Pokemon - To Catch Them All - Contest Debut
#39 of Pokemon - To Catch Them All
Leo debuts in a Contest and explores Route 110 catching some more Pokemon
After some thinking, I knew I was going to enter the Pokemon Contest, but choosing a Pokemon had been surprisingly difficult. I had consulted everyone of my Pokemon that I had caught in Hoenn and most seemed divided on whether they wanted to participate. However, Kirlia the younger sibling had approached me and had decided he wanted to have a go at the contest. Kirlia had some moves that would be pretty good at contests as well as battles too. Currently, his moves were, Disarming Voice, Confusion, Psybeam and Hypnosis. There might be a way to use those moves and make Kirlia shine in the performance stage. At that I entered the contest hall and approached the front desk and was immediately recognised by a wide variety of audience members who saw me getting scouted by the idol Lisia.
I was met with comments of encouragement and some jealousy that they hadn't been scouted by Lisia but I ignored those comments. At that I spoke to the receptionist to register for the contest. "Excuse me, I'm here to register for the Pokemon Contest." At that the receptionist smiled, "may I see your contest pass?" At that I handed the pass on over to her and waited. "Excellent, you've now been registered for the contest. Please head backstage while the contest starts." At that i was directed to the backstage area where I saw many other coordinators who seemed very experienced. Some were already preparing their Pokemon with decorations and some were even giving their Pokemon Pokeblocks too. "Come out Kirlia!" Kirlia appeared and eyed our competition with some interest and nervousness too. I didn't blame him, I was nervous, more so than the preparation for a gym battle.
Still, I knew that no matter the outcome, win or lose, I'd learn something about Pokemon and gain new experiences too. Kirlia was going to do his very best though. He wanted to show his trainer how thankful he was for the effort and trust he placed in him. At that I saw that the contest had begun and began watching the competitors begin their performances. The first coordinator was using a Clefairy with a bow on their head. Clefairy used a dazzling performance of Moonblast and Moonlight which centred their performance around the moon. It looked lovely and intimidating at the same time.
Next performer was a kid who sent out a Linoone, with a bunch of ribbons around its body. Linoone showed off his incredible speed by using Quick Attack to dash around the stadium at lightning speed. His performance definitely enamoured the judges and showcased his Linoone's abilities very well. The other performances were beginning to pick up surprising pace and soon enough I had been called up to the centre stage and saw the crowd that was watching my every move. Kirlia smiled and turned to face me smiling lightly trying to encourage me and it worked. "Alright Kirlia lets show them just how strong our bond is, use Disarming Voice!" At that Kirlia fired his attack straight to the roof of the building and the audience seemed to find the display rather satisfying.
"Use Confusion on yourself and fly through the Disarming Voice!" Kirlia floated himself and began dancing through the Disarming Voice like it was nothing. Kirlia was beginning to really enjoy himself as he danced through the Disarming Voice barely even noticing what was happening around him. At that, Kirlia descended down to the ground as the Disarming Voice surrounded him as he landed. "What a beautiful and stunning performance by Leo and Kirlia. Everyone lets give them both a round of applause!" The commentator urged the audience who immediately began clapping as loudly as they could. Me and Kirlia both waved as we thanked the crowd before we returned backstage to continue observing the other coordinators.
The other Coordinators were finishing up with their performances and every single one of them seemed incredible. But soon enough the Contest had to end and the audience were deliberating on who their winner would be. I had a surprising amount of fun, but didn't think I'd enter any more Contests as they weren't really my scene. But as long as Kirlia was enjoying himself, I was happy. Eventually the audience decided the winner was the coordinator who used Clefairy's Moonblast and Moonlight to create a dazzling performance based on the moon.
I was happy at how I'd done and was relieved when Kirlia was happy and not disappointed at losing the contest. Still, it was a definite eye opener for different paths trainers could take when journeying with their Pokemon. Being a trainer, researcher, coordinator, performer and so many more. At the end of my journey I couldn't help but wonder where I would be and what I would be doing. Those were questions for another day though.
