The Sweet Taste of Battle!

"Sorry Ash but I honestly have no idea where Bea is." Allister spoke while performing a light shrug. "She doesn't exactly stay in contact with me when she's traveling about."

"That sounds familiar," Dawn giggled out. Ash didn't keep in contact with his friends either.

"Piplup." Piplup snickered.

Ash uttered out a light sigh as he lowered his head. "I was hoping that we could have our rematch..."

Marnie gave his shoulder a comforting pat. "I'm sure that you'll get your chance sooner or later."

"You could always just seek out a Fighting specialist and see if she's there." Zach suggested. Bea's goal was to become a Fighting type Master so logically she'd be fighting the various Fighting type specialists across the world much like Marnie with the Dark type specialists.

"That's true..." Ash retrieved his Rotom Phone and began scrolling through the World Championship app before coming across Bruno's profile. 'Maybe I'll challenge him once I finish my next World Championship match.'

"I wish I do could more to assist you but I've got a date and need to get going. Good luck finding her." Allister turned and began making his way towards Stow-on-Side's northern exit.

"Well I guess we ought to-" Marnie started.

"Zach!" The group turned to see Chloe racing towards them, a bright and energetic expression present upon her face. "Oh what a relief, I'm so glad that you're okay! I heard rumors that you died and rumors that you weren't, I wasn't sure what to believe!" She cried out while throwing her arms around her friend. Since her previous Rotom Phone broke, she didn't have any way of contacting him.

"I-I didn't die, I just fell through a time vortex and landed in the past... it's a long story." Zach sweated.

"Well that would explain the ancient looking Pokeball," Chloe's gaze focused upon Garchomp's Pokeball for a brief moment before flickering back towards Zach as she clasped her hands together. "Oh this is perfect, you can be my partner!"

"Huh?" Zach turned pale and quickly backed away from Chloe. "I-I'm not sure what you've heard but I'm dating Dawn!"

Chloe gave him an odd look for a brief second before her cheeks began burning bright red as she realized it was a misunderstanding. "Oh no, no no no! I need a partner for the contest I'm entering!" She sweated. "I don't have many friends here so I don't have many options..."

"What kind of contest?" Zach questioned while tilting his head. "Like a Pokemon Contest? I've tried one and didn't exactly do a good job, you should ask Dawn. She's a pro!"

Dawn couldn't help but blush at her boyfriend's praise. "I wouldn't be against it."

"It's not that kind of contest," Chloe shook her head. "The Ballonlea Gym Leader is hosting a bakeoff, each contestant is required to enter with a human and Fairy type partner."

"That's oddly specific." Marnie muttered out. It sounded like Opal had ulterior motives of some sort.

"Each team must then work together to bake a dessert with the winner getting to challenge Opal in a Pokemon battle!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Let me guess, you're hoping to battle against her?" Zach guessed. He already had the right to face Opal, it may be pointless for him to enter but he was down to help his friend out.

"Yep!" Chloe beamed. "I'd like to test myself against a Gym Leader to see if it's the right course for me to take, I'm still looking for a goal."

"Final question, do you own a Fairy type?" Zach questioned while rubbing the back of his neck as a dark red tint formed across his cheeks. "I-I have one but she's currently unavailable, please don't ask me to go into detail." Ninetales and Zoroark had been spending a lot of time together at Sonia's lab.

"...She laid eggs, didn't she?" Chloe giggled out as Zach turned a dark red color, confirming her suspicions. "No actually, I don't."

"Well then I guess that one of us will have to catch one," Zach thumbed towards the northern exit. "We've got to cross through Glimwood Tangle to reach Ballonlea, plenty of Fairy type Pokemon reside there. Maybe we'll find something that suits us?"

"Worth a shot, the contest takes place at dusk." Chloe gave a light nod.

"Say why don't we enter?" Ash motioned towards himself and Marnie. "It sounds like fun and I'd love to face off against Opal!" There weren't many opportunities to face off against Fairy specialists. Lillie displayed interest in becoming one but the only official ones that Ash knew of were Valerie and Opal herself! There were probably a few Fairy type Pokemon dwelling within the Galar region that Ash never heard of, he needed to be prepared as who knows what would be waiting for him in the Master Class Tournament!

