This chapter will conclude the Grand Festival Arc.

Zoey had woken up somewhat early in the morning and found Paul resting his head on hers. Unknowingly, she moved her head away and Paul woke up.

"Oh… sorry to wake you up Paul…" Zoey apologized.

"...? Oh Zoey! Hehe… sorry for sleeping on your head… Your hair felt really soft, I liked that."

Zoey blushed at the compliment before turning to her Poketech.

"What time is it?" Paul asked.

"Time for you to get a Poketech!" Zoey replied jokingly. Paul's sweat dropped.

"Haha… very funny. But really, what time is it?"

"Meh, we still have 4 hours before the contests start Paul. Let's get some more sleep…" Zoey then placed her head back on Paul's shoulder.

"Maybe you're right... WAIT! HOW COULD I'VE FORGOTTEN THAT!" Paul screamed out making Zoey wake up instantly. Instead of getting mad at him, she became worried.

"Forgot what Paul?" Zoey questioned.

"To heal your pokemon! Come on! We have to get to the Pokemon Center!" he grabbed Zoey's hand and pulled her off the bench dragging her along all the way back to the Pokemon Center.

. . 2 Hours Later . .

"Here you go Zoey, your pokemon are all in top condition for today's final rounds." Nurse Joy had said.

"Wow, thanks Nurse Joy! I never imagined you'd get them healed so quickly!"

"Actually, you cut in line of the pokemon waiting but the trainers all allowed you to do so. After all, you're the one who's going to be competing at the final rounds."

"Whew, what a relief. Nurse Joy, could you thank the people on my behalf?" Zoey asked.

"Of course Zoey. I'm assuming you'll be booked today. Good luck with your match today!" and with that, Nurse Joy waved at Zoey as she slowly started to walk towards the cafeteria.

. . . Change of POV . . .

Paul was worried; worried that Zoey couldn't get the pokemon in time.

"It's my damn fault…" Paul said to himself outloud.

"Hey Paul!" Zoey greeted.

"Huh? Zoey? Did you get your pokemon back already?"

"Yep! The people ahead of me said that it was okay for me to go first. So, what's for breakfast?"

"Uhh… Oh right! Chansey is coming with our breakfast. Just the center's usual: toast and boiled eggs with cereals."

"Oh goodie! Something new for a change! Can't wait for my breakfast!"

"You also won't be able to wait for your dinner…"

Zoey looked at Paul's expression.

"Huh? You okay Paul?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine."

"Good, cause here comes our breakfast now!"

"Oh goodie…"

. . 2 Hours Later . .

It was Zoey's turn now. Dawn and Ursula had a fierce match but in the end, Dawn was the victor. It was a really close match but Dawn and her team of Cyndaquil and Mamoswine managed to beat Ursula's team of Gabite and Flareon. Now, Zoey was up against Jessilina; but Zoey was confident, confident enough to win, confident enough to win the entire tournament, confident enough to win for Paul.

"And now we have our other two competitors! Please give a round of applause for Zoey!"

Zoey entered the stadium and what she saw was similar to what she saw the first time she came up on stage, expect this time the noise from the crowd was much louder.

"And please also give a round of applause for her opponent, Jessilina!"

Jessilina stepped onto the stage and waved her hand furiously at the crowd.

"Now, the same rules from the previous matches will apply. Both trainers, please send out your pokemon!"

"Go! Yanmega and Carnivine!" Jessilina threw two pokeball in the air and out came the two pokemon she had called out.

"CARNIVINE!"

"Yanm-Yanm!"

"My turn, go Gallade and Leafeon!" Zoey in turn threw her two pokeball in the air.

"Leaf-eon!"

"GALL-ADE!"

"Now without any further ado, let's begin!"

"Yanmega, Sonic boom! Carnivine, bullet seed!" The two fired their attacks.

"Gallade, Leafeon, Magical Leaf!" Zoey yelled. Both in turn fired their attacks.

The two attacks from both sides collided with each other and caused a big explosion at the center of the arena. Both sides points were lowered by somewhat 10%.

"Leafeon! Follow it up with Leaf Blade! Galade, Vacuum Wave on both of them after the attack lands!"

