Chapter 11:
Second Try for Victory!
Moki Town
The group had returned to Moki Town with a day to spare before the contest would take place. Naturally, they were using that day to help Serena prepare for said contest. The entire group was on the Center's adjacent battleground, watching Serena train with Selkid. Her other Pokemon were also out, watching her.
Thankfully, the Pokemon Center wasn't very crowded, so they had no problem using the battleground. They knew more people would arrive as the day went by, and by the next morning, the Center would be as crowded as when they first arrived to Kevlar Town.
"Alright Selkid, one more time, Sing!" Serena ordered.
The Sea Nymph Pokemon opened her mouth, and began to sing a beautiful and soft melody. Ethereal music notes of many colors started to appear around the area, drifting around slowly like clouds on a calm day. Eventually, Selkid's voice gave out, and the Water and Fairy type Pokemon's song was interrupted by a pair of high pitched coughs.
"Very well, Selkid!" Serena praised.
"Braix!" Braixen added, smiling at the smaller Pokemon.
Every time Selkid sang, she made a conscious effort to increase her range and timbre a little more. While her progress was slow, it was still progress.
"Selkid's singing is getting really good," Bonnie praised the Pokemon. "But will it be enough to win the judge's approval?"
"Selkid isn't just going to sing. But that's the hardest part, that's why we're making more emphasis on that," Serena explained. Upon seeing Bonnie's quizzical look, she smiled and added: "You'll see when the contest begins."
"Do you think it's safe to use Selkid so soon?" Clemont asked, adjusting his glasses. "This is only your second contest, and you only got Selkid very recently."
"I know, but the sooner Selkid and Minicorn gain experience by taking part in contests, the better, and I trust Selkid to help us win" Serena argued. "And even if we don't, the Contest Season has barely begun. We'll have much more chances afterwards."
Indeed, the only reason Serena hasn't used Minicorn just yet is becaase she barely had the chance to train her.
"So, you have Selkid for the Appeals. Have you thought of who you are going to use for the Contest battle?" Ash asked.
"I promised Pancham that I'd use him for the second contest," Serena said, looking at the Playful Pokemon.
"Cham!" Pancham proudly said, puffing his chest out. He clearly couldn't wait to show the public what he was capable of.
"Say, Serena, how about a sparring match with Pancham, to make sure he's ready to fight?" Ash suggested. "I think I could-"
"Oh, the battleground is already being used," a new voice said, a voice all of them had heard before. "Hey, it's you guys!"
The group turned around, and saw a smiling boy with brown hair.
"Vitor!" they all said in unison, as they went to greet the boy.
"Heh, I should have expected to find you here," Serena said. "I guess you're here for the contest too."
"Indeed. Guess I should have expected to see you here as well, given how close this is from Kevlar Town," Vitor pointed out.
"How about that Sayaka girl? Have you seen her too?" Serena asked, as she gripped her blue ribbon while her rival's name left her lips.
"No, I haven't," Vitor said, as he scratched the back of his head. "Maybe since she won a ribbon so early, she's taking it easy and is skipping this contest."
"I find that unlikely," Serena muttered.
"Hey, the less competition, the better, right?" Bonnie asked. "Especially if the competition is that good."
"Maybe. But competition isn't good if your rivals aren't up to par," Ash intervened. "I wouldn't like to win a league if all my rivals were poor trainers."
"Yeah. If we're aiming to become Top Coordinators, we can't just hope for our tougher rivals to simply disappear," Serena continued, before her eyes burned with resolve. "Besides, I'm not afraid of her. I want to face her again and show her that all the horrible things she said were wrong!"
Vitor raied an eyebrow. "Horrible things?"
"I'll tell you later," Serena said. She didn't feel like spoiling her mood reliving that moment. Not when she had a contest so soon.
"Well, I do have a bone to pick her too," Vitor pointed out. "I'm not a sore loser, but she wasn't exactly a graceful winner."
"Yeah. It would be great if either of you knocked that stuck-up ninja down a peg," Bonnie said, seething a little at the memory of Sayaka's haughty personality.
Vitor's face lighted up as if he remembered something, and looked at Ash. "Oh, by the way, I got a call from my sister! She told me that, if I saw you guys before her, to tell you that she defeated Maria and earned her first badge."
"Really? That's great!" Ash cheered.
"Indeed. Maria was a very skilled trainer. Even if the Pokemon she used against Natalie weren't as strong as those she used against Ash, beating her must have been quite the ordeal," Clemont pointed out.
"And she wasn't the only one who beat Maria!" yet another voice said. "I got a call from Theo. He also defeated Maria, and plans to challenge another gym leader as soon as possible."
All the teens turned around, and saw no other than Professor Bamb'o, who entered the battleground as well.
"Hey, Professor!" Ash greeted him. "Not to sound rude, but what are you doing here?"
"I was hoping to find you guys, given that there's going to be a contest soon," Bamb'o said. "And tell you that I'm going to be a special judge!"
"Really? Great!" Vitor cheered.
"Yes, I'm so glad that you find my already huge workload getting even bigger with this kind of requests something great," Bamb'o nonchalantly said, making the others wondering if his complaint was serious or a joke. "Though, don't you guys think that I'm going to be biased towards you because I already know you!"
