HA! I finished a new chapter! And it didn't take me months! How do you like that?!

Probably a whole lot, actually :P

LAST TIME: The journey to Honeydew Town for Michelle's next Contest proves to be eventful as the group runs into Dawn. Dawn explains that Honeydew Town, despite being small, is famous for its unique fashion boutiques. She drags Michelle along to shop, while Aiden and Brandon eagerly ditch. Upon doing this, the boys discover that there has been a mass kidnapping overnight at the Viridian City orphanage, and trace it back to their encounter with Team Rocket in Celadon.

Chapter 48: Honeydew You Know My Rival?

"I'm kind of disappointed this isn't a super contest…"

Michelle giggled and turned around to look at her godmother. Dawn had her arms crossed and was actually pouting, much like her two year old daughter might do.

"You wanted to dress me up, right?" Michelle asked teasingly.

"Yeah!" Dawn whined. "I had so many ideas for your hair…"

"Maybe you can help me out at the Grand Festival!" Michelle excitedly suggested. "That is, if I make it…"

"Oh, stop that!" Dawn scolded, playfully swatting at her goddaughter's shoulder. "Of course you're going to make it! You don't give yourself enough credit. Where's all that snarky Ash confidence, huh?"

"I don't think I inherited any," Michelle muttered.

"Not for nothing, but your mother's got a hefty dose of confidence too," Dawn mused. "So come on! I refuse to believe you don't have any of that in you!"

"I do!" Michelle whined. "It's just…kind of wavering is all. My parents' confidence always seems to be there, though! Sometimes I wonder if I'm really their kid."

"Oh, trust me, you are," Dawn giggled. "Did you know I was there when your mom found out she was going to have you and Aiden? I knew before your dad did!"

"Yeah, I think you tell me that every time we see each other," Michelle laughed.

"I can't help it, it's one of my best memories!" Dawn squealed. "And then I first met you when you were just a little tiny baby…oh you were so cute! Those chubby pink cheeks and big, green eyes…"

"Dawn! You're being almost as embarrassing as Mom and Dad combined!" Michelle groaned.

Dawn smirked and leaned forward, tucking a strand of the girl's fiery red hair behind her ear.

"I know," Dawn murmured. "I'm sorry! You know I can't help myself sometimes, darling."

Michelle smirked and nodded her head. She knew just how much Dawn loved her. It was easy enough to tell from Dawn herself, but Ash and Misty had never stopped reminding Michelle just how much the top coordinator truly cared for her. Spoiling her from the time she was a baby, vowing to protect her at all costs, and inspiring her coordinator dreams. Michelle knew how lucky she was to have a godmother like Dawn. All she wanted in life was to be just like her…and May.

They were not only Michelle's godmothers, but her idols. Her role models. And she would stop at nothing to follow in their footsteps.

"Hey, are you guys ready to…go?"

Michelle blinked at her brother's sudden change of demeanor. Brandon was trailing right behind the younger boy, and had adopted nearly the exact same expression.

"What's up, Aiden?" Dawn asked sweetly.

"Uh…you're gonna go to the contest all dressed up like that?"

Dawn giggled wildly at Aiden's innocent question. "Of course! This is a big day! Me seeing Michelle compete in a contest live and in person for the first time? Obviously this requires a gorgeous outfit!"

She was wearing a maxi dress made of silk scarf material, covered by an oversized diamond pattern in the colors of green, white, and black. Today she'd left her hair completely down, a stack of coordinating bracelets on her left wrist and a silky black clutch held in her right hand. On her feet was a pair of black studded espadrilles, adding a good three and a half inches to her height.

"Come on, Aiden, don't you know Dawn by now?" Michelle teased.

"Yeah!" Dawn chirped. "You're just as much my godson as Michelle is my goddaughter, sweetheart! I thought by now you'd know just how much I love getting all dressed up!"

"I do," Aiden replied. "I just didn't know you did it for everything."

