Wallace Cup

"Oh my gosh, it's Wallace!" A crowd formed excitedly around the former Hoenn champion as soon as he began approaching the large stadium that the Pokemon Contest community had temporarily built together not too far from the Olivine beach. Wallace always wanted to host his Wallace Cups near bodies of water as it felt in the spirit of things given his known love for and specialization of Water type Pokemon! Wallace didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about it as he gave the crowd a wave and signed a few autographs as he continued making his way to the stadium.

"What's the story with Wallace anyways? I thought he was a champion, how on earth does he have time to host Pokemon Contests and travel the world if he has champion duties?" Lyra questioned.

"He was a champion for about six months, Wallace had beaten Steven in a Championship match after winning the Ever Grande Conference and besting the Hoenn Elite Four. Though unfortunately Wallace's love for Contests began interfering with his love for battles, a champion can have hobbies but a full on secondary goal is almost impossible to manage alongside maintaining the strength to defend your title. Steven was able to catch up as Wallace hadn't improved much since their last battle and took back his title, the two are still friends though as Wallace focuses entirely on performing now. He finds it more enjoyable than battling as he finds it brings joy to others." Zach explained.

"That sounds a lot like our friend Nando, he's gonna have to make a choice eventually." Dawn commented.

"Oh well that explains things, is he single he's kind of cute." Lyra glanced towards the former champion with slight interest.

"Oh don't kid yourself, he swings the other way and believe me I'd know!" The three turned to see what appeared to be a slightly older man wearing clothing and a hat fashioned after the Pokemon known as Cacturne! He had long curly purple hair and had a bit of a flamboyant tone. "Hello there, I'm Harley. You may have heard of me? I ranked pretty high in Hoenn's Grand Festival last year, I'm a pretty big deal!"

"I think I've heard of you... weren't you the guy that May beat in the top four?" Zach spoke, his words triggered Harley as the man angrily pulled at his hair while his face burned bright red.

"Y-You know May?!" Harley's words grew icy as he shot the three a look of disgust.

"Of course, she's a close friend of both of us!" Dawn stated as she gave Harley a light glare.

"Ah of course, I'm guessing that slut hooked up with you." Harley pointed towards Zach while giving off a nasty look. "I could tell that your tastes are just as trashy as hers, heck I bet she spread her legs for you as soon as you met! So when's the wedding? I can just see the headlines now, Mr. and Mrs. Loser!"

Zach's eye started to twitch. Harley insulting May upset him far more than Harley trashing him, each insult directed towards May only made him more angry and ticked off as his body began to shake.

"Zach, you okay...?" Dawn gave her boyfriend a look of concern.

"Don't you dare talk that way about May, she is not a slut. Heck she's not even been with a guy let alone slept with one, I know cause she told me so and I believe her!" Zach growled out. "And May is far from a loser, she won the Hoenn Grand Festival and already has four of the Sinnoh region's ribbons. I think that you're just jealous of her success and possibly, given the fact that we've never met before now, scared of her which is why you went to a different region entirely!"

His words appeared to have struck a nerve as Harley's red burned with rage, his eyes lit ablaze as smoke flew from his ears. "You're just as feisty and annoying as your girlfriend, have to say she suits you." Harley growled. "You may act tough out here but I bet out on the Contest Stage I'd flatten you!"

"You're on!" May answered for him as she emerged from the crowd, she flashed Zach an appreciative and loving smile as she appeared to have heard him sticking up for her before turning her gaze towards Harley as daggers began flying out of them. "You may be more experienced than him on the Contest field but unlike you Zach plays it far and doesn't play unfair like a coward!"

"Coward, me?!" Harley snarled. "Oh that does it, once I'm done destroying your boyfriend I'm coming for you!" He then promptly turned around and stomped off.

"He seems more annoying than Paul and Amelia combined..." Dawn muttered.

"Oh you get used to it, easy enough to tone him out." May waved it off before giving Zach an apologetic look. "Though I do admit to giving in there, sorry about that I just couldn't stand by and watch him insult you like that!" May blushed lightly resulting in Zach blushing as well.

