Hi everyone and welcome to the 21st chapter of my fic.

This time I was able to update in less than 2 weeks which is an improvement. I'll try by all my ,ethods go back to my previous "1 update per week". This August has been insane and that reflected in the amount of updates you received. Hopefully this will improve now.

Now let's go straight ahead to the TIME WITH REVIEWS section:

12courtney12: Yes it was, but I'm glad you liked it. I'm sure you'll like this better. I also hope that you liked my answer to your PM. Thanks for reviewing!

LexClone5: There corrected (I never noticed when I did my last lecture of it).

zBomb: I'm glad you liked it. THis has a lot more action, and you'll see this new Ruby. Thanks for reviewing.

comisure: I'm very happy to know that someone likes them. And you'll be happy to read this one if that's really the case. Thanks for your review.

GUEST 1: I'm happy you liked and yes I can and I will try: I could do this in this one XD.

GUEST 2: I'll never stop (until I finish it). Thanks for the review.

RionaCremisi: I have the feeling they will be surpsised quite a lot of times. I'm glad to see that you ate a lot of sugar, it means that you're okay. And you shouldn't cry for that, school can be bad, but being ill is much worse (for me at least). I'm glad you hope for more chapters to some and for the cliffhangers... I just hope you didn't lie when you said that it are fun. XD
PD: That smoke makess me think about a certain gem, but I can't put my finger in it... a crimson, sparkling gem. I'll think about it XD. Thanks for your always-long review.

And that was all for IME WITH REVIEWS today... As always I want to thank you for reading this fic. I believe that in less than 25 chapter I can both achieve the AMAZING number of 100 reviews as well as the 200 k words(but that's up to me I guess).

I must say that all of you are amazing. That includes, of course my great edito LexClone5 who wants to tell you something before we start.

WARNING: you do not NEED to read this, unless you want to, want to hear about an awesome new card game, or just want to know more about LexClone5.

LC5: I swear, League (Of Legends) has taken over most of my schedule, I can never get to work on my upcoming review show on ButtonJam. Oh hey, didn't notice you reading this. I'm the editor, LexClone5, or LC5 for short, and a lot has changed since I last edited a story. I went back to school(I am now a senior in high school), I am in the Regional Occupation Center(ROC) in Graphic Design, I still play lots of LoL(favorite champion is Ezreal, who is played by Kyle Hebert, the voice of Adult Gohan in DBZ, next on my list is Lee Sin, voiced by Vic Mignogna, also known as Edward Elric.). My official height is 5"8', I am shorter than all of my friends :'(, and my friend from my show is just gone, he had a messed up schedule, so he takes Night School, so I never see my best friend :'(. I have started a review show with another friend, we will review video games.

One last thing before I get to the disclaimer, I recently got a job promoting a new card game named "Exodus". It's an awesome new card game, they have a website where you can buy there card online, they have two decks out, each are $20. You can find it at ( email then telling them that ButtonJam sent you, it will greatly help them get of the ground. PM me for details)

DISCLAIMER!: We do not own pokemon, I thought it was a given.

This said.. READ and ENJOY!


Ruby's POV (26th of October, 9:00 pm)

I was coming back from my training place. We, being me and my pokemon, had spent all the afternoon training new combinations and perfecting some old ones. Both my pokemon and I were very tired, them for the training, and me for, well… the last days perhaps?

Those last days had been something else. First came Friday with the battle Royale, then the argument, the talk with Sapphire… Not to say the battle they fought against the grunts, the make-up talk with Green and the aftermath when we all had to console a devastated Sapphire who lost her place to live in the Academy.

Today, though, was not so much better. We spent the whole day helping Sapphire with her apartment, not but that wasn't the reason for the day being a tough one. It was bad because I couldn't stop myself for thinking about the worst case possible, even though both Silver, Red, and Green said that those people never came back for them again… For some reason that wasn't able to stop my thoughts…

Not even a call from my dad could reassure me enough. I received it soon after I went home and started to prepare some food I had bought this morning before meeting my friends.

-Hi Ruby- he said when his face and my mom's appeared on the screen.

-Hi dad, hi mom- I asked like nothing had happened- how are things?

-They're okay darling, but what about you?- she said with a lot of concern in her voice.

-I'm good, I assume that you know about the incident from yesterday, don't you?- I asked them.

-Yeah, Birch told me this morning and the other two professors knew everything too- he said- He was quite nervous when he told me that, but he also told me that the Dexholders were able to defeat all of them again… He also said that the Pokemon Association are trying their best to learn something from them.

-Does he know what happened to her?- I asked my dad.

-I don't think so, what happened?- said my mom- Does he honey?- she asked when Norman only shook his head in denial.

-Her apartment was destroyed by those grunts-I told him- but don't tell him, let Sapphire do it.

-Why? He has to know- he said.

-Of course, but apparently, I'm studying abroad. And not in the same academy as her- I told him- so you shouldn't know this.

-That's right, so you battled this time against the grunts?- he asked.

-No, I didn't- I said and his face darkened a bit.

-And in the "Battle Royale"?- he asked with his hard face.

-I avoided every single battle until I surrendered- I explained to him.

-And how far did you get with that "strategy"?- he asked extending this last word.

-Top 10- I answered.

-That's perfect Ruby!- squealed my mom from behind him.

-That's definitely not perfect! That's anything but perfect!- growled Norman- Why Ruby? Your friends are in need and you don't help them. You have to battle to stay in the Academy and you avoid the battles when you could win every single one of them easily.

-You know why I didn't battle… I already told you- I said- And before I say goodbye… Let me tell you that battling is not the only way of helping someone.

-What do you mean with that?- he asked me.

-It's not that important… but you'll know eventually- I told him- Goodbye dad, mom.

