Thanks for the reviews guys I really appreciate you taking the time to write one.

Some people have questioned the name of the last chapter – Ash becomes a father of four – people seem to have forgotten about Phanpy but maybe that's my fault for not having him around much.

Updates over the next couple of weeks so are going to be rare, maybe even non-existent. I have a lot of work over the next couple of weeks so I will have very little time to write.

Here's chapter 34 I hope you enjoy.

In conversations:

'- Translation of Poké Speech – No human unless otherwise stated can understand it. Ash can get the gist of what his Pokémon are saying due to his close bond with them.

"- Human speech

' - Thoughts'

" - Telepathy

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

After a good nights sleep Ash and Salem woke up early in the morning. They quickly got dressed and went downstairs finding Catherine and George sat down eating breakfast. The old couple spotted the young trainers and smiled at them.

"Good morning." George said.

"Did you sleep well?" Catherine asked.

"Yes we did." they both replied.

Ash and Salem then took a seat and got themselves a bowl of cereal that they quickly devoured, they stayed a little while after that but as it approached nine o'clock they decided to leave. Catherine and George offered for them to stay a bit longer but the two young trainers politely declined. They wanted to get to Verdanturf with enough time to register and get some practice before the contest which meant that they needed to leave early. Catherine and George could see their point and after a tearful farewell Ash and Salem headed towards Verdanturf. The journey to Verdanturf would only take a couple of days at the most so they walked at a slow but steady pace.

Despite walking at a rather slow pace the duo made good time and by midday they were over half way to Verdanturf so they chose to take a break and have lunch. They looked around the area for a clearing they could stay in and quickly found a suitable area. They sent out all of their Pokémon who made a fuss over Raimodo while the trainers made lunch.

Once they finished lunch the food was placed in the bowls and their Pokémon quickly ran over and started eating. Ash then picked up Raimodo and fed him the same way he had done for Eevee and Ralts. When Raimodo had been fed he fell asleep in Ash's lap allowing him to eat his own lunch. He was surrounded by Salem, Meowth, Eevee, Ralts, Rai and Chu who all took a seat and started eating their own food.

"So Ash who are you going to use in the contest?" Salem asked.

"Well I was thinking about using Eevee and Ralts." Ash replied.

Salem, Meowth, Rai and Chu looked at Ash in shock. Out of all the Pokémon Ash had with him they were the two apart from Raimodo that they'd have least expected him to choose.

"A-are you sure boss?" Meowth asked.

"Yep, I know that they're ready. I have faith in them. As long as they want to do it." Ash replied.

Ash looked at Eevee and Ralts who leapt at him and started nuzzling him. They were ecstatic that they'd finally get a chance to battle and show their dad how strong they'd become.

'Of course we want to battle.' Eevee said.

'We'll make you proud dad.' Ralts added.

"You know that this won't be easy though. We'll only have a couple of days to practice an appeal so you'll have to work hard."

Eevee and Ralts nodded and a determined look appeared on their faces, they were ready to do everything they could to prove themselves. Ash looked at his daughters and was amazed at the fiery look in their eyes, he could tell that they'd been ready to participate in a competitive match for a while now.

Ash looked around at the Pokémon who were all relaxing in the sun and enjoying the cool breeze. Ash checked his watch and was shocked to see that a couple of hours had passed. He instantly got up and started packing everything away, everyone was wondering why Ash was rushing around however after a quick explanation they all understood his urgency and helped as much as they could. When everything was packed away Ash and Salem returned their Pokémon and got back on the path to Verdanturf.

As darkness fell Ash and Salem started looking for somewhere to stay for the night, luckily they didn't have to search long as they found a small lake to camp by. They sent out all of their Pokémon who found their own areas to sleep in and fell to sleep, Ash and Salem then got their sleeping bags out and quickly joined them in slumber.

The next morning everyone was eager to get going so they ate their breakfast quickly and packed everything away. Ash and Salem then returned their Pokémon and started walking towards Verdanturf.

