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POSTED ON Jan 5, 2023 23:25:17 GMT

Shalin's goal had been mostly achieved. The Medallions of Eight had been gathered in one place, hidden in her humble abode in Petalburg Woods. All she needed to do now was take them to the Halls of Origin under Sootopolis, and she could use whatever hidden power was sealed away there for the good of Hoenn, and the good of the League. That was another day, though. A distant day. For now, it was party time!

It was time for the 11th annual BEMANI Fest, the sensational annual event sponsored by the well-known rhythm game developer. The company's in-house artists, as well as artists they contracted, would be present putting on shows all week. Arcade cabinets for all their current series would be at the convention grounds. There were tournaments scheduled as well, attracting players of all skill levels. Of course, all attention would be on the Uppers divisions for each game, attracting the world's best players.

Thankfully for Shalin, the venue was reachable by Pokémon: Slateport Mall. The mall's giant arcade space, Round One, had been closed to all but convention attendees this week, the entire hall a rhythm gamer's paradise. While she didn't enjoy a lot of the hand games, Step Step Revolution was her jam. It was one of the few electronic games she enjoyed, her litheness and high dexterity giving her a significant advantage at stomping the game's four panels at speeds that sounded like her legs were living musical drumsticks.

Step one after hotel check-in was getting her badge and scouting the venue. She was familiar with the arcade's room layout, but with every room having been repurposed, she still needed to take the time to figure out where all the activities would be at. As expected, the registration line was quite long on the first day. With the convention prohibiting Pokémon being outside of their Poké Balls except in designated areas, Shalin's eyes shifted away from her belt and among the many faces on the floor, hoping she would find someone she recognized. Someone like Julia Davis would have loved it here, but she had an unfortunate scheduling conflict for this week. Too bad!

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 361}
{PC: 1}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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TAG WITH @elaina

POSTED ON Jan 8, 2023 10:18:46 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","blboxfl"]

Elaina was wondering if she would be able to pull this off ... Elaina had no actual plans other than to go shopping, but then she heard about this convention at the mall in Slateport. At first, she thought it was just an ordinary music festival, which she loved. However, she had come to realize when she arrived that it was a BEMANI Fest, which was for a video game about music. Elaina felt like she bamboozled herself, but she wasn't gonna let her money go to waste so, here she was. Luckily, she had plenty of time to prepare. Josh Devlin had even managed to help her pick a new outfit for the occasion since she would be dancing. Yep, you heard that right. dancing.

[break][break]

Despite Elaina's elegant footwork with martial arts, her dancing skills were ... below average. "Relax. Think of it as martial arts training. In a way, dancing is just like fighting ... except you're not actually beating the crap out of someone, or snapping their arm in three different places. You got this!" She thought to herself, despite utterly losing it on the inside. She wore a dark grey tanktop, with matching sweatpants and her hair in a very long ponytail to keep the hair out of her eyes. Honestly, she definitely did not look the same with her new look. Normally, she'd wear dark clothing. However, sacrifices had to be made because she was sure as hell not gonna waste her money.

[break][break]

The bright side to this was that she didn't need to spend money on a hotel since Mauville wasn't all that far away from Slateport. She had already done the qualifiers along with the rest of the people participating. Luckily for her though, it seemed like she'd only be competing against people who were around her own skillset, which made her feel slightly relaxed. She stood in the corner, staring off into space, biting her thumbnail, while not even noticing Shalin Nariya, who seemed to be right at home, unlike her. Luckily, she had her pokemon with Josh in their pokeballs for the time being. She had already gotten her badge, strapped around her neck; attached to a lanyard that came with it.

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+ Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

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raikourider

She/Her

March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

Expeditionary

Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Jan 9, 2023 16:34:11 GMT

The convention grounds had been divided based on series, with booths for merch sales taking its own space. Of course, the DJ concerts would get their own space. Supposedly there were some fan-favorite artists that would be playing never-before-heard extended mixes there. Some would even be live-mixed, which was more exciting than hearing the final, finished product that would go to streaming services. TAG was already there, watching the Step Step Revolution qualifiers; it was expected that many players would pick his songs once the head-to-heads. Remo-con would be there later in the week. It was a miracle many of them were able to make it, given how much the Kanto-based company having to deal with recovering from the war.

Having barely missed online qualifiers last year, Shalin was glad they were being done in person this year, with the requirement that all three songs on the ticket had to be done one after another. She wasn't too happy about a level 17 chart being in the qualifiers; Evans on Expert was one tiring chart, as popular as the song was, and it would bring qualifying ranking way down despite being close to perfection on the lower-rated song. Her respectable full combo on the mid-rated one would land her a mid to high seed in Master Division and keep her out of the way of the game's true greats, including Chike. He was perhaps the only person in the world capable of getting perfect plays in tournament settings, and was an overwhelming favorite to win Master Division.

The young lady had to arrange her long hair into a ponytail to avoid pulling any of it while she held the machine's back bar. While it was disallowed in the very early days of tournaments, having been put there merely as a safety mechanism, it was allowed in tournaments as an excuse to push harder and harder content onto the players. "Hey, Elaina, how'd your quals go?" Shalin asked, stepping off the stage after finishing the final song of her set with a middling score. "I'm still waiting on the rest of Masters to finish, but I feel confident I'll get at least a few rounds in before one of the greats destroys me."

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 372}
{PC: 2}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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POSTED ON Jan 11, 2023 22:48:12 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","blboxfl"]

Elaina had snapped out of her train of thought the moment she heard Shalin's voice. She eased the tension she felt, relaxing a bit, and said, "It went well, I believe. They ranked me as a six, which I think they said wasn't all that bad for a beginner?" She questioned, her ponytail moving along with her head, trying to remember exactly.

[break][break]

Judging from what Shalin had said, Elaina surmised that she was a really good player, as well as a dancer. "I wish I was that confident," Elaina admitted, yet still gave Shalin a smile, deciding to not beat herself up about it all too much. Honestly, her ranking was to be expected. She didn't know all that much about the game, let alone dancing. She was more into playing instruments and singing rather than dancing.

[break][break]

"You got any tips for a beginner like me? I could really use some," Elaina had inquired. She tried learning as much as she could but, she felt that she honestly didn't learn enough. Shalin on the other hand knew exactly what she was getting herself into, so she would probably be able to help Elaina out.

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raikourider

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March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

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Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Jan 12, 2023 16:51:25 GMT

Shalin, in all honesty, had forgotten what a level 6 chart looked like. "Sounds like you've played other rhythm games before, but not this one," she assessed. "This one's different than all the hand games my friends like, because you only have two feet instead of ten fingers." Her eyes peered about the main festival grounds, away from the tournament area and toward the line of practice cabinets. Most of them were in use, but there was one running an older version that was open. "I can actually show you," she offered, directing her to the twenty-year-old arcade cabinet. Was Step Step Revolution EXTREME really twenty years old now? That was so hard to believe.

Swiping her card for a single-player game, Shalin queued up one of the most popular songs on the ancient version, a trance remix of a centuries old classical piece called "Winter". Rather than playing the Challenge chart she loved dearly, she selected the much easier Expert chart, which was only level 11. "The three best points of advice I have for you are first, to always alternate feet. Don't touch the panels with the same foot twice in a row." There was some advanced tech in the chart, but she would mostly gloss over that until Elaina was ready. The songs in her pool were slow enough that she wouldn't have to use said tech most likely. As she played the song, Elaina may have picked up that all the charts were designed to alternate feet in this way, even if they required Shalin to pivot her body to hit a "left-down-right" pattern and touch the right panel with her left foot.

"Second, don't touch the center," Shalin advised while she was standing on two long hold steps during a break in the song. "Watch my feet and notice how I just move my feet from one panel to the next and never touch the center. That's the ticket to going faster, too."

"Third, and I know this is going to sound weird, but don't use the handbar behind you yet," she continued to give Elaina tips. "It's gonna mess up your timing until you have good fundamentals. I would say until you can reliably complete charts that are level 10 and above, don't use it."

