I own nothing. This was up on cascade88's account before, but now it's on mine. Seeing as we're in the long slow process of co-writing it, it doesn't much matter whose account it's on. Anyway, enjoy! It'll be updated…whenever, lol. As a general rule, I take care of the battle bits, and cascade does the uh shippier parts. Anyway, time to end this A/N naow! Again, don't expect fast updates. Soz!

The sun had just began to set behind the skyline in the Sinnoh region, an action that gave way to a enchanting purplish glow over the town in which a young trainer, one who was no more than nineteen years old, currently resided within.

"Pikachu, what do you think of this? Hmm? Should I even… attend?"

"Pika-pi?"

Sounding (and, with a shrug of his small, yellow-furred shoulders, looking) as confused and unsure as his trainer was on the matter, an Electric type Pokemon with red cheeks and small, pointed ears reached down toward the object in his trainer's hand, where his paw brushed against the card-like material therein.

"You have been invited to participate in a Championship Masquerade Ball, held in none other than Sinnoh's esteemed Solaceon Town Ballroom, on the 16th of March. You are allowed to bring a guest if you so desire, but you must, naturally, bring with you at least three Pokemon, for the matches held there shall be three on three, and so on…"

Letting his voice drift off into nothingness as he continued reading the rest of the invitation (which he had already twice through before upon initially receiving it) silently to himself, Ash's mind was all the while lost in wonderment and thought, the cogs therein twisting as he attempted to decide whether making a trip all the way back into Solaceon Town would be worth it or not, considering the fact that he had been initially planning to simply take a ferry out of the town he was currently in on the way back to his home in Pallet Town that night.

"Three on three…" he now repeated aloud for the fourth time, before slowly lowering the invite as a bit of a grin slowly broke out on his face.

"Oh well…" he said in a resided sort of voice, the grin growing as a bit of a twinkle began to appear in his auburn-toned eyes, his empty hand slowly closing into a determined sort of fist as he spoke aloud. "I guess it wouldn't be right of me to turn down a formal invitation to a championship, am I right Pikachu?"

Also beginning to smile, the little yellow Pokemon perked up his ears at the sound of his trainer's words, before nodding his head once, verbally agreeing, "Pikachu, Pika-Pi!"

"Right, then that's settled, buddy. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm guessing we'll be taking a ferry out to Solaceon instead of Pallet. It'll definitely be a shorter trip, hehe. Well let's just go make sure I get my pass reserved for the ferry right now, and then we can camp out overnight in the Pokemon Center. I'm sorta kinda starving anyway, to be honest."

"Pi… ka…" Pikachu replied, somewhat apathetically, for his trainer and best friend seemed too virtually always be hungry, before blinking as a sound of growling came out of nowhere from his trainer's stomach, a sound that merely reinforced what he had just been saying.

"Hehe… so yeah, as I was saying, Pikachu, let's get going. I'm starved. Besides, maybe Nurse Joy or someone can fill me in on what exactly a masquerade ball is in the first place…"

"Pika… Pika-Pi, Pikachu?" the Electric type replied, as if to ask, "Well, what does it sound like to you?"

"Er," Ash replied, leaning his head from side to side slightly as he answered. "I guess masks would be involved?"

"Pi-ka!"

"Right, well still, where would I get one? And what's the point of having a dance that's a Pokemon tournament in the first place, and--"

Pausing, only to replace his own questions with a bit of a nervous laugh as his stomach gave out a second almighty growl, Ash simply paused and shook his head slightly, before saying, "Well… I guess my curiosity can be put on hold for now. Let's just get to that food in the Center, okay buddy?"

"Pikachu, Pika-pi," the Electric type agreed, before simply going silent, resting on his trainer's shoulder as Ash broke out into a bit of jog, to decrease the space of time between the food in the Pokemon Center's cafeteria and the area in which he happened to currently be.

. . .

"So I think we're almost there, buddy."

Standing out on the balcony of a ferry the very next day, again as the sun began to slowly set over the Sinnoh region, Ash stood leant up forward against the railing of the balcony on the top story of the river carrier, Pikachu, as ever, still perched atop his shoulder. "Although now my earlier questions about all of this are beginning to come back now… just why is their to be a dance held before the battling? And why a masquerade ball of all things… At least Nurse Joy told me where I could a buy a mask. It's probably not as fancy as some of the others are gonna be, but hey, what can I do? I don't honestly care about the dance at all--battling is my game. Right, Pikachu?"

