I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review; I really appreciate your comments and feedback.
If you read the original version of this story and have any questions, PM them to me so we don't spoil anything for the new readers.
This chapter took a bit longer due to the addition of Zoey, the removal of an OC and me rewriting huge chunks of this chapter. I'm pretty sure I rewrote at least 75% of this chapter and I'll be completely honest and say that I am still not that happy with the contest battle. I edited it a few times and this was the best one I could do, I much prefer standard battles and making this a three against three contest battle didn't make this any easier.
Anyway, without further ado here's chapter 13, I hope you enjoy it.
In conversations:
'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can understand it due to his Aura.
"- Human speech
"- Telepathy/Aura
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, if I did then Ash would have won a league by now.
While Ash, Ursula and Zoey were discussing how best to humiliate May, Drew and Harley in the contest battle, Anabel spotted Nurse Joy come out from the recovery rooms. She tapped Ash on the shoulder to get attention and as soon as he saw the nurse all talks of the contest battle tomorrow were immediately stopped and they all walked over to Nurse Joy.
"Good morning Nurse Joy." Ash said
"Hello, I presume you are here to see Pidgeot."
"Yes I am. How did the surgery go?" Ash asked.
"The surgery went very well, it actually better than I expected in all honesty. I was sure there would be some major complications but luckily there were only a couple of minor problems that we dealt with. She is resting now but you can see her if you want."
Ash was about to answer when the doors to the Pokémon Centre opened. Ash, Anabel, Ursula and Zoey looked to see who it was and saw Max, May, Rudy, Drew, Tracey, Brock and Gary. Ash, Ursula and Zoey returned the glares that they were throwing at them while Anabel avoided their glares and focused on Manaphy. May saw that Anabel was gazing at something and then spotted the sleeping Manaphy sat in Anabel's arms.
"Manaphy." May squealed.
The loud, shrill noise woke Manaphy up and scared the young Pokémon to tears. Anabel gently rocked Manaphy while making calming sounds which quickly calmed Manaphy down and she snuggled into Anabel's embrace.
"Mama." Manaphy whispered happily.
Ash and May were the only ones other than Anabel who heard what Manaphy had said. The former smiled and the later stood there in shock but shook it off assuming that she must have heard wrong. May then reached out to take Manaphy from Anabel but the Salon Maiden backed away shielding Manaphy from May.
"Give her to me right now!" May screamed.
Manaphy started crying again at May's screaming, the loud noise terrifying the young Pokémon. Anabel tightened her grip on Manaphy and tried to comfort her once again, eventually Manaphy stopped crying thanks to Anabel who turned to May and glared at her.
"I'll never give her to you." Anabel said defiantly
May growled angrily at Anabel's defiance and glared at her, the look frightened Manaphy who immediately jumped out of Anabel's arms and into her papa's. Anabel and May turned their attention to Manaphy who had buried her face in Ash's shirt.
"Papa, May is scary." Manaphy mumbled.
Ash sighed as he heard those words, he knew now that any hope of secrecy was gone. He watched his former friends as Manaphy's words sank in to the traitors. It was obvious that none of them could believe that the man who had been humiliating them since the start of this tournament was actually Ash.
"Well I guess there's no point in hiding now." Ash said as he lowered his hood.
The traitors were stunned to see that it was indeed Ash, most of them wondered how he had managed to become so powerful while a few of them wondered why they hadn't made the connection in the first place. Max was the first to recover from the shock and stormed over to Ash and Anabel sending a glared at them.
"You have no right to keep Manaphy from May. She's Manaphy's mother." Max said.
"Really? Well how about we let Manaphy decided." Ash gave Manaphy a tight hug.
"Ok Manaphy go to mama." Ash said softly.
"Ok papa."
May opened her arms expecting Manaphy to jump straight to her just like she had when they were younger but she was heartbroken when she saw Manaphy go back to Anabel. Anabel cradled Manaphy and gently placed a kiss on her forehead which made Manaphy giggle happily.
"Love you mama." Manaphy whispered.
"You poisoned little Manaphy's mind into believing that you're her mother didn't you? You'll pay for that you bitch." May growled.
May raised her hand and went to slap Anabel however, Ash grabbed May's wrist before she could make contact. May looked at Ash and the intense glare he was sending at her was terrifying.
"You will never say or do anything to Anabel or else you will suffer a fate worse than death." Ash said darkly as his eyes glowed blue.
He tightened his grip just enough for it to start hurting, May winced and tried to pull her arm away but she couldn't escape Ash's grip. Ash smirked at her pointless attempts to break free and then released her arm which made May stumble and hit the ground hard. Max quickly helped his sister to her feet who was focussed on Manaphy, tears welled up in May's eyes as she watched Manaphy look at Anabel so lovingly.
