Chapter 26: Pokémon Contest! Minato's Debut! Pt. 2
Last time on "Pokémon Hoenn Journey", the group continued to travel down their route until they found themselves heading for a large building called the Rustboro Hall, one of the places where special events called the Pokémon Contests were held.
While they were looking around, both Minato and May made friends with two Flying Types named Beautifly and Swablu, both belonging to a Pokémon Coordinator named Janet, who explained that she and her friend, Chaz were practicing their Pokémon's moves in order to compete in the Pokémon Contest.
While Janet and Chaz explains to the group the basics on how to win a Contest Ribbon, Korra helps Minato register himself as a new Pokémon Coordinator, allowing himself to register for the Rustboro Contest, despite of not having any experience of making his Pokémon's moves look beautiful.
With that set, the two began to train together in order to make Minato and Torchic both prepared for the performance they would have to show in their first Contest.
While Minato and Korra trained with the opening ceremony of the Contest starting, Janet came over to the two to request Minato to take Swablu with him as the Cotton Bird Pokémon's love for Contests and performances made her excited to participate in a real event. Agreeing to take her, Minato takes Swablu in as a fifth member of his team.
With the announcement of Janet making her entry with May and Max, the two trainers head back to the Hall to prepare for Minato's performance in the first round.
"Our next contestant is entry number 17! Let's hear it for Janet!" The MC announced as the lights shined down on Janet, along with both May and Max as they were holding plates to help their friend with her performance and Beautifly's.
The experienced Coordinator took out her Pokéball to send her partner out.
"It's time, Beautifly! Go!" Janet cried out as she sent out her partner for her performance! The Butterfly Pokémon appeared out of her Pokéball, spreading her wings to show her beauty as her trainer called out the first phase of their performance.
"Go, Beautifly! Use Flash!" Janet yelled as Beautifly did so, using her wings to create a blinding light to make herself look more dazzling! By the time she was starting that, Minato and Korra ran inside to the stands to see Janet and Beautifly making their performance start with a flash.
"So beautiful..." commented Korra as her eyes sparkled like stars as Minato watched in awe. Swablu and Torchic were also awed to see how bright Beautifly was making with her wings as May and Max seemed to be impressed as well.
"Alright!" "Awesome..." commented the two siblings into Max realized that's it was their cue to throw the plates towards Beautifly for her next phase for performance.
"Ah! Enough with the awesome!" Max snapped as he ran in front of the Butterfly Pokémon, causing his older sister to follow in surprise. "Hey! Wait up!" May shrieked as she got in front of the Bug-Flying Type, too.
Woth the timing correct, the two siblings threw all their plates towards the Butterfly Pokémon! "GO!" Max and May yelled together as Beautifly took this chance to shatter all the plates with her String Shot attack! Using its skills to control the String Shot, the Bug-Flying Type used the string as a whip!
The shattered pieces of the plates rained down slowly, amazing the two siblings, the judges, and even the audience as well!
"Beautifly is building on its elegant entry by demonstrating a String Shot attack! A move that uses a whipping motion to achieve results!" The MC said as he seemed to be impressed as well.
Not finished with her performance yet, Janet continued on with calling out another attack!
"Beautifly! Hidden Power!" Janet cried out loud as Beautifly did so! Using her body and wings to create a bright light, she used the Hidden Power attack to lake the shards of the plates turn into sparkling lights for everyone to be amazed and try to reach for as this concluded Janet's performance with her partner.
"And the finish of the beautiful landing of the Coordinator's hands! How many points will Beautifly get?" The MC asked as everyone turned to the three judges as they all agreed to make the same points... perfect points to Beautifly, that is!
Mr. Contesta: 10.0
Mr. Sukizo: 10.0
Nurse Joy: 10.0
Total: 30.0
"And the judges all agree... Beautifly's performance deserves a perfect score!" The MC announced as everyone began to applause for the beautiful and dazzling performance Janet and Beautifly gave off. Both Minato and Korra applaused as well as they were also amazed by the beauty they've witnessed just now.
Later, after Janet and her two young assistants were called off the stage, both Minato and Korra headed to the waiting room to see Janet and their friends, as Korra was the first to congratulate the experienced Coordinator.
"Janet, that was so beautiful out there!" Korra said happily as Janet smiled at the compliment.
"Ha ha... Thank you. I'm glad the two of you were able to see it even when you two were still training together for today." Janet said as Minato stepped up with a small smile on his face.
"That was great... And to get the perfect points was even better, too!" Minato said, smiling as he complimented the experienced Coordinator until May came up to his face with an annoyed look on her face as she tried to correct the former lonely boy as she was involved in the performance as well.
"Hey, Max and I were there too, helping her out!" May protested until Ash came into the waiting room, wanting to congratulate Janet for her perfect performance.
"You did it!" "Pika!" Ash and Pikachu said together to Janet as May smiled, believing that the Kanto trainer was speaking to her! "Thank you!" May said, causing Minato and Max to both sweat drop as the little brother corrected her of the person he was talking to.
"Actually, I don't think he was referring to you, May." Max said with an unimpressed look. This made May embarrassed a little, until Janet stood up, sticking up for the two siblings.
"I couldn't have done it without both of you! You two were great!" Janet said, much to May's happiness as she accepted the compliment from the experienced Coordinator.
"Really?" May asked as Max grinned for the thanks. "It was my pleasure!" Max said as the others chuckled at this. Just then, one of the staff for the Contest Hall came in, calling for the last contestant for the first round.
"Excuse me, is Minato Yukimura in here?" The staff asked, catching everyone's attention. The former lonely boy stepped up, showing his presence and his name to the staff.
