Our heroes have arrived in Newmex City for Davis' seventh gym battle. Now that he's arrived, Davis is not going wait around for anything.

"We're finally here!" Davis called as he was in Newmex City.

"Time for our gym battle!" Imperialdramon said as he was just excited for it as Davis was.

"Oh man." Tetsu said as he was already getting annoyed. "We just got here after a long journey. Can't we just wait a minute to rest?"

"You know how Davis gets." Cletus said. "Since he's close to entering the Centros League, he doesn't want to wait around for anything."

"Yeah, but the gyms aren't going anywhere and there's still time before the Centros League begins." Tetsu said as he just wish Davis could just settle down. Just then, they heard a series of fireworks going off.

"What's that about?" Cletus questioned.

"Let's go find out." Tetsu said as both of them went on ahead to see what was happening.

"Guys, wait! We can go after the gym!" Davis called, but it seems like the gym really is going to have to wait.

Pokemon

It's a battle, win or lose

It's the friends you make

It's the road you choose

We've got the right stuff

So make your mind up

And find the courage inside of you.

If you're strong, you'll survive

And you'll keep your dream alive

Let the battle begin

Pokemon

Be the best you can be and find your destiny

It's the master plan

The power's in your hand

Pokemon

(Davis' voice) Newmex Magic

Wanting to see what all the fuss was about, they all followed where the fireworks was coming from. They soon found themselves in a festival. It looked like it was quite the party.

"It's a festival, and it looks like a fun one. I wonder what it's for." Cletus said.

"We can come back for it later. We're here for my gym battle." Davis said as he didn't want to wait anymore for it.

"And what are you planning to do if the gym leader is here and would much rather be here?" Tetsu pointed out. "Honestly, you need to learn to just settle down. There's really no rush, so why can't your gym battle wait a little longer?"

"Try telling that to Ash. We got this behavior from him." Imperialdramon said. Despite all of that, the all continued around the festival and tried to see what it had to offer. Just then, they saw people gathering around a stage, and it looks like there was quite a crowd for it. Someone stepped forward on the stage with everyone listening

"Welcome, everyone! As the mayor of this fine city, I'm glad you could all make it! Our annual festival is to signify the fun and the magic that flows through our fine city! To represent that magic, I now turn the stage over to our city's very own gym leader: Antonio!"

"The gym leader?!" Davis said as he was finally going to be able to see the gym leader for himself. Antonio stepped out and revealed himself to have tanned skin with long black and shiny hair that he had tied back. Best way to describe his face was handsome. He wore a white shirt with lacy large sleeves and a red rose corsage. He also wore black pants with fancy shoes. In fact, him coming on the stage caused all the women in the audience to go crazy. They clearly loved him.

"Wow. I haven't seen women go this crazy over a gym leader since you, Cletus." Tetsu said.

"Can you blame him? Just look at the guy." Imperialdramon said with the others looking at him. "What? It's impossible to deny with this guy."

"I'm glad that you all could come to share in the magic and beauty that our fine city has to offer!" Antonio called out. "Now, I would like to show you a grand time! First, I need help from my lovely assistant." With just a flip of his wrist, a pokeball appeared in his hand. "Come out, my lovely assistant: Florges!" He called out the pokemon and it ended up being a Florges with red flowers.

"Florges!"

"A Florges... If that's his assistant, that would mean that his gym specializes in fairy-types." Cletus said.

"A fairy-type..." Davis said as he wasn't too familiar with that type and pulled out his pokedex.

"Florges, the Garden Pokemon. A fairy-type, and the evolve form of Floette. It is said that gardens made by this pokemon can heal both the body and the spirit.

"See, Davis? If we would have went straight to the gym, we would have missed this." Tetsu said, but Davis just ignored him. Antonio started his little performance and it appeared to be a magic show. He started by having his Florges enter a box and he closed it up and showed that there was no way out.

