Route 209, the route between Hearthome City and Solaceon Town, is one of the shortest routes in all of Sinnoh, but it's also one of the most important.

It's slightly famous in the Pokémon games, one for being the only location you can encounter Spiritomb, though I cannot tell you what the conditions for that are anymore. I know it's not just bringing an Old Keystone to the correct spot, because I tried that, multiple times. The second reason is that it has a fantastic musical theme.

Here, it's widely known as the breadbasket of Sinnoh.

There are a couple reasons for that. One is the presence of the Halfclear River, which winds its way down from the slopes of Mt. Coronet near Celestic Town. The river is so named because the people of Sinnoh love to smush two words together to name things, and because that's exactly what the river is.

It's crystal clear for most of its path, until it converges with the Valorous River, named because the source of it is Lake Valor, eventually spreading out into a wide, swampy, muddy brown delta. That area is the marshland around Pastoria City, including the Great Marsh, and Pastoria is built, as you might expect, near the rivermouth.

It's pretty likely that the area of the delta is even more fertile, considering all the nutrient-rich sediment that is spread around the swamp, but rule number one of the Pokémon world is not to mess with Pokémon. There are too many unique and rare species that live in that area. Draining the swamp would deprive them of their habitat. A few acres have been set aside for rice paddies, and other such crops that need a lot of water, but overall, that area is very untouched.

Which meant that this area is much more suitable for farmwork. You still have access to fresh water, and the Pokémon in this area are far less impacted. In fact, many of the Grass and Bug types around here enjoy the fact that crops are being grown.

The classic fields of wheat and other grains are here, as well as an assortment of other vegetables and fruits. I spy a few dairy farms as well, all of which seem to be using Miltank milk.

There are a multitude of farm related Pokémon as well. There's a very rotund, dark colored pig Pokémon that I can't stop giggling at when the Pokédex tells me is called Lechonk, an equally round sheep Pokémon that's wool is used to make clothing called Wooloo, as well as a few Tauros protecting the herds.

In lieu of heavy machinery, Pokémon do most of the heavy lifting on these farms as well. Diglett and Drilbur make great soil tillers, and Gogoat is a pretty great option to ride around your farm on.

It's hard to believe that Barry's diminutive donkey Mudbray evolves into a giant horse Pokémon called Mudsdale, but when I see the weight it can carry around as easily as someone would lift a feather, I can see the relation.

All in all, the people of this region work hard and play hard. All that grain farming means there's plenty of product from breweries to use, after all. Drinking is one way these people relax, in addition to Pokémon battling, and watching events, like horse racing. While Ponyta and Rapidash aren't great to have around your crops, unless you're burning what's left after you harvest, they sure make great racehorses.

You certainly have to watch where you're stepping, and the smell at times can be off-putting, but this place has its own type of rustic, down-to-earth charm.

The one thing it doesn't have is an abundance of places to train. Sure, the farmers and ranchers were always down to battle, as were the runners, bikers, and fishers down at the river bank, but the land being so flat, and so many areas being restricted from Pokémon battles, it was hard to find some alone time and space to improve.

Not that I was really looking to, right at this moment. Sure, I want to get ready for the next battle in Veilstone, and of course build up to Crasher Wake and then Fantina, but we've had our noses to the grindstone ever since that loss to the Hearthome Gym Leader. Combined with the dance lessons, training, and then all that effort we put into the Tag Battle Tournament, I think me and my Pokémon deserved at least a little rest.

Besides, there's something else that I need to turn my attention to. Something else that's going to be even more difficult for me.

Trying not to make a fool out of myself in the Solaceon Town Contest that I was convinced to enter.

Technically speaking, I'm under no obligation to actually participate. Yes, I registered, but one missing coordinator isn't going to be the end of the contest or anything. Especially a first-timer like me. If I really wanted to enter another one, I could always play it off like the stage was too big for me, and I was too nervous to show up.

The real reason I'm not skipping it is because, despite my tag battle victory, I'm under no illusions that I'm at Fantina's level. Maybe actually participating in a contest will help me understand her thought process better. There's also the fact that she's obviously incorporated so much of her contest style into her battling, and I hope I can find something to incorporate into mine as well.

