The wind was calm, the sun gentle; the water glistened and ran smoothly, small aquatic Pokémon resting by the riverbed. A girl, young and strong, stood by the bank, feet bare as she felt the blades of grass against her toes. Eyes closed, she inhaled slowly and took the breath deep into her chest, letting it fill her mind with emptiness. She was chasing her zen, that kernel of peace that inspired creation, the creation of her greatest Contest appeals. She felt it come, and as it trickled through her mind her hand hovered over the Pokéballs at her waist. She came to rest on the third capsule and unhooked it, releasing her partner into the world with a few simple clicks.
The butterfly Pokémon burst forth in a plume of white light, taking to the cloudless sky on featherless wings. May respected the species for two things: their beauty was undeniable, a trait preferable to early Coordinators, and they were a needlessly, surprisingly aggressive breed. Beautifly were known to drain their prey of their body fluids when provoked, which was sadistically impressive for such an unexpected Pokémon. Beautifly’s grace when airborne was undeniable. She hovered before her trainer, wings flapping silently, cerulean eyes awaiting instruction.
The trainer grinned, eyes flashing open, needing only a fraction of a second to adjust to the light. Her muse was alive and well, her imagination gracing her team with another potentially outstanding Appeal. “Quiver Dance, Giga Drain, Gust. C’mon Beautifly, Take the stage!” she cried enthusiastically, using her chance to practice two of her butterfly’s newest moves.
It seemed that sunshine itself poured from the Pokémon’s thin wings as they pulsed with golden energy, small scales of dust glowing ember as they drifted to the river surface. Beautifly bore a determined expression, holding the technique as everything around the Pokémon seemed dim compared to her light. The light changed soon after, fading at first until Quiver Dance ran its course, replaced instead with a distinct emerald green. The principle act for Giga Drain was to latch onto a target and drain it for all its worth, but without a target Beautifly had to improvise – pity was, she didn’t really know how to improvise. So the appeal sort of just … stopped.
Her smile faded as Beautifly looked at the trainer, disappointment and confusion on the little butterfly’s face. Her eyes could tell a story if they wanted to. May frowned, not yet catching that without training, and without a target, they couldn’t pull off an appeal quite so grandiose. All the same Beautifly had done her best, so May rewarded her with a sugary sweet Pokéblock.
“I need to stop getting ahead of myself,” she complained, frowning. It would all come together with some hard work. Strange, she thought to herself. They could take down whole evil syndicates, campaign to the legendaries, save regions, but they struggled with a silly little contest appeal. Perspective was a strange thing.
