Twinleaf Festival

Ash and his friends were a bit late to the Festival, having missed the first few days due to them getting sidetracked as a result of a Darkrai sighting with both Ash and Marnie showing interest in battling and attempting to capture the mythical Pokemon. Unfortunately it turned out to be a wild goose chase as if Darkrai actually had been in the vicinity of Oreburgh City, it was now long gone!

The group arrived in Twinleaf Town to discover the Twinleaf Festival was already underway, food stalls and activity booths could be seen lined up along the road across town and Ash could easily make out what appeared to be the Rocket trio selling sweets of some sort in a nearby stall with a massive line held up as apparently whatever they were serving was quite the delicious treat! Upon them walking further into town Ash recognized the fortune telling booth from Fula City and was tempted to stop by as most of what he'd seen had actually come true thus far so he was mildly curious as to what the deal with that old man was, especially as he appeared to be following the group or knowing where they were going. His thoughts were interrupted however as Dawn appeared before them.

"There you guys are!" Dawn gave Ash a wave before reaching out to hug May. She then turned and gave Zach and Marnie a wave as well before her attention soon turned to Lillie. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Lillie, I'm one of Ash's Alolan friends a-and his girlfriend!"

"Oh that's great to hear, I'm happy for you two! What happened to Marnie then? I thought Ash and her..."

"We're still together," Marnie stated as Dawn gave her a puzzled look before shrugging as Ash gave a sheepish smile.

"Well if that makes you three happy I won't judge!" Dawn then motioned towards the Festival Battle Challenge registry. "Your boyfriend wanted to compete in that didn't he, May? There's still time to-Oh Arceus!" Dawn gasped out upon seeing May's ring. "C-Congratulations! You must tell me everything!" She squealed out.

May blushed lightly and turned to give Zach a light nod, telling him it was okay to go on ahead and register while she'd fill Dawn in on what happened while also wanting to talk to the girl in private.

"What's the Battle Festival Challenge anyways?" Lillie asked.

"It's this competition held on the final day of the Twinleaf Festival," Ash explained to her. "Trainers compete in a series of one on one matches where they're to use the same Pokemon for the duration of the tournament, so basically if I chose to use Charizard then I couldn't use Pikachu or anyone else until I either won or lost. The winner also gets this golden trophy along with the opportunity to battle Palmer!"

"That's the final Frontier Brain from Sinnoh, right?" Marnie asked with a light blink. "You're gonna face off against him in a full battle later on so I guess you're skipping this?"

"Nope, I'm gonna enter with Toxtricity and get him some experience!" Ash exclaimed, Toxtricity raised up his head with a proud smirk while Pikachu flattened his ears and gave the Poison type lizard a harsh jealous glare.

"Well then I guess I'll enter as well, it's been a long time since we last battled against one another!" Marnie smirked. "Though I promise that we won't lose this time!"

"I-I might enter as well, I could use the experience!" Lillie stated, she felt as if she was the weakest link in the group. Ash, Marnie and Zach were all powerful and skilled trainers in their own right while May was also quite powerful despite being a coordinator. All she really had was Ninetails and Wigglytuff, sure she had Lunala too but she didn't want to feel like she relied on it.

"Well looks like things might be difficult for all of us, it looks like Lucario was chosen as Zach's partner." Marnie stated as she glanced towards the registry area where Lucario had just beaten Cinderace in a game of rock paper scissors to decide who battled in the tournament. Lucario giving his trainer a high five as they looked forward to the upcoming battles!


"It's an exciting round to start off the event folks as one of the previous winners has returned and graced us with his presence, he'll also be going up against one of Twinleaf's favorite trainers! Everyone give Ash and Barry a round of applause!" The crowd started clapping as Barry stepped forward with a look of surprise before leaping up for joy and rushing right across the field to shake Ash's hand.

"Ash! It's been so long since we've seen each other! I ought to fine you for never giving me a call or tracking me down for a rematch!" Barry shook his fist lightly showing that despite all the years that had passed Barry was still as energetic as always!

"Heh, sorry Barry! I just sort of lose track sometimes, if it helps I rarely even call my best friends either!" Ash and Pikachu lightly sweated while Barry tapped his foot impatiently and continued giving him a light glare.

"Yeah well that better change once I beat you!" Barry shouted out as he rushed back to his side of the field before leaping up into the air again as he grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. "Empoleon, let's show him a thing or two!"

