Our heroes sat, eyes fixed onto the trainer on stage. Ava had read many magazine articles on Macy Powell in the past. Each article described her as "above and beyond" or "very entertaining to watch". I assure you that she was. Ava had also watched her many times on the TV and during each of the Grand Final Showcases. She was getting extremely excited for this upcoming performance.
Elijah was growing very anxious. Based off the responses of Alan and Ava he had his hopes high for this next performance. Froakie was nestled in his hoodie pocket growing tired. Alan sat contently beside him with his arms crossed. Alan's goal, aside from remaining Kalos Champion, was to search for trainers who showed exceptional battling and coordination with their Pokemon. Once he found them, he tried to increase their skills through various training methods. So far, there were 3 people in this room who were on his list.
The lights in the arena dimmed once again, and the spotlights closed in on Macy. Macy tossed two of her six Pokeballs into the air, just like the previous performers had done. Out came Scizor and a Pokemon neither of our two heroes had ever seen. Elijah looked very confused, he pulled out his new Kalos Pokedex and scanned it. All he got back was the word: ERROR
Whatever that Pokemon was, it was from some other region that he and the Pokedex didn't know of. Ava turned to Elijah, "What is that thing?" she asked. "I have no idea..." He replied. "It's name is Primarina," Alan spoke, "Native to the Alolan Region. A very rare sight in Kalos in deed. But that's how Macy works. Always surprising her audience."
Music began playing in the background. It was a soft, yet moving classical rhythm. Primarina used a move that Ava hadn't seen before, Alan later defined it as Sparkling Aria. A ball of water floated above the stage. Scizor followed up with Bullet Punch causing the ball of water to break into smaller chunks. Scizor used Razor Wind soon after causing the chunks of levitating water to explode into sparkling rain.
Primarina used Misty Terrain spreading a Pinkish Mist of sorts across the arena. No one could see the stadium, except Macy of course. Just then, the crowd of people could see a blue light illuminating from center stage. The mist cleared revealing a blue crystal glowing on a bracelet Macy was wearing on her arm. She called out something that again, neither of our heroes had ever heard, "Oceanic Operetta!"
The room exploded into flashes of blue and white. It was truly beautiful. The crowd was dusted with a cool, wet breeze, but no one really minded it. As the room cleared, it soon became evident of why she was the Kalos Queen. She was amazing.
The crowd settled down, and the other three contestants join Macy on the stage. Now cam the fun part. The audience voted by choosing the color that corresponded to a contestant. Both Ava and Elijah chose Pink which represented Macy; Alan followed their lead. As soon at all the voted were casted the score was shown. Macy had won by a landslide. 2nd place, was the girl with the Dustox and Beautifly. 3rd, was the girl with the Milotic and Charizard. Last, but not least, was the girl with the Piplup and Pidgeot.
The audience clapped for the contestants and Macy was awarded a ribbon for victory at the Cyllage City Pokemon Showcase. Olivia, the announcer, came back on the intercom, "Anyone with V.I.P passes can now make their way on stage to be escorted to the back to meet the performers. Thank you everyone for joining us on this wonderful, Kalos day. The next Official Pokemon Showcase will be held in Coumarine City. We hope to see you all there!"
Our heroes, accompanied with Alan, made their way to center stage. Both Ava and Elijah had passes in their hands, but Elijah noticed Alan didn't have one visible. "I guess being the Champion of the Region comes with some pretty big perks." Elijah thought. An usher greeted them at the stairway to the stage making sure their had their passes. He simply nodded to Alan as he walked passed him. Our heroes and Alan gathered with the crowd of other people who bought the overpriced V.I.P passes.
Alan motioned for our heroes to follow him backstage. Not only did they have the V.I.P passes, but they befriended Alan which now allowed to skip lines apparently, even V.I.P lines. "I want you two to meet Macy in person before the other people get to come. I think you'll find her very... interesting." Alan said to them. Ava was literally about to explode from being too overwhelmed from everything she had seen. It was fun watching the contestants perform on TV of course, but it was but better to see it in person.
Alan lead them through a series of hallways and doors until they stopped at one marked 'Macy Powell'. Alan knocked, "Hey Macy, It's Alan. I have some very special guests with me, can we come in?" Macy quickly rushed to the door and opened it, greeting Alan with a big hug. "Hey Alan! Glad you had time to stop by." Macy replied. She turned to look for the V.I.P guests but frowned when she only saw two trainers. "Didn't sell as much tickets this time?" She asked.
