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    We finally made it, Verdori City! Y'know, Mahtverin had carried the rep for being the Beedrill's buzz in Blawsth, but this may have been the real kicker! I could feel it–the wide-spread lights where stars shined as they casually walked down the streets at night, wearing their shades and scarves with full blown confidence of not having their covers blown. Rumors say that Vendanna could easily have been any of those people strutting about, but we weren't on the hunt for her, not just yet.

    We booked an oddly specific hotel Jake wanted to get dibs on as soon as possible, and it was Et Luveroffin. Problem was, it was already reaching its limit with certain room numbers as a bunch of people already called their shots to watch the contest that would happen in this city in particular, so we were only left with rooms for two, which wasn't so great when you're travelling in full trainer groups and needed to be alone with the ghost again. Jake really wanted this hotel, though–he said that all the others were too obnoxious and full of people that wanted to party and trash the whole place ‘cause of all the glam Verdori had to offer compared to other cities in Blawsth. Luveroffin had a zero tolerance policy for that sort of stuff and was built with sophistication in mind, and Jake mentioned to me before that it was his dad's favorite hotel, purely for the silence associated with it.

    Luckily, with Cianna deciding to come along for this trip, Miley volunteered to share a room with her, so Jake and I got our own room with Shinji casually hanging off the chandelier above our beds, deciding that would be his resting place for the next few days as we really were going to savor the moment here! But, man, I guessed Miley had a little argument with Cici or something ‘cause right before we could even unpack our stuff, she already challenged her to a fight outside the Pokémon Center a few blocks down and Miles lost big time. Her Prewhammie got its horn broken one too many times by Blitzle, who was a speed strutter and full on magnet for water droplets getting zapped to zilch (hm, guess not every battle could go like Shafter's gym…).

    She tried getting over it by doodling all over a small, crowded sketchbook as we all waited inside the Center for their pokémon to heal up. It was something Harry sent her from her home that she forgot to bring with her while travelling, but there were still stuff like ticket stubs and other knicknacks poking through. She explained before that she forgot to finish all the pages to this one, so that was why she kept drawing all over the scrapbook instead.

    Cici decided to get ready early before the contest could begin, so we still had some time on our hands. I thought since they were supposed to be friends, Miley would come along with her, but clearly some line was being drawn between them…

    "Hey, Miley?" I asked. "Why do you avoid Cianna so much? I thought you two were supposed to be, like…best buddies or something."

    "Oh, best buddies? That's either you, Shinji or Jake with her. I'm just merely an acquaintance. No, better yet, her rival!" She started drawing aggressively on her scrapbook with her lavender colored pencil. "Who ended up taking the throne against her Blitzle while Doragin kept pecking you? Me. Or who got to that lamppost first and bought donuts for the whole gang instead? Also me…"

    "Wow. You're really taking this whole rival thing seriously…"

    "Ey? And why shouldn't I?" she said as she started drawing Pokémon brutally crushing each other. "I see you got your eyes on the prize, Ketchum. I bet you wanna beat that Pikachu trainer so badly, it'd probably make you sick again! Being out on top, that's the goal that strives in all trainers, wouldn't you agree? Survival of the fittest, or whatever the heck that one guy said!" She was finally done digging her pencil into the page, and she held her book up. "Anyways, how'd you like my picture?"

    "Well, it's pretty cartoony, but I won't lie, this is way more interesting to look at than Tracy's!"

    "Huh? Who's Tracy?" She grinned mischievously. "Somebody from your deep, dark, mysterious past? Your villain origin story perhaps? Prey tell…" She clasped her hands.

    "Miley…he's just an old friend of mine. He works at Professor Oak's lab and takes care of all the Pokémon in there too! I guess he wasn't around last time we called the Professor though. He's a pokémon watcher and he draws really good, probably a little too good–he can get every pore down…" I reminisced. "He's improved a lot since he left the Orange archipelago! Still, he doesn't want to show me all his dumb stuff in the other sketchbooks." I looked back at the small book again. "Hey, can I take a peek?"

    "Sure! Here ya' go!" She handed it over and there were a bunch of stuff drawn over the year or two, from her weakest of drawings to her silliest ones–I laughed at a few! There were also some magazine scraps, alongside printed photographs that were inside these folders that would appear every now and then. The whole thing had to be binded with a string when closed, but it wasn't that difficult to flip through! As I scrolled through its contents, I came across a specific article I actually remembered reading about once.

Jubilife's Trainer Of The Hour program, promising to showcase up and coming trainers, trying to set a positive influence for a new generation of pokémon lovers alike. With this program, eastern regions hope that it will decrease the amount of children getting enabled to join gangs in lower-income areas. This is a part of an effort led by the Official Pokémon League Competition Committee, in collaboration with the Jenny Law Association, to prevent any more potential widespread threats across regions in this area, which they have been facing over recent years.

    Yeah, I remembered this. "Oh, you got to the training ad thingie?" Miley asked. "Do you recognize it? Some guy in my class came back from Sinnoh, and his cousin was in this neat show that they kept broadcasting there, and he got front row seats to it! He even got a videotape and sent it to everyone, and I swear I watched it daily! It was pregalaramaztogitzo, breshon–even I wanted to be in it." She then pointed to herself. "And I train everyday because of it!"

    "Huh, you sure did…"

    Yup, I remembered it alright. I was one of those trainers they invited and basically the goal was to just show off how cool being a pokémon trainer was, as well as what were our biggest challenges when it came to climbing to the top? It was pretty awesome, looking back, and I had a solid enough reputation for them to reach out to me. The styling department though, I didn't really like it all that much…

    And as I looked back at the one of the photos cut out from a still in the advert, it started to feel like I was seeing double. Even Pikachu's eyes widened. "Pika?"

    Miley started staring at the same picture I was looking at–the one of the tanned and dark-haired boy with a neat, shaggy mullet. She took a step back as she covered her mouth. "No way…Alright, you know what, forget I said anything!"