"Now, do not be scared by what you see." Antonio said. When he said that, he snapped his fingers and a series of swords shot out from the sides and penetrated the box. It looked like it would be bad for Florges, but the box opened up and showed that it was completely empty. "Oh my! What happened to Florges?" He acted. "My poor and beautiful Florges is gone. How sad." He reached inside his sleeve and was able to pull out a giant sheet to use it like a hanky, but Florges appeared when he waved it around. "Oh! There you are!"

"Florges!"

"So he's a magician AND a gym leader!" Tetsu said as that was quite and interesting combo.

"Looks like it, but it's not that impressive." Davis said as he wasn't that amazed just yet. Antonio continued with his performance as he took that sheet and covered Florges with it.

"Now, watch closely." Antonio said. "You all think that Florges is just going to disappear? I'm afraid the trick is going to be a little more than just that." He then pulled the sheet and Florges was somehow glowing in a rainbow color. A lot of people thought it looked beautiful. Antonio added to the performance as he had giant rings appeared out of nowhere and right in his hands. Once he had that, he threw them up in the air. Florges jumped right through all of them. As Florges jumped through the rings, they all burst into a series of petals. It was simply beautiful. "I thank you all and I do hope you enjoy the show to your..." He took a few steps forward when suddenly flames erupted right where he stepped and be got caught in them. It gave them all a good scare.

"What just happened?!" Tetsu said. Suddenly, Antonio disappeared when the flames dispersed. Everyone wondered what happened to him.

"Where'd he go?!" Davis questioned until he felt a hand on his back. He turned around and saw Antonio right there.

"Sorry for the scare, but I couldn't help myself." Antonio said as he laughed. This guy really was amazing. His tricks were incredible. "Excuse me for a moment, but the show will continue." Antonio walked passed them and headed for the backstage. Davis was impressed with the tricks now, but he would much rather see what Antonio can do in battle.

...

Backstage

"Lovely as ever, Florges." Antonio said as he took a moment to rest with his Florges.

"Davis, this isn't the best time or even a good idea at the moment."

"If you don't want to be here, don't be here." Antonio could hear voices coming his way. He looked back and saw Davis and the others there.

"Hello there. I'm sorry, but I don't think you should be back here." Antonio said.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Tetsu said.

"Well, I wanted to talk to Antonio." Davis said.

"We're sorry we're bothering you. It's just that our friend here can be rather impatient." Cletus said.

"It's fine." Antonio said as he actually didn't mind. "I don't think I've ever seen any of you around here before."

"That's because we just came to town. My name is Davis."

"I'm Imperialdramon."

"My name is Tetsu."

"And I'm Cletus."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Antonio said. "I surely do hope you're enjoying the show. Nexmex City can be a fun and splendid place."

"Yeah, but here's the thing..." "Your show is great. How is it you're able to do some of those tricks?" Tetsu said with him just ignoring what Davis was about to ask.

"I've always had a knack for performing, ever since I was just a child and Florges was just a Flebebe." Antonio said. "That is why we competed in contests and were originally a coordinator."

"Wait! You were once a coordinator?!" Davis said as he and Imperialdramon couldn't believe it.

"What's a coordinator?" Tetsu questioned.

"I've heard of them, but I've never seen one before." Cletus said. "Pokemon coordinators are like performers. They show the appeal of their pokemon, trying to bring out their best with some razzle and dazzle."

"That's one way to put it." Antonio said. "I always enjoyed being on stage with my pokemon. The roar of the crowd cheering for us, the beauty of my pokemon being shown. Even if we weren't in contests, we traveled around and performed anywhere we could and loved every moment of it."

"Did you ever enter the Grand Festival?" Imperialdramon questioned.

"I see you're aware of that." Antonio said. "Yes. I entered, but sadly never won. I had more enjoyment in performing than I did in battling, and it always was rather tricky for me to perform and battle at the same time, but I did enjoy a good battle like any trainer would have. So, I decided to become a gym leader so I could battle while keeping it separate from my performances."

