A/N:
Hello! Well, I´m back at this, and I want to apologize. I have been having a few problems with the story, both writers block and motivational, so I didn´t even start this chapter until now, a little more than a week after the previous one went up. While having a slump and not writing on this I did, however, want to do something productive toward this story, so I made a bio over every Gym Leader, Elite Four member and Champion from Kanto to Sinnoh. That includes where they are from, a bit of info and a full team of six Pokémon for each. I took some creative liberties there, included some OCs and created non-canon teams for the already existing characters. That document ended up being nearly 8000 words in and of itself. I also did one other interesting (in my mind at least) thing, which I will introduce in this chapter actually.
I do hope you review if there is anything that you feel could be implemented, I make no guarantees that I will but I certainly won´t if you don´t suggest it. Considering I didn´t get any reviews that are supposed to be answered except by another chapter this time, I´ll get on with the chapter.
I do not in any way, shape or form own Pokémon or any associated products, nor do I profit from this fanfiction.
With that out of the way, let´s go!
Cold Feet and Performance Jitters!
The following morning Ash was up early as ever, walking into the brisk morning air outside the Jubilife Pokécenter. Taking a deep breath to take in the fresh air and all the scents with it, Ash´s eyes shot open as he heard a calm voice speak up directly to his side. "You´re up incredibly early, Ash." Looking to his side Ash came face to face with Lance, something he really hadn´t considered happening in Sinnoh of all places.
"Lance, what´s up?" he asked curiously, unable to find a single reason for why Lance would suddenly appear before him. Lance chuckled, "Well, I wasn´t actually looking for you. I was taking a break, G-Men business," Lance answered him easily, though not stating exactly what he was working on. Ash nodded slowly, "So what´s new?" Lance glanced at him before he got up to leave. "Not too much, but we finalized a deal a few days ago and the public announcement should happen at ten in the morning today. You might want to check it out, actually."
"Sure, but right now I need to get started on my training," Ash answered, a bit curious but not overly so. Lance simply shrugged his shoulders and mounted upon his Dragonite, disappearing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
"Alright, come on out everybody!" Ash stated easily, letting all of his current roster of ten come out. "Ok, the contest starts in a few days so we need to continue with the specialized training for that Swellow," he gazed at Aipom, who pouted up at him, "and you too Aipom," he amended. Continuing on to give exercises to his new Pokémon, and having his older help them, he turned back to Swellow and Aipom. "Alright, let´s start with finding a way to dodge elegantly," Ash started, "So I want you to use Air Slash against Aipom, and Aipom I want you to use either Swift or Focus Punch to counter or dodge."
It took three hours before Dawn and Brock finally got up and joined Ash outside, the clock just having passed eight. "So, I talked to Lance," Ash casually dropped the bomb as the three of them were eating an early breakfast. Dawn nearly choked on the tea she was drinking, though Brock simply rose an eyebrow. "Why´d you call Lance?" Brock asked, handing a tissue to Dawn. "I didn´t," Ash clarified easily, almost nonchalantly, "He is in Sinnoh, dealing with something. He answered me pretty vaguely though, so I don´t know what." Brock nodded calmly, seemingly in thought.
"How can the two of you speak so calmly about this!?" Dawn exclaimed, seeing the stern look on Ash´s face she quieted down. "You´re talking about meeting one of the Champion Masters! How is this no big deal for you!?" she whisper-shouted at them. "Well, I personally know two who are Champions, and a couple who used to be so it really doesn´t affect me much," Ash shrugged. Dawn blinked rapidly before her eyes widened drastically. "Who are the ones you know?" she asked, a curious gleam in her eyes.
Ash gazed over at Brock, who nodded before he seemed to scour the area for eavesdroppers. "I know Lance, we met him while traveling through Johto, and Drake Yūji of the Orange League, who I defeated. As for the ones who have previously been Champions, I know Steven Stone and Professor Oak. Professor Oak used to be a great battler before he entered Pokémon research you know?" Ash stated calmly, making sure that both himself and Dawn were quiet. Dawn blushed, as a stray thought about how attractive Ash was when he was serious entered her mind unbidden.