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 381}
{PC: 3}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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POSTED ON Jan 15, 2023 5:06:33 GMT

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[attr="class","blboxfl"]

“I have, but I wasn’t very good at them,” Elaina had admitted, remembering the games she’d occasionally played on her phone when she was younger. Elaina also couldn’t help but agree with Shalin’s statement. Perhaps that was because Elaina wasn’t very good at the game. Normally, she’d rely on her fingers to play games like this, allowing her to score points more easily. This time though, she had to rely on her own two feet. “It's funny when you think about it. I’m good at martial arts which requires a good amount of bodily movement, but when it comes to dancing to the rhythm of a song, … the concept seems lost on me,” Elaina admitted while giving Shalin a nervous chuckle. She guessed dancing was vastly different from martial arts after all.

[break][break]

Elaina proceeded to Follow Shalin over to the practice cabinets. Shalin wasted no time in demonstrating to Elaina three important things. The first was that she should always do her best to alternate her feet. Elaina also noticed that there was some advanced tech on the chart, but since Shalin never said anything about it, she figured that more than likely wasn’t all that important in accordance with her own personal skill level. The second piece of advice Shalin had given Elaina was to not touch the center. Elaina also paid close attention to Shalin’s feet while being instructed to do so, and from what she saw, her feet never touched the center at all. Not even once. Elaina was really impressed with Shalin’s own footwork. “She’d make a really good martial artist with that footwork,” Elaina thought to herself for but a moment.

[break][break]

That was when Shalin had given Elaina the final piece of advice, which was somewhat weird. She told her to not use the handlebar that would be behind her. Elaina was gonna ask why, but before she could Shalin had decided to explain without needing to be asked, stating that it would mess up her timing, which in all honesty made sense. The reason is that beginners like her get the assumption that using it would benefit them in some way, however, whenever they do, they think about it instead of just reacting to the situation, thus messing up their own timing. “I doubt I’ll ever make it to that point, but I get what you’re saying,” Elaina said, being truthful.

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raikourider

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March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

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Rustboro Captain

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i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Jan 16, 2023 17:58:14 GMT

The longer Shalin listened to Elaina, the more it seemed she struggled with the rhythm element of the game rather than the physical motions. "I know a few players like that," Shalin related an experience with a friend she had dragged into the game several years ago. "Some people time visually rather than by listening to the music. Try playing a set where you time your steps by watching the arrow reach the receptors rather than listening to the music. I don't have a lot of experience doing that, I time my steps to the song rather than the screen. Try it and see if it helps."

As she was about to swipe her card, Shalin noticed one of the modern version's practice cabinets freed up. "Look at that," she pointed. "How about we get logged in and play a set where you time visually rather than by the beat. You might find it easier. Only way to find out is to try!" Provided Elaina would agree to try a set, Shalin would get logged in and start scrolling through the series' library containing hundreds of songs of almost all genres of music. She settled on a hardstyle favorite of hers with a difficulty spread that was beginner friendly yet challenging enough. "Don't set your scroll speed too high, though; this song speeds up to 310 twice and it doesn't tell you. The steps themselves should be easy; it's the scroll gimmicks that make the Basic chart a level 6."

There would even be breaks in the lower difficulty charts, where Elaina would be keeping her feet on two long notes. If she wanted to, she would be able to watch Shalin flying across the panels, twisting and contorting her body in ways that may have seemed impossible to less experienced players. There were even spots on the level 16 Challenge chart where Shalin's left foot was on the right panel while her right foot was on the left, her legs completely crossed. "Phew," Shalin sighed as she braced herself against the handbar in back when the song was over, sweat dripping from her long hair. "Makes me wonder if this should get rated up to a 17. That ending's nasty!"

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 370}
{PC: 4}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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TAG WITH @elaina

POSTED ON Jan 19, 2023 12:40:57 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","blboxfl"]

Elaina was surprised that Shalin seemed to know quite a few players that were just like Elaina, but the more and more Elaina thought about it, it made sense. Shalin was definitely a pro when it came to playing this game, as well as the fact that she loved it a lot. “You know, that's actually probably better to do in the long run.” Elaina said, remembering what she had thought earlier, and from the sounds of the hit, Elaina’s assumption was correct. Elaina had stepped forward when Shalin had told her to go ahead and try out what she had just learned. Suffice it to say, Elaina was a bit worried, however, after watching Shalin giving it a go, and watching her movements carefully, she felt more at ease than before.

