Poll on my profile, check it out.
Here's the next chapter!
WyldClaw - I'm glad to hear that. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story.
pokemonking0924 - Hi there, thank you so much for reading. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for moody teenage Marina. I can picture her just listening to grunge music and sighing aggressively at everything Charles tell her to do.
Everybody really doesn't like dragonite's shiny form, huh? I have to agree. I think I'll have to change it somehow.
Thank you for pointing that mistake out as well. I don't know what happened. I think I was writing it and had the word 'golbat' just stuck in my head. I have fixed it now.
Thanks so much for for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Uber Ghidorah - I thought that was the case, yes. Don't worry, I knew what you meant. In terms of OC characters...hmm...yeah, sure. That sounds great. I'm always happy to hear new ideas. Thank you.
MBS41 - Thanks so much.
djinn - Thanks so much. Being the youngest sibling in my family, I have never really known what it's like to no longer be the baby of the family to somebody who is forced to take on responsibility (like my older sibling has gone through). I can imagine it being quite tough at first, but then, over time, you will develop an awareness or an instinct to help and raise your younger brother or sister. That is what I was trying to convey in this chapter through Marina. In one day, she was no longer the youngest and that was very hard for her. But after learning the proper responsibilities, she was able grow in character and take on a new role. Especially now that she had evolved, she will continue to learn what it's like to be more adult. Thanks so much for reading.
Kunoichi69 - I think somebody else made that comparison as well. How funny.
Yeah, Marina's character really developed in this chapter and I like how she has become an older sister type person just like how Cleo is to her. And yes, you're right, Charles will be having a tricky time dealing with the teenager.
Having Flo and Alice have a Pokemon egg as well isn't a bad idea. I'll have to think more on that.
Dorothy is a good idea. I can imagine that working quite well.
Thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
SkullGreymonX - That's great to hear. For me, my favourite is when Jessie got hit by that crate. Kind of reminds me of that scene in Home Alone.
Yes, Azure and Tyrian are quite depressed about being seperated which is why, as a way of making it up to them, Flo calls the Corral every night so Tyrian could talk to Azure over the phone. Their calls last for hours and Flo has to stay the whole time so she's bored out of her mind. Currently, she's looking to find a place where she can send Tyrian back to the Corral because it's driving her up the wall.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Mascore - Was he? I didn't know that. Hmm...yeah, I'll think about it. Thanks.
Sonic07 - Thanks so much. I always like making suspenseful chapters, like the last one, just as much as I like making silly chapters. I have to do more in the future.
In regards to Rachael Lillis, I was really saddened when I first heard the news. I know it has been a while since then, but I have written a little something about her at the end of the chapter.
raz2694 - Thanks so much. I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for reminding me about the profile updates. Sometimes I forget to do those. Also, thank you for sending in the suggestions as well as saying which regions they can be found in. I'll put them on the list at the end of this chapter. Thanks again and I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter.
Raging Drake - Sadly not.
Guest2 - Thanks so. I'm so glad that I finally got to introduce Togepi. She's one of my favourite Pokemon. Marina's new personality is quite tsundere, isn't it? I think, most of the time, she's just being moody. You know how teenagers are, right? Thanks for reading.
TurboDriver - That's so wonderful to hear. Thank you so much. I'll also make sure to put your suggestions on the list.
Lovely - Thanks so much. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter. I almost forgotton about dragonite's shiny form. Yeah, it's a bit rubbish. I'll can probably change it to a different colour if she evolves as long as everyone is alright with it. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reviewing :)
Chapter 46: The Great Princess Showdown
Outskirts of O-Hina Town
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"...So...we're going the same way," Flo said awkwardly as she Charles, Benny and Alice walked on one side of the country path.
"Looks like it, yeah," Misty replied sheepishly as she Togepi Ash, Brock and Pikachu travelled on the other side of the country path.
A day has past since Togepi's hatching and Marina's evolution and the teams were now heading south to Cinnabar Island of the southern coast of Kanto. They should reach there in just over a week (assuming that they wouldn't get distracted on the way there) and they could finally battle the Fire Type gym leader resides there. Since both teams had wanted to go their seperate ways, they decided that they would split up on the next fork in the road, say their goodbyes and head off in different directions. The only problem was that they said their goodbyes ten minutes ago...and they were still travelling on the same path.
"Brock, I thought you said the path splits up here?" Ash asked
The teen hurridely got his map out and checked it, "Ah, my mistake," he said with a small chuckle, "Looks like it splits up after the next town, not before it."
"Ah, it doesn't matter," Charles said with a shrug as he leaned over and ticked Togepi on her head, "If it means spending more time with Togepi then I don't mind," he said, earning delighted giggles from the Pokemon.
"But it took us all morning to pry you away from her," Alice sighed miserably, "But you're right. Let's check out the next town together which should be..." she quickly checked Beock's map over his shoulder, "...O-Hina Town. Huh, I think I've heard of it before."
"You do?"
"Yeah, don't they have some sort of the festival or party or something?" she pondered thoughtfully.
Ash pointed forwards towards something on the side of the road, "Err...do you mean that?"
They followed his finger and saw a wooden notice board with several posters and papers attached to its corkboard. Most of them looked to be old job ads or police warnings about looking out for Team Rocket members, but it was the largest poster that caught thier eye. It was a pink poster which depicted a picture of a hina doll wearing a very fancy tiara. Beneath the doll, in white curvy font, it read:
'Princess Day Festival'
'A celebration for and by women and girls of all ages'
'Only at O-Hina Town'
'3rd March'
"Princess day! Of course," Alice realised as they took a closer look at the poster, "I heard O-Hina town is famous for it."
"And it's today...how coincidental," Misty murmured.
("A celebration for and by women and girls of all ages?") Benny said, ("What does that mean?")
"Hmm, it says they hold a festival honouring women every year," Charles said as he read the smaller paragraph at the bottom of the poser, "Apparently, they do tournaments, hold events, there's a parade...oh, that's interesting. Women are allowed 95% off everything in every store throughout the town including boutiques, jewllery stores, bookshops, florists, cafes, department stores and more."
Ash frowned, "How much is 95% off?"
"That really depends on the price of the product, Ash," Brock told him, "Anyhow, it sounds fun. We should go check it out...do you think there is going to be an actual princess there," he sighed dreamily.
"According to this, every women is treated like the princess they are...so, yeah, I guess your technically correct," Charles said.
"Yes!" Brock celebrated as he pumped his fist in the air.
("You know,") Benny said, ("This could be an opportunity to get travelling gear and supplies dead cheap as long as Misty, Alice or Flo gets it.")
"I guess you're right," Charles said as he turned to where the girl are, "Should we all go and do some...shopping."
He trailed off when he, as well the other boys, noticed that they had all disappeared. It was as if they had winked out of existance. They looked around in confusion, wondering where they were, before Pikachu pointed down the path that led towards O-Hina Town.
("There!") he squeaked, pointing two three large dust clouds on the horizon heading towards the town, ("I think that's them. They must have taken off when you were reading from the poster.")
"I guess you're right," Charles murmured in bewildement.
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"...does anybody else have the feeling of impeding dread?"
"Yeah," the choursed in reply.
"Yeah, so do I."
Department Store, O-Hina Town
They were right to feel dread.
