Arianne looked at Arabella as the three trainers traveled on Route 3. "There's a question that I want to ask you, but I have a feeling that you won't respond well to it."

Arabella gives Arianne a confused look. "What is it, Ari?"

"Uh…what is the deal with you and your older sister?"

Arabella sighed. "My sister is a very naturally gifted Pokemon trainer. She was always the best with everything, Pokemon, school, volunteering, anything. She is the pride and joy of our family. I'm eight years younger than her, so I've been constantly compared to her while growing up. It irritates me, and she is rather full of herself as a Pokemon trainer. She never reaches out, and I am not making time for someone who doesn't make time for me."

"Is she here in Rasun?"

"Yes, my sister is here in Rasun."

"Well…"

Arabella, Leo, and Arianne stopped as they saw a small hamster Pokemon in front of them. Arianne used her Pokedex.

Morpeko, the Two-Sided Pokemon. It carries electrically roasted seeds with it as if they're precious treasures. No matter how much it eats, it always gets hungry again in short order.

Arianne tossed Eevee's Poké Ball. "Eevee, let's go! I'm going to catch Morpeko, so I have an advantage while facing Brooke.

Leo smiles. "Do your thing, Arianne."

Brooke looked at Aria and Crystalline as the two Elite Four members arrived at the Drizzleton City Pokemon Gym. "Hey, guys! Nice to see you again! Where's Marina?"

Aria, the bubbly redhead and the flying type specialist of the Rasun Elite Four hugged Brooke. "Hey, Brooke! Nice to see you too!"

The quiet blonde woman who had arrived with Aria, Crystalline, the ice type specialist of the Rasun Elite Four, nodded at Brooke. "Brooke, it's always a pleasure. Marina is taking some time to look around the city. It's been awhile since she's been here."

Brooke smiled. "I understand. We do have a bit of a problem though."

"What's that?" Aria asks.

"Did Ricardo tell you about the identity of the kids who encountered Team Serpentine?"

Crystalline sighed. "Yes, Ricardo informed us of that over a Cross Transceiver call. That's quite the situation."

Aria shook her head. "It is. We haven't even told her yet. Are they on their way to Drizzleton City yet?"

Brooke nodded. "They're travelling on Route 3 as we speak. They'll be here later today. I've got them competing in the Pokemon Contest today."

"Then we need to tell Marina as soon as possible."

"Tell me what?" Marina asks as she walks in. "Hey, Brooke. Glad to see you again."

Crystalline looks at Marina. "There's going to be a Pokemon Contest later today. Aria and I know we're supposed to be looking for Team Serpentine, but we both have interest in watching the contest."

"I will also be in attendance." Brooke adds.

Marina plays with the ring that was hanging on the necklace that she wore. "That's fine. We can watch the Pokemon Contest. I like watching those. Plus, I want to take some time to think of where in the city would be a good hiding place for Team Serpentine."

"That's a great idea."

"Thanks. Aria, Crystalline, let's go. I don't want to be in Brooke's way. I know she has other things to do. Let's go grab some food before the contest."

Aria agrees. "Sounds like a plan. See you later, Brooke."

Velvet looked at Vanessa as they were in disguise and sat outside a cafe in Drizzleton City. "You know, I think your plan of having some of the grunts running around as decoys to distract the gym leader and police here in Drizzleton City was a fantastic idea."

Vanessa smiled. "I know it is. We can meet with his contact tomorrow and get what he wants for him without drawing any attention."

"Are we certain of it?"

"Yeah, I heard the decoys drew in the attention of Champion Marina, so she's here. If that's the case, she will be distracted as well. I'm not worried."

"Speaking of Champion Marina, do you think the Higher Power is taking her too lightly?"

Vanessa sighed. "Honestly, yes, I do think he is taking her too lightly. I do think that he does have some sort of plan in mind if she does become a bigger problem though."

"I hope so. Oh my gosh, that's the kids, Vanessa."

Vanessa looked at the three Pokemon trainers that had just exited the Drizzleton City Pokemon Center. "Those three? Oh, I see the mega bracelet. She's the one who you said reminded you of someone?"

