Chapter 12: And Making Their Debut...

"Welcome to the Neon City Pokemon Contest! I'm your emcee, Emma! And these are our three judges!" an orange-haired woman in a bright blue dress announced and then pointed to a table with three people sitting at. Each person had a screen below them, built into the table. Emma continued, from left to right, "Here we have our Pokemon Contest Director, Raoul Contesta! Next to him is Pokemon Fan Club President, Mr. Sukizo! And finally, Neon City's very own Nurse Joy!" Each judge smiled and waved and said that it was their pleasure to be there as she introduced them.

"Tori, calm down," Candace said. Kyle and Daniel moved their gaze from the TV screen to Tori, who was shaking like a leaf.

"You'll do fine!" Kyle said. "And it's not even your turn yet anyway!"

"Yeah," Candace said. "Just snap out of it and stay calm." Tori took a deep breath and nodded. They all looked back to the screen.

"First up, we have Katya making her debut as a contest coordinator!" Emma announced. Candace tightened her fists. Tori noticed, but didn't say anything. Katya walked onto the stage calmly and took out a Pokeball.

"Sentret! Let's go!" she shouted as she threw the ball. Sentret came out in a mist of glitter from the ball capsule and landed on its tail. Katya took out three tennis balls and threw them to Sentret one at a time. "Tail Whip," she ordered. Sentret began to juggle the balls with its tail.

"Adorable!" Emma shouted. Sentret cycled them around a few times and then knocked them high up with its tail.

"Now use Hyper Voice!" Katya continued. Sentret opened its mouth and blue circles were released. These sound vibrations were able to keep the tennis balls up in the air and they started circling around each other.

"Look at that control!" Contesta observed.

"To be able to juggle with Hyper Voice is quite remarkable!" Sukizo added.

"And just look how cute it is!" Nurse Joy added.

"Alright, and for the finish," Katya continued, "use Iron Tail!" Sentret sprang up, tail glowing, and sliced through the three tennis balls before somersaulting down and landing on its tail. Glitter rained down over it.

"Amazing! There was glitter inside the tennis balls the whole time!" Emma observed. "What a magnificent performance! Let's see if the other coordinators can top that!" Katya returned her Sentret to its ball and walked offstage. Several more performances took place. Some were good, some were really bad, and some were just flat-out bizarre. There were maybe one or two that were really good. Candace realized she was next and left the lobby.

"And next we have Candace, who is also making her debut as a contest coordinator!" the emcee announced. Candace ran out onto the stage.

"Eevee, come out!" she shouted as she twirled around and sent out her Eevee. The ball capsule caused Eevee to come out surrounded by hearts. She did a few somersaults and landed gracefully.

"How cute!" Emma observed.

"Alright Eevee," Candace said, "use Double Team!"

"Vee!" Eevee shouted as it multiplied into ten Eevee.

"Now use Shadow Ball!" Candace ordered. Nine of the Eevee formed a Shadow Ball but didn't release it. The other Eevee used one of the other Eevee as a spring board and bounced high up into the air. She formed a Shadow Ball as well. The other nine tilted their heads up and released. Then they ran to form a pyramid. The Eevee up in the air released hers, smacked it with her tail to give it more power, and then landed on top of the pyramid. The Shadow Balls collided with each other and caused an explosion of beautiful fireworks over the pyramid of Eevee. The crowd went wild.

"A very nice performance indeed," Contesta said.

"Remarkable!" Sukizo added.

"How beautiful!" Nurse Joy added. The Eevee at the top fired a Shadow Ball at the ground, knocking up a cloud of dust which masked the Eevee pyramid. The real Eevee ran out from the dust and jumped onto Candace's head. The dust cleared and the rest of the Eevee had vanished. Candace bowed and Eevee bowed her head with her. Then they left the stage together.

"Another fantastic performance!" Emma complimented. "And our final performance is another newbie. Give it up for Tori! ...Uhm Tori, you're up!" Tori was offstage, frozen in fear. Luckily, Candace figured something like that would happen and she didn't go back to the lobby. She was standing next to Tori.

"Come on, you'll do fine! Stop freaking out or you'll freak your Pokemon out too. You'll have fun! Get going," she said. Tori gulped and walked out to the stage.

