Pokémon Ash the legendary Rainbow Hero

by Star-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

After his battle with Ho-Oh, Ash thought that he was done being the Rainbow Hero, but fate has other plans. A year after his battle against Ho-Oh, Ash learns what it truly means to be a Rainbow Hero. He will accomplish his dream and be the Legendary Hero with his best friends, Pikachu, Latios, Latias, Verity and Sorrel with him as Ash becomes the Legendary Rainbow Hero Master.

30. Chapter 30

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry that it took this long for this chapter to come out. You see, I've recently started getting back into World of Warcraft. It's been so long that I've needed time to catch up completely. I stopped playing around the first week Dragonflight was out and that proved to be a mistake for me.

Enough of that for now. Because now we've reached chapter 30 of this story, truly a big point. It has been a long time since I started this story and I'm not even half way done. I honestly don't think I'll be able to complete it, even if I focus all my time on it. But I'm still gonna give it a try. Wish me luck everyone.

Now for the reviews to be answered.

Juan Pablo: I know that, I just decided not to have Blastiose learn it. And why are you against Liko being in Ash's harem?

jdtperry: I kinda already thought of doing that, just the age gap is bothering me.

lukermartin51: Sure.

masterreader 26: That can't happen. Dynmax only works in Galar. And as for that other question, I have no idea yet.

shadows1234: Here's the new chapter.

Doc of 102: Ash showing Miraidon and Walking Wake in public will draw unwanted attention and he doesn't want the wrong people after them. He feels it best to keep them hidden for now.

Guest: I can't just make the next arc a separate story to this one. That'll just take up more of my time.

Gamelover41592: I'm glad to hear it caught your interest. I hope you enjoy my story.

TheOfficialLieDetector: Wait and see.

juanpablorojasdawson: Okay then.

Redflare ranger: Body Press maybe. Curse, hell no!

Chris Ketchum: Wait and see.

lukermartin51: Maybe once or twice, but not completely.

Tony Anderson: Thanks.

That's all for now, everyone. Now enjoy the chapter, stories like these are honestly the only way for us to keep seeing Ash in adventures. God I miss watching him in Pokémon. Enjoy.

---

Chapter 30: Contest battle with the Phantom.

It's been 5 days since the gang's return to Mauville City and their departure of it to head to Verdanturf Town for May's next Pokémon Contest and not much has really happened. Well, two interesting things happen. On Route 117 on their way to Verdanturf Town, the gang encountered a Spring Form Deerling. The Season Pokémon captured May's attention the moment she laid eyes on it and decided to capture it.

She played smart and went with Combusken against the Deerling, managing a quick impressive victory over the Grass and Normal type Pokémon. May captured Deerling with a Nest Ball and transferred Azumarill back to her parents' house to make some room for the new addition. The Deerling that May captured turned out to be a female one with the moves Double Kick, Trailblaze, Rain Dance and Substitute with the ability Chlorophyll.

The gang congratulated May on her new capture with the brunette very happy to have a new Pokémon in her team. For the rest of that afternoon, May trained with her new Deerling with Verity helping her junior out. They made some good progress with Deerling proving to be a girl that loves grooming itself and not getting dirty.

The gang continued on their way the next day, but as usual Team Rocket stuff happened. They tried to trick the gang by disguising themselves as road workers and getting them to fall into a hole, the typical pitfall trap. But it failed terribly because Lucario sensed their aura and told Sorrel about it.

Seeing that the team was pointless, Team Rocket took off their disguise and a battle broke out. Jessie sent out Trubbish, James Steelix and Meowth took to the battle as well. Ash, May and Sorrel battled this time with the Rainbow Hero sending out Torkoal to battle Steelix, the Petalburg girl used Skitty against Trubbish and Sorrel battled Meowth with Skorupi.

The battle was going well with both sides fighting hard. However things took a drastic turn for the gang as Trubbish knocked Skitty on top of Torkoal with a Seed Bomb. But the bad thing was that Torkoal released its black smoke at that moment and Skitty was fully blasted by it, losing its voice. Ash and Sorrel had enough playing around and sent out Grovyle and Regirock, sending Team Rock blasting off quickly.

Worried for Skitty, the gang got to immediate work. But the potions and medicine Sorrel and Brock had wouldn't work on the Normal Type, so they rushed to the next town to get Skitty to a Pokémon Center. But much to their dismay, there wasn't one there and only in the next town. But lucky though, there was a Pokémon clinic in Foothill Town. Left with little choice, they decided to go to the clinic and hoped fortune smiles on them.

