After so much excitement, some of it good, and some of it extremely bad, it's finally time for the real spectacle to begin.

It's risky, but with that deranged bomber in jail, Wallace inside the arena, and Cynthia and Crasher Wake outside, and this place absolutely crawling with police and security, I do feel rather safe.

Honestly, I'm more worried for every coordinator who's from here in Sinnoh. Wallace is not looking to give up his ribbon so easily to one of us. He's got quite some talent behind him, to represent the region.

Ursula told me a long time ago that Hoenn and Sinnoh are the contest regions.

Which explains why Hoenn is bringing its best. Standouts include some dude named Robert, who's apparently Wallace's disciple, with his own Milotic to boot. Drew, May's flower-wielding rival, is here as well. May herself is almost certainly a top contender.

The worst of them is probably the dude dressed up like a Cacturne, but you gotta have some mad confidence if you're going to dress like that.

Thankfully, Nando's wandering ways have brought him here. Him and Zoey are probably our best two shots and winning this thing for Sinnoh. We'll see if Dawn can redeem herself after two extremely rough performances in Hearthome City and Solaceon Town. Ursula's really improved after she started taking some personal responsibility for her failings. Had she not, I don't think she would have stood a chance here, even if we're up to sixteen trainers in the battle stage instead of eight.

We've got a couple of total wildcards like Ash and Jessie in the mix as well. Who knows what appeals they've managed to cook up.

Then there's the battlefield. It's essentially all water other than a semicircle in front of where the trainers stand; that means no floating platforms, and no central pillar. If your Pokémon can't swim or fly, it's gonna have a hard time.

My mind is drawn back to what Fantina said at the double battle contest she created. So many people brought Pokémon that naturally worked well together, but it was the coordinators who surprised us with their combinations that stood out.

I get the sense it's going to be similar here. Wallace gets things started off in style. It's appropriate, for a man like him.

His Milotic shoots up from the water, surrounded by a thin curtain of it, before it sings with Disarming Voice to burst the water into ones of fairy sparkles and rain drops. I whistle as Milotic then uses Waterfall to create a towering Water Spout, which is promptly cut in half with a Dragon Tail.

I can hear Wallace's fangirls, of which there are many, all of them wearing his iconic white beret, screaming from all around the arena, but a look at Lucas confirms that this is the tip of the iceberg, in terms of Wallace's contest prowess.

"He showed way more against Cynthia in their showmatch," my best friend confides to me.

"Can you quit rubbing it in," I huff, leaning back into my seat with a pout. "I was busy doing the region a great service, bringing that lunatic to justice."

"I'm sorry," Lucas says. "It was just so exciting. TV is one thing, but seeing them live was another. Even if it didn't really end up technically being a battle."

Trust me, I know. I watched the replay, and it ended up being more like an escalation of what each of them could do, showing off Pokémon's control and power and finesse, and all the moves they could use.

Basically, a big warning to people that are trying to mess with the region, to show what's waiting for them if they do. A shame it won't make Cyrus waver one iota.

I don't really want to bring up my own match with Cynthia, back in Eterna City. Not only because it was so thoroughly overmatched. But also because I feel like that was the first moment where I inadvertently put the pressure on Glaceon, like I was implying that she one day needed to be able to beat Cynthia's Garchomp.

Her condition is stable, enough to be moved to a normal bed instead of an incubator tube, though she's still in a cocoon of warm blankets.

Stable doesn't mean she's woken up yet. As bad as this has been, if I don't find the right words to say I might totally shatter her confidence, even if her health returns.

And then where would we be?

Once this Wallace Cup is over, that's probably going to have to get most of my attention. As well as fixing whatever has Bellossom and Charmeleon angry at each other. At least I've got some ideas for that issue.

For now, let's try and enjoy the calm before the storm, as the sailors around here would say.

Since Wallace showed us a fraction of his power, the first person to follow him needs to be absolutely fearless. They need to have unwavering confidence in themselves. As well as a complete apathy to failing, the willingness to always get back up.

I think you know who's coming up. I'll let the announcer take it away.

"Introducing our first Wallace Cup contestant, the Floaroma Town Contest winner, Jessilina!"

Jessie is as she always is, dressed in her country bumpkin outfit, blowing kisses and winking at what I assume she believes to be her adoring fans. Something is slightly off, though. She's filling out her outfit rather well.

There's a lot of buffets around town, including the one I went to and they took all the food from. I'm sure they made the most of the all-you-can-eat part, considering they eat like a Snorlax. The self-proclaimed brightest star in the coordinator sky sends out her Pokémon in a shower of flowers.

