[X] My Assistant

[Toogee]

Bunnying has been done with permission .

Trouble in Carello, Arrival in Arasam

I just arrived in Arasam and I’m exhausted! It was a rough trip up Mt. Carello, but I had some company: Douken Sota. We met briefly at Castle Vonmoto and he just happened to be going my way. He was great to have around, especially when two thieves followed us inside. They were apparently trying to raid an ancient shrine within the mountain (and yes, Douken and I found it). Thanks to Douken, we managed to break the team up following a double battle.

I’m in Arasam, but the professor doesn’t have any assignments for me, so it’s a free day. I’ll probably explore the city a bit. I think Douken is going to challenge the gym leader, so I may tag along to watch that. I’ll let you know how the day goes tomorrow.

Good night,
-Pan

*Beep Beep Beep*

Pan scrounged around for her poketch, her eyes half-open. The alarm had just woken her up after a very good night’s sleep. Most of her days in Furoh ended with couch surfing at local pokemon centers (or sleeping outside), sometimes not even changing clothes. Last night however, Pan entered the Arasam Pokemon Center, complete with two stories of rooms. Each room had its own fluffy bed and full bathroom, perfect for a nice refresh after a long journey. This also meant sleeping in more comfortable sleepwear: a long red T-shirt emblazoned with the emblem for the Cinnabar Burger House. Still, she felt really good; would it be so bad if she spent the rest of the day in bed?

Pan turned to the other side to see her pokemon. Turnip, being a venusaur, was far too big to fit in the tiny room, so he was still within his pokeball. Her growlithe Fenrir was lying at the end of the bed, playing the role of Pan’s foot warmer. Chi-Chi was using Pan’s vest as a hammock, the pachirisu hanging off the bathroom door handle. Her baltoy Pivot was simply floating in a corner. Strangely, the baltoy had a bucket on top of its head, perhaps from a certain cleffa. Speaking of which, where was Lima? Pan looked around to see that the door was ajar. She must have gotten out.

“Crud,” Pan muttered, quickly getting out of bed. After checking underneath the bed, she slipped on a pair of denim shorts and headed downstairs for the pokemon center.

“Fenrir, watch my stuff. I’m going to see what Lima’s up to.”

The growlithe stretched out as he waited for Pan to come back.
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As Pan walked into the lobby, she found it practically empty with the exception of one star-shaped pokemon. Lima was sitting on the floor with a bowl of sugary cereal, her eyes directed to the TV. On the screen, a trainer had just finished a juggling performance with his exeggcute. The audience was cheering and clapping in response, something that intrigued the cleffa. She imagined herself on stage, being the center of attention. Her little grin caught Pan’s eye; what was she thinking?

“Alright you,” Pan said, causing Lima to turn her head towards her human, “You shouldn’t be sneaking out of rooms like that!”

Pan spoke in a stern voice, but she certainly wasn’t screaming at the top of her lungs. Still, Lima looked quite sad, looking up to Pan with watery eyes. Not wanting to make a scene, Pan sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor. Lima sat upon her lap, pointing at the TV. Flashing on the screen was the Arasam Contest Hall.

Ever since she heard of Darryn’s recent contest exploit, Pan was a bit curious as to what he does. How long was the training? What happened behind the scenes? Who was this Troy he’d been hanging around with? What better way to find out than to join in on one of these contests?

“You want to try a contest? Be on stage?”

“Cleffa cleffa cleffa!” Lima said excitedly, pointing at the screen for emphasis. Pan nodded and kept watching the contest performance.

[Douken Sota]

Morning soon arose, along with the male trainer. With a quick morning stretch, he looked around the room, saying, "Good morning, guys," as Growlithe and Duskull began to wake up. Seel and Croagunk had to be treated from last night's combat, so he left them with Nurse Joy for the night, not to say the other two didn't have a check up. "Just relax, you two. I'm going to take a shower." Duskull went back to sleep, but Growlithe pawed at the door. "Alright, but behave yourself," he said as he opened the door, which had Growlithe dart right out to the lobby as Douken went for a quick wake-up shower.

Douken's Growlithe charged right past Pan's room, the set of stairs, into the main center where Pan and Cleffa were watching television, and, without any control of his speed, charged right into the front desk.

It was then the doors slid open as a pink-haired "clone" walked in. "Ah, good morning," Nurse Joy said to Pan as she walked to the back room, closing the door behind her. Then, the door opened again and it seemed she walked back out, complaining about the night shifts as she left, yet she also went behind the counter to check the logs on the computer to see what happened last night (after looking at the pup whose face was on the desk).

After a couple minutes, Douken and Duskull came from the staircase that led to the rooms, his hair still wet and laying flat on his head as he walked to the counter. "Good morning. I am here to pick up my Pokemon."

