Erissa came out with a spring in her step, waving at the crowd with a beaming white smile. Everyone cheered as she strolled to the center of the arena in her flashy get-up. Under that narrow conical cap, she sported a short ponytail of platinum blonde hair neatly clipped in place. Luvia ogled her with admiration.

  The girl was sixteen. Only two years older than herself.

  In her place, under those many eyes, Luvia thought she would have fainted from the stress. It had been different at the battle courts earlier that day. She had been angrier then. The crowd of twenty or so was still super intimidating, but not overwhelming enough to leave Mudkip out to dry. When they had started jeering at her, calling her (or Mudkip) an “idiot” for not getting to their side of the court quickly enough, it was game on.

  She was polite, she wasn’t a pushover.

  This, however… Thousands of people... It was decidedly daunting. Something she couldn’t picture herself doing on her best day. Especially not with Erissa’s confident strut.

  Luvia held Mida a little tighter, eyes unblinking and fully locked onto the 16-year-old performer.

  …

  Erissa slowed down as she reached halfway across the performance floor. Her smile dropped. Her face became expressionless and her eyes looked into empty space ahead of her, entering focus.

  The lights dimmed a few notches and the crowd’s applause and cheers quickly died down, becoming a simmer of murmurs, then finally – silence.

  …

  Luvia held her breath as Erissa pulled the cone hat off her head and held it upside down like an empty ice cream cone. The young coordinator reached at her waist with a hand and took out an oddly colored pokéball, looking like a glossy purple or blue from up where she was in the stands.

  The 16-year-old dropped the ball into the up-turned cone hat and let another smile play on her lips for a second. She raised the cone hat up, over her head like a torch and gracefully brought her other hand up until it was parallel to the ground, making an ‘L’ shape with both arms.

  She held the pose as the entire Contest Hall watched in silence.

  …

  The arena speakers hummed, coming to life with a single reverberating note.

  Music.

  The soft, long chords of a violin played eerily for a moment, as Erissa maintained her pose, as the crowd held its breath.

  Then suddenly, a loud percussion sound, and Erissa’s free hand flicked at the wrist and the arm shot up.

  The crowd collectively gasped when golden light burst forth from the cone hat above her head and blew out of it like brilliant, shining smoke.

  The piano kicked in, soft but quick notes as the golden neon smoke materialized into a pokémon above her.

  The sight burned itself into Luvia’s eyes. Into her brain. She forgot about absolutely everything at that point, watching as the familiar form of a Beautifly shone above Erissa.

  The crowd began cheering again, clapping loudly as Erissa flashed another smile, dropped the cone hat to the side and tucked her arms around her. She spun once on the ball of her foot and sprang open into a Y shape, both hands shooting back up right as a bright glow sparked high above the arena, slightly over Luvia’s eye-level.

  Beautifly let out an audible and long cry that was in pitch-perfect tune with the violin playing in the background. The golden smoke from the pokéball exit was fading now, but an even brighter light was building right above them both.

  It looked like tiny sparks rushing towards a point as if pulled by gravity, flaring as they accumulated and formed a steady glowing bright orange orb of light.

  The crowd let out another gasp followed immediately by a cheer.

  That’s an indoor Sunny Day! Luvia realized. She was almost squeezing onto Mida now.

  “Maahd!” Mida cried, but her little voice was drowned out by the cheering crowd.

  Erissa brought her arms back down and extended them to one side as she twirled in small circles around the center of the stage.

  Beautifly emulated her, fluttering its wings noiselessly to the piano’s gentle rhythm, floating in circles right below the bright light it had generated, surely with the move called Sunny Day.

  Another soft cry from the butterfly pokémon, and its wings started to drop a dense, silver powder from them.

  The glittering puffs floated gently down, but Beautifly did not let them out of its control. They began rotating around the pokémon as if attached to it with loose, invisible strings.

  For a good few seconds, Erissa and Beautifly rotated around the small but bright sun above them, clouds of silver shimmering and shining like thick clusters of stars.

