Chapter 51: The Childhood Friend

Near the Floaroma Town Pokémon Center, Pikachu was using Thunderbolt to create yellow sparkling lights! Dawn and Pachirisu watched as Pikachu showed off his combination to the EleSquirrel Pokémon! "Awesome, like always!" Dawn complimented. "Pachirisu, try storing up electric energy just like that!" Dawn asked. Pachirisu nodded and began to store up her won electricity! Ash grew impressed with Pachirisu!

"Yeah! Just like that! Storing up electricity like that is great when it comes out of your cheeks!" Ash exclaimed. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed. Brock took a look at Hikaru, who only gave a sigh. "What's wrong?" Brock asked. "Hm? Oh, it's nothing." Hikaru answered. Hikaru's left arm fully recovered after resting for a few hours yesterday. "Mon?" The Playful Pokémon asked, rubbing his paw against Hikaru's left cheek, making him smile. "I'm okay, buddy. Really!" Hikaru chuckled.

That answer made Monferno glad and happy at the same time! The two trainers looked back at where Pachirisu shot up Discharge in the air, just like the style that Pikachu just did!

Tomorrow was the day of the Floaroma Town's Pokémon Contest, giving either Hikaru or Dawn a chance to win! Hikaru planned to use Eevee and Luxio, saving Monferno for the Eterna Gym! For Dawn, she wanted to enter the performance round with Pachirisu, while battling in the second round with Piplup! Pachirisu jumped in the air with joy of succeeding her new combination!

"Thanks for the help, Pikachu! Thanks to you, I'm sure we'll get a Ribbon for sure!" Dawn exclaimed. "Nice going, coach!" Ash complimented. Pikachu laughed nervously whole rubbing his head. "Nice combination, Dawn." Hikaru complimented silently. "Those kinds of things can make all the difference in a Pokémon Contest!" Brock explained. "Yep!" Dawn agreed. Just then, Dawn turned to look at Pachirisu, whose eyes glowed like diamonds, as if wanted something!

"I know what you want. Poffins!" Dawn giggled. The Poffins made Pachirisu excited, for she wanted to eat one. She handed the pink snack to the EleSquirrel Pokémon! "You deserve this for working hard!" Dawn exclaimed. Pachirisu beamed as it took the Poffin and began to eat onto it! "Want one too, Piplup?" Dawn asked. Piplup nodded, so Dawn handed one to her Water Type! "Here you go!" Dawn giggled. "Piplup!" Piplup exclaimed, happy to have a Poffin!

"Man! You made a quick work of that!" Ash joked, grinning. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed. "I'll tell you, you've got the perfect recipe going!" Brock exclaimed. "Yeah! Thanks to Forsythia's help, that is!" Dawn explained. Just then, the four trainers heard pleading, this time from both Pachirisu and Piplup! They wanted another Poffin! "What? You still want some more? Well, not until we do some more practicing!" Dawn explained.

The rejection caused for the two Pokémon to beg again for some more Poffins! "I said no!" Dawn replied. Again, Piplup and Pachirisu begged! "I said no!" Dawn scolded. This time, Pachirisu got ticked off and used Discharge! Pikachu managed to see it coming and got out of the way quick. The Electric Type move had shocked everyone! Pikachu sighed with disappointment for the EleSquirrel Pokémon and used Thunderbolt!

The Thunderbolt knocked Pachirisu out causing her to faint! Once the Discharge was finished, everyone, including Hikaru and Monferno groaned, with the four trainer's hair sticking up by the electricity! Pikachu went over to check the trainers. Dawn took a look at her hair and shrieked. "Oh... Not my hair again!" Dawn groaned. Her smooth blue hair was in a mess again! "Hey! Dee-Dee! Hikaru!" A voice called out. "Dee-Dee?" Dawn repeated. "Dee-Dee?" Hikaru repeated.

Ash and Brock looked confused to which both Hikaru and Dawn stood quickly up, recognizing the voice! "Only one person could know that name!" Dawn gasped. "That's right! Good to see you, you two!" A boy smirked. The boy had maroon hair, black eyes. He wore a green shirt with a white stripe in between, and he wore green sneakers, and light brown pants! "Kenny!?" Both Hikaru and Dawn gasped.

