Episode 3: Contest Washout

Chapter 1

It was a few days since Keith left Team Ocean to join Black Jack's group. Jerry didn't like the idea at first but it took him time to get used to it when he noticed how concerned Alice was. During Keith's days of recovery, Black Jack was looking for a two-seated sidecar that he would place next his motorcycle while Alice, Jerry, Cassandra, Wally and the pokemon kept Keith company while he was resting in on his hospital bed. While they did, they couldn't help but wonder what Team Ocean would do next.

At one point, while they kept Keith company, Black Jack made his entrance announcing that he found and bought the sidecar for the motorcycle.

He looked down at the recovering Keith. "So, kid," he said. "What's your story with Team Ocean?"

Concerned faces appeared on the faces on his 'cubs' and 'acquaintances', feeling that Keith may not feel comfortable to explain. But Keith felt different; he felt that he could trust his new friends, thus he told his story.

"A couple of years ago," he started. "My dad was working at a food store, which was being unsuccessful when it was competing against a rival shop. We became bankrupt and we needed some money desperately. That's where Team Ocean came in…

"They offered a huge sum of money, providing that we work for them. We had no choice so we had to…

"My dad and I were working for them for a very long time. Every mission we did involved stealing money and goods, and hurting others. I hated them for that and I hated myself…

"Another reason why I hated them was that there was one time where my dad died when he put himself on the line when he saved the group by staying behind to detonate a bomb inside a bank, making sure that there would be no evidences after we ran away with the loot. I begged him not to but you can do the math…"

"No one had any sympathy for me or my dad. Since then, while I was doing my missions, successful but not the way they like it, I was searching for anyone that could help… that was when you guys came into the picture… and you know the rest."

"Sounds just like me while I was Team Rocket," Black Jack thought to himself. "Glad that he's away from them."

"Keith…" Alice said sadly as tears formed in her eyes while she wiped them off. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry about your dad."

"It's okay," Keith said. "I wanna thank you guys for helping me out back there and for me to hang around with you guys."

"Coming to think of it," Black Jack said. "I bet your old man is smiling from above because you're safe with us."

"Jerry, what do you think?" Alice said as she turned towards him.

"Just one question," Jerry said. "If you're such a nice guy, why were you, like, showing off while we were battling?"

"It's the way I am, thanks to Ocean," Keith replied. "I thought I lost hope of getting away from them until you guys came along."

Jerry still had his unconvinced look on his face, much to Alice's concern. "Can't you just be friends with him, Jerry? After what he's been through and what he's done for us?" she asked.

He let out a small sigh, thinking of how he was going to put up with a guy who embarrassed him in their battle. "Alright," he said. "But I still hate you!"

"Still haven't gotten over that battle we had, Jerry?" Keith asked cheekily.

Jerry let out an annoyed grunt as he turned his back on Keith, looking outside the window. Black Jack, Wally and Cassandra noticed that this rivalry might have just begun.

After Keith was released from hospital, Cassandra and Wally told their friends that they had some important stuff to do. Therefore, they went into different directions, saying they would meet up later at the pokemon center.

It was the same day that a pokemon contest would be opened for pokemon coordinators as Black Jack and his 'cubs' spotted a poster.

"Hey! A new pokemon contest is coming on today," Alice said. "It's called the 'Golden Ribbon'. The poster says that it's not just any contest, it's for the golden ribbon plus get to be in the masters' rank. Can I participate, uncle?"

"Ya need to ask?" Black Jack asked in reply. "Go ahead."

"Hey up," Jerry said as he looked at the poster. "There's more. The rules stated that twenty trainers, interested, are to register and compete. First round involves the studio audience to vote for the best-looking pokemon. Only eight can go through the next round and the rest are eliminated.

"The second round involves the pokemon performing stunts. Four goes through to the next round the other four won't. Same goes for round three but only two will go through.