"Piiika!" the Electric mouse agreed, perking up on Ash's shoulder as he smiled out toward the purple-glowing horizon.

. . .

"Invitation please?"

Awkwardly removing the small card he was keeping in his back pocket as he stood at the intrance of the Solaceon Town Ball Room just moments after arriving at the town's port off the ferry, Ash gave a bit of a sheepish grin and chuckle as he tried to smooth out the invite, which had become somewhat crumpled up in it's place of keeping, before handing it over to the person standing before the entrance of the building, where the masquerade ball and tournament was to be held.

"Also, young Sir…" the person said, a bit of a smile on his face as he turned over the invitation in his hand. "You really should have your mask on by now. Now really, is that not the point, to not be seen? It's meant to make the battles a bit more fun, and--"

"Fine, but, so…" Ash replied, interrupting the greeter as he withdrew a simple, black mask from his other back pocket, before hurriedly moving to affix it over his eyes, only to release it's simple thin straps as Pikachu, who had been again perched on his shoulder, moved to take them from his trainer's hands and tie them closed. "What is the point of the dance itself though?"

"I'm not entirely sure…" the greeter replied, his odd smile still remaining on his lips. "My daughter actually orchestrated and set up this entire thing; my guess is as good as yours, although I can tell you that she did become quite fond of dancing in her later teen years, so… that may have had something to do with it."

"Al…right then," Ash replied, before exchanging a quick glance with Pikachu, giving him a nod of gratitude for the help regarding the mask.

"Speaking of which," the greeter added, causing the trainer to pause in tracks just before he began to step forward, on into the ball. "Do you not have a date for the said dance portion of this ball?"

"Erm… Pikachu is my date?" Ash replied, before quickly exhaling in an awkward fashion, and then moving a hand to run back through his hair.

"Ha, well, alright then young man, as you see fit," the greeter replied, before slightly bowing Ash on in toward the ball room. "I was right in my initial assumption--you must simply be here for the battles--not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Either way, be sure to have a nice time!"

"Thanks," Ash replied, turning to throw a hand up, before pausing and stepping right back out almost as quickly as he had stepped in.

"Erm, yes, young trainer?"

"Right, sorry, I was just wondering something."

"Go on?"

"Well I've brought with me Pikachu, obviously, and five others, for the battle, but I was wondering, how many battles are there to be exactly?"

"Well," the greeter began in reply. "There's to be a first initial round of battles, held just after the dancing, of course, and then a second round for those who triumphed in the first, and then a final, third round to be held just between the two winners of the second round."

"The two winners…" Ash repeated, before furrowing his brow. "So, that is to say then, there can't be more than eight people as initial contenders."

"Right you are; there are only eight competitors actually invited, so there shall only be eight in attendance, plus their respective dates, of course," the greeter confirmed with a bit of a shrug. "My daughter wished for this to be a smaller sort of event I suppose… only the best of the best, eh?"

Grinning wildly at the prospect of being considered so great a trainer that he was given a slot for this tournament out of such a small allotment of eight, Ash clenched both of his fists together in determination, before nodding once at the man who had just so kindly informed him of all these details, before saying aloud, mostly to himself and Pikachu,

"Nothing's going to stop me now. If anything, I can't believe I even considered not coming to this thing in the first place. Dance or no dance, if I was so especially chosen, then there's no way I can ever turn my back on this competition now. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu, Pi-chaa!" Ash's little yellow companion replied, moving up a bit on his shoulder as he punched a little fist of his own up into the air, his excitement near-matching that of his trainer's as they both finally entered on into the Solaceon ballroom.

Inwardly sighing and rolling his eyes as he swept around in constant, dizzying circles, Ash used all of his self preservation not to (rudely) sigh aloud in disgust. After having initially arrived at the ballroom in Solaceon Town, he'd been approached and danced with for what was now the third time, and considering the fact that only reason he even wanted to be there was the battling, it was hardly anything he was jumping for joy over.

Seeming to notice her dancing partner's disgust, the young lady that Ash had been aimlessly twirling about smirked suddenly, before rolling her own eyes and saying, "Oh come on, Ash, I am one of your best friends. Don't act so upset to dance with me--it's not like I'll give you cooties."