"And loving the double duo!" Kenny smirked. "Uh... Anyone can have a bad hair day!" Dawn tried to explain, while smoothing her hair. "Ugh... This is such a humiliation. To meet up like this from the start." Hikaru groaned, smokething his hair back to the spiky hair self. "Dee-Dee, huh?" Ash asked, curious. "Yeah..." Brock agreed. "What do you know! Dee-Dee has got herself a Pikachu! She's all grown up!" Kenny snickered. Dawn was about to protest, when Hikaru stopped her!

"Kenny, that's enough. Enough about the Dee-Dee part already! Further, this Pikachu doesn't belong to her! It belongs to that trainer!" Hikaru snapped. He pointed to where Ash was standing! Dawn blushed with Hikaru defending her! "My name's Ash!" Ash explained. "And I'm Brock! Nice to meet you!" Brock explained. "Nice to meet you, too!" Kenny exclaimed. "You see, we've been traveling together for a few days!" Dawn explained. That took Kenny by a surprise! "What, with them?" Kenny asked.

Later, the five trainers were near the Pokémon Center, having an orange juice for themselves! Dawn and Hikaru explained to Ash and Brock about Kenny. "You see, Kenny left on his journey from Twinleaf Town before we did!" Dawn explained. "We've known each other in nursery school, and we used to play a lot!" Hikaru explained. "That reminds me... What was the Pokémon that you picked for your starter?" Hikaru asked.

"I'll show you!" Kenny chuckled. Kenny took out a Pokéball and threw it to the air! "Come on out and meet everybody!" Kenny called. The ball opened, revealing a Penguin Pokémon that was bigger than Piplup, but it was bigger! "Prinplup!" The Pokémom exclaimed. "Wow! A Prinplup!" Dawn gasped. "That meant that Piplup was your choice." Hikaru replied, checking Prinplup in his Pokédex.

"Prinplup, the Penguin Pokémon, and the evolved form of Piplup. One blow from its wings is strong enough to knock down trees." Hikaru's Pokédex buzzed. Piplup went over to greet Prinplup, only to get knocked down by Prinplup's fin! "Hey! What was that for?" Dawn snapped. "Uh... Sorry. But sometimes, Prinplup gets a little freaked out if anyone gets in his space. I'm the only one that Prinplup doesn't have a problem with." Kenny explained.

Piplup glared at the evolved Penguin Pokémon, showing that he was tough! Prinplup didn't feel impressed as it glared at Piplup even more! Piplup showed his toughness even more! "They're acting just like rivals!" Ash chuckled. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed. "*sigh* So much for a simple greeting." Hikaru sighed. "Ferno." Monferno replied. "Why can't they just get along?" Dawn groaned. "Remember! They're both Penguin Pokémon! Originally, Prinplup doesn't get along with the others." Brock explained.

"You don't say." Hikaru muttered. "Hey, I saw you both use Piplup and a Shinx in the Jublife City's Pokémon Contest! And Dawn, were you trying to copy me?" Kenny asked. "I would never copy you! Piplup and I were meant toget her, while Luxio and Hikaru were meant for each other! Isn't that right, sweetie?" Dawn explained. "Piplup!" Piplup agreed. "Did you have to say that? You're making me embarrassed!" Hikaru groaned, blushing. "Ohh! So Shinx has evolved!? Let's see it, then!" Kenny exclaimed. "Fine... Luxio, come out and say hello!" Hikaru called.

He sent out Luxio, who faced Kenny staring at her! Luxio growled at Kenny before walking to Hikaru and sitting next to him! "That's so cool! And... What's with the cold look?" Kenny smirked. "None of your business." Hikaru snapped, startling Kenny. "Ouch..." Kenny muttered. "Hey, we're you in the Jublife Contest, too? We're you competing in it or just watching in it?" Dawn asked. "Uh, hello? My match was on TV, so why weren't the two of you watching?" Kenny asked, frowning.

