"Hey Ashton, can we talk for a minute?" Brendan asked.

"Of course, give me just a second." Ash said, setting down a few Pokeblocks. "So what's up, you've been quiet for a few days."

"Just, been thinking." Brendan admitted. "I have had a few problems."

"If it's with the battle tent, don't worry." Ash said. "There'll be other chances."

"It's not just that, it's that and Wally, and I'm just worried." Brendan said.

"Worried about what?" Ash asked.

"I'm worried that you'll be entering gym battles soon enough, I mean anytime we compete in the same thing you win, and I get you have previous experiences, but it doesn't make the thoughts any easier." Brendan admitted. "And then with Wally, you've been spending the past few days training him, and that's great, but I thought you were training me."

"Brendan, I've trained him on safe and proper battling and feeding Pokemon." Ash said. "You have nothing to worry about, including me rejoining the gym challenge, that's a part of me I left behind in Johto."

"I know, I know, I just can't help but feel threatened." Brendan said.

"Don't be, now I have a contest to get ready for." Ash said.

"Right, I'll get Wally, remember we're rooting for you." Brendan said with a thumbs up.

Ash had been working with Treecko for the past few days on a new appeal technique, trying their best to utilize his newest move along with some different blocks of material. So far their best bet was with soap, but it was still sloppy at best.

"Okay Treecko, we still have a bit of time left, let's try this one more time." Ash said, bringing up their second best material, holding some wooden planks.

"Alright Treecko, use Fury Cutter!" Ash said, tossing a wooden block into the air.

Treecko took out his twig, slicing at the block, making a few cuts with little to no progress being made.

"You know, it would be better if you kept using that same move rather than stopping." A voice said.

"What, who are you?" Ash asked.

"My name is Harley, a fellow coordinator." Harley said.

"But, I thought it was unwise to keep using the same move repeatedly?" Ash asked.

"I promise you, would someone with three ribbons be wrong about this?" Harley asked, pulling out his ribbon case.

"Wow, that's incredible, I guess I have nothing to lose." Ash said. "Thanks for the advice Harley."

"Any time, any time." Harley said with a sinister sneer on his face as he walked away. "That will keep him from moving on for sure."

"Alright Treecko, one more time!" Ash said, tossing another wooden block into the air.

At the contest hall

"Finally, we got some seats." Wally said as he and Brendan sat down. "Where's Sensei?"

"Ashton? He's in back with the other coordinators." Brendan said. "Hey look, I'm sorry if I've been a bit distant the past few days."

"Oh, not a problem." Wally said.

"Seriously?" Brendan said in surprise.

"Brendan, before I met the two of you, I was told I would never be able to be a trainer." Wally admitted. "Then I caught Ralts, and Roselia, and now look at me!"

"You're watching a contest?" Brendan asked.

"If it weren't for you two, I wouldn't have even thought of doing this! I would've watched it at home, if at all!" Wally said. "But my point is, I try to not take what others say to me too seriously, because if I only focus on the negatives, there wouldn't be many positives."

"That's a good way of looking at things." Brendan said.

In the back

"Okay, I've got this." Ash said, holding the three blocks of wood in one hand, and Treecko's Pokeball in the other.

"Break a leg out there." Harley said with a smile, as he had just earned a 29.6 almost guaranteeing him a spot in the finals.

"Ashton Ketchum, you're up next." A worker said.

"I've got this. I've got this." Ash said, walking up with his head held high.

Ash stepped out onto the stage with a smile and a wave, one thing he always kept in mind was to not let your opponent know how scared you truly are, and right now he was terrified. They had only practiced with one block, how would Treecko handle three? Would he even be able to get the features down quick enough.

"Alright Treecko, come on out!" Ash said, tossing the Pokeball into the air.

Treecko landed on the stage grabbing his twig and sticking it in his mouth immediately.

"Alright Treecko, use Fury Cutter!" Ash said tossing the three wooden blocks into the air.

Treecko became a green blur leaping back and forth from one side of the blocks to the other, never allowing them to fall.

"Yes, keep all eyes off of your Pokemon with the rapid attacks." Harley said with a chuckle, watching Ash on stage.

When Ash saw that Treecko was slowing down, he knew that it was now or never.

"Alright Treecko use Pound!"

Treecko landed in front of Ash, hitting each piece of wood towards the judges, all three landing on the podiums safely.

"Incredible." Mr Contesa said, holding up the piece of wood.

"Outstanding." Mr. Sukizo added, noticing the craftsmanship.

"Marvelous." Nurse Joy said, as they turned them around.

"Would you look at that folks, Treecko turned all three blocks of wood into busts of our esteemed judges!" Vivian said in astonishment.

The judges contemplated for a moment, before giving Ash a total score of 29.7.

"Impossible!" Harley screamed. "They can't accept that!"

Ash returned to the waiting area with a huge smile on his face.

"Thanks for the advice Harley, without you, we wouldn't have figured that out in time." Ash said.

"Not a problem Ashton, happy to help." Harley said, inwardly kicking himself for handing Ash the leading score.

Battle Round 1

Ash was up against a trainer named Macy from here in Verdanturf for his first match. His Treecko against her Sableye.

"Treecko use Dig!"

"Sableye use Pursuit!"

Sableye dove right into the hole after Treecko with no hesitation, making the battlefield appear to be empty.

"Treecko use Fury Cutter!"

"Sableye use Fury Swipes!"

The Pokemon leapt out of the same hole they had gone in moments before, now slicing back and forth at one another in the hopes of striking the other one down.

"Treecko keep it up!"

"Sableye use Shadow Ball!"

Treecko sliced straight through the attack, and hitting Sableye to the ground, reducing their points to zero.

"Oh come on!" Harley said in annoyance.

Battle Round Two

"Hey Harley, no matter what happens out there, let's both give it our all." Ash said.

"Oh, I plan on it." Harley said, as the two walked to opposite sides of the backstage.

"And for our final matchup of the day we have Ashton vs Harley. Coordinators, at your ready." Vivian said. "Begin!"

"Treecko use Fury Cutter!"

"Cacturne use Feint Attack!"

Treecko launched forward, only for Cacturne to punch him backwards, stopping the attack before it could start.

"Now Cacturne use Poison Sting!"

"Treecko use Quick Attack!"

Treecko sped forward, as Cacturne's attack tried it's best to keep up with the smaller grass type.

"Cacturne use Bullet Seed!"

"Treecko dodge it with Dig!"

A barrage of seeds launched at Treecko as he tried to dig to avoid the attack, only for his tail to get hit, sending him back out of the small hole he had created.

"Now Cacturne use Poison Sting!"

"Treecko dodge it!"

As Treecko was still recovering, he was hit by a flurry of the stingers coming from Cacturne's needles continuously pinning him down as Ash's points fell to zero.

"Treecko is unable to battle, the winner is Cacturne." Vivian said.

Later that night

"Well guys, it's been great seeing you again, but you did say you'd be going on your way tomorrow." Wally sighed.

"Yeah, hey Wally, crazy idea here, but why not join us?" Brendan offered.

"Really!" Wally said. "Is that okay with you guys?"

"I don't see any problem with that, it could be fun to have you along." Ash said.

"But my family, what will they say?" Wally asked.

"If we focus on only the negative, there'd never be any positive." Brendan quoted. "You're old enough to be a trainer, so they can't truly stop you."

"I'll go pack my things! Thanks guys!" Wally said.

Authors Note

And with that our duo is now a trio, but it doesn't feel quite right, Hoenn had four people traveling together in the anime after all.

Wally's Current Team and their moves

Ralts: Teleport - Confusion - Double Team

Roselia: Absorb - Poison Sting