"I'll never ask you to do something like that," Vitor said, raising his hands defensively.
"Yeah! I was doing one last bit of training before tomorrow," Serena said. She then looked at her Pokemon, and beamed with pride. "My Pokemon's performace will leave your mouth agape."
"Heh, I have no doubt that-" Bamb'o began, before he did a double take, adjusting his sunglasses. "Wait, is that a Selkid? And a Minicorn? Are they yours?"
"Y-Yes?" Serena replied, feeling uncofortable at the attention Bamb'o was giving her two newest captures.
"Whoa! Those Pokemon are super rare! And Selkid aren't even native to this area!" Bamb'o said, as he got closer to the two Pokemon. Selkid whimpered and hid behind Serena's leg, while Minicorn shot the researcher a meaning look. "So I imagine that you didn't get them from those traffickers that the news are talking about, not that you look like the type to do that. But that only makes me more curious of where did you find them. "
"Uh..." Serena stammered, before she looked at Ash and Clemont, silently asking for help. Ash and Clemont both nodded, the honey blonde understanding what they meant. "Well, the truth is..."
Serena told Bamb'o and Vitor the truth about them, recounting their encounter with Maury, followed by their raid on the Team Omega base, with the aid of the Dunsparce Gang. When she was done, Vitor was looking at them in amazement, and Bamb'o let out a whistle.
"Boy, you guys just arrived in Tandor, and help dismantle a gang of traffickers. One that the Rangers have been looking for months!" Bamb'o said in amazement. "Then again, given what Professor Oak told me about what you guys did in Kalos, I shouldn't be surprised."
"Yeah. I don't know why or how, but trouble seems to have a knack for us," Ash sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Hey, at least plenty of good came out of this," Bamb'o said.
Then, after a moment of silence, Serena remembered something Vitor said just as he entered the battleground. "By the way, Vitor, given what you said before, you wanted to use the battleground to train, right?"
"Yeah. I also wanted to do some last minute training as well. I have a new a Pokemon I want to use for tomorrow's contest, and he needs all the training he can get," Vitor explained.
"Then you can use the battleground. I think I hogged it long enough," Serena offered.
"Are you sure? This is big enough for the two of us to share," Vitor said.
Serena smiled knowingly. "Yes. But you won't want me to see your perfomance routines and battle strategies, right?"
Vitor slightly reddened in embarrassment, realizing the two-way implications of Serena's words. "O-Of course not. Thanks a lot for your generosity."
Serena nodded. "Come on. I think we can find another place to train. See you tomorrow, guys!"
"See you in the contest!" Bamb'o said, waving them as they left. "Maybe I should leave too, or else you won't be able to surprise me tomorrow with whatever you have planned!" the professor said, before vacating the battleground as well.
…
The day of the Pokemon Contest finally arrived, and, as expected, the normally quiet Moki Town was flooded by a wave of people, a minority being those who wanted to take part in the contest, as well as their friends and family who wanted to see them, and contest enthusiasts from neighboring towns and cities who wanted to watch the contest live.
They got up early and had breakfast. They tried to look for Vitor in the cafeteria, but they found no trace of him. Either he was still asleep, or maybe he had already left. Once they had their bellies full, they exited the Pokemon Center and headed towards the Contest Hall.
Unfortunately, they didn't get up early enough to avoid a large line of people who wanted to enter. Ash, Clemont and Bonnie sighed in exasperation.
"Well... I guess that this is where we part ways. I'm sorry I can't stay with you to make you company," Serena apologized.
"Eh, it's okay, this is nothing new for us," Ash said, dismissing Serena's concern with a handwave. "Better get going so you have enough time to get ready."
"Hopefully we'll get some good seats this time around," Clemont added.
Serena waved them goodbye, and walked towards the coordinator's entrance. After showing her Contest Pass to the security guard in front of the door, a worker there pointed out where the changing room and the waiting area was. Getting into the changing room, she quickly changed into her contest dress, and headed to the waiting area.
As expected, many coordinators were already there, waiting for the contest to begin. Serena quickly saw Vitor, already in his vintage admiral outfit. She smiled and walked towards him.
"Vitor!" she called.
The younger boy turned around, and smiled back at Serena.
"Hey, there you are!" Vitor greeted her.
"Heh, you arrived here earlier than me. And here I thought that we got up early," Serena said.
"Well... there was only one bathroom in our house, and both Natalie and I always fight to see who gets to use it first in the morning, since we like our long showers, so we try to get up before the other," Vitor explained, chuckling a little. "Getting up early is nothing new to me."
"Speaking of Natalie, do you know if she's going to come to see you?" Serena asked. "Nowtoch City isn't that far away from here," Serena said.
"She wanted to, but she took too long to beat Maria. You know how it goes, catching new Pokemon, training them..." he began. "Not that I blame her, I don't expect her to be here to watch all my contests, just like how I'm not going to watch all her gym battles."
"Fair enough," Serena conceded.
"I mean, we all knew this when we decided to travel on our own," Vitor said.
"Now that you mention it... I don't have siblings, so I don't know how you two must feel but... don't you miss her a little?" Serena asked.