"Guess we were... Busy!" Dawn stammered, apologizing. "Well, I don't see you as a Coordinator at all." Hikaru replied, sighing. Kenny rubbed the back of his head and smiled a little. "Uh... Well, like you, Hikaru, I've made it to the finals!" Jenny explained. With that, Dawn was amazed. "Wow! You did!? Amazing!" Dawn gasped. "It was the Contest right before Jublife City! I thought I had my first ribbon, but it was against an opponent so powerful, I didn't have a chance!" Kenny explained.

"She had a Glameow and her name was Zoey!" Kenny explained. He turned to Hikaru and grinned. "I saw you beat Zoey at the Jublife Contest finals! It was so amazing to see you win in your first try!" Kenny explained. "Well, it was thanks to the training my team had. Not just for the Contest, but for the Oreburgh Gym as well." Hikaru explained. He took out his Badge Case and showed the Coal Badge to Kenny! "Whoa..." Kenny replied, amazed.

"Well, Zoey said to us that she had one ribbon, so she must've won that ribbon from you!" Dawn explained. "I think Zoey was very strong!" Ash explained. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed. "Hey, if you haven't noticed, you haven't battled her, I did. Geez..." Hikaru groaned. "Ash, are you competing here?" Kenny asked. "No, not this time. You see, Ash is aiming to win the Sinnoh League! Brock is a Pokémon Breeder!" Dawn explained.

Kenny grew surprised and confused. "But, you were at Jublife..." Kenny replied. "I had some fun with Contests, while doing Gym battles are my thing!" Ash exclaimed. "So, you hooked up in Jublife?" Kenny asked. "Not quite. We met after Dawn and I saved Ash's Pikachu for him, and later, we watched Ash battle in the Oreburgh Gym twice, seeing him win in the second attempt!" Hikaru explained. Kenny took a moment to look at Ash, before Ash asked.

"What's up?" Ash asked. "Nothing. You see, I'm sure you guys got your own stories, but they don't hold a candle to mine!" Kenny chuckled. Immediately, Dawn and Hikaru twitched with Kenny's grin! "You wouldn't dare!" Dawn snapped. "Don't bring this up, Ken." Hikaru growled. Kenny ignored the two trainers and faced Ash! "When it comes to stories, I've got tons of them!" Kenny smirked. "Like what?" Ash asked.

"Hey, we're all ears!" Brock replied. "Piplup!" Piplup agreed. "Ken, are you really going to do this!?" Hikaru snapped. "Hey! They'll love it! One time, when Dawn's mom made her take a haircut that she couldn't stand! So, she tried to cut it herself! You never know how it turned out! She looked just like a Chimchar!" Kenny giggled. "A Chimchar!?" Ash and Brock repeated, with Pikachu and Piplup following through.

The two boys and Pokémon pictured Dawn's hairstyle, looking like a Chimchar, which they began to resist, not trying to laugh! Hikaru sighed with annoyance as he cracked his knuckles. Monferno felt very insulted with Kenny's words, as he snapped back at Kenny, who raised his hands high with an apology. Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and Piplup couldn't resist it anymore and they all laughed! POW! SMACK! WHACK! POW! The laughing maniacs immediately stopped, with Hikaru punching on their heads, giving them a big bump on their head!

"Would you four grow up already!? That happened way back in nursery school!" Dawn snapped. But, Kenny ignored Dawn and kept the story going! "Oh yeah! How about the play we all did at the same time?" Kenny snickered. The flashback showed a play going in the nursery school, with Young Hikaru dressed in a Buizel costume, and with Young Dawn dressed in a Slowpoke costume! She let out a big sneeze, which she lost balance! She tried to save herself with the banners, but fell along with it!

The Young Dawn on the flashback began to cry, with Young Hikaru comforting her, patting on her shoulder. "What a sneeze! What a riot!" Kenny laughed. That caused the four previous laughters to try to resist laughing again! Both Hikaru and Dawn gave the death glares, but that didn't stop them from laughing! Hikaru sighed and brought out his fists again! WHACK! WHAM! SMACK! POW!

Once again, the four boys got bigger bumps on their head! Dawn blushed at Hikaru and said thanks while glaring at the four laughing boys! "Oh great! Laugh at a little girl all if you want!" Dawn snapped. Kenny kept on the story! "And one time, there was a time when Dawn- OW!" Kenny yelped when Hikaru punched his head! "One more word about her humiliating moments, and pow! Fainted in one shot!" Hikaru threatened, causing Kenny to sweat drop!