And with that I ended the call. I looked at the clock and saw that it was still early. I made a quick dinner and I went to bed quite early, but for the same reasons as before, I couldn't fall asleep. I turned again and again in my bed. I stood up, went to the bathroom and I came back and nothing changed. That lasted until I sent Coco out and I told her to use her move Sing for a little while before I recalled her. The sweet melody was able to make me, finally, fall asleep.


Two ten year-old kids, a dark-red eyed boy and a deep-blue eyed girl, flying above the clouds, escaping from the prison we met in... It was her brithday "Happy birthday Sapph" I said before she hugged me from behind whispering "Thank you". She was hugging me with that fangy grin in her face and I turned my blushing face away from it. It was perfect and she was saying something when... "Watch out!"I yelled when I saw a shadow flying past us. I looked at the shadow and there it was, that red and blue dragon. I put her behind me, to protect her, she was the main target. I tried to fight, but then an attack came. Pain, blood and my left eye's vision blurring by it. "I have to protect her... " I thoguht. Then another attack came before a huge fall... And then eyes, those eyes...

And again… I was awake and without any hope of going back to sleep. And again it was because of my nightmare. This didn't came as a surprise though, because with my thoughts I was so sure that I was going to wake up like this. That made me realize that maybe Ruru's Hypnosis would've been better because it usually provides a dreamless sleep.

Regardless of this, I woke up and I went to the bathoroom. It was very early, but without hopes of sleeping more I decided to start the day already. Noticing that I was still stuck with my thought I decided to go outside for a walk. When I opened the door, the sight of a girl wearing a blue outfit as well as a blue bandana surpised me.

-What are you doing here?- I asked her surprised to see her.

-I had a bad dream, and after that I couldn't sleep- Sapphire replied surprised as well when she turned to see me- What are you doing up now?

-The same as you, I guess that I'm quite nervous for the contest- I kinda lied… I was nervous for the contest, but that was not the major reason for me being up already- I've never had as much an audience as I will today. If you really come to see me, that is.

-I for one, am going- she told me smiling- And you should know that Green never jokes about those things.

-That's good to hear and I'm grateful for that- I said.

-How's that bruise?- she asked me- Does still hurt?

-No, that ointment you have is something else- I told her putting my hand on the bruise- but the mark will still be there this afternoon.

-So that means that you'll have to use make-up again?- she asked me remembering the first contest she saw me compete.

-It seems that way- I chuckled- Want some coffee?- I offered.

-Sure- she said and entered the apartment with me.

While drinking some coffee we talked about a lot of non important things. She explained some anecdotes in which Blue embarrassed both Yellow and Crystal and even one when she was able to embarrass Silver. I told her what my dad had found out about those grunts and the efforts that the Pokemon Association seemed to be doing. Sometime later I turned the TV on on the News channel. Ironically they were talking about that some investigation both our parents were in charge of.

I tried to be foreign about all those investigations only telling her that I knew what the news were willing to say about that. She explained everything I already knew and even something more. When it was around 10:00 pm, Blue called her, and soon after that she said her goodbyes and thanked me for everything before she went towards Blue's apartment. Before that, we accorded to meet with everyone just before the preliminary rounds started.

After she was gone I went to train with my pokemon for three and a half hours before going home and preparing my pokemon for the contest. I had a light lunch before I applied some make up to the bruise. After this was done I went to meet my friends at the Contest's Hall. I arrived quite early so no one was there yet. Seeing that I went to sign up for the preliminary rounds. I did that in less than 5 minutes and I went out to see if them had finally arrived. I sighed in relief when I found all of them there laughing clearly at Gold.

-Hey guys- I greeted them.

-Hi Rub- answered Sapphire.

-Prepared to win this all over again?- asked Red in a challenging tone.

-I'll try to, but it won't be easy-I told him- The Hyper-Rank has some serious competition. Well… I'm going to face the preliminary rounds, I'll see you after the competitions.

-We'll be right here, good luck- said Yellow when Sapphire sent me a thumbs-up.

With that I entered the building again to face the preliminary rounds. I saw some familiar faces in the crowd. I had competed with some people before and some of them were quite good. I also saw Sam with her pokemon entering the Tough and Cool section today. I didn't know if her brother told her that I was able to beat him two days ago, but I don't think that his pride would allow that. When I had tried to analyze everyone from there the preliminary rounds started.

Emerald's POV

-GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND GENTELMAN, AND BE WELCOMED TO THE HYPER-RANK CONTEST!

I saw all the audience become quiet at the sound of the speaker. I could see that there wasn't a single spot empty in the contest hall. I saw her speaking and presenting the judges. I asked Sapphire what they meant with Hyper-rank in that time.

-There are four levels in contests… Once your pokemon has achieved one, you can compete in the next level- she said- isn't this true Yellow?

-Yes, that's it- Yellow answered from behind- Rub's pokemon has achieved until the Super-rank and the next is the Hyper-rank. After that I assume that he will try to enter the Master-rank to be one of the bests out there.

-Can you explain us a little how this contest thing goes?- I asked them gaining the attention of our male companions.

-It's a little long and I don't know if I'll be able to before it starts- said Yellow.

-I know someone that we'll be able to do that- said Sapphire then poking at the dark-blue haired girl that wore a white hat in front of her- Excuse me… do you remember me?

The girl just turned to see who was speaking to her as well as her two friends, one blonde and one with black hair. She thought for a moment before answering.

-Oh, I do. You're that girl that was sitting next to Diamond in the Normal-rank contests, aren't you?- she said- I assume that you liked the show because you came back.

-Yes, you could say that… I came here to cheer for a friend that time- Sapphire told the girl- It was that one who won all the competitions that day.

-You're talking about Rub?- said the blonde guy on her right- The one who also won all the Super-rank three weeks ago?

-Yep, that's him- she said in a proud voice.