"Oh um," Marnie's cheeks turned red as her gaze flickered to the side. "I've never actually cooked a dessert before, mostly just focused on the essentials to survive." She uttered out a nervous chuckle.

"You don't have to worry about that, Professor Burnet showed me how to bake a cake. We can make one of those!" Ash excitedly exclaimed.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu excitedly cried out alongside his trainer.

"And Gardevoir can help us out too!"

"Good idea, I'm not sure a baking contest is Grimmsnarl's thing." Marnie laughed.

"Look at all those glowing mushrooms!" Ash gasped out.

"Pika..."

"I've never seen anything like it before!" Dawn exclaimed while taking pictures with her Rotom Phone. Glimwood Tangle was vastly different from the previous forests they'd traveled through as bright colorful glowing mushrooms of various sizes could be seen scattered throughout the forest.

"It's beautiful!" Chloe similarly snapped some pictures with her Rotom Phone.

"Eevoi..."

"Ace..."

Marnie didn't appear as amused as the rest, having passed through Glimwood Tangle in the past while Zach and Lucario were on the lookout for Pokemon. Lots of Morelull and Shiinotic could be seen but Zach displayed little interest in catching them. A Passimian could be seen swinging through the trees above but there wasn't any sign of other Pokemon nearby.

"Why don't you two go on ahead?" Zach suggested while looking towards Ash and Marnie. "It could be awhile before we find anything."

"Good idea, we can probably sneak in a few hours of training before the contest starts." Marnie nodded. She'd decided to challenge Sidney to a Pokemon battle as soon as Ash's World Championship match with him was out of the way, it made sense to battle against him while they were in the area and although she felt confident enough to face him it never hurt to get in more practice.

"Good luck!" The two waved before taking their leave.

"Alright buddy, sense anything?" Zach glanced towards Lucario. The jackal closed his eyes and began focusing on the area around him, he sensed Ash and Marnie not far off and a group of Passimian that appeared to be playing football based on their movements before picking up on another source, the aura was much weaker than the others.

"Carrr!" Lucario jerked his head towards the aura's source.

"Something's hurt?!" Zach exclaimed.

"Carrr!" Lucario swiftly nodded.

"Oh no, I hope it's okay!" Chloe gasped out.

"No need to worry, if Lucario sensed it's aura then I'm sure that it will be!" Dawn reassured her.

"Nothing else was with it, right?" Zach questioned while running off alongside Lucario.

"Carr..." Lucario shook his head once more.

"Well that's a relief." The group raced through the forest before coming across an open clearing, tree branches could be seen scattered throughout the area while one of the trees appeared to be fully uprooted and tossed aside. Large footprints could be seen throughout the clearing with the trail leading back into the woods, suggesting that whatever did this had left.

"Pony..." A weakened groan could be heard causing the group to take notice of a white bundle that laid against the ground up ahead. Zach, Dawn and Lucario quickly shot ahead to investigate before gasping out upon a dark purple tint across the Pokemon's forehead, quite noticeable on account of the unicorn's white fur.

"Oh Arceus, it's been poisoned!" Zach reached for his bag but Chloe was already on the case, having pulled a Full Restore from her pocket as she followed the others. She dropped to her knees and gave Ponyta's injury a soft gentle spray which caused the unicorn to tense up.

"Pony!" She screeched out.

"H-Hey, calm down! Everything's okay!" Chloe gave Ponyta's mane a soft reassuring stroke which helped the unicorn calm down, it's gaze flickered towards her and stared into her eyes as she continued stroking it's mane. "I know it stings but I'm here to help, trust me."

"Wow, she's good." Dawn spoke.

"Well her father is a Pokemon Professor, he probably taught her some pointers." Zach explained. "I'm sure that Kanto Ponyta and Galarian Ponyta are about the same when it comes to behavior."

"Hold up, that is a Ponyta?" Dawn gasped out.

"Piplup?!"

