Chapter 10: Going for the Win

The Luxuria City Contest arrived five days later. Even though she had all that time to practice, Shelly was nervous about competing. She tried to take her mind off of the contest as she and Dawn got ready together back stage.

"So, how many ribbons do you have?" Shelly asked her new friend as the two of them brushed their hair.

"I only have one," Dawn replied. "I won it back in Nuvema Town, and Kenny won a ribbon in Accumula Town. What about you?"

"I don't have any yet," Shelly said with a sheepish smile. "I've only been in one contest in Unova, and I lost a battle to May."

"May?" Dawn said in surprise. "May from Hoenn with a brother names Max?"

Shelly nodded. "That's the one. You know her?"

"Well, I only met her once at the Wallace Cup. We both traveled with Ash at one point, so he introduced us. I've never met Max, though. Is he a trainer yet?"

"He just started his journey, and he's traveling with May. I'm sure you'll run into her sometime."

Dawn grinned. "I hope so." She set her brush down and looked herself over in the mirror. "Are you ready?"

"I think so," Shelly said.

"Piplup," the penguin Pokemon said encouragingly from the floor.

"He's so cute," Shelly said, smiling down at him.

Piplup puffed out his chest proudly. "Piplup."

"Thanks," said Dawn. "He is. Which Pokemon did you start out with?"

"Chikorita. She also refused to evolve."

Dawn smiled. "Pokemon sure have personalities."

Shelly chuckled lightly. "Yep."

The two of them turned when they heard Astoria announcing the start of the contest. Then the appeals round begun. After a girl performed with a Servine, Kenny walked on stage with his Empoleon. Next, it was Dawn's turn. "Good luck," Shelly said as she left.

Dawn smiled. "Thanks, Shelly."

Dawn gave an excellent performance with her Pachirisu. She wished Shelly, wearing a light blue dress, good luck as she passed her on the stage. The pink-haired girl took a deep breath before pulling out a Pokeball.

"Come on out, Hiccup!" She threw a Pokeball in the air, and her Wartortle appeared, doing a flip before landing on his feet. "Use Bubble!"

Hiccup started shooting out a bunch of large bubbles. The bubbles stuck together in the air and formed a sphere.

"Now Bite!"

Hiccup jumped up and bit some of the bubbles, causing them to pop. When he was finished biting, the bubble formation now had the shape of a flower.

Shelly smiled. "Now use Rapid Spin and Water Gun."

Hiccup hoped in his shell and started spinning. Soon, water came out of the holes in his shell and created a swirling motion. The water hit the bubbles, causing them to explode with glittering water. Hiccup hopped out of his shell and posed. It looked cool with the water particles falling around him.

Shelly bowed before walking off stage with her Wartortle. She had been pretty nervous, but that had gone as she had expected. She just hoped the judges liked it well enough to let her move onto the second round.

"Nice performance," Dawn said as soon as she entered the backstage area.

"Yeah, that was pretty good," Kenny said from beside her.

Shelly smiled at them. "Thanks guys."

They watched the rest of the performances from the TV in the room. Then it was time to see who would be moving onto the battle round. Shelly held her breath as the coordinators were listed one by one. The very last picture showed her. She let out a breath of relief. Now the pictures were shuffled to show we would be battling who. The first battle was Shelly and Kenny. The two of them looked at each other in surprise.

"I guess we'll be battling each other," Kenny said.

Shelly nodded. "We should get out there."

"Good luck to both of you!" Dawn said as they headed for the stage.

"Thanks," they said at the same time.

Soon, they were facing off against each other on the stage. "You're up, Magnemite," Kenny said, releasing his Pokemon.

"Come on out, Gloria!" Shelly said. The Ponyta appeared before her and neighed. Then the match had begun. Shelly knew this would be difficult since Magneton could float in the air. "Gloria, use Fire Spin!"

"Magneton, Dodge it and use Spark!"

Gloria spat out a swirl of fire. Magnemite quickly dated out of the way before hitting the Ponyta with an electrical shock.

"Now use Mirror Shot!" Kenny said.

"Quick, use Flame Wheel!" She had worked with Dani and Mo to perfect this move. She watched as Gloria rolled into a ball and dodged the attack. Then she flew into the air and struck the Magnemite.

Kenny gritted his teeth in frustration. "Ok, use Magnet Bomb!"

"Fire Spin!" Shelly said quickly. Magnet Bomb was an attack that would not miss, but that did not mean she could not take away points from Kenny in the process.

Magnemite hurled a magnet bomb towards the Ponyta. Gloria hit the bomb with a star of fire. The fire exploded and sparkled as it hit the bomb, and then the fire struck the electric type.

"Tackle!" Kenny called.

Shelly immediately got an idea. "Flame Charge!"