They had just arrived at the department store in the middle of the busy town and, as soon as they stepped foot through the door, were swept off their feet by the crowds. Every store, every kiosk, every hallway were filled to the brim with people eargerly queing for the extravagant sales. Everywhere the boys looked, there were at least fifty or so people chatting, walking, and buying everything they could get their hands on. The sheer majority of them were women, from pre-teen girls to the elderly, but, in all fairness, there were men as well. Although, the men (presumably sons, boyfriends and husbands) were all gathered together on the benches and in the food courts rather than actual shopping; each of them keeping guard of at least six to ten shopping bags.
The Princess Festival was a big deal. This wasn't just happening in the department store, but seemingly everywhere in the town. On the way, they had past giant billboards advertising their sales to just the women while the men had to pay full price. On top of that, there were the events like the parade and the showcases presenting the beautifully dressed Hina Dolls to the aweing crowds. There were foodstalls, game booths, markets; everything you would expect at a festival. Although, it looked like the sales was the biggest thing.
They wandered around the department store, hoping to run into their friends among the bustling crowds, but they were having little to no luck.
("This place is pretty packed,") Benny said as he rode on top of Charles' hat so he didn't get swept away, ("I can't see them. I can't even pick up their scent.")
"Keep trying," his brother encouraged, "I've got a good feeling that they'll be here."
Ash looked around and scracthed his head in confusion, "Huh, you know, this isn't so bad. Don't women usually fight each other when they do shopping and have meowth fights?"
Charles and Brock rolled their eyes while Pikachu shook his head in disappointment.
"Come on, Ash. Don't say that," Brock scolded.
"That is just a stereotype," Charles told him, "Women don't go crazy and get into fights over clothes."
"GIVE IT BACK! I SAW IT FIRST!"
"NO, I DID IT!"
They turned around at they heard vicious shrieks and saw, to their suprise, two women battling out over a dress. One of the women, who was trying to yank the dress out of the other's hands like a game of Tug-o-war, was Jessie from Team Rocket. She was still in her uniform, but she had taken the liberty of buying some expensive jewellery and wore new make-up that was now smudged from the fighting. She pulled the other women she was combatting back into the crowd of shoppers and, although they were gone from view, they could still here their cries and shouts from the crowd.
"...Okay, well, not all women go crazy and get into fights over clothes," Charles corrected himself.
A few seconds later, James and Meowth appeared out of the crowd and searched around in panic; both had several boxes and bags stacked onto their arms. It didn't take them long for the two Team Rocket members to spot them back.
"Err..." James uttered, "You twerps didn't happen to see..."
They all pointed towards the crowd to the left.
"Thank you, twerps," they called out before running in the direction they were pointing at.
"There you boys are!"
They turned around and saw, to their utter relief, Flo, Misty and Alice coming out of the crowd with items of clothing and other stuff in their arms. Charles sighed thankfully and waved to them with a small smile.
"Thank Arceus we found you," he said, "We've been looking all over for-"
He was cut off when Flo and Alice shoved the items they had brought into his arms. He stumbled slightly under the sheer weight of it all, but managed to keep ahold of everything with some help from Benny who held it steady with his paws. He looked over and saw Misty has done the same thing to Brock, Ash and Pikachu.
"Good timing," Flo said, giving them a thumbs up, "Right, girls! Let's get back to shopping!"
"Alright!" Alice and Misty cheered as they all made to turn back towards the shops.
However, before they could go, Ash yelled at them to stop.
"Wait, hold on! You're just going to leave us with all of this!?"
"Yes," the all replied in unison.
"Huh!? But...but you can't do that!"
"Yeah, we can," Misty said pointedly, "Princess Day is all about celebrating women and getting treated like princesses... while the men do all the hard work."
Charles raised an eyebrow at that, "That doesn't really sound like keeping in the spirit of Princess Day."
Misty responded by pointing to a large banner strung up above the closest shop which read:
'Princess Day'
'A day to celebrate women by treating them like princesses'
Underneath that banner, there was an smaller banner which read:
'And men do all the hard work'
("Okay...so maybe it is keeping in spirit of the festival,") Benny hummed while Charles sighed miserably.
"But do you really need all of these clothes?" he asked Flo and Alice, "We need to travel light. All of this will just weight you down and make it harder for yourselves."
Flo gave him a scathing look, "Us down? Those are just the clothes we choose for you."
"Yeah, we haven't even started on our clothes," Alice added.
"For me?" he questioned in confusion, "Why? What's wrong with the way I dress now?"
"Err...Misty," Brock said as he slid up next to her, "Can you maybe buy us some supplies for our journey to Cinnabar Island as well?" he asked, "It's going to be a long trip and since everything is so cheap..."
"Yeah, yeah," Misty said as she waved a hand dismissively, "I'll think about it."
"You'll think about it?"
"Is anybody going to tell me what's wrong with the way I dress?" Charles asked aloud.
Misty sighed and shook her head at Brock, "Come on, Brock. This day is amazing! There is so many things to do and see. I don't want to waste that time buying stuff that Ican get on any day."
"Yeah," Alice said, "This day makes me feel special. It gives us a chance to really celebrate women and all the hard work we do. Like how my family maintains the law while Flo's family help and aid the health of every Pokemon."
"Not only that, but it really gives us a chance to celebrate female achievements over the years," Flo added, "There are so many influential males in the world and young girls need more female role models. I would love to see what progress women have made in science, medicine and other academic fields. It's not we don't appreciate all the things men have done, we just want more of a balance, that's all."
"And that's why Princess Day is the best!" they all cheered proudly as they pumped their fists in the air.
However, Charles didn't look convinced.
"I don't know," he pondered, "Is Princess Day actually doing any of that? I mean, don't get me wrong, I understand the meaning, but doesn't calling it a day suggests that celebrating female achivements is an exception rather than promoting it? Shouldn't every day be a day that acknowledges female achievements? Putting it to only one day seems rather counterproductive. Not only that, but giving women special priority over men by exclusive deals and sales implies that women are superior which goes agaisnt the true meaning on feminism. Feminism suggests that men and women should be equals and are fairly represented in all aspects in life, so declaring this a holiday that supports women empowerment makes the whole concept ironic. Oh, and the sales themselves are not helping at all. Large business and companies are using the festival as a marking tool so people can buy more of their products; even though they drop the prices, they are still making a profit out of the sheer amount of people flocking to the shops. It also puts a strain on the factories who have to make more of the products in order to keep up with the deman. I also doubt that these companies care about the festival or their customers at all. So, I don't really think Princess Day is a great as people think. Don't you agree?" he said, ending his speech with a concerned frown.
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The girls stared at him blankly; their enthusiam disappearing as Charles ended his speech. They then shared a look, had a quick wordless discussion, before glaring back at him.
Two Minutes Later
Charles and Benny sat on the wooden bench just outside the department store with their heads miserably resting in their hands. Around them on all sides were the numerous shopping bags and presents that they were forced to look after while the others continued to shop. Their punsishment was banishment until they needed an extra pair of hands to carry the stuff they accumulated.
After a few seconds of dead silence, Charles raised a finger in the air and straightened his back proudly.
"Okay, they may have won this one, but I have the moral highground and that's something they can't take away from me."
("If the moral highground consists of a cold bench and babysitting a bunch of bags, then maybe we should abandon it all together,") Benny commented.
Charles crossed his arms over his chest and turned his nose up defiantly, "It's a hill I'm willing to die on."
Department Store
Leaving Ash, Brock and Pikachu behind to look after their shopping and togepi, the girls continued to venture further into the department store. They weaved and slipped through the crowds effortlessly as if they had been doing it all their lives. Their hands were filled with shopping bags and their rucksacks were filled to the brim with gifts that they has brought for their friends and their family. Usually, none of them weren't that into shopping trips, but it was just fun to hang out together away from the boys for a change, especially for Misty. They didn't really get many opportunties as they were constantly travelling.
