The Vermilion Contest

Ash, Brock, Chloe and Cerise were approaching the Vermilion City Contest Hall when trumpets began blaring.

"Lar..."

"Don't worry Larvitar, I'm sure that it'll be over soon." Ash soothed the baby Pokemon.

"Pika."

"What's going on anyways?" Chloe asked as she stood on her toes in an attempt to get a better view.

"Make way for Kalos royalty people, her royal majesty Princess Luna, future Top Coordinator is gracing you with her presence!" A man dressed like a royal squire raced by followed by two others who were hastily rolling out a red carpet.

"Kalos royalty?! I thought Galar and Kalos stopped having kings and queens ages ago." Chloe remarked with narrowed eyes.

"That may be true but unlike the Galar bloodline which has been lost to time the Kalos bloodline is still very much alive and filthy rich too! Lysandre of Lysandre Industries is one such descendant and I'm guessing this Luna girl is another one of them, perhaps raised in such a spoiled manner that she believes she is a princess and her royal helpers are simply people her parents are paying large sums of money to escort her around."

"You insolent fool, how dare you talk about me that way!" An obnoxious feminine voice shouted as the so called 'Princess' came into view and sure enough she was dressed precisely as one would imagine a fairy tale princess to be like. She wore a large puffy pink dress and a fancy golden crown with various rare jewels such as emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds emblazoned across it. She had a light skin tone with a head of long flowing blonde hair along with a pair of beautiful purple eyes, she was the very definition of the word gorgeous but unfortunately was quite the opposite inside! "If we were in Kalos, I'd have you executed for treason!"

Not wanting to get into an argument, Brock quickly apologized in the hopes that it'd send her on her way. "My apologies, I had no idea you were within earshot."

"Apologies aren't good enough, peasant. I want you to bow!"

"Furfro!" Two fluffy white poodle Pokemon with quite the hairstyle barked as they took their place alongside her. One of the Pokemon had their leg fur dyed pink while the tail fur was shaped into that of a pink heart while the other Pokemon had a hairstyle that made it resemble a pharaoh!

"Wow, what are those Pokemon?!" Ash excitedly reached for his Rotom Phone while Luna let out a cackle.

"Of course a peasant like you doesn't know what a Furfrou is!"

"Don't call Ash a peasant, Furfrou aren't even native to this region!" Chloe shouted in Ash's defense.

"Furfrou the Poodle Pokemon, Heart and Pharaoh trim, trimming its fluffy fur not only makes it more elegant but also increases the swiftness of its movements!"

"That sounds like an awesome Pokemon but why are you here? Why aren't you competing in the Kalos Contests?" Ash questioned with a light tilt of his head.

"Pi Pikachu?" Pikachu copied his trainer's action.

"Because you insolent fool, Kalos doesn't have Contests we have Showcases to determine whose the 'Kalos Queen' and why should I care about an unofficial title when I am royalty? Aria is nothing but a wannabe!" Luna cackled.

"Aria? Whose that?"

"Pika pi." Pikachu shrugged, he didn't know either but he had the strangest feeling they'd find out someday.

"Why should you care? She's nothing compared to true royalty such as myself! I bet a peasant such as yourself would be fawning over her though." Luna cackled. Ash stared off in confusion while Chloe clenched her fists and shot the royal pain a nasty glare.

"Now now I'm sure that we can all get along!" Professor Cerise quickly got in between them all. "My daughter Chloe's a Coordinator as well and-"

"Beat it gramps, getting talked down upon by an elderly peasant is even worse!" Her words made Chloe snarl in defense of her father while Cerise went pale.

"I-I'm not that old..."

"You can't talk about my dad that way!"

"Eevoi!"

"I can do whatever I want, I am royalty after all!" Luna lazily pushed Chloe away and smirked as she turned her back to the group. "Now if you excuse me I've got a date with destiny, later peasants!"

"Furfrou!" The poodles raced after her while some squires hastily moved the red carpet along for her.

"What a b-" Gloria spoke up before Chloe growled out.

"The nerve of her! Nobody talks down to A-my father and gets away with it, I'm going to ensure that she doesn't win!" Chloe shouted with a look of determination.

"Eevoi!" Eevee raised her paw as she cried in agreement.

"If ya want, I can kick her butt back to Kalos." Gloria offered.