"Oh? Let me see..." checking the computer, only one name seemed to register Pokemon left overnight. "I take it you are Douken Sota then, who left a Croagunk and Seel?"

"That would be me."

"Okay. Give me one moment," she told him before heading to the back room.

As Douken waited, he headed for Pan, who had in her lap a Cleffa. "Morning, Pan. Sleep well?"

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Jul 1 2010, 12:23 PM

[Toogee]

Judging from the young growlithe’s sudden appearance, Pan guessed that Douken was on his way. He was likely preparing for the upcoming gym match, though perhaps he might be interested in doing a contest before then.

“It was better than sleeping on the ground,” Pan replied with a smile. “Come sit down and watch this.”

She patted the ground next to her, indicating the spot Douken was to be seated. The program was showing a replay of the previous appeals match, the trainer juggling exeggcute in slow motion. Lima looked quite excited, pointing to the performers as well as the cheering audience members.

“It’s a contest. From what I can tell, there are two parts: an appeals round and a double battle. The appeals round looks like a fancy talent show: you and one of your pokemon perform an act,” she pointed to the match on screen, “and get judged. If your score is 35 or over, you move on to the doubles match. The doubles match is just that, but you win based on how well your pair of pokemon work together.”

The cleffa nodded in approval of Pan’s explanation. She looked between Pan and Douken to see what they thought of the event.

“Lima here really wants to try one out, but I’d hate to enter that competition alone…”

Pan looked at Douken with pleading eyes. If this were going to happen, it might as well be a group affair. Besides, she didn’t want to be the only newb participating.

[Douken Sota]

"I see," he said as he watched. "I guess I can give it a try, but when it comes to making attacks look fancy, I can only think of Seel off the top of my head. Croagunk jsut seems to love a good fight, not making it look good, and my ADD pup of a Growlithe, I doubt has the focus for it," he chuckled as his pup ran up to him, Douken ruffling up his collar. "Seel does love attention, though, and I'm not completely sure if Duskull would enjoy it."

Duskull, hearing everything, landed on his head and told him, "Sounds like fun to me!"

Douken laughed at the comment and said, "Alright, alright. I will put you in." Looking back at th television, he noticed they never repeated anyone, just one for appeal and two for battle. "Guess I need a third then. Guess Growlithe can be my third then, if he can focus..."

It was then Nurse Joy walked up to the two, Croagunk and Seel next to her. "Here you go, sir. These two are all better, however, it seemed that Croagunk's blood pressure was very high recently, though it is now back to base level," she told him as she handed him the receipt, which had data on all four Pokemon.

Douken could understand why. It was the Ursurang from yesterday that placed him on edge, and most likely returning to normal meant he had calmed down from it. "Thank you," he said, taking the sheet of paper to look it over, and his teammates heading for his sides.

Nurse Joy took a look at the screen and felt like asking, "I take it you plan on entering the contest here in town?"

[Toogee]

Pan felt that Douken was unsure of his choices in pokemon, particularly the growlithe.

“I’m sure we’ll have enough time to train,” Pan added. “If nothing else, it will give you an idea on how well your team will perform come the gym match.”

Soon after her comments, the nurse appeared to inform Douken about his pokemon. It wasn’t particularly strange that blood pressure would rise during a time of stress (i.e. a battle). What Pan found unique in this case was that the croagunk was still stressed well after the fighting was over. Her friend wasn’t kidding about his pokemon’s fear of ursaring.

Pan’s thoughts refocused on the contest as Joy asked about their intent to join.

“That’s the plan,” Pan replied. “Lima wants to try it out, and I’m a bit curious myself.”

“Well just so you know, the next contest is this evening,” the nurse said, “so start preparing!”

“Tonight?!” Pan commented, shocked by how soon it was. “I guess we don’t have a lot of time. If you excuse me, I need to get ready.”

Pan held her cleffa as she went back to her room to get dressed. She allowed Lima to take her bowl of cereal with her; breakfast was an important meal after all. She was not aware that it was the cleffa’s third bowl…
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Pan came back down in her normal attire, ready to find a good training place. Chi-Chi was nestled safely inside Pan’s vest, while Lima was having a blast riding on top of Fenrir. The cleffa giggled wildly, bouncing around as the growlithe followed his human into the computer room.

The pachirisu, wanting a ride herself, left her “nest” and hopped on behind the cleffa.

“FasterFasterFaster!” cried Chi-Chi, wanting to race around the room.

“No, we’re going to walk, because we don’t run inside, correct?” Fenrir maintained his walking speed around the computer room, though the cleffa was having loads of fun nonetheless.

