Ch.41

So Close, Yet So Far

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

After Dmitri had finished venting his feelings, he let his pokemon simply laze around and hang out together and was glad that Zangoose was getting along with her new teammates as she, Sparkplug, and Kiera had struck up a quick friendship. However, the jovial mood was broken as Kiera cast a suspicious glance at the dragon type out of the corner of her eye as Haxorus, who didn't notice this, continued to laze around causing the megapede pokemon to turn to him causing Sparkplug and Zangoose to raise a curious brow at their friend's sudden change in mood. Kiera slowly, but intently trudged toward Haxorus who was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and his claws behind his head and when he felt the booming footsteps heading toward him, he popped one of his eyes open and found the large form of Dmitri's "tank" advancing to him. Sighing, the dragon type slowly clambered to his feet and crossed his arms as Kiera came to a stop in front of him with a focused, narrowed gaze at the shorter pokemon who unflinchingly stared up at her.

"(Kiera, wait! He's way too strong for you!)" Sparkplug concernedly advised her friend who remained rooted to the spot, unwilling to waver or back down, as she tensed up her muscles and readied herself for the fight to come while Haxorus let his arms fall to his sides and beckoned his comrades back in order to give them some room.

"(I need to see,)" Kiera replied in a gruff tone reminiscent of sixteen year old girl causing Dmitri and Sparkplug to widen their eyes in shock upon Kiera actually speaking for the first time since they've known her as they both had already thought that she would only communicate with them through clicks and grunts.

Settling himself into a fighting stance with one arm being held out in front of him acting like a shield and the other arm being pulled back to his hip with the palm facing up, Haxorus calmly awaited his foe to attack him and Kiera was more than happy to oblige. One moment Kiera was bending down like a high tier sprinter, the next moment she was right in front of Haxorus with her head poised to strike him like a runaway train, but Haxorus, without any sort of concern on his face, expertly grabbed the horns on her head and simultaneously stepped to the side and using Kiera's forward momentum and his hips, easily tossed her away.

Kiera, caught totally unaware by this, could only let out a surprised screech as she braced herself for the pain to come which it did in short order as she harshly hit the ground face first and dragged along the dirt, but using this momentum, she curled up into a ball and hurtled straight toward the dragon type once more who calmly looked on and readied himself. Despite being able to move faster than her teammates could see, Kiera realized that her speed meant little as Haxorus simultaneously put a claw on her moving form and diverted her away from him and she couldn't bring up a defense fast enough as the claw that Haxorus put on her fired off a powerful beam of azure energy that quickly overtook the bug type.

Kiera hissed when she hit the ground yet again when the wave dispersed and despite having not landed a single blow on her opponent, she determinedly climbed to her feet once more and realizing that her foe wouldn't be overcome by a mere difference in speed, she decided to change things up. Letting out a horrifying shriek that caused Haxorus to wince, she brought her foot up and stomped onto the ground causing Haxorus to hiss as his legs painfully contorted in a direction they were not meant to bend and forced to go with the motion lest he break his legs, he found himself on the ground which Kiera took advantage off. The megapede pokemon fired off a hailstorm of thin, purple bullets from her maw causing Haxorus to combat roll to the side to avoid the initial wave, but out of the corner of his eye he saw more coming causing him to coat his claws with azure energy and when he moved to deflect them, he let out a violent wheeze as a giant pillar of earth suddenly jutted out of the ground and rammed into his gut.

Haxorus suddenly felt the pillar carrying him higher and higher up into the air until it came to a stop causing him to put a claw on his belly to regain some air, but didn't have long as he suddenly felt the column rumbling violently. Knowing full well what this meant due to sparring with Druddigon countless times, he attempted to jump off the post in order to get to the ground below, but was a tad bit too slow as Kiera, who managed to quickly climb up the pillar with relentless determination, rammed her head into Haxorus's backside. Haxorus grunted as he felt the ground beneath him leave as he was quickly hurtling to the ground below and when it seemed like he would painfully fall belly flop on the ground, he tucked himself up into a ball and rolled with the impact. Reaching the end of his roll, he got back up to his feet and tried to wheel around to face her, but let out a grunt as Kiera landed on top of him curled up into a ball all with a blazing white aura surrounding her being and pressing the advantage, she coated her horns with a leaf green energy that made them a deadly bludgeon and turned her tail into a dense steel with a venomous, purple shade to it.