It's a bright green and red dragonfly, hovering above the water arena with its nearly translucent wings. I didn't know Jessie had a Yanma.

"Use Silver Wind!" she orders, as her Pokémon attacks the water, kicking up some stormy waves. Yanma takes a minute to compose itself when Jessie calls for Air Slash, sending out a massive scythe of wind to slice the waves in half, leaving the shimmering dust from Silver Wind sparkling across the top of the water.

"Now, for all my loyal fans who've traveled from so far away to see me!" Jessie proclaims, still under the delusion that she's a megastar, "We've been saving this move just for you! Yanma, Ancient Power!"

Lucas and I stare at each other, both taken aback. Does Jessie know what happens to a Yanma that uses Ancient Power?

Almost certainly not.

James apparently didn't think to mention it, since she's as stunned as we are, when Yanma lights up like a beacon after using the move, growing far larger and stronger, and much more menacing. She's too surprised to give her new Yanmega a command, but her Pokémon takes it upon itself to descent and hover right over the center of the water arena, vibrating its wings so powerfully that the sound of the buzzing alone is enough to create two tidal waves on either side that crash back into the ocean.

Wild, raucous cheering jolts Jessie out of her stupor, as she loudly announces that her appeal went exactly as planned. Obviously, that's not the case, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. It's very early on, but I think she has a pretty good chance of making it to the knockouts, even against all of this tough competition.

Jessie didn't take advantage of the water map features, but I'm finally seeing what Ash was talking about, in terms of having cameras and speakers underwater. The images from the camera are plastered up on the jumbotron, for all to see, while all the coordinators have been mic'd up, so they can communicate with their Pokémon no matter where it goes.

Many a coordinator following Jessie makes use of them, some of the sending out fish or other sea inhabiting Pokémon like Remoraid and Seaking and Lanturn and Wailmer that couldn't be normally used in a contest.

Some are more creative than others. Savannah, a coordinator from Hoenn that gives off huge soccer mom energy, sends her Azumarill to the bottom of the arena, and puts on a underwater concert with Belly Drum, each thump sending reverberations in the water, before demonstrating Azumarill's newfound power with moves like Bounce, Waterfall, and Ice Spinner.

Emily, the coordinator girl with the Galarian Weezing who finished runner up in Floaroma Town, manages to create a simulation of a volcanic eruption, with a combination of Rock Tomb, Earth Power, and Scald for the fire, even creating a little island that she turns green with Ingrain.

They gotta destroy her little volcanic island, sadly, though it does give us a pause so I can catch my breath. "I'm glad they had this over a few days instead of one. Gives time for people to do a full, proper appeal."

"The Croagunk festival is a local holiday," Lucas informs me thoughtfully, "and it's scheduled for right after this. People can still get a day off even if they commit their whole weekend to attending. But that's tournament organizers, for you. These guys are professionals."

"Anyways," he continues. "How goes your research on water battling? Are you ready for Crasher Wake? His leadership was pretty impressive while I was with him in the Great Marsh, as well as the strength of his Floatzel."

"I'm light-years ahead of where I was," I say honestly, considering I barely had any experience coming in. "I know how he's going to array his battlefield, and I have a pretty good idea of some of the Pokémon he's going to use." Freeze-dry really would have put me over the top, but if Glaceon can recover by the time the battle rolls around, I think I'm in an okay spot.

Of course, a couple more inspirations or ideas from watching these coordinators wouldn't hurt, either. After a vaguely familiar circus master performs with his Sealeo, and a young lad who needs a bit more practice with his Tentacool's Confuse Ray, it's time for Ash to show us what he's got.

He could use Staravia or Vibrava, but he chooses Buizel instead. Probably twerp logic, that Buizel was Dawn's old Pokémon, and he never got a chance to participate in a contest.

Whatever the reason, Ash leads off with Iron Tail, with Buizel slamming it powerfully into the water to create two identical waves, perfect for surfing. That's just what the weasel Pokémon does, zipping onto them with Aqua Jet. He soars off them and does something flashy, like using Water Gun while cartwheeling, or flaring his flotation sac, before jetting onto the other one, like a skateboarder would do.

The crowd is whooping and cheering for Buizel every time, but these waves are going to crash into each other and this act is going to have to come to an end. Ash and Buizel know it. Buizel spins his propellor of a tail and sends Sonic Booms in rapid succession into the water, the force of the shockwaves keeping him aloft, even as the waves crash into each other. He then does an olympic worthy dive into the water, before shooting out to join Ash on stage, to massive applause.