"Um, yes? That would be me..." Minato said as the staff smiled to the former lonely boy. "You're up next. So, please hurry onto the main stage." The staff said, catching the former lonely boy by surprise as he hesitantly nodded to do so.
"A-Alright..." Minato said as Torchic gave him a confident look, as Swablu flew over to the former lonely boy with a bright smile on her face. "Swablu! Swablu Swablu Swablu!" Swablu chirped happily, causing the former lonely boy to smile as he nodded to his two Pokémon.
"Right... I'm okay now." Minato said as he gave a glance back to his friends. Korra smiled softly at him, while Ash and Brock gave him encouraging looks. Janet and Chaz were the same, as Max and May smiled at him.
From the looks everyone was giving him, Minato knew that he couldn't let the pressure get to him and make himself confident enough to face the whole audience at the main stage. Taking a few deep breaths while following the staff to the main stage, the former lonely boy turned to both Torchic and Swablu.
"Torchic... Swablu... Let's do this... and win the whole thing!" Minato said with a brace face.
"Torchic!" "Blu!" The two Pokémon chirped together as they encouraged their trainer to go on and make a great show. Taking out the Cotton Bird Pokémon, Minato requested for Swablu to stay inside until they are called for their time in the performance.
With the staff guiding him into the main stage, the former lonely boy got ready until he was called to do his part in the first round.
"Now, for the last entry in the primary judging... This is entry number 30... Minato Yukimura! Let's see if Minato can finish things up with a bang!" The MC said as the lights shined onto the former lonely boy.
Just as Minato was about to send Swablu out again, he heard whispering coming from the crowd, which seem to sound like voices that pitied the former lonely boy or voices that seemed to show on how worried they are for the former lonely boy.
"Yukimura? Could they mean the kid who lost his parents...?"
"That poor boy... Is he okay with performing, especially since this is his first time?"
"I wonder how he feels about Pokémon after that terrible incident..."
"But hey... He kind of looks fine with them, doesn't he...?
The voices that were worrying or pitying him started to put Minato under pressure as he began to breath hard, unable to think properly as the voices started to go inside his head. The others at the waiting room seemed to see this as Ash was confused on what Minato was doing.
"What's he doing...? He's supposed to send out Swablu, right? Why is he just standing there?" Ash asked as Brock folded his arms with a frown.
"I think the crowd is getting to him by reminding Minato of the incident that killed his parents..." Brock said, catching both Janet and Chaz by surprise.
"Incident...? Do you mean, that same incident that occurred in Littleroot Town?" Chaz asked in surprise as Janet felt worried for the former lonely boy now. "So... the incident involved Minato and his family...?" Janet asked as Korra frowned.
"This is bad... If Minato doesn't do something, he'll be disqualified!" Korra said in worry as she was right as the MC was reminding the former lonely boy to call for his Pokémon, putting more pressure onto the former lonely boy.
"Um, Minato? If you could, we'd like you to start your performance by sending out your Pokémon first?" The MC asked as the judges seemed to worry for Minato as well. The former lonely boy couldn't respond as the pressure was starting to push him down heavily.
Noticing how the crowd was getting to Minato, Torchic looked up at Minato and quickly used Peck! He used his sharp beak to poke Minato's leg to catch the former lonely boy's attention. "Whoa!?" Minato yelped as he regained his concentration to move on as he looked down at his Chick Pokémon.
"Torchic! Torchic Torchic Tor!" Torchic chirped desperately, reminding Minato of the start of his performance. "H-Huh? Oh... Shoot! Thanks for the reminder, Torchic! Swablu, come on out!" Minato cried as he sent the Cotton Bird Pokémon out, who chirped happily at being sent out for the primary round!
This caught some of the audience's attnetion as the MC sighed in relief before he announced of what Minato did so far with his Cotton Bird Pokémon.
"And finally, Minato sends out his Pokémon, which is a Swablu! A cute and adorable entrance from Swablu, who seems to be showing on how happy it is with being free in the air!" commented the MC as some of the crowd started to cheer for Swablu, especially to the squealing girls that found Swablu cute.
At the waiting room, Ash, May, Korra, Max, and Brock all sigh did in relief, seeing that their former lonely boy companion was now beginning his performance as a beginning Coordinator.
"That was close... Any more second, and Minato would've been kicked out..." Max said as Ash frowned at the crowd on the screen that caused Minato to be pressured.
"Yeah... But what the crowd said about Minato and his parents... They've got some nerve to stop him like that..." Ash said with gritted teeth until Brock gave a reminder to his young friend of what the crowd had said about Minato and his perished family.
"Careful, Ash. Remember, they were all worried for Minato. They weren't encouraging him to give up, weren't they?" Brock asked as Ash frowned at this.
"I know, but Brock..." Ash started to protest until Korra pointed out the start Minato was pulling off. "Hey, look! Minato is starting the show off!" Korra said as the others turned to see Minato performing with Swablu as Janet and Chaz just watched with worried looks on their faces.
"Swablu, surround yourself with Safeguard!" Minato cried out as the Cotton Bird Pokémon let out a loud chirp, while surrounding herself in a barrier that seemed to be soothing Swablu down as she chirped happily in relief.
It was like being inside a diamond barrier as the crowd were in awe to see Safeguard used to make a tough shape. Even the judges and MC seemed to be impressed with the current performance Minato was giving off.
"And look at this! Swablu made herself surrounded by a diamond, made of the Safeguard she surrounded herself in!" The MC cried out as some of the audience cheered for the former lonely boy and his Flying Type Pokémon. Torchic chirped happily to see the first phase of the move a success as well.
