"And here are our magnificent Coordinators who have reached the next round!"
Marian threw her hand up to gesture at a screen held aloft over the field, where headshots from the thirty two progressing contestants were displayed for all to see.
My eyes quickly scanned the board to ensure we made it in. As Robin was the only one wearing a mask, it took no time at all for me to identify our presence.
I let out the breath I was holding and sent a big smile to where Altaria and Dedenne were waiting nearby. With only the performance rounds happening today, I had returned to my room directly after my performance to let my entire team hang out at once. With this victory, that choice was definitely worth it.
"Great job, you two! Your performance was great, and clearly the judges recognized that as well!"
Dedenne, sitting on top of Altaria’s head, let out a relieved cheer as the rest of my team moved around the pair. He was almost sent tumbling off when Altaria cocked his head to the side, but a quick grab of Altaria’s feathers—which resulted in a surprised squawk—kept him on top.
I was glad they managed to impress Fantina. Her comments from last time had worried me that we would never succeed at that. Dedenne and Altaria’s teamwork was much better this time around; the time spent training together back at the ranch made sure of that.
As my team cheered, I went to analyze who was present on the rest of the board.
Dawn had made it in, obviously, but so had both Zoey and Kenny. Jessilina's purple pigtails stuck out like a sore thumb, too. That was everyone I had met personally, but next to the disguised Team Rocket member, there was another Coordinator that caught my attention.
Out of all of Dawn's rivals in the region, there was only a single one I hadn’t actually met just yet. Like me, he was competing in both Contests and Gym Battles, and in the anime, it was actually him that convinced Zoey to set aside her prejudice against people doing both.
His name was Nando, and he was a man dressed in a long flowing cloak and a wide brimmed hat. He was a self-proclaimed bard that was a big proponent for involving music in his performances, and I had a faint memory of him using song-based Pokémon like both Kriketune and Altaria on his team.
In his case, his Altaria actually sung. I still preferred my Altaria’s squawks and screams over that.
"Looks like there's another trainer with an Altaria on his team competing," I commented, eyeing Nando.
Altaria's head snapped away from where he was just nuzzling the cheerful Togepi. I pointed out Nando for him, and Altaria narrowed his eyes. I couldn't help but to chuckle.
"There’s no need to look so determined. We don't know if we're even going to fight him yet. Even then, we already planned on bringing Mawile and Whimsicott over, so you two were going to go—"
Dedenne interrupted my comment by nimbly doing a front flip off of Altaria and perfectly landing on his back two feet. Togepi cheered excitedly while Florges softly clapped. Dedenne then hit his chest and locked his eyes with mine.
I understood what he was trying to say.
"So, you want to compete in the first round, too?" I asked.
Dedenne gave me a firm nod in response. Behind him, Altaria was in agreement.
"I’ll send a message about delaying Whimsicott and Mawile,” I said. “You two will need to owe them one in exchange. This will shift my planned combinations back, but I can still make everything work if you pull off a victory. You understand that everyone will be relying on you to win, right?”
The pair of them gave me a firm nod. I smiled and stood up.
“Alright!” I exclaimed. “We have until tomorrow to get you two ready. No time like the present, let’s make sure all of your practice has kept you up to par.”
As I said that, the screen behind me suddenly flashed to display who each Coordinator would be facing. Altaria suddenly stiffened, and I turned around to see why.
"Hm. Looks like you might have your wish, after all" I said to Altaria. "We're going to be facing Nando in the first round.”
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With the Grand Festival taking up less time for the performance rounds than the Wallace Cup, I actually had all afternoon to prepare. Dedenne and Altaria had already been practicing battling in Contests together back in Sycamore’s ranch, so there wasn’t anything that needed to be done. We mostly just discussed strategy and had Florges and Ninetales ensure the two of them were fully ready to fight in the Grand Festival before calling it there.
It didn’t make sense to exhaust my team members before the matches actually began. Both of them still needed to rest after their performance today, so I left them in my hotel room to let them sleep while I headed out on my own.
Unlike how I usually went out, I actually changed up what I was wearing to try something new. Rather than going in disguise, I was going in costume; that meant Robin would be making their first appearance out on the streets. They’d only ever shown up as part of Contests before now, after all.