Dawn pulled out her Rotom Phone and gave Ponyta a quick scan. "Ponyta the Unique Horn Pokemon, it's small horn hides a healing power. With a few rubs from this Pokemon's horn, any slight wound you have will be healed."

"It sure is cute." Dawn smiled.

Ponyta slowly stood up before giving Chloe an affectionate nuzzle. "Pony..."

"Heh, I think she likes you." Zach smirked.

"R-Really?!" Chloe gasped out. Ponyta swiftly nodded in confirmation. "G-Great, then we've got our Fairy type!"

"Er-It may look like a Fairy type but it actually isn't one. It does gain the typing upon evolving though!" Zach explained. "We won't be able to use her but no need to worry about that, there's still plenty of time to find something else!"

Chloe turned towards Ponyta and flashed her a warm smile while offering an empty Pokeball to her. "What do you say, Ponyta? Would you like to join Eevee and me on our journey?"

"Pony!" Ponyta eagerly nodded her head.

Chloe and Eevee let out a shout of excitement before Chloe threw the ball towards Ponyta, the unicorn gave the ball a swift headbutt allowing herself to be absorbed into the ball. The Pokeball landed on the forest floor and began shaking back and forth before chiming out, signaling the capture. "Alright, I just made my first catch!"

"Eevoi!"

"Alright Chloe!"

"Way to go!"

"Piplup!"

"Carr!"

"Ace"

"...Are those Passimian playing football?" Marnie sweated as a group of Passimian raced past them with one carrying a rather large acorn, another Passimian group soon followed after while excitedly screeching out.

"Yeah, the species loves the sport." Ash chuckled. He always wanted to catch a Passimian but didn't want to force one away from it's team.

"Huh, neat."

"PASS!" The Passimian suddenly screeched out and began racing in the opposite direction, terror filled their eyes as a loud and furious sounding roar echoed throughout the forest.

"KING!"

"What was that?" Marnie glanced towards the source of the noise.

"P-Pika pi!" Pikachu grabbed his cheeks and quickly morphed his face to resemble that of a Nidoking. "Pikaaaa!" He growled out while lightly stomping his feet.

"A Nidoking?!" Ash clenched his fists as something started charging towards them. If it was a Nidoking, they wouldn't be able to outrun it. They had no choice but to fight!

"A Nidoking?" Marnie and Morpeko glanced towards each other with shocked expressions. They knew what a Nidoking was but had no idea what one was doing in the Galar region, the species wasn't native to their region.

Earlier that morning a space time vortex opened up, a rather large Nidoking stepped out of it and froze up upon finding itself in a strange and unusual place with even stranger Pokemon! It didn't take long for the fear to evolve as Nidoking was distrusting of the strange Pokemon and didn't know where to look for food, escalating quite quickly after a Passimian accidentally struck Nidoking with his fruit ball.

Passimian tried apologizing but Nidoking refused to hear him out, chasing Passimian throughout the forest. Nidoking tore apart bushes, knocked down trees and even struck innocent Pokemon much like the Ponyta that Chloe would quickly grow an attachment to. His mind focused entirely upon catching Passimian and teaching it a lesson!

"P-Passs!" A Passimian screeched out with a tired expression as he reached out towards his team, Nidoking had been chasing him around the woods all day and his legs were finally giving out on him. "P-Passs!" Passimian collapsed onto his legs and began tearfully crying out as Nidoking drew closer by the second, a few Passimian turned around and raced towards their teammate.

"Pass!"

"Passimian!" The Passimian pulled the tired Passimian to his feet before uttering out terrified shrieks as Nidoking was a few feet away and closing in fast!

"Pikachu use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted out.

"Pikachuuu!" Pikachu leaped towards Nidoking and slapped his shiny silver tail across the Poison type's face! Nidoking uttered out a light grunt as Pikachu knocked him off his current path resulting in Nidoking charging towards a tree, the tree base was much stronger than those the alpha had previously uprooted resulting in his horn getting stuck within the tree trunk.

"P-Passs!" The Passimian gave Ash an appreciative look before dragging their friend to safety.