"He's off to a good start, right now!" Ash said as the performance continued on.
"Now, Swablu! Sing! Use the Safeguard to defend yourself, with the singing as the weapon!" Minato said out loud. At the order, Swablu began to sing peacefully, peaceful enough to make the Safeguard barrier flow and soothe the people's spirits inside them.
The colorful music notes surrounded the barrier as Swablu began to fly up while singing and taking the barrier up as well! Preparing to make the finishing touch, the former lonely boy called for the final attack.
"Now, Swablu! Let's wrap this show up with a Fury Attack! Aim for the notes!" Minato yelled as Swablu nodded in understanding. With her timing perfectly measured, she pecked for one of the notes, which created a red sparkling light!
Eventually, Swablu continued on, using Fury Attack on every musical note she saw, creating many colors of sparkling light! The audience were in awe as Swablu flew around, singing happily for the success she had done as the judges seemed to be in awe as well, as the MC commented on the combination Swablu had done.
"Unbelievable! Making the timing perfect to use Fury Attack on the musical notes it made from Sing, Swablu has begun to show its beauty of its singing and its beauty!" The MC explained as the audience cheered even louder!
In the midst of the audience, two figures were smiling together as they looked as if they were proud of that Minato was showing to the crowd and to his friends.
At the waiting room, the five friends were in awe while Janet and Chaz were both amazed at the same time.
"Wow... That's so beautiful... And it's all coming from a small Cotton Bird Pokémon like Swablu..." Korra said as her eyes shined happily as she beamed at the beauty of Minato's current performance. May and Max were awed as well while Ash and Brock were impressed with the great process their friend had done in his turn for performance.
As Swablu happily perched herself onto Minato's outstretched hand, the performance of Minato's and herself had soon came to an end, allowing the MC to drop to the conclusion for some judging.
"And there it is, folks! The beautiful ending of Swablu's bright musical performance! How many points does Swablu win for this round?" The MC asked as everyone turned to the judges as they all made their decision.
Mr. Contesta: 9.3
Mr. Sukizo: 9.6
Nurse Joy: 9.4
Total: 28.3
"Wow! The judges all agree that Swablu deserved to win a total of 28.3 points! A very high score for a first timer!" The MC said as the audience cheered for the great performance both Minato and Swablu pulled up.
At the audience cheering for them, the former lonely boy blinked in surprise before Swablu chirped at him to gain his attention! "Swablu! Blu blu! Swablu!" Swablu chirped happily before she gestured to the audience.
Understanding what the Cotton Bird Pokémon was saying, Minato nodded as he waved back to the audience slightly before he bowed down a little, in thanks for the applause as he was called off the stage by the staff, allowing him to go back to his friends!
As Minato headed Back to the waiting room, he was met with smiling faces from his friends and amazed looks from the others as Max and Korra were the first to congratulate the former lonely boy for his success in the performance, despite of it being Minato's first time trying.
"You were great out there, Minato! And it was even your first time trying!" Max said in amazement as Korra sweetly smiled at the little bog as she gave a reminder to Max for her involvement in Minato's success.
"It's all thanks to the training we've done before the Contest began!" Korra said as the former lonely boy nodded to her, agreeing with her words as he knew that he was able to make a high score, thanks to Korra motivating him to enter and attempt to win the whole Contest.
"Yeah... If we didn't do any of that, then I would've just been standing there, doing nothing..." Minato said before he frowned as he remembered on how he remained still at the start wen the crowd began to give him reminders of his parents' death.
Noticing this, Ash frowned as he grew worried for the former lonely boy. "Hey, Minato... Are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean, the crowd were reminding you of your parents' accident from five years a-" Ash started to say, until Minato waved him off with a small, reassuring smile on his face.
"It's fine... If I let the past get to me, Ash... I wouldn't be able to focus on today. So, yeah... I'll be fine." Minato said as Ash frowned. The way the forme lonely boy talked was rough, but the Kanto trainer knew better than to just press onto the subject.
"Okay..." Ash said as Janet and Chaz remained silent, as the two felt worried together for how Minato might do in the second round should he have made it in there. Their questioning thoughts were about to be answered when the results for the second round came out with the MC's call.
"Alright, everyone! We're sorry for making you wait! So now, without any further delay, I now present the finalists!" The MC announced as he gestured to the scoreboard where four faces were shown on the screen! They were already set up for battles that would lead up to the finals.
1. Minato VS Chaz
2. Casey VS Janet
Everyone was shocked to see the battle pairings this way as Max pointed out to say who was battling.
"Oh man... Look! It's going to come down to Minato and Chaz battling together... And whichever the two wins will be able to face Janet when she wins in her battle..." Max said in disbelief as the others were unsure on how to speak for either Minato or Chaz.
The former lonely boy on the other hand, gave a small glance at Chaz before he walked over to him with a serious look on his face. "Chaz?" Minato said, catching the experienced Coordinator by surprise.
"Huh...? Minato?" Chaz started to say until Minato spoke up, with a serious look and with a serious tone.
"I'd like to say one thing to you, Chaz... No holding back in our battle together." Minato said as Chaz smirked back, as he liked the confidence the former lonely boy was giving off.
"That goes for you too, Minato. Let's make this a good battle for us Coordinators." Chaz said as he offered a hand to Minato, to which the former lonely boy accepted as the two shook a little as Janet walked up to the to.
"Hope you two are ready for some stiff competition!" Janet said as Chaz only smirked at the challenge she was giving off.
