Rigorous Relationships

A Contest Kerfuffle

Aura, Dena, Diana, and Serena stood in the waiting room of the Rustboro City Contest Hall with around two other competitors, all of whom were watching TVs broadcasting the current match. It was the eleventh match of the day and so far none of the their friends had been knocked out of the contest, though Serena had come close when she was up against a red headed trainer using the powerful blue and white serpent Pokémon Gyarados.

The two trainers on screen seemed to be putting everything they had into their match and, when the battle ended, both received a deafening round of applause from the audience. The other contestants watching the match barely acknowledged the skill displayed, paying more attention to what their potential opponent's strategy seemed to be.

"They seem really uptight about this contest," Aura noted as she watched some of the other contestants walk past one another without even acknowledging each other.

"They are a bit more... serious, than other coordinators I've met," Diana replied, before turning to Aura with a friendly smile. "But I'm not too concerned, the main purpose of these contests is to display the bonds of friendship between trainer and Pokémon, and to have fun while doing it."

Dena grinned at Diana with a whimsical twinkle in her eyes. "Well if contests are won by having fun, I'm going to have more fun than anyone!"

Dena's declaration to win by having more fun than anyone else caused her friends to burst out in lighthearted laughter.

"Alright cousin, we'll see who has more fun today." Serena said playfully, as she got up and walked toward the doors.

"Where are you going?" Dena asked right before Serena left the room.

"I'm up." Serena replied with a nod to the Tv, which showed a picture of her and a brunette boy as the next contenders. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Serena."Diana and Aura called after her. "Have fun, cousin." Dena chimed as Serena headed off to her match.

After Serena left, the three girls sat in silence for a few seconds before Dena spoke up, having a thought about something Diana had hinted at earlier.

"So Diana, you never mentioned competing in other contests, yet you said you'd met a bunch of less... serious, coordinators. Care to explain?"

"Well I have competed in a few of them, I actually managed to get two ribbons before I met you guys." Diana said casually, as if her victories weren't that big of a deal.

Dena and Aura however thought it was a pretty big deal and asked if they could see them. Diana obliged her friends request and produced her ribbon case which had two ribbons, one a silver ribbon with a gold Poké Ball in the center and the other a red and blue striped ribbon with a gold star in the center. Diana picked up the silver ribbon and explained that she won it at a very small, rarely visited, town that only had about eight contestants in it.

"What about the red and blue striped one." Dena asked.

"I won this one by default." She said glumly, obviously not counting it as any sort of victory. "All the other contestants quit after the fifth round when Nidorina and Vulpix managed to win a match without losing any points."

Aura was surprised by this development, while Dena was utterly shocked that Diana wasn't more enthusiastic about this ribbon if her Pokémon had achieved a feat like that. They soon understood Diana's dissatisfaction with her win as she continued her story.

"They only managed to do that because the person we were up against was a complete moron on the battlefield. He'd only made it to the fifth round by paying his opponents to take a nose dive, which made him seem like a strong opponent to the rest of the competitors, when in reality he was as weak as a newly hatched Magikarp. And when I beat him I looked too strong for any of the remaining competition, so they all gave up and left me with an empty win."