Bertha laced her fingers together elegantly.
"You just crushed your rings," Titan pointed out from next to her.
Bertha blanched as she lowered her hands and slipped the rings onto the ground, only for them to clank loudly.
The other judges on the panel shot her a look as Brock put his head in his hands and sighed. "I should have known better than to have those made up for you," he muttered.
Bertha chuckled sheepishly and considered trying to put them back on only for Monique to stand and inspect the rings that Brock had made up. "Hmmm, you attempted to create polished steel rings?" she asked.
"Yeah, needed to be strong, I think I might have to try titanium or something a bit more exotic with the next set of rings," Brock replied.
Bertha perked up, glad that her casual destruction of the rings hadn't caused her to have future chances at accessories wiped from possibility.
She pumped her fist out of sight from Brock, only for him to turn his head as amusement radiated through the bond causing Bertha to giggle.
Zoey Rumira, who was one of the big names of magical girls television, giggled at their antics and Bertha felt like today had already peaked!
Wait, no! That wasn't true! Things were going to get better with Zoey performing one of her hit songs! Please be Magical Me! She thought to herself.
Brock shot her another amused look.
Titan patted Bertha's flank to calm her, and she settled down. Their attention turned forward, where all the people were being moved into a waiting area leading into the actual contest.
While initially they'd thought of having a formal interview, it had quickly been deemed impractical with the projected applicants being in the low hundreds.
So they'd made it a requirement that applicants had to answer questions and attach a small video of themselves to get an idea of who was coming in.
They'd still received a few hundred applicants that had been whittled down to just forty.
Bertha hadn't been part of that, as it had been rather boring. Instead, she'd directed Sabrina, Georgina, Alexa, Rachel and Monique to perform that part.
She liked to think that she had contributed by giving the overall specifications that people needed to have. Small details like paperwork couldn't drag her down!
Which had mostly been a desire to rise up! Passion! Magical potential!
Now she was seeing the fruits of her… well not labour as she'd only supervised the various works. She didn't even count what had happened over the course of the last few days. Everything she'd done so far was a walk on the beach! It was easy!
It was funner than most things she got to do anyway.
It didn't hold a candle to rocking a Legendary pokemon with a single powerful blow of course, but you couldn't cold cock one of those every day.
Although they did know that juvenile Zapdos…
Titan leaned over and flicked her with a claw. "Pay attention," he rumbled. "There have already been several people that have walked past that had strong potential."
Bertha tilted her head, recalling the few that had wanted through. "How?" she asked.
"I smelt them. They had calm exteriors, but their scents didn't lie," he replied cryptically.
Bertha considered dismissing that but then she held her tongue. "What did they smell like?"
"I told you," Titan rumbled back, "potential," he said.
Bertha almost threw her hands up at that, but she held off, not wanting to smear the glitter that she had applied to her rocky exterior. She considered prodding Titan into revealing what he'd 'smelt' but decided to instead lean forward and watch the applicants as they attempted her practical joke.
Which was to say, her elaborate test of character and skill.
She perked up as the first kid approached the starting line.
From that point, they couldn't see the maze of pitfalls, boulders, and various tricks and tests, but from the judge's panel and the watching crowd's positions, they could see everything.
Although many applicants had applied, there was even more interest in the event. This had resulted in even more people applying for nonexistent spectator seats.
This had caused more work for the humans as the event for determining who would win the right to raise her and Titan's egg suddenly became a spectator event.
Bertha loved that this had become even bigger!
Her child hadn't even hatched and people wanted to know all about them!
Since then, there had been a flurry of work with changes being made.
It wasn't just a small set of stands to watch the show, but a televised event!
Sadly, each of the successful applicants had needed to have their transceivers taken off them at the start, along with being held in a waiting area to stop them from getting an unfair advantage.
Some of the true tests that were set up in the maze weren't something they wanted people to know about before they encountered it.
"Applicant one! Setting out!" roared the first child.
Bertha's tail started to thump from side to side. She'd not so much pulled strings as outright demanded this kid have the first go. Which, might have seen her begging Sabrina to help distract Brock but it had been worth it to get the living meme Legend!