"He actually told me something pretty interesting though, Brock," Ash changed the subject, feeling very done with talking about the Champions he´d met. "Oh yeah? What did he tell you?" Brock asked, curious what Lance could have said that might be interesting. Ash grinned mischievously, "He told me about a press conference that will be aired at ten, so in just about 40 minutes." Dawn exclaimed happily, "Well if he thinks it´s interesting we should watch it, right?" Ash nodded slightly, "Yeah. I intend to at least, but you might use the time to train. I´ll come to get you when the press conference starts."
Getting a promise from Ash, Dawn set off to train her Pokémon for the contest. "Alright, Piplup and Buneary let´s get training!" she spoke clearly, releasing her two Pokémon from their Pokéballs. "Last time we made good progress," Dawn started explaining, sitting down on the ground in front of her Pokémon. Buneary and Piplup looked at one another and waddled over to Dawn, sitting on the ground in front of her. "I´ve decided that I´ll use Buneary for the appeal round, and Piplup for the battle rounds, alright?" Both Pokémon nodded, understanding fully why their trainer had made this choice.
Getting to work the young girl made her Pokémon practice, while she supervised while planning how to make the best possible appeal. "Hey, Dawn! The conference is starting!" Ash shouted to her from the door, a little more than half an hour later. As he gazed upon the field, he saw the sandy ground seemed to be more than a little moist and sparkled with frost and droplets. "Coming!" Dawn answered him, eagerly heading over with her Pokémon at her heels. The two quickly made their way into the Pokécenter and headed over to the cubicle Brock had occupied for the three of them, making themselves comfortable.
More than a few other trainers had gathered in the lobby, and the orange-haired girl from the day before seemed to be looking for somewhere to sit. "Zoey!" Ash called her over, gesturing to the unoccupied seat beside Brock. Happily taking her seat, Zoey asked curiously, "What´s going on? Most of these trainers seem to be from Kanto or Johto?" Ash blinked as he looked at her, "I´m not going to ask how you know that. The Indigo League has a press conference that starts now, being the League of Kanto and Johto most of us want to see what they have to say." "Ah," Zoey made a slight noise in confirmation, settling her curious gaze on the large TV-screen on the wall.
"Good morning everyone, wherever you are! My name is Christopher Jayze, and I will be the reporter for this special conference. I must admit I have no further idea than the viewers this time around, so let´s get started, shall we? My curiosity will be sated!" the TV-reporter started. "Jayze?" Brock seemed to become even more curious at seeing who the reporter was. Ash´s eyes widened, along with most of the other Johto and Kanto trainers´, as this reporter was known to report on important announcements within the Indigo League.
"Let´s reveal the guests!" Jayze exclaimed exuberantly, gesturing to a large red curtain. Just as he finished his sentence the curtain opened, revealing the group sitting behind it. "What the…!?" Ash audible gasped as the group was revealed. Nobody blamed him for reacting, as most of the other trainers reacted similarly. Behind the curtain had been 10 people sitting at a crescent table, all calmly looking at the cameras. "Why did everyone react so…strangely?" Zoey asked curiously, not realizing who she was viewing on the screen.
Brock took it upon himself to answer the question, "Well, Zoey. The people sitting at that table are all well known in Johto and Kanto, well except two of them that I don´t recognize." "Who are they, Brock?" Dawn asked, her eyebrow raised slightly. "Well from the left sits Will Itsuki and Karen Cordoba, both originally from Johto and part of the Indigo Elite Four. The blonde- and raven-haired people next to them I don´t know, but the silver-haired old guy is Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany." Ash cut in, taking over the explanation, "And next to Pryce is Lance, which is strange considering I met him here earlier. The two after that are Bruno and Agatha of the Indigo Elite Four and Lorelei who used to be a member. The last one is Koga, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City in Kanto. What I feel is strange is that they are all gathered."
The volume from the TV seemed to be increased, and the group heard Jayze speak. "Well, I must admit I´m surprised! Champion Lance, would you care to explain?" He approached the table, handing a microphone to the Champion Master. Lance sighed and looked up with a determined expression on his face, "Well it is really quite simple. We are here to announce the split of the Indigo League back into the Johto and Kanto Leagues." With the bomb dropped, most of the trainers seemed in a frenzy, wildly discussing with each other.
