Disclaimer: I do not own any part of this story. All rights go to Nintendo for use of their characters, etc.
Chapter 5: A Coordinated Effort
"Having second thoughts yet?" Ash called across the field.
"Why would I? The battle is still going just as I expected," the Mistralton Gym Leader called back with a cocky smile.
Then I'm gonna enjoy this, Ash thought, smiling to himself at the thought of wiping that smile off Skyla's face.
It had been quite the battle so far, as it turned out that Ash's team wasn't going down as easily as Skyla had predicted in her 'Air battle'. Nevertheless, each trainer was down to their last Pokémon as Krokorok, Pikachu, Swoobat, and Unfezant had all been knocked out. Now it came down to Ash's Tranquill versus Skyla's Swanna.
"I wonder if Ash will be able to pull this off," Iris wondered as she and the others watched from the sidelines.
"He'll pull through. I know he will," May replied resolutely.
Cilan, however, kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield as he watched the battle with rapt attention, hoping to be avenged by Ash after his disappointing defeat against Skyla.
"Alright Tranquill, I choose you!" Ash called as he released Tranquill out onto the field before ordering it to use Quick Attack. The attack clipped Swanna, and Ash was quick to follow it up with an Air Cutter attack, sending Swanna into a tailspin.
"Alright! Finish this with Gust!" Ash commanded.
"Swanna, counter it with Hurricane!" Skyla shouted.
The attacks collided, but the powerful tornado created by Swanna's Hurricane overpowered Tranquill's Gust, sending Tranquill crashing to the ground.
"Tranquill!" Ash yelled worriedly.
"No…" Cilan breathed, not believing that Skyla could have won again.
"Looks like it's over," Iris sighed resignedly.
"A-xew," Axew agreed sadly.
"Not yet it isn't! Look!" May yelled suddenly, pointing towards the field.
On the battlefield, Tranquill had become enveloped in a bright bluish-white glow, meaning only one thing.
"It's evolving!" May exclaimed.
"Mana! Phi-mana!" Manaphy cheered excitedly.
Still glowing, Tranquill slowly began to struggle to its feet.
"Alright, Tranquill! You can do it!" Ash said, encouraging his Wild Pigeon Pokémon.
As Tranquill stood up, the glow faded from its body and revealed its newly-evolved form. In Tranquill's place stood a taller, darker-colored Pokémon with a brown underside.
"Tranquill evolved into Unfezant!" Ash cheered.
Damn, Skyla mentally cursed, not able to start gloating yet.
Ash quickly pulled out the Pokédex and aimed it at his new Unfezant.
*Unfezant, the Proud Pokémon and the evolved form of Tranquill. Female Unfezant's flying skills surpass that of male Unfezant.*
"So Unfezant's a female…" Iris began.
"Meaning her flying skills will give her an advantage and help her against Swanna," May finished.
"Then this battle just got interesting again!" Cilan said, turning back to the battle.
"Well, Unfezant, looks like you've learned a new move," Ash said, grinning as he glanced at the Pokédex before putting it away. "Why don't we put it to use? Start off with Air Cutter!"
"Don't get too proud of yourself yet! An evolution isn't going to help you!" Skyla yelled. "Swanna, dodge quickly!"
Oh, I'm gonna make you eat those words, Ash thought with satisfaction, smirking a bit despite Swanna successfully dodging Unfezant's Air Cutter attack.
"Go after Swanna! Stay on its tail!" Ash commanded. Unfezant nodded and took off after Swanna, using her improved flying skills to easily keep up with Swanna.
"Quick! Turn around and use Brave Bird!" Skyla called. Swanna obeyed, circling back and slamming into Unfezant, who managed to stay in the air.
"One more Brave Bird should wrap this up!" Skyla shouted as Swanna prepared to use the move again.
"Unfezant, quick! Dodge it and fly up higher!" Ash countered.
Unfezant did so, ascending rapidly and easily outpacing Swanna, who started to fall farther and farther behind.
"You're pretty fast, but we're faster!" Skyla said. "Swanna, keep after Unfezant!"
The two Flying-Types soared throughout the Gym, performing sharp turns and quick maneuvers as each tried to overtake the other. Finally, Ash decided it was time to finish this.
"Okay, Unfezant, let's use that new move of yours. Use Aerial Ace!" Ash ordered.
Unfezant activated the attack, but couldn't land a hit. Neither Pokémon could hit the other as they were about evenly matched in terms of speed, so they flew in circles for a moment trying to hit each other.