Finally, Kiera became a blur as she hurriedly spun on top of Haxorus all while striking him with her tail and her head causing Dmitri, Zangoose, and Sparkplug to gasp in awe at the sight of their friend drilling the dragon further into the ground all while harshly spearing him in the head with her horns glowing with leaf green energy and striking him in the back with her heavy, steel tail illuminating with purple energy. Soon, all Dmitri and his friends could see was the bright flash of colors from Kiera's body and her attacks as the massive centipede continued relentlessly hammering the dragon type until she finally stopped after a long, brutal assault and brought her foot up before slamming it down onto Haxorus's spine causing tremors the likes of which caused huge cracks in the ground and for Dmitri and his comrades to get knocked onto their butts from the sheer force of the attack.

Finishing off her beat down, Kiera twisted her body around and forcefully smashed her tail into Haxorus's shoulder which didn't elicit a peep from the dragon type who harshly tumbled across the ground like a stone across the water until he came to stop completely motionless on the ground for an extremely brief instant before he casually got up as if he just woke up from a nap and resettled himself into a fighting stance. While everyone was shocked that Haxorus had just shrugged off a vicious assault from the megapede pokemon, Kiera herself felt her legs go weak and vigorously shook her head in disbelief as Haxorus just took her best as if it was nothing and was waiting for more with the calmest expression on his face.

Refusing to back down, Kiera glared at the dragon type furiously and cautiously circled him, but couldn't react in time when Haxorus, without telegraphing his blow, sent a quick, small orb of draconic energy toward her causing her to shriek in surprise and jump back as it struck the ground in front of her and kicked up dust, obscuring her vision. Suddenly, Kiera heard another attack hurtling toward her from the dust cloud and managed to weave her head out the way as another orb passed by her as suddenly, Kiera let out a surprised grunt of pain and felt herself go stiff as she slowly turned her head to find Haxorus off to her side with his razor sharp claws glowing a faint white before collapsing on her side with a bone crunching thud.

"Kiera!" Dmitri shouted worriedly as she sprinted over to her with a super potion in hand while Zangoose and Sparkplug followed him with his backpack in tow while Haxorus took a deep breathe in and let it back out before walking over to Dmitri with his arms at his sides.

Spraying the super potion's contents over his friend, Kiera bit her lip from the stinging sensation of the medicine, but kept herself still lest it go to waste and after a few moments, she still felt pain, but it was little enough that she could climb to her feet and nuzzle Dmitri's head affectionately for his care before blankly staring at Haxorus who crossed his arms and looked back at her. Kiera gave a nod of approval to the dragon type who smirked and respectfully bowed to her for the battle causing the bug type to click and bow her head courteously as she turned her attention to her trainer who was approaching her with more super potions in hand.

"Kiera, stay still okay? I'm going to spray more super potions on you," Dmitri told her causing Kiera to snort lazily and allowed him to continue giving her aid while Zangoose nervously walked up to Haxorus with a super potion in her claws and stared up at him.

"(Thanks, but no thanks Zangoose. I'm not really hurt from the battle,)" Haxorus politely informed the cat ferret pokemon who timidly nodded in response and walked back to Sparkplug's side as the pokemon watched Dmitri heal the massive bug type who continued to stand still.

After he finished, the mood in the area was a lot calmer and friendlier as Kiera invited Haxorus to hang out with Zangoose and Sparkplug which the dragon type accepted as he walked over to him at a somewhat quick pace while Dmitri smiled at the sight of his pokemon and Haxorus interacting with one another. Attempting to walk off to the side in order to let his pokemon spend time with one another, he was suddenly felt himself being hoisted up in the air and upon turning his head, he found his shirt collar in Kiera's jaw as she placed on him on her back and gave him a look that said "Where are you going?" causing him to sigh, but he grinned after a moment and allowed himself to simply enjoy the ride.

Pov shift

Despite the merrymaking and games going on, Maris had distanced herself from the large amounts of pokemon at the picnic and was currently leaning against a tree with her arms folded and her eyes closed with an aloof expression on her face, but shot her eyes open when she felt a massive rise of energy in the distance.

"(Kiera's fighting Haxorus huh? No surprise there; she wouldn't just let someone be on her team without testing them first,)" Maris mused to herself until she quickly shot her hand up and caught a Frisbee that was flying toward her face and upon scanning the area, she found Dragonite with a goofy grin on his face and was hailing her to play with him and his friends.

Maris considered her options; play with Dragonite and the others after he "accidentally" threw a projectile toward her face or stand alone off to the side not doing anything and being bored out of her mind. After much contemplation, she chose the latter and gently threw the Frisbee back to Dragonite who frowned at her decision, but didn't bother her for now and resumed playing with his friends while she tuned into the battle Kiera and Haxorus were having with one another.