"That was… unexpected," Ash admitted, gaping at the screen. Even Jayze seemed completely shell-shocked at the notion, openly gaping on international television. "What!?" Jayze finally managed to exclaim, still highly confused. "The only reason the two Leagues combined in the first place was the lack of trainers capable of meeting League standards as Elite Four members. However, now both regions will have a Champion and Elite Four that muster up to the harsh standards of the League Competition Committee," Lance went on to explain. "Both Will and Karen will from this point onward be part of the newly reformed Johto Elite Four, but I will let their Champion introduce their League later."
Lance took a breath and smiled to the camera. "For the Kanto League, we welcome back Lorelei Kanna to our Elite Four. We also welcome Koga as our newest member." Jayze instantly went over to the newest Kanto Elite Four member, to ask a few questions. "Koga Anzu, the former Gym Leader of Fuchsia, do you have any comments on this?" Koga, as serious as ever, looked into the camera before he spoke, "I am honored to have been given this chance and to have been found worthy. I will however also mention that Blaine was actually offered this very position, but he declined." Jayze nodded, before prodding a bit further, "You have no issue with being the second choice? And what about the Fuchsia Gym, what will happen there?"
Zoey stood up, "Well, I´m not really interested in this. See you later!" Smiling and waving as she moved away, Dawn watched her leave with narrowed eyes. "Sorry, but this isn´t much for me either. I´ll be training out back," she stated and left quickly. Ash shrugged and shifted his focus back on the screen, only managing to catch the last part of Koga´s statement. "… as for the new Gym Leader, my daughter Janine will be taking the reins and I am confident that she will be very successful."
Jayze nodded and stepped back, allowing the camera to zoom out and show all of the group once more. "Might I ask how this split came into motion?" Jayze asked, finally hitting on one of the questions running through Ash´s head. Lance gestured to the black-haired man, and Jayze hesitantly moved towards the man. As the man rose to his feet it became clear that the man was old, as he struggled slightly getting up and had to lean on a cane to stand properly. The man seemed a proper gentleman, wearing a full suit with a red tie. On his head rested a black bowler, and several rings glinted from the man´s fingers, reflecting light as he received the microphone.
"Greetings," he started, his voice hoarse and gravelly, "My name is Mr. Duncan, or if you´d rather call me by first name Zane, and I will serve as the Johto Champion." Everyone´s eyes widened, slightly shocked at the insinuation. "To answer your question…The truth is I along with my nephew Halvard," he gestured to the blonde at his side, "and my old friend Pryce set it in motion." The old man slowly walked over to Lance, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Pryce, Halvard and I petitioned the PLCC to split the League back into two," he continued, taking a deep breath. "After proving to the PLCC and Lance that we were capable of handling the responsibilities, the agreement was set. Therefore, I´d like to introduce the new members of the Johto Elite Four, Halvard Halbard, nicknamed 'Strom' by his friends, and Pryce Yanagi the former Mahogany Gym Leader. I won´t say much more right now," Zane finished, handing the microphone back.
Jayze took the microphone, blinking rapidly, "Well that does help clear it up. I have a few…" before he could continue a small alarm rang. "Well, the broadcast will be over very soon, but might I ask a question each?" Jayze asked, addressing Pryce and Halvard. The two looked at each other, and Pryce nodded indicating Halvard go first. "The rest of the Elite Four members here are known specialist with one type, would you care to tell us which type you specialize in?" Halvard stroked a hand through his blond goatee, a small smirk on his face, "I don´t mind, I specialize in the Electric-type. That´s also why my friends call me 'Strom', I think it´s some sort of electrical current," Halvard answered, a slightly nervous laugh as he finished. "Thank you, Halvard. For the last question before this broadcast ends, Pryce. Now that you have taken an Elite Four position, what will happen with the Mahogany Gym?"
Pryce chuckled lightly, "Just like Koga passed his Gym to his daughter, my Gym will pass to my grandson, Marcus. Unfortunately, he does not specialize in Ice-types and so the Mahogany Gym will change to a Water-type Gym." "Thank you for answering my questions, and granting me the honor of being here," Jayze spoke, bowing to the two separate Leagues. As the 10 people leave quietly, Jayze turned to the cameras. "Thank all of the viewers for tuning in on this surprise broadcast. Now you must excuse me, the full shock seems to be setting in. I look forward to seeing how this will continue!" With that the broadcast seemed to end, the TV turning off.