Honestly, well done. Really well done. Wallace, who's actually giving real analysis, as opposed to the three stooges- sorry, I mean judges, next to him, praises Ash for staying true to his roots as a trainer and showing off Buizel's impressive battle skills.

"You know," Lucas comments, "with there only being one major contest after this one, you can really see the progress and the polish of these coordinators. Good thing, so we can match up against what Hoenn is bringing."

Ah, so he sees and feels the rivalry as well. "Dawn really needs to have a big showing then," I muse aloud as we watch a coordinator from Hoenn perform with her Lanturn. "She doesn't need to win, necessarily, but her turnaround from the last two times we saw her needs to start today."

There's still time to fight for your five ribbons, but the competition is much fiercer at contests like these. This is a much better measuring stick to see where you stand.

After a cocky dude in a pilot outfit performs with his Pelipper, and a woman with her Lunatone tries to show us the cycles of the moon, the Cacturne man gets his chance to wow us.

Not with a Cacturne, though his Pokémon is equally scary and ugly. Do Huntail's eyes even work? They look identical to the spots on its body.

Regardless, it hasn't bumped into the walls of the arena pool yet. Despite its white spots and orange fins, I'm beginning to lose track of it on the jumbotron, even though Cacturne man has barely begun his appeal.

Surely this is bad, right? That's why Dawn got penalized so heavily in Solaceon Town. All of her flashy move combos made Ambipom totally disappear.

Huntail is gone, by this point. All I see is the blue of the water-

I jump in my seat and send my popcorn flying as Huntail reemerges, lunging at us with its jaws unhinged while using Scary Face to appear ten times bigger than it is, so it seems like we're being swallowed whole by a sea monster.

When the image fades, Huntail is nowhere to be seen. "He's using Feint Attack to hide," Lucas whispers to me, also looking like he's trying to steel himself in preparation for the jumpscare.

It doesn't work, of course, because this time, Huntail uses Double Team to make it look like we're being swarmed by a whole pack of it. It uses Aqua Tail in a circle to dissipate all its clones, before biting down on it. The Water-type's tail is shaped like a fish, so when it bites down in it with Ice Fang, it creates a medium-sized ice fish that floats up to the surface, since it's less dense than water.

Obviously, it's going to chomp on this thing, but it's the how that is the intrigue. Huntail retreats to the very floor of the arena, coiling itself to gain power, before it shoots straight up with Waterfall.

It crunches down on the ice fish, but Huntail isn't done. It uses Bounce to soar high in the air for several moments, showing off with one more Scary Face, before the snakelike fish drops back into the water to disappear again, with nary a splash or a trace that it had ever been there.

Alright, Cacturne man from Hoenn. I take back what I thought about you. You've got some talent.

I'd be nervous to go after him, but the Hoenn people around me are whispering that Robert, the next contestant, is their top pick to win it all. I wonder if all of Wallace's fangirls will love him for having a Milotic, or call him a cheap imitation for the same reason. He's wearing a suit and tie, funnily enough. All business, this guy.

We'll have to find out another time. For now, his Claydol parks itself center stage, hovering high above the water.

"Stone Edge!" is Robert's first command. White rings appear around Claydol that materialize into pointed rocks. Weirdly enough, they look like lumps of coal. Not exactly Instead of firing them off though, Claydol holds them in place. "Now, Nasty Plot!" A dark cloud appears over Claydol's head before it's sucked inside. Robert repeats that process twice more before issuing his next attack.

"Psychic!"

A blue psychic power takes hold of all the rocks, squeezing and compressing them with all the power Claydol has accrued. Is this guy trying to create diamonds out of rocks? It sounds absurd, but with the amount of psychic pressure Claydol is putting on these things…

They're actually glowing. It's not long until they're not black pieces of coal, and instead misshapen, different colored diamonds. Robert is about to fix that flaw, too.

"Sandstorm and Rapid Spin!" Claydol's spinning sands wear down and cut the newly created diamonds until their gleaming gems.

"Earth Power, then Dazzling Gleam!"

Claydol glows brown for a second, making water shoot up from the pool, which is perfect for Robert's finale. Dazzling Gleam sends a ray of light through all the diamond and water droplets, sending rainbows in every direction.

This guy is insanely skilled. He completely wiped the Cacturne man from my mind with his performance. Even if he didn't throw the diamonds into the crowd. I'd have taken one, despite them being fake.

Now I really feel bad for the people who are going after him. Some of them aren't half-bad, like the contest coordinator Randy, showing off his farm Pokémon once again, this time his Gogoat, which can use Surf. Masked man from Hoenn in a magician's outfit doing some ghostly tricks with his Dusclops is alright too, but nothing really stands out.

