Tricks

Stella cannot believe the turnout this year. The event is bigger than ever. The annual Imp Training Competition is abuzz with activity, the sounds of excited buns and nervous imps all around them. Mitzi trots along at Stella’s side as they wind their way through to the prep zone.

She’s always been the best behaved of Stella’s imps. The lovely uniqor stands just 8 inches tall, with a coat as black as night. Stella took great care with her grooming this morning. She brings Mitzi over to one of the inspection tables, lifting her up onto it, and is glad when Mitzi doesn’t chuff at her as she sometimes does.

Training her hasn’t been the easiest simply because of how uniqor tend to prefer those pure of heart, but that’s exactly why Stella chose to bring her. She’s going to be the best behaved uniqor any of these judges have ever seen!

On the other side of the event, Marshmallow was lazily sipping on a drink and fiddling with Roboto, her Tomodigi. The Tomodigi was as naughty as ever as it made all kinds of weird and rude sounds and refused to stay still. Despite being cleaned the night before, its screen was smudged again and had a few specks of dirt.

She wanted to enter in her Ryudra, Xiao Lung, but the darn thing had overslept. In fact, all of the imps have overslept but Roboto. She tried for a bit to wake them up, but none of them gave her any notice. She was also too tired in the morning to try anything dramatic like splash water on them.

Marshmallow wasn’t expecting much but to have fun today. If Marshmallow is really honest, maybe she should have stayed home since Roboto doesn’t really do much most of the time. Additionally, social interaction was awkward enough as is, but even worse when all kinds of people were here. 

Even Dan was here, who she awkwardly waved to. Dan reacted with a huff. Marshmallow accidentally stuck one of his dangos into his clothes last week… Dan was here to sell his dango to the various pet owners. He had a wide selection of dango such as strawberry and mitarashi dango. He even had several new flavors, coconut and goma, which was all the rage right now. She even spotted Hutch, Harley, and Quince waiting in line right now. All three of them had bought goods. Quince had at least 10 wagashi piled up in a bag. Quince has always been a huge fan of the wagashi. 

Marshmallow finally decided to approach. “Hi,” she nervously waved to Dan. Dan rolled his eyes and muttered, “You owe me a new set of clothes.” She bought one of the new coconut dangos to try. It had a lovely, creamy flavor, “This is amazing.” She caught the slight hint of a smile on Dan’s face.

She went over to the corner to finish her dango where she saw Hutch, Harley, and Quince. Hutch was nibbling at a cocoa dango, Harley was munching on a strawberry dango, and Quince had gone through 8 packages of wagashi already with no stop in sight. Harley waved at Marshmallow and asked, “What happened to your Ryudra?” Marshmallow embarrassingly muttered, “Little shit is still asleep.” Harley let out a hearty laugh in response, “He’s a brat just like Holland.” 

Hutch chimed in, “Are you ready for the competition? We are actually the judges this time around.” Marshmallow cringed. She couldn’t believe that she let the judges see how disheveled she looked today. Marshmallow replied, “Yea… hoping for the best.” Hutch smiled again and said, “Lighten up.” 

Quince finally choked down the last of the Wagashi. She cleared her throat, “At the very least, I hope you have fun. We put a lot of effort into this competition and that’s what we wanted for everyone.” Marshmallow agreed, “I’ll try my best to have fun.”

Marshmallow suddenly spotted a very beautiful uniqor across the prep area. It was majestic and beautiful. Roboto was interested too and wanted to take a closer look. 

One of Stella’s favorite parts of these shows is checking out the competition. She loves to see the other imps, and often spends much of their prep time socializing. This time, they’re in it to win it. As soon as Mitzi notices Roboto, Mitzi chuffs and cocks her head at their observers. She got Stella’s attention and they both head towards the dango stand. 

Stella and Mitzi saw that there was a whole group there, including the three judges. They need to make a good impression. Stella and Mitzi first go buy some treats to blend in. Dan silently hands them some wagashi in exchange for some carats. Mitzi only eats the best quality treats to keep her fur shiny. 

Afterwards Stella heads towards Marshmallow and the 3 judges. Stella and Mitzi introduce themselves to everyone in the group with a smile, “Oh, hello,” she greets. Stella puts Mitzi down so that the little imp can sniff at her competition. Stella hopes Mitzi can get all her curiosity out before the show starts.

