After nearly a week later, the two finally make it to Jubilife City where the first contest was being held.
"Finally," Zoey says looking over the city in the distance.
"Did we make it in time?" Leon asks.
"Oh yeah…but you better run because you need to register with the center for your contest part and then register for the contest itself," Zoey says grinning as she looks at the time. "You have ten minutes."
"I won't be able to find it in that time so I will cheer you on and register for the next one?" Leon offers.
Zoey smiles. "Sure. I can even help you get the starting registry for both trainers and contest players afterward."
"Thanks," Leon says as he follows her as they looked for the contest hall. Upon reaching it, Zoey registered and walked off after saying, "I'm going to the changing room."
"Changing room?" Leon asks himself as Amber smirks at him. "Why for a contest? It's to show off the pokemon…isn't it?"
"All of Sinnoh dresses up for their contests," Zoey informs smirking.
"Well that's new," Leon mutters. "I'll cheer for you," he says going for the stands.
'Think…if Zoey is here, then does that mean…anime rules?' Leon thinks as he waited with Amber in his lap.
Amber looks up at him confused as he looks around. "Chim?"
"We are waiting on Zoey," Leon says petting her head.
Amber sighs along with him as they waited for a bit and Amber started to get bored before climbing his head and resting there. Then it started up with all the coordinators starting to perform with their pokemon one by one. Then Zoey performed and memories started to come back to Leon when he watched the anime as Ash and Dawn performed.
'No way. It's almost like I'm seeing the anime again…but…when did Zoey come in? After the first contest or second?' Leon asks himself as he couldn't take his eyes off her show.
"Chim?" Amber asks looking down.
"Glad I decided to wait, don't you?" Leon asks, completely sure he would have been destroyed in the first round watching this.
Amber smiles as she relaxes on his head. "Chim," she says as they return their attention back to Zoey.
"Now let's see if you can take the entire contest Zoey," Leon asks as they watch and wait for the results and, to his expectations of his memory, Leon saw Zoey, Dawn, and Ash get to the second round.
"So they are here," Leon says to himself as he tries to look around for Brock at least as he got up to go wait outside the locker room to see Zoey. When she did emerge, she seemed in a bad mood. "Ah…Zoey?" Leon asks.
"What?" Zoey asks almost bitterly.
"You ok?" Leon asks before remembering she was upset with Ash in this contest for being told he was also challenging the league.
"Not really. Stupid kid doesn't know what he is doing," Zoey mutters at the end.
'Oh, right. Ash stayed ten the whole time…that is the stupidest crap ever,' Leon thinks looking to the side. "So uh…want to talk or get something during the…you look good." Leon says taking a good look at her white outfit.
Zoey at least smiles at that. "Thanks for that."
"Speaking of which…how did you afford it?" Leon asks.
"You're kidding, right? You have to know about that," Zoey says sweatdropping.
"Know what?" Leon asks.
Zoey facepalmed again. "I may have to send you back to kindergarten or were you never informed…oh, wait. You came from one of those pokemon prep schools, didn't you?" Zoey asks.
"How did you know?" Leon asks.
"By your lack of practical knowledge," Zoey informs.
"They teach that in other schools?" Leon asks confused.
"No, no, they don't," Zoey says before informing him of his account and the money they annually get and the pay grades.
"What?! Where is that?" Leon asks looking through his pokedex.
"Your trainer ID. You should have gotten it with your first pokemon," Zoey says.
"Uh…" Leon mumbles as he looks through the menus and finds his ID. "I have…five thousand."
"Basically fifty bucks then. They show change as well. It's a glitch that has never been addressed," Zoey informs trying to preempt him before he gets overexcited.
"Oh…so how can I raise it?" Leon asks hopefully.
"Through a variety of ways. Your pokedex logs all the pokemon you captured. Increasing that will raise your pay grade. Winning official contests and tournaments is another, also winning badges," Zoey says listing off the ways as the food arrived and they and the three pokemon started eating.
'And here I thought Brock took care of the money that Ash got from his mom. Who knew?' Leon thinks to himself.
"This is why so many want to be trainers. It also keeps many in shape that can be called to service in case another war breaks out like with Kanto," Zoey says.
'Ah. So it is like the Olympics. Showing off how much better they are than the rest and to keep up military power,' Leon thinks as Zoey pets mareep's coat.
"You were right, you know?" Zoey says as mareep likes the attention.
"A fluffy pillow?" Leon asks eating his burger, not wanting to think where the meat came from.
Zoey nods as mareep doesn't spark for her and Leon glares at him as if he betrayed him.
"So…uh…what do you like to spend your money on?" Leon says trying to ignore mareep to not give him the satisfaction.
Zoey hums. "Mostly traveling supplies and room and board at the hotels around the cities and towns."
"And I am afraid to ask, but how much do you have right now?" Leon asks.
