Chapter Forty Eight
Once Seth had made his showing of his own Performance, it was time to clear the stage for the others. Today was going to be a long day and it was only just beginning.
“That… That was amazing!” Rika panted as they moved backstage where Fritter was waiting with some cool towels. “I think we really wowed them huh?”
“Our performance was as flawless as always,” Selena nodded, she tended to be excited on the inside. “It’s a good thing we’re not competing properly, we actually want to give the rest of them a chance after all.”
Seth chuckled, Contests really brought out her competitive side, even more than battles. he checked a list that Suri brought him of all the participants. Hmm, there were quite a few, more than he was expecting.
And some familiar names as well. Oh this was shaping up to be a lot of fun.
“Okay, this is the order we’ll go in then,” Seth said. “First come first serve. Those that got here first will have had the most time to prepare after all.”
“Will do,” Suri nodded and headed for the dressing rooms. “I’ll start notifying them. When are we starting?”
“Give the first one ten minutes,” Seth said. “Then we’ll have five minute intervals between each performance. After the first half, we’ll break for intermission and then have Team Charm perform—” Rika let out an excited squeal that that. “—Then we’ll move to the other half.”
“Right,” Suri nodded and resumed her trek to the rooms. Seth had enough time for a small breather as Elesa played some background music while Diantha explained the rules of a Contest in more detail.
Soon the very first of the participants arrived. Seth checked the list and saw that the trainer’s name was… familiar somehow.
“Brawly and Chii?” he asked and the two nodded. “Hey there, my name’s Seth, okay? The crowd might seem a bit intimidating at first. So just try and stay calm, but don’t push yourselves okay? We’re all here to have some fun.”
“Don't you worry about that.” The Mienshao said with a confident grin. “I’m no stranger to crowds, and she is a veteran when it comes to contests.” He said as he rubbed the head of the little Skitty.
“Yeah, we will show them just how great we are!” Chii exclaimed proudly.
“Indeed we will.” Brawly agreed while laughing slightly at her behavior. “Though, you are Becky's brother, are you not?” He asked Seth. “She spoke a lot about you.”
Seth actually stumbled slightly and stared at the Fighting-type with large, surprised eyes. “Y-You know my little sister!?”
“You’re on in thirty seconds!” Suri called out. Seth glared at the mare, he swore she did that on purpose.
“She’s right though. Get out there and wow the crowd, we’ll swap stories when you’re free.”
“Seems fine, we can talk some afterwards.” Brawly nodded. “So, are you ready?” He asked, getting a confident nod from Chii in return. “Alright then, let’s do this.” And with that, they walked out and into the stage.
The Mienshao slowly walked out into the middle of the stage with a small Skitty sitting on his shoulder. She looked nervously around her. It looked so much bigger from the inside.
“Calm down, Chii, just do as Ethan told you. Close your eyes and imagine that we are the only ones here.” Brawly told her as he reached up petted her hair.
“And now for our next Contestants! Brawly and Chii!” The announcing voice cried out.
“Show them all that you can do this, you have trained for years for this very moment, Chii. What was it that we decided on before we came here? We go big…” Brawly told her grinning as he heard Chii`s answer.
“Or we go home!” Chii smiled happily, having gotten her confidence back.
“That’s my girl! Now, just like we practiced. You lead, and I follow.” Brawly held forth his arm, allowing Chii to run along it. When she came to the end, she jumped, spinning in the air before gracefully landing some lengths away. A soft background belody filling the air.
“Now!” Chii called out as she landed.
“Aura Sphere:” Brawly held out his hands as a small Aura Sphere formed and was held in place.
“Assist!” Chii cheered happily as a similar Aura Sphere formed at the tip of her tail before they both fired the attack simultaneously. The two spheres spun around as they began to rise in a spiral around the two contestants, the spheres moving opposite from each other.
Chii then set off towards Brawly as the two Spheres continued to rise. She jumped towards Brawly who had been waiting for her, his paws at the ready. He acted as a springboard for her, launching Chii high into the air and immediately sent another small Aura Sphere after her.
Chii spun around as she gained height, the third Aura Sphere gaining on her as she reached the pinnacle of her jump.
“Tail Whip!” She spun around just before the sphere was about to make contact and hit it back towards Brawly with her tail at the same time as she used the momentum to launch herself towards one of the other Aura Spheres that were circling around them. Back at the ground, Brawly was standing at the ready, waiting for the moment to strike as the Aura Sphere came towards him.
It had taken more than a little amount of practice for them to get the Aura Spheres just right with their size and control so they could hit them back and forth without them exploding. But they still had to be handled with care, one wrong move and he would take a Sphere to the face and their show would be ruined.
Gently grabbing the Aura Sphere in the palm of his paw, Brawly led it around before sending it back up towards Chii who had already sent the next Sphere down towards him.
The two of them continued to juggle the Aura Spheres in between each other, even adding another two to the mix. Brawly had to give it to her, it took a lot of concentration on his part to pull it off and look graceful at the same time, but Chii simply jumped in between the spheres with ease as she continued to laugh joyfully. She made it look easy, it was obvious that he was the novice in that arena.
It continued like that for a small while. A few times, Brawly misjudged the amount of power he was supposed to use and sent the spheres slightly off course, but Chii was there immediately, making it seem like it was done on purpose.
“Weeee!” Chii cheered loudly as she jumped to the next Sphere, signaling to Brawly that the first part was coming to an end. Using her Tail Whip just like before, she hit the sphere down towards the ground, only this time she did not aim for Brawly, but the ground around him. She repeated this with the four other Spheres, creating five small explosions in short succession around her partner. Chii grabbed her tail as she started to spin on her way down, letting go and landing gracefully on Brawly`s head just in time as the dust from the Aura Spheres dispersed.
