low-level tournament in a relatively unknown battle café, there were only at most ten or fifteen people watching. Of which six of which were the other competitors, the rest were either more interested in their drinks or meals or were out supporting a friend competing.

Either way, Hitori was shaking and trying to not be seen. Even the overly energetic look of her opponent was too much for her. Why couldn't she give orders from a private booth? Or maybe just a box? "G…Go…," She whispered as she lobbed her Pokeball out, landing only two feet away from her. The ball bounced and opened to reveal her trusted partner Whismur, that she won many gym battles and even became a famous champion, at least they did so in her head. Whismur was shaking almost as much as her trainer.

Her opponent's energy was too much for Bocchi as he energetically tossed out his pokeball shouting out "Let's go, partner!". Unlike Hitori, the ball flew nicely into the arena and opened before hitting the ground and revealing a Gossifleur. Hitori peaked up and for a moment she felt something approaching confidence. A grass type, she could win this, and take her first step into being a popular Pokemon trainer.

"Gossifleur vs Whismur one on-one, let the battle begin!" The judge announced and shook his flags to signal the start of the battle. "Open it up with Leafage!" Mike announced with a point towards his opponent. Hitori recoiled and shifted to the side to avoid being pointed at. As though that was the issue with everything.

"I-I-I… Ic… Whismur, Ic," Hitori whispered. Though while she struggled to get her command out the grass-type Pokemon gathered the leafage together in a ball of energetically charged leaves before releasing it towards Whismur. Whismur for her part looked back at her trainer waiting for the command "A-ah… Dodge…" Hitori changed her mind and whispered out a dodge. Thankfully for her Whismur had superb hearing and made a dive to the side to avoid the leafage before it could hit her.

"Now Gossifleur use rapid spin while Whismur is down!" Mike shouted. The Gossifleur responded right away, starting to spin itself faster and faster until the wind was starting to kick up around the Pokemon before it launched itself using the momentum gathered.

"W-Whismur Smokescreen…" Hitori whispered out. There was a moment where Whismur seemed to snap to attention now that she had a proper order. Opening her mouth wide, Whismur bellowed out a dark cloud of smoke that quickly covered her side of the arena. It wasn't the best decision as Gossifleur's rapid spin was already pushing the smoke clear.

Hitori paused as the smoke spread out and covered herself. Suddenly unable to feel the casual gaze of the few people watching her battle, it was much closer an environment to what she practiced with Whismur. "Whismur, Icy wind blow the smokescreen out more," Hitori called out with something that resembled proper volume. Her Whismur cried out before with a whistling sound began to bellow out a freezing wind, it may have been pushing the smokescreen out but as the Gossifleur was hit, its rapid spin quickly came to an end as it recoiled and tried to defend itself from the attack.

"Gossifleur no! Use Sing. Wait no Whismur won't hear it, Leafage stop that wind!" Mike called out with a dramatic wave of his hand. Not that Hitori saw any of it. Gossifleur obeyed and began to discharge leaves that glowed with energy, condensing in front of it soon ready to be fired off.

"Smokescreen again, and move around," Hitori commanded, able to order around a bit more properly. Whismur stopped its icy wind and once again began to bellow out smoke to keep visibility low. Hitori heard its footsteps and a faint green outline pushed through the smoke. "Okay, now Icy wind again, you know where to aim," Hitori added.

Whismur's super sensitive hearing worked to their advantage, they were used to next to no lighting. This meant Whismur was free to let off the Icy wind repeatedly, keeping the smokescreen up. Mike's Gossifleur was unable to defend as it was pelted down. Until the judge spoke out over the two trainers. "Gossifleur is unable to battle, Hitori and Whismur is the victor!".

Hitori blinked. Her strategy worked? Did she win? In a real Pokemon battle? She wanted to cheer in joy, but as the smokescreen cleared and she could once again feel the eyes of the audience on her she clammed up. She wanted to feel good about her victory, but she had to hide herself to even give the simplest orders to her partner!

Wordlessly Hitori returned Whismur to her Pokeball and turned to leave the arena in a hurry to return to her nice corner seat until her next match. Only to have her opponent approach her "Good job there Hitori! I wasn't expecting an Ice-type move!".

Hitori's heart felt like it was going to rip out of her chest, "A-Ah I-I Yes," She stammered out before making an ungraceful retreat from the social situation. Only a few more rounds. Three more and she could take her first step into being a popular Pokemon trainer, then it wouldn't matter how bad she was at socializing today. She could go on interviews and talk about how she used to be the gloomy kid. As she escaped the social situation, Hitori was unaware of the eyes of a red-haired girl who had looked up from snapping pictures of her food and drink. Who watched as she made her escape, some amount of recognition in her eyes.