Maybe the next coordinator has a better chance of impressing me. Get it? Maybe? Because it's May?

…Alright, I admit that wasn't my best. In any case, I like her outfit. She looks like a belly dancer, with her veiled headdress, cut off top, and long, flowy skirt.

She's certainly brimming with confidence, despite so many impressive appeals having already gone, as she throws out her Pokéball. "Glaceon, take the stage!"

I can feel Lucas looking at me, so I turn to him. "Got something to say?" I challenge him.

He doesn't take the bait, even-keeled as he is. "I was wondering how you were doing, that's all." He nods down at May's Glaceon not that I need confirmation on why he might suddenly be concerned.

"I've already told you," I reply, crossing my arms, and sitting back with a huff. "I'm not some delicate vase that needs to be protected. I visit and check up on her every time I can. She'll wake up in a few days, and then we can put all this behind us. I'm happy to see May perform with her Glaceon. Why wouldn't I be?! Perhaps I'll get an idea that we can use!"

"You don't sound like someone who's totally fine with everything that's going on in her life," Lucas comments softly.

Normally, Lucas is one of the few people that I'm comfortable spilling many of the thoughts that I keep locked away, but not this time. "The only reason I'm frustrated is because May stole my thunder," I lie through my teeth. "Now I can't even enter a contest with Glaceon, because everyone will say I'm copying her."

He doesn't call me out on that statement, thankfully, instead turning his attention back to the stage, where May is about to get started. I get out my notepad.

Clearly, recent events have demonstrated that I'm not an expert regarding Glaceon. But I can tell right away that I'm not going to write down much, considering May's Glaceon is newly evolved. Her Pokémon's move pool is very Eevee-esque.

Neither of May's first two moves are Ice-type ones. Swift is first, sending a swirl of stars into the air, followed by several Shadow Balls.

Am I jealous that they're using Shadow Ball so effortlessly? Of course not! Quit asking me stupid questions.

Obviously, a Ghost-type move and a Normal-Type move won't react to each other at all, so May needs a catalyst. Again, it's not an Ice-type move.

"Alluring Voice!" Her Glaceon sings as if it's been a part of a church choir, the heavenly sound piercing through their previous attacks to create showers of different colored sparks, not unlike fireworks.

I guess a Fairy-type move wouldn't be a bad thing to have, to surprise Fighting-types with. I'm not sure it would swing our matchup against them, though. I think I'm probably better off switching to Charmeleon or even Bellossom, with her array of status moves, considering not using Glaceon against Maylene ended up a correct decision.

"Ice Shard!" May commands, jarring me out of my thoughts. It's not our advanced version. May's Glaceon simply shoots a bunch of ice crystals straight out its mouth, into the air, and uses Double Kick to shatter them as they fall back down, giving the impression of Glaceon dancing in the snow.

They haven't used the pool yet, but that's May and her Glaceon's next move. I'm almost a hundred percent sure that they learned Iron Tail from Pikachu and Ash, but they use it differently. Instead of bashing it as hard as they can into the middle of the pool, May and Glaceon aim it at an angle, so it rebounds straight at them.

"Mirror Coat!" Glaceon doesn't back down, shining as if made of glass, forcing the wave the other direction twice as fast. It crashes on the other side with frightening force, but I think what they wanted was the after image.

Icy Wind doesn't have the power to freeze the entire pool, thankfully, because they'd have to thaw it out after, but the polar winds frost it over enough to make it look like a beautiful landscape portrait. They both get a very generous amount of applause, as well as extremely kind words from the judges, and they reminded me of a certain move that's available to Glaceon.

We might actually be able to get a surprise knockout with Mirror Coat, flipping the script on one of Glaceon's poor matchups. I really want to try it out with our armor, because then we might be able to take a more powerful attack, like Hydro Pump, and send that back.

My furious notetaking comes to a halt, not because I'm out of ink or paper, but because there's no point in brainstorming any further until my Pokémon gets better.

May was pretty impressive, though. Let's see if her green-haired, rose-carrying, stylish and suave rival Drew, a few coordinators after her, can measure up. He has a Gorebyss, which means all we need is someone with a Relicanth, and Wallace can feel right at home.

Odds of that are super low, though. Gorebyss is a lot prettier than its deepsea counterpart Huntail, despite both evolving from Clamperl. You'd think that would make it more suitable for contests.

Certainly seems that way, even though Cacturne Man put on a good show. I feel like Wallace is over there having a flashback while he views Drew's first few moves, using Iron Defense followed by Refresh and Aqua Ring to make Gorebyss's bright pink scales shine and stand out despite being at the bottom of the pool, where there's the least light.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

It certainly gets his fangirls' approval. Drew has his own dedicated group, an island of rose-waving girls amongst the ocean of white beret ones in the crowd.

