Chapter 20

We continue our journey to Geosenge Town, and we find some Pokemon gathering some berries. Just then, they are ambushed by an Ursaring, who tries to take the berries from them and they're too scared to fight back.

"That Ursaring's trying to take away all the berries that the three of them just gathered!" Elline says.

"What an awful thing to do." Clemont adds.

Eevee quickly hides behind Pikachu, and I say, "You're scared as well, Eevee..."

We try to stop the Ursaring, and that's when a Hawlucha appears. The head looks different from the normal Hawlucha that we've seen before... wait, that's its mask, and he just takes it off.

"It's a leaf mask! What an awesome Pokemon!" Serena says.

"Yeah, that's awesome. I wonder if Hawlucha is trying to stop Ursaring and get the berries back to Patrat and the others?" Clemont asks.

Hawlucha then dives into Ursaring, slamming it to the ground. Ursaring becomes enraged, but is easily defeated in battle by Hawlucha's Karate Chop and High Jump Kick.

"An amazing Karate Chop with an equally amazing High Jump Kick!" David says.

"And those moves are with style... I wonder how it will do in Contests..." I say.

Just then, Hawlucha then jumps to the top of a nearby tree, and shows off its victory pose. Serena asks, "What's going on?"

"That's Hawlucha's victory pose." We turn to find a man looking at us, he explains, "Hawlucha always does that before launching into its finishing move."

"But if it poses like that..." Elline frowns.

Hawlucha then begins to use its final move, Flying Press. However, Ursaring dodges it at the last minute, causing Hawlucha to crash into the ground.

"Hawlucha!" I gasp.

"Opponent always dodge its final move at the last second." The man says.

"Maybe its because it shows off like that." Serena wonders.

"Hawlucha has to pose even if its opponent runs away. That's just how it battles." The man adds. "Hawlucha's committed to the artistry of battling."

Ursaring then begins to approach Hawlucha, still dazed on the ground, with a large boulder, before it tries to slam Hawlucha, I yell, "Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Pikachu destroys the rock, and the shattered boulder then hits Ursaring, causing Ursaring to collapse and run away.

We rush to help Hawlucha get up, and I say, "You know, I like your awesome attitude about battling."

Then Hawlucha just leaves, and I can't help but be amazed. Hawlucha is so cool.

"So you like Hawlucha, eh?" The man says, and we want to learn more about Hawlucha.

"I've been caretaker of this forest for a long time, so I know Hawlucha quite well." The man says.

"It would be so great if you'd tell us everything about it." Serena says.

At the man's log cabin, he introduces himself as Keaton, and we also do the same. Keaton says, "You want to know about Hawlucha. One day, it simply wandered into the forest. There are lots of proud fighting types living here so I'm pretty sure Hawlucha wanted to see how it stacked up against them in battle. One after another, Hawlucha defeated the strongest Pokemon in the forest, earning the nickname, Forest Champion. Hawlucha defends the gentler Pokemon against the more aggressive ones which ends up being a big help to me."

"But today Hawlucha lost..." Bonnie frowns.

"Its attack takes a bit too much time." Serena says.

"Hawlucha would've beaten Ursaring if only it hadn't posed." Clemont says.

"Hawlucha has a special sense of battle artistry. Even if it means defeat." Keaton says. "It's simply something Hawlucha has to do."

"I get it, Hawlucha's really dedicated to its battle style." I say.

Keaton then offers to show us the site where Hawlucha trains, and we agree. Once we get there, we see Hawlucha practicing its Flying Press near a waterfall. We decided to help him train with the Flying Press, and time after time, Hawlucha is still slow. That's when I come up with an idea, but before we can do that, the same Ursaring comes back with a Conkeldurr and a Machamp.

Keaton reveals that Machamp had been the previous "Forest Champion", and had disappeared to train in the mountains after being defeated by Hawlucha.

"I challenge you for the Forest Champion title." The Machamp says as he challenges Hawlucha. Hawlucha says nothing before quickly retaliating with multiple Karate Chops. However, Machamp remains still, withstanding all of Hawlucha's hits. As Hawlucha continues to attack, to both Hawlucha's and Machamp's surprise, Ursaring and Conkeldurr come forward to attack Hawlucha.

"Hey! Battling three on one is not fair!" Serena yells.

"Machamp looks surprised as well, I think these two are the ones who planned this from the beginning!" Keaton says.

The two bullies slam Hawlucha to the ground and continue to attack, and Machamp in response attacks the two bullies and stops the unfair fight. Machamp, now carrying the two fainted Pokémon, walks off, agreeing with Hawlucha to battle at another time.

After Machamp has left, I say, "Hawlucha. That's too bad about your battle with Machamp. But if you still want to have a heated battle, let me take its place."

Hawlucha stares at me with surprise, and I say, "I told you, I think you're an awesome Pokemon. I'll tell you the truth, I'd like yo to come along with me."

Then we are having a battle with Hawlucha, Pikachu is eager, but I stop him. "There's someone I want to try out with Hawlucha's fierce battling style."

I send out Froakie and have him battle against Hawlucha. Froakie starts off with Water Pulse and Double Team, allowing it to avoid Hawlucha's High Jump Kick. After attacking with Bubble, I try to have Froakie jump up and grab Hawlucha. However, Froakie misses, and lands in the water instead.