I threw on my gloves, put on Robin’s raised shoes, then also got dressed in a freshly purchased sweatshirt and a spare set of pants to make it so I didn’t need to wear the full Robin getup. I purposefully made it so every part of me was disguised like usual, but I also wanted to keep this casual.
Now that the performance round had passed, however, the entire resort was essentially partying since two-thirds of the festival competitors had already been eliminated. For me, it would be genuinely crushing to spend so long gathering up five ribbons only to be eliminated before the actual battle rounds.
Many Coordinators might call it here. A good portion already had. However, for the ones that would make something of themselves, those ones recognized what they needed to do and were more motivated than ever to keep going.
As I stepped out of the Pokémon Center, I was met with streets even more packed than before, and crowds even more excited than when the Grand Festival first started. The city was awash with bright colors and joyous music to celebrate the people who had tried, competed, and were unfortunately eliminated. I could already see several eliminated contestants lingering around and talking cheerfully with people who came up to them. A few of them were taking pictures.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get much time at all to look around. The moment I left the Pokémon Center, and I really meant the moment, I was swarmed by a crowd. It started with a few reporters moving up to me, shouting out Robin’s name, only for the people around them to hear who they were shouting at for them to rush me.
Thankfully, there was still a small section of personal space, but I was shouted at from all angles by people desperately trying to get Robin to answer their questions or sign their items. My head felt like it was spinning, and I couldn’t lock on to even one individual at a time. I made a mistake thinking this would be a simple, fun trip. Robin was a memorable coordinator with how obscuring their outfit was. Considering the mystique of never appearing outside of the Contests themselves, people here were desperate to make the most of this extremely rare appearance.
I don’t know how long I was stuck there like that, but eventually, I was saved. In an act of true mercy, a commanding voice shouted out to get people to move away. With someone finally taking a role of authority, people started to actually move back and behave in a far less chaotic manner.
Zoey stepped in front of me, much to the delight of all the Contest fans here. They followed her orders easily enough since her presence actually made it so some of their requests might actually be fulfilled.
Personally, I was thankful that I had time to breathe. No one had been physically touching me, but it felt like I was trapped in a tight space. I regretted leaving the comfort of my Pokémon back in my room.
We answered a few quick questions, signed a few offered items, and shook a few people’s hands. Once enough of the crowd had been satisfied, Zoey started to move forward.
"Sorry, but we have a meeting scheduled with some friends," she lied. "Can't stay here too long, y'know?"
A bit apologetically, the crowd parted enough to let us get by. We walked past them to properly enter the streets of the resort, moving with a speed that spoke of a destination. Zoey stuck by my side to engage in conversation, and with us quickly moving down the road while talking, no one else approached.
“So,” Zoey said.
“So,” I replied.
"I watched your match with Candice.”
I nodded, half acknowledging what she said, half just purposefully gesturing to ensure the people around us knew we were talking. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened before, and with my mask on, it was hard to tell when my mouth was moving.
"I really thought Candice had won," Zoey continued. "That Sheer Cold at the end looked like it fainted Altaria at first, but then he just pulled through anyway."
Zoey sighed, then stared blankly ahead at nothing in particular.
"I'll be honest, Ale— I mean, Robin. I feel like I'm falling behind."
My head slightly shifted back in surprise, especially when I considered where we were currently. This was the Grand Festival, the same place Zoey had become a Top Coordinator in the anime! If I wasn’t here, she would have been on the path to winning the entire tournament
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"What makes you say that?" I asked.
"I basically grew up with Candice, and we shared a dream of being the very best. I would be a Top Coordinator, and Candice would be the Champion." Zoey sighed. "And now there's Dawn, whose Pokémon have become practically masters at performing in less than a year. There’s you, who I don't even need to explain. And then there’s Nando, who's as good as some of the best despite splitting his time between Gym Battles and Contests.
“I don’t even need to mention just how far Candice has pulled ahead of me after witnessing that show battle. That match she had with you... I don't think I could ever pull off the same."
Zoey paused to watch a few people try out a “test your strength” machine that was set up in the booth on the side of the road. It looked to be one of the same brand Azumarill had tried way back in Hoenn, complete with ranks ranging from Magikarp to Machamp. The memory made me smile as I watched people fail to earn the grand prize. It would have been fun to bring her out here to let her win another giant plush at one of these festivals.