Gorebyss then uses Supersonic, to create rings of water in the pool, that it promptly races through after using Agility.

Drew and Gorebyss's penultimate move is to send out two streams of Hydro Pump, which is impressive by itself, considering Hydro Pump trades power for control, and then using Psychic to curve them into a heart. Gorebyss transfers its psychic hold to ensure the heart isn't going anywhere, so they can fill up the empty space with water. It pulsates a couple of times, before Drew commands Gorebyss to shatter it with Signal Beam, creating a multi-colored light display.

All his fangirls must be swooning. Another great performance, but I frown as the next coordinator, an older man from Hoenn, sends out his Dewgong, and starts out by making it look elegant.

"Is it just me, or are some of these appeals kinda similar?" I ask Lucas.

He's frowning too. "I'm sure you realized after working with Basculin so extensively, that fish Pokémon in general don't have a ton of variety in their moves. They'll obviously be great with water, and decent with ice, but after that? One speciality."

Lucas starts listing them off to make his point. "Seaking with its powerful horn, to the point it can use Megahorn. Lanturn being able to use electricity. Huntail with its ambush tactics. Gorebyss with its psychic power." He stares at Dewgong, trying to figure out what it brings to the table other than moves of its typing.

This coordinator isn't giving us much to work with. The following guy has a Linoone that can use Surf, which is a lot more exciting. What Lucas is saying makes sense, though. "It's about differentiating yourself," I realize. "Showing off those unique characteristics that your Pokémon has compared to others."

I wonder what Basculin's unique characteristic is. Bashing his head against things at top speed, and then wanting to do it again?

Good thing Wallace is here, with his mastery of Water-types. Dewgong man gets a mediocre smattering of applause, Linoone guy gets a big hand, but then it's polite again, for a girl and her Ducklett after him, which does leave the door open for Ursula to wow them.

Not that she has a fish Pokémon, or even a Water-type, with Surskit having evolved so long ago. Masquerain's water, ice, and flying-type move combos are pretty similar to what we've seen. Helioptile's a decent backup, with him loving the water so much.

I don't think Gabite has learned to swim in the past few days, and her Meowth, like many a housecat, avoids water like it's the plague, not to mention it would be his first time ever performing in a contest.

In any case, she's ditched the Barbie doll look, hopefully permanently, instead wearing what appears to be a fiery colored, Paldean-style Flamenco dancer dress. That should have been our hint, but both our jaws drop as she throws out her Pokéball. "Growlithe, it's showtime!"

"She's insane," Lucas says, covering his hand with his face.

"Can Growlithe swim?" I ask curiously. He is a dog, after all. Arcanine is a tiger dog, I guess, but I'm pretty sure tigers can swim.

"No," Lucas replies firmly, shaking his head. "He's heavier than a normal Growlithe. He'll sink like a rock!"

She must have something cooked up. Having a ultra-rare Hisuian Pokémon has definitely got the crowd's attention, especially coupled with the first Fire or Rock-type Pokémon we're seeing today.

Growlithe, isolated as he was in the Platinum Village, with hardly any other Pokémon, or people that knew a single thing about Pokémon, has become a bit of a sponge here in modern times, picking up moves left and right. Agility from Porygon2, for example, which is Ursula's first move.

The pool probably takes up seventy-five percent of the actual battlefield. Regardless, Growlithe races around on the little semicircle of land they're afforded. She has him use the move three times, until he's a little red blur of a Pokémon. Growlithe comes to halt, standing at attention for Ursula's next command.

"Sunny Day!" A ball of light is sent skywards, and then Growlithe starts backing up, past where Ursula is standing, almost all the way back to the tunnel.

The anticipation is palpable. People around me are clenching their seatrests, but it still seems absurd. Can he really jump over this whole pool?!

Ursula sure thinks so. Either Growlithe is going to fly, or this is going to be a colossal belly flop.

"Flame Charge!"

Growlithe surrounds himself in flames, racing forwards. His coordinator makes way so that not a single step is wasted, so that all his momentum and speed can be transferred into this one jump. He launches himself into the sky in a ball of fire, looking like a comet streaking through the sky, without any semblance of fear.

Of course, there are lifeguards on hand, but this is craziness nonetheless. If they can't hit their apex at the actual midway point of the pool, then they won't have the momentum to fall on to the other piece of land.

At this point, it doesn't seem like they will. That extra weight from this not being a normal Growlithe might come back to haunt Ursula and her Pokémon.

