The days of training continued, three days passing in the blink of an eye. Larry himself tried to get the hang of Earthquake while starting his research on Brick Break. He tried to learn more about the bond between him and Valerie, and also hopped over to Matt's corner of the forest to help Patrat with his training.

  Sybil took to both Reflect and Psychic far quicker than expected. When prompted for a reason, she supplied him with a complicated mixture of word-salad only another Psychic-Type would be able to understand. Something about the TE application of Psychic being familiar, while Reflects novel structure piqued her interest in the formation of Type Energy materialization. Whatever that meant.

  She confessed that with Valerie’s help, she was already trying to figure out a way to also learn Light Screen, without a Technical Machine this time around. He couldn’t help but commend her spirit, he’d certainly felt like he was slowly beginning to plateau in potential in his current body, ‘Though I doubt it will be much longer until I evolve.’

  Valerie's schedule was similarly packed, the girl borrowed Matt’s time to train self-defense using the boy's imposingly tall posture as a replacement for a real threat she might face. Couple the exertion of physical exercise like self-defence with the extreme mental exertion of exploring their bond and the stomach-churning exercise of teleportation training with Sybil. All of that, and she still found time to research the Pewter City Gym before bedtime. Larry was honestly not surprised she had a moment of weakness on the first day.

  ‘I don’t think I could’ve taken that much of a beating as an adult back when I was still human, much less as a teenager.’ Some part of him wanted her to slow down just a smidge. They could always reschedule their Gym Challenge and do it another time, but seeing Valerie this determined also made him want to push himself further.

  ‘Maybe this is the reason some trainers are better than others,’ He mused, ‘...Dedication…’

  Still, they had made headway in some parts of their training at the very least. Valerie was beginning to open up emotionally to him during their bond training, and it gave him an entirely new look at the girl he’d sworn himself to.

  Obviously, he’d known she wasn’t some caricature, but hearing statements and opinions come from someone's own mouth and interpreting them with your own values and opinions is an entirely different state from the one of feeling another's emotions as your own. Everything about them becomes clear, it's like going from trying to understand a fish's thoughts by fishing with a rod and trying to coax a fish onto your hook to swimming in the body of water with the fish. You’re put into the other person's frame of reference, and it feels like all of their actions become crystal clear.

  Larry also tried to get Brick Break to work, but at least in the first three days, he hadn’t gotten the Fighting-TE to work fully. Though granted, Larry already had an idea of how the move was supposed to work, the big issue was getting the effect of the move to function. Brick Break was supposed to break all kinds of barriers the enemy erected, and with Sybil as his assistant, when Larry tried to smash his Reflect, absolutely nothing of note happened.

  Fighting-TE was one of the easier types to learn, since most Fighting Pokemon also followed a theme of Martial Arts. The Type Energies was obvious: discipline, focus, and martial prowess were the big ideas that the Type Energy followed. Focused Training and Martial Mastery, an honorable force of measured strength and a counter to the underhandedness of Dark-Type, it's one of the most straightforward Types to understand, so Larry had managed to channel its Type Energy on the first day of trying.

  ‘So why is the move not working?!’ He cried out, looking between his arm and Sybils Reflect in annoyance.

  ‘I hit it with my arm. My arm smashes the Reflect, and it's supposed to be destroyed. What am I missing?’ He’d watched a video of a Fighting-Type Pokemon performing the move with Valerie, so he knew what it would need to look like in theory, at least, it just didn’t work out the same way in practice.

  Shaking his head, Larry could only huff as he waved at Sybil, “Forget it, I’ve got more days. Let’s stop trying to get it down for today.”

  They had been trying to get it down for the last two days, tomorrow was Stella's Contest Performance, so Larry really wasn’t in the right mindset to worry about his moveset. He still had four days to get the hang of it, so Larry doubted he wouldn’t get it in the coming days.

  For now, he was really interested in what the contests had to offer.

  …

  The Contest Hall in Pewter City was an unassuming building from the outside, situated on the outskirts of town. It looked just like a regular event hall from back home, its mundanity stood in stark contrast to the local Pokemon Center.

  A large crowd of people was already there by the time Stella, Matt, and Valerie entered. The mix of people was surprisingly varied, with old men and women with greying hair seemingly intending to compete just like a pair of young teenagers entering with their families.