"I think you need to stop worrying about how others are performing and focus on how well you're doing on your own.” I said. “You’re a good Coordinator. Just because you think others are ahead of you, doesn’t mean they actually are.”
"You say that, and I know that, but I can't help but to be relieved I'm not fighting Dawn just yet. Her team is..."
"Far more powerful than I would have thought."
Zoey nodded. I had to agree.
Dawn was at a whole different level than she was in the anime. Between the skill her Pokémon displayed in battle and her current access to Mega Evolution, I would say that she could honestly fight on par with Ash.
"All this aside, I didn't fetch you just to rant about my nerves. It helped, but that wasn't my purpose here."
Zoey turned around to face me on the road. She pointed at my chest dramatically.
"Next season, I'm taking on the Sinnoh League!"
If I had been walking, I would have stumbled in my steps.
"What? I thought you were only going to compete in Contests!"
Zoey turned around to keep walking, and I moved to catch up.
"Yeah. But you're doing the same thing, basically. If you have a focus on Gyms while competing in Contests, why can’t I have a focus on Contests while battling in Gyms?"
"You got me there."
"Dawn has been through so much. I talk to her, and she tells me stories of all these things she's been through. Like her fight with Hunter J, for example. I know you were there, but she fought off that bounty hunter multiple times. This is what I mean when I say I'm falling behind! I don't have the experience she has! Doing Gym Battles is my way of getting the experience to catch up."
Zoey groaned in a way that was only partially frustrated. She seemed both impressed by her friend and annoyed at her own lack of progress.
"You know, comparing yourself to her like this isn’t going to help. For me, I've technically fought five different criminal organizations at this point."
Zoey paused to blink at me.
She then turned around to keep walking.
"My point still stands: I need the experience if I want to get anywhere with my Contest career, which is why I made this decision. I haven't told Dawn yet, but that's only because the Grand Festival hasn't truly begun. We have to get through the battle rounds, after all. I still plan to win this, I just know that I won’t give up, win or lose."
"You’re going to do just fine," I said.
"Same to you, uh, Robin," she replied.
As we continued to walk, our conversation petered off into meaningless small talk, but Zoey kept moving at a relatively fast pace. At first, I thought she was just staying along to keep the crowds away, but then I realized that the turns she was making on the streets were deliberate and planned.
My mind went back to the excuse she gave to let us escape from the crowd. Was that not a lie?
Soon enough, we stopped right outside a fancy restaurant.
"We're here," she said.
Zoey walked in, and I followed. I paused when I saw Dawn and several other competing Coordinators already sitting at a table.
"Zoey! And Robin! Glad you two could make it!" Dawn exclaimed.
Zoey chuckled and moved next to me to whisper something quietly.
“There was a meet and greet the night before the performance rounds. A few of us scheduled this, and I figured the oh-so ‘mysterious’ Robin might want to show up. I wasn’t wrong, was I?”
I sent her a look, and ended up nodding my head.
“Sounds fun. I wanted to get out of the room anyway, so this is a good way to relax with such stressful rounds soon to happen. Thanks for this.”
She patted me on the back before hurriedly moving to sit next to Dawn. I found an empty seat, myself, and the rest of the night was spent cheerfully hanging out with Coordinators of all types.
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"...and on the other side of the field, we have Nando, the bard!"
Marian, the announcer, finished introducing the two competing Coordinators as a second light flashed on to illuminate Nando. He was in his same outfit as always, and he held a small harp in his hands. His microphone was turned on just in time for him to give his instrument a small strum and for him to sing a short line.
"The music we make shall be as exciting as it is mysterious!"
I had the opportunity to respond to that, but I didn't.
I simply nodded at Nando respectfully as the announcer went over the rules, mostly for the audience's sake. The Grand Festival received a lot of viewers who didn't normally watch Contests, after all, so it was important to include it for them.
As the rules were explained, I stared at my opponent. For a first match, Nando would be a challenge, as I knew he had the potential to win it all. Zoey was his final opponent in the anime that he ultimately lost to, and it genuinely seemed like he would have won the festival if she hadn’t beaten him.
Out of all the Coordinators I had extra knowledge of, Nando was the one I knew the least about. Whatever he did, I had to be careful.
"Now, Coordinators, send out your Pokémon, and let the performance begin!" Marian declared.