[Douken Sota]

AS Pan went off to get dressed, Douken went to talk to his teammates. "Alright, I think today will be used for a nice change of pace, alright?" He pointed at the screen to show what was going on before it hit a commercial break. "Croagunk, i don't see you doing these sorts of things, so you can rest this one out. Besides, the doctor says you need a a day to relax as well. Seel, you will be opening for us on the appeal stage. It won't be a battle, but you will use you attacks to gain attention. Duskull and Growlithe, you guys will be in a Double Battle together if we get past Round 1. Alright?" Everyone let out a cheer (Croagunk's cheer was his usual blank stare as his cheeks puffed, so it was hard to tell if he was excited or not) at Douken's words as he smiled, and said, "Well then, let's get to work!"

AS Pan went over to the computer room, Douken went outside to hear some commotion, sounding like a battle. Curiosity on hand, Douken ran over to check it out, using time he could use for training to watch a battle.

It seemed the battle was a kid using a Jolteon versus an adult who seemed to of been cosplaying as Palkia (very poorly, might I add)using a Porygon-Z. It was mid-battle, so a lot of moves were made, but a few things were catching his eye. First off was the blue hue that surrounded the field, and the next was how slow Jolteon was moving! It was like a movie where they had him run in slow motion to make it more dramatic, but the other's Porygon was amazingly fast! In the end, it was Jolteon that fell and the blue hue faded away.

"Hey, mister," he called out to the cosplayer. "What was that blue hue just now?"

The odd man looked over and said, "That, my interested friend, is called Trick Room! With it, your Pokemon messes with the fabrics of reality, altering speeds of those around you. As you saw, it can make the fastest of Pokemon move as slow as a Wurmple, but the slowest move as fast as a Ninjask!"

"So, in other words, it messes with speed so slower Pokemon are faster and vis versa..."

"Exactly! With something like that in someone's arsenal, they can mess with the tempo of anyone! Since you were so curious to ask about my magnificent ability, I want you to have this!" Digging into his backpack, he pulled out a CD and handed it over. "This disk holds all you need to know about learning Trick Room, just remember not everyone can learn it. And now, for the next battle!" he cried.

Obtained TM92!

Douken, a little nervous backed away from him with disk in hand back to the Pokemon Center, thinking, "So, how does this teach someone a move?"

As he entered the Pokemon center once more, staring at the Disk, Nurse Joy said, "Excuse me, Mr. Sota. If you are planning to enter a contest, you have to get registered, unlike gym battles where you just walk in. Now if you can get your friend, we can get you all set up."

With his focus broken from the disk, he nodded and looked in the direction of where she went. "Hey Pan, Nurse Joy wants to see us..."

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Jun 20 2010, 12:27 PM

[Toogee]

As soon as she gathered the printed papers, Pan headed towards Douken. Nurse Joy was preparing two computers for the registration process.

“Just fill out these boxes and you’ll be all set,” she said with a smile. As the nurse walked off, Pan seated herself and began filling in the form. The first part was basic information: name, contact info, waivers, etc. When it came time to fill out the background and choose pokemon, she had to pause. She didn’t really have any background in contests, so she simply put “first time in contest.” Pan wondered if she should add her friendship with Darryn in there, but decided not to. It might’ve come off as showing off. Besides, she didn’t want the extra attention that came with the association with a rising star.

Choosing pokemon proved to be a bit more difficult. In addition to choosing, Pan also had to type in their “style”. She had yet to see exactly how they would perform during practice, so this took a bit of guessing. It was clear that Lima fell into the cute category and was going to be in the Appeals round, but doing what exactly? The way Pan imagined it (During the brief moment between haphazardly declaring to enter and actually entering), the two would perform a singing routine. She had a thing for karaoke back in school, and if she could manipulate Lima’s abilities just right, it may be enough to get them to the second round.

For the battle round, Pan figured her strongest pokemon, Turnip and Fenrir, would do the trick. She had a glimpse of their teamwork back in the Underground. With a little bit of polishing, they should at least put on a good show. Her chances of winning were pretty slim, but the main goal was to give Lima a chance to shine on stage. That being said, Pan would love having a ribbon to rub in Darryn’s face. She smiled as she thought of his shocked face and finished the form.

“You done there, Douken?” Pan asked. “We should really find a place to train.”

When Douken was finished, Pan and her pokemon led the way out of the pokemon center and into the city.
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The city of Arasam was built with the mountain’s vast reserves of slate. Though every business and office building had the same color of stone, architects and artists put details unique to each building. There were designs carved out of the tops and paintings along the wall, a testament to their alliance with the artistic community of Gigarte. Each design emphasized individuality, but the shared color coordination promoted unity among the citizens.

There were trees and areas of grass just like any other city, but the entire eastern side consisted of the concave crater built into Mt. Carello. The western edge had the beautiful view of Furoh stretched out below the mountain. Park benches provided seating to watch the spectacular sunsets.