And they were having a wailord of a time.
They had finally managed to worm their way to a candy store on the third floor of the department store. Flo and Misty were looking over the rows and rows of chocolate bars of all various flavours from honeycomb to caramel to dried fruit to just plain milk chocolate. As she was scouring the shelfs, Flo noticed that Alice had picked up a couple boxes of chocolate biscuits and placed them in her basket, causing her to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Stocking up for the tomorrow? I thought you would bring more," she teased.
Alice rolled her eyes, "Har har. Very funny," she dryly remarked, "For your information, I'm buying one box for Charles and a box of Pokemon-safe choclates for Benny to say thank you for looking after our bags. Also, I kind of feel bad for benching them."
Flo hummed thoughtfully before she nodded, "Good call," she said before she chose a couple of bars of chocolates from the shelf, "I'll do the same," she said before turning to Misty beside her, "Are you get something for Brock and Ash?"
Misty looked at her as if she said something utterly stupid.
"Why would I do that?"
"So harsh."
Suddenly, a few musical notes played out on the tannoy system that the department store used to make announcments. A hush fell over the bustling crowds as they keenly listened to it; as did Misty, Flo and Alice.
"Hello ladies, I hope you're having a wonderful Princess Day festival!" a female voice proclaimed over the tannoy, "I am happy to announce that we have now accepting applicanats for Queen of the Princess Festival!"
"Queen of the- what now?" Alice questioned in confusion as the women around them began to whisper excitedly for the event.
"Any women, and only women, can enter the competition at the town square," the announced continued, "If you are able to win, you'll become our Queen of athe day! And, if you're lucky, you can win our grand prize: a brand new set of Pokemon Princess Dolls!"
Misty gasped in joy, "Princess Dolls! Actual Princess Dolls!" she then frowned in determination and tightened her fists at her sides, "I'm so going to win that competition."
Flo raised an eyebrow at her, "Aren't you a little old for dolls?"
The former gym leader flinched at her remark and chuckled sheepishly, "Well, I mean they're aren't just regular dolls. There are like the ones they have on display at the markets. They are high quality, hand crafted and so pretty. A whole collection of them is worth a fortune in some markets. That's why there are the grand prize."
"Okay then," Alice told her, "But why would you want them?"
"Well..." she hesistated slightly before looking down at her feet sadly, "...It's...a long story," she admitted, making her friends look at her in slight worry. Her sadness disappeared in a second, however, and she replaced it with a small smile, "Anyway, what about you two? Are you going to join?"
"Nah," Alice said with a shrug, "I'm happy just doing this all day. Unless, they can offer something else as a prize."
"...whoops, sorry for the long pause," the announcer suddenly continued, "Lost my notes for a second there. Anyway, the person who comes in second place gets to take their photo with famous movie star and popular icon, Fiorella Cappuccino!"
Alice, Flo and Misty frowned in confusion.
"Who?" Misty asked.
"No idea."
Alice sighed, "Well, I mean, if that's the best they can offer than there's no-"
"And for the third place," the announcer declared, cutting her off, "they can recieve the entire original manga set of Sailor Lunastone along with an entire box of Sailor Lunastone merchandise!"
Flo's and Alice's jaws dropped in absolute shock at the announcement.
"Sailor...Lunastone," Flo gaped.
"The entire original...manga set," Alice added.
Suddenly, to Misty's suprise, the two girls jumped into and whooped excitedly in joy. Their threw their hands up into the air and cheered way too loudly.
"SAILOR LUNASTONE! YEAH!"
They stopped and turned to each other; their eyes wide in shock.
"You like Sailor Lunastone!?" Alice asked.
"Of course I do! Who doesn't?" Flo replied.
She widened her stance, crossed her arms out in front of her, extended the index and little finger on her left hand out while pointing at Alice with the index finger on her other hand; this was the famous stance she had learned and perfected over the years.
"In the name of the Lunastone..."
Alice grinned and got into the same stance, "...I'll punish you!" she declared, ending the famous motto that Sailor Lunastone often said in the manga, "After all this time, why are we only learning about this now."
"Who cares?" Flo said as she wabed her hand dismissivly, "We have more important matters to consult...who is your favourite sailor guardian?"
"I always liked Sailor Hermes because her hair is blue, like mine."
"My favourite was Sailor Aries. Her attacks are way cooler."
"Oh, by Sailor Aphrodite was really pretty."
"So was Sailor Zeus!"
Misty raised an eyebrow as the two girls continued to chat rapidly about their favourite characters, moments in the manga, costumes and just about everything. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips.
"And you guys were on my case about the dolls," she commented.
Flo whipped her head around to her, her cheeks slightly red in embarrasement, "Hey, I have you know that Sailor Lunastone is aimed at young girls aged five to twelve. I still fit in that category."
"And so do I...just," Alice sheepishly said before turning back to Flo, "Did you have the authentic Sailor Lunastone costume with tiara included?"
"Yeah, I did. I wore it all the time and forced Charles to wear a make-shift Suit Facade costume that I made for him. I also dressed Benny up as Sailor Aries."
"I had that same costume as well, Man, I haven't worn that in three years," Alice said.
"Two years?" Flo questioned in confusion, "I haven't worn mine since I was five."
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"D-did I say two years. I-I meant six years," Alice nervously laughed, earning strange looks from both Flo and Misty, "Haha! Can you imagine! That would be weird, right!? Haha," she said as she began to sweat nervously, "Anyway, let's talk about the competition...please."
"Oh yeah," Misty said, "Are you guys going to sign up now?"
"Absolutely and I'm going to win that-" Flo and Alice said at the same time.
They stopped what they wrre saying and shared an unsure look. After a few seconds, they both smirked at each other and nodded.
"Friendly competition?" Flo questioned
"Friendly competiton" Alice agreed before they both shook hands to seal the deal.
Misty sweat dropped, "You do realise that trying to go for third place is probably harder than going for first, right?"
"Ha! Don't worry about that," Alice said as she smirked confidently and placed her hands on her hips, "I'm an Officer Jenny, we never back down from a challenge."
Flo placed a hand over her mouth and giggled, "Tough talk from a girl who still played dress up when she was nine," she teased.
Alice turned bright red and glared at her.
"Ah...just...I...er...you...shut up!" she sputtered in reply.
Arena, Centre Of O-Hina Town
The entire arean was abuzz with excitment.
It seemed like the whole town had managed to squeeze themselves into venue about the size as a regular Pokemon battle pitch with men, women and children sitting in excitment for the competition to begin. Apparently, this sort of event took place every Princess Day and was the best attraction to see throughout the whole day. Deciding who the Queen of Princess Day was a position that all the women in O-Hina Town wanted to get.
Among the crowds, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Charles were sat on the seating area with Benny sitting on Charles' head while Togepi happily chirped and cheeped in his lap. Ash looked up at the large digital clock that hung up on the side of the arena above the crowds heads and sighed miserably as he saw that there were at least forty minutes left until the competiton began.
"Ahh, start already!" he complained, "I want to get this over with so I can go and train my Pokemon."
Brock sighed and shook his head, "You have all of tomorrow to train. Let Misty have this."
"Did we really have to go so early?"
"Well, we needed good seats," he said before he blushed and sighed in a love-sick way, "So, we can see all the beautiful princesses in their wonderful dresses. I can't wait!" he declared before he looked towards Charles to his right, "Are you excited to see Alice and Flo?"
