Lilycove City was alive with excitement. Every business was open, even the ones that normally closed hours before, to take advantage of the foot traffic. Citizens and tourists alike crowded the restaurants, bars and streets, all of them trying to get a glimpse of some television or other. Everyone was tuned in to the same event: the premiere of Hoenn's newest and biggest idol group.
The Lilycove Contest Hall was packed to the rafters with eager, increasingly impatient fans. The concert had been scheduled to start two minutes ago, an unacceptable delay in the eyes of many. The restless chatter was giving way to claps and cheers, as they demanded the appearance of their idols on the stage.
"Crys-tal Heart! Crys-tal Heart! Crys-tal Heart! Crys-tal Heart!"
Just as the crowd added the stamping of their feet to the mix, the lights were abruptly cut off, plunging the arena into darkness. The audience burst into raucous cheering, anticipating the imminent arrival of the main act, and the cheering only grew louder with each passing second.
As the cheering reached its apex, everything suddenly came alive at once.
A bright, glittering firework exploded high above the stage, a collision between Swift and Ice Shard, as three spotlights flipped on and began sweeping across the stage. At the same time, the crash of cymbals, and the shred of electric guitar, rang out through the arena as the first song began to play. The spotlights spun in circles and spirals, occasionally passing by a stray arm, leg or torso that had made its way onto the stage, as the guitar chords echoed through the room, and a kick drum pounded out the beat.
The first spotlight eventually stopped on Serena, who was standing behind a microphone stand on stage right. Her dress, specially made from her own design, was a light pink and covered tastefully with pink, blue and white ribbons, matching Sylveon's color scheme. She kept her head down, face pointed toward the stage, trying her best to hide her excited grin from the crowd. She focused on the small strip of orange glow-in-the-dark tape she was standing on, which she had used to find her position on the stage without the lights on. She wore a pair of earphones that doubled as earplugs, which helped to mute the nearly-deafening sound of the speakers, though she could feel the vibrations of the bass throughout her entire body.
The next spotlight came to rest on May, in a glittering, icy-blue dress. She stood opposite Serena on stage left, keeping her head pointed down in a similar manner. Finally, the last spotlight focused on Lisia, who stood in the center of the stage, well in front of the other two. Her outfit was not too different from her normal, Altaria-inspired dress, though it was tinted greener than usual to contrast with May. She ignored the roaring cheers of the crowd, her hands slowly reaching up and snaking around the microphone in the stand in front of her. She was the first to look up, leaning in closer and beginning to sing.
"I wasn't meant to stay here, in this quiet nowhere town," she began, her smooth, clear, pitch-perfect voice echoing through the contest hall. "I know there's so much more that's meant for me!"
Serena could see Lisia's heel kicking against the stage in time with the beat, causing her to grin even wider. The song's energy was infectious, and Lisia was particularly susceptible to it. She always put all of herself into every performance.
"I'm going to climb these mountains, and reach the highest ground," she continued. "Standing tall for all the world to see!"
Above their heads, a shimmering Mist and a crystalline Icy Wind spread through the air, providing a glittering effect to the Swift that flew throughout them. The girls' Pokémon were mostly relegated to the sidelines while the idols were singing. After much debate, they had all agreed that it was too distracting to have both singing and intricate performances at the same time. Sylveon, Glaceon and Altaria would have their time to shine later in the song.
The song's intro kicked into a higher gear, as the deeper drums came in and began to play, ramping up the tension and energy. During a break in rehearsals, Serena had asked what those drums were called, and was surprised to find they were called "toms". She grinned in response, and asked where the "dicks" and "harrys" were on the drum set. The drummer gave her a forced, polite chuckle that told her he had heard that joke seven thousand times before.
"You'll see my face in daytime, and you'll hear my name at night!" May's voice rang out. This was her only substantial solo line in the song, as like Serena, most of her contributions were harmonies during the chorus. Serena took a deep breath. Her line was next.
"You'll feel my radiance shining from the top!" she sang, keeping her voice even while injecting as much power as she could. It required more breath control than she had realized, at first. Lisia had helpfully provided Serena with a singing coach, to help bring her skills up to par, and while Serena wouldn't be singing lead anytime soon, she felt more comfortable with the singing duties she did have.
"Because I'm the best!" Lisia half-sang, half-shouted into her microphone.
"Of the best!" May added, throwing her hand into the air as she struck a pose.
"Of the best!" Serena continued, mimicking May's pose, but mirrored.
"And I'm the brightest of the bright!" Lisia continued, as the music continued to swell. "And you'd better stay out of my way, because…"
"I! Won't! Stop!" all three girls shouted at once, each word punctuating the song like a drum hit. Moments later, the drums kicked into overdrive and the stage lights came on fully, as the chorus began and the girls started to dance.
