Welcome back, everyone! Fanart of a shot from this chapter, including a new character will be available, as usual, on the tumblr blog another-rxad. Hope you enjoy!


After Ash and Dawn stopped by to visit their old friend Brock, a ground-shaking rematch finally gave Ash the satisfaction of finally having earned his Boulder Badge. With that out of the way, they said their goodbyes, heading out toward Mulberry City for Dawn's first contest in the Kanto region! Needless to say, though, the path there was a little long. For now, empty stomachs had prompted the group to stop along their path for a lunch break.

Pikachu and Piplup sat together atop a picnic blanket, chattering and munching on pokechow that had been generously handed off by Brock. Rosa sat close by, nuzzled into Ash's side as she munched on bits of food that the trainer had picked out for her. Togekiss kept watch of the group, politely munching on her share, as did Absol, not far away. Donphan had begun chatting with Quilava, and Bulbasaur did his best to scarf down his meal while struggling to keep Mamoswine and Garchomp from scarfing down on each others' large portions. He was grateful that he had plenty of experience breaking up feuds…

"Man, lucky we stopped by, huh? We'll be eatin' good for a few days now!" Ash gushed to his traveling companion, taking a bite into one of Brock's special jelly-filled… Rice balls.

"You're not kidding!" Dawn chimed, using one hand to gently brush and groom Buneary's fur, while the other allowed her to snack on the same culinary treat. "After traveling as a group for all this time, it's wild how much we miss out on without him." Whether it was his gentle advice, wide range of knowledge enriching the group, his cooking, or even fawning over whatever beautiful girl was present, the quiet, tempered doctor had quite the presence among them. "Even if it is really fun traveling like this."

"Yeah. Hey, who knows! Maybe we'll do it again someday," Ash guessed. For now, though, he was busy just stuffing his face while he had the chance. After all, Brock's offerings wouldn't last forever.

This just left one member of the group unattended… Snorlax sat upright at the edge of the group, picking apples out of a tree that bordered the edge of the clearing. Munching down on one juicy fruit after the other, the large, lazy pokemon did the best to sate his monstrous appetite. After that, it was back to dozing off.

What was this, though? Snorlax had missed a fruit! A smaller, rosy looking berry lay not far from his feet, and it looked absolutely scrumptious. Reaching for the fruit, Snorlax licked his lips, eager to try something different.

That berry, however, was no ordinary fruit. "Cher! Cherub! Cherubi!" It squealed, squirming with futility in Snorlax's iron grip. It was none other than a Cherubi, caught up in the face of hunger! Snorlax remained oblivious, though, only thinking of filling his stomach.

The cries and squeals didn't go deaf on one pair of ears, though. Black-tipped ones, even, perked up at the sound. "Pika…?" Turning his head, Pikachu spotted the flailing pokemon within Snorlax's grasp. "Pika!" He shouted in warning, sweat dripping down his forehead as he dashed from his comfortable spot, bolting as fast as possible with a Quick Attack. An agile leap was just fast enough to snag the tiny pokemon from Snorlax, allowing Pikachu to land safely atop the grass. Noting that the grass type sat in his paws, uneaten, the mouse let out an exasperated sigh. "Pikachu…"

"Huh? What in the world?" Ash peered over, standing to walk over to his best friend. "Is that… A Cherubi?" He gawked at the Sinnoh-native pokemon, which was still shivering. Spotting a very confused and disgruntled Snorlax, he connected the dots. "Snorlax! You can't just go eating other pokemon!" He disciplined, placing his hands upon his hips. Monitoring its eating habits seemed just about pointless…

"Snor…" Finally realizing its mistake, the pokemon lowered its head in remorse.

"That was a close one…" Dawn sighed, finally catching up. "What's a Cherubi doing in Kanto, though? I didn't know they showed up anywhere outside of Sinnoh." In spite of that mystery, she crouched down to scoop the pokemon into her hands. "Hey, it's okay… You're safe now, alright? No need to worry!"

Just as the group began to calm the little grass type, a voice came through loud and clear. There was a certain dialect about it, almost as if there were a valley somewhere the girl may have grown up on…

"Cherubi!" Stepping out from the brush, a girl slightly older than Ash and Dawn stood in shock. Her long, hip-length red hair swished around her as she took a dramatic step back. The white-and-pink decked teen proceeded to shout. "How dare you!"

