"What did Team Aqua even want with those ship parts?" Wally wondered out loud as the four friends walked out of the museum and towards the exit of Slateport.

"I have no idea," Arriete replied, folding her arms. "Let's just figure out where they went."

"Hey! It's Lisia and Ali!"

The friends all turned to where the voice came from. Standing in front of the Contest Hall stood a crowd of people cheering. Shrugging, they made their way over to the crowd and saw that they were cheering for a girl around their age and her Altaria.

"Who's that?" Larance asked, pointing at the girl.

"She's the Top Coordinator of Hoenn," Wally replied, coughing a bit. "And that's her Altaria, Ali. I've read about them before."

"Hello everyone!" Lisia greeted, waving. "It's time once again for my Coordinator Search! Now, let's see who will be this month's contest star?"

Shouts of "Me! Me! Me!" rang through the air while the four friends stayed silent. Lisia looked around the crowd with a smile on her face until her eyes landed on Bina.

"You!" Lisia gleefully pointed at Bina.

"M-me?" Bina asked, paling.

Lisia giggled before running over to Bina, grabbing her arm, and bringing her up to the front.

"I have found this month's contest star! And who is this mysterious girl?"

"B-Bina," Bina stammered, waving awkwardly.

"And that's all for today!" Lisia ended. "Goodbye to you all!"

The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving the five of them behind. Lisia sighed before turning towards Bina and smiling apologetically at her.

"I'm sorry about that," Lisia giggled. "It's just that when I saw you, I knew that you had the look of a Top Coordinator."

"No, you picked the wrong person," Bina mumbled, looking down and rubbing her arm. "I'm not pretty enough to participate contests."

Lisia frowned at this before giving Bina a small smile.

"Yes, you are," Lisia stated, placing her hands on her hips. "That's one of the reasons I picked you. Besides that, I could sense a powerful aura from you. You have the skills to make people smile, but you need to strengthen those skills. Here," she handed Bina a bag and a contest case. "Take these items and participate in this contest that's coming up in a few minutes. You'll do great, I know it."

"B-but I-" Bina stuttered as Lisia walked off with Ali.

"Good luck, Bina!" Lisia waved as she entered the Contest Hall.

Bina gulped and she looked into the bag that she received. In it was a pair of light blue heeled shoes, white tights, a strapped light blue dress that was as long as her skirt, a white pearl necklace, and white gloves that reached right past her elbows.

"So, Bina," Arriete began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to enter?"

"This might be the thing you want to do," Wally nodded, smiling at her.

"Yeah, we'll cheer you on no matter what," Larance promised.

Bina took a deep breath before looking at the Contest Hall. She thought for a minute before a small smile formed on her face.

"What the heck, why not? I'll do it."

***

"You okay in there, Bina?" Arriete asked, knocking on the changing room door.

"Y-yeah," Bina stammered as she opened the door, fixing her blue headband and making sure that her bracelet was placed over her gloves.

"That dress fits perfectly!" Lisia grinned, placing a hand on her hip. "Now, which Pokemon are you going to use?"

"O-oh...right..." Bina muttered, looking at her three partners. "Well, I'll have to choose Marshtomp since she is the first Pokemon I ever received."

Beautifly and Taillow looked down while Marshtomp perked up.

"Well let's hurry then!" Lisia impatiently pushed Bina towards the room that held the contestants. "It's about to start soon!"

As soon as the door closed behind Bina, Lisia ushered the other three to come with her. She lead them to a large box that held four chairs, and showed a clear visual of the Contest Hall.

"Wow, these must be the best seats in the house!" Wally exclaimed, eyes wide with amazement. 

"Maybe this is what Bina will want to do on this journey," Arriete mentioned to Larance.

"But don't we have more pressing matters at hand with those two teams?" Larance brought up, remembering what happened in the museum.

"Maybe, but we need some time to relax," Arriete replied. "Besides, let Bina figure out if this is what she wants to do. Let her have some fun."

Suddenly, the lights began to dim and Lisia began to squeal with delight.

"Everyone! Sit!" she excitedly commanded as she plopped down next to Arriete. "It's about to begin!"

Larance sat down on the other side of Arriete, while Wally sat down next to Larance. All four of them waited eagerly as the last light dimmed, and a spotlight shone down on the announcer.

***

Bina paced back in forth in the large room, nervously tapping a finger against her chin. 

I shouldn't be doing this, Bina thought to herself worriedly. I'm not meant to do this. Besides, we have to stop Team Aqua and Team Magma. We have to find out about Larance's father. We have to find Steven again. We have to- 

"Well, I never thought that I'd see a daughter of the famous Prof. Birch competing in a contest."

Bina's heart dropped as she turned around to see a familiar face grinning at her. No. Not here. Not now. Marshtomp went to her trainer's side, anger written across her face.

"Bertha," Bina scowled, memories flooding back into her mind.