“That was fun!” Chii laughed as held out his arms, letting the whip like fur on his arms fall loose.
“Ready for the finale?” Brawly asked as the two of them did a short bow to the audience.
“Yeah!” Chii cheered happily before she looked up towards the sky. A small blue orb of energy beginning to slowly form in front of her mouth, the air around it shimmering.
“Show them what you can do.” Brawly encouraged her just before she unleashed her attack .
“Blizzard!” Chii fired the Blizzard straight up into the air, the ice crystals glistening in the light. A cloud of the ice crystals formed high in the air as she ended her attack, hovering above everyone in the audience.
Just as she finished, Brawly focused all his strength in his legs and leaped into the air. Chii laughing in joy from on top of his head as they approached the ice cloud. As they came to a stop in the center of the cloud, Brawly took a deep breath as they seemingly paused in the air momentarily.
“Go for it!” Chii exclaimed as she held onto the hair on top of Brawly's head.
“Double Slap!” His arms shot out at a blinding speed. The whip fur on his arms disappearing from sight as he used it to crush the ice crystals. Focusing more on speed than power, Brawly continued his attack for just another second or two, before they began to fall back down towards the ground, most of the ice crystals from the Blizzard now crushed into a fine powder.
A line of glittering ice powder following after them as they gracefully fell down to the ground, Brawly landing kneeling down as they reached the ground to soften the landing.
“Let them have it.” Brawly spoke softly to Chii as she looked to to the ice cloud.
“Hyper Voice!” Chii screamed to the skies. Her Hyper Voice traveling upwards, connecting with the ice cloud that hung in the air, making it explode as her attack reached it.
Everything was glittering as the ice powder had been dispersed and was slowly raining down across the audience over the entire stadium. The ice powder melting instantly when it hit a pony or Pokémon.
“And that’s it!” Brawly straightened up before bowing to the audience. And while he bowed, Chii waved happily to the audience who loudly cheered back.
After they were done, they turned to the judges, ready to hear their opinions. The three judges seemed to take a moment to talk in between each other before Diantha was the first one to speak up.
“I must say, I never expected to see the Gym leader, Brawly in a contest hall. As a participant no less.” She said with an amused smile.
“Surely stranger things have happened.” Brawly countered. Though, while he had watched a few contests on tv, he had never actually been to a contest in person before, so she was right on that.
“Indeed they have… But as a contestant, your inexperience shows.” Diantha said, her expression turning a tad more serious. “You move fluidly, and your actions are elegant in their own way. But they are always with a strict purpose in mind, not to impress the audience, but just to complete the task before you. And you did have a few slipups, using too much of your strength.” Brawly knew that she was right, and he could feel Chii squirm on top of his head, anxious about what they had to say about her no doubt.
“But those mistakes also made your partner shine so much more.” Nurse Joy continued where Diantha left off. “It was even difficult to notice that they were mistakes, because Chii was there immediately, to correct you. Every step of the way, she was there to guide and help you. It has been long since I have seen two individuals who are so different, but complement each other so well at the same time. It was a pleasure to have you here.” Nurse Joy finished, with a gentle smile and a nod.
“It was fun! Thanks for having us!” Chii cheered joyfully. Brawly gave another small bow and she waved to the judges before she and Brawly walked out of the arena, feeling content with what they had accomplished.
“See, I told you that you could do it!” Brawly grinned as he could positively feel the joy radiating from Chii.
“Yeah, I don't care if we don't win. It was fun! And I want to do it again.” He lifted her down and ruffled her hair as he held her. It was hard to believe that she was the same Skitty that had been afraid of going to the contest in the first place.
“That’s my girl!” Brawly smiled, their goal for participating having been accomplished.
Once they were backstage, Seth was waiting with a wide smile. “Hey guys,” he greeted them. “That was an amazing performance. I couldn’t think of a better way to open the show.”
“Thank you!” Chii exclaimed with a huge grin. “That was so much fun! It is just a shame that it had to end so soon.” And with that, her mood did a complete turn around.
“It was my first time ever doing one of these things, but I have to agree,” Brawly nodded in agreement. “It was fun.” His words seemed to bring Chii back to her usual, happy self.
Man, that cat’s mood flipped like a switch huh? He paused in their conversation as the next group headed out to perform, Seth offering some words of encouragement. Once they left the backstage, he turned back to Chi and Brawly. “So, you said you knew my little sister? I know Mom was out looking for her, but-”
“She stayed with us for a little while.” Chii cut in rather rudely. “Your mom too. They were kinda nice, even though that Crowe was a jerk.” She huffed.
“Yes, we do know her. Just like Chii her said, she stayed with us for about a day… you haven't seen em? They came back to Canterlot with the same train as we did.” Brawly mentioned with a thoughtful expression.
“No, but then I’ve been really busy with the Contest,” Seth replied. The truth was that Kimberly and Becky were in the audience, they didn’t want to distract Seth while he was running the event. “Still, it’s good to hear that they’re safe and both in town. Thank you very much for the information.”
“No worries,” Brawly just nodded. “And thank you for this little Contest of yours. This little fuzzball here has not been able to stop talking about it ever since it came up. Think it meant a lot to her.”
“Hey, I am not a fuzzball.” Chii complained. “B-but yeah, thank you for the Contest, it was lots of fun!”