Blinking in surprise at the sound of his name, Ash arched an eyebrow from behind his mask as he looked back to the equally-masked girl, before saying, "Uhm… you know me?"

"I'd certainly hope so," the girl replied, before glancing from side to side, and then surreptitiously lifting her own, lavender-colored, feathered mask up for a fraction of a second, giving Ash just enough of a glimpse to see who's face it was concealing.

"Dawn!" Ash exclaimed, before blinking and quickly looking around; after all, the whole game here was that no one knew who the other was right?

"Pikachu… Pika-Pi!" Pikachu added, in a happy greeting from his master's shoulder, although in a quieter voice than Ash, upon seeing for himself who his trainer was now hand-in-hand with.

"Hey Pikachu," Dawn replied with a wink, before saying to Ash, "So yeah, I kinda saw you arrive, sans-mask, and I decided I'd hit you up for a dance. Admittedly, I'm not here as a competitor, just a guest, so I guess it doesn't matter much for us right? The whole hidden identity, I presume at least, is meant to deal with being up for a surprise in who you're battling against."

"True," Ash replied, a smile on his face for the first time that evening since arriving, before lolling his head to the side. "Although, that bit is kinda ruined for me now. I mean, unless you're with someone else now, I know now that I'll probably be going up against Zoey at some point, right?"

Blushing a bit in a sheepish manner, the blue-haired girl gave a simple shrug, before saying with a sigh, "Oh well… Sorry 'bout that, Ash."

Giving a bit of a start as a tuxedo-clad girl that had been standing nearby, leant against the wall, suddenly gave out a large, rather bizarre giggle, Ash paused mid-dance to watch as she, whoever she was, flashed him a large smile, before turning and heading away, disappearing on into the crowd, leaving nothing but the glimpse of the back of her cotton candy colored hair as she went.

"What do you think that was about…" he wondered aloud, to which Dawn shrugged again.

"No clue, Ash… maybe someone here is a bit more into the competitors than the competing though."

Rolling his eyes as Dawn emitted a rather girly giggle, Ash sighed, before tightening his grip on her hands, only to begin twirling her around and round again. "Eh whatever--let's just get this whole dancing bit over with. I can't wait to get to the battling portion."

. . .

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Grass Knot!"

There was a loud noise as several small balls impacted the battlefield, followed by the sound of something large being tripped over.

The smoke cleared. Ash walked out onto the battlefield, stooping to pick up a small yellow shape, before turning around, holding it. Reaching his end of the field, he placed it down next to him, where it stirred slightly. He looked back across the pitch, where a large, pink-and-brown Pokémon was being retracted into a Poké Ball.

"Pi...Pika?"

At this sound, Ash glanced downward, smiling slightly. "Relax, Pikachu. You were awesome out there. I'm glad we perfected Grass Knot, you really did a number on that Gastrodon. And the way you took out Mismagius after it defeated Swellow was incredible..."

Pikachu smiled, lowering his head to rest on the floor, closing his eyes. Ash turned back to the battlefield, locking eyes with his opponent. He (at least, he assumed it was a guy) was staring back at Ash with dark red eyes, through a black mask. The mask had slivery, glittery lines crisscrossing it, framed with white feathers. It went well with his dark purple suit and red hair.

"Will the competitors please select their final Pokémon for the final round of this battle?" called the referee from the sidelines. Ash's opponent moved his hand behind his back, reappearing with a Poké Ball in it. Ash's own hand hovered at his belt, grabbing a Poké Ball at random, hoping it would be good against his adversary's choice.

"Purugly! Curtain!" Ash's brow furrowed. There was something familiar about this guy. He'd been feeling it ever since he'd sent out his Mismagius at the start of the match. There was no time to dwell on it, however, as a large, grey and white, catlike Pokémon materialised on the field. It had a long, spiralling tail, which forked in the middle, which the creature quickly wrapped around its waist, puffing out its chest to make it seem bigger. Unusually for members of this species, it wore a wide grin.

Ash smiled, he'd made the right choice. Throwing the Poké Ball forward, he summoned the Pokémon within. "Heracross! I choose you!"