Ash blinked, turning to Brock. "Did that just happen?" he asked, taking a large sip of the water in front of him. Brock nodded slowly, "Yeah, it did. I never thought the Indigo League would split, but thinking about it I guess it isn´t that strange." Ash nodded, getting up and started moving to the outside. "You coming, Brock?" he asked over his shoulder. Without much further prodding Brock got up and followed Ash outside, where the two proceeded to quickly catch Dawn up on the new development.
That evening the three settled down to view a special event that had been announced during the day, an exhibition match between Champion Zane Duncan of Johto and Champion Lance Wataru of Kanto. As the match is only an exhibition match the two Champions only used three Pokémon each. As the match currently stood Lance was leading two to one, having taken out Zane´s Pidgeot and Gardevoir while only losing his Flygon. "Return Pidgeot, my friend," Zane spoke calmly still as he recalled his fallen bird. "You truly are a powerful young man, Lance. Do not think you will win this easily, however," Zane stated.
"Lopunny, let´s go!" Zane spoke loudly, releasing his new Pokémon. "What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked curiously, quickly finding his Pokédex and scanning it. The metallic monotone of his Pokédex beeped to life stating, "Lopunny the Rabbit Pokémon, and the evolved form of Buneary. Through a tight bond with its closest partner Buneary evolves into this powerful Pokémon. It uses its hind legs to kick or grind its opponent into the ground, generating powerful force. Instead of the pouchlike cushion of fur that Buneary has, Lopunny has three different places were the yellow-white fur is gathered. These three are its hands, its ears, and its legs. Though preferring to use its ears to strike with just as it did previously, Lopunny can also attack with its hands." The metallic voice of Ash´s Pokédex whirred into silence, making the three divert their attention back to the screen.
"Your Lopunny can´t defeat both my Aerodactyl and my Dragonite, Zane," Lance spoke calmly, staring his opponent down. "I do think you are underestimating me, young Lance. Lopunny, my dear? Let´s show them your true power, shall we?" Zane answered, lifting his cane slightly from the ground. A bright light started shining from the handle before Zane lightly tapped the cane to the ground. A flood of light gathered around his Lopunny, shielding it from view. When the lights died down, Lopunny looked very differently. Instead of its previous beautiful appearance, the Lopunny now seemed to be more than battle ready, with black fur covering its legs from its yellow-white fur up to its body and the fur of its ears splitting into two groupings.
"Lop!" it roared, standing fully ready. "What is that!?" Dawn exclaimed, as did many others around the room. Ash stared at the screen in wonder, turning to Brock with a large grin on his face. "It seems it truly does exist, eh Brock?" he muttered. Brock could do nothing but nod dumbly, not fully believing what he was seeing. "Mega Evolution…I thought it was just a rumor, but…" Brock didn´t continue the sentence, not fully comprehending what he was seeing before him.
"That means the Meganite Stones actually can help a Pokémon evolve beyond evolution," Ash stated looking up at Pikachu. The rest of the room stared at the screen as the Lopunny easily defeated Aerodactyl, and battled Lance´s Dragonite fiercely. In the end, Zane managed to grab the win as Dragonite crashed to the ground just as Lopunny reverted back to its original form. "That shows you just how powerful a Pokémon becomes after Mega Evolving, though if I remember correctly only a few select Pokémon are able to," Ash stated, patting Dawn´s back as he walked past her on his way to bed.
The following morning Ash slept late, wanting to be well rested for the contest. As he got up the sunlight hit his eyes from a small opening in the curtains, making the young man squint. Bringing a hand up, Ash touched the bandages that were still wrapped around his chest. -These might get a bit in the way, Ash thought to himself, feeling the rough texture. Deciding that he couldn´t remove the bandages, Ash walked out of his room and met with the others in the lobby. "Good morning," he spoke as he sat down opposite to Brock. "Morning Ash, are you ready for the contest?" Brock asked, handing Ash a bowl of the soup he made for breakfast. "I feel pretty ready, but we won´t know for sure before we try," Ash answered, a wide smile on his face. "Well, we should go to the Contest Hall and get ready," he continued, walking out of the center with Dawn by his side.
