For the Love of Contests [Akane][Z][Eira][Zandrophin]

Z walked through the door of the contest hall and released his pokemon from their pokeballs.  He had stored them away so the trip would be easier on them and so they would be rested for the challenge.  Z looked around at the new contest hall and smiled at the detail that was included here.  Vivian fluttered around before resting on his head and Kit hopped onto Sparky's shoulder as they walked into the Contest Hall.  Z looked around for anyone that he recognized as he registered his name for the contest and the pokemon he was bringing with him.  Upon seeing Nicole, he smiled and waved before walking over.

"It wasn't that hard," said Z, "I flew most of the way here on Rodan's back and traveled the rest of the way on foot to give her a rest.  The trip was uneventful and I think I missed the worst of it.  I'm looking forward to the contest here.  I intend to give it my all."  Sparky gave a respectful bow with Kenichi doing the same at her side.  The young pokemon looked around in wonder at the contest hall, never having been taken to one himself, due to him being a recent addition to their little family.  Ruby cackled and flew around Nicole before trying to unnerve her by making scary faces at her.

Zandrophin arrived at the entrance of the cave system with a flash of Teleport. He'd been to this place before, so the return trip was much faster. He shook his head out and tried to clear the ringing from his ears.

No matter how many times we travel, it still hurts from time to time....

He chose not to dwell long on the situation. He caught a fleeting glimpse of Eira following the path to the hall, and, straightening his shirt, decided he'd best follow.

The cave was dark....very dark...with only the light from outside and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling illuminating the area.

Sir, that decor is Celosian in design.

I see that...Akane must've had a hand in that.

He saw that the boy Z was talking with his host, and that Eira was going to involve herself in the conversation as well. Zandrophin decided to hang back a bit from the group and just observe. He figured if any of them wanted to talk with him, they would approach him.

“I look forward to your performance then. Nicole said, smiling at Z and his Pokemon.

Nicole then was surprised to see Eira and Zandrophin come into the main chamber of the hall. She didn’t think anyone else would show up for her contest, but fate seemed to be proving her wrong. “Eira, welcome to my hall!” She greeted the Eirlys Queen before turning her attention to Zandrophin. “Good to see you as well Zandrophin. Why are you all the way over there though?” She greeted and questioned at the same time, gesturing for the other to join the little grouping. Sure, from what she knew of him, he seemed like the type who would probably prefer to stay away from the group, but it seemed that Eira wanted to speak to Z and she didn’t want to interrupt them. As she waited to see what the others would do, she made note that Akane still had yet to arrive. She hoped the other woman was okay for the briefest of seconds before remembering that it was Akane she was wondering about, and that the other ran on her own beat. She would get there when she wanted to get there, no sooner, no later.

All throughout her waiting and thoughts, Nicole failed to notice the two tiny arms that wrapped around her leg until she felt the familiar head of Orion bump her leg. Looking down, Nicole raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering how the other had found his way to the hall since she had left him in the living area of her home, but she then remembered that she had left him with Kai and Loki and the two were known to let the baby Pokemon out of their sights quite often. Giving a small sigh, she whistled briefly towards her judge box and waited as the two Pokemon that had been stationed made their way down the stone steps over to her. “Nero, Pandora, can you take Orion up to the box with you? I need to stay here to greet people, but he won’t like being exposed to the energy.” She asked, thinking back to how the other had acted after Zandrophin had visited last. The two Pokemon nodded and Nero then took the back of Orion’s neck gently in his mouth turning his neck in a way that allowed him to deposit the baby Pokemon onto his back before he and Pandora made their way back to her box.

"It's good to see you again, Lady Eira," said Z with a smile as Scorpio walked to reunite with his friend and 'little sister' Grace, "This contest will be even more challenging if I am going against you.  You were always a fierce competitor, and beat me on more than one occasion."  Z was happy Eira was here.  She was one of the people he got along best with.  She was also the only queen he got along with that well, because, to be honest, Akane kind of scared him.
Scorpio smiled as he saw Grace, *how are you doing, little one?  Have you been training to become as strong as you can be?*

Z smiled, "Anyone who can flood my gym's arena and then freeze it in ice is definitely someone that I will need to be careful when it comes to fighting.  You can counter a lot of my pokemon's moves and abilities with your team, and I haven't won a single contest where I competed against you."

Scorpio smiled, though his face made it look rather scary to some, *That is good to hear.  You will grow up big and strong.  You will always be the little one to me, though."

Angrily grumbling, Akane finally arrived at the cave, taking off her boots and emptying them of sand and other particles. ”Oh hear me, Pyrois, if I had my way that path would have been cleared long ago!” She was still fuming when she slid the boot back on. The recent rapidash nickered before it ducked and shook out his mane, causing it to flare out before it returned to bobbing on and off his graceful neck.

She ordered her guards upon their arrival to take a seat in the audience, but to do nothing more. Upon entering the hall, she didn’t have a door to slam and therefore announce her glorious presence, but her boots clacked angrily upon the rocky surfaces. Even when they were muffled by the sandy parts of the cave, she still made one hell of an entrance with the majesty of her rapidash illuminating the place. Modesty was not on the menu for her outfit that day. She had even put up her hair into a high ponytail, and the sheer mass of her long hair tugged at her scalp where it was concentrated.

”It’s too damn hot here Nicole! How do you do it?!” her voice thundered and ended with an eerie silence. Her eyes easily scanned the darkness and landed upon the paler than the moon skin of Lady Eira. Upon further scans she found the familiar light hair of Zandrophin, and yet another familiar face of Z! ”Never too late for old friends to catch up, am I right?!” a haughty laugh bounced off the walls, making it sound almost as if others were laughing too. Pyrois began digging at the dirt with his forefront hoof.