In the Spotlight

26

Jade yawned as she finished reading The Ugly Ducklett to Feebas. She could see that Feebas was gaining a little more self-confidence every day with her reading this story to her. It seemed to have given Feebas something to remind herself of during practice.

"Make sure that you get plenty of rest too." Niko said. "Tomorrow is the contest. Won't look all that great with bags under your eyes."

"Don't worry, I'm just about to lay down." Jade reassured her friend, laying down as Leafeon snuggled up into her arms. Just when the Verdant Pokemon thought he was going to need to use Grass Whistle to help his trainer sleep, Jade had drifted off. Seeing the peaceful look that Jade had, Leafeon smiled and nuzzled his nose with hers before going to sleep as well.

"Those two have really come a long way huh?" Niko said.

"Sylveon." Sylveon nodded in agreement, happy that her bother had made it as far as he did with his trainer. Part of her wondered why they haven't started their journey earlier.

............

Niko and Sylveon sat down as the contest began, with the usual host, Vivian announcing her usual spiel to open up the day, as well as introducing the usual judges.

"And now to start things off, a rising star in the contest world aiming for her fourth ribbon will come forth, coming all the way from Petalburg City, give a warm welcome to Jade!"

As Jade walked out into the arena, the floor in front of her gave way, revealing a decent sized pool underneath.

"They did say that this contest would be a good opportunity for those with water type pokemon to show off if the trainer chooses to use them." Niko commented with a smile. "We already know what pokemon she's going to use for this one right Syl?"

"Sylveon!"

"Alright, Feebas center stage!" Jade called out, she threw her pokeball in the air and Feebas did a perfect dive into the pool of water. When she came back up, she looked back at Jade who nodded, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Let's start this off with Swift!"

Feebas nodded and used Swift, the star projectiles creating three hoops above her, each one higher than the last one. Already knowing what to do, Feebas began jumping through the hoops one by one, doing a twirl each time she flew through one and perfectly diving back into the water. As Jade was when she first started working with Feebas, the crowd stared in shock and awe by how high Feebas was able to jump. They were sure she was going to miss the very last hoop but she twirled through it with little to no effort.

"Now Feebas, use Flail." Jade ordered when Feebas was still in the air. The Fish Pokemon then flicked her tail, batting the Swift hoops into each other. Upon collision, Swift burst into golden dust that descended into the pool, making it sparkle in the spotlight. Feebas then dived into the pool, holding up her fins in a grand gesture in sync with Jade as the crowd cheered. The scores were a 9.5, 9.4, and 9.6, making the total score 28.5.

Feebas looked back at Jade once the score was shown. All she was greeted with was a smile from her trainer so she assumed that the number they got was good.

"Good job Feebas, take a good rest for all your hard work okay."

Feebas smiled back as she was returned to her pokeball.

..........

From the airport that Destiny had just arrived in once her plane had landed, one of the TVs she passed by was showing the Rubello Town Contest. She stopped when she saw her friend appear on screen, her Leafeon had just defeated a boy's Lairon.