Velvet nodded. "Yes, but I can't figure out who."

"I see what you're referring to, Velvet, but I can't put my finger on it either."

"Huh, weird. Look, there's Marina, Aria, and Crystalline. Man, I saw Marina coming, but she brought the Elite Four too? Geez."

Vanessa smirks. "Isn't it the Elite Three now? We don't know if she found a replacement yet."

"I guess you're right."

"Put in your earpiece so you can listen and try to hear either the kids or Champion Marina."

"But the Higher Power told me not to be concerned about the kids, and he isn't worried about Champion Marina."

"He isn't here right now. We have earpieces, and his contact won't be around until tomorrow. As long as we don't draw any attention to ourselves, then he won't have a reason to be mad."

Velvet puts in her earpiece. "I guess you're right, Vanessa. I hope so at least. I'm close to getting demoted."

Vanessa puts in her earpiece as well. "Please, Velvet, you're very capable of being an admin. I only insult you to motivate you to do better."

"Oh. Thanks."

"So we have to dress up our Pokemon for a Pokemon Contest?" Arabella rolls her eyes. "Brooke is lucky she's family."

Arianne laughed. "It'll be fun, Arabella. You'll be fine."

"Mhmm."

"It'll be fun. Chill out, Arabella." Leo stops. "Oh my Arceus."

"What is it?" Arianne asks.

Leo subtly gestures to the right. "That's Champion Marina and Elite Four members Aria and Crystalline over there."

"That's crazy."

Arabella turns in the other direction. "Let's go meet up with Brooke at the gym."

"Bella, it's the Champion and half of the Elite Four."

"And they're probably here to investigate Team Serpentine. We don't need to disrupt them."

"Well, nice to see you too, Bella." Marina says as she approaches with Aria and Crystalline.

Arabella looked at Marina as Leo and Arianne were in shock at being so close to the Rasun Region Champion. "What do you want, Rina?"

Marina sighed. "Am I not allowed to say hello to my younger sister and her friends?"

"I'd rather you not."

"Wait." Leo says. "Younger sister?"

Marina laughs. "She doesn't like to talk about me much. I don't understand why, but she doesn't."

"Sorry I don't want all my conversations to be about my sister, the Rasun Region Pokemon Champion."

"Doesn't give you a reason to act so hostile towards me. I've done my best to be good to you. Hell, I'm the reason that you've got that mega bracelet. You never even called to tell me thanks. You went on your Pokemon journey, and you haven't contacted me, Mom, or Dad. There's a villainous organization running around, and you never called to let anybody know that you're doing alright."

Arabella crossed her arms. "I'm fine. I can handle myself. If Mom and Dad cared that much, they would've seen me off on my Pokemon journey."

"I was unaware that they didn't, but you should've still let them know that you are alright with Team Serpentine running around. They just dealt with kids your age. You might have to avoid them too."

Arabella rolled her eyes. "We were those kids, Rina. I already dealt with them and handled myself just fine. You're the Champion, aren't you? You should've known that already."

"That was you three? Are you out of your damn minds?" Marina looked at Aria and Crystalline. "Did Ricardo mention this at all?"

Aria bites her lip. "Well, yeah. We…uh…we didn't know how to tell you."

"You should've told me." Marina turns her gaze back to Arabella, Leo, and Arianne. "You three are to stay far away from Team Serpentine."

"We already know how to handle ourselves." Arabella comments. "Weren't you fourteen when you dealt with Team Plasma? We're all sixteen."

Marina rolled her eyes. "I was, but there was more known about Team Plasma than we know about Team Serpentine. They could already be targeting you too. Also, there's a certain maturity you need to do things like that, and, Bella, you don't have it."

"I don't have maturity? Rina, I have maturity."

"I don't see any. You act hostile towards me for no reason. You don't think before you do things. Do I need to go on? I'm the Rasun Region Champion. I'll make sure things are taken care of. You three are to stay as far away from Team Serpentine as you can. I'm going to go, Bella, so I won't be bothering you anymore. I've got things to do and I'm sure you do as well. Crystalline, Aria, let's go." Marina walks away with Crystalline and Aria following behind her.