"I'm just ready to win, after I beat both you and Minato in this." Chaz said as the others watched to see the three Coordinators wishing each other luck as Janet smiled sweetly, in a little sarcastic way.
"Good luck, you two..." Janet said as she raised a small fist, to which both Minato and Chaz understood as they raised their small fists together, as the three bumped them together for a battle to the win.
"To victory!" Janet and Chaz said together, with the former lonely boy following along. "To victory..." Minato said as they all nodded together to give a great battle to each other.
Later...
The first round of the battle of the second round was about to begin with the MC making the announcement.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen! We're onto round two! Contestants in the battle will only have five minutes to execute their attacks gracefully, along with taking as many points from their opponents during the match! And the first to take the stage is... Chaz, on my right! And Minato, on my left!" announced the MC.
The crowd kept cheering as they knew that this round would be the best part during a Pokémon Contest. Ash and the others watched in the waiting room with Janet as they all wished both Chaz and Minato good luck in their battle. But Korra particularly, only wished Minato her good luck.
"Now then, with the five minutes on the clock, let the battle begin!" The MC called as the timer on the scoreboard started to count down, allowing the battle to start.
5:00 - 4:59
"Here goes nothing... Torchic, it's your turn to shine!" Minato called as he sent out his Fire Type partner out to the game! The Chick Pokémon ruffled his feathers by shaking before it landed on the ground, ready to win in his match!
"Okay! Go, Venomoth!" Chaz yelled as he sent out his Poison-Bug Type out to play as the two Pokémon prepared for battle! Chaz made the first move to paralyze his opponent!
Chaz: Venomoth VS Minato: Torchic
"Venomoth! Stun Spore!" Chaz cried as Venomoth used his wings to create powder that would leave any opponent paralyzed! Torchic braced himself until Minato called for a counterattack to counter the Stun Spore attack.
"Jump high into the air with Quick Attack, Torchic! Then, follow it up with a Peck attack!" Minato yelled as Torchic evaded the Stun Spore in time before he spun in the air with a Quick Attack! Then, aiming directly at Venomoth, Torchic charged through, bashing the Bug-Poison Type with Peck!
It dealt some damage as Venomoth flew back, wincing in pain from the super effective attack it had just taken.
"No way!?" Chaz gasped as the MC announced on what just happened.
"Wow! Look at that! Torchic spun in the air to dodge Stun Spore and to unleash a direct hit on Venomoth with a Peck attack!" The MC said as some points were deducted from both Minato and Chaz's scoreboard!
Chaz: 85 points
Minato: 90 points
At the waiting room, the whole group was confused by this, except for both Max and Janet.
"Huh...? I don't get it... It looks like both Minato and Chaz lost points..." Ash said in confusion as Janet stepped up to the group, beginning to explain on how points are deducted in a Contest battle.
"That's because the judges believed that Stun Spore would work on Torchic, until Torchic got out of the way to make a direct hit on Venomoth!" Janet explained as May pointed out some of the points missing from both battlers.
"But, Chaz lost more points than Minato!" May said in confusion as well, causing Max to this time make the explanation.
"It just means that Torchic's agility to aim and to strike was worth more points that Venomoth's Stun Spore attack! It's not just how the attack counts, but on how you defend yourself, too!" Max explained as Janet nodded in agreement.
"You're exactly right, Max. That's how it is when judges judge in a Contest battle like this one." Janet said as the others came to understood, allowing them to continue watch and see who the victor would be.
"So, they would just keep reducing each other's points, and the one's who left with more points is the one that wins in the end! Wow! This type of Pokémon battle is something that we've never seen before!" Brock said in amazement. May seemed to understand as well as she was the most impressed with this type of battle.
Back st the main stage, battle continued on, with both sides not giving an inch. "Quick, Torchic! Focus Energy!" Minato cried as the Fire Type jumped back to focus his power into landing a direct hit! Chaz noticed this and went on to attack.
"Oh no you don't! Psybeam, let's go!" Chaz said as Venomoth aimed the Psychic Type attack towards Torchic! Finally focusing onto his powers, Torchic got ready as Minato prepared the combo he trained for with Korra as he made the call!
"Here goes nothing! Dodge Psybeam and jump while using Quick Attack, Torchic!" Minato cried as Torchic once again evaded the attack, much to both Chaz and Venomoth's annoyances together.
"Argh! Torchic is moving too fast for us to hit!" Chaz snapped as Venomoth frowned as well. As Torchic was high in the air, the former lonely boy called out his first combo attack!
"Alright! Spin while using Ember and Peck together!" Minato yelled, causing Chaz to widen his eyes in surprise. "What kind of a move is that!?" Chaz asked as the others in the waiting room watched closely.
Korra smiled, seeing how their training was going to be paid off as Torchic used Quick Attack to move in the air and spin around! The beak of Torchic began to glow as fireballs surrounded the small wind Torchic made by spinning! As the speed of the spinning went strong, the beak started to glow fiery!
Chaz and Venomoth watched in surprise as the judges were startled to see such combo.
"I... I don't believe this! What kind of a combination attack is this!? Using the speed from Quick Attack to spin, while Peck and Ember at the same time, it's as if Torchic is becoming... a shooting star! No, wait... Is it a star that's drilling down?" The MC said as the move went on.
Chaz: 74 points
"Do it!" Minato yelled as Torchic dove down, aiming for Venomoth! Paying attention back to the battle, Chaz tried to make an evasion maneuver as he called Venomoth to evade the attack.
"Dodge it, Venomoth!" Chaz yelled as Venomoth tried to get out of Torchic's way to prevent himself from being hit! Unfortunately, this was the part where the combination attack would soon show to be really surprising!
