So I'm not overly proud of this chapter, and I must admit that it's basically just filler. I only wrote it out so I don't have to do tons of overcomplicated explanatory parts in the story later on that wouldn't be very enjoyable to read. You guys could honestly just skip this chapter and still be up to date with the story, but I have to write this chapter out so the continuity of the story makes sense.

I just wanted to let you all know that. I promise that the plot will become more complex and original in later chapters. It just might take a few chapters to build up to that point. Right now, all I'm really doing is establishing basic storylines ready for the more complex stuff later on. I promise, it will get better.


"Well, I promise that I'll be there to see the next one." Casey smiles warmly over at her friends, "Shall we continue heading for Floaroma Town?"

Her friends agree with her suggestion and the four of them begin to make their way out of the empty square, all of them laughing and smiling together as they go. Brock turns to Casey, the Pokemon Breeder asking her about her training session with interest, "So, Casey. Did you get the chance to try out some of your new strategies."

"Yeah, something like that, Brock." Casey smiles knowingly, "Something like that."


"How's the training going, Dawn?"

Casey walks out of the back door of the Pokemon Center and onto the training field out back, where Dawn is currently going through some special training with Pachirisu. She's been working on Pachirisu's Electric-Type attacks all morning in preparation for her upcoming contest. Brock's been watching them train whilst Ash and Pikachu have been giving them a hand.

Casey was doing some of her own special training with her Pokemon earlier that morning. She's been working constantly to perfect that strategy that she tried out back at the meadow with Cynthia and thanks to what she saw from Garchomp, her Pokemon aren't far off from utilising the tactic with ease. That's why she was inside the Pokemon Center just now. Nurse Joy just finished up tending to her Pokemon. None of them were seriously injured or anything; Casey just wanted Nurse Joy to give them a quick check-up to make sure that they're one hundred percent okay, which they thankfully are.

"I said no!" Dawn shouts down at Electric Squirrel Pokemon, seemingly frustrated by something that her Pokemon has done. Casey's not exactly sure what, though.

"Chi-pa!"

Pachirisu squeals as it unleashes a power Discharge attack, shocking Casey and the others with electrifying bolts of...well, electricity. The four of them scream as the volts surge throughout their body; the four of them land in a heap on the ground when Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Pachirisu, stunning the fellow Electric-Type and stopping its attack instantaneously.

"Dawn, do me a favour and never say no to Pachirisu again." Casey groans weakly, moving her hands up to her head to smooth down her electrically frazzled hair, "Although I do have to admit that Pachirisu's getting really strong. Its attack really set our hair on edge."

"It did!" Dawn's hands rush up to her hair, frantically scrambling around in an attempt to flatten her blue locks down, "Oh no! Not my hair again!"

"Hey, De-Dee!"

"De-Dee!"

"De-Dee?"

Dawn gasps in recognition whilst Ash, Casey and Brock recite the odd pet name in confusion, all four of the looking around to find out where the name came from. Dawn jumps up from the ground with a panicked expression on her face, the others simply staring at her with bemusement, "Only one guy knows that name!"

"That's right! Good to see ya, kid!"

A boy with red hair walks out onto the training field, a confident smirk plastered on his face. He's dressed in a green top, grey pants and sneakers and he has a certain look in his eyes that Casey can't exactly pinpoint. It's a mixture of excitement, cockiness and familiarity.

"Kenny! It is you!"

The boy, no, Kenny responds happily to Dawn's recognition, though he still finds the chance to mock Dawn for her abstract hair-do. Dawn is quick to snipe back at him as she manages to flatten down her hair, Ash, Brock and Casey simply watching their playful exchange with amusement and confusion. They still don't know exactly who this guy is.

Pikachu jumps down from Ash's shoulder and rushes over to investigate. Kenny notices the Electric Mouse Pokemon as it moves to stand beside Dawn and the smirk on his face grows, "What do ya know? De-de's got herself a Pikachu! De-Dee's all grown up."