[break][break]

Just as Shalin was about to swipe her card, Shalin pointed something out, which drew in Elaina’s attention. One of the more modern practice areas had just opened up. “I think that's a perfect idea,” Elaina smiled. They both logged in on their own platforms. Elaina had decided that Shalin should do the song-picking. “Shalin knows a lot more about the game than I do, and if I remember correctly, every song in the game themselves factors in with difficulty. Knowing my luck, I’d pick a song that’d be impossible for me to do,” She thought to herself moments before they had gotten ready. Elaina nodded at Shalin when she had told her not to set her song speeds up to high before they actually started. Honestly, Elaina had no idea that one could even do that. She kept that in mind for future reference when the beginner’s division started.

[break][break]

As they were doing their practice run, Elaina managed to keep in mind of Shalin’s three tips while also watching her as they practiced together. Elaina had seen Shalin pull some pretty impressive movements, far more difficult than what she herself was doing. When they had finished, Elaina’s neck and forehead were dripping with sweat, her breathing a little heavy from all the dancing. “Ya know,” Elaina said, catching her breath a bit before continuing, “With the way you move, you’d also be great at martial arts. There’s a dojo in Lavaridge Town that I go to on the weekends. You should come by and give it a shot.” Elaina suggested to Shalin with a slightly worn-out smirk, as she continued breath heavily. “And I agree with you on that ending,” Elaina added. She definitely worked a bit harder than she normally did, especially putting Shalin’s tips into actual practice.

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raikourider

She/Her

March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

Expeditionary

Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Jan 19, 2023 20:50:24 GMT

Shalin didn't play too many video games, but this one just resonated with her. She would travel from Petalburg to Mauville just to play at the Round One out there with plenty of regularity. "If it works, I would keep doing that for now, but you'll need to learn to recognize patterns rather than single arrows once you get better at the game." Another thing that helped was being a Ranger kept her in good shape, which was important for a game this physical.

Elaina's suggestion of learning martial arts was, to say the least, an interesting one. "I wouldn't mind taking a look! I think I'd be a better jouster, but you never know until you try!" She just loved any excuse to be on a Pokémon, and mounted archery was more her thing anyway. Of course, Elaina would have no way to know that unless it came up on a Ranger mission. Depending on what they needed to do, it very well could come up.

A few minutes after their session ended, an announcement came over the mall's PA system. "Attention all BEMANIFest 2023 SSR players: the main tournament is about to begin. Master Division players will use cabinets 1 and 5 through 14. Ultra Division players will use cabinets 2 and 15 through 20. Great Division players will use cabinets 3 and 21 through 23, and Normal Division players will use cabinets 4 and 24. Round 1 pairings have been posted on the BEMANIFest tournament homepage. Please assemble at your assigned cabinets to receive your cards. Thank you."

Shalin checked to see what cabinet she was assigned to; it seemed the two would be directly across from one another. While they wouldn't be able to see each other, they would be nearby. Depending on machine availability, they might be able to watch each others' matches. "It's about that time. Good luck, and remember to stay hydrated. Playing for a long time takes it out of you." She waved to Elaina before assembling with the other Master Division players.

There were all kinds of community celebrities around Shalin, including some of the best players in the world. They were quite sociable; the camaraderie in the community was so welcoming. Her first opponent was one she had never heard of before; the players referred to each other with their Dancer IDs, which were closer to online handles, rather than their real names. Shalin used her first name, while her opponent went by FERAL. She subtly smiled upon reviewing the card the duo had to work with:

Second Heaven CHALLENGE Lv. 14
perditus paradisus EXPERT Lv. 17
Amalgamation CHALLENGE Lv. 15
The legend of MAX EXPERT Lv. 15
Role-playing game EXPERT Lv. 14
Avenger DIFFICULT Lv. 14
SCHWARZSCHILD FIELD DIFFICULT Lv. 13

"As a reminder," the tournament officials announced at each station, "the lower seed will announce their protect first, then the higher seed will announce their protect. Then, the lower seed will announce their first ban, followed by the higher seed announcing both their bans, then the lower seed will announced their second ban. The remaining three songs will be played as a set, with the higher EX Score winning the song. The first to two songs wins the match and moves on. It's double elimination, so you're not out until you lose twice."