"There you are!" the emcee cheered. "Don't be scared, dear!" Tori took a deep breath and threw a Pokeball into the air. Flaaffy came out in a small vortex of bright pink flowers. She twirled with them and landed.

"Flaaffy, use Captivate!" Tori ordered. Flaaffy began spinning around on one foot and released tons of pink hearts everywhere.

"Lovely!" the emcee noted.

"Now use Power Gem!" Tori added. Flaaffy stopped twirling and raised her arms up. She created a huge orange ball of energy and threw it up. It got bigger and bigger. "Now," Tori continued, "Signal Beam and then Flash!" A white orb began to glow at Flaaffy's forehead and a beautiful rainbow beam shot from it and hit the Power Gem. The Power Gem exploded and sparks rained down. Flaaffy used Flash and her whole body lit up beautifully. The sparks rained down around her and the hearts, still there from Captivate, exploded; colors flashed all around the glowing Flaaffy.

"Another beautiful performance!" the emcee cheered. The judges were speechless as they admired the beauty. Tori curtsied, called Flaaffy back to her ball, and walked back to the lobby. When she walked in, Candace pounced.

"SEE? I told you that you'd be great!" Candace exclaimed. "You did better than me!"

"No I didn't! Eevee was adorable," Tori said, smiling awkwardly.

"But Flaaffy was absolutely gorgeous!" Candace replied. "That was the best performance out of everyone here!" They continued to argue.

"Girls, Girls! GIRLS!" Kyle said. They wouldn't stop.

"SHUT UP!" Daniel said. The two girls fell silent. Daniel was looking at the screen, and they all turned to it and watched.

"The judges are just tallying up the coordinators' scores and will announce who moves on to the next round!" Emma announced. There was a bleep and eight coordinator's pictures appeared on the screen. Tori's picture appeared first. Candace and Katya also made the cut along with five other coordinators, including Duke.

"I told you that you were the best!" Candace said. Tori blushed.

"We're shuffling the names up!" Emma announced. They all looked back at the screen. The pictures of the trainers scrambled around for a few moments and appeared on the screen in a different order. Candace and another coordinator left the room because they were listed first. They walked out onto the stage and positioned themselves.

"Alright folks!" Emma announced. This is the second round of the Neon City Contest. In this part of the contest, our coordinators will dazzle us with their amazing battling skills. Each battle will last five minutes and the coordinator with the most points at the end of the five minutes gets to move on! If a Pokemon is rendered unable to battle, then they automatically lose! First up are Candace and Jeremy! Let the battle begin!"

"Growlithe, let's go!" Candace shouted as she threw a Pokeball. He came out surrounded in embers from the ball capsule.

"You can do it, Staryu!" Jeremy cheered as he sent out a Staryu which appeared, crowded by bubbles from a ball capsule.

"Oh no," Kyle said, "Growlithe's at a disadvantage…"

"Growlithe's going to have some starfish for dinner," Daniel said.

"Huh? You don't think they're going to have trouble with the Water-type?" Kyle asked.

"I never said that," Daniel replied, "I just know that Growlithe has a hell of a lot of power. More than Eevee."

"Oh…" Kyle said.

"Growlithe, use Take Down!" Candace ordered. Growlithe charged at the Staryu.

"Look at him go!" Emma exclaimed. "What speed and power!"

"Quick, Staryu, dodge it and use Water Gun!" Jeremy shouted. Staryu jumped up out of Growlithe's path and shot a Water Gun at him. Candace lost some points because Growlithe's Take Down didn't hit.

"Uh oh!" Emma said.

"Jump out of the way!" Candace yelled. Growlithe obeyed, and Jeremy lost points.

"Put a spin on it!" Jeremy ordered. The Staryu began to spin and the water shot everywhere. Growlithe couldn't avoid it and was nailed pretty badly.

"And that's going to cost her a lot of points!" Emma announced. "Not only did it hurt Growlithe, but it made Staryu look great! And that's what we want to see!" The Staryu landed with some distance between it and Growlithe.

"Use Swift!" Jeremy yelled. Staryu jumped up and started spinning. It flew at Growlithe like a ninja shuriken.

"Catch it with Bite!" Candace ordered. Growlithe charged at the Staryu, jumped up, catching it in his mouth like a Frisbee, and chomped down hard.