-So I assume that he is competing again today- said the blonde guy.

-You are right- I said.

-So what you and the other Dexholders want from us?- asked the black haired guy between bites of his biscuits when we all grimaced.

-Diamond's right- said the girl- we know who you are… Sapphire. But don't worry we'll keep it a secret. I know how annoying can fame be.

-You do?- I asked quietly.

-Yeah, Missy is the heiress of one of the richest families in the world- said the blonde boy.

-And she is always followed by journalists and other people- said the other.

-That's right so don't worry. Not me or my friends, Diamond and Pearl, will say anything- said the girl signaling to each boy when she said their name- So what can I do for you?

- I was wondering if you could explain the rules of the contests to my friends here- she said- You explained them for me very well the other time.

-No problem- she said- First there are the four people who are able to compete. They have to pass the preliminary rounds to be able to do that. Those 4 competitors have 5 rounds to show his or hers pokemon abilities using one attack each turn. The attacks are punctuated by the judges and they look for the precision, power, beautifulness, coordination and some more things.

-The current punctuations are shown at the end of every turn, also telling the order in which the coordinators will perform in the next round- said Diamond- they have to use their attack towards a wooden target in front of them every time. They can also combine two or more attacks to create combos in order to increase their points.

-There are 5 categories being Cute, Tough, Smart, Beauty and Cool and the attacks or the pokemon used in each one can change- said Pearl- Today the Cute will be the first, followed by Beauty, Cool, Smart and finally Tough. This is rare so I believe that the Tough one will be the one with better coordinators.

-Finally, some moves can make some pokemon be startled and that decreases the points you'll receive at the end of the round- said "Missy"- They also take into account the reactions of the pokemon. I believe I said almost everything with that and it seems that the Cute one is going to start.

-Thanks a lot, I hope we see a good show today- said Sapphire thanking them while we all nodded.

-Don't mention it and yes I think we will…- said her when the speaker started the real show.

-SO AFTER THAT BRIEF EXPLANATION… LET'S GO RIGHT TO THE ACTION- she started- OUR FIRST CONTEST TODAY WE'LL BE THE CUTE SECTION SO LET'S SEE THE 4 PEOPLE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR THIS RIBBON…

Some applauses could be heard when she started to present the 4 coordinators, I hope Rub's one of those 4.

-Our first competitor is one of the most experienced coordinatiors in town.. this person has been out of competition for two years before she came today to claim a new ribbon to her immense collection - she said- LET'S WELCOME WITH OUR CHEERS… Ms. AUBURN AND HER WHISCASH, WHISKLES!

A huge roar of applause could be heard in the hall… It took a while to decrease the amount of cheers that were directed towards the old woman that entered the hall and released her pokemon. When it did the speaker presented a boy name Liam who was almost able to win this ribbon two months ago losing by a small amount of points. Liam was going to use his Slowbro.

-Our third contestant is the youngest one of them all today. He appeared here one month ago competing in the Normal-rank contest. As unexpected as it sounds he was able to win all 5 categories. Not only that, but in the last Super-rank competition three weeks ago he won them all again. I'm now going to tell you guys… this boy and his pokemon have ALSO passed the preliminaries for ALL the categories today. But let's get to the matter in hand…- she said lifting some kind of worry from our shoulders- I WANT TO HEAR YOUR APPLAUSES FOR RUB AND HIS DELCATTY, COCO!

I couldn't believe the amount of cheers he received. Even with those achievements only half of the Contest Hall applauded him. Even Liam received more applauses than him, but he only waved at the audience as if he didn't realize that. I looked towards Sapphire, but she was only applauding him with a smile on her face.

The next contestant was a girl named Anne who was going to use her Slakoth. That was a rare pokemon to use in here, but if it had the level to take part… Better not underestimate it.

-WITH THE PRESENTATIONS DONE, WE WON'T MAKE YOU WAIT ANYMORE…- yelled the speaker- THE CUTE SECTION OF THE HYPER-RANK CONTEST CAN… START!

Ruby's POV

-WITH THE PRESENTATIONS DONE, WE WON'T MAKE YOU WAIT ANYMORE…- yelled the speaker- THE CUTE SECTION OF THE HYPER-RANK CONTESTS CAN… START!

-Whiskles use Water Gun!- yelled the old lady to her Whiscash who shot three tiny water streams which stroke on the target in three different places. Those places where the head and two legs until the beams started to fuse in one. It was a magnificent display and the easiness that the pokemon showed while doing that was something to be amazed of and the audience cheered for that.

-Slowbro use Amnesia- commanded Liam and with that the pokemon started to glow a different colors. First he glowed red, turning to purple, then to blue… This continued until he turned pink again. It was a true display of abilities and the judges seemed quite pleased with that the same as the spectators who applauded at the great attack. I had to start strong too so I prepared a combo.

-Coco use Attract!- I commanded and as we had been training all the week she used the attack. She was able to put one of the most adorable faces in the planet and winked unleashing some little hearts which floated around the target. The difference was that this time the attack never faded and the hearts kept floating around the target. With that my turn ended and the audience clapped too for my performance. Then happened something that we never expected.

-Slakoth use Yawn- Anne commanded and the pokemon did just that, nothing more and nothing else. The pokemon yawned, but nothing else happened. The public never clapped, but the girl stood there like the proudest trainer on the earth.

And with that the turn ended. When the punctuation were shown I saw that I was third after Liam and very near to Ms. Auburn. Not surprisingly, Anne was the last with next to no points and quite far from us, but that didn't kept me from feeling uneasy. With the turns being settled the second round started.