Shalin made her choices for protects and bans, then took a big drink of water before taking the stage and preparing for her first round match.

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 582}
{PC: 5}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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played by

Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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105 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @elaina

POSTED ON Jan 21, 2023 23:54:54 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","blboxfl"]

“It sure does. Thanks for your help!” Elaina says to Shalin, and as soon as she finishes, the announcer’s voice echoes gently throughout the area, stating that the tournament was about to begin. Elaina listened carefully, hearing which cabinet would be for her particular group. “From the looks of things, it seems we’re close to one another. When I’m not dancing, I’ll be sure to cheer you on. Josh said that’d he’d be doing the same as well,” Elaina said, essentially wishing Shalin good luck. Elaina doubted that Shalin wouldn’t have any problems at all, but showing her support was the least that Elaina could do at this time.

[break][break]

After they said their goodbyes, the two of them made their way to their own proper areas. She had noticed that most if not all the beginners weren’t the talkative bunch. I guess it was because they were all new to this sort of thing. Funny enough, Elaina was announced first, which somewhat surprised her. However, she figured that it didn’t really matter. With what Shalin had taught her, she believed that she was more than ready.

[break][break]

Elaina made her way up the platform, wishing her opponent the same heartfelt good luck that she gave to Shalin, however, her opponent wasn’t as nice. “Jeez, you’d think that people would be nice at these kinds of things, despite competing in a tournament,” Elaina mentally huffed. That kind of arrogance would only get someone so far, as he’d come to learn. Elaina had quickly chosen her songs to protect as well as ban, and after catching the time for a quick drink, Elaina had readily begun using what Shalin had taught her.

[break][break]

Her opponent was obviously having a hard time catching up with her score-wise throughout the songs that they did together, and by the time they finished the second song, Elaina had a 6,000-point lead on the guy. He was clearly upset that he lost, however, Elaina paid him no mind. She glanced over in Shalin’s direction, giving her a wave. She had also spotted Josh Devlin as well who seemingly watched her win her first match, also giving him a wave. “Despite this tournament being double-elimination, It’s easier that way,” she thought to herself, beginning to like that aspect of the tournament.

+ and another one! :3
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played by

raikourider

She/Her

March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

Expeditionary

Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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POSTED ON Jan 22, 2023 13:52:59 GMT

Shalin's first two matches went well, even managing to defeat both her opponents on their own song picks. While waiting for the other side of the bracket to catch up, Shalin tracked down Elaina. "How'd your first couple rounds go?" she asked, the back of her head dripping with sweat. "I'm still in winner's bracket, but I think that ends this round." She checked who her likely opponent would be and confirmed the grim news. "Kaze, the 9 seed, is one of the best there is. He's got perfect full combos on every song in the game rated 13 through 16, and about half the 17s." She took a look around the tournament area, but her friend Josh Devlin was nowhere to be found. Did he already lose twice? She checked the Ultra Division standings, and indeed, he was eliminated. "Even in Ultra Division, the competition's brutal."

She browsed the standings to see where Elaina was at in Normal Division, and it appeared there was an exciting match coming up. She would be involved in an 8-seed versus 9-seed matchup for her quarterfinal. "Look at this - you're gonna be on stream!" The tournament organizers streamed select matches to their website, and hers just happened to be one where she would be on the big screen. Thousands of people would be watching from all across the world on their various devices.

Before she could say any more, the next round of tournament announcements came. "Attention all BEMANIFest 2023 SSR players. With the start of the third round, the composition of song cards will be changing. For Master Division, level 13 charts will no longer show up, and level 18 charts can now appear in the pool. For Ultra Division, the new difficulty range will be 12 through 16. For Great Division, the new difficulty range will be 9 through 12. And finally, for Normal Division, the new difficulty range will be 5 through 9. Please adjust your song picks accordingly, and good luck!"

