The morning was a beautiful one for the chosen event. Though he typically lived with his parents, the hotel provided for the Avatars was too alluring to Kaze to pass up, and had found that his bed at the hotel was much more comfortable than the one he had at home. So comfortable, in fact, he found he had overslept by half an hour. As soon as he realized how much time he had lost, he hopped out of bed and began sprinting toward the door, before realizing he still wore his Snorlax-print pajamas.
Turning back, he grabbed his typical outfit from his bags, changed into it, fastening his Soothe Bell around his neck, and resumed his rush out the door. Jingle trailing behind, he was headed for the parade line-up, praying he wouldn't be late. He had only heard mention of where it would be briefly, but he knew the city well, and that he could use a particular bit of duct work as a slide to reach the ground level where the parade would be beginning much faster than using the stairs.
Finding the particular ventilation shaft he sought out, he wrenched the vent cover off and commanded Jingle, "Mind helping me up there with Confusion?" Though he could reach the shaft, he couldn't quite hoist himself into the shaft without a hand. Using her power, Jingle emitted a blue glow that also surrounded Kaze, lifting the boy until he could get in the vent. The second he was in, he slid down, leaving Jingle to put the cover back in place.
"Wahoooo!~" he shouted as he glided down the shaft at dangerous speeds. Seeing the exit below covered by another grate, he channeled his powers and unleashed a Bubblebeam that popped it out of the vent, launching it through the air, passing within inches of Shade and Vuduin before eventually clattering to the ground some distance beyond. A moment later, Kaze tumbled out of the vent, giggling with glee at the rush of adrenaline from the speed he had achieved during his slide.
To his right was the check-in desk for those participating, behind which sat a rather large woman with an almost larger mole beside her right nostril. Kaze even noticed a trace of dark facial hair lingering over her upper lip. Without so much as looking up or cocking an eyebrow, she asked, "Are you here for the parade?"
"Yeah," Kaze responded, still ecstatic.
"Name and Pokémon represented?" the woman requested in her ever-monotonous voice.
"Kaze Elwynn, Avatar of Suicune."
"Alright, you're all checked in. I trust you should have no issue finding your float, but if you need help, there are people around for that."
Kaze moved quickly past the woman once the conversation had finished and Jingle had emerged from the duct. As he neared Darkrai's float, he offered a friendly wave to Vuduin at the top before continuing on in search of Suicune. Though the Pokémon were arranged largely in numerical order, that did nothing for Kaze; he knew nothing about the Pokédex and its order. Looking around from his place near Darkrai, he noticed a float with a blue Pokémon bearing antlers some distance behind. Though it didn't look quite like Suicune, Kaze wondered if the mistake could have been because they hadn't seen Suicune before. For a design based on words alone, it might have been easy to assume Suicune looked like that.
Kaze approached the float and asked a nearby attendant, "Is this Suicune's float?"
The attendant chuckled. "Not at all. This one's Cobalion. Suicune's closer to the front of the lineup."
"Oh, thanks!" the boy replied. Eventually, he managed to find it, flanked by what might have been a bear and some sort of dragon. The float's design was lifelike in detail, but scaled to about two or three times Suicune's actual size. Kaze remembered that day he first met Suicune, and had he not already known the float held a fake, he would have likely been tempted to pet the massive sculpture. Instead, he took a seat upon its back, deciding to wait there for the parade to begin.
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Yankee
Fading Memory