While Magnemite zoomed towards Gloria, the fire type stomped in place, and she was soon covered in flames. Then the fire type ran forward to meet the Magnemite in a collision that caused smoke. When the smoke cleared, it could be seen that Magnemite had fainted and Gloria was still standing.

"Magnemite is no longer able to battle, and Kenny has lost all of his points," said Astoria. "That means our winner is Shelly!"

"Thanks, Magnemite," Kenny said with a sad smile as he returned him.

Shelly grinned at her Ponyta. "You were awesome, Gloria! Rest up before our next battle."

"Good job," Kenny said to her from across the stage.

Shelly smiled as she turned to leave the battlefield. "Thanks."

As soon as she entered the backstage area, Dawn was on her. "You were amazing!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you beat Kenny so quickly."

"If you didn't use a fire type, I would have had a better chance," Kenny said as he passed them.

Shelly smirked. "Battling is about more than type." After all, May had won the last contest with a disadvantage. "Good luck with your battle."

Dawn smiled. "Thanks."

After the second battle, Dawn left for her own. The battle was intense, but by the time the clock ran out, she and Piplup had won. She ran backstage to greet her friends. The final battle of the round commenced. Then it was time to find out who would be paired for the next round of battles.

Dawn was up first against the girl who won the previous battle. Shelly watched the TV as she and Piplup gave a good show. At the end, they won this one as well. The girl appeared excited about moving onto the final stage. As Shelly walked out to meet her challenger, she hoped she would be there with her.

Her opponent was a girl names Ellie. "You're up, Scraggy!" she said, releasing her Pokemon.

"Come on out, Gloria!" Her nerves disappeared as she saw the confident look in her Ponyta's eyes. "Start off with Fire Spin!"

"Scraggy, Brick Break!"

Gloria blew out fire at her opponent. When the fire reached him, Scraggy chopped it with his arm, causing it to spread out and disappear. He appeared only mildly affected by the attack. While Gloria stood there stunned, he ran forward and used Brick Break against her.

Shelly remained calm as she formed her next move in her mind. "Gloria, use Flame Charge!"

"Headbutt, Scraggy!"

Gloria stomped in place while fire started to consume her. Then she ran towards her opponent. Scraggy ran towards her as well with his head lowered. The two of them collided with great power.

Shelly could tell that her opponents liked head-on attacks. She was going to have to do something about that. "Flame Wheel!"

"Use Brick Break to stop her!"

Gloria rolled into a fire ball and began moving along the stage. Scraggy hesitated as he watched her roll around him. Then she sudden cut the circle and darted towards him, slamming right into him. He cried out as he flew across the field.

Shelly grinned. "Great. Now Fire Spin!"

Gloria sucked in sharply and let her breath out in a spin of fire. This time, it hit the Scraggy as he was standing up and caused him to fall back again.

"Hang in there, Scraggy," Ellie said. "Use Low Kick!"

"Flame Wheel!"

"You have to hit her!"

Gloria spun around while on fire. The time, Scraggy concentrated for a moment. Then he ran forward and attacked the fire ball with his leg. He was armed by the fire, but the Ponyta fell over from the Low Kick. Scraggy stood nearby, panting heavily.

"Ok, now Headbutt!" said Ellie.

"Flame Charge!"

The two Pokemon raced towards each other once again. Both Pokemon fell back after the collision, but only Gloria stood back up.

"Scraggy is unable to battle," Astoria announced. "Shelly will be moving onto the final stage!"

"Yes!" Shelly said excitedly. She smiled at her Ponyta. "You were great." She returned her other Pokeball so she could have some rest. Then she moved to the backstage room for the break between battles.

"You did it!" Dawn cried as soon as she entered. "It's going to be you and me!"

Shelly smiled slightly. "Yeah. Good luck."

"You too."

"Piplup," said the blue penguin.

"This is going to be interesting," Kenny said from beside Dawn. "Have fun, you two."

It was not long before the two girls were called onto the stage. Shelly took a deep breath to calm herself as she took her place on one side of the battlefield. "Gloria, it's time to go!" she tossed her Pokeball to release her Ponyta.

"Piplup, take the stage!" Dawn said, tossing a Pokeball of her own into the air. Piplup appeared amongst hearts and landed on the floor on his feet. "Use Bubble Beam!"

Shelly knew she was at a disadvantage, but she also knew that would not determine the winner of this battle. "Flame Wheel, and don't stop!"

Piplup shot out large bubbles at the Ponyta. Gloria quickly rolled into a ball of fire and dodged by moving around on the stage. Then she hit Piplup and kept on rolling.

"Stay calm, Piplup. Concentrate and use Hydro Pump on the stage!"

Piplup sucked in a sharp breath and breathed out water, aiming it at the floor. Gloria rolled into the water, and her fire went out. She got on her feet and neighed.