"Empoleon!" Barry's Empoleon burst from his ball with a proud look. It was stronger than the Empoleon that Ash occasionally traveled with but it still had the same weaknesses!

"Toxtricity I choose you!"

"Tox!" Toxtricity leaped out onto the field, letting out a light hiss as his eyes rested upon his opponent.

"An Electric type?" Barry let out a laugh while shaking his finer lightly at Ash. "I taught Empoleon this move as I was sure we'd come across you and Pikachu again someday but this'll do just fine! Empoleon use Earthquake!"

"Empo!" Empoleon leaped up into the air before slamming his feet against the ground, resulting in the ground shaking and vibrating around them before a shockwave struck out at Toxtricity and knocked him right off his feet!

"Tox!"

"Toxtricity give him a Leer then follow up with an Overdrive!" Ash shouted.

Toxtricity gave Empoleon a leer causing the penguin Pokemon to briefly flinch before Toxtricity summoned up a guitar made out of electrical energy, the lizard letting out a fierce cry as he rammed Empoleon upside the head with it, giving Empoleon quite the electrical shock! Empoleon shook itself off after the attack ceased, giving Toxtricity a light glare while Barry ordered out the next attack.

"Earthquake!" Empoleon slammed into the ground once more causing another shockwave to get sent flying in Toxtricity's direction.

"Jump now!" Toxtricity leaped up and just narrowly avoided the shockwave! "Now use Discharge!" Toxtricity's body sparked as he unleashed multiple bolts of yellow electricity from his body, sending them flying towards Empoleon and giving the penguin another shock before it fell down to it's knees and keeled over in defeat as swirls formed within it's eyes.

"Alright Toxtricity!" Ash cried out, Toxtricity gave Ash a proud smirk while Pikachu uttered out a jealous growl.

Barry hung his head as he returned Empoleon to his ball before being rather quick at changing his mood as he flashed Ash a grin. "You better watch out Ash, I know you're doing the Battle Frontier challenge as well and I'll be forced to fine you if I get to battle my dad before you do!" Barry sure didn't waste much time either as once he finished speaking he was off like a lightning bolt, charging down the street and disappearing from sight as Ash could only form a sweat drop in response.


"Next up it's newcomers Marnie vs Lillie!" A few rather unnoteworthy battles had occurred and now much to Lillie and Marnie's surprise, the two were paired to face each other!

"Well some of us were bound to get paired up eventually, good luck!" Marnie gave Lillie a sincere smile as they walked to opposing sides of the field. "Muk, I need your assistance!"

"Muk!" The Alolan Muk burst out from it's ball and Ash was in a bit of a shock as he wasn't even aware that Marnie had captured one!

"When did that happen?" He hissed out to Zach, hoping that he could fill him in.

"Hm? Oh when you were comforting Lillie during the last week or two of our Alola adventure, Marnie and I decided to go explore Ula'Ula as it'd been awhile since we hung out. The Muk was terrorizing a group of Morelull and Shiinotic but thankfully we were there to put a stop to it and I stepped aside to let her catch it!" Zach explained.

Lillie shivered lightly at the sight of the Alolan Muk before reaching for a ball and throwing it forward. "Wigglytuff I choose you!"

Wigglytuff burst out and let out a cheerful cry. "Wigglytuff!"

"Muk use Gunk Shot!" Marnie shouted as Muk spat out a garbage bag that flew through the air before bursting shortly upon making contact with Wigglytuff, the Fairy type made a disgusted face and shivered on top of the damage that it had just taken!

"Play Rough!" Lillie shouted out as Wigglytuff suddenly gave a rather fierce look, leaping towards Muk as a thick cloud surrounded the two as they could only hear Wigglytuff smacking and slapping Muk about before giving him a good throw and hurling him right out of the cloud and across the battlefield! Muk let out a cry as he flung through the air before coming to a collapsed heap in front of Marnie who looked rather surprised as the Muk had proven itself to be quite the challenge for her to contain in the first place, Lillie must be stronger than she was giving herself credit for!

Marnie returned Muk to his ball before approaching Lillie with a smile. "That was quite the shocking result, you should give yourself more credit. That Wigglytuff of yours is certainly no pushover!"

"Wigglytuff!" Wigglytuff chimed in with a light smirk across her face.

