In the morning, Luce finds Barry doing crunches with a Munchlax as a dumbbell.

"Morning Luce!" he grunts, effortfully lifting the Munchlax off the ground before putting it back down with a relieved sigh, swiping a thread of sweat from his chin. "My leg's alright now, so I won't be needing the crutch anymore."

Overhead, Staravia was watching the sight, with Monferno perching similarly beside him. Monferno was however reaching over to poke it every once in a while, only getting about as far as twice before Staravia used Fury Attack.

Monferno ran over to Psyduck for solace, who looked incredibly annoyed at being used as a buffer. She bonks Monferno on the head twice, and Staravia snorts, returning to perch beside Prinplup this time.

"Blair, where'd you get the hardest Pokemon to find in Sinnoh? Hide it before Collectors steal him."

"From Dawn," he signs with the most resigned, exhausted look on his face. Apparently he's gone through all seven stages of grief before Luce woke up. Then, exasperated, "and steal him how? He's this heavy."

Munchlax was pretty much just letting Barry do whatever, it looked uncomfortable sometimes, but it wasn't deterred. Must be a Relaxed or Docile, then?

Luce looks at his Monferno and Buneary (who were having wall-punching contests to see who left deeper cracks,) and then he turns to Staravia and Prinplup who were watching boredly, and he sighs. 

"Why do I keep getting the lively ones while you keep getting the quiet ones?"

"Don't ask me!" Barry incredulously signs back.

Munchlax had gone over to Ponyta and the Egg, looking at it curiously. Ponyta reaches over to nibble at an ear, and Munchlax didn't even seem to register it.

Barry seems to have the tendency to attract Pokemon that dynamically juxtapose his own personality, it seems.

"Also, Dawn called me again this morning– apparently, Mister Rickshaw's Cleffa took a liking to her, so she's got it on her team now."

"Little Clifford?" Luce questions. It's another baby Pokemon.

"Yes, that one," Barry says, stalking over to Munchlax to get Ponyta's jaws out of that ear. Then he picks up the TM he's left on top of the incubator and holds it out toward Luce. "You should let Fighter learn this before the contest starts, but... hold on, can a Klutz Buneary even learn this?"

Luce reads the writing on the top. Barry had probably watched and identified the move inside it...

...and of all things, it's Fling?

A loud cracking noise catches his attention, and he looks over to see Monferno has managed to shatter a roof tile that a Machop was practicing with. He cheers, and Buneary looked incredibly miffed, trying her best to smash one too, to no avail. 

Finally, Buneary gives up, leaping down-- stepping on a large shard at just the right angle for it to catapult a rock right into Monferno's face. 

Barry hurries to stop them before they started having a huge fight-- but Luce turns back toward the TM in his hands and thinks, ah, alright, this will probably work. 

-

"I'm so happy to have found you two!" Fantina beams, coming right up to them in the Contest Hall Lobby, where they were sitting by the couches.

Barry was working on Luce's costume, while Buneary was practicing their sound cues with Luce, seemingly in a speed quiz with Monferno. Prinplup and Psyduck were in Amity Park on their own, searching for Accessories. Munchlax was hugging the egg, sleeping against Ponyta, while Staravia perched on the incubator's lid.

"I'm actually the Gym Leader of this city," Fantina says, and Barry whirls around, horrified.

"What?!"

"Yes, it's me!" Fantina smiles. "There's word around that you two cause a lot of trouble and get in a lot of danger. But Hearthome's a lovely, kind place– I'm sure you'll be safe and sound as long as you're here!"

Luce immediately looks away. Barry also grimaces, filled with dread. They are all going to be so mad when word about Dawn gets spread around.

"Wait– so you're both a Contest Master and a Gym Leader? That's so cool," Barry says, awed. "I guess Garu's also pretty strong, but..."

"Oh, that's not so uncommon!" Fantina smiles. "Don't you know? The Hoenn Champion is a Master Coordinator as well– and I know a few leaders of Johto and Unova are Coordinators. It is a hobby anyone can have!"

And well... that sort of made sense. Luce was here partaking in the contest– very passionately at that– and Barry was even putting aside the Gym Challenge to help.

"Then," Barry says, "after we're done with this, could I challenge you to a gym battle?"

Fantina hums. "Upfront, I like that. But unfortunately, I've already been challenged to three badge challenges this week," she smiles sadly, "by nature of my gym system, you are unable to come watch the battles– but one of them took my Contest Challenge, and it's happening this evening some time after yours. Would you like to come watch?"