“You’re welcome… fuzzball,” Seth smirked and rubbed her head with a massive paw. “I’m just glad people showed up.”
The crowd outside stomped and cheered as the performance ended. The judges started giving their verdict and Suri pointed at something on a clipboard.
“Yeah, alright,” Seth nodded to her. “Mm, sorry guys. I’m just crazy busy. Still, if you’re gonna hang around, we should go out or something later?”
“Sounds good,” Brawly agreed. “We will be sticking around Canterlot for a little while, and I know that Ethan also wanted to have a word with you. But we'll let you get back to your work.” He picked up the little Skitty who was still silently cursing over being called a fuzzball. “See ya later.”
Seth waved them off, the two hadn’t gotten far before Rika saw Chii and dashed over to nuzzle the cute Skitty, calling her an adorable little fuzzball…
Note, angry Skitty’s were even more adorable.
Seth looked at the list and the names of the next performers. These were names he didn’t recognise. Hmm, and they were from quite a ways away too.
“Miss Hana? You’re on in thirty seconds,” Suri said.
Hana had been thrilled at the idea of there being a contest on Equus. After having to leave her home in Johto and needing to move to Hoenn, she had participated in a few Contests before. Normally, Hana entered with her Sableye and Delcatty, but since the move to Equus, she had only found her Sableye named Yami. Fortunately for Hana, she had also found her husband Samuel, who had agreed to let her use his Furret in the contest.
“Ready Yami?” Hana asked her Sableye.
“Yep!” Yami replied to the human turned Pangoro.
“What about you Furret?” She asked the Furret next to Yami.
“I don’t know. I’m more used to gym battles with Samuel.” The Furret had been having some second thoughts on competing in contests. He had heard of some going on in the Johto region, but other than that, he had never seen one.
“You’ll do fine. I promise. It’s okay if you’re nervous your first Contest. I know Yami was his first time.”
“He doesn’t need to know that!” Yami exclaimed.
Hana laughed at Yami. He was always getting angry at someone mentioning his first contest. He had done well, but they had lost in the final round. While Hana had been fine with the loss, Yami was more of a sore loser.
“Alright you two. It’s almost our turn and I don’t want you two to go out there angry at each other.”
The two Pokémon nodded at her, and stood by and they watched the previous contestant finish their performance. They heard the announcement from the purple Earth pony and nodded to her.
The lights came up, signaling the start of the qualifier. “Alright Yami, start off with Shadow Ball.”
Yami created a Shadow Ball, but instead of firing it off, he kept it in front of him to make it bigger. When it was as tall as him, Hana gave her next command. “Now fire it at Furret! Furret, get ready to jump!”
The Shadow Ball was almost at Furret when he jumped on top of the Shadow Ball. Carefully, furret was able to move the Shadow Ball around with his feet.
Hana let out the breath she had been holding. Even though Furret was slightly lighter than her Delcatty, Enekoro, he had still been having trouble with making sure the Shadow Ball didn’t collapse under him.
“Alright Yami! Time for Shadow Ball and Psychic.”
Yami created a normal sized Shadow Ball this time and used Psychic to hold it in place while he made another. When he had made six in all, he stopped making Shadow Balls and just made them circle around him.
Furret had slowly made his way to the middle of the stage while he stayed on the Shadow Ball, worried that any step he made would make it burst.
“You’re doing great you two,” Hana encouraged, “Yami set the Shadow Balls up around Furret.”
Now Yami moved the Shadow Balls so they made a circle around Furret and the large Shadow Ball. Furret watched as the Shadow Balls found their places and he shifted his body slightly for the next step.
“Fire at Furret! You two know what to do!” Hana gave her signal.
Instantly, the six Shadow Balls headed for Furret as well as the giant Shadow Ball. At the last second, Furret jumped as the normal Shadow Balls collided with the large one and created a small sparkling explosion. While that was happening, Yami had started to make another large Shadow Ball, though not as large as the first. Hana nodded, And Yami launched it at Furret.
“Use Fury Swipes Furret.” Furret turned to see the Shadow Ball coming at him. He panicked for a second, not fully ready. At the last second, he used Fury Swipes on the ball, which broke into pieces and turned to smoke.
“Perfect! Good job you two!”
Once the performance ended, the lights returned to normal and the crowd gave a loud cheer at the show; Diantha rose from her seat and nodded her head.
“Quite the show you displayed today,” she smiled. “It’s easy to see that Contests are no stranger to you. But your Furret seemed to lack the skills the others displayed.”
“My other partner is still missing,” Hana sighed. “Furret here belongs to my husband and is more of a battler really.”
“Still, he adapted well, a skill no doubt honed with many fine victories,” the Champion smiled. “Well done.”
“Ze way you played with those dark balls remind me of my schoolyard days,” Photo Finish nodded. “Zat had a vunderbar sense of nostalgia.”
“The control you showed with so many Shadow Balls, and that finely tuned Psychic. A wonderful display my dear,” Nurse Joy smiled.
“Thank you very much!” Hana smiled and waved to the crowd before leaving the stage with Yami and Furret after hearing the judge's remarks. The second they couldn’t be seen anymore, Yami started to rub Furret’s head with his knuckles. “See, nothing to it!”
“I almost messed up! Try rethinking your remark!”
“I still bet you liked it!”
“Well… Okay, you got me there. It was scary and fun at the same time.”
Hana was about to say something, but was stopped by an Ursaring who came over and hugged her. “Good job Hana! It was wonderful!”
The Pangoro hugged back tighter. “Thanks for letting me use Furret, Sam. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.”