Fail-kid was back!
He didn't have a snowball's chance in the face of a fired-up Slugma, but Bertha was expecting fireworks straight out.
Brock leaned forward. "Hey, wait a second, I recognise that kid, he's already got a pokemon team! What's he—"
The young kid took off, sprinting straight into the test, only to come face to face with a foam boulder rolling towards him.
"I believe in my power!" the kid roared as, instead of jumping into the gaps in the side of the tunnel, he ran straight at the boulder.
Bertha's tail began to thrash with delight as the kid headbutted the boulder.
Amazingly, he'd built up enough speed to stall the foam boulder.
"Hahahaha! I'm invincible!" the kid shouted, throwing up his hands in delight as he began to push the boulder up the hill.
"Ooooh, this kid's got spunk!" Zoey cried. "Maybe he's gonna rewrite his meme here and now!"
It was then that the second boulder hit the first, causing 'fail-kid' to lose his footing and to be run over by both.
A buzzer and a red light rang out, signalling the 'applicant' had washed out of the first test.
Bertha threw her head back and laughed as the kid shot to his feet with a huge grin.
Brock leaned forward. "What is the fail meme kid doing here?" he hissed.
Rachel pointed at Bertha. "It was her! She forced me to do it!" Bertha didn't refute her. It might have been Sabrina pulling the strings, but despite one shotting a Legendary, Bertha could acknowledge that Sabrina was still scarier.
Bertha just smirked at Brock.
"Titan, control your partner," Brock ordered.
Titan nodded and lightly chopped Bertha on the back of the head, not that it did anything.
Brock shook his head. "Please tell me he wasn't forced to be here, right?"
Rachel coughed. "No, but we told him Bertha wanted him here, and he decided to lean into his 'pokenet fame'; apparently, he has found a way to profit off it."
Brock facepalmed. "That's not… we really shouldn't be encouraging that sort of behaviour," he muttered. He gave everyone a firm look. "No more wasting everyone's time with memes, no matter how amusing you find them," he ordered.
Zoey Rumira, rather than being annoyed, just threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, don't be a hater Brock. That kid was great! I love that he leaned into his infamy! That kid will go far!"
Bertha nodded along, loving that Zoey saw things here way. She'd gotten away with her little joke, so getting closer with Zoey was a big bonus.
Now it was time to get serious.
The next applicant took the maze seriously. They darted in and out of the safe areas with the boulder run before rushing across the colour maze which heavily featured rock iconography as the 'safe' path.
From there a door at the end of a hallway heralded the finish of the event, only for a door to the side to have a young child actor that Sabrina had sourced.
They were crying their heart out.
Bertha had to give it to them, their performance was incredible.
Bertha wanted to leap over the judge's panel to make sure the child was alright, despite knowing they were perfectly fine.
The applicant paused, indicating they had heard the child, but then they sprinted past the first doorway and out of the hall into the next test, where they threw foam balls as if they were magical orbs. The balls even lit up from within when grabbed, causing the event to look quite nice.
It didn't matter; the judges all shared a look and nodded as that applicant's name was scratched off the list.
Zoey even went as far as possible to throw a thumbs-down. "Not magical of heart at all!" she declared.
Bertha nodded seriously, agreeing with Zoey. You had to have a heart to have a shot at this tournament. They'd have given the applicant the benefit of the doubt if they'd just shot through without hearing the child.
But the kid clearly had and then ignored them.
Bertha didn't want someone like that looking after her child.
The first genuine applicant blew through the first test with their fist raised high like they'd just won everything.
Bertha and the judges made a show of clapping without giving anything away as the applicant beamed at the cheers and streamers of paper raining down on them at their success.
From there, several more applicants ran the course.
Some barrelled straight past the child without noticing, while others eliminated themselves when they lingered only to shake their heads and keep running.
The judges ran commentary on all of them, but that was more for the television viewers and the crowd in the stands.
Then someone different stepped up to the starting line.
At first, Bertha had huffed, but Titan had sat up, showing interest.
That got Bertha to give the applicant another look.
With two giants showing more interest the other judges noticed. "Oh? Mum and Dad are showing interest?" Zoey teased.