What's almost as scary as performing in the contest is the looming fact that I am going to at some point have to explain my entry to Ursula. Her mood hasn't improved one iota since leaving Hearthome. If anything, it's worse, because she's now also giving the cold shoulder to Lucas as well, even though I don't know what he did to make her angry.

At first, I was putting this off because she was in a bad mood. Now, I'm super annoyed with her.

Yeah, she lost last time round. Almost embarrassingly so. It happens. It happened to me, in fact. Instead of using it as motivation, Ursula has been sulking and snapping out at people for weeks now. Even after I treated Ursula and Lucas to a nice dinner with my prize money from the tag battles, which is a bit of a tradition of ours, she basically ruined that night with her bad attitude.

Ursula has been borderline insufferable. If I didn't consider myself her friend, I would have probably have kicked her out of our little traveling band. I've tried to extend the olive branch, but at this point, I'm hoping that a decent performance at the Solaceon Town Contest will improve her mood somewhat. Lord help us if she has another terrible one and flames out in the appeals stage again.

Lucas brings out his map when we make camp for the day. "We're getting closer to Solaceon Town. There's this historical ruin here," he points to an otherwise meaningless spot by the river on the map, "which is about a two or three hours walk away from the Lost Tower. The Lost Tower is essentially at the farthest outskirts of Solaceon Town, so it's a pretty good indication that we'll be almost there."

I frown, putting my finger on a different spot. "I thought the Unown Ruins were to the east of Solaceon Town, not to the south." I jab the area that has been clearly marked on the map as the Solaceon Ruins, rather than the obscure one Lucas had pointed to.

You're right," Lucas tells me. They are to the east. This one is called the Hallowed Tower. It's a shrine to a fierce battle that occurred here hundreds of years ago, created to hold in check something that was rampaging across the world, destroying people's homes and lives."

Oh right, that's the name of Spiritomb's little prison. Maybe I'll go there and try my luck to find one, yet again. Or not, considering how my last bout with the Forbidden Pokémon went.

We both look at Ursula hesitantly. "Do you, uh, mind if we stop there?" Lucas asks her.

"Yes," Ursula says curtly. She doesn't look any more appeased by us saying that we'd skip it to go straight to Solaceon Town.

Forget this. "I'm going to the Lost Tower, no matter what you say."

"Hallowed Tower," Lucas interjects, correcting me.

"Whatever. The point still stands. You can go straight to Solaceon Town if you insist on being such a grouch."

Ursula narrows her eyebrows, and when she speaks, her voice is definitely angry. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean." I decide to leave for a little while before this can get any more awkward, or I slip and say something truly mean. "I'm going to go train," I abruptly tell my friends. First though, I carefully take the incubator and my newly received egg out of my bag, and place it on the ground.

Can't risk it getting hit with any stray attacks, after all. Better to keep it here. I've been doing some research on eggs in the days after I've received mine, and thankfully, caring for them isn't that difficult, though I still plan on taking it to the daycare in Solaceon Town to get their opinion.

The incubator is obviously there to keep it warm, but it's always good to provide outside heat as well. Especially considering that, unless you know exactly what the Pokémon is, you're going to take the egg outside the incubator as it gets closer to hatching. There are some people that say keeping eggs around other Pokémon and people encourages whatever's inside to come out, as well.

My mother hen for today is not pleased about his duties, but I remain firm. "Eggs need to be kept warm, Charmeleon. You're the only Fire-type on the team, so get used to this, because you're going to be watching the egg more often than not."

I don't have a Camerupt or a Magcargo for example, Pokémon that really exude heat, but Charmeleon is an adequate replacement in my book. He grumbles at me but plops down to glare at it, as if willing it to hatch this very moment, to free my Fire-type of his obligations.

"You've also surpassed my training goals so much that I need to rethink them, with learning Flamethrower and mastering fighting with Dragon Dance so effectively," I praise, which predictably draws a grin. "Give me some time to think about it, and we'll resume your training before you know it."

I pat him on the head as Charmeleon pulls the incubator to his side, and holds it under one arm. I haven't really decided what I want to do with Charmeleon yet. Is he mature enough to not burn himself out by using Sunny Day in combination with his Solar Power ability? Or should I forget about that, and improve his physical repertoire with moves like Rock Slide, Dragon Claw, and Iron Tail, to better make use of Dragon Dance?