At that I headed north from Slateport and arrived at Route 110 and looked around at the scenery. Above me was a cycling road, but at the moment, I didn't have a bike, so I'd skip exploring that. For the moment, the more immediate task was to explore the grass and see what Pokemon I'd be able to catch. Thanks to my Rotom Phone, it informed me of a myriad of Pokemon that I hadn't yet caught. Those being, Electrike, Minun, Plusle and Gulpin. At that I decided to get exploring and catching.
Carefully I walked through the grass and began searching for the Pokemon that I hadn't caught yet. The first one I spotted was a Gulpin which didn't really move much when it spotted me. Still, it understood that it needed to battle me. "Come out Marshtomp!" Marshtomp appeared and approached his opponent. "Use Mud Bomb!" Being a Ground Type Marshtomp had a massive advantage against Gulpin who was a Poison Type. Gulpin however countered by using Amnesia and when the move finished, Gulpin increased its special defence reducing the damage taken by Mud Bomb.
"Change of plans Marshtomp instead use Bulldoze!" Marshtomp had recently learned Bulldoze and it just so happened to come in handy, easily defeating Gulpin who had no way of dodging. "Pokeball go!" I threw the Pokeball and watched as it shook once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Gulpin has been registered to your Pokedex. Gulpin the Stomach Pokemon a Poison Type. Almost all its body is its stomach. Its harsh digestive juices quickly dissolve anything it swallows."
I healed up Gulpin and gave him a few berries and soon learned that Gulpin had quite the voracious appetite thanks to how quickly his digestive system worked. Something told me that he might get along well with Snorlax who also had a voracious appetite. Still, by feeding Gulpin I had immediately gained his trust and loyalty too. Gulpin proved this when we encountered the next Pokemon a wild Electrike which darted towards me and Gulpin with surprising speed and energy.
"Gulpin are you ready for our first battle together?" I asked and Gulpin agreed he even jumped up and down to show his enthusiasm. Electrike decided to strike first and did it with lightning speed, landing a unexpected Quick Attack. "Gulpin use Sludge!" Gulpin rapidly unleashed Sludge attempting to land a direct hit, but Electrike was much too quick dodging the attacks with ease. "Sludge once more!" I commanded and dutifully Gulpin obeyed but Electrike countered firing Shock Wave which clashed with Sludge causing a small smokescreen to appear.
Electrike dashed through the smokescreen ready to land a Bite against Gulping but Gulpin wasn't going down without a fight. "Use Acid Spray and stop Electrike!" Thankfully, Electrike was too close and even though it knew what was coming it couldn't dodge and was hit with Acid Spray. Electrike tried to shake the spray off but it was unable to. This distraction allowed me to throw a Pokeball at the stunned Electrike. I watched as the ball shook, once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed. "Electrike has been registered to your Pokedex. Electrike the Lightning Pokemon a Electric Type. Using electricity stored in its fur, it stimulates its muscles to heighten its reaction speed."
I thanked Gulpin and returned him to his Pokeball not before giving him a berry as a reward for his hard work something he utterly enjoyed. Electrike happily jumped around me and acted like a puppy following me everywhere I went. I enjoyed his excitable and energetic personality. After Electrike had been caught it meant I only had two more Pokemon I needed to catch and those were Plusle and Minun. I'd heard that those Pokemon were commonly found together.
I continued exploring and eventually came across both Plusle and Minun and they were both running around playing together happily. Their expressions showed that they must have been very good friends. When the two Pokemon spotted me observing them, they approached cautiously but were interested in what a human was doing watching them. "Come out Electrike and Marshtomp!" Both Pokemon appeared and Plusle and Minun jumped back understanding that I wanted to catch them.
"Marshtomp use Mud Bomb on Plusle and Electrike use Bite on Minun!" Both my Pokemon followed their commands perfectly and landed some powerful moves against Plusle and Minun. Seems as though they weren't as strong as I was expecting as they struggled to stand up after taking those attacks. "Pokeball's go!" I threw two Pokeballs at the stunned Plusle and Minun and watched as both balls shook once, twice, three times before the capture was confirmed.
