Communication (PG-13)

[xXSaberXx]

OMFG!! Morgan!

O_o That was the name of my first Sapphire Character. O_O!

And she had a sceptile too! O_o

Are you stalking me?

:3

Anyway, I loved that chapter. *huggles Solonn plushie* Kinda sad, kinda inspiring as well. I think Sei is prolly a     Spoiler:

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Gardevoir? They are just perfectly fit for smart contests, and can use Teleport....o-o eh eh? Nah, don't tell me.
 

MUCH LUFFS TO YAH SIKE!

Saber

[Saffire Persian]

*throws a brick up and down in hand*

What? You won't tell me!? I understand. Though I feel like guessing now, even if I don't nail it on the head, or you won't tell me. I'll go with my first guess, which is a     Spoiler:

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Jynx
 

. *cough* Glad to know Solonn's abilities DO come from somewhere. Perhaps if I actually read all the way through Origin at a timely pace, it will prove to shed some light. Of course the sentence you wrote about him here:

Although, I will say that the idea of the looming, head-biting guy from Origin performing for pretty ribbons initially amused me to almost no end…

caught my attention. I'm guessing you mean that literally. *Glances at Glalie's teeth*.

[Dark Latios]

Awesome as always Sike. ^^

I LOVE Morgan's pokemon especially     Spoiler:

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Raze. Skarmory>Any other flying types. ;P
 

The blue snow thing was strange, but I'm guessing Morgan mixed some blue pokeblocks with the snow right? I couldn't imagine any other way of it being blue... Unless it was a crushed up blue popsicle. XD

Anyway, the description of everything in ths chapter was mind-boggling. I can't wait for the next chap!

*Hopes Sei is an Espeon*

~DL

[Pinecone Tortoise]

Pinecone Tortoise: I also didn’t want for his ability to be perfect; he can’t do Claydol language, and there are some others he couldn’t pull off, either. So, why certain languages and not others? Hmm…

Body language perhaps? Or pokemon that communicate through scent? Or speech simply impossible for a Snorunt's tongue to produce? Not all languages are verbal.

Pinecone Tortoise.

[mindripper]

Hey SS, I have only read the fisrt chapter, because I am raelly busy at the moment, thinking up fics to publish and all for my charity drive, as juggling well as my outside life as well. I promise to post again when I finish. And you never have to ask me to review, 'cos you've been pretty good to me here, so just reciprocating.

Ok, people have already said what really needs to be said, as in description being great, as well as not taking away from the flow which is important. I cannot really tell too much about the plot, as I have only gotten through the first chapter, but rest assured I will eventually get around to it! Congrats on doing well for your second fic, and this is better than the origin of storms, even though I do miss the wobbuffet!

hey, wanna consider submitting a fic or two, see if I can get them published for you? Join my effort!

[Sike Saner]

Scrap: Well, the good news is that neither you nor anyone else shall be kept in suspense regarding Sei for terribly much longer, chapterwise at least.

xXSaberXx: Yes. I am stalking you. XP Just kidding, of course.

Saffire Persian: You put that brick down! X3 Like I said, Sei’ll be revealed fairly soon.

And, oh, yes. Solonn’s is a species which ranks VERY high on the list of things you don’t want to bite you. Pleasant, huh? X3

Dark Latios: The “blue snow” is blue raspberry shaved ice. There’s a shaved ice stand just a block or two from Morgan’s house.

Pinecone Tortoise: Yes, that is indeed a large part of why. Some languages cannot be readily replicated due to nonverbal nuances or else being exclusively nonverbal. There are furthermore some spoken languages which are simply too complex for him. However, I will say that not all of the languages that he can’t replicate fall into either of those categories. So, hmm…

mindripper: Ah, glad to see you are enjoying this. ^_^ Also glad to see that you find this to be a step up from The Origin of Storms; as I have mentioned before, I had been concerned about falling into the sophomore slump.


By the way…    Spoiler:

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one of you has now correctly identified the species of Sei Salma.
 

There will be a slightly longer wait for the next chapter than usual. But don’t worry—Chapter 4 should still make it out within the next two weeks. In the meantime, I will be doing a number of things, namely working out the final tweaks in the new chapter while also reading the nominees of the Summer Fiction Awards.

So… you might want to get a snack. X3

[Sike Saner]

Hello everyone.

Chances are you expected this post to be a new chapter, no?

Well, so did I.

Chapter 4 is presently completed, and I should be posting it right now. However, there has come a development which has basically thrown a giant monkey wrench in that endeavor.

For some inexplicable reason, my computer will no longer load SPPf, nor will it load serebii.net. (And yet, it has no qualms whatsoever about loading other sites... What the frell, seriously?) It's the old "Cannot find server" message every time.

I am posting this from one of the public library's computers. The library, unfortunately, only allows patrons one hour of internet usage per day. This, therefore, will cut a huge dent in my posting rate. Should order fail to be restored where my computer is concerned, and should the library cease to be a viable option, this could, concievably, cost me my membership here...

In the meantime, I will continue writing and preparing future chapters, so that if and/or when I am finally able to update, perhaps I can make it up to you all for the delay with even more fresh material right around the corner.

My apologies to all of you, and also to any whose fics I have been reviewing or have planned to review; I will, of course, try to get my reviews to you where and when I can.

Sincerely,
Sike Saner

[Brian Powell]

Wah! Not those 'technical problems' again! Like they haven't done enough!

But, still, you got my understanding when it comes to placing fics like these. I, for one, had a problem placing fics here before because of some hackers (curse them!). Plus, you have my patience.

EDIT: Wow! Six people gave you five stars already... no, wait. Make that seven.

[Chaos Absol]

It's too bad about the computer thing.I think I've had that before, I had to put the forums in my favorites for awhile to get to them.

Well, I think Cei is a Gardevoir as well because it just looks better then Alakazam(no effense).I can't wait for the next chapter, and I hope your computer gets well soon!

