Chapter 20 - The Performance

Five days after Rico bought his limited edition of his favorite fiction book, Rico's school, Kawayan City District Grade School II, held a music contest. Almost every music student signed up for that; All had a guitar, a portable piano, a trombone, a trumpet, a violin, or a set of drums. Rico, after signing up, decided to use his guitar as an instrument for the show. His parents supported his performance, promising to be there that night. Rico even will bring his Pokèmon to the contest. The contest will narrow down the total participants to twelve after all of them show their musical skills using their instruments. But Rico had a rival in his music class: the blue-haired Tommy, one who had a trumpet and an Absol as his first Pokèmon. Upon facing each other in their music class, Tommy responded in mean, "Hey there, Rico."

"Oh, hi there, Tom," Rico responded in uninterested. This causes Tommy to be angry, sparking a spark of rivalry between them. Their music teacher, however, managed to quell the fight, and even had them sit separately from each other. But the rivalry continues. Tommy will do one foolish thing to Rico during the contest: sabotage his music performance. But in those five days, Rico trained Riolu and Litleo up every morning and/or after school.

Later at home, after school, Ben will be staying in Rico's house. After dinner, the boys went to Rico's bedroom for a "sleep over." There Rico talked about the music contest and his rivalry with Tommy. Ben was amazed and stunned in the same time, with him commenting, "Wow, a music contest? That's cool. You have an instrument?"

"Yes, of course," Rico happily answered, "A guitar."

"Oh, that's nice," Ben brightly replied, "And you had a rival? For real?"

"Yes," Rico responded as he switches from positive to negative, "'Tommy, or I always call him 'Tom.'"

"Wow, he's so mean," Ben replied, "Aren't he?"

"Yes," Rico replied while crossing his arms.

"Well, I hoped he'll never bite you," Ben responded.

"Thanks, Ben," Rico responded as he switches from negative to positive. At this point, Ben will come to Rico's music contest, being granted a permission from his home region professor. The next day was Saturday, after training his Pokèmon, Rico began practicing playing his guitar, and even sing a song while doing it. His Pokèmon embraced the Spanish-Asian style music Rico was emitting. He played this all day, with lunch time in between. Tommy, however, was playing his trumpet in a different way, like French-style. Later at night, Rico called Wesley on phone, telling him about the music contest at his school.

"Wow, a music contest?" Wesley replied in amazement, "That's cool. Are you participating?"

"Yes," Rico brightly replied while lying down on his bed.

"Woah, okay," Wesley brightly replied while drinking his glass of orange juice, "Well, I'll support you, and cheer you up when you lose."

"Thank you, Wesley," Rico happily replied, "I'll see you again soon. Bye;" he and Wesley then ended their conversation. The next day, it was Saturday, and later that afternoon, the music contest had begun. The judges are the school principal, Reina, and two other teachers, Nate and Carolyn. Students and their parents came with their instruments, sitting on their designated seats as the first of them does his performance with his violin. Rico, however, was very confident with his guitar; while Tommy was going to sabotage his performance just after his own performance.

Later, each of the participating students performed his/her musical talent. Some are intense, calm, or mild in playing their instruments.

Later the last two participants were Tommy and Rico. After the last student, Tommy climbed onto the wooded stage and started performing his music talent. He was more like French, and British in the same time. Everyone was gazing and was amazed at his stylish performance, with one commenting, "Wow, he's more like French!" Another commented, "Like a classical British!" Rico then thought, "Wow, he's cool." Minutes later, Tommy's performance was over and it was Rico's turn to perform. Without any doubt and with confidence, Rico stand up, carry his guitar, and walked towards the stage; he then climbed on it via the wooden steps. In the center of the stage as the spotlight provided him attention, Rico played his guitar and starts singing "Mi Primer Pokèmon" in a melody tone. Everyone, including his parents and Ben, was amazed at his homemade song. Rico had been writing this two days ago.

And as Rico was performing, Tommy, with a pair of scissors sneaked at the backstage, deciding to sabotage his performance by cutting one of his guitar strings, with Absol guarding him. Riolu, Litleo, and Pichu, however, are suspicious at someone backstage, and decided to check out who. There Absol was blocking their way aggressively. In response, Riolu used Focus Blast on it, striking it effectively, while Litleo used Headbutt on Tommy, intercepting the sabotage; Pichu then used Thundershock on him, electrifying him. As a result, Rico's performance was being interrupted, causing the audience to be surprised in sudden. The judges then got surprised by what happened backstage.

"What is going here?" Reina demanded an explanation. Just that, Tommy's scissors was exposed to everyone, including Rico. Rico was shocked at this sabotage.

"Uh, sir," Rico responded as he holds the said scissors, "I think someone was trying to sabotage my performance."

"And who?" Reina sternly responded. Just that, Tommy get up from the Pokèmon's attacks, surprising the audience once more.

"What the...?" Rico asked in shock, "Tom? You did?" At this point, Tommy admitted everything: the reason why he done that is that he doesn't want him to be in the Top 12.

This confession caused the judges to be angry and frustrated, disqualifying Tommy from the Top 12. In response, Tommy accepted it without any hesitation and walked away from the stage in downward sad. Once Tommy was disqualified, Reina said to Rico, "Rico Cruz, you may restart your performance."

"Really?" Rico replied as he looks surprised. In response, Reina nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, sir!" Rico responded in happiness; he then restarted his song. Everyone was gazing at his performance, with Ben commenting, "Wow, he's so cool!" Minutes later, Rico finishing his performance, causing the audience to applause his performance. Reina and the judges then set the scores: Reina - 10

Nate - 9

Carolyn - 10

It was a victorious moment for Rico; Reina then announced, "Rico, you are now in the Top 12. Congratulations." Rico was so happy at this. Later, the Top 12 had certificates as rewards. Everyone applause the part.

Later, at home, at 8:05 p.m., Rico put his certificate of participating on his wall as Riolu and Litleo looked in appreciation.

"Yeah, you got Tom," Rico commented, "Thanks." In response, Riolu and Litleo responded in happiness. Rico then hugged them in happiness and embrace as he lay down on his comfy bed.