"May t-there's something you should know, Dawn and I are-"

"Dating? Pretty obvious given she's holding your hand!" May smirked as she pointed towards his right hand. Zach glanced down and realized at some point during his argument with Harley that Dawn had grabbed him, probably in the hopes of calming him down.

"O-Oh I didn't even notice!" Dawn rolled her eyes as a light giggle escaped her mouth before she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Don't worry about it." Dawn waved it off before sharing a smirk with the brunette. Zach glanced between the two as he had a feeling that he missed out on something.

"You don't have to enter the Contest-" May started only for Zach to shut her down.

"Oh I'm entering, you said I'd be and this is about your honor. I couldn't stand insulting him so it'll be worth knocking that jerk out, assuming we get paired against one another. Besides if I didn't enter that'd just give him more ammo to use against you."

Lyra gazed towards Zach before flicking her gaze towards May. This was her first time meeting the girl but it was quite clear to her that the two liked each other and Dawn clearly had to see it although she didn't appear to be upset by it! Lyra tilted her head as she couldn't help but wonder if Zach was fortunate enough to fall in love with two girls that were perfectly willing to share him with one another?

"Heh, you really know how to please a girl don't you?" May giggled before quickly going wide eyed. "Oh no... you'll need a Contest outfit!"

"Actually no he doesn't!" Dawn spoke as she pulled what appeared to be a shiny emerald green tuxedo from her bag. Zach narrowed his eyes lightly as he wondered just how she was able to fit that, her own contest outfit and her cheerleader outfit in there along with the supplies that she carried. They each had the same supplies rather than rely on one individual to carry it all, playing it smart in case they got separated in the fog or some other situation occurred. "I made this for you, I was going to give it to you at the Grand Festival dance but you wearing it now won't hurt!"

"Why emerald?" Lyra couldn't help but question as blue and black seemed more his color.

"Oh right you weren't there, they jokingly referred to me as the Emerald Hero when we were discussing the legends of Hoenn." Zach explained.

"Well you may not be a Legendary Pokemon's chosen but you are a hero in my book!" Dawn spoke while giving him a warm look.

Zach blushed while chuckling in response. "Well I'm honored to be your hero."

May giggled before she gave him a light nudge. "You should go get your Contest Pass, you'll need it in order to enter the competition!"

"Oh right, I forgot I never got one of those." Mostly cause he never expected to enter a Pokemon Contest though he planned on this being a one time thing. "You okay sitting along, Lyra?" He shot her a look of concern as the plan was originally to sit with her, just as friends of course, and keep her company as Dawn competed.

"I'll be fine," Lyra waved it off, she found his behavior towards the other girls cute and didn't want to interfere with that. "Have fun you three, I'll be cheering all of you on!"

"Looking good, Zach!" May spoke with a rather warm tone as Zach stepped out of the dressing room to join the others. Harley could be seen across the room wearing his Cacturne outfit while Nando and Zoey could be seen not too far from where May and Dawn were waiting in their contest outfits. Amelia wasn't present and Zach couldn't help but silently praise Arceus as he wasn't sure they could handle both her and Harley at the same time!

Zach cast Dawn a look as he was sure that May speaking like that would insult her which is why he hadn't been openly flirting with May like he had been in the past. Though to his surprise Dawn was very aware but chose to keep smiling and say nothing? Zach tilted his head as he found that behavior quite odd. The two girls looked towards one another and giggled as he couldn't help but feel like he was in the dark once again. What was going on with those two today, did he miss something?

"Thanks you look great as usual." He responded, giving his girlfriend a quick look. "As do you, Dawn."

The two giggled once more before diverting their attention as the stage lit up as Wallace took the stage, Johto's usual MC didn't appear to be present not even in the judge's panel. It was possible that they gave her a break from this one and let her have a mini vacation. Wallace gave the crowd a wave as loud cheers echoed throughout the stadium and as the stage continued lighting up they could see that it was quite different from usual as a large pool was present in it's place along with two floating platforms present for Pokemon to stand on if necessary.

