Battle Frontier Part 4

The group finally arrive at Saffron City, May tries to explain the Contest circuit to Munchlax and Squirtle, but they don't seem to be interested. "Well, this is their first Contest experience after all." Lillie says.

"I hope they are able to understand..." May sighs.

The group notices that there are already people entering the Saffron City Contest Hall, which a guy with his Mankey tells them that it is open so that people can check out the stage.

Inside the Contest Hall, preparations are being made just as May steps in. The group notices the announcer in the middle of the stage, May asks, "Is she Vivian Meridian?"

"No," Ash says. "That is Lilian, she is Vivian's sister. I knew her since she was the announcer back in my Johto Contests."

As part of a rehearsal, Lilian steps into the stadium centre and calls out her Espeon, whose magnificent coat shimmers under the stadium lights. She tells Espeon to use Swift, followed by a Psychic which causes the stars to form several rings. Espeon leaps and somersaults several times through the rings and gracefully lands on the stage. May's Squirtle becomes excited and rushes down to the center of the ring, whereupon it performs Bubbles.

"Well, it sure is a cute act." Lilian picks Squirtle up and then hands it back to May, who apologizes.

While in May's arms, Squirtle begins to cry. Lilian thinks that Squirtle wants to be on stage, which is confirmed by its sudden joy.

"By the way, Ash, it sure has been a while. Though I didn't get to say it to you back in the Cerulean Contest." Lilian greets Ash. "And for you as well, Lillie."

"Hello, Lilian." Lillie says, then they start to chat a little.

At the nearby Pokémon Center, everyone is enjoying cold drinks as May considers using Squirtle in the Saffron Contest, which she ultimately decides to do so.

"Contestant #45, your Pokemon are fully recovered." Nurse Joy announces as May rushes over. But then she sees Harley and she is scared.

"What are you doing here?" May asks.

"You are here as well?" Harley seems to be surprised as well. "I became Nurse Joy's volunteer orderly as thanks after she nursed my Cacturne back to health. And I am also here for the Contest as well."

Then he explains that the rules in Kanto are a little different: Coordinators may switch their Pokémon between the first and second rounds.

"So you are here for dirty tricks again?" Max accuses.

"No, I am a different person now." Harley says.

"Indeed, what he said about the rules is true after all." Ash says. "But we already knew that since I already have one ribbon."

Harley frowns as then he begs Nurse Joy to ask her that if he is helping her, and she confirms, much to everyone's surprise. Then Ash asks May to get the new Kanto Pass, but Harley says that the passes are taken away, so May can't enter. But Ash quickly goes to the registration hall and then asks for one for May, with the status, they manage to get the contest pass in the end.

"How could this be...I was supposed to get the last one..." Harley groans in annoyance. Lillie says, "You forget that Ash is a Top Coordinator, he has authority." Then Harley remains determined to keep May from winning the Saffron Ribbon.

Now the Contest has started and Harley is the first one as he sends out his Cacturne, who starts things off with Cotton Spore. The spores slowly rotate in the air while Harley calls for Needle Arm. Cacturne stands motionless for some time before suddenly protruding spikes from its whole body through all of the spores, creating an interesting display.

Jessie also in her disguise and then she sends out Cacnea. Cacnea and Jessie run toward each other and hug each other. The painful embrace moves Lilian and the crowd to tears, showcasing the pair's close bond. Jessie tells Cacnea to use Pin Missile and the pins wind upward and collide, exploding like fireworks. Lilian goes to congratulate Jessie but notices that Cacnea is still attached to her and she's not moving at all. Lilian taps her and she falls to the floor, paralyzed with pain. Jessie is then rushed back into the operating room again by Chansey.

May is the last one and she has Squirtle by her side. Squirtle becomes uneasy at the sight of the massive crowd, but May says that it'll get use it. She calls upon Combusken, who emerges from its Poké Ball in a series of gymnastic somersaults. May then unties and throws her bandanna toward Combusken, ordering a Fire Spin follow by Sky Uppercut. Combusken propels the bandanna upward with Fire Spin, leaps through the spiraling flames, and uses Sky Uppercut to refold the bandana. Combusken then delivers one last blow to send the retied bandanna right back onto May's head. Combusken lands in front of May and the two pose for the finish. The crowd goes wild, shouting and cheering. Squirtle looks on admiringly and everyone seems to be pleased with her performance, except for Harley, who looks disappointed with her success.

Harley, Jessie and May all advance to the second round, and then Ash says, "I didn't know that Jessie from Team Rocket sure is talented in Contests."

Lillie says, "Yeah, all they did was stealing our Pokemon after all. If only she can use it as her hobby instead of stealing our Pokemon..."

As May is filled with excitement, Harley approaches to meddle with her confidence once again. May fires back quickly, silencing her malicious rival. Suddenly a completely bandaged individual confronts the pair before revealing herself as Jessie in disguise, then she and Harley are set on defeating one another, and both point to May, declaring that they'll beat her next.

