Chapter 2: Street Performance
Before this chapter kicks off, just wanted to say that this story is not one of the typical pokemon fanfics where the MC is focusing on collecting badges. This story is more leaned towards him living a new life and having a new uprising in the entertainment world than actual battles, though he will get stronger and stronger as the story progresses.
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"Speech"
'Thoughts'
『Songs』
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For the past twenty minutes or so, Cayde had been walking around this city to see if there was a solid way for him to rack some money up. He had come across a number of stores and could see the general price of some items, as well as menus which were displayed outside of restaurants.
He wasn't completely certain if they were considered 'expensive' or not, but if he went by the general knowledge that Pokeballs in the games he played were probably around two or three hundred pokedollars, then the items he had seen weren't too expensive.
He would assume that Pokeballs would be a bit pricy since the process of making one was probably a bit costly. Though, the question was if the price was actually considered expensive or if his assumptions for the price were too far off.
Aside from that though, he needed to find a way to make money first before he could even start to think about how to properly spend it so he could manage it properly. Thankfully, that wasn't going to be a problem as long as he could find a good open space.
That was why he was walking around right now, he was searching for an open and crowded space where he could street perform. He had talents in singing and dancing, so why not utilize that and try to make some cash by street performing? He had already managed to get his hands on a discarded black backpack, which was still in pretty good condition, so he could use that to hold what he got.
It was actually something he and his brother in the past did to make some money to pay back for the orphanage they went to, they both felt bad for freeloading from the place even if the whole point of an orphanage was to take care of kids who couldn't provide for themselves for whatever reasons.
It had proven rather effective for them as they made quite a lot of money through it. Not only that though, street performing allowed them to both practice their singing and dancing abilities as well as provide them enjoyment. They both loved singing and dancing, so that was a bonus.
"This looks good..." Cayde muttered as he stopped in front of a fountain that was placed at the center of what looked to be an open central area of the city. The space was pretty open and there were a number of large crowds of people hanging around all over.
This spot was mainly ideal as the amount of space allowed him to move while dancing more freely, and the crowd was good as that would mean he could gather a large number of people to watch. If he was looking to make some money, having more people watching his performance was important.
"Let's see here... okay, this song should do." Cayde smiled as he switched through the different songs using the buttons on his headphones. He also made sure to turn on the voice amplifier, he did need people to actually hear his voice after all.
The song he had chosen wasn't a calming song per say, so it would garner quite a bit of attention due to the volume and energy. Also, he considered the fact that this place was speaking in English, so using an English song was probably for the best as singing in Japanese would probably confuse people due to not being able to understand.
Plus, he wasn't entirely sure how people would view him singing in a foreign language. Anyway, Cayde quickly turned the volume on his headphones to the max before giving a couple of tongue clicks to test the microphone, causing a few people and their pokemon to turn their heads around in confusion when they heard it.
'Alright, let's do this.' Cayde smirked as he pressed the play button on his headphones after having gotten into position. He began tapping his foot on the ground as the beat started playing. As the music was projected outwards, the sound caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
They looked around in confusion for a second before quickly pinpointing the source of the noise, which they all soon turned their attention directly towards Cayde. He had his eyes closed as he listened to the beat, counting down in his head for when to begin.
A small crowd was already beginning to form in front of him as the music began to gain intensity, and it wasn't long before Cayde opened his eyes before he opened his mouth and began to sing. His words booming through the area like a lightning bolt as his voice immediately entranced the entire plaza.
『Born For This - by The Score』
"♪ I'm checking my vital signs. Drawing my battle lines. Going to war again ♪"
As he sang, he also danced to the music as the entire plaza gave him space as they all surrounded him as they watched him perform. It didn't take long at all before every single person from the plaza, along with others elsewhere who had suddenly heard the music, had come to listen as they all watched him with eyes of admiration and awe.
As this was happening, no one noticed a limousine driving by the area, they were all too engrossed in the music that the sound of the engine and wheels were completely void to them. Inside the limousine was an old woman wearing a black long-sleeved dress, along with a maroon scarf and a pair of glasses of the same color.
This woman was Palermo, someone that was known not only as a popular producer, but also as the previous Kalos Queen of the region. At the current time, she was in the limo heading towards the venue for the upcoming Pokemon Showcase that was going to be held here in the city.
Was she excited or interested in it? Not really. She was honestly not wanting to go at all, she knew for a fact that there weren't going to be any performers there that would catch her interest. Ever since she mentored the current Kalos Queen, she doubted she would ever see someone like her ever again.
"Hm...?" Palermo heard loud cheering, and it confused her. Did the Pokemon Showcase start earlier than expected? If that was the case, why wasn't she informed of the change? Though, this didn't seem to be the case as she pinpointed the cheering to be from the plaza just in front of them. "Stop the car!"
At Palermo's orders, the driver immediately stopped the car as Palermo rolled down the window and taking off her sunglasses. She narrowed her eyes as she could hear a faint voice along with some kind of music among the cheers, though it was hard to see since they were still a bit of a distance away.
"Bring me over towards the crowd." Palermo voiced as the driver nodded before turning the car towards the plaza. The driver drove slowly before stopping as Palermo quickly got out of the car and began walking towards the crowd. Luckily, there was one section at the edge of the crowd so she could see what was happening clearly.
The crowd were all incredibly distracted that they didn't notice her appearance at all, and Palermo didn't care at all about that as she was curious about just what they were all cheering for. Were one of the performers doing a little show before the actual showcase? Or something else?
When Palermo arrived at the front, she looked towards what everyone was so entranced by that they had their mouths permanently sculpted into a smile as their eyes didn't dare blink. When she did, she widened her eyes in an instant when the sight was revealed.
What she saw was a young man dancing while singing at the same time, his voice and the music being projected from what she assumed were the headphones on his head. In an instant, even she felt completely entranced by the powerful yet soothing voice of this young man.
While a normal person wouldn't be able to tell, she made incredible notes of his movements as well as his voice. He had perfect control over the voice pitches and tones, and his movements were all fluent, nothing at all stiff. It was as if he was dancing without even thinking.
She was already completely engrossed in the performance, and she couldn't believe it. When she first came to this city for the showcase, she didn't ever expect to see such a spectacle as she was seeing at the moment. He obviously wasn't here to participate in the Pokemon Showcase, being a boy and all.
She would dare say that this young man was better than even Aria, and that was really saying something. It wasn't just his voice, but it was just something about him that seemed to draw this massive crowd to him like a powerful magnet, or a black hole.
Even though this young man didn't have any special effects being produced around him during his performance or pokemon using their moves, Palermo felt as if the young man was shining brighter than Aria or herself ever did. His voice, movements, and presence alone made him shine bright like the sun. Not literally, but she felt like it did.
It wasn't only the people and pokemon of the plaza that were attracted to the performance, even a few flying-type pokemon that were flying past stopped and landed atop the building to watch. The young man's performance attracted all kinds of individuals that were around the area.
Palermo watched the performance all the way to the finish, her attention never leaving the young man's form as he sang with a confident smile on his face. When the performance ended, Cayde didn't at all appear tired as he gave the audience a bow as they all cheered and clapped loudly for him.
Throughout the entire performance, a number of people had come over and dropped some money into the backpack he had open on the ground. A number of kids and a few adults had come over to get his autograph as well, which he politely gave them as he closed his bag and switched off his headphones.
Palermo, seeing that the crowd was now finally dispersing, calmly walked on over towards where the young man was fixing up his clothes while taking off his headphones and hanging them around his neck. She wasn't able to head towards him before due to the crowd, but she waited for them to leave before moving.
"Excuse me, young man."
"Hm?"
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone