On The Road

Chapter Eleven

"What did Team Aqua even want with those ship parts?" Wally wondered out loud as the four friends walked out of the museum and towards the exit of Slateport.

"I have no idea," Arriete replied, folding her arms. "Let's just figure out where they went."

"Hey! It's Lisia and Ali!"

The friends all turned to where the voice came from. Standing in front of the Contest Hall stood a crowd of people cheering. Shrugging, they made their way over to the crowd and saw that they were cheering for a girl around their age and her Altaria.

"Who's that?" Larance asked, pointing at the girl.

"She's the Top Coordinator of Hoenn," Wally replied, coughing a bit. "And that's her Altaria, Ali. I've read about them before."

"Hello everyone!" Lisia greeted, waving. "It's time once again for my Coordinator Search! Now, let's see who will be this month's contest star?"

Shouts of "Me! Me! Me!" rang through the air while the four friends stayed silent. Lisia looked around the crowd with a smile on her face until her eyes landed on Bina.

"You!" Lisia gleefully pointed at Bina.

"M-me?" Bina asked, paling.

Lisia giggled before running over to Bina, grabbing her arm, and bringing her up to the front.

"I have found this month's contest star! And who is this mysterious girl?"

"B-Bina," Bina stammered, waving awkwardly.

"And that's all for today!" Lisia ended. "Goodbye to you all!"

The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving the five of them behind. Lisia sighed before turning towards Bina and smiling apologetically at her.

"I'm sorry about that," Lisia giggled. "It's just that when I saw you, I knew that you had the look of a Top Coordinator."

"No, you picked the wrong person," Bina mumbled, looking down and rubbing her arm. "I'm not pretty enough to participate contests."

Lisia frowned at this before giving Bina a small smile.

"Yes, you are," Lisia stated, placing her hands on her hips. "That's one of the reasons I picked you. Besides that, I could sense a powerful aura from you. You have the skills to make people smile, but you need to strengthen those skills. Here," she handed Bina a bag and a contest case. "Take these items and participate in this contest that's coming up in a few minutes. You'll do great, I know it."

"B-but I-" Bina stuttered as Lisia walked off with Ali.

"Good luck, Bina!" Lisia waved as she entered the Contest Hall.

Bina gulped and she looked into the bag that she received. In it was a pair of light blue heeled shoes, white tights, a strapped light blue dress that was as long as her skirt, a white pearl necklace, and white gloves that reached right past her elbows.

"So, Bina," Arriete began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to enter?"

"This might be the thing you want to do," Wally nodded, smiling at her.

"Yeah, we'll cheer you on no matter what," Larance promised.

Bina took a deep breath before looking at the Contest Hall. She thought for a minute before a small smile formed on her face.

"What the heck, why not? I'll do it."

***

"You okay in there, Bina?" Arriete asked, knocking on the changing room door.