    That boy, he had bright round eyes and a perky smile. His clothes were especially hand-picked to present himself at his best as he leaned against a blue tarped fence, with his Pikachu on his shoulder, just outside the filming studio. And I gotta say, he almost looked handsome, even while hiding all the darkness that was growing within…

    Jake just got done playing cards with Shinji on the other table as he walked up to us. "What's all the–eh? Did you get to the boy-band part of the book yet, Ashy? That Miles, she sure manages to keep her worst secrets out in the open–" He peaked at the page. "Eh! No way!"

    Shinji walked over and laughed under his scarf. "Well, look at good-lookin'! The secret's been hiding under all our eyes, ey?"

    Cianna finally came back and settled on wearing the same outfit as she wore back at the museum, alongside a little black leather blazer as it was going to get pretty breezy later tonight. Even I got a denim jacket sent by my Mom; I almost completely forgot to bring something like it! "Hey guys! So, like, I was gonna go for the ruby blouse and that new coat I bought, but then I decided that my main combo was already good enough! I guess I just gotta worry if I ever have to perform myself–Oh! Miley, is that your scrapbook? Is it done yet? Can I see, can I?" She ran over and gasped. "Ash, no way you were in her faves folder! How'd you get in there?"

    "I don't know!" I answered.

    "Miley, how'd you not notice?" Jake asked earnestly. "Ooh! I can have fun with this!"

    "Heck no! He doesn't meet the height chart! He doesn't even look anything like the guy in the pic!" she rebutted profusely! She turned to me. "Ash Ketchum, explain!"

    "Ash Ketchum, Ash Ketchum, now I know why I felt like helping you in the first place!" Jake answered. "You were that guy who totally wrecked that Darkrai at the Sinnoh league once, ey? I just remembered hearing about you once in school, and I never paid much attention to it until now!" He put a hand on my shoulder. "You know, I couldn't bear searching you up in case it was some totally insane crap like those hunters kept alluding to, but, dude, thank golly I was wrong! Way to stick it up to them."

    "Wow! Ashy, is this what you were hiding?" Cianna asked.

    "...Yeah. You caught me red-handed. I didn't even know people in this part of the world knew about me…and here I thought I'd be better off in Unova…" I confessed in defeat as I desperately wanted my mind to drift elsewhere…

    "Wow, you look so good here, why'd you stop styling your hair like that?" she kept asking. "You looked way prettier too–and those clothes! I never knew you were a fashionista!"

    "That's because those aren't what I usually wear, or how I actually style my hair…They shoved me into a chair and put too much powder on my face and sprayed a bunch of product and water into my hair…" I muttered as I buried my head into my arms.

    "Woah, Cianna's right! We gotta get you right back on track if we're going to keep being caught dead in public with you." Jake agreed.

    "Please don't…" I could feel my face turning red, this was a nightmare.

    "Okay, okay, it's just a suggestion, though! Why'd you hide this massive revelation and make it a huge problem for us, Ashy?" Jake asked as Miley went to hide behind a hedge.

    "I just don't like talking about it, that's all…" I groaned.

    "Why not? That's, like, the coolest thing ever! If I beat a Darkrai, I wouldn't stop bragging about it for years! You ranked pretty high too, how about that?"

    "Oh, please, you have your dad's music career over you…If my Dad was this cool, awesome musician, I'd never shut up about it."

    "Yeah, but you earned that win yourself. Besides, I gotta take the mantle for him…" He kept quiet as he started walking towards the exit. "Anyways, I gotta do some styling myself before the contest. Catch ya' guys later…"

    As he left, I turned to the others. "What's up with him?"

    "Oh, that's right, I guess you've never heard!" Shinji popped up. "Francis died when he was ten."

    "He what?"

    "Yeah, that devastated him. We were hearing the Nuvantics play over the speaker the other day and I asked him since the band broke up, what was his dad up to, and he told me he went to Toshmakya a long time ago…"

    "So…he's been gone this entire time?"

    "Yeah…" Miley answered. "Y'know, the main reason why we all know each other was because his dad really liked visiting the countryside. All the Nuvantic members would stop and visit to stock up whenever they toured, and they'd leave their pokémon for us to take care of sometimes. That's how I met him. He's almost like family to us…" Miley explained as she put her arms behind her back. "So I always made sure to visit Jake ever since his dad went away. Ash, we got so worried when I asked him if he wanted to go training with me and he said, 'No'. I'm so glad that he picked it up though…" She tried holding her tears up.

    "He kinda told me the other day too that he was really afraid of me since he believed that I was the one who took his dad away. He thought by playing that game with you guys, he'd finally have control over me…" Shinji started to explain.

    "Wait, really?" Miley asked, astounded.

    He lowered his head. "And you know what, after hearing his part of the story, I really did think the spade would have fallen onto him." He looked up. "But you know what? This is getting too gloomy, and I for one, would rather see a contest!"

    "Ooh, yes! You really are the Jester, Shinji!" Cianna cheered. But much to her dismay, this story just got a whole lot more gloomier than I could ever imagine...

    Damn it, Jacob.

    We waited in a long line as Jake rode on Ponyta, down the glittering streets and blooming billboards of Verdori, making sure he got on time. "I'm late, I'm so freaking late!" he complained as he put his Pokémon back into the pokéball, running all the way to our spot himself. He fixed his hair a little. "Sorry–got a little carried away. I wanted to make this jacket look good!"

    It was premium black denim with some bottom cap pins on the collar. Studs were laced on the shoulders too alongside some other details. It was something he requested specifically for his mom to send him, that and a small wooden guitar. How he managed to shove all that into his bag, I didn't know. Why he felt the need to request another outfit set, I also didn't know. The guitar though, I understood since I loved annoying everyone in the room with it! He promised me that he was going to teach me lessons on the road with that thing so I'd be just slightly more ready once we passed through Mahtverin again. It also helped in distracting ourselves from starting any possible quarrels, just keeping ourselves sane.

    "Wow! Never seen that one before, but it's totally your hue!" Cianna complemented.

    "Thanks, it was my Dad's jacket. He always wore this to contests with my Mom. She made it for him–fits me like a glove too, ey?"