"K-King..!" Nidoking grunted out while pressing his hands against the tree trunk in an attempt to pry himself loose.

"Chaaa..." Pikachu suddenly collapsed to his side as a dark purple tint formed across his cheek.

"Poison Point." Ash lightly clenched his fists. This Nidoking definitely wasn't something to be taken lightly, it appeared to be quite powerful as it withstood Pikachu's Iron Tail attack and had more than enough energy to spare! Pikachu's Electric type attacks were out of the question on account of Nidoking's Ground typing, Surf would cause damage to the forest environment and Pikachu's Iron Tail attack was just too risky to use with Nidoking's ability. "Pikachu come back!"

"Pika..." Pikachu slowly rose back to his feet before scampering back towards Ash. Marnie reached into her pocket and handed Pikachu a Pecha Berry while Ash reached for one of his Pokeballs.

"Alright Drakloak, I choose you!" Ash shouted out as Drakloak's ball flew through the air before bursting open, revealing the Dragon/Ghost Pokemon.

"Drak!"

"Dreepy!" The Dreepy atop Drakloak's head cried out alongside him.

"Dragon Pulse!"

"Drak!" A pulse of multicolored energy erupted from Drakloak's throat and shot across the field, nailing Nidoking's back!

"KING!" Nidoking grunted out as his body slammed against the tree trunk, his horn pushed upwards thanks to the force allowing him enough room to pull free. Nidoking broke away from the tree and turned towards Ash and Drakloak with an irritable huff, a mixture of rage and fear filled his gaze as he summoned a wave of purple sludge!

"Dodge with Phantom Force!" Ash shouted out.

"Drak!" A purple portal opened up beneath Drakloak allowing a quick getaway, Drakloak sank into it before reappearing behind Nidoking as another portal opened on the ground directly behind the Poison type.

"Now use Water Pulse!" Ash shouted out. His battle against Gary and Leaf inspired Ash to purchase some TMs.

"Drak...loak!" A massive pulse of water erupted from Drakloak's throat, blasting Nidoking back. Nidoking grunted out before slamming his fist against the ground, the ground began heavily vibrating while Drakloak uttered out a light grunt. "Drak..."

"Stay strong Drakloak, I know that you can do this! Use Dragon Pulse!" Ash shouted while throwing his arm forward.

"Drak!" Another multicolored energy beam erupted from Drakloak's throat and flew towards his target before striking Nidoking's chest!

"King..." Nidoking fell to his back shortly after impact, swirls formed within his eyes as his tongue lolled out of his mouth.

"Alright Drakloak, way to go!"

"Pika pi!"

"Drak!" Drakloak beamed at his trainer while a large set of yellow eyes began peering through the nearby bushes, the eyes solely focused upon Drakloak as he excitedly cried out.

Ash enlarged a Pokeball and tossed it towards the downed alpha before glancing back towards Drakloak upon noticing movement out the corner of his eye. A large group of Dreepy had suddenly appeared and began slithering towards Drakloak. "Hey look, Drakloak's made some friends!"

"Pika!"

"Heh, you could say that." Marnie spoke while offering her boyfriend a light smile. "Remember how Dreepy evolved into Drakloak upon encountering another Dreepy? Well you need approximately ten Dreepy for Drakloak to evolve into a Dragapult, so basically you've got to catch them or have a Dreepy herd accept Drakloak as their lea-"

"Drak!" A bright blue light flashed around Drakloak as the Dreepy hugged him.

"Well that was rather convenient." Marnie sweated.

"Drakloak's evolving!" Stars filled Ash's eyes as Drakloak began morphing into his evolution. All that training had payed off, Ash may not have used Dreepy in any major World Championship matches so far but Drakloak had beaten a few random competitors that challenged Ash while they were out on the road. Ash was so excited that he barely took notice of Nidoking's ball chiming out shortly before it teleported away to Professor Oak's lab.

Drakloak doubled in height and now towered over Ash and Marnie while his head crest extended and grew larger as two large slits appeared on both sides, Dreepy could be seen dwelling within the holes as the light faded away.