"I'm a groundbreaker, I'm a skyscraper, I'm a champion!" they sang in three-part harmony, taking their microphones out of their stands as they bounced from side to side on stage. "And you'll watch me fly through the clear blue sky into the setting sun!"
Serena was singing as loudly as she could while keeping her pitch and tone even. Having the other two girls singing with her, masking her flaws and errors, was doing wonders for her confidence. The roar of the adoring crowd wasn't hurting matters, either.
"I will carve my name in the rock of ages, just you wait and see! And someday you can say…"
The music stopped for just a moment, as Serena and May dropped out, leaving Lisia to finish the line alone. "...That you knew me!"
With the chorus finished, it was time for the Pokémon performance to begin. Altaria swooped across the stage, settling in the center, before rolling onto her back and flapping her cotton wings. A powerful gust of wind shot upward, blowing back the hair and dresses of the three idols.
Glaceon and Sylveon leaped into the gust, and both of them were blown skyward. They clasped their front paws together, spinning in the air, and Sylveon used her Baby-Doll Eyes while Glaceon unleashed another Ice Beam. A flurry of frozen hearts - crystal hearts - spread throughout the contest hall, landing in the outstretched hands of many of their delighted fans.
The two Eevee evolutions slowly returned to the ground as the wind settled, and all three Pokémon joined their trainers. All of them began to dance on stage together, more subdued than during the chorus, as Lisia launched into the second verse.
"I'll shine just like a diamond, I'll rule just like a queen! I'll win the hearts of everyone you know!" she proclaimed, as her Altaria spun and flew overhead. "'Cause I've got even more!"
"Even more!"
"Even more!"
"Than anybody's ever seen!" Lisia finished, after May and Serena's follow-ups. "It's time for me to hit the gas and…"
"Go! Go! Go!" After one more unison chant, the dancing began in earnest once again. This time, the three Pokémon joined in. Altaria continued to twirl overhead, as Glaceon and Sylveon leaped and spun around their trainers' feet.
"I'm a trendmaker, I'm a skyscraper, I'm a champion! And I'll catch your eye as I wave goodbye for the stars beyond!" The trio broke once again into three-part harmony for the second chorus, which had slightly altered lyrics from the first, a change that Serena quite appreciated. "They will tell my tale and they'll sing my praises, just you wait and see! And someday you can say… that you loved me!"
As Lisia once again finished the last line by herself, the shred of an electric guitar blasted through the venue as the musician began their solo. All three girls had become good friends with the guitarist for the band, a handsome young boy their age named Malcolm. He was very talented for his age, and sociable as well. He never failed to make them laugh during breaks in rehearsals, and he also wowed them with some of the many magic tricks he had learned. Serena and May were certain that Lisia had a crush on him.
Serena grinned, feeling a tiny pang of guilt as the guitar solo started. As talented as he was, nobody was going to pay attention to him.
The three girls stood back, dancing weakly as their Pokémon got to work. Glaceon stood near center stage, shooting her Ice Beam into the air, while Sylveon hopped onto Altaria's back and the pair took flight. Altaria added her Mist to Glaceon's Ice Beam, which promptly froze, and a tall, crystalline structure began to take shape. Sylveon used her ribbons, and stars from her Swift attack, to carve and shape the ice tower as it formed.
The crowd watched in awe, forgetting to dance or even cheer as the tower grew taller and more beautiful. Finally, Sylveon hopped down from Altaria's back, and the three Pokémon stood proudly in front of their creation. They had worked together to build a beautiful ice tower, looking like a creation out of fantasy or legend. The structure was tall enough to nearly touch the ceiling, but still intricate and detailed, as if it were the creation of a master sculptor. As the guitar solo came to a close, the audience gasped and cheered as the Pokémon posed in front of their work.
"I'm a groundbreaker, I'm a skyscraper, I'm a champion!" the girls sang, standing still, as the music briefly mellowed out. The drums and guitar dropped out, leaving only the bass guitar and the small strings section. The lull lasted for only the one line, before the drums and guitar kicked back in, and the dancing resumed.
"And you'll watch me fly through the clear blue sky into the setting sun! I will carve my name in the rock of ages, and you know it's true! And someday you can say…"
Once again, the music and singers dropped out, leaving Lisia to sing the song's final line alone. She locked eyes with a girl in the second row, who was holding a large sign that read "MARRY ME LISIA". The performer gave her a grin and a wink.
"...That I loved you!"
Serena suppressed a giggle as the girl in the audience shrieked and covered her mouth. The last line in the song was Serena's favorite, as it recontextualized everything that had come before. Instead of just a proclamation of the narrator's future fame, the final line revealed that it was, in fact, a breakup song. She pitied the poor boy or girl who wasn't enough for the singer's grand ambitions. Oh well, c'est la vie.