With a blinding flash, a large, blue insectoid Pokémon appeared on the field, across from the Tiger Cat. It was short and stocky, with powerful arms and legs, which it flexed as it looked at its opponent, who only grinned back. Its most noticeable feature was the long horn atop its head, which waved as the Pokémon warmed up, the large X-shape at its tip identifying it as a male of its species. Finally, it assumed a fighting stance, its feet spread, its arms raised, watching the opposing Pokémon carefully.

The referee looked at both Pokémon, before raising both arms. "Purugly versus Heracross! Begin!"

Ash smirked, this was gonna be easy, Fighting-types beat Normal-types. "Heracross, start off with a Brick Bre-"

"Fake Out." His opponent interrupted. Purugly dashed forwards, paws outstretched, before slapping them either side of Heracross' head. The Single Horn Pokémon stumbled back, blinking, flinching as the glow of Brick Break in his foreleg faded. The huge beetle fell, landing on his back, struggling slightly, eliciting some laughter from the crowd watching the battle.

Ash's rival grinned "Go in for a Slash attack!" Purugly nodded, darting forwards, the claws on one paw extending, glowing white. Ash had to admit that was a good move. Fake Out was a fast move that always made the targeted Pokémon flinch, though it could only be used straight after the Pokémon appeared.

"Heracross, c'mon! Get up! I didn't go through all that dancing to lose!" The Single Horn stopped struggling, and just as Purugly started to swipe, extended the wing cases on his back. This motion flipped him up and backward, away from the razor-sharp claws of the feline. Heracross landed on his feet, skidding slightly. Ash grinned at his Pokémon's agility, "You call that a Slash? Heracross, Stone Edge!"

The huge beetle focused, his eyes glowing blue as three blue rings surrounded it. These rings quickly split, creating many small, sharp rocks. Heracross stepped forwards, and the rocks flew as well, speeding towards Purugly. Most of the sharp stones hit their mark, the feline Pokémon screeched as they battered its delicate skin.

Ash's opponent grimaced as his Pokémon was hit. "Fight back with Shadow Claw!" Purugly recovered, leaping towards Heracross, one of its paws becoming shrouded in a dark, supernatural energy.

"Heracross! Counter with Night Slash!" Ash ordered. The insect braced himself, one of his forelegs glowing purple as the Dark-type attack charged. As Purugly swiped down with Shadow Claw, Heracross came up with Night Slash. The two claw attacks collided, both Pokémon jostling, before the sheer power of Heracross' uppercut forced the Tiger Cat upward, sailing in a forced backflip, swivelling in midair to land on its feet. "Stone Edge, again!" called Ash. Once more, Heracross' eyes glowed blue, the blue rings forming around him again, before sending the sharp stones at the Normal-type.

"Shock Wave." Purugly's tail rose above its body, coiled as a blue, crackling ball of electricity began to form within, getting larger, and larger. The feline then crouched down, facing the speeding rocks, before firing a bolt of blue lightning at them. The stones were hit, stopping in midair, before being blasted apart by the force of the charge. Shards of the rocks sparkled in the air as they fell to the floor. The bolt, however, kept going, zapping the insectoid who had sent the rocks. Heracross fell back, before standing up again, panting slightly as he assumed a fighting stance.

"Well, that was definitely a contest move..." muttered Ash, knowing he'd have lost a fair few points for that if this were a contest battle.

"Now, Iron Tail!" Purugly charged, its tail unravelling again, glowing brightly, before jumping, somersaulting quickly, its steel-hard tail spinning like a whip as it neared Heracross.

"Block and counter with Megahorn!" Ash called. The beetle's head rose, the huge horn on his head glowing as it readied one of its most powerful attacks. Aiming carefully, he judged where the tail of his adversary would strike.

There was a loud 'Crack!' as Purugly's Iron Tail struck straight in the centre of Heracross' horn. The Single Horn Pokémon grinned, thrusting upwards with his glowing horn, pushing the now normal-coloured tail aside, striking the Tiger Cat in the gut, tossing it backwards, where it crashed on its back.

"Purugly!" called its trainer, as the feline struggled to its feet, gasping for breath after being winded by the strong Bug-type attack. Purugly trainer looked furious behind his mask, especially as he barked out an order. "That does it, Hypnosis, now!" Purugly looked at Heracross, grinning again as the brawling bug turned to face it, before making its yellow eyes glow, waggling its large pink ears as it did so.