The Contest Challenge.

They'd read it up in the Gym signboard, and the Gym guide, Jim, would explain it if you went there. Luce and Barry did at some point yesterday whilst running their errands, and the concept seemed wild.

Badges weren't just a symbol of strength, they were also a symbol of command and experience. Technically, as a gym leader, she was allowed to do whatever the hell she wanted, which is why Fantina also gives out badges when someone beats her in the Master rank Contest of their choosing.

It was easy to say which was objectively harder, but they were different skill sets, so they deemed that it was fair enough.

"We'll come watch!" Barry says, turning to Luce, "right?"

Luce nods. No way was he missing out on actually catching sight of Fantina's contests. But actually beating her in a contest? That sounded crazy. And impossible.

Buneary shrieks out something, bristling as she stands in a battle pose toward Fantina.

"Oh?" Fantina says, smiling. "Are you interested in a battle with me, little sweetie?"

Buneary yips. It's a resolved affirmation.

Probably because, according to magazines, Keira's never come close to Fantina in her life. So if Buneary beat her– she would be, by extension, beating Keira's Buneary as well.

"You want to try, seriously?" Barry questions, incredulous. "Fat chance, tiny."

Buneary immediately launches right into Barry's face, snarling. Barry screams bloody murder, but he deserves it, so Luce doesn't bother helping.

"[Can we challenge you at your next available slot?]" Luce asks, writing down his question in his notebook. A moment later, he adds a few more words, "[Barry, Gym; Me, Contest.]"

Fantina beams, also blissfully ignoring Barry and Buneary. "Of course you can!" she says. But, unfortunately, "however, my schedule is quite fervent these days. Johanna's come back, so the Contest World's all abuzz right now. It's harvest season, so there's plenty of overseas trainers coming in as well. I'm afraid I probably won't be free for at least another month."

Luce nods, a little saddened. 

He'd checked the schedules yesterday, and though Normal and Great ranks had plenty of slots (they had hourly contests, in contrast to the daily ones for Ultra and Master,) the Ultra ranks and Master ranks were filled down to next month.

"But a word of advice, little Luce dear," Fantina says, "As you and Buneary are now, I don't see much of a chance of beating me yet."

Luce lifts his head at that. Barry and Buneary abruptly stop wrestling to listen.

"To succeed in Contests, one must not be striving for the goal for the sake of striving for the goal," Fantina says. "You and Buneary, right now– your goals are self-contained."

She wasn't meaning this in offense, and Luce understood that.

"I join contests to show the world the beauty of Pokemon," Fantina says, "we do contests because that is how we battle, and how we work together as one, that is how we live in pride. You and your Buneary now do not work for the same goals in mind."

Buneary wanted to beat Mimi. Luce just wanted Buneary to be happy. It is a similar goal that ends in the same way– but Buneary does not care for Luce in the same way Luce cared for her, and that was a jarring difference in their synergy.

"So here is my condition for you, Luce," Fantina says. "I will take your challenge in the Toughness Contest any day, but I will not accept your challenge until Buneary evolves."

(Because until they can prove that they have truly become partners, Luce will be no match for Fantina.)

Fantina smiles kindly. "Is that alright with you, Luce?"

Buneary looks on, frowning. Luce turns to her to meet her eyes, but her glare is set firm and unapproving. Barry notices, and he sighs.

"Hey, Fighter, listen," Barry says. "To succeed in contests is to earn the favour of the crowd, of the judges, and of your fellow contestants– if you can't even earn the favour of your partner, you'll never get anywhere."

Buneary scowls at that. When Barry tries to touch her, she leaps away, landing on the table with a scoff.

Luce smiles down sadly at her, nodding in a silent acknowledgement. Buneary sees it and pouts, turning away.

"[I accept that condition,]" Luce tells Fantina.

They will get there one day.

"I guess I'm not challenging you until then either," Barry sighs. Her schedule was packed, and there was no fun if Barry got too far ahead on his own. He'll come back when he's stronger, and challenge Fantina when the season is over.

Fantina smiles approvingly. "I very much look forward to battling the both of you one day!"

-

"Hold on a second-- Fantina's the Ghost Type Gym Leader! You're going to be challenging her with a Normal Type Pokemon?"

Luce freezes. Right, that was a problem! 