    That was Francis Meyer's son alright. "Hey, what do all those bottlecaps mean?" I asked.

    "Oh, it's from their favorite pop brands." He started pointing them out. "Dyakord Lemonide, Cherrim Grenade, Straightouttabot, Electrode Fizz…And my personal favorite, Sweet Delcatty."

    "Sweet Delcatty? I thought you'd be a Grenade guy."

    "Nah, too out there. Feels like an actual explosion in your mouth. Delcatty, though? It's the best cream soda I've ever tasted! It's not too sweet but not extremely bland either, I love it! Shame it's such a rare flavor, I'd kill for some right now…"

    "The contest is about to begin! Please make your way through the entrance in an orderly fashion…" said the bouncer. We showed him our tickets and went for the seats nearest to the performance.

    "Oh, Ash, Pikachu, get ready to have your eyes explode like a Cherrim Grenade! Other shows are nothing like here!" Cianna gloated.

    "Really? Because one of my friends put on some seriously good shows, it's kinda hard to top that."

    "Oh, that must be the Princess of Hoenn, right? Her pokémon are so amazing, I'd love to see them real life!" she exclaimed, as she recalled me mentioning her once in a conversation on the way here. And, man, she wasn't kidding. I couldn't go to a show May really wanted me to see either because of my stupid accident and I was stuck at the hospital all day, and I still regret it.

    The saddest part was that she was trying to win at the Kanto Grand-Festival again, and she thought that I would have really appreciated seeing her performance up close, as Beautifly and the rest of her pokémon would only amplify her reputation beyond that point. She was crying on the phone when I told her the bad news that I couldn't attend, but at least she did try visiting within that week to show me the ribbon she sought to go after for ages at that point. I was so proud of her, even more now as sometimes they would show the contests she was participating in on TV, all the way over in Blawsth! I just wished I was there to see it with my own eyes. Pikachu too, because he wasn't up for a long time.

    But enough of that, Pikachu was here with me now and May wouldn't want me down in the dumps like that again! Besides, I promised her little brother Max that I'd challenge him the moment he stepped foot onto Kanto again, because time sure flew by and he was going to get that training license soon! I just…had to get out of the mess I was in right now…Whoo contests!

    Cianna continued her praise of May. "Okay, she's the exception, but I swear, you've never seen anything like Blawsth!" She was getting pumped for this. "Hey, I know! How about we get everybody out to watch?"

    "Aha! Totally!" Miley agreed as we sent our pokémon out! Every one of them were looking around, curious as to what this stadium may be hiding?

    Shinji chuckled. "Well, aren't I a little curious too? It's been a long time since I've watched one of these, so it must be a big deal from when I've last left off…"

    "Oh, that's right!" Miley remarked. "You were only around for the early registered shows? Swear, this is gonna be nothing like that–" Her jaw was already wide open, whooing for the trainer on the field.

    "And first up, Luka of Mistralton City!"  shouted the announcer. Out came a girl with very thinly drawn eyebrows and hair that must have taken ages to set up properly. Her outfit too, it was a mix of leather and lace while she wore goggles on her head. She had heavy eyeshadow on, and a wicked smile.

    "Oh my gosh, that was the other girl who fought Shafter!" Cianna remembered. "Wow, she looks like she's got something nasty planned!"

    "Yeah, no kidding," Miley added. "I think I saw her fighting some guy on a field once and she totally wrecked his team with her Heatmor. It's the same goggles and everything…"

    "Flygon, rip ‘em apart!" the coordinator commanded. Out came the green Pokémon as she took control of it, hopping on as it zipped by. It caused the dirt field to get crushed, bulldozing through! "Now, use Dragon Breath to give a warning!" It did exactly that, letting the flames light up the crevices as it let out a spiral that it bursted through with its trainer on its back. The energy created by a Super Sonic attack being performed next was enough to break the spiral of flames as it disintegrated into a bunch of tiny specks that looked like stars!

    "Such skills!" the announcer remarked. "It also appears that Flygon wrote a message on the ground. Let's see…"

EAT MY DUST OR YOU'LL RUST.

    "Fascinating!" she concluded.

    "That's not all! Watch this." Luka announced herself. Flygon twirled upwards as Luka let go! The audience roared as Flygon quickly went for the rescue, and with Luka back on its back, it made a massive crater, shaped perfectly like a heart! Thankfully, she got off in just the nick of time, brushing some dust right off as she and the dragon took a bow. We all cheered for them!

    "Brutal! What do our judges think?"

    "I think Flygon's speed was just enthralling to watch alone!" said the first.

    "She trained it to write quick messages too! What a smart Pokémon, that would have taken me ages!" said the second.

    "Mistralton City has such good flyers, and Flygon made sure to keep its trainer safe. Credits to Luka where it's due of course, she has complete trust on that thing!" said the third.

    "And the judges have confirmed the score to be…a nine out of ten! So close to a perfect full score…What a lovely performance though to start up the night!" the announcer stated.

    Luka scoffed as she put Flygon back into its ball. I turned back to Cianna and Miley, who were simply ecstatic at what they just saw. "You guys, what the heck was that!" I asked.

    "That's, like, your average performance in Blawsth! Some of the best pokémon coordinators from around the world come here to show off tricks that they'd never be allowed to do anywhere else! What Luka did would be a violation of the Coordinator Safety Code of Conduct outside of Blawsth! So brave…" Cianna explained.

    "You could never pay me a million bucks to do that…" Jake added. "That girl's got guts, dude."

    "And they allow it here?" I asked.

    "Yup. Lucille was the one to really break the boundaries with that though!"

    "Lucille? As in, the Champion?"

    "Oh, I never told you about Lucille's coordinator days? He first started out with these insane contest tricks where he'd risk it all right out of the gate!" Jake explained. "People complained so much that young trainers would try doing the same thing he did, and well, the chairman got so worried for people's safety that they banned him from performing ever again!"

    "Banned?" I asked, bewildered.