-Slowbro use Withdraw- Liam shouted and his pokemon just did that. The pokemon covered glowing a lightning blue color. Even if this pokemon wasn't the strongest its use of colors was amazing and the judges seemed to approve that a lot. The audience was amazed too by the performance because a lot of cheers and clapping could be heard. Something was seemed wrong though… The speed with which he executed the attack had been quite slow…

-Whiskles use Sand attack- and obeying her trainer's command the fish pokemon threw some sand to the target with both whiskers and tail. The sand was stuck to the target in the places where the Water Gun had touched the wood creating a beautiful sand pattern. The combo created was simple, but hard to think of at the same time and everyone cheered for her and her pokemon. The only thing I didn't like was the way her pokemon landed on the stage after the attack. It was quite a rough landing taking into account that it was a pokemon trained for contests…

Then I looked down to see Coco. She looked at me while blinking a few times. It was something rare for her to blink that fast and that concerned me. Then a thought stroke me and my realization scared me. I had to use my best hand in this turn or else I would lose every single option to win the contest, and that was not going to happen.

-Coco I trust you… use Iron tail to the hearts!- I commanded.

And then my pokemon launched towards the target with her tail glowing. Jumping, rolling and making turns in the air my cat pokemon stroke each one of the hearts who were floating around the target making them collide with the wooden object. Every time a heart touched the wood exploded creating tiny fireworks all around the target. I felt very proud of my pokemon… it was not easy to create such a beautiful display. Both the judges and the audience seemed to acknowledge that because I received a great amount of cheers and applauses this round, even more than anyone in the previous ones. I just hoped that this would be enough.

-Slakoth use Slack off!- Anne said with her smirk all along. This time though, his pokemon did something else. The pokemon sighed soundly and started to glow from his feet to his head. When he was glowing completely the glow intensified until it started to fade. Sure it wasn't as amazing as the other performances, but she would get some points and the fact that Slakoth had restored every single portion of his energy earning some clapping and cheers all along.

And with that the most important moment of the competition arrived. Looking with the corner of my eye Anne's smirk was all I needed to know that my suspicions were right. I looked at the punctuations and… relief came over me when I saw that I was now in the lead. If my calculations were right, I was very close to winning because I had a lot of advantage between me and Anne, the most dangerous rival. Then my turn came and I put my plan into action after looking at Coco who was waiting for my commands blinking repeatedly.

-Coco use Double-Slap… on yourself- I commanded and the public fell silent.

Silver's POV

-Coco use Double-Slap… on yourself- I saw Rub command.

His pokemon did just that and used her tail to slap her face three times before positioning herself in front of Rub nonchalantly and ending her turn. All the Contest's Hall fell silent then. I didn't knew anything about contests, but I was sure that to do this wasn't the type of thing the judges would punctuate well. The others were thinking the same as me and like was the whole Contest's Hall.

-Why did he do that?- I asked them.

-I don't know, he never did something like that…- said Yellow.

-What do you want to achieve with this Rub?- I heard Sapphire whisper.

But then something even stranger happened. When Ms. Auburn commanded her pokemon to use Water Sport the Whiscash stopped moving and his whiskers fell. Looking closer we could see that the pokemon had fallen asleep. Just then Slowbro plummeted on the ground snoring too surprising Liam and every single person in the Contest's Hall. I then looked to Rub and Anne to see what pokemon was going to fall next, but both normal-types stood like nothing was happening. Due to that fact neither of those pokemon were able to perform in their turns they couldn't make any progress. Anne was very able to do it and did quite a good job, for the cheering I heard, using Façade.

-I get it now- said Green almost in awe.

-What do you get?- asked Gold- the only thing I saw in this turn was a pokemon that attacked himself like if it was confused, two sleeping beauties who couldn't attack and one that took advantage of all that luck.

-It wasn't luck- said Blue- They fell asleep due to Slakoth's Yawn.

-And the reason why Rub used Double-slap on his pokemon was to prevent Coco from falling asleep, those slaps were able to stimulate herself- said Red- Right now only Rub and the girl with an Slakoth are able to perform, and he has the advantage too.

-He was lucky to be the first this round- said Crystal- if he was the second Coco would've fallen asleep.

-Maybe that wasn't luck- said Sapphire- that's probably the best combination his Delcatty knows. I believe he realized Anne's strategy and aimed for the first place this round.

-If that's true… impressive- I said when the results were shown on the screen.

I could see that the amount of points had decreased for Rub and now he was the third with quite a margin from Anne. Both Ms. Auburn and Liam were a little ahead of him, but that was nothing that a good performance couldn't fix for the amount of point he received for the first two rounds. What was odd is that I saw Rub flash a smirk when he saw that he was the third this time… strange. On the other hand I saw Anne frown while looking at him before sighing and concentrating.

With that the fourth round started and, as expected, the two sleeping pokemon didn't wake up and couldn't perform this round either. Rub on the other hand commanded Coco to use Assist which came to be an Ice beam attack. Seeing this Rub made Coco freeze the ground in front of him and then the target too. The attack seemed so natural that everyone could've thought that it was one of his attacks. Anne on her hand did and impressive job with her Slakoth's Growl which turned to be a beautiful melody, clearly not expected from that pokemon. When the punctuations were show this time we could see Rub in the lead with Anne behind him. She had cut some distance with him, but Rub was still clearly on the lead. Ms. Auburn was next at the middle with the 2nd place quite difficult for her to reach, and Liam was a little behind her.

-Coco let's end this… use "skating" Double-edge- He said and right after that the Delcatty started to run towards the ice she created in the previous round. She skated like a professional in a clear zig-zag and after turning twice slammed its head on the frozen target breaking it into tiny little pieces that shone with the light inside the Contest hall… Then the cat pokemon went by Rub's side and they vowed under a lot more cheers and applauses than the amount he received when he entered.

Anne came next and used the strongest attack of the category. She commanded her Slakoth to used quite powerful Focus Punch. His arm started glowing white until the only thing glowing was its fist, then he broke the target in two with the power he concentrated. Then the pokemon returned to its trainer side and vowed and received the cheers from the public present in the building.

