A Very Confused Pokemon Adventure

Warning! Chapters 31-34 were all posted back-to-back. Returning readers, make sure you pick up where you left off!

Chapter 34 – A Coordinator Debut!

2B has seen horrors walking this path, yet had reached this new arena intact, if perhaps not unscathed. She embraced that thought, mind shying away from all the things her girlfriend had put her through in the name of ‘getting ready’ yesterday. Daisy had even confirmed that some women apparently enjoyed the horrifying ordeals she’d gone through. Humans, 2B had to admit once again, were a little strange. Every time she thought she’d grasped something about them, it was later brought into question.

Who knew that some humans actually liked getting slathered in mud. Perhaps it was some sort of ancient primitive ritual of atonement and purification? Washing away the mud of their sins to become more innocently beautiful? Or something else equally odd might be at work, she supposed. Like some sort of pre-battle thing. Wasn’t there an odd human saying about swallowing a frog every morning so nothing else you did for the rest of the day would be as unpleasant?

2B didn’t know what the logic behind the mud thing was and, for perhaps the first time ever, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know. Still, she had survived the grueling rituals, and Jigglypuff had enjoyed her own ‘pampering,’ for the most part. Sure, she had needed to pay for that entire wall of the beauty shop when they’d tried to put mud on Jigglypuff and she’d taken exception via Fairy Buster Sword. But, honestly, 2B both couldn’t blame her little partner and could easily afford the damages. So that was fine.

Now, at least, they’d reached the waiting area before the Appeals round, surrounded by a handful of other Coordinators. Zoey was allowed in as 2B’s plus one, and they were merely waiting for the announcement of 2B’s turn. An announcement that came a few moments later.

“Miss 2B, are you ready? You’re up next!”

2B nodded and moved to follow the man in the tux, who opened the door onto the backstage for her. She heard a quick ‘good luck’ coming from Zoey, but was already getting into the zone for his challenging new arena! She needed to be ‘fabulous!’…whatever that meant. Thankfully, Zoey had seemed to think just doing a basic spin in her dress and using the smile she’d made 2B practice would be enough. Something about her looking exotic with her tactical visor on?

There was a quick countdown as she took her place on the stage, watching the man in the tux count down the numbers for her on his fingers. Then, the curtain was rising and she stepped out into the spotlight, spinning and flashing that smile as she tossed out Jigglypuff’s pokéball. It landed center-stage, just as 2B had wanted, the seal on it covering Jigglypuff’s entrance with a splash of pink stars.

“Jigglypuff, show off your Ice Parade!”

Just like in battle, 2B trusted her pokémon to handle complex orders without micromanaging, and Jigglypuff was her best at that sort of thing. Launching herself up with her natural buoyancy, she fired an Ice Beam in a spiral, creating a slide of crystal clear ice that ascended in a spiral around her. Making it so clear required an extra level of control, but the payoff when she reached the top and switched energy types was spectacular, for a carefully modified Dazzling Gleam touched the slide, shooting pink fairy light through the clear ice. The result was a multicolor, glowing slide.

Jigglypuff wasted no time in forming ice skates made of her Fairy Sword move, letting go of her buoyancy so she could ride down the slide amidst the glow. Just as she reached the bottom, she bounced into the center and amplified the Fairy Sword energy, pulling it from her feet to her hand and altering it into Fairy Buster Sword. With an adorable cry of passion, she sprung upward, powering back through the center of the still-glowing slide in a spin as she diced it into tiny pieces that rained down over the stage. She landed a moment later, panting slightly from the intense combo as she bowed amidst the falling glitters of charge ice.

The applause, after a stunned audience got a chance to process all of what she’d done, was deafening.

Once more, much to her surprise, 2B found a sort of warm glow in her chest. She forced herself not to frown at that, smiling and waving to the crowd, spinning a bit as Zoey had directed her to do. The crowd continued to roar for a good five minutes, before the Master of Ceremonies managed to get them to quiet down. Lilian Meridian, said MC, quickly spoke up.

“With that absolutely spectacular debut performance from the mysterious 2B, let’s hear what our Judges think!”