"T-That won't be necessary, no need for violence!" Cerise hastily waved his hands.

"Yeah, I want to beat her in a way that will truly get to her!" Chloe exclaimed while Gloria couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Sounds boring ta me, well good luck with the Contest! I'm off ta find myself a Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution. I heard rumors of a powerful Bulbasaur being seen in the forest between here and Saffron so perhaps I'll start there!"

"Thank you Gloria and good luck to you too!" Chloe politely bowed.

"It was nice seeing you again, I hope we can battle next time!" Ash excitedly exclaimed, his eyes sparkled while his fists clenched with excitement!

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in.

"That we will Ketchum, our current tasks may not align but we're still aiming for the same endgame!" Gloria smirked as she extended her hand to shake his. The two rivals shook hands and smirked as they looked into each others eyes, Chloe looked a bit anxious for a moment before calming down as Gloria backed down.

"Where are you going after you finish your Galar campaign anyways?" Chloe questioned.

"I don't know where ever the path takes me I suppose!" Gloria shrugged before resuming her smirk. "But it matters little I'll still kick butt and raise some hell wherever I go!"

"Intel..." Inteleon sweated.

"That's the spirit!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu and I are thinking about doing the Silver Conference next, you're welcome to join us if you like!"

"Johto? Pffft! No thank you, Johto sounds boring and too similar to Kanto from what I hear! No, I think I might go ta Kalos and see how my might compares to that of Diantha!" Gloria grinned. "But perhaps after that our paths will align!"

"I hope so, I can't wait to battle you wherever we end up!" Though Ash didn't know, Chloe had a pretty good theory. She remembered envisioning herself traveling with Ash and Brock on the night before she even met Brock! The three traveled throughout Kanto, and some tropical islands where they'd encounter a boy and what appeared to be a blue Pikachu before arriving at the Johto region! Then the vision stopped upon reaching a distant land, she didn't get a good view of it but she could tell that she and Ash were still traveling together and they'd encounter two rookie trainers just starting off, perhaps their future companions, whom had a blue jackal pup and an orange chicken alongside them. Chloe wasn't certain but the chicken was most likely the Hoenn starter Torchic, meaning that the two were from Hoenn if that was the case as Torchic were pretty much non-existent outside the region's borders!

Gloria raced off while Cerise gave his daughter's shoulder a light nudge.

"Um Chloe? I don't know much about how Contests work but don't you need to register for today's Contest?"

Chloe's eyes grew wide as an anxious look appeared across her face. "Oh Arceus I almost forgot!"

"Good morning Vermilion City, I'm your friendly MC Lilian and I'd like to show off today's prize, the Vermilion ribbon!" Lilian held up a pretty pink and white ribbon before continuing her obligatory trend as she introduced everyone to the judges.

"Pink and light colored... a perfect match for a princess such as myself you peasants all may as well go home now!" Luna obnoxiously boasted. Chloe silently clenched her fists but it was Jessie who barked back!

"Oh please, you may be royalty but I actually have the looks of one!" Jessie posed while a few male Coordinators chimed in agreement with her.

Luna shot her a nasty scowl. "You'll pay for that remark peasant, I'll ensure it!"

"As if, I've been working hard on a new technique that will outshine whatever you may have in store!" Jessie smirked while Wobbuffet burst out alongside her.

"Wobbuffet!" He cried in agreement.

"With that thing? I bet it's not even pure blood like my lovely Furfrou, they've even got the best EV and IVs!" Luna boasted.

"Furfrou!"

"Eevoi?" Eevee tilted her head as she thought Luna was referring to her.

"EV not Eevee, of course a peasant Pokemon would be as idiotic as the peasant that owns her!" Luna laughed while the Furfrou barked out in laughter.

Chloe growled lightly before jumping lightly from surprise as Jessie placed her hand on her shoulder. "Ignore her, she's gonna get what's coming to her rather it be from me or you! Let's do whatever we can to ensure that she doesn't win!"

"Right!" Chloe nodded while feeling shocked that she and Jessie were actually in agreement for a change!

"First up is Jessilina!" Lilian called out from the contest stage.

Jessie lightly pushed Chloe aside. "Step aside twerp, allow me to show that royal pain a thing or two about true beauty! Wobbuffet let's shine!"

"Wobbu!" Wobbuffet burst back out as Jessie raced towards him before throwing herself into the air.