Froakie uses Double Team as it jumps out of the water, followed up with Cut. Hawlucha avoids the duplicates before it counters with High Jump Kick, and finishes off with its newly practiced Flying Press. Froakie counters with Cut just as Hawlucha slams into it, causing both to faint.

"Hawlucha, thanks. Having a battle with you was great. I think you're a really special Pokemon. Getting your Flying Press perfect like that during a real battle was amazing! It may have looked like a draw, but the truth is I totally lost. I know you're gonna be fine from here on out." I say.

It turns out that Hawlucha also wants to come along, and Machamp also comes and assures that the forest will be fine. That's when Hawlucha enters our Pokeball and join our team.

Hawlucha: The Wrestling Pokemon: Fighting and Flying Type. With its wings, it controls its position in the air. It likes to attack from above, a maneuver that is difficult to defend against.

We are now in Geosenge Town, and this time I decide to enter the Contest for my second ribbon. But when we arrive at the Contest Hall, we are surprised to find Zoey, my Contest rival in Sinnoh, here of all places.

"It's Zoey!" I gasp as I greet her, she is also surprised to see me here. "Ash, what a surprise." Zoey greets. "It's been a while since Sinnoh."

"Yeah. How are you?" I ask. "Are you perhaps here for the Contest as well?"

"I sure am, I assume you are as well?" Zoey asks.

"Of course. Though I've just got one ribbon right now, I'm going to win this for my second ribbon."

"Really. I'm looking forward to it." Zoey says.

That when I decide to introduce the others to her, though Eevee is still shy. "Is that an Eevee?" Zoey asks.

"Yeah, Eevee was our new capture, though it seems to be shy with others." I say. "She's really good at dancing, that's why I want her to watch the Contests."

"I see." Zoey says.

After that, we decide to go backstage so that we can prepare for our second contest. In the appeal rounds, I see that Zoey is still using Glameow and having it use Shadow Claw and Assist to dazzle the stage. I know that I can't lose, so I decide to go with Amaura, with its ability Refrigerate, all of the Normal moves have become Ice moves, and that gives me a lot of things to do.

I start with Hail to set up the snowy field, and then we try to do Ice Swifts and also Rock Tomb, a technique that I learned from Grant. And I also pass the first round with flying colors.

Serena asks, "Eevee, do you like it? That's Ash's performances."

Eevee is watching the Contests with sparkles, and I'm sure that she really likes it a lot. In the end, Zoey and I are two of the 8 competitors who get to the second round, and we also battle our way through as I use Ampharos to advance to the finals, which is against Zoey.

"The final round of the match is Ash Ketchum versus Zoey! Both of them got high scores in the previous rounds, let's see who will win."

Zoey says, "Alright, Gallade, come on out."

"Gardevior! I choose you!" I say as both of the Psychic Types appear on the field, I say, "Gardevoir, let's get the show on. Magical Leaf!"

Gardevior uses the speed to shoot out leaves, causing Gallade to get hit.

"Gallade, Psycho Cut!" Zoey says as it comes closer to Gardevoir and slashes her. Both of them get their points lower, but they aren't backing down.

"Gardevoir. Respond to our hearts. Mega Evolve!" I say while Mega Evolving my Gardevoir, and the Mega Evolution causes the crowd to go wild.

"This is going to be a tough match. Shadow Ball!" Zoey yells. I just give Gardevoir a wink as she dodges the moves. And with the speed, Zoey couldn't land a hit. After the time is up, Lillian announces, "It is settled! The winner of the Champier Contest is Ash Ketchum!" Then everyone cheers for me.

Zoey recalls her Gallade and says, "Wow, Ash. You and your Gardevoir show really great bonds."

"Thanks, your Gallade is not bad as well." I say back.

Once I get the ribbon, we are greeted by the others outside, and Zoey says, "Looks like you're tough as ever. Then again, you are already a Top Coordinator who won five Grand Festivals in a row."

"I plan to win my sixth one here in the Kalos Region." I say.

"Well, I hope I can be your toughest challenge yet." Then we bid farewell to Zoey as she leaves for some more training. As for us, we decide to look around the city. We also book two hotel rooms in Hotel Marine Snow, since I think it is better that we stay a night here.

As we look around, we also find some Team Flare grunts in the area, they recognize us and they say, "Hear this, pipsqueak! Team Flare is gonna use the stones on Route 10 and a fantastic treasure to make everyone on our team happy! In this world, the ones who have power are the ones who win with flair!"

After they run away, we decide to chase after them, but we reach a dead end in the end. Serena says, "They were here... But they aren't anymore, are they? And the only thing past here is a dead end... There's something very weird about Team Flare..."

"You're right about that..."

Here is a new chapter, and the next chapter will be about Korrina. I hope you like this chapter.

Ash and Serena's Pokemon:

Venusaur, Charizard x2, Blastoise, Pikachu x2, Alakazam, Gengar, Kangaskhan, Pinsir, Gyarados (Shiny), Eevee, Aerodactyl, Ampharos, Scizor, Heracross, Houndoom, Tyranitar, Gardevoir (Shiny), Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Banette, Absol, Garchomp, Lucario, Samurott, Audino, Zoroark, Hydreigon, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Vivillon x20, Litleo, Flabebe (Rainbow), Skiddo, Pancham, Furfrou, Espurr x2, Honedge, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Inkay, Binacle, Clauncher, Helioptile, Tyrunt, Amarua, Hawlucha