But she's seeing the same thing I'm seeing, even with her rather unhelpful point of view. "Flamethrower!"

If Flame Charge was the initial fuel to get this rocket launched, Flamethrower is the afterburner. Normally, Growlithe's newly-learned Flamethrower isn't close to what Charmeleon can put out, but with the sun behind it, it has just enough power to get Growlithe to the apex before he begins his descent.

Ooooh, actually, I don't know. If my eyes are right, he's going to be a couple of inches short. It would still be impressive, but having to scramble back onto the land would really take away from this appeal. Does Ursula realize? Her face is utterly calm.

She waits, and waits, and waits, until Growlithe can probably smell the water until she gives her command. "Roar!" The loud sudden sound sends a wave in one direction, while giving Growlithe the extra jolt he needed to make sure he would stick the landing, not a hair getting wet.

He finishes with Morning Sun, glowing on the outside, as well as on the inside, I'm sure, because that was an incredible feat. Ursula gets as much praise from the judges and the audience as any of the top performers we've seen today.

She's really starting to come into her own. With her performance, we finally start to wind down on the appeals stage. A local lady performs with her Mantine, not really standing out from the pack. A fellow from Hoenn tries to show off his dance routine with his Lombre, but he unfortunately left his Water Stone in his luggage.

Nando eventually performs, and while he disappoints me by not bringing out the cutest Pokémon ever Sprigatito, his Alolan Raichu puts on quite the show, delighting the crowd by surfing around on a treacherous whirlpool of water and electricity, by using Psychic to spin the waters.

It's frankly astounding how many moves this thing knows. Raichu starts singing with Alluring Voice as well, while surfing, to add in Nando's signature, and Lucas and I both agree that we'll be seeing our bard friend perform in the knockout stages.

Zoey is not long after him, and while me and her have had our personal issues, I can't deny how talented she is. Lucas and I both lean forward as she steps onto the stage, in a bright baby-blue tailored suit.

"Lumineon, curtains!" She's going to show us her own fish Pokémon, it seems. Like the Lanturn and Gorebyss before it, Lumineon is able to show itself off in the pool, the lighter blue portions of its wings lighting up with a bioluminescence as it swims in the water.

"What's this Pokémon's unique feature?" I ask, not knowing much about it, other than its Storm Drain ability, that lets it suck in Water-type moves.

"Its fins are like wings," Lucas points out to me. "Lumineon is capable of using several Flying-type moves."

"Twister!" And wind-based moves in general, apparently. Lumineon's first move is to create a towering funnel of water that we can see starting from the bottom of the pool, but growing to be quite wide at the top.

"Now, Silver Wind!" Lumineon hits its own twister with the attack, turning it from a simple water tower to one that has bands of silver running around it.

"Aerial Ace!" Zoey's fish does a flip, before launching into the high speed attack, though instead of hitting the twister, it goes along for the ride, climbing the spiraling tower.

"I think it needs the speed to match the fast twister currents," Lucas murmurs to me softly, as we watch Lumineon race to the top. It flares its wings to their fullest when it gets there.

"Blizzard!" Lumineon's Blizzard is really weak, but with its wings pumping air behind it, it's enough to ice up their silver twister. They let it stand there for one second before knocking it down. It's how they do so, that I don't expect.

"Scald!" It's a total reversal from an Ice-type move to using Scald, but Zoey and Lumineon pull it off, melting the tower and creating a cloud of steam that quickly covers the whole battlefield.

There's a glow coming from its center, though we can't make out Lumineon itself. Zoey is quick to rectify that. "Defog!"

In an instant the entire cloud is blown away, revealing that Lumineon has lit up like it's about to evolve.

Or like a camera. Some people turn away to avoid the Flash, but the fish dives underwater to use it, and down there, all we get are the beautiful patterns of its fins illuminated against the darkness, as it gracefully swims.

Zoey bows, as her fish comes back to the surface to do a backflip, and I can't help but match the raucous applause of the crowd. She is good. Really, really good.

Only three more coordinators left. The first is a vaguely familiar man in a samurai costume, putting on a fantastic display of swordsmanship with his Kabutops. I feel like I've seen him before.

When I ask Lucas, he takes a couple of minutes to think about it. "In Solaceon Town. He was Ursula's first opponent, before you. Ryoma, I think his name was."

That's a samurai name if I've ever heard one. After he finishes, a girl Dawn's age, who seems a bit out of her depth, if I'm being honest, considering her Clefairy is trying to make this appeal work with Metronome alone.

They actually pull Rain Dance and Surf for their first two moves, but they can't chain it to anything else, and their house of cards quickly collapses.