"Well, now I'm really out," Shalin shrugged. "Some of the songs of that difficulty I can't even pass. I'd say your best bet is to just pray there's only one high difficulty song so you can just ban it. It's all luck of the draw, of course. But best of luck! They're calling my name." With that, she headed to her assigned machine and shook her opponent's hand. The camaraderie among top players was amazing; every single one of the top players was so nice despite the fierce competition. That didn't make her heart sink any less when her card was drawn, though:

Over the "Period" DIFFICULT Lv. 15
Awaodori EXPERT Lv. 14
HyperTwist CHALLENGE Lv. 18
Matt Silver CHALLENGE Lv. 17
PARANOiA survivor MAX CHALLENGE Lv. 16
Jucunda Memoria EXPERT Lv. 17
Let's Dance aROUND!! CHALLENGE Lv. 17

Unsurprisingly, the top-ranked player chose to protect the highest-difficulty chart on the card, which was one she had never passed before. There was no way she was getting out of this round with a win... right?

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 506}
{PC: 6}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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played by

Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

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105 posts

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TAG WITH @elaina

POSTED ON Jan 24, 2023 7:15:25 GMT

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Elaina was rather proud that she had done well in her first match. Beating that rude guy actually was quite fulfilling in Elaina’s opinion. Although, her second match right after wasn’t something to necessarily write home about, despite still having won. She had only managed to beat her second opponent by three-hundred points. If it wasn’t for Shalin’s tips, she more than likely would have been eliminated. “The first match was amazing, despite the guy being rude. As for the second match, my opponent was nicer, as well as more skilled. I was surprised that managed to win,” Elaina had said, to Shalin when the two of them had gotten some downtime before their next couple of matches.

[break][break]

When Shalin mentioned that they’d be on the stream for the remainder of the tournament, Elaina’s heart sank slightly. It wasn’t that she was camera shy, but rather that she wasn’t expecting something like that. “Well, I guess that just gives me the incentive to not mess up,” Elaina had said, making a small little joke. That was when the announcer’s voice echoed once more, talking about some changes that had been made. Elaina was worried about there now being seed 9 songs, however, complaining about it wouldn’t help any. “Same goes for the 9’s for me. However, it could be an advantage …” Elaina said aloud while placing a hand under her chin, remembering how they had to choose which songs to protect and ban.

[break][break]

Once again, the new matches were beginning, which meant that Shalin and Elaina went their own separate ways once again. As Elaina was looking at the new song list, she had seen a seed 9 difficulty. She didn’t know why she did what she did here, but something told her to trust her instincts. Instead of banning the highest-difficulty song, she chose to protect it instead, which was revealed. When she saw the disappointed look on her opponent's face when the seed 9 song was being done first, Elaina knew from that moment she had chosen wisely. Of course, she was worried that she’d do poorly herself, however, she had managed to get yet another win in this match. “Man, that was a gamble. However, my gut feeling was right to protect it in the end,” She thought to herself while taking a decent of her cold drink after she had won.

+ and another one! :3
[break][break]
+ Shalin Nariya

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[attr="class","credit"]milky

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played by

raikourider

She/Her

March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

Expeditionary

Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

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3,475 posts

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TAG WITH @shalinnariya

POSTED ON Jan 28, 2023 13:43:42 GMT

Stepping on the stage, Shalin was at least quite familiar with HyperTwist. It was about as straightforward as any level 18 chart in the game; it even played like a 16 for most of the song. There was just one egregious section that pivoted players' hips back and forth at whip-like speeds that went even beyond her talent. That one section alone caused her to fail the song outright. Even her opponent felt the need to conserve stamina afterward, not even bothering to finish the song. Shalin barely won her pick, leaving the deciding song as Matt Silver, a tech-dance tune that had become an ascended meme. Even the crowd watching Masters Division had to be hushed by tournament officials after singing "Get me to the other side! The other side!" as the two were about to start.

Shalin kept the score close, but her lack of familiarity with a chart that been added into the game after Meteno meant she would be seeing it for the first time in competition. Ultimately, that lack of familiarity caused her to lose by several dozen EX points in the chart's very twisty ending. She got a standing ovation for her effort, even the commentators exalting her for such a high score on a sightread of such a technical chart.