"Yeah. I mean, of course I do, but it's only natural. She may be my twin, we had shared a lot of our lives with each other, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a moment where we were going to follow our own path away from the other," Vitor continued.
Serena nodded. "Guess that makes sense."
There was a moment of silence, and the two of them wordlessly acknowledged that the topic had reached its end. As the waiting area began to slowly fill with coordinators already on their outfits, Vitor began to look around.
"I was expecting Sayaka to show up, but I haven't seen her so far. It seems that she did skip this contest," the brown haired boy pointed out.
While she wasn't proud of such a reaction, Serena was inwardly glad that the ninja wasn't here this time around. She knew that she still had a long way to go before she could match Sayaka's skill. For as much as she itched for a rematch, she knew she and her Pokémon needed to get ready to avoid a repeat of their previous battle
"Maybe I'm not ready to defeat Sayaka just yet, but if I keep training hard, I'll be able to," Serena inwardly told herself.
Serena remembered Sawyer. When they first met him, the gap between him and Ash was so big it was almost comical. At first, Ash defeated him with almost insulting ease. Then, Ash had to work a little more for each of his victories over the short green haired boy. Until one day, Sawyer finally beat Ash. Sure, Ash had trouble with Greninja's Battle Bond, but it's not that Ash had needed it to defeat Sawyer before.
Then, when they battled for the last time in the Kalos League, Sawyer proved to be Ash's equal, pushing the older boy to his very limit. And even if Ash won at the end, Serena admitted there were moments when she feared that Sawyer might have been the victor.
As the last few coordinators filled the room, all that was left was counting down the minutes until the contest finally begun.
…
Despite the rather big line, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie managed to get pretty good seats. It wasn't first row, but it was close enough to the arena so Serena could see them if she looked in their direction.
"It's starting!" Bonnie cheered, as Jillian walked into the performance area. The murmurs and humming of the public died down as the spotlight focused on her. Meanwhile, the three judges took their seats.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Moki Town Pokemon Contest! I'm your host, Jillian Meridian!" she began, and the crowd exploded into loud cheers. "Thank you! Also give a warm welcome to the judges that will evaluate our wonderful coordinators: Moki Town's own Nurse Joy, the Venesi City Gym Leader Rosalind, and the S-Class Connoiseur Ambrose Reigns!"
People began to applaud and cheer, though Ash couldn't help but notice that many people also booed when Jillian mentioned Ambrose's name. Not that Ash thought that the caustic judge didn't deserve the boos. Though, given how the man was looking at the public as if they were garbage under his shoes, he didn't seem to care.
"And our special judge, Moki Town's own Professor Bamb'o!" Jillian added, before motioning to the shades-wearing man, sitting next to Ambrose. People cheered even louder than before, probably happy than one of their townspeople was getting the spotlight.
"Thank you! I'm looking forward seeing what these coordinators have to offer!" Bamb'o said.
Jillian then went to explain the rules of the Pokemon Contests for those in the public not aware of them, and then showed the ribbon the contest winner would take with him or her, finishing off with introducing the very first contestant, beginning the Appeal Round.
Coordinators walked in and out of the arena one after the other, their Pokemon doing all sort of tricks, light shows, dances and acrobatics. Some where good, others not so much. Rosalind and Nurse Joy often passed a positive judgement, while Ambrose completely tore down the coordinators' display with brutal verbal beatdowns. Even if the shock vale was lost after the first contest, his harsh words drew more than one coordinator to tears.
"Let's welcome with a big applause to our next coordinator! From this very Town, Vitor Raine!" Jillian said, as the brown haired boy walked into the stage.
Picking up a pokeball, he tossed it into the air. "Eletux, come out and play!"
Vitor's starter emerged from the pokeball among a storm of yellow lightning bolts.
"Let's begin! Eletux, Ice Beam!" Vitor called. "Just as we practiced!"
"Tux!" the Hippocampus Pokemon happily cried, and began to fire an Ice Beam around him.
The glowing white beam began to form a trail of ice of irregular height, in some cases even forming a loop. Soon they realized that it appeared to be some kind of rollercoaster. It ended on a ramp that moved upwards.
"Look at that folks! A rollercoaster made of ice!" Jillian commented.
Ash remembered seeing Dawn using a similar trick during the Sinnoh Grand Festival with Buneary and Quilava. She wondered what Dawn would say if he saw somebody doing something so similar. Given that contests are televised, did Vitor watch Dawn during the Grand Festival?
"Now, Eletux, run across the ice with Aqua Jet!" Vitor commanded.
Eletux jumped onto the ice path, and began to run. As his feet stopped touching the ice, he was coated in a cloak of water, and dashed over the ice like a rocket, raising a trail of snowy powder which sparkled under the light of the spotlight, creating a rather beautiful effect. Eventually, Eletux reached the end of the rollercoaster, and thanks to the final upwards ramp, he shot into the air.
"Now, Eletux, use Charge Beam on the ice!" Vitor shouted.
The watery cloak around Eletux disappeared, and Eletux, still mid air, moved his body so his head would be facing downwards. The bulb of his longest tail began to glow with a yellow light and crackle with sparks of the same color, before he fired from there a single yellow bolt of electricity. The lightning bolt hit the ice rollercoaster, which shattered into thousands of ice shards that crackled with electricity, producing yet another amazing visual effect.
