Uuuugh God, you guys. This college thing. It's...it's an experience. I like it, but at the same time...I really hate it. It's a good thing I had this chapter written before I left; I'm not even CLOSE with the next one! I'm trying, but there's already so much work I feel like my brain is going to explode. And we haven't even had sign ups for activities yet...and I really need to try and do some. I actually miss high school

Let me shut up now, though. You're not here to read about me, for I am boring. No, let's get into this lovely new chapter, instead!

Last time: Aiden and Michelle were surprised to see their parents on Porta Vista, where Michelle's next Contest is going to be held. With Misty right in front of them, the twins finally bring up their all important question: is the Elite Four rumour actually true? Misty stammers, causing a surprised Ash to drag her away and request an explaination. Even HE didn't know about the offer! Misty finally reveals that she was in fact offered the position AGAIN (she'd already been offered it twice before!) but planned to turn it down once again. Ash doesn't completely understand why, but he chooses to respect it...at least for now. Wih that problem solved, Michelle now faces her second Contest, hoping to finally win her first ribbon!

Chapter 15: Second Contest! Battle on the Beach!

The next morning, the six inhabitants of the luxurious vacation home set on the shores of Porta Vista awoke to bright rays of sunshine, squawking Wingull, and crashing waves. For Michelle, this morning was especially exciting. For in just a few hours, she'd be participating in her second ever Contest.

"Are you excited, Michelle?" Ash asked his oldest daughter at the breakfast table.

"Yeah, but a little nervous, too," Michelle blushed. "I've never had this big of a personal audience before…"

"Well, you don't have to get so worked up over that, since we're all rooting for you!" Misty grinned reassuringly at the girl.

"That's true," Michelle nodded slowly, taking a sip of her milk.

"Have you thought about which Pokémon you're going to use?" Aiden looked at his sister.

"I have, and I made a decision last night," Michelle smiled. "I've decided that I'm going to use Butterfree in the appeals round, and if I make it to the battle rounds, I'll be using Ponyta."

"Pi?!" Pichu gasped from the floor. She was eating out of a bowl with Pikachu, not liking to be separated from the bigger mouse whenever they were together.

"I'm sorry, Pichu," Michelle frowned. "But everyone needs to get a turn in the Contests! Besides, I used you in both rounds last time, and I could tell that you were getting pretty tired by the time we got to the battle round. We just need to do a little more training!"

"Chu," Pichu huffed indignantly, turning away to continue eating her breakfast.

"Pichu will be fine," Ash smirked as he watched the two mouse Pokémon share their meal. "If I tried to count all the times Pikachu got mad at me for not using him in a battle, I'd be counting all day!"

"Kachu," Pikachu haughtily agreed from the ground, causing Ash to chuckle under his breath.

"Mommy! Daddy! I'm ready for the Contest!"

The couple looked towards the stairs, where their youngest child was jumping down the stairs like a little Spoink. When she fully came into view, Ash's eyes widened, his head immediately turning towards his wife.

"Misty…" Ash murmured.

"Oh, sweetheart, you look adorable!" Misty smiled at the girl.

She was wearing a pink leotard with a layered tutu, white tights, and pink ballet slippers. Her hair was still down, although she had put a sparkly pink headband on her head. In her arms was Teddi, the stuffed Pokémon wearing a little tutu of its own.

"Thank you, Mommy!" Elizabeth chirped, scurrying over to the table so she could sit with her siblings and Brandon.

Still staring at his wife, Ash furrowed his brow and reasoned, "Misty, you can't let Elizabeth out of the house like that."

"Why not?" Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Because…those aren't clothes," Ash blinked.

"Oh, she's just a little girl, it's okay," Misty waved a hand at her flustered husband.

"But-"

"Daddy!" Elizabeth unwittingly interrupted. "Don't I look pretty? I wanted to look pretty for the Contest, like Shelly! Am I pretty, Daddy?"

Sighing, Ash smiled at the girl and replied, "of course you're pretty, pumpkin. Especially in that cute little ballerina outfit."

Elizabeth squealed delightfully, while Misty smirked behind the Pokémon Master. She knew that man would never be able to resist the innocent charm of his daughters; especially when they were just cute little girls.