It only took a few hours for them to spot buildings on the horizon, Ash and Salem shared a look and then they both started to pick up the pace which Eevee, Ralts and Raimodo seemed to like as they cheered and laughed. When they reached the town they stopped running and Ash stood in place, everyone looked at Ash wondering why he had stopped. He took Eevee off his shoulder and held in his arms, she looked at her dad and knew what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry Eevee but there's going to be a lot of co-ordinators who will want you so I think it would be best if you stayed in your Pokéball." Ash said sadly.

Eevee simply nodded in resignation and allowed Ash to return her. Ash felt guilty that he had made Eevee so sad but he knew that she wouldn't want all those people focussing on her and wanting to take her away from him. He placed her Pokéball on his belt and he walked into the town, quickly followed by Salem, Rai and Chu. They made their way through the town trying to find where the contest was being held but weren't having any luck. They were eventually forced to ask someone where they needed to go, luckily it was a co-ordinator who was happy to show them the way.

The co-ordinator led them to a building around the corner, Ash and Salem felt incredibly embarrassed as they realised that they had walked past this building twice. Ash and Salem quickly thanked the co-ordinator who walked away and they entered the building. They looked around the jam packed room and were surprised that there was this many people participating in the contest. Ash and Salem started to push their way through the crowd so they could get to the main desk. As they made their way to the desk they overheard the co-ordinators bragging about how many ribbons they'd won, how beautiful they thought their Pokémon are and how they were going to win this contest.

They finally managed to get to the main desk and saw a woman who looked exhausted standing behind the desk. They heard her sigh as she spotted them.

"How can I help you?" she said tiredly.

Ash and Salem felt sorry for her since she must have been working extremely hard.

"Hi, we'd like to register for the upcoming contest." Ash said.

"Of course sir. What are your names?" the receptionist asked.

"Ash Ketchum and Salem Ashni." Salem replied.

"Alright I'll enter your data and give you your entry numbers."

Ash and Salem nodded and watched as the receptionist tapped on the keyboard a few times, there a beep and then the printer next to her printed off two sheets of paper with a number on them. She took the sheets of paper and handed them to Ash and Salem, they looked at their entry numbers and were nervous to see that they would be doing their appeals about half way through the round which meant that the judges will have seen the performances of some of the professional co-ordinators.

"Just a bit of advice I think you should both practice something special. There are several of the top co-ordinators competing in this contest." the receptionist said.

Even though they were nervous about the appeal round Ash and Salem were excited at the prospect of competing against some of the best co-ordinators around and were more than ready to work hard and come up with an appeal that would wow everyone. They gave the receptionist a nod and then left the building, once outside they made a quick detour to the Pokémon Centre so Salem could temporarily swap Chinchou and Mareep for Plusle and Minun. They had their Pokémon checked by Nurse Joy and after being told that their Pokémon were perfectly healthy they left the Pokémon Centre and headed back towards the area they had stayed in last night.

They arrived at the clearing and sent out their Pokémon who helped them quickly set up camp. After eating lunch Ash and Salem told all of their Pokémon apart from Ralts, Eevee, Plusle and Minun to have practice battles while they worked on their routines for the appeal round. The Pokémon were happy enough to do that for their trainers, they broke off into pairs and started launching attacks at one another. Ash and Salem then went and started their search for their own private areas to prepare for the contest.

Ash came to a stop in an clearing that he thought was private enough and looked at Ralts and Eevee who jumped off his shoulders and landed on the ground in front of him. He was proud to see the excited and confident looks on their faces.

"Alright before we start thinking of a routine I need to see how confident you are with the attacks that will look good in the appeal round. Eevee you're first. I want you to fire a Shadow Ball at a tree and then follow up with Swift."

Eevee nodded and formed an orb of black energy in her mouth, she then lined up with one of the trees and fired the orb at it. The orb rocketed through the air and slammed into the tree, drilling a hole straight through it. The Shadow Ball carried on and only stopped when it hit a boulder and exploded, destroying the boulder .Ash was amazed at what he had just seen and he had to admit that he hadn't expected to see her form a Shadow Ball that was so large and powerful.