"Alright Wobbuffet use Counter!"

"Wobbu!" Wobbuffet's body began glowing bright red as Jessie flew towards him before promptly bouncing off like a trampoline, bouncing up and down while going higher each time before it became too much as she was sent blasting off into the air like a rocket!

"W-Wobbu!" Wobbuffet quickly raced out in a panic.

"S-She just blasted off without us..." James sweated from the audience, him and Meowth dressed up in their usual disguises.

"Let's go find her," Meowth sighed as the two got up to track their friend down!

"Well that was certainly... entertaining." Lilian nervously laughed before turning her attention to the screen. "Well I guess we have no choice but to move on, Luna please take the stage!"

Luna's eye twitched as she angrily marched out onto the stage and promptly stomped her feet. "It's princess Luna, princess!" She obnoxiously shouted out causing the judges and Lilian to cover their ears.

"Alright alright, princess Luna go on and show off your performance!"

Luna flashed a smirk as she turned towards the audience. "You peasants should consider yourselves lucky, I'm about to give you a hefty handout! Meowth, let's show these peasants what true royalty looks like!"

"That's a Meowth?!" Ash exclaimed as a grey colored feline burst out, it looked quite similar in design to the Kantonian Meowth the group was all too familiar with but also had quite the snobbish look to it proving that Luna's Pokemon had a personality similar to her own!

"Meowth the Scratch Cat Pokemon, Alola form, it's impulsive, selfish, and fickle. It's very popular with some Trainers who like giving it the attention it needs!"

"Pay Day!" Luna threw her arm into the air as Meowth leaped up and twirled about before firing off various gold coins out of thin air! The coins flew off into the audience which was followed by loud cheers however the judges themselves didn't appear to be that impressed by the technique.

"Is that actual money?"

"Pika pi?"

"In a way, yes." Brock spoke.

"Man just imagine if Team Rocket's Meowth knew that attack!"

"Pika..." Pikachu breathed out before shivering at the thought as he envisioned the twerps surrounded by an army of mechs!

"7.5 all across the board! Princess Luna will have to pray that she's lucky enough to get into the battle stage with a score like that!"

"S-Seven point five?!" Luna's face turned bright red. "I-I just gave you peasants a lot of money!"

"Meowth!" Meowth hissed out as he shot the judges a harsh glare.

"Yes but that's not really impressive to us judges," Mr. Contesta spoke. "In your home region that might help you out at Showcases where the audience decides upon your score but here you're dealing with professional critics!"

Mr. Sukizo nodded in agreement while continuing to prove to be a man of few words. "Not very remarkable!"

Luna frustratingly pulled at her hair as she snarled out. "You ungrateful peasants! If I don't make it to the next round you will be hearing from my father!" She promptly stomped off the stage while Chloe couldn't help but snicker lightly as Luna was put in her place.

"Next up is Chloe Cerise!" Lilian called out.

"Go Chloe!" Ash shouted from the audience.

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Lar Larvitar!" Larvitar cheered.

Chloe heard their cries over the cheering of the audience, she turned and gave them a quick wave and a smile as she made her way to the center of the stage. "Alright this is our first Contest together but I'm sure you'll do great out there! Omastar, let's do-" However before she could throw the ball she felt a shake from her bag. She quickly placed the ball back on her belt and removed her bag to check up on her egg which had become engulfed in a bright white glow before fading to reveal a small light yellow Pokemon which appeared to be wearing it's former egg shell despite hatching!

"W-What are you?" Chloe blinked.

"Togepriii!"

"Whoa I've never seen once of those before!" Ash leaped from his seat to get a better view.

"Me neither, what do you think it is?" Brock asked as the three trainers appeared to be equally in the dark as to what the Pokemon was.

"My stars, that's a Togepi!" Professor Cerise spoke up, stars filled his eyes as he excitedly leaped from his seat. "I-I never envisioned I'd get to see one let alone in person! W-We don't even know much about the Pokemon as nobody's seen one in decades, it was thought to have been extinct!"

"Huh... wonder how it got in Suzie's Daycare then." Brock stroked his chin as he was pretty sure Suzie would have informed him if she'd come into contact with a Pokemon like that. Up above them Mew briefly turned visible as a light giggle emitted from it's mouth.