[Sike Saner]

FWEE! Despite the best efforts of that heartless entity that is technology, I have managed to break through the challenges of late and bring you the next chapter. I am more relieved than I can adequately express, let me tell you…

A huge and emphatically sincere thanks goes out to Saffire Persian, without whose efforts I may not have been able to give you this chapter. And thanks also for the wonderful theme song! ^^

Now, without any further ado, here’s Chapter 4!

_________________________

Chapter 4 – Spell of the Spotlight

The following morning brought a choice.

“All right, Solonn. The contest hall here in town will be holding two normal rank contests—those are the ones for newcomers—in the upcoming months,” Morgan said. “There’ll be one in three weeks, on the twenty-fifth, and then there’ll be another one two months afterward, on August twenty-fifth. Now, if you start your training now, you could enter into the earlier one, but you might want to wait until the August contest so that you can get more practice in and be more prepared. But it’s your call, Solonn.”

“I’ll go for the earlier one,” Solonn said at once. In his mind, it was no question at all—the sooner he got started with these contests, the sooner, he reckoned, he could be done with them and return to his home.

Morgan nodded. “Okay, then.” She would have preferred for him to wait until the later contest, believing that the extra time to prepare would have done him quite a bit of good. Nonetheless, she chose to respect Solonn’s choice and allowed his decision to stand.

* * *

That afternoon, Solonn’s contest training began in earnest. It was initiated in a way that Solonn found quite odd: Morgan offered him a small, indigo-colored cube and told him to eat it, saying that it would help him to do well in the contests.

Solonn looked at Morgan as if she were crazy. “How is this thing supposed to make any difference in whether or not I win?”

“Well… what it does is it refines your appearance. These pokéblocks will help you look as healthy and as… er, handsome as you can look. Making a good visual impression on the audience and judges is very important.”

Solonn continued to gaze skeptically at the human. Whatever, he decided finally, and took the pokéblock from Morgan, devouring it quickly. The little candy was… okay; it was kind of good, except that it had this funny, sort of sour aftertaste. That was really the only fault Solonn could find with the pokéblock, though, and it was really only mildly unpleasant—at first. Then he found the little candy cube beginning to disagree with him… and then to strongly disagree with him…

Morgan looked on with pity and poorly concealed revulsion as the snorunt’s body rejected the pokéblock. However, that undesired reaction did not dissuade her from attempting to feed Solonn another of those indigo candies later that evening. Solonn resisted at first—he wasn’t exactly eager to throw up again, after all.

“This one’s different,” Morgan tried to assure him. “I made more than one formula since I didn’t know which you’d do best with. Unfortunately, they just so happen to be the same color—but I promise you, they’re not the same. I even got rid of all of the other kind, so there won’t be any mix-ups.”

Solonn stared warily at her for a long while, his stomach threatening to go sour at just the mere memory of what the last pokéblock had done to him. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he accepted this identical-looking yet supposedly different pokéblock. Immediately, he discovered that Morgan had indeed been telling the truth—this little indigo cube was different from its predecessor. The flavor was one that Solonn immediately and greatly liked, and it didn’t have the disagreeable aftertaste of the other pokéblock. Seconds passed, and it showed no threat of sickening him. Solonn looked up at Morgan with an approving smile.

Morgan smiled back. “Ah, so this one’s a winner, huh?” Solonn nodded in response. “Good! Okay, then. You’ll be getting two of these a day until they’ve done as much for you as they can,” she told him.

This was certainly an aspect of contest training that Solonn didn’t mind in the least. However, he remained skeptical that merely eating candies was going to sufficiently prepare him for any sort of competition. He wondered what else the human might have in store for him in order to get him ready for these contests, these things which were the sole obstacle impeding his return home.

* * *

Around noon the next day, Morgan departed and returned a short while later accompanied by a heretofore unfamiliar presence.

“Solonn, this is Sei Salma, an alakazam,” Morgan said.

The pokémon at her side bowed, her blonde mustache twitching slightly as she smiled warmly. <A pleasure to meet you, young sir,> the alakazam said, her telepathic “voice” simulating a slightly gruff contralto that Solonn guessed was also the sound of Sei’s actual voice. <I understand that you and Ms. Yorke have a most unique relationship, yes?>

“…What?” Somehow Sei’s statement had come across to Solonn in a way that she had certainly not intended.

<You are able to speak to Ms. Yorke in her own language, are you not?> Sei elaborated.

“Oh… Yeah, that’s right,” Solonn confirmed, albeit a bit hesitantly.

<Ms. Yorke and I were discussing this on the way here. We’ve arrived at a conclusion regarding your abilities with which I know you’re already very much in agreement. It’s best that other humans do not discover your abilities, do you not agree?> Sei asked.

“Yeah,” Solonn said. “I’d really feel better if as few people knew about this as possible.” By “people” he was referring not only to humans but to other pokémon, as well. He was very mindful of not letting just anybody learn what he was able to do. In fact, he would really have preferred for Morgan to ask him for permission before revealing his secret to Sei…

<I understand your concern,> Sei said then, <but I assure you, Ms. Yorke had your best interests in mind when she informed me of what you’re able to do. She wouldn’t have told me otherwise. Furthermore, you have my word that I will not reveal your secret to anyone without your consent… And yes, I have just read your thoughts. I do try to tune such things out for the sake of courtesy, but…> She shrugged. <Sometimes thoughts are simply too strong to block.>

A mind-reader… Solonn figured then that, courteous or not, Sei would have probably absorbed the knowledge of his abilities sooner or later, either from Morgan or from himself, without having to be told of them.

<The privacy of those who have no form of mental defense is something my people take very seriously,> Sei assured him earnestly. <We wouldn’t be trusted at all by any other species if we didn’t stay out of their minds as much as possible. Even with our measures to respect their privacy in place, many species still do not trust us.>

Whether or not that was meant as a guilt-trip, it certainly worked as one on Solonn. “…Sorry,” he said. “I’m sure you don’t mean to pry into anybody’s business.”

