Blazing the Competition - Pokémon SI

Chapter 21 – Musical Mayhem

It was the following morning of the next day that I woke up bright and early. I had a busy schedule planned for us. Firstly, I needed to find a move tutor for Numsy. The little camel needed to learn a more powerful ground type move, second on our schedule was purchasing a ticket for the battle subway and thirdly I was planning to take Rena and Victini to go see a musical show at the local theater.

I let out my team to go through our morning routine together. Eating breakfast and making sure we all looked good for our outing. People tended to look down on you if you didn’t keep up with your personal hygiene less so in this world compared to my original one since trainers were frequently stuck in the wild without access to showers. However, no matter what world you were in, people didn’t like the smell of sweat, especially when one has been camping out in the desert for a couple of days. I wasn’t the only one needing to freshen up, a good amount of sand got stuck on the bodies of my beloved rascals so they are all getting the brush treatment. I couldn't make them take baths or showers since fire type Pokémon really didn’t appreciate getting wet.

“Numsy you first.”

Numsy looked at me holding my grooming brush and waddled over unenthusiastically. The little camel didn’t mind having sand stuck in his fur and saw little point of being well groomed. I make sure to keep him clean when we find ourselves in urban locations like this one, so other people didn’t have to tidy up after him when we walk into buildings open to the public.

“Don’t think that being part ground type excuses you for having a dirt covered fur coat in public settings.”

“Num…”

Combing out his hair wasn’t all that hard. Numel have only a single coat of fur unlike the species of Pokémon you can find in colder climates. Cleaning him up takes only a couple of minutes each time. Next it was Rena’s turn; she was the total opposite when it came to grooming, relishing the process of having her coat get all nice and clean. Back in Lavaridge she would regularly pester me or Zinnia into grooming her just because. Getting all of the sand out of her fur would take not a small amount of elbow grease; her having six separate tails didn’t help.

“Vuuuul.”

“I know I know I have to clean behind your ears as well.”

Whilst I was busy with my errant Vulpix, Victini was busy establishing the pecking order with Glove. Since she was now no longer the newest member of our group, Victini felt that she had to clue Glove into all the intricacies traveling with us would entail.

“Vi Tini Tini!” “I am the oldest in the group so you can just call me big sis!”

“Dar?”

At this comment I felt the inexplicable urge to add my two cents to the conversation.

“Well technically Glove is over 2.500 years old if you count the time period of him being stuck while petrified.”

“Nitan Dar.”

Glove started petting Victini on the crown of her head. Amused by her attempt to pull seniority over him. Victini started pouting while leering at me, her new attempt at becoming a big sister failed.

“Don’t worry, I am sure you can become an older sibling figure for the little tike inside the egg.”

I spent a half hour like that. Me making Rena presentable, while I watched my team have intriguing interactions with each other sometimes chipping in when I felt like it. Rena was mostly content just getting brushed up while Victini tried to advertise the wonders of tabletop gaming to Glove. The Darmanitan gave cards an honest shot, but his hands were just too big to hold the tiny cards comfortably, while Numsy didn’t have any hands at all. That didn’t discourage Victini the slightest bit; she quickly switched over to playing a game of Timburr’s tower with them. Numsy could still somewhat play along using his mouth to remove blocks from the tower. Glove could sometimes get the blocks out on his own but more often than not relied on Victini’s confusion to help him play out the game. Watching them like that gave me an epiphany.

“Glove you don’t know any psychic type moves?”

“Dar Dar…”

“He says the older guards taught him how to achieve inner focus, but he never got the chance to develop his mental abilities further than that.”

“This is perfect! Tini you can coach Darmanitan in that area, your confusion is top notch.”

I wasn’t just blurting out meaningless compliments, Victini has the finest control over her mental powers that I’ve ever seen from any psychic type Pokémon. She was accomplished enough to bend light and turn invisible and levitate around her own body like it’s nothing.

Glove seemed amenable enough to the idea of being mentored nodding his assent to be tutored by our resident flying rabbit. Victini on the other hand showed signs of self-doubt fidgeting with her claws while staring down at me.

“Vi…” “I don’t know…”

“Don’t worry about it, you'll do great. The key to being a great teacher is confidence.”

Victini cutely clenched her claws together and slapped her cheeks.

“Vi!” “I am going to be the best teacher!”

“That’s it, now come over here, the best teacher needs to get her fur groomed.”

