Chapter 9
In the Petalburg City Gym, a green-haired boy walks inside and asks, "Um... E-Excuse me... I... I'd like to get a Pokemon, please..."
Just then, Norman walks out of the room and notices the boy. "Hm? Aren't you... You're Wally, right?"
"Y-yes..." Wally panics a little. "I'm supposed to go stay with my relatives in Verdanturf Town for a while. But I thought I might be lonely by myself, so I wanted to bring a Pokemon with me. But I've never caught a Pokemon by myself...I'm not sure if I can."
"Mm-hmm. I see." Norman nods while yelling from the hall. "Max! Come here for a second."
Max walks out of the room and asks, "What is it? Dad?"
"Can you go with Wally and make sure that he safely catches a Pokemon?" Norman asks.
"Huh? You don't have a Pokemon?" Max asks, and Wally meekly nods.
"Here, I'll lend you one of my Pokemon." Norman says as he shares the Zigzagoon with Wally.
"Oh, wow... Your Pokemon, sir?" Wally gasps.
"Hm. I'll give you a Poke Ball, too, so go give it your best." Norman says.
"Th-thank you, Mr. Norman." Wally turns to Max and says, "Um... Max? You will... You will come with me, right?"
"Of course." Max says. "Let's go to Route 102."
After the two of them get to Route 102, Wally says, "I heard that Mr. Norman has a daughter who is said to be the Hoenn Princess, she's your sister, right?"
Max frowns and says, "Yeah, but recently she hasn't been trying really hard with contests..."
"May I ask the reason?" Wally asks.
"You know, a year ago, one of our best friends was murdered, along with his Pokemon and his mother..." Max frowns.
"I'm sorry to hear that..." Wally frowns.
"If only we were there..." Max says, "Well, there is no use thinking about the past. So what do you want to capture?"
"Over there." Wally says as he points at the Ralts, and Max says, "A Ralts, it is a perfect Pokemon. I'm sure you can capture it with ease."
Wally nods as he sends out the Zigzagoon to battle it.
When Ash arrives at Hoenn Region with Aria, Drandon, and Lucine by his side, Drandon asks, "What are we going to do then?"
"As you can see, 6 years ago, Team Magma and Team Aqua have been trying to use the powers of the Red Orb and the Blue Orb to summon Groudon and Kyogre. But Team Rocket freed them from prison, but not all of them. One is left behind." Ash says. "We're going to break the jail and get her into our team."
"Are you sure this is going to be a good idea?" Aria asks. "I mean, what if you got caught?"
"I definitely not going to get caught." Ash says with a smile as he teleports away using his powers.
"Still, being able to use Aura is amazing... I wonder if we can also do it." Lucine asks.
"It seems to be a blood thing." Drandon says. "If we could've done it, we wouldn't have to be captured by those Dragon Clan people."
Ash is now inside the jail located under Mauville City, and he finds the target, which is a purple-haired girl.
"You must be former Team Magma admin... Courtney, right?"
The admin scowls and says, "Don't you dare...say that name... in front of me..."
"It is really a pity. I remember you said that Team Magma Leader Maxie is very important to you, considering he always thinks about what's best for all of you. And look what it gets you?" Ash sighs.
"Who are you?" Courtney glares at him and asks.
"I am a person who wishes to get revenge on 18 criminal organizations." Ash says. "And I can help you get your revenge on Team Magma. Join my organization and I can help you achieve your dreams."
"Why should I believe you?" Courtney asks.
"Trust me, I care for my people, and I'm also a Champion for two regions that don't work under PLA." Ash says, "And your chance is right now."
Courtney thinks for a while and says, "I'll help."
After getting back to the ship, Aria says, "So this is the person you want to save?"
"Yes, this is Courtney, a former Team Magma member. Although this is our first meeting considering she wasn't there when Maxie summoned Groudon for the first time."
Courtney asks, "You were there... when Groudon was summoned?"
"Yeah." Ash says. "But that is just a past that I intend to forget. Now we should head to Slateport City."
"Slateport City? Why are you going there?" Lucine asks.
"It is obvious... I'm going to enter the Grand Festival." Ash says.
"Wait, you do Contests?" Aria asks.
"Yeah, maybe you can come and watch, but remember, you have to stay hidden." Ash says as they nod.
Once they get to the Contest Hall, they spot Lisia trying to scout for new stars in the Contests. Lucine asks, "Who is she?"
"She's Lisia. She's an idol here in Hoenn and also Wallace's niece." Ash says.
"I also heard a lot about her from Serena. They have been best friends when it comes to contests." Aria says.
"Yeah... I just hope Wallace isn't here to annoy me again." Ash sighs.
When he enters the Contests, he notices the Contestants and he was hoping to see Dawn in this one, but apparently, she didn't show up, he wonders why but he shakes his head.