    "Yup, that's Lucy!" Cianna confirmed. "That's why he's, like, the bestest trainer ever!" 

    "Well, I'll be darned…" I leaned back, and I swore these might have been some of the most outrageous performances I ended up watching that night! There was a Venonat that showed off all the different spores and powders it could produce and tried mixing it around to create a new substance that its trainer surprisingly took up, a Floatzel who flooded the arena and splashed water onto everyone, a Steelix that drilled deep underground and popped back inside by jumping through the roof, but nobody came close to the insanity Luka and her Flygon committed!

    It was an odd sort of open-house event for Verdori City's Contest Hall, where coordinators of any rank could join in and make a good first impression for the start of the actual contest season in Blawsth, which was a little later and shorter than its league season. Afterwards, they had to stick to their own levels with different challenges and appeal rankings until they all met up and competed again in Blawsth's Grand Final Round, where nothing, and I mean nothing was off limits! And everyone wanted to make it to the top because they all had their own ideas of what made for the ultimate, most extreme contest performance. Heh, I had to ask my coordinator pals about this one at some point…

    And the most surprising contestant of them all, Joanne, decided to show up! She came in a chic punk-gothish outfit and seemed to be extremely stylish for this one, as Cianna took photos for her next moodboard. She brought out her smiling Eevee, which managed to cloud her pouty face, as she simply set it on the ground, smiling back at it.

    "Now, this is a last minute entry," the announcer explained. "Joanne from...Hunocet Town? Hm, odd entry, but we'll accept it–she has a license and badges, everyone!" No cheers, just a general conversation occurring from the crowd.

    "Charm." she simply commanded in her flat voice. No other attack or direction was given…which usually would be a problem but…but…

    Oh. That was a cute Pokémon right there. With fur as sleek as day, yet as soft as a feather…It was so gosh darn adorable that I wanted to squeeze it until it exploded all over the place like a million swift stars all across the stadium! Oh my gosh, Jo…how!

    We were all staring at it, and the pokémon in the audience were quickly starting to holler as they slowly inched closer to the fence, until Jo snapped her finger. "Show's over. All your performances are boring."

    "Aww!" the audience replied affectionately as Eevee hopped back onto her shoulder for one last swift attack against us!

    Compliments were said out loud as she took another step inside the hall. "You're all a yawn." she bemoaned.

    "Oh my gosh, Eevee was so cute, and so was her outfit!" Cianna judged.

    "Hm, didn't even know that she had it in her." Jake admitted. "Cute."

    And the real judges couldn't agree more. "Well, that's a keeper! We've decided that was an eight out of ten performance!" the announcer stated. "Eevee and its equally adorable trainer may make it to the next round! But of course, before we officially decide, let's get ready for our final performance: Nene of Blawsth's very own Wensly City!"

    Everyone forgot about Jo and cheered the hardest for Nene–she must have been pretty popular! She wore a fashionable summer inspired piece and white eyeshadow underneath her eyes with extended lashes drawn over it. Her flattened hair was long, dyed blonde with some natural streaks over it. "Oh my gosh, Nene, yes!" Cianna cheered.

    Now that I looked at her more, the coordinator resembled that one pop star gym leader of the region…Keke? Rene? "Hey, who's that?" I asked.

    "Ooh, that's Lele's younger sister!" Miley explained. "The gym leader of Wensly City–we went over this before, remember?"

    "Hm, oh, right!"

    "People said they saw Nene training while she was still back in her hometown and wow, they keep saying that she's gonna bring real Blawsth contests back!"

    "Yeah! Like the old-school ones!" Cianna said as she kept cheering, and screeching… "Nene, I never met you, but I love you! Frosslass too–I saw that video, oh my GOSH!!!" Yeah, some people were getting too excited… "YOU GO GIRL!!!"

    "Excuse her, she's a big Tri Dia fan…" Miley explained bashfully. "So naturally, she's hyped for this."

    "It's gonna be an awesome show still, right?" I asked.

    "Aha!" she reassured.

    "Frosslass, let's give some of these people a gift from home and show them some Blawsthian snow!" Nene said throughout the outbursts.

    Frosslass made a blizzard, and it was so large that it gave me and the others goosebumps! The entire arena was covered in snow, and Frosslass made a little army of snow Pokémon as Nene twirled around, launching some scarves and hats up through the power of her Pokémon's breeze, decorating them. "Now, send that army out for a Sneak Attack!"

    It made each one flow individually to us as each snow Pokémon exploded into tiny snowflakes. Some people fought over the clothing accessories left behind… "Wait a second, people!" the announcer said, tried getting their attention. "Don't you feel it?"

    Blawsthian snow. There was a sense of calmness as we all saw the beautiful landscape Frosslass created. The best part? It didn't melt off! "Frosslass, return."

    "So magnificent! We are getting some promising features tonight! Let's see what the judges have to say!"

    "Nene's showing that you don't need any flash or extravaganza to show off a Pokémon's true abilities!" said the first.

    "I'll agree. And the fact that Froslass is able to help cool off for much longer than expected? Incredible!" said the second.

    "It feels like something out of a storybook! It reminds me of those fairytales Blawsth is familiar for. I was so mesmerized by the entire thing–I feel like a child again!" said the third. The judges discussed seriously in the background before putting in their final results…

    "And of course, we get a nine out of ten from Nene! What a lovely and elegant performance, indeed. Now, I can't wait to play in that snow with all my cute little Pokémon!" They let the gates open and a bunch of people invaded the arena.

    "Don't worry, Froslass and I made sure that snow was made to last!" She walked off before people were able to start asking a million things. Man, I wished I could play it off that easily…

    As the rest of the gang went on over to play, I noticed that Jake shed a tear. "Jake?" I asked as he tried wiping it away.

    "Oh, Ash! You wanna go down there too?" he laughed nervously.

    "Sure! All the others are there–it'd be weird to stay up here and not with the rest of them." I grabbed his arm. "Come on!"

    "Woah–Ey, ey, ey! Don't get my jacket wet, it's–"

    "From your dad, huh?"