"And finish!" Vitor said, just as Eletux landed on all four on the ground. Both trainer and Pokemon beamed with pride as the public erupted into cheers, and began applauding him.
"What a great performance, folks! Let's see what our judges have to say!" Jillian said, as she motioned to the judge panel.
"An amazing performance. Not only it was a delight to see, but Eletux also seemed to be having a great time!" the blue-haired Nurse Joy said, much to Vitor's delight.
"Veramente, one of the best performances I've seen today!" Rosalind said, in a similar mood.
"There were so many sparkles, I was almost blinded. But for the positives, I didn't have to submit my eyes to this awful performance in full," Ambrose deadpanned.
"Don't listen to the sourpuss, Vitor! I think you did an amazing job!" Bamb'o said, earning a glare from Ambrose. "I still remember when I gave you that Eletux, and I can see how much has grown thanks to your training!"
It didn't take much effort for Vitor to ignore the caustic judge's opinion, especially with Bamb'o's encouragement. He then returned Eletux to his pokeball, made a polite bow, and walked away, as the public clapped enthusiasthically. As he left the stage, Jillian announced the next coordinator.
"That was a pretty good performance he did there," Clemont pointes out. "He must have been trying a lot since the Kevlar Town Contest."
"His first performance wasn't exactly bad either," Ash said, remembered the tricks Vitor's Pahar did with Will-O-Wisp.
"Pika," Pikachu nodded in agreement.
"Then again, I'm sure not even he can beat Serena's experience," Bonnie said, her faith in Serena unwavering.
More coordinators walked in and out of the stage, drawing mostly positive judgement from Bamb'o, Nurse Joy and Rosalind, and absurdly negative comments from Ambrose.
"And now, let's welcome our next coordinator! From Vaniville Town in Kalos, Serena!" Jillian announced.
Serena walked into the stage, waving at the public. Ash, Clemont and Bonnie clapped and cheered the loudest, which caused the honey blonde to see them. She beamed and waved at them as well.
"Look, she saw us! She saw us!" Bonnie yelled. "Go Serena! You can do it!"
"Selkid, go!" Serena said, tossing the pokeball into the air.
The capture thevice opened, releasing Selkid among a flurry of blue bubbles, that went up into the air before popping.
"Sel, selkid!" Selkid cried. The public roared upon seeing her, which caused her to flinch. It was the first time Selkid had seen so many humans in a single spot. Looking back at Serena, the trainer smiled and gave Selkid as thumbs up. This seemed to calm Selkid somehow. "Are you ready, Selkid?"
Not wanting to disappoint her trainer, Selkid put on a brave face and nodded. "Sel!"
"Good! Then, leave them everybody amazed with your Sing!"
Selkid nodded, closing her eyes in order to push the public out of her mind, and began to sing. As her melody began, ethereal musical notes of different colors began to float around the stage.
Selkid were known for their beautiful voices, and given their rarity, the public quickly grew silent so nobody could miss such an oportunity. And indeed, judging by their faces, Selkid's song was meeting their expectations. Serena glanced that the judge panel: Nurse Joy and Rosalind leaned forward expectantly, while Ambrose looked at Selkid with an eyebrow raised and a flat look, as if wondering if that was all what Serena planned to do.
And she was going to show him that it wasn't. "Very well, Selkid! Now, Water Pulse into the air!"
Without stopping her song, Selkid opened her eyes and brought her arms together, and summoned an orb of water. Once the orb was big enough, she tossed it into the air. As it flew upwards, the sphere of water absorbed some of the musical notes inside it.
"Now, Hyper Voice!"
Selkid's song changed into a high pitched cry, releasing a stream of sonic waves upwards, in the same direction of the Water Pulse, which was now falling back down. The sphere of water crashed against the sonic waves, causing the former to explode into rings of water that spreaded outwards, before dissolving even further into tiny drops of water that glittered under the light of the spotlights. The notes inside the sphere also exploded, resulting in echoes of Selkid's song, making it sound like backup singers.
"And done!" Serena said. The crowd cheered loudly, causing Selkid to flinch again. Not wanting to push Selkid further, she returned her Pokemon to her pokeball.
"An amazing spectacle involving both sound and visuals!" Jillian praised, before she motioned to the judge panel. "Let's see what our judges have to say about it!"
"Selkid's song alone was a delight to watch, but the way it was followed by that combination of Water Pulse and Hyper Voice was simply sublime!" Nurse joy beamed.
"As somebody who already heard Selkid singing, yours was simply magnifico!" Rosalind said.
"Maybe you could have your Selkid shatter some glasses with her voice. I mean, she was this close to shatter my eardrums," Ambrose complained. "So please, next time you plan to torture us with another concert, gave your Selkid singing lessons."
"Can somebody tell me why did they hire this guy?" Bamb'o said, pointing at Ambrose. "Because I have a hard time believing we saw the same performance! Your Selkid was simply amazing! Anybody can get their hands on a rare Pokemon, but only a truly skilled trainer can bring a Pokemon's whole potential out, and in your case, I can see that you're doing a good job with her!"