A horde of stars then surrounded Eevee and she shot them at the tree that she had fired the Shadow Ball at. The stars bit into the bark and gradually chipped away at it until they finally hacked through the tree trunk. With a creak the tree started to fall to the ground, Ash immediately covered Raimodo's ears to stop him being scared by the loud noise the tree would make when it crashed to the ground. However there was no need as the tree was surrounded in a blue glow, Ash looked to Ralts who was also glowing blue and had her right arm up. She moved her arm right and gently lowered the tree to the ground, once the tree was flat Ralts released her grip on it and the blue glow vanished.

"Ok you two have improved quite a bit. I'm proud of you both."

Eevee and Ralts blushed at the praise and averted their gaze momentarily. They looked back at their dad who had a smile on his face.

"Right let's start working on your routine."

Eevee and Ralts cheered and then listened to their dad who started explaining his ideas for what they should do to impress the judges.

After a few hours Ash walked back to the area they were staying in. Eevee and Ralts were sat on his shoulders while Raimodo was sleeping in his arms. Eevee and Ralts leapt off his shoulders and took Raimodo over to the others who were all relaxing in the shade and walked over to Salem who had started making dinner. He stood next to her and started helping prepare the food.

"So how's your appeal going?" Ash asked.

"It's going pretty well, we should be able to put on a good performance. I know that they are mates but I'm still amazed at how they are completely in tune with each other."

"Well I'm glad to hear that things are going to plan for you."

"Thanks, how about Eevee and Ralts? How are things going?"

"They're doing even better than I thought they would. I'm very proud of them."

Salem simply nodded in response, she was amazed at how quickly the two of them had grown. It only seemed like yesterday that they were so small and being carried in Ash's arms. She looked at her boyfriend who had a sad smile on his face as he watched Ralts and Eevee. She knew that he cared for them deeply and watching them grow up was probably hard for him even though he was immensely proud of them. She stopped preparing the food and wrapped her arms around Ash who stopped cooking and returned the embrace.

"They'll always be your little girls." Salem said.

Ash smiled and gently pressed his lips against Salem's, they only broke apart when the need for air forced them to. They breathed heavily as they refilled their lungs, Ash ran his right hand along Salem's cheek and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks Salem."

The couple released their grip on each other and went back to making dinner as they watched their Pokémon relax in the shade provided by the forest while they played with Raimodo.

When dinner was done they put the meals into bowls, they smiled when they saw everyone charge towards the food. It didn't take long for them to finish off the food and they stacked their bowls on front of Ash and Salem. The young trainers were a bit more restrained and took a bit longer to eat their food. Ash was the first to finish and he started to clean the bowls in the lake however he stopped when he spotted Eevee and Ralts walking away from the clearing, he was curious about why they were leaving the area without saying a word to him.

"Hey where are two going?" Ash asked.

Eevee and Ralts stopped in place and looked at their dad with a busted look on their face. They then averted their gaze and Ralts mumbled something, Ash turned his attention to Meowth who had started helping him clean the bowls hoping for a translation.

"They said dat they have a surprise planned for you. They want you to stay here and let them work on their surprise." Meowth said.

Ash put down the bowl he had been cleaning and walked over to Ralts and Eevee, he crouched down and tilted their chins up forcing them to look at him him. and smiled at them.

"Ok you can go do whatever you want to do. Just promise me that you'll be careful and come back here soon." Ash said.

Eevee and Ralts smiled and gave their dad a hug, they then broke the hugs and walked out of the clearing. Ash watched as Ralts and Eevee left the clearing, his curiosity was starting to get the better of him and he was sorely tempted to get up and follow them. He shook his head and forced himself to stay sat down, he had promised them that he wouldn't follow them and let whatever they're doing be a surprise. His curiosity was soon overwhelmed by concern for their safety even though he knew that they were a lot tougher now.

Three days later Ash and Salem walked back into Verdanturf and went to the contest hall. They were both confident that they'd at least get past the appeal stage but didn't expect to win, they were battlers after all not co-ordinators. He felt a pang of guilt as he walked through the town, he had returned both Raimodo and Eevee to protect them from being bombarded by people wanting them. He could still see the sad look on their faces as they reluctantly allowed themselves to be returned.