I was saving Darmanitan for last. He spent twenty-five hundred years in that desert, and I was dreading the amount of grooming I had to do to get him completely clean or if I was even able to. It also didn’t help that Glove was about a whole foot taller than me. Most fire types could just burn themselves clean but that didn’t work for sand. Most fire types aren’t able to produce flames hot enough to melt sand and if they could it would just become some sort of sticky amorphous liquid.

“This is my punishment for only catching furred fire types I guess.”

After my first attempt at getting Glove clean, I immediately realized that I would need professional help to get him presentable enough to walk into public places with. Thankfully the nurse Joy behind the desk gave me a referral to a Pokémon groomer who lived in the city. According to her this groomer recently retired but still took on jobs with the right referrals. Luckily nurse Joy was a personal friend of this groomer else she wouldn’t even have taken the time to talk with us.

“So, this is the big lug you want me to fix up?”

The groomer was a grouchy looking elderly lady.

“Yes please.”

She started inspecting Glove’s fur, checking his ears and even looking under his nails.

“This’ll be a big job. I'll charge you double what I usually ask my customers. One thousand pokédollars and I’ll need to keep him here for most of the day. You can come pick him up at the end of the afternoon. By the end of this you won’t even recognize him.”

‘One thousand?! that is all my free spending money. I hope that leaves enough left over for subway tickets.’

I grudgingly handed over the money. Usually, I don’t keep that much cash with me. But I pulled out four thousand from the center’s ATM just in case.

“Glove, I need you to stay here with the nice lady for a couple of hours. Do everything she wants you to do and afterwards we can go out for dinner.”

“Dar dar!”

“He says that his duty to protect the egg comes first.”

“Hmm okay then. Excuse me, miss can I also leave my Pokémon egg behind? Glove doesn’t want to let the egg out of his sight.”

“What do I care? Just leave it here at the table , your Darmanitan can look at it all he wants while we are busy.”

‘This lady might be rough on the outside but has a soft doughy filling.’

I did as she instructed and left the egg on the nearest table confident that Glove would keep it safe. It felt kind of weird leaving my newly caught partner alone on his second day of being with us, but needs must, and it would only be for a few hours. It did also spare me from having to carry around the egg while finishing up my business in the city.

Our next stop was the gear station in order to buy a ticket to Mistralton city. I had no idea what the average ticket prices were for passengers who just wanted to board the subway without having to participate in the battling, but I was about to find out. Getting to Gear Station was not difficult by any means, its location being right in the middle of the city. The building looked like one of those old Victorian mansions, the difference being that it held eight railway platforms inside, each railway leading to a different city within the Unova region.

In the middle of this massive subway station stood a giant timepiece underneath which a small ticket stand was built manned by two receptionists.

“Excuse me mister. Can I buy a ticket to Mistralton City?”

“Yes, you can. Off to visit your family there kiddo?”

‘Kiddo?! adolescence can’t come soon enough.’

“No, just visiting a family friend who is crashing at the celestial tower.”

“That’s great seeing as you seem to be under fifteen, I’ll have to look at your ID first.”

I fished out my Hoenn trainer’s license and for good measure I also pulled out my lab assigned Pokédex.

The guy behind the desk took one look at my foreign issued license before addressing his colleague sitting at the next booth over.

“Julie, do we accept foreign ID?”

“Yes, we do Larry, you are just too lazy to pull up the league’s visa listings. Just take your thirty-minute break and let me handle this.”

The nicer looking lady took over for the stereotyping man. Taking his seat behind the booth.

“Well, what you got here young man is a standard issue trainer’s license from Hoenn. That means we have to look at our registry to find out if you are here illegally. Mr. Emmet and Mr. Ingo ran into some legal issues a few years ago and now we have to do this every time a foreign trainer wants to board our battle subway.”

I was quick to retort.

“I also gave the previous clerk the Pokédex I received from Professor Juniper. Doesn’t that count for something? Since technically I am not a foreigner.”

“Oh really?! Thank you, that makes my job a lot easier. Really, Larry can’t even recognize the difference between a foreign Pokédex and one issued by our own regional professor.”

The clerk flipped open the pokedex and pressed a couple of buttons to play

“This Pokédex is programmed by Professor Juniper for Pokémon trainer Egon from Lavaridge town. My function is to provide Egon with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen I cannot be replaced.”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Now what kind of ticket are you looking to purchase?”

“One way to Mistralton City please.”

“Are you looking to enter as a battler or just a regular passenger?”

“As a passenger. I’ve only just started my journey and from what I hear taking on the battle subway requires a bit more experience.”