Now for the last coordinator of the day. Dawn looks super-nervous, in her pink protagonist skirt, to the point she trips over her own two feet and almost falls down as she's running out there. Must be rough to see all these performances, some of them having been outstanding, while you're waiting for your turn.

After a couple of deep breaths to compose herself, Dawn's ready to begin. "Ambipom, spotlight!"

"Ambipom again," Lucas says, watching his childhood friend compete. "She's really out for redemption, then."

"It's a true test of how far she's come, especially going last and seeing everyone before her. Dawn needs to keep her composure and not go overboard, trying to reach for some standard she's set for herself. There's no redemption if she messes up again."

Lucas seems impressed. "You should be an analyst."

"Or a judge. The two of us surely could be better than these guys."

He snorts. "You really don't like them, huh?"

Hell naw! This isn't Nurse Joy's day job, sure, but what do the red suit guy and the bald short guy do exactly, other than regurgitate the same useless one liners?

That's an issue for another day. "Ambipom, Swift!" Dawn is really picking up where she left off. However, things are different today. Ambipom doesn't flood the entire battlefield with swift, instead sending out a much more manageable number of gold stars, letting them bounce off each other and the psychic barriers, leaving rainbow trails in their wake.

"Fling!" Ambipom grabs two of them out of the air, charging with darkness so they grow way larger and pitch black, and throws those into the mix. Every time a dark star hits a normal one, the normal one explodes into a shower of golden dust, until there are only dark stars flying around the arena.

Ambipom leaps onto one for a ride. Using its two tail hands, the Normal-type puts on an acrobatic show, cartwheeling, somersaulting, and flipping back and forth, from one star to the next, all without touching the water.

"Double Hit!" Dawn commands. Ambipom has eventually circled back around to the side Dawn is on, though there's quite some water in between. Its tails glow purple and it smashes into the star, launching itself high into the air.

"Focus Punch!" Using gravity and all that momentum, when Ambipom comes down, it comes down with incredible force, channeling all that energy into its attack and forcing it underground, to whether the pool water erupts in response.

The dark stars are all washed away, leaving a fine mist in the air. I can see Dawn deliberating for a second, but she ends her appeal right there, posing with her Pokémon.

It was very fun. It showed off Ambipom really well. And Dawn understood her limits. I hope she makes it through.

Normally, this is where we take a break before the battles, but the announcer declares that there were so many fantastic appeals that the judges are going to need hours to deliberate. She declares that the results will be posted sometime tonight, and for the coordinators and us the audience to enjoy the rest of the day.

Can't argue with that. We meet up with Ursula outside the stadium. "You're nuts," I tell her, straight to her face.

"I was planning to appeal with Masquerain," she admits to us. "But I saw the way things were going, how some many people would have similar appeals, and the quality of the coordinators here, and I had to pivot."

"What about the dress?" I question, picking suspiciously at one of its gaudy frills. "You wouldn't have worn this if you were doing a water-based appeal with Masquerain."

She bats my hand away. "I pack more than one dress before a contest. Now that I have options, I need to be prepared for anything."

":So the whole thing was spontaneous? You never tested that move before today?" Lucas asks incredulously.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Ursula hedges, as we start walking back to the Pokémon Center, the one on the shores of Lake Valor, since the Pastoria center has been at full capacity since we got here. "The contest field dimensions are standardized, even if this one had water. SO we could test how much air distance Growlithe has. I think the run up was just a bit shorter, because we had to account for staying in the camera's view the whole time."

"What?" she says, when we both remain silent.

"Nothing," Lucas replies after a moment.

"You come a really long way," I elaborate. "We couldn't imagine you doing that a few months ago."

She preens for several moments like a peacock, effusively praising herself before coming down to earth. "You two deserve some of the credit. It's amazing how possibilities open up when there's not this fear of failure weighing you down."

"So now what?" Lucas asks. "Dinner? I skipped lunch. The arena food was even more overpriced than usual."

Ursula agrees to that, but I hesitate. "You two go ahead. I'm going to…"

"We know," Ursula cuts in, full of understanding.

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

After taking the long walk back to Lake Valor, I head back to the place where I've been spending a few hours every night.

"Hey, girl," I murmur, scratching Glaceon behind the ears. As usual, I get no response, but there's some small comfort in talking to her while she's slumbering so deeply. "Just got back from the concert. Ursula did really well. There was another Glaceon there too. I'd like you to meet them. It's the first time we've run into your kind in our travels. She could show you Mirror Coat, if you want."

It's hard to hold a conversation like this, but I do my best. "The egg is doing well. Moving every day now, it feels like. I've taken it out of the incubator, and wrapped it in a bunch of towels. Hopefully, you're awake to see it hatch. It's supposed to be a magical moment."