"So you chose to keep performing and battling separate." Davis said.

"In a way, but battling can be like performing." Antonio said. "I suppose it all depends on how the battle itself goes. I would like to talk more, but I must get back on that stage."

"But there's something I need to talk to you about." Davis said.

"Well... I could use a volunteer for this next part. Florges is great, but she does deserve some time off." Antonio said. "Help me and I will listen to what it is you wish to say." It sounded like a good deal to Davis, so he followed him out to the stage. "I'm back, and I have a new assistant with this one. Please welcome, Davis." Davis came out on the stage with the audience cheering.

"Uh... I'm not really sure what to do." Davis said.

"No worries, Davis. You just need to hand me what I ask you to. I'll take care of the rest." Antonio said. Davis has never been an assistant to a magician before, but this could be rather fun. "First..." He took another sheet and held it to the side. Then, he tore it away and revealed a gold box sitting on a podium. "Davis, could you please hand me the blue handkerchief in your pocket?"

"There's nothing in my..." Davis knew there wasn't anything in his pocket until he felt something off and actually pulled one out. "How did that get in there?" He handed it over to Antonio. Antonio placed it right over the box, tapped his finger against it, and removed it. However, nothing really happened. "That's not right. Oh! I forgot to ask for my wand."

"I don't have it." Davis said. Suddenly, he felt something in a place he didn't want someone's hand on. "Hey!" He looked back and saw a severed hand moving on it's own and carried a wand out from Davis back and carried it over to Antonio.

"Thank you for lending me a hand, Davis." Antonio said as he took the wand and the hand slipped into his sleeve and disappeared. Once that happened, he place the handkerchief over the box again. He tapped it with the wand this time. When he removed the piece of cloth, a metal box was in it's place this time...with a countdown on it.

"Is that thing going to explode?" Davis questioned.

"What?!" Antonio called as he had his ears plugged. Suddenly, a small explosion went off that gave everyone a good scare. The metal box broke apart and in it's place was a pot.

"Uh... Now what?" Davis questioned.

"That part is easy." Antonio said. "Pardon me for saying this, but could you pull my finger?" He said as he actually held it out. Davis knew that prank. "I promise that it's not what you think." Davis trusted him and hesitantly pulled it. Instead of what he thought, a thin line of water shot out of Antonio's mouth like a fountain and into the pot. Then, a fake flower grew right out of the pot like it was real with it blooming like one.

"Wow. That is pretty good, but I was expecting more." Davis said.

"You might want to stand back." Antonio said. That was right went fireworks started shooting out of the flower one after another. It was amazing... Dazzling... It was the middle of the day, but the fireworks were still sparkling. Antonio really is amazing. Everyone cheered at this as they all loved the show. "Thank you, and thank you for assisting me, Davis."

"Yeah... Wait a minute!" Davis said and got his attention. "Your shows are amazing, but I didn't come here just for that. It's what I've been trying to tell you earlier. Antonio, the reason I came all the way to Newmex City is because I want to challenge your gym for my seventh badge!"

"I see..." Antonio said as he was understanding now. "It looks like I have a challenger, ladies and gentleman. I will be having a gym battle tomorrow!" Hearing there's an upcoming gym battle caused everyone to cheer even louder.

"Listen to that crowd. They act like he's a celebrity." Tetsu said.

"I wonder if he allows others to view his gym battles." Cletus said. "He did say likes to perform for others and he's come to see battling as another type of performing."

"Oh man. I have feeling the crowd is really going to be against Davis." Imperialdramon said.

"So, you came for my gym's badge, Davis? Very well. I accept your challenge, young man." Antonio said. After a great show, a great battle is coming.

Now that he's seen what the Newmex Gym's leader is like, Davis is in for a battle that is surely going to be an interesting one. What kind of battle can we expect to see? The only way to know is to stay tuned to find out.

To Be Continued...