Chapter 18: Ash's Second Contest
In the next day, Ash and his friends arrive at the Contest Hall in the Camphrier Town. Bonnie looks around and says, "There sure are a lot of people here watching the contest."
"Yeah, that is actually really normal since Contests are exciting." Ash says. "But I will be winning the next ribbon for sure."
"I am sure you can do it, Ash." Serena smiles. "After all, you have worked hard for today."
"Thanks." Ash smiles at her, which makes her blush a little.
After the registration, Ash leaves his friends and head to the backstage of the Contest Hall, he is wearing the same outfit that he wore in the Aquacorde Town's Contest. He looks at the mirror and he combs his hair, when it is done, he says, "Looks better and awesome, don't you think so?" Pikachu and Sylveon all cheer for Ash as he thanks them for the compliment.
"Now for the next participant, we have Zoey from the Snowbelle City in the Sinnoh Region!" As they hear the emcee says the words, Ash almost jumps from his seat.
"Zoey? What is she doing here? Don't tell me that she is here for the Contests as well..." Ash mutters as they go to the big television. And inside the screen is the same Zoey they met in the Sinnoh Region.
"Who is this Zoey?" Sylveon asks as they see her using Glameow to show off the Shadow Claw. "Is she Ash's friend?"
"You can say so, when we travel in Sinnoh Region, she was the winner of the Grand Festival." Pikachu replies.
"Wow, then she must be strong..." Sylveon says.
Ash looks at her performance, and he is now shaking in excitement, "She still is good as always...but I am pretty sure that I can win against her without any problem."
Back at the Audience Seats, Clemont turns to Serena says, "So who do you think will win, Serena?"
"I really hope Ash wins this contest, but it seems like that Zoey is a strong coordinator." Serena replies.
"Of course she is." Trenor says. "After all, she won the Sinnoh Grand Festival a year ago."
"You know her? Trenor?" Bonnie asks with a tone full of curiosity.
"Ash knows her as well." Trenor says, which makes Serena a little jealous.
"Don't worry, Serena. Ash likes you more than her." Serena sighs in relief, then she asks, "But how he knows her?"
Trenor says, "Well, they have been friends in the Sinnoh Region, she is also a best friend of the Snowpoint Gym Leader in the Sinnoh Region." Trenor says.
After several competitors go through the first round, eventually it is Ash's turn. Lillian announces, "Now our last coordinator for today, we have Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
Ash goes onto the field and smiles, and at the same time, Zoey is watching on the screen and she also notices him.
"Ash? What is he doing here? Is he here for the contests as well?" Zoey asks in surprise.
Ash takes out a Pokeball and says, "Froslass! I choose you!"
Ash sends out the Froslass that he saved from the poacher back at Sinnoh, and she appears with joy. At the stands, Serena says, "A Froslass...I wonder how would the performance go with this Pokemon..."
Clemont says, "Judge by the typing, it is Ice and Ghost, which means that there are a lot of ways that it can do."
"Froslass, I know this is your first time in the contest, but don't worry, I will be by your side. Let's start with the hail!" Ash says as she creates the snow that falls from the sky. As the snow is hailing, Ash says, "Now Froslass, spin around in the air and Double Team!"
Froslass creates a lot of copies and then they all spin around in the air. Ash snaps his fingers and says, "Shadow Ball cover with the Ice Beam, create balls of Ice!"
One of the Froslass then throws the balls as it becomes snowballs, the copies also catches it with joy and in the end, it shoots into the air and creates an Aurora Veil.
"And that is the end of Ash Ketchum's performance! Let's see what the judges have to say."
Contesta says, "The way Froslass uses the Shadow Ball and Ice Beam to make the Snowballs, that is a creative move."
Suzukio says, "I like it."
Nurse Joy says, "It is just like the kids who are having a snowball fight, it brings back a lot of childhood memories."
Bonnie says, "Amazing, I never knew you can do that with Froslass..."
"Me too." Serena says. "Ash sure knows how to perform with his Pokemon..."
After the performance, Ash is heading towards the male's changing room, only to see Zoey leaning on the wall on the hallway.
"I never knew you will be into contests too." Zoey says. "It has been a while."
"Same here, Zoey." Ash says, "I never thought that you would come to the Kalos Region for the contests as well."
"Well, I just want to try out another new region." Zoey shrugs. "What about you? I thought that you wouldn't like Contests."
"Ever since I come back to the Unova Region, I think that I should try it out myself." Ash says.
Zoey is curious and she asks, "Aren't you worried that your style might be confused with the battling?"
"About that, I have been training under my mother to combine my style of battling into performances." Ash says.
"I see." Zoey says with a smile, "I am looking forward to the battle."
"Same here." Ash says as they shake hands, then Ash goes into the changing room to rest.
As it turns out, Ash and Zoey both advance to the second round, Ash manages to get past the two rounds using Ampharos and Chandelure, he only needs one more round to win.
"The final round of the match is Ash Ketchum versus Zoey! Both of them get high score in the previous rounds, let's see who will win."
Zoey says, "Alright, Gallade, come on out."
"Gardevior! I choose you!" Ash says.
Both of the Psychic Types appear on the field, Luke says, "So the battle between the Kirlia's evolution..."