Sei gave a relieved, satisfied smile. <Now. Since protecting the confidentiality of your skills is of such great importance, I’m offering you a means by which to speak more securely with Ms. Yorke.>

“And what would that be?” Solonn asked.

<This.> There was a brief flash of light in Sei’s eyes.

<Well? What do you think?> Morgan asked.

<What do I think of… Hey! How are you using telepathy?> Solonn asked—then, with a jolt, he realized that he, too, was speaking telepathically.

<Sei. She’s connected us via her own mind,> Morgan explained. <That way, we can talk with each other without anyone figuring out that… well, that we can talk with each other, get it?>

<…I think so,> Solonn said, still somewhat bewildered at the notion of being able to communicate in a psychic fashion. There was something about it that made him feel oddly powerful yet at the same time rather vulnerable, as well. He wondered if he would have agreed to try this method of communication if he had known beforehand that it would involve his mind being opened and shared in such a way.

<This method of conversing is undetectable to humans,> Sei told Solonn then, <and it’s the humans from whom you should be most concerned with protecting your secret. You see, pokémon who are able to speak to and be understood by humans are quite rare, and humans often look upon rarity as something from which they can gain some form of personal profit. If certain humans learned of your abilities, they would seek to exploit you for their own ends. I can guarantee you that you would not find such exploitation to your liking.>

Solonn cast a troubled gaze at Morgan. <Is this true?> he asked. Morgan had come across to him as trustworthy, but now Solonn found himself wondering if she was merely a rare exception in a species which generally could not be trusted.

<Yes,> Morgan said, sounding rather ashamed. <Solonn, I would never want to see you exploited like that.>

<Well, I wouldn’t want that, either,> he said, shuddering slightly. He turned toward Sei. <Okay. I’ll accept your method,> he said. <Thanks.>

<Think nothing of it,> the alakazam said, and with that she severed the psychic connection between herself and the other two.

The method by which Solonn could converse securely with Morgan that Sei had just made available was a welcome convenience indeed. As Solonn thought about it, something dawned on him: he wondered if the telepathic link could be used to enable Morgan to communicate with her other pokémon. After all, Sei’s telepathic abilities could trick the minds of those conversing into hearing words they understood, thus eliminating the language barrier between Morgan and her pokémon. Why hasn’t Sei offered this to the other pokémon? Solonn wondered silently.

To Solonn’s surprise, Sei turned her gaze upon him and then shrugged her plated shoulders. “Because they never asked,” she said simply, using her natural voice this time, speaking to Solonn in alakazam language. The snorunt only stared at her in response, apparently not knowing quite how to reply to her statement.

Sei then let out a long sigh. <Whew… It seems I’ve still got a bit of recovering to do before I’m quite up to speed again…>

“You want to return to your ball for a while?” Morgan asked her.

<Mmm… yes, I think so,> Sei answered. <I could do with a little time out of this poor, downtrodden flesh,> she added with a laugh.

Morgan chuckled. “All right, then.” She removed an ultra ball from her belt and recalled Sei with a beam of red light. The alakazam smiled wearily at Solonn before dissolving into energy and being drawn into her ball.

“I just don’t understand how anybody could stand being inside one of those things,” Solonn said with a small shudder, eying the ultra ball as it was minimized and reattached to Morgan’s belt. “It’s just so… ” He trailed off, unable to come up with a truly fitting description of what it was like in the great ball.

“So, you really don’t like being in a ball, huh?” Morgan asked. Solonn made a small, negatory noise in response. “Well, okay. You don’t have to go back in there if you don’t want to.”

Solonn smiled at her. He was sure that with no need to dread a return to the great ball, the time that remained to be spent here with Morgan would be much easier to endure—and perhaps even enjoy.

* * *

Several hours later, Solonn stood outside with Morgan and Sei Salma in the backyard. Though evening was approaching, the sun was still hot enough and bright enough to bother Solonn. Sunlight differed from the artificial light inside the house; it possessed its own peculiar kind of harshness, even in lower quantities.

There wasn’t much that Solonn could really do about the heat, but he did at least have one option that might make him able to more easily to tolerate the lighting. He made his way across the yard at once to stand in the shade of the large sitrus tree that stood tall in the backyard. Much better, he thought with satisfaction.

Morgan and Sei crossed the lawn to join Solonn. Sei promptly took a seat, leaning back contentedly against the trunk of the tree and opening a magazine. Meanwhile, Morgan came to stand before the snorunt, and then presented a small, cylindrical plastic case. She opened the container and produced a cyan-colored disc from it.

<I’ll bet you’re wondering what this is, huh?> Morgan said, making use of Sei’s telepathy. <Well, this is a technical machine, Solonn. From it, you can gain a new technique.>

An elemental technique being obtained from a little plastic disc. It wasn’t the most ridiculous concept Solonn had ever heard of, although it did come very close.

<Now, we may not even need to use this,> Morgan continued. <Let’s find out if we do… Solonn, could you show me the strongest ice-type technique you know?>

<The strongest? I guess that would be this.> Solonn called on the power of his element. The glow of his eyes intensified momentarily as he gathered the ice-type energy that he would need for the technique. A second later, the elemental charge coalesced between his hands, then fired forth as a jagged, electric blue beam that blasted a flurry of frozen leaves and twigs from the branches above as it streaked off toward the sky.