"Aiden!" Michelle gasped.

"It's fine," Dawn assured her flustered goddaughter. "Aiden is just like Ash, and I love it! A total boy."

Aiden smirked and shook his head. "You sure do tease me a lot, huh, Dawn?"

"Yeah, but you know that I love you!" Dawn trilled, bending at the knees to kiss Aiden on his cheek.

"BLEGH!" Aiden panicked, wiping furiously at his cheek. "Dawn, why?!"

"Because you're so cute!"

"Eugh…"

"You know, Aiden, I'm kind of jealous!"

"Shut up, Brandon."

XXX

"Michelle, which Pokémon are you going to use in the contest?"

"I was thinking I would use Eevee in the appeals round," Michelle replied to her brother, tapping her chin in thought. "If I make it to the battle rounds, then I'm probably going to go with Skitty."

"I think those are two really good choices, Michelle!" Dawn complimented. "They're both super cute, not to mention savvy with their attacks! I can't wait to see what you do with them. And, just to give you a little extra motivation for today…"

Winking at her goddaughter, Dawn whipped out a poke ball and tossed it in the air, the younger trainers watching it spin around and around until it once again fell back into Dawn's hand. With a wink, Dawn threw the poke ball and called, "Piplup, come on out!"

The ball popped open, releasing a very pouty blue penguin Pokémon.

"Piplup!" Michelle cheered, kneeling on the floor and collecting the water type into a tight hug.

"Pip?" Piplup chirped, looking back at Michelle before smiling and happily waving his wings in the air. "Pip-lup!"

"Piplup and Michelle have always adored one another," Dawn giggled. "I knew it would really brighten up her day if she saw him!"

"Hiya, Piplup!" Aiden greeted, kneeling next to his sister in order to pat the water type's head. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Lup!" Piplup replied.

"Piplup sure seems to like all of the attention," Brandon noted.

"Yeah, that's my partner for you," Dawn sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh my gosh!"

Aiden and Michelle both looked up and were more than surprised to see a familiar blonde figure standing just feet away from them. Her hazel eyes, however, were not on them, but rather on Dawn.

"Y-you're Dawn…"

The top coordinator looked at the younger girl and smiled.

"I recognize you," Dawn commented simply, much to the girl's surprise. "You're Clarisse! I've watched you compete in quite a few contests! You're a very talented young coordinator."

"R-really?" Clarisse stammered, a blush forming over her cheeks. "That's such a wonderful compliment! Thank you so much! And…and I'm really a fan of all of your stylist work, too! You've created some of the most beautiful outfits for both people and Pokémon!"

"Oh, go on!" Dawn giggled, holding a hand over her heart. "You're too sweet!"

"Clarisse, I didn't know you were such a big fan of Dawn's!"

Michelle stood up, still holding Piplup in her arms. Instantly, Clarisse's eyes were drawn to the Sinnoh native starter, and she started gushing all over again.

"Is that her Piplup?!" Clarisse gasped, rushing up even closer to Michelle. "Oh my goodness, he's just so adorable!"

Piplup gasped and jumped right out of Michelle's arms and into Clarisse's.

"Hey!" Michelle complained, placing her hands on her hips. "I thought you loved me the most, Piplup!"

"Pip-lup Piplup!" Piplup squeaked, waving a wing at the redhead.

"Michelle, you know Dawn's Piplup?" Clarisse breathed.

"Yeah, and I know Dawn, too!" Michelle teased with a laugh.

"But how?" Clarisse murmured.

"She's my godmother," Michelle replied. "Well…mine and Aiden's. She's one of our dad's best friends! They traveled through Sinnoh together."

"That's just about the coolest thing I've ever heard!" Clarisse squealed. "I think I would die if my role model were my godmother!"

"Dawn is your role model too, huh?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah!" Clarisse laughed. "See, I love contests, and I always have, but I'm also really interested in fashion! So I've always thought it was so cool that Dawn managed to do both, and be really great at both, too! That's something I would love to do. But…once I get a little older and have some more experience. For now, I just want to focus on contests!"

