Another Road Repaved - Coordination

First Impressions

The day of the Wallace Cup had finally arrived. With triumphant fanfare and streamers abound, the city was alive with celebration. Dawn and Ash walked among the crowd of contestants headed into the stadium that would serve as the battle grounds for today's contest. The crowd was amassed behind Wallace. Whoops and cheers for the Contest Master made Ash swear he was going to go deaf.

As Pikachu stood atop Ash's head, trying to keep a good eye out on everything that was happening, Ash grabbed Dawn's hand.

"You ready?" he double checked.

Dawn nodded, catching a glimpse of Ciara and Kenny walking together out of the corner of her eye. "I am." Ciara ducked and blushed at something Kenny had said, the boy laughing at her reaction. "I wonder if we'll see any other familiar faces!"

Soon, they were entering the arena. A gaggle of Nurse Joys-some rather young looking, reserves perhaps?-stood there, ready to register everyone for the Wallace Cup. Dawn spotted Larkspur among the crowd and felt a little comforted. That little fellow had done his best before.

"Well, I guess this is it." Ash patted Empoleon on his chest before giving Dawn a thumbs up. "I'll try to get a seat up close, okay? Do your best!"

"No need to worry!"

The spotlights focused in on Lilian as she gestured to the crowd. From where Ash sat, second row but dead center to the action, he grew anxious with eager anticipation.

"And, now-the man, the myth, the miraculous: Wallace!" One of the screens which would later enlarge the stage's contenders for the audience flashed with a particularly well staged photo of Wallace. He looked to be in the middle of a gym battle. "A Gym Leader!" Another photo flashed of him, this time holding a ribbon; particularly, it was the Aqua Ribbon. "A Champion! A Contest Master! You know him! You love him! Now, help me greet him. Here's-"

The audience finished for her. "WALLACE!"

With a terrific Dragon Pulse, Wallace's Milotic arose from the water. The crowd grew even wilder. This prompted Milotic to use Safeguard and then Twister. Just as the water was whipped up into a fury, so was the crowd. The serpent finished up its introduction with Aqua Ring. The move circled it before being burst. This ring of water hit the Twisters, quelling them as well.

At some point during all of this, Wallace had replaced Lilian on the stage. He drew back the crowd's attention just by being there after the water settled. With the sun's noon light glinting off the water, it only added to his dazzling appearance.

"Good afternoon, Kanto!" Wallace greeted.

The crowd yelled back fondly.

"It is my pleasure to host this year's Wallace Cup on Cinnabar Island!"

Meanwhile, behind the stage, the coordinators all reacted.

"Oh, isn't he a dreamboat?" Ember cooed.

For once, Dawn was in agreement with her. "His Milotic's graceful as ever...!"

Quijote nodded in agreement. "Truly, Wallace is the epitome of machoness with grace! Class with power! Action with aesthetics!"

Back on stage, Wallace was beginning to wrap up his introduction. "I am here to find out who has the most appeal in all of Kanto. Won't you show me?"

Lilian jogged back onto stage. "Thanks, Wallace! Now, contenders and audience, Wallace will be one of our guest judges for the evening! He will be joining Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and the breeder Suzie!"

All three of the other judges waved.

"Now, let's begin!"

"A breeder named Suzie!?" Ash's eyes turned from Wallace at the mention of the name. "That sounds super familiar... Lemme see." Trying to ignore the waving hands and ear-splitting cheers, Ash narrowed his eyes to peer at the judges' stands. "Wallace, Contesta, Sukizo... Aha! It is her!"