“True,” He started, leaving the hug. “But you’re still the one who thought the whole thing up. Are you sure you’ll have another performance for if you make it to the next round?”
Hana poked the ring on her husband’s stomach. “Of course I will! I’ve got some of it planned out already. You shouldn’t doubt me.”
“Alright… Want to go watch the current performers? It might be nice to see what you’re up against.”
“That sounds nice.” Hana told him, smiling.
“It’s nice to see them together again.” Furret remarked.
“It’d be better if we had everyone, but this is good for now.” Yami replied before the both of them followed their trainers.
Seth checked the list and stared at it for a moment. “Hey Suri, is this right?”
“Hmm, what do you mean?” she asked and checked. “Oh, them. Yes. That’s how they sighed the form. Single letters.
Seth stared at them, a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he knew those names… but from where…?
To the audience’s surprise, a pair of hooded figures walked into the stage, one only slightly taller than the other. The taller figure seemed to snap its fingers, and before the surprised crowd, music started playing.
At that, the taller figure suddenly grabbed its and the shorter figure’s hoods, before pulling them off, revealing to the audience’s surprise, the view of a city at night, a tall shining tower in the middle, one that Seth and Diantha recognized instantly. The music played for a bit, before someone’s voice began to sing.
The audience’s attention was immediately drawn to the source of the voice, and the eyes of the Pokemon in the crowd promptly bugged out at the sight of a human woman with long brown hair that flowed straight down her back, and light blue eyes. She was dressed in a lovely blue dress with a white ribbon on the front.
As she sang the second line, the clouds suddenly parted, revealing a beautiful skyline in the complex illusion, before audience was drawn to what looked like a black figure darting above the stage, seemingly leaping gracefully from building to building in the backdrop, before the scene seemingly shifted to focus on the figure who stopped on a nearby building, revealing a human man with short red hair. He was dressed in a black 3 piece suit with a black fedora on his head, a confident smile on his face as he was flipping a coin in his hand, gazing towards where the woman had stood, and tipping his hat over his face in a way that for some reason looked damn familiar to Seth.
The scene shifted back to the woman, her face now marred with a sad frown as she continued to sing, while the real sky overhead seemed to get darker as rain clouds gathered (much to the confusion of the surrounding Pegasi as none of them had done that), while the sight of woman frowning seemed to gain the attention of the man in the background. To the astonished eyes of the Pokemon, the man suddenly leaped forward, his body glowing in mid-air before he actually flew towards the woman in a clear Aerial Ace move, gracefully maneuvering around the buildings, his form stunning against the background.
The woman continued to sing, her face seemingly sad...right before that expression changed to surprise as a hat promptly fell over her face, causing her to pause in her song, right before the man lifted the hat off her, smiling gently at her, as she resumed her song, not once breaking the flow of the song as she smiled in return. The man then put his hat back on, before offering his hand to her.
The woman placed her hand on his, while placing her other hand on her chest. When she started singing again, the stage suddenly seemed to shine with a beautiful silvery light, as she the moon in the background suddenly glowed brightly and illuminated the stage, as the man pulled her along. The background suddenly shifting into the top of a tower bathed in the moonlight as the two began to dance, the moonlight turning the simple dance into a stunning display.
Taking a step, the two of them literally danced off the edge of the tower, right before the scene changed into a lavish ballroom, their clothing changing to fit the atmosphere, the man now wearing a black tuxedo, while the woman now wore a pure white ballgown, giving them both an elegant look. As they resumed dancing, they suddenly began to multiply, and before long, the entire ballroom was filled with couples dancing to the song
The first couple continued to dance together, and just as their dance ended with the man lifting up the woman and twirling her around, as the other couples vanished from the scene, while the background now showed the base of the shining tower from before, while overhead the clouds suddenly parted, revealing the sun once again, ending with the man and the woman now standing side by side leaning against each other lovingly with their hands intertwined. And with that, the two took a final bow as the illusion covering the entire stage faded away with the sparkle of a million stars, revealing the stage as it once was, as well as the identities of the performers, a Zoroark where the man once stood, and a Gardevoir where the woman once stood.
Well, Seth had to admit that this Contest was certainly bringing out some interesting performances. But he couldn’t help but notice that they missed the mark somewhat...
The audience clapped and cheered as the judges whispered amongst themselves for a moment. Once they had finished, it was Diantha who was the first to speak.
“I must say, I was quite surprised to see Lumiose City appear like that,” she remarked. “It brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. And your singing is quite good.Miss M, but… that does lead me to a slight problem with the performance.”
“Well, not so much as a problem,” Joy continued. “But, a lot of people seem to forget that this is a Pokemon Contest. And you spent most of your performance disguised as a human…”
“That said, since we’re all Pokemon now, change as to how a Contest works might have to be made,” Diantha nodded. “And, you are both human, well, used to be yes?”
“That’s correct,” R nodded. “Though we didn’t go completely by ourselves. Right, Techno?” he said, as a Porygon descended from where it was hiding on the stage, and started playing the instrumental sounds of the song.
“Ah, and here I thought we had Miss Elesa to thank for the music.” Diantha nodded, Elesa waved a paw, showing she got to relax for a bit. “Quite the skilled Porygon you have there, and your skill at using Zoroark’s Illusion Ability is something to be admired. While this might not have gotten you through in a Contest back home. I will certainly give you credit for that.”
“Vell, I thought zat zis performance vas wunderbar!” Photo Finish nodded. “Ze song, vhile I could not understand ze lyrics, I still felt ze emotion you put into zem.”