"And Teddi, too?" Elizabeth held up the bear.

"Yes," Ash sighed laughingly. "Teddi too."

XXX

The Porta Vista Contest Hall was an absolutely stunning building.

According to Misty, it was brand new, and the fact showed. It had a mirrored exterior, reflecting the bright sunlight and blue sky of the resort town. There was still the signature ribbon sign hanging in front, however: this one a brilliant teal with a mirrored charm in the middle, engraved with the letters "CH" for Contest Hall.

"Wow, I can't wait to compete in here!" Michelle's eyes were sparkling.

"I was reading up about the Contest this morning," Misty informed her daughter, "and it's not a Super Contest, so you don't have to wear your special dress."

"I actually like wearing that dress," Michelle giggled. "But it'll be fun to not have to change!"

Standing next to Misty where Aiden, Brandon, and Ash, the oldest male holding Elizabeth in his arms. The young girl was still fully dressed in her ballerina outfit and clutching her accordingly dressed toy, and she too had a huge smile on her face as she observed the building before them.

"Daddy, it's pretty!" Elizabeth squealed.

"Isn't it, pumpkin?" Ash chuckled.

"When we go inside, will you buy me candy?" Elizabeth tilted her head back so she could stare up at her father. "Pease?"

Twisting his mouth in thought, Ash eventually untangled it to show a sweet smile, replying, "sure," before lowering his voice into a small whisper, "just don't tell Mommy, okay?"

"Okay!" Elizabeth beamed.

Upon entering the building, Michelle's family left her to her own devices, but not before Michelle handed over Pichu to a surprised Ash.

"What do I look like, a babysitter?" Ash motioned his head towards Elizabeth, and then Pichu.

"No," Michelle furrowed her brow, "Pichu just likes to spend time with Pikachu is all. And he's always with you."

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked. He was perched on his usual spot: Ash's right shoulder. Pichu had scurried right up the Pokémon Master's arm to reach the bigger mouse, ascending Pikachu's back to sit atop his head.

"If anything, Pikachu is the one babysitting here," Misty smirked.

"Take good care of Pichu, okay?" Michelle asked her father's longtime partner.

"Pika, pipikachu!" Pikachu nodded carefully to ensure that Pichu would not slip off.

"Thanks!" Michelle smiled at the Pokémon before racing off to head backstage. She needed to get ready for the Contest…this time, she was going to win!

XXX

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Porta Vista Pokémon Contest!"

Everyone cheered as Lilian Meridian's voice came over the loudspeakers. She was, as usual, standing center stage, holding a microphone and emceeing the event.

"This Contest is being brought to you in our newest Contest Hall!" Lilian continued, throwing her hand over her head for emphasis. "Gorgeous, isn't it? Just like the Porta Vista Contest ribbon!"

Opening her hand, Lilian revealed the ribbon that would be awarded for winning this specific Contest: a shimmery, ocean blue ribbon with a silver, diamond shaped charm in the center.

"Mommy, it's pretty!" Elizabeth squealed.

"Yeah, that's a beautiful ribbon!" Misty agreed.

"The competition in Porta Vista is one of our smaller contingents, so for this Contest, only four coordinators will move on to the battle round!" Lilian announced.

Hearing this news backstage, Michelle wasn't sure if she should be excited or nervous. It was good that there was less competition, but bad that only four spots were available in the second round. Michelle just knew she'd have to try her hardest. She continued to listen to Lilian's speech, including the introduction of the three usual judges: Contesta, Sukizo, and Porta Vista's Nurse Joy. Afterwards, the Contest was underway. Michelle was up third, which she believed was better than going last like she had during the last Contest.

When her turn arrived, the girl stepped out on the stage, a confident smile on her face. This surprised her family, simply because Michelle had been going on and on all morning about how nervous she was.

"Well, that certainly isn't the same girl we saw at breakfast this morning," Misty marveled.

"She's masking her nerves with confidence," Ash grinned. "Awesome! I taught my little girl well."

Keeping the grin on her face, Michelle tossed her poke ball and called, "Butterfree, start the show!"