"Heh, well I suppose I could be. I still feel like the weakest member of our group though,"

"That's because the rest of us have goals that involve getting stronger, it's natural that we'd develop faster and be stronger than you. You're still capable enough to handle yourself in a fight, don't sell yourself short!" Lillie couldn't help but smile at Marnie's words.

"Thanks Marnie,"


"And now for the final battle of round one, it is Twinleaf's very own Kenny going up against newcomer Zach!"

Zach and Lucario were rather quick to leap out onto the field as they were eagerly anticipating their turn and it was painful sitting on the sideline waiting for their turn as long as they had.

"Zach, eh?" Kenny asked with a head tilt as his eyes rested upon Lucario. "So you're the boy that Dawn won't stop gushing about..." Kenny stated rather sourly as Zach tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Whatever, I'll beat you and prove that I'm the right man for her! Empoleon let's go!" Kenny threw forth his own Empoleon which appeared before Lucario in a burst of colorful lights on account of the contest seal!

"Tri Punch!"

"What?!" Kenny shouted out in shock as Lucario's fist glowed bright like ice as he brought it upon Empoleon's stomach, the penguin letting out a pained grunt before it was followed by a fiery first and then quickly finished by an electrical fist! Empoleon keeled right over in defeat after the attack had left it's mark while Kenny was staring with a shocked face at what had just occurred.

"H-How?!"

"Simple, I taught Lucario the elemental punch attacks as his fourth attack and kept replacing them. It took a lot of hard work but eventually Lucario managed to learn to use all of the attacks at the same time similar to Tri Attack uses a beam of ice, fire, and electricity!" Zach explained with a light smile as he and Lucario gave each other a high five.

"So that's why we never saw Lucario's fourth attack..." Marnie breathed out. "He was trying to teach him an entire new attack!"

"Wow..." Dawn breathed out as she stared at him with an impressed look.

"Impressive right?" May smirked before giving her best friend a playful nudge.

"Definitely! You're quite lucky to have a guy like that May!"

"If he wins you'll be lucky as well," May laughed as Dawn faintly blushed.

Kenny lowered his head before approaching Zach with a faint smile. "Well I'm not afraid to admit when I'm beat, you definitely proved to be the better man here."

"Thanks, I guess?" Zach gave him a quizzical expression.


"Start of round two folks, let's give Ash and Lillie a round of applause as they'll be facing off against each other!"

"Good luck Ash!" Lillie called out to her boyfriend as she took her place on the battlefield.

"You too Lillie," Ash smiled before beckoning for Toxtricity to step forward as Lillie threw forth the ball containing Wigglytuff.

"Tox!"

"Wigglytuff!" The two Pokemon gave each other a light glare as their trainers formed a light sweat drop.

"Sing!" Lillie called out as Wigglytuff began singing a rather melodic tune.

"Wigglytuff, wiggly ly tuff! Wiggly tuff. Wiggly!"

"Uproar!" Toxtricity began stomping around and emitting a rather loud cry, keeping itself awake through Wigglytuff's song.

"Now use Poison Jab!" Toxtricity's paw began glowing a venomous purple as he lashed out with his fist, striking Wigglytuff in the chest while a faint purple color began forming across her cheeks.

"Hyper Voice!" Wigglytuff began screaming loudly as blue waves of energy flew from her mouth and began blowing Toxtricity away! Toxtricity held his ears and grumbled lightly before shaking his head and giving off a light growl.

"Let's use Leer and finish with Poison Jab!" Ash called out.

Toxtricity gave Wigglytuff a leer as his fist began glowing purple once more before striking outwards and nailing Wigglytuff right in the gut, knocking the air out of her before she collapsed to her side in defeat as the crowd cheered loudly for the two of them!

Lillie stared at Wigglytuff for a moment before returning him with a faint smile. "We tried our best and that's what counts, thank you Wigglytuff! And congratulations Ash, good luck in the next round!"


"Next up it's Zach vs May!"

Zach gave May a nervous smile as they approached the field. For a long time his girlfriend had been stronger than him, not that it bothered him it was actually rather interesting, but now was the test to see if that was still true or if he had surpassed her in strength!

"Give it your all, babe! I won't get mad if you win!" May called out with a reassuring smile, Zach blushed lightly in response before nodding at Lucario while May threw forward the ball belonging to Blaziken. The Fire starter burst out and gave Lucario a nod of respect as the two Fighting type's stared at one another and awaited their trainer's to start the match!