"Come on, come on!" Ash urged.
"Come on, Unfezant! You can do it!" May encouraged.
"Show her how Gym battles are supposed to be!" Cilan added.
Determined not to let her trainer down, Unfezant summoned enough strength for one last good burst of speed. It proved to be just enough as she crashed into Swanna, resulting in a massive midair explosion.
Everyone held their breath in anticipation for a second, their eyes locked on the cloud of black smoke that hung in the air from the explosion.
Their silent anticipation suddenly changed to loud cheers a moment later when Swanna dropped out of the cloud and hit the ground, clearly knocked out.
"Swanna is unable to continue, so Unfezant wins! The winner of this battle is the challenger, Ash!" Miles announced gladly.
"We did it!" Ash cheered, recalling Unfezant.
"Pi-ka-chu!" Pikachu agreed.
The rest of the group rushed onto the field to congratulate Ash. May was the first to reach him, of course, and she threw her arms around him as Manaphy lightly wrapped his arms around Ash's neck from behind.
"Settle down, guys," Ash laughed, "I only won a Gym battle. You act like I just defeated the Champion or something!"
"Do I really need an excuse to do this?" May asked with a sly smile, before smashing her lips into Ash's.
"Nope. I guess you don't need an excuse," Ash replied, whistling as both May and Manaphy giggled.
Cilan gave Ash a pat on the back, and he and Ash both noticed – with a bit of satisfaction – that Skyla was looking a little stunned at the fact that her Air battles had finally been proven wrong. Both of them struggled to be the better man as they suppressed the urge to gloat.
A few minutes later, the group met up with Skyla again and she apologized for her arrogance.
"Well, I guess you were right after all," she admitted meekly, "I guess a battle's outcome is never really certain until the battle has played out."
She then pulled out Ash's Gym Badge as she continued.
"For defeating me, I present you with the Jet Badge. You've earned it, for real this time. No more Air battles," she assured.
Ash gratefully accepted the Badge, but he and the group had one more request.
"Skyla, now that you're no longer doing Air battles," Cilan began, "we think it would only be fair if you re-challenged the trainers you made do Air battles. Give them a chance to really prove themselves."
Skyla thought for a moment before she responded, "Oh… alright. It could be fun, predicting the outcome and then checking to see how accurate I was. But either way, it's only real battles from now on."
"I'm glad to hear that," Miles chimed in. "You were always such a great battler; it would be a shame to let your talent go to waste."
"Thanks, grandpa," Skyla replied with a smile, before turning back to the group. "So, are you heading to Icirrus City to earn the Freeze Badge next?"
"We will be…" Ash started.
"…right after my Contest tomorrow!" May finished excitedly, eager to compete for her next Ribbon.
"You're a Coordinator?" Skyla asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, good luck in your Contest!"
The group bid Skyla and Miles farewell as they headed back to the Pokémon Center, eager to get some rest.
They arrived a few minutes later, and sat and chatted in the lobby as Ash's Pokémon were healed. Just as Ash's Pokémon were brought out, the group heard from behind them someone enter the Pokémon Center. They thought nothing of it, and prepared to depart to their rooms.
Until a voice spoke up from behind them. A voice that was, for Ash and May, definitely not one they were too happy to hear.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Oh dear Arceus, why? May thought, groaning internally.
You gotta be kidding me, Ash thought with annoyance.
Turning around, both May and Ash made no attempt to hide their displeasure as they groaned upon confirming who the voice belonged to.
There, in his usual Cacturne outfit, stood Harley, smirking arrogantly.
"So, I did guess right," he continued, "…it's Princess Prissy and her faithful boy toy."
"What are you even doing in Unova, Harley?" May asked in an annoyed tone.
"Do I need to spell it out for you? There are Contests here. You're here. Therefore, I needed to come here to kick your ass." He paused before adding, almost as an afterthought, "Just like I did in Johto."
"You cheated and you know it!" May shot back furiously.
"Cheated? Who, moi? Perish the thought," he responded with a dismissive flick of his wrist.
"Will you please just get out of here?" Ash asked impatiently.
"Sorry, but I'm entitled to be here all I want," Harley answered defiantly. "It's a public service. Not that I'd expect that concept to penetrate that thick skull of yours, of course. If you're dumb enough to fall for May, I suppose you're dumb enough to think you own the Pokémon Center, too."
"MANA! Mana-mana-phi! Mana!" Manaphy snapped angrily, realizing that his parents were being insulted.