"Please Manaphy it's me May. I'm your mama not her." May pleaded.
"No you hurt papa. You no mama." Manaphy replied.
The tears in May's eyes now trickled down her face and she placed a hand over her heart as she felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness and sorrow. It was too much for May and she ran out of the Pokémon Centre quickly followed by the other's. She ran all the way back to her hotel room and locked the door, she placed her back to the door and slid to the ground as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She could hear Max and the other's banging on the door trying to get her to open up but she just ignored them and continued sobbing at the pain she was being subjected too.
After May had charged out of the Pokémon Centre Ash and Anabel went towards the room Pidgeot was recovering in. They had offered Ursula and Zoey to join them but they chose to stay in the reception area while their Pokémon were healed. Ash and Anabel walked into the recovery room Pidgeot was in and saw her sleeping peacefully which was a great relief for Ash. They sat down next to the bed and quietly waited for her to wake up.
As they sat by Pidgeot's side there was something that had been bothering Ash and since they had nothing else to do now was as good a time as any to ask. Ash turned Manaphy around so she was looking at him and couldn't but smile at the love in Manaphy's eyes.
"Manaphy I am really happy that you are here. But why did you come here?" Ash asked.
"Missed papa. Wanted to meet mama." Manaphy replied.
"I thought you were needed at the Sea Temple though."
"They saw I sad. Told me to go to papa."
"Do you have to go back?" Anabel asked.
"Nope, I stay with mama and papa forever." Manaphy said happily.
Anabel and Ash smiled at Manaphy who looked at her mama and papa in adoration, she smiled as her papa gave her a hug and then he gave her to mama who did the same.
"Love you mama and papa." Manaphy said as she drifted off to sleep in Anabel's arms.
"We love you too Manaphy." Ash and Anabel whispered.
Their attention was drawn away from Manaphy when they heard a groan and saw Pidgeot waking up. Ash started gently stroking her crest which made Pidgeot sigh in content.
"Hey Pidgeot how are you?" Ash asked worriedly
'Tired and my neck's a bit sore.' Pidgeot murmured.
"Well if you take it easy and rest up you'll hopefully be out of here tomorrow."
'Sounds good to me.' Pidgeot then saw Anabel sat next to Ash. 'Who's that?'
"This is Anabel. She's my girlfriend." Ash said with a smile.
'What happened to the young boy that only cared about Pokémon?' Pidgeot said with a chuckle.
"He grew up and found the love of his life." Ash replied.
Ash then gazed at Anabel lovingly, the combination of Ash's words and the way he was now looking at her made Anabel blush. Ash then leant forward and gently pressed his lips to Anabel's. Pidgeot watched the scene happy that her trainer had found someone he truly loves. The noble birds' eyes suddenly started feeling heavy and she succumbed to sleep again.
Ash and Anabel broke apart when they then heard the sound of soft snores coming from Pidgeot and after taking one last look at her Ash and Anabel left Pidgeot to rest. They walked back into the reception area and saw Ursula and Zoey grooming Plusle, Minun and Glameow. Ursula was the first to spot Ash and walked over to him.
"Come on Ash let's go. I know we'll crush May and Drew but I'd like a little bit of practice first." Ursula said irritated.
"Ok calm down Ursula. Follow us back to where my Pokémon are and we can practice for tomorrow."
After thanking Nurse joy again for taking care of Pidgeot Ash and Anabel led Ursula and Zoey to the clearing so they could start preparing for their contest battle tomorrow.
The following morning Ash, Ursula and Zoey entered the stadium and went into the locker room waiting to be called in. Ursula and Zoey had chosen to wear contest outfits that were similar to the ones they had worn during the Sinnoh Grand Festival when Ash had travelled with Dawn. Ash on other hand had chosen against wearing some form of contest suit but was debating on whether or not he should reveal his identity to the world. The trio sat in silence, mentally preparing themselves to crush May, Drew and Harley. They got up when they heard the announcer call their names.
"So you ready to crush them?" Ursula asked.
"Hell yeah." Ash replied.
"Remember we have to put on a good show, believe me I would love to crush them but we need to entice youngsters into becoming coordinators." Zoey said.
"We know." Ash and Ursula replied.
Ash, Ursula and Zoey left the locker room and walked towards the main stadium. When they got to the end of the tunnel they stopped, Ursula and Zoey both looked at Ash wondering whether or not he was going to let the world know who he really is. They got their answer when he lowered his hood and started walking into the stadium, they quickly followed him and walked either side of him.