"You can do it! Ash!" Serena cheers.
Ash says, "Gardevoir, let's get the show on. Magical Leaf!"
Gardevior uses the speed to shoot out leaves, causing Gallade to get hit.
"Gallade, Psycho Cut!" Zoey says as it comes closer to Gardevoir and slashs her. Both of them get their points lower, but they aren't backing down.
"Gardevoir. Respond to our hearts. Mega Evolve!" Ash yells as he presses the key Stone on his glove, Gardevoir glows and changes her form.
"Amazing! Gardevoir has mega evolved!" Lillian says.
"So you have a key stone, this is going to be a tough match. Shadow Ball!" Zoey yells.
Ash gives her a wink as she dodges the moves. And with the speed, Zoey couldn't land a hit.
Luke says, "Wait a second... this is my mom's technique."
"Champion Dinatha's? He learned it?" Clemont says.
"No way..," Bonnie says.
After the time is up, Lillian announces, "It is settled! The winner of the Champier Contest is Ash Ketchum!" Then everyone cheers for him.
Zoey recalls her Gallade and says, "Wow, Ash. You and your Gardevoir show really great bonds."
"Thanks, your Gallade is not bad as well." Ash says.
Once Ash gets the ribbon, Ash decides to introduce Zoey to others. As they come out, Serena comes and gives him a kiss.
"You did it. Ash!" Serena says.
"Thanks, Serena. Everyone, this is Zoey. She is my friend back at Sinnoh. Zoey, this is Clemont and his sister Bonnie, my cousin Luke and my brother Trenor. And this is Serena, my girlfriend."
Zoey says, "It is nice to meet all of you. And Ash, you have a girlfriend, huh? I thought you will be with Dawn."
"Dawn?" Serena asks.
"Dawn is my travel companion in Sinnoh, and she is like a sister to me despite I have three sisters in my family." Ash laughs.
"I see." Serena sighs in relief.
"So are you also participating in contests as well?" Zoey asks Serena, who feels a little concerned, "I don't know about that..."
"It's fine, I am not forcing you to do that." Zoey says as she turns to Ash, "So Ash, since you have gathered your second ribbon, right? I wonder how did you manage to progress that much with the performances?"
Ash says, "About that, how about we go back to the Pokemon Center and we talk about that?"
As they get back to the Pokemon Center, they hear Nurse Joy says, "Ash, you got a call from your mother."
Ash is confused as he goes to the phone, and Serena asks, "What is that about?"
Trenor says, "Probably about mother, after all, she must have seen the Contest, so she wants to talk to Brother about it."
"So your mother is famous?" Zoey asks them, and Trenor says, "Our mother is Aurora."
"Wait, you mean that the founder of Contests and the Kanto Champion? That Aurora? Is your and Ash's mother? No way..." Zoey says.
"Yeah, that is how he manages to become this strong in the performances." Luke says.
After Ash comes back, he tells them about his mother's opinions on the battles, and Zoey says, "Well, seems like you have a nice mother, I think I need to do more training."
Ash nods as they bid farewell with each other, then they decide to continue their journey.
While continuing on the road, they find Meowth fainted on the ground, after healing him, they find that there is a mysterious person known as Madame X, along with the Malamar, they control Jessie and James, and they are after Ash's Pikachu and Sylveon. And much to their surprise, Madame X manages to follow Meowth as they use Malamar's Psychic to catch Pikachu and Sylveon as they fly away.
Ash is very furious about the fact that Pikachu and Sylveon being taken away by the Malamar. He learns that Inkay was the pre-evolution of Malamar and he quickly sends it out to try tracking down the Pokemon. Eventually they get into the building as they decide to split up.
Once they move forward, they find that Clemont, Bonnie and Luke are being controlled by Malamar as well. "Oh no, what should we do?" Trenor asks.
But just before Malamar tries to use Hypnosis again, Ash's Inkay immediately uses the Dark Pulse to knock it back. Ash notices that Inkay is angry at Malamar as Ash says, "Wait, if Malamar can use Hypnosis, then maybe Inkay can do the same thing as well."
Then Inkay quickly deflects another Hypnosis as they also leave the place only to find Madame X and the controlled Pikachu and Sylveon. They both try to attack Ash, but Ash manages to snap both Pikachu and Sylveon from control and Inkay also uses the chance to use Hypnosis on Malamar, causing it not able to control.
It turns out that Madame X is actually Officer Jenny who was under the Malamar's control. Ash realizes that is why Inkay is very furious. Malamar reveals that he is working for Team Flare and he is going to restructure the world under their commands, after that, it tries to run and the other chase after him, finding it in a room full of strange vines and spikes; the weaponized machine.
Malamar decides to destroy its grand machine as its plan has been discovered, which everyone to abandon the chase and flee outside. After that, Team Rocket is nowhere in sight and the group bid farewell to Officer Jenny.
Serena says, "Why is Team Flare doing this?"
Ash says, "I don't know, but something tells me that there will be more...I am glad that we have Inkay by our side."
"Yeah." The others agree as they continue their journey.
Here is a new chapter, and this is the original chapter as well as XY019 in the last half. Zoey is in the contest and I decide to make her Ash's rival in the Contests. I hope you like it.