He shook the thought out of his head as the contest hall came into view. Ash and Salem quickened their pace and walked into the contest hall, they looked around the room and were slightly daunted to see that there were even more co-ordinators here now than when they had come to sign up for the contest.

"Damn there's a lot of co-ordinators here, this may be tougher than I thought." Ash said.

"Yeah, it's gonna be damn hard to just get past the appeal stage." Salem replied.

"Ash is that you?" a voice asked from behind them.

Ash and Salem turned around and saw a girl with a bandana and brown hair, Salem looked at Ash wondering who this girl was and saw that he was smiling. The girl suddenly ran forward and pulled Ash into a hug that he quickly returned.

"Hi May. How have you been?" Ash asked.

"I've been fine thanks. Who's your friend." May replied.

"May this is my girlfriend Salem. Salem this is May, I met her on my first day in Hoenn."

May broke the hug with Ash and shook Salem's hand.

"Hi Salem, it's nice to meet you."

"You too." Salem replied.

"Would all of the competitors go to the waiting lounge." a voice boomed.

Ash, Salem and May let the rest of the co-ordinators pile through the door and then followed them into the much larger but still packed room. They went over to the corner of the room where there weren't many people and stating talking about how their journeys had gone. Ash and Salem were amazed to find out that after a disappointing first contest where she failed to get past the appeal stage, she had managed to make at least the quarter finals in every other contest and she had managed to make more experienced co-ordinators struggle to beat her.

They had stopped talking when the appeal round started and they watched as experienced co-ordinators went out and put on spectacular performances. Ash and Salem's were starting to feel even more nervous than they had done before.

"Ash Ketchum come to the stage." the voice from earlier boomed.

Ash got up off the bench, Ralts then jumped on to his shoulder and he walked out of the waiting area. He took a step on to the stage and could see the crowd that was waiting for them. Even though he fought battles in massive stadiums, in front of huge crowds he suddenly felt incredibly nervous. In those battles he'd been confident as a battler but he wasn't anywhere near as confident about his co-ordinating skills. He looked to Ralts who was stood on his shoulder and could tell that she was nervous as well by the look in her eyes and the she was shaking so he took her off of his shoulder and hugged her which stopped her shaking.

"I can see that you're nervous, don't worry I am too and your sister will be as well. Just go out there and do your best, it doesn't matter whether we go through to the next round or not."

Ralts nodded and could see that she was now feeling a lot lees nervous and maybe even a bit confident which he was happy to see. Ash then mustered his courage and walked out on to the stage, he stood in the co-ordinators box and looked around the packed arena, gulping audibly as nerves threatened to take over but he ignored his fear and focussed on the appeal.

"Let's do this Ralts."

Ash looked down at Ralts and smiled, the psychic type smiled back and jumped out of his arms and walked on to the stage. Ash then took a Pokéball off his belt and threw it.

"Eevee to the stage."

The fox burst out of the Pokéball and sparkled showing that she was a shiny which made many of the crowd gasp in amazement. Eevee ignored the crowd and landed next to her sister, the two briefly embraced to reassure and encourage each other which led to several people saying how cute the duo were. They briefly blushed at the compliments but quickly refocussed, they looked back at their dad waiting for him to give the command. Ash felt a rush of pride as he saw the confident look on his daughters faces.

"Eevee start with Shadow Ball and Ralts use Confusion."

Eevee formed an orb of black energy in her mouth and then fired it straight up into the air, a blue aura then surrounded Ralts and a similar aura surrounded the orb which held it in place.

"Ralts fire a Psybeam at the Shadow Ball."

Ralts put her hands together and formed a multi-coloured ball that shimmered beautifully thanks to the stadiums lights between her palms. She then fired a magenta beam of energy that had multi-coloured particles inside and was outlined in dark purple energy from the orb at the Shadow Ball. The beam hit the Shadow Ball and was absorbed by the orb which now had all the colours of the rainbow swirling in it. Ash was relieved to see that so far things were going as planned.