"That makes sense," Michelle murmured.

"It's a smart idea," Dawn agreed. "Doing both at the same time can be very challenging! I know I struggled with multitasking at first. Now I'm used to it, but it certainly takes time."

Clarisse hummed and nodded her head, watching as Piplup jumped out of her arms and scurried back over to Aiden, who was still kneeling on the floor.

"Piiip…" Piplup crooned, batting his eyes at Aiden.

"Hmm?" Aiden droned. "What's up with you, Piplup?"

"What is it with you keeping secrets from me?"

Aiden winced and slowly glanced up, finding Clarisse to be hovering over him. Her blonde hair was curtaining her face, but Aiden could tell she was wearing a smirk. She wasn't being serious; just teasing him.

"I wouldn't necessarily call them secrets," Aiden chuckled, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck as he stood up. "I just try not to brag is all!"

"Bragging? Hardly!" Clarisse giggled. "Although, had I known about this earlier, I probably would've been begging you to get me an autograph, at the very least."

She playfully winked at the boy, which did not go unnoticed by Dawn. She arched an eyebrow, switching her sapphire eyes between the young boy and girl.

"Well, now that you know, you can ask in the future," Aiden laughed. "I'm sure I could work something out for you. I am her favorite godson, after all."

Clarisse just smiled wordlessly in response before turning her attention onto Michelle. "We should probably head backstage and start getting ready, huh?"

"Yeah," Michelle agreed, nodding her head before looking at the baby Pokémon perched on her shoulder. "Pichu, you stay back with Aiden, Brandon, and Dawn, okay?"

"Pi…" Pichu sighed before jumping into Brandon's arms and snuggling against the boy.

As Michelle and Clarisse left, Piplup wandered over to Dawn, excitedly tapping on his trainer's leg. Smiling, Dawn scooped the water type up and scratched the top of his head.

"What is it, Piplup?" She asked.

"Pip-lup pip piplup!" He chirped, pointing over at Aiden.

"You sensed it too, didn't you?" Dawn teased.

"Pip!"

"Sensed what?" Aiden questioned.

"Oh, Aiden, this is just so precious!" Dawn squealed, whipping out her pink poke gear. "I'm going to text May right away! She doesn't know about this, right?"

"Know about what?" Aiden demanded.

"Your little crush!" Dawn giggled. "We've been waiting for this day since you were born! And it's just as cute as I imagined!"

"WHAT?!" Aiden bellowed, his whole face turning red. "I do not have a crush on Clarisse!"

"Sweetheart, anyone with eyes can tell you do," Dawn teased. "The way you look at her is just like the way your dad looks at your mom!"

"NO WAY!" Aiden yelped, reaching out and pushing his godmother's poke gear down. "Don't tell May anything! None of it's true!"

"You could be fooling me with how upset you're getting, sweetie!"

"Stooop!"

Brandon scoffed and looked down at Pichu, who had just one ear cocked out of bewilderment. "Looks like when your trainer isn't here, Dawn can fill her place pretty nicely, huh?"

"Pi…"

XXX

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Honeydew Town Contest!"

The crowd roared with excitement as Lilian Meridian took the stage, the official sign that the contest was about to begin.

"Wow, this sure is a lively audience!" Aiden marveled.

"Honeydew Town may be small, but they're very passionate about their Pokémon contests," Dawn informed him. "It's really an art to them!"

"The winner of the world famous Honeydew Town Contest will walk away with this gorgeous ribbon!" Lilian continued, holding up the prize for this particular contest.

The pale green colored ribbon was separated into four different loops, each one overlapping the other. It all connected to the center, which was a silver circle surrounded by pale green rhinestones.

"Oh, isn't that ribbon just beautiful?" Clarisse gushed to Michelle.