I'm leaning towards the physical side to better prepare him for the close quarters combat that will no doubt be a speciality of the Fighting-types in the Veilstone Gym, but we will have a lot of free time after that, because there's no chance I'm using Charmeleon against the Pastoria Gym.

Hopefully, that will keep him occupied, and not too frustrated when I don't choose him for that battle.

For now, it's time to work with everyone else. I do my best to start training in a place where it won't bother anyone else, even though it's not that far from our campsite, considering I can see Lucas and Ursula pretty clearly.

"Come on out, everyone!" I throw my four remaining Pokéballs into the air, and my Pokémon appear one after another in flashes of light.

"Listen up," I tell my team. "Today I'm going to be working with Glaceon, but it's something I'll need everyone's help with alright?" I survey my Pokémon's faces. Glaceon looks pleased, Bellossom seems downright excited, Absol shrugs his assent with the sort of indifference that I've come to expect from him, and Vivillon agrees as well, though he seems a little sad.

He keeps looking back towards the way we came. "Hey, I know you liked Hearthome, but there's a lot more to see in Sinnoh, you know? We'll be back here eventually."

Vivillon still looks a bit forlorn, but he faces the rest of us without looking behind him, at least.

"Right," I say, clapping my hands. "I haven't made any progress on those new moves for you, Glaceon," and my first Pokémon's face falls slightly, "but give me a few days. I think we'll have a teacher or a TM for Shadow Ball fairly soon."

"Today, we'll be working on something new that you did during the tag battle tournament, Glaceon. Do you remember what it was?"

She racks her brain for a few seconds before shaking her head and making a questioning sound. "Well, it was pretty spur of the moment, so I don't blame you. Remember when Barry's Prinplup used Surf, and you created a bubble of ice to protect yourself?"

Understanding flickers across her face. "We're going to test out everything we can with that."

Normally, I wouldn't bother with the defensive possibilities of Ice-type moves, considering they are, in a word, nonexistent. However, I did want to see how far I can push this freezing moisture in the air technique, and it's worth spending some time on, considering I don't have anything better to work with Glaceon on.

"Let's start from where you left off in the battle, Glaceon," I instruct. "You can't do anything from inside the bubble, so throw a Water Pulse in the air and freeze the water when it hits you."

We all watch the orb of water as it goes up, then down. Glaceon freezes it as the water breaks apart over her, so she's covered in ice.

It kind of worked, I think. Glaceon's wearing something of an ancient Greek or Roman helmet, the one that covers your head and cheeks, but leaves most of your face exposed. Her back has a pretty solid covering of ice, as do the outside of her legs. Her sides are covered to a degree, with the top half being solid and the bottom being icicles. I go for a closer inspection.

"Can you feel anything?" I ask, knocking on the ice with my knuckles. It doesn't crack under my blows, and Glaceon slowly shakes her head. I duck under to check her belly, and while it has a much thinner coating, I suppose that she wouldn't let that area be hit in the first place.

I wonder if people tested ancient armor as extensively as they do bulletproof vests and such now, or if they simply assumed it would work. Luckily, we don't have any monetary costs associated.

"Absol, back up and use Razor Wind on Glaceon." My Pokémon all look at me sharply, and I wave off their concerns. "I want to see how this holds up against actual attacks. Plus, I've got healing ready, so don't worry."

The Dark-type nods, and we all step backwards several paces. Absol creates two tornadoes and swings his horn through them, sending blades of wind screaming towards Glaceon, who lowers her head. The ice armor cracks, sending icicles clattering to the ground, but it maintains its integrity for the most part. Even though Razor Wind scores a direct hit, Glaceon remains unmarked.

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"You still feel fine?" I call out, and when Glaceon slowly nods, I give the go ahead for Absol to use Razor Wind again.

This time, Razor Wind batters the ice armor to the point it finally shatters and falls off in pieces. I move in with a potion in hand, but Glaceon still doesn't have any cuts for me to heal. "Razor Wind really did no damage?" I question her incredulously, because it sounds way good to be true.