"If you think it's going to be that easy to just dodge it, that's where you're wrong, Chaz! Show them what we mean, Torchic!" Minato yelled as Torchic let out a battle cry while he kept spinning!
The attack missed Venomoth, who dodged by flying into the air! But at the same time, Torchic switched to the same direction to where Venomoth had dodged! This left a surprise to the audience and Chaz as Venomoth was blasted away by the Ember-Peck combo attack!
Chaz: 50 points
"Oh no! Venomoth!?" Chaz gasped as Venomoth fluttered down to the floor as it struggled to maintain balance itself in the air! "And would you look at that! That combination attack knocked Venomoth from the air! Would it still be able to battle!?" The MC said in surprise.
"I've never seen Torchic use three moves in a combo before!" Max said in shock as Korra smiled.
"That's one of the combination moves we've practiced on while we were training for this Contest. And thanks to our training, the results of Torchic's special move was fully accomplished!" Korra said as May blinked in surprise at her old friend.
"Combination move...?" May said as the main stage battle was starting to get intense. Chaz made one last attempt to counterattack as Venomoth managed to fly straight despite the burn status it gained from the Ember-Peck attack combo.
0:25 to 0:24
"Let's try this one more time, Venomoth! Use Psybeam!" Chaz yelled as Venomoth attempted to make an attack towards Torchic, who got ready to dodge once again. "No you don't! Counter with Ember, Torchic!" Minato cried out.
Both battlers shot their attacks, which in turn collided with each other, creating an explosion between the two! At that result, both Minato and Chaz lost their points, leaving Ash and the others to be surprised and worried for the results.
"No way... Was it a tie?" Ash asked as everyone kept their eyes on the screen. At the same time in the battlefield, the sound went off to show that the time was up, meaning that the battle was now over.
0:00
"And the battle is over! Let's see who will advance to the final round!" The MC said as everyone turned their attention to the scoreboard to see who had won!
Minato: 50 points
Chaz: 30 points
"And the winner of this round... is Minato! Please come up to the final stage when the first round battles are over!" The MC said as the crowd cheered for the victor of the first Contest battle. Minato, on the other hand, blinked in surprise before he smiled with satisfaction.
Winner: Minato
"Torchic!" Torchic chirped happily as he jumped onto Minato's arms, as the two celebrated their first win at the Contest, as they both knew that it wouldn't be long before they enter the final stage of the battle.
Chaz on the other hand, comforted the sadden Venomoth, who seemed sad for losing the battle as Chaz comforted his partner. "Don't worry, Venomoth. You did your best. Minato and Torchic somehow did better together than us, that's all." Chaz said in comfort.
The Poison-Bug Type reluctantly nodded as Korra smiled to see on how the battle went for her friend. "He did it... That training was really worth it!" Korra said happily as Janet gave a sad smile, as she felt bad for her friend, she he had lost on the other hand.
"So Chaz lost, huh? I guess that means I'll be able to face Minato in the finals should I win in my match." Janet said, leaving both Max and May by surprise as they both knew that this meant they would have to cheer either for Minato, or to Janet should she make it to the finals.
"Oh man... If you two battle each other, I don't think I could ever decide on who to cheer for..." Max said nervously as May nodded along.
"Y-Yeah... Me too..." May said as Janet smiled at the two, with Ash, Korra, and Brock all looking back at their three friends.
"It doesn't matter on who you cheer for, you two... You can cheer both me and Minato if you'd like!" Janet said as this brought a surprise to the two siblings as they blinked together in confusion.
"H-How do you think we can do that?" May asked as Brock made the answer for her with a confident look on his face.
"Well, since both Minato and Janet are friends to us, I think she's saying she's fine either way if you cheer for her, or if you cheer for Minato for hanging on..." Brock said as this caused Max to fold his arms with a deep thought into his mind.
"Mm... I think it could be something else..." He was interrupted by Chaz coming into the waiting room, with Minato at his side.
"Hey guys, what did you think of our battle?" Chaz asked as May frowned at this. "I don't know... I kind of... really didn't paid much attention as the battle went on. All I can say was... it was awesome." May said nervously as Minato sighed.
"Whatever you say... You're next... Right, Janet?" Minato asked as the experienced Coordinator nodded with a smile. "It sure is. And that means I'll be seeing you at the finals, Minato." Janet said as the former lonely boy nodded in understanding.
"Alright. I'll wait for you there." Minato said as the staff called for Janet to come out and make her show at the second round of the battle round. Korra walked over to the former lonely boy with a small, but sweet smile on her face as Minato looked back at her with a smile as well.
"So... How do you think I did so far?" Minato asked as Torchic jumped off of his shoulder to watch the conversation as Swablu watched from his head!
"Do you really need to ask? You're up at the finals, there's nothing bad for me to say about it. All I can say is, Minato... is to good luck and win." Korra said softly as the former lonely boy chuckled at that before he nodded back.
"Right." Minato said as Brock and Max watched the conversation go on, causing the two of them to smile as they knew what could be between those two, as May was still focused on Janet battling with her Beautifly, as Ash was also focused on the same thing.
Later...
Ash and the others sat at their seats as they all wanted to see the final battle for the Rustboro Contest, with Chaz joining them. Janet had won her battle, which would allow her to face Minato as both Coordinators prepared to battle, with both having determined looks on their faces.
"And now, the Rustboro Pokémon Contest has come to the exciting final battle stage! It's down to Minato and Janet, who both showed extraordinary skills in the preliminary round!" The MC announced as Ash grew excited for the final battle.
"I can't wait them battle each other." Ash said as May remembered the Pokémon the two had together.