"Right now, I have saved up a bit over five thousand," Zoey informs smirking as mareep sticks his tongue out at Leon.
Leon rolls his eyes a bit before sighing. "And your income?"
"I think around five to eight hundred a week," Zoey says.
"Geez. And I'm only fifty," Leon mutters. "Can the income carry over to another league?"
"I think so, but I believe different regions have a different value with money," Zoey says.
"Oh…so not the same as much," Leon says thinking about how it seems so similar to his world.
"Yeah, so what do you think of the contest so far?" Zoey asks.
"I am glad I decided to wait till later," Leon says bluntly.
Zoey chuckles. "How about I take you to a gym and show you how that goes? Maybe then you can decide on what you want to focus on."
"I mean we would have been destroyed. Especially Fluffball," Leon adds.
Mareep pouts up like a puffball at that as he seems to frown at him.
"Yeah. Maybe entering is a little too soon for you and your pokemon. After all, contests are harder than battles," Zoey says.
"Considering that we have only won one battle," Leon points out.
"And that was against this one," Zoey says patting the mareep.
Leon looks to the mareep as he eats away. "Yeah."
"And even that…was a bit sad," Zoey admits.
"Please…don't remind me," Leon says almost embarrassed.
"But you three are better now," Zoey adds trying to change the direction this was going.
"I guess. But this is only my first town," Leon adds.
"What about your hometown or Sandgem Town?" Zoey asks.
"I really don't count it as my first one on my journey," Leon says adds quickly, hoping it wouldn't sound weird.
"Ah," Zoey says seemingly accepting this answer.
"So how are you feeling about the contest so far? You think you can win it?" Leon asks trying to change the subject, making Zoey snark at him.
"Yeah. As long as I keep making it, I can get to the top," Zoey says smiling and hiding the snark.
"Oh, good," Leon says as he noticed Amber and Glameow were seeming to have their own conversation while mareep looked completely lost as he watched them.
"Girl talk. Let it fly by," Leon tries to comfort as he pats his head.
"What are you…oh," Zoey says spotting their pokemon.
"Yeah. Something we guys will never get," Leon says smiling.
"If it helps, I don't really get it myself," Zoey admits.
"Seriously? Even though you are a girl yourself?" Leon asks surprised.
"Being a girl doesn't mean you understand. Truth is, most try to be as confusing as possible or make it up as they go along," Zoey informs.
"Oh. Thought you would always try to keep us away," Leon says thinking to how many times the girls in his world did this.
"It's mostly to mess with boys I think," Zoey says as Leon actually wrote that down. "Seriously?"
"It might help me deal with girls who do this on purpose," Leon explains before looking first to the pokemon then to Zoey, his eyes betraying he was thinking of her too when she said that. "Sorry."
"You were thinking that about me, weren't you?" Zoey asks.
"No. Of course not. Besides, why would I bad mouth the one helping me?" Leon asks looking ashamed.
"Because all boys assume all girls speak a second language or something like that," Zoey says bluntly.
"You girls ignore us," Leon counters.
"Thought so," Zoey says smirking from having weaseled it out of him.
"I mean seriously. A lot of you wouldn't give us the time of day. What the heck were we supposed to think?" Leon asks.
"That means you are playing the game," Zoey says, letting him know she was doing that to him teasingly.
"Damn it. I hate that," Leon says as he writes that down as well.
"Oh, this journey will be fun," Zoey says.
'I wonder if Ash's crew have a vacancy?' Leon thinks as mareep joined him in his booth seat which was basically now the guy corner.
"Meep," mareep says hanging his head on the table.
"We best hurry up and finish eating," Leon says noticing the time and they had barely started eating.
"Yeah," Zoey says starting to finish up hers.
Leon watched with Amber as the contest continued on, starting with Zoey and Ash where Zoey and Glameow won with the buzzard when Ash's aipom nearing to land a focus punch.
"Okay…so almost like battles, but it's a show," Leon says to himself as he watched the next one before getting up to go wait for Zoey because based on his memory, she lost a bit of confidence after beating Ash.
Amber taps his head now. "Chim?"
"Let's cheer her up if she comes out," Leon says looking up to her as they waited.
Amber salutes. "Chim."
Eventually, the door opened, but Zoey wasn't the one who came out. It was Ash and Brock.
"Hi. Are you waiting for someone?" Brock greets spotting Leon.
"Ah, yeah. A friend of mine. Her name is Zoey," Leon says while thinking and noticing Brock's eyes were the exact same from the anime. 'How the freak can you see anything?'
"Oh. Then she'll be right out." Brock says as he and Ash walked off before Zoey walks out of the room frowning.
"So…you look dissatisfied. Was it not what you thought?" Leon asks, surprising her he was there.
Zoey blinks for a bit at him before sighing. "No…it's not the contest."
