Author: The Eater of Worlds
The Pokefan Festival
"Three bowls of you finest fungus." James ordered, trying to sound refined. The woman behind the counter ladeled up some mushrooms and turned back to the three Rockets.
"Don't you have any Pokemon out? It's the festival of celebration of the bond between Pokemon and trainers." Jesse shrugged and released her Arbok. Eater followed suit with Angie, and James sent out Weezing.
"Hey! It's da fish girl!" Meowth exclaimed. "I heard you ticked off the boss so bad he stuck you with a Magikarp!"
"He's my partner, furball. I think he's shopping on main street." Almost as if on que, Killer floated in with an over-sized Samuri helmet on his head.
"Es ist sehr moderne, ja?" They stared at him for a moment.
"Right, Killer. It looks great on you." Teow encouraged, feeding him one of the wine-cooked mushrooms.
"Das shmect gut!"
"Yeah, they're the best I've had in a long time. These are Jesse and James, lucky field agents who get to use the chopper."
"Guten tag, Fraulien." He burbled as he took Jesse's hand in his fin and kissed it.
"He's a regal fish, isn't he?" She smiled. "Why couldn't you be more like that James?" Apperantly he din't find that as funny as his partner did.
"Where did ya get the nickname the Eater of Worlds, anyway? Isn't dat a little wierd?"
"I'm a Stephan King buff. Ever read it?"
"No. Just forget I asked." Meowth quickly changed subjects. "What's your target, anyway? We're here for da contests. Got afew tricks up our sleeve."
"Well, I'm just passing through, but... the more Rockets in the contests, the better, eh?"
"You better get your Pokemon registered, then." James piped up. "The catagories are, let's see... Trainer/Pokemon singing contest, T/P cross-dressing fashion contest,"
"Ya got dat one in da bag!" Meowth snickered. He ignored the cat and continued.
"What was that last one? Oh, yeah. Something called The Gauntlet."
"Sounds like a piece of cake." Eater smiled and ran over to the sign up booth. "Is it too late to register?"
"No. How many Pokemon do you have?" She pulled out the Pokeballs containing Angie, Natasha, Sally, and Gloom.
"These plus my Magikarp." She gestured over her shoulder at Killer, who was doing tricks for cotton candy.
"How come he's floating?" The guy enquired.
"He's an...um, European Magikarp. A German variety. Caught him in the Rhine river."
"Karpfen!" Her partner added helpfully.
"Okay... I'll take your word for that one." The clerk muttered, jotting down some info on a card. "You'll be trainer number 27. The first competition is the singing contest. It'll start at 5:00. Don't be late!"
~`~`~`~
"I'm just going to sing with Meowth." Jesse explained.
"And I'm entering the beauty contest after all." A high voice pipped up. They all turned around to see the normally blue haired Rocket in luxurious golden curls, a big fluffy bow fastened tightly to the side of his head. His big, puppy-dog eyes were set off by extra-long lashes, but that wasn't all.
He had also dressed up Weezing. It bobbed lazily besides him, seeming oblivious to the long brown wig on it's head. It's face was adorned in deep red lipstick, blush, and the same eyelashes as it's master.
"How do I look?" He peeped. He batted his lashes at the stunned Rockets.
"And... he does this how often?" Eater questioned. Killer's eyes got big.
"Herr James! Enshuligung, Fraulien James!"
"No, I'm still a guy." He explained to the confused fish.
"What contests are you entering?" Meowth asked, thankfully changing the subject.
"Well, I'm running the Gauntlet with Killer. We pretty much have it all covered, don't we?"
"Yeah." Jesse smiled. "Let's grab some dinner and head over to the first event."
~`~`~`~
Eater and James helped her get all glitzed up for the duet, while Killer and Meowth selected the musical piece. Finally, Jesse was called over to the stage along with the other trainers.
There were a couple of people with Jigglypuffs, and a Wigglytuff or two. One man was going to preform a barber shop quartet with his Dodrio. She was to go after a girl with a Vileplume, about third to last.
"Will trainer number fifty-three please step forward?" The anouncer called. A little boy with a Clefairy looked around at the audience and started singing. His family was clapping wildly, but to tell the truth he wasn't that good.
"Let's all give a hand to that, uh, talented young trainer. Next up, trainer fourty-seven." The compatition was so far nothing spectatular, and soon Jesse would be up. The Dodrio started fighting with itself, and the puffs and tuffs put the judges to sleep.
Eventually, the Vileplume and the girl left the stage. Meowth was in a little dress suit with a bow tie around his neck, and he took Jesse's hand and lead her forward. The perfect furry little gentleman.
"Be, fore, you slip into, unconsiousness" She began, singing "Crystalship" by The Doors. Meowth softly joined in with her.
"I'd like to have another kiss. Another fleeting chance, at bliss! Another kiss, another kiss." James and Eater whooped from the audiance, clapping and doing that Arsenio Hall "Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!" thing.
