Sarah smith finally arrived at the Epic gala. It had taken her a few days, but she arrived sooner than she expected. She had made sure her pokemon were checked out at a pokemon center first though before she went to the festival.

"hmmm....what should I do first? I still have a little while before I have to do a demonstration, not to mention the tournaments are still open to signing up right now."

She glanced around. She stopped by a booth for something to eat and drink while she made up her mind. She was lost in her own thoughts when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She raised an eyebrow, but figured it was nothing, at least at this time, and went back to her own thoughts.

…………………….

Emily Edwards had finally arrived. She glanced around. The epic gala was certainly quite the festival, she thought. She was impressed. She did not intend to compete though. She was there to find homes for some of her pokemon eggs from her ranch, as well as a few of the new hatchlings. She entered the festival with them in tow, her personal team of three still in there pokeballs, and made her way to a nice spot where she could set up.

"oh wow...."
She spoke out loud for the first time since arriving.

"Oh wow..." Sarah heard a high pitch voice from where she thought she saw something. "Isn't she... a gym leader?"

"Yeah! That's Sarah Smith!" Another voice said. "Everyone's here at the Epic Gala!"

---

"First time here?" A calm voiced came from behind her. Before she could turn around, a tall, lanky, blonde haired man stepped in front of her. "If it is, I understand why you would be impressed. I used to be the same way, but I got bored with it..."

The man turned to reveal his face. Anyone in Sinnoh would have recognized that blank, expressionless face to be Volkner, Sunnyshore City's Gym Leader.

"What are you here for?"

Sarah blinked. She looked behind her. She saw the gathering crowd. She chuckled.

"Oh, um, hello everyone!"

She smiled at them all.

"My demonstration doesn't start yet, I'm afraid. But I could let you meet the pokemon I brought with me if you'd like?"

…………………………………….

Emily gasped. She spun around.
"oh, um, hello."

She nodded.
"Yes. I haven't been to a festival, let alone one like this, in a long time, not since I started running my ranch anyway."

She blinked.
"oh. I'm here because of this."
She pointed to her wagon of eggs and young pokemon, and pokeballs and such.

"I'm a breeder. I hatch, raise, and adopt out pokemon for a living. I came here to open a booth for an adoption event here at the festival. Of course, I brought my own pokemon along for the ride."

@jeroukoo

When Emily turned to see two younger children, probably no more than 12.



As she turned to face them, the two froze. They didn't know she heard them, and were starstruck.

"Oh, um, hello everyone!" She said, and the two jumped a little. "My demonstration doesn't start yet, I'm afraid. But I could let you meet the pokemon I brought with me if you'd like?"

"Definitely!" The girl said, her smile brightening. "That would be awesome!"

The boy unfroze, finally gathering himself. "Yeah! My favorite Pokemon of Miss Smith's is..! Uh..." The boy began to stutter, forgetting his words.

"Your favorite was Tangela, dummy!" The girl next time him jabbed him in the side. She turned to Miss Smith confidently. "Mine is your Flareon."

---

"I'm a breeder. I hatch, raise, and adopt out pokemon for a living. I came here to open a booth for an adoption event here at the festival. Of course, I brought my own pokemon along for the ride."

"Breeder, huh?" Volkner said, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You already got your space set up? People have been here claiming their spots since this morning."

Volkner lazily gestured towards the crowd of people. Through the bustling mass of individuals, Emily could see several already set up shops and booths, some of which included other breeders.

"Gonna be tough to find prime real estate right now."

Sarah nodded. She smiled a bit.

"Alright. Here we go!"

She called out her pokemon one by one.

"Ditto, pincer, mr. mime, flareon, Tangela, haunter!"

All of her pokemon came out of their pokeballs. They were all in a small group around her. A couple of them, ditto and pincer, blinked and looked around.

…………………………………………………………

Emily, the breeder, blinked. She sighed.
"No, not yet, but I heard there was a area near the stadium I could set up at, so I may have a better chance there."

She nodded at his comments after that.
"Anyway, I shall have to hurry. I want to get there on time. Plus, I will need to feed the pokemon, and not just the hatchlings. I am sure my pokemon are getting hungry by now."

She managed a faint smile.

"Wow, that's all of them!" The girl ran towards the Flareon. She reached out her hand and stopped just short of petting it. "Does he mind being touched?" She asked before petting it.

---

"Well good luck," Volkener nodded, acknowledging his smile. "It was nice talking to you. Usually people have a bigger reaction to me. It's nice to not have to deal with that."

He began walking off and gave a half wave.