  Then, Erissa stopped and dragged one foot in a wide arc across the chalky, brown floor, and swung an arm straight up in the direction of the tiny sun.

  Beautifly did not miss the cue, giving its wings a quick series of flutters that sent one of the glittering silver puffs rushing towards the shining orange orb.

  Silver Wind! The move had looked familiar, but she had never seen it being so delayed. Normally, pokémon threw out their attacks as quickly as possible – even in the contest battles she had seen on TV.

  She couldn’t believe she’d never seen a Beautifly do that before.

  The moment the rushing puff struck the sun, it burst into a confetti of embers that showered softly over the arena, dying out way before they reached the ground.

  As the crowd gave another gasp of wonder, Luvia and Neela shared a look across Nana, mouths completely open.

  She looked right back to the stage, where Erissa dragged her other foot in another arc toward the opposite direction and flung her other arm up, reaching toward the sun way above her.

  Beautifly let out another ringing whistle-like cry and fluttered along on its wings, sending another silver puff to the mock sun which became another gentle shower of embers.

  The crowd – Luvia included – cheered and clapped loudly now, drowning the music out, now that it became clear how the moves came together to make a spectacle.

  Amazing! Luvia was mesmerized. Seeing it in person, being in the crowd, being right there… right where it was happening… TV just couldn’t compare.

  The host-guy hadn’t been exaggerating after all. Erissa didn’t seem to Luvia like a girl just two years her senior. Heck, even Neela was fangirling for the 16-year-old.

  How much training did that take? What kind of training did that take?

  When the performance came to an end a couple of minutes later, Erissa received an ear-splitting cheer from the crowd. The noise and the image of the young coordinator panting lightly with a wide smile on her face, Beautifly perched elegantly atop the hand of her outstretched arm… Luvia would never forget that.

  There were another seven performances from amazingly talented coordinators, but the ones that Luvia enjoyed most were the very first one by Erissa and Beautifly, the fifth one by an 18-year-old girl called Jane and her Illumise, and the sixth one, right after, of another 18-year-old. A boy by the name of Calvin and his pair of Taillow.

  Jane and Illumise used a combination of three different moves to end their performance. The bug-type pokémon creating a miasmic fog made by playing with a Shadow Ball, poking at it with oddly glowing paws until it spread into a dark, ethereal mass that hung in the air like a nebulous cloud. Then filling the miasma with Sweet Scent, changing its color to a deep, rosy pink and finally using Bug Buzz to blow the miasma over the crowd.

  Most of the crowd panicked when the pink miasma wafted over them on the stands, but panic soon turned to relieved groans when everyone realized the sweet-smelling shadow ball miasma felt more like cold incense smoke than an attack.

  That performance got the biggest reaction from the pokémon in the audience too. Bincy and Ziggy got so excited that Mr. Juneworth almost recalled them into their balls. Mida stood up on Luvia’s lap, tail fin vibrating restlessly.

  It got the crowd laughing for a good while.

  The boy, Calvin, and the two Taillow switched up the tone from the other acts dramatically. The music had been mostly drums, aggressively fast-paced, with the Taillow flying in tight maneuvers around each other, using Quick Attacks to strike ball-shaped bells lobbed into the air by Calvin with flawless precision, making them ring loudly through the arena. They ended their act with a crazy and daring acrobatic display from Calvin himself, who leapt almost 20ft up in the air, lifting off the ground with a well-timed whirlwind from one Taillow as he jumped up (to the crowd’s complete dismay!), did one somersault at the peak of the jump, then landed back down safely with a last-second air-cushion gust from the other Taillow.

  After a collective gasp, the crowd cheered and whistled, giving him a standing ovation for the audacious show of trust in his pokémon.

  He’s crazy! Luvia thought.

  “Crazy!” she yelled at Nana and Neela over the loud cheers of the crowd.

  “Maahd! Maahd!”