"Okay okay! This time then... It has to be you!" Kenny smirked. Hikaru immediately widen his eyes. "Y-You moron! Don't you dare talk about that 'accident'!" Hikaru growled. "What accident?" Ash asked. "Well, during second grade, both Hikaru and Dawn were assigned to sit together as partners for some game! Then, one of Dawn's chair leg broke, causing her to fall and make her kiss Hikaru on the lips! They looked like a cute, little couple!" Kenny snickered.

Ash and Brock pictured Dawn and Hikaru together making a full kiss with each other! The four Pokémon again, with Monferno began to laugh again! Hikaru raised his fist, but not towards the others, but at Kenny instead! POW! Kenny got a big bump on his head, causing him to groan with dizziness! "That is enough! If you honestly think that we're the same Hikaru and Dawn you know, then you're out of your mind!" Hikaru snapped.

"Right! I could show you a real Pokémon battle!" Dawn snapped. Kenny regained his balance and focus before turning to Ash! "What I want to do is to battle against that Pikachu!" Kenny explained. "What, with me?" Ash asked. "Pika?" Pikachu asked. "Did you hesr what I said or not!?" Dawn snapped. "Lup!" Piplup snapped. "Look, all I want to do is to make Prinplup stronger, so I want to battle someone with a real deal!" Kenny explained. "Prinplup!" Prinplup agreed.

"Geez... You started your journey first, but you're acting like a toddler!" Hikaru snorted. "C'mon, Hikaru! He challenged me and I accept!" Ash stated. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

So, everyone headed toward the battlefield for Ash and Kenny's battle! "Let's keep it simple! One on one!" Kenny stated. "Right!. Ash agreed. Brock, Hikaru, and Dawn watched from the sidelines! "An Electric Type like Pikachu should have the advantage over Water Types like Prinplup!" Dawn exclaimed. "We'll see. We'll see. Whatever happens, it should be a real eye opener! That Prinplup looks confident!" Brock stated.

Kenny: Prinplup VS Ash: Pikachu

"Okay, Ash! You could take the first move!" Kenny called. "Then you could get a good look at my Pikachu's awesome Thunderbolt!" Ash grinned. Pikachu unleashed the Electric Type move towards the evolved Penguin Pokémon! "Metal Claw!" Kenny sneered. Prinplup's claws glowed with metal! It blocked the Thunderbolt without a single damage! "No way!" Ash gasped. "Prinplup absorbed the Thunderbolt Attack!" Dawn gasped.

Prinplup nullified the move, startling Ash and Pikachu! "Prinplup sent the Thunderbolt right back!" Ash gasped. Even the others in the sideline grew surprised! "But how!? Prinplup didn't take any damage at all!" Hikaru gasped. "Metal Claw is a Steel Type move, and if it's really powerful, then it could be used to defend against an Electric Type move!" Brock explained.

"And to think, that Thunderbolt made Pikachu famous!" Brock muttered, frowning. "That Prinplup is so strong! I can see now why Kenny made it to the final round!" Dawn exclaimed. "Don't call this over just yet. I'm sure that both Ash and Kenny are getting started with this battle!" Hikaru assured. He glared down where Prinplup was standing! A Water Type that could take no damage from a Thunderbolt. This was a surprise for Hikaru.

And so, the heroes meet Kenny, Hikaru and Dawn's childhood friend, while training for the Floaroma Town's Pokémon Contest! Right now, Ash is battling Kenny with his Pikachu against Kenny's Prinplup! How can Ash be able to win in the situation like this? Stay tuned for more!

To be continued...

Hikaru's Team:

Monferno (M): (Mach Punch, Fire Spin, Mach Punch, Fury Swipes)

Luxio (F): (Iron Tail, Hidden Power, Spark, Bite)

Eevee (F): (Shadow Ball, Hidden Power, Iron Tail, Double Team)

Pokémon Quiz!

I am a Water Type, thin and big, and evolved form, with the ability to calm people and Pokémon down. I come from ugly to beauty! Who am I?