"Zoey! Did you watch the Johto Grand Festival final?" I was bombarded by Dawn as soon as I got to the breakfast buffet.
"I did," I chuckled, receiving her with a hug. "May is finally a Top Coordinator, now it's our time."
"You got it!" She exclaimed with a beaming smile. "Let's meet at the finals!"
"It's a promise then," I replied, as Dawn stepped back.
"It's not like you have any chance of fulfilling it," we heard Ursula's haughty voice say beside us. She looked so smug with that cocky smirk of hers. "Dee-Dee here is facing me first, and no luck will save her from me."
"I never needed any luck to take down egocentric pricks," Dawn's reply had me choking in disbelief. I looked at her stunned and then at Ursula, whose whole face was red in anger. "Especially, not one that uses her pokemon's delicate evolution to win a competition. Ash is quite disappointed in you," Dawn informed her with a pitying look.
"Why would I care what a brute of a gym trainer thinks of me?" Ursula snapped at her, with a shrilly tone.
Now it was Dawn's turn to look at her in disbelief, she shook her head and told her in a pitying tone: "You poor girl, you don't know."
"I don't know what?!" Ursula was starting to go off the rails, eyes blazing in anger.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Ash suddenly appeared behind Ursula with a glare in his eyes. "You evolved two pokemon in a high-stress situation simply for entertainment! Gym battles and competitions all around the regions would have banned you for what you did!"
"Let's get out of here," Dawn whispered, dragging me away. I allowed her to do so, but my eyes never strayed from the shocking scene. I've never seen Ash act like that... he sounded like my mom! Ursula had deflated completely, her gaze was on the floor almost like she could not get herself to look up and meet his gaze. Ursula said something, which froze Ash. "Oh, no..." Dawn murmured in worry.
"What?" I asked her confused.
But then I realized what she had meant. Ash exploded! He began his rant all over again, but this time instead of frustrated and disappointed, he looked furious!
"That girl messed up bad!" Jessie laughed, as she took a seat at our table, with her husband and Meowth.
"Do you know what she said that got Ash this angry?" I inquired.
"She is planning on using one of her newly evolved pokemon on her first battle round," James answered before taking a bite from his eggs.
"She... she can't be that cocky..." Dawn muttered stunned. "The first thing Ash taught me after Veliplume evolved for the first time, was to allow her to get used to her new size and power. To leave time for her to heal and recover from her evolution. Why in Lugia's name is she using her newly evolved pokemon?"
"Because no one would expect her to, and no one knows what kind of new combos she is planning," Meowth deduced.
"Shit!" I turned to Dawn, eyes widening. I've never heard her curse before. "Ash will eat her alive!"
"Well, it seems that Ash is not going to eat her. He is coming this way," I informed them, causing them to panic.
"Abort! Abort mission!"
"Hide me, Zoey!"
"Does anyone have pancakes? Maybe if we feed the monster he won't eat us!"
"Have mercy on me Arceus!"
"What the..." I exchanged weirded-out glances with Glameow.
Why are all my friends so strange? I asked myself, sweatdropping.
"Unbelievable!" Ash snapped, throwing himself on a chair. "Can you believe her? The nerve!"
"Pancakes?" Meowth offered his plate, trembling as he did so.
"Thank you! I knew I could trust you Meowth," Ash finally smiled, taking the offered plate, as the rest of my friends released a relieved sigh. "Dawn!"
"Yes!" Dawn squealed, straightening up under the attention.
"Make her pay!" He ordered with a growl.
"You got it!" Dawn beamed at her mentor.
Dawn had to fulfill her promise sooner than we realized. She was the first one to go. "From being last on the appeal round to being the first on the battle round," Jessie commented backstage.
"Good luck, Dawn," I murmured under my breath, as I watched Dawn send out Pachirisu and Mamoswine, while Ursula chose her Gabite and Flareon.
"Pachirisu, Discharge!" Dawn commanded.
"Gabite intercept it!" Ursula ordered, and her dragon stepped before her eeveelution to receive the hit.
"Gabite is a ground type, it won't affect him," I commented with worry.