<Ice beam, huh? Okay, then it looks like we will need to use this.> Morgan knelt before Solonn, then popped open a compartment on one end of the technical machine case and slipped the disc inside. <There’s another, stronger ice technique that you’ll need to pull off your routine,> she said as she closed the compartment once more. <You’ll get that technique from this.>

Solonn eyed the case with uncertainty, his gaze caught and held by the lens that seemed to stare right back at him from the end of the case that faced him. <…This won’t hurt, will it?>

<No, it doesn’t hurt,> Sei said reassuringly. <I’ve received one myself. It’ll be a funny feeling, but one that won’t last long. You have nothing to fear from it.>

<Oh. Go ahead, then,> Solonn permitted Morgan.

With a quick nod of acknowledgment, Morgan set about activating the technical machine, bringing the lens to bear on Solonn’s forehead and pressing a button on the top of the case. It whirred to life, but apart from that nothing seemed to be happening at first—the beam projected by the case was invisible, and its initial impact was intangible.

Then, with a rather strong shudder, Solonn found himself overwhelmed by a sudden surge of power. The feeling was similar to that which accompanied the summoning of certain of his ice-type techniques, only it was stronger and seemed to all go straight to his head rather than spreading throughout his entire body. It escalated into a giddying rush, and when it reached its abrupt end, he found himself feeling incredibly lightheaded.

Solonn teetered comically for a moment, nearly falling onto his butt before managing to shake himself out of his dizzy spell. <That was weird,> he remarked. <So, that’s it? That’s all it took?>

<Mmm-hmm. You’ve just learned the blizzard technique,> Morgan confirmed as she removed the now spent and colorless disc from the front compartment and set it aside. <Go on, try it out—but be careful where you aim it, though; it can be pretty nasty.>

<…Wait, blizzard?! Are you serious?> Solonn asked incredulously. Morgan nodded, smiling brightly. Solonn was momentarily stupefied. It just seemed all too incredible that a simple disc could bestow any sort of power upon him, but to think that it had just given him one of the highest powers of his element…

Remaining slightly skeptical, Solonn nonetheless gave his new technique a try. Once again, he gathered elemental energy. He felt a sizable thrill as the surge of power defied his expectations and answered his summons, then manifested itself in a blast of icy wind and snow.

As the blizzard howled forth, Solonn realized with a jolt of horror that he’d forgotten to aim the attack—its present course, he realized, might well result in a decent-sized hole being blown in the Yorkes’ back fence by the fierce ice technique. Fortunately, though, the blizzard was rather underpowered, and as a result the mini-snowstorm petered out before it could wreak havoc on the fence.

Solonn stared briefly at the small pile of snow that now sat contrastingly upon the green grass, watching as it began to melt in the heat of the June afternoon. That thing actually worked… He then laughed to himself, pleasantly bewildered.

<Not bad,> Morgan remarked. <That was just a little one, but with practice, you should be able to pull off a much more impressive blizzard. And wait ‘til you see what you can do when you combine that with other techniques!>

<You can actually do that?> Solonn asked, intrigued. He had never seen multiple techniques used in combination, not even by the glalie.

<Oh yes,> Morgan said. <In fact, artful combination of techniques is what contests are really all about. A good, creative, graceful presentation is what comes out on top every time. Now,> she went on, opening the technical machine case once more, <there’s another one of these that you won’t necessarily need, but it could still do you some good. Do you want to go ahead and take it now, or do you want to wait a little while before you take another one?>

Solonn considered the matter for a moment. He decided that there was really no reason to turn down this offer to gain a new technique. He determined also that a delay in accepting it meant a delay in training. The more training he could get in before the twenty-fifth, he figured, the better his chances of getting that first ribbon and thus taking that first step toward his return to Virc-Dho. Hence, he decided that he would not wait.

<I’ll take it,> he told Morgan. <Let’s do this now.>

The human nodded in acknowledgment and pulled another technical machine from the case, a fuchsia-colored disc this time. Solonn watched as the disc was loaded into the front compartment and activated, wondering what sort of new power it would impart upon him as he anticipated the rush of technical acquisition once more.

The process of absorbing this technique felt quite different than the acquisition of blizzard had. The sensation of connecting with the raw power of his element was absent—it was not an ice-type technique that was being bestowed upon him this time. Solonn could not even begin to guess the alien element of his new power, for the rush in his head that accompanied its acquisition was gone almost as swiftly as it had come.

<So what technique did that one give me?> Solonn asked once the sensation of learning the new ability was gone completely.

<Light screen,> Morgan answered. <It’s mostly a defensive technique, but there are also some pretty cool things you can do with it that are just for show. Try and call one up now,> she suggested. <It’s not as difficult or powerful a move as blizzard, so you should be able to pull it off now pretty easily.>

<Okay.> Seeking the new, unfamiliar element within him, Solonn found the root of his new power, then called forth his new technique. There was a peculiar but not unpleasant sensation that tingled very briefly in his head. Then he saw a bright pink aura form around each of his hands. He watched with fascination as it spread out very swiftly from them into a force field that surrounded him completely.

<Wow… this is pretty neat…> Solonn said as he gazed upon the wall of psychic energy that now surrounded him. <Wait, though… how do I get out of this thing?> he wondered aloud.

<Oh, you don’t have to get out of it. You’re not trapped in one place by that thing. It’ll follow you as you move,> Morgan said.

Solonn decided to test that claim for himself. Sure enough, as he walked across the lawn, the shield that surrounded him maintained itself and remained with him through his every movement. Then, unexpectedly, the light screen simply vanished.

<What happened?> Solonn asked.

<A light screen can only stay up for a couple of minutes at a time,> Morgan explained.

<Oh. So are there any more of these I can use?> Solonn asked then with a glance at the case.

<I’m afraid not. Nearly all of the techniques you’ll be using come naturally to you—your routine will mostly be ice-based. Anyway, it’s not really very good for you to learn so many of these moves in one sitting. You could get a nasty headache,> Morgan said.

