welcome to chapter twenty-four of my Contestshipping fanfiction, 'A Tale of Two Rivals'. this twenty-fourth chapter is actually chapter one of a two-parter, in retrospect, and it means that there will be another part of this section of my fanfiction following this chapter with the second part of the storyline. this twenty-fourth chapter is a full two-thousand-thirty words worth of pure storyline, surprisingly with no author's comments. the only words in this chapter that are not a part of the storyline are the headnote right here and the (mandatory) disclaimer that always follows the headnote in 'A Tale of Two Rivals'.

disclamation: I do not own the Pokémon anime, nor do I even own the storyline for my own fanfiction, here. the credit for this fanfiction goes directly to another blogger on this very website under the penname of IWriteFandomStuff. I am but a fellow fanfiction blogger who is simply rewriting their fanfiction into a more family-oriented version due to their version containing swear words, and I'm just rewriting their fanfiction into something more family-friendly just to keep within the rating of the Pokémon anime. the ownership rights of the anime, the manga and the games are reserved solely for Satoshi Tajiri and the folks of the Nintendo gaming company.

People knew who I, Drew Hayden, was from all over the Hoenn region's contest circuit.

People who knew who I was were in almost every town I had gone to throughout my travels around the Hoenn region. I had to encounter at least ten or more people who would stop and want to talk to me. It was an occupational hazard I had come to expect as a highly respected and well-known coordinator. My success in the contests I had entered had given me so much notoriety that when people; who by the way, I had no clue as to who they were; would rush up to meet with me without so much as a fair warning. I've never really been all that surprised by it because I knew of my reputation. It had certainly made for some awkward moments on my part.

My fame did precede me, however, as I had to deal a lot with a few or more fans every now and again whether or not I actually wanted to deal with even just one of them. They would ask me about contests, ask me for an autograph, even for advice on how to handle their first ever contest. There were even times on certain occasions when someone or other would actually get brave enough to ask me for a battle, either because they had actually managed to think that they could beat me or simply because they had even just wanted to see my pokémon firsthand. I had always politely declined such a thing just before turning away and choosing to simply ignore the person. I was never rude about it. I just had no desire to push my pokémon into a battle in which we had no need to fight. Nor did I really want any of the paparazzi recording me any more than they already did on a near daily basis. It had always been the one grievance I had against the coordinator's lifestyle which I had chosen for my life choice.

Denials and polite dismissals; those were the two ways I handled every last one of those types of situations whenever they arose. The only true exception to that policy of mine was this one time when I had been on my way to Verdanturf Town and at the small canyon just outside of the town's limits.

I had been practicing with Roselia on just nailing her Magical Leaf attack. I had arrived just a few days before the Verdanturf Pokémon Contest. If we could have mastered the steering direction of that Magical Leaf of Roselia's, I knew that she and I could pull off some new combinations that could score us some seriously huge points.

We had been working hard all morning. We were in the shadow of an abandoned hotel at the base of the small canyon just on the outskirts of Verdanturf Town that was clearly hardly ever visited. There was a seemingly endless number of old debris everywhere as far as my eyes could see. From trashed cars to useless steam beams, everything was past even its expiration dates. There was not one soul in sight the whole place over. Granted, however, that there was some graffiti in certain areas around the canyon which definitely hinted that some teenagers more than likely hung out there occasionally. They probably hung out there under the dark cloak of the night, though.

For the time being during then, however, it was bright, sunny, still and silent. All in all, I could easily say that Roselia and I had found our practice space at the time. After a long while of solid practice, I could easily say that that fourth ribbon was as good as ours with the way her Magical Leaf attack had suddenly started to look. It would have been such a tremendous relief after falling short of that goal of mine in the Fallarbor Pokémon Contest just last month.

We were just arriving at enough of a stopping point just in time for a break when I had suddenly become aware of someone watching us. When I stood up and turned around, I found some guy, standing at just about my height, all decked out in a suit, a top hat and a Dusclops mask. I did not even know what to think of him. I barely even knew whether I should have spoken to him first or merely stay on the defensive. It might not have happened to me before then, but it was not as though similar things had never happened to me.

Of course, I was not afraid of him or anything of the sort. I was just cautious in case he had something sinister planned. Roselia seemed to give off the same kind of vibe that I did.

I settled on merely watching this mysterious figure as he approached Roselia and I. We both waited to see just what would happen from there before I could make any such moves of my own. The guy in the suit stopped just across from my number one pokémon partner and I. He wore a super-weird-looking smirk on his face. I just bit the inside of my cheek as I raised an eyebrow and waited for just what he was going to do.

Mysterious guy: Drew Hayden of LaRousse City, I presume?

It sounded, from what he had said to me, as though he were looking for clarification as to just who I was at the time. I only responded to his clarification question with a question of my own.

Yours Truly: Who wants to know?