    "Not just that," He brushed my hand away. "It's vintage. I bet you wouldn't know what that means, huh?"

    "Hm, you're no fun!" I ran down and grabbed a ball of snow. "C'mon, let's start a war!"

    "Oh, you wanna play dirty, ey?" He grabbed two of his own and shot it at me.

    "You're going down!"

    As we ran around, harassing each other with snowballs, the announcer made a word. "Alright, the results are in, and these will be the contestants marching onto the next round!"

    I looked up at the screen as people cheered. Luka and Nene were going against each other in the battle segment! Now this would be a sight to see! "That's gonna be one crazy match, ey?" Jake asked, throwing another ball at me while I wasn't paying attention.

    "Jacob!" I threw a snowball, straight in the face! "Whoops!"

    "Be glad my eyeliner's water-proof…" He tried wiping it off. "Anyways, that Flygon's gonna be one heck of a demolisher. You think Froslass has enough power to freeze it for good?"

    "That depends if Flygon's gonna crash through the ice or not. Either way, the results at the end should be based on how impressed we are, right?"

    "Yeah, but some people come here exclusively to watch an insane match happen! They are some of the best coordinators out there amongst Blawsth's rookies–maybe not on top but enough to know more than a thing or two about battles! Some say that this is way more interesting than your typical league match…"

    "Yeah, anything could happen!" Cianna added as she dug out through snow. "Which is why contests are so great! Lucille learned some crazy moves thanks to these and look at him now, he's literally the Champ!" She gasped. "Oh my gosh, I think I might actually have a chance at meeting him again if I continue my gym route alongside contests! He always shows up to judge the finals!"

    "So, he can judge but not play?" I asked.

    "Well…Some say he was playing in a completely different league. He's still a professional when judging these contests though, so I guess he gets a free chair!"

    "Say, where's Miley?" Jake asked in her absence.

    "Oh, I think she went into the changing room to go talk to the peeps who made it to the next round. I don't think they'll let her, in though…" Cianna shrugged.

    Me and Jake tried sneaking through too, since we wanted a word with those contestants. That bouncer and his Machamp standing guard looked like they had nothing but training in their minds, so we got in pretty easily! The environment inside was surprisingly bubbly; I heard nothing but compliments amongst the contestants.

    "Y'know, I was expecting some real brooding rivalry with how they acted back there…" Jake commented. "Who knew Blawsth contest performers can be so nice to each other!" Then he spotted her, the mysterious Eevee trainer. "Yo, Jo–"

    She squinted back at him and went to the girl's washroom door with Eevee. "I don't get her ditz." said a performer standing beside us. "I swear she hates everybody for no reason. Last minute entry too–what gives?"

    "Aha, it seems that she shuts everybody out when she has the chance to." Jake admitted. "I don't blame her, though. Some people really are too rowdy for a few. I have a feeling she'll open up, eventually…"

    "Speaking of rowdy…" I pointed out as I spotted Miley harassing both Luka and Nene…The Flygon trainer looked like she was going to shout at the bouncer soon.

    "...Wow, that performance was so off the rails and it had me off the edge of my seat!" Miley kept chatting. "Your Flygon looks pretty strong too, can you teach me how–"

    "Miles!" Jake shouted.

    "Oh, so this here ya' Lilipuppy?" Luka questioned. She had a very thick, nasally dialect up close.

    "Well, she's definitely more curious than a Dyakord on Tuesdays! Come on, Luka, lighten up a little!" Nene tried cheering.

    "Pff, I don't deal with L-tier trainers, Ney-ney. Someone as clumsy as you can't handle the stench of the Dragon Breath, Dyakatty," she said as she taunted Miley.

    Miley was flabbergasted by this response. "Well, then! I hope you lose next round!" She turned to Nene and shook her hand. "Freeze her Flygon ‘till there's a new Ice Age over us, mi shinon!"

    "Well, I wasn't planning to go as harsh. The most important thing in these battles, Miles, is that your Pokémon's best aspects are shown to the whole audience," Nene explained.

    "Yeah, and to show that you're really in sync with your partner! It's not about winning the battle, it's to show off before that timer runs out," I added. "If you go too hard, you may even get points cut out!"

    "Yes, exactly that! You really know a lot about the battling aspects of the showcase–are you a coordinator, perhaps?" Nene asked.

    "Um, no…but I got a few good friends who are!"

    "Pssh, well, since ya' got an eye for the prize," Luka took notice. "Maybe a Shmuckle like you can really make these contests more interesting! "

    "Oh, me? Please, I can't coordinate for crap, I'm sticking to battling!" I tried to desperately fib.

    She turned to Jake. "Or, how about the good-lookin' fella' right here? 'You Francis Meyer's kid? Ya' look exactly like him."

    "...Ehyah?" he answered, wide-eyed.

    Luka smirked. "Then I'm bettin' that some of that star creativity of his can shine through you with these things!"

    "Eh? Me, no way! I'm not that good of a trainer anyways, so I don't think it's a good idea…"

    ou know what, maybe there is a single exception to the kind folks here. "What the heck was her problem?" I asked. I patted Jake on the back as he stood there, speechless. "Hey, don't let her get through you, Jake!" Then I looked at Miley, who looked as grumpy as ever. "You neither, Miles!"

    "Sorry for the way Luka talked back at you…she can say some really harsh things sometimes. I hope my battle can pipe her down, just a little!" Nene apologized on her behalf. "She's also a league challenger, so I guess some of her heavy competitiveness bleeds into here as well…"

    "Well, I've met some other trainers myself over the years, and some have been way kinder than her! More respectful too." Some trainer she was if she was going to blabber her mouth like that to someone she barely met! I planned on putting Luka in her place… "Do you know where she's going after this? I'd like to challenge her to a battle."

    "Ash, you don't have to do this for me," Jake answered. "She's right, you know. I am weak…" He started walking out the room as me and Miley chased after him!

    "Hold on!" Nene commanded. "Jake, just how good of a trainer are you?"