And it did because the clinic's owner Dr. Abby was able to help Skitty completely by using massages. There were a few more surprises as the gang found out that Dr. Abby used to be a Pokémon Coordinator like May and Verity, much to May's delight. She had read about Dr. Abby as a Coordinator that won the Grand Festival itself with a Skitty, but disappeared after her victory.

It was clear that May was fangirling over Dr. Abby, but Verity wasn't so much. Dr. Abby told them all her story how her victory made her overconfident and it resulted in her Skitty that she called "Johnny" got terribly injured. She rushed to find help and found it with a Pokémon clinic for treatment. Impressed with the skills of Dr. Moss, the doctor who had helped her, she decided to stay and learn how to treat Pokémon herself, and was eventually able to become a skilled doctor in her own right. As a reward for her efforts, right before she left to found her own clinic, the Dr. Moss gave her a Moon Stone, which she used to turn her Skitty into a Delcatty.

The gang was amazed with Dr. Abby's story with May requesting to see her Delcatty, a request that Abby was more than happy to fulfill. She took them all to her backyard where the gang met Dr. Abby's Delcatty "Johnny" and it was clear to see that it was a strong one. May and Verity soon had a talk with Dr. Abba with the Petalburg girl telling the retired Coordinator how she has a Moon Stone to evolve Skitty, but felt like it wasn't the best time yet and wanted to achieve something with Skitty first.

Dr. Abby whole heartedly agreed with May's decision and suggested to May to use Skitty for the next Contest maybe. They talked further with the three becoming good friends and Dr. Abby giving some advise. Even suggested to May to train a bit without Verity's help a bit, but it was unnecessary since Verity already taught her that. Dr. Abby was very impressed with the two girls and had an idea to help with May's performance with Skitty.

It was an old trick she used to do with Johnny, juggling some balls with Double Slap. She even advised May's Skitty to use its tail instead of hands when doing so. Despite it being her first time doing it, May's Skitty was doing well with juggling the balls with Double Slap, but still needed some work.

Unknown to the gang and Dr. Abby, Team Rocket was spying on them from a distance and decided to steal both Johnny and Skitty. They decided to forget the disguise idea and just went straight in, taking everyone by surprise with a Haze and Sand Attack combo. It was effective and allowed them to successfully steal Johnny and Skitty and get out of there.

The gang and Dr. Abby took off after them. Abby's Johnny showed how strong it was by breaking itself and Skitty free by using Solar Beam. Breaking free from their collars, Skitty and Johnny run back to their Trainers, but Team Rocket wasn't ready to give up just yet. It was another battle as Jessie sent out Gothorita and James went with Fraxure.

Dr. Abby and May took charge of the battle with Abby showing her impressive skills by having Johnny use multiple powerful attacks such as Solar Beam, Thunderbolt and Blizzard. May took the chance for Skitty to learn Blizzard from Johnny and Skitty managed to learn the move. The gang finished the battle up with a double Blizzard, Hydro Pump, Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt, sending Team Rocket blasting off once more.

Later on in the afternoon, the gang paid Dr. Abby and Johnny goodbye and thanks for all she's done. They parted ways and the gang continued onto Verdanturf. Not to mention that Skitty replaced Tackle with Blizzard. All in all, this whole experience has helped May decide to use Skitty for her nest Pokémon Contest.

The gang have just reached Verdanturf Town today and May was eager to sign up for the Contest straight away. Unknown to them all was that they would all encounter an old friend and a new rival for May here in Verdanturf Town, not to mention more family drama.

---

(Opening: Pokémon Journeys opening: 1, 2, 3, version 2)

With a green background, three mirrors appeared, one vertical with a rainbow background, the second with a blue background and the third had a green. All three mirrors were showing three familiar pairs of legs of three certain trainers. These windows then closed before opening again, this time showing Ash, Verity and Sorrel all running with eager looks. Ash was running forward, Verity was running right and Sorrel left. The mirrors all closed and disappeared to reveal the title "Pokémon Legend of the Rainbow Hero" in colorless letters, before the Rainbow Wing fell past it, changing the letters all into a rainbow color.

'Hey, you still not ready? C'mon, hurry up!'