"(He's just letting her literally roll on top of him in order to wear her down,)" Maris analyzed as the fighting type had to yet again shoot her hand up and stop the Frisbee from hitting her face as Dragonite flew over to her and gave her an expectant look causing Maris to scowl and shove the projectile into the dragon's gut.

"(If I play with you, will you stop throwing that thing at me?)" Maris asked the jolly dragon irritably causing Dragonite to nod happily and gently grab her wrist as he pulled her over to the field they were playing in.

Sighing, Maris squeezed herself into the circle next to Dragonite and Lopunny and patiently waited for the toy to come to her while still keeping tabs on the battle, but found that it was soon reaching its end.

"(Something on your mind?)" Dragonite questioned her as he effortlessly caught the projectile with his fingers and flicked it back to Sceptile who smirked and outdid its hatchling by balancing the toy on its pinky and tossing it to the elder Haxorus.

"(I want to make up with Dmitri, but what he said…it strikes a chord with me,)" Maris admitted to him causing the jolly dragon to nod in understanding and leaped up into the air to catch the toy from a bad throw and tossed it to Hydreigon who gently batted it away from him causing Dragonite to sigh and rub the back of his head.

"(Someone's got to tell him that's not how we play Frisbee; anyway Maris, I believe you should take Luka's words into consideration as she's right about you,)" Dragonite replied causing Maris to snort dismissively at his statement as she caught the toy and flung it to Delia who caught it and tossed it to Druddigon, but not without raising a brow at her which Maris took as knowing about her current conversation with Dragonite.

"(Dragonite, I already explained this; if such a thing happened to Dmitri, I would continue to fight on in order to honor his memory after I've exacted my vengeance on those who forced him to that point,)" Maris scathingly retorted under her breathe causing Dragonite to give a dismissive snort as he waited for Maris to throw the Frisbee to someone else before speaking to her once more.

"(That's where I'm getting confused at Maris; on whom would you be exacting vengeance on?)" Dragonite inquired causing Maris to have to take a deep breathe in and let it back out to calm herself before shooting a quick glare at the dragon type who coolly waited for her response.

"(Don't you fucking lecture me Dragonite; you of all pokemon know what revenge is about,)" Maris snapped at him causing Dragonite to frown at her and pull her off to the side in order to talk to her causing Maris to scowl and look away from him.

"(Yes, I would exact vengeance when it's tangible, not obscure like the vengeance you're advocating,)" Dragonite responded coolly, ignoring the harsh tone the fighting type was using on him, causing Maris to scoff at what he said and fold her arms tensely.

"(Tell me something Maris; we all know you would go after those who bullied Dmitri, but would have gone after Lance?)" Dragonite questioned her causing Maris, who perked up at the question, to nod without the slightest bit of hesitation causing the jolly dragon to sigh deeply and put a claw on her shoulder causing Maris's scowl to deepen.

"(Maris, that's what I mean; Luka took her revenge against those pokemon because it was tangible; because they directly killed her family. For you, it would be justifiable to go after those who bullied him because they directly drove him to that point, but to go after Lance, a man who had no relation to that incident, you would be going after an innocent man,)" Dragonite advised her causing Maris to growl under her breathe and swat Dragonite's claw off of her shoulder which didn't bother the dragon type as he folded his arms and stared down at the martial arts pokemon who had a hate filled glower on her face.

"(I would hardly call Lance an innocent man considering he made Darris's life a living hell whenever the Battle Academy decided to send him to the Indigo Plateau about opening up a junior school,)" Maris snarled at the large dragon who narrowed his eyes at the shorter pokemon and cocked his head to the side, completely unamused by Maris's statement.

"(That's irrelevant; Lance didn't directly cause Darris's death nor was he indirectly involved with his death. The plane crash, although very much tragic, wasn't Lance's fault,)" Dragonite said sagely causing Maris to howl in rage and punch the ground next to her causing everyone playing to jolt in shock and look at the fighting type and seeing this Dragonite waved them off, signaling that he was handling this.

Kneeling down, he put a claw on Maris's shoulder causing the fighting type to clutch her head as if she was in immense pain which caused Dragonite to concernedly stare at his friend.

"(I need to meditate on this,)" Maris informed him causing the jolly dragon to nod in understanding and let her walk away to a nearby tree where she sat down cross legged and closed her eyes as she began intensely concentrating on this new information.

"(How's she doing?)" Lopunny inquired as she walked up to him causing the dragon type to shrug and look at Maris who was still deep in thought about Dragonite's words.