Both Nando and I tossed forward two Pokéballs each, with him throwing a pair of basic red balls, while I threw a Fast Ball and a Love Ball. Dedenne appeared on the field next to Altaria, and across from them, Nando sent out the musical beetle, Kricketune, and the sunflower Pokémon, Sunflora.
Altaria's head dipped down slightly in disappointment. It seemed that Nando's own Altaria wasn't going to show up.
There was a moment given to let the competing Pokémon pose dramatically before a buzzer went off, and this battle began.
Nando strummed a set of notes on his harp to command his team. My Pokémon already had a basic strategy prepared. Dedenne jumped on Altaria’s back for the pair to enter the air while a combination move was launched right at them.
From Kricketune’s mouth, a large web was shot forward. The move, Sticky Web, normally wouldn’t affect either Pokémon at all since it served as an entry hazard more than anything else. However, following it up was a sharp, slicing Razor Leaf by Sunflora. Sharpened leaves zipped forward to slice apart the web, forcing Altaria to move to avoid the leaves, only to get covered in what was essentially a wide-ranged String Shot.
“Incredible! Nando’s Pokémon have managed to combine their moves to create a nigh-unavoidable slowing attack!” Marian called out.
My Pokémon’s points already ticked down significantly, but Dedenne slowed the decrease by running and climbing over Altaria’s body to remove the web. He grabbed each piece of cut, sticky string to zap it with Thunder Shock and singe it off of Altaria’s body. Nando technically lost some points, but only a sliver.
“Now, my Pokémon, it is time for a song,” he declared.
Nando held up a harp while his two Pokémon prepared themselves on the field. Altaira breathed out a Flamethrower at the two Pokémon, but each one was fast enough to leap away and begin their performance.
Sunflora held a leaf up to its mouth. Kricketune took a deep breath. Nando closed his eyes and strummed.
Between the three of them, a melodic lullaby rang out. Kricketune sang in a surprisingly deep voice while Sunflora blew on its leaf as if it were an instrument. The combined Sing and Grass Whistle echoed out over the battlefield in a sleep-causing spell.
“Cover your ears. Quickly!”
Dedenne rushed around to get to the top of Altaria’s head, where he pressed his ears down but also tried to use his paws to block Altaria’s. Unfortunately, while Dedenne seemed to resist the effects—for now—Altaria’s eyes grew heavy, and he started to drift lower towards the field.
Nando whispered his next order to not disrupt the performance. Sunflora’s Grass Whistle became the only one making any noise as Kricketune used its partner’s “solo” as an excuse to unleash an attack.
Altaria was moments away from falling asleep and listing towards the ground. Kricketune jumped into the air with its back legs, beetle wings flapping to increase its height. A powerful Night Slash swept through the air to slice across Altaria’s chest to finish the combo and deal critical damage. My Pokémon squawked at the attack as his drift was disrupted, flapping chaotically to try to maintain his pace.
Altaria just barely managed to right himself before he hit the ground. Dedenne let out a sigh of relief on his head.
With the end of that series of moves, my eyes flashed to the points board above us, and my heart almost stilled when I saw we already had less than a third of our points remaining. Nando was essentially still at full points, save for a few very slight reductions from small things here and there. He still had over nine tenths of his points, however.
I grit my teeth at that disadvantage. My Pokémon had basically allowed Nando’s moves to continue unabated, with only a single Flamethrower used to try to stop it. Dedenne had been forced to defend Altaria from the beginning when Altaria’s speed should have been enough.
We had been training to fight a Latios! Being caught by an offensive Sticky Web was embarrassing!
“Stop fooling around and get serious. I know what you can do, and a single move should be all that’s needed to finish this match.”
My words were harsh, but I had a point. Altaria sent an apologetic glance my way while Dedenne scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. This time, when Altaria took to the sky, he reached the same height significantly more quickly than before, and on his back, Dedenne set up a Rain Dance.
“Sunflora, show that a gleaming sun always appears after the rains!”
Sunflora’s yellow petals glowed with intense energy as a large, glowing sphere for Sunny Day formed in front of its face. It aimed its face upwards to shoot the sphere into the sky, but the move only got five feet up before being sliced in two by sharp winds.
Altaria may have been letting Dedenne’s Rain Dance bypass his Cloud Nine ability, but there was no way he was going to let his opponent’s Sunny Day do the same.