"Kenny, stop! And you stop calling me De-de, too! Also, this is not my Pikachu..." Dawn turns around and points an angry finger right at Ash. This Kenny guy is really winding her up, "It's his!"

Ash, knowing that the last thing he should do is show any form of protest towards Dawn whenever she's as angry as she is right now, steps forward and politely introduces himself and Pikachu, who moves away from Dawn and jumps back up onto his trainers shoulder. Brock follows suit, introducing himself just as politely as Ash did before him.

Casey takes this as her cue, "And I'm Casey. It's nice to meet you, Kenny."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you, too." Kenny replies, though his voice almost seems distant. It's as if he's preoccupied by something else, though Casey's not exactlt sure what that is.

"You see, we've all been travelling together for quite a while now."

"What? With them?" Kenny is completely taken aback at this. By the look on his face, he almost seems hurt by it. That confuses Casey, but then again, from what she's seen so far, Kenny just confuses her entirely.


"Kenny left from Twinleaf Town to start on his journey before I did. We've known each other since nursery school and we used to play together a lot."

The five youngsters are sat at one of the wooden table sets outside of the Pokemon Center and are getting to know each other a bit more. Dawn was quick to explain to her newer friends about her past with Kenny, specifically about how close they were when they were little kids. It makes Casey think about her childhood friends from back home. Sometimes she wonders what they're up to around about now.

"I can't seem to remember your first Pokemon though." Dawn says, furrowing her grow as she tries to come up with the answer.

Kenny saves her the trouble and stands up from his chair, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a single Pokeball. He throws the Pokeball in question up into the air enthusiastically, his partner Pokemon emerging in a flash of white light.

"Prin-plup!"

Dawn gasps, "Wow, a Prinplup!"

Casey recognises the Pokemon. It's the middle evolution of the Piplup line, with Empoleon being the final of the three in the evolution line. She actually ran into a trainer just before she arrived in Oreburgh City that had a Prinplup and challenged him to battle. She won with ease thanks to Elekid's Electric-Type attacks.

"Pip-lup!"

Casey and the others watch fondly as Piplup jumps down from its position in Dawn's arms and over to Prinplup, clearly eager to greet it. Prinplup, however, has other plans. The larger Penguin Pokemon hits the smaller with its flipper, knocking Piplup to the ground and away from it effortlessly.

"Hey, what was that for?!"

"Sorry about that." Kenny looks at Dawn apologetically, "Sometimes Prinplup gets a little freaked out if anybody gets in its space. I'm the only one Prinplup doesn't have a problem with."

Casey smirks in amusement, "Well it sounds to me like you've got a prideful Pokemon on your hands, Kenny."

"That's one way of putting it." Ash laughs over at Piplup and Prinplup, who are both trying to appear stronger and larger than the other. Prinplup's clearly the winner, "Wow! They're acting just like rivals!"

"Oh! Why not just get along?"

"Well, they're both Penguin Pokemon, remember? And tempers at times can get pretty high. Prinplup in particular aren't thrilled being with others." Brock explains, showing off his extensive Pokemon Breeder knowledge.

Kenny decides to change the subject ever so slightly, drawing his attention back towards Dawn as he speaks, "I saw you using Piplup over at the Jubilife Contest. Were you copying me?"

"I wouldn't copy you ever! Piplup and I were made for each other! Isn't that right, sweetie?" Dawn coos over to Piplup, who turns to face her and cries out affectionally before turning back to Prinplup, still trying to appear more dominant than the larger Penguin Pokemon. Dawn looks back to Kenny, speaking to him in a much calmer and inquisitive tone than before, "You were at the Jubilife Contest? Were you competing, or just watching?"

"Uh, excuse me! My match was on TV, so why weren't you watching?"

Dawn laughs awkwardly, "I guess I was busy! Wow, I can't see you as a Coordinator!"

"Well, unlike you, I've already made it to the finals!"

