The pool was fairly narrow, it really was more of a slippery runway than a proper rink, but it gave her and Adonis enough space to skate, and that was about the only reason she went through the trouble of freezing it to begin with.
The other contestants were all still inside, no one had come yet to watch her rehearse; not that she minded, she hardly liked to be seen wearing sweatpants.
Sliding backward in a semicircle around the edge of the pool, she leaned back and let her Quaquaval grab her by the hips and spin around with her kicking the air, the floating feathers of his rump forming a hypnotic spiral that synced with the music, before he tossed her. She managed to spin through the air, but failed her landing and stumbled on the ice, she quickly raised back up.
Her Pokémon turned his beak upward, as he usually did when she was being sloppy. She resumed the routine as if nothing happened, when the music playing on her phone suddenly stopped, instead being replaced by her ringtone.
Ana stopped in her tracks, Adonis also freezing along with the music.
"Take five." She told her Pokémon. She then raised a hand toward her phone, and it near instantly floated right to her.
She looked at the screen, and smirked when she saw the name of the caller. Of course, she picked up.
"I half expected it to be Papa. But good timing. I was just thinking about you."
"Yeah, I bet your old man's not too happy about his precious daughter casually threatening his political career. Again." Her old schoolmate answered. "I don't know how you can bear being in that sort of trashy program, but, hey, it's working. You're getting people talking about you."
"Everyone loves the mysterious foreigner, don't they? Boosting my presence abroad and making my father squirm over what I may reveal is what makes it worth the trouble. At this point, I kind of doubt I will win, but my second secret is sure to make an impact."
"Yeah, well. Whatever it is, be careful, okay? Oh, speaking of... About the first round..."
"Oooh, did you actually watch it? Is that sort of material not beneath the almighty heir of the Ryuuga clan? I bet you were super into it to the point you annoyed yourself! Were any of the guys your type? You can tell me, I'll hold my tongue."
"Fuck off. But yeah, I wanted to say, your secret... That was a mean one."
Anastasie smirked, casually digging the tip of one of her skates into the ice.
"Oh, because you immediately knew which one was mine, didn't you?"
"Pfff. Of course I did, Shiva."