Harley sends out his Ariados while Jessie calls upon Wobbuffet.

"Why is she sending out Wobbuffet?" James asks Meowth. "I don't know what she is planning." Meowth replies.

Jessie's plan is to have Wobbuffet use Counter just as Ariados fires an attack to reflect it back at double the power. Harley catches on immediately and is reluctant to make the first move, knowing it would only backfire.

Since no one declares a move, Lilian says, "Since both coordinators aren't issuing an order, then I will give each of you a Yellow card."

Then they see that the points they have are subtracted to half. Both Harley and Jessie argue back and forth and Lilian is about to disqualify both of them for not battling until Harley declares that he will make a move. Upon realizing that he doesn't need to make an offensive attack, Harley tells Ariados to use String Shot on Wobbuffet. Seizing the opportunity, Jessie directs Wobbuffet to use Counter, but Wobbuffet becomes helplessly wrapped by the threads.

"Mirror Coat and Counter won't work against defensive moves." Harley says.

Ariados then manipulates Wobbuffet like a puppet with its attached strings, as points are gradually deducted from Jessie's score. The crowd begins to laugh at the puppet show on display, which is ended when Ariados tosses Wobbuffet. The rest of Jessie's points are deducted and Harley advances to the next round. Jessie, James, and Meowth then fall to the ground, turning white from disbelief.

May breezes through the next rounds with Squirtle defeats a Crobat with Bubble followed by Squirtle knocks out a Weepinbell with Tackle. Similarly, Ariados entangles a Walrein in a Spider Web. With both May and Harley having won all their rounds, they find themselves in the finals of the Saffron Contest.

May is facing Harley in the finals, and then May sends out Squirtle and Harley sends out Ariados. Ariados attaches itself to the ceiling with its String Shot and swings into frighten Squirtle with a Scary Face. Squirtle then recovers and uses Ice Beam on Ariados, but it is so powerful that it misses its mark and knocks Squirtle onto its back. Ariados then retracts up to the ceiling and shoots another String Shot onto Squirtle's body, reeling it in and deducting more of May's points. Harley decides to rack up style points by covering the whole stage with Spider Web, impressing Lilian and the audience. Ariados then spins Squirtle around in a circle and sends it hurtling onto the web, entangling its back in the process. As Squirtle continues to struggle, May's points are approaching zero. Ariados then descends down from the ceiling to the web and begins walking towards Squirtle to strike with Double-Edge. May tries a Bubble attack, but it doesn't even slow Ariados down.

May then recalls Squirtle's last attempt of Ice Beam which propelled it backwards, and uses it to free Squirtle from the web. The attack also freezes Ariados and the web, leading Harley's points to drop by more than half. Squirtle runs and jumps onto the frozen web to hit Ariados with Bubble, shattering the ice and throwing Ariados backward. Ariados tries to stop itself, but its feet can't get any grip on the frozen web. Squirtle slides down the icy webs like a surfer and Tackles Ariados to the ground, knocking it out. Squirtle neatly lands on its feet on top of Ariados.

"Ariados is unable to battle, which means that May is the winner of the Saffron Contest!" Lilian announces.

Squirtle comes running back to May for a hug as Ash, Lillie, and Max cheer from the stands.

"This contest was rigged..." Harley mutters and then he walks off in a huff. The crowd cheers as May is awarded her first Kanto Ribbon, making for a great start to her Kanto Contest campaign.

"Now that's done, why don't we go see our aunt?" Ash asks.

"Your aunt?" Max asks.

"Yeah, the Saffron Gym Leader Sabrina. Maybe we can find our cousins here as well." Lillie says.

Then they go to the gym and then they are greeted with Surch and Amelia by Sabrina's side. Ash and Lillie hug Sabrina and then introduces May and Max to them.

"It is nice to see you get new traveling companions." Surch says.

"But where is Silver and Ariel?" Lillie asks. "Aren't you guys together."

Sabrina says, "Silver is trying to challenge the Kanto League, while Ariel is challenging the Contests, from what I heard, Silver managed to beat Misty and Ariel gets one ribbon."

"Really? We are going to partake the Contests as well, so I think Ariel and I are rivals again." Ash says.

"Indeed." Amelia says. Then they talk for a while before leaving the place.


On the way to the Battle Arena, May's Munchlax falls ill, even refusing to eat. An elderly couple approach the group, and Ash and his friends are surprised to see the old man has a Mime Jr.. The woman says that Munchlax has a fever and needs help.

Just then, they see Team Rocket also in the room, as they are about to say something, James quickly runs outside and closes the doors behind him to talk to them.

"Are you here to steal the Pokemon from the nice old couple?" Max asks.