Solonn found himself rather disappointed to hear that he would apparently not be gaining any more new abilities anytime soon. <Well, okay, then,> he said. <So now what?>

<Hmm. Right now, I’d say, nothing,> Morgan replied. <You’ve really had enough excitement for one day. You may not feel like it right now, but physically, you’ve just had quite an experience. You’ve instantly learned two moves that usually take pokémon several years and lots of hard work to learn. Give it a little while, and you’ll probably start feeling pretty tired. So let’s just take it easy for the rest of the day, all right?>

Solonn nodded in assent. In truth, he would have liked to go ahead and continue preparing for the upcoming contest, but his energy seemed to have begun to wane from the moment that Morgan had said it would do so.

<Your training will really start tomorrow,> the human then told him. <You see, there are three rounds to each contest. Each one is different, so you’ll be training in different ways.

<For the first round, we’ll just go out on stage along with all the other contestants, and the audience will basically just compare all the pokémon contestants based solely on their looks, and they’ll all vote on which one they think looks the best. You don’t really have to train for that; the pokéblocks pretty much take care of that aspect.

<The second round will be your solo performance. This is where you’ll be showing your techniques, combining them to make nice effects, et cetera. Don’t worry too much about it—you’ll be rehearsing your routine plenty every day. You’ll get it down just fine.

<Now, the third round is a battle,> Morgan told him. <Have you ever battled another pokémon before? You know, just for fun.>

<Yeah,> Solonn answered, <but not very much, though.> He recalled the matches that Zilag and a few of his friends had often held just for sport against one another. They had never really seriously hurt each other; they’d mostly just wrestled, with only the occasional, half-hearted bite or headbutt thrown in here and there. Ice-type techniques had also sometimes been thrown around in those matches, to little effect, of course. On several occasions, Zilag had invited Solonn to take part in this sport, but Solonn had only occasionally obliged. By and large, Solonn had been unenthusiastic about the sport, even though he did sometimes win those matches. As far as he’d been concerned, it had merely been something to do in the event that there’d been absolutely nothing else to do. It hadn’t exactly been his idea of “fun”.

<That’s okay,> Morgan assured him. <Some experience is better than none. Besides which, contest battling is really not the same as battling anywhere else. Your goal won’t be to hurt the opponent so much as to upstage them. You don’t even necessarily have to ‘beat’ the other guy as long as you manage to look better during the match. I’ll let you practice battling against a couple of the others here. Raze’d definitely be up for it—don’t worry, she won’t use any steel moves on you. Her style’s a little different than the one you’ll be using, but you’ll still get the gist of how to handle yourself in one of these matches. All you have to do is to keep your poise and battle with grace.>

Solonn nodded in acknowledgment, mentally reviewing what Morgan had told him that he could expect. It seemed that there was more involved with being a contest pokémon than he had initially imagined. He hoped that the span of time separating him from that first contest would be sufficient for him to adequately prepare himself for this first task that lay before him. The sooner he could get that first ribbon, that first step behind him, the better.

* * *

Each day that followed brought diligent training. Solonn spent many hours rehearsing his solo performance and practiced battling techniques with Raze and even once with Sei Salma. He also continued to receive two pokéblocks each day until Morgan told him that he had received the maximum benefit possible from the little candies, meaning that there was no point in giving him any more of them.

Solonn had assumed that these measures were the only ones that would need to be taken in order to prepare him for his debut. However, there came a night five days before the date of the next contest when one last suggestion was offered to him with the claim that it could improve his chances of winning.

He was sitting on Morgan’s bed, waiting for her to return from an errand. When the human returned to her room, the first thing she did was to take a capture ball from her belt, maximize it, and release Oth from within it.

“All right,” Morgan said to the claydol. “It’s time for you to check him out and see if he’s ready.” She gestured at Solonn.

Ready for what? Solonn wondered what in the world could possibly be going on as Oth brought itself before him. Without any form of explanation or warning, the foremost of the claydol’s eyes dilated dramatically, and a pale red beam lanced forth from it and struck Solonn. The snorunt almost cried out but then realized a split-second later that there was no pain. Very puzzled, he merely stared at Oth as it expanded the beam and swept it up and down over his body.

Mere seconds later, Oth ceased its scan, terminating the beam of light. It turned toward Morgan (which seemed strange to Solonn given the fact that surrounded by eyes as Oth was, that action was not really necessary) and nodded as well as a claydol could manage, inclining its entire body slightly in her direction.

Morgan smiled. “Good news, Solonn. Ominous says you’re ready.”

“That’s nice, but ready for what?” Solonn asked in a quiet voice. He and Morgan had decided that it was safe enough to converse openly while within Morgan’s room so long as they kept their voices down. Solonn had also decided, though not at all hastily, that Morgan’s other pokémon could be trusted with his secret, and so he didn’t mind Oth’s presence there as he spoke with the human.

“Ready… for this!” Morgan reached into her pocket, extracted something from it, and held it out in her hand for Solonn to see. Nestled in her palm was something small in a blue wrapper. “I’d been looking around town for one, and I finally managed to scare one up.”

Solonn gazed at the proffered object for a moment, then turned a questioning gaze up toward Morgan.

“This,” Morgan explained, “is a rare candy. These give pokémon something of a boost. According to Ominous…” Morgan paused as a thrill of excitement flitted visibly across her features. “Well, this’ll give you just enough of a boost to make a huge difference. With this… you could evolve.”

Solonn’s eyes widened. “…That thing can’t possibly cause evolution!” he said, laughing.

“Oh, yes it can. So what do you say? Are you ready to do this?” Morgan asked.

Solonn hesitated to answer. Part of him still couldn’t believe that evolution could be induced by a piece of candy, but the part of him that did believe was possessed of a fair share of apprehension. “Is there any particular reason why I need to evolve?”

“Well, you don’t necessarily have to do it, but it might work out to your advantage to go through with it,” Morgan said. “Your routine is based almost exclusively on your ice-type powers, after all, and glalie have more finely-tuned abilities where their element is concerned. They can handle ice-type techniques more easily than snorunt can.”