Pan walked beside Douken, looking around the city for interesting sights. Her cleffa was back on the ground; Pan was making her walk so she could lose some of her weight. Fenrir obliged Pan’s wishes, only permitting the pachirisu upon his back. Normally, Lima would complain, but since they were working on a contest, she held her tongue…for now.

“Ooh, I almost forgot,” Pan said to Douken. “We’ll need to dress up for this. Do you have anything formal to wear?”

As they discussed clothing options, the two came across a nice open green area, one of the parks around the city. Trees were sparse in the park, but the ones that were there were tall enough to provide decent shade for weary visitors. There was plenty of space for a couple of people to train their pokemon.

“This looks like a good spot,” Pan commented as she walked off the sidewalk and onto the grass.

[Douken Sota]

Douken was not used to working on computers, and it could be shown right away. His hands hovered a half a foot over the keyboard, slowly typing away, one finger at a time as he filled in the information, most of the time having to ask Nurse Joy for help. When Pan asked when he was done, he just only reached the section that mentioned his Pokemon, taking him another ten minutes to finish up something that would be done in one.

"Alright, you two area all set," Nurse joy said, pulling out two trays to hand to them. Each tray held a card on it, an envelope, and three clear Pokeballs. "Here are your Poke-Capsules, Seals, and ID. Using them is simple. All you do is place the Pokeball inside the capsule as well as a Seal before you let them out. It adds an extra touch to when they reveal themselves to the crowd."

When Douken took his things, he was about to ask about the disk, before Pan decided to vanish, dragging him along so he wouldn't lose her.

-------------------------------------------------

"I'm a little too concerned about other things than clothing," Douken told her as they walked down the stone-carved streets, "such as how this thing here teaches someone on how to use a move..." He was tempted to poke Duskull with the disc, thinking that would do something, but voted against it in his head.

When they reached the park, Douken's Pokemon ran forward into the open area. "Okay, so then I guess we should start with the Appealing stage then?"

This post has been edited by Douken Sota: Jun 21 2010, 12:39 PM

[Toogee]

“Hey, where’d you get the Tech Machine?” Pan asked as Douken as he examined the object. It was pretty clear it didn’t come with an instruction manual, so she looked at the object while it was in her friend’s hands. Pan looked through the middle of the CD with one eye open, making quite an odd face to onlookers.

“Maybe it’s a retina scanner. Or perhaps you need a computer. Maybe you should give it to one of your pokemon and see if they know-”

Pan’s suggestion was cut short when she spotted Lima impersonating her face as if she too were examining the CD. It was quite an amusing expression and an excellent example of her Copycat ability. This was just the trick needed to score big points with the judges.

“Let me know if you get that to work. I’m going to work on Lima’s appeal, so holler if you need help. I’d love for you to watch, but I’d much rather the performance be a surprise.” She said, winking and grinning.

Pan and Lima went towards a tree to practice within the shade.
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Pan was sitting against the tree trunk, facing her cleffa.

“Now, repeat after me: Dor Re Mi Fa So La Ti Doe.”

Lima, Fenrir, and Chi-Chi were quite pleased to hear Pan’s beautiful voice. The scales were sung in soprano in a nice melody that went well with the beautiful day. Chi-Chi clapped enthusiastically; if she were the hall leader, she’d give Pan a ribbon right there. What was even more surprising was Lima’s response.

“Cle Fa Cle Fa Cle Fa Fa Fa.”

Though she couldn’t say the exact words, the cleffa was able to replicate the pitch of each scale. It was a combination of the Copycat and Sing attacks, minus the sleep-inducing lullaby. Her child-like voice was a bit higher than Pan’s, but nonetheless clear and adorable. Pan laughed and clapped her hands upon her cheeks. She was really happy that Lima pulled it off.

“That was beautiful!” Pan commented, causing Lima to bounce up and down in excitement. “Now, can you a blow a kiss?”

Aiming to gain even more attention, Lima responded by bringing her hands together over her puckered lips and “releasing” a Sweet Kiss to no one in particular.

“Great! How about Magical Leaf?” Pan commanded. “This time though, I want you to pretend that this tree is me. I want the leaves to go around the tree, but don’t hit it, OK?”

Lima gave an affirmative cheer, and began the attack after everyone moved out of the way. Leaves were emerging from her palms, floating momentarily as the cleffa commanded the foliage. Unfortunately, Lima focused too much on the tree; every leaf cut into its thick bark. Chi-Chi gasped while the growlithe winced; had this been an actual contest, Pan would have been skewered.

