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The next day, Dogwood left the Pokemon Center and made his way to the Contest Hall. It was still relatively early. He was probably going to have to register first, and the contest didn't start until a little after noon, so that would give him some time to formulate a game plan.
The Contest Hall was already busy with people preparing for today's contest. A man outside was changing the banner, and a few teenage girls were exiting the building holding little cases.
Once inside, Dogwood found his way to the front desk. "How can I help you today," the secretary asked.
"If it's not too late, I'd like to register for today's contest."
"Not at all," the woman said. "Is this your first contest?"
"Oh, yes ma'am."
"Ok then, you're going to need this," she said, while sliding a case across the counter towards him. It was the same case the teenagers were carrying when they left. "That's your ribbon case, for any ribbons you win. And these," she said, handing him some tiny spheres, "are ball capsules and seals. They just spruce up the Pokeballs. Adds a little flair to the entrance."
Afterwards, Dogwood answered some simple questions. What was his name, when was his birthday, where he lived. Then they took his photo, and out came a small card, with his picture on it. "Here you go. You're now an official coordinator."

The contest didn't start for a while. He still had to decide what Pokemon to use, and what moves to use. Atlas was out of the question. All of his attacks needed a target to really demonstrate, except for Fake Out. Hercules was the same. Which left Charon.
Charon had an attack that could create bubbles, and another attack that could freeze them. That might impress. But the one move he was really relying on was Seed Bomb. Everybody loved explosions. But was the stage big enough for that?
Dogwood found the double doors that led to the auditorium and pushed them open. It was a massive room. It had to be; some Pokemon were humongous. The stage was on one wall, mostly concealed behind a large curtain, with the seats arching around it in a half-circle. The judge's seats were the nearest to the stage, of course. This room would definitely be big enough, so he had no need to hold back.

"So, how do I look," Dogwood asked, stepping out of the cramped dressing room. He snarled a bit, to help get in character.
"Lo-tad tad," he commented.
"You're right, the tattoo sleeve looks really fake. But I doubt anyone will notice from the bleachers."
"Lotad!"
"Oh yeah, we should find something for you, too."
The duo looked around the room for any Pokemon accessories, and spotted a large bin dedicated to miscellaneous items. Unfortunately, most of the useful stuff was already gone, and all that was left were some unorthodox things. He rummaged around through it, but found nothing useful: a baseball cap, a hammer, fluffy dice earrings, and a bunch of other weird things.
Charon called him from behind, "Lo-lotad!"
Dogwood turned around, and spotted Charon sporting a silly flag on his lilypad. He looked like a tiny golf course.
"Hahah! You look like a tiny golf course," he stated, verbalizing his thoughts. "What are you trying to-"
"Lotad. Lotad lo-lotad," Charon insisted. Obviously he thought it could be of some use.
"But, Charon--" Then Dogwood started to catch on. Charon was named after a mythological ferryman, because Lotad's are known for letting other Pokemon ride them. Like a boat. If the flag on his back were the sail, then...
"A pirate ship!"

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"It was a cold, foggy night," Dogwood started, in his best pirate voice. "A lone ship floats on the surface of the sea." The applause quickly dies down, with much of the audience leaning forward to hear him.
"But, it's not any ordinary ship. Arr, it was the ghost ship, the Black Clamperl!"
Charon's pokeball whizzed seemingly out of nowhere, (what Dogwood really did was toss it out from behind his back,) and Charon burst out in a flurry of hearts. Wait, hearts?! The crowd started laughing at the obvious mistake. He continued as best as he could, though.
"Charon, use Bubble Beam, and follow it up with Icy Wind!"
The Lotad created a sea of bubbles until his entire body was engulfed. The gust that followed created a fog effect, concealing most of the Pokemon, except for a faint silhouette. He did look similar to a ship now.
"Aye, the Black Clamperl was the most feared pirate ship when it's crew was still alive. Now, legend says only ghosts haunt the deck."
"Charon, use Leech Seed!"
The Pokemon sprouted seeds around it's own legs. The energy left his body, but for a moment, and returned to him. The effect resembled spirits fading in and out of view through the fog. A short applause followed suit, but Dogwood continued still. He only had one move left.
"According to that same legend, on cold, foggy nights, the crew of the Black Clamperl gets greedy, and robs any ships foolish enough to sail the same seas as it."
"Charon, use Seed Bomb!"
Seeds blew through the fog towards the audience, exploding in mid-air before reaching their targets. The audience howled and applauded the spectacle, especially so close. They could probably feel the heat from the blast.
The head judge smiled and clapped, "Let's give one last round of applause for Dogwood the Martial Artist and his pirate ship Pokemon, Charon!" The applause kept up as he bowed and walked off stage. He felt like he did pretty exceptional. Unfortunately, he wouldn't know if he made it to the 2nd round until after every other contestant had their turn.

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The eight coordinators remaining were given a short break before the second round to view the roster. Dogwood's first opponent would be during the second match against a person named Sherryl. So it must be a girl. He peered around at the other coordinators. At least half of them were girls, so that didn't narrow it down much. He would just have to wait until the match started.

