The Phenomenal Pokemon Performer
I Choose You|
04. The Phenomenal Pokemon Performer
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Written by Blu3Wind
The concert hall was filled with numerous people, but Yerin didn’t go to any of the seats. She went straight to the very front, using Rapidash to open a path for her. No one wanted to touch her flames in fear of getting burned, so they stepped aside. Besides, it was Hwang Yerin, the infamous leader of Pyxidis City, how can they not let her through?
“This is our spot,” Yerin said, petting her horse. “I’m sorry Rapidash, but I’ll have to return you to the Pokeball for now.”
“She’s awesome,” Chanyeol yelled, completely starstruck. He could feel his heart beating and it was not because of the loud music.
There were numerous Loudred positioned on stage, amplifying the beat playing in the background. Numerous Solrock were spinning at the ceiling of the building, looking like twinkling stars that illuminated the stage at the same time.
Then they stopped, and the room fell dark and silent.
“Good evening, people of Pyxidis City!”
The crowd, including Seulyi, went wild as a single spotlight appeared on stage. A handsome young man dressed in a black vest with a red bowtie walked to the center, an acoustic guitar strapped around him. Following him were his Pokemon: Kricketot, Bellossom, Roselia, Teddiursa, Buneary, and Furret.
The performer named L— his real name Myungsoo—took his spot at the center as his Pokemon lined up behind him, having practiced their positioning beforehand. They stood still, waiting for a cue.
“I’m excited to spend the next few hours with you all. For my first song, I will sing an acoustic rendition of the Pokemon theme song,” he spoke into the mic, plucking the starting chord, and began singing in a soft and melodic voice. “I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was.”
As he began singing, his Pokemon started to dance in sync to his soft rhythm. They didn’t just dance, but it almost seemed like a contest performance. Roselia used magical leaf to make petal leaves fall from the sky, all in different Autumn colors. Buneary blew a sweet kiss to the crowd, adding pink shaped heart that dispersed into gleaming orbs. In their own way, the Pokemon added on to the performance.
“Wow,” Hyunmi found herself muttering, completely awestruck. Her eyes followed every move made by the Pokemon, amazed as Furret’s fire punch and blizzards came together to create a beautiful firework shower of red and blue.
“I thought you weren’t interested in the concert,” Woohyun remarked, grinning when she showed a completely different reaction.
“That’s before I knew he had trained his Pokemons so well. These moves would earn him a perfect score during contests,” she answered back, but held back from further elaboration when Seulyi shushed them both.
As soon as Myungsoo plucked the last note on his guitar, the entire hall erupted in cheers and applause, a complete contrast with the softness of his earlier music.
He smiled and courteously bowed to them. “For my next song, I will request the help of a certain person to sing a duet with me.”
The crowd burst in hysteric cries again.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! What if he picks me? What if he picks me?” Seulyi panicked, her voice a pitch higher as she restlessly turned to her friends like a broken robot.
“Stop repeating after yourself,” Woohyun said. “Do you really think he would pick someone from the audience?”
“Yes! He did it before,” Seulyi argued.
“Well then, won’t it be me?” Yerin asked coolly, brushing her hair backwards in such a suave manner that they had no choice but to tolerate her smug statement.
Chanyeol pursed his lips together. If that famous performer dared to pick Yerin, he’d make sure to stop them by summoning his Magikarp on stage, scaring them with its almighty splash.
“This person happened to be in this city too because she wanted to participate in the Pokemon Contest,” Myungsoo spoke.
Seulyi and Woohyun now turned to Hyunmi with quizzical eyes, silently asking the question by pointing a finger at her. But she quickly shook her head, knowing it couldn’t possibly be her. Swablu, on the other hand, danced on her head, excited at the idea of being on stage.
“I present to you…”
Yerin got ready to be called, Chanyeol to summon Magikarp, Hyunmi to hide, Woohyun to prevent her, and Seulyi to cry as L continued.
“Han Mira!”