While Ms. Auburn was able to perform, because its pokemon was able to wake up, with a Water sport, Rub gave a strange cube to his pokemon. The pokemon seemed delighted by that. With that Ms. Auburn also finished her performance and received quite a lot of cheers.

Liam was not as lucky and his Slowbro wasn't able to wake up before this round started. Regardless he was able to perform because he used Snore. It ended to be a quite soundly one, and it made the target shiver. The category was finished and was the only thing left was the announcement of the winner. By that time almost everyone knew who would be this person. After some seconds she spent chatting with the judges the speaker came to the centre of the stage, microphone in hand ready to announce the winner.

-So that was everything ladies and gentleman. I must say that this competition was one of the most rare one that I've ever seen, but that difference between one contest to another is something that comes with contests I guess. Even that fact I must say that all the performances were of a high level and for that only I have to thank the four contestants by my side. But things must come to an end…- she said not even looking at the piece of paper in her hand- ladies and gentleman give a hard applause to the only survivor in the Cute category today… RUB AND COCO!

And with that the crowd cheered in joy when Rub stepped forward and took the ribbon in his hands before putting it in his pokemon's fur. He then bowed again while waving and leaving the place. I look at the side when saw all the girls on their feet applauding him, the same that Red and Emerald was doing. I only looked at Green to notice an strange sense of concentration. I smirked when I saw that and I sighed when I saw Gold trying to deny that he was impressed. He is so immature.

Yellow's POV

-I understand Rub more now… when he said those things about strategy- I told Red.

-Yeah, that wasn't just a matter of beauty- said Crystal from my side- If the Delcatty had fallen asleep, the girl with the Slakoth would've been the winner.

-Definitely- said Red when the speaker started to present the next competitors- hey isn't that Sam, Gold?

-Uh, yes she is- answered Gold while Crystal sent him a hard glare.

-So she is that Sam that followed you for almost two weeks until you were able to make her stop doing that- said Crystal.

-Well… in fact it was Blue who was able to achieve that- I said, but noticing the glare crystal was giving him I explained myself more- because Gold asked her, of course.

-Is that true?-growled Crystal.

-Of course… you don't want to know what this girl is capable of. Red and Green also had a hard time with her- he said much to my dismay- well mostly Green because Red never knew what was happening until he found her friends inside his apartment one day.

-It seems that she's calmed a bit now because whenever she sees us, she just continues her path like anything happened- said Emerald- I just hope this will last.

-Look she's talking to Rub now- said Blue looking at Sapphire from the corner of her eye.

-I'm sure that she's challenging him- said Sapphire serenely- he was able to win her the last time. Look is going to start!

And it sure was. This time the competition was for the Cool section and Rub was the second now. Miriam was the first along with her Exploud, then Rub with Nana, next came Tyler and his Skarmory, Armor, and at the end came Sam with her Breloom. The competition was a tough one again. Not only Rub and Sam were very good, but the other two competitors were able to put a great fight. The Skarmory did great appeals with her speed and air maneuvers in the sky while using Steel wing and Drill peck. Not only that, she was also able to avoid being affected by Nana's Roar because it had used Focus energy just before him. The only thing that scarred his performance was that his Screech attack was a complete failure and won nearly to no points that round because not a single pokemon was startled. With that Tyler achieved the third place.

With Miriam and her Exploud, the case was totally different. His Brick break attack was good in the first round, but the other performances were much greater. The difference in points was very large and she changed to a more dangerous tactic, "Desperate moments call for desperate decisions". So she opted to put her Exploud to sleep with Rest. The move was beautifully done and the pokemon fell asleep while glowing an strange shade of pink, almost as if it was a shiny Exploud. With that, she avoided any fear of her pokemon losing points for being scared for other attacks like Nana's Roar or Armor's Screech. While the pokemon was sleep she used Sleep talk twice. The first time everything went perfect and executed a perfect made and trained Hyper Voice. Where the things came wrong for her were at the 4th turn when all the luck came back and the loud pokemon used Explosion. I was so sure that she wanted this move for the final round when the pokemon would wake up full of energy. With that she was the last this time.

Even with those great appeals then real battle for the ribbon was between Rub and Sam. The Breloom was great starting from the very beginning. She started with a great Reversal that was very effective because it was the last one and could concentrate power during all the round. She was first and then she used Sky Uppercut which was again a great attack and she was able to maintain the first place. Rub used his first turn to raise Nana's precision with Odor Sleuth and in the second round he made his pokemon use Howl. With them he was third in the 3rd round, but not very far from the others. In the third turn he used Roar scaring the Breloom who had already performed making the pokemon jump and decreasing the amount of points he would receive for her Bullet Seed. With that Rub was now second and had cut some points from Sam. The fourth round was the one that Rub used to catapult himself to the lead with a perfect performance. Breloom had used Mach punch with great accuracy, but that appeal was left in the back of our minds when Rub ordered Nana to use Sucker punch after putting some black cloth around his eyes, making her blind. The pokemon ran, jumped and did a turn around the target before breaking it with its claw flawlessly. The judges were able to see that the pokemon was blind all the time and so did the audience, who clapped at the perfect display. With that at the beginning of the last round Rub was just some points behind Sam who was now quite nervous.