"How dare we what?" Ash parroted, genuinely confused.

"I know exactly what you were doing! Any idiot knows Snorlax have huge appetites," she raged, "and you were going to feel my poor Cherubi to it!" Her golden eyes flashed dangerously. It was evident the girl was distrustful and angry towards the entire group.

"What? No!" Dawn replied, standing with with the formerly endangered grass type. "He thought it was an apple! Here, you can have your Cherubi back!" Walking over, Dawn tried to give the Cherubi back peacefully…

But, the girl merely snatched the grass type away. "Cherubi, my poor baby! What did these mean, nasty, vicious monsters do to you!" Turning back to her apparent enemies, the teen continued. "I've got half a mind to report you to an Officer Jenny!"

"Report us for what?!" Seriously, they hadn't done anything, and this was just stressing Ash out.

"For trying to feed my Cherubi to your Snorlax, that's what!"

"We didn't do that!" Dawn argued.

"Chyeah, whatever. Creeps." Turning her nose up and flicking her hair over her shoulder, the high strung trainer stomped off back the way she'd come.

"Ugh, talk about trouble," Ash complained, crossing his arms and frowning. Pikachu agreed from where he was by Snorlax, nodding his little yellow head.

The bluenette let out a sigh as well. "I guess it could be worse. It's not like we'll see her again!" she assured.

With that, everyone perked up. "Right! It's just a fluke, huh? Let's get back to lunch and then make it double time to Mulberry!"

It was evening when they arrived and, after visiting the PokeCenter for a break, headed to the contest hall just as the lights were all coming on. Registration for the Kanto circuit was officially open! … At this location, anyway.

"It's so quiet," Dawn nearly whispered to Ash as he stood by her in line. Piplup was nearly asleep, the polite but muffled background noise of a audio-aware populace lulling him. Everyone was so mindful of how loud they were being! It was strange but pleasant.

Ash particularly believed this after their noisy lunch. He was all for a little rowdiness - okay, sometimes, a lot of rowdiness, but who in their traveling group wasn't save a few certain pokemon?! - but that had been stressful. "Right?"

"Pika!" seconded after Ash, little ears pleased with the lack of harsh noise.

So, naturally, with all four of them content, that had to stop.

As Dawn stepped forward in like, a thick curtain of red hair caught her eye. As she turned to look, the owner of the hair did as well.

The golden eyes. The Cherubi. The absolute shock on the girl's face.

She screamed before Dawn could say anything. "What are you doing here?!" she demanded. "They don't let people who let pokemon get cannibalized into contests!" she shrieked. An accusatory finger was pointed directly at the duo.

"We didn't try to let Snorlax eat Cherubi," Ash reminded, absolutely exasperated. "Come on, it was an honest mistake!" His hands were thrown up in defeat, desperate for the silence that had previously flooded the contest hall.

Dawn, growing aware of the scene they were causing, tried to reach out to soothe the stranger. "Hey, hey, calm down -"

"Don't touch me, you cretin!"

There was an audible smack as the girl slapped Dawn's hands away. The stranger stood back, hand raised as if she would strike again. Dawn merely looked down at her hands, watching absently as her wrists turned ever so slightly pink.

"Dawn," Ash prompted, his mind at once recalling what happened that time with Paul. He hadn't even hit her. "Dawn." He put a hand on her shoulder. Was he going to have to hold her back? Brock had to!

"You slapped me!" the bluenette roared, lunging for the red haired coordinator only for Ash to move quickly and hold her back. He was suddenly glad he'd bulked up a little. For as petite as she was, Dawn had a lot of fight in her!

"Let her go!" the red haired girl snarled. "I want an excuse to call Officer Jenny!"

"You hit me first!" Dawn snapped. "But, I'll totally finish it!"

"Girls!" Hands on her hips, a Nurse Joy stepped between the two, looking at them with equal parts disdain and disappointment. "If you cannot behave, neither of you can be apart of this contest! I will not have the title of 'coordinator' sullied with your lack of decorum!"

Dawn at once relaxed, shoulders drooping. Ash released where he'd held her back, stepping away a bit while she dusted herself off. The red haired coordinator merely sniffed and crossed her arms.