The butterfly Pokémon appeared before her trainer, floating in the air with her wings spread out wide to show off how polished they were.

"Wow, Butterfree looks great!" Ash commented.

"It was a great idea for Michelle to have Butterfree show off its wings," Misty agreed. "They look gorgeous!"

"It must be from that special wax that Brandon made," Aiden added.

"Brandon, you made wax for Butterfree's wings?" Ash sounded impressed.

"Yeah, Uncle Brock showed me how to do it!" Brandon nodded. "He told me that applying that kind of wax to a bug type's wings would make them shine, so I thought it would be a good idea to make some for Michelle's Butterfree before the Contest."

"Alright, Butterfree," Michelle beamed up at her dual type Pokémon, "use stun spore!"

"Free!" Butterfree flapped her wings more and more rapidly until they were nothing but a black and white blur, amber colored powder emerging from the haze.

"Pirouette!" Michelle ordered.

"What kind of attack is that?" Aiden furrowed his brow.

"Aiden, pirouette isn't an attack," Misty giggled. "It's a dance move!"

Still fluttering her wings, Butterfree held her right leg out, parallel to the ground, and began to spin in a rapid, but still visible, circle, the stun spore forming a ring around her and spreading out as she turned.

"Oh, how beautiful!" Lilian commentated. "Michelle is having Butterfree use ballet technique, causing the stun spore to form a stunning tutu like illusion around her waist!"

"This is perfect!" Misty gasped adoringly. "Michelle really learned something training for the water ballet after all!"

"Let's finish this up, Butterfree!" Michelle grinned. "Use gust!"

Butterfree stopped her pirouette, causing the "tutu stun spore" to disperse and gently curtain down towards the stage. Swooping down, Butterfree caused the amber colored dust to part, and once that had been done, used her gust attack. The rapid flapping of Butterfree's wings sent the stun spore back up and out, the fine particles bursting into nothing but a shower of golden sparkles, raining down on both the Pokémon and her trainer. Continuing to fly down, Butterfree performed a seemingly simple back flip before landing on Michelle's shoulder, once again holding out her right leg and standing on the tip of her left foot.

The audience burst out into applause, and Michelle's family was no exception. They were very impressed with what they'd just seen, and it wasn't because Michelle was their daughter, sister, and friend. It was because she was good.

"That appeal was even better than the one she had in Sunfire Town!" Aiden beamed.

"It was really good!" Brandon agreed.

"Butterfree was a ballerina!" Elizabeth's eyes were sparkling like emerald glass.

Ash and Misty looked at one another and exchanged silent glances. They didn't need to say anything; just smile at one another and know that their daughter had done them very proud.

"What a performance!" Lilian awed. "Let's see what the judges thought about Michelle's appeal!"

On the panels in front of the judges' podiums, three digital scores appeared to reflect what they thought of Michelle's performance: 9.0, 9.5, and 9.0.

"Unbelievable!" Lilian gasped. "Michelle finishes with a score of 27.5!"

"She's only 2.5 points away from perfect!" Brandon was positively giddy over the fact.

Michelle, still down on the stage, was just as excited, as she visibly gave a little jump and held Butterfree up in the air, grinning and chattering away happily to the dual type Pokémon. Her words weren't clear to those in the audience, but it was quite obvious that they were words of happiness.

XXX

Backstage, once all of the appeals had been before, Michelle waited anxiously for the results to be revealed. She kept her eyes glued on the screen, waiting for Lilian to appear and announce which four coordinators would be moving on. Michelle was fairly confident in her performance, but that didn't mean she was guaranteed a spot in the final four.

"Michelle!"

The coordinator looked up and found Elizabeth to be running towards her, the young girl's poufy pink tutu flouncing as she scurried.

"Hi, Elizabeth," Michelle smiled sweetly at the younger girl.

Elizabeth placed her palms down on the bench and pushed herself up onto the seat, right next to her older sister. Swinging her tight covered legs, Elizabeth looked up at Michelle and marveled, "you were so good, Shelly!"

"Thanks, Lizzie," Michelle smiled appreciatively at her younger sister. Observing the girl, Michelle furrowed her brow and asked, "where's Teddi?"