"Good afternoon Johto, today I bring to you the Wallace Cup!" The crowd cheered loudly as Wallace directed their attention towards the screen. "One hundred Coordinators will be competing but only thirty two will advance! Who will they be? Well we'll just have to find out for ourselves!" The crowd cheered once more as Wallace walked towards the judge panel. "You all know Mr. Sukizo, and Mr. Contesta. You two look marvelous by the way."

"Thank you," Mr. Contesta politely bowed.

"Remarkable!"

"And they're joined by the Nurse Joy of Olivine City!"

"Hello everyone, happy to be here!"

"Along with yours truly!" Wallace thumbed towards his chest. "For I'll be pulling double duty on account of your beloved MC falling ill with the flu! And now without further ado we'll get started, let's see which lucky contestant will be the first to perform for us!" Wallace activated a remote causing the screen to light up to show Zach's face.

Zach immediately went pale at the idea of going first while Harley sneered at him from across the room.

May placed her hand on his right shoulder while Dawn placed hers on his other shoulder.

"No need to worry, Zach. We won't think any less of you if you mess up!"

"Yeah showing up is what counts!" May smirked while shooting Harley a glare. "So go out there and try your best!"

Zach smiled at the two and made his way out onto the stage, the crowd began cheering as he stepped out and he couldn't help but tense up at the size of it. Freezing momentarily as he stared out at the crowd.

"Scor?" Scorbunny tilted her head.

"Car." Lucario lightly growled.

"I'll be fine you two, j-just a bit of anxiety..." Zach shook it off as he reached for a Pokeball. "T-Totodile let's dance!"

"Toto!" Totodile burst out and joyfully leaped into the air before doing a little dance as he landed on the platform.

"Scorbunny go and assist him!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny gave him a thumbs up as she leaped from his shoulder and landed on the watery platform. She gave the water a nervous look before glancing back towards her trainer.

"Alright Scorbunny use Electro Ball, Totodile I want you to follow up by using Ice Beam on the Electro Ball once it's in the air, think you can manage that?" He gave his younger Pokemon a look only for Totodile to joyfully cry as he continued dancing in place. Zach sweated and hoped that meant 'yes'.

Scorbunny clamped her paws together as an electrical energy sphere began forming between them, once the sphere had fully formed she promptly dropped it before kicking it into the air sending the ball flying! Totodile opened his mouth and briefly stopped dancing to fire off a beam of ice, only to quickly resume dancing as the ice flew through the air and struck the electric sphere creating an explosion of sparks and ice that fell down onto the stage!

The crowd cheered while May and Dawn gave impressed looks, though he was new to this he did have a good idea on how it worked on account of him watching their own performances. Zach gave a quick bow and returned Totodile before holding out his arms so Scorbunny could safely leap across to shore, the rabbit leaped directly into his arms and remained in his grasp as they made their way backstage to where the others were.

"See that wasn't so bad!" May gave Zach a hug as soon as he came into reach. Dawn gave him a brief look of concern though as she saw him tense up out there when his eyes took in the crowd. She knew he had anxiety but was it possible that he had stage fright? He'd never battled in front of a gathering as large as this before and if he tensed up here then she was concerned on how he'd react when he entered the Lily of the Valley Conference!

"It was kind of fun honestly, Totodile sure enjoyed it anyways." Zach laughed.

After a few other Coordinators had their turn, May took the stage. "Altaria, Glaceon take the stage!"

"Whoa, May evolved her Eevee!" Dawn exclaimed as the Ice Eeveelution burst out alongside Altaria! "She must have made her way to Snowpoint since we last saw her!"

"Or used an Ice Stone." Zach commented.

"Altaria use Moonblast, Glaceon use Blizzard!" May cried as she pointed upwards.

A pink energy orb appeared in Altaria's beak before she launched it into the sky, Glaceon summoned a fierce cold wind afterwards that brought with it a blast of snow and ice! The orb shattered and flew through the blizzard to create a large gust of pink wind! The crowd gasped in amazement as May and her Pokemon took a bow before making their way offstage as the judges murmured amongst themselves.

"Great work, May!" Zach congratulated her. "That was way better than my performance!"

Dawn flashed May a thumbs up as she passed her as it was now her turn to put on a performance.