"It's between Beautifly and Torchic!" May said as Max folded his arms, remembering something about the two battling together.
"Torchic is a Fire Type, which could be strong against a Bug Type like Beautifly..." Max said as Korra shook her head before she spoke on how the battle should go on at a Contest battle.
"I don't believe Type advantage would have anything to do in this battle, Max. Besides, this is nothing like a Gym battle or a regular battle, as this battle is to show the beauty of both Pokémon on each side." Korra said as Chaz agreed with understanding.
"You're right... And to be quite honest, I don't really know who to cheer for, either." Chaz said as the points were shown, with the timer ready to be set for a countdown!
"Ladies and gentlemen, the five minute Contest battle will now begin!" The MC said as the timer began, allowing the battle to start.
5:00 to 4:59
"Torchic, it's your turn to shine!"
"Go get 'em, Beautifly!"
Both Pokéballs opened up to show the two battlers that were ready for battle as both battlers began their starting attacks!
Minato: Torchic VS Janet: Beautifly
"Torchic, use Ember!" "Beautifly, Hidden Power!" Both Minato and Janet cried out together as Torchic jumped while shooting fireballs towards Beautifly! Beautifly on the other hand, countered with orbs of light to block the Ember attack.
The two moves collided together, all creating a small explosion that produced sparkling lights raining down on the battlefield and onto the audience as they were in awe for the beautiful display of the attacks each side made!
"Amazing! Ember and Hidden Power together made raining lights, resulting in a stalemate between Torchic and Beautifly! Neither of them looks like they're going to give an inch or second of each other!" The MC said as both players lost some of their points, due to the collision of their attacks!
Minato: 85 points
Janet: 85 points
"Not bad, Minato! But, can you keep up with us?" Janet asked with an impressed look as the former lonely boy narrowed his eyes, his voice and face looking dead serious.
"That's what Torchic and I are planning to do together. We're not going to hold back at all, just because you're are friends. In a battle, any friends can immediately become rivals or enemies. Torchic, charge up with Focus Energy!" Minato cried out loud.
At the call, Torchic focused his energy to land most critical hits as Janet blinked in surprise.
"And Torchic continues on with a Focus Energy attack! Will the next attack from Torchic land a critical hit!?" The MC said as Janet began her assaults onto the Chick Pokémon, refusing to let the Fire Type charge his next attack completely.
"We won't let that happen! Now, Beautifly! Use Gust!" Janet yelled as Beautifly whipped up some strong winds, breaking Torchic out of his concentration and startle him at the same time! "No way!? Torchic!" Minato grunted as the audience were all in shock to see that the concentration broke out!
Minato: 70 points
"Minato lost some serious points, due to Janet using Beautifly's Gust to interfere with Focus Energy..." Max said in worry as Ash grew confident in the former lonely boy.
"Well, that doesn't mean it's going to be that easy for Janet to win! You can do it, Minato! Torchic!" Ash yelled out loud. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu yelled as he cheered along as the battle went on, with Janet making the next move this time.
"Here comes our next attack, Minato! Now, Beautifly! Use Flash!" Janet cried as Beautifly began to make her wings glow, as the former lonely boy tried to interfere with Beautifly's attack just like when she interfered with hers! "Like that's ever going to happen! Now, Torchic! Ember!" Minato yelled out loud,
At the command, the Chick Pokémon negated Flash by blasting the Butterfly Pokémon with his fireballs! This shocked Janet as Beautifly started to flutter down towards the ground, making her feel worried.
Janet: 65 points
"Oh no! Beautifly!?" Janet gasped as Minato continued on with his attacks. "That's not all we have to give! Now, Torchic! Use Peck while speeding up with Quick Attack!" Minato yelled as Torchic did so, dealing even more damage to the already weak Beautifly!
The Butterfly Pokémon skidded on the ground, while she struggled to stand and fly up again. "Beautifly, are you okay!? Don't give up!" Janet said as she lost more points, due to taking more damage from the speedful combination attack from her opponent.
Janet: 45 points
"She's losing even more points due to Minato making his speedful combination attack..." Max said as May looked at her little brother in confusion as she had heard that from Janet before. Hearing him say that made the older sister even more curious from what the combination attack would truly be.
"Beautifly, Morning Sun!" Janet cried out, catching the former lonely by surprise and confusion.
"Morning Sun...? What kind of move is that?" Minato asked in surprise as Janet just smiled at the former lonely boy, telling him to watch the magic happen.
"Just watch! You're about to see the true nature of why a Beautifly is beautiful this way!" Janet said as the former lonely boy narrowed his eyes and watched. The bright light shone around Beautifly's body, creating sparkles of light in the process, amazing the whole crowd and even the group!
Both Minato and Torchic were amazed to see this happening as Beautifly slowly flew up in the air and looked okay as the light died away! This surprised both Minato, and even Chaz, who didn't know that Janet had made Beautifly learn a move like that.
"Restoration? Wonder when it learned that attack..." Chaz said as the judges seemed satisfied to give Janet some points for a beautiful move.
"Beautifly pulled off Morning Sun attack to perfection! This is very beautiful! Even the judges are astounded!" The MC announced as some of Minato's points dropped down due to the beauty of the Morning Sun attack.
Minato: 45 points
"So, i don't lose points just by taking damage... I even lose points if the opponent's attack or move is more beautiful than Torchic's, huh... I see... so this is the true nature of a Pokémon Contest..." Minato said bitterly as he finally understood the other purpose of this event.
"Minato lost a lot of points because of that move! That was awesome... I mean, amazing!" Max said as May clapped her hands together, feeling soothed and happy to see how the battle is going on.
