Wallace cup 2018 Appeal: Cool category
‘Cool’ was never really his style, As much as he enjoyed pretending he was. ‘Cool’ was not a good fit for these pokemon he’d been tasked with... He was more used to the beauty and the aesthetic of contests, not playing to peoples highly biased definition of ‘cool’.
...But that didn’t mean he wasn’t about to try.
Striding out with either pokemon beside him, he let the cape of his jacket billow out behind him, caught by the wind blowing in off the sea. Flora, the Lurantis, strode to his left, a bit of swagger in her step, the Grassium-Z she wore around her neck dangling loosely- intentionally done to make it easy to pull off with the creatures scythe-like hands. On his right walked Silvally, Head held high with plumage glowing a bright orange- Ground type memory. Both pokemon were groomed to perfection, as Gladion expected, not a single hair or petal out of place and coats glistening in the Alolan sun.
The stage was set, open sand around them as they took their places in the dead center of the arena... and then the music picked up, a grand crescendo accompanied by nigh ritualistic chanting as Gladions left hand hand- And Floras scythes- rose with it. The right hand rose along with the next set of Lyrics, Silvally raising its head and readying itself, widening its stance...
The Music rose further, only to suddenly come crashing down, Gladions hands along with it, and two things happened in that moment. Flora darted to her right, away from Gladion and Silvally, and Silvally brought its front claws down, using Rock slide down into the earth to create pillars that built up under Gladions feet, tossing him into the air and giving him enough height to perform a small back flip, landing on the pillar in time with the chanting in what could only be described as a Superhero pose, a rush of sand bursting out from under his feet. He quickly stood, thrusting his hand into the air as Silvally created another two pillars, each jutting out behind Gladion in an ‘X’ Shape, and once more as Gladion thrust his hand out to the side, several Arches being created that connected them all together. The next beat had Gladion crossing his arms in front of his face, and casting them down at his sides, a couple support pillars jutting out of the ‘main’ one and into the ground below.
Gladion smirked, turning his hand over and arching his fingers like a claw as he slashed upwards, Silvally using Multi-attack to carve intricate divots into the pillars as it ran up to join its trainer on the center pillar. Flora, meanwhile was quickly climbing the pillars and placing down Leech seeds as she went, the two pokemon seeming to dance in an odd harmony before the Lurantis placed herself at the tip of one of the pillars in the back, dropping one last seed into a deep divot Silvally had created. As the music seemed to come to a break down, Lurantis’ eyes glowed brightly as she started using Synthesis to draw on the life force of the ocean and palm trees behind them, as well as the blazing Alolan sun. Drawing what life force she could, she channeled it into the seed at her feet. The music quieted, Vines growing out of the leech seeds and slowly snaking their way down the divots, filling every nook and cranny they could, the vines seeming to glow brightly from how much Flora was putting into it. The vines even slithered up and grabbed Gladion around the ankles and wrists- Lurantis using Grass Knot, clearly- tying him to the pillar as the whole structure seemed to twist, and come alive. He knew this would happen though, and as soon as he was tied down, he pulled on his restraints, feigning panic as Silvally rushed up, using Iron head on the parts of the pillar that bound Gladion to the structure to free its trainer trainer. As the music picked up again, the structure holding Gladion started to collapse, and Gladion quickly mounted Silvally’s back, the pokemon leaping up high into the air and coming down hard with Giga Impact, enough to make a small crater and kick up a lot of swirling sand.
Time for the finale. As Lurantis started to dance atop the pillars to the music, Gladion circled his fist in the air once, specifically his left hand which housed his Z-ring. once again in the center of the ring, Gladion took point, striking a rather intense pose as he tapped the Grassium-Z mounted on his Z ring, Lurantis almost mimicking his movements one to one as he performed the Grass Z-dance... and as Lurantis became filled with Z-power, the entire set piece they created sprung to life as Giga drain became Bloom Doom, Sucking the energy out of some nearby grass and palm trees and quickly returning it to them as plants cascaded down the rock structures, blooming flowers and grass as the Z-energy coursed down, a large lotus flower blooming at Lurantis’ feet to top off the whole spectacle.
And with that, the music faded, Gladion finally lowering his arms as flower petals fell, picked up by the wind and blown away...