Serena didn't regret recalling Selkid when she did; while she could ignore Ambrose's cutting words, her poor Selkid might have taken them much worse, even with Bamb'o softening the blow. After all, Serena still remembered how she felt when she heard the conoisseur's judgement the first time.
Serena muttered a "thanks", made a slight bow, and returned to the waiting area.
…
Serena returned to the waiting area, where the rest of the coordinators were. As she entered, another one walked towards the stage, a girl older than her that she had never seen before. Unlike the previous contest, where she was the first, this time she was among the last. Only a few coordinators were left to perform before the results of the Appeal Round were in.
"Hey, Serena!" Vitor called, waving at her. She walked towards him. "Pretty good show! Your Selkid has an amazing voice!"
"Thanks. I only had Selkid for a short time, so I didn't have much time to train her. I know Selkid's strongest point is their voices, so I decided to go with that," Serena explained. Then, she smiled and added: "Though, your perfomance was nothing to scoff at. It was really good."
"To be fair, the idea wasn't mine. I saw it on TV some time ago," Vitor admitted, rubbing his arm sheepishly. "Naturally, I added my own edge to it, even if I used it as a base."
"Hey, coming up with performing routines is hard. Especially for new coordinators who didn't have the chance to catch many Pokemon and train them," Serena defended him. "I'm sure that, once you catch more Pokemon, train more, and acquire more experience, you'll amaze people with performances never seen before."
"You think so?" the boy asked.
"Sure! I can see you have a lot of potential," Serena assured.
Vitor let out a content sigh, and smiled. "Well, coming from a veteran like you... that means a lot."
The two fell into a comfortable silence. Wordlessly, their eyes drifted towards one of the monitors hanging above them, showing a coordinator who had just finished her display. While Nurse Joy, Professor Bamb'o and Rosalind praised her and her Owten, Ambrose tore them down with a savage critic.
"Okay, what's the deal with that guy?" Serena asked, as her brow furrowed. "Has he ever passed a positive judgement? It seems like everything every coordinator does disgusts him."
"No idea. The judges on the contests I watched on TV tended to be more fair and inclined to praise," Vitor commented. "Maybe they included him because people enjoy the way he tears down the contestants. I heard caustic critics are all the rage these days."
Serena crossed her arms, and scowled. "That's not a good reason to let this happen. Everyone is here to make the crowd enjoy the show, and all his scathing criticism is doing is making Coordinators and Pokémon question themselves and feel bad for their hard work."
"Though maybe..." Vitor began, but didn't finish what he was saying.
Serena looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe what?"
"Well... it's kind of silly," Vitor admitted. "But maybe he's some kind of secret test. Like, if somebody's able to get a positive reaction out of that guy, there's a secret prize or something."
"I find that unlikely," Serena said, her eyes glaring daggers on the screen displaying Ambrose. "Though, coming up with a performance so good he has nothing negative to say even if he wants to sounds like a promising challenge."
Yes. She will always remember how Ambrose nearly broke her during her first performance. In turn, Serena would do such an amazing, jaw-dropping performance she would make him eat every word he had said.
Time passed, and the few remaining coordinators completed the Appeal Round.
"And thus the Appeal Round comes to a close!" Jillian announced. "The judges have already cast their evaluation and score of each coordinator. Now, the eight coordinators that will move to the next phase will appear on the screen!"
Everybody held their breath as their one by one, the faces of the eight finalists appeared on the screen. Serena was among the first to let out a sigh of relief, being no less than second, with Vitor on fourth place. Once all eight finalists had been revealed, the rest of the contestants either sighed in relief, or groaned loudly, lamenting having been eliminated already.
"We both have passed!" Vitor cheered.
"Indeed we did! Though, with that display of yours, it'd be a crime if you didn't," Serena said.
…
Meanwhile, back at the grandstands, Ash, Bonnie and Clemont had just seen the eight finalists appearing on the screen. Needless to say, they were overjoyed when they saw Serena's face, especially so soon.
"Serena passed! Serena passed! Look!" Bonnie bounced up and down, as she excitedly pointed at the big screen behind Jillian, that displayed the faces of the finalists.
Ash smiled. "Did you have any doubt?"
"Of course not!" Bonnie replied, almost indignant, before pouting a little and adding: "Though, I can't help but feel a little nervous when they're announcing the finalists."
"Like I said before, Serena is past the point of losing the Appeal Round. Not with her vast experience in Showcases helping her," Ash added.
"Now, let's see which opponent our talented coordinators will have to battle against!" Jillian said.
The eight portraits began to shuffle for a few seconds, before they were paired up. Vitor was on the second bracket, and Serena was on the third. They wouldn't fight unless the two of them made it to the finals.
"Well, it would be a bummer if Serena and Vitor had to fight each other from the get go," Clemont pointed out.
"Not that it would change anything, since Serena is going to win this easily!" Bonnie claimed.
"Nenene!" Dedenne agreed.
And indeed, Serena didn't have much trouble reaching the finals. She first fought against a coordinator that used a Felunge. Aside from type disadvantage, this Felunge was nowhere near as well trained as Maria's, and quickly fell to Pancham's might. In the semifinals, Serena had to face a coordinator with an Owten, which gave Serena more trouble, but in the end the Kalosian girl and her Pancham rose the victors.