"How cute!" Emma declared. "And that's going to cost Jeremy a lot of points!"

"Throw it!" Candace continued. Growlithe hurled the Staryu at a wall. The Staryu hit the wall and slid down.

"Staryu!" Jeremy shouted. "Use Bubblebeam!"

"Flame Wheel!" Candace ordered. As Staryu shot a trail of bubbles at Growlithe, Growlithe shot some fire from its mouth, rolled forward, and became a somersaulting ball of fire. He dodged the bubbles and slammed into Staryu, causing it to collapse. A buzz was sounded and red X's appeared on the screens below the judges.

"That means Candace automatically wins because the Staryu can't go on," Tori said to Daniel and Kyle. They nodded. Emma announced that Candace would be moving on to the semi-finals. Both coordinators shook hands and then called their Pokemon back and returned to the lobby. The next two coordinators were called for. As Candace and Jeremy walked down the hallway back to the lobby, they passed the next two coordinators: Duke and a boy named Charlie. Duke had brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a simple green tuxedo that matched his eyes. There was a blue ribbon on a string around his neck. Jeremy gasped.

"That's the Aqua Ribbon! You won the Wallace Cup?" he asked Duke. Candace stopped and cocked her head. Duke smiled and produced a case. He popped it open and there were two ribbons inside.

"I won these too," Duke said, "so I just need two more to participate in the Grand Festival.

"Grand…Festival?" Candace asked.

"You really are a newbie, aren't you," Duke taunted. "In each region, you need to collect five ribbons to participate in the Grand Festival, a contest for very skilled coordinators only, the best of the best. Special ribbons like my Wallace Cup Aqua Ribbon can be used to participate in the Grand Festival of any region but the ribbon we are competing for today, for example, wouldn't count as your five in, say…Kanto. I won this Aqua Ribbon about a year ago in Sinnoh, now I only need four ribbons per region. Understand?"

"Yea…" Candace said, a little embarrassed.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the stage," Duke said snobbishly. He and Charlie continued to the stage. Candace got nervous.

"He…definitely has experience," Candace thought to herself, "and if he wins this match, then I'm going to have to battle him…will I be able to handle it?" She ran back to the lobby, joining her friends. They watched the next battle together: Duke's Poochyena versus Charlie's Jumpluff. Duke won by a large margin.

"Duke…didn't…lose…any points…" Candace said, shaking slightly. She then sat down into a couch that was next to them and held Eevee tight.

"V…Vee? VEE!" Eevee screamed. Candace gasped and loosened her grip. Eevee glared up at her, panting for air.

"Eevee…I'm so sorry," Candace said.

"Hey, weren't you the one who was telling Tori to calm down a moment ago? Maybe you should take some of your own advice," Daniel said. Candace stopped freaking out and looked up at him, smiling.

"You're right…I'll be fine!" she said.

"Good," Daniel replied dryly. "I'm sure Eevee and her lungs will be glad to hear that." Candace giggled.

"Katya…" Tori said, looking up at the screen. The others looked too. They saw Katya and a girl named Annabelle positioned on the stage. Katya sent out her Torchic and Annabelle sent out a Miltank. Tori and Candace paid close attention to the five minute battle, learning from any mistakes, good combinations, etc. When the time ran out, the screen revealed that Katya had won.

"Tch," Candace said, rolling her eyes. She then smiled at Tori, "You're up!" Tori seemed much more relaxed now. She and her opponent, Stephen left the room. When they got onto the stage, Tori sent out her newly evolved Beautifly who came out in a mass of swirling glitter from the ball capsule. Stephen sent out a Breloom who appeared amongst a bunch of hearts, stars, glitter, as well as other things.

"Someone went a little crazy with the seals…" Candace said, giggling.

"Tori has a HUGE advantage!" Kyle exclaimed, "Breloom's Fighting and Grass moves aren't going to do much against her Beautifly and Beautifly's flying moves should knock it out!"

"It's not about knocking out the other Pokemon though," Candace said, "It's about showcasing your Pokemon and its abilities."

"Still, Tori should have a relatively easy time with this battle. Unless something goes horribly wrong, that is," Daniel interjected.