  “Goodness me,” Nana laughed. “Bet his mother’ll give him a spanking after the show – I would!”

  Neela had a permanent grin on her face, pointing her camera at the arena for the twentieth time and snapping a photo of Calvin and both Taillow perched on both of his shoulders as he waved the crowd goodbye.

  There had been five-minute breaks between each act, so by the time all eight acts had ended it was over an hour into the show.

  The host, Derian Folde, addressed the crowd after the last act.

  “How about it, folks – did I deliver on my promise?” He held out his microphone toward the crowd, and the crowd whistled and cheered and clapped in response.

  “Well, we’re not done! The night is still young, and our young stars still have a few things left to show you!” The crowd cheered happily.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Derian Folde checked the watch on his wrist. “It’s 9:27 right now, folks. Now’s your chance to stretch your legs, get some drinks, grab a bite, do all you need to do – but make sure you’re back in your seats by 10-on-the-dot! You will not want to miss what’s next!”

  Luvia put Mudkip on the empty seat beside her, stretching her arms and legs, unable to stop smiling as members of the crowd started getting up and moving down from the stands.

  This was the best night ever.

  “Luvy, should we check out the shops?” Neela spoke loudly over the bustle of the crowd.

  “Hell yeah!”

  Neela smiled and leaned in toward Nana, lacing one arm under her grandmother’s. “Come too, Nana!”

  Nana gave a shake of her head, remaining in her seat with Ziggy whining right under her seat, but Neela pestered her until she agreed. Luvia leaned down to look Ziggy in the eyes.

  “Wanna come, Ziggy?” she asked the Zigzagoon. “Come?”

  Ziggy only offered her a quick wag of his tail before looking away.

  “Pfff…” Luvia left him there and picked up Mida from her seat.

  How could, in less than a week, Ziggy go from being, like, her best friend… to this?

  How mysterious. How weird. But, Whatever…

  He must have had his own obscure, Zigzagooney reason. It was still a tiny bit… heartbreaking? But Luvia felt she was almost at the point of indifference.

  “Girls!” Mr. Juneworth called, holding out a few notes which Neela snatched before he’d even finished his sentence. “Get your mother and I something with a twang!”

  Luvia poker-faced him. “Alcohol? …”

  Her father winked, pointing at her with a finger-gun.

  “I don’t have ID, Dad!”

  “Nana’s going with you!” said her mother, smiling cheekily. “Give that money to your grandmother, Neela!”

  “Pay me first!” Neela demanded, holding the money behind her back.

  Nana started chuckling. “Off we go, girlies, come on,” she said, pulling her granddaughters away.

  As they made their way around the huge, bustling reception area, looking from stall to stall, Luvia spotted the pink of a Hoppip. The green of the long leaves on its head. The hazel head of hair it was perching on.

  “Oh my god…” she muttered.

  Andrea had her back turned, standing by the counter of a stall with the name of Poffins & Muffins.

  “Neela,” Luvia said, pulling the sleeve of her sister’s blouse.

  “What?” Neela said, quickly looking in the direction Luvia was looking. “Ohhh – go say hi.” She gave Luvia little shove.

  “Hm?” Nana grunted. “Where’s she going?”

  “She’s going to see a friend, Nana,” Neela said as Luvia justled and adjusted Mida better in her arms. There were lots of people walking around so she felt like she had to carry the little one around or she’d disappear among the crowd.

  “Girlie’s made friends already?” Nana mumbled as Neela pulled her along to another stall.

  “Find us there, Luvy,” she said, pointing to an eye-catching shop with several Slateport branded clothing.

  “Alright, be right back!” Luvia felt genuine excitement seeing the mainland girl again.

  She walked up and gave her a tap on the back. “Andrea?”

  Both her and Hoppip whirled.

  “Heeeepuh!” Hoppip cried, giving an agitated shake of its leaves.

  “Gaaahd!” Mida cried back in Luvia’s arms, small voice near a growl.