“We have a departure scheduled for five in the afternoon. Do you want to board at that moment, or would you rather arrange for another day?”

‘Five in the afternoon is perfect. That gives me just enough time to go pick up Glove at the groomer after watching a musical at the theater with Rena.’

“Today please.”

“That’ll be 1500 pokédollars. Are you aware of the regulations for passengers boarding our trains?”

“Uhmm no not really.”

“It’s really simple if while seated inside one of our cars the light on the monitor goes red you are required to vacate the car you are currently occupying and move over to the next one adjacent to it. Red means the railroad car is going to be used for a battle.”

“Doesn’t battling wreck the railcar?”

“Don’t worry about it. Our railcars are made from the toughest metal known to man. It would take a concerted effort from a fire and fighting type Pokémon to destroy one of our cars. The chairs lining our railcars do get destroyed on the regular though. Now have a nice day and we hope you enjoy your time traveling with us trainer Egon.”

We left Gear Station and as we did, I released Rena from her ball.

“Do you want to go see a musical show princess? First time visiting trainers and their Pokémon get in for free.”

“Pix pix!”

“Me too!”

We made our way to Nimbasa’s musical theater hall. Rena insisted on wearing her best duds at the gathering place for Pokémon of culture like her. That also meant she was wearing her gaudy tiara while we made our way through the city. She got more than just a couple of looks from passersby and a few women even walked up to us in order to dote on her. Complimenting me for my good fashion sense. Rena’s ego couldn’t balloon up bigger than it already is and by the time we arrived at the theater I was positively exasperated.

“This is it, the Musical theater. Now we are just here to enjoy a show so don’t start singing and dancing with the performers on stage alright?”

“Vuuuuul!”

Rena started lightly gnawing on my ankles as a form of protest. Letting me know that she is the more mature being out of the two of us. Unlike at the reception at gear station checking was completely automated all I had to do was select one of the plays I wished to see on the screen and either reserve the number of seats I needed or let the computer scan my Pokedex in order to have two seats of my choosing set aside for free for our first visit,

There was only one show we could view and still be on time to pick up Glove and make it for our departure. A show called Gothorita and the Zoroark. The synopsis describing it bears striking similarities with a play I am already familiar with. An arrogant young zoroark prince, who lives in a castle surrounded by his enchanted servants, opens his heart to a peasant gothorita. As their love slowly develops a narcissistic Bisharp starts coveting Gothorita for her beauty and imprisons Gothorita’s father. Only willing to release her father if she gives in and marries him. The play lasts for about two hours including the intermission break. I just hoped Rena is into sappy love stories.

I picked two available seats that were displayed on screen. This show seemed pretty popular judging by the number of seats still available; the only adjoining seats that were still up for grabs were second row in the left most corner. Thankfully, me and Rena could be seated next to each other. She could’ve made use of my lap too, but I am pretty sure that would’ve become uncomfortable after a while. Not to mention that Victini also needs a spot to view the play from.

I tried walking past the concession stand but an invisible tug stopped me from moving forwards. Followed by a large box of popcorn floating upwards and landing itself between my arms. Just like at the cinema this theater food was also ridiculously overpriced and I had no intention at all in feeding the beast.

“You know if you want some caramelized popcorn, we can just go get some at any grocery store right? Theater popcorn doesn’t magically taste better.”

“Please… this is the last thing I want after that I’ll be good; I promise!”

‘You are overestimating yourself and those big blue eyes of yours are ineffective while still invisible. There’s no way, no how that I am paying five times the market rate for a box of popcorn.’

Ten minutes later*

“You must have used some form of hypnosis on me! This time I’ll let it slide since you have obviously been working on your moves.”

Victini was invisibly munching on popcorn while seated on my lap. The smugness basically radiating off her so much that even an untalented hack like me could feel the telepathic waves of satisfaction. Rena took the seat nearest to the isle. I let her have that seat in case the patron who is going to be seated next to me was some kind of weirdo.

My neighbor did eventually show up to claim her seat. Surprisingly she looked like a girl about my age, maybe one year older, blonde and sporting a pair of custom-made earphones.

‘Keep the chewing to a minimum, okay? Our new neighbor might hear you.’

“Got it!”

Musicals starring Pokémon have one single problem. The audience can’t understand any of the dialogue between the actors. That’s why every seat came with an earphone that played a live recording of the script as the play commenced. The human partners of the actors usually being the ones that voiced over their Pokémon.

“Look there she goes a Pokémon who's strange but special.

A most peculiar mademoiselle

It's a pity and a sin.