"What's this?" they heard Emma ask and they all turned back to the screen. The camera focused in on the audience and then closed in on Roach.

"Oh…my…God…" Candace said, staring at the screen. Roach was dressed up in a Beautifly outfit, screaming and flailing spastically.

"COME ON BEAUTIFLY! SHOW EM' HOW IT'S DONE! COME ON BEAUTIFLY! YOU'RE NUMBER ONE, YOU'RE NUMBER ONE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he was screaming, among other various chants. Candace, Kyle, and Daniel smacked their foreheads. Tori blushed.

"Well, well, it looks like Tori has her very first fan!" Emma announced, making Tori blush even more. Tori hid her face in her hands and Stephen laughed. Tori took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Beautifly, use Silver Wind and then Gust!" Tori yelled. Beautifly flapped her wings, glittery powder rained down. She then flapped more rapidly, sending it at Breloom with more power.

"Use Stun Spore," Stephen yelled. Orange powder released from Breloom's head and collided with the silver powder. There was a small explosion and sparkles fell down over the two Pokemon. Both coordinators lost points.

"Aerial Ace!" Tori shouted. White streaks surrounded Beautifly's body and it swooped down, attempting to ram into the Breloom.

"Stop it with Mach Punch!" Stephen yelled. Breloom's fist began to glow and it punched Beautifly's head when she got close enough.

"Bee-yoo!" she cried as she flew back and hit the wall.

"That's a powerful Breloom," Candace said.

"Use Morning Sun and then go into another Aerial Ace," Tori said. Beautifly's whole body began to glow white and yellow rays shined from her. White streaks then surrounded her before the Morning Sun was over and she charged at Breloom again.

"Beautiful!" Emma announced. "Beautifly looks GREAT and that's going to cost Stephen some points!"

"That's not going to work! Use Mach Punch again!" Stephen ordered. This time Beautifly avoided getting hit by rotating on her side and moving to the left. She swurved around and hit Breloom hard from behind and it skidded back.

"There we go!" Candace said. "And that did some big damage too!"

"Double Team!" Stephen ordered. "And then Stun Spore!" Breloom multiplied into many others and they gathered in a ring below Beautifly, who had flown a little higher up, and one jumped up above Beautifly. They all released orange powder up at her.

"Looks like Beautifly's surrounded!" Emma observed. "There's not much time left, can Beautifly manage to maintain her current advantage?" The score board revealed that Tori had more points than Stephen.

"Rotate, using Gust!" Tori yelled. Beautifly flapped her wings as she spun around. She created air currents that traveled in many different directions. The Stun Spore swirled around her, making her look beautiful. "Now use Silver Wind!" Tori added. Beautifly continued rotating and flapping her wings but Silver Powder was released this time. It collided with the swirling orange powder, causing a small explosion and more sparkles. The fake Breloom disappeared.

"Sky Uppercut!" Stephen ordered.

"String Shot!" Tori yelled. Breloom jumped up into the air, fist glowing, but Beautifly shot a string of sticky silk at it. It became trapped in a glob of the silk and fell back down to the ground, struggling to break free.

"AND TIME!" Emma announced. The scoreboard showed that both coordinators were almost out of points, but also that Tori had just a little more of her bar filled than Stephen. Stephen's picture disappeared from the screen, as Tori's picture was enlarged and the word "WINNER" appeared above her head.

"HELL YEAH!" Roach screamed, flapping his 'wings.' Both coordinators returned their Pokemon, shook hands and left the stage. Candace and Duke passed by them in the hallway, so Tori and Candace high-fived each other as they passed each other. Candace and Duke continued to the stage and positioned themselves.

"We're down to the semi-finals now, whoever wins this match will continue to the final round and be closer to that Neon Ribbon!" Emma announced. "Let it begin!"

"Growlithe, come on out!" Candace cheered as she sent out Growlithe who once again came out surrounded by embers.

"Poochyena, you're up!" Duke exclaimed. Poochyena came out, surrounded by thunderbolts.

"PUPPIES!" Kyle shouted. Everyone in the room looked at him for a moment. Kyle looked back at them as if to say, "What? You wanted to say it too!"

"Growlithe, use Flame Wheel!" Candace yelled. Growlithe became a somersaulting ball of fire and rolled toward the Poochyena.

