---
Amber stared at the dress in Cassidy's hands, annoyed, shocked and angry at the sight of the girly-looking dress, "Why the hell do you want me to wear that?!"
Cassidy blinked her large brown eyes, "But, I thought you'd like to match Cora in the contest!" She gasped.
Amber's cheeks blazed at that, "I DO! B-But not like that! Nor am I going to that girl fest!" She yelled. Cassidy flinched and backed down, sighing, "Very well. And it's too bad, the prize was going to be a rare Pokemon." Amber's ears twitched upon hearing that. Turning to face her friend, she asked, "What type of Pokémon?"
Cassidy tapped a finger to her lip in thought, but she was actually snickering happily, 'Gotcha!' "I'm pretty sure it was a... Oh, I remember! It was an Aron egg! Yeah, that's it! Too bad you're not competing though. Would've been a GREAT Pokémon to have." The brunette wailed, covering her face with her right arm, smirking under it.
Amber was completely frozen mid-step. An Aron would be a wonderful addition, and its final evolution would be a powerhouse for sure. Making up her mind right there and then, she turned towards her fellow brunette, "Give me the damn dress."
Cassidy hopped up and smiled cheerfully at her friend, "Really? Great! You go get dressed, I'll do your makeup and hair. Chop chop now, the competition starts in two hours!" Amber, realizing what Cassidy just did, sputtered "Y-You... You tricked me?!"
The older trainer smirked, "Yep! And as a martial artist, you never go back on your word, right? You said, 'give me the dress', which means you're going to participate, no matter what! I mean, if you didn't do this, then that would mean your breaking the very code you grew up by! 'A martial artist can never go back on their word! They must follow through, no matter the obstacle!'. That's what it says, right?" The smug smirk on Cassidy's face told Amber everything.
"You found a fucking loophole and you're using it against me to get what you want!" The artist gasped.
Cassidy snickered, "Yep, that's pretty much the jist of it. Neat huh? Using the very foundation you grew up on and using it against you. But, then again, what are true friends for?" The brunette asked, grinning cockily.
The turquoise-eyed girl stared at her partner and stated aloud, "I have every right to sock you right now."
The Espeon Trainer saved her hand dismissively, "Yeah yeah, we'll talk about it later, now get your was in that dressing room and put on the dress or else I'm gonna dress you myself!" Pushing Amber inside the room with the dress, Cassidy closed the curtain, "And hurry it up! We spent almost twenty minutes arguing!"
Grumbling to herself, Amber pulled on the dress, shuddering at the... Just the entirety of it. The pink, cream and purple were so feminine, and the fabric was weird and uncomfortable. And if she fell over in the skirts, everyone would... She smiled to herself as she pulled on some black shorts. She was at least going to wear those if she had to wear this abomination!
Ducking out slightly from behind the curtain and sighing, she stepped out to the snickers of Ferran and Cora, the two Pokémon who knew how painful this was for her, and a gasp from Cassidy. "You look... Great!" She called excitedly. "I don't feel great..." Amber responded, grumbling under her breath.
"Ok, so have you worked out what you're going to do for the contest? You need a plan!" Cassidy fretted while rooting around in a bag. "I'll help you groom Cora, and you can handle the battle no problem, I'm trusting." Amber smirked as Cassidy continued.
"You just need to make sure the Moves you choose are elegant and stunning for the moves section. But what about the Talent section?"
The two trainers tried to think of something, until Cassidy snapped her fingers, an idea popping into her head, "How about you start off with Misty Terrain, to give it a slightly ominous feel, before appearing holding a red and purple ribbon, and while you dance and twirl, Cora dances around you while using Swift and Dazzling Gleam, clashing them together to create sparkles while also using Fairy Wind to blow them around both of you and the audience, and then finish with Moonblast?" The girl asked, imagining it as she went.
Amber's stared at her friend for a minute before asking, "How are not a coornadior?"
The maroon-eyed girl shrugged, "It's not my dream job. My dream is to become a famous fashion designer and average Pokemon Trainer." She answered, bored. "Now, let's do something about that mop you call hair!" The brunette stated, grabbing a brush and two hair ornaments that were golden flowers with purple and red ribbon.