She doesn't quite fit in!”

I pulled out one of my earphones having already lost interest in the story. Trying to just focus on the Pokémon actors. Rena and Victini were almost jumping from their seats, clearly enjoying the show. I kept as quiet as possible in order to not detract from their merriment.

“Excuse me, are you going to eat the rest of that popcorn?”

Startling blue eyes faced me. My neighbor, now no longer hidden in the natural shadows of the theater, gave me a questioning look.

“Yeah sure, go ahead. Just leave some of it left over after the ending. my Pokémon might still be hungry after the show.”

The girl seemed familiar to me however since this was a musical theater I decided to leave my questions for after the show.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor Gothorita. It's a shame about your father.

You know he's not crazy, Bisharp.

I might be able to clear up this little misunderstanding, if...

If what?

If you marry me.

What?

One little word, Gothorita. That's all it takes.

Never!”

‘Ughhhhhh… this is going to take a while.’

“That was my popcorn!”

“It's fine you were on a diet anyways. And she left you one fourth of the amount afterwards. You know what they say, sharing is caring. I am sure our neighbor was very grateful for our generosity.”

It was intermission time leaving me a good ten minutes to stretch my legs while the lights were on. Our mysterious neighbor quickly used this opportunity to go backstage behind the drapes. I figured she must know one of the actors personally. My Pokémon were completely engrossed in the story. Rena kept gushing about how pretty the actors looked. She seemed especially fond of the lead Zoroark. I wasn’t the most adept in the matters of love but even I could see that my Vulpix was developing a celebrity crush.

‘Maybe since they’re both vulpine Pokémon?’

The Zoroark was skilled at using his illusionary powers to provide a number of the special effects in the play. Using shadows to make himself seem more menacing during his introduction scene. This show was very enlightening in terms of learning more about their species’ unique abilities. Since I haven’t come across any of them until now. They are widely known for being difficult to capture. Being able to disappear into the surroundings at will. So, any trainer that does manage to capture one of their line has somehow convinced the Pokémon that he or she would be fun to stick around with.

“Pix pix pix!”

“Calm down Rena this is just the intermission the show will start up again after everyone has had a chance to stretch their legs a little.”

Rena jumped off her seat and rushed towards the closed drapes obviously planning to meet a certain dark type.

‘Tini, can you look after our seats?’

After getting the psychic equivalent of an affirmation I followed after my starstruck Pokémon. Obviously being faster than me Rena has already disappeared behind the drapes. Now all I had to do was find her before we were both forcefully removed from the premises. The backstage area was filled with set props and Pokémon actors and their human partners. They used this cessation of their activities to lounge around and practice lines. I waded through the crowd hoping that they were not paying enough attention to realize I was not supposed to be there.

‘If I was an infatuated six tailed fox, where would I be?’

“Hey, you there! You are not supposed to be here!”

I was stopped by the blonde girl who just like me entered the backstage area during the intermission. This time she had a Pokémon with her, lounging on her shoulders stood a tired looking emolga.

Emolga, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon. Emolga lives in trees and uses its cape-like membrane to glide through the air. As it flies, it scatters electricity around, so bird Pokémon keep their distance. That's why Emolga can keep all its food to itself. This Pokémon absolutely loves sweet berries. Sometimes it stuffs its cheeks full of so much food that it can't fly properly.

“You better have a good reason for sneaking in here! Only the actor Pokémon and their trainers are allowed backstage.”

“I didn’t see your Emolga on stage neither. Are you sure that you aren’t supposed to be here as well?”

“You… My precious Emolga is responsible for the theater lamps. She glides around the rafters turning them off and on.”

“Uhmm… Sorry my Vulpix ran off. I am just trying to get her back. What’s your name miss…?”

“Elesa.”

‘Egon it’s a pleasure to meet you. Say you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find the male lead actor? My Vulpix has really taken a shine to him. I am sure that I can find her with that Zoroark.”

“The owner’s Pokémon? He can usually be found in his personal quarters. No one goes in there except for him and his Zoroark.”

“Could you please take me there? ”

Elesa fidgeted somewhat, eventually deciding to show me where to find that Zoroark. Leading me up to a secret backdoor room where the leading actor resides. The door was closed and waiting just outside was my wayward fox Pokémon seemingly patiently waiting for the actor to come outside.

“Rena come back quick! We are not supposed to be here.”

“Vuuuul.”

“No, you can’t have his paw graph! And I am pretty sure what you are doing is considered stalking.”