"I'm more annoyed than excited," Charles said with a frown as he stroked Togepi's head, "If it wasn't for you two telling us, Benny and I would still be on that bench," he sighed irritably, "I swear, this day has really got to their heads."
"You'll get used to it, smart twerp."
At the familar voice, they all turned around and saw Meowth and James sitting in the row behind them. They looked even more miserable than Charles was.
"Jessie has been so demanding and short tempered...more so than she usually is," James moped.
"Yeah, it's been exhausting," Meowth said before he smirked, "How about we all join together and create Prince Day. That'll sure show those women, huh?"
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They all glared in annoyance at the Meowth before turning back to the front.
"You know what," Charles said with a positive smile, "I think I'm over it. Go Flo! Go Alice!"
"Hey!" Meowth shouted, "It's not bad of an idea! What did I ever do to you!?"
Benny looked back and glared at him, ("You stole Togepi and Marina.")
"That was ages ago! Get over it!"
("It was two days ago!")
Meanwhile, under the arena, preparations were being made for the competition. Stagehands and organisers ran around the place as they got the last few things organised before they began while the competitors waited on the benches in the waiting room with each having being assigned a number.
On one of these benches, Alice, Flo and Misty sat and watched with deadpanned expressions at the sight of Jessie on the far side of the room. She was currently arguing with a stagehand because of her being assigned as number four rather than number one. They sighed and shook their heads at the immature adult woman before looking away before they could feel anymore second-hand embarassement.
"I'm so ready for this," Misty said with a determined grin, "I'm totally going to win those dolls."
"Well, good luck with that. You've got a lot of competition going against you," Alice said as she looked around the waiting room, "Thinking about it, I don't really know what you have to do to win this competition. It could be anything."
Flo chuckled, "Oh, don't you know?" she asked teasingly, earning a slightly annoyed look from her friend, "It's a beauty pageant."
"A...A beauty pageant?" Alice gulped.
"Are you serious?" Misty asked, just as shock.
"I am. It's a Princess Day tradition that goes back to when it first began. Contenders go on stage wearing beautiful hand-stitched clothing and present their grace and beauty for the whole crowd," Flo explained, "They are judged by phyiscal apperance, their talent, their grace and their personality. They go through several rounds until one becomes Queen of the day."
Alice and Misty slumped slightly in their seats in despair.
"I'm seriously underprepared," Misty moaned.
"So, am I," Alice agreed.
Flo, on the other hand, smirked proudly, "Luckily, I researched this competition beforehand and learned the specific things that judges are looking for in a queen," she told them, "All I have to do is come third in the beauty pageant and the Sailor Lunastone set and merchandise is all mine," she said as Alice gave her a glare.
However, before Flo could boast anymore, a stagehand with blond hair tied up in a ponytail and poked through the back of her baseball cap happened to walk by. She stopped suddenly and turned down to look at Flo as soon as she finished speaking.
"Sorry miss, did you say beauty pageant?" the stagehand asked, much to Flo's happiness.
"Yep and I am ready for it," she said.
The stagehand frowned slightly in sympathy, "I'm really sorry to tell you this...but we're not doing that this year."
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"...huh?" Flo uttered in disbelief as he face grew very pale.
"Yeah, that sort of thing is kind of outdated," the stagehand continued, "Especially since we have young girls competing as well; kind of in poor taste considering the theme of Princess Day and all. The organisers decided this year that competitors will take place in a Pokemon battle tournament where the winner becomes the Queen. Isn't that exciting?" she said with a grin before she began to walk away, "Anyway, I gotta go. Good luck, guys," she called to them before she continued doing her job.
Misty and Alice watched her leave before turning to Flo. The young Nurse Joy's jaw dropped in shock her shoulders were slumped and her right eye began to twich as reality began to settle in.
"Pokemon...tournament..." she murmured.
Alice grinned at her, knowing full well that the ball was now in her court.
"Ooh, that's too bad," she said mockingly, "You're not really good at Pokemon battles, aren't you? And the only Pokemon you have on your team that could actually fight is Tyrian. It's going to pretty tough for you, isn't it?"
"...umm...err..." Flo ummed, "...oh no."
Seating Area
"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!"
Flo bowed deeply at Charles. Her head was lowered past her shoulders and her hands raised up with the palms pushed together in a begging pose. Nervous sweat poured down her face and her eyes were closed shut as she hoped that he would accept her request.
Charles, however, raised an eyebrow and turned his head away while Benny did the same in the next to his.
"Oh, what's this? You want something from me now?" he questioned, making her flinch slightly.
Flo gave a nervous laugh, "Haha, that was a joke. We didn't really mean it...well, we did the time, but...err..." she sighed deeply, "...I'm really sorry for benching you..."
Charles gave a small intrigued hum.
"...and to say sorry, I got you and Benny some chocolate. You like salted caramel, right?"
He gave her a scathing look, "And?"
"...and..." she sighed miserably, "You're right about Princess Day and you have the moral highground."
Charles smiled happily, "That will do. I forgive you," he said before he took off his pokeballs from his belt and held them out to her, "Okay, who would you like?"
"Benny, Miko and Tyche, please."
Ten minutes later and the tournament was already on the way.
Several trainers had battled already with half of them going on to the next round and it wasn't long until they saw one of their friends compete. Misty was fighting with Staryu against another female trainer and her geodude; a lucky match up for the former Water gym leader. The geodude was exhausted and his rocky body and arms were drenched in water. It had put up a tough fight, but it was a fruitless attempt; Staryu was just too quick and its attacks were too powerful for the Rock type Pokemom.
Seeing it exhausted to the point that it wasn't able to keep upright, Misty gave the final command.
"Staryu, use Water Gun!"
("You got it!") the staryu replied before he fired a small jet of water from its red jewel.
The geodude could only watch weakily as the water hit him dead on, knocking him back as few meters. The geodude rolled onto its back, gave a weakened grunt before falling unconscious as its eyes swirled around it their sockets. Their trainer slumped over in defeat and returned it to their Pokeball, signifying Misty's victory.
The crowd cheered victoriously as Misty jumped up and down in joy and hugged her stayu tightly. From the audience, the boys watched and celebrated their friend's win as well.
"Woohoo! Go on Misty!" Charles cheered as he held up Togepi so she could see better, "You see what your mama is doing? She's winning."
("Mama! Mama!") Togepi chirped happily.
"You're the man...or woman...or...err...well done!" Brock shouted.
"Nice one Misty!" Ash called out as well as Pikachu jumped up and down on his lap.
"Ha! You think that's good?" James commented as he and Meowth looked down at them proudly, "Once Jessie's on stage then she'll dominate the rest of you twerps."
"That's right!" Meowth said with a malcious grin, "After all, if she doesn't beat them then..."
...
...
...
The two Team Rocket agents sighed and slumped forwards as a dark stormy cloud hung over them.
"...then she'll take it out on us," she both moaned sadly, making the young trainers and Pokemon sweat drop.
A few minutes later and it was Flo and Benny versus another trainer and her dugtrio. Initially, the trainer she was against thought she had the upper hand because of the type advantage, but found that the shiny Pokemon was a much tougher opponent then she originally thought. Benny kept avoid every attack that her dugtrio could send at it and both the Pokemon and the trainer were getting annoyed. Especially since Flo wasn't giving any orders.
Eventually, Flo focused on the last attack that Benny managed to expertly dodge and noticed the dugtrio was exhausted. She narrowed her eyes and pointed at her opponent's Pokemon.
