** Waiting Room **
In the waiting room, Kenny was staring at a wall, waiting for his match to begin.
"I can do this. I trained so hard for this." Kenny said in his head.
*Flashback*
After failing to make it past the preliminary rounds back in Sinnoh, Kenny was training his Empoleon nonstop.
One night in his house's backyard, he had finished training his Empoleon for the day and returned it to his Pokeball.
As Kenny sat on a bench…
"This is so hard. All this effort, and what is it worth in the end?" Kenny asked to himself.
Kenny tilted his head so that he could witness the night sky covered in stars, and the occasional shooting star that passes by.
"I don't know what to do anymore. What good am I as a Coordinator if I make a huge mistake like that? That's a mistake a rookie makes."
As Kenny stared out into the sky, he then remembered his friend Dawn, and her performance in the Grand Festival.
"I remember now. Deedee lost as well, but she was able to get stronger and make it to the finals."
He then got off the bench and smiled.
"If Deedee could take failure and turn it into success, I know I can too."
**End Flashback**
While Kenny was waiting for his match, May was talking to Trish and Suzy.
"So Trish, why did you become a Coordinator?" May asked to Trish
In response, Trish shrugged her shoulders.
"I became a Coordinator because I felt like it was the right thing for me." Trish said
"Yep. I became one because it was so pretty." Suzy said
"Well that's good to hear. I was originally going to be a Pokémon Trainer, but I fell in love with the idea of Pokémon Contests when I went to Rustboro City." May said with a smile on her face.
"Say, didn't you have an ex-boyfriend travelling with you and Dawn at some point?" Frank asked
May had an embarrassed look on her face in response, while Dawn had an annoyed look on her face.
"He's still in a region doing the same old stuff as he did before." Dawn said.
"Exactly." May said while Drew gave her a neck massage.
"If anything, it's probably for the best. Ash hasn't visited us in years, and I don't think he even cares enough to remember us in the first place." Drew said
Trish then turned her head to Dawn.
"Dawn, there's something I need to tell you about your mother Johanna, besides her being in the tournament. She's… " Trish said with concern in her voice.
Before Trish could finish her sentence, the intercom came on informing Kenny to appear on stage.
**Contest Arena**
"Welcome everyone to the first match of Round 1!" shouted Marina
The crowd then applauded.
"There are a couple new rules I want to mention before we begin though. First off, you are allowed to use Mega Evolutions at any time during the battle if you wish, and the second rule is that before the match begins there will be a wheel on screen determining whether the battle will be a Single or Double battle."
"Without further delay, let's begin!"
The crowd applauded once again as two more spotlights appeared on stage to reveal the contestants.
On the right, Kenny is wearing the outfit he wore during the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
While on the left, Dr. Abby was wearing a long purple dress and had her hair in a ponytail..
As both their pictures appeared on screen, the wheel began to spin.
Once the wheel stopped, it landed on single battles.
"Begin!" shouted Marina
The 5 minute timer appeared on screen, replacing the wheel.
"Go Empoleon!" Kenny shouted
He threw his ball in a curve, releasing his Pokémon.
"This will be interesting. Go Johnny!" Dr. Abby shouted
She threw her Pokeball up into the air releasing her Pokémon onto the field.
"Empoleon, use Flash Cannon!" Kenny shouted
Empoleon opened its beak and shot a Flash Cannon at Abby's Delcatty.
"Johnny, use Blizzard!"
Johnny jumped up in the air and aimed his Blizzard attack at the Flash Cannon, freezing the attack.
"Now use Iron Tail!"
Johnny's tail turned gray as Johnny charged towards the now frozen Flash Cannon.
"Empoleon, block the attack with Metal Claw"
Empoleon agreed to his trainer's command and started to use Metal Claw to break up the ice, causing some of the shards to hit Delcatty, resulting in Abby losing a bunch of points.
"Johnny, finish the attack!"
Despite getting hit by the shards, Johnny complied with his trainer's command and destroyed the frozen Flash Cannon, causing Kenny to lose a few points.
"All right Empoleon, use Drill Peck!"
Empoleon charged at Delcatty and then jumped into the air, spinning around, turning into a missile like object with the Drill Peck in the front.
"Johnny. Thunderbolt!"
Johnny then began to glow with electricity and fired it at Empoleon.
"Empoleon! Thunder Claw time!"
Empoleon stopped spinning and then used Metal Claw on the thunderbolt attack, transforming his claws into giant claws made out of thunder.
This caused Dr Abby to lose a lot of points. With only 1 minute remaining, Dr. Abby was feeling the effects of nervousness.
"Darn. Johnny, finish it with Blizzard!"
Johnny opened his mouth and fired Blizzard at Empoleon, freezing him in the process and resulting in Kenny losing a lot of points.
"Empoleon, you can break free! I know you can!" Kenny shouted
"Johnny, finish this with Solarbeam."
Johnny began to glow as he prepared a Solarbeam attack to finish Empoleon off.
"Fire!"
But just as the attack was about to hit Empoleon, he broke free from the ice and blocked the attack with his claws.
"All right Empoleon!"
"Darn." said Dr Abby
Empoleon then began to overpower Johnny and redirected the attack right back at him, but this time, it was filled with Electricity.
"TIME!" shouted Marina
Kenny and Dr Abby turned their heads to the screen, and saw the winner of the match.
"The winner of this match… Is Kenny!"
The crowd then roared in applause.
"Yes!" Kenny shouted in excitement
Dr. Abby lowered her head and sighed before returning Delcatty to its Pokeball.
"Great job Kenny. You deserve it." Dr. Abby said
"Thanks Dr. Abby." Kenny said
**Waiting Room**
"Great job Kenny." Dawn said smiling
"Yeah, your friend did well." Trish said
"He's okay." Suzy said
The Black Greninja was sitting in his spot, when some random person tried to pry off his mask.
However, when the Black Greninja noticed this, he grabbed the random and threw him over his shoulder and over to where May and her friends were.
"Clean-up on aisle D." The Black Greninja said while crossing his arms.
"What's the D stand for?" Dawn asked.
"If you have to ask, you belong in the same aisle." The Black Greninja responded.
Just then, the screen came on to reveal the next two competitors: Dawn and Rebecca.
"Good luck Dawn." Zoey said
"Agreed, may you be given the greatest of luck in this match." Nando said
Dawn then giggled.
"Thanks guys, but I will be fine. No need to worry." Dawn said as she left the waiting room to head to the arena.
When she walked down the hallway, she saw Kenny running towards her with his hand in the air. Dawn gave him a high-five as she walked to the arena.