Glaceon's quick to refute me. I revise my theory on it accordingly. "So, you still felt the impact of the attacks, but most of the sting was taken out of them?"

Interesting. "Armor yourself again, Glaceon. We have a lot of testing to do."

It's excruciatingly slow, going through Absol's movepool one attack at a time but there's a point to this methodicalness. Not only am I learning about the ice armor, I'm also evaluating my Pokémon and their moves for how they might stack up in the appeals phase of a contest.

Which still isn't going well, in all honesty. I understand at least the appeal should be a showcase of your Pokémon's skill, how well you've raised them, and other such qualities. You should use moves that reflect that, and that create a spectacle that the audience enjoys.

Of course, what the audience enjoys may differ from town to town, as well. Thinking like that, it makes sense that Ursula wants to rush over there to get a sense of Solaceon Town's culture, but I have a feeling it's going to be pretty similar to what we've been seeing on Route 209.

In theory, I should be able to do it. Actually putting it all together is something else entirely. Trying to come up with an appeal is giving me a headache, and a newfound appreciation for how difficult contests actually are.

Absol's moves look good, but would they translate into appeals? Megahorn looks striking and powerful whenever he uses it, with how his horn extends and crackles with energy, but it's not that rare of a move as it was back in the day when only Heracross could use it. Plenty of Pokémon can use Megahorn. Nidoking, Seaking, Rapidash, and Rhydon, for example, none of which are Bug-types. I don't think I'll get many points for uniqueness.

Quick Attack, Pursuit, Knock Off, and Dark Pulse sort of have the same issue. They don't really have that wow factor. You'd expect a fast and powerful Dark-type to be able to use these types of moves.

Swords Dance does showcase a lot of skill when using it, but whenever I've seen it in contests, it's been combined with something, like a Pokémon flying in the air, which we can't really replicate.

Detect is cool, yes, but again, what am I supposed to do to show it off? Go find a paintball gun somewhere and fire away? A Dark-type knowing a Psychic-type move like Psycho Cut isn't something you see every day, how can I showcase it in the form of an appeal? Set up a bunch of logs and bricks for Absol to cut in half, kind of like people learning martial arts do?

We'll keep that one on the back burner. If only psychic could cut through steel, then we'd really have something. If this was a double performance, I could combine Razor Wind and Snatch to make Absol some sort of mischievous or evil wind spirit, who spirited things off from unsuspecting people, that a plucky Pokémon would have to overcome.

I spit out the foul taste created in my mouth by that idea. I'd rather bow out in last place than perpetuate the stereotypes that Absol has for the sake of an appeal. There's nothing bad natured about my intelligent, kindhearted Dark-type.

We test out Dark Pulse last, and surprisingly, the ice armor holds against two of those, as well. We've only been using physical moves for the most part. I wave at Vivillon, who still seems somewhat distracted. "Use Pollen Puff on Glaceon," I direct, before turning to Bellossom.

Absol's Dark Pulse certainly isn't weak, but let's see what a much more practiced ranged attacker can do. "You're up next," I tell my Grass-type, as Vivillon scatters his healing pollen on Glaceon, causing her to sneeze, but also look up gratefully.

Bellossom takes Absol's place as the Dark-type moves out of the way. Glaceon armors herself once again, and now it's time to repeat the whole process. "Magical Leaf!"

The attack clatters off the armor, cracking it in spots, as I consider Bellossom's moves in a contest setting. Magical Leaf is standard for a lot of Grass-types, as are things such as Stun Spore, Sweet Scent, and Growth. I don't think using Sweet Scent to enchant the judges into picking me is going to work, as we're fairly deep into the contest circuit and some coordinators have really started to make their mark.

There's a part of me that wants a midground move, to cover up the hole in between Petal Dance and Magical Leaf. A move that has solid power without the drawbacks of Petal Dance. Energy Ball checks all of those boxes, but a part of me wants Bellossom to know Giga Drain, so she can use her supportive moves freely, and be able to heal while still attacking, as opposed to using Moonlight.

It also combines extremely well with Quiver Dance, with the combination of increased offenses, defenses, and healing turning Bellossom into something of a draintank, where she can heal through any hit, while still dishing out some pretty decent damage.