"Benny, use Iron Tail!" she commanded.
Benny gave her a slighly suprised look before he ran towards his opponent and leapt into the air above the dugtrio. He raised his tail up and made it turn a silvery colour before he rolled forwards and slammed it down on the tallest dugtrio's head, delivering a devestating blow. All three of the dugtrio's head gave a shrill cry from the attack before they fainted in defeat.
The crowd cheered; the trainer returned her dugtrio back to their pokeball sadly; and Flo celebrated by pumping her fist in the air. Benny sighed and brushed the dust of his fur as he silently celebrated another win under his belt. He glanced over at Flo, who was waving to the crowd, and tilted his furry head at her curiously.
("Iron Tail, huh? Not really a good move against a Ground type, but she must have known how tired that dugtrio was and relied on my strength. Not bad, I guess,") he admitted with a small grin, ("Looks like Flo is starting to understand battling a little bit-")
He stopped when he noticed that there was a small booklet in the back pocket of Flo's trousers; he could see the title of it from here. It read:
'The Moron's Guide To Iron Tail'
Benny sweat dropped, ("Or...it was just the one move she bothered to learn.")
Straight after Flo's match was Jessie's battle against another trainer with her raticate. To the boys in the audience they were suprised to see Jessie use a Pokemon they didn't know she had.
It was a bipedal amphibian Pokemon with pink leather-like skin and curved yellow lines on its round belly. It had a thick, powerful tail, small beady eyes on its round head, two arms with small claws, but the most prominenet feature was its long prehensile tongue that hung out of its wide mouth and hung just above its knees. The tongue acted like it was another limb that the Pokemon had and used it to fight, pick up stuff or anything that the Pokemon wanted to do. Charles recognised the Pokemon immediately.
"Huh, it's a lickitongue," Charles said in realisation as he took out his pokedex and scanned the new Pokemon.
Lickitongue: Its tongue can be extended like a chameleon's. It leaves a tingling sensation when it licks enemies.
Benny frowned at the description, ("What's a chameleon?")
"I think it's the French word for kecleon," Charles explained.
("Ah right...")
...
...
...
("...wait, what's French?")
"Jessie caught it today," James told them with a smug smirk on his face, "As you can see, it's a powerful fighter."
"And a glutton," Meowth added as they turned back to the fight.
"Raticate use Quick Attack!" the trainer commanded.
("Got ya!") the raticate yelled back before it sped towards the lickitongue.
However, Jessie smirked and pointed at the charging Pokemon, "Use Body Slam, Lickitongue, and knock that raticate away."
Immediately, the pink Pokemon ran quickly at the oncoming raticate and smashed its entire body into it. The raticate tried to fight back, but it was no use, the lickitongue was far too strong and the raticate was sent flying back.
The Pokemon skidded across the floor and came to a sudden, painful stop. Through teary eyes, the raticate saw Lickitongue loom over him menacingly; his large tongue haning over it as it prepared its final attack. The raticate sighed in defeat.
("I guess this is it, huh?") he commented, ("Do your worst.")
Lickitongue nodded in understanding, ("'ew fort 'ell. Oo 'ad. 'Ayee 'e an 'igh aover 'im.") he told him.
("...I beg your pardon?") the raticate asked in confusuion.
("I sed, 'ew fort 'ell. Oo 'ad. 'Ayee 'e an 'igh aover 'im,") the lickitongue repeated.
The raticate shook his head, ("Yeah, not understanding a word you're saying. Can you put your tongue back?")
The lickitongue rolled his eyes and retracted his tongue back into his mouth, ("What about now?")
("Yeah, that's bet-") his opponent said before he suddenly fainted.
("Ah, too late,") the lickitongue said as the judge procalimed Jessie's victory.
With one final blow from her leek sword, Tamoe sent her oppoenent, a bulbasaur, off its feet and landed on its back with a painful grunt. The bulbasaur tried to get up back onto its feet, but eventually collapsed under his weight and couldn't battle any further. The crowd cheered for both Alice's and Tamoe's victory with the young Officer Jenny jumping up and down joyfully.
"Yes! Well done Tamoe!" Alice cheered for her Pokemon.
The farfetch'd cooly smiled and placed her leek back under her wing, ("Naturally, a good battle, we do sayeth. Mine combatant was strong, but alas, my blade was stronger by far.")
("You sound like a dork,") the bulbasaur muttered, causing Tamoe to freeze.
...
...
...
The farfetch'd glared at him with fire in her eyes as she drew her leek once more, (It would seem thou hast forgoteth thy manners, allow mineself to teacheth thee,") she coldly said, making the bulbasaur grimace in fear.
After several more battles taking place, the tournament had now reached its semi finals. The only particpants left were Misty, Flo, Jessie and Alice; in order for Misty and Jessie to obtain the chance of getting first place and win the Pokemon princess dolls, they would have to beat Flo and Alice. Meanwhile, in order to obtain the chance of getting third place, Flo and Alice would have lose to Misty and Jessie.
So, it kind of worked out for all of them in a way.
Flo and Misty walked back from off the pitch and into the corridor that led to the waiting rooms after finishing their battle. It was a sound victory for Misty who used her starmie to battle while Flo used Tyche. Misty looked over towards Flo, who was still carrying the knocked out Pokemon, and offered a small smile.
"Got to say, I thought you had me there using a Grass type agaisnt my Water type," Misty admitted, "I wasn't expecting him to slip on that puddle."
"Really? Because I was," Flo said.
"What?"
"Ah, sorry. That came out way too mean," Flo sheepishly said, "Tyche, here, isn't the luckiest Pokemon. Either your starmie would defeat him or he would defeat himself. It was only a matter of time. Still, I wasn't expecting him to dodge that first attack. That was a surprise."
"Oh right," Misty said, "You and Alice want to come in third. Might explain why you're still smiling."
"Yeah..." Flo awkwardly trailed off, "Look, I know battling honourably is a big thing. So, I'm really sorry for not purtting in as much effort as somebody else would."
Misty hummed thoughtfully as mulled over her apology.
"Well, while that is true, my real battle is against the person I'm in the final against. Also, I'm one step closer to getting my Pokemon Princess Dolls. So, I'll forgive you this time," she said good naturally, "Besides, I've seen you battle before and, even if you did give your best, you wouldn't have won."
"Yeah, yeah. I know," Flo muttered with a roll of her eyes, earning a giggle from Misty.
They continued to walk down the corridor in silence, their footsteps echoing all the way to the end until they couldn't hear it anymore.
"So," Flo said, "You never did explain why you want those dolls."
"Oh...well," Misty uttered before she sighed, "You've met my sisters, right?"
"You're arrogant, self-absorbed, narcissistic sisters? Yeah, I remember them."
"Well, years ago, they had their own doll sets which they played with. They were beautiful and their dresses were so pretty and they would play with them for hours and hours," Misty explained before she looked down at the ground sadly, "But they never allowed me to play with them. They told me I would just break them or ruin their dresses. No matter how many times I told them I wouldn't. The only ones I got to play were the hand-me-down ones or the ones they didn't want to play with anymore."
"Ah," Flo uttered, now understanding the reason, "I'm...really sorry to hear that...siblings can be jerks sometimes."
Misty gave her a puzzled look, "You have siblings?"
"Oh, no. Sorry, I was trying to relate. Kind of backfired."
"That's alright," Misty giggled, "But you're right. Siblings can be jerks."
Flo slowed to a stop and turned to the other girl and, using one arm to balence Tyche, held out her other hand for her to shake.