Togepi gave her trainer a smile as Chloe smiled down at her baby Pokemon. "H-Hello there Togepi, I'm Chloe I-"

"Toge toge!" Togepi excitedly waved it's fingers about causing a series of meteors to come blasting down from the sky above! "Toge toge!" Togepi waved it's fingers back and forth once more as the meteors were surrounded by a blue glow before bursting apart in a blast of blue light that sprinkled down upon the stage as the crowd and judges looked on in amazement.

"T-That was Metronome..." Chloe noted. Though Togepi was quite mysterious, she did recognize the move as it was the signature move of the Pokemon known as Clefairy!

The judges quickly showcased their scores as Lilian let out a gasp. "A perfect ten across the board, it may have been sheer luck but Chloe's or rather Togepi's gamble paid off!"

Chloe flashed Togepi an affectionate smile as the baby continued excitedly crying out. "Toge toge!"

"Togepi... I won't keep you inside of it but I'll need you to get inside for your own protection, that way you won't happen to get lost or stolen by another trainer." Chloe explained as she held out an empty Pokeball to Togepi. "You okay with going inside?"

"Toge toge!" Togepi excitedly shook back and forth, with no visible neck Chloe was forced to take that as a yes. She gently tapped Togepi resulting in a bright red light engulfing it's body before it was sucked into the ball which began shaking back and forth before chiming out to announce the capture complete!

"She did it! I can't wait to properly examine that Togepi!" Cerise excitedly spoke out before calming himself. "A-After it grows up of course, can't separate the baby from it's mother!"

"Mother? What are you talking about?" Ash blinked in confusion.

"Oh right, you fell asleep during that class." Cerise recalled with a light sweat. "Well you see when a Pokemon hatches, it typically regards the first people it sees as it's parents! Sort of like how Larvitar regards you as it's father and Hardens whenever anyone else greets it or comes near. Right Larvitar?"

"L-Lar!" Larvitar hardened up as Cerise waved at him causing Cerise to lightly sweat once more before backing away.

"See?"

"But Larvitar doesn't do that to Chloe-Oh." Ash blinked as it now came to him that Larvitar thought of Chloe as his mother!

"Right." Cerise gave a knowing smirk before turning his attention back to the stage as Lilian spoke up.

"Alright so now that everyone's had their turn, let's see who exactly will make their way to the battle stage!" The scoreboard showed a series of eight images which quickly flipped to showcase Chloe, a few Coordinators Ash recognized from the Cerulean contest along with some new faces before finishing off with Luna who appeared to have just barely scraped by!

"The nerve!" Luna screeched from backstage, stomping her foot against the ground as she shook her fist at the screen. "I should be first or at the very least silver but not even being in the top three is just insulting and unbefitting of a princess!"

"Calm down Luna, it's not over yet." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Princess, call me Princess Luna!" Luna screeched as she pressed her face up against Chloe's, eyes full of crazed rage as Chloe couldn't help but nervously sweat.

"S-Sure thing, princess..."

"E-Eevoi..."

"And here we are folks, after a rather unsatisfactory first performance Luna managed to pull it together for the battle stage and is now facing off against Chloe in the finals!"

"Well well peasant, I'm surprised you lasted this long but don't fret, soon you'll know what it's like to worship true royalty!" Luna cackled.

"This isn't over yet, Luna!" Chloe glared lightly before leaping back as Luna screamed out.

"It's princess!"

"Geez, I know it's wrong but I hope we don't run into her as much as we encounter Samurai and the others." Ash briefly commented while Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Pika."

Chloe rolled her eyes as she tossed a Pokeball into the air. "Omastar let's shine!"

"Oma!" Omastar burst out and growled as Luna began cackling out.

"Of course a peasant believes that an ugly Pokemon such as that can win a Contest!"

"Looks aren't everything, stop being shallow!"

"Eevoi!"

"Oma!"

"Spoken like a true peasant, Furfrou let's show her what true beauty looks like!" Luna did a twirl as she tossed a Luxury ball into the air with the Heart trimmed Furfrou emerging out of it!

"Furfro!"

"Rain Dance!"

"Oma!" Omastar twitched as a heavy rainstorm began pouring down upon the battlefield!

Luna let out a screech as she held her hands over her head. "W-What do you think you're doing?! Furfrou and I just had our hair done!"

"Furfro!" Furfrou covered her head with her paws.

