"Be careful Amber, pikachus aren’t the pokemon to under-estimate!" Mrs. Starr explained.

"Don’t worry Mom! Go! Firefly! Use Ember!" Amber shouted. Firefly shot several balls of fire at the mouse, it dodged all, but two. It was burnt badly.

"Yes! Now use Ember again!" Amber shouted again. Firefly did so; the pikachu was hit by three this time and nearly went down.

"Now use Tackle!" Firefly charged at the pikachu, her left, front leg pounded into it. The pikachu was sent flying into a tree and Firefly slowed down then stopped as Amber threw a poke’ball.

"You’re mine pikachu!" Amber cried as the ball sucked it in. The ball wiggled…wiggled…wiggled…Ding!

"All right! I caught my first pokemon!" Amber cried as she picked the ball up. "Too bad I don’t have anywhere to carry it though…"

"Don’t be silly, I bought you some clothes. But Wing here might want to change at his own home," Mrs. Starr said with a laugh. "Let’s get going to camp, there you can show your father something that might get him out of his pokemon research." Amber sweat-dropped. Her father, Mr. Ron Starr was a pokemon habitat professor and basically traveled the world.

"There’s camp," Mrs. Starr said as they trotted to the end the forest to a large clearing. Tents and campers were set up everywhere.

"Wow, everyone here is for the contest?" Wing asked.

"Sure is," a man said, it was Ron Starr. He had blue hair and a neatly shaven face with a green-brown uniform on like archeologists wear. "Hello Amber, and who might this be?" Amber introduced Wing.

"Where can we sign up for the contest Mom?" Amber asked.

"I’m sure your father will do that," Mrs. Starr said as she eyed her husband.

"Yes I know, can I burrow Polo?" Ron asked as she dismounted. He mounted quickly and turned backwards and started to canter. "I’ll be back in a bit!"

"Well, let’s heal that pikachu of yours. What are you going to call it?" Mrs. Starr asked.

"Hmm, what about Volts?" Amber asked.

"What’s the problem with that?" Mrs. Starr asked as she took the ball and went inside the tent that Ron set up. A slight ding was heard from inside and Mrs. Starr came back out and handed Amber the ball. "Good as new Amber," Amber smiled.

"Great! Let’s get to work on Firefly and Moondancer!" she said. Firefly neighed happily, Moondancer came out of his poke’ball.

"Do you have any grooming supplies Mom?" Amber asked.

"Sure do! Let me fetch it real quick," she said, as she ran back into the tent.

When Mrs. Starr appeared with the brushes and hoof picks, Wing and Amber started grooming instantly. In basic horse care, you use the currycomb brush first; you rub the coat in circles, but NEVER use it on the legs or head. Think of it like you using your own brush on your ankle, hard that is.

Next, you use something called the dandy brush or something like that. Simple as it looks, you brush the way of the fur growth, and you can also use it on the legs. When you do brush the legs, it might be a good idea to brush away from you and do the underside as well. You can use a simple horse comb to brush the mane and tail.

Then you use the hoof pick, don’t get frustrated or nervous on your first try or the horse will sense that and use that to take advantage of you. And from experience, horses are stubborn and certainly won’t move at first. When you go and pick a horse’s hoof, start at the front and don’t worry about getting hurt, just avoid being stepped on the foot.

All right, you first lean against the horse; your head is going towards the horse’s rear and bend down. With your left hand (Or whatever side your on, Horse’s right, you use your right. Horse’s left, you use your left.) You pinch the tender part above the ankle called the tendons. Also, lean hard against the horse. If they won’t move their hoof, pinch harder. (It doesn’t hurt them, it just makes them uncomfortable) When they lift their hoof, go for the front part of the hoof and DON'T let go. It can take a few tries for first timers, but it’s not impossible.

When you have the hoof up, pick the stones and dirt or whatever else is in there and scraped it off. Dig into it; just avoid the V part called the Frog. If you tap your fingernail, you’ll figure out that it doesn’t hurt, well a horse’s hoof is made of something similar to your nail and there’s over a hundred layers of it! So, the only thing it can feel with is the frog, so don’t go hitting it or you’re in for some injuries. When your done, you do the exact same thing with the hind legs, and dodge the tail if it’s long. You can also add some hoof oil to the hoof if they need it.

I think that’s it, if you want to braid your horse’s mane and tail. Just remember not every horse likes braids and it’s a lot harder to swat flies away during the summer with a braided tail! Back to the story!

"I’m done!" Amber shouted as she finished brushing the body, it shined with the setting sun. Moondancer’s coat shined, but not as brightly till the moon came out of the clouds.

"Moondancer’s flames really help the texture out, don’t they?" Wing asked proudly as he patted Moondancer.

"Yep! But even with a different colored ponyta, you’re still going to have a difficult time." Ron said with a grin as he finished making dinner. Polo and Marco greeted Firefly and Moondancer as they joined them to graze, but Marco rather snack on the apples from the apple trees around the camp.

"Amber, you’re number 13 and Wing, you are 14," Ron said as he gave them a plate of food.

"What’s your number Mom?" Amber asked. Mrs. Starr held up three fingers.

"I can’t wait till tomorrow! I want to meet as many people of my age as possible! Maybe one of them will want to travel with us!" Amber shouted. Wing sweat-dropped.

"Chill Amber, this is just a contest after all." Wing said.

"Yeah! But we can find out about some stuff while we’re here!" Amber said happily, "Like strategies, attacks, gym leaders, other trainers…"

"Okay! Let’s just get some sleep, so we don’t fall asleep in the middle of the contest tomorrow," Wing said as he climbed into the tent and unrolled his sleeping bag.

"You better go to sleep too," Mrs. Starr said to Amber. Ron put out the fire as the three joined Wing inside.

"Now! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! People who qualified for the Glamour Contest! Please make your way to the stage!" The PA rang.

"Good luck Wing," Amber said.

"You too," he said back as he led Moondancer at the end of the line up.

To be continued