"Well, Misty, I wish you all the luck. I really hope you get those dolls," she told her earnestly.
Misty smiled a shook her hand with a grin, "Thanks and I wish you luck as well...in coming third."
"Thank you," she said happily, "What is the first thing you're going to do with your dolls when you win them?"
"Something I've been wanting to do for years," Misty told her before she smirked wickedly, "Send them back to the gym so I can rub it in my sister's faces! That'll show them."
"...okay," Flo uttered with a sweat drop.
"Alright! Nice one Ambush! Now use Vine Whip!"
"Lickitongue, quick dodge!"
The next semi final battle was already on the way and it was becoming clear who would be the victor. Jessie used Lickitongue again and was doing everything they could to overwhelme Alice's tangela. However, Ambush was too quick and more experienced than the lickitongue and every attack hit its mark.
As Jessie instructed, Lickitongue tried to dodge the Vine Whip, but it was too late and was sent skidding back. It managed to stay on his feet, with support from its tail, but it was panting in exhuastion and wincing in pain.
("Ow! 'At 'elly 'ert!") Lickitongue grumbled.
Ambush sighed in irritation, ("Still don't know what you're saying, dude.")
"Damn it!" Jessie cursed, "Lickitongue use Stomp!"
Lickitingue jumped high up into the air and came soaring back down towards Ambush. However, the tangela used his vines to push himself away and he avoided the Slam attack in the nick of time.
Alice smiled as she saw her Pokemon evade the attack and narrowed her eyes at her opponent, 'Good, the lickitongue is exhuasted and getting slower. All we have to do is keep up the small attacks to completly wear it out before going in for the big attack. Then this battle will be aaaand...I...just remembered that I'm supposed to be losing this match,' she thought in realisation.
She hastily waved to Ambush to come over and, despite his better judgements, he walked back towards her. She crouched down next to him and whispered into the place in the vines where she thought his ear would be.
"If you pretend to get knocked out, I'll give you three extra bowls of pokefood tonight," she whispered.
Ambush gave her a strange look, but rolled his eyes indifferently.
("Okay, you're the boss,") he muttered before he walked back onto the pitch and stood still, ("Guess I'll stand here like a lemon then.")
Jessie, noticing his position, narrowed her eyes and pointed at the tangela.
"Here's your chance, lickitongue!" she declared, "Use Lick!"
The Pokemon made to go forwards to attack, but stopped mid-stride and look back at her in confusion.
("Huh? 'ick?") he questioned.
Jessie raised an eyebrow at his confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that? You must know Lick. You're a lickitongue."
Lickitongue shrugged his shoudlers, ("If ew 'ay 'o,") he said before he ran up to Ambush.
He extended his tongue and licked the tangela across his face, making him reel back in digust. Ambush felt his muscles began to spasm and grow numb from the Lick attack; it wasn't devastating and he could probably fight it off, but he was promised more food. Therefore, Ambush gave a pretend grunt in pain before he fell onto his back, acting as if he was down. Apparently, it was convincing enough for the judge, becuase she declared Jessie's win a few seconds later.
Alice sighed as she walked up to Ambush and scooped him up in her arms.
"Thanks for that Ambush."
"Hey, twerp."
Alice looked up to see Jessie strutting over to her with an inqusitive look on her face. She placed her hands on her hips and glared down at her.
"What was that about? Don't tell me you did that on purpose," she sharply said.
She flinched at the older woman's tone and looked down at her feet.
"Yeah, I did," she admitted, "Sorry, I know you wanted a proper battle and everything. I hope I didn't insult you by-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Jessie suddenly interupted, holding a hand in the air. She cocked her head to the side and gave a thoughtful hum, "I just realised... I don't care! Loser!" she chuckled cruelly before she waved to the audience, "Yes, I'm the winner! Praise your future queen everyone!"
Alice and Ambush glared at her as the older woman continued to showboat before turning away back to the waiting rooms.
"Next time we battle, we'll annihilate her," Alice said calmly.
("Yes, we will,") Ambush agreed.
Waiting Room
Alice walked in the waiting room located in the arena's basement and gave a content sigh of relief.
"That was a close one," she said as she walked by the rows of benches, "I almost won that battle."
She stopped suddenly when she spotted Flo sitting on a bench all by herself with a worn out Tyche in her lap. She petted the Pokemon's head gently while she tended to the red bump above his mouth where he had landed on.
"There, there. You fought really well, Tyche," she softly said.
("I did!") Tyche gushed happily, earning a giggle from Flo.
"It looks like your spirit isn't broken," she said as she returned him to his pokeball, "You can rest now. Thanks for all your help."
Alice frowned crossly and marched over to Flo. The young nurse heard footsteps coming her way and looked up in time to see look down at her in annoyance.
"You're using Charles' Pokemon to battle," she accused.
"Of course. You said it yourself. I don't have any fighters on my Pokemon team other than Tyrian."
"But that's not fair," Alice said with a scowl, "Charles' Pokemon are already strong without a trainer telling them what to do. You're not doing anything."
"But I'm already at disadvantage. I'm not good at battling as you," Flo shot back, "This is me evening the playing field. Besides, it's not like it's against the rules. Misty borrowed Pokemon from Ash and Brock as well."
"That's not the point! This was supposed to be a friendly competition and you're ruining it!"
"No, I'm not! It's your moaning that's ruining it!" Flo replied as she stood up and glared back at her.
"Moaning?" Alice snarled, "Fine then! Why don't I borrow a Pokemon from Charles as well! Let's see who's moaning then!"
"Well, go on then!"
"I will!"
"Good luck with that!" Flo said with a grin, "He's still mad about us benching him earlier!"
Alice began to retort when she suddenly realised that she was right.
"Oh..." she uttered in defeat, "...I...didn't think of that."
Seating Area
"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!" Alice begged as she bowed deeply and held up the box of chocate biscuits she had brought for him earlier, "I'll give you these...there may be a few missing."
"Huh, déjà vu," Charles remarked.
Alice quicky made he way back to the pitch and now stood across from Flo. Their hands grasped the poekballs in their hands in anticipation as they stared down the other.
Alice took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders.
Flo wiped the sweat of her brow and focused on her oppoenent.
Neither of them were backing down. Not for a second.
"Okay, are we all ready," the referee called out to the both of them from the edge of the pitch.
They gave a curt nod in reply.
"Right, trainers, please present your Pokemon," the referee declared.
At the same time, Flo and Alice released their Pokemon out on front of them. On Flo's side, Miko appeared in a beam of red light and wagged her tails expectantly. On Alice's side, Pyro appeared and breathed out a small jet of flames from his mouth.
("You ready to fight?") Pyro snarled as bared his sharp teeth.
("Always, I'll show you what a true...") Miko began to say before she noticed her opponent, ("Wait, Pyro?")
Pyro's eyes widened in suprise as he too realised that it was his friend, ("Miko?")
...
...
...
("So...err...hi,") Pyro awkwardly said with a wave.
("Hi...how's it going?") Miko repiled, equally as confused.
("Yeah, good. You?")
("Same here. Is there reason why we're fighting each other?")
Pyro shrugged, ("No idea...practise?")
("Yeah, maybe.")
'Damn, Flo used a Fire type,' Alice thought from her side of the pitch, 'Pyro has strength advantaged and has more experience, but Miko is more agile. I'll have to play it safe. Only attack when I know that Miko is at disadvantaged.'
From the other side of the pitch, Flo frowned slightly.