Of course, there's also Solarbeam to consider, since we already can use Sunny Day, to ensure that it doesn't have any charge up time. Solarbeam is also a must have for Charmeleon/Charizard, so there's added incentive to get started on that.

I have to interrupt my train of thought to feed Glaceon a Cheri Berry when Stun Spore still paralyzes her through the ice armor. It was expected though, since her face isn't covered up.

Moonblast is fairly pretty to look at, especially when it explodes and leaves behind a bunch of quivering sparkles. It's really powerful, though. Like Absol's Megahorn, it shatters Glaceon's ice armor in one blow as opposed to two.

Is using a powerful move the best way to portray a cute Pokémon, or is it an unexpected contrast? Petal Dance has the same issue, and while Bellossom's way of manipulating the petals is unique, I feel like it might get old after a few times. There's only so many shapes and pictures you can draw before the people start wanting something new.

Still, I mentally jot it down. Maybe I can work some combination of Quiver Dance, Petal Dance, Moonlight, and Moonblast to create an appeal. There's only a couple of moves left to test in Bellossom's arsenal, and I've been waiting for this one.

"Sunny Day, Bellossom. Let's see how this ice armor stands up to a super-effective attack." Glaceon braces herself for the incoming Fire-type Weather Ball, and for good reason, because it melts the armor right off in a cloud of steam, and blasts Glaceon back several feet.

I run over to check on her, and then call for another Pollen Puff from Vivillon, handing Glaceon a Sitrus Berry as well. She chews on it as I voice my thoughts. "I could call Charmeleon over to have him try Metal Claw, but I think we'll get a similar result. It won't really protect you from an attack that your typing is weak against, but it's not a bad defense against regular hits."

Obviously, I've considered using Glaceon for the upcoming contest as well, but I've mostly ruled her out for a few reasons. One because Ursula's shown our water into ice trick before at a contest, and two because she might do that ice sculpting appeal with Masquerain she demonstrated all the way back in Eterna for the Solaceon Contest, and how would that look?

If I went first, I might accidentally have stolen her appeal, and if she went first, I'd be plagiarizing from her.

Better to save it as the ultimate last resort, if I really cannot come up with anything else.

There's nothing else in Glaceon's movepool that really strikes me as getting a contest crowd excited. We don't have anything flashy like Mirror Coat or Iron Tail, in our repertoire.

"I'm sure you've had enough of getting hit with attacks," I say to Glaceon. "You wanna let someone else be on the receiving end now?" Sure, the ice armor doesn't strike fear in anyone's heart now, but maybe with some spikes and horns, Glaceon could be a real threat if she charged into you.

My Pokémon doesn't seem all that enthused by the idea, voicing her opinion about how this isn't going to work well. I raise an eyebrow. "What, you don't think it's going to be effective?"

Glaceon decides to show me, to better make her argument. I quickly find out the problem as soon as I command a basic Tackle.

All this time, I've had her standing still. Glaceon is much slower carrying all that extra weight from the ice armor. Not to mention her natural movements are impaired by the ice around her joints. I guess that's the tradeoff you make when you wear armor; mobility and speed versus having strong protection.

"Can you use Quick Attack?" I ask, hoping that the speed boost might negate the extra weight. Glaceon tries, but she can't even get into a proper run. She just sort of shuffles around.

"Alright, enough," I say, frowning. "Cycle through your ranged attacks. See if you can use those normally. Absol, can you be a target? You can use Detect to dodge them all, I only want to see if Glaceon is able to attack properly when she's encased in ice like she is now."

My Dark-type nods once, and Glaceon waits for him to get a gleam in his eye, signifying Detect is active before launching Icy Wind, then Water Pulse, then Flash Frost, with some time in between each one.

Those three are as powerful as they normally are, but there are still some issues. Glaceon's movement being impaired means she can't really turn her head or her body to redirect Icy Wind as Absol moves to dodge it. She also can't bring her head back in the usual motion she does to throw out Water Pulse.