Harley simply rolled his eyes at Manaphy before again addressing May.
"Great! You've finally found a Pokémon that's as annoying as you," he sneered.
May was ready to put her fist in Harley's face, and she would have if Ash hadn't restrained her.
"Ooooh! Touched a nerve, did I?" Harley taunted, continuing to push his luck.
"Harley, in about three seconds I'm gonna let Pikachu light you up bright enough to be seen from orbit!" Ash snarled.
"Pi-kaaaa…," Pikachu growled, menacingly firing off a few sparks.
That shut Harley up, and he quickly turned and hurried out the door without bothering to have his Pokémon healed.
"Good luck tomorrow! You're sure as hell gonna need it!" he called over his shoulder to May as he left, earning another warning glare from Ash.
With Harley out of her sight, May calmed down and thanked Ash for stopping her from doing anything rash.
"Phi?" Manaphy asked worriedly, upset from seeing May so angry.
"Don't worry, Manaphy," May said reassuringly as she took Manaphy into her arms and held him close. "I'm fine, and don't pay attention to anything that guy says, alright?"
Smiling, Manaphy nodded his head before jumping back to his spot on May's shoulder.
"What was that all about?" Iris asked.
"Seriously, who was that?" Cilan added.
"That was Harley, quite possibly my least favorite rival," May responded wearily.
"And is it my imagination, or is he an even bigger jerk than he was last time we met?" Ash asked.
"So you noticed. Yeah, he got a lot worse while we were in Johto," May replied.
"Sounds like it. But what was he talking about, something about kicking your…"
"In Johto, I know," May quickly said, cutting Ash off. Then, she closed her eyes and her expression darkened as she sighed, "I didn't win the Johto Grand Festival. Harley did, though he cheated to do so."
"And he didn't get caught?" Ash asked, prompting May to sadly shake her head.
"Nope. He may be an obnoxious creep, but he's clever. He covered his tracks well enough that no one could prove he cheated. There were suspicions, but like I said, there wasn't enough proof." May answered, fighting to keep her temper under control. Just the very thought of it made her furious.
"So this guy cheats his way through Johto, decides he still holds some stupid grudge against you, and follows you to Unova to do the same here," Cilan summarized.
"I can't think why else he would be here," May replied. "But I'm ready for him this time. If he tries cheating again, I'll make sure we catch him."
"We'll be sure to keep an eye out tomorrow," Ash assured. "You just worry about winning the Contest."
May's expression changed to a devious smile as she said, "Actually, that's one thing I won't be worrying about. Harley knows my style by now. He's seen how I use each of my Pokémon, but I'll catch him off guard with Manaphy!"
"Mana?" Manaphy perked up, hearing his name.
"You're gonna use Manaphy in the Contest?" Ash asked, a bit surprised.
"Why not?" May replied. "His moves cover almost everything; Coolness, Beauty, Smartness… and especially Cuteness!" she finished as she cuddled Manaphy, who squealed happily and rubbed his cheek against hers.
"It's a little risky, don't you think?" Ash asked. "I mean, you guys haven't even practiced."
"Well, I've already sort of got an idea of what we'll do for Manaphy's appeal," May said, "And Manaphy's so smart, I'm sure he'll get the hang of it as we go. Won't you, Manaphy?"
"Ma-na-phi!" the Seafaring Pokémon cheerfully replied with a resolute nod of his head.
With everything settled, everyone returned to their rooms and turned in for the night, anticipating another interesting day ahead of them tomorrow.
/-/-/
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Mistralton City Pokémon Contest!"
The crowd cheered enthusiastically as the announcer welcomed the Coordinators and introduced the usual lineup of judges; Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and the local Nurse Joy. The Contest Hall was packed, and everyone expected a good show.
Meanwhile, May and the group were all keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of foul play, as they were all expecting Harley to try and pull something.
May was only half-alert, though, as she was focused on preparing for the Contest. The larger-than-expected crowd was admittedly making her a bit nervous, and she and Manaphy went over their routine one last time.
"Alright, you have nothing to worry about," Ash said reassuringly. "We'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious. You just need to go up there and do your thing."
"Pi-ka-pi," Pikachu agreed.
May nodded, turning back to watch the other Coordinators and their appeals. Before long, it was Harley's turn, and he sauntered onto the stage with a bit of excessive flamboyance.
"Cacturne, time to let your beauty show!" Harley called, releasing his signature Grass/Dark-Type Scarecrow Pokémon.