She found it unusual that the child didn't have her poke doll with her; it was usually never out of her sight. Wordlessly, Elizabeth pointed at the doorway, just in time for Michelle to see their father walking into the room, Teddi and several boxes of candy in his arms.

"Uh, Dad…" Michelle laughed, "don't you think that's a little too much candy for just one person?"

"None of it is mine," Ash sighed, "it's all Lizzie's. She couldn't decide which one she wanted."

"So you bought all of them?" Michelle smirked.

"You know I can never say no to you and your sister," Ash shook his head.

"I let you eat some of 'em, Daddy," Elizabeth shrugged.

"That's because you decided you didn't like most of them," Ash deadpanned.

Elizabeth clasped her hands together and held them up by her cheek, smiling cutely at her father and letting out an adorable giggle that caused Ash's heart to melt. He could never be mad at his babies…he loved them way too much.

"Michelle, you were amazing!" Misty came running into the room, right past her husband to hold Michelle's face in her hands. "I can't believe how gorgeous that appeal was! I loved it!"

"Ah…thanks, Mom…" Michelle murmured, her cheeks turning a fierce shade of red.

"Mist…" Ash was using a warning tone, "you're embarrassing her…"

Pulling back, Misty realized that her husband was right; Michelle's face was as red as a ruby. Smiling sheepishly, Misty let go of her daughter's face and apologized, "sorry, sweetheart."

"It's okay," Michelle's face returned to a normal color. "You're just proud of me is all!"

"Yes, very," Misty nodded, her face lighting up yet again. "My baby is such a beautiful coordinator!"

Again, Michelle blushed deeply, and again, Ash directed his wife, "Mist…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Misty apologized profusely, laughing as she did so. "I can't help it, I'm sorry. Forgive me, Shelly?"

"I'm not mad, Mom," Michelle scoffed at the idea.

"Okay, everyone, it's time to announce our four Porta Vista Contest finalists!"

Michelle's head snapped up, and she once again set her eyes on the screen. Lilian's image was quickly replaced by that of four photo slots, where the pictures of the finalists would be revealed. Her breath got caught in her throat as she wrung her hands together nervously, the girl's family waiting just as anxiously behind her.

"And…" Lilian's voice boomed, "here they are!"

All four pictures appeared at once, and Michelle's was the very first one: in the top left corner of the screen. The coordinator shrieked and jumped up onto her feet, her eyes sparkling with joy.

"I knew you'd do it, Shelly!" Ash's voice was warm and clearly proud.

"With a score like that, there was no way you weren't moving on!" Aiden agreed.

"Now," Lilian continued, "let's see who our finalists will be put up against in the semifinal round!"

Michelle's eyes returned to the screen in order to watch the photos being shuffled like a deck of cards. Eventually, they settled out into two pairs, the pictures once again flipping over to reveal the coordinators. Michelle spotted her picture next to that of a boy who appeared to be her age, with chestnut brown hair and turquoise eyes.

"There it is!" Lilian called. "And our first battle on the semifinal stage will be…Michelle versus Evan!"

"My battle is first," Michelle sighed. Perking up, she pumped a determined fist and yelled, "let's do it!"

XXX

"The battle will be five minutes, and whoever has the most points at the end or who's Pokémon knocks the other out, wins!"

Michelle and Evan were staring each other down, poke balls in their hands. Ash, Misty, Aiden, Elizabeth, and Brandon were all watching from their seats, eager to see how the match would play out.

"Let the battle begin!" Lilian threw her arms up in the air.

"Ponyta, you're up!" Michelle tossed her poke ball. The fire horse appeared before her trainer, neighing as she gently stomped her hooves against the stage's surface, making it sound like a little tap dance.

"Bayleef, let's go!" Evan threw his own red and white sphere, the second evolved form of Johto's grass starter materializing before him.

Michelle smirked to herself. This was shaping up rather nicely for her already!

"Michelle has the advantage!" Aiden cheered. "A fire type totally wins over a grass type!"

"We'll have to wait and see," Ash warned his son.

"Let's get this going," Evan grinned. "Bayleef, use razor leaf!"

Bayleef whipped its head, sending out a flurry of sharp edged leaves.