"(I don't know, but at least she's taking what I said into consideration,)" Dragonite responded to his teammate causing her to nod and put her paws on her hips as she briefly chewed on her cheek before addressing her comrade.

"(Delia said that the Tag Team thingy should be up and running again in a few days so we'll have to resume training soon and I guess part of our training before then is to enter into a…contest?)" Lopunny confusedly stated which caused Dragonite to raise a brow incredulously as he heard about contests from the whispers of passing trainers and from what he heard, they weren't really combat oriented.

"(I guess it makes sense; Karen participated in contests in order to come up with combined moves, defensive techniques, and double team strategies so I guess she wants to see if she can too,)" Dragonite responded causing Lopunny to crane her head to the side bewilderedly, still not understanding what a pokemon contest was, causing Dragonite to chuckle and put a claw on her shoulder.

"(It sounds like a glorified beauty paegent,)" Lopunny spat disdainfully as she scrunched up her ears and stared off to the side with a sour look causing the jolly dragon to laugh softly and tighten his grip on her shoulder.

"(It may or may not be, but at least it's something new,)" the jolly dragon added causing Lopunny to scoff dismissively, but smirked after a moment had passed and playfully punched the giant dragon in shoulder causing him to laugh softly as he lightheartedly patted her on the back, but being used to this, Lopunny didn't shift in her posture despite the strong, yet playful hit.

Timeskip

Delia, along with Maris, Lopunny, Maya, and Jet walked along the paved road of Hearthome in order to meet up with Dmitri and Catherine at the park so they could sign up for the contest for training before the Tag Team Competition resumed in a few days. Due to being separated on tense terms due to Maris and Dmitri's argument, she was glad to be able meet up with them again although she doubted the martial arts pokemon would be happy to see her boyfriend.

"A contest huh? Maybe we should join, huh Maya?" Jet mused to his wife who shrugged in response to what he said and put her hands on her hips as Delia cast a backward glance at her parents before looking forward again.

"Sorry Jet, I tried them out once before and I got disqualified for being too brutal so I think I'll pass," Maya answered him causing Jet to sigh and rub the back of his head while Delia couldn't help but let out a chuckle and stared back at her mom with a curious gaze.

"What did you do mother?" Delia inquired interestedly with a barely concealed grin causing Maya to laugh nostalgically at the memory and bashfully rub the back of her head.

"I treated it like a normal pokemon battle and didn't really focus on making my attacks pretty or fancy; I just went in straight for the kill and that didn't sit well with the judges," Maya confessed causing both mother and daughter to share a good laugh with one another as Delia faced forward again with a slight smile on her face.

"I'm not going to lie; I'm probably going to use the same line of thinking you used mother," Delia admitted causing the battle ace and the veteran dragon tamer to let out another chorus of laughter which didn't go unnoticed by Dragonite and Druddigon as their pokeball's rumbled violently.

Ever since the picnic, Delia had been in a far better mood with her parents and was on amicable terms with them again which caused Dragonite and Druddigon great joy. Seeing something in the distance, Delia focused her eyes and saw the approaching forms of Luka and Catherine causing the dragon tamer to wave them over as the former heiress barreled into the battle ace with a flying hug which nearly knocked Delia over.

"Delia, I'm so glad to see you again! It's felt like forever!" Catherine shouted as she continued to tightly hug the dragon tamer who gave an awkward smile at her friend and sheepishly patted her on the head while Luka walked up to Lopunny and Maris with a reserved, but warm grin on her face.

Maris noticed something different about Luka; she couldn't wrap her paw around it, but something seemed…unusual about her friend.

"(You've changed; you look the same, but you're not the same girl as before,)" Maris remarked tersely causing Luka to nod in response to Maris's statement and calmly fired up her aura that enveloped her instantaneously and smoothly like the flow of the river.

Maris and Lopunny exchanged shocked glances as they gazed upon Luka's aura that shone like the bright, cloudless sky and noticed that her sclera changed into a bright shade of gray, signifying her new power and control over it. Maris couldn't believe it; she didn't sense any rise in power from this new aura Luka was emitting as they were still equals, but the martial arts pokemon sensed that Luka no longer had any inner turmoil eating away at her nor did it have any of the dark thoughts that she once had.

"(Did you make up with Dmitri yet?)" Luka inquired causing Maris to shake her head slowly and put her paws on her hips while Luka narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, giving the Unova pokemon an expectant look causing Lopunny to step up and fill in for Maris.