“Why thank you. I try my best to express the feelings behind each song I sing. I want everyone to share how I feel when I sing,” M smiled.
“A marvelous performance nonetheless,” Diantha smiled. “I do hope we see more from you in the future.”
“Agreed,” Joy and Photo echoed. Seth gave a small nod as he watched from backstage. This Contest had brought out some interesting people so far.
Next on the list was a Gardevoir named Selena. No other name was with hers, so this marked her as the first solo performance of the day. She stood next to Seth and once the stage was cleared, the Luxray stepped out to announce the next act.
Selene closed her eyes and began strolling forward on the stage, whistling a tune as electricity gathered around her cyan arms. After the fifth step she did a quick, yet graceful pirouette with her left arm level with her shoulder and her right staying below the waist with small zigzagging lines of electricity encircling her before fading away. At the end of her spin she held her left arm up, the palm of her hand aligned with the spectators in the back while her right hand remained at her side. This motion she then reversed, twirling in the opposite direction and raising her charged right hand into the air, only this time directed at the ponies and Pokémon in the front rows. With this done she stopped whistling and pulled her arms back to her side in order to finish off with a curtsy, smiling to the crowd all the while.
But she wasn't done yet. Before anyone had a chance to react or applaud she raised her arms to the crowd, crossing them in the process, and fired the twin Charge Beams in their direction. The attack never made it off the stage. Just as they were about to Selene unfolded her arms and the yellow beams of plasma curved drastically into the air, now enveloped in a soft blue light and were now looping around on a collision course with the smiling Gardevoir. Selene spun forward, sliding each of her hands on the beams and once more being coated in electricity, while the two beams collided behind her, with arcs of electricity being torn away from each beam, and circled around, now approaching her from opposite sides.
Confidence radiating from her movements, she spun around and fired two more shots at the lines of energy bearing down on her, deviating their trajectory enough to avoid hitting her and to electrify her hands as the new bolts were caught in her psychic grasp. Now four beams of energy were circling towards her with the two newer beams closing in on her first. Unfazed, she used her charged hands to redirect the beams into the air just in time to shoot next two. With six beams to deal with, Selene fired two more beams at the first two to reach her and avoided the remaining four, each of which crossed where her arms were before and after, without even breaking her stride. This process continued until she was surrounded by lines of whirling plasma and energy, constantly avoiding the ten beams assailing her as she danced with her invisible partner in the ballroom of lights she created, with a gown made from the sparks left behind from the near misses.
In her left hand a sphere of burning purple energy began to form, starting out small but steadily it grew larger and larger until it was the diameter of her arm. Each beam that passed through it became coated in a violet fire with the blue aura becoming the 'embers'. At the climax of her dance, with all of the whirling beams of energy coming at her at once in every direction, Selene launched the mass of psychic energy into the air with each of the Charge Beams closing in on her veering upwards after it, surrounding her in a pillar of yellow and purple. All at once the rays of light enveloped the sphere of stored power and crashed down upon it, resulting in a stage-encompassing explosion. Instead of a cloud of smoke though, the psychic sphere burst into a brilliant cloud of yellows, blues, purples, and many other brilliant colors intermingling together like a fine, rainbow-colored mist with small arcs of electricity still running through the makeshift nebula.
And in the center of it all was Selene, whistling the end of her tune with a content smile on her face. Her entire body was radiating a light blue psychic aura, slowing her fall while her arms were spread wide, moving the dust around it like a raiment made from stardust itself as she slowly floated back to the ground. Her frills fluttered in the nonexistent breeze, discharging the static electricity she accumulated into the dust causing it to sparkle against the blues and yellows of the psionic energy and electricity. Touching down on the ground Selene gingerly stepped towards the end of the podium, stopping two paces short of the edge and stood there, whistling the finale of her song with her arms behind her back as the nebula dissipated. Finished with her song, Selene took a deep breath and a moment later shifted both of her hands to her front and bowed, thanking her audience with a smile as she waited for their reaction.
She didn’t have to wait long as the audience exploded with a round of cheers and applause, Seth and his friends and family clapped from backstage, thoroughly enjoying the show she put on.
Diantha was the first to rise and clear her throat. “That was an exceptional display,” she said with a smile. “You showed a lot of love and practice for your craft, and those efforts have paid of wonderfully.”
“Wunderbar!” Photo Finish clapped her hooves. “Ze grace, ze poise, ze magicks! A simply vunderbar performance!”
“Indeed,” Nurse Joy said with a serene smile. “And excellent display, I hope to see you in future Contests.”
Selene smiled widely, overjoyed that everyone had loved her performance. She practically skipped off of the stage as Seth walked out onto it to announce the next performer.
"And now, gentlestallions and mares, let us greet our next contestants all the way from Baltimare! As both Coordinator and lead performer, this is going to be her first Contest, so be enthusiastic foooor... Denise Favre! And supporting her, her lifelong and most trusty companion, the majestic unmatched flier of the night! Wubby!"
Seth sharply turned at his right, pointing at the stage as the tent opened, shifting all the audience attention from him to the performing duo as the ponies started to pound rhythmically their hooves on the ground while all the other species in attendance made their best to keep up with the deafening equines.
Seth couldn't help but to smile at the view. So few exhibitions in and already the enthusiasm matched the one of the crowds back on earth.
Everyone, however, stopped as soon as the curtain opened completely, revealing nothing behind it beside semi darkness.
Before the stands could start to murmur, however, a lonely, feminine voice began, seemingly coming from nowhere.