Nando lost a small chunk of his points from that failure—more than before, but still nowhere enough.
“Now, like we both planned and practiced. Draco Meteor.”
A mass of orange energy formed in Altaria’s mouth, appearing as a far denser and more brilliant sphere than the one Sunflora just tried to use. Sunflora sent forward a quick yellow twist of a Petal Blizzard to try to disrupt it, and Kricketune assisted by using Bug Buzz to propel it forward even faster.
A Thunder from Dedenne incinerated the petals before they got even close. The Draco Meteor was successfully launched up into the sky.
From within the rain clouds, a single orange pinprick of light glowed within. The heavy weather rained down onto the field as something massive shifted and fell. For a moment, the light disappeared, but then dozens of individual falling projectiles started to hurtle below.
Both Sunflora and Kricketune panicked and leapt back to avoid the move. The clouds from the rain helped obscure the origin of the attack while also making it look even cooler. As the Pokémon dealt with that below, Altaria then used Power Swap to shift the weakness from using Draco Meteor onto Dedenne, allowing him to use another Draco Meteor at full strength.
With such a constant onslaught of one the strongest Dragon Type moves in existence, Nando’s Pokémon suffered several direct hits. The skies rumbled and thundered from the meteors piercing down from above, creating a genuinely apocalyptic skyscape to threaten the pair on the ground.
“Finish this,” I ordered.
Altaria flapped once to increase his height ever so slightly more before tucking in his wings and diving down at the field. I checked the board to see where we stood only to see that the dual Draco Meteor had brought us basically neck and neck, though Nando was still in the lead.
“Kricketune, use X-Scissors, Sunflora, use Helping Hand,” Nando sung.
As Altaria hurtled towards the field just like the Draco Meteor before him, Kricketune moved to the front. Sunflora placed one of its leaf-hands on the bug’s back to infuse it with energy that caused Kricketune’s bladed arms to glow with even more intense energy.
Kricketune raised up its arms to meet Altaria head on. Unfortunately for it, Altaria had a defense, and that defense’s name was Dedenne.
“Do it.”
Altaria pulled up at the last moment to send Dedenne forward instead. The mouse lept off of Altaria’s head to purposefully take the attack head on, almost fainting but holding on with Endure.
The enhanced attack sent Dedenne flying backwards, which opened up the pair to one final move by Altaria. His speed sent him rushing above both Kricketune and Sunflora, where a flap of his wings brought him to a sudden stop right behind them, and a close-ranged Flamethrower encompassed their forms.
Since he was suffering from the weakness of Draco Meteor, the super effective attack actually wasn’t that damaging. However, since this was a Contest battle, the slickness of the move caused the buzzer to buzz.
I let out a sigh of relief as I looked over to the points, only to freeze when I saw what was displayed.
For a moment, it looked like both Nando and I had no points remaining, but with how Dedenne withstood the attack with Endure, I had just barely lasted with the smallest possible sliver keeping me in the game.
“And with an incredible upset, Robin manages to pull off a victory!”
The crowd cheered at the incredible battle, but I could hear a good portion of the audience sob at Nando’s loss. The bard let out a sad sigh then waved to the audience, a move that his two injured-but-conscious Pokémon mimicked.
Altaria landed next to the panting Dedenne to let Dedenne climb back onto his body. The pair moved to my side where my heart was pounding way too hard for only having been commanding this battle.
This was close. Far too close. Honestly, Nando’s Pokémon displayed far better teamwork than mine, and I wasn’t surprised we got so low. For a Contest battle, this felt more like the finals than anything else. Taking even the smallest aspect of these matches lightly would mean a quick loss.
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Dawn moved on. Zoey moved on. Kenny moved on. To my surprise, Jessilina also moved on.
Nando was the only person I recognized to be eliminated, which was a shame, because I was actually a mild fan of his. But when something was either him or me in a tournament-like setting, I wasn’t going to complain when the victor was me.
In terms of the next match-ups, I was fighting a trainer I didn’t recognize, but so were Zoey and Jessilina. However, my eyes lingered on one match-up in particular. I definitely didn’t remember anything of the like happening before, so it certainly caught my eye.
Dawn was set to match up with Kenny, her childhood rival, as part of the next set of matches that began tomorrow. Such a battle would certainly be a match to see.