The two quickly walked into the Contest Hall and made sure their participation was in order, before heading to changing rooms. Ash easily slipped into his new outfit, consisting of a pair of black suit pants and a scarlet shirt coupled with a black silk vest. Walking out to the waiting room confidently, Ash drew quite a few appreciative looks from the female competitors. As he sat there waiting he started to become worried as Dawn didn´t show up, actually spending quite some time in the changing rooms.
When she finally appeared, she had Zoey at her side and the two made their way over to Ash. Dawn was wearing a pink dress with a large red ribbon as a belt, and three smaller red ribbons as decoration. She had put her hair up in a ponytail, and Ash noticed a small black choker with a red ribbon around her neck. "There you are, Dawn. I was getting worried," Ash stated kindly as the two younger girls came over to him. Dawn blushed, "I had some problems with my hair, so Zoey here helped me." Ash nodded, a small smile on his face, "You had doubts that you were ready, didn´t you?"
Dawn looked a bit taken aback by the comment but shyly nodded with an intensified blush. Looking over at Zoey Ash noticed she was wearing a white blazer with a few golden details, over a striped pair of pants. "How about you Zoey, you don´t strike me as a first timer with how relaxed you are," he asked curiously, as the red-head was completely calm. "I´m not, I have competed before. Actually, already have a ribbon," she answered him, a confident smile on her face. Ash nodded, setting his focus back on Dawn, who was sitting beside him, and trying to help her relax. "What about you, Ash?" Zoey asked a small blush on her face as well, as Ash was quite handsome in the new outfit.
"Mhm?" Ash seemed to only realize he had been talked to but continued quickly after. "Oh, I have competed before, but I´m not really a coordinator. I´m a Gym battler," he explained, "I only decided to do this because I have an Aipom who wanted too." Zoey seemed confused at first but then she seemed to realize what Ash had just stated, which seemed to slightly anger her. "If you´re not a coordinator you shouldn´t participate in contests!" she hissed at him, quietly enough that no one of the others heard her.
Ash smiled at her, not really concerned about her outburst. "Why not wait until you have actually seen what I can do before you judge?" he commented idly, all the while rubbing Dawn´s back to help keep her calm. Zoey took a deep breath, "I guess I don´t have much of a choice." Walking away from the two, Zoey seemed to be a bit stumped. Over the intercom, a voice announced, "The contest will start in 5 minutes, the first contestant is Fredrick Hazan of Camphrier Town. Please ready yourself and pay attention to the intercom, thank you."
The contest went by quickly, several coordinators having gotten their shot. "The next contestant is Zoey Nozomi of Snowpoint City," the announcer spoke up, and Zoey stepped onto the stage to massive applause. "Misdreavus, help me out!" she spoke clearly, releasing her Ghost-type. Apparently, she had a Smoke Seal on her Pokéball as a large cloud of smoke billowed out of the Pokéball, obscuring the Pokémon. "Start off with a Thunderbolt!"
The result of Misdreavus´ Thunderbolt was instantaneous, and crackling lights shone out of the smoke cloud. "Continue with Magical Leaf!" The leaves shot out from the smoke cloud, dispersing it in the process. The electricity and smoke clung to each leaf, making a shining trail behind them. "Alright, Will-O-Wisp!" Misdreavus reacted quickly to its trainer´s command, and eight orbs of glowing purple flame floated around it. "Fire!" Misdreavus shot the orbs into the leaves, exploding them and making it rain sparkling light. With that, the Misdreavus floated down to Zoey´s side, where they both curtsied to the crowd. "What a marvelous appeal! You have clearly raised Misdreavus well," the Nurse Joy praised. "Simply remarkable!" "Yes, truly a magnificent display."
"The next contestant is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the intercom informed, making Ash get up and move toward the stage. "Good luck, Ash!" Dawn spoke after him, making Ash smile over his shoulder at her. He took a deep breath as he entered the stage, smiling up at the applauding crowd. Grabbing Swellow´s Pokéball and spinning it on the tip of his finger, he smirked slightly. "Swellow let´s rumble!" -I don´t like that version, Ash thought to himself as he yelled it, -I will never use that again.