"Jump," Duke said.

"You too," Candace said. Poochyena jumped up and the ball of fire bounced up over and passed Poochyena.

"Come out of it and use Flamethrower!" Candace yelled. Growlithe stopped using Flame Wheel and shot a large flame from his mouth in mid-air, torching Poochyena. Poochyena landed, whimpering. Growlithe flipped, extended his hind legs against the wall and launched himself back to a spot in front of his trainer.

"Thunder Fang!" Duke shouted. Poochyena charged forward, his fangs sparking with electricity.

"Dodge it!" Candace yelled, but Poochyena was too fast and jumped onto Growlithe, digging his fangs into Growlithe's neck.

"Then use Take Down!" Candace ordered. Growlithe took off, dragging Poochyena along. "And stop!" Candace added. Growlithe stopped abruptly and Poochyena went flying.

"Poochyena! Pull yourself together!" Duke yelled. Poochyena flipped and landed gracefully. "Good," Duke praised, "Now use Ice Fang!" Poochyena charged forward once again, sending the bolts of icy energy flying from its mouth.

"Flame Wheel!" Candace ordered. Growlithe charged forward, rolled into a Flame Wheel, and plowed over Poochyena.

"Poochyena, use Fire Fang and Dark Pulse!" Duke shouted. Poochyena charged quickly at Growlithe again, and grabbed his neck. The fire didn't seem to hurt Growlithe much, but the purple beam of circles that Poochyena released from its mouth did.

"GROWOO!" he howled in pain.

"Flame Wheel, Growlithe!" Candace ordered. Growlithe balled up and took off. Poochyena let go and Growlithe hit a wall, bounced off, and plowed over Poochyena.

"Use Poison Fang!" Duke commanded.

"Wow! It took some extreme breeding skills to get a Poochyena will all of the fang moves!" Nurse Joy said, admiring the Poochyena. Poochyena charged at Growlithe with its mouth open, once again. This time, its fangs seemed to drip toxins.

"Growlithe use Sand Attack!" Candace ordered. Growlithe turned around and kicked dirt into Poochyena's face. A lot of it got into its mouth. Poochyena stopped and tried to spit it out, hacking and coughing. "Now use Flamethrower into Take Down!" Candace continued. Growlithe shot a huge Flamethrower at Poochyena, sending it flying back. Growlithe charged forward through the flames and came out the other end, engulfed in flames, and he rammed into Poochyena.

"Er…" Duke said, getting flustered because time was running out and he was losing. "Crunch!" he ordered. Poochyena opened its mouth and attempted to bite Growlithe.

"Shove its face into the ground and use Bite!" Candace shouted. Growlithe pushed Poochyena's face into the dirt with his front paws and dug his teeth into its neck.

"And time!" Emma announced. "Candace has more points, so she is the winner and will move on to the Final Round!" Candace and Duke called their Pokemon back, shook hands and returned to the lobby. Tori and Katya walked out onto the stage and positioned themselves. The emcee told them to begin. Candace practically ran back to the lobby so she wouldn't miss a second of the battle.

"How'd I do?" she asked, panting.

"AWESOME!" Kyle said. Eevee jumped into her arms.

"Hehe, thanks," she said and turned her attention to the screen.

"Torchic, let's show em what you can do!" Katya shouted as she sent out her Torchic. The ball capsule caused Torchic to appear out of a black cloud of smoke.

"Beautifly, it's show time!" Tori cheered, as she sent out her Beautifly, who again appeared in a mass of swirling glitter. Roach went wild.

"This isn't going to be easy for Tori," Candace observed, watching the screen from the lobby.

"She can do it!" Kyle cheered. Mime Jr. put one fist in the air and cheered along with him. Candace smiled at them and looked back at the screen. Daniel didn't say anything, merely watching the arena intently.

"Ok, Torchic," Katya began, "use Scratch!" Torchic charged at Beautifly but Beautifly moved out of the way as it tried to slice her with its foot.

"That's not going to work with us," Tori said with surprising confidence. "Beautifly, use String Shot!" Beautifly shot out a white string of sticky silk which wrapped around Torchic's foot. "Now send it flying!" she continued. Beautifly flew a little higher and started to spin, making Torchic swing around and around. Beautifly released her string shot, sending Torchic flying against the wall. Katya's points were greatly reduced.