    "Eh? Well…"

    "Well? Jake, that Ponyta of yours is amazing!" I interrupted. "You're not weak!"

    He scratched his neck. "It's Ponyta that's headstrong, not its trainer…Ash, you know how much it hurts to see it get hurt on my behalf. I'll be lucky if I manage to make it far in the league."

    Nene tried holding his attention for just a while longer. "Jake, I know that performance runs in your veins! I understand that Blawsth's contests may seem brutal to you, but it doesn't have to be this way. I saw how you were the only one left in the dust once all that snow fell. With your pokémon, you have the ability to create wonderful experiences that people will enjoy! I hope that you can find your voice in training soon, but I also hope that you consider coordinating a go!"

    "Really?"

    "Yeah!" A bell rang inside the room. "Well, looks like Froslass and I have to get ready. We'll fight soon…but think about what I just said!" She walked away as the bouncer finally caught us and we were escorted shortly.

    The snow was instantly sucked into a massive vacuum from above after everyone got into their seats. From opposite ends, Luka and her Flygon walked in through the left entrance as Nene and Froslass walked through the right.

    "You know the rules: While in battle, each Pokémon must appeal to the competitors before the timer, or their points run out," the announcer explained. "Each trainer starts with one-hundred points. They are deducted if flaws are found within a Pokémon's or trainer's performance, and the battle will end early if either Pokémon faint, and the winner will move on to the final judging round! So, give it up for our first challengers, Nene and Luka! Riftah!"

    Launching into battle, Froslass tried stopping Flygon in its flight with an Ice Beam, but failed to make up for the speed as a ring of Dragon's Breath was made around them, deducting five points from Nene already. No worries, as even though the dragon flew about, Froslass defended itself with an icy mist extinguishing the flames, deducting ten points from Luka. Flygon was now about to Bulldoze into the Pokémon, but Froslass let out an Ice Beam, and Flygon was struggling to push through.

    No points were being deducted though. "Keep pushing it!" Luka ordered as Flygon bursted through the attack and dug Froslass into the dirt with it. Twenty points were deducted from Nene, down to three quarters, but ten were taken from Luka for such an aggressive attack! Flygon finally got back into action again and so did Froslass. "Push through again!"

    "Confuse it!" Nene followed.

    The quick response and ray from Froslass made Flygon direct its attention into the ground and brutally wound itself, deducting thirty points, cutting her points in half as Luka tried calling for reason! "Flygon, listen to me, please!"

    It kept bashing itself to the ground as Froslass was preparing another Icy Wind. Another fifteen points were deducted as Flygon finally found consciousness again, but the wind was starting to affect it too! The wind grew thicker, and nobody in the audience could see either Pokémon!

    In the incredibly cold air, it was silent. "Clear it out with your wings!" Luka commanded as the ice was pushed away, revealing Froslass, deducting ten points from Nene. Froslass was setting up another attack though, and Luka wasn't going to take it! "Push it into its breeze–knock its socks right off!"

    It kept pulsating its wings as much as possible, making the Pokémon break its concentration as Froslass was hidden in air it made, and Flygon immediately bulldozed through, shoving it into one of the walls! The quick reflexes of both the Pokémon and trainer, with the strength and combination of moves deducted thirty points from Nene, making her even to Luka…

    The timer was still running smoothly, and either trainer could finish it off the way they wanted. Flygon was going to flap its wings again, but then Froslass froze them, deducting ten points from Luka. Another five were being deducted as Flygon struggled, trying to break free! "Use Dragon Breath!" Luka shouted as Froslass was about to confront it, moving closer to the Pokémon.

    "No worries, it will not disturb its Confuse Ray!" Nene interrupted. Sure, another ten points were taken from her as Froslass had to endure that Dragon Breath during the spell, but straight with Flygon's head in its arms, staring at it. The move at its most effective in that state.

    Froslass cleared the breath away with some more Icy Wind as Flygon went wild with its own move. The points quickly dropped to zero for Luka as Froslass dodged the ravaging move and set out another Ice Beam all across the body, making a neat sculpture out of the Pokémon! "No way…" Luka said under her breath.

    The announcer shouted, "The results are in! Froslass and Nene have managed to win appeal over Flygon and Luka, making them candidates for the final evaluation round!" Everyone cheered and clapped their hands.

    Jake clapped and gave out a whistle. "Ash, wasn't that performance beautiful?"

    "Beautiful?" I asked.

    "They way she seemed to have it set up, ammani. She even made Froslass make a real work of art out of it!" Shinji explained, giving out his own claps and whistles.

    "Yeah, there was something about that ending…" Jake added. "Mi pregi, it was wonderful."

    As the show continued, Joanne made it on stage. Her Eevee was up against the Floatzel, where of course she hit it with that new advanced Charm attack being used against it in a combination of hearts and star-spangled swifts, actively impressing the judges (and me!). However, after she got the other guy's points to run thin before the timer hit, some maniac rammed into the Contest Hall with his motorbike!

    No helmet either, he had a blue-colored shag and a stylish punkish outfit on himself, where while in contrast to Joanne's more chic attire, his was made with edge. And of course, there was a Pikachu with matching piercings on his shoulder. "Sup, Jo-jo!" he stated casually.

    "Uriel! You yanker!" she stated back aggressively.

    "Nice trick you got there. Shame I missed all those shallow acts from earlier, but I do have my own trick up my sleeves!" He looked back at the crowd with the face of a Croagunk. "Welcome to the Urie show, folks." he said as his Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, and in midair, supercharged its Volt Tackle against the wall of the arena in superspeed. Exactly like my Pikachu.

    The audience was shocked by such a sight, from the collective gasps to indecisive whispering. Joanne had an irritated look of disgust as he stole the spotlight away from her, much more of an emotion than she ever had against any of us before this. "Urie! You wanna fight, now–"

    "Keh, as if." He turned around and finger-gunned her. "Pew."

    Her Eevee was instantly knocked out by Urie's Pikachu, who avoided the Charm trick as it got launched against the wall hard! "Eevee!" she cried out as she ran towards it.

