Chapter 20

Before leaving the city, we have decided to participate in the Contest, and now that I think about it, Reisa and I never participated in the same one before...

"Reisa, how about we join this contest together?" I ask.

"Sure. I am going to win this ribbon." Reisa says.

"We'll see." I say back. I'm glad that she is not backing down from the challenge, but it turns out that we're not the only ones in the competition, Ariel is also here.

"Hi, guys. Ash, Reisa, so you are here for the contest, too?" Ariel asks.

"Yes. This time I am going to win." Reisa says.

"We will see about that." Ariel says. "Although I heard that you met Silver yesterday and you all defeated Team Rocket in the Burned Tower?"

"Yeah, well, we were slightly offended that he said that we're weak." East says.

"I can't blame him, ever since what we've been through, it was normal for him to do that." Ariel says.

"So you guys are also participating in the Contests as well?" We notice a pink haired girl walking towards us.

"And you are?" Reisa asks.

"My name is Solidad, and I'm a big fan of Ash's mother and your father." Solidad says. "I'm also taking part of this contest, so I guess you too?"

"We are." I say, looks like we're going to have another new rival.

Then as the first round comes, Solidid is actually the first one and we see her using Slowbro at the appeal round. But for some reason, her moves is making me uneasy.

Next is my turn, I use Scizor to show off the Bug moves combined with Slashes, and he passes the first round. Ariel uses Sudowoodo to make a Rock Mountain and shows off the fighting attacks. While Reisa uses Seaking to perform a Water Fountain Show.

At the backstage, they see that they all get into the second round. I decide to talk to Solidad, "So Solidad, you look really experienced with the contests."

"Well, this is only my first year." Solidad says. "So I am still new to this."

"Actually, we feel the same." Ariel says.

At the first round, Reisa sees that she is facing Solidad, she says, "Looks like we are facing together."

"Yeah, may the best coordinator wins." Solidad says.

Solidad uses Pidgeot while Reisa uses Quagsire, Reisa tries to use the Rock Slide to block Pidgeot's moves, but all the moves she uses are being countered by the Pidgeot and she lost due to the fact that she has been reducing her points.

"I am sorry, but it is a great battle." Solidad says as she shows her hand. Reisa at first hesitates, but then she shakes it. But after going back to the preparing room, she couldn't help but burst out crying in front of the desk.

Ariel says, "What's wrong with her, she just lost once."

I frown, "It is her first loss in the normal contest. You know, her father is the famous Top Coordinator Wallace, so she has a lot of pressure. I know that I have the same pressure because of my Mom, but I haven't lost a contest battle yet."

"You really are confident, aren't you?" Ariel sighs.

I decide to comfort Reisa, and at the same time, the next rounds are here and Ariel is battling Solidad.

"Reisa, Don't be so sad at the loss. There are still a lot of chances. You can do it."

Reisa says, "And how do you know, you haven't lost before?"

"Who said that I didn't lose? I always lost to my brothers and sisters a lot of times, which made me frustrated. But then I learned that if I never give up, I would eventually win."

Reisa sighs and forces a smile, "Thanks."

After that, Ariel comes back, saying that she also lost to Solidad. I also manage to go through my opponent and get me into the final round against Solidad.

"Well, Ash. Win for us."

"Sure."

I go with Espeon while Solidad sends out Pidgeot in the final round. Espeon uses Shadow Ball and Psychic Combo while Pidgeot uses Whirlwind and Brave Bird. I lose a little score, but I have Espeon to use the dance moves that it learned from Serena when we're exchanging Pokemon, Espeon manages to land a hit on Pidgeot using Psyshock. After the serious battle, the timer is up.

"The winner of the Ecruteak Contest is… Ash Ketchum!"

Looks like I'm getting my third ribbon, and I see Solidad walking toward me and shaking my hand. "Congratulations. Ash. I should expect from the son of the founder. It is a nice battle."

"Yeah, your Pidgeot is great, too."

After getting my third ribbon, we decided to introduce Solidad to them. After it's done, we leave and bid farewell to the others.

Before going to Route 38, we bump into a hiker, and he gives us the HM04 for Strength, but since I already have it, I decide to give Ethan the HM.


On the road to Olivine City, I'm polishing and admiring the Badges. If I add the additional badges that aren't used in the League, I already have 10 in total. Pikachu sees something in the bushes and it catches everyone's attention. Togetic goes towards the bushes and three Murkrow emerge. The Murkrow distracts the group by dancing and singing, and then they steal my Badges before flying up onto a branch.

"Oh no! They took my badges!" I yell. "You can't take those! They're mine!"

"They are really not so nice." East says.

Then I use Noctowl and asks him to knock the Murkrow out of the tree. I run towards the Murkrow, but the Murkrow fights back by kicking mud into my face, and then they fly off.

"That Murkrow was tricky." Ethan says.

"Nobody is getting away stealing badges from me."

I have Noctowl find the Murkrow, and once we find them, Lillie goes over and asks them for the Badges, but they fly off. Pikachu knocks out the Murkrow all at once with a Thunder Shock, causing them to fall to the ground.

"Come on! Let's go get my badges back!" When we try to get the badges, Pikachu is grabbed by a hook and we all know who is the cause of that.

