//------------------------------// // Taking The Stage // Story: Pokemon Turquoise // by foxmaster //------------------------------// Turquoise and Rarity were in the middle of a battle between Bulbasaur and Delcatty. “ Delcatty use Blizzard. Delcatty unleashed her blizzard on Bulbasaur who withstood it for a while before being blown back. As soon as Bulbasaur got back up he was enveloped in white light. “ Looks like my Bulbasaur is evolving,” Turquoise said while quickly pulling out her Pokedex. Bulbasaur’s bulb began to bloom as he got slightly bigger. As soon as the light died down a slightly bigger plant creature with a rosebud that had four green leaves at the base of it. “ Ivysaur,” The creature said as Turquoise looked it up. “ Ivysaur. The Seed Pokemon and the evolved form of Bulbasaur. Exposure to sunlight adds to its strength. Sunlight also makes the bud on its back grow larger,” Ivysaur suddenly fired a barrage of seeds out of its bud which surprised Turquoise. “ That was Seed Bomb,” Twilight said. “ That’s amazing my Ivysaur just learned a new move,” Turquoise said. “ Now let’s see how you are going to utilize it. Delcatty use Shockwave. Delcatty unleashed a blue wave of electricity from her body. “ Ivysaur use Seed Bomb. Ivysaur fired a barrage of seeds that managed to intercept the Shockwave and create a dazzling fireworks display in the process. “ Impressive use of Seed Bomb darling,” Rarity said. “ Thanks, Rarity,” Turquoise said before they both called their pokemon back. After healing their pokemon Turquoise and Rarity went inside the contest hall then went backstage to the dressing room to get changed. A few minutes later Turquoise comes out in her royal blue dress with matching fur stole while Rarity comes out wearing a short light blue off the shoulder dress with sequins on it. “ Wow Rarity you look radiant,” Turquoise said. “ Thanks, darling but we are not ready yet. Take a seat and I will do your hair for you,” Rarity said as Turquoise sat down at a vanity. Rarity styled Turquoise’s hair into a spiral ponytail. “ And done what do you think?” “ I love it Rarity,” Turquoise said. As soon as both of them finished getting ready the TV in the room turned on and a woman with curly orange hair wearing a blue halter top with a matching skirt and visor and lavender stockings with white boots appeared on the screen ready to kick things off. “ Welcome everyone to the first contest of the season here in the lovely Cerulean City. I’m am your always energetic and lively Mc Lilian and here are the judges. First up is the head of the Pokemon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta,” Lilian said referring to a man in a red suit. “ Always a pleasure to be here Lilian,” Contesta said. “ Next up is the Head of the Pokemon Fan Club. Mr. Sukizo,” Lilian continued referring to a man in a blue suit. “ Remarkable,” Sukizo said like he always does,” “ And last but not least Ceruleon’s City’s own Nurse Joy,” Lilian said referring to nurse Joy. “ I can,t wait to see what these coordinators have in store for us today,” Nurse Joy said. “ And now lets us see the Cerulean Ribbon that will be going to the winner of this contest. The camera zoomed in on a gold waterdrop with light blue lace neatly tied in a bow. “ Whoever wins this ribbon will be taking the first step towards the grand Festival. Remember you need a total of five ribbons to qualify. And without further ado LETS GET BUSY,” The other contestants all went one by one all performing top-notch skill and appeal. It was now Rarity’s turn to perform. “ Our next contestant who comes all the way from Canterlot City in the Equestria Region is Rarity. Rarity walked out on to the stage with the grace of a model. “ Froslass Center Stage,” Rarity said as she threw her Pokeball which popped open and unleashed a puff of smoke that had a silhouette of a creature wearing a kimono. “ Froslass lets set the stage with Hail. the silhouette did a twirl before sending a white ball into the air that suddenly created a cloud that unleashed a light flurry. “ Now use Double Team. Froslass suddenly multiplied and caused the smoke to dissipate revealing a white creature with arms like the sleeves of a kimono and a red spot that looked like the obi of a kimono. “ What kind of Pokemon is that?” Turquoise asked herself while pulling out her Pokedex. “ Froslass. The Snow Land Pokemon. It spits out cold air of nearly - 60 degrees Fahrenheit to freeze its quarry. It brings frozen prey back to its lair and neatly lines them up,” The Pokedex said while giving Turquoise a slight chill