"That's pretty cool, Kenny." Casey says, "But what happened? I'm assuming that you only made it into the finals and didn't win, based on how your describing it."

"That's right. It was at the contest right before Jubilife City and I thought O had my first ribbon. But then I came up against an opponent so powerful, I didn't have a chance! She had a Glameow and her name was Zoey." Kenny explains. He sits back down opposite Dawn with a sigh, "Zoey beat you as well, remember?"

Who's Zoey?

Dawn nods in response to Kenny's question, albeit with reluctance, "At the Jubilife Contest, Zoey told me that she had just won one ribbon, so she must've won that one off of you."

"I think Zoey was really strong!" Ash chimes in.

"Who exactly is Zoey?" Casey looks amongst her friends with confusion set across her face. She hates being out of the loop in a conversation, and right now it's kinda hard to remain in the loop when she has no idea who it is who they're talking about, "I assume that she's a Coordinator."

"That's right, and a really strong one at that." Brock clarifies, "She had good combinations to spare back in Jubilife City."

Casey nods. Based solely on how highly the others are talking about this Zoey girl, Casey wages a bet that she's probably Dawn's most formidable rival in the contest scene. Casey would love to meet her someday and challenge her to a battle.

"Are you competing here?" Kenny asks, turning away from Dawn and looking over to Ash.

"No, not this time. See Ash and Casey are both aiming to beat the Sinnoh League, and Brock's a Pokemon Breeder."

Confusion crosses Kenny's face at Dawn's response. He seems convinced that Ash was going to compete in the contest, "But, you were in Jubilife, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I had some fun with contests, but no doubt it's Gym Battles for me!"

Kenny nods in understanding, now turning to direct his attention towards Casey, "What about you, Casey? Are you going to compete?"

"Who, me?"

Casey has to think twice about Kenny's question. She knows some information about Pokemon Contests, but she's never really considered competing in them herself. She's never really asked her Pokemon about it either. Perhaps they would enjoy it, "Maybe I will, Kenny. I mean, it'll likely create some great memories and give my Pokemon tons of insight on different battling styles, so maybe."

"Speaking of memories," A devious smirk begins to form on Kenny's face, "I bet that your Dawn stories don't hold a candle to mine. I've got tons of 'em."

"Like what?"

"Kenny, do you have to?"

Dawn's clearly reluctant for Kenny to say anything, but he doesn't let that deter him, "One time, Dawn's Mom made her get this hair cut that she couldn't stand, so Dawn tried to cut it herself. You can't believe how it turned out! She looked just like a Chimchar!"

"A Chimchar?"

Casey tries her best to stifle a laugh but she can't help but burst out laughing when she pictures down having a hair cut just like a Chimchar. Ash and Brock both seem to feel the same way, and soon the three youngsters are laughing uncontrollably at Kenny's many hilarious stories about their bluenette friends, who is less than pleased about their reactions.

"I have had it!" Dawn screams over at Kenny, "If you think I'm the way I was back then, then you've got another thing coming! I'll show you a real Pokemon battle!"

Kenny shakes his head and turns towards Ash and Pikachu, "What I want is a battle against that Pikachu."

"What? With me?"

Kenny explains that he wants to make his Prinplup stronger and that he believes that a battle with Pikachu will help him do just that. Casey understands where he's coming from, but at the same time she doubts his judgement. Even though type advantages aren't everything in a battle, they do play a large role in them, and Prinplup's Water-Type attacks won't put a dent in Pikachu.

"You may have started your journey earlier than me, but man, what a baby!" Dawn whines protestingly.

"Come on, Dawn! He challenged me and I'm doing it!"

"Ash is right, Dawn." Casey says, doing her best to try and calm down the bluenette's rage, "Besides, you and Kenny will get to go up against each other tomorrow, so no need to worry, right?"