A shocked gasp was made by the crowd as they saw who was walking onto the stage with Zoey and Ursula who were momentarily distracted by the crowd who had started mumbling amongst themselves. Ash on the other hand ignored the crowd and focussed on their opponents who walk on to the stage dressed in a similar fashion to what they had in their contests when Ash had travelled in Hoenn. Ash, Ursula and Zoey walked onto the stage looking focussed on the task at hand.
Up in the stands Richie was staring at the sight of Zoey in her stylised contest suit completely entranced, he briefly wondered if this was how Ash felt when he looked at Anabel. That thought quickly faded once again replaced by Zoey, he was blocking everything else out until he got an elbow to his ribs. He stopped staring at Zoey and he turned his attention to his right seeing Paul giving him an irritated look.
"Hey dumbass you're drooling."
Richie immediately wiped his sleeve across his mouth and found that he had indeed been drooling which he was instantly embarrassed by. He looked around hoping no one else had seen him and was glad to see that everyone else was focussed on the stage like he had been.
"Uh, thanks Paul."
"Rather than thanking me from stopping you looking like a dribbling idiot you should think about doing something out the one who is making act this way."
Paul turned his attention back to the stage and huffed in what Richie assumed to be annoyance as the Sinnoh trainer hated contests. Richie thought about what Paul had just said and knew that while many would have been preoccupied by the insult he knew Paul well enough to know that the insult was thrown in there to keep up his tough exterior. It was strange that Paul was giving him advice on this since it's not exactly his specialist subject.
It was moments like this where he had to admit that Paul was very difficult to understand especially if you didn't know him well which is why most people stayed clear of him. Richie on the other hand was glad that he had befriended Paul thanks to Ash.
Back on the stage May glared at Ash, she was looking forward to beating him to get revenge for him turning Manaphy against her. The six competitors met in the centre of the stage and glared at each other. May suddenly smirked and turned her gaze to Zoey.
"So I see you found a new partner. I should have waited a bit longer before I bribed Nando." May whispered.
"Why would you pay him off?" Ursula growled.
"We'd have won by default, consider it payback for what happened in the last two Grand Festivals." May replied.
"The match ending in a win by default would have killed coordinating. Are you seriously saying that you were willing to destroy coordinating just to get a cheap win over us?"
"Yep but I'm so glad you got this scum to join you. Now I get to show you both up and get revenge on Ash for turning Manaphy against me."
Ash smirked cockily in response and then turned around and walked back towards his side of the stage closely followed by Ursula and Zoey. May and Drew scowled at Ash, annoyed that he hadn't responded to their taunts but quickly shook their annoyance side and joined Harley on their side of the stage.
"Are the three of you ready to be humiliated? You don't stand a chance against us." May taunted.
"Whatever, come on let's do this. Milotic may the Aura guide us."
Ash took out the Pokéball that had a custom seal he had made. He threw the ball and it released a blue glow that momentarily illuminated the stadium. Everyone looked to the stage and saw Milotic whose skin was shimmering beautifully. Her beauty stunned everyone in the stadium and several people could be heard complementing Ash on how well he had taken care of Milotic.
Anabel could also hear the several of the females in the audience swooning over Ash. She could feel herself getting irritated and growled angrily as she heard what some would like to do with Ash. She looked at the nearest group who's clothing wasn't exactly leaving much to the imagination and glared at them but they didn't seem to notice as they were still drooling over Ash. Manaphy sensed the changed in her mama's emotions and shifted in her arms to get her attention, Anabel looked down at Manaphy and a smile came to her face.
"Mama what wrong?" Manaphy asked.
"Nothing Manaphy. Everything is fine." Anabel replied.
Manaphy seemed to accept Anabel's answer.
"Don't worry dear, my Ash only has eyes for you." Delia suddenly said.
"I know, it just makes me mad hearing them talk like that and when I look at them I just feel..."
Delia already knew what was going to come out of Anabel's mouth, she felt inadequate compared to other women. It was something that she was familiar with as when she was Anabel's age she had gone through the exact same situation. She remembered a conversation she had with her mother which had changed her opinion of herself. She placed her hand on Anabel's shoulder which gained her attention.
"Anabel you have a beautiful soul and a brilliant mind which is what Ash loves about you most and despite what you may think you are a beautiful woman. Now look at those girls back there, they are just a bunch of silicone filled bimbo's who don't have a brain cell between them and while they would not admit they are jealous of you."
A look of confusion appeared on Anabel's face as she kept looking between the scantily clad women and Delia, she couldn't think of why they would be jealous of her.
"Why would they be jealous of me?"