For this Contest, the first judge up was Violet, the first of Gym Leader Misty’s older sisters and sponsor of the Contest. She practically had sparkles in her eyes, as she spoke up with enthusiasm.

“Like, that was spectacular! A show worthy of any stage! The use of not just Ice Beam and Dazzling Gleam, but your own original move Fairy Sword? Done so smoothly? A masterful first performance for both Trainer and pokémon! Not to mention that adorable dress!”

The two judges next to her winced at the last addition, but the first bits had been genuinely insightful, so no one was going to raise an issue over it. Particularly not when this was Violet’s Contest in the first place. Mr. Sukizo, President of the Pokémon Fanclub, who did his best to judge as many Contests in as many regions as possible, was next up on the panel.

“Truly, a remarkable performance! A complex combination, remarkably well executed!”

The final judge was, as usual, a member of the Joy Clan. Likely the head nurse from one of the three Pokécenters in Cerulean.

“Not only do I support what my fellow judges have to say, but I also add that your Jigglypuff is clearly in top condition! Putting out so many moves, so quickly, and swapping freely between energy types is no small feat! Truly, as Mr. Sukizo is so fond of saying, a remarkable showing of a remarkable pokémon!”

Far from being offended at his catchphrase being coopted, Mr. Sukizo beamed at Nurse Joy, even as Lilian Meridian took over again in her Master of Ceremonies role.

“There you have it, folks! Rave reviews from the judges! Hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of Miss 2B in the next round!”

There was more applause, though more controlled this time, as 2B recalled Jigglypuff, took a quick bow, and exited the stage. That hadn’t been as bad she’d thought it might be? Though the warm feeling in her chest from the applause was still a bit concerning. Perhaps she should talk to Zoey about it…

… … …

The Violet Sensation Contest wasn’t the first of the season, another large Contest having already happened in Vermillion City, and a few smaller ones in more rural areas. Yet, it was by far the largest and most prominent Contest of the season so far, and thus it wasn’t too much of a shock that there were quite a few Coordinators attending. 2B had been somewhere in the middle of the show for the Appeals round, and thus she and a practically vibrating Zoey had needed to wait through quite a few more displays.

Not, in truth, that 2B had minded. It had both given her time to mull over the strange sensations she’d experienced in her two Gym Battles and this Contest, as well as more seriously observe her potential competition. This early in the season most were…a bit lackluster. Yet there were a number of standouts, likely veteran Coordinators from previous years or other regions. Likewise, there were a few truly talented rookies as well.

Still, eventually, the time for the announcement of who would be moving on came. All those in the waiting area were riveted to the display as Lilian Meridan appeared on it.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to reveal who the judges have selected to move onto the next round! Without farther ado, those moving onto the Battle Round will be…these lucky eight!”

The screen shifted to show eight squares, each filled with snapshots of the Coordinators. 2B instantly spotted her own image in the set, spent a moment being relieved that she hadn’t messed up the hard part, then paid more attention to the others. Five were individuals she’d pegged as more experienced Coordinators, two of which were from out-of-region. The remaining two were rookies, though only one had debut in this Contest like 2B had, with the other having appeared in some small Contests previously.

“Congratulations, 2B! You’ve made it past the starting steps, now you just have to…not completely flatten everyone in a way that looks bad.”

2B cocked her head at the weird energy Zoey was giving off, even as she awaited the random shuffle that would reveal her first opponent.

… … …

There was a half-hour intermission between rounds, for the benefit of those who had done their Appeals last. As the simplest of the three Cerulean Sensational Contests, the Violet Sensation didn’t allow pokémon swaps between rounds. Which meant giving a fair time for recovery in case a winner from a later appeal proved to be in the starting match of the Battle Round. Frankly, 2B was just annoyed that Zoey wouldn’t let her snack on anything, claiming it might get crumbs on her dress.

Despite that, the Battle Round came around soon enough, and 2B was lucky enough to feature in the first fight. She stepped out onto the smallish Battle Court even as Lilian Meridian once again started her announcing, beginning with the competitors.