"I thought you'd be more upset at the points you lost?" Chloe lightly sweated as she glanced towards the scoreboard.

"You did that on purpose!"

"For our performance, obviously. I didn't mean to inconvenience your hairstyle though." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"I'll make you pay for that, Furfrou use Zen Headbutt!"

"Furfro!" Furfrou's head began to glow a bright blue as she charged headfirst across the field!

"Use Surf!" Chloe cried out with a throw of her arm.

Omastar waved it's tentacles and uttered out a shout as a large wave of water swiftly formed beneath him, Furfrou let out a yelp as she winded up charging headfirst into the water taking points off of Luna's own scoreboard before points were further deducted as the wave came crashing down upon the poodle! As the wave cleared away, the pink coloring had faded from Furfrou's fur while her fur now resembled it's normal shaggy state.

"Furfro!"

"Oh no, you made my gorgeous Furfrou hideous!" Luna and Furfrou began crying out as Luna and Omastar shot each other an annoyed look.

"Let's finish this!" Luna had a quarter of her points remaining so the next attack was sure to take her out of the game regardless if Furfrou remained standing after. "Rollout!"

"Oma oma Omastar!" Omastar retracted into it's shell and began rapidly spinning in place before rocketing across the field, striking Furfrou and knocking him back into Luna causing the two to faceplant against the ground as her remaining points were deducted.

"And we have our winner, Chloe Cerise takes home the win!" Lilian cried while letting out an inaudible. "Thank Arceus," beneath her breath.

"Way to go Chloe!"

"Pika pi!"

"Larvitar!"

Excitement filled Chloe's gaze as Mr. Contesta approached with the Vermilion ribbon however it was quite clear that she now had her own nemesis much like how Ash had Damian.

"Oooh I'll make you pay for that you dirty peasant, you'll pay!" Luna shook her fist before her eye twitched as it was clear nobody was paying attention to her. "You think you can steal what it rightfully mine?! Think again, next time we meet you won't be so lucky! Come Furfrou, let's get our hair fixed!" Luna clapped her hands and Furfrou promptly hopped to her feet as the two left, the loud cheers of the crowd only further enraged them.

"You were amazing out there, Chloe!"

"Thank you, Ash!" Chloe lightly blushed before looking down towards Togepi. "I can't take credit though, it's mostly thanks to Togepi that I got as far as I did today!"

"Togepriii!" Togepi cried out.

Cerise stroked his chin as his gaze flickered across the baby Pokemon. "I am quite curious as to what Togepi's exactly capable of and what evolution it may have if any. You'll keep me informed of any progress right? O-On top of your Contest career of course!" Cerise lightly sweated.

Chloe rolled her eyes lightly before offering her dorky father a smile. "Of course, dad."

"Great!" Cerise clasped his hands together. "Now as much as I'd love to accompany you guys to Celadon City, I've got to get back to Pallet Town!" Cerise pulled Chloe into a quick hug and the two embraced for a brief moment before he pulled away. "Good luck on your journey you three!"

"Thanks Cerise and good luck with your research, I bet you'll be a proper Professor in no time!" Ash called out.

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Larvitar!"

"Bye dad!"

"Bye Professor!" Brock and Chloe waved along with their Pokemon save for Croagunk who simply croaked in response.

"Eevoi!"

"Togepriii!"

"Vul!"

"Croa."

As Professor Cerise got into a taxi Ash turned to face the others. "Alright next stop, Celadon City! I can't wait to see what awaits us there!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

Mew uttered out another giggle as it watched from a safe distance before flying away!

Yeah I constructed a new character to be her Harley/Ursula. I want to save their debuts for their respective regions. She was designed to be obnoxious and hated, not everything has to be complex!

And Togepi, I wanted to stay true to the source a bit. It may have been 'mysterious' due to the fact that Johto wasn't a thing yet but it was a nice aspect and I did love the Mirage Kingdom arc although since Togekiss is a thing it's gonna be handled differently when we get to that. Chloe's Togepi will be the only one of it's species we see outside of that arc, same goes for Dracovish if Ash happens to get one. Hint hint. Won't be anytime soon though as his first Dragon will be something special and in the sequel much like Froakie!

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed! The road to Celadon won't be all that simple though as our heroes will be forced to take quite the detour and wind up encountering a rather depressed Cubone.