"Because you don't need to wear skimpy outfits to get attention and you don't need to act like someone else to be loved. Now I don't want to ever hear you belittling yourself like that again."
"Okay, thank you Delia. I really needed to hear that."
"It's okay dear."
Anabel smiled gratefully at Delia, she knew that she should be more confident about herself especially considering how often Ash complemented her and she vowed to think more positively about herself. She turned her attention back to the stage where Ursula and Zoey both had a Pokéball in their hands.
"Flareon let's win this."
"Gallade lets dazzle them."
Ursula and Zoey threw their Pokéballs, the first one burst open and a massive vortex of flames shot from it, the vortex closed and then imploded revealing Flareon and the second one had blades of psychic energy radiate from it as Gallade appeared on the stage. Milotic, Flareon and Gallade acknowledged one another and then glared at their opponents looking as focussed as their trainers. May, Drew and Harley smirked at their opponents.
"Masquerain time to dazzle them."
"Blaziken take the stage."
"Cacturne join me on stage."
May, Drew and Harley threw their Pokéballs, the two belonging to May and Drew opened and released a series of firework like explosions. The dust created by the fireworks shimmered in the light and slowly drifted to the ground landing on the stage. Harley's Cacturne on the other hand came out in a blizzard of leaves and appeared on the stage beside Blaziken and Masquerain.
"There is five minutes on the clock, begin."
"Blaziken use Fire Spin."
"Masquerain use Bubblebeam."
Blaziken shot a spiral of flames and Masquerain fired a stream of bubbles. The bubbles now surrounded the spiral of flames and it caused blue sparks to appear where the fire and water touched. This combination was what Lillian had dubbed years ago as the Fire and Water Whirlwind. Ash looked at Ursula and Zoey with a bored expression on his face.
"Are they really using that generic old technique against us?" he asked.
"Yeah they haven't really come up with anything new in the past seven years." Zoey replied.
Ash sighed feeling disappointed by the lack of innovation from their opponents, he thought May and Drew would have come up with something better than this.
"Counter Shield." Ash and Ursula instructed.
Milotic and Flareon moved in front of Gallade to block the attack. Flareon got on her back began spinning while firing a Flamethrower which sent flames into the air. At the same time Milotic fired a Hydro Pump around her which combined with Flareon's Flamethrower. The combination created a pillar of fire and water that surrounded both Flareon and Milotic. The Fire and Water Whirlwind hit the pillar making the bubbles burst and glisten on impact and they sparkled in the steam caused by the flames. Drew, May and Harley's bar went down making the coordinator's growl in frustration.
"Now Milotic use Twister to control the pillar and propel it at them." Ash said.
Milotic created a tornado that surrounded the pillar of fire and water giving Milotic control of the pillar. Milotic sent the attack towards their opponents who tried to dodge but were just a bit too slow and both took a glancing blow. The attack caused Blaziken to stumble to his knees and Masquerain almost crashed to the stage but managed to just stay in the air. May and Drew looked to the scoreboard and saw their bar decrease again.
"You two are pathetic, let me show you how it's done. Cacturne use Poison Seeds."
"Gallade slice them apart with Psycho Cut then throw the poison back with Psychic."
Cacturne opened his mouth and fired a barrage of golden seed with a purple core at Flareon and Milotic. Gallade quickly dashed in front of Milotic and his arms started to glow as he channelled psychic energy into them. As the seeds got closer Gallade started swiping with his blades slicing through the seeds which caused them to let out a series of mini explosions while the poison created a puddle of purple ooze on the battlefield.
Once the last of the seeds were destroyed, Gallade used Psychic lift the poison that had slowly been seeping into the stage and launched it at Cacturne, Blaziken and Masquerain. The bug type was able to dodge the poison easily however Cacturne and Blaziken weren't able to do the same. The former screamed in agony as the super effective attack drenched him while Blaziken grunted and fell to one knee as the poison flooded his system.
Ash, Ursula and Zoey smirked as their plan was working perfectly. Ash was proud of Milotic's performance so far, he had told her before this match to take it easy as they weren't trying to just knock them out and it was obvious that she had listened and worked on making her moves look as appealing as possible. Ash and Ursula weren't going to give May and Drew any chance to mount a counter-attack and continued their assault on them.
"Flareon use Swift."
"Milotic use Icy Wind."
A horde of stars formed around Flareon and then she shot them at Blaziken, Masquerain and Cacturne. Milotic then opened her mouth and the inside glowed light blue, she then released a strong wind with sparkling blue flecks of snow at the stars. The snow filled wind froze the stars and make them sparkle beautifully.