"It sure is!" Michelle agreed. "That sure would make a nice fifth ribbon!"

"I'd love for that to be my fifth ribbon," Clarisse sighed.

Michelle arched an eyebrow and looked over at Clarisse. "I thought you already had five ribbons and were using this contest as practice for the Grand Festival!"

"No," Clarisse replied sheepishly. "I kind of hit a snag. I went on a losing streak for a while. It's been pretty tough."

"I know exactly how that feels," Michelle muttered, a dark look crossing her face as she thought back to her nightmare stretch of competitions from the not so distant past.

"I'm hoping that this can mark my redemption," Clarisse scoffed, shaking her head. "It's probably a silly way of thinking of it."

"I don't think so at all!" Michelle quickly replied. "Once I finally got past the sting of all of my losses, that was the exact mindset I had. And it definitely helped that I was battling my brother…"

"Aiden?" Clarisse questioned. "But…he's not a coordinator."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Michelle groaned. "But he entered the Seafoam Town Contest to try and lit some fire in me or something. I guess it worked, but man was I mad at him! Especially after he made it all the way to the finals and he was the only person standing between me and the ribbon…"

"I can't believe how out of the loop I've been!" Clarisse gasped. "Did you win?"

"I sure did!" Michelle replied proudly. "And what a relief it was."

"Well, I don't have an Aiden to go up against," Clarisse mused, "but I've got you!"

"Huh?" Michelle murmured. "What do you mean?"

"Hopefully you and I will go against each other in the finals," Clarisse explained. "We're both trying to win our fifth ribbons, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So I think we're the perfect competition for one another!" Clarisse continued. "I'm going to use that idea as my own personal fire! The idea that you and I can compete against one another for that ribbon!"

"I like that idea," Michelle finally conceded, smiling at her friendly rival. "I'll think about that, too!"

XXX

"Next up is contestant number 13, Michelle!"

The audience cheered as Michelle stepped out on stage, a poke ball ready in her hand.

"Are you both ready to cheer for Michelle?" Dawn asked Pichu and Piplup, who were dressed in identical cheerleading outfits.

"Pi!" Pichu squeaked, waving her little pompoms in the air.

"Piiiip-lup!" Piplup trilled, imitating Pichu's movements.

"Dawn, do you always dress your Pokémon up like that for contests?" Aiden asked.

"Only when they're cheering someone on!" Dawn giggled. "I used to do it for your dad all the time during gym battles!"

"I wonder if your mom knows about that one," Brandon muttered under his breath.

"Whether she does or not, I'm definitely not gonna ask," Aiden grumbled back.

"Eevee, curtain call!" Michelle announced, throwing the ball up in the air. It popped open, Eevee landing before her on stage with his tail swishing back and forth.

"Start out with shadow ball!" Michelle ordered.

"Vee!"

Eevee opened up his mouth and spit out a series of dark purple orbs of energy. They started swirling around his body, eventually evening out into a sporadic pattern up in the air.

"Now, use quick attack!" Michelle commanded.

Jumping up from the ground with a streak of white running behind him, Eevee landed on the lowest shadow ball before jumping to the next highest one, the same white energy following after him.

"How amazing!" Lilian marveled. "Eevee is using its shadow balls as platforms and jumping rapidly from one to the next using quick attack!"

Michelle grinned, obviously pleased that her combination had impressed the announcer and, based off the loud cheers in the background, the audience.

When Eevee got up to the highest shadow ball, he stood on just one front paw, balancing himself on the sphere of energy.

"Aww, Eevee looks like a little circus Pokémon!" Dawn cooed.

"It takes a lot of coordination to pull off a stunt like that," Brandon noted. "Michelle and Eevee have been working really hard!"

"Great job, Eevee!" Michelle cheered. "Finish this up with bite!"