"Don't sell yourself short, yours was still impressive for a rookie!" May giggled as they turned their attention towards Dawn.

"Cyndaquil, Lopunny spotlight!" Dawn twirled about as she threw a set of Pokeballs into the heart. Heart shaped lights appeared as Lopunny and Cyndaquil emerged from their Pokeballs.

"Cyndaquil use Smokescreen!"

"Quil!" Black smoke flew from the fire mouse's jaw and covered up the stage!

"Fire Punch!"

"Lopu!" Lopunny pulled back her fist as flames surrounded it before striking out resulting in a fiery explosion as the smog erupted into flames!

The crowd let out a cheer as Dawn and Lopunny took a bow before making their way offstage.

"Car!" Lucario growled as he complimented Lopunny.

"Lopu!" Lopunny blushed while Scorbunny silently crossed her arms and glared at the other rabbit.

"Great job Dawn, you were excellent out there!" Dawn giggled and gave Zach a quick peck on the cheek to show her appreciation before standing by his side as they waited for the remaining Coordinators to compete.

"Alright with that the Coordinators have all had their shot at performing so let's see whose progressing into the finals shall we?" Wallace directed the audience's attention towards the screen as images of Coordinators began appearing. First up was May followed by Dawn, Zoey, a few others, Harley, Nando and after a few more Coordinators, Zach's image finished the list! "Let's give these Coordinators a round of applause!"

The crowd cheered loudly while Wallace hit his remote causing the images to begin shuffling around, most of them were paired up against Coordinators they'd never met before but May was paired against Zoey while Zach had the sheer luck of getting paired against Harley!

"Your luck is about to run out, you may have gotten lucky in the performance round but there's no way a chump like you will best me in the battle stage!"

"Just you wait, Zach will kick your ass!" May growled.

"Oh please, your boyfriend's just as pathetic as you are!" Harley laughed before waving his hand as he turned his back to them and walked onto the stage. Zach glared after him before following him out as the crowd began to cheer for them.

"Ariados, Octillery let's put this kid in his place!"

"Ariados!"

"Octillery!"

"Scorbunny, Dratini I'm counting on you both!"

"Scor!" Scorbunny leaped out onto the rivaling platform while Dratini burst out and appeared within the pool itself, uttering out a soft melodic cry!

"Unevolved Pokemon?" Harley raised his eyebrow before throwing his head back as he howled in laughter. "Hahaha, you really don't stand a chance against me! Ariados use Electroweb!"

"Aria!" Ariados fired off an silky string that sparked with electricity, it began expanding as it flew towards Scorbunny and Dratini! Scorbunny quickly dived out of the way before looking back towards Dratini who couldn't move as fast, Scorbunny clenched her paws and raced towards Dratini, giving the Dragon enough of a push to shove her out of the way but winded up falling victim to the electrical webbing as a result!

"Scor!" Scorbunny cried out as Harley sneered.

"Gunk Shot that rabbit!" Octillery fired off a large glob of sludge at his opponent, splattering the trapped Scorbunny as a purple tint formed across her face.

"Scorbunny burn out with Flame Charge!" Scorbunny's body ignited in flame as the net began melting around her, the rabbit then took a running start and leaped across the pool, landing right on the edge of the rivaling platform before charging at Ariados as she slammed her body against his!

"Ari!" A splash occurred as he fell into the pool!

"Twister!" Dratini dropped his tail into the pool and began spinning and twirling his tail about, creating a massive twister of water and dragon energy with Ariados trapped between! Ariados' eyes spun back and forth before he was sent flying out of the twister and back onto his platform where he landed with a splat, swirls filled his eyes as he fell unconscious!

Harley clenched his fists and growled out. "Octazooka!" Octillery fired a large ball of ink at Scorbunny causing her to fly directly into the pool! Zach let out an alarmed gasp and leaped in to catch her before she could drown, he emerged seconds later to show the defeated form of Scorbunny which made him and Harley about even as far as points were concerned! Zach handed Scorbunny to Lucario as he climbed out of the pool.