“Here we are in the Battle Round, folks! First up, we have the stunning 2B and Jigglypuff, who really wowed the crowd and judges alike with her debut performance! Up against her, we have second year Coordinator and winner of last year’s Lily Sensation, Troubadour!”

The crowd cheered nearly equally at both introductions, which sent those warm flutters back through 2B’s chest. Zoey had looked at her oddly when she’d asked what those were, then smiled and said 2B was simply enjoying the praise. That…she didn’t quite know if that was right, or what to do with the information if it was. It would have to be something she would unpack later. For now, she needed to win a battle, one with some slightly odd rules.

“Alright Coordinators! Release your pokémon!”

2B complied, using a twisting spin throw that her opponent matched with a fancy flick. Both released their pokémon, showing Jigglypuff facing off against a Pikachu. Far from the worst matchup, frankly.

“Annndddd…Start!”

2B was far faster to snap an order, having thought a bit about how to use Jigglypuff’s moves in more indirect and visually spectacular ways. One of which would do a good job of crippling a Pikachu’s agility, while barely affecting Jigglypuff.

“Jump and Ice Beam the floor!”

The move seemed to take her opponent off guard, cutting off his order of a Quick Attack. He wasn’t fast enough to change course, though, as the abrupt sheet of ice forming all over the floor met the speeding Pickachu and caused it to slip and slide. Above the arena, a projection showed a mild loss of Appeal Points for Troubadour. Before he could recover, 2B followed up.

“Hover and Fairy Gatling!”

Jigglypuff was at high advantage in this situation, as her species’ natural ability to float was more than enough to keep her in the air just from the Fairy Gatling recoil. The move, easily their fastest at this point, lanced out at the slipping and sliding Pikachu. Troubadour proved he was at least no fool by giving his own order.

“Iron tail to destroy the floor, and dodge as best you can!”

To his and his pokémon’s credit, the Iron Tail trick worked to break up the majority of the ice. Unfortunately, the change wasn’t fast enough to save it from several brutal hits from Fairy Gatling, causing his points to drop again. Deciding she’d been gentle enough already, 2B simply ordered a finisher, though not a particularly vicious one.

“Lullaby!”

Jigglypuff knew what to do, using a brief pulse of Aqua Jet to build up speed, even as she Sang a few notes.

“Thunderbolt!”

On another pokémon, that might have worked, but Jigglypuff was far too mobile and used another Aqua Jet to get under the electric attack. Closing the last few meters, she gave out an adorable cry and punched the very surprised Pickachu in the face with Lullaby, which sent it out like a light. Their Appeal points dropped almost to nothing, and then did drop to nothing when Jigglypuff picked the poor sleeping Pickachu up and…started using her fingers to force it to make funny faces at the crowd. 2B saw even Nurse Joy snicker a bit at that, as Troubadour’s points fell to zero.

“There you have it, everyone! The first Battle Round goes to 2B and Jigglypuff, give them a round of applause!”

The warm, fluttery feeling was back, and 2B still wasn’t sure what to do with it...

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

A/N 1: Poor 2B, traumatized by now WEIRD humans are. Seriously, the mud masks and cucumbers thing has always struck me a particularly bizarre, no matter the logic behind it.

A/N 2: I 100%, absolutely, stole the ice spiral/slide thing from one of Dawn's routines. Though I put twists of my own on it for Jigglypuff.

A/N 3: The poor, innocent Coordinators, who are all going to get steamrolled by 2B, even with her trying to play with kid gloves...

A/N 4: Once per new set of chapters, I mention that I have a P-atreon! My fanfiction content is never permanently paywalled, but I do maintain Early Access chapters for each fic. In the case of A Very Confused Pokemon Adventure, chapters 35-40, amounting to roughly another 20,000 words, are currently in Early Access. That said, while support is deeply appreciated, the older chapters are put up here as new chapters are released into early access. So you can always just be patient ;-). For those that do wish to support me, you can find a link to my P-atreon in my profile, or simply search the web for 'Novus's Fanfiction Works.'