"Now Gallade use Will-O-Wisp." Zoey added.
Several orbs of blue flames surrounded Gallade then he shot them at the frozen stars, the flames surrounded the stars which turned them blue and it made them shimmer.
"Masquerain shatter them with Air Slash."
"Blaziken do the same with Mach Punch."
"Cacturne use Needle Arm."
Masquerain sent several blades of wind at the stars which shattered some of them however the majority of the stars got passed the blades of wind. As the stars approached Blaziken and Cacturne's fists glowed white and they threw their fists at the stars smashing some of them which caused the shards to glisten. Despite their best efforts Blaziken and Cacturne only managed to destroy about a third of the remaining stars so the rest of them hit Blaziken, Masquerain and Cacturne creating several cuts on them and doing severe damage to Cacturne again. Both teams looked to the score board and saw that they had lost some points but it showed Ash, Ursula and Zoey were easily in the lead. Ash, Ursula and Zoey then decided to up the ante.
"Dark Elemental Blast."
Gallade formed a black orb of energy between his hands and fired it at their opponents, Flareon then shot a burst of flames at the black orb and Milotic shot a high pressure jet of water at it and then fired several yellow orbs. The flames and water intertwined and shot the ball of dark energy forward as the yellow orbs spun around the main blast. The immensely powerful combination of attacks hit Blaziken, Masquerain and Cacturne who crashed to the ground groaning in pain. All three of the Pokémon somehow managed to get back up but were exhausted and everyone could see that they only had one more attack in them.
May, Drew and Harley were fuming as there wasn't much time left and they were way behind, May and Drew looked at each other and nodded which confused Harley.
"Let's do this, use Flame Ice."
Masquerain fired a light blue beam at Blaziken who had become engulfed in flames, the attack trapped Blaziken in a block of ice which shined beautifully. Blaziken then shot towards their opponents. May and Drew looked smug as they were confident that this would win them the match.
Ash, Ursula and Zoey smirked, they knew this was the end for May and Drew.
"They are making this way too easy aren't they?" Ash said
"Yeah they are. Shall we finish this?" Ursula replied
"Yeah, I think we've showed off why people should become coordinators." Zoey added.
"Psycho Elemental Wheel." they called out.
Milotic coiled her body into a wheel shape and her body then became surrounded in water, Flareon then jumped on to the inside of the wheel made by Milotic's body and Flareon became engulfed in flames. They both started spinning which made the flames and water merge together. Gallade stood behind the fire and water wheel and hit it with a psychic infused punch which added psychic energy to the combination attack. Milotic and Flareon then shot off towards Blaziken who smirked cockily expecting to easily overpower Milotic and Flareon. When the attacks clashed Blaziken was easily beaten and the ice surrounding him shattered causing the fragments sparkled in the light made by the flames that still engulfed Blaziken.
Milotic and Flareon then rammed into Blaziken again and he was catapulted away crashing straight into Masquerain leaving them both in a heap on the ground. Both Pokémon were barely conscious and they had no way to defend themselves from the charging wheel of water and fire, the attack hit the prone Pokémon and knocked them out. This left Cacturne alone with three almost fully fit Pokémon staring at him, Harley knew that his grass type stood no chance so he took the smarter option and returned him. Crosses instantly appeared on all the judges' screens and the crowd went wild.
Drew and May looked to the big screen and they saw that their bar had almost been completely drained whereas Ash, Ursula and Zoey's had barely lost anything. It crushed them to see that they'd have lost badly even if their Pokémon hadn't been knocked out.
May collapsed to her knees and started sobbing again, not only had Ash turned Manaphy against her he had also embarrassed her in a contest battle. Drew took May into his arms and glared at the ones who had humiliated them who were laughing at his broken girlfriend. Ash, Ursula and Zoey returned Milotic, Flareon Gallade and headed towards the tunnel.
As they walked Ash, Ursula and Zoey had smirks on their faces, pleased that they'd managed to humiliate them so easily. Ash was disappointed though as he had honestly expected them to put up more of a fight. Ash took one last look at his former companion and then left the stadium with Ursula and Zoey by his side.
Notes
Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.
If you have any questions PM them to me. I am more than happy to answer them.
So next chapter it's the time you've all been waiting for - Ash vs Max
Combo Moves
Poison Seeds - Bullet Seed + Poison Sting
Dark Elemental Blast – Gallade - Shadow Ball + Flareon - Flamethrower + Milotic - Hydro Pump + Hidden Power Electric
Psycho Elemental Wheel - Flareon - Flame Wheel + Milotic - Aqua Wheel (Water version of Flame Wheel) + Gallade – Psycho Cut