"(She still needs some time to meditate over this, but she's not mad at Dmitri anymore,)" Lopunny replied to Luka's question causing the aura pokemon to let out a gruff puff of air from her nostrils and accepted what the bunny pokemon had said as at least Maris was taking the time to reevaluate the principles she had lived by for so long.

"(Oh yeah; I forgot to tell you guys. Catherine and I got an Ursaring on our team yesterday when she fought a trainer over it,)" Luka explained causing both Maris and Lopunny to raise a brow at what she said, curious as to why the former heiress would so something like that, as Catherine had since stopped glomping Delia and was politely bowing to both Maya and Jet in greeting.

Sighing, Luka began telling them how they acquired such a pokemon.

Flashback

Catherine and her team had finished up eating their ice cream scoops that their trainer provided for them and with content burps; they rubbed their bellies and began the trek back to the Veilstone Pokemon Center in order to get some rest. Catherine let out a surprised yelp as fierce yelling and determined shrieks could be heard in the distance causing the former heiress and her team to race to the source and found a teenage girl, a pokemon trainer, battling an Ursaring with her Grotle causing Catherine to beckon her team back and watch to see what would happen.

Floatzel, Graveler, and Kricketune went back into their pokeballs until they were needed, not being the slightest bit interested in the battle at hand, but as for Catherine and Luka they were intrigued as this girl was giving the formidable bear a tough fight until the ursine finally fell after a well-placed sphere of nature energy knocked it onto its back. Throwing a pokeball at the downed pokemon, it rumbled furiously as the weakened bear was still trying to fight its way to freedom, but soon the pokeball stopped vibrating signaling that the bear was caught causing the girl to whoop in joy causing Catherine to grin, remembering what it was like catching her first pokemon, and signaled for Luka to follow her away from the clearing, but the aura pokemon remained rooted to the spot with a suspicious glare on her face directed straight at the girl.

Raising a brow, Catherine walked back to her girlfriend's side and curiously watched the teenage girl release Ursaring and began spraying potions on it in order to heal it from its wounds which wasn't unusual as any good trainer would do that to a pokemon they recently caught, but Luka's hardened, wary gaze remained on her face.

"Hi Ursaring, I caught you so that means you're on my team now," the girl explained to the bear pokemon who grumbled irritably and rubbed its head while Catherine finally got why Luka was so wary of the girl.

Like most pokemon trainers, they assumed that just because you caught a pokemon that it meant they were immediately on your team and like Catherine had learned in her travels with Dmitri and Delia, that wasn't the case. If Delia were here, she would be disgusted at the girl's words and would have done everything in her power to free that Ursaring and Catherine couldn't help but see some of herself in that girl because she use to have that same line of thought, but she abandoned it long ago. After she caught buizel, she nearly forgot to ask him if she wanted to come with her in the first place, but luckily Luka reminded her and the weasel pokemon was more than happy to come along and Geodude seemed a bit unsure at first, but he agreed in the end after he said goodbye to his family.

This girl, however, wasn't like Dmitri or Delia in that they asked pokemon if they wanted to come with them in the first place. She didn't consider whether or not the pokemon had other responsibilities, friends, or family to take care of so the former heiress acted immediately. Making her presence known, Catherine calmly stepped forward with Luka in tow causing the girl to become on guard and for Grotle to protectively step in front of her, warily watching the two new comers.

"That's not how pokemon training works," Catherine began causing the girl to narrow her eyes at the former heiress's words and scoff at her while Ursaring, still too weak from the battle, curiously watched the exchanged between the two trainers.

"Excuse me?" the girl stated in an offended tone as she put her hands on her hips and did a once over of Catherine who maintained a cool expression on her face and continued on what she was going to say while Grotle continued to act as a shield for its trainer.

"Just because you catch a pokemon, it doesn't mean it's on your team. Have you considered whether or not Ursaring has cubs to look after or if it even wants to go with you in the first place?" Catherine inquired thoughtfully causing the girl to raise a brow at Catherine's words, clearly taken aback by this, before shaking her head.

"It's not your fault; it's the culture this world has for pokemon battling that advocates that philosophy. Give Ursaring a choice to come with you or not," Catherine advised the girl who mulled over what the former heiress had told her before nodding and turning to Ursaring who had recovered somewhat from the battle and locked eyes with the girl.

"Ursaring, do you want to come with me?" the girl asked the bear pokemon kindly causing the massive ursine to scratch its head contemplatively before politely shaking its head no causing the girl to sigh, but she nevertheless smashed the bear's pokeball and allowed it to walk away as the bear shot Catherine a grateful nod before departing further into the woods.