"Start off with Cotton Spore!"
Cacturne complied, shooting small cotton balls out of its mouth and high into the air. They began to gently float down before Harley followed up by ordering Cacturne to use Poison Sting on the cotton balls. Cacturne obeyed, firing a volley of purple darts which pierced the balls.
"Alright, let's liven things up! Pin Missile, now!" Harley called.
Rapidly taking aim, Cacturne fired off several white pins which proceeded to pierce each of the cotton balls, forming X's with the darts from Poison Sting.
"Let's wrap this up with Bullet Seed!" Harley ordered.
Spinning around, Cacturne fired a spray of small, orange seeds at the twice-speared cotton balls. The seeds ricocheted off the spikes, causing them to whirl towards the ground like miniature shurikens. The spike-balls sped up as they descended before embedding themselves in the stage, forming a perfect circle with Harley and Cacturne striking a pose in the center.
The audience broke into cheers and applause as the announcer also expressed his amazement. The judges all had nothing but praise for Harley's performance, complementing his Cacturne's astounding accuracy and coordination.
Back with Ash and the others, sweat drops formed on everyone's foreheads as they saw the impressive show Cacturne had put on.
"Wow…" Ash breathed.
"That's gonna be tough to top…" Cilan began.
"Are you kidding?" May replied with a little more confidence than she felt. "If they thought that was impressive, then Manaphy and I are gonna blow them away! Won't we, Manaphy?"
"Ma-naa!" Manaphy affirmed with a smile as the announcer came back on.
"And now, ladies and gentleman, we give you the Princess of Hoenn, May Maple of Petalburg City!"
The crowd applauded once more as May stepped onto the stage and waved, with Manaphy clinging to her shoulder.
"Manaphy, take the stage!" May called energetically, and Manaphy leapt from her shoulder and onto the stage.
"Well, isn't this a treat? One of the rarest Pokémon in the world, a Sea Guardian no less, right here in the Mistralton Contest!" the announcer commented enthusiastically. The judges all nodded their heads in agreement, and the crowd became excited to see how such a rare Legendary Pokémon would perform.
May smiled to herself. Things were already going just as she had hoped.
"Manaphy, let's get things going with Heart Swap!" May commanded.
Manaphy obediently raised his antennae as their rounded tips began to glow. Several small, pink hearts appeared in a ring around Manaphy, who sent them higher into the air.
"Great! Now aim at the hearts with Bubble Beam!"
"Phi!" Manaphy acknowledged before releasing a stream of bubbles at the hearts. The bubbles encased the hearts as they continued to float.
"Alright, use Ice Beam!"
Manaphy proceeded to fire a bluish-white beam from his mouth. It struck each of the heart-filled bubbles, freezing them solid.
"Now finish strong with Psychic!" May said as the frozen bubbles began to fall.
Manaphy complied and used his Psychic attack to shatter the bubbles. They all burst simultaneously, creating a thick, sparkling curtain of pink-and-white heart-shaped snowflakes which cascaded down around May and Manaphy. After a few moments the snow cleared, revealing Manaphy striking a pose with his antennae curved inward above his head, forming the shape of a heart.
The crowd went wild and the announcer exclaimed his own praises before turning things over to the judges, who were all thoroughly impressed and complemented Manaphy's elegant style and cute appeal.
May gave a thumbs-up and winked to Ash and the group, who were cheering their support, as Manaphy jumped back onto May's shoulder. Meanwhile, the judges were deciding which trainers would advance to the Battling phase of the Contest.
A few minutes later, the judges made their decisions. Unsurprisingly, both May and Harley were chosen to move on to the Battle phase. Both Coordinators chose to stick with their same Pokémon, though, and May was a little concerned about the Type advantage Harley would have over her, and hoped one of the other trainers would beat him before she had to face him.
That wasn't likely to happen, though. Most of the other contestants were less experienced, and May and Harley were really the only veteran Coordinators present. As expected, they rolled right over the competition until it was down to just them.
"Cacturne, time to bring down this little hussy!" Harley said, releasing his Scarecrow Pokémon and shooting an overconfident grin at May.
Not this time, May thought, glaring back at him.
"Manaphy, time to show what you can really do!" May said as Manaphy leapt back onto the stage and took his position.
"Cacturne, use Bullet Seed!" Harley commanded.
"Dodge it and use Water Pulse!" May countered.
Manaphy successfully dodged the barrage of seeds before forming an orb of water and firing it towards Cacturne.
