Chapter 136 (Patreon)

The start of the Grand Festival! The actual Contest-related events don't happen until about halfway through.
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I had my entire team out to watch Gardevoir. Ninetales and Florges, who were serving as his tutors, looked on in pride as he attempted this move.

In his hands was the Pixie Plate, as it tended to be recently. A small patch of Misty Terrain emanated from the ground around him as he kept his eyes closed in focus.

Gardevoir wasn't using Calm Mind. As flexible as that move was for my team, he needed to first figure out how to use this move without it before he buffed it up. Otherwise, Calm Mind would be a crutch that would weaken him in the long run.

Togepi, in Mawile's lap on Rapidash's back, let out a cheer, and Gardevoir gained a small smile on his face. His eyes snapped open before holding up one hand and causing a small sphere to begin to form inside it.

It first appeared dark pink, which proved it was Fairy Type energy, but we wanted it to approach white. However, Gardevoir didn't give up right there, as the sphere slowly grew and became brighter and brighter. Behind him, an ethereal likeness of the moon flickered into existence before Gardevoir sent his first Moonblast hurtling forward.

Ninetales was the first to react, using Agility to run right up to Gardevoir and hop around him in joy. Florges called out her name in pride as Gardevoir stood there and smiled. I approached alongside Rapidash and Mawile as Togepi fervently cheered. Gardevoir went ahead and reformed the move, leaving it small in the palm of his hand with ease.

"Congratulations, Gardevoir. Your Moonblast was near impeccable."

He smiled. The area where the Moonblast hit was just a patch of nearby dirt in this forest, but it had successfully created a large groove to mark the damage the attack would have dealt.

"You remember the next move to practice, right?"

Gardevoir's expression hardened, and he nodded his head. When it came to his future fight against Darkrai, there were still several things that needed to be improved. Even though the fight was rapidly approaching, he was getting closer and closer by the day.

After giving everyone time to celebrate, I gathered them all around to make my announcement. After all, time was quickly running out.

"The Grand Festival starts in two days," I said.

Ninetales's and Florges's expressions grew serious, and Mawile hopped off of Rapidash's back to move closer, as well.

"We've been training moves and capabilities together, and I know a lot of you have been working on your own techniques in your free time. However, I can't state enough how important this is. The Grand Festival is the Contest equivalent of the League Conference, so we can't afford to mess this up. Ninetales, Florges, I know you two are extremely prepared, and Altaria and Dedenne are practicing at the ranch right now. Out of the rest of you, are any of you interested in competing?"

Rapidash had his share of Contests, but it seemed he had had enough. Despite being interested in the battling portion, he just hadn't put the time into like the others had. He shook his head to signify he would be sitting out, and Togepi, still being young and having little chance to battle so far on our team, wouldn't compete, either.

Mawile, however, shared a glance with Ninetales. Seeing that, I smiled.

"I'm glad you've all come to a decision. And you, Gardevoir?"

I glanced my Pokémon's way, only to see Gardevoir shifting in place, almost uncomfortable. It didn't take me long to realize why, as the Grand Festival was taking place in the Lake Valor Resort, just like the Wallace Cup before it.

Considering what event happened there last time we were present, I couldn't blame him if he wanted to sit this one out.

"I can send you back to the ranch when we get there. If that would make you more comfortable?"

Gardevoir nodded his head. My smile returned.

"Then, the only thing I need to say is that these will be double performances and double battles. Mega Evolution will be allowed, but standards will be higher for any Pokémon that Mega Evolves due to the power it entails. We can leave once you all are ready. Just say the word, and we'll be there."

At that, my team split off to chat animatedly among themselves, dividing up based on where they all would go. Ninetales basically ranted at Mawile, as those two had been waiting for a chance to battle together for a long time. Florges sat to the side, providing feedback when available, and Gardevoir and Rapidash were chatting silently through some form of psychic connection.