"Amazing!" Emma called.

"Torchic, use Ember now!" Katya ordered.

"Beautifly! Somersault and use Silver Wind to shield yourself!" Tori shouted.

"Bee-yoo-tee-fly!" Beautifly chanted as she flipped repeatedly while flapping her wings rapidly, using Silverwind.

"What's this?" Emma asked. Beautifly continued until she disappeared into a thick, sparkly grey sphere.

"It's absolutely beautiful!" Emma observed. Ember hit but couldn't penetrate it. It instead made the sphere sparkle even more. The audience was dazzled by it. Beautifly stopped using Silver Wind and did a twirl as the sphere broke apart.

"Katya's going to have to come up with something quick! We're running out of time and she's lost quite a bit of points while Tori has yet to lose any points!" Emma announced.

"Errr..." Katya growled, "Alright...use a Quick Attack-Peck combo!" Torchic ran as fast as it could with a trailing flash of light.

"What speed!" The emcee yelled. Tori's points went down slightly because Torchic was upstaging Beautifly. It then launched itself off the ground and headed for Beautifly! As it got closer, its beak began to glow and then hit Beautifly with great force. It was super effective and Tori's points dropped dramatically.

"BEAUTIFLY!" Tori screamed. Torchic did a backflip and landed back on the ground. It's grace lost Tori some more points. Beautifly fell to the ground. "Get up!" Tori urged. Beautifly struggled but stood up on its feet.

"Now use Fire Spin!" Katya ordered. Torchic shot a vortex of fire out of its mouth and it headed straight for Beautifly.

"Dodge it!" Tori cried. Beautifly flapped her wings and flew out of its path. Tori had to dodge out of the way too. "Ok, that's great!" she said. "Now use Gust!" Beautifly violently flapped her wings, creating a gust of wind.

"Jump up and use Ember!" Katya ordered. Torchic avoided the move and used Ember in mid-air. They hit Beautifly's back.

"TEE-FLY!" she cried and fell back to the ground. She barely got back up.

"Use Fire Spin!" Katya shouted. Torchic shot another Fire Spin at Beautifly. It torched her and she could no longer get up. They heard a buzz and red X's appeared on the screens below the judges.

"No…" Tori said to herself.

"RIGGED!" Roach shouted from the audience, throwing trash. "BOOOOOOOOO!"

"Can someone please remove him?" Emma asked, annoyed. Two security guards grabbed him and escorted him out.

Tori called Beautifly back and said, "You were great!" She walked over to shake Katya's hand but Katya picked up Torchic and stared snobbishly at her. Tori frowned and returned to the lobby, but Katya stayed onstage.

"Alright, it's the Final Round!" Emma announced, "Candace come on out!" Candace walked out onto the stage. Emma continued, "The winner of this battle will win the Neon Ribbon!" She held up a green and purple ribbon and the crowd clapped.

"I don't know how a loser like you managed to make it to the finals, but your luck runs out here," Katya said.

"Yeah, we'll see," Candace said, rolling her eyes. They both sent out their Fire Pokemon.

"Let the battle begin!" Emma cheered.

"Use Fire Spin!" Katya ordered. Torchic shot a vortex of fire at Growlithe.

"Dodge it with Flame Wheel!" Candace yelled. Growlithe rolled into Flame Wheel and bounced into the air. "Hold it and use Flamethrower!" Candace added. Growlithe continued Flame Wheel and separate flames branched off of him. Not only did it make him look cool, but it hit Torchic as well. Growlithe came out of it and landed in a cool stance in front of Candace.

"Use Quick Attack into Scratch!" Katya commanded. Torchic rushed forward, jumped up, and landed, slicing Growlithe with its glowing foot.

"Well well!" Emma said, "It looks like that little Scratch has developed into a powerful Slash!"

"Use Flamethrower!" Candace ordered.

"Fire Spin!" Katya shouted. Both Pokemon shot fire from their mouths and the two blasts collided. Each Pokemon pushed hard, but Growlithe's was more powerful. His Flamethrower pushed back Torchic's Fire Spin and caused an explosion. Tiny, harmless embers rained down.