Alan laughed and said, "No no, the other guests are out on the stage. These are two special friends I wanted you to meet. They won The Battle Palace, the ones I was telling you about." Macy's face lit up, "So it's you two I been hearing all about. You all are famous you know." Our heroes looked at each other confused, "Famous?" Ava asked curiously. "Well yeah!" Macy said pulling out an issue of 'Kalos Quest' an extremely famous Kalos magazine known world-wide. On the cover was a picture from Ava and Elijah's final battle. The Headline read:
Ava Hurley and Elijah Whitt become the first victors of The Battle Palace
They starred at each other in disbelief. They had no idea the tournament was that big. Although, what should they have expected seeing as Alan was there. Macy starred at the cover once again and then up at Elijah. She repeated this a few more times until Elijah started feeling uneasy, "What's wrong?" He asked Macy. "Now that I take another look, I think I recognize you," Macy replied. "I know! You were in the Unova League earlier this year! You were in the final battle! I don't think you won, but you got second place!" Elijah was flabbergasted, he had never had someone call him out for seeing him in the League that he didn't know personally. Even Alan was surprised by this. Elijah never really talked about his experiences and his journey unless asked, he didn't want people to think he was bragging. The only person he spoke to about it was Ava, because she was obsessed with it.
"You watched it?" Elijah asked still very surprised. "Of course I did, I may be the Kalos Queen, but I'm still a human being," Macy replied matter-of-factly. "I want it and every other League every year. My goal is to win one you know." Macy reached into her purse and pulled out what seemed to be a badge case. "I've started back on my journey. The Showcases are cool and all, and I'll still compete in them, but I've always wanted more in life. Everyday I think about throwing it all away and traveling the world. Sadly, my contract doesn't account for that happening. At least not anytime soon. But, I still travel around facing gyms so that when the day comes, I can do that."
Lying in the badge case were the Santalune City and Cyllage City Gym Badges. Ava revealed that they too were participating in the Kalos League and had obtained the Santalune City Badge and were soon going to face the Cyllage City Gym. "Well then, tomorrow is my last day here in Cyllage City. If you wouldn't mind, I would love to watch you two battle tomorrow if that's alright with you." Macy asked sincerely. Our heroes said that they didn't mind and were happy to have her watch. "I think I would like to come and watch too. If you all don't mind of course." Alan also asked.
Our heroes agreed once again, but were interrupted with the sound of many footsteps coming down the hall. The rest of the V.I.P members were headed their way. "Whelp that's my cue! Thanks for stopping by, but I have to go and greet these people! I'll see you tomorrow!" Macy called as she ran out of the room. Our heroes bided Alan farewell and headed out the back exit and onto the Cyllage city streets. The walked back to their hotel with the thoughts of their battle lying just ahead fresh in their mind.
"Let's do it!" Ava said confidently. "I'm right with you." Elijah replied.
To Be Continued...
Elijah was growing very anxious. Based off the responses of Alan and Ava he had his hopes high for this next performance. Froakie was nestled in his hoodie pocket growing tired. Alan sat contently beside him with his arms crossed. Alan's goal, aside from remaining Kalos Champion, was to search for trainers who showed exceptional battling and coordination with their Pokemon. Once he found them, he tried to increase their skills through various training methods. So far, there were 3 people in this room who were on his list.
The lights in the arena dimmed once again, and the spotlights closed in on Macy. Macy tossed two of her six Pokeballs into the air, just like the previous performers had done. Out came Scizor and a Pokemon neither of our two heroes had ever seen. Elijah looked very confused, he pulled out his new Kalos Pokedex and scanned it. All he got back was the word: ERROR
Whatever that Pokemon was, it was from some other region that he and the Pokedex didn't know of. Ava turned to Elijah, "What is that thing?" she asked. "I have no idea..." He replied. "It's name is Primarina," Alan spoke, "Native to the Alolan Region. A very rare sight in Kalos in deed. But that's how Macy works. Always surprising her audience."
Music began playing in the background. It was a soft, yet moving classical rhythm. Primarina used a move that Ava hadn't seen before, Alan later defined it as Sparkling Aria. A ball of water floated above the stage. Scizor followed up with Bullet Punch causing the ball of water to break into smaller chunks. Scizor used Razor Wind soon after causing the chunks of levitating water to explode into sparkling rain.
Primarina used Misty Terrain spreading a Pinkish Mist of sorts across the arena. No one could see the stadium, except Macy of course. Just then, the crowd of people could see a blue light illuminating from center stage. The mist cleared revealing a blue crystal glowing on a bracelet Macy was wearing on her arm. She called out something that again, neither of our heroes had ever heard, "Oceanic Operetta!"
The room exploded into flashes of blue and white. It was truly beautiful. The crowd was dusted with a cool, wet breeze, but no one really minded it. As the room cleared, it soon became evident of why she was the Kalos Queen. She was amazing.
