"speaking"
"Thinking"
On with the story
When the next day came, Ken came running to the Pastoria, very eager to win his next gym badge
Ken arrives to the Gym and the first thing he sees that it had a close sign on
"are you kidding me!?" Ken shouted out as he clenched his fists in frustration "this is the second time!"
Ken let out a frustrated growl before he sighs and slumped depressingly
He started walking away from the gym before he sees the citizens of the city leaving their home
"what's going on here?" Ken asked as he sees that everyone is leaving their homes and going to the train station "everyone is going away?"
"ara, a traveler, I see" a nearby old couple said as they look to Ken "you must be here to challenge the Pastoria Gym, right? But I'm sorry to say that there will be no gym on this day"
"why that?" Ken asked
"today is the annual Croagunk Marsh Festival" the old man replied with a smile "it's the day where we celebrate our Marsh Guardians, the Croagunks"
"a festival for Croagunks?" Ken said as everyone was going to the train station and he could see that some had Croagunks beside them
"if you would like. You can come and see the festival for yourself" the old lady said "this year is going to be as amazing as last year"
"I guess…" Ken said as he shrugs his shoulders and decided to come with
after riding the Train with the Pastoria citizens, Ken finds himself in the marsh where there is a giant Croagunk Statue and a field with a festival
"what on earth" Ken said as he sees many trainers with Croagunk around the place
Ken grabbed his Sinnoh's Guide Book as he flips around the page for Pastoria City
When he finds the page, he reads the info of the city
""Pastoria City's Croagunk Great Marsh Festival. once every year, everyone gathers here to hold the annual Croagunk Festival, where they choose of who would be the Croagunk Champion" hmmm, interesting" Ken reads the guide book before he puts it away
Ken walked away as he watched the festival go on
The day turned to night as everyone gathered to the arena where the main festival was about to begin
Ken eats a Festival Croagunk's red bean bread as he watched how everyone loved their Croagunk
"alright! Ladies and gentleman! It brings me great honor for the beginning of the Great Marsh Festival!" a buff man who was wearing a mask announced out on the mic as he was the Pastoria Gym Leader, Makishimu Mask
Everyone cheered as Makishimu steps aside and a Croagunk appeared on stage
The Poison Frog Pokemon squat down as it started to croak for a few moments
"amazing skin glow! The expression it has must be one of a kind!" Makishimu mask commented
"amazing" Nurse Joy commented before another Croagunk appeared on stage
"another big challenger here! Look at it croak! I've never seen such an elegant croak!" another Judge shouted out
"they all look the same to me, though" Ken thought as he couldn't find the difference in the Croagunks
The match continued on as Ken must've seen a dozens of Croagunks and they all look the same
After the first match, the second match begin as it was a battle match
Croagunks fight against Croagunks as Makishimu Mask commented in the battle
Before long one Croagunk stood above the others as the winner
"we have our winner!" Makishimu Mask shouted out as the crowds cheered
"I guess this is understandable" Ken said as he didn't understand the logic of having an appearance contest
"it's time for the Festival!" Makishimu Mask shouted out as the festival drum was soon drummed
Everyone and their Croagunks started to dance as Makishimu Mask sings in the festival
Ken sweatdropped as he better steps out of doing this
"let's dance!" a nearby girl said as she pulled Ken to the festival dance
"eh! Wait!" Ken tried to return but he was instantly force into the festival dance
"why did I get force into this?" Ken lifts his hands up as he followed everyone's dance move
Makishimu Mask continued to sing out before he spotted Ken
"AAAAhhhh!" Makishimu shouted out as he jumped off the stage and runs towards Ken
"you!" he shouted as he grabs Ken's shoulder "you're Ken of Lavender Town, right!?"
Ken nodded a bit dumbly as he was surprised by the Gym leader's out burst
"hahahahaha! Everyone! Look who I have here!" Makishimu mask shouted out as he slaps Ken's back a few times "here I have is Ken of Lavender Town! The one and only Trainer to have ever battled the Sinnoh League Champion, Shirona to her fullest!"
The crowds instantly formed around them as Ken got asked by a lot of questions by a lot of people
"hahahaha! To think that the Ken would come to our town!" Makishimu mask laughed out "say! What brings you here!?"
"I guess you can say that I'm here for a gym battle" Ken said
"I see! I see!" Makishimu Mask shouted before taking out a Pokeball "then let us have it here and now!"
"eh? But your Gym" Ken said but Makishimu Mask just laughed out
"it's fine! It's fine! The only way to get a Gym Badge is to defeat a Gym Leader, right!?" Makishimu Mask shouted out as Ken nodded "then you only need to defeat me then! It doesn't matter if we battled it out here or at the Gym!"
"o-ok" Ken said before the two got into the festival arena
"this is going to be three on three!" Makishimu Mask shouted out as he called out a Floatzel to the field "beat all three and you earn yourself the Fen Badge!"
"alright" Ken nodded as he calls out Drapion to the field "let's do this, Drapion!"
Drapion nodded while pinching its pincers around
"let's go! Floatzel!" Makishimu Mask shouted as Floatzel nodded
The two stared off before charging towards the other
That's a wrap!
Bye bye