Marshmallow squeaks, “Hello! That is such a cute Uniqor you have there!” Marshmallow instantly reached her hand out to pet Mitzi, which almost messed up her fur much to the annoyance of both Stella and Mitzi. Marshmallow quickly retracted her hand once he noticed the annoyance of both the Uniqor and her owner. “Whoops, sorry for not asking first. I was too excited because of how beautiful your Uniqor is! What is her name?,” asked Marshmallow. “Her name is Mitzi,” replied Stella. Marshmallow smiled, “That’s a beautiful name! And a beautiful imp!”

Hutch also squeaks out, “I love Uniqors! They are one of my favorite imps.” Quince nodded in agreement. She also had a fond spot for those cute imps. Stella ended up discussing unicorns for the next 20 minutes before the judges had to finally run. “Catch you later!,” shouted Harley as she left. 

Marshmallow and Stella went off to their places. Marshmallow kissed Roboto several times and started wiping her down with a towel and adding a tiny bow tie. Roboto made a mechanical squeaking noise in response. If they were going to lose, they were going to lose in fashion. 

Stella, on the other hand, was very meticulous when it came to her uniqor. She started brushing out the uniqor’s fur meticulously and carefully before adding some hairspray to hold everything in place. They were going to win! 

Suddenly, an announcement was blasted throughout the area. Quince yelled, “Can all the imp trainers meet at the starting line. The first competition, the obstacle course, will begin soon!” Quince was still on mic when she started earring wagashi again. Chewing sounds were broadcasted before Harley could be heard in the background saying, “Turn off the mic, Quince!” Hutch was also heard giggling. Both Roboto and Marshmallow grinned at the trio’s antics. This seemed like it could actually be a lot of fun! 

Hutch handed all the competitors a number. They told Marshmallow, “Good luck!” Marshmallow was number 3 and Stella was number 4. As Marshmallow’s turn was approaching, she got more and more nervous. She doesn’t know any cool tricks Roboto could do… In fact, she wasn’t sure if Roboto even understood her most of the time. 

There was also a huge audience judging her every move. She could even see Dan in the crowd selling even more dango. He must have earned a fortune today. Dan noticed her and gave Marshmallow a thumbs up from a distance. Marshmallow smiled back nervously. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Marshmallow and Roboto were finally in front of the judges. As expected, the judges were Quince, Hutch, and Harley. Their respective experiences with Pedigree Pets, Imp Emporium, and other kinds of “pets” made them formidable judges.  Harley warmly announced, “Your pet will need to perform 5 tricks and will be rated on obedience, skill, uniqueness, and personality. Please begin whenever.” 

Marshmallow swallowed and turned to Roboto. Roboto was as still as even with only their eyes moving about. “Roboto, sit!,” Marshmallow asked. Roboto made a whirring sound… and did nothing at all. Roboto just rolled their eyes. They were a Tomodigi after all. They can’t sit. 

Marshmallow realized this too. Time for the next trick. Marshmallow thought for a bit, then commanded “Roboto, lay down.” Roboto fell face first into the ground. Progress at least. Marshmallow continued, ““Roboto, jump!” Roboto did nothing at all. Again, they did not have legs.

Hutch mouthed, “Go on! You can do it!” 

Marshmallow was quite embarrassed at this point and held her face in her hands. She should have seen this coming. She painfully managed to make another command, “Roboto, sing?” Roboto started to beep happily. It resembled the theme song of a popular show that involved catching imps and battling them. Marshmallow laughed, “You’re the best, Roboto.” 

Hutch smiled. They knew that Marshmallow could do it. Harley was also starting to warm up to Marshmallow and Roboto’s performance. Quince has been half paying attention up to this point, but suddenly perked up as things got interesting. 

Marshmallow finally announced, “For the last trick, spin!” Marshmallow wrapped Roboto’s chain around her finger and Roboto happily spun around several times in glee. The judges were laughing too. Quince said in between mouthfuls of more wagashi, “You two had a slow start, but I’m glad you are both enjoying yourselves. “You did great, Roboto,” Marshmallow said as she hugged her imp. It was now Stella and Mitzi’s turn. Hutch, Quince, and Harley high fived Marshmallow and Roboto as they left the stage, 

Watching the performances before theirs has boosted Stella’s confidence and with it, Mitzi’s. The uniqor has always been in tune with her moods. Mitzi prances perfectly at Stella’s side as she leads the way to stand in front of the judges. Hutch, Quince, and Harley say hello to her again. Hutch beams, “Your uniqor looks even prettier now that she’s ready for the competition!” 