The applicant was… different from a lot of others. They were older than the other kids who had run the course so far for starters.
At least a teenager by Bertha's estimate. But despite their youth, they looked… tired. They had bags under their eyes, and they had a rail-thin build that they hid well underneath their baggy clothes.
His name flashed up on the screen, marking him as 'Xander of Viridian City'.
He shuffled nervously at the start and blanched when he spotted the crowd of people watching on.
"Urgh man, not like this!" he murmured to himself before sighing and slumping his shoulders.
Bertha hummed, wondering what Tit—
Then Xander slapped himself on the face and shouted. "OOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA! GET SERIOUS, DAMN YOU!" the kid shouted, and the roar echoed throughout the gym.
Titan grinned as Bertha and the other Judges blinked in surprise.
Before Xander could second-guess himself, he took a crouched position and then leapt forward to start his run.
He was all gangly limbs and teenage awkwardness with how he pumped his arms to go faster.
It was like watching a confused Girafarig try to run.
When he hit the boulder trap, he bounced off the wall into the safe areas to speed up the slight incline.
Then he was into the colour maze, where he slammed face-first into a few of the mirrors causing groans of shared pain from the crowd.
When they hit the hallway, the boy tore through it and was about to enter the next stage when he grabbed the door frame and turned back, his head cocked.
The sound of the crying child rang out, and the teen glanced at the next stage.
Then he groaned and stalked back into the hallway. He was the first to do so, and without knowing it, he'd just become much more interesting to Bertha.
He opened the door carefully and paused when he found the child actor.
"Hey kid… You, uhhh, lost?" the teen asked.
Bertha grinned as she picked up her pen and gave the Teen a big tick.
The child actor followed Xander through the rest of the course only to break off afterwards, with Xander knocking a fist against his head at his own stupidity.
"Potential," Titan rumbled knowingly.
Bertha didn't look his way. She just knew he had a cocky smirk that made him look handsome on his face right now. She instead made a show of her 'paperwork', which was so far just a tick, cross or a straight line to indicate if anyone had passed, failed, or not registered the true test.
"Kid had the heart," Brock mused with a fond smile. "He also hasn't done a Journey yet. Instead, he… went straight into the labour force, huh, young man has had a rough start. His family lost a good deal of money from gambling, and his own funds were taken before he could go on a Journey," he murmured.
"Ooooh! Tragic backstory! Perfect for a Magical transformation!" Zoey chimed in.
Monique sniffed. "He wore a hoodie… I hope he doesn't attempt that during the dress-up challenge!" she declared firmly.
Bertha grinned, enjoying the uptick in interest among the judges brought on by a true contender.
From there, others came and went, but very few had that same pizzazz as young Xander.
Then an adult woman stepped up onto the line, and Bertha tilted her head.
Brock copied her while Titan hummed thoughtfully.
Everyone turned to Rachel.
"She's… a little old?" Brock pointed out, having not sat through the video interviews.
"Phoebe of Pewter City, who never went on her journey, has two kids who have both left home and has nothing keeping her at home. Wants to experience adventure and excitement for once in her life," she answered honestly.
"And we didn't have any age restrictions, soooo technically…" Rachel trailed off.
Sabrina hummed. "Let's not be ageist," she stated even as her lips twitched upwards in amusement.
Zoey giggled. "I love the energy!" she declared.
Brock shook his head. "Agism is usually used in the other direction," he muttered, only to be ignored.
Phoebe of Pewter bowed to everyone. "Thank you for allowing me to apply! I'll do the best I can to raise a great pokemon and experience as much of the world as we can!"
Bertha tilted her head, still undecided.
When Phoebe took off at a jog rather than the flat-out sprint that her younger competitors set off at everyone blinked.
"Slow and steady eh?" Brock chuckled.
Zoey on the other hand, began bouncing back and forth. "Boing! Boing!" she called causing the other girls on the judging panel to snort in amusement while Brock spluttered.
Monique, being a refined woman sniffed. "I will have words with her after the event," she stated.
Bertha tilted her head. What were they talking about?
Then Bertha realised that Phoebe wasn't wearing a sports bra.
