In the Spotlight 2: Jade's Sinnoh Journey

37

"Time's up."

Everything paused. No further moves were called out or made. The two contestants looked up at the screen above them, their pokemon gazing in the same direction.

"And the winner of this round is..."

Jade couldn't help but feel a wave of relief as her face, along with Delcatty's picture in the corner was the only thing on the large screen.

"Jade from Petalburg City!"

Delcatty immediately jumped onto her trainer's shoulder, nuzzling her face. Jade couldn't tell which was louder, the crowd cheering or her pokemon's purring in her ear.

With a sigh, Noelle stroked Ninetales' ears. "Well we did our best. Thanks for everything you've done today."

"Nine..." the alolan variant cooed before returning to her pokeball. Noelle then walked over to Jade and smiled, offering her hand to shake. "Thanks for the battle."

Jade smiled back and shook her hand. "I hope it was enough to make up for me missing out on the last contest."

"More than enough! In fact, If I'm lucky enough to get another ribbon before the Grand Festival starts, I'm hoping that we can battle again soon."

"Then I'll look forward to meeting you again."

Noelle's smile only grew when she heard that. One of her favorite coordinators actually looking forward to another battle? Now she just had to enter the Grand Festival.

........

Right as Jade stepped outside, she was greeted with a crushing hug from Rhyme. How she managed to stay upright as she caught the young trainer in her arms she had no idea.

"You did it! Just like I thought you would!" Rhyme cheered. "Now you're able to go to the Grand Festival!"

Jade nodded, smiling again at the realization. 'We made it with just a bit of time to spare. Now we have some extra time to practice what we're going to do.'

"The Grand Festival is being held in Lake Valor right?" she asked.

"Yep. We should start making our way over there first thing in the morning." Ethan suggested. "That way you won't have to worry about getting there on time."

Jade nodded in agreement. The sooner they got to their final destination, the easier it would be to focus on what was important.

The three began walking back to their rooms in the Pokemon Center. As they made their way there for the night, Jade couldn't help but look at all the ribbons that she had gotten up until today.

'Five... I finally have five.'

Something seemed different than when she had gathered enough contest ribbons in Hoenn. Back in her home region, it felt like her journey through the contests ended just as fast as it started. But here, things seemed more drawn out. Perhaps because it took longer to gain all five ribbons here in Sinnoh? She had no way of knowing.

But at least here she knew who she was going to be facing off against at the very end... and this was a match up that she wanted to happen more than anything.

And Jade had a feeling that Destiny felt the same way.

........

The moment the light of the morning sun shone through the windows, the small trio eagerly began gathering their things before excitedly going outside to start the final stretch of their journey.

Rhyme was rushing ahead of the other two, excitedly rambling on about how the Grand Festival would be like and how she would finally be able to see everything in person.

"And make sure that you tell us everything that you're planning Jade! No wait! Keep it a surprise! It'll be cooler that way! Oh but then I have to just sit around and wait... the suspense might be too much. Just give us some sneak peeks every once in a while!"

Jade held in her laughter. "If you're always gonna be nearby then you're going to see something while we're training."

"I guess that's true."

"So Jade, how do you feel knowing that you'll be in another Grand Festival soon?" Ethan asked.

"Well, just like any time I'm entering a contest, a little nervous." Jade admitted. "But I'm looking forward to this more than being nervous about it. There's someone that I want to battle there. Even though I'm hoping that we won't have to battle until the finals, I'd be okay with facing off against her in any part of the battle rounds."

Suddenly an all too familiar voice spoke up in front of them. Quickly followed by a pokemon cry just as familiar to Jade.

"Either way, you're gonna need all the help you can get. Heard the Grand Festivals in Sinnoh are a bit more intense than the ones in Hoenn. Good thing you got us to pitch in."

"Sylve!"

Jade's eyes widened as she saw none other than Niko and Sylveon standing just a small distance away from them. "W-When did you get here!?"

"Well I wasn't just going to watch something like this one tv." Niko replied with a grin. "I just have to see this for myself."

Leafeon was quick to run over to his sister to greet her but was only met with a tackle. As the two eeveelutions crashed into the ground, Sylveon nuzzled him, her tail wagging a mile a minute. Jade soon rushed over to her friend and hugged her.

"Well thank you for coming all the way here."

Niko's smile only grew wider. "Oh, you shouldn't be thanking me yet. There's still one more surprise for you." she then looked at Ethan and Rhyme who stood behind to watch everything. "I guess this could be a surprise for your little friends too." 

Jade gave Nico an expression that was a combination of confusion and concern. "What are you plotting?"

"Just follow me."

Without knowing what else to do Jade, Ethan, and Rhyme followed the Performer the rest of the way to Lake Valor. Though as more time passed, the more concerned Jade got. There was honestly no way of telling what her friend had in store.

"Seriously, what are you planning?" she asked again.

"Like I said, you're going to need all the help you can get to prepare for this." Niko said. "And what better way to do it than with experienced pokemon."

The moment they stepped into a hotel, Jade saw her old team staring back at her.

Jade

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

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

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