"Plusle has been registered to your Pokedex. Plusle the Cheering Pokemon a Electric Type. It cheers on friends with pom poms made of sparks. It drains power from telephone poles." Rotom then registered Minun. "Minun has been registered to your Pokedex. Minun the Cheering Pokemon a Electric Type. It cheers on friends. If its friends are losing, its body lets off more and more sparks." I thanked Marshtomp and Electrike and returned them both before releasing Plusle and Minun.
Both Plusle and Minun seemed to be happy at being caught but maybe more because they were together and had each other for company. They also liked to as the Pokedex stated, cheer on my Pokemon when they were battling against trainers or wild Pokemon. Specifically they battled extremely well together thanks to their abilities powering up one another. So in double battles, there was nobody more efficient than Plusle and Minun when it came to teamwork.
After catching the Pokemon I continued up Route 110 and was challenged by a Pokefan who sent out a Plusle and I sent out my Grovyle who resisted Electric attacks and as such won by using a powerful Leaf Blade. The next Pokemon sent out was a Minun and I substituted for my Marshtomp having him use Mud Bomb defeating Minun too.
Before continuing through Route 110 I headed East to Route 103 but even though I had been here before previously I had been on the side north of Oldale Town now I wasn't. While I explored the route I was challenged by a Aroma Lady who sent out a Roselia and I sent out my Combusken having him use Flame Charge defeating Roselia without getting poisoned. Next were a pair of twins who battled with Plusle and Minun in a double battle. I knew just how well Plusle and Minun worked together and as such countered with my Marshtomp who was immune to Electric attacks and Breloom.
Marshtomp overpowered Plusle with a super effective Mud Bomb leaving Breloom to attack using a surprisingly powerful Mach Punch defeating Minun as well. Both Breloom and Marshtomp both fist bumped one another before fist bumping me too. I continued on and was challenged by a Pokefan who sent out a Skitty and I sent out my Aron who greatly resisted Normal Type moves. As such with a few Headbutt's Aron managed to defeat Skitty.
The final challenge I faced was against a Fisherman who sent out two Magikarp and I sent out my Plusle who defeated them both by using Spark which was super effective. After that there were no more trainers who wanted to challenge me and no new Pokemon to be caught so I returned back to Route 110 to continue my journey. Above me was the large cycling road and by the sounds off it many bikers were racing along the road having the time of their lives.
Meanwhile, I was challenged by a Youngster who sent out a Poochyena and I sent out my younger Kirlia who used Disarming Voice defeating Poochyena. Next was a Aron and I substituted for my Makuhita and had him overwhelm Aron with Arm Thrust which easily defeated Aron who was very weak to Fighting attacks. The final Pokemon sent out was a Electrike and I substituted for my own Electrike who used Bite repeatedly defeating his fellow Electrike.
Next a Collector sent out a Lombre and I sent out my Swellow having him use Wing Attack defeating Lombre thanks to it being a part Grass Type. The next Pokemon sent out was a Nuzleaf and I substituted for my Wingull. My Wingull also knew Wing Attack and defeated Nuzleaf the same way Swellow had done just before. Thanks to Wingull's victory he began glowing signalling he was evolving. "Pelipper has been registered to your Pokedex. Pelipper the Water Bird Pokemon a Water and Flying Type. It acts as a delivery service by carrying small Pokemon in its bill. It bobs on the waves to rest."
I happily congratulated Pelipper who flew around me before landing almost on my shoulder, before I realised that evolution had increased his weight. He wasn't too heavy though and I happily accepted his surprising hug. I returned him to his Pokeball and continued on exploring. Next a Psychic challenged me with a Abra and I sent out my Beautifly having him use Leech Life defeating Abra. The final opponent before I reached Mauville City was a Fishermen who sent out a Tentacool and I sent out my Minun who used Spark defeating Tentacool. The second Pokemon sent out was a Wailmer and Minun defeated Wailmer with a second Spark.
After winning those battles I could head north and enter Mauville City and challenge the gym leader and catch some more Pokemon too.