Silly humans and their mammary glands.
By the time Phoebe hit the boulder test, one boulder had already passed while another was rumbling along.
She was slower, but she also didn't trip or knock into the walls at all.
The colour maze was something she got through as one of the fastest, with yet again no issues.
"I mean those tests were designed for children," Brock muttered when Bertha made an appreciative sound.
"I know multiple people who would struggle through them still," Sabrina scoffed.
Zoey made a whistling noise while looking off to the side.
Brock hummed. "Hmmm you do have a point there."
When Phoebe reached the hallway of heart, as Bertha had started to think of it, she turned before the child actor had a chance to make a noise properly. She zeroed in on the door and opened it just as the sobbing started.
"Are you alright child!?" cooed Phoebe. "Come here, let's get you to your parents!" Phoebe said as she scooped the 'lost child' up with her.
"I've got a lost little man down here? Has anyone seen their parents?" Phoebe called to the watching crowd.
Brock chuckled. "That… is how an adult would react," he said with his hand over his mouth.
The crowd chuckled at her reaction which caused Phoebe to scowl. "A lost child is no laughing matter!" she declared!
Sabrina toggled the microphone for the maze and cleared her throat. "You may leave them or take them with you for the rest of the test. Their parents are waiting for them at the end," Sabrina prompted when it looked like Phoebe wasn't going to move on without the child being properly cared for.
Phoebe tilted her head. "Hmmmm?" she queried, eying the crowd and the judging panel.
Oh no, were they sprung? Bertha thought as she adopted an innocent expression. She'd have to throw Brock to the Mightyena if a stern talking to was to be handled!
Phoebe shrugged her shoulders, allowing Bertha and Zoey to exhale in relief. "Alright! Well come along, little one!" she said as she took the child's hand and walked through the rest of the course.
She was the slowest competitor so far, but she'd made sure to include the child in every test going forward, causing the actor to stammer and adapt to the change in scenario rather well.
By the time the boy was handed over to their awaiting parents, they had a slight blush. Phoebe waved them off happily, then bowed in thanks to everyone.
"Sorry for taking so long, but that was a lot of fun!" she called.
She received a round of applause from the parents while the kids laughed at her.
Bertha tilted her head. She liked how steady Phoebe was, and how she'd included the kid in the later tests. He looked like he had a blast with her.
As the test reset, Bertha made sure to give Phoebe a tick. Her heart was in the right place, even if she wasn't what Bertha had been expecting from the applicants.
An older woman?
"I'm kind of interested to see how she'll handle the other tests!" Bertha said with a giggle.
Monique, Zoey, and Rachel turned to Brock who faceplamed.
"What did Bertha say?" asked the fashionista.
"She pointed out that we have a grown woman attempting other challenges… did we include clothing appropriate for her to wear in the dress-up showcase?" Brock asked.
Rachel stiffened only for Monique to toss her head. "We will have several sets prepared for her by then!"
Brock sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I was worried we were about to lose our PG rating," he said.
Bertha and Titan shared a look, only to shrug, not understanding that reference.
More applicants passed through, some amusing, some painful to watch.
Then a young girl skipped out onto the starting line, did a twirl and threw her hands into the air, causing glitter to rain down from above.
"Magical Girl Edith! Count me down!" she shouted as she held up her fingers to trigger a countdown.
Bertha grinned as the crowd got behind the girl for her start.
When they hit zero, Edith shot forward, causing the glitter that had stuck to her to fly off in the wind, causing a glowing rainbow to follow in her wake.
Rather than huddling into the safe areas Edith bounced off the wall and then leapt over the boulders coming at her. It was rather exhilarating to watch, and the crowd cheered at her antics.
She struggled when it came to the mirror maze, only for the glitter to smear the mirrors, allowing her to limit how much she backtracked. Then she spotted the pattern and sped back up and through the test.
She got halfway down the heart hallway only to stumble when the cries caught her attention.
She spun on the spot only to slide a few feet past the door as she swung back around. "Magical Girl Edith is here!" she shouted as she kicked the door in.
It swung around, hit the wall and then bounced back into her face.
