In the Spotlight 2: Jade's Sinnoh Journey

35

"Do you think that this will all work out well?" Ethan asked as he and Rhyme found their seats inside the Contest Hall.

Rhyme was quick to answer. "Yeah. She is. You've seen her preparing for this day. Jade's definitely going to get her final ribbon today."

After seeing how much effort Jade and her team were putting into their training and even more enthusiasm, Rhyme had no doubt that this would end well. Soon the announcement that they were waiting for finally started.

"Hello and welcome to Daybreak Town's contest! I'm your host Vivian."

Rhyme was practically bouncing in her seat as the crowd began to cheer. 'Come on... just show who's going to go first.'

"And now, to start things off, give a warm welcome to Jade from Petalburg City."

As the spotlight appeared, Jade walked into everyone's view. She was wearing a navy blue button up with a red ribbon and a yellow skirt. To top it all off, the necklace she was wearing had a dragon fang hanging on a string.

Jade smiled at the audience as she threw a pokeball in the air. "Gabite, center stage!"

Surrounded by fireworks, Gabite appeared, doing a small flip in the air before landing on his feet. He then bowed before the crowd, just as a knight would in a fairytale.

"Use Stone Edge."

Just as quick as the first command was called out, Stone Edge formed a circle around Gabite. One of the stone pillars rose from the middle, in the shape of a sword before it was plucked from the ground.

"Now use, Power Gem!" Jade called out.

With the swing of his rocky sword, Gabite summoned Power Gem into the air. The mysterious floating stones fluttered about before they began crashing down on the Cave Pokemon. Before that could happen, Gabite jumped on the peaks of the Stone Edge, and swung at the Power Gems coming down. Each blow caused Power Gem to burst into a bright light.

"Okay, time for the finale... Gabite use Bulldoze!"

Gabite jumped down from the rocky ledge he was currently standing on, the ground beneath him trembling as he landed. Stone Edge burst into dust upon the impact. The dust lingered around Gabite for a few moments before disappearing. When the dragon type was back into view, his scales were glimmering from the remnants of the Power Gem. Gabite raised his stone sword in the air as the crowd cheered.

'This knight in shining armor theme really works for him.' Jade thought. Everyone seemed to love this little battle that just played out before them.

Gabite began walking towards his trainer, who greeted him with a smile.

"Thanks for all your hard work." she praised. "Take a nice long rest."

In her little area of the audience, Rhyme was cheering the loudest.

"See Ethan? I told you that there was nothing to worry about." she said. "Everything's back to normal and Jade's gonna get her last ribbon."

Though he was worried at first, Ethan couldn't help but agree. It be at least very hard if not impossible for Jade and her pokemon to pull off something like just a few days ago. Maybe if there really wasn't much to worry about now.

.........

Jade was lost in her thoughts, trying to figure out her next move for the battle rounds. 

'Gabite already did his part in the appeal round so I shouldn't use him too much. Buneary's a little afraid of doing battle rounds so I won't force her until she's ready. If Leafeon is doing a bit better then maybe he can take a battle or two.'

Jade didn't know that someone was approaching her until she noticed a shadow covering her. Looking up, Jade saw a girl looking down at her.

"H-Hello." she greeted. "Do I... know you from somewhere?"

The girl had snow white hair with a blue streak. She smiled as she sat down next to Jade.

"No, but I know a whole lot about you, Jade." she answered. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person."

Though she shouldn't be surprised at this point, Jade couldn't help but be caught off guard by strangers knowing who she was. Perhaps she just thought they would focus on her pokemon more than her.

"I was inspired to become a coordinator because of you." the girl explained. "I guess I just had this dream that I would face you in a battle one day. I uh... entered the last contest you had signed up for but... you know. You left right when it was your turn."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Jade said. "Let's just say... something unexpected happened and I didn't want to force my partner Leafeon to do anything he was uncomfortable doing."

The girl nodded. She didn't seem to be annoyed by the decision. "I get it. Your pokemon's wellbeing comes first. That's the mark of a good trainer."

She then sprung to her feet. "Either way, that's water under the bridge. We're both here now. So uh... be on the lookout for me okay? I'm going to try my best to make it so where we'll have to face each other in the battle rounds!"

"Uh, okay. I hope that we get to meet in one of the battle rounds too." Jade said with a smile.

The girl seemed to have blush before quickly turning around and rushing off. Though Jade could hear her excitedly muttering under her breath. And she was sure that there was a bit more pep in the girl's step. She was practically skipping away.

'Guess this is another thing that I have to make up for after what happened.' Jade thought.

Though the girl wasn't upset in anyway by her sudden disappearance, there was still some hope that she had to meet with her face to face.

She remembered Nico saying how she didn't want to disappoint her fans when she started her journey. Something about knowing total strangers out there saw the hard work and skill she did and supporting her made her want to work even harder. To assure them that they had put their faith in the right person.

'I guess it's my turn to make sure any fans I have out there know that I appreciate their support.' Jade thought. 'I owe it to her to give her the best battle she could have.'

Jade

Leafeon (Ability: Leaf Guard) Leaf Blade, Magical Leaf, Nature Power, Grass Whistle

Delcatty (Ability: Cute Charm) Attract, Shadow Ball, Blizzard, Safeguard

Mismagius (Ability: Levitate) Psychic, Perish Song, Hex, Confuse Ray

Umbreon (Ability: Synchronize) Dark Pulse, Swift, Shadow Ball, Iron Tail

Gabite (Ability: Sand Veil) Dragon Claw, Power Gem, Bulldoze, Stone Edge

Buneary (Ability: Run Away) Double Kick, Quick Attack, Charm, Double Team

Rhyme

Prinplup (Ability: Torrent) Bubble Beam, Peck, Metal Claw, Pound

Plusle (Ability: Plus) Helping Hand, Nuzzle, Quick Attack, Spark

Minun (Ability: Minus) Helping Hand, Nuzzle, Quick Attack, Spark