Leafeon used Leaf Blade on both the pokemon but both received little damage. But when the Vacuum wave made its mark, they both went flying backwards; barely inches away from Jessilina.

"Come on! Get up!" Jessilina yelled.

Carivine and Yanmega both managed to get back up.

"We're going to have to finish this quickly. Leafeon, use energy ball! Gallade! Use psychic to control the energy ball and blast it at them!"

Both did as they were told and the energy ball along with the psychic both made direct hits. Carivine and Yanmega were both out of the match with Zoey having lost only 10% of her points.

All the judges on the panels gave their "X" and the match was declared over.

"And the winners are Zoey and her team!"

The crowd roared loudly while Jessilina was over by her pokemon and crying in shame. Zoey congratulated her pokemon and made her way back to the reception lobby to find Paul.

. . .

Zoey was at the lobby but couldn't find Paul. She was searching everywhere but didn't find him. Instead, someone else had found her.

"Hey Zoey!" a familiar voice cried.

"Oh, hi Dawn. How are ya'?"

"Not bad, I see you made it to the finals. I'll be looking forward to our match."

"Me too. I'll see you in a couple of hours for the final match. I know you'll be there." Zoey then waved goodbye before searching for Paul again.

. . .

It was 1 PM, and still no sign of Paul. Her match was due in 2 hours and she really needed Paul's support.

"Oh Paul… where are you when I need to the most…"

"Hey, Zoey!" another familiar voice cried out.

"Oh, hey Ash…" Zoey said with a disappointed tone.

"If you're looking for Paul, he's down by the coordinator's lounge looking for you." Ash replied with a smirk.

"Wait, but how did yo-"

"Well, I gotta go meet up with Dawn and Brock, see ya' later!" Ash ran off waving.

"Bye Ash… And THANKS!" Zoey replied with a sudden optimistic tone. She ran full speed past the other trainers and coordinators to the lounge. When she had gotten there, she found Paul sitting on a seat with a disappointed look.

"Nice to see you here Paul!" Zoey said in a cheerful tone.

"Huh? Oh Zoey!" he ran up to her and hugged her. The hug was very unexpected but she had hugged him back.

"Congratulations on the match Zoey. Now I know you'll win for sure."

"Thanks Paul. I think I saw you in the back row, was something wrong?"

"Oh…" Paul's face flushed. "I couldn't find a seat up at the front so I had to go all the back to even get a seat. Sorry if you didn't hear me." Paul swung his head down in shame.

"Don't worry about it Paul. As long as you're watching me, that's all the comfort I'll ever need." Zoey hugged Paul a little tighter. The people around them were watching curiously now. Paul and Zoey broke their embrace and blushed heavily.

"Come on, let's take this outside." Paul suggested. Zoey extended her hand to grab Paul's and walked out of the front door; once again hand in hand.

. . 1 and a half hours later . .

Zoey was getting very nervous now. 30 minutes from now, she would step onto the arena and face Dawn. It wasn't Dawn that made her nervous, it was the thought of losing, the thought of disappointing everyone, the thought of disappointing Paul…

"Hey Zoey…" Paul appeared behind her almost startling her. "Oops, sorry if I made you jump."

"No problem, hey Paul?" Zoey asked.

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Are you going to be disappointed if I-"

"Of course not! You tried your best and that's all that counts. A couple of days ago, winning would've been my only motive but now, just doing your best is all that matters for me." Paul gave Zoey one last hug.

"Remember, I'll always be there for you. Whenever you need me."

Zoey hugged him back. "Thanks Paul…"

Paul smiled. "Now, go out there and give me something to brag about once Ash and the others find out we're a couple!"

"I already did." Someone said from behind him. Paul instantly spun around.

"Ash? You did!"

"Hey, no need to worry; oops, guess I shouldn't be the one to say that."

Out of the corner, Dawn appeared with her contest dress on.

"Hey Dawn!" Zoey greeted.

"Hi Zoey! Hi Paul!"

"Hi…" Paul replied in a quiet tone.

"So is it true? Are you guys a couple?" Dawn asked.

"…Oh alright… It's true. Paul and I have been a couple for a few days now."