"Now Eevee use Swift. Then hit the Shadow Ball with Iron Tail."

Eevee opened her mouth and yellow stars shot out which headed for the Shadow Ball which was still levitating above them. The stars passed through the ghostly ball of energy and started glowing black with streaks of various colours running along them. Once all the stars had turned black they formed around the Shadow Ball in an intricate pattern, Eevee quickly darted forward and she used jumped from star to star using them like at flight of stairs and charged towards the Shadow Ball. She leapt off the last star and her tail turned metallic, she then swung her tail down on the Shadow Ball which made the orb explode. Eevee landed gracefully on the ground as a shower of rainbow dust scattered over the stage.

"Okay Ralts let's wrap this up, use Confusion."

Ralts nodded and glowed blue, she then pulled her arms together and the stars were outlined in a blue glow and they flew at each other. The stars collided and the force created by the collision caused the stars to explode which made even more shimmering dust drift down to the battlefield. Ash was proud that his daughters had managed to do the routine perfectly in front of a large crowd. He looked at the judges and crowd and his was confused to see that they were still looking up, he followed their line of sight and saw that a few stars were still circling above Eevee and Ralts. Ash looked at the few remaining stars in bemusement, they had all supposed to have exploded in a similar fashion at once, there shouldn't have been any left over.

Suddenly the stars shot to the ground and formed a shield around Eevee and Ralts that blocked them from view. Light then started to beam out from the gaps between the stars and moments later the shield shattered creating a fog of shimmering dust that shrouded Ash's Pokémon. When the dust settled everyone gasped in surprise as they saw that it was now a Glaceon and a Kirlia stood on the battlefield.

Ash's eyes widened as he realised that this must be what his daughters had been doing when they'd gone off on their own. He ran on to the battlefield and hugged Glaceon and Kirlia tightly, no longer caring about how he did in the contest. The only things he cared about right now were in arms.

"I'm so proud of both of you." he said with a tear in his eye.

Glaceon and Kirlia were overjoyed that they'd made their dad so happy and let out a few tears of their own. None of them heard the judges giving their verdict on their performance and they didn't care. Ash stood up, keeping a firm hold of Kirlia and Glaceon although it was a lot harder for him to do so as they weren't as small anymore. Glaceon could see that Ash was struggling to hold them both so she wiggled out of Ash's grip and jumped on to his shoulders, laying across them and nuzzling him. Kirlia stayed in Ash's arms and hugged him tightly as he walked off of the stage and went to the waiting room hearing the crowd applauding them.

Notes

So be honest here, how many of you thought that it would be Eevee and Ralts who evolved this chapter?

I hope I did a good job with my appeal round. If I didn't, please tell me what I could do to make it better.

Next chapter we'll have the contest battle and then some other stuff will happen.

I'll try to write 1 chapter every week for the next couple of weeks but no promises.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please give a review telling me what you liked/didn't like.

If you have any questions I am more than happy to answer them.

Ash:

Kanto - Raichu, Meowth, Ivysaur, Wartortle, Charizard, Pidgeot, Kingler, Muk, Tauros (x24), Snorlax, Sandshrew & Aerodactyl (Fossilised)

Johto - Totodile, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Noctowl (Shiny), Phanpy, Hitmontop, Togetic & Sneasel

Hoenn - Marshtomp, Ninjask, Shedinja, Treecko, Zangoose, Sableye, Raimodo & Kirlia

Sinnoh – Monferno & Glaceon (Shiny)

Kalos – Meowstic & Amaura (Fossilised)

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Meowth, Cyndaquil, Heracross, Sneasel, Sandshrew, Raimodo, Togetic, Kirlia & Glaceon

Salem:

Kanto - Raichu & Jolteon

Johto – Chinchou, Togetic & Mareep

Hoenn – Electrike, Plusle & Minun

Sinnoh – Luxray (Shiny)

Unova - Zebstrika & Galvantula

Pokémon on hand – Raichu, Zebstrika, Electrike, Luxray, Togetic, Plusle & Minun