The three old friends were standing in a triangle position with their backs towards each other with different coloured grounds below them. Ash's ground was a rainbow colour, Verity's an electric blue and Sorrel's a green color. Ash put his cap on his head with a grin, before adjusting his backpack. Pikachu and Espeon then appeared, jumping onto his shoulders, much to the Rainbow Hero's joy.

'You all packed and ready to leave?'

Verity knelt down for a moment, before she stood up to reveal that she was holding Piplup in her arms with the two partners smiling happily at one another.

Sorrel and Lucario were standing right besides each other with the two looking through Sorrel's notebook that he was holding with his right hand. The two partners looked at each other and smiled.

'I'll show you this wide mysterious world'

Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Pikachu, Espeon, Piplup and Lucario were all gathered together, talking to one another happily. It changed to show Sorrel adjusting his right shoe with Lucario stretching his paws out next to his trainer, while Verity had her arms wrapped around her boyfriend's right hand as she gave him a peck on the cheek, resulting in Ash's face turning flushed with Pikachu, Espeon and Piplup laughing in front of them. It then changed to show Ash and Sorrel standing in front of one another, giving a fist up to each other, before Verity appeared from below and wrapped her arms around her two old friends' shoulders, bringing them into a group hug with her eyes closed happily and the two males smiling.

'And skip the slow send-off'.

Ash, Verity and Sorrel then ran out of a Pokémon Center into the outside world. Inside the Pokémon Center, Brock watched them ran out from a bench next to a window, Max and Jirachi were playing together, before they turned to look out the door. May was handing in her Poké Balls to Nurse Joy, before she turned around and gave a warm smile.

'Be it through fire or through water'.

'I'm fumbling blindly through the days'.

'When I don't even know what the next second will bring'.

Ash, Verity and Sorrel were all standing in front of a computer screen as it showed pictures of the legendary trio of Kanto, Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno in three separate pictures with the background showing a map of the Kanto Region. The screen then changed to show Lugia and Ho-Oh in two separate pictures with the background showing a map of the Johto Region.

The computer screen changed to show three separate pictures of Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza with a map of the Hoenn Region as the background. The screen changed to show a single picture of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina together with a map of the Sinnoh Region as the background. It changed once more to show a single picture of Zekrom and Reshiram flying around each other with Kyurem in the center with a map of the Unova Region as the background.

The computer screen changed to show two separate pictures of Xerneas and Yveltal with a map of the Kalos Region as the background. The screen then changed once more to show two separate pictures of Solgaleo and Lunala with a map of the Alola Region as the background. It changed to show a single picture of Zacian (Crowned Sword) and Zamazenta (Crowned Shield) in front of their shrine in the Slumbering Weald. Finally, changed to show Miraidon and Koraidon with a map of Paldea as the background.

Ash, Verity and Sorrel were looking over a folding map, before Ash turned excitedly to Sorrel and said something to him, getting him and Verity to turn their attention to him with the Pokémon Coordinator telling her boyfriend something. Pikachu, Espeon, Piplup and Lucario all sat down besides one another and snacked on some cookies gathered around their trainers.

'Each and everyone one of my memories'.

Ash's left rainbow colored eye showed the brightly flashing Rainbow Wing, before the screen zoomed out to show the Rainbow Hero in his transformed state, falling towards a bright light when Ho-Oh came by and flew around with the camera spinning around as well. Ho-Oh flew off as Ash did a flip and pulled out a Master Ball with his left hand. It gleamed with psychic energy, before it burst open with a white beam coming out.

'Can always be found inside a Ball'.

The white beam cleared to reveal Latios flying in the sky with Marshadow on his back, before Latias joined him from the right, now flying besides her brother with the sky above them filled with dark clouds. The two Eon Dragons then flew faster and out of view

A Poké Ball hit the ground and rolled over to Ash's feet. The camera changed to the inside of it with a round shadow showing the outside with the red top transparent. Ash, Verity and Sorrel gazed at the Poké Ball in wonder, before the Twinleaf turned to look at her old friends. The three stepped back as the device opened with a blue light filling the screen.

'On 1, 2, 3, dive in!'