End Flashback

"(After a while, we ran into Ursaring again and she was grateful that we gave her the power of choice so she requested to join our team,)" Luka finished causing Maris and Lopunny to look upon Catherine with new found respect while the bunny pokemon perked up her ears and put her paws on her hips as she evenly stared at the aura pokemon.

"(Is she strong?)" Lopunny inquired causing Luka to rub her chin deep in thought, trying to come up with the correct words to say, before shaking her head and letting a small smile come to her face.

"(She has potential, but she still needs refinement in her technique which is why Catherine hopes to accustom her to the way we battle and find out a battling style that best suits Ursaring by using her in this contest,)" Luka explained causing the bunny pokemon to give a terse, satisfactory nod from the aura pokemon's answer and secretly awaited the chance to do battle with the ursine pokemon.

"Oh hey, Dmitri's coming!" Catherine shouted loudly as she happily flailed her arms, hailing him over to them, and despite scoffing and looking away, Maris observed her boyfriend from the corner of her eye and found Zangoose and Haxorus walking at either side of him casually.

Cheerfully, he waved back at his friends who met him halfway as he hugged Catherine, Luka, Delia, and Lopunny while respectfully bowing to Maya and Jet who smiled at him in response for his manners, glad to see that he was still the same boy they knew, and when it came to Maris, his grin evaporated and blankly stared at his girlfriend. Maris turned her head with a stoic look on her face and gave him a nod of acknowledgement before turning away from him causing Dmitri to sigh and hook his hands into his pockets. Maris wouldn't pretend he didn't exist, but she would keep him at arm's length for now until she sorted everything out.

Shaking his head, Dmitri and his friends entered the pokemon center and found to their surprise that there wasn't a line causing Dmitri to breathe a mental sigh of relief and step up to the counter where the Nurse Joy groaned and rubbed her temple, but upon spotting Dmitri she lightened up.

"Hey Dmitri, how's the prosthetic treating you?" Cilia inquired tiredly causing the battle ace to give a sheepish grin and with some effort on his part, managed to clench his fist and lift his arm up somewhat causing the esteemed Nurse to give a nod of approval for his progress.

"Glad to see your therapy is going well; anyway, are you here to enter the contest?" Cilia asked the young boy causing Dmitri to nod politely in response to the question causing the medical professional to yawn and request his pokedex which he gave to her and after punching in some keys on the computer, she handed it back to him.

"Alright you're all set; good luck," Cilia told the young man in a supportive, but sleepy voice causing Dmitri to nevertheless nod in thanks for her help and stepped out of line, allowing Delia and Catherine to register as well.

"(Do I have to fight Dmitri?)" Zangoose asked of her patient nervously causing Dmitri to shake his head and gently scratch her behind the ears causing the cat ferret pokemon to coo at his touch as Cilia sleepily entered some more numbers into the computer before handing it back to Catherine and just as Delia was about to step up to register, the doors to the pokemon center open.

Maris, Luka, and Lopunny cast backwards glances at the door and narrowed their eyes when they saw it was Ash, Brock, Dawn, and some red haired girl they didn't recognize, but Delia could care less and didn't even acknowledge that she heard the door open.

"Dmitri, you and your friends are entering?" Brock incredulously asked of the battle ace causing Dmitri to nod in the affirmative while Dawn, seeing that the trainer who could give Ash a run for his money was also entering, caused her to have second thoughts about registering.

"Dawn it's alright, pokemon contests are different from pokemon battles; you can beat her, you just have to play it smart," Ash encouraged his young friend causing Dawn to unsurely study the dragon tamer once again before an intense fire lit in her eyes and determinedly stepped toward the counter where Cilia requested her pokedex.

"A mere difference in battle conditions won't save her if she has to go up against me," Delia stated without any smugness to her voice while Lopunny was the complete opposite and wore a haughty smirk on her face and put her paws on her hips, assured of her trainer's victory, while the red head narrowed her eyes at the dragon tamer and stepped forward in challenge causing Lopunny to raise a brow amusedly as if this was actually happening.

"Please don't start arguing; my day is being hard enough without trainers barking at each other like rabid Arcanines," Cilia requested irritably as she picked up a mug and drank from it greedily causing her to sigh in relief as the coffee rejuvenated her and looked around to see if any other trainers were going to enter and called out to the red haired girl if she wanted to register causing her to glower at the dragon tamer one last time before heading to the counter.

Brushing it off, Delia told her friends she'd be outside talking to her parents causing them to nod as Lopunny and Maris flanked her at either side and as the red head had finished registering and shot a sour look at Delia's back.