"Dodge and use Faint Attack!" Harley shouted.
Moving too quickly to follow, Cacturne dodged the Water Pulse and rushed toward Manaphy before swinging around and hitting him from behind before the Water-Type could react.
"Manaphy!" May cried as Harley snickered to himself.
Manaphy quickly recovered as he got back on his feet and turned to May, ready for new orders.
"Okay Manaphy, we're gonna try a bullet attack of our own. Combine Bubble Beam and Ice Beam!" May said.
Manaphy performed the attack combo, using Ice Beam to freeze each bubble from Bubble Beam before firing it. In this way, Manaphy sent a hail of ice balls flying towards Cacturne.
"Quick! Block them with Needle Arm!" Harley ordered.
Massive needles sprouted from Cacturne's limbs as it attempted to use them to block the makeshift hailstones flying towards it. But despite Cacturne's best efforts, most of the frozen bubbles landed direct hits on it, doing serious damage and causing Harley to lose quite a few points.
Harley gritted his teeth angrily before giving his next orders.
"Cacturne, use Poison Sting! And make sure it leaves a mark!"
Cacturne obeyed, firing numerous purple darts at Manaphy, who couldn't quite dodge all of them in time as he was hit and poisoned, causing the Seafaring Pokémon to cry out in pain.
"Manaphy! Are you alright?" May asked worriedly.
Struggling through the pain, Manaphy managed a smile as he nodded, indicating he wasn't finished yet.
"Alright, use Aqua Ring!"
Manaphy formed several rings of water around himself, healing a bit of the damage as Harley was already preparing another attack.
"Now! Use Pin Missile, before it heals too much!" Harley yelled.
Cacturne immediately obeyed, spraying countless white pins at its opponent. But May was prepared, and waited until the pins were just about to hit Manaphy.
"Now! Freeze the Aqua Rings with Ice Beam!" she ordered.
He quickly used Ice Beam, and the numerous Aqua Rings surrounding Manaphy were frozen solid and created a cage-like structure around him, which protected him from the Pin Missile attack. May was quick to use this to her advantage.
"Manaphy, pick up the pins and throw them back with Psychic!"
And Manaphy did just that, sending Cacturne's attack right back at it. Harley didn't have time to counter it as the reflected Bug-Type attack struck Cacturne, doing critical damage to the Grass/Dark-Type Pokémon and knocking it out, securing May's victory.
"And the winners of the Mistralton City Pokémon Contest are May Maple and Manaphy, the Princess of Hoenn and the Prince of the Sea!"
The crowd roared their approval as Manaphy joyfully jumped into May's arms.
"You did so well, Manaphy! You make me so proud!" May exclaimed, hugging her little Manaphy lovingly.
"Happy! Mama win! Love you!" the Water-Type cheered in response.
"Love you too!" May replied, planting a kiss on Manaphy's cheek.
Harley simply glowered at May as she received her Contest ribbon. Clearly, being beaten in Johto hadn't been enough to get rid of her.
Oh well, looks like next time I'll just have to resort to my other… tactics, Harley thought, grinning maliciously as he turned away.
No sooner had May stepped off the stage than Ash rushed over and pulled her into a hug, which was quickly followed by a kiss.
"Geez, Ash! It's not that big of a deal!" May laughed as they broke away from the kiss.
"But do I really need an excuse?" Ash grinned.
May returned the grin as she replied, "Nope, I guess you don't." And with that, she grabbed Ash by his shirt collar and yanked him back into another kiss.
After things had settled down a bit, everyone decided it was high time to head out.
"Well, I'd say that went pretty well," Ash remarked as the group prepared to depart. "You won your Contest, I got my Badge, and we only had to put up with one old rival in the process."
"Unfortunately, one that's annoying enough to count for two," May replied. This earned nods of agreement from Cilan and Iris, who had already had quite enough of May's rival and hoped no more of May and Ash's enemies would pop up.
And so, the group was in high spirits as they departed from Mistralton City, headed into their next adventure on their way to Icirrus City.
Yes, I know I took slightly longer than usual getting this chapter done. But then again, the chapter itself is slightly longer than usual, so I hope this balances things out a bit.
Just to give everyone a heads-up, I may or may not be taking a bit of a hiatus. I've got some personal issues to deal with, so I don't know when I'll be back. If I take too long, I'll have someone else take over writing till I return, so don't be too alarmed if the quality of the fic changes next chapter.
Until then, amigos! :)