-

-

-

A parka with a pink fur-lined hood and cuff, and gloves. Luce wore his usual clothes under the long coat, along with his scarf, but he still felt it was a little too showy. Well, it was better than the Tuxedo.

"I'm confiscating this cap until you're done," Barry says, stealing it away from Luce's head, still holding the egg in his arms. "Focus on the Contest. If you lose, I'm fining you a billion dollars."

Monferno and Prinplup also cheer a similar greeting before following Barry out. The rest of the Pokemon were in their Poke Balls because they weren't allowed to have all of them out indoors..

Luce barely had enough time to realize what just happened before he was just gone. "Don't pressure me!"

Buneary was huffing, getting herself psyched up.

Luce sighs, coming by to sit beside her in the shared dressing room, looking each other in the mirror. Buneary actually turns around and huffs annoyedly at Luce when he comes into her view of the mirror, as if she didn't want him taking up the same space.

"Let's do our best," Luce signs, but the gestures are lost on Buneary, who didn't understand sign language.

She huffs, trying to shove Luce aside from her view in the mirror, like a little ant trying to move a boulder.

So instead, Luce retrieves something from his Fashion Case– a small yellow cloth, triangle in shape, and just the right size for Buneary.

When Luce approaches, Buneary tenses, on guard– but she relents to allow Luce to tie it around her neck, and it comes together as a neckerchief– a bandanna. And Luce points at his own, indicating that they matched.

Buneary considers that. And, just deeply enough, she also considered what Fantina said. So after some deliberation, she allowed the Yellow Scarf to stay around her neck, at least for today.

She pretends not to notice how Luce smiled brighter after that, absolutely elated.

-

The Contest goes amazingly.

It was surprisingly easy to coax Buneary into eating the Sour Poffin. She was sceptical at first, especially after learning that Barry made it, but Luce eats it a little to make sure it's not poisonous, and Buneary tries it, if only out of politeness. It refused to eat too much, but gobbled up the rest when Luce wasn't looking, because she liked it.

Either way, her condition was great.

"Match the theme and earn higher scores!" the judge announces, "OK, our theme this time is... 'The Bright'! The time limit is 60 seconds! You are allowed 5 accessories! Your fashion sense is on trial, begin dressing up now!"

They had plenty of accessories, and this was completely up to Luce now– but he's been playing dress up Glameow with his Mom all his life– he should definitely know this by heart, if not by soul.

Buneary glares at Luce, but Luce crouches down, lowering his head.

"[May I put some accessories on you?]" he asks.

Buneary reads it and actually looks surprised. So surprised, she actually nods. Luce smiles in relief, and this time, she flushes red, turning away at the sight.

The Glitter Powder, the White Feathers... what else? Luce gives her the huge Glitter Boulder, and she predictably looks upon it with fascination, knowing naturally how to pose with it to look cute. She's probably seen Mimi do it before.

"[You look adorable!]" he tells her.

Buneary's cheeks light up again, but this time, she huffs, turning away defiantly. Of course she's cute! That goes without saying!

Applying the Glitter Powder, Luce notices Buneary giving it a rather skeptic look. 

Ah, that's right. They got this from Keira. 

"[Let's go thank her later, alright?]" he suggests. 

Buneary looks away, a little sulky. But she nods, and Luce is a little proud. 

Later, when the crowd cheers loudly at the sight– there's a crowd. So many people came to see their town delinquent look adorable on stage. Luce was anxious about the attention, but so was Buneary, and in a very good way– Buneary stands up straight and proud of itself.

Barry stands in the forefront of the gallery, and he looks incredibly smug for some reason.

-

"This is unbelievable!" Jordan says, "that Buneary's actually following along to the rhythm in the dance competition. And it's all under that trainer's direction."

"It's got a great resolve in her eyes, doesn't it?" Keira beams. Then, noticing her own Buneary looking out of the booth with determination, she smiles. "Oh? Looks like Mimi's got her competitive spirit stirred, too!"

Dexter nods sagely, "this is what the Tough Competition should seem like," he says. "Though, it's probably the first time we've seen a Buneary this early in the competition outside of yours, Keira."

"Me and Mimi are a special case," she says, smiling a little sadly down at her Buneary.

"Hey, Dexter," Jordan warns, covering his mic before he hisses out the dull warning.

"Ah, I apologize," Dexter also covers his mic, "non-evolution syndrome, was it?"