Dawn squealed in excitement. "Oh my Goss! I can't believe it! Paul and Zoey are boyfriend and girlfriend!" Paul and Zoey both blushed.

"Well, is it true that Ash and you are going steady as well?" Zoey asked.

Dawn's excitement instantly halted. An awkward silence took place before Ash gave her the reply.

"…Yeah, but how did you figure it out?" Ash asked.

"Heh heh… to tell to truth, I saw you guys kissing back in the regional park forest. I was shocked at first but then glad I wasn't the only one of my friends doing it."

"Well, then that's that. The cat's out of the bag." Ash said.

"You're not going to tell anyone about our relationship though right?" Zoey asked.

Ash and Dawn both laughed at this. "You can trust us to be deceit about your relationships but it would be nice if you could keep ours as a secret too. Anyways, good luck out there. I'm going to find a seat before they're all taken." And with that Ash left the coordinator's lounge.

"Paul, you better go too if you want to find yourself a seat." Zoey suggested.

"Alright, see you after the match." Paul gave Zoey a quick peck before he left.

"Wow, he's so romantic. Ash could learn a lot from him."

"I know! He took me out to dinner yesterday and-"

"WAIT!" Dawn stopped her. "HE TOOK YOU OUT TO DINNER YESTERDAY!"

"Well, yeah. That's what couples do right? And it was so GOOD! The atmosphere, the food and…"

"Grr… after this match-up whether I win or lose, I'm going to make that Ash Ketchum take me out to someplace to eat!"

Zoey giggled at this.

"I always knew Ash was dense but you two going steady was the last thing I would've expected."

The PA system cracked to life. "Would the two finalists please report to their designated spots for the final match which will begin in 10 minutes."

"Well, better get going. Best of luck to you Dawn."

"You too, Zoey."

. . .

"And welcome back for our final match! I know you fans out there are all excited to see this match so let's get to it right away!" The crowd roared madly. Among the front row seats were Paul, Brock, and Ash. They were all seating side by side but none of them had reasoned against it. They were all dying to see this match.

"Our two contestants, please come on out!"

Zoey came out from one side of the arena while Dawn appeared at the other.

"Yeah! Go Dawn!" Ash yelled. Dawn looked over to where Ash was and waved at him.

Paul didn't want to look bad in front of Ash so he just waved at Zoey who smiled and waved back at him. The crowd continued to roar wildly while the two coordinators were taking their places.

"Now for our final match, both coordinators will use only one pokemon each. Please send out your pokemon!"

"Piplup, spotlight!" Dawn threw her pokeball into the air and out came her Piplup alongside a bunch of bubbles.

"My turn, go Glameow!" Zoey threw her pink-ball capsuled pokeball into the air and Glameow came out. The pink ball capsule made more hearts appear than its blue-purple counterpart which made the crowd more appeased.

"Gla-MEOW!"

"PIPLUP!" Piplup said proudly.

"Now, let's… BEGIN!"

"Glameow, Shadow Claw!"

"Piplup, Peck!"

Both pokemon performed their attacks and both collided at intense speeds making debris fly all over the place. Both coordinator's point went down slightly. When the debris cleared up, both pokemon were found barely harmed.

"Piplup, whirlpool!" Piplup mounted a big whirlpool.

"Glameow, thunderbolt on the whirlpool now!"

Glameow did as it was told and the thunderbolt mixed with the whirlpool made it collapse which resulted in Dawn losing more points.

"Oh no! Piplup!"

Piplup acted as if it took no damage at all and stood back up proudly.

"PIPLUP!"

. . . Change of POV . . .

Dawn was getting more nervous now. She couldn't think of what to do next. "Come on Dawn… Think…"

"Try your best Dawn! You can do it!" Ash yelled.

Although the crowd was mainly staring at Ash now, Dawn had regained her confidence. "Right, I gotta give it my best shot. Thanks Ash."

"Piplup! GO!"

"PIP…. LUP!" Piplup then released a huge blast of water aiming it at Glameow. It had landed a direct hit causing Glameow to fly backwards and land hard on the floor.

"Is that…?" Ash inquired.

