[center][b][color=00a99d][h2]Jun Aubert[/h2][/color][/b][/center]
[center][b][color=00a99d][h2]..AKA, Exploder Baracle[/h2][/color][/b][/center]
[hr]

The Pokemon World Contest really could not be compared to any prior contest Jun had participated in. Even one round in, he was feeling the high intensity [i]wow[/i] that was usually reserved for quarter-finals onwards. He felt electrified still, even well after the first round had concluded. Maybe that was because of how close a call it had been, he'd been paired off against a skilled Coordinator. Matching his Slugma, Rummy, against their Ninetales seemed like a disaster at first, the latter seemed to outplay its rival fire type at every turn. 

Effortless elegance combined with intense flames made it seem like the match was a no-brainer, up until Jun and Rummy turned it around at the last moment. Putting out a show-stopping finale where Rummy lit up the smog clouds she had sent into the air prior, using Flame Burst to detonate the shaped smog clouds into brilliant fireworks. Had Rummy put too much smog out, or let her flames run too hot, it would have probably crossed the line from impressive fireworks show to full-stop domestic terrorism. But if you weren't willing to risk being put on a watchlist, were you really giving it your all to win?

It was a well-earned win, and for the first time since he got his invitation, Jun felt like he really did belong here. Exploder Baracle was meant to be a criticism of contest culture, he hadn't expected the persona to grow so beloved, even if his fans were less mainstream and more cult following, but here he was. And he'd managed to prove on a stage as large as this, that unpopular Pokemon deserved better than the labels 'weird' and 'ugly.' Now he just had to keep that momentum going.

The post-match energy had carried him all the way to the Lucky Catch, where he had been celebrating with his Pokemon ever since. Well, actually just Norbert, who had not participated. Vivianne was insistent on getting a full eight hours of sleep, and Rummy was considered a fire hazard when near alcohol, or any time really, but especially when near alcohol. He had elected to celebrate with his other two Pokemon later in a more controlled environment. Which left him chilling with his Exeggutor, knocking back Aguav Berry juices - which were entirely non-alcoholic, but great on the throat. Something he needed, as Exploder Baracle yelled quite a lot during his performances. Every now and then someone would ask for a picture, or come by to congratulate him throughout the night, though not too many, most of Jun's fans weren't the type to take luxury cruises. By the time the adrenaline started to leave him, he figured he'd celebrated enough and it was time to call it a night and take off his face paint. 

Which was of course when everything went awry.

The sudden [i]jerk[/i] of the ship as its metal hull groaned coincided with Jun rising from his seat, which nearly sent him ass over teakettle. In the brief moment it took for him to steady himself, people had already begun a panicked evacuation of the restaurant. The pandemonium only escalated as one of the pillars- and [i]wow![/i] did Jun hope that was not a load-bearing pillar -began to topple over. Only halted by the quick action of a Machamp employed by the restaurant, who was not having a great time holding it in place.

Another party-goer that Jun felt as though he recognized came stumbling through, removing the Machamp and himself from harm's way, which was good. It was not the only danger, though, just the primary one. The secondary one was with all the pushing and jostling going on, some people were bound to get knocked over, and likely trampled. Jun had been in enough rowdy crowds to know how dangerous that was, so he draws from the power his face paint gave him, and bellows out a shout worthy of Exploder Baracle.

[b][i][color=00a99d]"HEYYYYY!! SHOW SOME CARE, CLEAR SOME ROOM FOR'EM TO STAND!"[/color][/i][/b] Jun's voice carries across the chaos with the volume of someone who has several times had to deal with a broken microphone and a crowd needing to hear him. It helped.. a little bit. But mostly Norbert's psychic abilities were doing the heavy lifting. Literally speaking, as the Exeggutor was levitating people up to their feet before releasing his telekinetic hold.