A Tale of Two Rivals

Come What May

We all separated in the common room. May made the decision to stand by some girl with bright red pigtails. I just sat alone on a bench and attentively watched the screen to observe the other appeals this contest could offer.

The contest rules in Fallarbor Hall this year were a bit different than the standards for all of the other contests that I entered in this year's contest season. For one thing, there was the standard of the Fallarbor contest appeals round being a single-move appeals round this year. In other words, coordinators in this contest were only allowed to show the judges what their pokémon could do in the appeals round in just one move and no more.

There was also the contestants' need to consider that of all twenty-five of them entered this year, only four of them were going to advance to the battle stage. Those were some slim odds for sure, and Roselia and I knew just how high the stakes were this time, too. Who knew? Maybe I would finally get a challenge out of this contest.

When my turn came, I released my Roselia from its pokéball and together, we summoned a brilliant petal dance. This one was even more sparkly and fragrant than any of the other ones I had ever seen from my prized first pokémon. Once again, Roselia had managed to bring me so much pride with the twenty-nine-point-six that she managed to score for our appeal.

Other coordinators went on strong that day as well, particularly May's friend with her Medicham when they pulled off a terrifyingly powerful High Jump Kick. It had resulted with a twenty-nine-point-five, which came dangerously close to mine and Roselia's own score. I knew I would have to watch out for her just as I had been watching her.

When May's own turn came in the appeals round, she had opted to use her Beautifly and its Silver Wind just as I knew she would. She did, however, do a lot better than the last time I had watched her on stage, since she was cool, calm, collected and above all else, confident about the contest. Her Beautifly was at the top of its game because of it, too.

The two of them had managed to score a twenty-five-point-nine. It might not have been much, but it was a huge improvement from the previous time in Slateport City. She deserved to be proud of her grade in the Fallarbor Contest. I would have been lying, though, if I did not admit to being worried about anyone surpassing her because of that score.

While May performed on stage with her Beautifly, I managed to meet up with her friend in the contest who had the Medicham; a coordinator by the name of Grace.

Yours Truly: Your Medicham was astounding.

Then, Grace burst out laughing hysterically at my compliment to my surprise, thanking me for the compliment and returning my praise back to Roselia as a result. She was a lot like a version of Soledad who was hyped up on all of the coffee in the world. She also radiated positivity at an alarmingly high level while Soledad was more reserved. I had to admit that it felt a bit awkward just being near her in the first place. I could not help but thank the god-like pokémon of every region when May was finally back in the common room with us and stood between me and her friend.

It was just then that we all turned our attention back to the screen for the other appeals on the stage. Grace and I threw in a few criticisms here and there, while May just stayed quiet throughout the whole thing in hopes that no one would top her appeal round grade. To her luck, no one had... just yet.

One of the final appeals in the first round, however, was strong enough to top May's. The person was someone named Jessica, who looked weirdly familiar yet seemed to be an unknown. She was also an exceedingly eccentric entity, for sure.

For one reason or another, I think I might have seen her compete in the Rustboro Pokémon Contest just before I had ever met May at the contest in Slateport City.