I'm pretty sure Absol has not had to use Detect once to dodge any of Glaceon's attacks, with how clunky they are. I run my hand through my hair, mildly frustrated, because this might have all been a waste of time. "Can you use Ice Shard, at least?" That attack involves Glaceon freezing the air around her into crystals and launching them forward, which should not be impacted by her lack of mobility.

Glaceon's armor shatters into shards, all of which hang in the air for a second before the fragments of ice are launched forward with frightening speed. This time, Absol has to use Detect to react in time, and he flattens himself to the ground as all the projectiles whiz over his head.

"That's probably the best Ice Shard I've seen from you," I compliment, impressed with the attack, and the rest of my Pokémon agree.

There's one last thing I want to try, based on one of the Pokédex entries for Glaceon, and what we've been doing ever since we started to work on Ice Shard. "Can you freeze the air around you to make the armor, Glaceon?"

She tries, but instead of being coated in ice like I envisioned, she instead freezes all of her fur so that she looks like a prickly porcupine. It might be a nasty surprise for an enemy Pokémon trying to use Tackle or Body Slam, and it won't hurt her speed any, but I don't have any illusions about this technique's inability to stave off most attacks.

"I don't have anything else I want to experiment with," I tell Glaceon, who relaxes. Her fur is still sticking out in every direction like a sea urchin, but the ice in it will eventually melt, because her normal body temperature is still well above freezing.

"So, what's your opinion on it, Glaceon? Is it useful? Useless? Somewhere in between?" I make a thumbs up for useful, thumbs down for useless, and I hold my handout in front of me and shake back and forth for in between.

Glaceon considers for a while. I prompt her to make her thoughts known. "You don't have to sugarcoat it. Of everyone here, you should know the best that my ideas can be hit or miss."

Eventually she shakes her paw, indicating that she picks the third option.

"You know, that seems about right," I think out loud. "It's clearly not something that we can use all the time, but being able to weather one powerful attack can be valuable. I don't know what that situation will be, but I don't think we'll regret having gone through all this training. If I say 'armor' that's the code for this technique, yeah? You'll probably have to use Water Pulse on the ground and let it splash over you."

One more thought comes to mind. "Maybe in snow or hail we can have the best of both worlds. You'll be able to craft and constantly replenish a much thinner coat of armor, and retain all your speed."

Picking up a second weather for Glaceon isn't a bad option, since Rain Dance isn't even the most optimal for her, and that worked really well. More food for thought.

I gather my team around me and issue some well-deserved praise. "Anyways, I want to thank everyone for their patience today, and how hard we've been working recently. I know training like this can sometimes be boring and monotonous, but I can tell every day that we're improving. I think the results speak for themselves as well."

As I call for one more Pollen Puff to make everyone leave the training feeling good, I realize one thing I haven't done today is consider Vivillon for my partner in the contest, which is rather unfair. It wasn't his fault that we had to bail out Barry's Heracross in the battle against Brock and Wendy, and I thought he performed well, even in front of a large crowd.

Most of Vivillon's moves are pretty standard for a Pokémon like him, but there is one combo that I do want to try out. "Vivillon, can you use Flash right now?" I ask, as he continues to scatter scales and spores onto my other three Pokémon.

Vivillon sighs and nods, before glowing pure white and flashing like a camera. The luminous burst reflects off all the particles in the air with the pollen glowing like fireflies and the scales twinkling like stars.

This was exactly what I was looking for! It has that wow factor, and it's really appealing to look at. The only problem is that it's a little bit too eye-catching. I hazard a look backward and Ursula is staring at us with narrowed eyes.

First though, let me deal with what's right in front of me. "Do you need to go back to Hearthome, Vivillon?"

That certainly gets his attention, and Vivillon quickly shakes his head no. After a couple of seconds of me looking at him, he droops.

"Listen," I tell him carefully. "I'm not sure what you're missing from there, but I want you to go back there until you're feeling better. I don't like seeing you like this." It feels like the old bad days, pre-evolution, where he was morose about everything.

He still looks hesitant, so I give him another push. "I'll be waiting on you. Because I know you're strong, and you'll find your way back."

It takes some more encouragement, from Glaceon and Bellossom in particular, before Vivillon decides to finally fly away. My heart's a bit heavy, but I know I'll see him again soon.