"Ugh, who does she think she is talking like that? She thinks she can take on the world when she hasn't even decided on what path she wants to take," the red head seethed furiously as Dmitri and Haxorus clenched their fists and didn't intervene in the conversation…for now.

"Her names Delia, Zoey; she's a dragon tamer traveling around and collecting the gym badges to enter the Pokemon League," Brock informed her causing the red head to snort dismissively and fold her arms while Haxorus chewed his cheek in order to hold in the rage at the girl's response while Dmitri kept a calm look on his face and beckoned for Zangoose and Haxorus to follow him out of the Pokemon Center.

"It's alright Zoey; I've already beaten her twice and she's a tough trainer, but I don't think she'll get far here," Ash assured her causing Dmitri to stop dead in his tracks at what Ash said, but shook his head slowly and continued walking out leaving Catherine and Luka in the pokemon center where they too got up to leave.

"She won't get far, Ash? That's an ignorant statement," Catherine said from over her shoulder causing Ash to ball his hands into fists at the former heiress's retreating form causing Zoey to raise a brow at Catherine before looking back to Ash with a curious look.

"You guys know each other or something?" Zoey asked confusedly as she still cast a curious look at Ash who's eyes were narrowed at the disappearing forms of Dmitri's group.

"It's a long story," Ash began as he tried to start telling her about his encounters with the dragon tamer, but was cut off by an exasperated Nurse Joy.

"Well please don't begin to tell it; the contest won't begin for several hours so use that time to get ready," Cilia interjected bluntly causing Ash and his friends to nod and bow respectfully to the Nurse who returned it with a sleepy wave as she picked up a mug and drank from it as if her life depended on it as the teenagers left the Pokemon Center.

Seeing no other occupants, Cilia yawned once more and took another sip of her coffee as she shoved her I.D. into the computer and began furiously typing on the keyboard before removing it and rubbing her forehead.

"Well, there isn't a rule against Nurse Joy's entering pokemon battle's or contests," Cilia noted aloud to herself as she picked up a notepad from a drawer began thinking about her lineup for the contest while taking another sip from her mug.

Later

Dmitri and his friend's had dressed up for the occasion as Dmitri was wearing a fancy, but comfortable gray turtleneck along with formal black dress pants while Catherine wore a stunning, dark blue dress that stretched all the way down to her knees where she wore black leggings while Delia wore a modified black Kimono with the sleeves cut off and it only reached down to her waist where she wore dark red leggings. Scanning the crowd backstage, Dmitri didn't find anyone he recognized save for his friends until he spotted Dawn and that girl Zoey next to her causing him to look away and rub his chin thoughtfully.

During practice, he came up with an impromptu routine for the appeals round and he hoped it would be enough that he could get to the battle round, but when he saw Catherine and Delia do their routine for the appeals, they were naturals at it. If he did manage to advance, then Zoey and Dawn would arguably be the biggest threats given their experience in contests, but upon spotting Cilia in the crowd of competitors, he added her to the list of people he would have to watch out for. Hearing his name called, Dmitri took a deep breathe in and let it back out as he slowly walked out to the field with Delia and Catherine wishing him good luck causing him to give a grateful grin while Maris gave him a quick nod causing him to nod back as he focused his attention on the routine he practiced.

Although Zangoose didn't want to participate in the battles, she was more than happy to give her all in a showing of skill and grace as she walked out onto the field as Dmitri, with some effort, managed to grip Haxorus's pokeball with his prosthetic and with some visible strain, managed to throw it out onto the field. The mighty dragon landed in a three point stance next to the cat ferret pokemon with an earthshaking thud causing the crowd to gasp in awe at the sight of Haxorus while the other competitors calmly watched on.

"Okay guys, just like we practiced," Dmitri said to them calmly causing Haxorus and Zangoose to nod and walk to opposite sides of the field as they bowed to each other respectfully and narrowed their eyes at each other intensely.

Starting off the routine, both Haxorus fired multiple orbs of draconic energy around the stout cat ferret as if trying to prevent her from escaping, but as quick as a flash, Zangoose barged into them with a white, golden streak behind her until she came to a stop in the middle again causing the sphere of azure energy to take on a ghostly white shade. With tender care, Haxorus levitated half of the orbs to Zangoose who concentrated on the spheres of energy, taking care not to drop them, while Haxorus slowly pulled the other balls of energy to him and Dmitri could quite clearly see some the audience yawning or dozing off. Nodding to one another, Haxorus and Zangoose clustered their spheres of energy together and allowed them to expand before they created giant, energy like avatars of themselves that reached up all the way to the lights of the contest hall.