"Sorry," Dawn apologized.

"As you should be," Joy said. She waited a moment, realized the red haired girl would not apologize, and shook her head before walking back behind the counter.

The two stepped up the people handling registration and handed their Pokedexes over.

"Oh! Well, Ember, you've just been all over, haven't you?" the boy behind the counter silkily said to the girl Dawn now supposed was a definite rival.

"Ember, huh?" the bluenette muttered under her breath.

"Well, Dawn, looks like this your first time outside of your home region? I hope Kanto is to your liking! You finding everything fine?" the guy asked.

Somehow embarrassed - why was Ember being treated like a veteran and she like she was some newbie?! - Dawn whirled around after almost snatching her PokeDex back. "I've got it under control, thanks!"

Ash sighed, folding his hands behind his head as he went to follow her. "She's a little upset," he said apologetically to the poor registrar. "Hey, Dawn, wait up!" While he tended to be a hothead and reckless, Dawn was probably the quickest to actually get ready to throw down when it came to disrespect.

He had to admire it a little, though; nobody pushed her around!

After walking a good distance away, Dawn stopped, arms crossed but fury mostly subsided.

Ash caught up, putting his hands in his pockets and cocking his head a little as he circled around her to look her head on. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Just. A little angry."

"Maybe some training would clear your mind? It helps me think sometimes," he confessed. He jerked his heads towards the numerous training fields surrounding the contest hall. "C'mon. Didn't you wanna practice Quilava's fire moves, anyway?"

Standing still for a moment more in silence, the coordinator finally let out a sigh. She relaxed as well. "Yeah. I think that would be good."

Soon the two walked through the manicured bushes surrounding the numerous training fields. Dawn settled on one of the more plain looking ones. Ash stood off to the side, him and Pikachu watching as she released Quilava and then began trying out the moves.

The results thus far had been a mixed bag.

"Mm… now try wider…"

Alright, when the flames widened, they faded from those brilliant white-blues and near purples to plain yellow and red-oranges. However, as long as the flames were allowed to burn as largely as they pleased, the smoke was almost non-existent.

"Maybe Swift can cut through the Smokescreen?" she mused. "… or we could try flame wheel with big flames, and forgo the swift?" Mm, if that was the case, she'd need to add another move in. Maybe she could have Quilava spend less time with low flames? Designing the perfect appeal really could be tiring…

"So, you figure anything out?" Ash placed his hands upon his hips, watching the starter expel flames.

"Not yet," Dawn regrettably answered, her shoulders slumping.

"Well… actually, I guess?"

Taking this as a cue for a break, Quilava looked up, forepaws folding one another over and over again as she awaited approval.

"I guess Flame Wheel followed by Flamethrower is probably the best route." As far as showing off how strong Quilava was, that would do fine. "She's actually gotten changing the color down fine, too."

The Quilava nodded proudly, winking cheekily as she inhaled deeply. A moment later, the flames along her spine burned more brilliantly, though they rose in height for it.

"See? That's the problem. They look out of control." It clearly wasn't Quilava's fault—the pokemon was trying her hardest, and she was giving one hundred and ten percent. Dawn had to figure out something, here. She wasn't sure what to do—it wasn't the recklessness of Mamoswine, nor an emotional wound in need of soothing like the-then-Chimchar Infernape. Dawn shrugged before looking back at Ash. "You have any advice?"

"You could always mix Flamethrower with Flame Wheel together at the same time, like Infernape had back at Fantina's gym." Whether that would work with Dawn's appeal or not, he wasn't sure. But if she could somehow manage to maintain the color change, then that would certainly look spectacular.

"But… Aside from that… I dunno. I've never tried that before. I've seen Typhlosion have that effect before, but it never lasted long because we weren't going for looks." Wait a second… That was right - she didn't even know Quilava had evolved, did she? "…Maybe I could call him out?"

"Hm. Yeah. I can work with that." Dawn quipped, eyes widening at the suggestion.

The sheer power from that had been impressive. She'd been so focused on trying to get the appeal to be elegant or cute, her normal strategies… But, what if she went for all out shock and awe? By letting the flames get as high as they wanted, recklessly, perhaps she could let Summer give off an air of wildness and—

And, Dawn was distracted by the mention of Typhlosion. "Oh, did he evolve?! Yes, please let me see!" she pleaded, clasping her hands before her like an overly-excited child.