"Give me Pikachu back!" I yell. But it is the same result.

As Team Rocket begins to float away on their balloon, the Murkrow pops the balloon. I quickly grab the cage with Pikachu and try to free him. At the same time, we hear James yelling because the Murkrow steal his Bottle cap collection.

After freeing Pikachu, the three Murkrow are escaping. I yell, "They still have my badges."

We chase after the Murkrow and find them on top of a hill. Team Rocket tries to catch them, only to grab a boulder that is heavy enough to send them flying.

"That doesn't go so well for them." East says.

Then I decided to face them alone, and now they're attacking us. But they miss because I can use Double Team. Then I use Dazzling Gleam, defeating all three of them.

But just then, Team Rocket appears once more with their machine, and they try to take the treasure that Murkrow gathered. The other two Murkrow escapes, but one of them are too injured to escape as I manage to capture him. Then Team Rocket grabs Pikachu and I yell, "Togetic! Wing Attack!"

Togetic flies into the air and Murkrow follows him, then they work together and destroy the machine, causing it to explode. Togetic also manages to grab Pikachu before the machine explodes, and Pikachu also gets my badge back.

In the end, we learn from Murkrow that he only likes Shiny objects, and because the two abandon him, we decide to capture the Murkrow.

Murkrow: The Darkness Pokemon: Dark and Flying Type. It hides any shiny object it finds in a secret location. Murkrow and Meowth loot one another's stashes.


As we continue on the road, we find a Miltank and we decide to capture it since it is wild. The last time we see Miltank, they are actually Whitney's. We use Natu to battle, and in the end, Natu evolves into Xatu and defeats Miltank with the Psychic before it can land a Rollout on it.

Xatu: The Mystic Pokémon: Psychic and Flying Type. Evolved from Natu at LV:25. They say that it stays still and quiet because it is seeing both the past and future at the same time.

Miltank: The Milk Cow Pokemon: Normal Type. If it has just had a baby, the milk it produces contains much more nutrition than usual.

"Since you have a Miltank, how about we have some Moomoo Milk for lunch?" Ethan asks.

"It's a good thing that we learned how to do it at Whitney's farm." Then we decided to try it out. However, we struggled for a while because we didn't have any proper containers, and we also made some messes. But in the end, we finally finished the Moomoo Milk and we're satisfied. While we're working on it, Kris also evolves her Natu into Xatu.

As we continue on the road, we find a Snubbull following us, Lillie finds it cute at first, but then it tries to bite her hair, and East, Reisa, Kris, Ethan, and I work together to help her. Then the Snubbull wants to come with us. Much to Lillie's dismay, but since she is the one who wants to have a full Pokedex, she can only agree.

Snubbull: The Fairy Pokemon: Fairy Type. In truth, it is a cowardly Pokémon. It growls eagerly in order to hide its fear from its opponent.

The next day, Lillie, can't stand Snubbull keeps biting her hair, so she lashes out at the Snubbull, causing it to run away crying. Lillie feels bad since she might have hurt Snubbull's feelings, so we decide to look for it together.

When we find it, it is already injured. Lillie brings her to the Pokemon Center and tries to apologize to her, but Snubbull just keeps ignoring her, much to her dismay.

And to make matters worse, Team Rocket appears once more and they snatch Snubbull and tie it on the tree. We eventually find where they are and I ask Lillie to save Snubbull while Pikachu and Togetic are helping me battle Team Rocket. The fact that Lillie is working hard to save it, even Snubbull can't just ignore her. In the end, it wants to battle Team Rocket and Lillie takes the command.

However, because of Arbok's Poison Fang, Snubbull takes a lot of damage because it is super effective. But Snubbull evolves into Granbull and use Play Rough, which defeats Team Rocket's Pokemon and send them flying. Lillie hugs the Pokemon and Granbull bites her hair again, but she doesn't care if Granbull does it.

Granbull: The Fairy Pokemon: Fairy Type. Evolved from Snubbull at LV:23. It can make almost any Pokémon run away simply by opening its mouth wide to reveal its big fangs.


Here is a new chapter, and we're going to continue the journey and I hope that the next chapter will be reaching the Olivine City.

Ash + Lillie's Pokemon:

Charizard x2 (In training), Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Bayleef, Quilava, Croconaw, Furret, Noctowl (Shiny), Ledian, Ariados, Golbat, Togetic, Xatu, Flaaffy, Bellossom, Sudowoodo, Politoed, Skiploom, Aipom, Sunflora, Yanma, Wooper, Eevee x2, Murkrow, Slowking, Unown x28, Pineco, Steelix (Crystal), Granbull, Scizor, Heracross, Seadra, Porygon 2, Stantler, Smeargle, Miltank, Blissey, Raikou, Entei, Celebi

Reisa's Pokemon:

Wartortle, Poliwhirl, Seaking, Croconaw, Azumarill, Quagsire, Slowking

East's Pokemon:

Noctowl, Ledian, Golbat, Skiploom, Mantine

Ethan's Pokemon:

Quilava, Pichu, Sudowoodo, Politoed, Togepi, Aipom, Sunflora

Kris' Pokemon:

Bayleef, Cubone, Xatu