  Both girls flinched, then Andrea quickly reached up and patted her Hoppip. “Luvia!”

  Luvia held her Mudkip tighter when the whining didn’t stop. “Relax, Mida… Easy.” She looked up at Hoppip, who didn’t look very happy either.

  Andrea patted it some more. “You too, Salia, it’s okay…”

  “What wrong – what’d I do?” Luvia asked.

  Andrea smiled and waved it off. “Nothing, she just doesn’t like it when people sneak up on me.”

  “Sneak up? I didn’t mean to…”

  “No, it’s fine, it’s fine! She just has a hard time telling the difference when someone is looking for a battle or just wants to talk, so she’s always a bit wary – it’s just how she is.”

  Hoppip seemed to relax, receiving those reassuring pats from her trainer, and Mida’s whining stopped too.

  Andrea beamed at the Mudkip. “Aww, and you have Mudkip out with you!” She leaned down and gave the little one a wave. “She’s sooo cute!”

  “Right,” Luvia agreed, smiling.

  “You know, I looked for you before the show began but I couldn’t see you anywhere,” said Andrea.

  “I was looking around too,” replied Luvia, feeling cozy. “I thought maybe you weren’t coming.”

  “And miss this?” Andrea said, giving her a frown that turned into a smile. “You saw the show, right? – wasn’t that girl called Ellie amazing? The one with Kecleon?”

  “All of them were,” Luvia said without an ounce of hesitation.

  Andrea giggled. “The only right answer.”

  “I loved Erissa and Beautifly though… oh, and what about that boy with the Taillow? Did you see how high up he went?!”

  Andrea gave a huff of disbelief. “I was cringing right as he landed! What an idiot! That was super dangerous! … but yeah, the Taillow were amazing.”

  Luvia wholeheartedly agreed. She had never seen anybody work with a Taillow like that. She knew wild pokémon, on average, couldn’t compare with trained ones. Trained ones evolved faster, lived longer, learned more moves, had access to healthcare… There was just no fair comparison.

  It got Luvia thinking… She had lived on the island with plenty of Taillow zipping around. She knew they were driven battlers and proud despite their small size. Maybe when she got back home, she’d catch one. She didn’t know they could make winds strong enough to literally hurl people into the air, but then again, she had never really seen any proper-trained Taillow before.

  “Did you and Hoppip come alone?”

  “No, my parents are here too,” Andrea said, glancing around. “They should be here somewhere.”

  Luvia nodded, looking around too for anyone who might fit the bill, then justled Mida up, feeling her heart beating faster, and decided to bite the bullet. “Hey, I kind of wanted to ask you some things…”

  Andrea’s lively brown eyes lit up. “What things?”

  Luvia leaned closer in and her voice lowered down automatically, feeling almost embarrassed. “You know how you said you wanted to go on a journey?”

  Andrea nodded, Hoppip’s leaves swaying. “Yup.”

  “Can you tell me more about that?”

  Andrea looked blank for a moment, which is exactly what Luvia expected. Being from Clearcloud Island, she had no reference or role model within her family as far as pokémon training went. Dad was the closest thing to it but calling Bincy or Ziggy “trained” felt like pushing the word to its limits. The Linoone and Zigzagoon were smart and cunning, and listened when you spoke to them, but that was about it.

  Neela had never really cared for training. She was happy just having a pokémon for company.

  Mom and Nana… pretty much the same.

  Luvia had been the one eager to take Ziggy everywhere. So, in fact, she was the closest thing to a trainer her family had.

  Her mother had never outright refused the idea that she could take Ziggy on a journey, but always said, “When you’re older.”

  The youngest Juneworth just never expected that she’d suddenly get the burning urge at fourteen. Getting Mudkip and being in the mainland teeming with trainers had brought her face to face with the possibility.

  “You want to go on a journey too – and you should!” Andrea said encouragingly. “But you really need to get your trainer license!”

  “Is that easy?”

