(Thank you so much to the judges for giving us a light extension due to emergency personal issues)

Co-written with Izumi Yamamura


For Izumi, when Josh told her about a shindig taking place in Caravella, she was initially leery of the thing. Wondering if he’d decided to finally go off his rocker, she then humored him as he laid out the “battle plan”, which was actually something similar to the few times he’d joined a Coordinator’s contest either as a judge, or at the very least, someone who was actively participating in it (she still had the video recorded from the time he took second place stashed away somewhere, of course). When he’d worded it specifically that it was a contest about “love”, that sent her eyebrows skywards before she’d ended up peppering him with questions—and eventually they’d agreed on cracking out a routine.

Even if they were rather short on time altogether, she knew that he really honestly wanted a shot at participating—and winning if it was at all possible. so of course, they started planning everything out. From the six Pokémon they’d be using; to the construction of the one big-ass prop they’d be using (really, it was a go big or go home moment at this point); hell, even down to the costumes that they’d be wearing on-stage, she’d decided to get most of that done while Josh would be the one throwing the rest of the routine together.

They’d also snuck in cheesy practice routines on the side while not being too busy with either planning for their wedding (gods, that reminded her of something that they needed to get to as well, whoops) or getting arrangements done to transport their lone backdrop—which doubled as the castle prop for the opening and ending scene—out to Caravella. Of course, the practice routines weren’t without fault as well; while he had some semblance of vocal talent, she on the other hand was literally winging it and practicing while in the shower (because let’s face it, she was terrible at this).

The night of the competition finally came, and while the other performers were busy on-stage with their razzle-dazzle, they’d both taken steps to go among the crowd and actually ask some of them seated here and there to be a participant in their crazy-ass routine, which involved them picking out which part of the crowd to land in during their performance and stuff, as well as asking some of them to hang onto some very specific props that they were going to be using and picking up during the course of their performance proper.

As the crowd gets settled and ready for the next performance after that last stunner, a castle set piece would be brought in, and nearby a large screen. As it was brought about, a song would begin to play…



The next set pieces to be brought in depict sand and desert for a background, and the screen piece above the castle shows video of a desert landscape…



Izumi, dressed in an arabian styled, light blue color gracing a belly-less outfit, steps out onto the balcony of the castle set-piece. Her raven-colored hair has been allowed to fall past her shoulders and down to her hips with a very long ponytail. Her headband matches the color of her outfit, with a diamond-like gem crested in the center. A golden necklace and earrings accompany them. The woman rests her elbows on the fencing of the makeshift balcony, as a Torracat though the sound of music causes her to perk up quickly as trumpets can be heard.

The spotlight comes down on a flying carpet. Yes, you heard me right, a flying carpet! Resting on it was of course, Josh, wearing an Arabian outfit that like that of his fiance, appeared to be royal in nature. He very much looked the part of a Sand Prince. The royal raiment was white, with gold highlights and a red gem on the forehead.

The voiceover would begin to boom across the arena…



The next song begins to play, and Josh clears his throat as he would get to his feet. An Aipom wearing a similar hat to it’s master and beads along it’s tail would stare down at the audience as they would fly about. Of course, what couldn’t be seen behind the castle was two Alakazam. One Josh’s, one Izumi’s, as one of the two were using Psychic to levitate the carpet.

“Alright..” Josh would mutter to himself. While not like the movie they’d based this from, he felt it gave a new spin to it if he sang this himself… Though there were some voiceovers involved too, certainly. Josh would adjust the cape on the royal outfit. It was a bit tight, but he could deal. Izumi’s tailoring work was astounding, it looked good. A bit tight but it looked good.

So he cleared his throat once more… Alright, here we go! We’d see if the karaoke valentines day events, and the rehearsals for this, would work out…



Josh holds out his arms to the crowd and shoots them a cheeky, but charming grin.

“Prince Ali! Fabulous he!

Ali Ababwa!