Solonn agreed with that point; he knew it from experience. Members of his species did not truly come into their ice-type abilities until they achieved evolution. Among other purposes, the glalie of Virc-Dho used their greater elemental prowess to keep their unevolved counterparts in check.

He had no doubt that he certainly could execute his routine with greater ease as a glalie, and he was certainly concerned with succeeding in the upcoming contest. Still… this was a physical transformation that was being suggested. This was not something to be taken lightly—particularly not where his kind were concerned. Snorunt who evolved too early in life ran the risk of being corrupted by incomplete instincts, becoming feral or even wicked as had happened to glalie like Kashisha. Furthermore, the changes involved with transformation into a glalie were such that it was almost like a change into a different species altogether. Those of his kind were born as snow-eating bipeds who could become limbless, floating predators.

“The choice is yours, Solonn,” Morgan told him gently. “I won’t make you evolve if you don’t want to.”

So… am I really ready to evolve? Solonn asked himself silently. Well… technically, I probably am, he answered himself. He was indeed at about the age that his people considered the safest and most appropriate time to start considering evolution. In fact, once they got to be very much older than he was now, they found themselves actually having to make a conscious effort to stop the process from simply occurring on its own. So Solonn was old enough to evolve, and hence there wasn’t much of a risk of corruption.

But… do I really want to go through with this now?

Solonn couldn’t answer that question, though he tried. He wished that he had been given more time to consider this rather than having such a major decision dropped on him out of nowhere at nearly the last minute. In the end, he could only lower his gaze and sigh in response.

“You don’t want to do it, do you?” Morgan asked. Solonn shook his head vaguely in response. “That’s okay, Solonn. That’s perfectly fine.”

“Okay.” Solonn’s eyes followed the rare candy as it was returned to Morgan’s pocket. “Hey. Hold on to that. Just… you know, for whenever.”

Morgan nodded in acknowledgment. “Sure thing. If you ever decide that you want it, just let me know. Do you want back in the ball?” Morgan then asked Oth. The claydol nodded in its curious fashion and was subsequently recalled.

“All right, then,” Morgan said. “Now, don’t worry about your decision, okay? Like I said, you don’t really have to evolve to do this. You’ll do just fine.”

Solonn sincerely hoped that Morgan was right.

* * *

In what felt to Solonn like no time at all, the twenty-fifth had arrived. All at once, the task at hand was upon him, and he was swept up by it into a situation that, as it came to be, made him realize that nothing could have truly, completely prepared him for it.

Next thing he knew, he found himself riding for the very first time in an automobile. As he gazed out through the window, the view before him of the scenery rushing by mirrored his perceptions of this experience. Hurtling irresistibly forward through these moments, he scarcely had a chance to take it all in.

The vehicle came to a halt, and as he was unbuckled from his seat and brought out into the parking lot, Lilycove’s contest hall seemed to blossom into being before him right out of thin air. It was huge, and it loomed larger still with each step that brought him closer to its entrance.

Ushered gently through the front doors by his coordinator, Solonn immediately found himself almost intoxicated by the sheer level of activity within the contest hall’s lobby. All around him, humans of wildly varying appearance stood, accompanied by pokémon partners the likes of which Solonn could have never conceived.

Morgan led him into a queue, and there they waited for their turn at the desk that sat at the front of the line. After a fairly short wait, they made it to the desk, where the receptionist asked Morgan to present her contest pass. Complying at once, Morgan produced a card and handed it to the human behind the desk. The receptionist held on to the pass for a few seconds; Solonn couldn’t see what she was doing with it, for the desk exceeded his height.

When the receptionist gave the pass back to Morgan, she took a moment to peer over the edge of the desk at the pokémon who accompanied Morgan. “Oh, now isn’t that a cutie,” she remarked airily, flashing a very bright smile.

Solonn returned her gaze with a slightly disgusted look. Cute? I’m not cute…

“You may now proceed,” the receptionist then said. Morgan smiled at her, then led Solonn out of the lobby and toward the backstage area.

Several minutes of doing nothing but waiting followed. The other contestants were gathered along with Solonn and his coordinator, anticipating the impending events with varying degrees of patience. A television mounted in the corner showed the scene that awaited the contestants. With an incredible amount of noise and a level of enthusiasm that was almost tangible, even transmitted through that television screen, an audience was filing into the seemingly endless rows of seats and declaring their eagerness for the show to begin.

The spectators’ wait was not prolonged much further. The voice of the announcer came blaring forth, the audience quieting somewhat while he spoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” boomed his greatly magnified voice, “get ready to witness the hottest up-and-coming faces in the Hoenn contest circuit! The normal rank beauty contest shall now begin!”

“It’s time,” Morgan informed Solonn in an excited whisper, then began guiding him before her as they made their way to the stage in an orderly procession along with all the other contestants.

As Solonn emerged onto the stage, he was greeted by an unbelievable level of light and noise. The number of humans gathered just to look upon him and the other contestants was staggering—Solonn had never seen so many people in any one place before.

He had not expected that the spectators would be quite that many in number…

The coordinators and their pokémon partners formed an orderly line across the stage, facing the audience. One by one, the announcer stopped before each team and introduced them, then moved on down the line to the next team. Before long, he arrived at Solonn and Morgan.

“Next up, hailing from right here in Lilycove, it’s Morgan Yorke and her snorunt, Solonn!” the announcer said. Just as had greeted the introduction of each team before, a peal of applause rose up for Solonn and Morgan. Part of Solonn wondered what they were applauding, exactly; neither he nor any of the other contestants had actually done anything yet, after all.

“Now it’s time for you to cast your votes,” the announcer told the audience after introducing the last few contestants. “Who will make it to the next round? You decide!”