Dawn still seems reluctant, but Casey's words still manage to get through to her, albeit just barely, "Alright, fine!" She turns to glare sharply over at Kenny, "But you can bet that I'll be the one battling against you tomorrow and coming out on top!"

"Whatever you say, De-Dee!"


"Let's keep it simple: a one on one battle!"

Casey, Brock and Dawn watch from the sidelines as Ash and Kenny prepare to battle, their respective Pokemon stood in front of them as prepared as their trainers. Casey's actually interested to see how this plays out, especially since Kenny requested to battle Pikachu, who his Pokemon is at a direct disadvantage too. Casey wonders what Kenny has up his sleeve. He sure seems determined to win.

Grrr!

Casey's face flushes a deep shade of red as she brings a hand over to her grumbling stomach, looking over at her friends apologetically and trying to laugh it off, "Sorry, guys. I skipped breakfast this morning."

"No problem, Casey." Brock smiles, "If you're hungry, I left my bag just inside the Pokemon Center. You're welcome to grab some food out of there if you want. I'll make some lunch in a little while."

Casey likes the sound of that. She thanks Brock for his kind gesture and gets up from the bench, promising to be back outside within a few moments to witness the battle. She walks through the glass door leading into the back of the Pokemon Center, which thankfully isn't overly crowded. This makes it easy for her to find Brock's bag, which is over in the corner on a small leather seat. She crosses the room and opens up the bag, happy to find that a small bag of fruit is inside.

That's sure to do the trick!

"Garchomp, battle dance!"

"Hippowdon, let's go!"

Casey's ears perk up at the sound of what she assumes is a Pokemon battle; she knows that it's not Ash and Kenny. She turns around and notices a wide, flat-screen TV on the other side of the room, a battle between none other than Cynthia and Bertha of the Elite Four playing on it!

Casey rushes across the room, her bag of fruit completely forgotten, and over to the TV, watching the battle in awe as it plays out. She briefly glances over at Nurse Joy, who is watching the match herself from behind her administrative desk, "Nurse Joy, is this battle live right now?"

"No. They're just re-airing a previous battle since Lucian is set to battle Cynthia soon."

Lucian.

Casey recognises that name. Lucian is another member of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and he's a trainer who specialises in Psychic-Type Pokemon. He sure is strong, but Casey's not sure if he'll be able to defeat Cynthia. Her Garchomp's never been defeated, after all.

"Hippowdon, use Iron Head!"

A bright aura surrounds Hippowdon as it charges at a surprisingly quick speed, especially considering its enormous size, towards Garchomp. The Mach Pokemon uses its defensive tactic and blocks its body with its fins as Hippowdon collides with it headfirst, Garchomp stopping it dead in its tracks with ease.

Hippowdon's aura diminishes and it looks up at Garchomp as Cynthia calls her next attack, "Garchomp, use Brick Break."

Garchomp's fin glows white and strikes down on Hippowdon's head from above, sending the Heavyweight Pokemon spiralling backwards. This renders Hippowdon unable to battle, giving the victory to Cynthia and Garchomp.

"Yet another display of Garchomp's intense power! Can anybody beat Cynthia and her Pokemon?" The program switches from the video feed of the match over to a TV announcer sat in a television studio. If Casey were to guess, she'd say that this is likely being broadcast from Jubilife City, "That soon may become a possibility with the upcoming battle between Cynthia and Lucian! We'll be sure to keep you posted and bring you the full coverage of the monumental event as it happens! Until next time, Sinnoh!"

"Cynthia sure is a powerful Champion." Nurse Joy says as the TV feed switches to a programme about Poffin Baking, thus loosing Casey's attention almost instantly. She thinks that Poffins are cool and all, but nothing compares to battling.

"Yeah, she's strong, all right."

But we're going to become stronger, and one day we'll challenge Cynthia and win!

Casey remembers why she came inside in the first place and heads back over to the other side of the room, grabbing the bag of fruit before making her way back outside to watch Kenny and Ash battle. Surely she couldn't have missed too much of their battle.

