“Okay, we only have a few more in front of us,” Aiyana said, leaning out to look at the line of performers going out onto the stage. She then looked down at her Pikachu partner. “You gonna be ready to go, Dolly?”

“Pika pika!” the electric Pokemon replied enthusiastically. Dolly, being the kind of Pikachu that liked to cosplay, was dressed in his favorite costume: that of a sparkly, pretty pop star. His tail, flat on the end with a black tip, swished back and forth excitedly. 

“Oops, hang on a sec.”

Aiyana bent down and grabbed the edge of her partner’s pink-and-white skirt. The sparkly costume bottom had been flipped up, statically stuck to its matching top. The Pokemon’s colorful pull-up, which matched the magenta, cream, and purple ribbon on his right ear, would have been visible to the whole contest hall!

After straightening out the Pikachu’s outfit, his trainer gave a thumbs-up. “All clear!”

”Chu chu!” Dolly replied, an embarrassed blush on his face.

Aiyana tightened the bun her wavy black hair was in, then brushed the long, swooping bangs off to the right. Her gray eyes widened; she quickly checked that her own pull-up, green and white like the rest of her outfit,  wasn’t somehow visible in a manner similar to her Pokemon’s. As a rising star in the contest scene, such an amateurish blunder could ruin her reputation! She sighed with relief as she found her dark green skirt to not, in fact, be hiked up.  

Once she was satisfied that she wouldn’t be having any wardrobe malfunctions, Aiyana looked over to her stepsister, who was standing ahead of her in line. The brown-haired girl wore a pink sleeveless hoodie, light blue jean shorts, and striped socks matching both. Yellow shoes matched the bracelet on her right arm, as well as the chunky beads in her hair.

Aiyana reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, Hailey,” she asked, “how’re y’all doing? You ready to do your thing in a few minutes?” She could tell it was Hailey because her sidetail was on the left side of her head.

The younger, lighter-skinned girl turned around, her expression already annoyed. “Oh, wow, you actually got it right this time.”

Aiyana frowned. “Hey, no need to be rude!”

The girl’s twin, Henri, walked up and handed her sister a colorful bag of candy. “They’re out of the sour ones, so I got you the tropical mix.”

“Thanks,” Hailey responded, taking the treat and opening it.

“Hailey,” Aiyana chided, “You shouldn’t have another bag of candy - too much of that stuff will give you an upset tummy.” She then turned to Henri, who had just popped open a can of soda. “And you shouldn’t be drinking so much soda, Henrietta. You’re - “

“Only my mom calls me that,” Henri interrupted, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah,” chimed in Hailey, “Our mom, the one we have.”

“And I can drink soda if I want to,” Henri continued, “It’s sugar-free!”

Aiyana felt a slight pang in her chest at the mean comment, but chose to ignore it. 

“Henri,” she corrected herself, “that’s like, what, your fourth one tonight? You're gonna be soaking wet during your performance. You’ll be lucky if you don’t leak!”

“My diaper can handle it,” Henri said as she patted the puffy seat of her blue jean shorts. She turned forward in line, loudly slurping her drink as she did so.

“Yeah, mind your own business!” Hayley added, sticking out her tongue before also turning forward.

The exchange left a bad taste in Aiayana’s mouth, but it was nothing new. It had only been about a month since their separate families had become one big one; there were bound to be growing pains as they learned to live together.

“Pi-pika!” 

Dolly’s giggling caught Aiyana’s attention. The Pikachu was socializing with the twins’ partner Pokemon, both Raichus.

Xenon, the boy, was Henri’s. He had Mega-Evolved into a Mega Raichu X for the contest; a Raichunite X stone, attached to a pastel blue bow, gleamed from the back of his neck. Around his bottom was a matching tape-up diaper: pastel blue with white trim, and a white star shape on the seat.

The girl, Krypton, belonged to Hailey. Like the other Raichu, she had Mega-Evolved for the contest; however, she had become a Mega Raichu Y. Her mega stone was also attached to a bow tied around her neck, a pastel purple one. Her diaper, a counterpart to the one the other Raichu wore, was pastel purple with white trim, and a white heart shape on the rear.

“Rai rai!” Xenon exclaimed as he showed off his two tails..

“Chu chu!” interjected Krypton, jumping up and down.

Well, Aiyana thought, at least our Pokemon can get along.

A few minutes passed, and soon the twins were at the front of the line. 

“Up next are Henri and Hailey,” a voice announced over the loudspeaker, ”with their partners, Xenon and Krypton!”  

“Good luck you two!” Aiyana gave a thumbs-up to her stepsisters, who completely ignored her as they walked onstage.

Even though she felt a little bad about it, she couldn't help but smirk. Before the twins left, Aiyana could see that Hailey had a hand to her stomach, while Henri’s puffed-out shorts had dark spots running down the legs

Hate to say ‘I told ya so,’ but…