"You're being insensitive, old man!" Jordan seethes.

"It's fine, I don't mind," Keira assures them, "don't quarrel now, boys! Let's watch Fighter, she's doing so well!"

-

"Leading right now is Contestant Luce and Fighter!"

"Allriiiiight!" Dawn cheers loudly. Luxio is beside her, cheering similarly, with Cleffa on her head hopping ecstatically. Turtwig is resting in her lap, her hand draped over the shell, and Kazza was floating beside her, holding onto the edge of her scarf.

They're in the Gym, because there was a TV here and they could cuddle with Grass Pokemon while they watched.

"That tapping system they have works really well for the contests!" Gardenia says, in awe. "Even though I personally can't tell the difference between half of them..."

"I think that's the point," Rickshaw says, leaning over Dawn's wheelchair to whistle, impressed. He's holding a snowcone that he'd gotten from the Freeze Machine. "This boy looks good in contests!"

"Guys, I'm done baking the berries, do you guys still need the oven?" Roy asks.

"Uh," Gardenia looks at all of them, baffled. The Fan was just blowing "You guys are sure enjoying those machines we stole from the Galactic building."

Behind her, Roserade was speeding through the lawn with the Mow Machine. Not on purpose, it had just lost control of it and a Grotle was trying its hardest to chase after it before it murdered any Grass-Type Pokemon.

In the Performance section, what happens is very fittingly a free-for-all battle between the contestants, though it's limited by the rounds system and move limitations. Accessories are taken off in favour of small clothing and pins, and for Buneary's case, a simple Yellow Scarf.

Gardenia notices what it is. "Hold on– that's a Toughness-enhancing scarf. Where'd he get that?" he says, a little surprised.

"I'm more bothered by that awful stitching on that parka. Barry's terrible at this!" Dawn says, very irked. "These boys are hopeless. I will fix that atrocity once I find them."

"Go, Fighter!" Rickshaw cheers, his Clefairy by his side similarly excited, "pink Pokemon supremacy! Right, Cliff? Clifette?"

"Oh, did it just use Fling?" Roy points out, when Buneary whirls around an iron ball and sends it whirling right into a Geodude. "When'd it learn that?"

"That's the TM I sent them yesterday!" Dawn cheers.

"A Klutz Buneary can use Fling?!"

"Apparently she can throw items as long as it's with the intention of throwing it angrily toward the nearest possible target."

"...convenient."

"And Rock Smash!" Gardenia punches the air, suddenly sitting down beside Rickshaw among a horde of Budew's fighting for the bowl of toasted berries. "That means they defeated Roark, look at that!"

"Contestant Newt's Geodude, Rocky, is knocked out and eliminated!" the announcer declares. "Only three contestants left on stage and one appeal left for everyone!"

Dawn hums, Cleffa in her lap as she writes down the moves Buneary had in her book.

"So in Contests, you can only register four moves to use, and you can only pick from this limited arsenal through the whole challenge," Dawn says, reading a contest guide book, "then there's appeal points, and voltage... uh, so every move does something different and earns more points depending on when they appeal?! And some moves can halt voltage and decrease voltage as well? Why is this more complicated than Gym battles?!"

"Right?!" Gardenia says, "all of that always goes over my head! But they're still so cool to watch... how'd Luce get so good at these anyway?"

Just then, the Pokemon that went before Luce– a Machop– used Karate Chop, maxing out the Voltage and getting an entire frenzy of points. His score filled up the screen twice over, gleaming in chaotic excitement as the crowd roars.

"Wha– that's not fair! He got like two dozen points at once!" Rickshaw yells, horrified. "He took over Luce's lead right at the end!"

Until this point, Luce had been scoring consistently in each Acting round. There was no way he could suddenly take a huge leap to catch up to this.

"...well, I guess the thing about contests is how suddenly it can turn..." Gardenia sighs. "Argh! We were so close!"

"Hold on, not all hope is lost! Luce definitely has some kind of plan," Dawn argues, "uhhh, he's used Frustration, Rock Smash, Fling... what's his last move?"

"It doesn't matter..." Rickshaw sulks, "he'll need at least twelve points to win his lead over again– even the highest-scoring skills don't get that far."

On the screen, Luce's face tenses, and the announcer voices it– "well, looks like our favourite to win is in a pinch! Can he turn this around at the last second?"

