Chapter 2

When we continue moving, we arrive at a forest and a lot of tree leaves are gone. Kris asks, "Are we really in the forest? Why aren't there any leaves on the trees?"

"The trees aren't burnt, and it's not fallen yet." East says.

Then we notice a giant tree with a lot of Heracross eating the tree sap, and Lillie says, "Those are Heracross!"

"Yeah, we can try to capture one for the team." I say, but we're stopped by a man.

"You're free to catch the Heracross if you like. But if you do, you might be responsible for causing more harm to this forest than you know."

The man reveals himself to be a ranger named Woodruff. After introducing ourselves, he shows us a symbiotic relationship with the local Butterfree population, who also feeds on sap but are too weak to break into the tree trunk to get to it. The more powerful Heracross dig into the trunk to start the sap flow, eat their fill, then allow the Butterfree to come and feed.

"I'm afraid that the balance has been destroyed by the dangerous band of invaders." The ranger says.

"What kind of invaders are they?" East asks.

Pikachu suddenly senses a group of Pinsir approaching, and they are the invaders they are trying to attack Heracross and Butterfree. All of them are too scared to fight back the Pinsir and fled.

"Heracross are too peaceful and friendly, they would rather take flight than stay and fight."

"But if the Heracross don't fight the Pinsir, the trees that Heracross and Butterfree feed on will be destroyed." Ethan says.

"Butterfree! I chose you!" Lillie and I call out two Pokemon and then battle the Pinsir. Butterfree simply defeats Pinsir with Confusion and Air Slash. After the Pinsir run away, I say, "You can come on down now, Heracross!"

The Heracross thanks us before continuing to suck on the tree sap. Woodruff then reveals that the Pinsir lives on the opposite side of a river and that something has been causing them to uncharacteristically cross the river and invade the Heracross' territory.

"It sure is a bad situation." Reisa says. "If we don't help, the forest might be destroyed."

Then we all head to the Pinsir Forest, then we also notice that the Heracross is following us. Once we arrive at the cliff, we notice the bridge is broken.

"Did the Pinsir do those?" Ethan asks.

"I don't think so. The work has to be human." Woodruff says while showing the nice cuts. And much to our surprise, Heracross wants to help us by using a tree to make a bridge, and it actually works. While we are walking, Togepi jumps off Lillie's arms and tries to play around.

"No! Togepi!" Lillie says as she grabs Togepi before it can fall off. Then once we get to the other side, we find that Heracross is eating the sap from the bridge, what a heavy eater.

After we continue searching, we find a tree with the giant Pinsir. We recognize that it is not a giant Pinsir, it is actually a robot.

"Robot... don't tell me..." I mutter.

Then Team Rocket trio appear in front of us, Reisa says, "You guys again?"

"So you're the ones who are responsible for that robot!" Woodruff says.

It turns out they are going to steal all the sap to sell them. They then try to fight us by using Victreebel and Lickitung, only to find them trying to eat the sap. Meowth tries to use the mecha to attack. We try to attack the machine, but none of our attacks work. Just then, the Heracross appears and is fighting the machine.

"It's Heracross!" I gasp.

But Heracross is struggling, but he is managing to hold the robot. Kris says, "Now is our chance! We can get the sap tank away!"

We nod as we manage to pick the sap tanks, and Team Rocket is trying to fight for the remote control, so I yell, "Heracross! We got all the sap that they stole! We have to run!"

Heracross nods as he manages to lift the robot, before throwing it at Team Rocket, causing it to explode and send Team Rocket flying.

"Heracross! You've done it!" Then after Team Rocket is gone, all the Pinsir are back at the tree for their own sap. On the other side of the forest, Heracross and Butterfree can live in peace again.

But just as we leave, the Heracross comes to us. I ask, "What's the matter, Heracross, aren't you going to stay with your friends?"

"You guys are more interesting. I want to join you." Heracross says.

We are surprised, and we say, "Of course, you're welcome to the team." I throw a Pokeball and Heracross is captured.

"Another member of our team, yeah!" Lillie cheers as she scans the Pokemon.

Heracross: The Single Horn Pokemon: Bug and Fighting Type. With its Herculean powers, it can easily throw around an object that is 100 times its own weight.

When we arrive at Flornando City, we manage to see a Contest Poster on the wall. Reisa says, "Hey, look! There is a Contest in the city!"

"No way... you're saying that there is a contest holding today?" East asks.

"You know, I might as well participate in this one." I say with excitement.

"Sorry, but what is a Contest?" Kris asks, and Ethan is also confused. Lillie decides to be the one telling them the Contest, while she's doing so, I ask, "So Reisa, East, don't you want to join, too?"

"Well, I only have one Pokemon, so I can't. Sorry." Reisa says.

"And I'm not that of a fan of Contests compared to my sister, my cousin, or my Dad." East says.

"Well, it is fine. I can get my first ribbon!" I say, then we all head to the Contest Hall and I'm registering for the Contest.

"Okay, you are registered. Good luck, Ash." The lady says as she hands me the contest pass.

In the contest hall, a lot of contestants performed well in the first round, and I'm getting the last spot to perform.