Their eyes widened simultaneously, not expecting this twist. They watched as Roselia twirled backstage, coming out whilst accompanying a graceful girl who defined a true lady even from the way she properly took her steps and dressed in a flowing skirt with a white sabrina top. She placed her hand in Myungsoo’s waiting hand, heading to his side where she remained.
“Oh my God, it’s her!” Hyunmi hissed, a bit too loud that it got Mira to stare at her. At the recognition, Mira’s smile fell.
“You know her? Who is she? Tell me who she is, Hyunmi. Is she Myungsoo’s girlfriend?” Seulyi’s voice was a little too loud as she shook her friend by her shoulders, loud enough to gain Myungsoo’s attention this time.
As the idol looked over them, his eyes stayed on Woohyun a little longer. Woohyun wondered whether Myungsoo would even recognize him in the first place. He’d hate to ruin his promise to Seulyi.
“She’s one of the best Coordinators, on her way on becoming the top. I…” Hyunmi hesitated as Seulyi slowly released her. She evaded their eyes, fiddling her fingers before continuing, “I always lose to her.”
Woohyun gasped silently, having a moment of epiphany. Was this why she was being weird and avoidant everytime he mentioned the Contest? Had she actually won a Contest before? How many Ribbons did she have?
“The next song is a very famous song. The lyrics are very easy. I invite you to sing it together with me,” Myungsoo said, getting his fingers ready. He cleared his throat, lowered his lips to the mic, and sang.
“Jiiii… Ge ly pufff, ji ge lyyyyy yyy puff.”
For the next refrain, the entire audience sang along in unity. It was the song popularized by a Jigglypuff. The Pokemon could make people fall asleep through her singing, but it bore no such effects if it was sung by a human.
After exactly one and a half hour, Myungsoo called it a day. He finished his final song, which was the result of another encore request. Then he winked and blew kisses to the audience member. Looking at the direction of Seulyi and the others, he blew a special kiss their way. Of course, Seulyi was the only one smiling as the others kinda stepped aside to let her be the sole receiver of it.
Mira followed him backstage, but not before sparing Hyunmi another glance. Then she averted her eyes away, walking with her head held up high as if she did not recognize the other.
“Ah, the concert was so good! I wished I could go meet him,” Seulyi squealed, swaying her arms sideways. But then she stopped, and her shoulder slumped, knowing she couldn’t.
“Why can’t you?” Yerin asked.
“There’s no meet and greet session this time,” Seulyi spoke with barely any energy left in her.
“We don’t need that to meet him. Follow me,” Yerin said, motioning her arms to them. She walked against the crowd’s flow to the exit and hopped on stage in one swift movement like a ninja, taking the same path Myungsoo and Mira had walked on.
Chanyeol wanted to prove he could be as agile, but the moment he set his foot on stage, his hand nearly slipped instead, entering into a small acrobatic act trying to remain balanced. By the time Yerin turned to check on them, he had already regained his posture, standing in an overly cool—lame—pose and winked at her.
Woohyun easily hopped on, reaching a hand out to Hyunmi to be the fine gentleman he was. But either she completely dismissed him or wasn’t the damsell type who needed help, cause she easily climbed up, proving to be more agile than Chanyeol was. So Woohyun cleared his throat, and dusted his hands to the side of his pants, pretending he had not just been blatantly ignored.
It was Growlithe who let out a snicker-like howl, witnessing the entire failure.
“This stays between us,” Woohyun warned, a little embarrassed as he followed the rest.
Seulyi was already backstage, somehow having the ability to teleport or something when it came to seeing Myungsoo. Her Chikorita was also ready, hopping in place to go see her trainer’s crush. Though she couldn’t help to impress him by showing her ability to swim, maybe she could help in some other way.
“Come on, slowpokes!” She called out tauntingly, grinning giddily when Yerin resumed leading the way.
They walked through a corridor, seeing numerous doors with a huge paper star pasted in front. On one of them, the name Kim Myungsoo was written in a bold black marker.
“Oh, he’s here. He’s right behind this door.” Seulyi began hyperventilating, and Chikorita used the leaf on her head to fan her with, leisurely bobbing her head up and down, up and down. “Thanks Chiitah.”