  Although Larry wasn’t entirely sure who competed and who was only here to spectate, judging by some of the people who seemed to have entire groups of people surrounding them, though, some stars were already visible in the crowd. Unfortunately, Stella was another one of those projected stars, and when people noticed her enter, they also approached her.

  “Stella!” One cried out.

  “Who is that?” Another asked as they followed along.

  “You don’t know her?! That’s Stella, Aurora's kid!”

  “Aurora?” More heads turned, and more voices joined the conversation.

  “You know these guys?” Valerie asked skeptically.

  Stella gave a very slight shake of the head, holding a steady gaze as people approached her.

  “Aurora!” One man sped past the masses, stopping just short of them and making everyone but Stella herself flinch, “Please! I love your mother's performance.” He threw out his arms, a pen and notepad, “Can I get your autograph?!”

  “I’d love to give you my autograph.” She smiled, picking the pen from the man's grip and handing back a picture-perfect signature.

  “T-Thank you so much!” The man threw himself into a bow and was already gone.

  “I-Is that normal?” Matt asked behind her in a whisper as the other group of people approached for their own autographs. Only as the group began taking a closer look while Stella signed her autograph for them did they notice who else was in the group.

  One of the younger men in the group squinted at Valerie until recognition dawned on him, “Excuse me, are you…Valerie Riston?”

  His trainer nodded, slightly unsure, “I am, why do you ask?”

  “Valerie Riston?” Heads turned at her confirmation.

  “The girl from Mt. Silver?”

  “She’s here too?”

  Valerie looked like her fight-or-flight response was beginning to kick in, but she held strong, taking a deep breath to steady herself, “I am.”

  Now the people were chomping at the bit, “Can I have your autograph too?!”

  “Me too!”

  “Us too!”

  “Um…sure?”

  ‘I guess she should’ve actually practiced her signatures instead of all the stuff we’ve been doing.’ Larry chuckled.

  Raising a hand, Matt spoke up, “A-Anyone want an a-autograph of PatratMat?”

  No one even acknowledged the question until a person in the far back called out a quiet, “Who?”

  …

  Some polite declinations for more autographs, waves of their hands, and ‘I’m sorry’s, and they were finally in the green room, a spot backstage for contestants to get ready to perform. To explain it simply, it was a giant lounge, with lots of seating, changing rooms, amenities like toilets, a small food stand, and large screens placed on the walls for contestants and their Pokemon to watch the current performance.

  At most, there were around thirty people with their Pokemon amassed in the large room, sitting, chatting, and relaxing.

  People were huddling from place to place, lines were forming by the changing rooms, and Larry spotted a hunched-over, stressed girl in a fabulous dress sitting on a chair, whipping her high-heeled foot as if she’d just received a message about her father's hospitalization, while a Jigglypuff next to her put a calming hand on her leg.

  ‘A lot of high-strung nerves in this room…’ Larry could already see the way this worked, ‘I guess everyone's anxious about their performance…’

  “Is it all right for us to be back here?” Valerie asked as she looked around the room, “I mean, we’re not even performing.”

  Stella nodded, “You’ll have it easier getting to your seats from here, and friends and family can join contestants in the green room anyway. Pokemon are allowed as well.”

  “Alright then…” Valerie nodded, releasing Larry with the signature pop of a Pokeball,

  ‘Ahh…Here I am!” Larry reveled in the feeling of the real world. With how little attention they tried to attract, it had just been easier recently for Larry to stay in his Pokeball. Surprisingly, Sybil didn’t mind the interior of her Pokeball as much as Larry did, so Valerie decided to only release him.

  “Do you know when your performance will be?” Valerie asked, “We could stay here with you until then?”

  “Sure!” She beamed, hugging herself close to Valerie's arm, “Stay here while the event starts, but the performances are best experienced live. There is something special about the atmosphere when you’re there in person.”

  “Atmosphere?” Valerie was about to ask for more elaboration before someone approached their group.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Oh? Stella Palecrest?”

  The person who approached them was a tall, tomboyish girl in a stylish suit with a short haircut. She looked to be in her late teens, maybe even early adulthood, standing taller than both Stella and Valerie, but still shorter than Matt. Adjusting her cuffs, she looked perfect in her suit. She had a certain princely quality to her, and Larry even felt Valerie's slight slouch straighten when their eyes met.