"Don't worry, that's Dawn's plan," Jessie chuckled pointing at the T.V in a relaxed manner. Pachirisu continued to use Discharge, but this time the move was aimed at Mamoswine. Dawn then commanded Mamoswine to attack Gabite with Take Down. Still surrounded by electricity, Mamoswine rushed at Gabite, sending him flying backward, hitting Flareon, and allowing the Discharge to injure them both "Ursula lost a chunk of points for that!" Jessie laughed.
However, the battle was far from over. Gabite and Flareon picked themselves up, with a determined look. "Sandstorm!" Ursula ordered, which created a cyclone of sand.
Flareon avoided it by jumping, and right before Pachirisu got blown away by it, Mamoswine threw him on his back. "Mamoswine, Ancient Power! Part the Sandstorm!"
"Not a chance!" Ursule snapped with a smirk dripping with superiority. "Flareon, Scary Face!" Both moves combined created a frightening image of a large, glowing-eyed Flareon in the cyclone. Mamoswine is intimidated by the image making the attack fail, which caused Dawn to lose a quarter of her point. "Good luck getting out of this one! Ha ha ha!"
"What a bitch!" I cursed, not being able to stop myself. "Like really, can't she be mature for once!"
"Relax, Mamosswine is new, but Pachirisu has been with Dawn and Ash for a while," Jessie told me with a chuckle.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I turned to her in confusion.
"It means that Pachirisu's main mentor has been Pikachu, do you think that a barely evolved Flareon will be able to scare The Saint's apprentice?" Jessie answered, with a cheeky smirk. "Just look."
"Pachirisu, Volkner combo!" Dawn called out. Pachirisu jumped in the air creating an Electro Ball and throwing it at the cyclone, before it could hit the sand, Pachirisu added Volt Switch to the attack. The combination was beautiful! The Electro Ball was surrounded by the Volt Switch, making it a volatile but beautiful move, that was followed by a pretty light show. Not only was the sand cyclone ended, Ursula's pokemon were thrown back and her points were reduced to half. "Now, while they are down! Mamoswine, Ice Shard!"
However, instead of attacking the pokemon who were down, the ice-type move surrounded Pachirisu. Everyone backstage gasped when an ice ball similar to her appeal appeared around Pachirisu. But this time it did not stay still, Pachirisu's use of Discharge created a mesmerizing shining ball of ice. Almost, like an Ice Chandelier.
"Beautiful," I murmured in awe.
"But they won't get to hit Ursula's pokemon in time," Jessie pointed out, as we both watched Gabite and Flareon get on their feet, as Ursula commanded them to dodge. "At least, Ursula only has one-third of her points left."
"Mamoswine, Hidden Power!" Dawn ordered, noticing the same thing as us. The Hidden Power hit the Ice Chandelier on its back, causing it to accelerate exponentially. Before Gabite and Flareon could dodge, Pachirisu crashed into them in a cloud of smoke and ice. "Let's keep on going! Pachirisu, Super Fang! Mamoswine, Ice Shard again!"
"Not so fast!" Ursula called out. "Flareon, Shadow Ball! Gabite, Dragon Claw!"
But when the smoke clears, it was revealed that Gabite and Flareon are unable to battle, giving Dawn the win, with still two minutes left on the clock.
"That was fast..." I commented stunned by the secure win from Dawn, but glad to see my friend starting her battle rounds strong.
"That's what happens when you use a pokemon you evolved yesterday," Jessie scoffed. "But well done, Dawn."
We both clapped and cheered alongside the other coordinators backstage. I received Dawn with a hug as soon as she got to the dressing-room while trying really hard not to think about how cute she looked in her dress.
"I tried to talk with Ursula but..." Dawn said with a weak smile.
"Trainers like her need a hard fall before they realize what they are doing wrong," Nando finally spoke, he has been quiet for most of the day. "It is not on you. Now if you excuse me, I'm next."
He smiled at us, before walking out of the dressing room toward the stage. The fights came and went rapidly, mine was over before I realized it. When the day was over, Nando, Jessie, and I finished victoriously our matches and there were only sixteen remaining coordinators in the Grand Festival.