Yerin didn’t wait or hesitate, confidently knocking on the door with the back of her hand. She did not care if Myungsoo happened to change his clothes—which Seulyi was secretly hoping for—and barged in. Luckily, he was sitting on a chair, giving out what seemed like Pokeblocks to his Pokemons. Mira was there too, sitting opposite him, seemingly in the middle of an interrupted chat.
“Welcome to Pyxidis City! My name is Hwang Yerin, the gym leader here. I wanted to personally welcome you,” Yerin spoke, marching inside with her arms spread wide. She shook Myungsoo’s hand, and then Mira’s. “I really enjoyed your concert. Thanks for coming to our city.”
“Thank you for having me. I haven’t had the chance to go explore the city yet,” Myungsoo said, glancing at Mira. “We were planning to go tomorrow.”
“Oh, good. These guys could be your tour guide,” Yerin said, stepping aside to present the others like a dish. “The guy with the Growlithe has been staying here for a while since he keeps on losing while trying to challenge me at a gym battle.”
“Hey!” Woohyun was surprised at this degrading introduction.
“Three times,” Seulyi whispered, not so subtly holding up three fingers, nodding as if it was a secret between them.
“What? I told you it’s only two times!” Woohyun corrected, feeling his cheeks blush when all attention were on him. Hyunmi and Growlithe were the only ones patting him for consolation.
“Ah, that explains why you have been hanging out with him, Hyunmi,” Mira suddenly spoke, surprising the others with their acquaintance. They thought Hyunmi knew her because she was a famed character, not because they had history together. “Must be comforting to hang out with fellow washouts.”
“Washouts?” Seulyi asked.
“It means losers,” Yerin explained.
“Hyunmi is a loser?” Seulyi asked, hanging agape in disbelief.
“Well, considering she joined about five Contests with me and managed to lose all of them, then yes, by definition, she would be a loser,” Mira said in the most elegant way possible, as if her soft spoken words didn’t bear great insults.
Woohyun turned to Hyunmi, seeing Swablu already comforting her by rubbing her head using its cloudy wings. He finally understood why she tend to awkwardly deflect the topic, and also why she was the only one defending him when others made fun of his loss. They weren’t all too different.
“Let’s not talk about that,” Myungsoo interrupted, saving the girl from her embarrassment. He offered a small smile and got up. “A win and loss is ephemeral. Don’t boast in it.”
Seulyi clasped her hands to her chest, admiring his words of wisdom. She felt her heart beginning to race as Myungsoo approached them. She began hyperventilating, and Chikorita was quick to start fanning her again.
“Besides, there is something I’m more curious about,” he continued, stopping right in front of Woohyun. “You look like someone I know.”
“Who?” Woohyun played along instead of revealing his identity.
“Like this neighbor I had when I was five. His mother was a Top Coordinator and tend to dress him up in pink gowns, hoping that someday he’d grow up to be a Coordinator like her. She made him wear heels and—”
Woohyun immediately pushed his hands against his mouth. “Stop talking, dude. It is me!”
Myungsoo cocked his head sideways and smirked. “I know. I just wanted your friends to know about your past.”
Woohyun didn’t dare to look at his friends’ reaction, hearing some giggles here and there. He really didn’t want them to have that image of him, especially not Hyunmi. A reunion with Myungsoo ruined whatever was left of his dignity.
But his embarrassed frown soon turned into a boyish grin. He couldn’t stay mad when they hadn’t seen each other in so long. So he nudged Myungsoo’s arm once, and the two boys pulled each other in a hug. It was such a tearful reunion—literally tearful because Chanyeol randomly decided to chop onions at the side.
Seulyi subtly cleared , waiting to be introduced.
“I missed you! You were gone by the time I returned from Summer Camp,” Myungsoo said, still caught in their reunion.
“Well, I couldn’t stand being my Mother’s mannequin anymore and decided to leave,” Woohyun said.
“Didn’t you say you were five?” Mira questioned the logic of their nostalgic story.