The camera zooms in on Luce, and he signs something– a word Dawn doesn't recognize, but Roy yells out at, recognizing and understanding it immediately.

"That Klutz Buneary knows what?!" Roy exclaims.

Buneary dashes forward, growling sharply at the Machop. Machop, alarmed, flinches back– but Buneary dashes ahead, swiping by Machop– spins around, and leaps– and then returns to Luce's side.

For a moment, everyone was confused at what happened, but Gardenia chokes harshly on her food, and she realizes it at the same time the announcer does.

Buneary's Yellow Scarf was gone, replaced by the Expert Belt accessory that Machop was wearing.

"Switcheroo!" she yells, horrified. "It just used Switcheroo!"

"W-W- Would you believe this, everyone?!" the announcer shouts, perhaps a little too loudly, but the crowd was erupting with noise. "Fighter used Switcheroo! That means– the Voltage–!!"

Buneary smirks.

The judges sigh fondly, and the voltage meter hustles to sap their points away, filling up Luce's in the process. The crowd erupts with loud cheers.

"Switcheroo– it steals voltage!" Dawn realizes.

"That's it for the Performance Portion, everyone! And I don't think I need to wait any longer to say this BUT OUR WINNER ISSSSSS—-!!!"

When they shouted, it felt like the whole world was celebrating with them. They threw their things into the air, from blankets to food to Turtwig and a Budew, catching and spinning them around in excitement, dancing around enthused.

"FIGHTER JUST WON!!!"

-

"They're the devil! The absolute devil!" the announcer yells, absolutely aghast as Buneary grins, absolutely unrepentant. "All that voltage, gone!"

Martial Artist Jose and his Machop lose all colour in their faces, falling to their knees in despair.

"H- How could you just..."

Buneary smirks, setting her hands at her hips, proud and smug. She even stands right before Machop to prove her cocky point, and the Bidoof on the other side simply stared, baffled.

"But I guess it wouldn't be our resident troublemaker if she didn't storm through this like a delinquent somehow, huh?!" the announcer laughs, and the crowd cheers absolutely agreeing with him.

Buneary pumps a fist in the direction of the crowd, and they erupted with noise, mimicking her motion like a roar of a pro wrestler being rallied.

Luce looks toward the crowd, and he sees Barry, arms crossed, trying to look impressive, but he had proud tears streaming down his face like an overly emotional drunk watching a dramatic kids' show. Monferno was cheering, loud and enthused and jumping in five different directions. Prinplup was trying to keep up with the excitement, and though hewas lagging behind, but his energy was true.

Luce is interrupted when Buneary steps forward, lifting her head with a huff, nose pointed upward, looking slightly aside. She cracked an eye open, obviously expecting Luce to say something.

And Luce does. He claps, he laughs, proud, and he signs the one word he makes sure Buneary knows the meaning of.

"Amazing."

And Buneary grins back.

He reaches out a hand, and Buneary considers it for a moment– then she leaps onto it, scrambling up the arm, popping over to the shoulder– and perches on his head, posing dramatically at the peak.

Luce bursts out into laughter. He swears the crowd erupted in camera flashes.

-

-

-

"Are you really sure, Dawn?"

It's midnight, and they're here again, before the Old Chateau.

Roy's pushing her wheelchair now, because no way in hell was Gardenia bringing her here so they snuck out of the Center today.

"Yes!" Dawn says, standing up carefully and getting on a crutch. Turtwig is by her side, and she hasn't brought her other Pokemon. "I need to talk with Mister Butler properly. Maybe apologize for startling Gengar and thank Rotom for helping me."

"It's reckless," Roy warns. "I'm not sure if I can protect you."

"I know, but I'll be fine! You don't need to worry about that–" Dawn says. "I'm a Pokedex owner too! I gotta be stronger or I'll always be the third link behind Luce and Barry!"

The doors of the Old Chateau opens behind her, and Dawn turns back, her lips curling into a smile.

"Besides," she assures him, "I'm sure that if we talk this out calmly this time, our emotions will get through. We might not all be humans, but empathy will always lead to a similar response. Luce and Fighter have proven that."

Roy sighs fondly as Dawn steps into the Old Chateau, and Roy follows.

On the second floor, a silhouette of a little girl watches him, but she disappears when Roy looks over. He dismisses it, and the girl smiles, drawing the curtains as well.

Whatever the case, they had a feeling it'd be fine this time.