"Of days and night, always the same
A loop, perfect round, never getting lame
As I hoped the same could be said always
A divine being, oblivious, forays.
After the first few lines, a thrumming, slow background music could be heard, and some luminous musical notes appeared from thin air on the stage, floating lazily around and, from time to time, hovering over the crowd.
After the fact I'm left in the dark
A new blue cape like a tree with its bark
A necklace of white bloomed on my neck
Of where I'd kiss, I can now peck.
The stage lights suddenly turned on, projecting their light upwards as a big shape fell seemingly from nowhere, twirled midair in the cones of light and landed in the gloom under them without making a sound, before it straightened up a little, just enough to let the passenger it was carrying on its head being illuminated by the flashlights.
A small parrot like Pokémon, a Chatot, perched between two enormous ears thrumming the music like boomboxes, raised her note-shaped head, while more of the floating notes generated by the slow Song she was singing appeared around her.
As she started singing the next line the music started resounding strangely, and several of the spectator shook their head when they heard it, almost a second voice following in the trail of the bird's words.
Laissé pour compte, loin de la maison
Left alone, far from home
Au pris, maudis, de tout nos demons
Stuck, cursed, with all our sins
Comme una page, déchiré, retiré
Like a page, ripped, removed
Ils nous disent 'recommencez'
And they told us 'start all over'
By then, even more of the notes had accumulated around the Chatot and her Noivern ride, almost completely hiding them from view in a luminous, blinding vortex of musical keys. At the same time, both the music and a light wind started to pick up, probably the result of some move the two were using Seth figured.
But at the moment, that was the least of his concern.
Looking at the spectators, he noticed that several of the Pokémon in attendance, most of them wearing some scattered piece of clothing, had straightened up in their seats, a weird glint in their eyes. Some were even openly glaring at the Legendaries in attendance.
While I could lament, propagate my pain
I will never let my progress dissipate in vain
As a new being, both heart and soul
I shall accomplish what's my new role
At the end of that last line, a flurry of wind blades suddenly generated from the stage, shattering the small whirlwind of notes in one massive blast of sparkles, which were then swept away as the Noivern emerged from them, his wings fully spread and still shining from the Razor Wind move he had used.
But the attention of everyone easily fell on the Chatot rather than the majestic dragon under her.
Her feather collar had fluffed up considerably, and was shining with incredible intensity, in contrast with her black head. Standing as tall and proud as she could with her small size, her chest out and her wings spread at her sides, she raised her voice to near Hyper Voice-level, small shining feathers detaching from her and making the blinding shine of the collar stand out even more.
Left with a spiral of stars in my head, on my side
I stand now, head's up, my tears has been dried
Left with a challenge, in my life, in my body
This newfound strength I now embody!
Then the music started to slow down, and the faint buzzing restarted, while more and more shining feathers detached from the collar, its brightness lowering with each of them.
Laissé pour compte, loin de la maison
Left alone, far from home
Au pris, maudis, de tout nos demons
Stuck, cursed, with all our sins
Je repris les voiles, je ne veux pas partir
I took back the sails, I don't want to go
Mon esprit est le derniére chose que vous pouvez detruire!
My spirit is the last thing you can break!
At the last words the music died, and the theatre fell in complete, pristine silence.
Then came the chaos.
All the Pokémon, or more probably former humans, he had seen being caught up in the song before were now standing up, clapping hands or paws when possible, roaring furiously and he even saw one or two underpowered moves being thrown in the air as acclamations. In the meanwhile the ponies and all the other Equusborn were looking around in confusion or tried to make themselves very small in their seats. Only a few had a expression of sad understanding on their muzzles.
The Chatot, in the meanwhile, was looking at the tribunes, her head high and her eyes scanning the spectators, basking in the angry shouts and roars. Seth could almost swear she would have been grinning if her beak had allowed it, so much satisfaction she had in her eyes at the near rioting she had caused.
The Luxray grit his fangs and had to restrain himself from jumping on the stage and drag that Chatot away personally. After all the efforts made by Princess Celestia, Arceus and Pokémon like him to make the earthlings feel welcome, this same Contest included, she risked to make it all for naught.
It was going so well... he muttered in his head.
Worried about how they could react to what was, with little doubt, a sort of accusation towards them, Seth raised his head to look at the present Legendaries. First he looked at Arceus, expecting to see him seething with rage, but surprisingly enough he couldn't see anything to indicate if he had got upset. If anything, he just looked pensive. Mewtwo, on the other hand, didn't seem all too happy with what had just transpired, and the dull blue sheen of psychic powers flaring up could be seen in his eyes, but he doubted he would do anything as long as Arceus didn't express some sort of displeasure.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the familiar voice of Diantha, and he noticed that in the meanwhile the speaker had somehow managed to coax the public in settling down a little, and let the judges make their considerations.
"...Heartfelt and powerful, even if the topic was a little... strong. I have to say, though, that from a purely professional point of view, your exhibition was a little poor... Contests should show off the bond and the talent of both Coordinator and Pokémon in original ways, your exhibition was both too centered on the singer, yourself, and lacked originality. Sorry for the bluntness, but had this been a normal contest, you wouldn't have made it to the next round. You should try to work more with your Pokémon rather than simply... using him." The bluette Gardevoir finished.
"Umh... I agree with what Miss Diantha said..." the Nurse Joy started, nervously fidgeting with her long Audino earlobes, "The exhibition didn't feel really joyous, and it's true that it didn't even feel like a real Contest at all. I find good that you are working hard to get past your anger, recognizing it and putting it to use in such a heartfelt song is a sign of a great effort, but it didn't really fit with this Contest... maybe you should have tried to sing it to other people that feel upset like you... uh, we could organize therapy groups, now that I think about it... Oh, but your voice was really lovely!" she finished, giving the Chatot a small hopeful smile.