A spotlight shined down on Ash as he thrust his right hand out with a grin, before all his Pokémon charged ahead with spotlights on all of them as well. Pikachu, Espeon, Torkoal, Venusaur, Blastoise, Grovyle, Raikou, Walking Wake, Zoroark, Snorlax, Timburr, Deino, Sableye, Corphish, Meganium, Tauros, Kingler, Muk, Typhlosion, Nidoking, Gallade, Kabutops, Skrelp, Rapidash, Gengar, Primeape, Hitmonlee, Ampharos, Ursaring, Donphan, Feraligatr, Tyranitar and Trevenant all charged on ahead on the ground, while Latios, Latias, Miraidon Ultimate Mode, Charizard, Taillow, Pidgeot, Heracross, Scizor, Lapras, Flygon, Dragonite, Magnezone, Skarmory and Noctowl flew above them with Marshadow riding on Latios' back and Lapras floating thanks to Espeon's Psychic attack.

Pikachu suddenly sparkled with electric, before he leaped and fired Thunderbolt at Sorrel's Aerodactyl, who dodged it by flying by.

'I've got the future plans I imagined in my pocket'.

Verity's Milotic came out of nowhere with a spotlight on her and fired a Mud Shot attack at Sorrel's Lairon, striking the Rock and Iron type and sending it sliding across the ground past Sorrel, who cried out in surprise. From the side jumped in Lucario with his paws together with an Aura Sphere in between them, getting Sorrel to smile as his Aura Pokémon fired the Aura Sphere, causing the camera to turn around to show Verity standing behind her Milotic, having wide eyes as the blue sphere grew closer.

The screen changed to show Team Rocket all together in the forest with Jessie standing to the right, James to the left and Meowth in the middle. Then from the sides, their Pokémon came out and stood behind them. Jessie had her Seviper, Dustox, Wobbuffet, Trubbish and Gothorita gathered behind her, while James had Cacturne, Axew, Steelix and Parasect behind him.

The three gave confident looks, before the two humans brought out Poké Balls and threw them forward as their Pokémon cheered, before the devices burst open to reveal bright white lights.

'Greeting someone new is always fresh'.

Ash stared up at the sky in amazement as Mega Latios faced off against Primal Kyogre in the air above with it raining heavily around them. Latios charged up a Luster Purge, before he fired it at Kyogre, who narrowed its eyes at the approaching attack.

'No need to hesitate! Try!'

Atop a grassy hill with the sky covered in dark clouds, Verity's Lopunny and Sorrel's Poliwrath stood 10 feet away from each other, before they charged in and began sparking in hand-to-hand combat with neither of them having the advantage.

Ash, Pikachu, Espeon, Latias, Zoroark, Donphan, Corphish and Dragonite all jumped up and cheered with a rainbow background. Verity, Piplup, Furret, Glameow, Vaporeon, Tangrowth, Kingdra and Lopunny all jumped up and cheered with a blue background. Finally, Sorrel, Lucario, Luxray, Accelgor, Lairon, Victreebel and Poliwrath all cheered with a green background.

'Let's have a fight!'

Atop the Sky Pillar, Ash, Verity and Sorrel all stood side by side with Pikachu riding on his trainer's right shoulder as Mega Sceptile, Mega Houndoom and Mega Gardevoir in front of them, all facing up at the sky where a shiny Mega Rayquaza was roaring down at them.

'1: Once the battle is done'.

The Hoenn Region champion Steven and his Mega shiny Metagross appeared with a silver background. The screen changed to show a stadium, where Steven waved his left hand out, giving a commanded as Mega Metagross unleashed a Flash Cannon attack. The camera shifted to show a Dragonite counter the Flash Cannon with a Hyper Beam attack with Lance standing behind the Dragon and Flying Type, having an excited grin planted on his face.

'2: And we're laughing or crying'.

The Johto Region champion Lance and his Dragonite appeared with a dark blue background. The screen then changed to various photos, the first showing Ash holding up the Johto League Silver Conference trophy in his hands, the second showing Verity holding up the Slateport Pokémon Contest Ribbon in her right hand, the third revealing Sorrel researching a set of ruins with his back turned to the camera.

The fourth photo showed all three friends and their partner Pokémon all together. Verity was in the middle, having a wide smile on her face with her eyes closed with her right hand wrapped around Sorrel's shoulders and left hand around Ash's shoulders, bringing the two smiling males into a group hug. Piplup, Pikachu and Lucario were all in front of their trainers in the photo, smiling wildly at the camera. The final photo showed them all leaning in towards the camera with happy faces.

'On 3, let's be friends!'

