As it turned out, the worst that could happen was that the only open rooms were delightfully expensive. Expensive enough to make Claire and me share a look, before turning around and leaving with a quick goodbye, trying to keep from blushing from embarrassment. Unless we were willing to blow the entire stipend for a month on a single night, we simply couldn’t afford to stay.

After a brief consideration, we decided that if we could sleep in a tent for weeks while travelling, we could do so when not travelling and returned to the PokéCetnre, convincing the attendant to let us camp on the grounds. Luckily, Ivie had a room and was kind enough to allow us the use of her bathroom-facilities, making the whole thing an inconvenience but not a major one.

Luckily, the weather was on our side, with a bright, blue sky, few clouds and pleasant, warm days. Claire and I spent most of our days apart, with me preferring to peruse the Gym’s library and read or head out of town and train Su. Getting him used to following my commands without question was easy but that was only the first step. To really work together, he had to heed my voice, using the warnings I could give him to eliminate blindspots and employ tactics and strategy. That process would take a lot more work, but it had definitely started. While we still lacked the easy trust I shared with Charm and Vio, he started to warm up to me, accepting affection and direction not just because I was the superior but because he seemed to enjoy it.

On the dawn of the Seedling Festival, Claire and I headed out together. We both had registered for the Seedling Tournament and she had suggested that we enjoy the Festival beforehand, walking around and seeing the sights.

It was an interesting experience. The whole festival was based on praising and thanking a Pokémon called Shaymin, that had seeded the whole area with flowers according to their myths. It was an interesting tale, and the spiritual aspects blended nicely into the festive parts, with flowery hair-pins, games, snacks and a whole lot of fun.

First thing in the morning, the interested trainers gathered in a prepared area for the tournament. It wasn’t a tradition, but more in homage to the Pokémon League and their annual conference. I privately suspected that the idea was partially caused by the recent events in Jubilife, an attempt to show the people that Floaroma had trainers who stood ready to protect them if the need arose. An attempt to boost morale, so to speak. To me, the reasons behind the tournament mattered little, I was after the price, a large bag of high-grade Pokémon-kibble and rare berries enjoyed by people and Pokémon alike.

After a bit of consideration, I had decided to register Vio, as her abilities covered a wider range of foes and her psychic powers combined with the draining nature of her primary fairy-attack meant she had a surprising amount of endurance. I had no idea if it would be enough against trainers who had one or two more badges than I, with the corresponding longer time spent training and travelling, but I would most certainly try.

Things kicked off when a petite woman on a small stage raised her voice, easily cutting through the din of conversation.

“Welcome to the Seedling Tournament. Those who have registered, please come forward to draw a ball from this urn, these will be your pairings.” she called out, revealing a chart behind her. There were twenty-three beginning-points, first a half-round thinning the numbers down to sixteen, afterwards four rounds of battle, determining the victor. It was a simple style and the final placements would depend almost as much on luck as they would on ability, but given that it was supposed to be done in a day, there was only so much that could be done.

The trainers stepped up one after the other, giving a greeting to the person on the stage, who turned out to be Kendra, the local Gym-Leader, and pulled out a coloured ball. Mine had a deep crimson, reminding me of Prince Charming, and it placed me in the harder part, contesting in five rounds. Claire had better luck, drawing a green orb that placed her on the other side of the brackets, with only four rounds. If we wanted to battle, it would take until the semi-finale but I somehow doubted it would be us contesting then.

“Good luck.” she wished me, as I walked to the designated ring.

“You are going to scout the competition?” I asked, a grin on my face.

“Yes. I mean, they’d need to win twice to face me, I’d need to win once, but it doesn’t hurt.” she told me, getting a nod of agreement.

There was a Gym-attendant waiting at the ring, greeting me and for a minute, we had to wait for my opponent. I was a little surprised when a middle-aged man approached, looking so very unlike a travelling trainer, carrying only a single Pokéball.

“Good Morning, Dani, Lester.” The attendant greeted both of us. “Single Pokémon battle win-condition is knock-out, forfeit or endangering the audience. If you think that an attack might hit the spectators, don’t use it. This is for fun and entertainment so please, be cautious.” the attendant reminded us, getting nods of agreement.

“Great. Then, Trainers, please take your positions.” he ordered and both Lester and I walked to opposite sides of the ring.

“Vio, your turn.” I quietly called, sending out my partner, just as Lester did the same. Opposite of Vio, a buff, humanoid figure appeared. Blue-skinned, wearing what looked like black underwear and a large belt, the Machoke reminded me that Pokémon could be weird. It had been one of the examples that one should never take them at face-value that Joyce had instructed me on, mostly because that pair of black underwear was actually part of its body. There were theories why they had that appearance but nobody truly knew.

However, in this case, I didn’t care about the appearance but only about the typing, letting out a sigh of relief. Purely looking at affinity, Vio had a massive advantage, despite the difference in physique.

“Get ready.” the attendant called out, and after a pause of three seconds, he gave the starting-signal.

“Hypnosis.” I immediately ordered Vio, giving her the command to completely focus on disabling the opponent's mind, without caring to actually harm them. On the other side of the ring, Lester ordered his Machoke to sweep Vio and its legs immediately started to golden as it leapt forward.

I simply watched, as Vio took a small step back, just as the brutal kick tried to knock her into next week but accomplished nothing but graze her, causing her to stumble a little and sprinkle some dirt on her. But while the kick only glanced her, Vio’s attack was already taking its toll, the purple energy of her hypnosis wrapped around the Machoke’s head, causing it to sway on its feet.

“Grab and throw it.” Lester ordered, causing me to smirk.

“Kiss.” I told Vio, who pressed her fingers to her lips, just as the Machoke reached for her. The moment before it managed to get its hands on her, she pressed those fingers to its lips, causing the hot-pink glow to wrap around its head, joining the purple glow that was already there. In the momentary pause after the attack, she stepped out from its hands, giggling as she went. The Machoke didn’t even try to follow, standing and staring there, as if spell-bound.

“Keep going, Vio.” I ordered, watching as Vio remained behind the Machoke, keeping up the attack on its mind, never letting it regain its senses. After maybe ten seconds of that, Lester called out his surrender, recalling his partner.

“Great, Vio.” I told her, giving her a gentle hug after she hopped back to me. “You did really well.” I complimented her, taking out a bit of Potion to help her recovery.

The moment I released the hug, Vio looked around and it seemed like she had noticed the audience for the first time, immediately trying to hide behind me, only to notice that there were people on that side, too.

After freezing for a moment, she moved back to my front and jumped back into my arms, holding on and hiding in my embrace, looking so adorable I had to laugh.

“It’s okay, little one. You get some treatment and rest, the next battle is in an hour.” I told her, before picking her up and walking over to Lester and the attendant.

“Good fight.” I politely complimented him, knowing that my victory was partially due to the incredibly lucky match-up.

“Good fight. You’re a travelling Trainer?” he asked, after studying me for a moment.

“I am. You are local?” I replied, getting a nod in reply.

“Yes, Bud and I work together, she’s mostly in charge of heavy lifting. On Sundays, we head out into the forest to train.” he explained, before reaching out his large hand.

“Good luck for the rest of the tournament.” he wished me, when I shook it.

“Thank you and see you around.” I replied and we parted ways, with me carrying Vio off to get a bit of treatment.