Solonn found himself unable to count the moments that passed as the audience cast their votes. His awareness of being scrutinized by innumerable eyes only intensified now that that was quite literally what they were doing. He did not see that on a colossal screen behind him, a close-up view of each of the pokémon in turn was presented to the audience—he might have been surprised, to say the least, to see a gigantic image of his own face staring back at him.

Finally, the votes were all tallied, and the results appeared on the screen behind the contestants, who all turned to see who among them would proceed to the next round.

“Look!” Morgan exclaimed. “There we are!” She pointed to the upper right corner of the screen; Solonn saw that he and Morgan were indeed pictured there. They had made it through the first round. With that obstacle out of the way, Solonn followed Morgan with a funny little detached sort of thrill as they and the other contestants returned backstage to get ready for the second round.

The small television backstage presented Solonn with a view of the performances of the contestants who had been slated to go on before him. For a crop of newcomers, their performances were generally quite competent; none of them thus far had made any mistakes in their routines, at least not as far as Solonn could tell. He found a few of the performances to be not very exciting despite their technical integrity and correctness of form, but there were a couple of the others that really stood out.

Those performances easily held Solonn’s rapt attention—and also managed to stoke the doubt within him further. As the last of the performances preceding his own turn on stage came to a close, he found himself attended by an unbidden question of whether or not he had truly, sufficiently prepared himself for this.

That question followed Solonn out onto the stage as he was called forth. It was much darker as he emerged this time than it had been during the first round, but he could still see the crowd, could still make out all those faces. Solonn had been told what to expect since his training had begun, yet Morgan’s descriptions of what this experience would be like seemed awfully weak and ill-fitting when held against this moment, these surroundings, the expectations held by all these people for whom he now had to perform…

He came to stand in the center of the stage, and a single, bright spotlight fell upon him as the music that Morgan had chosen to accompany his routine rose up, seeming to emanate from the very walls of the contest hall itself. Under the ray of white light bearing down upon him, he felt overemphasized to dimensions far greater than his own, yet at the same time also all too aware of just how small an entity he was compared to the vast, scrutinizing crowd.

A moment later, the spell of the spotlight abated enough to allow Solonn to realize that he had missed his cue. With a jolt, he hurriedly cast the hail technique up into the air above him. The summoned hailstones began falling at once, but at twice the normal intensity and not at all in the pattern he had rehearsed—it was fortunate that this was a solo performance, for had Morgan accompanied Solonn on stage for this round, she would have had to take cover from his bungled first move.

Solonn winced inwardly at the mistake and tried desperately to make some sort of recovery with his next move. He called upon powder snow and felt the most infinitesimal relief as it bowed to his will according to plan, its winds sweeping up the falling hail in a gently turning, tamed cyclone. Solonn’s creation partly obscured his view of the audience, for which he felt a wave of gratitude spread throughout his nerves. However, he knew that with his next maneuver, he would have no choice but to forfeit that comforting veil of ice and snow.

Sighing softly, Solonn kept the powder snow blowing as he slowly expanded the vortex of snowflakes and hailstones around himself while the music began to swell in a slow crescendo. The winds swept around him in a growing spiral, and as the cyclone widened and thinned out, the multitude of humans before him filled his sights once more.

Don’t pay attention to them, Solonn urged himself silently, just pretend they’re not there… He fought against an urge to close his eyes as tightly as he could and shut out the sight of the audience, for he knew that showing signs of his anxiety could count against him in the judges’ eyes. He was also finding himself dealing with a burgeoning desire to simply cut his performance short and run.

Trying with a growing desperation to keep a hold of the fraying ends of his nerves lest they unravel completely, he called upon the next element of his routine—the one which had given him cause for doubt at several points during the course of his training. He still couldn’t believe that he had gained one of the highest powers of his element in a single moment’s rush that one afternoon, disbelief that had caused him to struggle all the more in his efforts to master the technique.

Incredible though it still seemed to Solonn that he even possessed that ability, the fact remained that he did indeed possess it and was required by his routine to execute it adroitly. Don’t think about what you’re doing, he tried to remind himself, just do it… At the music’s cue, Solonn executed his strongest technique, unleashing a blizzard to join his dancing cyclone.

The blizzard howled forth, stirring the spiraling snowstorm into a frenzy as it was meant to do… but then, most disobligingly, its winds began to falter. Solonn swore that he could feel his heart fall utterly still as the blizzard, along with the other elements of the cyclone that had woven themselves into its winds, petered out right before his eyes. As if in slow motion, snowflakes, sleet, and hailstones alike all fell to the stage.

No… Solonn lamented silently. He was all too certain that his chance to obtain the ribbon and thereby surmount the first step toward his return to Virc-Dho had died along with his enchanted snowstorm. The elements of his musical accompaniment suddenly bled and merged into a formless din in his ears, while the spotlight seemed to swell to an abnormal brightness for a moment before being swallowed up in a sudden, all-consuming darkness, taking the stage, the audience, the surrounding noise, and Solonn’s consciousness along with it.

_________________________

Next time: Solonn faces a decision that stands to change his life forever… See you then!

- Sike Saner

[Kiyohime]

*slams a sledgehammer into Sike's face* NO EVOLUTION?? *falls down* I was SO sure he'd evolve and WIN. o_O

But, I'm so happy you've returned. ^^ Fwee. As usual, your writing is amazingly fluid and beautiful-- I got absorbed into it almost immediately, like a good novel. I think you could eaisly become a published author with that skill. *bows*

I love how you so carefully describe all the Ice-type attacks, the Pokeblocks, and Sei Salma's mannerisms of speaking. Detail is your talent.

I also quite liked how you described the TM discs; I always wondered how the heck a Pokemon learned it from a disc....what, slide it into their foreheads? Smack them with it? Make them lick it? o.o;; The TMs in the RBY manga era made more sense--they were metal cubes resembling lighters. You flicked them open, and a bunch of sparkles floated into the Pokemon's forehead. But this works equally well. XD

[Sike Saner]

Scrap: Nope, no evolution. Sorry.     Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
But having read The Origin of Storms, you do, at least, know that such is on the horizon.
 