Harley didn't wait for Zach to have a view of the field again to attack. "Hyper Beam!" Octillery fired a orange energy blast from his mouth, blasting Dratini off the platform and into the water where she disappeared from sight! Zach gazed around with worry, there was no need to go after her as Dratini could breathe perfectly fine under there.

"Dratini?" Zach called out.

A bright blue light shined within the pool as Harley's eyes shot wide. "Damn it..." He hated to admit it but he thought he had the kid cornered!

Water splashed onto the stage as a large dark blue serpentine Pokemon emerged with a majestic look and melodic tune as she cried out! The battle didn't need to be finished as the evolution had winded up bringing Harley's points to zero! Harley twitched as he refused to go down without a fight. "I won't be made a mockery of, Octillery use Octazooka!"

"..." Octillery gave him a look as he was still recharging. Laughter could be heard within the crowd as Harley pulled at his hair.

"Ah!"

Dragonair opened up her mouth as she fired off an orange-yellow beam of her air without her trainer's command, blasting Octillery back as he'd soon land in a defeated heap before his trainer. Dragonair let out a melodic cry as she flew across the pool before wrapping her body around her trainer's, nuzzling against him as she cried out affectionately!

"Y-You evolved?! T-That's great!" Zach excitedly exclaimed.

"Drago!"

"And there you have it folks, Zach will be advancing to the next round while Harley is out!"

Harley snarled as he returned Octillery before taking his leave, not saying a single word to Zach or May as he left.

"I-I did it!"

"Way to go, Zach!" Dawn gave him a thumbs up while May threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as she planted a kiss right on his lips!

"Mmph?!" Zach went wide eyed and shot a quick look at Dawn with raised hands to show it wasn't him. To his surprise though Dawn didn't seem upset in fact she was waving him on and encouraging him to return it! Lucario didn't look surprised either as he most likely sensed what was going on with his aura though why he didn't warn him Zach didn't understand. Zach gave Dawn a questioning look before he wrapped his arms around May and returned the kiss, Nando and a few others cheered them on while Zoey gave him and Dawn looks of disapproval, though she didn't approve of the three having a relationship like that she was still going to be their friend regardless. Just because your views were different didn't mean you couldn't be friends!

May pulled away as the current battle stage performance was put to an end, making it her and Zoey's turn. "I'll let Dawn explain, I've gotta run!" May gave him a wave and a loving smile as she rushed out onto the stage.

"...Dawn?" Zach raised his eyebrow as he looked towards his girlfriend.

Dawn let out an embarrassed chuckle as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Hehe, you see while you and Lyra were talking about Pokemon that you'd like to meet or capture on the way over here, I called up May and informed her about our relationship. She was naturally upset but tried to not show it by saying she was happy for us, she meant that but I could tell she was feeling regret. So I talked with her for a bit and upon me asking if she'd like to share you with me, she excitedly exclaimed and pardon my Kalos, 'Hell yes!'! Almost shattered my ear she did!" Dawn giggled.

Zach raised an eyebrow as he stared in disbelief before shooting Lucario a look. It wasn't that he didn't believe Dawn but this just felt like a dream!

"Lucario, confirmation?"

Lucario nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"...You sure you're okay with this?"

"So long as you treat us equally, yes!" Dawn gave him a warm loving smile. "I know you mean a lot to each other and this way, all of us win!"

"Well of course I'd treat you equally," Zach returned the smile before giving her a hug. "Thanks Dawn, you really didn't have to do that!"

"Of course I did, I couldn't stand the thought of May being unhappy! I love you, Zach!"

"And I love you too Dawn," The two hugged each other before directing their attention to the screen as they didn't want to miss the performance battle!

"Blaziken, Glaceon take the stage!"

"Blaziken!"

"Glace!" Glaceon raised her head as she cried out.

"Glameow, Lumineon let's give them a show!" Zoey cried as she threw a set of Pokeballs into the air which burst open to showcase the two Sinnoh Pokemon!

"Glameow!"

"Lumiii!"

"Lumineon use Waterfall!" Zoey cried out.

Lumineon's eyes glowed bright blue as a geyser of water shot out from the pool and made it's way towards May's Pokemon!