"I'll stop that," Michelle didn't seem the least bit concerned by the grass type's attack. "Ponyta, ember!"

The fire horse Pokémon whinnied and spit out a stream of fire, quickly burning the leaves that Bayleef had fired off. They fell to the ground in a weak flurry of ashes, causing Evan to lose a small amount of points.

"Nice work, Ponyta," Michelle beamed at her Pokémon. "Now, use take down!"

Ponyta ran forward and slammed right into Bayleef, the leaf Pokémon crying out in obvious pain as it flew backwards and landed harshly on the ground.

"Bayleef!" Evan cried.

"And Evan loses more points on the board!" Lilian announced.

"We've gotta' get a move in," Evan muttered before raising his voice, "Bayleef, tackle!"

"Dodge it, Ponyta!" Michelle ordered.

As the grass type charged forward, Ponyta managed to jump right over it, landing skillfully on her hooves as Bayleef skidded to a halt.

"Ponyta sure is fast," Misty commented.

"Must be all of that race horse training we did with her," Aiden beamed.

"Ponyta, turn around and use fire spin!" Michelle called.

The fire type spun on her hooves so she was facing the decently injured Bayleef. Rising up on her hind legs, Ponyta landed with a very audible click of her hooves as she opened her mouth to send a spiraling shot of fire towards Bayleef. It made direct contact and, before Evan could do a single thing, the flames dissipated and Bayleef was revealed to have been completely knocked out.

Three X's appeared on the front of the judges' panels, leading Lilian to announce, "Bayleef is unable to battle, which means Michelle and Ponyta are the winners! They will be moving on to our final battle!"

"Yes!" Michelle cheered, Ponyta stomping her hooves just a few times in quiet celebration.

"Great, Michelle's moving on to the finals!" Ash beamed, a very proud expression visible on his handsome. "That's my girl."

XXX

"And now, our final battle! It's Michelle versus Vitalia!"

"Ponyta, it's time for our grand finale!" Michelle threw the red and white sphere that contained Ponyta. The fire horse appeared before her, letting out a puff of air through her nostrils as she eyed the girl standing across the stage.

Smirking, Vitalia swept a lock of dark blonde hair out of her chestnut brown eyes, withdrew her own poke ball and called, "Arcanine, game on!"

The monstrous fire type appeared before its trainer, growling ferociously at Ponyta, who backed up in panic. Michelle was not amused by such threats, and simply glowered at her opponent.

"Cool, it's a fire type versus a fire type!" Ash was grinning.

"Fluffy!" Elizabeth pointed at Arcanine, squealing in sheer delight.

"That's the evolved form of Growlithe…" Aiden breathed as he scanned the Pokémon with his poke dex.

Arcanine, the legendary Pokemon, and the evolved form of Growlithe. Arcanine are viewed as beautiful and regal Pokemon. They are incredibly fast and have a flame burning from within its body to power its fire type attacks.

"Arcanine sure is a cool Pokémon," Aiden marveled.

"And they tend to be very powerful," Brandon noted. "I wonder how Michelle will handle this."

"Let the battle begin!" Lilian threw her hands up in the air.

"Arcanine, thunder fang!" Vitalia commanded.

"She's not wasting any time," Michelle gasped as Arcanine charged forward, its fangs glowing yellow as small sparks of electricity jumped from the sharp pair of teeth. "Dodge it, Ponyta!"

Ponyta tried to run out of the way, but Arcanine was too fast for the fire horse. Arcanine jumped right over Ponyta and pounced on the horse's back, biting her neck with its electrifying fangs. Ponyta whinnied in obvious pain, the electricity sparking from Ponyta's neck.

"Ponyta!" Michele cried.

Ponyta was struggling underneath Arcanine's mass; it was much heavier than she was. Eventually, however, she managed to swing her neck around enough that Arcanine went flying, if only for a few feet. It managed to skid to a halt on its large paws, smirking deviously at Ponyta as the fire horse struggled to get back onto her hooves.

"Are you alright, Ponyta?" Michelle was nervous. She knew that thunder fang had the ability to inflict its target with paralysis.