"Sure did!" Ash gave a big, toothy grin.

"Hold on - you guys give that a shot, and I'll go get 'im!" And with that, he ran off towards the center.

Grinning in agreement as Ash raced off to do so, Dawn then turned her focus back onto Quilava. "Well, let's start off by trying to put those two together." Dawn started, making hand motions as she explained. "It goes pretty much like this—you'll start off by using Flame Wheel, but also Flamethrower, to give yourself a boost. Got it?"

Quilava hesitated, and then nodded.

"Don't worry, we can practice plenty."

Shuffling over to Dawn, the fire type opened her arms for a hug before starting, a bit needy… but the coordinator wouldn't deny her first hatchling, happily stooping down to envelope her in a warm embrace.

"Alrighty!" she cheered. Quilava plodded off a bit. "Piplup, stay by my side. We may have to put out some fires…"

"Pip!" He chirped, standing dutifully. If anyone could put out a fire, it was definitely him!

With that, the two watched as Quilava worked herself into a Flame Wheel arc. She got through it once with Flamethrower adding intensity, flames changing from yellow to green to almost blue… when she went flipping through the air, over propelled by her own attack at the wrong time.

"Quil!" she whimpered as she landed on her back.

Dawn went to scoop her up, no easy feat.

"Okay, I think I found the problem," she consoled, managing to stand with the big baby of a Quilava in her arms. Or, rather, half-over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Oh, hey, look who's back!" Just in time, too. Seeing her fully evolved form might help Quilava understand the problem Dawn was about to have to explain.

Ash had returned in due time, having quickly called up Professor Oak, exchanging Bulbasaur for his Typhlosion; the Professor found it helpful to have the natural leader around for at least a little bit. In no time, though, he was back outside, grinning and a pokeball in hand. Just as he had, he'd spotted the tail end of Quilava's attempt. "Hey, that was a pretty good try! But maybe someone more experienced could help ya out…" Taking this opportunity, he tossed the ball forward. "Typhlosion, I choose you!"

Out of the ball came the third stage Pokemon, who stood on its hind legs, burning flames roaring from the back of its neck. When it spotted Dawn and Piplup, it greeted the two with a wave. Catching sight of its pre-evolved counterpart, though, it did the same, but with a bit more enthusiasm. He hadn't seen Dawn with a Quilava last time, but a fellow Johto fire starter, was certainly welcome!

Piplup waved back, as did Dawn. Quilava, however, was floored by seeing her peer. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Lav…!" She rolled along, pudgy form circling around Typhlosion once to get a full view of him. She then gave him a curious pat, testing to see if he had a similar build to her. Save a bit more muscle, they were nearly the same. Pleased with her findings, she chirped excitedly at the others before looking up at Typhlosion to chit-chat with him.

"You're tall!" she belted at once. "Can you do a Flame Wheel and a Flamethrower? It's a little scary. I'm going really fast… It'd be easier if I could circle around Ma', give me an anchor or something."

Typhlosion was a tad more composed than its excited younger counterpart, but he offered an endeared smile nonetheless as she circled around and chirped his praises. "I definitely can. Using another move during Flame Wheel starts out a bit frightening, but once you get a hold of your bearings, it's definitely something you could pull off." He could only assume that she needed help, since he'd been called out. It wasn't a gym battle, but if one of Ash's friends was in need, he was happy to aid.

Seeing that those two were preoccupied, Dawn turned to Ash. "Her problem is her confidence. She was doing great until she gained speed. I notice she let up, but it was at the wrong time, so rather than pushing herself back towards earth, she ended up spinning herself out." Aside from lots of practice, Dawn wasn't sure what to do.

"Maybe seeing him will let her know a little high fire power won't kill her…"

"I gotcha..." Ash nodded along, eyes alternating between the duo and Dawn. "Yeah, I hope you're right. He can definitely set an example, that's for sure! You saw his Aerial Ace at Lily of the Valley. If there's one thing he knows, it's combining raw power and agility!"