The first match was between a businessman named Louis and a dark-skinned woman named Gwen. The audience roared for her; she must be crowd favorite. Louis' Poliwhirl quickly lost to her electric type Luxio. It was hardly a fair match.

Now it was his turn. He took his position on the stage, and across from him stood- It was the girl with the violin!

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There was a mixture of applause and disappointment from the audience. She clearly had developed a fan-base.
Dogwood and Charon followed Sherryl back to the waiting room. It would be quite a while before Dogwood had to go to the next match. There were still two more battles that had to be carried out before he would return to the stage.

Offstage, Dogwood spotted Sherryl cradling Skiploom in her arms, "Oh, Skiploom. I'm so, so sorry. Please be ok."
The girl's sobbing tugged at his heart strings. He was overwhelmed with remorse. He felt like a monster! Charon's mood also seemed like it had taken a nose dive. The duo watched as Skiploom uttered out a faint cry and disappeared into it's Pokeball.
Dogwood and Charon sulked over to her. You'd think they'd just lost, not the other way around.
"I-I'm-"
"Lo-lotad."
"We're sorry! I didn't mean to- I mean... we..."
"Lo-o-o-o-oooo..."
Sherryl brushed her face across her sleeve, "You're an awful pirate." She lifted her head back up, revealing a shy smile, "Pirates shouldn't feel bad about a well-deserved victory, and neither should you."
"Really," Dogwood asked, "So you're not mad at us for hurting Skiploom?"
"I'm upset about it, but it's a trainers own fault if they're Pokemon gets hurt. I should have forfeited the match, but I just couldn't, you know?"
Dogwood knew that feeling. Quitting never got him anywhere. Or at least, that's how he felt about himself. If it was to protect Charon, or Atlas, or even Hercules, he could see how retreating would be wise. Like when he fought Nuzleaf. Charon got seriously hurt, because he was over-confident.
Charon perked up, "Lotad-tad!"
"Yeah, giving up isn't really our style, either," he said, smiling now. Sherryl really knew how to cheer a guy up. And Pokemon, too, he realized, as he watched her pet Charon's lilypad.
"You fought really well, Mr. Lotad," she said.
Charon was glowing even more, now. In fact, he almost seemed to be literally glowing. Dogwood never realized he could do that.
"Oh... Oh my!" Sherryl exclaimed, pulling her hand away from Charon, "I think your Lotad is evolving!"

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Dogwood walked back out onto the stage and scowled at the audience. Gwen was waiting on the other side, delightfully waving at her fans. The announcer shouted, "Welcoming back to the stage for the first match of the semi-finals: Dogwood and his pirate ship, Charon!"
The crowd wooed and hollered. It took a moment but they eventually realized something was amiss.
"It appears," the announcer began, "that something has changed about Charon."
"Charon evolved backstage," Dogwood said, leaning toward the announcer. The audience quieted down; they were eager to see the battle, and were getting disappointed at the sudden mood whiplash.
"Well, we're going to have to check with the judges to-" he started, but Gwen cut him off, "Oh just let the boy fight! It's not like he'll win."
The crowd cheered, with complete faith in their idol. The judges just shrugged; obviously if the contestant was fine with it, then no harm done.

Moments later, the battle was underway.
"-so, let the fight between Luxio and Charon BEGIN!"
"Luxio, dazzle the crowd with Signal Beam," Gwen shouted, starting off with a bang.
The Pokemon opened it's mouth and howled. A beautiful beam of light shot forth and hit Charon in his torso. It was like a multi-colored, hexagonal light show.
Dogwood had to shake his head loose of the distracting lights just to retaliate, "Uhh, Charon! Use Leech Seed!"
The Lombre lifted himself back up on to his feet using his long arms. "Lombray," he replied. He clenched his fist shut, and opened it back up to reveal the Leech Seeds.
"Lom-BRAY," he shouted, hurling them at the foe Luxio's feet. They sprouted and immediately drained a fair amount of health.
"Oh yeah!? Luxio, get in close and rip him to shreds with Ice Fang!"
Luxio sprinted forward and latched onto Charon's arm with it's sharp fangs. Charon let out a cry of agony as the fangs dug into his arm and started freezing over, "LO-OOOOM!"
"Charon, use Icy Wind on it's feet," Dogwood ordered, "If you can freeze it in place, you can get away and use Seed Bomb."
The Leech Seeds poured more strength into Charon, allowing him to rip free from Luxio, and then promptly shot a gust of cold air at it's legs. The Pokemon's feet froze over, trapping it momentarily.
"Now finish it off for good with Seed Bomb!"
Charon jumped backwards into the air, revealed multiple large seeds, and hurled them down at the Luxio.
"I think you've underestimated me," Gwen smiled confidently, "Luxio, Signal Beam. Aim for the seeds!"
Without hesitation, Luxio fired off another beautiful beam of light, right at the seeds. The seeds exploded on impact, creating a magnificent spectacle when combined with the light from the beam. Unfortunately for Charon, he got caught in the explosion, and fell from the air in a smoldering mess.
"Charon," Dogwood screamed, tearing his gaze away from the fireworks, "Charon, NO!"
But it was too late; Charon fainted.

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