“Er, we’ll work on that," Pan said, scratching her head as she looked at her would-be corpse. "For now, let me tell you about our act…”

[Douken Sota]

"Some guy just gave it to me after I asked about an attack he used. I was interested in it, so he gave me it, without any idea on how to use it..." Douken gave it some thought, before saying, "You know what, how about we meet up at the Hall, about thirty minutes before things get started. This way, we won't see what each other are going to do." This would also give him time to talk to Nurse Joy some more.

With Douken and his team leaving, he headed back to the Pokemon Center. "Excuse me, you know how to use this?" he asked her as he went up to the desk, holding the disk up.

"A Tech Machine?" Nurse Joy asked. "Sure, but it only works on certain Pokemon. Do you know what it does and who its usable on?"

"The person who gave it to me called it Trick Room, but I really don't know..."

With that noted, the nurse typed away on her computer, looking at his team as they were out. "It seems your Duskull is capable. If you leave her with me, I can have her know it."

"Will it be in time for the contest?"

"It won't take that long. Just remember everyone gets affected by the move, so if you plan to Double Battle, then her teammate's must be used to the effects as well."

"Thanks. What say you?" he asked the Requiem Pokemon, who seemed to enjoy the idea of using the move. Returning her back to the Pokeball, he said, "We will be outside when you finish." With that noted, Douken, Seel, and Growlithe ran back outside.

"Alright Seel, you got the opening play, and this is the plan..."

[Toogee]

Pan had spent much of the morning getting Lima ready for her Appeal round. They managed to get their routine down just right. The cleffa’s focus was also improving; Pan was no longer worried about getting sliced up by magical leaves. With things looking up for their contest debut, Pan and co. took a break for lunch at a nearby food stand. Pan and Fenrir enjoyed hot dogs while Chi-Chi and Lima were eating fruit bowls (the cleffa needed the change in diet anyway). Pan released Turnip from his pokeball so he could sunbath. While the venusaur could get enough sustenance from photosynthesis, Turnip still enjoyed regular food, enjoying the pieces of fruit offered by Pan.

The growlithe was a bit taken aback by Turnip’s new form.

“Gadzooks! Did you eat a bus since I last saw you? You’re huge!”

“I evolved, you old fart,” Turnip growled.

“You’re supposed to evolve into something stronger, not wider,” the growlithe jested.

After lunch, Pan decided to turn to Turnip and Fenrir to get them ready for the double battle.

“Alright guys, we’re entering a contest tonight,” Pan said. “Though our main goal is to give Lima a chance to be on stage, it’d be really great if we could bring home a ribbon. To do that, you guys need to work together to win and put on a good show.”

Pan knew that their biggest asset would be Turnip’s vines, so she started by commanding the venusaur to start swinging the growlithe in a circle. Turnip obliged, wrapping his vines around Fenrir’s hind legs and swung him in a circle. It was a similar maneuver performed in Castle Vonmoto with Chi-Chi, only this time, Turnip was playing with fire. Of course, the venusaur seemed as though he was enjoying the move a bit too much; the growlithe was a bit dizzy upon landing.

“That was great, but try not to do it for too long,” Pan commented, not noticing Turnip's slight chuckle at Fenrir's state. “Now, we also have that charging move…”

Turnip pressed the tips of his vines on each side of Fenrir. The growlithe then started to run, held in place by the vines. Faster and faster he went, the fire building up beneath his feet. The venusaur released the growlithe, causing him to race across the park within a fiery wheel. This also left a big scorch mark across the grassy field.

“Er, perhaps we should hold off on the fire attacks for now,” Pan added, a little worried about burning the park down. “Let’s try some other moves…”

[Douken Sota]

"Good job, Seel!" he cried out as she clapped to her own performance. "All you need to do now is get that aim down, and you are golden!"

AS they celebrated, Nurse Joy came out with Duskull's Pokeball. "Hope I am not interrupting, but your Duskull has successfully learned the move, Trick Room."

"Thanks," Douken said, taking the Pokeball in hand. "Perfect timing, to be honest. Thank you."

"Your welcome. Good luck with your performance," was her last words before she went back into the center.

"Alright, cmon out, Duskull!" He tossed the Pokeball into the air, and in the burst of white light, the Ghost type stood in front. "Alright now, Duskull, Growlithe, you two will be working together when it comes to the battle round, and we are going to throw the enemy for an entire loop! Duskull, show us that new move you learned. Show us how you can do Trick Room!"

Duskull's eye went from red to blue as the same color hue surrounded her body, flooding the entire area, placing Douken and Growlithe inside. Inside the field, Douken's body felt completely odd. Even the simple swing of the arm felt odd, the sensation of a slow swing being sped up, and a fast one slowed down. It was one of the ultimate adaption challenges.

"Alright you two, i want you guys to get used to how this attack feels. We master this, and we can throw anyone off!"