    "Nah, nah. I don't wanna fight you." Urie pointed his finger towards a certain direction as his Pikachu ran up the steel beams of the stadium and flashed the spotlightlight towards the crowd. "I wanna fight…" I was blinded by the sudden shift as I squinted back at it. "I wanna fight…him. Pew." he winked.

    As Jo left the hall with Eevee in her arm, the announcer looked back after having a much needed word with the judges. "Guards, take him." she said in her mic as he got back on his bike.

    "Keh. Toodles, Ketchup–I'll be waiting!"

    "Pi-keh-pi!" his Pikachu shouted back in a rough voice as Urie drove off with a hoard of bouncers after him, which irritated my own Pokémon on my shoulder.

    "Pika?" he said as he peered down squinting, offended.

    "Got anything?" I asked as I looked back at Shinji. Though, I didn't realize how big of a target Urie decided to leave with those lights!

    Everyone, and I mean everyone looked back at me. Thankfully, the stage-crew could flick the light elsewhere as Shinji responded back with, "Well, he said some things I'd never want to repeat, let's keep it at that."

    Even with the bizarre entrance and equally off-putting message, the contest continued as usual. We kept watching a few more matches, blown away by almost every single one of them, up until they announced the evaluation round. The judges critiqued the techniques used in both the entrance show and battle round. They added their scores together and Nene came out amongst the top coordinators for this contest, coming in a solid second place, gaining bonus points for elegance and for her mostly innovative moveset combinations. She got snubbed by the Venonat guy, whose Pokémon evolved mid battle as it left a scatter of powders across the battlefield. I was still left very impressed though, even by those who lost, and I could tell if Luka won, she would have been on that podium too!

    As we walked out of the hall, with the air feeling a little colder than usual, people were talking heavily amongst themselves near the entrance, holding up the line! "Now what's all this about?" I wondered. Everyone followed behind me as I squeezed through the crowd, and what I saw horrified me.

    Right in front of me, there was a massive spade painted in black in front of the entrance, still fresh under the lights of Verdori…There were other words written in the center of the symbol, but it was all in Blawsthian, and at this point, I still didn't have a clue as to what it meant, other than danger inside. Sweat built up near my forehead as Shinji zipped his way underneath and in between the crowd, startling me a little! "Enshen ennai, get evok…Narc et tu nuto..." he read.

    "Huh? The heck does that mean!" I demanded.

    "He is coming, and this is your final warning." he translated as he muttered something under his breath. "Mi to busketche det…Kid, I do not like the look of this."

    Jensen and his other officers were already on it as they drove in their bikes and cars…he sure was quick! "Ey! Ey! Ey! Offiche polizo emorah! This is the law's job–we'll take it from here!" he said as they got off, making way with their yellow tape as they hustled everyone out.

    "Yeah, this is pretty bad if the law's getting involved as much as they should…" Jake said as he scratched his neck.

    "Oh my gosh, not here too…" Cianna said, covering her mouth.

    Miley tried comforting her. "Hey, these gangs never get to their end goal anyways. Cianna, try cheering up, ‘cause Jensen has it under control!"

    "Yeah…I'll try! Thanks, Miles!" she answered, as Miley crossed her arms behind her neck, walking a little farther from the scene of the crime.

    "Jeez, Louis, freaking Vedanna's out catching strays I bet," Jensen conversed out loud through his radio. "I told her to wait outside of the Contest Hall…" he groaned.

    Hm, some tall guy wearing shades passed us by. "Trigash mi," he asked politely as the deep blue satin tip of his jacket began blowing in the wind. He held onto his cap while walking alongside his Pokémon, which was a sort of odd tiger bat thing. "Teh-neh-neh, it's going to be rough, I bet. Mi to busketche det, ammani."

    Cianna's worries were blown away too as she grew ecstatic, so did Miley! "Oh my gosh, Lucille, you're here too?" she asked excitingly as the girls walked over. She flashed her camera over the Pokémon. "Woah, I've never seen a Damleon so up close before!"

    "Eh, Ms. Dyer, pardon me. Now's not the time for autographs," Lucille said as he took his lenses off to look back at us. "This is serious business."

    "Man, so you're really the Champ, huh?" I asked him as he raised an empty brow at me, and as I thought about it, seeing his face, clean with only the deep heavy eyeshadow around his eyes and jet black lips gave me the chills, alright.

    "Ash Ketchum, isn't it?" he asked me.

    "Um, yes! How'd you figure it out?" I asked nervously as another sweat drop rolled down my face.

    "Oh, come on, you don't think I'd miss watching a championship for something? I wouldn't miss a single Wallace Cup performance for anything either." Why did it always trace back to Sinnoh! "I've seen your face a couple times. You're planning on taking down this league too, ey?"

    "Um…I guess so?" I tried to answer calmly.

    "Guess?" He shook his head as Jensen called his name over.

    "Hey, Louie, can you ignore the fans for a sec and give me a hand here? Ask the rest of the E-4 to guard their posts–we'll stalk the rest of the city if we have to!" he said as he walked over. Once again, Jensen gave me the dirty eye. "Ah yes, and what do we have here? Ketchum, Meyer, and even Storm, always at the scene of the crime, huh?"

    "Why yes, unfortunately, sir." Jake replied back, annoyed.

    "Relax, Jen, just do your thing." Lucille tried reassuring. "I'll be there in a sec–I'm just chatting it with Ketchum here, that's all."

    "Well, can't argue with the Champ then." Jensen said as he started walking back. "I'm off."

    Lucille rolled his eyes and shook his head again. "He can really be a bit of a tramp sometimes. To pregi, don't mind him," he said as he looked back at me. "He's just a little eager for clues."

    "You can say that again!" Jake said as they both started laughing!

    "Eh, Jake, it sure has been a while since I've last ran into you, ey? You've grown a lot, how's training working out for you?"

    "Eh? Ah, well…" he looked down as he scratched his neck. "At least I'm trying."

    "Well, that's what training is for! Ash, I'm assuming you're taking care of these ones?"

