Brendan had to admit, this was a very different contest than the last two Ash had participated in. While those were in a large building whose sole purpose was for contests, this was in a open area, roped off for the performances.
"Up next we have Ashton Ketchum from Pallet Town!" The announcer said.
"Come on Ashton!" Brendan cheered.
"Alright Surskit, lets go!" Ash said, tossing the Pokeball into the center of the artwork on the ground.
"Surskit." Surskit said, skimming around quickly.
"Alright, use Bubblebeam!" Ash called out.
Brendan had to smile, since their last appeal, Ash and Surskit had been working tirelessly to gain control on this combo, and it seemed to be going well so far as the Bubblebeam began to grow outwards.
"Now use Bubble!" Ash commanded.
A slower groups of bubbles shot out back and forth with the faster ones, creating a spinning group of bubbles. Add in the reflected colors of the city shooting down around Ash and Surskit, it was clearly a sight to behold.
"Now use Quick Attack!"
That was a new one. Brendan hadn't seen them practicing with all three of Surskit's moves, what was the plan here?
Surskit began picking up speed, before doing a quick turn to jump and land on four of the bubbles, skimming across the surface of the bubbles in a reverse spiral of the way they were spinning, each bubble popping in a rainbow of color behind him before reaching the center as Surskit landed with yet another spin.
"Remarkable." The mayor said.
"Incredible." One of the local Nurse Joy's said with a smile.
"Outstanding." Mr. Contesta said, impressed at Ash and Surskit's growth in such a small amount of time.
Ash and Surskit managed to get a 23.4 overall, which by normal standards wasn't all that great, there weren't many coordinators competing, and even then, most didn't have much experience clearly.
Ash rejoined Brendan in the viewing area as the remaining trainers gave their best efforts to appeal to the crowd, and while there were definitely a few good ones, most didn't stand out much.
"Ashton, hello." Mr. Contesa said, walking up to the two boys.
"Mr. Contesta, how are you?" Ash asked.
"Good, good." Mr. Contesta said. "I'm glad to see the work you've done with Surskit. You've made leaps of progress since Slateport."
"Well the open arena helped too." Ash admitted. Truthfully if it wasn't for the open space, the three part combo wouldn't have worked nearly as well as it had.
"Not just that, your confidence in Surskit was there as well." Mr. Contesta said. "As you know I can't pick favorites, but my score was truthful, you've made great strides and earned the higher score."
"Thank you sir." Ash said.
"Now you should be ready, you did earn the second highest score." Mr. Contesta said.
As Ash and Mr. Contesta walked off to get ready for the following rounds, Brendan was approached by two people from behind.
"Are we too late?" Diane asked.
"Diane. Butler. What are you two doing here?" Brendan asked.
"We thought we'd come and see Ashton perform, but someone wouldn't get away from their work." Diane said, staring daggers at Butler.
"I admit, I should have paid closer attention to the time." Butler commented. "So where's Ashton?"
"He's up there, about to be shown with the other three." Brendan said. "Mr. Contesta said he got the second highest score, but I have no idea who the other three are."
Ash stood against his first opponent, a trainer named Kevin and his Igglybuff.
"Surskit use Bubble!"
"Igglybuff use Sweet Kiss!"
A group of bubbles shot out at Igglybuff as the pink Pokemon sent a kiss to Surskit.
"Surskit use Quick Attack!"
"Igglybuff use Charm!"
Surskit fell over on itself, causing Ash to lose a lot of points as Igglybuff poured on the cute factor.
"Surskit snap out of it!"
"Igglybuff use Sing!"
Surskit shuck its head, before speeding forward, slamming into the he Igglybuff before spinning back towards Ash.
"Alright Surskit!" Ash exclaimed. "Now use Bubblebeam!"
"Igglybuff use Pound!"
Surskit sent out a flurry of bubbles, launching into Igglybuff at incredible speeds, knocking the Pokemon backwards as it's points plummeted.
"Alright Surskit use Quick Attack!"
"Igglybuff use Charm!"
Surskit sped forward across the smooth stone, slamming into Igglybuff, knocking it out.
"Way to go Ash!" Brendan cheered.
"Impressive." Butler said, watching Surskit glide back over to his trainer with a smile.
"You don't think." Diane asked.
"It's hard to say for certain." Butler said. "But I believe what I told you is true. He may be the key to this all."
Finally it was time for the final match of the contest with Ash and Surskit against Wanda and her Skitty.
"Surskit use Bubblebeam!"
"Skitty use Assist!"
Surskit fired out a stream of fast bubbles only to be met by a flamethrower.
"Look out Ashton! Assist uses any of the parties moves!" Brendan called out.
"Good to know. Surskit slow them down with a Bubble!"
"Skitty use Assist!"
This time as the bubbles reached Skitty, a wave of electricity burst each of the bubbles before knocking Surskit backwards.
"Surskit use Quick Attack!"
"Skitty use Assist!"
Surskit sped across the area as Skitty unleashed an Ice Beam at him, causing the area to be covered in a slippery layer of ice
"Surskit combine Bubblebeam with Quick Attack!"
"Skitty use Double Slap!"
Skitty tried catching up to Surskit, only to slip and fall on the ice as Surskit moved around with ease, hitting Skitty with a barrage of bubbles.
"Skitty use Attract!"
"Surskit use another Bubblebeam!"
Surskit had picked up an incredible amount of speed at this point, easily gliding across the ice, striking Skitty from all sides with his bubbles, knocking the cat like Pokemon out.
"Skitty is unable to continue. The winner is Ashton and his Surskit!" The announcer said walking up.
"Hey, good match." Ash said, shaking hands with Wanda.
"You too." Wanda said.
"And here you are Ashton, the Forina City Ribbon." Mr. Contesta said, holding out a case. In it was a blue sparkly ribbon with a golden star in the center.
"Alright, we just got our second ribbon!" Ash exclaimed.
Later that night
"Ashton, can you come with me for a minute." Butler said.
"Go on, I'm dropping the conspiracy hunt for now." Brendan joked.
"So whats up?" Ash asked, as they approached Butler and Diane's equipment.
"Tell me, what do you make of this?" Butler asked, showing a strange rock in a case.
"It's a rock." Ash said. "What's there to make of it?"
"What if I told you it was from outer space?" Butler asked.
"I'd ask why a magician has it." Ash retorted.
"Yes, yes. I suppose I was just hopeful, I saw something in you during your battle, and it had just gotten me thinking is all." Butler said.
"Not a problem, I'm going to head back to the hotel now though. You have a good night." Ash said, as he flipped the second piece of the charm inwards.
"You as well Ashton." Butler said, as the rock began to glow green unbeknownst to either of them.