'A Fire type, huh? Well, that doesn't matter. I'll just do what I usually do,' she thought keenly, 'Keep on using strong attacks until the other opponent faints. Don't need a strategy if you don't allow the other person time to come up with a strategy of their own.'
The referee nodded as they presented their Pokemon before she raised her hand in the air.
"Ready and...battle start!" she announced.
Immediatly, the two girls called out their first attacks.
"Pyro use Ember!"
"Use Incinerate, Miko!"
Hearing the familair commands, the two Pokemon narrowed their eyes in focus, opened their mouths and prepared to attack...
...well, they would have done...
...if another Pokemon hadn't leapt onto the pitch in front of them.
("Golly! Look at his audience! I'm sure all of them would love to hear me do a cute little song!") the Pokemon giggled as it raised its small microphone to its mouth.
Miko and Pyro stopped in their tracks and looked at the intruder confusion.
("What the?")
("Where did she come from?")
Flo and Alice, as well as the rest of the audience, were just as confused.
"Wait. What?" Alice uttered.
"Where did that jigglypuff come from?"
Indeed, a jigglypuff. Of all the Pokemon.
The balloon Pokemon happily waved to the audience with one stubby arm while she held the microphone to her mouth; she was acting as if this was her concert and the audience were waiting for her to perform.
From his seat, Charles looked at the jigglypuff puzzingly as he wondered what she was doing. But then he noticed what Brock and Ash were doing in the seat next to him.
"Oh Arceus no!" Brock cried out on fear.
"Jigglypuff! No!" Ash yelled, equally as terrified.
"What's wrong, guys?" he asked before he noticed Team Rocket were acting just as scared as they were.
"Why did it follow us here!" James shouted.
"Why don't you leave us alone!" Meowth wailed.
Charles raised an eyebrow at them, "Oh come on. It's just a jigglypuff," he said as he turned back to the pitch, "The worst thing she could do is..." he trailed off when he noticed the mircophone and, suddenly, he understood, "...sing."
("Ready! Guys!") Jigglypuff squeaked happily from her stage, ("I hope you'll enjoy this number,") she said happily, ("And you better stay awake or I'll be pissed with you all!")
Before anybody could do anything, Jigglypuff opened her mouth and sang a soothing song that filled the entire arena. So beautiful. So gentle. So enchanting. It was the sweetest tune anyone has ever heard. It was so wonderful...that Pyro and Miko began to feel drowsy and than collapsed to the ground asleep.
And then Flo and Alice fell asleep.
And then the audience fell asleep.
And...even...the author was...
...was...he was...
...starting to feel -yawn- a little drowsy...oh, so sleepy...really...sle...epy...
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
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...
...
("Grrr! Damn it! What did I say about sleeping during my performance!?")
...
...
...
Yawn! Huh? I fell asleep? Why do I have marker pen over my face? Ah! It's the next scene! Err...where was I!? Oh right, there! Ahem.
The tournament was put on hold as it took a few minutes for everyone to get their bearings after waking up. They were confused at first at the fact they were sleeping during the middle of the afternoon, then they realised that their faces had been scribbled on in black marker pen and then there was a rush to the bathrooms to get it cleaned off them.
During the long queue to the male bathroom, Ash and Brock explained to Charles that they had encountered that jigglypuff before. They had helped it learn to sing and now had a great desire to sing to everyone in order to spread her musical talent. It would have been admirable if it wasn't for the fact that her singing was an effetive attack to put other people to sleep. She would get annoyed, doodle their faces with a marker pen (which never seemed to run out) and then leave in a huff so she could sing to another innocent audience. Charles did suggest that they should track her down and explain the situation to the jigglypuff so she would stop her musical attack, but his friends were more concerned in getting their faces clean and so dropped for the time being.
As soon as that was done, and seeing that they were running out of time, they decided to skip right to the final match between Jessie and Misty.
Both put up a good fight. Jessie used her newly caught lickitongue while Misty used Psyduck. It looked like lickitongue was going to overwhelm Psyduck at the end, but he had unlocked his psychic abilities and defeated lickitongue in an instant.
Therefore, Misty was the winner.
The previous contestants and the judges had now gathered at the centre of the pitch and applauded, along with the audience, this year's Queen of Princess Day. Misty stood proudly on her platform as she wore her tiara on her head and a red velvet cloak over her shoulders. She waved to the audience gleefuly as she was presented with her prize brought to her in a varished wooden box.
"My Pokemon dolls," she gasped as took the box and gazed at them lovingly, "Finally, I have my very own."
She heard a heavy sigh from next to her and turned to see Jessie slouched slightly on her 2nd place podium box, looking down at the ground sadly. She frowned slightly as she watched the Team Rocket member mope in depression; she remembered when she was younger and she would do the same whenever her older sisters didn't allow her to play with their Pokemon Princess Dolls.
She looked down at the box of dolls in her hands, gave a reluctant sigh before she turned to Jessie and held out the box to her.
"Here," she said, catching Jessie's attention, "Take one. Anyone you like."
Jessie looked down at the box before glaring at sceptically, "Are you serious?"
"I'm serious," she replied, "You fought really well as well. You deserve one."
Jessie paused thoughtfully for a second before she cautiously reached out and took one of the dolls (the one that was shaped like a Pikachu) and held it in her hands. She looked down at the doll lovingly, she never would have thought she would have one in her life. Suddenly, it felt like a piece of her childhood, that she had never had, had finally emerged. Her inner child felt complete and happy. A ghost of smile appeared on her lips as she turned away and hugged the doll to her chest.
"Thanks...twerp," she murmured, earning a small giggle from Misty.
Over by the group of former contestants, Alice and Flo were less than thrilled with the outcome. Not because of Misty's and Jessie's win, but because of who they decided who would be rewarded third place.
"Are you kidding me?" they both muttered as they glared at Jigglypuff standing on the third place podium proudly.
Yes, the same Jigglypuff that had put them all to sleep half an hour earlier. They were both as shocked as they were annoyed.
Flo sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "Well, I guess the rules technically didn't exclude Pokemon. Only men weren't allowed."
"Yeah, but she didn't compete or..." Alice took a deep breath and calmed herself down, "Never mind. It's just a stupid tournament."
"Would have been nice to get that prize, though."
"Yeah...yeah, it would. That would have been awesome. We could have read all of it on the way to Cinnabar."
Flo looked at her in surprise, "We?"
"Well, yeah," Alice responded honestly, "I would have shared the set with you if I won. We could have talked about it and, I don't know, geek out over it. I was really happy when you said you were fan because we have more to bond over."
Flo blinked in shock before a smile spread across her face, "I would have liked that too," she said, "But, you know, we don't need the manga set for that. We could do that any time."
Alice's eyes sparked with joy, "Are you saying we should set up a Sailor Lunastone fan club."
"Yep," she said with a grin, "I can see if we can get Charles to dress up as Suit Facade again."
"That sounds great. Let's do it."
They suddenly heard the tannoy overheard clicked on overhead and the voice of the presenter echoed across the arena.
"And there we have it folks! Our three winners!" Misty Waterflower, Jessie and...and a jigglypuff...apparently," the presenter announced to the cheering crowd, "Let's all applauded all their efforts! And, let's not forget, that although we have one Queen...they are all princesses in our hearts!"
The three winners beamed happily as they waved to the applauding crowd; feeling happy not only for their victory, but because of everyone's love and support.
However, Jigglypuff turned away from the crowd and picked up the manga set that she had been gifted to her and jumped off the podium with it. She waddled across the pitch with it in her stubby arms over towards Flo and Alice and placed it down in front of them. Confused, Flo and Alice blinked puzzingly.