"The fourth and final round would have two trainers battling each other and judges will judge on how well they perform, based on coolness, cuteness and stuff. Tough competition from my view."

"I didn't know you could read, Jerry," Keith said.

"What was that?" Jerry shouted as he turned his attention towards him with a vain throbbing in his forehead.

"I'm joking, bud!" Keith said in defence, showing a small cheeky grin while Black Jack shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm not your buddy!" Jerry yelled.

"Jerry is such an easy guy to fool," Black Jack thought to himself as he looked at the poster checked to see who would be judging the competition. "Karen Tuskbourne, Bill Fireman and Brian Powell," he read out loud.

"Brian Powell?" Jerry exclaimed in surprise, quickly stopped being angry towards Keith. "He's the most hardest and harshest critic when it comes to talent, even when it comes to pokemon contests."

"Let's not forget about Bill," Keith continued. "Even at his old age, I heard he's not… 'all there'."

"C'mon, you guys!" Alice said loudly, getting their attention. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss our chance! It's not far from here!"

She, Keith and Jerry, ran to their destination while Black Jack slowly followed, walking. As they made it to their destination, a lot of people gathered there. The building for that was being held pokemon contest looked like a huge purple dome with large entrance doors. "Wow," Alice said in surprise. "I think they are all desperate to impress those judges."

"I doubt that," a young teen's voice said. They turned towards the voice's attention. He was wearing a light purple jacket with a black shirt underneath, blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes; he also had green eyes and hair.

"Hey! I heard about you!" Jerry said as he pointed to him. "You must be Drew Whatsisname. The guy who sometimes competes against May Maple."

"Drew Moore," Keith whispered in his ear, which made him angrily turn his head towards him.

"Thanks for recognising me," Drew said. "I'm afraid that these are spectators, a lot of them are coordinators who are afraid to impress those judges."

"So, are you entering?" Keith asked.

"Me? No," Drew answered in a confident tone. "I just take my time becoming a top pokemon coordinator, I'm too good for them anyway."

"Then prove it," Black Jack said. "If you're so confident with your abilities as a pokemon coordinator then what's stopping you from entering? I heard that opportunities like these don't come very often."

"Well, let's just say that I'm not an opportunist," Drew replied as he walked away.

"Heh, whatever," Black Jack said with a shrug. "He's got all the ribbons, least he could do is learn a few things."

"Attention!" a voice sounded from a nearby speaker that was attached by a post. "There are only a few spaces left, so trainers, make sure you register if you want to compete in this competition."

"C'mon! Let's go!" Alice cried as she grabbed hold of Jerry's and Keith's wrists and ran towards the dome while Black Jack slowly followed.

As they got inside the building, they noticed that there was no cue at the registration tables, despite a huge number of people walking around the main entrance hall. Alice quickly ran over there to register for entry while Black Jack and his other 'cubs' went to the audience member registration table.

At the audience member registration table, Keith and Black Jack mentioned their names while Jerry slightly hesitated to give out his full name when it was his turn. "May I have your name, sir?" the lady receptionist asked.

"Er… Jerry…" Jerry replied and then he closed in on her face whispering his second name.

"Okay, Mr. Jerry Tickler," the lady said out loud as she typed down various keys on her computer while fell to the floor in shock and embarrassment.

"Gah!" Jerry snarled in thought as he quickly got up and fought the urge to jump up and down in anger. He found his family name quite embarrassing and felt that someone may make fun out of him if they found out. "What's the point of giving away your full name if they're going to say to it anyway!"

"Tickler? That's your second name?" Black Jack asked.

"You're not laughing?" Jerry asked in surprise.

"No, we're not laughing," Keith replied as he and Black Jack turned their backs on Jerry, hiding away their smiles.

As they got to the centre of the room to discuss Alice's plans on the contest, a girl's voice was heard. "Oh my gosh! It's Alice Hummingburg!" she said loudly and excitedly.