Now it's time for the more difficult conversation, and by the way Ursula's glaring at me, I'm pretty sure she won't let slide. I do my best to pretend like nothing is wrong, recalling my Pokémon and helping prepare dinner. After a ominously silent meal though, Ursula confronts me.

She doesn't waste any time. "What was that?" Ursula asks me, a tad aggressively.

"Can you be a little more specific?" I stall, buying time while I figure out what to say. Should I tell her it was an accident? Say it was a celebration for a good training session? Try and convince her that I'm trying to incorporate contest techniques in my battle style? The last one isn't a total lie.

Ursula isn't having any of it. "Do not obfuscate. I saw you perform a contest appeal just now. What is the meaning of this?" she elaborates, jabbing a finger at my chest.

Maybe being found out is a good thing. I ought to come clean, then considering there's more point in me deflecting and lying about it, because it seems more and more likely, now that I've gotten started on an appeal, that I'll be among the coordinators, despite being an imposter.

The actual coordinator of our group is still waiting impatiently for me to reply. "Right. Uh. Funny story about that, actually. I'm entering the Solaceon Contest! Surprise!"

I throw my hands in the air, wave them back and forth, and include a wink in my best attempt to make it humorous, but Ursula's stone faced expression tells me she doesn't find it funny at all.

My wink quickly turns into me holding one eye closed, because I'm expecting Ursula to go full Typhlosion and use Eruption right about now. However, she remains eerily silent.

Lucas and I look at each other, confused, as Ursula walks away and starts gathering her things and shoving them uncaringly into her bag.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Nothing at all," Ursula says, though the tone of her voice indicates that something is very wrong. "I am simply leaving."

What a drama queen. "Oh, come on." I can't help the words bursting out of my mouth. "Are you serious right now?"

Ursula sneers at me. "I refuse to stay and break bread with an enemy, and that's all you are at this point." She continues to pack her things, apparently determined to make good on her little threat.

"This is ridiculous," I tell her bluntly. "You're going to storm off after all this time? Does entering one contest make me a rival now?" She's making me really angry right now. I expected her to get mad and sulk even more than she had been since the Hearthome Contest, but this level of temper tantrum? It's childish and petulant, is what it is.

She's also getting more and more irate with every second. "Well, what else would you have me do! You've clearly been holding me back this whole time!"

I can scarcely believe what I'm hearing. "Are you really that deluded?" I ask incredulously. There's no friendly banter in my words or hers. We're both taking potshots, and we're aiming to hurt. "Give me one good example of me holding you back in the time I've known you." I flash my Pokétch watch at her. "I'm waiting."

"Gladly," she seethes. "You cost me the Hearthome contest. You sabotaged me, making sure I would have an appeal that wouldn't get me through, so I'd fail! And now you're entering the contest when I'm at my lowest to humiliate me even more! I'm not going to stand for it. You're nothing but a liar, and a sabotager, and an exploiter, spying on me all this time in preparation for this very moment."

"But be assured, it's not going to work," she continues angrily. "In fact, I welcome you to participate in this contest. You'll get exposed so badly that you will never want to compete in a contest ever again!"

I could have said a hundred things, like how I had no intentions of entering another contest than this one, how I wasn't expecting to win or even do well, and that this whole thing was suggested by Fantina, and I wouldn't have dreamed of entering otherwise.

That's not what comes out of my mouth. "As if I needed to sabotage you. Have you ever considered that the reason that you don't do well is because you aren't any good?"

Ursula huffs furiously before grabbing the rest of her stuff, not even bothering to pack everything in her bag. She leaves without another word, tent poles under one arm, and her bag hanging off one shoulder.

She doesn't look back once, and it's not even thirty seconds after she's disappeared that I want to take back every word that I said. Yes, she was being ridiculous, but she's also a teenager with a fragile ego coming off a devastating defeat for something that she's poured her heart and soul into.

I may not look it, but I am an adult mentally. I should be above getting into and escalating a petty argument like that. But it's far too late now. Pulling my hand over my face, I look over at my remaining companion, who's been watching slightly in shock, judging by how his mouth is hanging open.

There's a long silence before Lucas breaks it. "Well. That could have gone better," he says.

I snort despite everything. Understatement of the century.