Welcome to Gaia! ::

The walk to the contest hall was quick since the town was smaller than the other two towns she had been in so far. Compared to Celadon and Saffron, Lavender was nice and roomy. Amie could get used to this space, not having to push and be pushed would be a nice alternative. She reached the doors of the contest hall and let herself in.

Inside there were a few people here and there talking amongst themselves, and Amie assumed them to be other coordinators. She went straight for the front desk where a peppy looking lady was sitting. "Hello and welcome to the Lavender Contest Hall. Is this you first time here?" She asked with a smile.
"Oh, yes." Amie replied and then asked her, "When will the next contest be?"
"You're in luck." Said the lady, "The next one is tomorrow afternoon. I assume you wish to enter?"
"Yes again." Amie replied again. "This will also be my first contest too."
"Wonderful!" The lady said grinning happily. "Let's get you a contest pass set up and then we can set register you for the contest."
Amie waited a few minutes as the lady took her picture and made her a contest pass and when it was finished, Amie was surprise at how fast it was done. The peppy lady behind the desk handed her a contest pass and a few other things.
"These are a few things that all coordinators receive before their first contest." The lady said giving her the things.
"A ribbon case to hold any ribbons you earn." Pointing at a golden box with a velvety inside.
"And here is some ball capsules and seals." A handful of transparent blue spheres and three stickers were handed to Amie. "They are quite popular right now and more can be bought any pokemart."
Amie's hands were beginning to get too full so she put the supplies away in her bag. She looked back at the lady and said, "Thank you for the the help." The lady returned the thanks with a big smile and Amie could tell she really enjoyed her job. Amie thought that if she had that kind of commitment she wouldn't be here right now.

Amie decided to walk around the contest hall to get a feel for what she would have to deal with tomorrow. Wandering around, she managed to walk into the stadium like area where the contest appeals and battles would be had tomorrow. Though now it was empty, Amie could just think of how many people could fit in the stands. Stage fright began to creep up on her as she imagined all the people looking at her. But they didn't all have to look at her, she had her Abra and tomorrow they'll both be up there. She felt a bit better and headed back outside and saw that there was some daylight still left so she might as well find a place to practice with Abra.

Amie walked into the contest hall behind Mezame. The hall was more crowded on the inside than she expected, and she wondered why there would be so many people here from a small town like Lavender. She was getting nervous again, but tried to hide it again. She left Mezame to go to the front desk again to check in for the contest. The same lady as yesterday was there seemingly not at all affected by the mass amounts of people here. With her help, Amie quickly checked in and everything was ready to go on her part.

She returned to Mezame and told her, "I'm going to go get ready. Wish me luck." She wasn't sure if Mezame was going to follow her or if she was even allowed in the back where the coordinators were getting prepared. Either way Amie was heading back there after speaking with her friend. She left and headed to the dressing rooms to prepare herself too. It was less crowded in here, a few people she could see directly and probably a few in other rooms prepping. She looked around an found an unoccupied area in which to get dressed and go over her strategy with Abra later. First things first, she pulled out the box from her bag and went in small changing stall to well change into it.

"Good luck!" Mezame called to Amie as she went to get ready for the contest. Once Amie was out of sight Mezame continued to look around the hall and wondered what she should do next. She should find out how to get a seat.

The front desk was probably how Mezame could find out. She was about to head over to it when she heard her name. "Huh?" Mezame thought, confused. A girl shorter than her but with a bigger attitude ran up to her. Mezame frowned at being called naive and was about to ask this girl who the hell she thought she was, when she was hit with realisation.

"Cora!" Mezame exclaimed suddenly. She hoped Cora wouldn't notice Mezame had almost forgotten who she was. She felt a little ashamed. This young girl had given her the Pokédex afterall. "Wow, it's sure great to see you! What're you doing here?"

Mezame was impressed. She smiled at Cora. "That's so awesome." She said with emphasis. "I want to learn too! I bet Starly would love some treats." Mezame was excited about the prospect of learning to make something Starly would like.

But first she had to get a seat at the stadium so she could cheer Amie on. "Right now though, I'm here to cheer for my friend. She's taking part in this contest and I need to get a seat. Mezame wasn't sure when the contest was starting but she was getting nervous that she wouldn't get a seat in time.

"Do you know when it starts? Where do I get a seat?" Mezame asked Cora and then cringed knowing she would pay for asking a dumb question.

As Mezame sat down, she sighed with relief. She was about to thank Cora for her help when she asked about Amie. "Uh." Mezame started nervously. "This is her first time actually..."

A rumbling noise of chatter was beginning to fill the stadium as more and more people filed in and filled up the seats. Mezame was starting to get excited. "This is my first time seeing one too." She said looking behind her at the people spilling in.

They had a great view from where they were. They could see right into the centre of the stage and had no random heads blocking their view. Mezame wondered how Amie was holding up. She seemed so calm and collected so far, Mezame wondered if she was feeling nervous yet.

"Her first?!" Cora squealed in surprise. "Well, least Lavender town is a good place to start. Not many big time coordinators come through here."

Everyone was seated and things were about to get under way. The stadium was growing quiet. Cora looked over at Mezame who was sitting in anticipation and looking excited.

"We'll have to cheer for her extra hard." Cora said as a spotlight hit the stage. She had both her hands balled into fists and was looking towards the stage with determination, like she was convinced her cheering would give Mezame's friend, any help whatsoever.

People started cheering and Cora joined in when she saw the MC take the stage and start explaining the contest to the audience, getting them ready for what they were about to see, listing who had ribbons already and who the first timers were.

Cora wondered aloud which one was Mezame's friend with every first timer that was announced but Mezame was distracted. "Hey! I said which one was your friend?" Cora asked tugging on Mezame's sleeve.

~Raide Lowe~
Raide finally made it into the contest hall along with the group that had brought her there. They’d eventually noticed the stranger in their midst, but took her under their wings for the short time she spent with them. Some people were just friendly like that, friendly enough to gain a good acquaintance in under five minutes, that is. As she heard the doors slam shut behind them, she also heard some commotion from the outside. She found herself very glad she wasn’t there any more.
Making her way up to the receptionist to try and get tickets, she opened her mouth to speak. But the thoughts didn’t quite translate to words, and she sat like a gaping Magikarp for a moment, wishing that she was telepathic. Thankfully, the kind receptionist took mercy on the frozen girl, and asked, “How may I help you? Do you need a seat?”
The kind words were able to stop the nervousness from blocking all communications, as was usually necessary for Raide to talk to strangers, and she let a polite smile show. “Yes ma’am. I know I’m a little late, but I’d still like to watch.” It was a good thing that it wasn’t an issue, and she was able to quickly get a ticket and make her way inside where the contest was in the process of starting. After many “Excuse me”s and “I’m sorry”s, she finally made it to her seat and sunk down lazily. Considering for a moment, biting her lip and furrowing her brow, she decided to take a little risk. Cyndaquil had never done anything more than mischief, and if she wanted kindness, then maybe she would have to be... ...Very patient and willing to take risks. ...But she wouldn’t let the contest hall burn to the ground.
Just one moment later, and Cyndaquil was in the empty seat next to her (The town was not as crowded as expected) with his squinty eyes narrowed even further, if that was possible. “I’ll leave you alone, just no fireworks for now, agreed?” Glaring for a couple seconds more, he then turned around with a little huff, sending small sparks onto Raide’s lap, but doing no real damage. After panicking for one small moment trying to prevent a fire, the new trainer was somewhat surprised. It was an unexpected turn of events, because she’d expected a little more trouble. ‘Maybe that’s progress’, she thought.