In the Spotlight

11

The following night, Jade sat as she brushed Leafeon's fur, who was taking a well-deserved rest after the contest. Delcatty sat beside them, waiting for her turn to be brushed while Marill shared some of its pokeblocks with Swablu. From the few days that she had her, Jade began to notice improvements in Swablu's flying skills which made her worry slightly less than she originally was.

Niko soon came in, who had come back late due to her advertisement for Showcases. Jade assumed that all of her pokemon, including Sylveon, were in their pokeballs asleep.

"That took a little longer than expected but oh well." Niko as she yawned. "It'll all be worth it in the long run."

"Sorry I didn't stay and watch you perform," Jade said.

"No need for all of that. Your pokemon come first and Leafeon was exhausted after that final round."

"Yeah, that was his first real battle that he saw all the way through and won. It must've taken all of his strength to pull that off." Jade looked at her sleeping partner and smiled. "I'm proud of him."

Niko nodded. "So what's our next stop?"

"Slateport City. The one in Rubello Town is a while from here and a bit farther than Slateport. We won't really have to backtrack as much if we go to Rubello after being in Slateport. The quickest way there would be to pass through Mauville. Maybe I can stop by the DayCare to see how everyone is doing for a bit."

"By the way, you should start switching out your pokemon in between rounds," Niko suggested. "That way you're not using one for the entire contest and it'll be harder for opponents to predict what you might do when you actually go off to face them in the Battle Rounds."

"Oh, I'm allowed to do that?" Jade asked. "I know I haven't watched all that many contests on tv but the ones I saw kept the same pokemon the entire time."

"I think that's only like for the first couple since it's mostly for beginners. Either way by this next contest or the one after, you'll probably end up facing off against those who have earned more ribbons and are one step away from being able to enter the Grande Festival. It's gonna be harder to get to the finals, let alone win."

Jade nodded as she returned Leafeon to his Pokeball for the night. Right then Delcatty took her chance and laid on her trainer's lap, waiting to be groomed. It wasn't long until Marill and Swablu noticed and also came rushing to Jade's side, also wanting to be brushed.

Jade let out a sigh but smiled nonetheless as she began brushing Delcatty.

'My arm is going to be so tired after this.'

.......

The next morning, Jade woke up to Delcatty mewing excitedly while Leafeon pawed at her nose to get her to wake up. The coordinator groaned as she slowly got up and rubbed her eyes.

"What's going on buddy?"

"Rise and shine sleepyhead." an all too familiar voice chimed in. The sound made Jade gasp in surprise. "We got some training to do."

Jade didn't waste another moment getting out of bed and running up to hug Destiny, who simply chuckled and hugged her back. Leafeon and Delcatty quickly joined in, hopping on Destiny's shoulder and nuzzling her face. Meanwhile, Marill and Swablu stared in curiosity, not quite knowing what to do. The DayCare worker noticed them and walked over, patting their heads.

"I see you already caught two more pokemon. You seem to be adjusting to your journey pretty well."

"I didn't know that you were coming. In fact...how did you get here so fast?" she asked. "I know we aren't really all that far from the Day Care but it should've been at least a two-day trip to get here."