The crowd settled down, and the other three contestants join Macy on the stage. Now cam the fun part. The audience voted by choosing the color that corresponded to a contestant. Both Ava and Elijah chose Pink which represented Macy; Alan followed their lead. As soon at all the voted were casted the score was shown. Macy had won by a landslide. 2nd place, was the girl with the Dustox and Beautifly. 3rd, was the girl with the Milotic and Charizard. Last, but not least, was the girl with the Piplup and Pidgeot.
The audience clapped for the contestants and Macy was awarded a ribbon for victory at the Cyllage City Pokemon Showcase. Olivia, the announcer, came back on the intercom, "Anyone with V.I.P passes can now make their way on stage to be escorted to the back to meet the performers. Thank you everyone for joining us on this wonderful, Kalos day. The next Official Pokemon Showcase will be held in Coumarine City. We hope to see you all there!"
Our heroes, accompanied with Alan, made their way to center stage. Both Ava and Elijah had passes in their hands, but Elijah noticed Alan didn't have one visible. "I guess being the Champion of the Region comes with some pretty big perks." Elijah thought. An usher greeted them at the stairway to the stage making sure their had their passes. He simply nodded to Alan as he walked passed him. Our heroes and Alan gathered with the crowd of other people who bought the overpriced V.I.P passes.
Alan motioned for our heroes to follow him backstage. Not only did they have the V.I.P passes, but they befriended Alan which now allowed to skip lines apparently, even V.I.P lines. "I want you two to meet Macy in person before the other people get to come. I think you'll find her very... interesting." Alan said to them. Ava was literally about to explode from being too overwhelmed from everything she had seen. It was fun watching the contestants perform on TV of course, but it was but better to see it in person.
Alan lead them through a series of hallways and doors until they stopped at one marked 'Macy Powell'. Alan knocked, "Hey Macy, It's Alan. I have some very special guests with me, can we come in?" Macy quickly rushed to the door and opened it, greeting Alan with a big hug. "Hey Alan! Glad you had time to stop by." Macy replied. She turned to look for the V.I.P guests but frowned when she only saw two trainers. "Didn't sell as much tickets this time?" She asked.
Alan laughed and said, "No no, the other guests are out on the stage. These are two special friends I wanted you to meet. They won The Battle Palace, the ones I was telling you about." Macy's face lit up, "So it's you two I been hearing all about. You all are famous you know." Our heroes looked at each other confused, "Famous?" Ava asked curiously. "Well yeah!" Macy said pulling out an issue of 'Kalos Quest' an extremely famous Kalos magazine known world-wide. On the cover was a picture from Ava and Elijah's final battle. The Headline read:
Ava Hurley and Elijah Whitt become the first victors of The Battle Palace
They starred at each other in disbelief. They had no idea the tournament was that big. Although, what should they have expected seeing as Alan was there. Macy starred at the cover once again and then up at Elijah. She repeated this a few more times until Elijah started feeling uneasy, "What's wrong?" He asked Macy. "Now that I take another look, I think I recognize you," Macy replied. "I know! You were in the Unova League earlier this year! You were in the final battle! I don't think you won, but you got second place!" Elijah was flabbergasted, he had never had someone call him out for seeing him in the League that he didn't know personally. Even Alan was surprised by this. Elijah never really talked about his experiences and his journey unless asked, he didn't want people to think he was bragging. The only person he spoke to about it was Ava, because she was obsessed with it.
"You watched it?" Elijah asked still very surprised. "Of course I did, I may be the Kalos Queen, but I'm still a human being," Macy replied matter-of-factly. "I want it and every other League every year. My goal is to win one you know." Macy reached into her purse and pulled out what seemed to be a badge case. "I've started back on my journey. The Showcases are cool and all, and I'll still compete in them, but I've always wanted more in life. Everyday I think about throwing it all away and traveling the world. Sadly, my contract doesn't account for that happening. At least not anytime soon. But, I still travel around facing gyms so that when the day comes, I can do that."
Lying in the badge case were the Santalune City and Cyllage City Gym Badges. Ava revealed that they too were participating in the Kalos League and had obtained the Santalune City Badge and were soon going to face the Cyllage City Gym. "Well then, tomorrow is my last day here in Cyllage City. If you wouldn't mind, I would love to watch you two battle tomorrow if that's alright with you." Macy asked sincerely. Our heroes said that they didn't mind and were happy to have her watch. "I think I would like to come and watch too. If you all don't mind of course." Alan also asked.
Our heroes agreed once again, but were interrupted with the sound of many footsteps coming down the hall. The rest of the V.I.P members were headed their way. "Whelp that's my cue! Thanks for stopping by, but I have to go and greet these people! I'll see you tomorrow!" Macy called as she ran out of the room. Our heroes bided Alan farewell and headed out the back exit and onto the Cyllage city streets. The walked back to their hotel with the thoughts of their battle lying just ahead fresh in their mind.
"Let's do it!" Ava said confidently. "I'm right with you." Elijah replied.
To Be Continued...