"Extreme Speed to get close then follow up with Bone Rush!" Lucario disappeared in a flash of light before reappearing next to Blaziken as he gave a hard swing with his aura infused bone club! Blaziken let out a groan as he was struck, May looking her Pokemon over briefly with a light smile before stretching out her arm.

"Blaze Kick!" Blaziken's legs burst into flame as he leaped out and prepared to strike Lucario!

"Dodge with Extreme Speed!" Lucario disappeared in a flash, avoiding the attack as Zach couldn't help but lightly smirk. "Now use Bone Rush!"

"Lucar!" Lucario charged up his aura infused bone club once more before giving it a hard swing, bashing it up against Blaziken who let out a grunt before keeling over in defeat as swirls formed within it's eyes.

May looked down at Blaziken before looking up at Zach with pride in her eyes, quickly returning her starter to her Pokeball before rushing on out and pulling him into a warm hug. "You did it, you've finally surpassed me in strength! I'm so proud of you!"

Zach's cheeks burned brightly as he held her tightly within his arms. "Thanks May, that means a lot coming from you..." The two gave each other a smile before clearing off the field to allow for the round to continue.


After another two rounds it was now the end of the tournament and Lucario stood face to face against Toxtricity as their trainers stood on opposite sides of the field.

"It is now the finals folks, will Ash be able to win another trophy or will Zach prove himself to be the victor instead?!"

"Let's give it our all Lucario!" Zach shouted out as Lucario uttered out a cry in response.

"That's the spirit!" Ash pumped his fists before throwing out his arm.

"Toxtricity let's start off with a Leer and follow up with Overdrive!"

Toxtricity gave Lucario a leer before rushing forward as he prepared to bash Lucario with his electrified guitar however strangely enough Zach didn't appear to be ordering him to dodge!

"Use Bone Rush against the ground!" Lucario summoned up his aura infused bone club before slamming it into the dirt, the attack attacking as a conduit and channeling the electricity into the ground with Lucario looking relatively unharmed from the attack.

"Huh? What just happened?!" Ash asked with visible confusion.

"You do know that if he becomes the Galar champion that you'll be facing him someday right? He doesn't think he'll win against you but he wants to make it as challenging for you as possible!" Marnie explained with a light smirk.

"Yep, it took some practice to pull off with I've got my own Electric types to train against!" Zach grinned before throwing forth his arm. "Now use Extreme Speed and follow up with Bone Rush!"

Lucario dashed forward in a blinding light, appearing next to Toxtricity before slamming his bone club upside the Electric type's face! Toxtricity let out a groan as he teetered back and forth a bit before shaking it off as Ash let off a light growl. With Poison off the table on account of Lucario's Steel typing and Lucario effectively having a counter against Electric attacks there really wasn't much they could do!

"Uproar!" Toxtricity leaped up and down, shouting angrily as he lashed out at Lucario. Lucario took the hit and grunted lightly before giving him a smirk.

"Bone Rush!" Lucario whipped out his aura infused bone club once more before giving it a good swing and sending Toxtricity flying back to Ash before the lizard landed in a collapsed heap as the crowd cheered loudly for that year's winner!

Zach's eyes widened in disbelief for a moment before an excitable grin appeared across his face as he leaped up into the air. "I did it, I actually beat Ash!"

"Car!" Lucario gave his trainer a smile before the two high fived.

"Ace!" Cinderace gave her teammates a thumbs up as Ash stared down at Toxtricity for a moment as he too found it rather shocking but Marnie was right, if Zach won the Galar League then he'd be in the World Championship much like Lance and all the rest! The World Championship was looking more exciting by the day!

Ash returned Toxtricity before approaching his friend with an outstretched hand and a smile. "Congrats, that was a rather great match! You put me in a tight spot and it surprised me so much that I could only utilize one attack! Good luck with your upcoming match with Palmer, you'll need it!"

"Thanks Ash," Zach smiled as he took his hand and the two shook hands.

"So about that deal we made..." May smirked at Dawn as she blushed furiously while staring off in Zach's direction.

"Okay, okay! I'll ask him out!"


May currently held Zach's trophy in her arms as he stood on the field opposite Palmer as the older man let off a smirk.

"I hope you're ready kid cause I'm not gonna hold back, Heatran let's go!"

"Heatran!"

"Heatran the Lava Dome Pokemon, it's body is made of rugged steel. However it is partially melted in spots because of its own heat!"

