Good morrow, all. This chapter will revolve around Fate's contest, and then the long-awaited romance chapter will be up next. So last chapter Owen won his seventh gym badge, and Heatmor gained control of his anger! Krookodile also listened to Owen, but who cares about that? Will Fate be able to win her third ribbon and qualify for the Grand Festival this chapter? Let's find out!

BTW, check out Iggy Marshall's story 'Revolution', tepigsfire758's 'Pokemon: Kalos Defenders', and Monfernofreak's 'Pokemon XY: Kalos!'. Owen will be acting as a rival in the latter two stories, and there will be some crossover chapters between myself and the other two authors. In fact, both tepigsfire758 and Monfernofreak have posted chapters with Owen, so go check their stories out and REVIEW!

tepigsfire758: The hype is quite real ;)

Dragon66: Hmm… maybe I planed it that way! Just kidding, I'm too dumb to do that :P

Jaylon101: I'll probably be putting out four or five for the next week, so make sure to stay updated!

Owen's team

Snivy, (f), level 26, Tackle, Leech Seed, Grass Pledge, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado*, Leaf Blade*

Heatmor, (m), level 41, Flame Burst, Flamethrower, Hone Claws, Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes*, Fire Pledge*

Puff, (f), level 32, Dynamic Punch, Sing, Rollout, Pound, DoubleSlap*

Unfezant, (f), level 32, Detect, Air Cutter, Gust, Quick Attack, Aerial Ace*

Empoleon, (m), level 39, Water Pledge, Drill Peck, Metal Claw, Whirlpool, Bide*, Brine*

Zebstrika, (m), level 33, Quick Attack, Shock Wave, Thunder Wave, Flame Charge, Stomp

With Professor Juniper

Krookodile, (m), level 45, Bite, Dig, Dragon Claw, Bulldoze, Hyper Beam*, Stone Edge*

Druddigon, (f), level 43, Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Crunch, Revenge

Muk, (m), level 40, Sludge, Body Slam, Protect, Poison Jab

Fate was sitting in the coordinator room, waiting for her name to be called for her opening performance. Hez and Rose were both sitting by her side while Owen, CJ, and Rebecca stood around her. For some odd reason, Fate wasn't even remotely nervous about the contest. She didn't know why, but that didn't bother her in the slightest.

"You guys are gonna be awesome out there," CJ proclaimed while Leaf and Hez began chatting. Snivy and Rose were also talking, but both conversations differed drastically.

"Thanks," Fate replied while blushing slightly, which CJ realized.

"Are you okay? You're face is burning up," CJ asked worriedly while inspecting the younger girl's cherry red face. Fate turned away while her face turned bright red, and she waved off CJ.

"Oh I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Fate advised CJ while she stood up and waited anxiously. Hez and Rose made their ways to their trainer's side and smiled at the rest of the group. Owen had released all of his Pokemon, and they were conversing amongst themselves. Leaf, Wotter, and Excalibur were also talking with each other, and son were Rebecca's Oshawott, Deino, and Deerling.

"Would Fate Flores report to the stage?" a voice asked over the intercom. With that, Fate and her two Pokemon waved to the rest of the group, and they walked down the tunnel with calm demeanors.

"Hez, Rose, return," Fate said to the two Pokemon while zapping them into their Pokeballs. Then, she took a deep breath and walked onto the stage with a bright smile. The crowd cheered for the fourteen year old until she reached her trainer box. "Hez and Rose, it's time to steal the show!" Fate yelled while throwing both Pokeballs into the air. Two beams of white appeared, and Hez and Rose materialized from the light.

"Feel free to start whenever you like," the announcer told Fate, who nodded in response.

"Hez, start off by using Hydro Pump in the air! Rose, use Poison Gas just like we practiced!" Fate shouted. Hez released a powerful blast of water against the ground, sending him flying into the air. Rose then let loose a stream of purple gas, which began to rise and tie the shape of a circular staircase. Had the audience been able to breathe safely, they all would've gasped in awe at Rose's control of the status inflicting move.

"Now freeze the Poison Gas with Ice Beam, Hez!" Hez fired a zigzagging beam of light blue energy that froze the spiraling cloud, and it turned into a frozen staircase. As Hez slid down it, he threw his arms back and acted like a little kid, causing the audience to laugh heartily.

"Follow up with Acid Armor, Rose! Hez, use Ice Beam on Rose!" After Hez reached the bottom of the ice slide he fired another zigzagging beam of ice towards Rose, whose body was being shrouded in a bright green light. The Ice Beam hit and froze the Trubbish, but the use of Acid Armor caused the ice to turn green and glitter. The crowd began to clap for the spectacle, but Fate grinned while thinking of the finale.

"Rose, break free of the ice and use Gunk Shot on the slide!" Rose suddenly shattered the ice around her, causing a wave of green light to fly through the air. Then, she fired a goopy purple beam at the slide, causing it to collapse. "Turn the ice into icicles with Mud Shot, Hez!" Fate commanded while pointing at the large chunks of ice falling towards the ground. Hez sent a flurry of mud bullets at the blocks of ice, which shaped them into icicles. Once they all dug into the ground, the icicles were in the shape of a Pokeball, and Hez filled the top half of the circle with a Hydro Pump.

"Wow! That performance was absolutely stunning," the man in the red suit complimented while bowing to Fate. The girl curtsied thankfully, and turned to face the second - and most annoying - judge.

"Remarkable!"

"Great work with your Swampert's Ice Beam. Well done," Nurse Joy told the rookie coordinator. Fate thanked the woman and walked off the stage with Hez and Rose while waving to the crowd, who hollered for the girl and her wonderful performance.