"I mean with that guy you beat. His name was Ash, right?" Leon asks.
"Yeah. And if he did want to do both contest and gyms, it would never work out for him," Zoey says frowning.
"Too much battle specialized?" Leon asks.
"Yeah. Most of the experience he had was with battles," Zoey says huffing.
"Feel like you lost even though you won?" Leon asks.
"Because he didn't stop thinking of giving up this part of the league after he lost," Zoey mutters.
"And the reason he entered was because of his aipom wanting to compete?" Leon asks making her look back to him.
"How did you know?" Zoey asks crossing her arms.
"Overheard waiting out here for you," Leon says.
"Ah…well…I just hope he doesn't get into the next contest," Zoey says looking down and frowning.
"Do I need to get Alpha Fluff out here to cheer you up?" Leon asks smirking.
"Alpha Fluff?" Zoey asks confused.
"This guy," Leon says bringing out mareep. "I think it is an improvement from puffball."
Mareep rolls his eyes and holds his paws out to her to hug.
"Ok, Alpha Fluff, an improvement, but keep working on it," Zoey says before hugging the pokemon.
"Meep," mareep cheers hugging her back.
"Alright, but do you feel better now?" Leon asks.
"Yeah," Zoey says happily.
"Good. Because you still have the semi-final and finals themselves to win," Leon says trying to encourage.
Zoey smiles at him. "And you can bet I'm going to win."
"I bet you can," Leon encouraged.
Zoey grins now. "Did you bet money on me?"
"You can do that?" Leon asks.
Zoey facepalms along with mareep. "You need a lot to learn. Stupid prep schools."
"No. I mean where can you do that?" Leon asks.
"Front desk. They have a betting area," Zoey says rolling her eyes.
"Well, too late now," Leon says smiling at her.
"Yeah. Do me a favor, don't bet on these things," Zoey says pointing at him.
"Yes ma'am," Leon says before Amber jumps onto mareep and pats Zoey's arm.
"At least they know how to cheer up a girl," Zoey says petting them back.
"I am cheering for you as well. I just have faith you will win," Leon informs, making her snark a bit at him.
"Geez. You trying to take me out on a date or something?" Zoey teases.
"I think you are the type that decides that," Leon says.
"Oh, you think I like being in charge, huh?" Zoey asks.
"Am I wrong?" Leon asks.
"Partially," Zoey says simply.
"Well, I will have time to learn more about you on this journey. Also, I want to make a bet with you," Leon says.
"Shoot," Zoey says scratching Amber bearing the ears.
"I bet I can predict your final opponent and If I am right, you have to buy us donuts," Leon says smirking.
Zoey scoffs amused. "You're on."
"Alright, I say it will be that Dawn girl," Leon says confidently.
"Get ready to eat something else," Zoey says chuckling.
"We shall see," Leon says, knowing this was a little bit cheating.
Just like Leon remembered, Zoey did face Dawn and Dawn lost in the end. After the match was over, Zoey scanned the crowd for Leon before heading backstage to get ready for the final. "Amber looks like we are getting donuts today."
Amber drools at the prospect of eating another sweet thing.
"To victory," Leon says patting her head.
Amber gives a victory sign with her hands at that as they watched the next battle with half interest. 'How is it no one ever realized she was from team rocket…how are they even still around actually?'
Amber tilts her head. "Chim?"
"Amber, after Zoey wins, I want you and Alpha Fluff to give her hugs as thanks for taking us out for donuts," Leon instructs.
Amber salutes and smiles.
Leon smiled and waits till the final match gets underway and Zoey didn't let him down and won it, leaving on the award ceremony. Leon smiles as he gets up with the crowd and leave and brings out Alpha Fluff. "Ok you two, there she is. Go get her," Leon says spying Zoey talking to Ash's group in her regular clothes again.
"Meep!" "Chim!" both pokemon cheer and runs at her with mareep, bringing her down and hugs her the best way he could.
"Guys!" Zoey laughs hugging them back.
"You ok Zoey?" Leon asks walking up as Alpha Fluff just laid on her now.
Zoey chuckles as she tries to stand. "Kinda."
"I see Alpha Fluff took you down," Leon says smirking before hearing a giggle. "She gets the joke," Leon says looking at Dawn.
"Yeah, yeah. Fear the Alpha Fluff," Zoey jokes pushing him off of her.
He snickered as he pops off some static on his fur.
"So Zoey, remember our bet?" Leon asks.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go," Zoey says getting up and cleans herself off.
"Amber here is very excited," Leon says looking to her as she ran around like a hyper kid sugared up.
Zoey gives him an annoyed friendly glare. "A bet's a bet. Let's go," she says walking off.
"See you guys," Leon calls following her with the two pokemon.
"Who was that?" Ash asks confused.
"Must be the one Zoey mentioned," Brock says recalling she mentioned she was mentoring someone.