Eevee pushed off of his one paw, floating in the air for just a brief second as he opened up his mouth, revealing a set of sharp white teeth. He went hurdling back towards the shadow ball he'd just been balancing on, biting through it with his teeth. The ball burst into nothing more than a flurry of sparkles, hitting the rest of the shadow balls and causing them all to burst. Eevee performed a front flip before landing on all four of his paws, mewling softly as the sparkles surrounded him, landing in his fur and casting the normal type in a hazy purple glow.

"What a beautiful finish!" Lilian commented.

Michelle giggled and held her arms out so Eevee could jump into them. "You did so great, Eevee! I'm really proud of you!"

"Vee!" Eevee trilled, craning his head up to lick Michelle's cheek.

"That was awesome!" Aiden cheered.

Pichu and Piplup continued to cheer, waving their pompoms all around while Dawn got just as excited behind them.

"THAT'S MY GODDAUGHTER!" Dawn shrieked, cupping her hands around her mouth. "WAY TO GO, MICHELLE!"

Aiden and Brandon exchanged horrified looks as Dawn continued to hoot and holler behind them.

"She sure is loud," Brandon noted.

"She's just really proud of Michelle is all," Aiden murmured, furrowing his brow. "Like…really, really proud of her."

"YEAH, MICHELLE! THAT'S MY GIRL!"

XXX

"Last but certainly not least, we have contestant number 16: Clarisse!"

The audience roared once again as the blonde stepped out on stage. Michelle watched from the back room, holding her breath as Clarisse drew her chosen poke ball.

"Flaaffy, time to shine!" Clarisse called, tossing the poke ball.

It popped open, releasing a pink Pokémon covered in fluffy white wool with a striped, ball ended tail, and big, cone shaped ears.

"Looks like Clarisse got a new Pokémon," Brandon commented as Aiden pulled out his pokedex to scan it.

Flaaffy, the wool Pokémon, and the evolved form of Mareep. Flaaffy's rubbery skin protects it from the electricity that's stored in its fleece. When its mane is fully charged, Flaaffy can attack by firing off electrified hairs at its opponents.

"What a cute Pokémon!" Dawn gushed. "Clarisse has such an elegant appeal style, I bet she and Flaaffy will work wonders!"

"Flaaffy, use electro ball!" Clarisse commanded.

"Laa!"

Flaaffy threw its head and arms back as electricity coursed through its body, shooting out and surrounding its entity. All of that power eventually channeled out through Flaaffy's tail, forming one large orb of electricity at the end of its tail. Spinning around on one foot, Flaaffy tilted its body down to the side as it spun, firing the ball of electricity off of its tail and into the air.

"Now use thunderbolt!" Clarisse instructed.

Flaaffy stood back up straight and stopped spinning, jumping up and performing a series of front flips as it fired electricity off of its body.

"What an incredible improvised move!" Lilian gasped. "Flaaffy's flips really add to the power of that thunderbolt attack!"

The electricity that was wildly shooting off of Flaaffy's spinning body struck the electro ball, breaking up the sphere and causing bolts of lightning to fall down to the stage in crackling parabolas. Flaaffy unfurled itself, landing back on its hind legs as the lightning continued to rain down around it.

"Time for the finale!" Clarisse announced. "Flaaffy, light screen!"

The ball at the end of Flaaffy's tail started to glow, a golden box suddenly forming around the wool Pokémon's body. The light from the falling lightning attacks caused the light screen to glow brighter and brighter, until there were actual beams of light emerging and fading from various sections of the box, making it appear like a gemstone that had been left out in the sun.

"It's…gorgeous!" Lilian breathed.

The light that was shooting out of the box eventually engulfed the entire thing, causing it to burst into thin air, making Flaaffy visible once again.

The audience cheered as both Flaaffy and Clarisse took a bow. Once the young coordinator and her Pokémon had left the stage, Dawn looked over at both Aiden and Brandon, beaming at them.

"That was really amazing, wasn't it?" Dawn asked.

"Clarisse always seems to be really great," Aiden added.