up her spine. Froslass phased in and out like the ghost type she was thanks to her snow cloak ability. “ Now finish up with Icy Wind. Froslass fired her Icy wind at the cloud above her and caused it to explode into a shower of sparkles created from the colliding ice crystals that fell upon Rarity and Froslass who posed together. “ What a dazzling way to end such a gorgeous display what did you think judges?” Lilian asked. “ The way Rarity demonstrated both the mysterious nature of a Ghost-Type and the charm of an Ice-Type pokemon was a sight to behold,” Contesta said. “ Simply Remarkable,” Sukizo said. “ It made me feel like I was watching an elegant geisha dancing in the winter snow,” Nurse Joy said. As soon as Rarity returned backstage she saw Turquoise amazed by her performance. “ Still starstruck by our performance I see,” Rarity said. “ Very starstruck,” Turquoise said. “ Well, it’s your turn now darling go out there and do your best,” Rarity said as Turquoise walked towards the entrance to the stage. “ Our next contestant is a newcomer from Pallet Town making her contest debut, Turquoise,” Lilian said as Turquoise walked on stage. “ Ivysaur Let’s dazzle them,” Turquoise said as she threw her Pokeball which popped open and unleashed a purple flower that burst and unleashed Ivysaur then caused a bunch of flower petals to rain down on him. “ Let’s start things off with Poison Powder. Ivysaur unleashed a cloud of Poison Powder over the stage. “ Now use Seed Bomb and aim for inside the cloud. Ivysaur fired his Seed Bomb into the poison cloud leaving the audience eager to see what Turquoise is planning to do. “ Now wrap it up with Razor Leaf. Ivysaur fired his Razor Leaf into the poison cloud and watched as the leaves made contact with the seed bomb and created a marvelous firework display along with a shower of purple sparkles. “ Now that was a sight to behold what say, you judges?” Lilian asked. “ The way Turquoise was able to combine those moves to create a fireworks display with a purple sparkle really showed us Ivysaur’s beauty,” Contesta said. “ Remarkable,” Sukizo said. “ I can defiantly sense the faith Turquoise had in Ivysaur when she had him use that Razor Leaf blindly,” Nurse Joy said. “ And with that our appeals stage comes to a close. We will take a short intermission to decided which eight coordinators will be moving on to the second stage,” Lilian said as Turquoise returned backstage. As soon as Turquoise returned to the waiting room Rarity was waiting for her. “ That was a great performance darling,” Rarity said. “ Do you think it was enough to get me into the second round?” Turquoise asked. “ I think it was and I bet the judges think so too,” Rarity said. As they were talking Lilian appeared on screen again. “ And now the moment you have been waiting for forks. These eight coordinators will be moving on to the second stage,” Lilian said before a blue background with eight profile pics appeared with Rarity being first and Turquoise being sixth. “ We both made it darling,” Rarity said with joy. “ I made it?” Turquoise said in disbelief. “ Let’s promise to make it to the final match and give it our all,” Rarity said before the pairing for the second round was revealed. After shaking on their promise Turquoise and Rarity won their matches until it was down to just the two of them. “ And now it’s time for the final match. On my left is Rarity and on my right is Turquoise. Five minutes on the clock. Begin,” Lilian said as the clock started. “ Espeon let’s dazzle them,” Turquoise said as she threw her Pokeball which popped open unleashing a bunch of multicolored stars that collided into each other before Espeon appeared and landed elegantly on stage. “ Delcatty center stage,” Rarity said as she threw her Pokeball which popped open and unleashed a bunch of flowers that burst and showered down on Delcatty. “ Delcatty use Assist. Delcatty leaped into the air and unleashed a chunk of ice from her paw. “ Since when does Delcatty know Ice Shard?” Turquoise asked. “ She doesn’t you see Assist is a move that allows the user to use a random move from one of its friends like in this case Froslass’s Ice Shard,” Rarity explained. “ Espeon use confusion on that Ice Shard. Espeon used her confusion to send the Ice Shard flying back at Delcatty and nailed her. “ And that allowed Turquoise to take some of Rarity’s points,” Lilian said as Rarity’s point meter went down slightly. Rarity: 90% “ Not bad but let's see you beat this Delcatty use Blizzard. Delcatty unleashed a powerful blizzard that covered the field. “ Espeon use Confusion to send it back. Espeon sent the Blizzard back thinking she could steal more points until Rarity smiled. “ I knew you would try that again. Delcatty use Blizzard again. Delcatty unleashed another blizzard that collided with the deflected one and after canceling each other out Buried Espeon in snow. “ And Turquoise just lost a fourth of her points on that one,” Lilian said as Turquoise’s point meter went down by one fourth. Turquoise: 75% “ Impressive counter but now it's my turn to go on the offensive. Espeon use Swift while spinning. Espeon performed a mid-air spin while doing Swift which created a vortex of stars. Now use Psybeam. Espeon fired a rainbow-colored beam while spinning which combined with the stars and created a more powerful attack. “ Delcatty use Shockwave. Delcatty unleashed her Shockwave and gave it all she had to try and push back Espeon’s combo attack but failed and took a lot of damage. “ And Espeon’s Swift Beam combo lands costing Rarity a mountain of points,” Lilian said as Rarity’s point meter reached half. Rarity: 50% “ That was perfect Espeon,” Turquoise said joyfully. “ Espe,” Espeon said while still looking composed. “ Sorry darling but this ends now. Delcatty use Sing. Delcatty began singing while sending music notes towards Espeon. As soon as the notes reached Espeon they rebounded and hit Delcatty instead and caused her to fall asleep which shocked Rarity. “ Why is Delcatty the one who fell asleep?” Rarity asked in shock by what happened. “ That would be thanks to Espeon’s Hidden Ability Magic Bounce. Magic Bounce sends any non-damaging moves back to the pokemon that used them,” Turquoise explained as Rarity’s Points went down some more and the clock reached the three-minute mark. Rarity: 45% “ Come on Delcatty wake up,” Rarity shouted as the clock kept ticking. “ Espeon use Quick Attack. Espeon ran like a lavender-colored blur and sent Delcatty flying with enough force to knock her out. The judge’s buzzer went off indicating Delcatty was no longer able to continue and the rest of Rarity’s points were gone. “ And that’s all she wrote folks the winner of the Cerulean City contest is Turquoise,” Lilian shouted as Turquoise and Espeon’s pictures appeared on the jumbotron. Rarity helped her Delcatty up and walked back to the stage. “ You were fabulous as always Delcatty,” Rarity said before recalling Delcatty. The award ceremony began as soon as all the contestants gathered. “ As now Mr. Contesta shall award Turquoise with the Cerulean Ribbon,” Lilian said as Contesta approached Turquoise. “ That was a splendid performance, young lady,” Contesta said as he presented Turquoise with the ribbon. “ Alright I just won the Cerulean Ribbon,” Turquoise said while posing with her Espeon. As soon as things were wrapped up Turquoise left the contest hall to set off for her next destination until Rarity caught up to her. “ Turquoise before you set off, join us for dinner,” Rarity suggested. “ It is a long way to Vermillion City so sure why not,” Turquoise said. After returning to the Pokemon Center all the pokemon were eating the food Applejack made for them. “ I haven't seen Espeon eat this much in a long time. You really are a great chef Applejack,” Turquoise said. “ Thank you our friend Fluttershy gave me the recipes for every type of pokemon and what kind of food they like,” Applejack said. “ Who is Fluttershy?” Turquoise asked. “ A friend of ours from back home. She is currently training to be a Pokemon Breeder,” Twilight said. “ That sounds like a great goal,” Turquoise said. “ Speaking of Goals, where are you off to next?” Rarity asked. “ Like I said before I’m heading to Vermillion City but I will be going the long way around so my Pokemon can get stronger for the challenges ahead,” Turquoise said. “ So you're not entering the contest in Saffron City?” Rarity asked. “ Nope, I need to come up with more combinations and performances since I know that the firework display I did with Ivysaur will go stale if I keep using it,” Turquoise said. “ You're starting to think like a true coordinator. Always keep improving and come up with new material,” Rarity said. “ So does this mean you're splitting off from us?” Twilight asked. “ Yep but I have a feeling we will see each other again in the near future,” Turquoise said. “ All right Girls the food is ready. The girls all dug in and after finishing up and cleaning the dishes Turquoise readied her bag. “ Good luck on the rest of your journey Turquoise,” Twilight said. “ Until we meet again my friends,” Turquoise said before leaving.