The duet bowed, and Jesse flashed a winning smile at the judges. They gracefully exited the stage, making room for the next contestant. He wasn't much, another tone-deaf trainer. He nearly drove the town mad, doing a full-lenght rendition of "In da gota davita" with his Slobro.
It looked like Jesse would be the undisputed winner. That is, untill the final contestant started singing. It was a young lady, about thirteen, and a Lapras. They sang a haunting song, the harmonies chasing each other in a verbal game of tag. Thier preformance won a standing ovation from the crowd, and the evil eye from Jesse.
~`~`~`~
Next up was the beauty contest, to take place on the other side of the town. A wide array of contestants practiced thier struts on the catwalk.
"Those novices. I'll blow them away!" James scoffed. And indeed he did! When his number was called, he waltzed down the isle, playfully blowing kisses at the audience. It was a hands down win.
~`~`~`~
"Eee he he!" James laughed as he thumbed through his winnings. "So, have you found out what the gauntlet is yet?"
"No. I guess it's like an Iorn man compitition. It's gotta be tough. Have you heard the grand prize?"
"Ten Grand!" Jesse butted in. "can you imagine? Just for some stupid contest." The group of Rockets got a glazed look in their eyes, daydreaming of promotions, power, and their enimeies groveling at their feet.
"I'm going to see if they'll let me practice on the feild. You ready, Killer?"
"Ja!" He eagerly rubbed his fins together. They all grinned, and set off down to the Gauntlet course.
"Dis is it?" Meowth exclaimed. "It sure doesn't look like much." About thirty people were gathered, almost all with colored bands on their wrists. A cheery lady walked up to them and handed Eater a green wrist band.
"You'll be in the green group. Each of the four groups have a different path to follow to the goal. They all have different traps and obsticales, but they're basically ther same length. First to goal wins. Battles are legal, but people may pass you! Fight fair!"
They wandered over to their group, sizing up the compitition. A boy around Eater's age stood next to a gruff looking Pidgeotto, feeding it a peice of funnel cake. Next to him, a hiker was giving a pep-talk to his Golem. A host of other Poke`mon prepared for the event, from Nidorina to Bellsprouts.
The shrill whistle of the instructor's signal rung out, scilencing the clatter of the trainers. They gathered around their starting points, offering hand shakes or snide taunts.
"Nice guppy, girle." The hiker laughed. "Did your mommy let you borrow it for this big, grown-up contest?" Before Eater could respond, the starting gun fired. Some trainers started running, hoping to get a good start and somehow manage to avoid the traps.
She turned down an early side path, only to find that the Golem trainer was following close behind. As he charged past with his boulder Poke`mon, he laughed at her and waved. It was her turn to laugh when he barelled strait into the first trap.
"See you next fall!" TEOW snickered. She delicatly skirted a tripwire about two-hundred feet later, just to fall into a well hidden pit. "Fudge muffins! Killer, psychic!"
A farmiliar blue glow surounded him, extending out to Eater. He partner strained and struggled, finally lifting her to soild ground. He collapsed, breathing heavily. She scooped him up, carrying him in her arms.
"I think you've been getting stronger, little guy." She said as she fished a spray bottle of water out of her pack and spritzed him with it. Soon they reached a wall, apperantly the next obstacale, with a large hole in it.
The Golem had knocked part of the wall down! They caught a quick glimpse of the roud ball rolling around the corner. Eater started running, slowly catching up.
"Rock throw!" the biker commanded as he saw har approach. Golem grabbed a small boulder and heaved it at them. Killer deflected it with a quick barrier, then started spitting water at the rock type.
Without warning, the trainer and Pidgeotto she had seen earlier went racing past them. With a mild explicit, Eater scooped up Killer and started running again. The Golem was running after them as well, but it had lost it's momentum and couldn't catch up. They dashed madly towards the finish, but it was too late. They'd have to settle for second place.
~`~`~`~
"Alright, Peter!" The winner cheered. "Now we can afford your operation!" He hugged his life-long friend. "Thanks for keeping that hiker busy. That jerk called Pete a turkey!"
"No problem." Eater sighed. She stared out over the crowd.
"The Eater of Worlds?" a smiling man inquired.
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"You are our second place winner! Congratulations! Present this certificate at the Poke`center in town." He handed her an official-looking paper. She scanned the paper quickly, then jogged off to claim her prize.
~`~`~`~
"He's pretty young, so he won't be able to go into his Poke`ball for a week or so." Nurse Joy explained. "He has a very good pedigre, his father was an incredible battler."
"Is that so?" Eater responded, playing with the young Khangaskhan on her lap. "He certainly is a cute little devil. What's his name?"
"Sir Fredrick's Shining Mojo."
"Riiight....Mojo it is." She said, and scrathed her new Poke`mon under the chin.
To Part-5
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