"No, they are my grandparents." This causes shock towards them. "They don't know that I joined Team Rocket, so please, help me keep it a secret."

"Wait, you mean...you guys aren't from the Dark Dimension?" Lillie asks in shock.

"No...there is a reason we joined Team Rocket..." James then tells them about everything. As they go to the living room, James says, "You see, Jessie wanted to be a Nurse Joy, but she failed to graduated, and then she also tried Model and even the Biking Gang, but all of them are failed...as for Meowth, he wanted to be a star back in the Pokestar Studios, he fell in love with a female Meowth named Meowzie, but Meowzie didn't return his feelings after she falling in love with a Persian. As for me, I come from a rich family, but my parents wanted to give me a forced marriage. Which is why I run away. After these events happened, we met together and we ran into Giovanni, I mean, not your uncle but the evil version one, he offered us a home if we stole Pokemon for him."

"But now he isn't here, why are you still trying to steal our Pokemon?" Lillie asks.

"I know...but stealing your Pokemon means that we can travel with you guys secretly...Though we have bad intentions, but it managed to keep us company..." James says.

After learning the truth, Ash and Lillie decide to help them keep a secret. And then he thanks them.

But Jessie and Meowth try to steal James' grandparents' Pokemon, so James team up with Ash and his group to stop them. In the end, James decide to pluck his courage to tell them that he joined Team Rocket, but the grandparents know he is still a kind person, and they hope that he does well in life.

The next day, James leaves his Chimecho here and captures a Mime Jr., then the trio bid farewell to the group with peace, much to their surprise. "So now we knew their reasons of being in Team Rocket..." Ash says.

"Yeah. Maybe we shouldn't be too rough on them, but they aren't getting away with our Pokemon as well." Lillie says.

"Thank you for helping James and the others." James's Nanny says. Then James' Pop-pop gives them a Fire Stone. "I hope this will be helpful for you."

"Thank you so much." Ash says, then he decides to give it to Growlithe, who evolves into an Arcanine in the end.

Kanto Dex Entry No.59 Arcanine: The Legendary Pokemon: Fire Type. Evolved from Growlithe with a Fire Stone. A legendary Pokémon in the East. Many people are charmed by the grace and beauty of its running.


May has gotten her first ribbon, and then they finally learn the truth of Jessie, James and Meowth. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash and Lillie's Current Pokemon:

Butterfree x2, Pikachu, Wigglytuff, Golbat, Persian, Arcanine, Lapras x2, Mewtwo, Mew, Meganium, Espeon, Steelix, Donphan, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Sceptile, Gardevoir, Vigoroth, Milotic, Absol, Metang, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Latias, Latios, Lucario, Gallade, Sylveon

In Home:

Venusaur, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Raticate, Fearow, Arbok, Raichu, Sandslash, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Clefable, Vileplume, Venomoth, Dugtrio, Golduck, Primeape, Poliwrath, Alakazam, Machamp, Victreebel, Tentacruel, Golem, Rapidash, Slowbro, Magneton, Farfetch'd, Dodrio, Muk, Cloyster, Gengar, Hypno, Kingler, Electrode, Exeggutor, Marowak, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Weezing, Kangaskhan, Seaking, Starmie, Mr. Mime, Jynx, Pinsir, Tauros, Gyarados, Ditto, Omastar, Kabutops, Aerodactyl, Snorlax, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Dragonite, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Furret, Noctowl, Ledian, Ariados, Lanturn, Xatu, Ampharos, Bellossom, Azumarill, Sudowoodo, Politoed, Jumpluff, Sunflora, Umbreon, Slowking, Unown x28, Wobbuffet, Girafarig, Forretress, Granbull, Scizor, Shuckle, Heracross, Ursaring, Magcargo, Corsola, Octillery, Delibird, Mantine, Skarmory, Houndoom, Kingdra, Stantler, Smeargle, Hitmontop, Miltank, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Larvitar, Tyranitar, Lugia, Blaziken, Swampert, Mightyena, Linoone, Beautifly, Dustox, Ludicolo, Shiftry, Swellow, Pelipper, Masquerain, Breloom, Ninjask, Shedinja, Exploud, Hariyama, Nosepass, Delcatty, Sableye, Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Plusle, Minun, Volbeat, Illumise, Swalot, Shapedo, Wailord, Camerrput, Torkoal, Spinda, Flygon, Cacturne, Altaria, Zangoose, Seviper, Lunatone, Solrock, Whiscash, Crawdaunt, Claydol, Cradily, Armaldo, Castform, Banette, Chimecho, Glalie, Walrein, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth, Luvdisc, Salamence, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Honchkrow, Weavile, Lickilicky, Rhyperior, Yanmega, Porygon-Z,

In training: Charizard, Charla

May's Current Pokemon:

Blaziken, Beautifly, Delcatty, Venusaur, Munchlax, Squirtle