The screen changed to show Professor Oak, Tracey, Misty, Delia, Azora and Sylvia all together in Professor Oak's backyard with Azora holding her Pokémon in her arms. Professor Oak and Tracey smiled at each other; Misty winked at the camera and gave the peace sign with her left hand. Delia placed her hands down on Azora's shoulders and smiled down at her, getting Azora and Sylvia both to smile up at her.

The screen changed to show Forina with the sky black and various nocturnal Pokémon about, before Jirachi flew through his homeland, leaving a sparkling trail. A wild Ludicolo jumped into view in a forest, surrounded by several confused Marshtomps, before they all began dancing.

'Any day and every day, that's always been my rule'.

Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Pikachu, Piplup and Lucario stood on a cliff overlooking a city next to a tree with a blue sky filled with clouds. Time began changing as the sky changed to reveal a clearer blue one, then an orange sky as the sun began to set and then a beautiful night sky filled with stars.

The screen changed to show the Raizen Mountains, then to Mount Tensei, right where Ash battled Ho-Oh so long ago.

'With this unpredictable, boundless world awaiting'.

In the Petalburg City Gym, Norman opened his determined filled eyes, before the camera zoomed out to show that he was in the Petalburg Gym's battlefield with his Slaking in front of him. Norman crossed his arms, while Slaking roared as it began pounding its chest like a gorilla.

The screen changed to show Ash kneeling down, before he got up on his feet and walked into an opening surrounded by a white light with Pikachu by his right side.

'Let's go! Every time you trip and fall'.

With a yellow background, Pikachu's ears perked, before both he looked up at Ash as he walked forward with a wild smile that grew wilder as he looked down at Pikachu with a rainbow background. With an icy blue background, Piplup cried out as she looked up.

'Let's go! You pick yourself up by my side'.

With a blue background, Verity walked forward with a grin, before it grew as she looked down at her partner. With a silver background, Lucario's ears perked, before turned his head right to look at Sorrel as he walked forward, before he turned to look at his trusted partner with a green background.

Three mirrors appeared and showed the three old friends in separate mirrors with their Pokémon team. Sorrel was in the left mirror with his Lucario, Shelgon, Aerodactyl, Regirock, Lairon and Skorupi around him, facing their direction with a green background. On the right mirror, Verity stood with her Piplup, Gible, shiny Togepi, shiny Beautifly, Furret and Tangrowth besides her as they faced right with a blue background.

In the middle mirror in between the three was Ash with Pikachu, Grovyle, Torkoal, Tailow, Corphish, Deino and Miraidon all facing forward with a rainbow background.

'I choose you'.

Sorrel lifted his left hand, Verity raised her right hand and Ash held up both of his hands, before all three friends hi-fived each other.

---

(Verdanturf Town Pokémon Center)

A little bit away from the main city of Verdanturf Town was the Verdanturf Pokémon Center. It was a tall building to house many people inside and right now; the gang had just entered through the door. May and Max were in the lead with the younger sibling carrying Jirachi in his arms, while Ash, Verity, Brock, Sorrel and Lucario were behind with Piplup and Pikachu riding on Lucario's shoulders.

"Yay! We're here!" May happily announced as the whole gang stopped and took a look around their surroundings. "Yeah... And I have to admit, it's worth all the trouble we went through". Verity remarked, stretching her right arm into the air. Ash and Sorrel chuckled at their old friend, but then Sorrel took notice of something nearby. "Hold on? Is that Drew?" The Pokémon Professor in training questioned, catching the gang's full attention.

They looked over to see that May's main rival was indeed there, standing in front of Nurse Joy with a Chansey right next to her with a stretcher ready. "I hope you can help it, Nurse Joy". The green-haired boy said with a sense of pleading in his voice, handing over an unconscious and injured Roselia to the nurse. The gang began walking over to Drew with May speaking up.

"Drew... I knew you'd be here". May said with a smile, catching the male Pokémon Coordinator's attention. He placed both hands into his pockets and looked over to May past his left shoulder. "Oh, hello May, Verity". Drew greeted the two female Coordinators, not sounding his usual confident self and instead sounded a bit down in the dumps. Verity looked past Drew to his Roselia and grew a worried face at seeing how hurt it was.

"Your Roselia... What happened?" The brunette asked her fellow Pokémon Coordinator with a serious voice, catching May, Brock, Max and Jirachi off guard at her question. They looked over and saw Drew's Roselia in Nurse Joy's hands, much to their horror. Ash, Sorrel, Pikachu, Lucario and Piplup had noticed Drew's hurt Grass and Poison Type earlier and were wondering who was responsible for that.