  Standing at her feet was a Gible, its mouth open and eyes unblinking, a giant pink bow on its shark fin. “Hello.” Larry gave a nod of greeting towards the Gible, but it didn’t respond in any way, simply staring with its eyes in the room around itself, ‘Oooook?’

  “Vesper,” Stella immediately returned to her business-like attitude from before, detaching herself from Valerie's arm with as much poise and dignity as possible. “So nice to meet you here again.”

  “Likewise.” She gave the young girl a dignified bow, her Gible mimicking her, “It is nice to meet my lady once again.”

  Gasps from around the green room confirmed to both Larry and Valerie that something was up, ‘So Stella and this girl are well known? And they know eachother?’

  “Again?” Valerie asked curiously, “Stella, who is Vesper?”

  She turned to them with an unfamiliar poise, some sort of public act once again, if Larry had to guess, “This is Vesper Vance. She is a mainstay in the contest scene whose family is closely tied to mine.”

  “I-I’ve heard about you before.” Matt spoke up behind their backs, “Y-You’re here with your Gible for your first ribbon of the year, r-right?”

  “Correct,” She nodded, a confident smile on her face, “My chances are better this year around. I’ve been busy practicing to sweep the stage this year. Mav and I practiced like crazy to get our routine down pat, didn’t we?”

  “Gib.” “Yes.” For the first time, Gible, apparently called Mav, moved by itself, nodding at her trainer's question.

  The whole green room seemed quieter as Stella and Vesper chatted, it was obvious everyone held an open ear out for the most obvious competition in the room.

  “I’ve also been busy preparing.” Stella smiled amicably, “Mori and I planned out a nice routine in the last few days. I think the judges will be surprised.”

  Vesper nodded back, a smile on her face, “Good to hear, it wouldn’t be a contest without some real competition.” She gave Valerie and Matt another look, “Are these two your traveling partners?”

  “Oh, yes!” Stella presented her two friends to the girl, “This is Valerie and her Larvitar, Larry, and this is Matt and his Patrat! They’ve allowed me to travel with them so far.”

  “I’ve heard of you two. It is nice to finally meet you.” Stella's friend gave the two of them a nod in greeting before looking around, watching as the crowd seemed to avert their gazes extra hard. Closing in, she whispered the next sentence, “How about we take this conversation elsewhere? I can feel a lot of prying eyes.”

  “Sure.” Stella nodded, a giddy smile on her face, and everyone followed into a hallway at the other end of the greenroom. When they turned the corner in the hallway, a screen door revealed a large balcony beyond, empty and devoid of humans or Pokemon. The view wasn’t spectacular, giving only a blank view of a bit of the outskirts of Pewter City and an old wooden shed with a waterwheel down a stream in the distance. Everyone followed her outside, looking over the view.

  “Why is nobody here?” Valerie asked as she took in the view.

  A smirk on her face, Vesper held a finger in front of her mouth, “They usually only let people over here once the contest starts in full, so this place is nice and quiet right now. It’s a secret between those in the know.”

  “Oh, good catch…” Larry’s trainer noted, but Vesper was already not in front of her anymore.

  “Oof!”

  Vesper had tackled Stella and picked her up into the air, spinning around with her, as Gible followed alongside her legs, “Oh my gosh, Stella! I’ve missed you so much!”

  “Gib!” “Back together!” Even Mav, her Gible, added on a cry of its own in celebration.

  “...Uhhhh?” Matt and Valerie looked at each other in confusion. Vesper's act had changed like she’d flipped a switch, going from the refined princely act she put up in front of other contestants to an energetic and loud tomboy. The two could only watch as the contestant spun the younger girl around in her arms.

  “Me too!” Stella was now all smiles again as well, holding on tightly as Vesper spun her around, “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!”

  “So long? Stella, you’re a different person by now! Check out your outfit!” Letting their traveling partner back down, Vesper readjusted her suit, “I still remember when you barely went up to your mom's hip, gosh, how time flies…”

  Valerie was the one to point out the obvious, “Soooo…my guess is you guys know each other well?”

  “I was there as a little six-year old kid when she was born!” Vesper pointed a thumb over at the girl, “My mom and hers are good friends, we’ve been childhood friends for as long as I can remember.”