"That's Hydro Pump!" Brock concluded for him.

"Piplup… but how?" Dawn asked.

"Pip, lup!" Piplup then pointed to himself in a proud manner which made Dawn's sweat drop.

"Heh heh… I guess I never should've doubted you Piplup."

. . . Change of POV . . .

Zoey was awe-stricken. Her points were now down almost half-way and Dawn's were still 3 quarters filled.

"Man, we have to turn this around…"

"Piplup! Bide!"

"Glameow quick, Shock Wave!"

Glameow unleashed a strong voltage of lightning while Piplup readied for its assult. Just before the Shock Wave reached its mark, Piplup released the energy that it had been storing and fired it at Glameow; destroying the Shock Wave in the process. Again, the attack made its mark and hit Glameow directly, throwing it completely backwards almost to the edge of the battlefield.

"Glameow!"

"Gla…" Glameow stood up but it was obvious that it had taken quite a lot of damage.

"Ugh… at this rate…" She paused for a moment to look at where Paul was. He was watching her attentively and when their eyes met, he gave her a smile. It was as if he was saying, "Whatever the outcome is, I'll always be proud to have you as my girlfriend."

"Actions do speak louder than words…" Zoey thought to herself.

It was her turn now. She had to toughen up if she wanted to win this. She was down to 3 minutes and Dawn had about 15% more points than her.

"Time to change that. Glameow, get close to Piplup!" Dawn and Glameow were both surprised by the order but they both followed along with it. Glameow approached Piplup at a rapid pace but Piplup didn't move a muscle.

"Piplup! Peck!"

"Glameow! Fury Swipe!"

Both pokemon did as they were told but in the end, Glameow had the upper hand and knocked Piplup backwards.

"Follow it up with Thunderbolt!"

"Piplup! Counter with Bubblebeam!"

Both pokemon again did as they were told and when the attacks collided, a huge dust cloud lifted where the attacks met. When the debris cleared up, the two pokemon were displayed; both looking fierce to end the battle.

"Piplup!"

"Glameow!"

"Finish it with Peck!"

"End it with Shadow Claw!"

Both pokemon launched at each other at full speed performing their attacks. Again, when they collided in the middle, an enormous explosion occurred making both trainers cover their eyes. When the smoke and dust settled, there was only one pokemon standing…

Normally, if I hadn't promised to finish all this in one chapter, I would've ended it by now. But other than that, let's find out who won… XD

…Glameow.

All three judges gave Dawn's Piplup a 'X' and the battle was declared over.

"And this year's top coordinator is… Zoey!" the crowd roared wildly while Zoey ran over to her Glameow to give it a hug.

"Thanks buddy. I owe it all to you."

"Gla-meow…"

Dawn ran over to her Piplup to return the favour.

"Great job Piplup! I'm so proud of you!"

"Pip-lup…" it said before Dawn returned it to its ball.

"Take a good rest."

. . .

"And now, Mr. Contesta will give Zoey the Ribbon Cup for winning this year's Grand Festival. Congratulations!"

Mr. Contesta handed Zoey the Ribbon Cup which she gladly accepted. Paul came out from the crowd and in front of her to take a picture.

"Hey Paul, let me take a picture with both of you in it." Ash suggested.

"Um, sure… Thanks…" Paul gave the camera to Ash before running over next to Zoey.

"Alright! Smile!"

Ash then took the photo which hand both Paul and Zoey holding the Ribbon Cup; smiling.

. . .

"So, where are you going Ash?"

"I'm heading back to Sunnyshore City to have my match with Volkner. And you?"

"Zoey and I are both heading towards Snowpoint City to celebrate her victory here."

"You know, I'm glad you met Zoey. You seem like a completely new person now." Dawn said.

"Not only that, but you're really friendly and not to mention kind too."

"Thanks, to the both of you. I guess I'll see you at the Sinnoh Conference then."

"No, you'll see me at the final round facing you." Everyone laughed at this.

"Well, whenever it may be, we'll see you later."

"Bye!"

Both Paul and Zoey headed off in the direction of Snowpoint City while waving back at their friends. Ash and Dawn both waved back at them and that concludes our story with Paul and Zoey.