"I might stop by your booth a bit later," He called back to her. "Think about maybe..." His voiced got muffled by the noise of the crowd, and Emily wasn't able to hear his final words. She was starting to lose sight of him, as his attire made him easily blend into the crowd.

@jeroukoo
Sarah shook her head no.
"Not at all. He's usually quite friendly. Just don't pull on his tail or anything. He HATES that."

She faintly smiled. Tangela had hopped a little closer to the boy.

………………………

Emily blinked. She nodded.
"um, thank you."

She didn't know what to say when he said it was nice talking to her and such. She managed another nod.
"Well....I didn't know I should be afraid of you or anything. You ARE a little intimidating though."

She gave a humorless half chuckle. She paused when she heard him say that he might stop by her booth a bit later, but was unable to hear why.

"huh? What did you say?"
She called back, but he was lost in the crowed now. She sighed and proceeded to the stadium area. She found a good spot and set up her booth. Within a few minutes a little girl stopped by with her family, who left with a baby eevee. Emily smiled when they left.

"Thank you Miss Smith!" The girl began petting the Flareon, smiling as she did.

The Tangela hoppped up to the boy, who seems to be a bit slower than the girl for whatever reason. He looked to the mass of vines and red boots and gave it a smile, putting his hand out.

"How does Tangela like to be pet?" He asked.

---

An hour or two went by before Emily saw a familiar face. Arrive at her both. It was Volkner with a Casteliacone in hand.

"Huh, you found a spot," He said between licks of the Casteliacone. "That's good."

He looked around the booth, looking around at the pokemon there. "What kind of pokemon do you have up for adoption?"

@jeroukoo
Sarah smiled.
"You're welcome."
She watched as her Flareon made a sound of content and closed his eyes. She blinked and looked at the boy.

"Tangela doesn't mind being petted on the top of his head and such. Just don't tug on his vines or anything."
She smiled.

……………………………………..

Emily was watching her Arbok, butterfree, and golduck eat their food when Volkner showed up at her booth.
"oh, hello again."

She nodded.
"I said I would."

She blinked.
"um....Well...."
She showed him around the various pens.

"There are: Ekans, Sandshrew, Eevees, Rattatas, Nidorans both male and female, Vulpix, Oddish, Meowth, psyducks, Magnemite, Voltorbs, Koffing, Slowpokes, and Ponyta. The rest are back at the ranch. These are the ones with the largest numbers of eggs and hatchlings that needed to be adopted out."

"Th-thanks Miss!" The boy said, reaching his hand out. The pair enjoyed their time with the Pokemon for about 15 or so minutes before they had their fill.

"Thanks so much for showing off your Pokemon, Miss Smith!" The girl said, smiling brightly. "We probably should see the rest of the festival, so we'll see you later at your show!"

"Ye-yeah..." The boy said, looking away from the gym leader.

The two began to head off into the crowd.

---

Volkner's expression remained the same.

"Quite a selection." He said, finishing off the Casteliacone. "Got an Electrode back at Sunnyshore. To be honest, I was looking to adopt a Toxel, if you had one. Oh well."

Volkner took a look around at the massive gathering of people. The crowd seemed to be moving towards the Arena for some event, he wasn't exactly sure what was going on.

"Well, you'll get a lot of foot traffic from spectators of whatever is going on." Volkner said. "Maybe seeing some cool Pokemon display will motivate them to adopt one for themselves."

@jeroukoo
Sarah smiled and watched them. She waved to them when they left. She looked at her pokemon.

"ok my pokemon. Return to your pokeballs, we have to head to the arena for our demonstration."

She returned the pokemon to their pokeballs. Then, she proceeded to head to where she had to go.

……………………………

Emily blinked.
"oh."

She blinked again. She sighed and shrugged.
"Maybe."

She paused.
"A....Toxel?"
She thought about that type of pokemon and such before she gasped.

"If that is what I think it is, we have only three eggs of that breed that are due to hatch. I can give you one of the eggs if you'd like."

She looked towards the arena for a moment, before she looked at him again. She glanced towards the eggs that were in the displayed baskets. Three of them were Toxel eggs.

As Sarah returned her Pokemon to her pokeballs, she thought she saw something in Flareon's fur. However, she was needed elsewhere, and made her way.

---

"Oh?" For the first time since Emily met Volkner, his face shifted from that ever-present blank expression. It almost seemed to brighten up. "If you don't mind, I'll take a look."

He made his way towards the three eggs and leaned towards one, inspecting it closely.

"How much for one?" He asked, eyes unpeeled from the eggs.

Sarah thought she saw something in flareons' fur. However, she didn't have time to inspect. She had to get to the arena. she would have to inspect after she did a bit of practicing. She hurried to the arena...