Genuflect, show some respect

Down on one knee!

Now, try your best to stay calm

Brush up your sunday salaam

The come and meet his spectacular coterie!

Prince Ali!

Mighty is he!

Ali Ababwa!

Strong as ten regular men, definitely!

He faced the galloping hordes

A hundred bad guys with swords!”

Josh would quickly pick up a toy sword that was resting on the carpet just in time for the other Alakazam, Izumi’s, to telekinetically send an array of toy swords flying at the carpet, which the Desert Prince would begin to fend off using the toy sword of his own. Josh’s Aipom would assist, using Double Hit to send several more flying back. As the swords would fall, Josh would continue the song.

“Who sent those goons to their lords?

Why, Prince Aliiiiii!”

The screen would begin to show several Pokemon of colors different from their regular. Pokeshop was a wonder, wasn’t it?

“He's got seventy-five golden Camerupts!

Purple Pidgeots,

He's got fifty-three!”

Josh had to keep from snickering at these boasts. He was having an absolute blast with this, and the look on his face sold it. Even if the boasts were ridiculous and made it difficult to keep from laughing.



Josh would hold out his arms to flex to the crowd, though he also had to be careful not to rip the fabric… He could hear screams throughout the crowd, so he supposed he was doing his job right. Would Izumi kill him for the screams, or ripping the fabric? Eh, either or, probably.



Josh would listen as voiceovers would accompany his singing.



He could hear the voiceovers then kick in, singing “Proud to work for him!



Josh took back over then, grinning wryly.

“Amorous he! Ali Ababwa!

Heard your princess was a sight lovely to see!

And that, good people, is why he got dolled up and dropped by

With sixty Donphans, Landorus galore

With his Ursarings and Pyroars,

A brass band and more!

With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers

His birds that warble on key

Make way for prince Ali!”

Josh would turn to the crowd and hold out his arms as the crowd would applaud, only to have to duck his head as his Torracat, Micken, who was playing the part of Jasmine’s pet, would launch a Flamethrower. The crowd would begin to laugh as Josh would peer from where he was ducking to stare at them for a moment, and at the Princess who hadn’t even seemed to notice!

Josh would look from the crowd, then back to them, to the crowd, and then back to them, with a comically bewildered expression that would draw laughter from the crowd once again. With that, Josh would hook the earpiece to his ear connected to the speakers, and turn it on as the magic carpet would fly over the audience, who stared up at him. With that, he would look down at the audience and begin to address them directly.

“Psst. PSST! You see her? That’s Princess Jasmine, she’s an absolute beauty, isn't she?” “Prince Ali” would exclaim to the audience. “So full disclosure with you guys. I met this genie, and he made me a Prince so I could impress her! But I don’t know if that’ll be enough. Come on guys, suggestions? Help a “Prince” out here, will ya?”

Josh’s carpet would fly around the audience area as people would begin shouting ideas. One of them, a plant obviously, would hold up an apple.

“Give her an apple!”

Josh would perk up as the carpet would fly toward them, and he took the apple. “Why, thank you!”

Another plant would hold up a bouquet of flowers.

“I’ll bet she’d love these flowers!”

“Oh!”

Josh would once again fly to the plant, and take the flowers. “Oh, these are BEAUTIFUL! She will love these for sure!”

With that, the magic carpet would drop him off on the balcony as the Princess would perk up… For Izumi, wondering just what the approaching shadow was up to, she then walked the short distance to the very edge of the balcony, keeping her eyes peeled on the incoming figure. The Torracat then put his front paws up on the edge of the balcony just as the “magic carpet” soared in for a landing, dropping Prince Josh—Prince Ali, for correctness’s sake—on the balcony proper.

Thank hell there are two Alakazam here. It makes this shit easier to manage, because the prop is as flimsy as it is! She thought to herself as she then looked at her “unexpected guest” with a critical stare as he seemingly dropped down onto the balcony from out of the “sky”. “What… what are you doing, how did you get up here?”