"Stop it!"

Casey hears Dawn's panicked voice from over on the other side of the training field. She rushes over to where they are, her bag of fruit completely forgotten once again, to find that her friends are in a dire situation, "Whoa! What's going on?!"

Kenny, Ash, Dawn and Brock are glaring over at none other than Meowth and James of Team Rocket. The two crooks have trapped Kenny's Prinplup in the grip of Jessie's Seviper, the poisonous tip of its tail pointing dangerously close to Prinplup's face.

"Now don't move!"

"It's time for us to be sliding on outta here!"

Meowth and James begin to back away from them with their Pokemon, Seviper dragging Prinplup along with them. The others simply stand there and do nothing, which drives Casey absolutely insane. They can't just sit here, "We've got to go after them!"

"We can't!" Kenny protests, "They'll hurt Prinplup!"

"So, what?! We do nothing?!"

"I think it's time for you twerps to blast off for a change!"

Casey turns away from Kenny and backs towards James and Meowth as the latter of the two speaks up again. Before any of them can react, James orders Cacnea, Carnivine and Dustox to attack. Casey instinctively reaches for the Pokeballs on her belt, planning to send one of her Pokemon out to combat the onslaught of attacks, but she's quick to stop when Piplup jumps up in front of the attacks, much to Dawn's dismay.

"Piplup, no!"

Piplup seemingly ignores Dawn, although for a good reason. Piplup's body suddenly begins to glow and it raises it's fins and beak up towards the sky. A ginormous water cyclone forms on the beak of the small Penguin Pokemon, Dawn quick to ask what exactly the attack is, which is something that Casey wants to know as well. It's so strong that it stops Team Rocket's attacks easily, after all.

"It's Whirlpool!" Kenny gasps, "It traps your opponent in a whirlpool and causes them damage over and over!"

"That's just what we need!" Dawn points a finger right towards Team Rocket with gusto, "Alright, Piplup! Use Whirlpool!"

Piplup obeys Dawn's command and launches its powerful new move right towards Team Rocket, the attack making a direct and forceful hit. The crooks all yell as the vicious whirlpool engulfs them whilst, at the same time, Prinplup begins to glow brightly, similarly to how Piplup does when it's using Bide.

"What's happening to Prinplup now?"

Prinplup suddenly bursts out of the Whirlpool and lands in front of them, completely re-energised from Team Rocket's attack. Kenny smiles in relief whilst the others look at Prinplup with curiosity, Ash questioning how Prinplup's completely fine now.

"It must be that the intense energy from Piplup's Whirlpool is adding to Prinplup's power!"

"That's awesome, Prinplup!" Casey smiles down at the Penguin Pokemon, "You're really strong, huh?"

Prinplup stands proudly before Casey, clearly enjoying all the compliments that it's receiving. Prinplup's pride really is one of it's key attributes.

"Oh no, you don't!" Casey looks back over to Dawn as she shouts over at Team Rocket, who were trying to make a sneaky getaway when their attention was drawn to Prinplup, "You're not getting off that easy!"

"That's an understatement!"

Piplup and Prinplup both move to stand in front of their respective trainer, determination set in their eyes. Dawn and Kenny both look just as determined; the two Coordinators call out their command to their Pokemon simultaneously, "Use Bubblebeam!"

The Penguin Pokemon both use Bubblebeam on Team Rocket, leading to a large explosion and the notorious crooks blasting off into the sky, as per usual. Once Team Rocket are out sight, everybody is quick to congratulate Prinplup and Piplup, more so the latter for learning a brand new move in Whirlpool. Even though Whirlpool isn't the strongest move power-wise, Casey suspects that it'll be great for adapting into contest battles, which is exactly what Dawn needs for tomorrow and later contests.

In other words, Casey now feels that Dawn can win tomorrows contest without a shadow of doubt; she, Ash and Brock will be right there in the crowd, cheering their friend on the whole way through.