Gesturing Amber to sit down, which she did, Cassidy started by brushing her hair out of her eyes, brushing them off equally to each side. Just to make the they stayed there, Cassidy clipped in the ornaments and fastened the ribbons. Then, she brushed the back of Amber's hair, smoothing it own to where it was flat and soft. Then, the brunette grabbed her makeup kit and pulled out blush and lipstick.
"Woah woah woah lady! If you think that I'm going to-" "Shut the hell up and let me do this."
Taking her face, Cassidy applied the blush first, causing the girl's cheeks to highlight her pale face, and then applied the cherry lipstick, causing her peach lips to pop and stand out more. When she finish, the Espeon Trainer overlooked her work of art and nodded, extremely satisfied, "Go ahead and look in the mirror, Amber."
Turning to see her reflection, the younger girl gasped in awe. She looked... different. Like, not the bad kind, but the 'holy-crap-I-look-fantastic' kind.
Twirling the brush in her hand, Cassidy smirked, "Heh, I still got the touch!" "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I guess I look good." Amber sighed before standing, carefully pulling down the skirts of her dress. "Why don't we stop making me look pretty and start on the real star of the show? Cora, come here!"
The red, white and purple Pokemon trotted over to her, and her trainer patted her, before calling over the stylist. "Cass, you think you can work your magic on my beautiful Sylveon over here?"
Cassidy nodded with a smile and turned to grab her grooming kit, much more extensive than the typical one Amber had. "You brush that side with this brush" Casidy tossed the girl a typical grooming brush. "And I'll make sure all the white fur is spotless!" As the two began grooming, Amber sighed. "This will take a while, won't it?" "Yep!"
---
Amber paced furiously backstage, back and forth through the wings. The turnout was big- extremely big! She wasn't used to this many people watching her do things. Sure, she'd done martial arts and ribbon dancing before in front of people, she wasn't new to it, but never a crowd like this!
As if she could sense her nerves, her friend clasped her hand down on the blondes shoulder. "Calm down hotshot! You'll do fine! Even if you don't win, you'll have at least tried!" Cassidy comforted.
Amber sighed and smiled, "Thanks C. Wait, what number am I again?" "Seven. They're on the fourth person right now. Know that there's sixteen contestants, and only fourteen can advance to the next stage. So-" Cassidy raised her thumb and grinned happily "Do your best out there!"
Amber blinked her big grey-turquoise eyes at her friend and stated, "That was just strange, but thanks for the advice."
---
Amber leant her back against the wooden walls of the backstage area, panting slightly. The Presentation and Moves sections were a breeze. The battle? Reasonably harder. Cora was breathing heavily, fur slightly ruffled.
There was a ten minute break for everyone watching to get food and go to the bathroom, and the contestants to prepare for the last stage. Of course, Cassidy used this opportunity to pop backstage and scare the living day lights out of Amber. Great use of time.
"Youre doing great! All you have left is the talent section, and that's gonna be amazing!" Amber sighed, smoothing her hair and tweaking the much despised dress. "You say that, but you must've noticed how experienced and better-than-me some of these trainers are."
Cassidy scoffed fondly at the blonde. "You're taking this seriously, huh? See, I knew you'd enjoy it! Don't try hide it, you love it. Now, don't focus on the others. Even if you don't win a ribbon, or an egg, there's still apparently a small prize for top five! Which, may I remind you, you are now in."
Amber ducked her head slightly and smiled. "I may or may not be enjoying contests. B-but, I still think they're girly. Now, help me groom Cora again and get ready for the talent section!"
---
"And, that was a great performance by Sara and her Dragonair! Now, let's give it up for Amber, and end Sylveon Cora!" The announcers voice blared out of his microphone. This is it. It's time to shine, Cora. The lights dimmed, making the stage fall dark. Murmurs rippled through the audience. No one else had gotten the stage to start off dark. What was this girls game?
A silvery, sparkling mist crept over the stage. Pink shimmering breeze flew through the air. Suddenly, dazzling beam of pink-tinged silvery light erupted from the ceiling, illuminating a red-purple-White Sylveon and her trainer. 'Moon Beam looked good there.' Cassidy thought to herself, watching the show with eyes wide.