Zach put away his Rotom Phone before giving Cinderace a smirk. "Well a promise is a promise, come on!"

"Ace!" Cinderace gave her trainer an appreciative smile as she leaped out onto the field, now that the tournament was over he was free to switch so to make up for Cinderace not getting to participate he promised the match to her regardless what Palmer chose!

"Pyro Ball!" Cinderace kicked up a rock from the ground and repeatedly kicked it, causing it to lit ablaze before she sent it flying across the field and landing against Heatran's back!

"Earth Power!" Heatran slammed his feet against the ground causing it to crack open before the cracks quickly spread towards Cinderace before reaching out as she let out a fierce cry of pain!

"Flame Charge then follow up with Electro Ball!" Cinderace's body lit ablaze as she rushed forward before throwing her body against Heatran, quickly following up by summoning an electrical ball between her fists and dropping it, performing a swift kick as the attack struck Heatran!

"Not bad but time to finish this, Earth Power!" Palmer smirked while Heatran bashed his feet against the ground causing the ground to crack before opening up beneath Cinderace once more as the rabbit cried out in pain, her eyes soon rolled up before she toppled over as swirls formed within her eyes.

"Ace..."

Zach and Lucario rushed over and helped her up, Zach giving Cinderace a warm smile before scratching her behind the ear. "You did good out there Cinderace, that's the best I could ask for!"

"Ace..." Cinderace gave him a light smile before wrapping an arm around his body as he helped her up.

Palmer soon stepped forward before extending his hand. "Not bad kid, under the right guidance you could actually make a pretty good frontier brain! What do you think about me taking you on as my apprentice? Within a year you'll have a battle facility of your own!"

Zach lightly sweated before shaking his head. "Thanks but no thanks, my dream is to become the Galar champion!"

"Well good luck out there," Palmer didn't fight it, merely giving a smile before turning to face Ash. "I look forward to our upcoming match, kid."

Ash raised up his fists and gave Palmer an ecstatic grin. "Just you wait Palmer, before you know it you and I will be battling it out!"

"Pi Pikachu!"


"You did what?!" Zach exclaimed as May told him about the bet that she'd made.

May emitted a light chuckle while blushing nervously. "Yeah, I knew you'd win! I-I tried my best against you though, I didn't lose on purpose!" She was quick to reassure him.

Zach placed his hand against his forehead for a moment. "I told you that I just want to be with you, we tried getting another girl involved and it didn't work! What if it fails again? I don't want to destroy your friendship with her, you're best friends!"

"It won't fail, I'm confident in that!" May placed her hands against his chest as she stared lovingly into his eyes. "I already made the deal, I can't go back on it. Just go out on one date with her, I promise I'll drop this afterwards if things don't work out!"

Zach let out a sigh before eventually nodding his head in agreement. "Alright but only because you promised."


"So you're wanting to become the Galar Champion, eh? Quite the dream you have there!" Dawn exclaimed with a light giggle before tilting her head. "What do you aim to do afterwards though?"

"I-I aim to settle down, I don't have an interest in doing a side hobby like Diantha, Cynthia and Steven. I-I've always wanted to have a family that I can call my own, and I'm glad that May shares that dream with me!"

"Aw, that's really wholesome!" Dawn smiled with a light blush. "I've always thought about that as well but never met the right guy."

May was currently watching their Pokemon for them so they could enjoy the date uninterrupted.

"Is that so?" Zach tilted his head lightly as a light smirk formed across his face. The two had been talking for the past two hours, the food had long vanished from their plates as their discussion touched on various things before getting more personal. "Well if you're truly interested like May and Kenny supposedly say you are, I-I wouldn't mind making one for one more in my dream. T-That's it though, just you nobody else!" He wanted to ensure that they didn't try any more fast stuff on him.

"I wouldn't mind," Dawn smiled before stretching out her arms. "Besides it's gotten boring hanging around Twinleaf the past few months, I'm looking forward to getting out on the road again and I can't see any better way of doing it than by the side of both you and May! Plus you're mostly going to just stand around while Ash fights the Frontier Brains right? Well we can spend that time getting closer together!" She grinned as Zach formed a blush while thinking that perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Yeah so Zach won. I thought that Lillie was coming off as a bit weak so I wanted to showcase that she's actually quite capable of handling herself in a fight, with Wigglytuff being her powerhouse similar to Croagunk, Psyduck, Mamoswine, etc.

Anyways Ash's first Frontier match will be soon