"Glaceon use Ice Beam!"

"Glaceo!" Glaceon fired off a beam of ice, freezing the water column solid and knocking the score back as the two were now even once more!

"Blaziken use Brave Bird!" May threw out her arm.

"Blaze!" A bright orange aura surrounded Blaziken as he stretched out his arms before shooting off across the stage like a rocket where he'd make contact with Glameow! Glameow let out a yowl of distress as she flew through the air before landing in the pool!

"Meow!" Glameow frantically flailed about with panic, more from her hatred of water than fear of drowning as she made it to shore just fine before collapsing from exhaustion. Three red X's appeared on the judge panel as Glameow was marked as defeated!

Zoey wasn't about to call it quits though as even though she was outnumbered, points were where it truly counted although with Glameow out of commission she didn't have many points left!

"Silver Wind!" Lumineon fired off a wind with silver crests towards her opponents, striking both of them and costing May a fair amount of points.

"Blaziken use Flamethrower!" Blaziken fired a steady stream of fire from his hands and launched it towards Lumineon.

"Water Pulse!" Zoey countered to cancel the attack!

May flashed a smirk as she stretched out her arm. "Ice Beam the Water Pulse!"

"Glace!" Glaceon fired off a beam of ice, freezing the water pulse solid and creating an icy path for the fire to run along as Zoey gradually lost more points before going broke as the flames made contact with Lumineon!

"Alright and there we have it, with no more points to spare Zoey is eliminated and May will be advancing to the next round!"

Zach's luck didn't hold out as he lost his next battle stage, although he wasn't particularly upset by that. He wished his two girls good luck as he left to find Lyra, the Johto girl waved her hands as she caught sight of him, easily spotting him on account of Scorbunny sitting on his shoulder as he was now back in his regular outfit. The two watched on as Dawn eliminated Nando before progressing to the final round where she and May would be facing off against each other to see who'd take home the Wallace Cup's ribbon!

The two girls flashed each other a smirk as they promised no hard feelings would be had.

"And here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the finale of the Wallace Cup! May Maple and Dawn Berlitz will be battling it out for the prestigious Aqua Ribbon which you may use to enter any Grand Festival throughout the world!" Wallace lifted his hand to showcase a teal and white ribbon as the crowd let out a loud cheer. "And since it's getting late, let's not delay this any further. Coordinators you may begin!"

"Piplup, Pachirisu spotlight!"

"Piplup!" Piplup leaped onto the floating platform while a heart shaped light appeared as Pachirisu appeared next to him.

"Pachi!"

"Munchlax, Milotic take the stage!"

"Munchlax!"

"Milo!" The water serpent cooed out.

"Piplup use Drill Peck, Pachirisu use Spark!"

Piplup's beak began spinning like a drill as he flew at Munchlax's stomach only to comedically bounce right off and land in the pool with a splash! Points were taken away from both girls although May lost a bit more than Dawn did. Pachirisu's cheeks sparked with blue electricity as she fired off an electrical blast, giving Milotic a painful shock as more of May's points were taken away.

"Recover!"

"Miloooo!" Milotic cried out as her skin began glowing brightly, her bruises and marks began fading away as Dawn lost some points.

"Metronome!" Munchlax wiggled his fingers back and forth before splashing up and down against the platform!

"Piplup use Whirlpool, Pachirisu use Spark on the attack!"

Piplup cried and lifted his head back as a massive whirlpool formed within his beak. The penguin then thrusted out his flippers as he sent the water cyclone flying towards his opponents but not before Pachirisu gave it an electrical charge resulting in electricity sparking throughout the water cyclone!

"Send it back with Dragon Tail!" Milotic's tail glowed a bright green as she gave the cyclone a hard smack, diverting it's pathing back towards Piplup and Pachirisu! The two Pokemon were swept into it and cried out as they were shocked and thrown about before being sent flying out!

"Piplup!"

"Pachi!" The two cried before collapsing before Dawn, both of them were even on points but nearing empty!

"Solar Beam!" Munchlax began charging up solar energy.

"Milotic, fend them off with Hyper Beam!"