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After the training, Douken let the three Pokemon to rest up inside their Pokeballs. "Guess I should head to the Hall, anyways." With everything on hand and ready (forgetting the aspect about clothes), he headed off to the Contest Hall. and waited in front of the doors for Pan. As he did, he closed each Pokeball into a Capsule, labeling each with their own Seals: a snow flake for Seel, a fire for Growlithe, and black smoke for Duskull.

[Toogee]

As the afternoon waned on, Turnip’s and Fenrir’s combos were looking pretty good by Pan’s standards. By that time there were still a couple of hours left before she had to meet up with Douken. She still needed to get dressed up, so she called off the training session.

“Great job everyone,” she told her team. “Let’s head back to the pokecenter.”
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Pan and co. made it back to their room (strangely, she missed Douken standing outside), where she began dressing up for the contest. She made a stop at the computer room and grabbed her dress, shoes, and a big plastic case filled with cosmetics, conditioners, and other related items. The gift tag remained hanging on the handle: “From Darryn”. Though she received the box a few years ago, most of the products remained untouched. She only dragged it out of storage for special occasions (unlike Darryn, Pan did not think “Tuesday” was such an occasion). If there was a time for the budding coordinator’s magic, it was today.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Pan said, staring at a bottle of Figy Berry conditioner in her hand. This probably would have been a good time to ask Darryn for beauty tips, but she really wanted to keep this contest as a surprise.

Pan disappeared into the bathroom to shower and dress, leaving her pokemon to wonder what she could possibly be doing in there. After almost an hour, Pan emerged in her contest outfit: a purple sleeveless dress over a white long-sleeved blouse. The skirt went halfway down her thighs, while the sleeves and collar of the blouse remained uncovered. The conditioner brought a shine to Pan’s hair she hadn’t seen since…well, since the last time she used conditioner. Finally, instead of her usual boots, she wore a pair of strapped sandals. The straps extended halfway up her calves and had the advantage of keeping her toes free.

“How do I look?” she asked her pokemon. Fenrir nodded, Lima clapped her hands, and Chi-Chi whistled in response; Pan looked quite stunning. She smiled at her pokemon and went back to the cosmetic case. She grabbed a purple bag of stardust and took a pinch of the glitter. Stardust was pretty expensive (Darryn knew a guy…), so Pan was careful to use only a tiny bit in her hair. The added glitter effect contrasted with her black hair and soon attracted the cleffa and pachirisu.

“Alright, you can have some too,” Pan said, sprinkling the stardust over Lima and Chi-Chi. She then sat down upon her bed to assign seals to her pokemon. Pan quickly skimmed through the manual, placed the capsules over the pokeballs, and stuck the stickers upon the capsules. Lima received a pink heart seal, Turnip a floral seal, and Fenrir had a flame seal. She didn’t want to overdo it with the effects, so she stuck with one seal per pokemon.

“Chi-Chi, would you like a seal- oh, Chi-Chi…”

Pan looked up to see her pachirisu’s face covered in stardust. Her face looked like the moon, if the moon had a squirrel-like face on it.

“IisSUPERshiny!!!”
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After cleaning up Chi-Chi and recalling most of her team, Pan was off to the contest hall. Lima was waddling behind her, sporting a purple ballerina skirt around her waist. Pan took it off one of her toy stuffed teddiursa; she knew putting all of her things into data storage would pay off. Luckily, the doll was just as chubby as the cleffa.

The Arasam Contest Hall was the most extravagant building in the city. Decked out like a sports arena, bright lights put focus on the star-shaped ornaments and banners. Each banner highlighted the symbolic ribbon coordinators were vying for. Pan picked up Lima as they maneuvered through the lines of spectators towards Douken. She noticed that he wasn’t quite dressed for the occasion; did he decide not to enter? Whatever the reason, Pan assumed Douken would take the hint when he saw her.

“Well, what do you think?” she asked Douken, spinning around to show off her dress.

[Douken Sota]

Douken smiled when Pan showed up, saying, "You look good," before it slapped him in the face that he had to get dressed up too. He spent more time working on the new skills and setting up tactics, that he completely forgot to get new clothing. "Please tell me they will let me in like this..." He really doubted it, though, but looking around, most of the males were formal to semi-formal. Maybe i just need a shirt and tie... he thought as he looked around. "Well, let's head in and register, and see if they got anything a bit last minute," he said with a nervous laugh in his voice. He doubted he had enough time to run to a store and grab some clothes before things got started.

AS they headed for the counter, Douken looked around at everyone. They all seemed to of been dressed for the occasion, stunning dresses, fancy coats. Douken had never had to dress up this fancy for anything! This almost made him glad that being a trainer had no uniform or dress code to it.