Leo looks at Arabella. "Why didn't you tell us that Marina was your sister? We've been friends with you since you moved to Nimbus Town. That's been four years."

Arabella sighed. "I didn't want to be known as the Champion's little sister. Plus, our relationship isn't very good, and she's a bitch."

Arianne put an arm around Arabella. "Let's head to see Brooke and then the Pokemon Contest."

The three trainers head towards the Drizzleton City Pokemon Gym. Velvet and Vanessa, who had been listening the whole time, looked at each other.

Velvet shook her head. "That's surprising."

Vanessa smirked. "That's interesting."

"That won't be any use to us though."

"It can be. I'm not saying we go directly after those annoying little teens because he told you not to concern yourself with children, but this information could still be of use to us."

"How is that?"

"If Champion Marina becomes a problem for us, which she probably will since he isn't taking her seriously, then we use the sister against her."

"How would we do that?"

"I'm not saying that we do anything drastic, but when Marina becomes a threat, we start making moves towards targeting those three kids, mostly her younger sister Arabella."

"How are you going to convince him to agree to that?"

"I won't. I'll convince Stein, who can work on convincing him for us. Stein will listen to me because I introduced him to the Beast Balls when he found me after I fled Aether Paradise and helped him duplicate them for future usage in our plans. It'll work."

Velvet nods. "I see a good plan. Do you want to go watch the Pokemon Contest?"

Vanessa smirks. "Right behind you, Velvet."

Marina, Aria, and Crystalline sat together on a bench.

Aria looked at Marina. "Can I say something to you as a friend since I've known you for ten years?"

Marina shrugged. "Sure."

"I think you were a bit hard on Arabella. I know you don't want those kids getting hurt, but she has a point. You were fighting Team Plasma at fourteen."

"I had Reshiram help me defeat them. Plus, we knew everything about Team Plasma pretty easily."

"I was there too, Rina. I was on my journey through my home region at the same time you were there. I held my own pretty well against Team Plasma. I was the same age as they are now. You were being a bit harsh."

"I'm keeping them away from being targeted. They don't need to be in the same situation that I was."

Aria rolled her eyes. "They are old enough to handle themselves."

Crystalline looked at Marina. "I see your point, but you were a bit harsh, Rina."

Marina shook her head. "I did what I had to do. I'm going to make a call on my Cross Transceiver quickly before we head to watch the Pokemon Contest."

"You're calling your parents about Arabella already?" Aria asks.

"No, your comments about our time in Unova made me think about a certain person, and I want to get his opinion on things if I can."

"His? Is it who I think it is?"

Marina sighed. "Maybe. You two can go ahead and get to the Contest Hall. I'll meet you there. I may not even get an answer."

Aria stood up. "How long has it been since you've talked to him?"

"About two and a half years. I've tried a couple times to no luck though."

Aria nodded. "Well, good luck with getting a hold of him. Let's go, Crystalline."

Crystalline stood up. "See you later, Marina."

Marina nodded as she looked at the ring hanging on the necklace she was wearing. "See you later."

Marina watched Crystalline and Aria walk away before going through her contacts. She found the name that she was looking for. It had been such a long time since the two had talked, but she trusted his input more than anybody else's on something like this. He had fought Team Plasma by her side, and she knew he'd know what to say to her. Marina made a call for an only voice call. He didn't answer. She decided to leave a voicemail.

"Hey, it's Marina." Marina said weakly. "I know that you and I haven't talked for quite some time, but I have a bit of a situation here in Rasun. It reminds me very much of how things were with Team Plasma ten years ago. I don't know if I'm doing things right though and would love to get your opinion because I feel so lost right now. I hope things are going well for you back in Unova. Please get back to me if you can. Bye."

Marina ended the call and let a few tears roll down her face. She had a feeling that he wouldn't answer, but she had hoped he would've. She needed help with handling the situation with Team Serpentine and thought he would've been her best option. As much as she loved Aria, he would take things more seriously than Aria ever would.

Marina stood up and slowly started making her way towards the Contest Hall.