After giving my Pokémon time to relax, they all slowly asked to be returned. Soon enough, Gardevoir was the only one left, and, with a Teleport, we were there.

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The streets were packed, far more packed than they were during the Wallace Cup. Back then, basically the only place that had vendors set up on the side of the road was the main avenue that led up to the arena. Now, the streets were packed and bustling, with tourists and visitors meandering past the countless vendors that seemed to be everywhere.

I was in disguise, of course. Technically, it was a multi-level disguise, too.

I wasn't out here as Robin, so no one could recognize me as them, and I also wore a pair of sunglasses and a cheap hat I had bought in Sunyshore. Despite my outfit still being the same Valerie-created style as always, no one even blinked as I walked down the streets.

My first order of business was to visit the local Pokémon Center and swap out my team. Dedenne was released to sit on my shoulder. To my surprise, he was wearing tiny shades as well.

We walked past vendors selling souvenirs, plush dolls, collectible pins, and humorously enough, legally distinct Robin-but-totally-not-Robin masks. A few other Coordinators received their own off-brand merchandise as well, like one vendor selling imitations of Dawn's hair pins.

I stopped to buy Dedenne an entire funnel cake as well as a few extra treats for my team before making my way over to the actual main building. It was done up with countless banners that represented local cities in one way or another. With everything going on, it was clear why the Grand Festival was called a "festival."

Entering the building, I could already see I wasn't alone. The majority of the individuals in this room were reporters and their staff, and I actually recognized Rhonda, the reporter who interviewed Robin in Snowpoint, actively talking to a Coordinator only a few feet away.

I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes when I realized that Rhonda was talking to Jessilina. Even though I had encountered Team Rocket several times at this point, I still had trouble recognizing her in her disguise.

I approached the counter without any delay. I supposed I could have listened in on whatever they were talking about, but all Jessilina was doing was bragging about herself.

"Hello! How can I help you today?" the receptionist said, a smile on her face.

"I'd like to register for the Grand Festival," I said.

"We need to see your five ribbons and a proof of identity, then."

Dedenne, on my shoulder, whispered a smug squeak in my ear and almost seemed to hold back laughter. I had a small, padded case that I kept my ribbons in that I handed over once I pulled it out. Alongside of it was a simple card that proved that I, Alex, was actually Robin.

The receptionist took one look at what I gave her and froze. Dedenne covered his mouth to not burst into laughter.

The receptionist didn't move for a long time.

"Is there an issue?"

"No, no! I just..."

The receptionist blinked then held up the card and compared it to my face. I sighed, then pulled my backpack over my shoulder, forcing Dedenne to jump onto the counter. After a bit of rummaging, I was able to pull my Robin mask to the top of my pack, where I subtly showed it to her without taking it out of its pocket.

"The Canalave Ribbon, the Sage Ribbon, the Aqua Ribbon, the Eterna Ribbon, and the Snowpoint Ribbon are all there. Do you need anything else?"

The receptionist stared without doing anything for a few moments longer, until she whispered "This explains so much."

Upon realizing what she was doing, she briefly shook her head before hurrying to type on her computer.

"Sorry about the delay! Everything is in order. Do you need an overview of how the Grand Festival works?"

"Isn't it like a normal Contest?" I asked.

"Yes and no. Due to the number of participating Coordinators, the first day will only consist of the appeals round. Coordinators will be assigned a specific time to show up, and will perform on one of three stages, the red, the green, or the blue. You only need to participate at that specific time, and you'll be assigned two judges. All performances happen in groups of three in an effort to conserve time."

"Then, there's no dedicated waiting room?"

"There is, but it's not necessary to be there the whole time. You can find a list of participating Coordinators and their times online, or in person the day of. Thank you, and we wish you good luck, uh, Robin."

When she said that name, she tried her best to do it subtly, but did it in the most suspicious way possible. She stood up to lean in then whispered it before sitting down with a smile on her face as if she was proud of herself.