Elesa and her Emolga watched me and my Pokémon bicker. Obviously, our argument was going nowhere. Until she finally decided to step up and help solve the issue. Addressing my Pokémon with a hint of amusement in her voice.

“I know the director personally. If you want, I can get you a paw graph little Vulpix.”

“Pix pix?!”

Elesa was confused for a moment not following Rena’s line of questioning.

“She wants to know if you are really such a big deal.”

“Yes, my mother designs the stage costumes and props for all the actors in this show.”

Rena was mollified somewhat at the prospect of getting that Zoroark’s signature. I picked her up and walked us back in the direction of our seats. Elesa, also noticing the intermission was almost over followed behind me.

“Does this happen often? Rabid fans sneaking backstage to meet the actors?”

“Pix pix!”

“I wouldn’t know, or maybe you want me to ask nurse Joy to have you checked?”

Elesa amused just watching me and Rena go at it backtracked to answer my earlier question.

“I don’t know, me and Emolga are still novices and haven’t been here that long. That won’t always be the case though. She and I will make it all the way to become big A-list celebrities, that's our dream!”

I gave her a look up and down.

“Sure, maybe if you grow up a bit, you have a symmetrical face that people would find pleasing to look at, high bone cheeks, vivid eyes and hair color.”

She puffed up a little more after each of my astute observations.

“Becoming famous isn’t all about looks! Me and Emolga still have a lot to learn before we can make it out there. But… thank you for the compliments”

We made it back to our seats in time for the commencement of the second and final act of the show. Elesa, probably having already seen this same show multiple times zoned out and focused only on the rafters where her Emolga must be taking care of the show’s lighting needs.

Just like that we spent another hour watching all the different Pokémon actors singing and dancing out the story.

The show ended with prince Zoroark and his servants getting uncursed and winning the heart of Gothorita. I myself was too mature to enjoy a sappy feel-good ending like that, but my Pokémon seemed to like it. The audience gave a standing ovation to the actors who were all lined up at the show’s ending. Elesa gave me a nudge to let me know I should follow her if I still wanted to get that paw graph for Rena. Seeing no other way but to indulge in my Pokémon’s unhealthy fanaticism me and my team followed the blonde back behind the drapes. Elesa looked around for a bit after we found ourselves wading through a crowd of actors and their trainers until she presumably found who she was looking for. An older gentleman accompanied by a bipedal fox Pokémon.

“Excuse me director!”

“Oh, Elesa dear. How was the show?”

Before these two had the chance of finishing their exchange of pleasantries my fox jumped out of my arms and started yipping at the sight of the gentleman’s Zoroark.

“Pix pix pix!”

“My what an excitable young lass wouldn’t you say so Zoroark?”

“Ark.”

“This Vulpix is my seat-neighbor’s Pokémon. She expressed her desire to meet and get a paw graph from Zoroark sir.”

“Vuuul Pix!”

The constant barrage of compliments seemed to be getting through to Zoroark a slight tint of red adorning his cheeks.

“Well now what do you say Zoroark old friend? Do you want to make this lassie’s day extra special?”

“Ark.”

The director fished out a special type of ink that was used to stain Pokémon paws. When he asked where we wanted the paw graph inscribed on, I wasn’t sure what to use. None of the items I carried on me seemed suitable enough for this type of endeavor. Eventually I decided to let Zoroark paw graph my backpack. At least this way Rena gets to look at it whenever she wants.

We walked out of that theater with an extra memento given to us by that wizened Zoroark. He, just like me, saw the futility in trying to curb Rena’s enthusiasm and quickly gave in after a barrage of flattering remarks. We got two free tickets to come watch their show the next time we were in the city. I felt a small sense of accomplishment having indulged Rena and to a lesser extent Victini, The play didn’t match my tastes for sure but as long as my team was happy with the experience I couldn’t care less what I was watching. It was just me and Victini now I recalled Rena into her ball to cool off from all her excitement.

We walked back to the groomers. Where Glove’s transformation was complete.

“He smells incredible. What kind of scent is that?”

“Extract of Lilligant.”

“Thank you for the amazing work. I had no idea if he’d ever get all that plastered on sand out of his coat.”

“He should be good to go. Darmanitan’s fur does need a weekly brushing if you want him to stay like this.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure to do that. Have a nice day!

We parted ways with the groomer. I'd be sure to visit her the next time I was in town. With the egg in my arms I left together with my Pokémon.

“Now are you guys ready for a train ride?”

“Dar!” “Vi!”