Granted that I was not all that surprised that the guy in the tacky Dusclops mask knew my name, especially considering that I was well-known in the contest circuit all throughout Hoenn. I was always approached in such a way all the time. There was even the occasional superfan approaching me. Some of these superfans just wore more… interesting outfits than others. I had thought that this guy in the Dusclops mask might have just been the same kind of case, too.

The child's smirk only grew bigger at the time by then, almost immediately proving me somewhat wrong about his approach. Just what exactly did this guy in the mask want if he were not a superfan of some kind? I stayed planted on my feet and waited for his answer.

Mysterious guy: People know me as the Phantom.

He threw his cape dramatically behind him upon telling me his identity.

Of course, I just rolled my eyes at the exact thought which gave itself a form into my head.

My brain: Yet another child trying just about anything at all possible to get attention, not to mention totally desperate.

It really was pretty sad when you gave it a thought or two. I no longer saw any form of a threat and just groaned a sigh of exasperation at his tacky costume before tucking my hands into my pockets in even more annoyance with this guy.

Yours Truly: Well, what do you even want? My Roselia and I were just about wrapping up our training, here.

That stupid smirk did not once leave this child, this 'Phantom's', face.

'Phantom': I know, because I've been watching the both of you.

It left me wondering if this 'Phantom' knew just how much the kid was overdoing the bit with his whole appearance.

'Phantom' (continued): I think we should have a battle.

I tried to shoo the guy away with my standard blunt, yet polite form of rejection.

Yours Truly: Sorry, but I don't really have the time to battle. Roselia and I have to finish getting ready for the contest tomorrow. You'll be able to watch me battle there, though. If you enter, we might just face off. I'm not really up for it right now, though.

Then, Roselia and I turned around to walk away from the Phantom. I threw him a casual wave along with a polite comment over my shoulder at him.

Yours Truly (continued): Have a nice day.

I had yet to take even a full step going forward before I had been called out to by the Phantom, once again.

'Phantom': You wouldn't win a battle against me, anyway, Drew. Not here, not in a contest, not anywhere. I'm far too tough, even for you.

This halted me in my tracks as a twinge of annoyance flashed throughout my body. Just who exactly was this child who had stalked me all the way out to the middle of nowhere, watched Roselia and I practice on her moves for the Fallarbor Contest and thought that he could get away with making such petty comments? To top it all off, this guy's comments were directed at both Roselia and me. The 'Phantom' had even made it clear that he had been watching the both of us practice for some time, and he had the nerve to think that he could take Roselia down so easily? Who did this 'Phantom' even think he was? I cared not for what kind of pokémon the kid had. I just knew that Roselia could take any pokémon of his down, because she was not easy to beat.

Yours Truly: Oh, yeah?

I turned around halfway just to face the 'Phantom'.

Yours Truly (continued): What makes you so sure?

'Phantom': I'm sure, because I'm a better pokémon coordinator than you are, Drew.

That did it for me. I was finally angry with this guy. It took a lot to get me angry or upset about anything in my life.

This beyond snarky little kid making such rude comments about Roselia and I and thinking that he could get away with it, however, turned out to be one of the rare few things that sent me into a rage.

I looked to my feet and Roselia seemed to be in agreement with me before I could even speak. Then, she nodded up at me. A fierce determination was etched onto her face, and I knew that she wanted to prove herself as a contest-worthy pokémon just as much as I wanted to prove myself to be a great contest battler. I turned all the way back around after that comment from this child to face my opponent.

Yours Truly: We'll just see about that, then, won't we? One-on-one match-up, winner take all.

Roselia gracefully stepped a few feet forward, taking her place on the makeshift battlefield for the battle.

The 'Phantom' nodded and reached for a pokéball on his belt.

'Phantom': Come on, Dusclops! Let's take 'em down!

I watched as the ghost-type was released from its pokéball and drifted down right next to its trainer. Suddenly, the 'Phantom's costume made so much more sense than before. It was still tacky, though, at least in my opinion. It was definitely an intimidating pokémon, however, and I could not deny how creepy the 'Phantom's Dusclops looked, and yet I could easily see the appeal of such creepiness and how it had subtly hinted at the power of the 'Phantom's pokémon.

'Phantom': After you.

So now, this 'Phantom' kid was going to treat me like I was a girl, was he? I guess that he was even more arrogant than I thought he was if that were the case.

I took a deep breath and relaxed myself into battle mode before giving Roselia her first command.

Yours Truly: Roselia, Magical Leaf attack, go!

Honestly speaking, I had hoped to end this cheap knock-off of a contest battle with a few of the witted combinations which I had planned to debut for the Verdanturf Pokémon Contest the following day. This 'Phantom' kid looked far too ridiculous to be a true coordinator, and I was so certain that I would not even see him compete. Roselia complied to my command and fired off a hot streak of her glowing leaves, initiating the battle between the 'Phantom' and I.