"Aaron of the Elite Four!" I declared, my voice resonating in the narrow gate. "I challenge you to a battle!"

Aaron's olive-green eyes widened. "Dawn?"

Nerissa latched onto my arm. "Oh, Top Coordinator Dawn, protect me from these scary trainers! Bug-type and poison-type specialists are so scary. And that strange boy with glasses—he's the scariest."

"Conway isn't scary; he's just..." I looked at him. He adjusted his glasses so they gleamed. His grin was a little too wide, his chuckle too long. "...weird."

Aaron's friend – the poison-type specialist – raised his arm in greeting. "Hey, Kenny."

Kenny gave him a high five. "Good to see you, Ace."

I couldn't stifle my annoyance. "You know this guy, Kenny?"

"Yeah, he and Aaron joined my poffin-making class."

I looked at Aaron in surprise. "I didn't see you in the crowd."

"I wear a Combee Keeper hat when reporters are around."

"Kenny's a great teacher," Ace added. "My poffins turned out fantastic!" He unwrapped a few oversized pink poffins that looked delightful, if a little lumpy.

Aaron grinned sheepishly. "Mine looked like those, but they were grey."

I smiled assuringly at him. "I've seen worse."

Kenny said, "Ace invited Aaron after I told him that making poffins is always more fun with friends—so I'm glad you joined us, too, Deedee."

I ignored the nickname. "How did you meet?"

"We were both at the Solaceon Ruins the other day. I caught an Unown, and Ace found enchanted honey from migrating Combee."

"Scolipede loves the stuff," Ace explained. Now that he wasn't threatening Nerissa, he looked kind of cute. He was a brush taller than Aaron, though he wore platform boots to give himself the extra height. A miniature poison barb dangled from his right ear.

Kenny nodded in that excited, bobblehead way he has when he's about to get to the best part of a story. "We were both heading to Hearthome City, so we got to talk and hang out. When we arrived, we traded Pokémon to evolve them and then traded back. Remember my Machoke? He's a Machamp now!"

The gate was cramped with all five of us and our Pokémon – especially Kenny's Empoleon and the two Drapion – but that didn't stop Kenny from sending out his Machamp. The gigantic, muscular Pokémon swamped the gate. His broad shoulders took up all the space, even when he crossed his four arms to try to make himself smaller. Aaron pulled Ace away, while Empoleon and Piplup got squashed together. Conway leaped to "defend" me, and his Shuckle ended up in Nerissa's stylish afro. The manager of Amity Square screamed as she tried to shake Shuckle off.

"Sorry!" Kenny exclaimed, returning Machamp to his Pokéball.

Conway tried tugging Shuckle out of Nerissa's hair, but the odd Pokémon clung on. "Get away from me!" Nerissa cried out. "You smell like Gloom Perfume!"

Conway blinked, surprised. I didn't like him much, but no one should be insulted like that. I was about to speak up for him when Conway replied, "Of course. It's a concoction derived from the Vileplume evolutionary line that helps my Pokémon focus when training."

I gawked at him—he chose to smell like this?! Nerissa waved the air in front of her nose. "Well, it stinks! Don't come closer. But get this Shuckle off my head."

"How am I supposed to do that? You're asking something illogical."

Aaron reached over and tickled Shuckle until the bug-and-rock type popped off like a Tynamo, a leech-like Pokémon. He smiled at me. "I haven't forgotten your challenge either, Top Coordinator Dawn."

I blushed. "Just Dawn is fine."

Nerissa muttered, "This is why only cute Pokémon are allowed in Amity Square."

Ace narrowed his eyes. "Define 'cute'."

Nerissa actually had a list prepared as a hologram on her Pokégear. "I'm patriotic, so all Sinnoh starters and their evolutions are allowed in Amity Square. Other cute Pokémon include Pikachu, Pachirisu, Buneary, Happiny... Shroomish but not Breloom, Torchic but certainly not Combusken or Blaziken... and Drifloon—but only because Fantina fought hard for that one. Actually, she wanted me to include Drifblim and more ghost type Pokémon, but that's a big no-no. You know?"