Swellow appeared in a shower of sparks, some of them latching onto Swellow and coloring it golden. -Just like the battle against Liza and Tate, still don´t know quite how it works though, Ash thought to himself. "Let´s start it off with Aerial Ace!" Swellow took to the skies easily, leaving a trail of electricity behind it in addition to the regular wind. The effect made for quite the effect and many in the crowd gasped at seeing the beautiful light. "Next up, Air Slash!"
Six separate blades of wind flew off Swellow´s wings with a mighty beat, creating a booming thunder when coupled with the lingering electric energy. The six wind blades slammed into the stage, whipping up a sort of tornado. "Let´s wrap it up with Brave Bird!" "Swellow!" Swellow roared and suddenly a flaming exterior appeared around the bird, with specks of lightning visible. Swellow dove into the rising tornado, stopping the dive by spreading its wings quickly while nearly on the ground. The resulting force sent the wind, electricity, and fire off of Swellow creating a marvelous sight of a colorful pressure wave.
Having ended its appeal, Swellow flew over to Ash and perched on his shoulder. With Swellow on his shoulder, Ash bowed to the crowd, who proceeded to applaud wildly. Mr. Contesta clapped with a bright smile on his smile, "An incredible display of Swellow´s power and finesse in the air. I truly enjoyed watching your Swellow show off its best qualities." "Looking at how shining and pristine Swellow´s feathers are I can see you take good care of your Pokémon," Nurse Joy spoke, a happy expression engulfing her face. "Simply remarkable."
Ash bowed to the judges as well and walked off the stage while stroking Swellow´s plumage. He walked straight over to Dawn, who still seemed extremely nervous, and sat down. "You need to relax Dawn, you won´t be able to do anything if you freeze up on stage," Ash commented, handing her a handkerchief. Blowing her nose and taking a deep breath, Dawn once again tried calming down. "I… I´m just so nervous, what if I fail? What if…" she almost started to ramble, but Ash cut her off. "No. Don´t think like that, if you do that´s all you´ll be able to focus on and then you really won´t make it. Focus on what to do, and leave the negative thoughts," Ash stated sternly, looking her straight in the eye.
Just then the current contestant finished up and the intercom announced simply, "The next contestant is Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town!" "Go out there, have fun and leave the thoughts about what will happen until you´re done!" Ash spoke helpfully, pushing her slightly toward the stage. She took a deep breath, smiled at him shyly and left for the stage. "That was nice of you," Zoey spoke up from just behind him, making him turn to face her. "She is a friend and travel companion, why wouldn´t I try to help her?" he asked rhetorically.
"Look I… I wanted to apologize, it seems I misjudged you," Zoey spoke quietly, looking down into the floor. "Don´t worry about it, I know about the rivalry between Gym battlers and coordinators. I told you the only reason I´m even competing is that my Aipom wanted to try it," Ash assured her, smiling all the while. Zoey nodded, a small shy smile appearing on her face. "So, who do you think will move on to the battle rounds?" she asked as she sat down next to him, watching the TV monitor. "Can I answer that after Dawn´s appeal?" he asked, focusing on the monitor. Zoey nodded and sat quietly beside him.
Dawn was breathing deeply, trying to calm herself before she stepped out. She adopted a small smile as she walked onto the stage, the applause of the crowd nearly inaudible to her. The only thing she heard was the sound of her own heartbeat, proving to herself that she was still very nervous and not as calm as she´d like. "Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn chanted, twirling while releasing her small Rabbit Pokémon.
In a shower of colorful stars, Buneary appeared, with a happy smile on her face and posing cutely. Taking a breath Dawn started the appeal, "Let´s start with the Ice Beam!" Buneary nodded and slowly started to create the slide she would be having fun with, specks of frost shining brilliantly in the sun. As the slide was full created Dawn continued, "Use Dizzy Punch!" A colorful shine enveloped Buneary´s ears and with a powerful shove, she glided over the icy construct, occasionally using the Dizzy Punch to pick up speed. With each hit of Dizzy Punch, a shower of frosty particles flew off the ice sparkling in the air. "Alright, use Bounce!"