“Well, the dressing up went on until I was ten,” Woohyun corrected rather shamefully. Again, he did not dare looking at his friends when he had openly revealed his embarrassing past now.
Seulyi coughed again, this time slightly louder that the Pokemon turned to look at her.
“But wow, look at you! I saw you winking and blowing kisses on TV and it nearly made me vomit,” Woohyun sooke with a wide smile, like it was such a good thing.
“It’s all part of the act. Girls love it when you do that,” Myungsoo nudged him playfully. “You should try it.”
Woohyun gulped, trying his hardest not to think about Hyunmi’s social experiment. What if she had winked at him as some sort of code? What if she expected to be winked back? He dared himself a glance at the girl, but she was looking rather worriedly at Seulyi.
As if on cue, Seulyi began to cough awfully dramatic like she was on the verge of dying or had a frog stuck in .
“Oh!” Woohyun remembered his promise. “Myungsoo, I’d like to introduce you to Kang Seulyi.”
He waived his arm to the girl who was choking on her own cough, fallen on the floor, and dramatically gasping for breath in the most unattractive way possible.
Chikorita tried to cover it by standing in front of her, intending to hide her trainer’s unattractive sight behind her tiny green body. She had no idea what to do, so Chikorita began balancing some plates on a stick, a circus trick she had learned aside from swimming.
“Is she okay?” Myungsoo asked unsurely.
“Yeah, she’s fine. I think she’s in love with you, which is why she fainted,” Woohyun casually said, but immediately got jerked by Hyunmi’s elbow.
“You can’t just blatantly reveal someone’s feeling to their crush, unless it’s your own and you’re confessing,” she said.
“Oh… Right.” He awkwardly scratched his head, looking at Growlithe for help, but the puppy shrugged.
“Well, she’s just one of Myungsoo’s many fangirls. Being in love with him is natural,” Mira said calmly, taking a sip from a cup of tea like a proper English lady.
By this time, Chanyeol and Yerin were the ones who helped Seulyi get back on her feet. When Chanyeol placed his hand on her back, he felt Yerin’s fingertip accidentally touching him.
Oh. My. Magikarp!
He thanked God for this beautiful opportunity. Maybe he should try to knock Seulyi out again so that he and Yerin had an opportunity to touch hands again.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Seulyi,” Myungsoo smiled at her like a professional idol who knew how to treat his fans well. He reached out to shake her hand, but she was shaking too much to reciprocate it. “Have you been in this city for long?”
“Um... Um…”
“Yes, she’s been here for a month,” Hyunmi answered on her behalf, of course a bluff, but she had to exaggerate things in order for this to work. She knew where this conversation was going.
“What will you be doing tomorrow?”
“Um...”
“Her schedule’s all cleared up!”
Myungsoo eyed Hyunmi who kept answering on Seulyi’s behalf, and maintained a polite smile. “Well, maybe we can explore the city together.”
“But I—” Seulyi paused as Hyunmi coughed “—I mean, s-sure.”
Seulyi couldn’t believe this was happening. After meeting the others, only good fortune had happened. Well, except for the scam incident.
“Oh! I just remembered! We actually have a scammer to catch!” She yelled so abruptly that Myungsoo jumped back.
“A scammer? I heard there were many incidents here,” Mira said, feigning her disinterest, though her eyes kept peeking as she sipped on her tea.
“Yes, I’ve been scammed by the same guy too. So you should be careful,” Hyunmi told her for the sake of being polite.
Mira laughed at this, an elegant kind of derision. “That’s impossible. I’m the most cautious person there is. Let the scammer try. He won’t get through me.”
“Okay, it’s settled then!” Yerin suddenly roared, and the others jumped at her sudden volume. “Tomorrow we’ll all catch the scammer.”
who is that pokemon?
 Rapidash |
 Buneary |
 Loudred |
 Furret |
 Solrock |
 Magikarp |
 Kricketot |
 Swablu |
 Bellossom |
 Jigglypuff |
 Roselia |
 Chikortia |
 Teddiursa |
 Growlithe |
I'm sorry not sorry that this is all a bunch of nonsense! XD
Thanks for reading and commenting!
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