"That's quite the compliment there, little guy!" Dawn teased, nudging her godson with her elbow.

"DAWN!" Aiden wailed, covering his face with his hands.

"Never gets old," Dawn chuckled, shaking her head.

XXX

"You were amazing, Clarisse!"

"You really think so?"

Michelle widened her eyes and nodded. "Of course! I was so impressed! Your Flaaffy is really well trained. Those combinations were fantastic!"

"Thanks!" Clarisse chirped. "I just hope the judges agree with you…"

"We are ready to announce the top eight coordinators moving onto the battle rounds!"

Michelle's eyes widened as she glanced up at the television screen. Clarisse, on the other hand, whipped around and began to nervously wring her hands together as the pictures started popping up on the screen. One by one, the pictures of the advancing coordinators were revealed, and in the seventh and eighth spots were Michelle and Clarisse respectively.

"We did it!" Michelle cheered, excitedly grabbing onto Clarisse's shoulder as she jumped up and down.

"Yeah!" Clarisse cheered, spinning back around and hugging Michelle. "We did!"

"But remember what you said before," Michelle replied in a playfully stern voice. "We have to meet each other in the finals. No excuses!"

"I won't forget," Clarisse giggled. "I'm going to do my best to make sure that happens!"

XXX

Michelle and Clarisse both managed to sail through their first two battles, defeating their opponents without too much of a struggle. Dawn, of course, was as thrilled as could be to see her goddaughter doing so well. That much was apparent by all of the screaming and cheering she'd been doing. Brandon and Aiden were happy to see both Michelle and Clarisse doing well, and were really getting into the battles.

"We've now reached the final battle, and it's going to be a good one!" Lilian announced. "On my left, we have Michelle, and on my left, it's Clarisse!"

Michelle giggled delightfully and whipped out her poke ball, tossing it in the air and crying, "Skitty, curtain call!"

The kitten Pokémon appeared before Michelle, meowing as she happily shook her tail back and forth.

"I've got just the Pokémon for this!" Clarisse declared, crossing her arms before throwing her own poke ball. "Ninetails, time to shine!"

A burst of light showered down in front of Clarisse, materializing into a beautiful, fox-like Pokémon covered in golden white fur, with sleek red eyes and nine long, cascading tails.

"Oh my gosh, a Ninetails!" Dawn breathed. "It's just beautiful!"

"That must mean her Vulpix evolved," Aiden murmured, taking out his pokedex once again.

Ninetails, the fox Pokémon, and the evolved form of Vulpix. Ninetails is able to easily understand human speech, and can live for 1,000 years due to the mystical powers find in each of its nine tails. They are a vengeful Pokémon who will curse anyone who mistreats it.

"There are five minutes on the clock," Lilian announced, causing Aiden to raise his eyes from his pokedex. "Let's go!"

"Skitty, quick, use ice beam!"

"Nya!"

Skitty jumped up in the air, shooting off a beam of ice at Ninetails.

"Ninetails, dodge it using quick attack!" Clarisse commanded.

"Ni!"

Ninetails leapt gracefully out of the way, streaks of white following behind her as she took long strides all around the stage, narrowly avoiding the strike of Skitty's ice beam each time. This caused Michelle's points on the board to go down, much to the girl's frustration.

"Double slap!" Michelle ordered.

Skitty landed back on her paws, right in front of Ninetails, and spun around, repeatedly smacking the fox Pokémon in the face with her tail.

"Ninetails, get out of there!" Clarisse cried. "Hold Skitty down!"

Opening up just one of her eyes, Ninetails growled and stomped her left paw down on Skitty, trapping the smaller Pokémon.

"Nya! Nya!" Skitty cried, struggling to try and break free.

"Skitty, quick! Use assist!" Michelle demanded.

"Assist?!" Aiden gasped.

"She has no idea what attack is going to come from that!" Brandon hissed.

