In the Spotlight 2: Jade's Sinnoh Journey

38

Jade almost couldn't believe her eyes when she saw her old team staring right back at her. But then again she wasn't able to fully process what was going on before Azumarill had ran up to her at full speed, knocking her down in a tackle hug. Togekiss and Altaria were quick to fly over, nuzzling each side of Jade's face.

In her fit of giggles, Jade could only manage to sit up before Milotic came over enveloped all of them in a hug.

"It's so nice to see all of you." Jade said to her pokemon before looking over at Nico. "How did you manage to do this?"

"We're both celebrities in our own way." Nico said with a grin. "All I had to do was ask around and the moment your name was mentioned, everything was practically set in stone."

"This is probably the best surprise you've ever done."

"I know."

Rhyme couldn't help but look at Jade's Hoenn pokemon in awe. 'So these were the pokemon that helped her win her first Grand Festival.'

There was Azumarill, happily bouncing around Jade unless he was in her arms. He was just as energetic and bubbly as she saw on tv. 

Then Altaria and Togekiss. The two both seemed to have more of a child like personality, with Togekiss being the shyer one.

Finally Milotic. Quiet yet serene, always careful with her size and weight when it came to being close to someone. The small smile on her face reminded Ethan of the kind of smile someone manages after they had overcome some personal hardship.

"With these four helping out your new pokemon, your victory at the Grand Festival will be all but guranteed." Nico assured her with a grin. "We'll start first thing tomorrow. I'm sure you wanna spend some time catching up with these guys."

Jade nodded, her smile never fading ever since she saw the four pokemon. She then looked over her shoulder at Rhyme and Ethan. "You guys can come closer. These guys are friendly."

It only took that one invitation for Rhyme to rush into the cuddle pile, instantly wrapping her arms around Milotic.

"All of them are even prettier in person!" she squealed. "This is so much better than watching them on tv!"

Milotic, at first caught off guard by the sudden hug, simply smiled and laid her head on Rhyme's shoulder. Cooing happily at the affection. Ethan slowly came forward and stroked Altaria's head.

"Well it's going to be interesting to see how training will go now that these guys are here." he said.

The rest of the night was spent with the four Hoenn pokemon having quality time with their trainer as well getting to know the new members of the team. But the moment the following morning came around, it was time to get to work.

"Alright, now that everyone's gotten to know each other, I think it'd be best if your new team paired up with someone from your old team for these little practices." Nico said as she led her friend to a fairly empty area outside. "So who's the first pair?"

"Easy. Buneary and Azumarill." Jade answered as she placed the smallest member of her team on the ground. "They both have pretty bubbly personalities."

Buneary looked up at Azumarill curiously as he stretched his arms, getting ready for the training sessions at hand.

"Alright Buneary, Azumarill here is going to do a few moves and we'll try to find a way to counter act them." Jade explained. "Do you think you can do that?"

"Bun!" came the excited reply of the Rabbit Pokemon.

"Great. Now watch carefully."

Azumarill took a breath before shooting Bubble Beam towards the sky. Right after, he used Ice Beam to freeze the bubbles as they slowly began to descend.

"Okay Buneary, jump up and use Double Kick."

Buneary nodded and jumped as high as she could onto one of the frozen bubbles before using Double Kick on the next one. Upon impact, the frozen bubble burst into little ice shards that rained down, the sunlight reflecting off of them to make them seem like shards of light instead. Buneary kept on this little pattern, slowly going higher until she hopped onto the second to last bubble.

The last one still floated above her. But there was no way that she would be able to reach it with the normal jumps she's been doing up until this point.

Still, she made it this far. It's not like she could just give up now.

So Buneary jumped. But could only make it halfway before she fell back down on the bubble below her. She jumped again, putting all her strength into it but could only make it just a bit closer. Her foot slipped when she landed, causing her to lose her balance for a moment. Luckily she managed to have a better grip with her small nails to prevent falling off.

"Buneary, if the last one is too hard for you then there's no need to overexert yourself!" Jade called out from below. "We can move on to the next part if you've done all you can."

Buneary looked down at her trainer and then back up at the last bubble. She really wanted to get to it. Just... one more try. Yeah, she would give it one more try before giving up on it.

Buneary slowly got to her feet, eyes focused on the target over her head. She crouched down as much as she could before jumping with all her might once again.

As Jade watched from below, she saw the sudden increase in speed and power in Buneary's jump, shattering the frozen bubble below her. Rather than land on the last frozen bubble, she crashed through it.

"I think the little cutie just learned Bounce." Nico said with a smile.

"Bun!" Buneary cheered. But one little thing she forgot suddenly came to mind. She no longer had a place to land.

As she fell, Altaria flew up to meet her, allowing the little pokemon to land on her back.

"Taria~"

"Bune..."

Jade let out a sigh of relief as Buneary was brought to her safe and sound. "While I'm glad that you learned a new move, make sure you're putting your safety before anything else okay."

Buneary nodded, almost laughing nervously at what had just happened.

"Good." Jade then looked over to Mismagius. "You and Altaria are up next so get ready."

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, Bounce, 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