Again covered in sweat, she met back up with Elaina. To her surprise, she had won her semifinals match! She was in Winners Finals, and two match wins away from being Normal Division champion. The difficulty curve was likely getting quite far out of her comfort zone, though. "Wow, playing visually has really helped you, hasn't it?" she asked, also taking a big swig of her electrolyte-filled drink. "Will this be your first time playing a 10? Cause 10s are in the pool for you now. And the one-seed isn't gonna make it easy on you. Anyone in top 8 could have qualified a division higher with better scoring."

As the duo's cards were drawn, Shalin frowned again. "This might be it for me. Might be watching you finish your tournament run. What a run it's been for you, though." She checked on Josh in Ultra Division, finding that he had been eliminated in his last round. Both their cards looked brutal:

OVERSOUL CHALLENGE Lv. 17
First Time CHALLENGE Lv. 18
IX EXPERT Lv. 17
POSSESSION DIFFICULT Lv. 14
MAXIMIZER CHALLENGE Lv. 16
TRIP MACHINE EVOLUTION EXPERT Lv. 16
ENDYMION EXPERT Lv. 18
Poochie BASIC Lv. 8
ANTI ANTHEM BASIC Lv. 9
Reiwa DIFFICULT Lv. 7
Illegal Function Call BASIC Lv. 10
Bad Apple!! DIFFICULT Lv. 8
HARD BRAIN DIFFICULT Lv. 10
rainbow flyer DIFFICULT Lv. 6

"Ugh, so many songs I haven't cleared," the girl dejectedly sighed, her eyes scanning for Josh but ultimately unable to find him.

ELAINA PIERCE

{WC: 466}
{PC: 7}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Corona Charizard Good
Sandy Flygon Good
Kiara Pyroar-F Good
Prance Wyrdeer Good
Letheia A!Ninetales Good
Rielle Vaporeon Good

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played by

Balance

She/her

Twenty-one

October 13

Castelia City, Unova

Heterosexual

PKMN Ranger

Cadet

47 height

I'm crazy, but you like that; ... I bite back.

awards

105 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @elaina

POSTED ON Jan 29, 2023 14:25:53 GMT

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“It sure has! Plus, being able to pick up on other small things here and there as I go along has also helped,” Elaina said with a smirk. Elaina had never once thought that she’d make it to the Semifinals, but she was grateful, nonetheless that she did. It was definitely showing that she had gotten a lot better in just a short period of time. However, her luck would seemingly run out when she had seen her song choices along with Shalin.

[break][break]

“Unfortunately … it is,” Elaina had answered, biting her bottom lip slightly. She honestly thought that she might have been eliminated last round, however, her opponent was no better than her at the 9-seed song they did, and now to make matters worse, she was now able to do 10-seeds, only making things a bit more difficult. Elaina sighed and said, “This might be it for me too. Oh well. Might as well go down swinging, right?” She gave Shalin a wink before heading to go do her semifinal match.

[break][break]

Her and her opponent scanned the list, finally deciding on what to protect and ban. She decided to protect Illegal Function Call, and ban Rainbow Flyer, not seeing the point in playing a 6th seed song anymore. After they both finished, it was revealed that her opponent banned ANTI ANTHEM and protected Hard Brain … the other 10th seed song on their list.

[break][break]

Elaina had struggled albeit slightly, and by the time that the second song had finished, she had seen that she was … in the lead? According to the score sheet for both songs, she managed a 50-point lead on both. She was definitely surprised that she had managed to win this round, especially since it was not only her first time doing a ten, but doing one after the other. She felt it was impossible. As soon as Shalin and her met back up with one another, she still had her surprised look and simply said, “I won,” not really sure what to say. Honestly, she thought that this would be it for her, but, it seemed fate had other plans for Elaina. However, she had a feeling that the final match wouldn’t be hers though.

+ and another one! :3
[break][break]
+ Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

close tab

played by

raikourider

She/Her

March 18

Ecruteak City

Straight

Expeditionary

Rustboro Captain

5'4" height

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.

awards

3,475 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @shalinnariya