Although she couldn't escape from Ninetails' hold, Skitty was still able to spin around onto her back. Raising one paw, Skitty shook it in a circle before whipping it forward and sending out a rainbow colored beam directly at Ninetails.

"Psybeam!" Dawn noted.

"That was pretty awesome," Aiden chuckled. "Assist really worked this time!"

"Ninetails, hyperbeam!" Clarisse commanded.

Leaning forward on her front legs, Ninetails fired off a burst of bright yellow energy, its power bouncing off of the sole beam and reverberating throughout the rest of the Contest Hall.

"Skitty, try and get away!" Michelle implored.

Skitty crouched down low and attempted to jump, but she was struck by the hyperbeam before she had a chance to move. It just barely clipped her, hitting her back and ears, but the force was enough to send her flying back towards Michelle. Skitty hit the ground hard and rolled a few times before skidding to a halt in front of Michelle's feet, mewling in pain as she struggled to get up.

"Skitty!" Michelle gasped.

The kitten Pokémon ground her teeth and tried to push up onto her paws, Michelle's points shrinking up on the board.

"This is bad," Dawn hissed.

"That hyperbeam barely hit Skitty, but it still really hurt her," Aiden added. "So Clarisse's Ninetails clearly gained a lot of power when it evolved."

"Skitty, please," Michelle begged. "Get up! I know you can!"

Shakily, Skitty got back to her paws, grimacing as she just barely managed to stand up. Michelle took a sigh of relief, and leaned forward on her toes, having no intention of giving up the battle.

"Skitty, use sing!" Michelle ordered.

"Nya!"

Skitty spun around and began singing, colorful music notes surrounding her body as it spun. Those same notes began flying out towards Ninetails, floating tauntingly around the fire type.

"Ninetails, get rid of those things before they put you to sleep!" Clarisse warned.

Narrowing her ruby red eyes, Ninetails spun around, her tails cracking like nine separate whips. The ends of each one struck one music note at a time, disintegrating them into nothing more than colorful sparkles. Ninetails continued doing this at a rapid pace until all of the music notes were gone, leaving Ninetails standing in a threateningly crouched position, her eyes still narrowed at a stunned Skitty.

"Oh no…" Michelle breathed.

"Ninetails, sunny day!" Clarisse ordered.

The fire type's tails started glowing gold, unfurling and pointing straight up towards the roof. That golden glow soon stretched up from her tails, making it look as though her tails were growing up towards the ceiling. The whole ceiling was soon glowing gold as well, until it burst into gold sparkles that cascaded down on the fire type.

"Sunny day?" Aiden murmured.

"It increases the power of fire attacks by 50%," Brandon explained. "Clarisse is obviously planning to use one next and take Skitty out."

"Don't let her take advantage of that!" Michelle called. "Skitty, ice beam! Again!"

Skitty opened her mouth and fired off the ice beam, causing Clarisse to smirk.

"We've got this," she murmured. "Ninetails, out of the way!"

The fire type slid to the side, unaware that the ice which had just hit the spot she was formerly standing in was now spreading towards her new location. Ninetails only noticed it after she went to take a step forward, and realized she couldn't move her paws. Looking down, Ninetails yelped once she saw the ice trapping her paws, keeping them sealed to the battleground.

"What?!" Clarisse gasped.

"Nine!" Ninetails whined, pulling her legs up to try and break free.

"That worked out perfectly, Skitty!" Michelle cheered. "Now use double slap!"

Skitty ran forward, right up to Ninetails and jumping up in the air, her tail whipping back and forth in preparation to hit Ninetails.

"Ninetails, flamethrower!" Clarisse cried, subconsciously recoiling.

Ninetails threw her head forward and unleashed her signature fire attack, its power strongly increased thanks to the sunny day Ninetails had used before. The attack overpowered Skitty, pushing her away from Ninetails and sending her back to the ground once again.

"No way," Michelle seethed. "Skitty-"

"That's it! Time's up!"

