Whispers in the Dark「Pokemon Fanfiction」

Tweɴтy-Oɴe • Jυѕт Be Frιeɴdѕ

Chapter Twenty-One: Just Be Friends

"Sorry, Froa—um, Frogadier."

Mentally chiding herself for the elementary slip-up, Celeana offered an apologetic smile to the Water-type Pokemon in front of her. "I won't be using you for the contest today."

Disgruntled, the creature stepped forward, regarding his trainer with a sideways glance. He remained his cool demeanour, slipping his eyes close, but one could see the childish unhappiness coursing through his frame.

"I did use you for my first contest," she tried to explain. "I'd like to give the other members of my team a chance. Maybe next time, OK?"

When no response came from the miffed Pokemon, she just sighed—he would get over the issue in time to come. Clicking open the Pokeball in her hand, she returned the creature to his home—now, her room in the Pokemon Center was empty, and she now had time to think to herself.

A crumpled piece of paper was spread out before her, messy handwriting and diagrams scrawled all over the parchment in an attempt to concoct a plan for the contest. This contest varied from the last she had entered—now, she had to work on an appeal routine suitable for two Pokemon instead of one.

They had claimed that they wanted to mirror the Grand Festival's contest format, but due to copyright issues—the Festival had wanted to retain their unique speciality, after all—they had restricted using two Pokemon to only the appeal round.

Glancing at the three other Pokeballs on the bed, she uttered an exasperated sigh to herself—while this did allow for more freedom when coming up with routines, it was hard to even think of the first move—either that was a problem for everyone, or it was just her that was lacking creativity.

Kirlia... she picked up the first Pokeball, thinking of the creature waiting inside. I don't know about using her for the appeal round. Who would she be able to match with?

She was reluctant to place the sphere down—she knew the Psychic-type couldn't wait for her chance to shine, but that would have to wait for the battle round.

That left just her newly-caught duo to perform—the troublemaking Illumise and Volbeat that she'd obtained during the Bug Catching Festival. While their personalities were more than feisty—bordering on sadistic—she had to admit that they went well together. After all, they did seem to be near counterparts of each other—it was natural to use them in something that involved two Pokemon.

It was another gamble that she had and would take—after seeing how her previous bet had paid off, she had gained some form of confidence to take a few more risks.

With that in mind, a smile crossed her face, and she brought her pencil down once again.

• • •

"Here's the fourth contestant for today!" Lilycove's emcee raised an arm to the air, as if trying to compensate for her small stature and produce a more dramatic effect than necessary. "Please welcome Celeana Asthansia from Kalos—with her pair of Illumise and Volbeat!"

Ignoring the nervousness hitching in her throat, the blue-haired girl stepped out of the shadowy entrance. Draped over her regular outfit were several glitzy accessories—for one, an oversized witch hat drooped on her head, and a baggy cloak hung over her shoulders and weighed them down.

She assured herself that it wasn't her fault for this unnecessary spending—her Illumise had let herself out as she was shopping for supplies, chattering something rude in her ear before dragging the respective garments down, dumping it on the cashier and not taking no for an answer.