She fell back, stunned.
"Ooooh! Right in the kisser!" Zoey grimaced.
Brock and Titan leaned forward in concern when Edith remained on the floor.
"Owwie?" whined Edith.
The child actor opened the door to check on Edith.
"A-are you alright?" he sniffled.
Edith sat up, her nose bloody as she shot the kid a thumbs up. "Yup! I got you to stop crying! You need help, kid or are you alright?"
"Oh? I'm fine?" replied the kid.
"Good to hear! I'll come back and check on you in a bit to see if you changed your mind alright?" Edith stated as she shot back to her feet and ran on.
The judges tilted their heads.
"Well… she stopped to check, but then she just took the kid at their word," Brock mused.
"I believe, that's a child," Sabrina pointed out with a twitch of her lips.
Zoey nodded her head. "An enthusiastic one!"
Bertha tilted her head. Edith was loud, passionate, and clutzy.
She got a tick.
From there, there was only one other kid who caught Bertha's attention.
He was loud.
He was angry.
Well, anger was probably the best way to describe him.
He stomped up to the starting line and glared at everyone. "My name is Baxter! I'm only here cause my family made me come!" he snapped. "But cause I'm here, I'm going to crush this event!"
That got everyone blinking in surprise as a pair of adults sitting in the front row waved flags. "We love you honey!" called the parents while younger and older siblings cheered on alongside them.
Baxter replied by giving them a thumbs down.
Zoey blinked. "I'm not sure if I love his energy or hate it?"
"Both?" Sabrina suggested as the crowd chuckled at their byplay.
Brock put his head in his hands. "I really should have expected the memes from hosting a magical event," he muttered as the kid took off.
Once again, instead of diving into the safe areas, he spun in the face of the boulders and kicked them into the safe areas.
"Ora!" he roared as he advanced.
"Kid has martial arts training," Titan muttered, making a squiggle on his page of notes.
Bertha nodded, making a squiggle herself. It was an angry squiggle to match the kid's… everything.
Baxter passed through the mirror maze by pausing at the entrance. His glare held as he inspected each path, only to scoff. "This is a test is for babies!" he snarled, stomping through the right path easily.
Zoey twitched. "Ow, my pride," she muttered.
When he entered the Hallway of Heart he stomped forward only to stop dead when the kid cried.
Baxter stopped, then turned and kicked the door much like Edith had earlier.
This time it smacked into the wall and bounced back.
Though this time, instead of being knocked over, the door slammed into Baxter and bounced backwards again.
Baxter stood firm in the doorway, his anger seeming to grow.
"Keep going honey!" cheered Baxter's family causing him to glare at them.
"Oi! Kid! You're coming with me!" Baxter roared, not giving the kid a choice; he was being saved.
The actor looked genuinely terrified as Baxter lifted them and stormed through the rest of the event.
Brock put his hands together. "I'm not sure if this child would be perfect, or the worst possible trainer for a Mankey. Part of me wants to suggest it, while another wants to recommend something… a little bit more calming."
"I'd pay to watch that," Zoey offered. "Mankey and Baxter enter a room. One will emerge triumphant!" she said as she waved a hand in the air like she was reading a cinema banner.
Bertha nodded, that would be somehting she'd pay to watch as well.
When Baxter finished, the child actor sprinted away from the thundercloud that was Baxter while the crowd cheered.
When Baxter's time showed he'd come in third, his glare intensified with the two names at the top being mouthed. "Xander and George huh?"
He stomped into the waiting area and glared at everyone waiting there.
Bertha giggled at his antics. She gave him a tick.
Brock just rubbed his forehead. "Well, at least he's going to make things interesting," he muttered as he ticked off on Baxter as well.
"Let's see how they go in the next event," Brock said.
The next challenge happened to be a game of 'carry' the egg, which involved ferrying a fake egg over a series of obstacles while others raced with you. It was implied that you needed to go fast, but really what they were looking for was safety of the carry.
Edith, Baxter, and multiple other children grabbed their egg and sprinted the field. Only a few of them made it all the way across without dropping the egg.
Phoebe and Xander on the other hand both held the egg securely and walked at their own pace, never once risking the egg.
