Act 7: The Amber Spotlight


A few weeks later, Lita smiled as she looked over the review for their latest successful play. We've amassed a lot of enthusiastic actors and crew, even if not all the plays were successful...

She looked over at the group's performer badge, which had now turned a bronze color. I hope we can venture out beyond Harmony Town soon...and show the world that we can make it all the way to Luminous City!

Some excited footsteps and a knock startled her from her thoughts. "Who is it?" she asked as she got up to see who was at the door.

"It's me, Ruby!" came a familiar voice from outside. "I've got some big news!"

Lita opened the door to find Ruby beaming as she clutched an envelope in her paws. "Hi, Ruby...what's the big news?" she asked as she gently escorted the excited Scorbunny inside.

"We got an invite from the Grandview Theater--Amber Town's theater." Ruby explained as she showed Lita the envelope with a slightly orange tinge.

After carefully opening the envelope, Ruby read the letter inside. "Dear Ruby, we've heard a lot of exciting things about your newfound troupe. We wish to personally invite you to this year's Rising Star Festival. The Rising Star Festival is a week long showcase of up and coming troupes, as well as new material from established troupes. Each up and coming troupe is paired with an established troupe as a mentor, who will help you make your next productions stand out, and make your existing productions even better..."

"Is there a schedule of events, or who our mentor troupe will be?" Lita wondered.

Ruby read further down the page. "It says that we will be paired with the Aurora Players of the Apollo Theater of Port Sunset. It also says that we need to have a week's worth of plays prepared for the festival--six to be revised, reworked, and performed; and our best one to perform on the final day of the festival. We'll also get to see the Aurora Players perform a few times."

"I don't think I've seen the Aurora Players perform before...what are they like?" Lita asked.

"They mainly specialize in musicals, but they do straight plays too." Ruby replied as she folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope. "Their recent work includes 'The Rescue of Miranda', 'The Demon Head', and 'The Adventures of Daniel the Daring."

"Those sound exciting!" Lita smiled. "But which one of our plays are we going to do? Out of our successful ones, anyway."

"We've done sixteen plays so far, and of those, ten were successful--hence the Bronze ranking of our badge." Ruby explained. "We can leave the bad and the okay plays at home--we want to put forth our best work to the Aurora Players."

Lita thought for a moment. "We could do 'The Weaver's Son', 'The Legend of Destrian'..."

"'The Tale of Moltres..." Ruby suggested. 'Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow' should make them laugh."

"'Fire, Ice, and Lightning' for sure..." Lita suggested. "'The Hero's Sword'...and 'The Faithful Fair One'. That should be a week's worth of shows."

"Perfect--I'll go send a letter back informing the festival committee we'll be there." Ruby smiled. "Then, we'll tell everyone else what to expect."

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The way to Amber Town from Harmony Town was not far. For the most part, it didn't look any different from Harmony Town, save for the orange roofs on the houses. However, theatrical troupes from all across the Jeweled Continent had converged on this unassuming orange-tinged town for the Rising Star Festival. "Wow..." Brenna gasped as she saw hundreds of Pokemon lining up at the local theater at the east side of town. "I've been to Amber Town's theater many times, but I've never seen the Grandview like this before..."

"A lot of really good and up and coming troupes are here." Lita reminded Brenna. "So let's try to make a good first impression."

"Yeah--you never know who you might be asked to work with on your way to the top." Ruby agreed as the group got in line. "So it's a good idea to be kind."

"What's the schedule like for today?" Lita asked, changing the subject.

"After we check in, we'll watch the Aurora Players perform 'The Rescue of Miranda'." Ruby explained. "Then after the show, we'll get to meet them, and talk about what we saw--what worked, what didn't, and how we can use what they did to improve ourselves."

"How exciting!" Charlotte smiled. "They say that any performance by the Aurora Players is not to be missed!"

"The line's moving at a good clip, so we should get some decent seats for the show." Shimmer reported.

"I've always wondered why this place is called the Grandview...." Rio mused as the line inched closer and closer to the ticket booth.

"The place has a great view of Mt. Citron, Mt. Rubin, Mt. Saphir, and Mt. Lune from the main lobby. "So if you get here early in the morning, you get a grand view of the four mountains at sunrise." Ruby smiled. "Hence the name Grandview."

"I see." Rio smiled as the group approached the ticket booth.

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The Grandview's elegant main lobby bustled with activity as both visiting troupes and spectators arrived to watch the Aurora Players perform. Lita was off by the east lounge, admiring the view of the forests and mountains in the distance from a window. The one with a gold glow must be Mt. Citron... she thought as she spotted one peak that appeared to glow a soft gold in the fading sun. The one that looks bright red must be Mt. Rubin...and the one capped with snow is probably Mt. Saphir. The sparkling silvery one in the center of it all has to be Mt. Lune.

"Lita! Come on!" she heard Ruby call over the excited chaos. "The show's gonna start soon!"

"Coming!" Lita called as she darted through the crowds to find her troupe mates. Soon...we're gonna climb those mountains, and show Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia our skills!

To Be Continued...