The last round was going the decide the victory and it certainly did. Sam made Breloom use a Dynamic Punch which collided with the target breaking it in two. It was a very strong attack and when she vowed along with her pokemon it seemed quite difficult for Rub to be the winner, but he, again, left everyone in the Contest hall with our mouth wide and not trusting our eyes anymore. He literally commanded his pokemon to start turning around almost making us feel somewhat dizzy. Then he just shouted "Hyperbeam" and the pokemon jumped after turning a little more and sent out an orange beam right in the middle of the target before it exploded with the wooden parts burning a little. The coordination, accuracy and mostly the complexity of the attack was evident, but what really made it unbeatable was that Nana did that wearing the blindfold again. He then grabbed the cloth around Nana's eyes before waving along with her pokemon earning a lot of cheers and applauses. The judges asked Rub to hand them the blindfold for a moment when all the rounds finished, and after some time they gave it back to him as well with some words of praise, for what it seemed. It wasn't a surprise when the speaker asked him to go and claim his new ribbon.

-How could he do that?- asked Gold from Crystal's side- I was almost at the edge of throwing up just seeing the Mightyena do that and it didn't only strike the wooden target perfectly, she did it with a blindfold around her eyes.

-The attack had everything but power- said Green then- But the power is not as important here than in battles. If you add the power of Sapphire's Aggron to that coordination, we would be talking about one of the best pokemon I've ever seen.

-Seeing that it's Green who's talking about the Mightyena… Rub should be very happy- said Blue making fun of him- I'm sure that this was the kindest thing he's ever said to anyone's pokemon, but ours.

-I wouldn't expect more from Green- chuckled Red making us laugh when the Beauty contest was about to start.

This time it was almost like a piece of cake for Rub in comparison of the other competitions of the day. Not Liam with his Espeon, nor Arya with her Arcanine could even come close to the amount of points he got. The only one that stood a chance was Miriam with her Starmie. Sapphire said that Arya had also been a rival of him once and it was quite clear that she knew how to perform. She did a good job using fire combos with Ember, Flame wheel and Fire blast. His final combo using Extremespeed after that Fire blast was very good and she came third with it. Liam had a lot of bad luck in this one, it'd not been his day actually. He had prepared a Sunny day when at the last moment Miriam used Rain dance and made its Morning sun less effective than the usual. Then its Psybeam was good, but in the same round Starmie also used Psybeam and the judges punctuated better the attack made by the Water type. As said the Starmie was the best opponent Rub had in this round. Combining his water attacks like Water pulse with its psychic movements was able to create a beautiful water performance. Miriam's points raised noticeably when her pokemon won the Psybeam comparison.

What I thought the problem for them to be in this contest was they never tried anything to affect the others appeals and Rub took benefit of that. He was able to focus only in his appeals and combos and that was easy for him this time. It's clear that his Milotic is his most graceful pokemon and her appeals showed that. Every swift movement had a purpose and it was perfectly defined. One water pulse that dispersed in the air creating a little fog… A light screen to cover the target in the second round before shooting an Hydropump to it creating what seemed a fountain that created some rainbow patterns when the droplets were falling. To end his performance he covered the target again with the Safeguard veil and in the final round he left all the mouths hanging in the Contest Hall with the creation of the "Indoor Northern lights" with Aurora beam. I was amazed the same as everyone, but I made an effort to look at my male companions. We. the four girls, laughed a lot at that.

-What are you laughing at?- asked Emerald.

-Nothing… it's just that I wanted you guys to see this- said Blue- That's the most beautiful appeal I've ever seen.

-We only wanted to see your reactions- I said- He used this one that last time when we came here.

-He used it to win the contest after he tied with a guy that already had the Hyper-rank ribbon- said Crystal when Sapphire only continued laughing while turning to see Rub claiming yet another ribbon.

-Truly spectacular- was the only thing one of the guys said then still amazed.

Blue's POV

Rub had just won the Smart contest in the final. It had been a good competition. The fourth was Max, another contestant that Rub competed against the first day using his Arbok named, Kobra. He was good and made some good combinations with Poison fang and Toxic when he tried to scare us with Screech before using a Faint attack that surprised the majority of us. Maria used her Gengar to show good appeals in her rounds. I admire the way the ghost used Dream eater and the final Destiny bond was almost perfect. The lack of combos was her fault, but she managed well when trying to scare the other pokemon.

The battle for the first place was very tough. The rivals knew each other because they tied in their last Beauty contest. George and Rub both used the same pokemon and that made the things very difficult for either of them. George used his Castform to change the weather and Rubwould take profit of that to use Weather ball in the first round. Then Rub changed the weather in the second and George mimicked him and took profit of that. It was then raining when George used Water Pulse to create a combo. Seeing this I changed the weather again using Hail. As I predicted, he used Weather ball in the next round to use the only type of the attack that hadn't been used with Weather ball. Then used Blizzard to make the icy droplets of ice spin before creating that ice wall all around the target. And the last round was just a success. The foe's Castform used Ice beam to take profit of the Hail that was still falling. Rub, on the other hand, didm't use a Ice type attack. He just made Popo throw his Double Shadow ball from above the circular wall and to clash to those walls. Surprisingly the balls went bouncing into the wall several times before clashing into the target. Both the bounces and the impact made the icy wall break and fall beautifully on the stage.

It was a beautiful move indeed, and all the Contest's Hall cheered for him when he was declared to be the winner.

-Soemthing's changed from when he first entered today- said Emerald- Now they're applauding him.

-It happened the other times too- said Sapphire- Even though he has yet to lose a contest, people underestimate him because nobody knows him, but in the end they start to realize what can he really do.

-Well, so… Gold have you seen the new Rub?- I asked him.

-I sure did- said Gold- He's so different from the Rub I usually see.

-I have seen him in a lot of ways, but I've never seen him with as much control of a situation before- said Green.

-Me neither- said Red- and he's not afraid to take some difficult decisions, like when he commanded Coco to slap herself.

-I believe I'm starting to understand what he did meant with that comment of strategy- said Silver.

-Yeah, but I've yet to see a powerful move in here- said Gold.

-It's difficult to find a powerful move in a contest because they mainly focus on making it good looking and spectacular- said Crystal.