Meanwhile, Quilava continued to gawk. As big as he was, he could! "And, you don't go flying through the air or nothing!?" She stomped the ground with her forepaws, flames sending off small showers of sparks in her excitement. "Please show me, please~!" She bore a smile that was mostly just sharp little fangs, overly excited still.

Noticing the two fire types seemed to be conversing, Dawn could only hope it was a pep talk.

"I remember!" Dawn chimed. "It was against Nando, right?" She let out a satisfied sigh. "Yeah… if he could set up example for her, I'm sure she could figure it out… Hey, Quilava!"

The Quilava for once didn't rush back to Dawn's side. Rather, she seemed to panic. She wanted to figure this out! Dawn was relying on her, and the last thing she wanted was to let the coordinator down. If she didn't get advice, she didn't know what she was going to do…

"I've been through a lot of practice with Ash." Typhlosion shook his head. It was all a matter of discipline and determination. And, a bit of power.

A chuckle left the large fire type - or, at least the closest thing to one he could muster."Alright, alright, I'll show you. Watch closely!" Not even thinking to ask Ash's permission - he was that never type of trainer - Typhlosion readied himself for the combination move. He stretched momentarily, taking a step away from his younger peer to perfect his stance.

"Yeah, that's right!" Ash confirmed, looking over to the rather large fire type. "Well, looks like we're about to find out!" Ash's hands rested on his hips, an amused smile on his lips. "I think Quilava wants to keep her front-row seat!"

Typhlosion poised himself, finally jumping up before curling into a ball, roaring flames spewing from its neck and back. It quickly formed a rather huge Flame Wheel attack, his entire body enveloped in heat as it launched forward, rolling through the open field with rocks and dirt torn away from the ground in its presence.

Upping the ante now, he began to fire off a Flamethrower, its mouth spewing more flames into the wheel to fuel it. His body took off from the surface, one stream of heat after another propelling it into the air, acting as if they were buoyancy devices floating it through water, Flame Wheel behaving much the same through the air.

What was more, was that the combined heat of the attacks began to change the hues of the fire, showing hints of violet and blue before the wheel rolled down along the ground. Scorching the earth in its wake before Typhlosion finally came to a halt, skidding along the ground on all fours.

While Dawn watched in quiet awe, Quilava was about to lose her head over it. She hopped in place, sparks crackling all over her back. She saw it now! The feeling of going through the air like that—the speed… it wasn't anything to fear.

It was cool as hell.

"I think we've started something," Dawn chuckled as Quilava began to run as well before tucking into a Flame Wheel. Becoming a little inferno-ball, she soon added Flamethrower in as well, moving like a little will o'wisp just above the earth. Her flames lit up, turning almost white with hints of blue, green, and purple.

Much more in control now, but not perfected, she untucked at a bad angle… But, having much more confidence, she was able to twist herself around in the air and land on her paws.

She stopped only to turn to Typhlosion to give him a thank you hug before waddling over to Dawn, circling around her with a chorus of chirps asking for approval.

Dawn squatted down. "You did very well! Good job! That was great!" she praised as she patted her pokemon and scratched behind her ears. She looked to Typhlosion and then Ash. "Thank you! That was exactly what we needed!"

Typhlosion readily accepted the hug, giving her a pat on the back as she waddled back to Dawn. Such a quick learner! "Hah, maybe we'll be training partners someday."

"Looks like it," Ash chimed in amusement at the scene. His Typhlosion's display had been both powerful and stunning, and served as quite the inspiration! Before one could blink, Quilava'd started to learn. "That was really good!" The teen cheered, observing the younger Pokemon give the combination another go. It wasn't a flawless performance, but the colors had definitely shown and it was a huge improvement over the last. "Way to go, Quilava!"

"Pika-ka!" Pikachu cheered as well, pumping his fist in the air in approval. She'd nailed it! It went to show that a little confidence went a long way.

"Hey, no problem!" Ash turned to Dawn, flashing a thumbs-up. "Happy we could help out!"

"Now, what do you say we practice some more? We'll be ready for that contest in no time!" Dawn cheered.

"Quil! Quilava!" The pokemon enthused, flames dancing upon her back. With that, they launched back into training. The others, Ash, Pikachu, and Typhlosion included, watched on as the fire type worked to perfect her craft. With the competition mere days away, it seemed Dawn and her pokemon would be more than prepared!