The music swelled once again, the final notes only moments away. All three girls hit their final dance moves, stepping and twirling in perfect unison, the result of many hours of practice. As the band struck their final chord, the three idols posed with one hand in the air, and one foot in front of the other. They held their poses as the final note lingered, the stage lights as bright as they had ever been.
The crowd was deafening. They cheered, they clapped, they screamed, they whistled, and they raised their hands into the air. Serena broke into a wide, toothy smile as their adulation washed over her. The feeling of spreading so much joy so quickly, of transporting her audience to this musical and magical place, was a high that she knew she would be chasing for a long time to come.
The idols, the Pokémon, and the musicians allowed themselves to rest for a full ten seconds before immediately diving into the next song on their set list.
"...Still reeling from the debut concert of its newest idol group, Crystal Heart. Formed by two Hoenn natives and a popular performer from Kalos, Crystal Heart sold out its first-ever show at the Lilycove Contest Hall, and there were thousands more watching the concert from their televisions. The concert itself was…"
The sound of the television washed over the darkened room and its three occupants. After closing out their concert, Lisia, Serena and May had all retired to Lisa's apartment for showers and a late dinner. They were now lazily watching news reports about their performance from the TV room. Serena and May had collapsed onto the same bean bag chair together, while Lisia had passed out while resting on a giant stuffed Drampa.
As the television showed yet another shot of passersby watching the concert on the outdoor video screens downtown, Serena felt May's head come to rest on her shoulder. She smiled and tilted her head to rest on May's, and her heart rate picked up just a bit.
"...Their debut single, 'Skyscraper', was released minutes after their show ended." The camera panned to show dozens of people, mostly teenagers, lined up along a sidewalk, waiting for their turn to enter a record store. "We won't have any sales data for a day or so, but if this line is anything to go by, this will likely be the #1 single in the Hoenn region this week. It's been a long time since any idol group was so…"
"That's us," May spoke softly, sounding awed. "We did that." She reached her arm out and snaked it around Serena's.
"Yeah, we did." Serena gently pulled May closer by her linked arms. "It's hard to believe, isn't it?"
"It kinda is," May answered, snuggling in against her bandmate. "But it's real. This is real." She glanced up at Serena's face. "How does it feel?"
"I feel amazing," Serena responded dreamily. "I feel like I'm on top of the world. Like I could do anything."
"Mhmm." May closed her eyes, resting her head back against the bean bag. "I feel the same way."
Serena closed her eyes as well, smiling as she rested her head next to May's, their foreheads nearly touching. She was excited, but at peace at the same time. She felt a gentle warmth in her stomach, like a calming flame that flickered and danced with anticipation. Being here in Hoenn, in this room with May by her side, just felt right.
She felt so good that when May held her cheek and brought their lips together, Serena didn't hesitate to respond in kind.
Their kiss was slow and sleepy, each motion lingering far longer than it would have otherwise. Serena felt May's slow breath on her face, and tasted a hint of salt on her lips, as she wrapped a spare arm around May's waist and pulled the girl closer. Instead of a jolt of excitement, she felt a gentle buzz that started in her chest and slowly spread throughout her body. Her exhausted brain was acting entirely on autopilot, focusing on the sublime sensation of May's lips moving against hers, or May's body resting against her own.
Girls were just so soft.
The two girls parted after a minute, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Their faces were less than an inch apart.
"I've… wanted to do that for a long time," May said quietly, slightly breathless.
"I didn't know I wanted to do that until just now," Serena replied honestly.
"You're so pretty," May continued, rubbing her thumb against Serena's cheek. "You're maybe the prettiest girl I've ever met."
"You're beautiful, May," Serena responded, realizing it was true as she was saying it. "And you're so talented. You're good with a crowd, you're good with your Pokémon, you can sing… you're an amazing Coordinator." She leaned in for another short kiss, which May eagerly returned, and she could feel tingles in her fingers and toes.
"I don't know how you come up with the routines you do. You're so clever… so coordinated… your fashion sense is incredible." May continued to gush, giving Serena another kiss every time she paused, too excited and tired to restrain herself. "Seeing you is the best part of my day."
"Really?" Serena asked, her voice trembling with giddiness.
"Really," May answered, sliding her fingers into Serena's hair. Serena closed her eyes at the sensation.
"How did I get this lucky…?" she mumbled, her filter completely gone.
May giggled. "Don't question it. Just roll with it."
Serena grinned and nodded. "I will."
The two girls continued to cuddle, kiss, and compliment each other for some time, until they fell asleep curled up with each other, their fingers entwined.