#ribboncollection

     The showcase had ended over an hour ago, and the contest hall was finally beginning to die down. The backstage suites and dressing rooms were all mostly empty, with few exceptions--Dawn always liked to linger longer than the others. It gave her more time to herself, allowing the adrenaline of performance to settle while she changed into her street clothes and unpinned the curls in her hair.

     Finally dressed down in more casual clothing, humming softly to herself, she slipped out of the dressing room. Piplup and Sylveon trailed along beside her as Dawn wove through the quiet hallways, making her way towards the back exit--where hopefully she could escape without gathering too much attention.

     Instead, she found herself somewhat surprised to cross paths with another person--someone who didn’t appear to be staff. Something told her she had definitely seen the other girl’s face before, but the name escaped her.

     She normally would have simply kept going, offering a polite passing smile, but Sylveon appeared to have very different plans. Without a care in the world, he sauntered towards the other girl, appraising her curiously. Dawn sighed and bent down to scoop Piplup up into her arms.

@ribboncollection

It should have been a quiet day in Dewford town. But the clamor, the press attention, it was clear that something was going on at the contest hall because of the way that the camera’s were flashing and the squabble of reporters were trying to get closer to the front. Indeed, the Sootopolis Gym Leader stood by the doors with his arm around a girl in blue frills, hip pushed to one side, expensive sunglasses on, and his Milotic lounging beside him and turning her head this way and that so that the crowd could get her good side.

She was just as much a self-proclaimed diva as her trainer, who raised his free hand and quieted the crowd to announce, “I’m only here to coach my darling Lisia for a while, so if you will excuse us ... We ‘ave work to do!” Which only made more questions fly from the news crew until Milotic slithered behind the duo and into the contest hall itself. Inside he exhaled softly and excused himself into one of the back rooms - Where there was already someone else preparing for their contest.

It had been a while since Nate was in Hoenn, but when Nate was around he would definitely check out the local contest schedule. This time, Nate found himself in Slateport City, mostly to relax and do some beach-side training while waiting for his next mission. Still, he couldn’t help but check the Slateport City contest hall to see if there were any contests coming up.

“Hmmm... looks like there’s one tomorrow...” Nate mused as he looked at one of the posters. Beside him was his trusted partner Lucario, and resting on his head was his Alolan Vulpix, her back paws finding their footing on his shoulders. Her cool fur was great for managing the heat, which Nate greatly appreciated. Plus it was pretty cute to see, which made it a good conversation starter with any potential lady-friends he might make.

After not hearing from her for so long, even an aloof wandering mischief maker like Wylan can start to develop genuine worry for someone. And Aria isn’t typically the type to be so.... down on herself. When he learned of the accident he expected her to fight it and resist it as hard as she did anything else she disliked (his forwardness comes to mind). But when he opens the door and comes in, there’s a girl who seems closer to a corpse than a performer. And the fact that she can’t see how something like that would hurt him only tells more about her state.

Her words reach him, but they don’t make sense to him. Maybe he doesn’t appreciate or understand the entire “idol” business enough, but it quickly appears to bother him as she continues. Can’t perform any longer? No more contests? He shakes his head, letting his head hang until it just about thumps into her own as she clings onto him. He can’t look at her when he thinks. (it hurts to look at that expression) (it hurts to look at her when she’s like this) (she was so amazing before the accident) (...how could something like that take out so much of her person?)

“Aria, what- what are you talking about.” He says after a moment once she goes silent again, head lifting back so his eyes can meet hers, his hands taking her arms, but rather than pulling them away he keeps them there. “Tch. You keep talking about being an idol. You’re supposed to just be you. That’s what everyone loves. Not the fact that you’re an idol. But the fact you’re a person. You realize... you’re only getting better looking as you get older, right?” He attempts a grin, though this is mostly for his own benefit. Whatever deep meaning he had in his statement of be yourself would get overshadowed in what could be construed as Yet Another Flirt.

‘Shii!!’

     The Shinx bristled up in a attempt to intimidate the girl.Sparks crackled and began to coat the electric type.They were extremely defensive of their trainer,and the girl practicing could of harmed them.Charging up a move while they hissed their trainer finally caught up to them.Scooping up the small pokemon in their arms.A minor flinch of the static effecting him he tried to calm the young one down.