Stella was extremely glad to hear that. Stella doesn’t waste a moment. “Circle me,” she calls, and Mitzi prances in a perfect circle around her, showing off her smooth gait. Stella is just glad it goes off without a hitch. It leads perfectly into her next trick as Stella holds up her arms in a circle and calls, “Hoop!”  Mitzi’s leap through her arms is perfect. Stella can’t help but grin, giggling as the little uniqor lands lightly on her hooves and gives a little prancing step. Mitzi is clearly quite pleased with herself. And Stella is just as pleased with her, but she doesn’t wait before giving the next command. They need to keep this momentum! 

“Stand tall,” Stella instructs, and Mitzi rears back onto her back hooves. She wobbles momentarily, but Stella breathes a sigh of relief when she steadies herself. Good, this is good. She can do it, even if the next trick is harder. They’ve worked so hard on this!

“Circle me,” she commands again, the same as the first trick, but this time on her hind legs only. Mitzi pulls it off, much to the delight of the audience and the judges. Quince lets out an excited squeak. 

Stella knows the next trick will be even better. “Reverse,” she says, and Mitzi circles right back the way she went around her, still on her hind legs. The judges are impressed, even Harley hums and nods. “Very nice,” she comments, and Stella beams. Mitzi drops back onto all four hooves and does a happy little prance. She’s quite pleased with herself, and Stella is pleased with her too.

“You can see the rapport between you and Mitzi,” Hutch commends and Stella nods. It was a lot of work to build that relationship, but clearly it’s paid off now. She and Mitzi exit the field, and she scoops up the uniqor with a squeal, hugging her. They still have more events for the day, but this one seems to have been a success!

At around 5pm, all the contestants were exhausted after a whole day of events. There were at least 5 events today and most contestants were in at least 2. Not for Marshmallow and Roboto tho. They actually fell asleep right after lunch, which was a whole set of Dan’s dango. The sugar and carbs knocked them right out. When they grabbed the dango from Dan, Marshmallow jealousy wondered how Dan is so fit despite all the dango he eats. He looked like a bodybuilder and could probably bench press Marshmallow if he wanted to.

Both Marshmallow and Roboto were snoring and dreaming of dango and sodas when a loud announcement blared over the intercoms. Harley excitedly announced, “Would all the lovely and amazing contestants please gather at the front as we announce the winners. Please gather at the front!”

Marshmallow groggily startles awake. Her back hurt like hell. She sits up and rubs her back. “Wake up!,” she pokes Roboto awake and Roboto finally turns on. Both of them stumble to the front and collapse onto a random bench. Marshmallow’s hair was everywhere and she was missing a stocking, but it was whatever. 

Dan walked up next to her and laughed a bit, “You’ve seen better days.” His pockets were bulging with cash and his inventory had entirely sold out. He might be the true winner of this event. Marshmallow laughed, “Not everyone can be like you.”

Stella and Mitzi, on the other hand, were well groomed and ready to impress. They were standing near the front wearing elegant matching outfits. Their excitement was palpable even to Marshmallow who was half asleep in the back. 

Marshmallow and Roboto suddenly caught Stella and Mitzi’s eyes. Stella waved. Marshmallow lazily waved back as Stella approached and sat next to her on the bench. Dan also gives Stellla and Mitzi a nod. Marshmallow smiled, “You did amazing today!” Stella grinned, “Thank you! You did too!” Stella also turns to Dan, “Your dango were also amazing. Perfect for this event.” Dan blushed slightly before thanking her. 

Hutch, Quince, and Harley stepped up to the stage. Harley gave Marshmallow a wink as she clears her throat, “Everyone today was amazing! We had a lot of familiar faces and some new ones too. However, there can only be one winner for each event.” Harley, Hutch, and Quince droned on about the winners of the racing, fashion, obstacle, and frisbee competitions, but Stella only cared about the tricks competition. Both Stella and Mitzi were brimming with anticipation.

Finally, Hutch announced, “...for the winner of the Tricks competition, we have MITZI and STELLA! Amazing job! One of the best performances we have ever seen!” Stella and Mitzi were ecstatic. Mitzi started dancing around in joy as the spotlight fell on them. Both Marshmallow and Dan grinned. Marshmallow gave Stella a high five and said, “You two absolutely deserved the win after that performance! You two are naturals!”