From there, everyone had to change venues, with the next event being the Rhyhorn rough riding competition. Something that would be important in the coming months for whoever won.
Grace took centre stage, kitted out in her racing attire alongside her rather handsome-looking Rhyhorn.
Said Rhyhorn spotted Bertha and winked at her, only for Titan to lean across his and Bertha's field of vision and shake his head.
Brock and Sabrina caught this interaction and laughed while Rachel grinned from behind her camera.
Bertha giggled and gave Titan a peck on the cheek for being so protective. Others might have been annoyed but she found it rather endearing.
Rhyhorn hastily looked in another direction, only to demonstrate commendable skill as Grace the racer mounted him and the pair demonstrated the track.
Grace threw the hat she was wearing high in the air. "Yeehaw!" she shouted as she and Rhyhorn tore around the track.
From there, applicants were allowed to wander through the twenty Rhyhorn that had been selected with the forty that were 'in the running' split into two races, with their times being stacked up.
Once again, the trick was that pressure was being applied to the applicants, making them think that they had to be first or perform well.
In truth, the judges were looking for how they rode their pokemon. Were they kind? Did they work with their Rhyhorn?
Did they look like they were having fun?
Brock had also slipped in another test of character.
By having the children march through a fenced-off area with the Rhyhorn, they got a chance to interact with a pokemon like what they would receive.
Brock had plenty of Rhyhorn ready, but he'd specifically asked two to pretend to be injured.
A soft groaning rumbled out from the fenced-in area.
"Oooooh I am most grievously wounded!" wailed one Rhyhorn, hamming up their act magnificently.
Brock and Titan both put their heads in their hands. Sabrina giggled while the other humans began glancing around in concern.
Edith and Phoebe, who were part of the first intake, stopped looking at the Rhyhorn around them and instead sought out the injured pokemon. Both of them worked to calm it down and see that it was cared for. Other applicants ignored them.
Just as they ignored the limping Rhyhorn that wandered around the corral.
The two girls missed the opportunity because they were attending to the 'sick' Rhyhorn, and no one else redeemed themselves as they noticed and failed to act on it.
Once the sick Rhyhorn was taken out, Edith and Phoebe grabbed the closest Rhyhorns they could and mounted up. Then they all got in a line and prepared to race.
Phoebe surprised everyone by throwing her hand back. "YEEEEEE HAW!" she shouted as the buzzer chimed out, spooking her Rhyhorn and causing it to stampede out to the lead.
The older woman screamed in shock, but before the first turn, her scream turned into shrieks of delight.
Others tore after her with Edith urging her Rhyhorn on.
Zoey and Rachel then began a dazzling race commentary.
"And we've got Taurous wrangler Phobe at the lead! Not shaking as much, thanks to Monique I might add!" Rachel bantered when the herd of Rhyohrn entered a rough patch.
"Her girls will be thankful for that! The boys in the crowd not so much though!" Zoey replied without missing a beat.
Brock and Sabrina chuckled with Sabrina having to duck her head into Brock's side when the commentary got too silly.
Phoebe didn't end up winning, but she did finish the race with a huge grin on her face.
winner ended up being Edith who'd worked hard to overtake when she could and conserve her pokemon for the straights, where she shouted encouragement to her Rhyhorn while others attempted to slap or kick their pokemon to speed up the whole way.
Then it was the next portion of the applicants' turn.
Instantly, Baxter stomped into the middle of the corral and swept his gaze at every Rhyhorn, challenging them. More than a few stepped forward. One didn't leave it at just that, snorting and charging only to skid to a stop.
Baxter stared right into its eyes. "Hmph! You'll do!" he snapped.
The sudden aggression caused a few kids who'd already been nervous to signal they were dropping out as other Rhyhorn started acting out.
Baxter snorted in disgust, only to glare as the 'limping' Rhyhorn passed him by. "Oi! You! Stop!"
The injured pokemon limped away harder to escape Baxter, who scowled and gave chase. "Cut that out!" He ordered, causing the Rhyhorn to move away from him further.