"Dragapult!" The newly evolved Pokemon cried out, it's insanely long tail brushed against the ground as he gazed towards his trainer with a fond expression.

"Dragapult the Stealth Pokemon, when it isn't battling it keeps Dreepy in the holes on its horns. Once a fight starts, it launches the Dreepy like supersonic missiles!"

The Rotom Phone displayed a new attack within Dragapult's move set that Ash never heard of before. "Dragon Darts?"

"Dreepy!" A Dreepy cried out as it fired out of Dragapult's horn, Dreepy flew across the field before smacking against a bush. Dreepy safely slid towards the ground before flying back towards his caretaker, giving Ash a good idea of how the attack worked.

"Wow, I can't wait to try that out later!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried out.

"Dragapult!" Dragapult beamed.

"We're running out of time, maybe we should just catch the next Fairy type we see." Chloe suggested while gazing at her Rotom Phone, the contest would be starting within the hour and they still had a bit of walking to do if they wanted to reach Ballonlea in time.

"I suppose so," Though Zach didn't seem thrilled with the idea, he wanted to catch something that he intended on using. Especially since he had a fair number of Pokemon residing at Sonia's lab already and that he'd be getting at least one more Pokemon in the future, that cute green feline Pokemon. He shot a glance towards a nearby Morgrem before tossing a Fast Ball into the air. "Scizor use-"

"Scizor?" Scizor burst out and shot his trainer a quick glance.

"Milcery," What appeared to be a sentient cream puddle levitated through the air nearby. Zach shot a quick glance between Milcery and Morgrem before focusing on the cream Pokemon. Marnie always kept Grimmsnarl with her so it didn't make sense having another one within the group. "Use False Swipe on Milcery!"

"Scizor!" Scizor swiftly flew across the field before slashing Milcery. Milcery uttered out a light cry as a vast majority of her energy vanished from her body, a tired expression formed across her face as she stopped to catch her breath.

"Great job Scizor," Zach praised Scizor while reaching for a Dusk Ball. Aside from the glowing mushrooms the forest itself was fairly dark so he expected the environment to help boost their chances.

"Zor." Scizor flashed a light smirk in response to his trainer's praise.

Zach pulled back his arm before giving the ball a quick throw, the Dusk Ball soared through the air before opening up as it approached Milcery. A beam of bright red light engulfed Milcery's body as she was absorbed into the ball, the Dusk Ball began slowly shaking back and forth before chiming out on the third shake, signaling the capture!

"Alright, now we can enter the contest!" Chloe cheered.

Ballonlea was a rather strange sight as the town appeared to have been built within the Glimwood Tangle itself, the dark forest surrounded the town while glowing mushrooms of various colors could be seen scattered throughout the town. The townsfolk appeared to be living in harmony with the nearby forest Pokemon as some wild Spritzee, Swirlix, Shiinotic, Phantump, Sinistea, Hattrem and Morgrem could be seen throughout the town.

Allister and Bede were standing not too far off, Allister gave his boyfriend's shoulder a reassuring pat before the pair entered Ballonlea Stadium. Jack and Harley, the Team Yell grunts could be seen following them in suggesting that they were competing in the event as well.

"Looks like the others are arriving," Marnie noted.

"Yeah, we ought to pick up Gardevoir." Ash spoke.

"And Milcery." Zach added as neither of the Fairy types were currently with the group.

"Hey guys, wait up!"

"Huh?" The group turned to see May rushing down the street, a bit out of breath as she just arrived in town.

"Hey May!" Dawn smiled and waved at her best friend.

"May!" Zach waved alongside Dawn.

"Hey May, what's up?"

"Pika pi!"

"Hey guys!" May smiled at her friends. She'd gotten word that Zach was going to challenge Opal and came to offer him her support. "So Zach, are you ready to face off against Opal?"

"Not quite, the Gym is actually closed at the moment due to the bake off." Zach sweated.

"And Zach was kind enough to offer me his help!" Chloe beamed.

"Pikachu and I are also competing, we never turn down an opportunity for a Pokemon battle right buddy?!"