Oh God, the whole concept of TMs baffled the frell out of me initially. XD; I kind of wish the whole "sparkly lighter" version had come to my mind, though; that's kind of nifty. That, or else one of the other alternative methods of TM activation which you suggested (Morgan: <Now all you have to do is lick this disc, and you'll learn a brand new technique.> Solonn: o_0;;; ). XD

Glad you liked Sei, too. ^^ I was very intent on making her personality just as it was. And the image of an Alakazam just sitting there, reading a magazine... I just loved the way that looked. Even better if it was some kind of tabloid rag she was reading there. x3

[Kiyohime]

YES!!!!1111!!onesevenseven. I can just see an Alakazam reading trash like The National Enquirer. XD

Sei rather reminds me of my father, come to think of it. o.o;;; He sits in his armchair puffing his pipe and reading the tabloids on Prince Harry and doesn't really notice OR mind much when I take the car out with all my friends. I don't think he'd bat an eye if I brought a bunch of strippers to the house. o.o;;:P It's remarkable how you manage to make their personalities so familiar.

[Elemental Charizam]

MMM.... Discs....

I was sure he was going to learn Sheer Cold from that TM, but Blizzard is probably more beautiful, not to mention cool. Twas an exciting chapter; the way you described Solonn's peformance was suspenceful, with each stage developing differently. Probably best he didn't evolve though; Glalie look wicked, but I wouldn't call them beautiful

*is punctual*

[Sike Saner]

Elemental Charizam: Oh, pshaw. Glalie are plenty beautiful!

Meh, sheer cold's a bit much for him to know this early in the story, I reckoned, especially while he's still a snorunt. In fact, snorunt cannot even learn sheer cold in the games.

[Typhlogirl]

*applauds*

LOV-ER-LY. Me likes, me likes!

One point I found especially pleasing was the part about the Alakazams not being trusted in the pokemon world. But it would make sense though. My view on Psychic pokemon is that they are mysterious, and not many know much about them. And in this world: The unknown = the untrustworthy.

Anyway. I also liked the part with the contest! That was awesome! The whole routine of Powder Snow and Blizzard. Very original!

Brownie points for the TM's. God, I would have had no idea what to write there. Good job!

All in all, fabulous. (Is that spelt right? O_o) Keep it up Sike! ^_^

-

P.S. Heh, my view of Sheer Cold is a huge wall of ice falling from the sky and crushing the target. O_o *TWISTED*

[Sike Saner]

Typhlogirl: Yeah, I've thought a lot about how pokémon like alakazam would be regarded by other pokémon.

I've always just seen sheer cold as this super-concentrated "snap" of ice-type energy, one that's actually invisible, although it does make its presence known through a VERY loud noise. The user's eyes will flash upon using the technique; this is the only visible aspect of sheer cold (aside from the target dropping like a stone if it hits successfully, that is X3). Sheer cold was actually used by Sanaika back in Chapter 2.

I must say, though, the ice-wall version of sheer cold sounds rather deadlier... o_o Ouch. That would hurt like hell...

[Klaus]

That has rated a TEN on my Maxie scale, that is a rarity.

Yes, I do adore that thought of Alakazam being...*eyes go left to right*...untrustworty,but I always thought of them being all strutty and stuff,'cept Mr.Mime who is just obsest with house cleaning.

Yes, it was indeed a sight to behold..ah, I love it.

Please, PM when chapter five is up, and keep it Maxie-licious!

As always,be kind to the mime.

[Kaizer]

he did mind Oth’s presence as he spoke with the Human.

didn't, not did.

A mistake, and that's all it was...
It wasn't that big of a thing, but I'm just doing my duty is suppose. Now, I should stop stalling, because this review is in no way worthy.
I loved the idea of contests though, as well as him screwing up, because no one should be perfect on their first try. Oh, and after reading all the posts about the Alakazam, I could just imagine him sitting in front of a TV watching some crap like Survivor or one of the Apprentice shows. That right there would be true comedy too...
As for all of the contests being in Lilycove, I'm guessing you've never played Emerald? In that version, all the contests are replaced by Battle Tents so all the levels have to happen at Lilycove. You're not even being original having them there ^_^.
All aside, this story is different, and therefore good. It's also well written and thank you for telling me that the new chapter was out.
Until next time,

[Wes]

That afternoon, Solonn’s contest training began in earnest. It was initiated in a way which Solonn found to be quite odd: Morgan offered him a small, indigo-colored cube and told him to eat it, saying that it would help him to do well in the contests.

Solonn looked at Morgan as if she was crazy. “How is this thing supposed to make any difference in whether or not I win?”

“Well…what it does is it refines your appearance. These Pokéblocks will help you look as healthy and as…er, handsome as you can look. Making a good visual impression on the audience and judges is very important.”

Solonn continued to gaze skeptically at the Human. Whatever, he decided finally, and took the Pokéblock from Morgan, devouring it quickly. The little candy was…okay; kind of good, except that it had this funny, sort of sour aftertaste. That was the only fault Solonn could find with the Pokéblock, and it was really only mildly unpleasant – at first. Then, he found the little candy cube beginning to disagree with him…then to strongly disagree with him…

Morgan’s expression was one of disappointment (not to mention revulsion), as before her eyes, the Snorunt’s body rejected the Pokéblock. However, that undesired reaction did not dissuade her from attempting to feed Solonn another of those indigo candies later that evening. Naturally, Solonn resisted at first – he wasn’t exactly eager to throw up again, after all.

I found that bit quite funny a bit. Anyways another great Chapter Sikes! Your work always seems to amaze me . Heh and good luck with the next chapter. I can't really seen any mistakes but nontheless I'm not good at that but anyways good luck.