-But if you want to see some powerful moves… I'll ask you to check the last category today- said the blue haired girl in front of us- the Tough contest in the one who bases more on the pokemon's power.

-Is that true?- asked Emerald.

-Yeah, Missy is saying the truth- said Diamond.

-I believe that this one is going to be difficult for him though…- said Pearl.

-Why?- I asked.

-Because people don't like to lose and I don't believe that they will allow Rub to win all the contests today too- said he- plus the two guys competing with him are not exactly known for playing fair.

-What do you mean?- asked Sapphire.

-Both Jackie and Xavier use some strange methods. I'm not saying that they do anything illegal- said Diamond- they just push their foes a little more than what is morally correct.

-He has managed perfectly until now, let's see how the pressure affects him- said Green with a smirk.

And just like that the same as Rub, a boy and a girl plus Sam were in the middle of the stage. Rub would be the first to perform with his Swampert while Jackie was using his Haryama, Sam used her Breloom again. Finally Xavier was using his Medicham.

The first round started with Rub using Muddy water. It consisted in creating a wave of brown water and, actually, surfing it until the move hit the target. It wasn't a move as beautiful as the others, but had some coordination behind it. Then Jackie (a red headed girl) did one of those moves that Diamond was talking about. She commanded her pokemon to use Cross chop to break the target in 4 pieces before throwing one of them at Zuzu's feet, like mocking him. The Mudfish pokemon just looked at it and then stood still.

Sam looked curiously at this performance, but she shrugged it off seeing that she wasn't affected by them. She just commanded her Breloom to use Headbut on the target after doing some spins in the air. It was a good appeal for the cheers of the people inside the Hall. Then came Xavier and I knew then what Pearl really meant with that comment. The boy commanded him to use Focus punch. Doing some good backflips the agile pokemon positioned himself just behind the target to throw his charged punch into it. The punch was so powerful that broke the target form the feet and sent it flying. The odd thing was that it wasn't flying towards a random place, the target was approaching both Zuzu and his trainer dangerously. Then Rub just said something to his pokemon when he stepped aside. Just at the last minute Zuzu jumped effectively avoiding the coming target. I just saw Xavier smirk at that when Rub only sighed.

-Is this legal?- asked Sapphire- He tried to hurt him.

-The judges can say that it wasn't done on purpose…- said "Missy"- That will be bad for your friend. His points won't be very high now.

-Why?- I asked- His performance was very good.

-It was, but he moved and his pokemon too when it was someone else's turn…- said Diamond eating a bag of crisps, "How is he so thin?"- and that is not allowed.

-C'mon Rub. You have to win and leave these two in the dust- said Sapph.

And like that the second round started. Like the girl said Rub was the last one while Sam was the first. Jackie followed her while Xavier was third. They were quite far from Rub, but he seemed calm. Sam used Giga Drain which came quite beautiful when Jackie did that again. Using Strenght she grabbed the target and launched it in the air, catching it when it dfell and breaking pulling in from both arms. Before going back to her place she threw one arm in front of Sam whose Breloom flinched before doing the same with Zuzu who seemed to lose some patience even if he never moved. With that it was the Medicham's turn who simply used Fire punch to the target making it explode. The burning parts of the target fell suspiciously near both Rub and Sam again making my blood start to heat up. Sapphire's blood was already boiling when she saw that, understanding the true purpose of the attack. She was about to shout to him when Rub commanded his pokemon and her tone changed completely.

-Zuzu use "Medicham" Mud sport!- Rub said.

-Take a good look at this, it's awesome- said Sapphire smiling now and I looked at the arena suspiciously.

Soon enough the mud-fish pokemon was piling more and more mud on top of the target and moving franticly around it. I, like anyone, couldn't see what was the pokemon doing until it was finished. I heard all the Contest hall gasp at the sight because just in front of us stood a perfectly done mud-made statue of a Medicham. The same height, the same pose only with a different color. I was amazed, but Gold thought otherwise.

-That's impressive… but I don't understand. A pokemon is attacking him and he does an statue of it- said Gold- It's like he was inviting him to do this again.

-It's true, but I'm sure that he has a purpose for it- said Green.

And with a great amount of applauses for Rub the round ended. He was still the fourth while both Jackie and Sam were tied at the front. He was almost tied with Xavier and not very far from the two leading the classification. Sam started with Tackle and Hariyama continued his appeal with Sand attack, an attack that went "unfortunately" towards the three pokemon at his side before being directed to the target. Some people booed the appeal and I could hear some murmurs coming from my friends that seemed something like: "This is not the way of doing anything" or "This shouldn't be allowed". We were not the only ones to think that because I heard an old man say "In my times, this was called dishonorable". This only increased when the Medicham used Superpower and broke the target into tiny pieces before showing it to the other three competitors almost mocking at them. I could see both Rub and Zuzu place themselves into the right place before commanding. His command didn't seem something extraordinary until the appeal surprised us more than what we thought possible.

-Mud Slap!- he shouted and the Swampert literally disappeared from the spot...

...only to appear again in front of the target before slamming his paw on what was Medicham's head and sending it flying to the wall behind the target, where the head crashed leaving a headless Medicham fidure behind. When he finished, the mudfish looked at the Medicham and then at the Hariyama. The Medicham looked at the headless target and then at the Swampert before he did the most unexpected thing imaginable, he recalled himself into his pokeball. When the Swampert looked at the Hariyama, she jumped and hid behind her trainer. We were all surprised at that because that meant that Xavier was disqualified and that Jackie had lost a lot of points. Sam seemed surprised, but in a different way.

-If looks could kill…- said Gold then- Both Jackie and Xavier would be buried right now.

-What do you mean?- asked Sapphire, but I only pointed at Rub.