  Once again, she enveloped the young girl in a big hug, “I wanted to rush over as soon as I heard about the stuff that happened at Mt. Silver, but Mom wouldn’t let me! She was all ‘You’re gonna get hurt!’, she didn’t even let me get a word in!”

  “Bel! Bel!” No good! No good!” Mav complained at her feet with big chomps of her mouth.

  ‘Wow, she’s like an entirely different person, isn’t she?’ The immediate tonal shift of Vesper once the doors of the balcony closed was funny and surprising.‘

  Releasing her grasp, Vesper looked Stella in the eyes, “I’m happy you’re alright.”

  “It wasn’t that dangerous…” The heartfelt confession had Stella blush slightly, “Everyone got out ok in the end…Don’t worry too much…”

  “I doubt I’ll need to worry anymore. You made it to Pewter City in one piece after all. That means you’re a full-on trainer now, aren’t you?” She spoke proudly.

  “Yeah, I am.” Stella nodded, picking the second ball from her belt with a smile, “Here, I even managed to catch my first Pokemon.”

  Seriously?!” Now Vesper was even more shocked, her Gible eyes widened with her, “You gotta show me! What did you catch?!”

  “Ok, Vesper…” Stella showed off the ball with a flourish before it opened with a flash of light, “Meet Dusty!”

  …

  Valerie and Matt received a full introduction to Vesper while they waited for the contest to begin in full. Full name Vesper Vance, she was a sixteen-year-old who had been in the contest scene since her early teens, going into her fourth year now. She and Stella went way back, as both their mothers had apparently been heated rivals back in their glory days.

  That rivalry eventually simmered into a deep friendship, and once they had effectively retired, the two had raised their kids in tandem, frequent play dates and the like included.

  More info about Stella's circumstances revealed the reason for their eventual break-up. Latent fame forced Aurora into hiding on Route 28, where she hoped to have a peaceful life with her child, only for a certain Tyranitar Larry knew to ruin their peaceful life on the outskirts of civilization.

  ‘Hoo boy…I would’ve never guessed that anyone would live on Route 28.’ Larry thought to himself, ‘It’s lucky that they got away unscathed.’

  Whatever circumstances had brought them here, Stella and her childhood friend were reunited, both now trained children of former star contestants, they’d soon be forced to duke it out on the stage to see who could appeal more to the audience and judges and get the ribbon this contest advertised as the grand prize. Though right now, it was time for Larry to be cooed at and pet.

  “Whose a good boy? Yes, you are!” Vesper answered her own question as she held Larry's head in a chokehold of pets on both head and chin at the same time. She was kneeling in front of him, her face slowly melting into a dumb grin as she pet him in every single location with expert skill, “Goochy Goochy Goo! Man, you’re just an adorable little thing, aren’t you?”

  ‘Man, if there is one thing I can’t stand its being babied.’ Larry rolled his eyes. She’d already tuckered out the adorable Dusty with her babying and had now turned to her next victim, but Larry wasn’t going to take a petting lying down, he was far too much of an adult to lie down and splay himself out to get fawned over.

  Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect, since unbeknownst to him, Larry wore a very grumpy face to show his clear displeasure at being caressed too intricately by anyone other than his own trainer, “He sure is cute, isn’t he?”

  “He is!” Vesper rose, patting her hands off, “But I’ve got to ask…Why Larry?”

  Both he and Valerie sighed at once.

  “What?!” She balked, “That's a genuine question! Who calls their Pokemon Larry?”

  Pointing at her Gible, she argued, “Gible here might be called Maverick, but at least I’ve got the option to call her Mav, that’s cute. What can you do with Larry?”

  Valerie didn’t even try to argue, she knew they’d lost this argument when Larry chose his name.

  “Oh, wait! Is Larry the nickname?” She looked at Larry with a hand on her chin, “Is his name Lawrence or something?”

  “Lawrence?!” Larry was appalled, “Really, Lawrence?!”

  “Whoa, I was just joking!” She raised her hands in surrender.

  “His name’s Larry because he chose it himself,” Valerie explained in exasperation, “I told him myself that it doesn’t really fit, but I can hardly deny him if that's the name he wants.”

  “Well…I guess it still works.” Vesper shrugged, going back to petting him on the head, “You’re lucky you didn’t pick something stupid like Cornelius or Hubert, though.”