Suddenly, those who dozed off from Dmitri's performance now took interest in it as they leaned forward in their seats in anticipation, curious to see as to what the two pokemon could do, and despite her disdain for trainers who participated in battles and contests, Zoey begrudgingly looked on with an interested glint in her eyes. Narrowing their eyes, Zangoose's claws shone a bright blue which transferred itself to her avatar while Haxorus suddenly covered himself in a dark azure aura which his avatar took on as well as both Zangoose and Haxorus began dancing around each other gracefully, bolstering their stats, and just as some of the audience were about to doze off again, the two pokemon's avatars struck out at one another. Claws clashed against claws sending giant, heavy sparks the size of miniature suns at the audience causing them all to gasp in awe as Zangoose and Haxorus continued their mock battle as neither of their avatars was able to gain the edge over the other and to the audience it was a graceful, deadly ballet of skill that had them enamored for as long as the routine went on before Zangoose's and Haxorus's avatars struck each other's fists with giant, swirling red energy causing a large, wide dome to encapsulate them.

The audience covered their eyes from the bright flash of light and when it subsided, they found the two giant avatars standing back to back with one another in fighting stances before they both let their energy clones ebb away and took a bow to the audience causing them to erupt into cheers for their performance. After Haxorus allowed himself to return to his pokeball, Dmitri and Zangoose walked backstage where Catherine and Delia congratulated him for his performance while Zoey couldn't help but let a derisive remark escape from her lips.

"Not bad for an amateur I guess," Zoey told him point blank causing Dmitri to shrug at what she said and put his hands into his pockets all while giving her a blank, level stare.

"As long as it gets me to the next round," Dmitri responded simply causing Zoey to narrow her eyes at him before she was called up for her routine causing her to scoff and walk out onto the field while Lopunny snorted and leaned against the wall with her arms folded like her trainer was doing.

The appeals round went off without a hitch as all the competitors showed off their respective pokemon's skills as Delia, along with Dragonite and Hydreigon, conjured a massive dragon that spewed a torrent of fiery, draconic energy at the audience that nearly overtook them before it turned into confetti while Catherine, along with Floatzel and Kricketune, created a massive castle of ice where they happily waved to the audience from the balcony. Bonus points were awarded to Delia and Catherine for actually participating in the routine with their pokemon unlike most of the other trainers who sat back and let their pokemon do the work which in turn caused them to advance to the next round.

Upon seeing themselves advancing, Zoey and Dawn shared an ecstatic high five with each other while Cilia gave a thoughtful nod when she saw herself advance to the next round as most of the other spots were filled by trainers Dmitri didn't recognize until finally, there was only one spot left. To his surprise, he just barely made it causing uproars of disapproval from the audience who thought someone else deserved it, but Officer Jenny, who was filling in as one of the judges, shushed the crowd in order to explain.

"His performance wasn't the best one we've seen, but the reason why I voted for him is because of the insane amount of control his pokemon showed over their energy. How many of us can say that any one of our pokemon could simultaneously use their moves while maintaining control over a giant energy clone of themselves?" Officer Jenny asked the crowd causing most of the naysayers to begrudgingly quiet down their complaints and sit back down on their chairs while Dmitri gave a grateful nod to the lawwoman who nodded back at him and sat down at the judge's table.

Giving a mental sigh of relief, Dmitri stepped out onto the field with the other competitors and watched as the big screen randomly matched up the competitors with one another and when it finished, Lopunny and Delia let feral grins come to their face when they saw they were going against Dawn while Catherine and Zoey merely stared at one another blankly, sizing each other up, as they were going head to head. For Dmitri, he raised a brow in surprise when he found that he was going up against the same women who had given him the prosthetic arm causing him to rub his chin and rub Kiera's and Sparkplug's pokeballs for good luck.

"Will Delia and Dawn please come out to the field!" the announcer shouted causing Delia's grin to evaporate and instead adopted a serious, focused expression as despite their differences in strength, Delia would not underestimate Dawn, let alone in her playground, as Lopunny too was absent of the smugness she had moments ago and concentrated on the battle to come.

"…" Delia wordlessly sent out Lopunny and Druddigon as she put her hands on her hips and stared expectantly at Dawn, waiting to see if she would counter her lineup in any way, and the young coordinator didn't disappoint.

"Piplup, Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn shouted determinedly as the flightless avian landed on the gigantic swine's back, it's eyes narrowed with a fierce desire to win, while Delia raised a brow upon seeing Mamoswine, gaining a new found respect for the younger trainer, as she folded her arms and waited for the battle to start.

"You may begin!"