#illusoryseas

"You look great, Mandy!" she smiled. Earlier that week, while Mars was exploring the area, there was a large screen in the center of one of the plaza's that was streaming a contest. Mars had herd of contests before, living in Sinnoh, but never considered partaking in one herself. Until now, that is.

Completely forgetting her assignment, Mars began training immediately. She did vigorous research in her hotel room, studying up on the different types of contests, the different stages, the judges, and famous coordinators. There were a few cute ones that caught her attention. Namely, Wallace of Sootopolis City. Not only was he a master coordinator, but a Gym Leader, too!

Overall, everything had Mars pumped. And, given the fact that Purugly wasn't native to Hoenn, Mars figured she had a pretty good chance at claiming her first ribbon. So, the very next day, she set out for the contest hall. Picking which type of contest was a tough decision, but she ended up siding with the Beauty competition, with her Purugly, Mandy. She had been given an odd look from the receptionist who signed her up, but she had figured that was simply due to the fact that Purugly was very rare in this region. 

She had hung around outside the Contest Hall after signing up, observing some other coordinators and their Pokemon. She mimicked them, grooming over Purugly and even feeding her some Pokeblock. She was honestly enjoying herself, until someone had to go and rain on her parade. 

"You think you can win a beauty contest with that? You better hope you have a fair amount of luck, because that'll be the only way you win."

Of course, Mars wasn't going to have any of that. After giving the kid of piece of her mind, Mars left the area outside the contest hall. She wouldn't ever show it, but the words had hurt. But now, Mars was determined to win more than ever. She'd show them.

And that was how she ended up alone, in some random, strange field outside the city. She planned to train over the next few days in secret, then show everyone just how beautiful her little Mandy was. However, with very little experience as to what methods were used to appeal, she wasn't having very much success.