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Ai waited behind the curtains calmly, gently rolling Kumiko’s masterball between her fingers. This was the moment that she had been waiting for, training for. She was ready; Kumiko was ready. This time, they would not-- could not-- fail. Nothing would stand between Ai and victory now, and at last she would be able to prove herself. After all of that careful planning and practice, now all that was left for Kumiko to perform perfectly.

“Next up is number four, Ai with Kumiko the mew!” the announcer called over their microphone. Ai straightened the ruffles of her powder blue dress, fluffed her curly red locks one more time, and stepped confidently out onto the stage. She kept her chin raised, green eyes looking haughtily down her nose. When she reached the precise center of the stage, she paused for dramatic effect.

“Kumiko, it’s your time to shine!” she called in a peppy voice. She tossed the masterball high into the air, and the mew burst out in a flash of bright red light. Ai caught the empty ball and backed away to give the legendary pokemon some space; all eyes belonged on him, now.

“Sunny Day!” Ai said.

The mew drew himself up to his full height in midair and began to rotate in a slow circle, like a ballerina on the tips of their toes. He began to spin faster and faster, his pelt giving off a warm glow that built brighter and brighter. Finally, he came to a sudden stop facing the audience, and threw his paws wide. Twin glowing orbs burst from the pads of his forepaws and arced high into the air above his head. They crashed into each other and formed a single miniature sun that shed soft rays of sunshine, warming and brightening the stage instantly. Sparks of light slowly drifted like fireflies around the floating mew, reflecting off his lustrous, well-groomed fur.

“Reflect!”

Kumiko clapped his forepaws together and spread them a second time; this time, a semi-transparent dodecahedron appeared, quickly expanding as his paws drew further and further apart. He spread his arms wide and tossed the polyhedron directly into the orb above his head. The psychic barrier swallowed the sun, and suddenly became a disco ball. Kumiko flew in circles beneath the fractured light, twisting this way and that to show off his healthy body beneath the mysterious spots of light.

However, the dodecahedron continued to expand. Soon it took up half the stage, and Kumiko was trapped inside.

The timing was important; the dodecahedron was only semi-transparent, so once he passed through, Kumiko would be harder to see. The instant he was inside, Ai commanded, “Flame Charge!”

Kumiko burst into blue and white flames, shining so brightly that it was only the Reflect’s shell, acting like smoked glass used to watch a solar eclipse, that protected the judge’s eyes. He began flying around the giant dodecahedron, bouncing off each of the 12 faces and leaving a flame trail behind him. He began drawing shapes inside the dome; a diamond, a star, a pokeball, a rose. He grew faster with each turn, until his movements were impossible to follow; instead, the entire dome glowed with near-blinding blue light.

When Ai felt that he had reached the edge of his endurance, she shouted, “Brick Break!” This was the trickiest part of their routine, but she had full confidence that the mew would pull it off.

The dodecahedron shattered into a thousand tiny, glittering pieces that vanished before they hit the ground. The fire within burst free of its shell, but rather than engulf the audience, it remained contained. It burned with a fierce, deafening roar, but it did not spread. In fact… it began to shrink. The fire grew smaller and smaller, until Kumiko was revealed once more from within its depths. But the mew was unharmed, not one hair singed. His eyes were glowing as bright a blue as the flames around him, one paw extended, pad facing up, as he psychically commanded the flames to condense. In less than a minute, the huge, raging inferno was reduced to the size of a cigarette lighter’s flame, floating above the mew’s paw. He closed his paw over the tiny flame, and snuffed it out.

His eyes returned to their mismatched colors. The amount of control he had just displayed was a flashy reminder of his legendary status, but at that moment, he looked as cute and innocent as a Skitty. He smiled at his audience.

Ai skipped forward and bowed; Kumiko bowed right along with her, perfectly coordinated. Side by side, Kumiko floating and Ai practically strutting with pride, they exited the stage.