As they walked up to the desks, he pulled out his card and asked, "Excuse me, is it too late to enter now?" hoping that they were still able.

[Toogee]

“Well, I told you about the dress code,” Pan added as they went inside. “I don’t know if they’d kick you out, but the judges may frown on it.”

As the two headed inside, Pan looked around the reception area. Dozens of prospective contestants were waiting with their pokemon, while many more spectators were already heading inside for seating. Lima was waving at various people, drawing some “aww…s” and smiles from the crowd (much to her delight; she loved attention). The decorative stars and banner motif continued inside the hall, with some banners marking the areas for registration. Pan and Douken came up to the booth to confirm registration.

“To clarify, we already registered online earlier today,” Pan added. “They should be under Gibbs and Sota.”

The receptionist typed in a bunch of things into the computer program. She then turned the screen so they could confirm their registration:

Name: Pandora Gibbs

Appeals
Lima- Cleffa- Cute

Battle
Turnip- Venusaur- Tough
Fenrir- Growlithe- Cool

“Looks good,” Pan confirmed after reading through the form.

“Great! Is there any particular music you’d like us to play?” the receptionist asked. Pan proceeded to give her a CD of the song she was going to sing.

“Alright, if you’re interested in props or accessories, our prop room is in the basement.”

The receptionist then turned to the underdressed Douken, who didn’t seem to have any other clothes with him.

“Er, the dressing rooms are upstairs. You should be able to find something in your size up there,” the receptionist said with a bit of distaste. She apparently wasn’t fond of those who came unprepared for such a challenge.

When they finished with registration, Pan addressed Douken once more.

“Hey, I’m going to check out the prop room. I’ll meet you backstage?”

With that, Pan headed to the basement of the hall.
-----------------------------------------------------------

The prop room was filled with accessories and items of all sorts. Lima was trying to grab all of them for her personal collection, but Pan kept her fingers away. That said, there were a few items Pan thought would greatly improve their appeal round. There was a medium-sized fold-up table, about (human) chest-high so that the cleffa would be more visible to the audience. There were also several hats, which reminded Pan of a certain riolu back in Castle Vonmoto. His antics were pretty cute; perhaps they could help out their act?

“Lima, I want to add a few last-minute things to our act. You up for it?” Pan asked Lima, to which the cleffa answered with a nod and a smile.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

With everything ready to go, Pan waited patiently backstage for Douken to arrive. Most of the other contestants were waiting for the show to begin. Pan could feel the pressure building in the room, yet she wasn’t nervous. After all, to her, this was just for fun. Perhaps that would be her greatest advantage…

[Douken Sota]

Name:Douken Sota

Appeals
Seel- Seel- Beauty

Battle
Growlithe- Growlithe- Cool
Duskull- Duskull- Smart

"Mine looks good," he told the female receptionist. When she told him about an upstairs dressing room, he nodded and said, "Thank you," ignoring the ugly look she gave him. It wasn't like he was completely devoted to Contests, like some of the others here, he was just trying to help make his friend ease up a bit.

"Alright. See you in a bit, then..." he said as they parted ways again, Douken heading upstairs to the dressing room. Inside, he saw the walls were full of different coats and dresses Feeling a bit on the clock, he skimmed through the clothing in silence (minus the hangers dragging on the poles), seeing how everyone else had outfits ready.

One suit interested him enough and went to try it on. It had the basic tuxedo vest and pants, but the coat itself stood out, looking more like a cowboy coat than anything else. The only trouble was the neck piece, which was completely crooked (not saying he didn't try). With a cowboy hat to add to the piece, he looked in the mirror and told himself, "That's the best I can do, I guess..." [!]

Being all dressed up, he placed all of his regular clothes in his bag and headed down backstage, only stopping because someone offered to fix the neck piece. With thanks and good luck statements passed on by, each went their own way, Douken looking for Pan. Luckily, her dress and sparkles stood out and ran towards her. "So then, what do you think?" he grinned, giving her question back.

[Living Arrow]

Troy of Arasam lounged back in the broad judge’s chair while waiting for the Contest Announcer of Furoh, Gillian Meridian, to take the stage and start the day’s events. He watched with idle eyes as the crowds around him whooped and cheered, a gaggle of girls nearby screaming and pleading for his autograph.

“Good evening, Troy.” Joy smiled softly as she seated herself next to him in the judges’ bay. “I trust you had a pleasant flight – they say all the fun is ‘mile high’ nowadays, hmm?” She raised a quirky eyebrow that confirmed her more than suggestive comment.

Troy grinned back. Hags were the best.

“Best. Flight. Ever.”

“Oh, your poor Skarmory. Let’s hope he doesn’t need any Burn Heal for the friction burns I’m sure he endured.” Joy went on, stacking the judge papers in front of her neatly.