"Take Down and then Bite!" Candace cheered. Growlithe charged forward and rammed into Torchic. He then jumped and landed behind Torchic, who was flying back, and caught it in his mouth. "Toss it up and use Flamethrower!" Candace added. Growlithe threw Torchic up into the air and shot a Flamethrower at it. Torchic was forced into somersaulting at the top of the flame.

"TORRR!" it cried.

"Torchic! Get away!" Katya screamed, but was no use.

"Flame Wheel!" Candace ordered. Growlithe rolled into a Flame Wheel and shot up through its own Flamethrower sending Torchic flying high into the air. Growlithe landed on all fours and Torchic landed on its back.

"Get up!" Katya ordered, "And use Slash!" Torchic struggled to stand, but managed to get back up. Its foot began to glow white and it charged forward.

"Catch its foot with Bite and then give it a spin," Candace said. Growlithe grabbed Torchic by the ankle when it got close enough, causing the glowing to stop. Growlithe then ran around in circles, with Torchic's ankle still in his mouth.

"Make it look nice with a small Flamethrower," Candace said. Growlithe sent out a small, single flame which went around and around and around with him.

"How cool!" Emma commented. "It almost looks like spin art, doesn't it? Not much time left; we're down to a matter of seconds. Can Katya pull off a miraculous turnaround?" Katya couldn't do a thing. She just stood staring at the scene. The timer went off and Candace was announced the winner. Back in the lobby, Tori and Kyle were cheering. Daniel didn't seem to care.

"Hmph," Katya said, returning Torchic to its ball, and left. Candace walked to the middle of the stage and sent out Eevee. She stood in the middle of the two Pokemon as Emma presented the Neon Ribbon, congratulated her, and handed it over. Candace cupped it in both hands and thanked Emma and the judges.

Afterwards, when they were leaving the building, Candace realized that she had yet to get a case for her ribbons. She held her ribbon out in front of her in both hands, admiring it. "Where am I going to put it?" she asked. "Maybe Eevee can wear it!"

"Or you can put it in your gym badge case," Kyle joked. Duke, who was standing nearby, heard this and walked over to them.

"GYM BADGE CASE?" Duke shouted, looking furious. "LOOK HERE, you better decide what exactly you want to do: Gym battles or Contests. You have to focus all your energy on one or the other. I can tell you now that there are a lot of coordinators like me who take contests seriously and seeing someone like you just glide from Contest to Contest, not knowing the difference between a Contest battle and a Gym battle will make all of us lose any respect we have for you. And I bet other Gym battlers feel the same way about you entering Contests. Stop looking at me with those sad, stupid eyes like you don't understand…You need to take contest battling seriously. In order to do that, you can't challenge gyms. If you need to challenge gyms, then don't participate in contests! You can't do both. Your victory here today was a fluke: my carelessness, your luck, and nothing else!"

"Don't. You. EVER tell me what I can and can't do!" Candace shouted as she glared at Duke. Eevee's ears went back and she looked up at her trainer, a little scared. Mime Jr. joined in the scolding, raising a fist and yelling "MIME MIMA!" as Candace spoke. She continued, "Who the hell do you think you are anyway? You act like you're better than everyone else, but you're NOT! If you were then YOU'D be holding up the Neon Ribbon right now, not ME! You didn't even make it to the finals today! If you're going to open your mouth and say stuff like THAT, then you better damn well be as strong and experienced as you say you are. And…HEY!" Duke had turned around and started storming away. Candace gritted her teeth and glared angrily at him. "I don't know whose worse…" she said turning to her friends, "Katya…or HIM…"

"Him," Daniel said, nodding sagely. "Definitely him. Katya's not nearly as much of a diva as he is."

~_~_~
Author Notes:

Read and review please. Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing my fanfic :D It really means a lot to me and I'm glad you like it.

Truth be told, Duke's Poochyena is a semi-newborn. His Pokemon are actually a lot more powerful and our friends will have much more trouble with him later. Oh and if you're wondering why Pokemon in this fanfic don't follow the four moves rule, it's because I'm basing it off of the anime, not the game. In the anime, there have been Pokemon who use more than four moves. If you don't believe me, watch Episode 183. The Vaporeon uses five moves in one battle (Sand Attack, Tackle, Water Gun, Quick Attack, and Aurora Beam I believe).