  “You take the Trainer Exam – but it’s passable if you’re actually trying. You can retake it as many times as you want to as well, so if you fail one cut-off, there’s always the next.”

  Luvia had to lean in close to hear her over the bustle. She glanced back at the clothing store where Neela and Nana were and then back at Andrea. “Do you wanna sit somewhere? We’ll get back to the show before it starts again, promise!”

  To her joy and relief, Andrea didn’t hesitate to agree. “Sure! I’ll tell my parents first though, just so they don’t go looking for me.”

  Luvia nodded. “I’ll tell my family too!”

  The girls split off and Luvia went over to Neela and Nana who were trying on a couple of striped scarves. She told them she’d be with Andrea somewhere around the reception area and join them back at the stands before the show resumed.

  She waited at the Poffins & Muffins stall for a minute before Andrea returned and the two of them, along with Mudkip and Hoppip, made their way out of the reception landing to the lamp-lit compound outside where the tall pines swayed in a lukewarm breeze.

  “Meehd!”

  Mida was finally free to walk and hop about. Hoppip left her perch atop Andrea’s head and floated down to the Mudkip.

  “Miiihiiip!”

  The two pokémon appeared to get along now that Hoppip was sure no one was looking for a battle.

  “How long have you had her?” Luvia said.

  “Salia? About two years,” replied Andrea. “I caught her on a school trip. It was kind of funny, actually.”

  “How so?” Luvia was already impressed by the fact that she had caught her own pokémon. With the Clearcloud culture and the shortage of pokéballs on the island, she’d never really had a chance to catch one herself.

  “She was mega shy when I first saw her – and alone. Hoppip don’t normally do anything alone. I found out after catching her and taking her to a center that she had eaten some sleeping bait. Her group must have flown off to another area while she was busy sleeping through it.”

  “Really???” Luvia shook her head slowly. “And they just left her behind?”

  “Hehe, the Hoppip come and go, so I think she would have eventually found her group… But the school trip took us into one of the routes around my hometown, and I didn’t take her back there for more than a week after… By the time she saw her group again, we were already very attached to each other… At least I was…” Andrea giggled. “I think I guilt-tripped her into staying with me when she saw me shedding tears.”

  Luvia chuckled, then her eyes went down thoughtfully. “You know, Mudkip was also kinda left behind – they found her in an abandoned litter.”

  “No!” Andrea gasped. “You mean there were other Mudkip there?”

  Luvia paused for a second. “Yeah, I think so…”

  “I’d love a Mudkip!” the mainland girl squeaked. “How’d you end up getting one?”

  “A friend of my father’s… I’m not sure they have any left.”

  “Aww…” After looking slightly regretful, Andrea perked right back up and spoke all teacher-like. “If you’re also planning to go on a challenge journey, you need to have a few pokémon. You can’t just do it with one.”

  Luvia was paying full attention.

  “If you have only one, that’s called one-tricking, but that only works if you’re like super talented or a master trainer. The best strategy for beginners is to spend the first several months on building a well-balanced team.”

  Luvia nodded, eyes bright. This was the kind of stuff she wanted to know.

  “Doesn’t that get expensive though?” she asked.

  Andrea hummed. “It can, but you can always look for jobs from the job boards, and there’s lots of places that offer discounts to active trainers.”

  Luvia’s heart started thumping. The way Andrea was making it sound… She could start her journey tomorrow!

  Oh wait… the exam.

  “And the exam? Like how – when – … how do you take it?”

  Andrea chuckled, making Luvia grin at how over-eager she was sounding.

  “You’re really fired up, aren’t you!” Andrea smirked. “But if you’ve never done it before, you’ll need to prepare yourself thoroughly…” She eyed Luvia warmly for a moment.

  “You know, I could lend you my notes if you want?” she said. “There are four cut-offs a year. If you study really hard, you might be able to make the one in September, but you should probably aim for the one in December…”

  December… that was six months away.