The receptionist looked at Arabella, Leo, and Arianne. "I'm sorry, but we only have one open spot left in today's contest. Only one of you will be able to participate."

Leo shrugged. "One of you girls can do it."

Arianne looked at Arabella. "You do it."

Arabella gave Arianne a confused look. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Brooke gave you an outfit for this and seems like she really wants you to try this. Try, Arabella."

Arabella gave the receptionist her Trainer ID card. "Okay. Sign me up."

The receptionist gets Arabella registered for the Pokemon Contest. "Okay. Arabella, Trainer ID: 66180 is officially registered for today's Drizzleton City Pokemon Contest. Best of luck."

"Thanks."

The three trainers made their way towards the dressing room.

Leo looked at Arabella. "You aren't related to any more Pokemon Champions, are you?"

Arabella laughed. "Actually, former Unova Region Pokemon Champion Alder is my great uncle. That's why Marina was allowed to go to Unova and start her journey there."

"Wow. That's crazy."

"You've gotta be kidding me." A familiar voice said.

Arabella, Leo, and Arianne looked directly at Moira, Ryder, and Jenson.

Arianne rolled her eyes. "Hello to you too."

Moira gave Arianne a dirty look. "What are you three doing here? This is my thing."

Arabella smirked. "I'm participating in this Pokemon Contest."

Brooke saw Leo and Arianne approaching as she sat in the front row of the audience with Marina, Crystalline, and Aria. She waved the two young trainers over to sit with them. Leo and Arianne sat down next to Brooke.

"You two aren't participating?" Brooke asked.

"No, there was only one spot available, so we told Arabella to take it." Arianne answers.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that."

Marina glanced at them. "Arabella is participating in this?"

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, I was trying to get all three of them to participate in this. You know, trying a little bit of everything in their experiences."

Marina smiled. "I get it. You and I never really took to these, but Grace is amazing at these things."

"Yeah, she's a gym leader and coordinator. I'm jealous."

"Not to mention that Crystalline over here is a Triple Threat: Coordinator, Frontier Brain, and Elite Four member." Aria comments.

Crystalline rolls her eyes. "I'm not an active Frontier Brain or Coordinator anymore, Aria. I've never done more than one thing at once."

Aria shrugs as Leanna welcomes the audience to the Drizzleton City Pokemon Contest. "It's still cool."

Leo nods as Leanna introduces the judges. "Not a lot of people have those experiences."

Marina smiled to herself. Despite the fact that she wasn't getting along with her sister Arabella, Marina was reminded by seeing Arabella, Leo, and Arianne of her own Pokemon journey and her experiences with friends.

The first Coordinator, a girl with blue hair named Moira appeared to perform with her Panpour.

Brooke looked at Marina. "This girl came in with some of her friends this morning when one of them came to challenge me at the gym. He lost, and she pretty much threw a fit."

"I'm not surprised." Leo comments. "Was the friend that challenged you named Ryder?"

"Yes, have you three met them before?"

"We encountered them while in Nimbus Woods." Arianne answers. "Those two and their pal, Jenson, are all really obnoxious. We defeated them in a Triple Battle."

Brooke laughed as Moira finished her performance. "I'm not surprised."

Velvet sneered as she and Vanessa watched the Pokemon Contest. "I could've done better than that."

"I'm sure you could, but he doesn't want us to draw any attention to ourselves." Vanessa agrees.

"I know. He wants us to be as discreet as we can and not mess anything up."

"We will. I'm sending some of the grunts to the power plant tomorrow."

"Why?"

"To make sure that Champion Marina stays occupied."

Arabella bit her lip in nervousness as she watched as Jamie, the coordinator before her, performed on stage with her Fletchling. They finished, and Jamie returned backstage.

Jamie looked at Arabella as she passed her. "Good luck out there."

Arabella smiled. "Thanks."

"And next from Nimbus Town, Arabella!" Leanna announced.

Arabella came onto the stage and locked eyes with Marina in the audience. She had a point to prove here. She wasn't just going to be Marina's younger sister.

Arabella threw a Poké Ball in the air. "Starly, let's go!"