"Now Bubble Beam!" Dawn said.

"Flame Charge!" Shelly said, deciding to use the technique of her last opponent.

Gloria covered herself in flames and ran towards the Piplup. The bubbles hit her, but they did not put out her fire. She hit the water type and sent him flying across the stage. Then, as the Ponyta stood there, her flames started glow blue and rise up.

Shelly gasped in surprise. She knew that attack! "Gloria, use Inferno!" She bet Dani and Mo would be surprised to see this. Dawn seemed just as startled, for this attack had not been used so far in the contest.

The blue flames from Gloria's back rose and extended towards Piplup, knocking him off his feet.

"Piplup, use Bubble Beam and Drill Peck!" Dawn said.

"Dodge and use Stomp!" Shelly countered.

Piplup shot out bubbles towards the Ponyta. Then he raced forward. His beak spun around and burst the bubbles, causing the stage to glitter. Gloria jumped out of the way and turned, stomping him with her front hooves. Piplup cried out as he was trapped under the hooves.

"Now Fire Spin!" Shelly exclaimed.

Gloria stepped off of Piplup and then blasted him with fire. The water type flew across the stage before struggling to his feet. He appeared to be burned and slowly losing energy.

"Piplup, use Hydro Pump!"

"Flame Wheel!"

While Piplup prepared to launch his water, Gloria started rolling around the stage while on fire. She dodged the Hydro Pump and smashed into the penguin.

"Piplup, Ice Beam!"

"Gloria, use Inferno!"

A beam of ice emerged from Piplup's beak while Gloria's fire started to glow blue. Just before the ice hit the horse, fire burst forth, melting the ice and causing steam. Then the fire struck Piplup, stopping his attack.

"Piplup!" Dawn cried as her Pokemon got up slowly, panting heavily. "Use Bubble Beam!"

"Dodge it!"

Gloria ran away from the bubbles, but a few of them hit her, causing her to cringe in pain. Once the bubbles ceased, both Pokemon appeared exhausted.

"And time is up!" said Astoria. "The winner of the Luxuria City Contest is... Shelly!"

The crowd erupted in applause while Shelly looked at the scoreboard in disbelief. She had really done it? Despite the disadvantage, she had ended up with more points than Dawn. If the contest had ended a few seconds later, her Ponyta may have been knocked out! "We did it, Gloria!" She grinned as she ran forward and wrapped her arms around her fire type. The horse neighed in approval.

"Congratulations, Shelly," Dawn said as she walked across the stage with her hand held out. "You are a tough opponent."

Shelly smiled as she shook her hand. "Thanks. You and Piplup were good as well."

"We'll beat you next time!"

She smirked. "We'll see."

"I think I'm the one who will be winning," Kenny said as he walked out onto the stage to stand beside Dawn.

Shelly rolled her eyes playfully. "I have to go, but we'll talk about that later." She made her way to the middle of the stage where Astoria was waiting for her. She then let out her Wartortle to join in the celebration.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Astoria, "let's congratulate Shelly for winning the beautiful Luxuria Ribbon!" She handed over the ribbon to the girl while everyone applauded. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you so much!" Shelly said, clutching her ribbon in her hand. Gloria and Hiccup spoke their approval.

"Shell!" a voice exclaimed from the crowd. The pink-haired girl turned to see Gabri running over to the stage with Dani and Gabri behind her. "That was awesome!"

"Thanks," Shelly said as she approached the edge of the stage with her Pokemon.

"Congratulations," said Gary.

Shelly blushed and looked down. "Thank you."

"Now you've got one ribbon," Dani said. "Four more to go."

Shelly grinned. "Yep. And I've got plenty of time." Her journey was finally off to a great start!


"It was great meeting you guys," Dawn said as she stood next to Kenny facing Dani, Shelly, Gabri, and Gary in the Pokemon Center lobby. "And congratulations on winning, Shelly."

"Piplup," said Piplup from her arms.

Shelly nodded. "Thanks."

"I'm sure we'll see you around," said Kenny.

"Of course," said Dani. "Bye!"

They all waved as the two of them departed. Then the group of four was left. "Where do you girls want to go next?" Gary asked. "The next city with a gym?" He pulled out his map of Unova.

Dani shook her head. "I know I won my last gym battle, but I think I will skip the next gym and wait for the one after that to give me more time to practice. There are eleven gyms in Unova, so we can skip three."

"Then I'll skip two in a row," said Gabri. "I need a lot of practice, and I want to watch you one more time."

"Fair enough," said Gary. "Let's see... The next city with a gym after that then is Castelia City, and they're having a contest in a couple of weeks."

"Oh, let's go!" Shelly said excitedly.

Gary smiled. "Sounds like a plan. We'll be off in the morning." And their journey would continue!