Vitor's first fight was against a coordinator with a Buizel. A point of interest is that it allowed them to see a new Pokemon Vitor had caught.
"Come out and play, Leafeon!" Vitor said, releasing his newest Pokemon.
The coordinator with the Buizel flinched. It was obvious he was banking on the opponent not using a Pokemon with type advantage. And as many people predicted, Vitor's Leafeon won the match. Following that, Vitor had to face a girl with a Barewl. The Barewl proved to be a resilent opponent –the memory of fighting them in large numbers in Passage Cave was still fresh Ash's mind– though in the end Vitor won because Leafeon's attacks were far more visually stunning, and when the buzzer rang, he had more points than her.
…
Back on the waiting area, Serena heard Jillian announce a small reprieve of ten minutes before the final battle could take place. The honey blonde watched Vitor entering the waiting area, as he removed his tricorn in order to wipe some sweat from his forehead.
"Hey there," Serena greeted him upon entering the waiting area. "Nice victory."
"Thanks. Though, I had to work much harder for this one than for the first one," Vitor admitted. Then he looked at Serena, and added: "And I will have to work even harder if I want to win the final battle."
Serena smiled at the unsaid compliment. "I'm sure you'll do great, That Leafeon is strong and well trained, especially for a Pokemon you haven't have for a long time."
"Heh, if you think so," Vitor said, as he pulled out Leafeon's pokeball and stared at it intently. "Hopefully he'll be good enough to beat your Pancham."
"At the very least, he's good enough to carry you to the finals. That's not something to scoff at," Serena pointed out.
"I guess not," Vitor agreed.
The ten minutes passed much faster than either of them realized. A staff membered entered through a back door, and told the two remaining coordinators that it was time for the final contest battle. They nodded and walked towards the room's main exit.
"Well, time to battle. I never had the chance to battle you the previous contest, given that that ninja girl kicked me out in the semifinals," Vitor commented.
"I would have loved to fight you too. I'm grateful for this chance," Serena replied, smiling.
"Good luck," he said.
"Good luck to you too," she replied. "May the best coordinator win."
…
"There they are!" Bonnie shouted, as she watched Serena and Vitor walking into the battleground. The two of them went to occupy the spots at the opposite sides of the arena. Bonnie jumped from her seat and began to wave at her. "Come on Serena! You can win this!"
"We're all rooting for you!" Ash added.
"Now, the moment you have been waiting for!" Jillian excitedly announced. "The Moki Town Contest final battle! On one side, we have Serena, from Vaniville Town, Kalos!"
The public cheered, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie being the loudest. Pikachu and Dedenne cheered as well.
"And on the other side, from Moki Town itself, Vitor!" Jillian continued.
The public's roar was way louder than what Serena got. Ash imagined that, being from Moki Town, more people were rooting for him to win.
"Coordinators, present your Pokemon!"
"Leafeon, come out and play!" Vitor said, tossing a pokeball.
The capture device opened, releasing a storm of green leaves and flower petals of many colors. The petals and leaves merged into a single, large flower, before it burst into a thousand bits of light, revealing Leafeon.
"Pancham, go!" Serena said, mimicking her oponent.
Serena's pokeball released a flurry of golden stars, the Playful Pokemon appeared among them, and turning them into golden dust with well-aimed punches and kicks.
~Serena (Pancham) VS Vitor (Leafeon) ~
"The first move is ours! Pancham, begin with Stone Edge!" Serena commanded.
"Cham, pancham!" Pancham said, before slamming both paws into the ground, summoning a row of rising pillars of jagged blue rock towards Leafeon.
"Leafeon, jump over those rocks and use them to get close to Pancham!" Vitor ordered.
"Leaf!" Leafeon cried, as he did what was told. The moment the Rock-type move was about to reach him, he jumped above it, and landed on the top of a stone column just as it formed. Leafeon them began to hop from one column to another getting close to Pancham. "Now, Aerial Ace!"
The moment Leafeon was close to Pancham, he lunged towards the Kalosian Pokemon, his front paws glowing white. Serena, however, wasn't worried.
"Pancham, now!" Serena called.
Just as Leafeon was about to strike Pancham, another column of rock rose beneath Pancham's feet, launching him into the air, and taking Leafeon's attack instead. Leafeon cried in pain upon hitting the hard rock.
"It seemed that Serena had made a mistake, but it was a deliberate plan to lure Vitor in a trap!" Jillian commented. Vitor lost a tenth of his points.
"No!" Vitor cried as he watched his point counter go down.
"Heh, I remember that I used the same tactic with Greninja when I was sparring against her, and she came up with that way to counter it," Ash proudly said.
Clemont nodded. "All that training she had with you is bearing fruit!"
"Now Pancham, Dark Pulse!"
While he was still pushed into the air, Pancham shifted his body to face Leafeon, while cupping his small paws.
"CHAM!"
Pancham thurst his paws downwards, releasing a stream of pitch black energy with purple edges.
"Leafeon, use Magic Leaf on yourself!" Vitor replied.
"Leaf!" Leafeon said, as his body began to glow with a green light. Multiple leaves made of glowing green light formed around Leafeon, and began to spin around his body, forming a green spinning shield.
