May the Games Begin... [Eira, Marcus, Z, Zandrophin][CLOSED]

Zandrophin could tell his message did its job. He stood up and looked down from the rafters of the stadium.

It is time, Mentus. Are you ready?

As well as I can be, Sir. It is dangerous to march into battle without knowing what your enemy might do, but we’re going into this blind, no way around it.

Something’s up, that’s for sure. I don’t like it either, but we’ve gotta make a name for ourselves at some point, old friend. Now…let’s show them what we’ve got.

Mentus climbed up onto Zandrophin, draping himself over his trainer’s shoulders and wrapping his tail around his neck. With a nod from Zandrophin, Mentus teleported both of them down to the stage, but not before grabbing the attention of everyone in the audience by staggering the teleportation long enough for the audience to see the flash of the pair appearing, disappearing, then reappearing somewhere else in the hall. Once the majority of the audience was jerking their heads around trying to keep up, the pair appeared on the stage without a sound.

Zandrophin gave a deep bow towards his judge, then, recalling protocol never to turn ones back to an authority figure, especially a lady, he took five steps back to the edge of the stage. He crossed his arms, bowed his head…and waited a few moments.

Let’s add some suspense. Do you feel them shifting in their chairs? Isn’t it glorious?

Yes, Sir. So many thoughts running through so many heads. We’ve got them eating out of our hands.

Let’s just hope they keep eating until we’ve run out of food. Ready?

Always, Sir.

Zandrophin snapped his fingers. In the silent hall, it sounded like an exploding firecracker. Without another sound, Mentus instantly disappeared off of his trainer’s shoulders, and began to dart around the room like before, only much faster this time. As Mentus was darting around the room, occasionally toying with the audience, Zandrophin slowly stretched his arm straight up with his hand open. The motion, as predicted, forced the audience to split their attention: some kept watching Mentus, while others focused on Zandrophin. After a few more minutes, Zandrophin decided to move things along. He snapped his fingers again. The audience was unable to locate Mentus, so all focus was on the trainer.

All right, Mentus...do it.

With pleasure, Sir. Brace yourself.

Zandrophin lowered his arm and stood completely still for a few moments. Another wave of uneasiness swept through the audience. However, this time, it wasn’t nervousness that was causing it. An odd energy filled the room, the room began to vibrate a bit, and the audience was beginning to feel sick. To the average person, it would just feel like a headache and some stomach pain. To those with more experience, especially in the world of Pokemon, these symptoms accompanied by a temperature imbalance between hot and cold flashes point directly to the early stages of a move known as Psychic.

The wave of energy got stronger and stronger. The remaining dummies, which were still stacked around the perimeter of the room, began to vibrate more violently, became surrounded by a light purple aura, and were slowly lifted into the air. The dummies were brought into the center of the room, set up in a row.

Mentus reappeared above the dummies, surrounded by the same aura. Zandrophin pointed with his right arm. Mentus moved the first few dummies and formed a letter. Zandrophin then pointed with his left arm. Mentus moved the last few dummies and formed another letter. Finally, Zandrophin threw both his hands up. Mentus moved the middle dummies and formed the final letter. The message was clear:

ZAN

Let’s wrap it up.

Similar to the conductor of an orchestra ending a piece, Zandrophin brought his hands close together, closed them into loose fists, and separated his hands. With this motion, the aura got darker and the dummies all shattered. Instead of flying everywhere, however, the splinters gently fell to the ground.

Shortly after, Mentus reappeared back at his original position on Zandrophin’s shoulders.

Good job, old friend. It was a difficult routine, but you did well.

Zandrophin stepped into the center of the stage, bowed to his judge again, and knelt down on the stage to meditate with Mentus whilst awaiting the Red Lady’s assessment of his performance.