"Pika pi!"

"Y-You can cook...?" May sweated as she recalled the burned Pokeblocks that Ash cooked up during their Hoenn adventure.

"Professor Burnet gave me some pointers while I was staying in Alola." Ash explained.

"Ah, so you'll be entering with Marnie then?" May guessed.

"Correct." Marnie gave a swift nod.

May then offered Dawn a smile while gesturing towards the stadium. "Then it sounds like you don't have a partner for the event, wanna team up?"

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Dawn exclaimed. She was initially disappointed that she wouldn't be participating but did her best to mask it as she knew Zach would feel guilty about it and possibly turn Chloe down. "Did you ever manage to catch a Fairy type? If not then we can use my Ribombee!"

"Not yet, I'm trying to find a Mega Stone for my Altaria though." May giggled out.

The group continued towards the Pokemon Center and fetched Milcery and Gardevoir from their respective labs before making their way towards Ballonlea Stadium. Signs were displayed throughout the lobby, directing the participants to head through the locker room and head out to the field where the event would be taking place. The tattered remains of a banner could be seen beside a trashcan, the wording was no longer comprehensible but Zach did notice the number 89 and what looked like 'Happy' on another torn parchment.

The group headed out onto the field where Allister and Bede could be seen seated alongside Jack and Harley, and Gordie and Klara.

"Oi, Marnie!"

"Over here!"

Marnie facepalmed and groaned out as Jack and Harley eagerly waved in an attempt to catch her attention.

Bede glanced towards the group and gave them a light nod of acknowledgement before hastily looking over the ingredients to make sure everything was in proper order. It was hard to tell if Allister was looking at them or displaying any emotion as his mask fully obscured his face. Klara gave Zach a light wave before turning back towards Gordie, their hands resting atop of the other's.

"Huh, I guess Klara found a boyfriend." Zach couldn't help but smile at the sight. He was glad that Klara had found somebody, perhaps Gordie would help Klara out on her path to becoming a better person!

Opal approached the group and looked them over before uttering out a light tsk. "Three of you are wearing pink but I sense little pink residing within you."

"Huh?!" Ash and Pikachu glanced towards each other with confused expressions before looking towards their friends only to see that they appeared just as confused as they were.

"Take a seat," Opal gestured towards some empty tables. "The bake off will begin shortly."

"So what do you suggest we make?" May questioned Dawn as they walked towards an empty table.

Dawn glanced towards Zach while forming a light smile. "Why not a pie? It's his favorite."

"Heh, alright with me!"

"I hate to ask but did your parents happen to teach you how to bake any desserts?" Zach asked Chloe as they sat down at another table. "I er-never had the chance to learn that stuff."

"Yes actually, my mom and I used to bake together all the time!" Chloe beamed while clasping her hands together. "Though if you don't have experience maybe we should do something simple, why not muffins?"

"Sounds good to me!" Zach grinned while releasing Milcery from her Dusk Ball. Ash similarly released his shiny Gardevoir while Dawn released her Ribombee, Jack sent out a shiny Morgrem, Bede released his Hatterene while Gordie sent out a Carbink.

"Whoa!" Ash's eyes lit up upon spotting Hatterene, fortunately the bake off hadn't started yet so the brief distraction didn't harm their chances. "I've never seen that one before!"

He quickly retrieved his Rotom Phone before giving Hatterene a quick scan.

"Hatterene the Silent Pokemon, it emits psychic power strong enough to cause headaches as a deterrent to the approach of others."

"That's so co-"

"Gardevoir..." Gardevoir crossed her arms and uttered out an irritable huff. Both were Psychic/Fairy so she didn't appreciate Ash openly praising the species.

"But not as amazing as you, Gardevoir!" Ash quickly caught himself.

"Pikachu!"

"Gardevoir..." Gardevoir offered the pair an appreciative smile while Opal set up an hourglass.

"You all have one hour to cook up a dessert, begin!" Opal shouted out.

The contestants began hastily rummaging through their supplies while Bede casually began dropping what he needed into a bowl before stirring it up.