Pancham's Dark Pulse crashed against the spinning shield of leaves that protected the Verdant Pokemon, dispersing the attack into multiple threads of darkness. This caused Serena to lose five percent of her total points.
"Great!" Vitor cheered, having repelled the attack completely. "Now send those leaves to Pancham!"
The leaves stopped spinning around Leafeon, and flew towards Pancham, who was still falling down. The Palyful Pokemon was unable to do anything, and was peppered by a storm of green darts, making him cry in pain before he crashed on the ground. This made Serena lose an additional tenth of her points.
"Yes! We're back on top!" Vitor cheered, pumping his fist.
"Pancham, are you okay?" Serena asked, as she worriedly looking at the first Pokemon she ever caught.
While he had some cuts and his fur didn't look so good, Pancham quickly jumped to his feet, resolve burning in his eyes.
"Pancham!" he cried.
Serena sighed upon seeing that her Pokemon was okay, before she looked at the scoreboard, and scowled. "I've been too careless. Vitor is a beginner but he's talented and learns fast. I need to be more careful," she thought.
"And with a very creative use of Magical Leaf, Vitor gains an advantage over Serena! Can Serena do something to turn the match around in her favor?" Jillian asked.
"Of course I will!" she replied, as if taking offense to such comment. "Pancham, Stone Edge again!"
"Cham!" Pancham said, slamming both paws into the ground.
Another row of blue stone columns emerged from the ground towards Leafeon. Without having to be told, Leafeon once again jumped over the rising stone pillars, and ran towards Pancham hopping from one to another. This maneuver costed Serena another bit of her score, though she had already predicted it.
"Leafeon, once you're close, use Energy Ball!" Vitor commanded. He knew what would happen if he used a close ranged attack again.
"Now, Pancham! Arm Thrust on the stone pillar!" Serena commanded.
Panchamp jumped forward, rearing one of his front paws back, which glowed with a white light as he closed it into a fist. He punched the stone pillar Leafeon was about to land on, shattering it completely. Leafeon cried, suddenly founding himself without footing, and pummeled to the ground among the pieces of shattered rock.
"Leafeon!" Vitor cried. He didn't notice how he lost another bit of his score, enough to put him under Serena's.
"And Serena succesfully bait Vitor by making him believe he was using the same tactic twice!" Jillian commented, seemingly charmed with Serena's move.
"Pancham, Thunder Punch!" Serena ordered.
"Cham!" Pancham jumped once again, and closed his front paw into a fist, which was quickly coated in electric yellow sparks.
"Leafeon, quickly, move!" Vitor asked.
Shaking the pain of the fall, Leafeon managed to get back to his feet, and jumped a couple meters aside just in time to dodge Pancham's electrified fist, which slammed into the ground, releasing a shower of yellow sparks in every direction. This made Serena lose even more points, putting them in the same spot as Vitor. By now, both of them have lost half their points.
"Leafeon, Aerial Ace!" Vitor ordered.
Knowing that Pancham couldn't avoid it with Stone Edge from that distance, Serena opted for the next best thing: "Pancham, block it with Arm Thrust!"
Leafeon leaped at Pancham, forelegs glowing with a white light, while Pancham curled his front paws into fists, also coated in a light of an identical color. Both Pokemon struck each other, the combined force of the blows pushing them backwards. Unfortunately for Serena, Pancham took the worst part of the attack, and was send crashing on his back, while Leafeon merely skidded backwards.
Nervous, Serena took a moment to look at the scoreboard. Vitor was once again in the lead as she saw her points dropping to about forty percent, compared to Vitor's fifty. There was only a minute and a half remaining.
"Did that much time pass already?" Serena thought distressingly.
"Let's press our advantage, Leafeon! Energy Ball!" Vitor ordered.
"Leaf!" Leafeon cried as he opened his mouth, and formed a green and yellow sphere of power in front of it, before firing the projectile at Pancham.
Serena was about to tell Pancham to counter it with Dark Pulse, but she had the feeling that was what Vitor was hoping she'd do, since the attack would left Pancham wide open. However, as she wracked her brain over what she could do, she remembered something that happened during the fight with Maury, and realized that maybe she could use Vitor's tactic against him.
"Pancham, use Thunder Punch!" Serena ordered. "Punch in a straight line!"
"Pancham!" Pancham nodded, as he once again curled his paw into a fist before it began to glow with electric sparks.
Pancham thrust his electrified fist into the coming green and yellow projectile, and after a second of struggle, he managed to bounce it back at Leafeon. There was a collective gasp from the public.
"And look at that folks! Serena is able to send Vitor's attack back at him!" Jillian pointed out, followed by a cheer. Meanwhile, Vitor's points dropped so they were now equal to Serena's.
"Leafeon, counter the Energy Ball with Iron Tail!" Vitor managed to say, a little stunned to see that his strategy didn't work as intended.
Leafeon's long leaf-shaped tail glowed with a metallic sheen, and slammed it into the incoming projectile. The Energy Ball exploded, showering the area with beautiful shower of gren and yellow sparkly bits of light. This made Serena lose another bits of point, which was now reduced to a third.
"Pancham, Dark Pulse now!" Serena cried.