"Heracross, no! Look away!" called Ash, but too late. The beetle was staring the cat full in the face, eyelids starting to droop, before sitting back on his haunches, snoring peacefully. "Dammit..." muttered the trainer, before getting an idea, smirking slightly.

His opponent, meanwhile, was grinning. "Good job, Purugly, now go in for another Slash!" The feline grinned again, darting forward, glowing white claws outstretched, getting closer to the slumbering bug.

"Heracross, Sleep Talk!" called Ash, praying it would work. The Fighting-Bug-type stirred, rising to his feet, though obviously still asleep, as he faced the charging form of its foe. As Purugly pulled its paw back to swipe, Heracross swiftly reached forward, punching it hard in the face with one of his stout, powerful forelegs. Purugly stopped dead, stunned by the force of this unexpected blow, only to be kicked in the leg, tripped by one of the beetle's strong hindlegs. Another punch impacted it in the gut, followed by another kick, then a swift headbutt. Heracross' eyes were still closed, he was even snoring, but that didn't stop him from raining punches, kicks, headbutts, and jabs from his horn onto his subdued opponent. Suddenly, Heracross stopped, sitting back on his haunches, continuing to slumber. Purugly, meanwhile, sagged, falling unconscious before its snoozing enemy.

Ash breathed. That had been a risky plan. Sleep Talk only worked when a Pokémon was asleep, and, from its unconscious mind, pick one of its other attacks at random to perform while sleeping. It could have been any attack Heracross knew, Megahorn, Night Slash, Stone Edge, or the ideal move to dispatch Purugly... Close Combat!

The Judge, crowd, and Ash's opponent stood, stunned, gaping at the scene that had just unfolded. The referee raised his right arm, slowly stuttering out the words "Pur....Purugly is unable to battle! Heracross wins! The winner of this match is the Trainer to my right, the Trainer of Heracross, Pikachu and Swellow!"

Ash sighed with relief. That had been a tough battle, he sure was glad he'd come to this tournament. His opponent recalled his Purugly to its Poké ball, before looking up at Ash, frowning slightly, before smiling at him. Ash smiled back, before looking down at the approaching form of his now-awake Heracross. The trainer knelt down to greet the Bug-type.

"Good work Heracross, you did awesome out there!" He smiled, rubbing the Single Horn's smooth exoskeleton.

"Pi-pika!" chimed in Pikachu, patting his friend on the leg. Heracross smiled at them both, sagging slightly after the stress of battle.

"You deserve a good rest, my friend." Said Ash, pulling out and enlarging Heracross' Poké Ball. "Return." Heracross smiled as he was converted into red energy, before being pulled inside the ball. Ash minimized it, reattaching it to his belt as he stood back up, looking over at his defeated adversary.

"Not too shabby… not too shabby…" the defeated trainer said, a bit of a smirk on their face as they suddenly moved to pull off their mask, dropping it to the floor to reveal their true identity.

"Aha, I knew that was a Contest move!" Ash exclaimed, a smile on his face as he walked across the floor, his hand outstretching to take hold and shake of the one that belonged to one of his other old friends. "I shoulda known that that was you out there, Zoey."

"So you should have," the redhead agreed, smirking as she graciously shook Ash's hand, before reaching back and crossing her arms across her chest. "After all, I'm sure my Dawn told you I was here when the two of you had your little fance."

"That she did," Ash admitted, a sheepish look on his face as he moved one of his hands to scratch at the back of his head. "That she did… well, anyway, good match, yeah?"

"Oh yes, totally," Zoey agreed, her smirk becoming a grin. "Granted, I'm still not into the whole battles and contests thing, but since I was invited to this specifically, well, let's just say, I definitely just had a good time."

"Glad to hear it," Ash replied, giving Zoey a second, quick handshake, before nodding to her in goodbye, and watching as she walked away from the main floor, going over to instead link arms with Dawn--who herself was waving back to Ash in goodbye. "I had fun too. So much fun… now let's get the next battle started!"

However, much to his chagrin, there suddenly came a staticky sound of an intercom, followed by someone announcing in a booming, carrying voice, "And now if you will, remaining competitors and their guests, let the second portion of the ballroom dancing commence!"

"Aww man!" Ash replied, huffing in an irritated fashion, before slowly shaking his head and slinking off of the main floor. "Although… I guess this does give me time to speculate and wonder who else I might be up against next… I mean if Zoey was invited, there's no telling who else, right?"