Starly appeared, and Arabella started throwing hoops into the air. Starly flew through the hoops as they were being thrown. Starly then created a gust of wind with his wings to make all the hoops form a circle on the ground. Arabella jumped and Starly landed inside the circle of hoops. The audience cheered.

Arianne glanced at Marina, who she hadn't spoken a word to this whole time. "What did you think?"

Marina smiled. "I'm impressed. I was never that good."

Crystalline nodded. "I haven't seen anyone that good in their first Pokemon Contest in a long time. I've been involved in Pokemon Contests for years."

Arabella watched as it was time for the Battle Stage. She'd made it to the top two and put in the Battle Stage to determine the winner of the Drizzleton City Pokemon Contest. She was paired up with Moira to battle against as Moira was the other coordinator who moved on. That wasn't a problem for her.

Moira threw out her Poké ball. "Panpour, let's go!"

Arabella threw out a Poké ball of her own. "Bulbasaur, time to battle!"

Moira glared at Arabella. "Panpour, use scratch."

"Bulbasaur! Dodge it and use Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur hit the move and Panpour was struggling to stand.

Moira looked at Arabella. "This is far from over! Panpour, use Water Gun!"

"Bulbasaur, avoid it and use Razor Leaf!"

Bulbasaur hit Razor Leaf, and Panpour fainted.

"Panpour is unable to battle! The winner of this battle and the Drizzleton City Pokemon Contest is Arabella!" The announcer shouts.

Everyone cheered. Marina was even impressed. She could see her sister's talent for battling.

Velvet and Vanessa sat near the exit, watching as Arabella celebrated.

Velvet looked at Vanessa. "What did you think?"

Vanessa nods. "She's impressive. Let's just hope that she doesn't also have her sister's tendency to get involved in things that don't concern her."

"Do you think she's a threat?"

"She could be. Let's go."

Velvet and Vanessa leave. Arianne sees them from a distance and watches them for a moment, feeling like she'd seen one of them before. She shrugs it off before going to congratulate Marina.

"Congratulations!" Arianne hugs Arabella.

Arabella hugs her back. "Thank you."

"Does this mean we're going to be looking for Pokemon contests as we travel through Rasun too?" Leo asks.

Arabella shrugs. "I guess so."

"You should keep doing these." Crystalline comments as she approaches the trio. "Arabella, I've been a coordinator and a judge for Pokemon contests. To this day, I'm a judge for the Rasun Region Grand Festival. I think you've got much potential. Keep this up. Congratulations."

"Thank you, Crystalline. That means a lot coming from you."

Aria ran over. "That was awesome! Congratulations, Arabella!"

"Thanks, Aria." Arabella glances over at Brooke and Marina.

Brooke comes over and hugs Arabella. "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks."

Marina was looking through her bag as she lingered a little behind the rest of the group. There was something she was looking for, and she managed to find it.

Brooke looked over at Marina. "Rina, Arabella and I have our gym battle tomorrow. You should come watch."

Marina and Arabella exchanged a look. They didn't have to speak to have an understanding.

"As fun as that sounds, Brooke, I came to Drizzleton City to look for Team Serpentine and take care of them. I probably should focus on that." Marina answers.

"I understand. Please let me know if you need any help with that." Brooke responds.

"I will, but hopefully with Aria and Crystalline with me, it won't get to that point." Marina walks over to Arabella and hands her a ribbon case. "Congrats, Bella. Make sure you keep track of your ribbons. I'm gonna head out now. Crystalline, Aria, come find me once you're done."

Marina walks out of the Contest Hall and sighed to herself.

Aria followed her out. "You've got him on your mind, don't you?"

Marina shakes her head. "He's on my mind a lot."

"I take it that he didn't answer you earlier."

"He didn't. I should've never expected him to."

"Maybe he was just busy."

"He never calls back. He has probably moved on at this point and doesn't want to think about the past by talking to me."

"I don't think he would do that to you."

"If he still cared, he would answer or at least call me back. Enough worrying about that. We've got bigger things to worry about."

Arabella's Team: Bulbasaur , Starly , Egg

Leo's Team: Litten , Sewaddle

Arianne's Team: Sobble , Eevee , Morpeko