"You sure you don't need my help?" Allister asked.

"Nah, I've got this!" Bede flashed a cocky smirk.

"Alright then." Allister shrugged.

"Hand me the cream," Chloe held out her hand.

"Got it!" Zach accidentally grabbed hold of Milcery and dropped her into the bowl. Lucario and Cinderace were too busy fighting over a bar of chocolate to notice the incident.

"Carrr!"

"Ace!" The jackal and rabbit tugged back and forth.

"Alright, now for a topping..." Chloe stared at the various fruit options for a moment before shrugging as she tossed some blueberries into the bowl before passing it to Zach. Zach began stirring counter clock wise while glancing around the table before suddenly tensing up upon noticing the distinct lack of Milcery. "Oh Arceus..." He quickly dropped the spoon and reached into the mixture as a bright blue light filled the bowl.

Opal glanced towards their table before looking away, Ash couldn't help but turn in their direction upon noticing the familiar blue glow that signaled evolution. "Is that how Milcery evolve?" He asked while tilting his head.

"Pika pi?" Pikachu copied his trainer's expression.

"Apparently so." Marnie sweated. She didn't really know as she never saw one evolve prior to this. She gave his head a gentle nudge as she turned his gaze back towards their dish. "Remember to stay focused, you can check out his new Pokemon later but you've only got one shot at winning this!"

"Right." Ash nodded before turning his attention back towards the dish.

"Alcreamie?" What appeared to be a sentient pile of mint green flavored whip cream sat at the base of the bowl as the light faded away.

"Alcreamie the Cream Pokemon, Mint Green flavor. The cells that compose its cream fluctuated suddenly during evolution, giving the cream a refreshing flavor!" The Arc Phone read out from his pocket.

"Y-You evolved already?! T-That's great!"

"Alcreamie!" Alcreamie beamed up towards him.

"Though we'll have to restart now." Chloe sweated while pointing towards Alcreamie. "She's standing in the dessert."

"My bad..." Zach sweated while removing Alcreamie from the bowl. "Sorry Chloe, Alcreamie."

"Don't worry about it, mistakes happen!" Chloe gave his shoulder a comforting pat.

"Alcream!" Alcreamie gave his arm a soft pat.

"Though muffins are now out of the question, let's just settle for some brownies!" The rest of the event was pretty uneventful save for Zach and Chloe hastily cleaning out their bowl before starting fresh.

"Alright everyone, time's up!" Opal sang out causing everyone to drop their supplies. Bede began sweating as he attempted to keep a straight face, Allister gave his shoulder a comforting pat but it didn't do much in calming him down. Opal walked towards Jack and Harley's banana cream pie and took a quick whiff of the air, her expression remained unreadable as she stuffed a finger into the crust before pulling out to lick the contents off her finger. Her eyes grew wide as a look of disgust filled her face. "Sour filling... neither of you are pink!"

"Aw!" Jack and Harley hung their heads in shame.

"Check out mine, ain't it impressive?!" Gordie thumbed towards a chocolate triple layer cake. Opal stepped forward and leaned forward, her eyes narrowed before she gave the cake a gentle nudge with her finger which resulted in the upper layers sliding directly off the bottom layer.

"Ah!" Klara turned pale as she screeched out.

Gordie silently lowered his head and sighed out.

"Neither of you have pink..."

Opal approached Zach and Chloe's table and spotted a bowl of chocolate pudding beside them, the pair nervously sweated as Opal stared at it. "W-We tried to make brownies but..."

"It melted." Zach sweated.

Opal let out a light tsk and shook her head before continuing on, coming to a stop in front of May and Dawn. The two had a freshly baked pie on display in front of them, Opal took a quick whiff before sticking her finger in. "Hm... there is some pink but not quite what I'm looking for."

"Huh?" May and Dawn gave each other a look before shrugging as Opal continued on her way.

Bede continued sweating as Opal stopped in front of him and Allister. "I-I made an ice cream cake, I-I heard that it's your favorite!" Bede gave a quick respectful bow.