Troy sniggered and elbowed her lightly in the arm. She stuck her tongue out at him playfully and settled in for the Contest.

“Actually, I’m rather looking forward to this.” Troy confided, running a hand through his silky black hair. “The Petropolis Contest was a blast and Darryn naturally came out on top. He’s given me ideas for combinations that I can’t wait to use on the finalists today.”

“Oh? Saw stars, did you?”

“And then some.”

Mr Contesta and Mr Sukizo plopped themselves down on the other side of Joy, reaching over to shake Troy’s hand while Gillian went through mic checks on stage. Troy checked his watch and smiled to himself - the Appeals were about to get underway.

[Toogee]

“Ooh, very Western,” Pan replied to Douken. “Is this foreshadowing for your appeal?” Pan was sincerely curious of what her new friend was up to.

As she continued talking, Pan put Lima down and started straightening out the tassels and fringes on Douken’s vest. Her fingers ran through the material, making sure they pointed downward. She may have played with the fringes a bit much, but rubbing the material between her fingers proved to be quite addictive.

“Thank you for joining the contest with me,” she said with a smile. “It’s way more fun when someone you know has your back, right?”

The coordinators around them suddenly started chattering again as the judges started seated. Pan stopped messing with Douken’s jacket to get a look at the hall leader Troy. Darryn hinted of a relationship between the two back at Castle Vonmoto. Of course, Pan would have to meet with him after the contest to get her approval. After all, Darryn would do the same for her.

“I’m going to have to talk with the hall leader after this, if that’s alright,” Pan said to Douken. “We have a mutual friend we have to discuss.”

The audience erupted in applause as the announcer stepped onto the stage. The contest was about to begin!

[Douken Sota]

Douken chuckled at the Western comment and said, "I doubt it. I just picked it because it stood out and didn't look completely formal. I mean, this is the first time I had to dress up like this," and stood there as she adjusted everything to be straight and fit (and looked like a Skitty playing with string).

When she thanked him for being here, he grinned and said, "Hey, no problem. Just don't forget this is a competition, and when it comes to the field, we are opponents. I will not hold anything back."

When the commotion built up, Douken looked at the screen. Nurse Joy was obvious to recognize, but the others didn't ring any bells. However, one of them seemed to of been the center of attention. Guess he's the Hall Leader, he thought, comparing him to a Gym Leader.

"Not a problem," he said. "Who knows, maybe I will drop by as well to see how I did, and if I met him at the castle."

When the announcer took the stage to introduce everyone, his final words to her were, "Good luck."

[Living Arrow]

Sixteen sets of spotlights ignited in a dazzling flare of brilliant golden light illuminating a woman at the centre of the stage, her sporty outfit and crazy curled tawny hair as one of the Meridian sisters. Gillian Meridian held her arms aloft, receiving the wall of applause like a cliff embracing the crashing sea, waving and smiling to her captivated crowd. With wave-down gestures and an appreciative, toothy smile she walked up to the front of the stage, golden mic in hand and ready to go.

“Aaaand WELCOME to the Arasam Contest Hall here atop the Magnificent Mount Carello!” Gillian near-on screamed into the microphone, a fresh wave of shout and applause being thrown down at her from the spectators in the wide hall. “Registration complete! Capsules and seals set! Co-ordinators backstage! We're set for an amazing show today but first, let’s meet our judges!

“First off, we have our Pokemon Contest Director - Mr Contesta!”
“It's great to be here!”

“Next up is the President of the Pokemon Fan Club! Mr Sukizo!”
“I’ve been told to expect something truly remarkable!”

“And the third member of the panel is our very own Nurse Joy!”
“The bond between a Co-ordinator and their Pokemon in a beautiful thing that all of us will be able to enjoy after seeing these performaces!”

Gillian waited for the dramatic cheering to die down slightly, building a little suspense before announcing the fourth and final judge.

“And for our final Judge for the Appeals Round, it’s our very own Hall Leader. Give it up for TROOOOOOY!”

It took more than a little while for the noise to calm from utter calamity to a thunderous roar but Gillian loud, clear tones were magnified over it all as she positioned herself at the side of the stage, drawing the crowd's attention to the screen above the stage.

“Keep your eyes on the screen and we’ll see the running order for the entrants! This has all been selected by impartial lottery and Co-ordinators should get into their positions immediately. So, with no further ado, here is how our evening shall play out!” Gillian announced again, a massive screen flickering to life above the stage. Photos of each Co-ordinator began appearing one by one, marking who would follow who out onto the stage for their Appeal.

A girl with dark hair styled into a neat bob, framing her smiling face flickered into poll position.

"First up, from Celadon City, it's PAAAAAN!"