"I know... I wish I could enter a Contest battle just like with Janet and her Beautifly!" May said as the battle continued on, with time going out fast.
1:01 to 1:00
With no time to lose, both Coordinators called their next attacks to each other!
"Beautifly, Hidden Power!" "Counter back with Ember, Torchic!" Both Janet and Minato yelled together as both Pokémon shot their special attacks at each other! At the result, both points dropped down again, much to Ash's annoyance as he couldn't see well, with the smoke blocking the scoreboard!
"Beautifly, use Flash, let's go!" Janet cried as Minato tried to counter back before Flash could do its work.
"Don't think it'll be that easy! Torchic, use Peck!" Minato cried as Torchic had his beak glow and become sharp as each Pokémon were ready to land their attacks, until the timer went off, ending the battle!
0:00
"The battle is over! Let's have a look at the scoreboard!" The MC said as everyone turned their attention to the scoreboard to see who had triumphed one another!
Minato: 25 points
Janet: 20 points
Winner: Minato
"Victory goes to Minato and Torchic!" The MC announced as everyone cheered for the victor of this Contsst while the others were amazed to see that their former cold-hearted friend had won the competition!
"He did it! Minato won it all!" Korra said happily as Ash, Chaz, Brock, Max, and May all applauded alongside with her as Torchic jumped into Minato's arms, as the former lonely boy smiled at his Fire Type partner.
"We did it, Torchic! We won our first Contest as a team!" Minato said as Torchic chirped happily for the win. Janet then walked over, with Beautifly in her hand as she congratulated the rookie for his first win and achievement as a Coordinator.
"Congratulations, Minato! You were great out there!" Janet said as Minato smiled back with Torchic on his shoulder. "Yeah... You too, Janet. It was a pretty close battle." Minato said as his former opponent nodded back in agreement.
"Yes! You were both great! Let us be the first to congratulate you!" A woman cried ours carching everyone's attention! The two battlers, judges, the MC, and all the audience turned to see two people dressed in a formal suit and hat with masks on their faces!
"We were invited here, specially by your Congratulatory Committee!" The man said as the MC was confused by this news as he never heard of them coming at all! "No one told me about this..." The MC started to say until the woman snatched the microphone from him!
"In that case, let me just say to that persistent Torchic! You won!" The woman said as the man offered both Minato and Janet a bouquet, leaving the two Coordinators to be confused.
"Your congratulory bouquet for the both of you!" The man said, leaving Janet confused while making the former lonely boy uneasy with this as Janet took the bouquet with a confused look on her face. "Oh... Well, thank you- Ah!" Janet started to say until smoke came out of the bouquet!
Minato quickly took action, throwing the bouquet away by taking it out of Janet's hands! "Throw that thing! It's a trap!" Minato grunted as Janet shrieked in surprise! Ash, Chaz, and Korra all stood up in surprise to see as the experienced Coordinator was the first to ask!
"What's going on here!?" Chaz snapped as a familiar trio began their motto as the smoke began to clear out!
"Prepare for trouble, as we congratulate..."
"And make it double, while we coordinate!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
At the motto finished, Brock, Max, and May followed Ash, Korra, and Chaz as Ash and May angrily glared at the two for interrupting a great finish in the competition!
"Team Rocket!?" Ash snapped as May followed along. "What are you doing here!?" She snapped as Jessie began to explain with a small smirk on her face.
"When we heard there was a Pokémon Contest, we just had to come, see?" Jessie said as James continued on with their plans and explanation. "We don't like to bother some task of raising and training, Pokémon!" James said tauntingly.
"So we came here to come and steal 'em, so we know that they're good and strong!" Meowth said as he pointed to where both Torchic and Beautifly were captured by Jessie and James' double nets!
"You morons! Don't you ever quit on trying to tail us!?" Minato snapped as Chaz joined in with insulting the evil trio.
"You three are no good, lazy cheats! And everything about you is an insult to all Pokémon Trainers and Coordinators!" Chaz snapped as Janet stepped up, agreeing that the evil trio means nothing but a problem to the Pokémon world.
"That's right! You're just crooks!" Janet snapped as this only made Jessie pissed off as she took out a Pokéball to make a sneaky assault! "Sticks and stones! Seviper, take care of them!" Jessie snapped as she threw her Pokéball, sending the Poison Type out to make some damage to the Trainers and Coordinators!
Ash attempted to intercept by calling out a new move for Pikachu to use!
"Oh no you don't! Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash cried out as Pikachu jumped to use the Steel Type attack, catching both Janet and Chaz by surprise! "What?! Iron Tail!?" Janet gasped as Chaz was surprised with this call.
"They've learned it already!?" Chaz said as his guess was wrong! Iron Tail started to harden Pikachu's tail to make a direct hit, only for the power to go out into the waste, shocking both Ash and Chaz as they both knew that the attack was a failure right now!
This left Pikachu to sweat drop as he realized that it was a waste to use the move that he hadn't mastered yet!
"Oh man... You can't just learn a complicating attack in only a few hours or minutes...!" Minato groaned as he face palmed at this. "Y-Yeah... I guess you're right..." Ash said as Seviper prepared to strike at Pikachu!
That was when Korra stepped up to battle for the two boys and to save the Electric Type Pokémon.
"Guess there's only me to do the work! Now, Houndour! Stop Seviper with your Faint Attack!" Korra yelled as Houndour bashed Seviper away with the Dark Type attack as soon as he was sent out! May took her turn by sending Torchic to do the rest of the rescue operation.