"Oi kid! Cool it!" snapped Xander as he stepped forward, offering his hand to the injured Rhyhorn while urging Baxter away. "Injured pokemon won't always act like they normally would. Don't pressure it."
"I wasn't!" snapped Baxter before grunting and turning away.
Xander sighed and turned back to the 'injured' Rhyhorn. "You're not really hurt are you? You just don't wanna race, right?"
The Rhyhorn stiffened only to attempt to look innocent.
Bertha smirked. None of these pokemon were master actors, like Furret or herself.
Xander had the injured pokemon set to the side after reassuring it that it didn't need to race and could relax if that was what it wanted.
Then he marched around and gave the other Rhyhorn thoughtful looks before selecting… Bertha and Titan's other child?
Bertha leaned forward in anticipation as her son met Xander's gaze stoically.
"Hey, something tells me you're strong, wanna help me out here?" Xander asked, extending a hand to Rhyhorn.
Bertha grinned and continued to focus on the pair for the whole race as her son tore his way around the race track, demonstrating a fire she'd never seen in him before. None of the other pokemon even came close as he sprinted, jumped and even attempted to drift around a corner at one point.
He passed the finish line with a full minute to spare between himself and the next closest Rhyhorn, who happened to be a scowling Baxter.
"Seems they've got good racing instincts," Titan mused as Xander took a time that was only a half a minute behind that of Grace and her professional Rhyhorn.
"He could be the champion!" crowed Bertha with glee.
Rather than refute her, Titan nodded, his eyes gleaming with pride. "He could be," he agreed.
Bertha made sure to give Xander a huge tick for that. She couldn't wait for the final event.
"Magical glow up test! This is the most important!" Bertha declared only for Titan and Brock to chuckle.
"What did she say this time?" Rachel asked.
"She said the glow-up test is the most important," Brock translated.
Monique, Zoey, and Rachel both nodded seriously while Brock just rolled his eyes.
"I think I've seen enough to cast my vote," he announced.
Bertha held up a finger. "Don't say anything! I don't want you to spoil your choice! We leave it to the end! Just wait, you'll be amazed by what some of the kids come up with!"
Brock just chuckled and shook his head. "It's only a four Ponyta race at this point," he muttered.
Bertha agreed on that point but still wanted to see.
Edith was the first of the potential candidates that she was looking at.
She had taken the chance to change her entire outfit. She'd gone with pink lace and a corset while twirling a wand with a love heart on the tip.
"Magical Girl Edith's Magical glow up!" she shouted, twirling on the spot and sending strobing lights with the wand while yet more glitter shot into the air.
Bertha applauded happily.
When it was Xander the mopey teenager's turn, he slumped out with a silver and black hoodie while fighting the urge to smile.
Monique raised a red pen, ready to strike him down.
Then he spun on the spot and flicked his wrists and caused the hoody to invert, changing the appearance to that of chrome with a rainbow-esque shimmer.
He posed for a second then coughed self-consciously. "M-magical glow up for me? Xander?"
Monique with her red pen still raised, scowled. "Damn him! He pulled it off!" she growled as her hand snapped to a blue pen before she gave a begrudging tick of approval.
Xander scuttled off stage.
Titan chuckled. "He knows when to take his wins and run!" he declared approvingly.
"Gap moe!" Bertha called out in appreciation as she made a squiggle.
Xander paused and shot her a confused look only to blink when Titan shot him a thumbs up and a toothy grin.
Next was…
Brock's facepalm echoed as Phoebe sauntered out.
Bertha tilted her head. "I thought we had adult clothing arranged for her?"
Sabrina coughed. "Well, it can certainly be considered 'adult'," she commented as Phoebe appeared in an outfit that was mostly tassel.
Where before she'd worn a simple housewife dress and blouse, she now strutted out with a huge blush that was only matched by her smile.
She'd donned boots that made her taller while selectively adjusting the attire to show off a lot more skin.
Some of the men whistled, and a few of the more boisterous hooted.
Phoebe grinned as she bowed again. "Thanks for a memorable day!" she shouted. "I decided to do something I wouldn't have dared doing before today! So without further ado!" she spun and shot finger guns at the crowd and the judging panel.
