Disclaimer: Pokémon is by Satoshi Tajiri

Pokémon BW: Yin-Yang Quest

Running a hand through his mussed-up hair later that morning, Taylor made his way to the elevator. He was not exactly a morning person, and last night only made it worse. 'Never again am I going to make a straight walk through a shortcut to a city,' he vowed.

In his daze, he passed the elevator and went down the green carpet-covered stairs. Something small and blue rushed by him as he made his way to floor two, causing him to nearly fall down and startled him awake. Now in full focus, he saw that the blue thing that rushed by was a Piplup, a Pokémon that was not from Unova.

Curious as to why a Piplup was here, he promptly followed it downstairs and looked it up in the Pokédex. "Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon," the Dex explained. "A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care."

"Excuse me, ma'am. 'Scuse me," Taylor said as he went through a few people that Piplup nearly bumped into. He followed the Penguin Pokémon out the door.

Outside the tarp covered tennis court, Mia hid in a bush as she watched a girl with blue hair and eyes train with her Quilava. She wore a pink jacket, had a white beanie with a pink Poké Ball symbol, pink triangle hair clips in her hair, and pink boots over white, knee-high socks. The girl commanded a Swift from Quilava, which sent an array of glittering silver stars spiraling from its mouth rocketing into the sky.

"Now use Eruption!" the girl instructed. The burner on Quilava's head ignited and it got under the cluster of stars. A geyser of red-hot lava burst from its head, illuminating the stars with a red glow. When the geyser died down, the stars burst into pieces like fireworks.

Very impressed by the sight, Mia looked up Quilava on her Pokédex. "Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon," the Dex explained. "It intimidates foes with the heat of its flames. The fire burns more strongly when it readies to fight."

The girl heard clapping behind her and turned to find Taylor and Piplup. "That's amazing!" Taylor complimented. "You can really make a show with that!"

"Piplup! Pip-pip-pip-lup!" Piplup cheered as it jumped up and down.

"Thanks," the girl said, blushing pink.

"Taylor…" Mia fumed from behind the bush.

The blue haired girl picked up Piplup. "Is that Piplup yours? He was running to find you," he said.

"He is," she answered. "My name's Dawn. I'm from Sinnoh."

"Piplup, pip," Piplup added, greeting him.

"Momo," Momo introduced herself happily, waving to Piplup.

"I'm Taylor. Welcome to Unova," he greeted.

"Dawn's her name, is it?" Mia asked. She attempted to step out of the bush she was hiding in, but tripped on a branch and fell down. This got their attention and they looked to the area where she was hiding.

"Mia! There you are," Taylor said as she coughed.

"H-hi…" Mia greeted nervously.

"Dawn, t-that…thing you did with Quilava…it was awesome!" Mia complimented excitedly as they sat in the hotel's dining quarters having breakfast.

"Thanks! Being a Pokémon Coordinator means using a Pokémon's moves to make them beautiful and at the same time show them off," Dawn explained.

"Pokémon Coordinator?" Taylor asked.

"They're not as well-known here as they are outside of Unova," Mia explained. "These types of trainers raise their Pokemon to be the most appealing in terms of looks and moves. The concept of Pokémon Contests was introduced in Hoenn. These are competitions that judge the Coordinator's ability to show how beautiful and skilled their Pokémon can be."

She turned to Dawn. "Are you competing in the contests in Sinnoh?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm competing in the Hoenn contests," Dawn answered as she took out a pink ribbon case. She opened it and revealed three small ribbons she won during her travels.

"Nice! Three ribbons!" Mia congratulated.

"Are those ribbons important?" Taylor asked.

"They not only show that I won the contest, but I need five of them to enter the Grand Festival," Dawn answered.

"They're an equivalent to badges and the Pokémon League of the region," Mia added.

She looked down. "But even though I got those three, some other Coordinators are hanging tough in Hoenn, too," she said. "My friend, Zoey, has four ribbons already, and another friend of mine, Kenny, has also caught up to me."

"I know how you feel with pressure from rivals," Mia sympathized. She took out her badge case and revealed her three badges. "Some of them are usually one step ahead. I'm nervous because I'm having my fourth Gym Battle here, and if I win, I'll have already hit the halfway mark."

"No need to worry!" Dawn assured as she stood up. "You'll win that fourth badge!"

Mia took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah!" she agreed. "And you'll get to the Hoenn Grand Festival exactly as planned."

"Piplup, piplup!" Piplup nodded.

"E-mon…" Emolga shrugged as he turned away.

"Pip-LUP!" the Penguin Pokémon growled back. The two were about to get into a slap fight before Momo broke them up.

At Nimbasa City's Battle Club, a three-on-three battle was declared in the arena with Mia going up against Dawn. "Trainers may only use three Pokémon each, and the winner is declared when all three of a trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle," a Don George with a black belt and collar on his uniform instructed.

Mia took out a Poké Ball. "Leavanny, you're on!" she said as she threw it. Leavanny came out and saluted. "Let's see what got you 2nd place in the Grand Festival!"

"Okay! Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn rallied as she threw the Poké Ball she was holding. Out came a Buneary, which Mia promptly looked up in the Pokédex. Emolga got hearts in his eyes upon seeing it.

"Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon," the Dex explained. "Its ears are always rolled up. They can be forcefully extended to shatter even a large boulder."

"Buneary's a girl, isn't she?" Taylor sighed upon seeing Emolga.

"Begin!" Don George declared as he raised his arms up.

"Leavanny, use X-Scissor!" Mia ordered. Leaves glowing green, she charged for Buneary ready to swipe her.

"Jump up high!" Dawn instructed.

"Bunnn!" Buneary yelled as she hopped into the air, causing Leavanny to miss. Leavanny looked up and spotted her target.

"Ice Beam, let's go!" Dawn commanded. Inhaling the cold air around her, Buneary somersaulted as a beam of white ice energy was fired from her mouth. It hit Leavanny at her legs, and at the same time, create a beautiful ice slide with Leavanny's legs frozen at the bottom. Buneary landed on the ice and began sliding down it.

"Dizzy Punch!" Dawn ordered when she saw that Buneary was halfway down the slide.

"Energy Ball on your legs!" Mia instructed. Leavanny charged the Energy Ball in between her antennae as Buneary's ears glowed a hot pink. The ball was fired at her feet and smashed the ice. Both Pokemon leapt into the air, and Buneary started punching away with her uncurled ears.

Both Pokémon landed on the ground, Leavanny wobbling a bit as she tried to stand up. "Energy Ball!" Mia commanded, knowing she was taking a big gamble. The Energy Ball was nevertheless fired.

"Use Bounce to hit it back!" Dawn instructed. Buneary hopped up and batted the Energy Ball back to Leavanny. It hit and knocked her out.

"Leavanny is unable to battle," the Don judged. "Buneary is the winner!"

"E-mon! E-ga!" Emolga cheered as he waved.

"Emolga, focus," Mia lectured as she and Dawn recalled their Pokémon. "You're next."

"E-ga!" Emolga replied, now with a determined face. He ran onto the arena.

"I'm counting on you, Piplup," Dawn said as she turned to Piplup.

"Piplup!" Piplup replied as he put his wings on his hips. He ran onto the battlefield.

"Big problem! Big problem!" Bianca's voice yelled from somewhere in the Battle Club. Mia's friend soon came rushing into the arena, interrupting the battle.

"Who's that?" Dawn asked as she stopped to catch her breath.

"My friend, Bianca," Mia answered.

"Bianca, what's the trouble?" Taylor asked.

"The Nimbasa City Gym!" Bianca exclaimed. "It's shutting down!"