"Now, Torchic! Use Ember to break through the net!" May cried as the Chick Pokémon of hers appeared! Using the fireballs to burn the net, Minato's Torchic and Janet's Beautifly broke free, much to the evil trio's disappointment and shock!
"We stole those fair and square!" James complained as Janet turned to thank May, with Minato turning to thank Korra!
"Thanks, May! That's great!" "Thanks for the rescue there, Korra!" The two Coordinators said together as Chaz stepped up to the stage, with Venomoth sent out! Turning to Chaz, Janet made a confident look on her face before she asked both him and Minato!
"You ready, guys?" Janet asked as the two boys nodded together.
"Sure am!" "I'm ready when you guys are..." Chaz and Minato said together as the two Bug Type Coordinators made their attacks first, calling for the same attacks!
"Beautifly!"
"Venomoth!"
"Go! Double Gust!"
At the orders from their trainers, both Bug Types blew strong winds that mixed together to blow the evil trio away! At this, Minato took this chance to power up with the Gust with some heat!
"Now, Torchic! Ember, let's go!" Minato yelled as Yorchic nodded before he shot the fireballs towards the small tornado created by Gust! The evil trio screamed in pain with the heat they felt from Ember as they were all sent flying high into the air!
"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The evil trio screamed as they disappeared into the blue sky!
With the evil trio out of sight, Minato was about to be awarded with the Rustboro Ribbon!
"Now, Contesta will present our winner with his first place, Rustboro Ribbon!" The MC said as Minato slowly accepted the Ribbon with thanks as he took it into his hands for both Torchic and Swablu to see! The two were happy for their first win in the event as May and Maz walked over, with Korra at their side.
"Hey, Minato...? Is it okay if we look at the Ribbon you've won?" May asked as the former lonely boy blinked before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah... Sure." Minato said as he showed his very first Ribbon to the two siblings and Korra.
At the sight of the size and color of the Ribbon, May was amazed with how it looked right now. "Wow... It's so beautiful!" May said as she then found her resolve in her Pokémon training journey.
"You know what? I've decided that I'm gonna enter a Contest, too! And earn my very own Ribbon!" May said as Janet walked over with a small smile on her face as she nodded in understanding. "I think that's a great idea, May." Janet said until Max reminded his sister of the Gym battle she would have to go to.
"Uh... Maybe you should worry about your training for your first battle!" Max said, catching the older sister off guard.
"Ah! Oh yeah... Perhaps!" May said, catching Minato and Korra's suspicion as Janet and Chaz said their good luck to both Ash and May, along with Minato.
"Good luck, May!" Janet said as Chaz turned to both Minato and Ash.
"You too, Ash! I hope it goes well! And that goes for you too, Minato! With your Gym battle and your next Contest coming up!" Chaz said, catching the former lonely boy by surprise as he was about to protest until Ash used his arm to pull Minato close to him with a grin on his face.
"Yeah! Thanks!" Ash said as he gave the former lonely boy a small wink to let him handle the situation as the former lonely boy frowned at his Kanto friend. Brock turned to Ash to give him a reminder of the new move Pikachu would have to master.
"But you might want to work more on that Iron Tail attack!" Brock said as Ash sheepishly nodded in agreement.
"Yeah... What do you say, Pikachu?" Ash asked as he released Pikachu, who nodded in agreement. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu said as Minato smiled a little. With his first win as a Coordinator, he knew that the path he's going to take would be really complicated, due to his lingering desire for his revenge against his parents' murderers.
Shaking the ugly feeling from his mind, the former lonely turned to see May holding the Ribbon he had won, with Max and Korra watching her with sheepish looks on their faces.
Meanwhile, near the exit of the seats, two hooded figures smiled together as they looked to see the former lonely boy celebrating his first Contest win with his friends.
"He looks like he's having a great time." The boy, whose tone serious spoke as the hooded girl nodded, as she looked back at Minato, who had the smile back on his face.
"When should we be able to see Mina-chan, big brother?" The girl asked as the boy placed a hand over his sister's head as he showed his blue pupil eyes to her ruby pupil eyed sister.
"When he makes more progress in his journey, little sis." The brother said as he gave another glance back at Minato before he exited the stage. The girl followed along, not wanting to left behind.
To be continued...
Minato's Team:
Torchic: (M): (Ember, Peck, Focus Energy, Quick Attack)
Poochyena: (M): (Bite, Tackle, Howl, Dig)
Zigzagoon: (M): (Iron Tail, Hidden Power, Sand-Attack, Headbutt)
Treecko: (M): (Dig, Quick Attack, Absorb, Pound)
Swablu: (F): (Peck, Sing, Safeguard, Fury Attack)
Next Chapters:
Chapter 27: Catch Wurmple! A New Double Battle!
Chapter 28: The Lonely Bird, Tsubasa Tendo!
Chapter 29: Class Starts at Roxanne's Time!
Chapter 30: The Brawn Kid VS The Smart Kid!
Chapter 31: The Nosepass to Track and Hit!
Next chapter preview:
May: Eek! It's a Wurmple! It's starting to really creep me out right now, at every second!
Korra: Hold on... But a Wurmple can evolve into a Beautifly, making it beautiful like Janet's!
May: Really!? Oh, that's so cool! It makes me want to catch it right now! I'll see you guys later!
Minato: Does she even know what she's doing? Going into a forest alone is not a smart move.
May: Now, where could that Wurmple be? Huh? What are you creeps doing here?
Jessie: We're going after the Wurmple that will be mine, of course, twerp!
Events that occurred:
- Minato wins his first Pokémon Contest, earning the Rustboro Ribbon