"Magical Girl Mama signing off!" she cheered with a megawatt smile that wouldn't have been out of place on Sanchez's face.
Bertha had to give her props, she was trying to live, and it was working out for her.
Phoebe scampered off as Brock shot Monique pointed looks. "Tassels? Really? If she'd come out with a pole, I'd have had to buzz her off."
"It would have livened up the crowd even more if she had," mused Sabrina with a dry tone.
"I'd pay to see that," muttered Rachel and Zoey only to blink and blush when they realised what they'd said.
Brock stood and swatted both of them on the head lightly.
Brock sighed and shook his head.
When Baxter appeared, he sprinted down the catwalk and leapt high, his arm pulled back.
Thanks to his speed, he was a crimson and black blur until he slammed into the ground in a perfect three-point hero landing.
He held the pose for a moment and then slowly rose. "Magical Baxter here! I'm winning this show!" he growled sternly as he adopted a hands-on-hips, chest out pose.
"Yah! Way to go Baxter!" cheered his family.
Baxter narrowed his eyes and shot them a look, but this time Bertha caught the little wave he hid from most people.
Aww, he was a sweetie at heart.…it was just hidden waaaaaaaaay under all the anger.
Baxter finished his appearance by throwing a fist into the air. "Choose me, and your kid is going to be great with me!" he roared in promise.
Bertha had to admit, she did like the sound of that.
With his part done, he marched off, leaving the judges to deliberate while a few performers claimed the stage to keep people entertained.
Zoey wrote her selection into an envelope and then bid the rest fo the judges goodbye.
Brock watched her go. "She does know she didn't actually have a vote, right?" he asked only for the other judges to laugh.
Zoey took to the stage to a tidal wave of cheers and Bertha sighed, forlorn that she couldn't come out. She did per k up when Zoey pointed to the side and Yolanda, wearing a magical girl outfit and rocking a super cool looking guitar, walked on stage.
Brock blinked. "I don't remember this being part of the lineup?" he murmured.
The locals in the crowd cheered louder, knowing precisely who Yolanda was but she won everyone else over when she and Zoey began a duet that was so on point it made Bertha's tail thrash from side to side.
For a few minutes everyone forgot what they were doing until the song was over.
A roar of voices rose in the aftermath followed by applause.
Zoey beamed at this while Yolanda blinked in shock. Zoey wrapped an arm around Yolanda.
"This girl's going to be big next year! Keep an eye out for her debut single!" she called and the roar rose again with Yolanda blushing and bowing in thanks.
Zoey grinned and took the mic up once again. "So! Without further adieu who have the judges picked?"
Brock coughed. "Sorry! You distracted us!"
That got a laugh and Zoey waved a hand. "No worries! I'll give the crowd some more of a show while you deliberate!" she declared without missing a beat.
Bertha and the others moved to another room where they sat around a table so they wouldn't get distracted again.
"So? Who do we think deserves it?" Brock asked to get them underway.
Bertha nodded and looked down at her squiggles. Wait, what did these mean again? Oh wait the angry squiggle was easy to match to Baxter, but…
A message pinged on her transceiver, and Bertha exhaled in relief when Titan revealed he'd been keeping other notes.
Bertha shot him a thankful grin as they discussed who deserved their child's egg.
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Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support.
Had a bit of fun with this one. With this chapter, there is going to be a vote for Bronze+ subscribers on who they want to receive the egg.
Vote will be up for 4 days, and we will go from there!
Options are;
Xander - Young Teenager who never got a chance. Now works a minimum wage job and is trying to escape that. Shy and uncertain but wants to try for once.
Phoebe - Stay at home Mum who wants to have some adventure once more, now that all her kids are grown up and out of the nest. Her Husband is busy with work, and she… just wants to live.
Edith - Magical girl through and through! Leaps before she looks! Passionate and lots of heart! Will make every day magical by at least 10000%!
Baxter - Practical skills and a desire to be the best. Will push for more with everything he has. Will back up his words with actions. Lots of anger in this one but he has a heart in there.
The person who comes in second will earn an egg from Sabrina. Either a Ralts or an Abra.
Thanks also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!