That caught their attention; they turned towards the direction of the voice and saw two girls standing next to each other. One had blue shoulder length hair and a pretty looking face; she also had a blue mini skirt, blue and yellow trainers, and a white t-shirt with a picture of a heart-shaped pokemon on it. The other had ginger hair that reached down her neck and also had a pretty face. She had a yellow t-shirt on, blue jeans and a pair of white trainers.

"Oh my gosh! It's Dawn 'Water' Spirit and Peach Suomi!" Alice cried, also excited as she dashed over to them.

"We love you guys!" the three girls cried happily in unison, much to Black Jack and Keith's awkward surprise.

The girls quickly got into a conversation about how they loved each other's past contest strategies, skills and their pokemon. They then released their respective pokemon that they would be using in the contest. Dawn released her beautiful sea snake Gorebyss, Peach released her pink and cute kitten Skitty, and Alice released her Togetic, QT.

After spending some time talking, Alice lightly slapped herself in the forehead as she forgot something. "Ah! I forgot to introduce you to some friends of mine," she said.

She took them over to her friends and relatives and she introduced them to him first. "Black Jack," Dawn, the girl in blue, said as she and Peach, the girl in yellow and orange, offered to shake his hand. "It's an honour to finally meet you, one of the most famous trainers."

"And since you know Ash and Misty," Peach continued. "We'd make it a triple honour."

"Pleasure's all mine," Black Jack replied as he accepted their offer and compliments as he looked down on the Gorebyss and Skitty. "Hey, what are their names?"

"This is Coral," Dawn said motioning to her Gorebyss. "Like Peach, she's been around with me before I started pokemon training. They're like sisters to me."

"Gorebyss gore," Coral cooed in delight as she felt a light stroke from her trainer.

Peach picked up her Skitty and held her in front of her chest. "Hello, my name's Smitty," she said cutely, pretending to be the Skitty's speaking voice. "I'm so happy to meet you nice people."

"Meow," Smitty mewed cutely while waving her tiny paw.

"Don't mind her, she's always like this, but it's really cute when you look at it." Dawn said, which Peach replied with a thank you.

"This is Keith," Alice said as she motioned them over to Keith. "One of my friends."

"Hi, Keith," Peach and Dawn said in unison.

"Hey," Keith said as he shook their hands.

"We have never seen you before," Peach said. "Pokemon trainer?"

Keith replied with a nod. "Started at ten," he replied.

"You look older then ten," Dawn said. "Have you competed in a league or contest?"

"Nope. Never did."

"Why's that?" Peach asked unaware that Alice was looking concerned for her newfound friend, thinking that he may not be ready to reveal his secret.

"Let's just say that I don't like being on TV," Keith replied with a small smile on his face.

"And this is Jerry," Alice said as she motioned them over to him.

"Hi, Jerry," the girls said in unison as they offered to shake his hand.

Jerry's eyes were widened as a tint red colour was showing on his face. He stuttered and mumbled as he slowly shook their hands. Black Jack noticed this and quickly moved him away from them. "Don't mind him," he said. "He's always like this with new people."

"Okay," Dawn said as she winked. "Peach and I will meet you guys at the contest."

"Yeah, wish you luck and wish us luck," Peach said as she and Dawn left. "See you later," they said unison.

As the two left, Alice, Keith and Black Jack stared at Jerry vacant looking face for numerous moments before Alice and Keith started laughing, snapping him out of his trance while Black Jack shook his head while rolling his eyes.

"What?" Jerry asked in confusion.

"You like them, don't you, Jerry?" Keith asked cheekily.

"Oh, shut up!" Jerry snarled as a red blush appeared on his face.

"Will you young cubs cut it out?" Black Jack complained. "Alice has got work to do, and she may need our help. The show starts in half an hour."

And with that, Black Jack and his cubs set off to discuss Alice's plans on how to win this upcoming competition.
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More coming! Reviews please!