Michelle and Clarisse both glanced up at the screen bearing their photos and point totals. Michelle had just less than half of her points left, but Clarisse was only missing a fraction of hers.

"And the winner of the Honeydew Town Pokémon Contest is…Clarisse!"

The blonde's eyes lit up, a huge smile overtaking her face as she ran up to Ninetails, throwing her arms around the surprised fox Pokémon.

"We did it, Ninetails!" Clarisse cheered through a giggle. "We're going to the Grand Festival!"

"Nine!" Ninetails mewled excitedly.

Sighing, Michelle walked over to Skitty, who by now was sitting up with her head hanging. Smirking, Michelle knelt down beside the normal type and patted her on the head, catching the kitten Pokémon's attention.

"You did great, Skitty," Michelle assured her little Pokémon. "I'm very proud of you. You fought so hard, and you didn't give up. That's all I could ask for from my Pokémon."

"Nya…" Skitty meowed, rubbing against Michelle's leg.

"Michelle!"

Glancing up, Michelle realized that Clarisse was now standing just feet away, smiling at her. Scooping Skitty up in her arms, Michelle got back to her feet and beamed at Clarisse.

"Congratulations, Clarisse!" Michelle breathed. "You really deserved that win. And now you've got your fifth ribbon!"

"Thank you," Clarisse murmured. "But it was a close one! You put up a great fight. I know you're going to get your fifth ribbon in no time."

"Hopefully," Michelle sighed.

"You've gotten so much stronger since we first met," Clarisse remarked. "You've really grown as a coordinator, and you should be super proud of yourself! There's not a doubt in my mind we'll meet in the Grand Festival."

"Yeah?" Michelle asked, her smiling growing.

"Of course!" Clarisse giggled. "We kept our promise to meet in the finals today, didn't we? If we can do that, well, the Grand Festival is closer than we even think!"

XXX

"Well, Clarisse is right. You've certainly grown as a coordinator."

Michelle looked up at her godmother and smiled. "Thanks, Dawn."

She'd just finished telling Dawn all about what Clarisse had said to her after the battle. It was the first thing Dawn had demanded to know once she saw Michelle, other than congratulating her on the well fought final round.

"You're really not a little girl anymore," Dawn sniffed, running her index finger along the bottom of her eye.

"Are you crying?" Michelle giggled.

"Maybe…"

"You're worse than my mom!"

"I know," Dawn groaned, pulling Michelle into a hug. "But I can't help it! You and Aiden were like my first babies. The first ones I ever even saw! And seeing you so grown up, and achieving all of your dreams…it makes me so emotional!"

"Yeah, I can tell!" Michelle laughed.

Aiden and Brandon walked up to Dawn and Michelle, chuckling at the situation they were currently in,

"Is Dawn getting all emotional again?" Aiden asked his sister.

"Yeah," Michelle replied, smirking at her brother. "She doesn't like seeing us grow up."

"No, I don't!"

Dawn reached out and grabbed both Aiden and Brandon, bringing them into the same hug with Michelle.

"Jeez!" Aiden whined.

"Tight grip," Brandon chuckled.

"None of you are babies anymore!" Dawn wailed. "You're all growing up!"

"Yeah, that's what kids do," Aiden laughed.

"Aw, but I'm so proud of all of you," Dawn sighed, finally letting go of the three. "You're all going to be amazing! And probably famous, too. Once you are, I can dress you up for everything!"

"Dress us up?" Aiden scoffed. "Now you really sound like Mom!"

"Oh, speaking of Misty! Aiden, does she know about your little crush?"

"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH!"

Dawn just loooves causing trouble ;)

Even better news: you won't be waiting much longer for the next chapter, either! But first, of course, I'd like to know what you all thought of this chapter! Get excited for the next one, because we're going somewhere super special, seeing some very special people, and learning a lot of things. So you're definitely going to want to stay tuned for that!

But until then, leave me a review for this chapter! I like to know what you're all thinking!