#ws2019contest

that BITCH! how dare she?! how dare zoey enter a competition that ursula was unable to? now she couldn’t even have the pleasure of defeating her on camera. she’d never had that pleasure, not once in her entire life, really. every time she wanted to cream the bitch, what happened was usually the opposite.

it’s all so terrible, really. how is zoey smarter, more talented, more popular, and better looking than her--without the help of paying parents? shouldn’t that sort of shit be illegal? how could the world be so unfair? well, if the world wouldn’t give ursula her just desserts and knock zoey down a peg, she’d just have to do the peg-knocking herself. and so she strides up to fabien with her vile request.

As soon as Sayuri had finished all the MC work Poppy could see her do - “Sayuri-chan!” Hopefully she wasn’t imposing on a still busy schedule, but like... this was her first time being a judge! And she was using her real face, too. Nerve-wracking. 

@konpeitocoordinator​ - June Nakano - 484 points [Beauty]

Score breakdown: Dress Up: 231, Appeal: 253

@heartists - Zoey Ying - 478 points [Smart/Clever]

Score breakdown: Dress Up: 255, Appeal: 223

@diamontha​  - Diantha Sophia Durand - 467 points [Beauty]

Score breakdown: Dress Up: 253, Appeal: 214

@musesbygeoff​  - Kenny - 364 points [Beauty]

And there it was. The announcer called her name, and the lights went on.

First up was Sintel, her Blaziken, and the one to persuade her into joining the contest in the first place. Diantha had carefully brushed her hair into a ponytail, looking healthy and shiny. Tied to the galaxy hair elastic was what looked like a dress scarf made out of breezy, slightly transparent cloth. The ends were tied to her wrists with bracelets that matched the hair elastic, and it was long enough to not hinder any ofher movements. But the real star of this outfit was the ball gown-like skirt, big and flowy. While designing the outfit, Diantha wanted to make sure that the fire-fighting Pokémon would have enough room to move and let out heat, so she let the front part open. The many, many glitters on the purple skirt shimmered in the lights of the spotlight, creating the illusion of a nightsky. And to top it all of, there was a headpiece in her ponytail, consisting of several silver stars attached to her hair, shimmering in the light.

Next up was Cerebella, the Gardevoir. Her outfit looked a lot like Sintel's, but with a few differences. First of all, there's no ponytail. Instead Cerebella is wearing a choker, to which the dress scarf was attached. Second, the skirt was slightly longer, with a short train behind her, and the front part closed off with the same breezy material that was used for the dress scarf. Of course, being a Gardevoir, Cerebella already wears a dress, but with some help of a hidden underskirt this skirt was made poofy enough to not constrict the fairy-type. The rest of the outfit matched Sintel's perfectly, including the starry headpiece.

And last but not least, Diantha herself walked onto the stage. Being the only one wearing a full dress she had managed to not stand out too much when compared to her Pokémon, even if the skirt of her dress was made up of layers and layers of the material she used for the dress scarves her Pokémon wore. Her short sleeves were made of the same material, and she wore matching bracelets and a headpiece attached to her long, loosely braided hair.

The three of them came to stand in front of the jury, and twirled in a pirouette, making their skirts fly up slightly as they twirled around their bodies, shimmering in the lights.

“Been a while since we’ve entered the same contest, Zoey,” Kenny said to the veteran coordinator walking up to her. 

“Quite the score you got on your dressup, but don’t think that’ll be enough to win this event. Ya see, I went to Galar and caught myself a Corviknight and he’s going to give off a beautiful performance along with Empoleon. They make a lethal team together.”

“We’re sure to win.” 

something is……really, really off. 

ten points for her own score--she can’t complain about that. she had been worried about the colors on her outfits too; she has no right to throw a fit if one of the judges disliked that. but the look on fabien’s face when he gave kenny zero points was downright awful. one might say maniacal, even. and that laugh! can’t the other judges see that he’s obviously being biased? and could whatever drove fabien to screw kenny over have to do with her own score being so low as well? 

she decides not to mention it. not unless he screwed her over again. right now the focus should be on kenny, who--even though she hated him--was more obviously facing injustice.

“You put your dad on the spot...” She whispered. Clearly Zoey got his permission, she supposed. “Your Pokemon clearly wanted to participate in something so deep and personal and meaningful to you. You showcased that beautifully - your Mismagius was reenacting something he was actually there for and your Gallade’s emotions seemed very genuine too. And you made wonderful use of the former past life, as well as Gallade’s natural mastery over martial arts. Flip flopping between forms that often is rather taxing though, so I hope Mismagius gets a well-deserved break after this.” She didn’t know Sinnoh National Team regulations but surely Zoey did not use team members back to back? “45 points!”

She took a deep breath - that appeal was heavy on the electricity... “I think this is a perfect example of the Smart category - a story, and so metaphorical! You have to think to understand it, nothing is spoon fed to you, and it’s so emotional and moving too! Even if it was maybe very sad at some points - life is sad sometimes. I think you struck a great balance between trainer participation and not overshadowing your Pokemon but I am a little disappointed that a lot of Mismagius’s participation was in Luxray form with a lot of flip flopping back and forth. It kind of felt like you were overusing the technique. And, ah...Mega Evolution AND a z move in the same Appeal? It’s kind of overkill, I think? But I think it was very sweet of you to do this topic in honor of your father and his Pokemon. 33 points!”