Buneary shot quickly into the air, the Dizzy Punch faded from her ears. "Finish up with Dizzy Punch!" Buneary crashed into the icy construct, cracking the entire construct and making it fall apart in a shower of sparkling ice particles. Dawn breathed lightly, as Buneary bounced playfully over to her leaving the ice construct to slowly melt. Dawn and Buneary curtsied to the crowd and then the judges in order. "Finding an appeal in having fun is just what makes a Pokémon like Buneary shine, well done," Mr. Contesta commented. "Your Buneary looks very healthy and happy, and gave a beautiful performance," Nurse Joy smiled at her. "Remarkable I´d say."
Dawn skipped happily back to the waiting room, nearly tackling Ash with a hug. "Thank you," she mumbled, a blush spreading as she realized what she just did. Zoey, still seated next to Ash, praised Dawn on her performance, "That was really good, Dawn. I never would have guessed you were a newbie if you hadn´t told me." "She´s right, that was a good performance," Ash commented, a smile on his face making Dawn blush even brighter. "So, about the question, I asked earlier Ash, would you like to answer now?" Zoey smirked as she addressed Ash.
Ash rubbed his chin and thought about it quickly, "Well if I were to guess based on who I know is competing and who already has performed, I´d say all three of us will move on. There is also an old acquaintance of mine called Jessie who will probably move on, other than that I´m not really sure." Ash shrugged after that, slowly walking towards the exit. "We should probably get something to eat, hard to focus on an empty stomach," he stated, smiling toward Zoey and Dawn. The two girls looked at each other, and quickly caught up to Ash. "Good idea," Zoey commented, as they kept walking.
The three returned from eating with Brock about half an hour later, to see who moved on. On the screen were eight faces, conveniently also matched up so the three can see who is competing against each other in the battle rounds. Looking up at the board Ash smiled as he saw he was correct in his guess, as the three of them along with Jessie had moved on. Curiously none of them would battle another in the first round, spreading smiles on their faces. Ash would battle Zoey in the semifinals if they both moved on, and Dawn would battle Jessie under the same criteria.
Ash smiled as he looked over at Dawn and Zoey, who was both beginning to prepare for the battle rounds.
A/N:
Just so people understand it, I didn´t like that the Johto and Kanto regions had the same Elite Four and Champion. Therefore, I changed it, hopefully in a believable way. I enjoy the games a lot and in Gen 2 Karen, Will, and Koga are suddenly all Elite Four members so I decided that they would be Elite Four members here too. Lorelei had been replaced and wasn´t part of the Elite Four at this point in time, because of the merger between the Leagues. So, fixing the Kanto side was very simple; Keep Agatha, as she hadn´t retired here, and Bruno, bring Lorelei back and bring Koga up as an Elite Four member since the game has done that themselves. Easy enough, but the Johto side was a little more difficult. I needed three new members there, only having Will and Karen who I chose to be from Johto. So, I found out that I felt Pryce needed a bit of recognition, and decided to make him Elite Four. Still lacking two and not being able to think of anyone, except Eusine (I don´t like Eusine), I made two OCs and made them Elite Four and Champion of Johto.
As for their last names, that´s mostly their Japanese names or at least inspired by their Japanese names (except for Karen since she is Karin in Japanese).
I also remembered that I haven´t actually stated what Pokémon Gens I intend to use, and the answer is quite simple: All of them. There are Pokémon in all Gens that I like, though I don´t necessarily like the Gen. So, I decided that all of the main series regions are still regions in this fanfic and Pokémon from those regions might appear (including Alolan forms).
That said this fanfic won´t go past the Sinnoh League, as I have another idea in the back of my head that I want to write after this fanfic ends if that ever happens.
Oh, and Mega Evolution is a thing here. It won´t be widespread, but I believe all Champions will have one and Ash will probably be able to Mega Evolve a few of his own. I won´t have the Stones be specific, as that would just take a lot of effort in finding the right scenario for adding the right stone. They will simply be Meganite Stones (I borrowed the name from somewhere, don´t really remember where), though Ash will still need a Key Stone. Haven´t fully decided when that will happen, or if Brock will also be included in that.
Sorry for the long A/N, I realize it probably made you think the chapter was longer than it actually is.
See you next time!