"Pichupi!" Pichu was whining from the audience. She was worried about Ponyta; the fire horse was her teammate and friend, after all.

"Ponyta, please, get up," Michelle was beginning. "I know you can do it!"

By some miracle, Ponyta managed to get back on her hooves, proving to Michelle that the fire type did not suffer paralysis from Arcanine's thunder fang. This seemed to irritate Vitalia, but not to a completely noticeable degree.

"Ponyta, use take down!" Michelle ordered once she was sure Ponyta was steadily on her hooves.

Ponyta backed up and prepared to charge at Arcanine, but as soon as she set her big black eyes on the dog, she whined and stumbled backwards, her eyes squeezing shut in complete fear.

"What?!" Michelle gasped.

"No, Ponyta flinched!" Ash gasped. "That must've been from the thunder fang."

"Well, it's not paralysis, but it's close enough," Vitalia smirked. "Arcanine, fire fang!"

The big dog ran forward, flames gathering in his mouth as they emitted from his sharp fangs.

"How many fang attacks does this Pokemon know?" Michelle hissed. She wasn't entirely sure of what to do with this giant Pokemon storming towards her much smaller one.

"Michelle, you have to dodge it!" Ash cried. He knew his daughter couldn't hear him, but he really wished she could. It killed the Pokemon Master to see his daughter so confused, and knowing there was nothing he could do to help from where he was.

Somehow, Michelle seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength as her father, however. Narrowing her eyes, she commanded, "Ponyta, jump right over Arcanine!"

With her cringe gone, Ponyta managed to charge towards Arcanine before building up power in her strong legs and taking a striding leap right over her fellow fire type. Arcanine skidded to a halt, looking around him in confusion, while Ponyta landed skillfully on her hooves several feet behind the fire dog.

"Perfect," Michelle grinned to herself. "Now, use take down!"

Ponyta spun on her hooves like a controlled top before charging towards Arcanine, streaks of orange appearing behind her as she slammed right into the larger fire type, knocking his heavy body across the stage.

"Arcanine!" Vitalia cried.

"Way to go, Ponyta!" Michelle cheered.

"And Ponyta comes back with a fierce take down attack!" Lilian commentated. "Just like that, Vitalia's points are down."

"I will not go down that easily!" Vitalia declared. "Arcanine, hyper beam!"

Getting up to his paws, seeming to be only slightly affected by Ponyta's take down attack, Growlithe opened his mouth and fired off an incredibly powerful hyper beam attack, the orange beam of energy surging towards Ponyta.

"Ponyta, hold it off with fire spin!" Michelle called.

The fire horse neighed and spit out her own attack: a swirling burst of hot flames. Both attacks collided head on, appearing to be equally powerful.

"Wow!" Lilian gasped. "Both Arcanine's hyper beam and Ponyta's fire spin are at the same level! Who's going to let down their guard first?"

Arcanine growled and focused his energy even further, causing the strength of his hyper beam to increase and push back Ponyta's fire spin. The fire horse whinnied in discontent at this development, but tried to stand her ground by pushing down on her hooves and forcing her attack to become stronger as well.

"This is bad," Brandon noted.

"Ponyta just learned fire spin," Aiden added, "there's no way she can control it as well as Arcanine can with its hyper beam."

I can't do this anymore, something's gonna have to give, and in the long run, I know it's gonna be Ponyta, Michelle thought begrudgingly to herself. Time for a different strategy.

"Ponyta!" Michelle called, causing the fire horse to use her peripheral vision to look back at her trainer. "I want you to jump out of the way of Arcanine's hyper beam and then use fire spin on yourself."

Ponyta neighed in confusion, while Michelle's family and friend watching from the audience gasped in clear shock.

"What is Michelle doing?" Misty looked at her husband in disbelief.

"I'm not so sure," Ash leaned forward in his seat, "but she certainly seems sure of herself…"

"Ponyta, trust me on this one," Michelle nodded, "it will work."

Still feeling uncertain, Ponyta tried to block out her insecurities as she nodded and did just as Michelle instructed, leaping over Arcanine and freeing the hyper beam from its battle with her fire spin. With no target in sight, however, the hyper beam attack died out, leading Arcanine to growl in displeasure. Landing back on her hooves, Ponyta lifted her head and once again used her fire spin, this time enshrouding herself in the attack.