  “You’d lend me your notes?”

  “Sure,” replied Andrea. “I like your vibe, and I don’t need them anymore, so…”

  Luvia wanted to accept, but…

  “Gee, that’s sweet, and I’d love it, but I’m leaving the city tomorrow, remember?”

  “What time are you leaving?”

  “Hmm, before midday – like 10 or 11am, I think…”

  Andrea snapped her fingers. “That’s fine! We can meet up tomorrow early, and I can give them to you then?”

  Luvia clasped her hands together. “You really would?”

  “Sure I would!” Andrea said with a giggle. “Don’t you believe me?”

  Luvia shook her head vehemently. “It’s just, we only met today…”

  “Yeah… It’s weird, but I feel like I can trust you. And since we’re both newbies, it would be nice to keep in touch. If you do end up taking the exam and becoming a trainer, let’s meet up some time, Luvia!”

  “For sure!”

  The second part of the show was choreographed battles. Coordinator faced off against coordinator, but blows did not land (they weren’t meant to). It was meant as a visually appealing show of attack combinations and masterful evasion.

  Luvia had introduced Andrea to her family, and the mainland girl had sat on the empty seat next to Luvia for a good chunk of the show. She seemed to know the name of nearly every move and helped explain a lot of what they were seeing.

  “Wouldn’t you like do something like that?” Luvia had asked her in a low voice during a break. After all the shtick Neela had said about her “making something of herself,” she didn’t want her older sister overhearing her and jumping right back on her case.

  “Coordination? – I’m a scaredy-cat, but I prefer battles!” Andrea said spiritedly.

  “Heeepiih!” Hoppip agreed from the girl's lap.

  “You’re not a scaredy-cat! It’s scary, honestly. It’s normal. Back at the courts, I don’t know what came over me, but I was terrified the entire time.”

  Andrea raised her eyebrows. “You don’t mean that! You looked kinda angry, actually.”

  “I was fuming!” Luvia chuckled. “But terrified too.”

  “Everyone was saying that Mudkip jumped in to protect that Pidgey… is that what pissed you off?

  Luvia shook her head. “No, I actually found that sweet. What rubbed me the wrong way was the crowd – they were so mean at the start!”

  “I know!” Andrea laughed. “But you shut them up by the end of it, and you made the most money I’ve seen anybody there make from one battle.”

  That made Luvia blush. She gave a sheepish smile. “I got lucky.”

  “Well, the way you guys battled, it really didn’t look like luck,” Andrea remarked.

  Andrea watched the end of the show with her parents, but the girls found each other afterwards.

  Luvia met the parents then. Andrea took very strongly after her mother. The same kind of eyes and smile, while the father was older than her own, hair peppered with a lot of gray, and wearing rectangular spectacles that gave him a scholarly sort of air.

  They asked Luvia some questions about Clearcloud Island which made her realize that her home island might as well have been another planet to the mainlanders. Nobody seemed to have heard of it.

  “You should put it on the map,” Andrea’s father suggested.

  “How?” Luvia replied bashfully.

  “Yeah, how should she do that, Dad…” Andrea looked like she was readying herself for a dad-joke.

  “Oh there’s plenty of ways. She could have a skyscraper built on it,” he began, and the mother giggled while Andrea sighed, exasperated.

  “Or she could start a cooking show – those get around,” he added, and Andrea’s mother hummed in surprise.

  Andrea crinkled her nose, looking halfway between reluctance and being impressed. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

  The father shrugged. “Easier than building the skyscraper or becoming League champion. Do a cooking show. Clearcloud Cuisine…” He moved his hand slowly through the air for effect. “Nice ring to it, right?”

  Luvia laughed. That didn’t sound like a bad idea at all. Aligned quite perfectly with her own past thoughts about becoming the head of some restaurant or café. But all that stuff was more of a retirement thing. Right, now, she didn't have it in her to settle somewhere.

  The whole of Hoenn needed seeing!