  “Is that a thing?” Valerie worried, “Who calls their Pokemon Hubert?”

  “Hey, you’ve got Little L over here,” She pointed out, continuing to pet him, “Anything's possible.”

  “Little L?”

  “Larry-Boy? L-Train?” Vesper tried, “I’m just trying to come up with better names here.”

  As the two continued to chat, Matt snuck up from the sidelines, a small microphone in hand, “U-Umm…I-If you’d be ok with it…Could I have an interview with you before your first contest? I-Ideally, I’d have one with Stella and Vesper each.”

  “Sorry, but I usually only take interviews from the local reporters after contests.” Vesper apologized.

  “O-Ok…I don’t really mind…” Matt feigned, his even more slouched look than usual betraying his emotions, “W-What about you, Stella?”

  “I’d rather not…” She hugged herself a smidge tighter to Valerie’s sleeve. Even though they’d traveled through Viridan Forest together, it seemed that Stella still didn’t hold Matt in the highest regard.

  “Pat-a Rat-a?!” The rodent on his shoulder complained with a smack of its knee, “What will we record then?!”

  “Why not just interview the other contestants?” Larry asked out loud to the rodent. In return, Patrat turned to him with a surprised stare before slapping his hands together, “Great idea!”

  “O-Ouch! Patrat?!” Dragging on his trainer's ear and hair, Patrat maneuvered his humanoid transportation mechanism towards the doors of the balcony and back inside.

  After the two closed the door behind them, the trio of girls continued chatting.

  All in all, Larry couldn’t help but admire Vesper. She was likable, if not a little too energetic for his taste, though it was obvious she was putting on an act in front of the public, just like Stella had when it had actually counted. Stella herself was arguably more comfortable when next to Vesper than next to Valerie herself, the had an obvious bond, even if they weren’t entirely sure how to act around each other now that they hadn’t seen each other in so many years.

  ‘It makes me wonder how they can be so amicable when they’re about to face off against each other in the contest?’ Larry wondered to himself, now that the girls had finally left him alone and had begun talking amongst each other, ‘If I were about to compete against someone, even if they were my friend, I would be far tenser. I wonder how a young girl like Stella is keeping herself together so well?’

  His gaze traveled to the nearest thing, Mav. She still had that thoughtless look in her eyes as she kept next to Vesper's feet. The giant, almost garishly pink bow on her head didn’t help with the fact, ‘Is she the one Vesper will be competing with, or does she have other Pokemon? Maybe I should just ask?’

  Seeing no other reason not to engage with the Dragon-Type, Larry walked over and stated his question, “Are you gonna compete with Vesper? Or does she also have other Pokemon?”

  Mav made a complete ninety-degree turn, just to stare at him before she nodded once, rotating her entire body on the axis to compensate for her nonexistent neck. She then once again turned ninety degrees back towards the direction her trainer was facing.

  ‘Huh, I guess she’s not the talkative type…’ Larry mused as he turned mosied back to Valerie's side. The trio of humans was deep in talks, with Valerie talking about their trek up to Pewter and Stella making a note about them buying a TM together, when suddenly a vibrating alarm went off inside Vesper's pants.

  VRRT! VRRT! VRRT!

  “Oh, I think we should really start getting ready. We’ve got about thirty minutes until they start properly letting people in.” She turned to Valerie, “You guys should get in your seats now, else you’ll be fighting to get through the rows of people.”

  “Thanks for the tip!” Grabbing Stella's hands in her own, she pressed her hands tightly, “I know I should wish you both good luck, but Stella's got seniority friendship with me, so she gets dibs on any of my luck. Sorry, Vepser! Good Luck, Stella! I know you’ll win this!”

  “No hard feelings.” She assured her.

  “Thanks, Valerie.” The girl smiled at her older friend.

  “Are you anxious?” Valerie asked concerningly, “You seem way too calm.”

  Stella's smile turned brighter, “I’ve been preparing for this for half my life, Valerie. I think I’ve got it.”

  “Alright!” Another pat on her shoulder, and Valerie picked the Pokeball from her belt, “I’ll go pick up Matt, and then we’ll try and get our seats! Again, good luck! Bye!”

  So check this little thing I did! Game-accurate Valerie and Larry!

  Light did! So if you're looking for someone to make you a game-accurate sprite, give him a look!