Zach raised an eyebrow upon noticing Bede's strange behavior. He'd only seen him act this way once before and that was when Rose was possessed and not even giving his son the time of day, he didn't know why Bede was trying so hard to impress Opal.

Opal glanced towards Allister and sweated upon hearing snoring emitting from the opposite end of his mask. Opal ran her finger along the side of the cake and gave it a quick lick before cracking a large smile. "This is perfect!" Opal exclaimed.

"Really?!" Bede's eyes lit up as a smile formed upon his own face.

"There's just one problem..."

"Huh?" Bede tilted his head.

"You were supposed to work with your partner." Opal whacked the top of Bede's head with her cane. "You are certainly the right level of pink and may have won this had you let your boyfriend help you out!"

"Ow..." Bede grunted out before hanging his head in shame. In his rush to impress Opal, he failed to realize that there were two factors to the test and he'd just failed!

Opal turned her gaze towards Ash and uttered out a light gasp as she saw quite the impressive display atop a multiple layer cake! "Wow..."

Ash and Marnie sweated and nervously rubbed the back of their heads as Opal approached.

"Whoa, Ash made that?" May asked.

"And the Stadium didn't catch fire, wow." Dawn added on.

"Wow..."

"Car..."

"Ace..."

"It looks delicious." Gordie commented while Klara angrily hurled their own cake into the air before slamming her head against the table from frustration.

"Not fair..." She growled out.

"I want a slice!" Jack exclaimed.

"Me too!" Harley exclaimed.

"Quiet!" Opal snapped causing the entire stadium to go quiet as she ran her finger alongside the cake before giving it a quick lick. Her eyes widened as fireworks went off inside her brain, the elderly woman hastily retrieved a knife and cut off a giant slice for herself before giving Ash a respectful bow. "Congratulations Ash Ketchum, you're Ballonlea's new Gym Leader!"

"What?!" Fire flared within Bede's eyes while his nails dug into the table.

"Huh?!" Everyone save for Gordie and Klara gasped out in surprise.

"Aw man, I'll never be a Gym Leader now..." Gordie cried into his arm.

"Sure you will, you just have to convince your mom to let you transition the Gym into a Rock type Gym. I'm the one that'll be left without a Gym..." Klara sighed out.

"B-But I thought that I'd win a Pokemon battle against you!" Ash nervously stuttered out. "I-I have no intentions of running a Pokemon Gym, no offense but my dream is to become a Pokemon Master. I only entered this contest as I thought I'd be winning an opportunity to face you in a Pokemon battle!"

"P-Pikachu!" Pikachu frantically cried out.

Opal flickered her gaze towards Bede who could be seen glaring at Ash upon seeing him receive the title of Gym Leader. He reminded her of herself when she was his age, rash, impatient, disrespectful... it made her feel nostalgic, he definitely had potential to be her replacement. "Hey can't a woman my age have a bit of fun? I was only joking around!" Opal giggled out, causing the others to face fault. "Of course I'll battle you, Ash but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I believe Bede and I need to have a talk..."

Bede glanced up towards Opal with a hopeful expression as she offered him a kind and warm expression. "D-Does this mean...?"

"Yes Bede, you're going to become Ballonlea's next Gym Leader!" Opal excitedly exclaimed.

The Pokemon battles will be included in the next chapter. And no, I haven't forgotten Slowpoke. The Tundra arc was originally going to be after Opal but I'm at a loss on how to handle Calyrex and the horses, everything else including Slowpoke's evolution is already settled but I don't know how to handle the non-Regi/Bird legendary Pokemon just yet. I could just have them 'bond with the boys' but it's been done and happening again, it'll pale in comparison to the ones coming up story wise. I need time to think of something so Hoenn got bumped up :)

Mallow was also supposed to show up here, wanting to obtain recipes from Opal and ultimately ending up with Alcreamie(Upon them realizing she likes cooking but hates battles) but I scrapped that subplot as I literally couldn't have Ash win without Mallow getting sabotaged(Or on his team but that'd take away from his victory, it made sense to just remove her). Ash may be the strongest of the main characters but Mallow/Cilan/Brock will always be better at cooking.