My backpack was placed back on my back as Dedenne jumped back onto my shoulder, barely holding on his laughter.

I thanked her and left the room, where he finally let it all loose.

"Oh, come on, you little rat," I said affectionately. "I'd probably react similarly I'd I found out something major like that. Let's just go see who else will be competing."

Dedenne took a deep breath and nodded. We still had a day to relax and practice before it started, and I wanted to spend that time with my team.

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It was a little weird to be in the audience of a Contest, as I had grown so used to being on the stage below. Ninetales and Florges joined me to watch, both of them disguised with scarves wrapped around their head.

No one blinked when we sat in seats reserved for participating Coordinators and their Pokémon, and we stared at the field intently.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Grand Festival!"

As the sound of a familiar voice rang out, the audience burst into excited cheers. I actually felt my ear ring when Ninetales yelled her name next to me.

"I am your master of ceremonies, Marian, and today, we have over a hundred dashing Coordinators ready to show off their Pokémon and compete for the title of Top Coordinator! Only one contestant may win, and only one contestant will gain such a vaunted title. Who will it be? Well, let's find out!"

Marian went ahead and went over the rules for the Grand Festival, which I already knew. She also introduced the judges for the event, which included Mr. Sukizo (of the Pokémon fan club), an expert in employ of the Lake Valor Resort, several Nurse Joys from a few local cities, and then...

"Fantina," I grumbled.

Florges put a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I still remembered what was said about Altaria's and Dedenne's performance back in Hearthome. Truthfully, I was still salty.

In the center of the room, the large tank of water from the Wallace Cup was gone. In its place were three color coded stages arranged into a triangle. I, Robin, more specifically, would be one of the last up, so I had time to watch at least a few of them. The Festival had about the same number of trainers as the Cup, but it was scheduled to fit in a shorter amount of time, so everything would be condensed.

Each and every trainer here had earned five ribbons. Not all of them earned their five in the same year, as some tend to earn them over the period of a few years. That meant many of them had months and months to perfect and hone their skills, and it showed now.

A Kantonian Rapidash traced a fiery circle around a terrifying Houndoom. A pair of Magnemites created mystifying shapes out of electricity shot between them. A trainer with a pair of Eevee evolved them both simultaneously in a once in a lifetime show.

The first trainer I recognized was one I hadn't seen in a while: Kenny. I managed to win the Sage Ribbon over him back in Sage Town. He was Dawn's childhood friend-slash-rival in the anime.

The two Pokémon he sent out were a Floatzel and Empoleon. His performance was focused on having his Floatzel create large bursts of water to move around with Aqua Jet and having his Empoleon cut them apart with Metal Claw.

The finale of the performance involved an extremely impressive Whirlpool. Floatzel collected up all the water on the stage while Empoleon shot rainbow Flash Cannons into it. The sparkling Steel Type light made the water glow and then eventually burst into a beautiful haze.

There was a point where it seemed Floatzel was going to fumble its move. Doing so would have effectively spelled the end for Kenny, but, surprisingly, Floatzel grit its teeth and pulled through. With that show of determination, Kenny's performance was even better than it would have been, in my opinion. It was clear proof of the effort he put in training his Pokémon and the mindset that came with it.

Zoey was soon after him, and her performance proved that some influences from the Wallace Cup still remained. To my surprise, the field she was on opened up to reveal a wide pool of water. She sent out her Lumineon and Gastrodon, two water types that swam around in regular patterns. A fully formed Aqua Ring ring was created and collided with Gastrodon's Water Pulse several times to form one big hoop that both Pokémon burst out from within.

Then, Gastrodon shot out a Water Pulse that Lumineon easily soared straight through. It gave me flashbacks to how Rapidash, as Ponyta, jumped through Lumineon's, as Finneon, Water Pulse, which basically won him the match.