000

"What's with the sudden cut from sixteen to two contestants?" Rebecca asked rhetorically after seeing the announcement presented on one of the many television screens located inside the coordinator room. All of the coordinators had performed, and the judges were making the absurd cut from sixteen to two. "That seems a bit ridiculous."

"Well, if I advance, that means I have less to worry about," Fate replied while waiting for the final competitors to be announced. "I'm confident we advanced, though," Fate added before leaning back on the couch and stretching her arms over her head.

"That's a great way to think. Always stay optimistic," CJ advised while his Pokemon laid around lazily.

"Right," Fate responded. With that, she turned and walked into the familiar tunnel and vanished.

000

"Angel, Sawk, it's time to steal the show!" Fate shouted while tossing two Pokeballs into the air. Fate's Tepig and Sawk appeared in front of her and faced off against a Geodude and Dustox. The generic male trainer remained silent - as is tradition - while the announcer for the contest stepped forward and pointed at the large screen, which had Fate's picture, and the unnamed boy's.

"There will be three minutes on the clock! Begin!" the announcer shouted when the three minutes began ticking away.

"Geodude, use Rollout! Dustox, use Gust to speed Geodude up!" the generic male commanded with his typically bland voice. Geodude began spinning like a tire and sped towards Angel thanks to Dustox whipping powerful winds behind the rock type.

"Sawk, grab Geodude and use Bulk Up! Angel, use Flamethrower and have it spin around Sawk!" Sawk ran in front of Angel and began to glow red while his muscles grew exponentially. Then, he caught Geodude and Angel sent a was of fire towards the fighting type. The result of the attack caused the generic opponent's points to drop by a quarter, causing him to bite his bottom lip.

"Dustox, use Confusion on Sawk! Geodude, use Stone Edge and make it circle around the Confusion!" While the tornado of flames circled around Sawk and Geodude, Dustox sent a beam of blue energy flying towards it, which stopped the Flamethrower. Then, Geodude rolled away and began to have dozens of stones circle around his body while Dustox prepared to fire another Confusion attack. Once she did, Geodude threw his arms forwards and the sharp rocks from his Stone Edge attack and they circulated around Dustox's Confusion.

"Sawk, hold on and use Brick Break on Dustox! Angel, use Ember on Sawk's hands!" Fate shouted while Sawk and Angel were crushed by the combination attack, which dropped her points by a fifth. Sawk nodded at the command and began sprinting forward once the attack ceased, and his hands began to glow bright white while Angel struck his hands with a series of orange bullets of fire. Sawk's glowing fists began to shine bright orange while fire danced around them, and he jumped high in the air before slamming his hands over Dustox's head, sending the bug crashing into the ground.

"Dustox is unable to battle!" the announcer shouted once seeing Dustox's eyes were closed. The fully evolved Pokemon was withdrawn as result, and the generic coordinator was only left with his Geodude.

"Geodude, use Stone Edge to keep Sawk and Angel away!" The bland voice of the generic opponent disgusted everyone in the crowd and the judges, which resulted in them all flinching. Geodude threw his arms forwards and several sharp stones were flung towards Fate's two Pokemon. Both Angel and Sawk didn't seem worried about the incoming attack, and they waited for Fate's commands.

"Sawk, use Mega Punch! Angel, use Flame Charge!" the girl shouted, hoping to end the contest. Angel ran around the rock type attack while Sawk hopped over the stones, causing the opposing coordinator to lose another quarter of his total points. Sawk and Angel then began running towards Geodude while Sawk's fists were glowing white and Angel was engulfed in fire, and everyone waited for the attacks to hit. Sawk swung his right fist forward and Angel lunged headfirst, and both attacks hit Geodude at the same time, sending him flying into the wall behind the unnamed boy.

"Geodude is unable to battle! That means Fate is the winner of the Opelucid City Contest!" the announcer screamed excitedly after seeing Geodude was down for the count.

"We did it! We're in the Grand Festival!" Fate cheered while hugging Sawk and Angel. The two Pokemon that had just performed beamed at the information, and the fourteen year old walked over to the judges to receive her third and final ribbon. The man in the red suit bowed to the girl after handing her a small piece of gold, which had two strands of orange ribbon on the bottom corners of the piece of metal.

"Congratulations. That was an impressive win," the three judges said in unison while waving to the crowd. Fate thanked the three adults, waved to the crowd, and walked off the stage with her two Pokemon.

"Way to go!" Owen exclaimed once Fate arrived in the coordinator room. All of his Pokemon cheered for the teenage girl, and she smiled at the applause. "That was an awesome job, Angel. You too, Sawk." The two Pokemon curtsied and bowed to Owen respectively before Rebecca spoke up.

"That means you're in the Grand Festival, right?"

"Yup! And we're gonna win it!" Fate proclaimed.

"You were great out there," CJ said before hugging Fate in a congratulatory manner. Once he pulled away, Fate began to blush, causing CJ to blush too. The four trainers walked out of the arena and back to the Pokemon Center, where Owen looked at the map on the wall to see where Humilau City was.

"So all we have to do is go north from here, and we should be in Humilau City in no time!" Owen told his three traveling companions. "All we have to do is win one more badge, and we're going to the Unova League!"

There you have it, folks! I just got back from a very long trip yesterday, so I'm looking to make up for the lack of updates. I should be able to get another three or four up today, but don't hold your breath if it's only two more. So, Fate managed to win and qualify for the Grand Festival, and Owen is looking to qualify for the Unova League with one more win, which will be against the Humilau gym leader, Marlon! Till next time, peace out.

Next Chapter: Recognizing Romance

*Chapter 47: High Tide Part 1

*Chapter 48: High Tide Part 2

#Chapter 49: Appealing to the Judges

#Chapter 50: A Poisonous Pair