"You're...you're giving this to us?" Alice asked.
Jigglypuff nodded, ("Yep, yep. I don't need it.")
Flo leaned down and picked the set up, admiring it in her hands, "T-thank you, Jigglypuff. That's so kind of you."
Jigglypuff giggled before she pulled a pink and white sparkling loudspeaker from somewhere behind her and tapped her arm agaisnt it.
("Besides this is what I wanted in the first place,") she told them, once again confusing them.
"What's that?" Flo asked before Alice gasped in realisation.
"No way! It's the official Sailor Lunastone portable karaoke speaker," she gasped giddly, "It must have been part of the extra merchandise that came with the manga set prize."
"...portable...karaoke...speaker..." Flo uttered, her eyes wide in horror.
"Yeah, isn't that..." she trailed off in realisation, "...oh Arceus..."
The two girls turned back to Jigglypuff just in time to see the Pokemon plug her microphone into the speaker and opened her mouth to start singing...
...and that was just about all they remembered before they all fell unconscious once again.
Pokecentre
Several hours had passed since the competition and in that time they found a local pokecentre, scrubbed the marker pen of thier faces and settled in for the night in preparation for tomorrow's journey. Ash, Brock and Misty had already set off a while back and were going to camp in a nearby woods for the night; while they decided to hang back and stay in a comfortable bed before they set off. After all, they were planning on camping until they reached Cinnabar Island.
Princess Day was done for the day.
The shops are now closed, the stalls were packed up and the festivities were over. For Alice and Flo, it was a good day for them. They were able to get some shopping done, enjoyed the festival and the exhibitions and fought well at the Pokemon tournament. Even Flo, who wasn't particularly fond of battling, had fun nonetheless.
Charles and Benny looked up from their bunk bed and watched the girls sitting right next to each other on the bed with Miko sat on both their laps. They held between them the first volume of Sailor Lunastone in front of them so that the the vulpix was able to look at their manga as they read to her.
"-then, she says here, 'Lunastone Power!' and she then transforms into Sailor Lunastone outfit. Isn't that so cool, Miko?"
The vulpix eagerly shook her head, her dark eyes sparkling in excitment as she peered down at the manga held up in front of her. Miko had become enthralled by the pretty art and the beautiful dresses the characters wore the moment Flo had shown it to her and now she was completely captivated by the story and the characters; her tails did not stop wagging for a single second put of sheer excitement.
"Turn the next page," Alice urged, "I want to know what happens next."
"One moment, the pages are a little stuck," Flo said before she flipped the page, "Alright, it's your turn to read, Alice."
"Right," she said before she cleared her throat.
Both Alice and Flo were more than happy to read it to Miko. She reminded them of the first time they read it and they were overjoyed with the fact that they were able to inspire a new generation of readers...or at least one Pokemon reader.
"Look! Suit Visage is here!" Flo gasped.
Alice groaned in annoyance, "Eh, I always hated this guy. He's so rude to Sailor Lunastone."
"Yeah, but he's handsome. Right Miko?"
("I like his costume,") Miko replied, although knowing they couldn't understand her, ("Can't say I'm bothered with the human wearing it.")
"See. She agrees with the me."
'This is so adorable,' Charles thought before he turned to Benny who was sitting on his lap, "Interesting day, huh?"
("You got that right,") Benny yawned, ("However, it would have been good to see Pyro and Miko battle each other just to get a sense of how well their training is going.")
"I suppose. Still, it was good to see you in action. It's been a while."
The shiny pikachu smirked and gave a lazy nod, ("Too long. You think I can battle the Fire type gym when we get there.")
"We'll see. I'm still trying to decide the team," he mumbled as be rubbed his chin, "Using mainly Wayer types will be too predictable, but we don't have a lot of time to train our team moves effective against Fire types. Do you think Uruk would want to battle?"
("Maybe,") Benny yawned once again, ("We'll try and ask him tomorrow. Let's try and relax now.")
"Sounds good," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "With everything that has happened today, I think we all need a good night's rest. Misty won her dolls, the team has done some training, Alice and Flo have their manga set. Everybody is happy so it looks like our job here is done," he happily said with a satisfied smile on his face.
...
...
...
("...You do realise you literally haven't done anything today, right?") Benny pointed out.
"Yep, everything is all good. No complaints here," Charles said, ignoring his comment.
("Oh, whatever,") Benny sighed as he laid his head down and drifted off to sleep.
That's it for now!
Sorry it took so long to publish this chapter. Life and other boring stuff got in the way. Also sorry I brushed over some parts of the tournament. There was little I could have added to it that the anime hadn't already covered.
Anyway, before I'll say goodbye. I would just want to say how saddened I was with the news that Rachel Lillis had passed away. She was such a talented voice actress and a massive part of my childhood as well as the childhoods of everybody who had grown up waching the original series. Not only for her work on Pokemon, she has had a wide and amazing career with tv series, films and video games.
Therefore, I dedicate this chapter to Rachel Lillis. Thank you so much for all your work. We will all miss you.
Rachel Lillis
1969-2024
Rest in peace
Potential Pokemon List:
Charles
Gastley
Drowzee
Goldeen
Pinsir
Onix (Orange Islands)
Grimer (Orange Islands)
Octillery (Orange Islands)
Komala (Orange Islands)
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Ledian (Johto)
Wooper (Johto)
Chikorita (Johto)
Dunsparce (Johto)
Hoothoot (Johto)
Dewgong (Johto)
Elekid (Johto)
Shuppet (Hoenn)
Salamance (Hoenn)
Metagross (Hoenn)
Poochyena (Hoenn)
Feebas (Shiny) (Hoenn)
Cranidos (Sinnoh)
Riolu (Sinnoh)
Druddigon (Unova)
Timburr (Unova)
Bisharp (Unova)
Zorua (Unova)
Amaura (Kalos)
Dhelmise (Alola)
Geodude (Alola)
Pheromosa (Alola)
Pinchurin (Galar)
Falinks (Galar)
Flo
Psyduck
Cubone
Jolteon
Shellder
Weedle
Qwilfish (Orange Islands)
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Exeggcute (Orange Islands)
Snubbull (Johto)
Sunkern (Johto)
Delibird (Johto)
Miltank (Johto)
Shuckle (Johto)
Numel (Johto)
Beautifly (Hoenn)
Chimecho (Hoenn)
Budew (Hoenn) (Egg)
Slugma (Hoenn)
Combee (Sinnoh)
Mandibuzz (Unova)
Alomomola (Unova)
Petilil (Shiny) (Unova)
Heliolisk (Kalos)
Flabebe (Red) (Kalos)
Comfey (Alola)
Hatenna (Galar)
Alice
Rattata
Poliwag
Spearow
Lickitung
Kabuto (Orange Islands)
Spinarak (Johto)
Teddyursa (Johto)
Umbreon (Johto)
Rhyhorn (Johto)
Wobbuffet (Johto)
Smeargle (Johto)
Corsola (Johto)
Nosepass (Hoenn)
Masquerain (Hoenn)
Nincada (Hoenn)
Lileep (Hoenn)
Electrike (Hoenn)
Swinub (Sinnoh)
Shinx (Sinnoh)
Vanillite (Unova)
Golett (Unova)
Scatterbug (Kalos)
Litleo (Shiny) (Kalos)
Morelull (Alola)
Rockruff (Day) (Alola)
Sizzlipede (Galar)