In the final rounds of the Grand Festival, Ash is standing on the field and his opponent is a girl with green hair. The person makes him remind of Wallace, but he doesn't think more as they hear the announcer saying.
"The final match between Red Satoshi and Reisa Mikuri is about to begin, trainers, please send out your Pokemon."
The girl sends out a Feraligatr while Ash sends out the Feebas. Everyone is surprised at Ash's choice, except his opponent, who is in deep thought. Ash notices the pressure on top of her, as he asks, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it is nothing." Then the referee starts the timer as they start to battle. But in the end, Feraligatr has been making progress to damage Ash's contest bar while Feebas is struggling.
"Feebas, I know you can do it. Believe in yourself and become the star you admire." Ash says as Feebas evolve into a beautiful Milotic. This causes Reisa to become much worried, and as she knew, she lost against Ash after the battle due to the worry in her heart and making rash decisions.
"I am sorry, Feraligatr..." Reisa whispers to the Pokemon and she recalls it. Then she shows a forced smile as she walks towards Ash, saying while shaking hands with him. "That is a nice battle. I am glad that I had a match with you."
"Thanks, you're not bad as well." Ash says as he shakes the girl's hand, but something is not right as Ash noticed it.
Back in Hoenn, Lucine and Aria congratulate Ash when the cameras aren't focusing on them. Aria says, "You really did it! You won the Grand Festival!"
"That is really spectacular. Who knows that Feebas evolve into a beautiful Milotic during the match." Lucine says.
"I know, but the way to make Feebas evolved is related to Contests." Ash says, as they are walking past the changing room, they hear crying and they look at each other. "What's going on?" Lucine asks.
"Someone is crying, but why?" Aria asks and Ash says, "We've better checked it out."
Once they enter the room, they find Reisa, who is crying on the table. Ash recognizes her as the opponent he faces in the final rounds, and he knows that ever since he wins against her, she has been forced to smile on stage.
Ash puts his hand on her shoulder and asks with concern, "Reisa, right? Are you alright?"
Reisa looks at him with tears and says, "I wished to be alone right now, sorry if I sounded rude."
"What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Ash asks. "Is it because you lost to me that you are this sad?"
Reisa quickly says, "No, it is not your fault. It's just...it's just..." She starts to break down again and says, "This is my seventh time entering the Grand Festival."
This caused surprise to the group as they didn't know that this girl in front of them is this skilled with the contests. Reisa continues to whimper, "I always come this close...but I fail in the finals every time... I failed my father...I failed my brother... I failed my cousin...I am a shame to my family..."
Ash and the two girls are surprised at her words. He says, "I am sorry, I didn't know that it means so much to you..."
"You don't need to apologize for what you wanted..." Reisa says. "Maybe I am not destined to be a Top Coordinator...like my cousin and my Dad Wallace..."
"You are Wallace's daughter?" Drandon gasps in surprise. "No wonder, your hair looks the same..."
Ash says, "If that's the case, how about I train you so you can win your next contest? I have a student who has been training with Contests and she became the Top Coordinator in the Johto Region a few days ago."
Reisa stares at him and asks, "Why are you helping me?"
"Because I can't see anyone suffer." Ash says. "So what do you think?"
Reisa thinks for a second and says, "I guess it is worth a try. Just let me inform my cousin and my Dad about this."
After a while, Wallace and Lisia arrive and they are sad about Reisa's loss, and after seeing Ash and how he wants to help her, Wallace agrees to let her come with them, however, Lisia seems to be attracted to Ash and he wants to tag along.
After they manage to get into the plane, Reisa asks, "So where are we going?"
Ash says, "We're going to Rota." He turns to East, "East, can you get us there?"
"Of course." Before he can continue, Reisa and Lisia widen their eyes and Reisa asks, "Hold on, East?"
East flinches as he turns around, seeing Reisa and Lisia, East says, "Um... Hi?"
"You have been Red's private pilot this whole time?" Lisia asks, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Well, I wasn't expecting that you two are coming with us as well..." East says. "Your highness?"
"Yeah, I think I need to explain a lot." Ash sighs.
"Thank you, Mr. Stone. It will be very helpful for our research." At Rustboro City, Sawyer, Ash's former rival, is now standing in front of Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoenn. He's not along, besides him is Brandan Birch, Professor Birch's son. Sawyer and Brandon are doing research with Professor Birch's help.
"No problem. I hope the Professor can figure out everything." After the two of them leave, Steven returns to his office as his son walks in.
"Dad?" Luke asks. "Are you alright?"
"If the Professor is right... both the Red Orb and the Blue Orb are still there... and Team Magma and Team Aqua are still on the move..."
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, there are already two Teams in Hoenn, so there is no need to add one more in this. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the Sinnoh Region. And after that it will be Galar.