"I have to say, I did really enjoy your performance!" The last judge, Photo Finish started, earning immediate deadpan and confused stares from the other judges, she ignored them however. "I can see ze points of view of my colleagues, and I must admit zat I don't have nearly any experience in judging zis kind of performance, after all is the first that this whole world has ever seen, but I liked how you used your... powers? To make your point! As a photographer, I give great importance to images and how much can they tell, how they are built and so on. Zat moment, vhen you scattered all those shining... notes... thingies and emerged from within with your collar blazing like Celestia's sun... you completely caught the focus of all the present! A single point of light so powerful it was impossible to take my eyes off! If anypony haz been taking photos of this Contest, zat is going to be a good one! Oh, such a waste on my side..." the pony finished, shaking her curly white mane in an overly dramatic way. "Just a quick question, though... vhat did you mean by 'a spiral of stars on your side'? Is zat a saying from Earth? I have to admit I'm curious."
Both the other judges and many from the crowd mumbled something in agreement, and Seth couldn't help but to feel a little curious himself. It hadn't made much sense to him either.
The Chatot stood pensive for a second, eyes closed and perfectly still, before she clicked her beak open, "I have to admit, I do agree with what Miss Diantha and Miss Joy said... I never had any real experience in the Contest scene, and I must confess my participation was pure self indulgement on my side rather than to entertain or even find solace like many professional coordinators, I am sure, have participated for... because of that, I apologize to the other participants. Still, as a singer, as someone who only ever had singing as a mean and purpose of life, and a need to share a message, this chance was too good to pass on. I didn't come here to put up a good show, not as my first thought, at least, what I wanted to do was to let other people like me know that it is okay to be angry. That is okay to not accept what happened to us with a fake smile and go on.
Not that I didn't feel welcome in this world, the citizens of Baltimare have been incredibly kind and generous to us, despite having many reason not to... it's just..."
“Is there a point you would like to make?” came a gentle, yet stern voice from one of the other contestants, the Gardevoir calling herself ‘M’. “If not, kindly refrain from starting any scenes here, please. Many of us came simply to enjoy ourselves.”
The Noivern that the Chatot was sitting upon took a step forward and let out a low growl, before the Chatot whispered something in his ears and he just stood still again. "Erm... sorry for that miss... M, was it?"
“Yes, that will suffice for now,” the Gardevoir nodded with a wink...something that seemed oddly familiar somehow.
"My point is... well, there is not really one," the Chatot shrugged, "Since I got here, I've been crying on myself... I was happy back on earth, I had plans and dreams and they all crashed down. I just needed some closure on it and a friend of mine... a good friend of mine made me understand that the quickest way to get over it was to scream it as loud as possible, and being an aspirant singer... I saw this chance and just took it. I don't mean to inspire someone to violence, I consider myself an artist, not a fighter, but anger can be an useful tool to push people forward, like it did for me."
She then looked at an undetermined point in the crowd, an amused glint in her eyes, "By the way, the 'spiral of stars' was referred to this friend of mine... more of an inside joke between us than anything else, but I thought it sounded good."
Seth, like most of the crowd, turned to see a surprised Zangoose, both his ears perked up and eyes reduced to pinpricks. He tried to give what was probably meant to be an awkward smile, turning out more as a weird fanged snarl, before he tried to bury himself in his chair and the coat he was wearing.
“Our condolence,” the Zoroark, R, nodded as he placed a paw on M’s shoulder. “You have every right to want closure, considering our… sudden departure. “However, a word of advice. Many times in life, things happen that we do not like. However at the end of the day, we need to move on. Life goes on no matter what happens,” he nodded, and stepped closer to her, before whispering something into her ear,
“Remembering the past is fine, but don’t be trapped in it. Instead of thinking about what you’ve lost, try thinking about what you’ve gained and what else you can do from now on...aside from starting anything humanity will regret in the long run. We angered the Legendaries once, and this was our penalty. Don’t push your luck. I’d like to think Arceus is more benevolent than that, but it wouldn’t be all that hard for him to say...erase all memories of humanity. I quite like remembering that I was once human, thank you,” and with that he stepped away slightly.
Whatever the Zoroark had said, had an immediate effect on the Chatot. Her whole body went still and her feathers puffed up instantly, her eyes went wide and her beak started clacking incoherently.
"But that... that would be... he... Oh... oh sweet Meloetta..."
The Noivern picked up on the human's mood and immediately started growling again, this time with a lot more volume. Seth almost called Rika to attention, the last thing he needed was a brawl, before the Gardevoir reached the stage with a surprisingly graceful leap for the Pokémon, pinkish energy glittering around her.
“Now now, let’s not fight. My husband was simply pointing out another point of view. Let’s not do anything we’ll all...regret now, okay?” she smiled, the Dazzling Gleam still glowing in her hands and pushing the Noivern back.
"Y-yes... of course... Wubby don't worry... I am okay... just... just go. Please?" Despite her words, it was well visible that she was not okay, still shaking and stuttering. Still, the Noivern just shot a last glare at the couple before sliding in the backstage noiselessly.
“Now then, enough about Earth. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the contest, shall we?” M smiled.
Seth nodded and looked backstage as Wubby and Denise left. It was a little early, but he needed to lighten the atmosphere before he could let another Coordinator on stage. The next contestant was a young one, and there was no way he’d throw her into the fire like that.