The Sylveon leapt, twirling in mid-air as its ribbons flared out. The girl behind copied the motion, a purple ribbon twirling out from her left hand, and a red one from her right. The two twirled, leapt and turned, ribbons twisting in patterns to the calm background music as Cora kept up the Fairy Wind and Misty Terrain that made the stage look oh-so-ellegant.
Then, the dance became faster, more upbeat and acrobatic, and the music flared to match. Cora began to do simple jumps and turns, using Swift to send a beautiful explosion of stars throughout the arena. Amber, still twirling her ribbons, leapt into the air and spun, landing on her feet. Martial arts made her pretty good at gymnastics.
The girl did another twirl, her and the Sylveon back into perfect sync, before going for a slightly risky stunt. She began to do a double-flip-like thing, it was a bit different and more in her style. As she tried to land it, her elbow buckled underneath her, and her shoulder smacked into the black painted wooden stage.
Cassidys gasp was louder than the rest of the crowds. She had told Amber not to do that, but of course she wanted to do something risky. Of course! But, she was more focused on if her friend was okay at that moment. The blonde girl sat up and looked to Cora, who gave her a nod. Determination burned in Ambers teal eyes.
In an almost showy way, Cora extended a ribbon to Amber, helping her up and filling her body with calming vibes. The girl stood to her feet, pointed one toe and then continued to dance, fiercely twisting and leaping with her Pokemon. In a finale, Cora leapt higher than before, and cast a Dazzling Gleam out into the audience, landing safely in Ambers outstretched arms as the pair ran off, as the crowd clapped behind her, Cassidy cheering almost obnoxiously.
"Geez Cora you are heavy! Maybe I should cut out on the Poke-Puffs!" Amber was embarrased by her fall, but focused on teasing theSylveon she was carrying as they darted off-stage and into the back room. All the other performers had stayed to watch each other from the wings, but Amber had decided to spare herself the shame.
"You did amazing, girl!" The red head of her Sylveon nuzzled her leg. "I wish I hadn't fallen, we might've and a shot at third place! We couldn't have beat the first two acts that went on though, they were amazing, right?" When the blue-eyed Pokemon nodded, Amber sighed and sank into a chair. "Guess we just gotta wait around for prize giving." And humiliation. Ambers face burned, but she said nothing and continues patting her little star of a Pokemon.
---
"Fifth place goes to.... Amber and her Sylveon, Cora!" The crowd clapped in front of her as Cora raised her head high, proud of her accomplishments. She tuned out through the rest of the announcements, only listening to the first place winner. "And our prestigious winner for today is... Sam and her Pidgeot! Thank you everyone for your participation, if you were in the top five please remain here to collect your prizes."
The crowd tricked out of the hall, Cassidy flashing Amber a wave that clearly said I'm waiting for ya out here! "You did a great job today Amber, especially after your fall. Here is your prize." She nodded her thanks, taking the bag and walking out after congratulating all the inners. Honestly? She was sad she hadn't won, but she hadn't expected to.
As soon as she excited the contest hall, she was tackled by an eager, fashionable Pokemon trainer. "Amber you did amazing! Even though you fell over you still got up and kept going!" Similar sentences like that were uttered for a couple minutes, before Amber interrupted them.
"Cassidy! You're never this excited about new anything!" The blonde laughed at her friend. "I'm just so proud of you!" The brunette smiled. "What'd you win?" Amber looked through the bag with a smile. "There's a couple Poke-Puffs, some potions and a couple different Pokeball types, and... What are these?"
Amber pulled a package of some coloured Pokeball cover items, and some odd stickers. Cassidy looked at them and gasped. "These! They are so cool! They're called capsules and these stickers are seals. If you put a capsule on a Pokeball and then put a bubble seal on it, there's like an explosion of bubbles when you release the Pokemon!"
Amber grinned back at her friend. "Awesome!" She put the items in her backpack, and turned to look for Cora now that the crowd was gone. The poor Pokemon was laying against the building, panting. She wa about to collapse. "Thank you so much girl. Have a rest." A,beer returned Cora to her Pokeball, and looked to Cassidy. "Let's get back to the apartment!"
As the two walked along, Cassidy suddenly stopped. "So Amber, you could say that you 'FELL' for contests?!?" Amber didn't respond apart from a fa everybody-palm and unintelligible screaming. "CASSIDY NO!"