……………

Emily nodded.
"Every few months we have new breeding pokemon dropped off. A recent group did lay these toxel eggs, but as I said, only those three are due to hatch. And so, I brought them here with me to find them homes."

She watched as he inspected one of the eggs rather closely. She blinked when he asked how much it cost.

"I usually charge just a basic adoption fee of twenty or so, depending on the pokemon and if they are an egg or not. That's along with a filled out adoption form and any cost towards supplies, should you not have any of your own."

She faintly smiled at him. She noticed how he did not look away from the egg.

As Sarah Smith arrived at the arena, she was met with security at the entrance. The uniformed men had Luxio at their side to assist with any rowdy attendees. One of them recognized Sarah and called out to her.

"Gym Leader Sarah!" He called out, motioning her over. "We were expecting you for your performance. Come on over!"

However, the guard unknowingly turned the attention of the crowd towards Sarah, which quickly began to surround her. Gym Leaders were celebrities to the people of Sinnoh after all, and the fame came with some downsides. The people began to pile up around Sarah, all asking for autographs, training tips, and even a simple high five.

---

"That's a fair deal," Volkner nodded, picking up the egg with one arm and reaching into his pocket with his free hand. He pulled out several large scale pokédollars and dropped them on her table, his focus still on the egg. As he did, the alarm on his watch went off, and Volkner muttered sometihng under his breath.

"Shoot, I'm gonna be late for the Gym Leader presentation," Volkner said, eyes turning towards Emily. "I'd hate to pull the whole Gym Leader thing, but do you trust me to come back and fill out that form later? I'll take care of the egg while I'm gone."

@jeroukoo
Sarah looked towards the security guards. She nodded. She headed in their direction, but then the crowd began to swarm her. She gasped. She did her best to get through the crowd.

She had to get some help from security in the end though, of course. But, once everything was finally settled, a big relief to her, she was finally able to get onto the stage.

"All right calm down everyone!"
She called out once she was on stage.
"The presentation will begin shortly. Please be patient."

………………………………………

Emily nodded. she took the money and placed it in a small chest she had under the booth. She blinked and frowned when she heard the alarm. She looked at him. Emily heard his request. She sighed.

"...Very well. But, just so you know, I reserve the right to have security track you down should you be actually lying or should you forget."

She wasn't trying to be mean or anything. The tone of her voice showed that much. She just reminded him that she was still a ranch/business owner in the end, and that was all.

"All right calm down everyone!" She called out once she was on stage. "The presentation will begin shortly. Please be patient."

The crowd simmered down and separated, allowing the gym leader to prepare for her presentation.

---

"Thanks, consider the extra money a tip for trusting me to return." He said, reaching for a pokeball from his belt. "Help me out here, Electivire!"

With a flash and a buzz, Volkner's Electivire was sent of his pokeball.

"Alright buddy, make a hole, and make it wide!" Volkner said, holding the egg tight to him. "Don't want to be too late to this presentation!"

@jeroukoo
Sarah gave a sigh of relief. She prepared her pokeballs. She made sure her team of pokemon was ready before the presentation began, the demonstration. She was going to show them what pokemon, under the right training and were taken care of and treated really well, good if you will, were capable of.

She lifted up a pokeball…

………………………………

Emily nodded.
"Make sure you keep your word. That's all I will say. Now, hurry to that presentation of yours."

She watched as he summoned his Electivire. She also watched as he held the Tokel egg close to him. She had a feeling that he would keep the egg safe, but still, she hoped he kept his word and returned after the presentation, the demonstration if you will, was over.

As Sarah lifted her Pokeball, she heard a distant part of the crowd yelp in shock. The yelps made their way closer to the platform Sarah was on until she saw an Electivire barreling towards her. She heard a muffled voice behind it, saying several apologies for the rude way they were making their way through the crowd. Eventually, the Electivire got to the stage and hoisted up the all too familiar Volkner to the platform, who was breathing heavily.

"Sarah," Volkner said, bowing his head in recognition. "Good to see you. Sorry, I got caught up with something..."

@jeroukoo
Sarah heard the distant yelp. She blinked and looked in that direction.

"What is going on here?"

She frowned. She started to lower her pokeball again. Soon enough, she saw the Elective. She frowned. She saw the familiar gym leader be hoisted up onto the platform. She sighed a bit.

"It is nice to see you too, I suppose."
She shook her head.
"I was actually about to start the demonstration presentation."

……………………..

Emily sighed. She waited. She tended to her pokemon and the ones to be adopted out. She wished that she could watch the before tournament event, or even enter one of the tournaments.