“It looks rough out there Seth,” Elesa said as she walked over to him. The Ampharos had a concerned look in her eyes. “While I think Diantha and the others diffused the situation somewhat, it’s still tense.”
Seth paced up and down the small section to the side of the stage. While he had some of the Royal Guard here, even they couldn’t handle it if half the audience started attacking. If things got out of hand any more than this…
“There’s no way a dozen guards could stop all those Pokemon.” He groaned and shook his head, he needed to do something but his brain was drawing a blank. M and R seemed to be whispering amongst themselves and the last thing he needed was a contestant to step in on this.
“Boss!’ Midnight flew in and panted. “Things are looking pretty hairy out there. We’re looking to evacuate the Princesses, but that’ll leave you to handle things here on your own…”
“I can’t let you abandon your duties for my sake,” Seth replied as he peeked out through the curtain. “Maybe if I can get Team Charm out there…” He turned to look for his Sylveon. “Rika!”
“We need about ten minutes,” she called out. “We aren’t quite ready yet.”
Dammit! Seth frowned as he wracked his brain for an answer…
“Let me do it,” Selena said as she walked towards the stage. Seth turned and stared at her, did she…?
“Selena, can you really calm down all those people?” the Luxray asked.
“Dunno,” the Absol replied and smiled. “But they need a little courage right now. A little something to help face the unknown. I… I know what that’s like, just a little anyway. So, I think I can get through to them.”
Seth’s expression softened and he smiled. “Alright then. Do your best okay?”
“When do I ever not?” she replied with a cocky grin and stepped out onto the stage.
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Oh my God New chapter aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh I was just rereading this fir the umpteenth time when it popped up. So happy!!! Btw what's happened with heath we don't see him at all after the scene in front of the hospital?
Yay! Poor chatot, maybe think a little more on the lyrics next time hmm? Hehe
Was not expecting it but I did enjoy reading.
Not gonna lie. As soon as I saw that a new chapter was posted, I almost screamed like a fan girl.
Good to see you update again, since it has been so long^^
I will now make a contest entry, assuming you're still taking them.
New Chapter!
Good chapter and the cliffhanger.
So long since the last update and the new one is so short
Oh well, that just means it has to be read again
i had a part in this chapter... though I think i also helped in keeping it from happening...
hmmm
anyway, it's amazing!!!
Damn, I was hoping you would remember. Some of those look interesting.
After reading this I realize just how much further I can go as an author and you can bet my passion has been rekindled from seeing this. With that said, astounding work to the other participants. And to the ones still to come I am looking forward to what you have in store.
Do you think you can put up links to the stories featured here, there's a few characters I don't recognize
The wait was deffinetly worth it.
Congrats on finally making this awesome chapter.
7281901 Okay Aus. I think everyone here can agree on the fact that last performance made Shit go sideways in the most colossal way. Also one more thing. If Mewtwo is hearing this. We're you thinking that every former human got happiness after the exodus? Don't take it out on the performer because your father Failed to warn people ahead of time before the exodus took place.
I have absolutely zero clue what was going on. Why was everyone mad at the Chatot? What was it saying that made them like that?
7357279 - No. The lack of a computer has left me procrastinating for a good long while. We need to finish our little project as well. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long, life has been... hectic. Yeh, let's go with that.
7367611 yeah, and I've been out of town for like the past month with like two days where we came back home just to pack for the next trip
The hell was that nonsense at the end with the Chatot?
It's a shame that this concert didn't have time for rehearsals, eh Seth?
Why does the story say it's un hiatus when you just posted this chapter recently?
7375512 - Cause I uploaded using my tablet, and didn't feel like messing around with the stories settings using a finicky touchscreen.
7459269 - No, because Magic and Psychic Pokemon powers are completely different.
7462164 Actually, please indulge me. How is that statement so stupid that you won't "even touch it?"
7463043 Damn this site! It stopped giving me emails when people reply to me.
Anyhow, you say "Im really glad I live in modern America", while it is better than a fair amount of places, it's still fucked up. Abuse is high, crime is high, poverty is high. And plus, this nation is filled with idiots, Trump is enough proof of that, Berny too, cut off NAFTA, fucking idiots. And that's just scratching the surface, going deeper we have a rooted and jacked up racism in this country, im Mexican, and half the country looks at me like im trash, say "my kind" steal their jobs. Honestly, the U.S is a mess. And as i said, this is just the surface of the problems, I don't care to give a long answer in the comments here.
Gotta admit, this chapter was, fun. But now we play the waiting game. *sigh*
7517271 Nononono. I meant our Zues. Zuesdemigod, creator of this whole verse'.
7451711
Well, you can't beat the classics, and there ain't much that's more classic than the Wizard of Oz.
Need more chapters please!!!!!!!!
7675591 that is also true.
So... you’ve played Rhythm Thief?
7359281
I know that Brawly and Chii are from Old Scars, New Chances.
7363642
basically, the Chatot used their performance as a way to express how upset they were about being ripped from Earth without warning or asking. This hit home with many former humans who were within the crowd, as their emotional response clearly showed.
The problem is that with Arceus and some legendaries in the crowd, this was not so subtly a shot at them. Not to mention that since the contest was meant to bring people together, their actions only served to remind them why they were all in this situation in the first place.
To be fair, calling out Arceus wasn't wrong in and of itself. It just wasn't the most appropriate place to do so, but then again, the Chatot probably knew what they were doing.
....oh god whayevwr uou do do not say the word kakarot....