Milotic fired off the orange-yellow energy beam at Piplup and Pachirisu, blasting Pachirisu away while Piplup dived safely aside before rising to see his comrade down. Piplup stared determinedly towards Milotic and tapped his chest.

"Ice Beam on Munchlax!"

"Pipluppp!" Piplup fired off the beam of ice and struck Munchlax who shivered before firing off the massive beam of solar energy, the blast flew through the air and struck Piplup, sending the poor penguin flying before he collapsed before Dawn as her remaining points were drained out.

"And with that we have our winner, let's give a round of applause to May shall we?!" Wallace shouted as the crowd roared loudly. May blushed as she could make out Zach and Scorbunny in the back cheering for her, she waved in their direction before turning her attention towards Wallace as he approached with the Aqua Ribbon.

"You put on a great show kid, you deserve this." May accepted the ribbon and gazed at it with an excited expression before showing it to Blaziken. "We did it, five ribbons and in record time!"

"Blaziken!"

"So you've got all five ribbons now right? Well what will you do now?" Zach questioned.

Dawn glanced between the two and waited for May to speak.

"I'm not sure actually, there's still lots of Sinnoh that I'd like to explore."

"Well why not come with us?" Dawn offered. "You've got your ribbons so we don't need to go on different paths anymore and you can spend more time with me and Zach this way!"

"Yeah, we'd love to have you traveling with us!" Zach excitedly spoke. "Besides you can see me earn the rest of my Gym badges!"

May couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend's excitement, giving him and Dawn a quick nod as she gave them a warm look. "Of course, I was wanting to ask but felt that I'd be stepping on some boundaries."

"No need to worry May, the two of us are equals!" Dawn threw an arm around May and Zach as the three shared a smile.

"That's right and just imagine the adventures waiting in store for us back home!" Zach spoke as he clutched his fist with excitement. "The three of us will have a blast!"

"Yeah!"

"Right!"

"Car."

"Pip."

"Scor!"

"Munchlax!" The three and their partner Pokemon let out a cheer.

"Well guys it's been nice traveling with you but I've got to bounce," Lyra thumbed towards the distance. "The Silver Conference is happening a lot sooner than the Lily of the Valley Conference so I've got some distance to travel, hope you all make it back to Sinnoh safe and sound."

"Thank you, Lyra. It's been an honor traveling with you!" Dawn bowed before giving her a friendly hug.

May rubbed her arm awkwardly and silently waved in farewell as she didn't really know Lyra much. "Good luck in your own journey."

"Safe travels!" Zach offered Lyra a shake of his hand only for Lyra to pull him in for a friendly hug.

"Oh I'll miss you both, I hope you both succeed in your goals. I'll be cheering you on in spirit!"

The three finished their farewells while Piplup bawled like a baby as Lyra and Chikorita began walking away from them.

"No need to worry Piplup, it's not the end of the world. I'm sure we'll see them again some day!" Dawn exclaimed with a smile.

The three departed from the bullet train as it stopped in Goldenrod where they'd be catching a flight back to Sinnoh, if Dragonair was fully evolved they could get there much quicker and cheaper but unfortunately that wouldn't be the case for quite some time! As they walked through the crowd and made their way towards the airport Lucario suddenly paused as he sensed an aura that was all too familiar, one he only met twice but remembered as she helped heal him.

"Kyu!" Mimikyu sensed a different presence and burst from her ball, an angry hiss escaping her lips as she flew through the crowd to attack!

"Mimikyu come back!"

Hahaha, Scyther's getting a new evolution! If you read this in the future, Zach got Scyther before the reveal. I'm honestly not sure if I should evolve it into Kleavor as Scizor was the goal, Paul might get Kleavor instead. No sign of the Legends starters evolutions though, perhaps they'll get new forms? If so I can't wait to see Samurott's or whatever they call it! :)

I don't really have a reference for Zach's Contest suit but I'd say Hitman 3's Envy suit is close to what I had in mind.

This was a fun chapter to write and I'm looking forward to the next one as it'll be the first time I actually write Ho-oh where it isn't flying off like tradition!

Let me know what you all think and if there's anything you'd like to see in the future :)