"Unbelievable!" Lilian marveled. "Ponyta is using her fire spin attack to create a swirling barrier of flames around herself! What is Michelle's plan?"

"That girl is out of her mind," Vitalia narrowed her eyes. "But that's just good news for us! Arcanine, use flame charge!"

The large fire dog stomped its paws until a large amount of flames gathered around, leading the fire type to charge towards Ponyta while covered in fire. Michelle, however, simply smirked at the action. She was prepared, despite everyone's thinking, and she was going to win this battle. It was all in the bag for her.

"Do it, Ponyta!" Michelle threw her arm out in dramatic fashion. "Run out through your fire spin with take down!"

Putting her head down, Ponyta took one giant leap right through the surrounding flames, and emerged covered in the blazing fire. She was not hurt by it, though. Since Ponyta was moving so fast, thanks to her take down attack, the flames were instead floating around her body, working like a suit of armor.

Using the coating of flames as protection, Ponyta slammed right into Arcanine, the combined power of her "fire armor" and take down attack beating out the strength of the other Pokémon's flame charge. Arcanine cried out and went flying backwards, landing in a furry heap in front of its astonished trainer.

"Arcanine!" Vitalia cried.

Suddenly, a horn was heard, quickly accompanied by Lilian's call of, "time's up!"

Both coordinators gasped and looked up at the board, eager to see who had the most points remaining. While Vitalia had less than half of her points left, Michelle had only lost half of hers. Her bar was more full than Vitalia's.

"The winner of this final battle is…Michelle!" Lilian announced, Michelle and Ponyta's pictures taking up the full screen along with the text declaration of the glorious title "WINNER."

Michelle could barely contain her excitement. She screeched so loudly that it echoed through the entire Contest Hall. Ponyta's whinny of victory was just as powerful. Running forward, Michelle hugged her fire horse and rubbed her cheek against the Pokémon's neck, cheering, "we did it, Ponyta! You were awesome!"

"That was a great battle!"

Looking up, Michelle realized that Vitalia had walked over to her and Ponyta, the other girl holding out her hand. Grinning, Michelle offered her own and shook Vitalia's hand.

"Congratulations!" Vitalia added.

"Thanks, it was a lot of fun battling you!" Michelle beamed.

"Aw, just look at our sweet little girl!" Misty had jumped up and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck, causing the Pokemon Master to choke. "She's won her first Contest and she's showing such wonderful sportsmanship! I'm so proud of her! Aren't you, honey?"

"C-can't…breathe…" Ash sputtered.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Misty blushed, letting go of Ash's neck.

He refilled his lungs with oxygen and rubbed at his sore neck, managing to puff out, "my neck never gets a break from you girls, huh?"

XXX

"It is with great pleasure, Michelle, that I award you with the Porta Vista Contest ribbon!" Mr. Contesta announced, handing the pretty blue prize over to the red headed young coordinator.

Bubbling with excitement, Michelle took the ribbon from the Contest president, squeaking out, "thank you so much!" Opening her hand, Michelle stared at the beautiful ribbon resting in her palm, beaming at her reflection in the silver diamond that sat in the middle of the ribbon.

Squealing, Michelle held the ribbon up in the air, between her fingers, as she cheered, "alright! I won my first ribbon!"

Ponyta, who stood next to her trainer, whinnied happily, stomping her hooves on the stage in her own version of celebration.

From the stands, everyone in the audience cheered for the bubbly young girl, clearly on her side. Ash just smiled boldly at the girl, having never felt more proud of his daughter than in this moment. The sight really made him realize that she was no little girl anymore. She was a coordinator.

A very talented one, at that.

I like writing the family dynamic, it's so much fun ^^ Ash and Misty will definitely be showing up for more of Michelle's Contests. Not all of them, of course, but a few :)

So I'm going to try really, really hard to have the next chapter out by next Friday, but no promises because FREAKING COLLEGE. I'm not a fan right now, lol. So, for now, leave a review and make me smileee :) You guys rock!