“Oh, me?” he began airily, waving a hand around like it was nothing. “Can’t tell, it’s a trade secret,” came the equally cheeky reply. At that moment, the Torracat then began to circle around her protectively, trying to bat it’s paws at its owner—who he barely just recognized under the strange costume he was wearing. “I just thought… I wanted to drop by and see you.”

“What if my father sees you,” she said in a dramatic stage-whisper, before looking right at the audience. “What if the Grand Vizier catches you out here as well?” she added a few moments later, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a searching stare. “I know you don’t want to get into trouble with him most of all, but—”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. If they come crashing in here,” he continued, turning around before hopping back over the ledge, “…they won’t catch me!” and off he went, which then caused her to break a mad dash across the ‘balcony’ to see if he’d fallen to his death. Instead she was surprised with his sudden appearance on what appeared to be a flying carpet.

“You… can fly?” she asked with a bit of an incredulous tone in her voice, raising her eyebrow ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I can. Rather, he can,” he replied with yet another cheeky grin. The Aipom would casually wave at the Princess from it’s perch on the carpet as well. “Great way to get around the place without having to walk on the ground. Wanna take a spin with me?”

“Are you sure that’s…safe?”

“Do you trust me, then,” he continued with that same annoyingly cheeky smirk on his face; one that she knew all too well. “If you do, then…”

She then considered the situation, looking at it from several angles—while the Torracat tried to swat the “magic carpet” out of the air, it failed to do so. After all of ten seconds, she then nodded his way. “J-just don’t drop me,” she muttered as she took his outstretched hand, before he quickly pulled her up onto the ‘flying carpet’ and they began to soar away, leaving a very confused Torracat staring up at the both of them. “Hold on tight!” Josh called to the Princess as he would laugh while they went soaring high, high in the air!

In the background, the second Alakazam would join in with Psychic, keeping the carpet steady despite the multiple occupants, and keeping it floating steadily in the air.

As the next song would begin, Izumi would hold on tight as their speed increased. He didn’t know if he’d wooed her just yet, but how? Oh! He knew!

“I can show you the world!”

The lights would dim to signify night, as the two would fly up in front of the screen. The screen would depict a night sky, with an arabian city below. Josh’s Lunatone would appear then just over them, and using Cosmic Power would emit a bright, captivating light that would complete this night sky.

“Shining, shimmering, splendid!”

The Aipom would hand Josh the flowers, which he would hand to Izumi - garnering her a stunned but delighted reaction as she couldn’t help but smell the bouquet. This reaction? Genuine. Izumi knew Josh had been doing something with audience members who were in on the act and doing something with items, but she hadn’t heard him say anything about the flowers… Nor did she know he was doing this! The wry grin that the blonde threw toward his fiance told the whole story the moment that he seemed to realize the gesture was sincere. Not part of the act exactly, or well… Part of the act but also sincere and real at the same time. Josh continued to sing though, trying his best to keep from laughing at the rosey cheeks of his wife to be.

“Tell me, princess, now when did

You last let your heart decide!

I can open your eyes,

Take you wonder by wonder…”

The two - and monkey - on the carpet would be thrown for a loop as the carpet would fly over the audience once again, this time flipping sideways as the trio would be kept on thanks to the two Alakazam. The carpet would do a loop de loop then, though they still managed to stay on due to the effects of Psychic.

“Over sideways and under,

On a…

Magikarp-et-ride!”

The moment he'd dropped that pun, Princess Jasmine—rather, Izumi—turned to look at Prince Ali—Josh—with a look that almost said, “You can't be serious, did you really just do that?!” while trying to fight down an unrehearsed, unplanned laughing fit. Sometimes there was an imminent danger of having such a cheesy fiancé who wielded puns like it was nobody's business. Had he been waiting his whole life for that one particular moment?!