"Why, if it isn't Bina," Bertha chuckled. "I see that you've changed your looks. But that won't help you with your talent."

Bina clenched her fists and she turned her head up at Bertha.

"I don't care what you say now, or what you said back then," Bina glared at her. "I'm not going to let words hurt me anymore. I am participating in this contest because I need a break from everything that has been happening these past few weeks."

Just then, the announcer called for the first performer to enter the stage.

"And now, I must leave you," Bina said, beginning to walk away. "I've got to learn what I'm supposed to do."

Bertha just watched in shock as Bina walked up to watch a tv, Marshtomp by her side. She sighed with relief, and smiled to herself. Confronting that girl like that made her feel more...confident. She watched on the tv as various contestants performed, trying to learn from what the others did.

"Bina? You're up," a woman smiled at her.

"Ready Marshtomp?" Bina asked, earning a nod from her partner. "Well then, here we go!"

***

Bina watched the tv screen with all of the contestants. She waited anxiously as the pictures of the contestants that made it to the last round began showing up on the screen. There were three spots left. Two. One. And there she was. She had just made it. She beamed and hugged Marshtomp close.

"Now, here's the real challenge," the announcer announced. "The talent stage! You only have 60 seconds to shine so give us your best!"

"60 seconds?" Bina whispered, growing tense. "That's not that much time."

Marshtomp looked up at her trainer, before Bina shook her head and smiled at her.

"We got this."

Bina turned towards the tv to watch the other contestants perform. Some were amazing, while others either weren't as good or messily done. Bina visibly winced as she saw a contestant trip on the hem of her dress while trying to command her Mawile to use a move. Soon, it was her turn and she stepped out onto the stage, Marshtomp by her side.

"And now, our final contestant, Bina and her Marshtomp!" the announcer introduced.

The crowd erupted into cheers, making Bina relax a little bit and smile wide.

"Ready Marshtomp?" she asked, receiving a nod from her partner.

 "Begin!" the announcer yelled.

"Marshtomp! Rock Slide!" Bina commanded.

Marshtomp let rocks appear from the air and began to let them fall.

"Water Gun!"

Marshtomp aimed a powerful Water Gun at the rocks, making them break apart into small pieces. 

"Now, use Ice Beam on the rocks!" Bina ordered, remembering the move she taught Marshtomp.

Marshtomp obeyed and the rocks turned into little pieces of hail, falling around the Pokemon and breaking into little pieces of ice dust. The crowd wowed at the sparkling dust that surrounded Marshtomp, making her seem to shine. Bina was about to order Marshtomp to use another move, the announcer interrupted.

"Time's up!"

Already? Bina thought before shrugging and smiling at Marshtomp, who returned her smile.

Bina waved one last time to the audience before heading back into the contestant room.

***

"Now, we anxiously await your votes!" the announcer grinned. "Which one of these contestants will receive their first contest ribbon?"

Bina nervously looked around at the other contestants. some looked as nervous as her, while others looked confident. Bina then turned to the judges, who were furiously whispering to each other. They then all nodded in agreement, before calling the announcer over and giving him a piece of paper.  His eyes widened before grinning and announcing the winner.

"And the contestant who will win their first ribbon is...Bina and her Marshtomp!"

Bina stood there in shock, while the other contestants clapped and congratulated her. She shook off her shock and walked towards the announcer.

"Congratulations, Bina," he smiled.

"T-thank you," Bina thanked, grinning. "This means a lot to me."

She turned and waved at the cheering crowd, happiness growing in her.

Maybe this is what I want to pursue...

***

"You did it!"

Bina had barely made it out of the changing room before being tackled into a hug by Wally, Beautifly, and Taillow.

"Thanks Wally!" Bina laughed, returning Wally's crushing hug.

"Congratulations!" Lisia grinned, Larance and Arriete following her. "I knew you could do it!"

"Thanks, Lisia," Bina smiled as Wally and her Pokemon released her from the hug. "This really helped me figure out what I want to pursue."

"The Top Coordinator?" Arriete asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Bina giggled. "It seems to fit me perfectly!"

"It surely does," Larance complimented. He then noticed that the sun had sank and he yawned. "I think we should turn in for the night."

"Here, come to the hotel I'm staying at," Lisia suggested. "I'll rent you four a room."

The four friends nodded in thanks, and followed Lisia to the hotel, tiredness creeping up on them.

***

"Really? She's doing contests now?"

"Yes. You should be proud of your daughter, Birch. She actually won!"

"I never knew how excited a Champion could get about contests."

"Hey, you asked me to watch over them, so I had to watch it."

"Right. How are they anyway."

"They might be getting closer to the truth."

"No. Not yet. You can't let that happen."

"*sigh* Yeah. I know. I have to go. I just saw two Team Aqua grunts walk by."

"Ok. Keep an eye on those four."

"I always have been."