    "Oh, yes!" I answered.

    "Brilliant, Shafter told me you did! I have high hopes for you, you have a bright future ahead," Lucille said as he started walking along to the yellow tape. "I have some advice, though…don't let them break your heart."

    "Huh?" What did he mean by that?

    "I'm not sure what Oak's boy told you, but Blawsth is no ordinary walk in the park. If you lack charm or elegance, you won't get far. We are all watching you."

    "What?"

    "Carry on!" he said, leaving. "And make sure the ratzavok don't bite! Buh-bye."

    "Wow!" Cianna said as she took one last picture. "Ashy, I can't believe Lucy humbled you like that!"

"H-humbled?" I asked.

    "Pika…" the mouse mumbled. Hm, the champion really said that to me? So…what's next? Was Shafter really just the tip of the iceberg? Ugh…I just heard a loud rumble, which surprisingly didn't come from hunger this time. Oh, no, it was off from the distance–an engine revving!

    "Ash Ketchum!" someone called out. "Been waiting for that guy to scooch over!"

    Who could it be, I wondered…Urie was back on his bike, wearing a simple striped tank top, flashy urban pants and similar sneakers to the pair I usually wore. Once he got near, he made the most irritating tire-scratching stop towards us! He took his helmet off as he and his Pikachu wore matching smirks.

    "Urie!" I called out. Already on the knick of time, as Pikachu and Doragin were already putting up their guards...

    Jake's brows furrowed, he now had a chance to talk to the elusive Pikachu trainer up close. "Where's Jo?" he asked in a serious tone.

    "Aw, what? Miss her? She's at the Pokémon Center waiting for Eeve's to recover." Urie started kicking a broken pokéball shell on the street against his foot, then up to his shin. "Tough luck." he said, as he launched that thing towards me!

    "Hey, what the heck man!" I raised my voice against him after my Pikachu flicked the shell back to him. He caught it quite easily.

    "Just testing some reflexes, keh. Either way, Ketchum! I want to battle you, right now."

    "Now?" In the middle of all this?

    "You heard me. I want to battle you. And not just your Pikachu, oh, no, no, no! I want to battle the monster of all Blawsth Pokémon himself, Toshinmac. I know he's lying around here somewhere, so I guess it's best to battle elsewhere…"

    "Elsewhere? Hey, can we do this some other time? We just got back from a contest, so maybe–"

    "Oh, yeah. Uh huh. Absolutely." he nodded, pulling out a lollipop and sticking it to his mouth. Next he pulled out his own Dex, taking a photo of me and my pokémon with the flash on, then he opened another lollipop and shoved it into my mouth! Well, at least it was kelpsy berry flavor! "Meet me in the woodland area behind the Gym at seven in the morning if you wanna stall. Otherwise…I guess you aren't all up to what you ought to be!"

    "Huh? What the heck does that mean?" I asked as I kept sucking the lolli.

    "Oh, come on. You're the guy that beat a Darkrai that one time, you always place anyway. ‘Bout time you've met your match." Who was this guy? "Y'know, I've travelled all over the world for the perfect match, been to regions you've probably never even heard of! I get busy, Ash K. Like, last time, I was at Unova getting my badges, and I've beaten every single gym under the horizon there–even that annoying girl and her Axew, just about every trainer in my path, didn't matter who, and I was always left so empty because none of them were worth the time. Such bores." What girl? What was an Axew? Were they cool? Were they even relevant? And wait, he'd been to Unova? Shoot, I was planning on going there next until that stupid accident happened, grah!

    "Okay, and what of it?" I asked sternly.

    "It was filled with so many pokémon I've never seen before, wanna see? Got it in my PC–"

    "Just what do you want!"

    He pulled his Dex out. "Betchu' never seen this, huh?" It was some weird bunny thing that looked like a bandit. "Got it right here, in this region. So," he shoved his face in front of mine, "How many do you have?"

    "...Three…" Murkrow was waiting for us outside and noticed that somebody got cut out of the picture as it cawed on by! "Well…maybe four."

    "Keh. And you've barely arrived in Verdori City? Give me a break!" He laughed. "I got about twenty from this region that haven't been discovered yet!" He scrolled along the screen of his PokéDex, showing off some more. "See! There's something a little more than a Ratzavok or Doradin, probably more powerful too!" He kept laughing alongside that Pikachu…

    "Pi-kehehe!" it laughed as it looked at my own Pikachu and smirked.

    He was already charging up. "Hey, Pikachu, not yet!" I warned. Too late, Doragin hopped in to attack Urie and right when it was about to peck at this guy, his Pikachu shocked it mid-jump.

    "Chu."

    "And then there were three!" Urie started laughing, again…

    I decided to accept his lame challenge. "You know what, I'll battle you! Right now, let's get to that field!"

    "Oh, how rude. I've never introduced myself properly," He shook my hand violently. "I'm Urie, and this is my partner Pikachu. Came all the way from Idano Town in the Edocenxctyit Region, and you might just be my most formidable opponent yet, partner!"

    "Partner?" He let go of my hand and spun me, making me dizzy…

    "In crime, silly! We both played that super scary card game we were told to never play, but here we are now, running around free and in the wild!" He finally put me in place, making sure that I didn't knock over his motorbike on accident…He looked at my face and wheezed. "I am going to have so much fun with you! And your Pikachu! And the rest of whatever counts as a Pokémon in your party! Especially that Toshinmac, where is he?"

    Shinji tried covering his giggle. "He'll be here soon, so let's get to it then," I answered.

    "Great! I want you to hop on that bike, just beside the passenger seat!"

    "Passenger seat?"

    He pulled out a custom kit that was hidden away, dismantled from the trunk of the bike and instantly set it up. "Yeah, passenger seat! Hop right on, and I guess your friends could come and watch, but I have my own show to run here…Keh, whateves!" He gave the rest of his lollipop to his Pikehchu and started the bike while I got onto my embarrassingly small seat! What was the matter with this guy!

▶TO BE CONTINUED

►NEXT CHAPTER