Florges, Ninetales, and I watched several rounds of the competing Coordinators. It was a good way to get an insight on opponents we might need to face as well as getting ideas of what we could do in the future. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stick around forever, as Robin did have to get ready for their showing, so I started to get up to leave.

Then, Marian began to announce the next set of contestants.

The first two names listed were unknown to me, but upon hearing that Dawn was about to compete, my Pokémon and I paused on the staircase and turned around to watch.

Dawn approached the field with a confidence I hadn't seen before, wearing a yellow dress with long white gloves that made her seem like medieval nobility. She tossed two Pokéballs forward, sending her Lopunny onto the field, with her Cyndaquil appearing beside it.

I blinked at that. I had no memory of Dawn ever obtaining a Cyndaquil, but it made sense to me. I was unsure if she had a Cyndaquil in the anime, too.

Both Pokémon hit the field running. Lopunny easily peeled out into the lead, where it began to use Ice Beam to create a line of ice over the field. Cyndaquil tucked its head down into a rolling Flame Wheel that moved along Lopunny's laid out ice.

I couldn't hear Dawn over the roaring of the crowd, but she definitely gave her Pokémon a command.

The ice curved, and Cyndaquil rapidly changed directions. Rather than going off elsewhere, the rolling Fire Type was launched forward off a ramp straight at Lopunny. The evolved Normal Type put on a fake angry face and slammed a fist right into Cyndaquil.

The attack was so violent that some of the crowd literally gasped, but all Cyndaquil did was nimbly land on the edge of the ice and act as if nothing had happened.

Cyndaquil, on its raised platform, then began to coat the field in fire. A Flamethrower was shot out right at Lopunny, who easily dodged each time with Bounce. As it did so, the fires would linger on the ground, and Lopunny found itself trapped in a flame.

However, Dawn just smirked.

Cyndaquil shot out a smoke screen and Dawn held up a hand. I found myself moving forward and grabbing the railing in shock at what I was seeing.

Obscured by the smoke, a brilliant light emanated out and practically the entire crowd cheered. Unfortunately for another contestant, their Bibarel stumbled when the light of Mega Evolution encompassed the stage.

With a single kick, a gust of wind burst out and the form of Mega Lopunny was revealed. It bounced back and forth on thick, powerful legs all while releasing attacks whose wind put out the fire.

Cyndaquil leaped forward, and the two Pokémon had a mock battle. Cyndaquil purposefully lead Mega Lopunny around the stage to attack the ice that was formed at the beginning. Each attack that shattered the crystals caused sparkling mist to form, and by the time the end had come, the entire field was covered in a beautiful mist.

Dawn canceled her Pokémon's Mega Evolution and took a deep breath. She tried her best to curtsy, but I could tell the energy drain had taken its toll on her.

Even so, the room was going almost insane at that display. If there was anyone here today who would move onto the next round, it'd be her.

"We need to be ready," I told my Pokémon. "If we go up against Dawn, we can't afford to underestimate her."

Both of them nodded as we left the main arena. Jessilina was called up next, which was a disappointment as I would miss the performance, but Robin was scheduled to soon take the field.

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It didn't take me long to put on the costume. I left the private dressing room just in time to be called up for my Pokémon's performance.

Competing Coordinators walked in threes onto the stage, and the two Coordinators next to me didn't even blink at my presence. We split up soon enough under the cheers of the audience, and I took my spot at the back of the red stage.

Each stage had their own set of judges, and I couldn't help but to scowl under my mask when I saw mine. A Nurse Joy was there, which I had no complaints about, but next to her was Fantina.

I had to hope my Pokémon's practice would pay off under her harsh standards.

"Coordinators, you have one minute to complete your performance. The timer will begin when you do."

The other two Coordinators started their performance, but I paid them no mind. I didn't bother with any showy tricks to send out my team members this time around, simply letting their actions speak for their efforts.

In a way, I supposed it was somewhat fitting that Fantina would be judging them, as both Dedenne and Altaria hit the field, ready to show off their perfected duo performance.