And it didn't help, now that she got a better look at the carpet that they were riding on, had a cunningly-hidden design of what appeared to be pixel Magikarp in the trim…

The two would fly over the screen again, which would begin to depict clouds in the starry sky. A smoke machine planted behind the castle would begin to generate white smoke, as the two would soar through the aforementioned “clouds”...

"A whole new worrllllld!

A new fantastic point of view!

No one to tell us no,

Or where to go,

Or say we're only dreaming!”

Izumi was next, and the raven-haired Trainer hesitated a moment. She didn’t have the same amount of singing experience as her fiance, and for a moment she had begun to doubt herself. Noticing this quickly, the blonde would lean in and whisper into her ear. His arm found it’s way to her shoulder as he would encourage her. Someone with good enough ears might catch something along the lines of “You can do this! You’re an amazing singer, I know you can do it! I believe in you, you can do this!”

Seeming to find herself brimming with confidence for the first time since this had begun, Izumi nodded her head as she began to join in.

“A whole new world!

A dazzling place I never knew!

But when I'm way up here,

It's crystal clear

That now I'm in a whole new world with you!”

Josh couldn’t help the prideful grin that spread across his face. He was proud of her, and happy that she’d found her confidence. Now it was time for him to join her, as the two would begin to sing together.



Josh’s Minior would appear, using Shell Smash as it would shed into it’s Meteor Form and fly across the sky, soaring above the heads of Josh and Izumi and over the audience, the sudden motion causing Izumi to try to cover her eyes.



Josh would gently pull her hands from her eyes, wanting her to see all that this trip had to offer.

I'm like a shooting star,

I've come so far!

I can't go back to where I used to be!

A whole new world!

Every turn a surprise!

The Torracat, who had snuck down from the castle at some point, would begin to chase after the flying magic carpet, around the time that Josh had been handed the apple by the Aipom who had spent a great deal of the time waving to the crowd, and encouraging the crowd to wave back at the flying “magic” carpet.

"With new horizons to pursue!

Every moment, red-letter!

I'll chase them anywhere

There's time to spare

Let me share this whole new world with you!”

Prince Ali would present her with the apple, to which she would then smile and toss it down to the Torracat, who caught it between his teeth and began to roll around as he batted at the apple between his jaws, bringing out guffaws and “d’aww”’s from the crowd.

“A whole new world!

A whole new world,

That's where we'll be!

That's where we'll be,

A thrilling chase,

A wondrous place,

For you and me!”

The two would take one another’s hand, and “Jasmine” would lean her head on the shoulder of “Prince Ali” as the song would end, and over their head the Lunatone would use Psychic to fire a blast. As the magic carpet would land at the castle, and they would dismount... The Torracat would fire with Flamethrower, the attacks contacting to create an explosive of dazzling fire that would dance about thanks to the effects of Psychic. The Minior would fly overhead and use Cosmic Power, shining a bright light before triggering Explosion, the move ending the performance with a series of firework-like explosives, which the two Alakazam -- now that they could focus on other things once the carpet had landed -- would begin to manipulate to create a dazzling show using the sparks from the explosives and fire. The miniature fireworks show would bring applause from the crowd, as Josh and Izumi would take a bow.

As the crowd cheered, Josh would lean in to whisper into Izumi’s ear.

“Damn, should’a saved the proposal for the show. Though I suppose it wouldn’t have as much effect seeing as someone went and did it already…” He joked in a whisper, chuckling lightly.

“It was special - and perfect just the way it was” The raven-haired Trainer would comfort in a whisper of her own. “But I’m sure the wedding will be just as special.”

"You mean that?"

"Mhm!"

“Yeah… We should probably get around to that” Josh joked lightly in a whisper. “I’d say Izumi Dragomir has a nice ring to it, doncha think?”

Izumi tried to hide her once again newly rosey cheeks as they would exit stage left...

Claiming a Rufflet

Josh Dragomir is claiming Nidoran F, Izumi Yamamura is claiming Nidoran M