"No, I don't know. Those are stupid restrictions. My Drapion, my boyfriend's Drapion, and even Conway's Shuckle should also be allowed in Amity Square! I'll fight for ghost types, poison types, and—"

Aaron dragged him away. Their Drapion followed, their shoulders sagging in disappointment. Or maybe that was Drapion's typical posture. Kenny, Conway, and I left the east gate, too, leaving Nerissa behind to check on her hair.

A few minutes later, we gathered in the courtyard of the Hearthome contest hall. The grass had been trimmed and cleared, making for a decent battlefield. I handed my blouse to Kenny and bounced on my toes on one side of the clearing. Aaron pulled Ace in for a quick kiss before walking over to the opposite side. He had changed a bit since Ash, Brock, and I met him. His black-and-orange-patterned vest had a long sleeve for his left arm, and he wore a Vespiquen-designed glove on his right hand. "This will be a one-on-one battle with no substitutions. The battle will end when one Pokémon is unable to continue. Does that sound good, Dawn?"

I nodded. "Piplup—spotlight!"

"Drapion, I choose you!"

Conway appeared at my shoulder, eerier than Fantina's ghost types. "Drapion. The Ogre Scorpion Pokémon. The poison from its tail is powerful, but as a physical attacker, Drapion is more likely to go on rampages with strength that could crush a Rhyperior—"

"My Drapion isn't that violent!" Aaron exclaimed. "My boyfriend's Drapion, maybe."

"—Drapion is a poison and dark type," Conway continued, "meaning its one weakness—"

I pushed him all the way to where Kenny and Ace were watching. "Begone, human Pokédex! I've encountered Drapion before. Maybe Mamoswine would have been a better type match-up, but Piplup is gonna rock this battle!"

Piplup puffed out his chest, confident.

Ace smiled. "Trainers shouldn't rely on type match-ups, anyway; my Drapion knows Aqua Tail to deal with ground types."

Aaron held his arm out; the late afternoon sun shone on his amber glove. "You can have the first move, Dawn."

"Piplup, let's start with Whirlpool!"

Piplup created a massive whirlpool ready to swamp his opponent.

"Drapion, break through with Aerial Ace!"

Drapion burst through Piplup's Whirlpool with deadly precision. "Piplup! You can fight back—use Bubble Beam!"

"Drapion, counter it with Cross Poison!"

Conway must have been misinformed, because Aaron's Drapion was comfortable using the poison from his tail. Purple liquid popped Piplup's bubbles and splattered on the grass, corroding it. As the battle continued, it seemed like Drapion had a counter for each of Piplup's moves. I gritted my teeth, getting frustrated. And Piplup was frustrated, too; his posture was way too tense for a Pokémon contest. The tightness gave me an idea.

"Piplup, use Bide!"

"Don't relent, Drapion—use Leech Life!"

Leech Life began draining Piplup's energy. Bug-type specialists like Aaron of the Elite Four and Burgh from Unova had trained hard to make this move more powerful, but my Piplup could still withstand it. Drapion may have been leeching Piplup's energy, but Piplup was gathering energy of his own from Bide.

"Release it now!"

"Use Cross Poison!"

Drapion was faster than Piplup, and his powerful tail knocked out my Pokémon. I flopped onto my knees on the soft grass. "I'm sorry, Piplup. I let you down."

Kenny placed my blouse over my shoulders. "You put up a fantastic fight against a member of the Elite Four."

Ace crouched next to me and offered Piplup the lumpy pink poffin he'd made in Kenny's class. "Poffins retain their nutritious value, and this was made from a pecha berry, so it should help against the poison."

"Thanks, Ace."

Slow applause grabbed our attention. "That was a well-fought battle, on par with many championship battles." The low, elegant voice was familiar, but I couldn't believe that she would come all this way to Hearthome City.