Sapphire's POV

I only looked at him and what I saw surprised me. In his red eyes that normally show that shyness or even sorrow, I saw something else. I saw such a fierce and powerful glare that I was almost taken back by it. Those eyes showed such determination and intimidation that I'd never seen someone do. Or I did, but that person is not with us anymore. Just when I thought that I couldn't look away from them he just sighed and closed his eyes. He then opened them again and asked nonchalantly.

-Shall we continue?

-O-of course- said Jackie, but then she looked at her pokemon who was scared. Just when she was going to say something, Sam interrupted her.

-I forfeit- Sam said much to anyone's surprise- I'm no match for Rub right now. My pokemon is nervous for everything that has happened since the beginning, but his Swampert is still as calm as ever. He was also the only one who could make those cheaters to stop doing their things, so… I forfeit. I suggest you do the same cheater…- she ended with a lot of malice in her voice.

-I-I forfeit too- said Jackie- I'm sorry.

And with that both coordinators stepped out of the stage leaving Rub alone. While Sam stood at the entrance to see him receive his ribbon Jackie ran towards the waiting room never looking back while the audience both booed her and clapped for Sam. I also clapped for her. Even if she used to annoy us, she had showed some good sportsmanship.

-So with that strange final of the Tough contest ends the competition here today. Someone could say that he beat that final rival because all his rivals forfeited, but that wouldn't be the truth- said the speaker- I along with the judges agree when we say that having patience, keeping a cool head and finally striking when it was necessary were 3 of the reasons that let Rub win this tournament. Like Mrs. Samantha said he was able to keep calm even with all the things that happened and for that I believe that he is the worthy winner of this category- she stopped to catch her breath before ending her speech- We must not forget that this 15 year old boy has also won all the competitions today so why not we leave it here with our best cheers for our young champions… RUB AND ZUZU!

The Dexholders were cheering loudly, except Green and Silver who were sitting with a satisfied grin in their faces, but we were not the only ones. In fact the roar of the people there was amazing. In only three hours, Rub had been able to change just some regular applause to a mighty roar that could scare even the legendary birds trio away. The people seemed to dislike those methods too and the fact that Rub won them only added more to the excitement.

Seeing that Rub entered the waiting room I motioned them to go out and wait for him. Seeing that Diamoond, Pearl, and… "Missy" were still sitting I said goodbye to them.

-Well… I believe that we DID have a good time- I said to her cheerfuly- I was glad to see you and thanks, bye.

-We sure did- said the girl smiling too- Don't mention it. See you.

And with that we went out of the building. We were waiting for Rub at the middle of the grass fields that were outside of it. To be in a quieter place we stopped to wait for him quite far from there. Along the path we started talking about all the things we saw there today.

-I've changed a little the way I see contests now- said Gold- I don't see myself entering one, but I find them quite interesting.

-Sapphire said the exact same thing- said a voice from behind.

-Hey champion- greeted Red when he saw Rub- Well done man!

-Thanks- said Rub.

-How could you do that appeals?- asked Emerald more excited that I had guessed he would be.

-I don't know, some just came to my mind. There's one though that I had some help from you guys- he said- From Yellow and Sapphire actually.

-From me?- I and Yellow asked at the same time.

-Yeah, I got the idea with those sand figures Yellow made in the sand- he explained- and your Donphan was the first pokemon that I used as a model apart from the ones in my team. With that I created the Pokemon Mud sport!

-Wow, I had no idea!- said a very happy Yellow.

-That move was beautiful- said Blue.

-But I must say that those Northern lights are still your best shot- said Crystal.

-I believe that this is something that won't be easy to surpass- Red commented.

-It was okay- said Green, but from him that was a lot.

-C'mon Green be good with him. If I "quote" correctly… you said something like: "the attack had everything but power, but the power is not as important here than in battles. If you add the power of Sapphire's Aggron to that coordination, we would be talking about one of the best pokemon I've ever seen – said Blue mimicking, or trying to, Green's voice.

-Nana can't have the same attack power as an Aggron, and even less if said Aggron is Sapphire's- said Rub- but thanks.

-Can I ask you something?- said Silver from behind us.

-Yeah- said Rub with a smile on his face.

-What was that thing you gave to your pokemon?- said Silver- when you finished each category, I mean.

-They are Pokeblocks, they are cubes made of berries- said Rub, looking in his bag- Shit, I forgot them in the waiting room. Wait a little I'll go get it back.

-Okay- said Silver and he just ran to the Contest Hall again.

It was odd… as I was looking him entering the building, through a sea of people who were getting out of it I felt something strange. A sudden feeling of fear entered my body when he disappeared inside it.

-He is back to his old self- said Gold- I wouldn't mind to face that confident Rub I saw in there.

-I wouldn't really mind either- said Red looking at green who just smirked.

-Are you sure Gold?- said Emerald- he seemed way more…

BOOM!

Emerald wasn't able to finish the sentence when something exploded. Then the quietness outside the Contest Hall disappeared and fear took over reason. I saw a lot of people running away.

BOOM! BOOM!

Several more explosions and I found myself searching for the source of them.

-Crystal call the police, they have to help calm this people down- yelled Green.

-Doing it!

BOUM!BOOM!

More explosions took place until we were finally able to see the cause. My anger started again when I saw a bunch of flying types throwing energy beams everywhere. I got up and grabbed one of my pokeballs to fight those blue and red clothed grunts.

-Crys… you should also call the Firefighters!- said Yellow in terror.

-Why?- I asked to her when she just pointed behind me.

And then I turned out only to see the large building we were in not even 10 minutes ago. And with all his magnificence… the Contest Hall was in flames.


And that's it. This is the way the 21st chapter ends and I love it.

I had so much fun writing it, even though it's always difficult to plan those contest moves and make it a little more enjoyable than just the appeals itselves. I hope I could achieve my purpose.

I've got nothing more to say except the always present... REVIEW and STAY TUNNED!