So... here he was again. He was at another contest somehow. And, like the contest in Celosia, he was wearing the same suit as before. The inn keepers had let him keep it after they had heard how well he had done as a beginner in the Celosian contest. Letting out a sigh, Maleko pulled Shard closer to him as the little Snivy let out a shiver in his arms. The Grass Pokemon did not seem to want to have anything to do with leaving his arms at this moment which was unusual for the other on a good day. "You o-okay Shard?" Shard looked up at him with a glare at the question and shoved himself closer to Maleko's heat center. Maleko let out a small sigh at the others reaction. "Oh c-come on man... it's not t-that bad." Okay... he was lying, it was freezing. How could people stand to live here?! Better yet, why would they live here?! Shivering, and letting out a small sneeze, Maleko could only hope he was not coming down with a cold from being here.
"I know, I know," Eira murmured, turning back to Grace with a smile that showed that she was no longer upset about the evolution, but was truly happy for it. She stood and crossed the few feet that separated her from Grace so she could throw her arms around the much larger Pokemon. "I just can't believe that you are suddenly so grown up. You were just a baby not so long ago and now you are so big and could probably take care of me much better than I can take care of you."
*Mama don't cry,* Grace said quietly, patting Eira's cheek with a large smile.
Z smiled as he watched the two of them hug. While he watched, Scorpio returned to his side and talked with Sparky and Haxorus, the latter wearing a thick winter coat that had been tailored for his large saurian form. Scorpio and Haxorus teased Sparky a bit about her affections for Z, but they stopped and ran when Sparky charged at them with fire gathering in her mouth and a sky uppercut charging on her fist. "Calm down you three," said Z, "we're guests here and we don't want to destroy this place a second time.
"Oh it's alright if they play around a bit. We are much more prepared this time around than last since I figured that there would be a nice group of Fire types coming once more," Eira said, smiling at Akane knowingly. "Our ice is now reinforced especially to resist some pretty high level attacks, so feel free to act however you wish. I would hate to see my friends be bored while they are my guests."
*Big brother! Come play!* Grace called to Scorpio, trying to toddle forward with her strange new body.
Scorpio dodged a swing from sparky as she chased him, *in a minute,* he said, *the Tsundere over there wants me dead.* *You really shouldn't call her that,* said Haxorus as sparky shot a gout of flame at Scorpio for the wisecrack. "I hope they don't cause too much damage," sighed Z, "Sparky, stop. You all need to be at your best for the contest, so stop trying to maim them for insulting you AGAIN!"
"If you want to let off some steam, Sparky, I'm sure there is something the sculptors here could use your help on," Eira suggested, wanting the feud to end between the team even if she didn't mind a bit of destruction to her contest hall. "We don't really have any Fighting types up here, let alone Fire and Fighting Pokemon like yourself. They would probably love to get your help on all kinds of precise projects that have been needing to get done."
Sparky huffed, but headed to help the sculptors with her flame techniques. "Thanks for that," said Z, "she has a bit of a temper and can be quite destructive when she is really angry. Last time Haxorus insulted her, she sent him to the Pokemon center with burns all over his body and numerous bruises." Haxorus winced at the memory of that incident when Z mentioned it. "I thought you had learned from that," sighed Z.
"It's no problem. Shimmer and Brave used to fight all the time before I had them start using their energy for more productive things that helped around the town. They both actually found things they enjoyed doing when I didn't need them by doing so," Eira said with a small smile, knowing full well that her two speedy Pokemon would've destroyed everything they could when they got into a fight over who owned what. "All of my Pokemon now have hobbies around the town, except Grace that is."
"I see," said Z, "maybe I should look into getting some hobbies for my pokemon when there isn't anything going on at the gym. They would be a lot less bored that way. How are your pokemon doing? last I saw them, they had just trounced my team with their power and won you the badge of my gym. Are they still as strong as last time?"
"I should they were still in top shape. I try my best to make time to train with them just in case there's another contest coming around that we could enter. Recently, my Brave even evolved into a Kingdra! Shimmer was absolutely furious because it couldn't evolve again as well," Eira chuckled, remembering that day cheerfully since it showed how close they all were even with Shimmer and Brave always competing with each other. "And when I'm not with them, they each have found hobbies that seem to have kept them well enough in shape for when they do train with me."
"That's good," said Z, "maybe we could have a battle for old times sake once this is all over. I also have a new partner and I hope he can show his stuff in the contest. I may have lost the last two I entered, but I've gotten better and I think I could stand a better chance this time around. My team has gotten a lot stronger and they have some new tricks to show you, if they get their chance in the contest." Haxorus nodded his head while Scorpio went to play with Grace.
"Well I hope you are prepared for this contest. I can't reveal much now since the contest is going to start soon, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve that just might throw some people off or may highlight some wonderful skill that people may have," Eira said, trying to be as vague as possible about what was to come. "If you are still around tomorrow, I'm sure I can find some time to battle you once more. It won't be an official battle or anything, of course, Silvertree doesn't even have a gym for that kind of thing."
"It doesn't have to be an official battle," said Z, "we could just go to an open area to have the battle, but I will be sure to stick around this time. The festival last time was very fun to attend and my pokemon liked it a lot." Sparky walked back up to the group and sat down next to Z, leaning her head against his shoulder as she took a short nap after helping the crafters work on ice sculptures.
"Of course. The festival this time should be quite the success. There's even going to be a special performance," Eira said eagerly, unable to wait for everything to begin even if she was having a good time just talking with one of her friends. She motioned to Sparky and gave Z a wink as if she was telling him an inside secret. "Another reason why I'm so glad for hobbies. All of my Pokemon come home too exhausted to fight or be rambunctious, so they just all fall asleep at the end of the day without giving me any trouble."
"That sounds like a useful thing," said Z, "but what kind of performance are you talking about? Will a band be coming to play for the festival or something?" Scorpio was talking to grace *so how does it feel to be all grown up? I can't call you little one anymore.* he chuckled *You can be strong now to fight with and for your mama figure so she can depend on you to help her.*