When the sparkly bits dispelled completely, Vitor and Leafeon saw, much to their shock, that Pancham was firing yet another stream of black energy with purple edges towards the shocked Leafeon, which after using Iron Tail, was briefly wide open. However, that instant was all what Serena and Pancham needed. The attack connected, blasting Leafeon backwards before engulfing Leafeon in a black and purple explosion. Vitor's points dropped.
"Yes! Direct hit!" Bonnie cheered from the stands.
BZZZZZZ!
"And time's out!" Jillian declared after the buzzer rang. "The winner of the Moki Town Contest is...!"
Both Serena and Vitor quickly turned their heads towards the scoreboard. Serena still had a third of her points. Vitor a little over a fourth.
"...Serena and her Pancham!" Jillian cried.
Serena and Pancham both gasped and looked at the scoreboard, which now changed to show Serena's picture next to a smaller one of Pancham's, with the word "WINNER!" written under it, almost as if still processing that they've won.
"We've won...?" she asked.
"Pancham, pan!" Pancham happily cried, leaping a Serena. The honey blonde yelped and barely caught the Playful Pokemon between her arms.
"We've won...? Yes, we've won! We did it, Pancham!" Serena cheered, lifting Pancham above her head while making a twirl.
Meanwhile, both Vitor and Leafeon sighed, the Verdant Pokemon lowering his head in shame. Vitor walked towards his Grass-type, and rubbed his neck.
"Hey, don't feel bad. You were amazing and did your best," the Moki Town boy reassured. "We'll do better the next time."
"Leaf..." Leafeon said, forcing himself to smile.
After celebrating it with Pancham, Serena walked towards Vitor. The boy straighthened up a little, and cleared his throat.
"It was a really good match, Serena," he began, trying to sound polite. Serena could see that he was trying to supress the bitter feeling of yet another defeat. He extended his hand. "Congratulations."
Serena smiled, and took his hand. "It was a good match, indeed. There were many times I thought you were going to win. Your Leafeon is very well trained."
"Guess not good enough," he sadly said.
"Don't be discouraged. Nothing we do is pointless. If you keep training hard and persevere, there will be a time when you will reach your dreams," Serena assured him. "The road to victory is paved with defeats. That's something I had to learn as well."
"I... thank you. We will continue to train hard," Vitor stated. He then pulled out a pokeball, and returned Leafeon. "Come back Leafeon, take a rest."
A few minutes later, Serena was standing on a small podium, the four judges and Jillian next to her. Professor Bamb'o was holding an opened box with the Ribbon on it.
"A well earned victory, Serena," the professor said, allowing Serena to grab the ribbon inside it. "The Moki Ribbon is yours."
Almost trembling, Serena grabbed the ribbon. She looked at it for a moment, before rising it above her head. "Ta-da! I won my first ribbon!" she cheered, and the public broke into a loud applause.
"And thus, the Moki Town Contest comes to an end! I hope you have a great time, and see you next time!" Jillian said, officially ending the contest.
…
About half an hour later, the group was outside the Contest Hall, both Serena and Vitor already changed back into their usual clothes, and they were ready to continue their respective journeys.
"Once again, congratulations for your first ribbon, Serena," Vitor said.
"Thanks. And don't worry. I'm sure you'll win yours in no time," Serena reassured him.
"Yeah, I met quite a few novice coordinators. Winning the first ribbon is always the hardest, but all of them eventually got there," Ash added as well. "And you won't be any different from them."
"Let's hope you are right," he said, almost in a whisper. "So, what do you guys plan to do now?"
"We're heading east, to Burole Town, since Ash needs to fight for his second badge," Clemont answered.
"According to the Contest Schedule, there's going to be a contest on Burole Town soon, so you might kill two Birbie with one Rock Throw," Vitor told them.
"Really?" Serena asked. "In that case, maybe you could travel with us."
Vitor, however, shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I already have other plans. There's also going to be a second contest on Kevlar Town. I got a call from Natalie, and she asked me to meet her there so she can help me train."
"Oh. What a pity," Bonnie said.
"I see. In that case, I wish you luck in your next contest," Serena said. "Hopefully, once we face each other again, we'll both have more ribbons."
"Let's hope you're right," Vitor said, as he turned around and began to walk towards the west part of the town. "Until we meet again!"
They waved Vitor goodbye, as the group of four began to walk in the opposite direction.
"According to the map, we'll take a few days to reach Burole Town," Serena said, checking her tablet. "But there's still enough hours of sunlight to reach next Pokemon Center."
"In that case, let's not waste anymore time, and let's go!" Ash excitedly said.
And thus, the group said goodbye to Moki Town for the second and final time, as they headed towards the next stop in their journey.
Author's Note: And on her second try, Serena finally gets her first ribbon! Yay! Guess it helped that this time she didn't have to deal with such a hard rival like Sayaka. But Sayaka is an obstacle that she'll have overcome sooner or later.
Though, not that Vitor is an unworthy rival. Despite the fact that he's just starting out, he still managed to put quite the impressive show, and would have won the contest had his final opponent not be somebody as experienced as Serena. Once Vitor become more experienced, the gap between them will get progressively smaller.
Next chapter, our heroes head East, towards Burole Town. Until then, don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter. Seeing your reviews mean a lot to me.