"If we're lucky that is. We've tried Chesto Berries, and Lum Berries, and Aromatherapy, and Heal Bell, but you're a stubborn one. I signed the paperwork to import some super special medication all the way from Johto. I guess shipping is why it's taking so long."

"Everyone is assuring me that it's going to work, but I can't tell you more than that. They're super secretive, for some reason."

"In the meantime, there are a couple of things we can try. There are a bunch of frogs around here, if we need them to kiss you. They're poisonous though, so I don't know how that's going to work."

"To be honest, I have no idea how that story goes. I know it involves a princess, and while I'm certainly not one…" I lean over and kiss her on the head, though nothing happens.

It was worth a shot. I rub her back, feeling more than a bit drowsy myself. "Hang in there, Glaceon" I say, between yawns. "You're going to be all better soon."

Zzzzzzz…

I'm jolted out of nodding off by the sound of someone smacking into something at full speed. At first I think it's Barry, even though I haven't seen the blonde blur since he ran off in Hearthome City, but it's a different thickheaded boy instead.

"What's got you in such a rush?" I ask Ash.

HIs eyes are wide open, darting from side to side. Pikachu seems the same way.

"Have you seen anyone?!" he asks in a rush, before his eyes fall on the bundle on the bed. "Oh, I'm really sorry. You've been in here the whole time. Is she doing any better?"

"Yes," I tell him, after debating with myself for a second. "Her vitals are all strong, the nurses tell me, and her body temperature is back to normal." I lift up one of Glaceon's legs and let it fall back to the bed with a soft thump, to demonstrate the problem. "She expended so much energy that she hasn't woken up yet, is all."

"She will," he tells me confidently. "Pikachu here has been in really rough shape more than a few times," he says, scratching his mouse under its chin. "The nurses and doctors and Pokémon who work at the Pokémon Centers are amazing."

"I know," I say softly, changing the subject. "But what's got you running into walls?"

He sheepishly rubs his head. "Ah, we saw something funky in the lake a few minutes ago."

"What, a fish?"

"No!" Ash insists, a bit too loudly, before he lowers his tone. "I mean, I guess it could have been a fish. But it was only the outline, and it had two tails. And it could fly? It came right out of the lake, glowing, circled around, and then flew away!"

He can tell by my face that I know what it is. "You saw Azelf, Ash. The Spirit of Willpower, and the legendary guardian of the lake. It must have seen something in you, and that's why it revealed itself.

I can't help but let a hint of jealousy creep into my voice. I've been out here, struggling, against Team Galactic and Hunter J's poachers and mad bombers, all with the specter of Giratina looming. I know I'm not particularly special, but don't I have some willpower?

Not compared to Ash, in the eyes of Azelf. "What does it mean?" he asks me.

I shrug. "Means you have incredible willpower, and Azelf is recognizing that. I'd ask someone from Sinnoh, though. Dawn saw Mesprit in Lake Verity, and Lucas is from Twinleaf Town, right by there. If you ever run into Cynthia, she'll talk your ear off about regional legends and mythology."

"Next time I run into her, I'll be sure to tell her!" Ash declares. "But anyways, have a good night. We're all hoping Glaceon gets better soon, too."

"Thank you," I say in response to his kind words. Ash closes the door behind him, and leaves me with Glaceon and my thoughts. You'd think that thoughts of legendary Pokémon and the fate of the world would prevent me from sleeping, but that image of Azelf circling above the lake is what sticks in my head, and sends me to bed.

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

I blink my eyes open to Lucas, who's shaking my shoulder gently. "It's morning, Luna. The results from the first round are about to be announced."

"The lady said they'd announce them last night?" I say groggily, rearranging the blankets so they cocoon Glaceon after I get out of bed.

"They must have wanted everyone to get a good night's sleep," Lucas replies.

Ash and Dawn are high–fiving, for good reason. They both made it through, as did a host of other familiar faces. The sleep is quickly learned from my brain as I take in the screen. Ursula is through, as is Zoey, Nando, and Jessie.

But there's an equally formidable lineup on the other side. Robert and Drew and Cacturne man and a few other impressive Hoenn trainers, like the soccer mom with her Azumarill, are through to the next round as well.

When they put up the matchups for the battle phase, it becomes really apparent. If you exclude Jessie and Ash, we've got seven from Hoenn, and seven from Sinnoh. And the supposed random bracket generator has put out six Hoenn versus Sinnoh matchups in the first round.

It's an epic, inter region showdown for the ages. I can't wait.