"Finally, we have a new contestant here, please welcome Ash Ketchum!" The MC says.

I'm now wearing a blue jacket, and I did take some time to tidy up my hair. I wave to the crowd, and I can see both Lillie and Kris blushing at me.

"Sentret! I choose you!" I send out Sentret through a Pokeball, and it comes out with a dazzling performance that causes the crowd to cheer.

"Okay. Sentret! Use Shadow Ball into the sky and then bounce it around with Quick Attack!" Sentret nods as it goes for the move, and then it starts to spin around the Shadow Ball with Qucik Attack, carefully breaking them into sparkles in the air, creating a beautiful field.

"Now use Follow me!" I say, I know that Follow Me is a move that makes itself a target of all the attacks, but Sentret's movements with the sparkles following it cause the crowd to look in awe.

"It's time for the ending! Sentret! Defense Curl and Growl!"

Then Sentret curls into a ball while the sparkles are surrounding it, then a growl causes all of them to disappear.

"That is it for Ash Ketchum. Now let's see what our 3 judges have to say." The MC announces.

"Ash and Sentret made a good combination." Mr. Contesta says.

"I like it." Mr. Suziko says.

"I really like the cuteness when Sentret was seemingly flying in the field." Nurse Joy remarks.

They give me a score of 29, earning me a spot with the other 7 contestants in the second stage.

Kris says, "Wow, I can't believe Pokemon can do that! That is amazing."

Reisa says, "This is why I also like contests, besides, my Dad and Ash's Mom are the ones who formed the Contests."

"Seriously?" Ethan asks in surprise.

In the battle round, my first opponent uses a Donphan, and I decide to go with Butterfree.

"Butterfree, use Sleep Power and Stun Spore, making it like rain!" Butterfree does the trick, and Donphan is hit with the score going down.

"Times up! Ash and Butterfree were the winners!" MC says as we shake hands.

In the semifinals, Butterfree uses Solar Beam with Psychic to create different light works and defeats the opponent's Hoothoot.

In the finals, my opponent is a Bellossom. Butterfree uses Bug Buzz and Struggle Bug to create the bug fantasy, while Bellossom counters with a Teeter Dance and Petal Dance.

"Time's up! Now our winner of the Flornando contest is…"

The two of us look at the scoreboard, then my photo appears first.

"Ash Ketchum!" The crowd cheers for me, and I'm really happy that I win the Contest.

"Ash won!" Lillie is excited as she hugs Reisa in joy, Reisa also has the same reaction, but she vows not to lose.

In the end, Mr. Contesta takes out a ribbon and hands it to me.

"Congratulations on your win, so you're finally becoming like your mother." I get the ribbon and say, "Yeah. I don't want to disappoint her."

"Ash you were awesome." Back outside, Kris exclaims.

"Yeah, I am getting all heat up because of it." Ethan says.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without Sentret and Sylveon."

Reisa says, "Stop being modest, Ashy. Once I get my second Pokemon, prepare to lose."

"We will see about that." I say. But before we can leave, we notice an Aipom who grabs my hat and leaves.

"My hat!" I gasp.

"What is that Pokemon?" Ethan asks.

"It's an Aipom!" Lillie says. "Do you think she saw your contest battle and is interested in you?"

"I don't know." I say. "But having an Aipom seems to be a good choice. I'm going to catch it."

Aipom starts to jump around and I have Pikachu out. "Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu tries to attack, but Aipom dodges by using the hand as a spring and jump into the air, then it goes for Swift, hitting Pikachu.

"That is flashy." East says.

"I see. So you want a contest battle. I'll give you a move." I say. Pikachu uses Electro Ball and fires it into the air, then uses Iron Tail to cut them into sparkles, which manages to shoot Aipom. Aipom tries to go for Astonish, but Pikachu dodges and uses Thunder Wave, causing it to fall on the floor paralyzed.

"Pokeball, go!" I yell while throwing the ball, and Aipom is finally captured.

Aipom: The Long Tail Pokemon. Normal Type. It lives atop tall trees. When leaping from branch to branch, it deftly uses its tail for balance.

While I'm capturing the Pokemon, we realize that we are not the only ones alone. The whole crowd was watching me capturing the Aipom. Surprised, we quickly run out of the crowd.

"Looks like a lot of people recognize you..." East says.

"Yeah... but at least we have a new partner." I say.

Here is a new chapter, and in this chapter, Ash captures the Heracross and Aipom, while also partaking in Contests. In the anime, Ash says that he prefers battling instead of coordinating. But being a Pokemon Master, I think he must do both. As for the reason why I give Heracross and Aipom early is because that they can be obtained using Headbutt on trees in Route 29. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash + Lillie's Pokemon:

Charizard x2, Butterfree x2 (One Pink), Pikachu, Lapras, Sentret, Hoothoot, Golbat, Togepi, Aipom, Onix, Scyther, Heracross, Seadra, Porygon, Chansey

Reisa's Pokemon:

Totodile

East's Pokemon:

Mantine

Ethan's Pokemon:

Cyndaquill

Kris' Pokemon:

Chikorita