In Dedenne's case, he had stumbled in his performances twice before. Like the saying went, the third time's the charm.

Dedenne and Altaria were sent out onto the field, and the area above them became thick with clouds. Dedenne's Rain Dance was enhanced by Altaria's Cloud Nine, because as much as his atmospheric control could remove the weather, it could enhance it just as well.

Dedenne sat on Altaria's back as the bird circled the field. He purposefully sent Electric Type energy up above him to have the clouds rumble with thunder. Soon enough, the sky crackled with electricity that was primed for Dedenne to influence.

Altaria used Moonblast. A ball of pink energy was shot out over the field. Dedenne rushed forward to stand on the flying Pokémon's head and used Thunder to fire an attack directly upwards.

The blast of electricity went up into the clouds before traveling towards the Moonblast. Cloud Nine ensured Dedenne and Altaria were unaffected as a bolt of lightning struck down and caused the Moonblast to burst.

Sparkling motes of Fairy Type energy were sent all around them. The attack was struck because the energy contained within attracted the electricity stored within the clouds.

Altaria used Moonblast again, but he purposefully made the sphere travel slowly. Several more balls were sent forward to float in the air as Dedenne used Charge.

Altaria purposefully timed it right to have every orb positioned roughly equidistant around him. Once more, Dedenne jumped up, but instead of using Thunder, he unleashed everything with Discharge.

With electricity being sent out in every direction, the balls were hit with both the pulse sent out from Dedenne as well as the bolts redirected by the sky above. Everything flashed white as a thunderous boom rang out, bursting the Moonblasts and turning the field yellow.

I took a deep breath, and Altaria and I focused. He first disguised it as a Dazzling Gleam within a burst of electricity, but that soon turned into the rainbow colors of infinity energy. All of the audience's attention was drawn away from the other competitors and onto my field as Altaria's form shifted into that of his cloud-like Mega Evolved form.

The clouds moved to his will, and were pushed outwards. Then, like an implosion, every single one of them came rushing back in to form a single sphere.

Dedenne jumped off of Altaria's head.

He had just enough to use Thunder one last time, sending his attack high into the dark sphere of clouds as he fell. The remains of the weather exploded out one last time, briefly covering Dedenne and Altaria with white mist.

When it finished moving, there was now a thin, Misty sphere encompassing the stage. It looked like my Pokémon were trapped in a globe, and a low-powered Dazzling Gleam from the Mega Evolved Altaria made them glow.

Dedenne, having fallen, posed on the ground. He was saved from worse effects from both stealing some of Altaria's fluff to soften the impact as well as using Endure to withstand the damage. He huffed and puffed excitedly with his paws thrown outwards in a dramatic pose.

He was interrupted when Altaria landed on the ground behind him. The impact of such caused him to stumble, upon which he turned around and shook a fist at Altaria angrily.

Altaria ignored him and preened his temporarily much fluffier feathers.

That little skit marked the end of our performance as I walked onto stage to meet back with my Pokémon. Altaria's form broke back into normalness, and Dedenne leaped onto my shoulder.

We all took a bow.

Walking off the stage, I could see the other two Coordinators looking unhappy. One was downright glaring at me. Likely, my Pokémon's loud and flashy performance had either messed with theirs or made them look worse in comparison.

I wasn't able to send them an apologetic look, but I planned to apologize once we were off stage.

But, before I returned backstage with my Pokémon, I saw something that made me smile.

Fantina, the Gym Leader and Coordinator who previously ruled against Dedenne and Altaria was now nodding her head as if in approval.

If I had to bet, I would say we made it. The rest of the Grand Festival, the battle rounds, still remained.

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Author Note:

Pokémon mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Bibarel
Cyndaquil
Eevee
Gastrodon
Houndoom
Magnemite
Rapidash (Kantonian)
Lopunny
Lumineon

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