Drew turned away and tilted his head down in shame. "Roselia got really hurt in a battle against a masked Pokémon Coordinator called The Phantom and his Dusclops". The young boy told them what happened to his beloved Grass and Poison Type Pokémon. May and Verity both blinked at Drew, honestly having been expecting Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua or some criminals to be responsible for this.

"Phantom?" The Twinleaf girl said with a small tilt of the head, no recollection of a Coordinator with that name. "A Dusclops?" May questioned, bringing out her Rotom Phone with the right hand and looked it up. In just 5 seconds, it displayed an image of the Pokémon she's looking for. "Dusclops, the Beckon Pokémon. Its body is completely hollow, and like a black hole, it can swallow anything. Some say that its victims never return". The device read the information it had on the Beckon Pokémon. The image reminded May of Butler's one and how powerful it was.

"Will Roselia be able to recover for the contest tomorrow?" Sorrel asked Drew, turning his gaze from Roselia to its trainer. "No, it's too injured for a quick recovery. I'll have to sit this one out". The green-haired boy answered, turning around and began walking off to the entrance. "Word of advice, stay alert. If he knew about me, then I'm confident to say that he knows about you Verity, so watch out". Drew warned the gang, the front slide door opening for him and he walked out of the Pokémon Center.

The gang watched him go, while Nurse Joy and her Chansey left to begin Roselia's treatment. "Well, things just took an interesting turn of events. There's some masked coordinator that's strong enough to give Drew a beating out and about". Ash remarked, folding both hands behind his head as he spoke. "If what Drew said about this "Phantom" is true, then it's a certainty that he'll be in the Pokémon Contest tomorrow". Verity remarked, turning to look at May with a serious face.

"Going with Skitty for the battle round is perhaps your best option against this Phantom's Dustclops. Ghost type attacks won't work against a Normal type like Skitty". The tomboyish girl said to her fellow Pokémon Coordinator, personally considering Skitty her best choice against this Phantom guy in battle. "That's true, but Normal type moves don't work on Ghost types either". Max pointed out, but that only got a scoff from Sorrel.

"Don't sweat it. Skitty's only Normal type attack is Double Slap, while the other three will make up for that. And if need be, Assist will be May's trump card". The Veilstone boy said with a small grin, gazing over to May. The brunette grew a confident smile, then held up her right fist. "If he wants a go at me, then I say "bring it on" because I'm not scared". May said without a shred of fear, something that brought a smile to the whole gang.

---

(Half an hour later/ Play Pokémon Anime Sound Collection - Johto Bicycle Theme)

The gang soon left the Pokémon Center so that May could do some training. After that, the gang planned to check out the Rusturf Tunnel that they planned to take to Rustboro City once they're done with the Contest. They eventually found themselves in a random park of Verdanturf Town that was perfect for May's training.

"Time to practice! I'm still finding it hard to believe there's someone here that was able to beat Drew, but I'm not scared of him! I beat Drew myself once!" May exclaimed with spirit, holding both fists up in an energetic way. "You beat him because you knew him. His strategy, battling style, his Pokémon, the moves he uses and a special ability that's the perfect counter. It won't be like that with this Phantom guy, so don't get overconfident". Ash told his second girlfriend, sitting down on a bench with Brock, Max, Pikachu and Jirachi. Verity, Sorrel, Lucario and Piplup were standing close by.

May turned to look at her boyfriend, a confident grin married to her face. "Don't worry, I know what happens when getting overconfident. I made that mistake more than enough times and I'm not gonna make it here!" The Petalburg girl exclaimed, something that brought a smile to Ash's face at how determined she was.

Unknown to the whole gang that not too far away was Team Rocket spying on them, well more like James and Meowth were doing the spying from behind a large bush. "Well, there they are. So, what's the plan?" James questioned, turning to look at the Scratch Cat Pokémon with a curious expression. "Isn't dat obvious?! We go out there and start battling!" Mewoth snapped at the former rich boy, bringing up his right paw with the claws extending out.

"Not this time!" A familiar voice stated, both James and Meowth turned around to see Jessie standing there in her Empress Coordinator Jessibella with the makeup on and hair still long. And right beside her were Dustox and Trubbish with the Pokémon standing across their trainer, facing her back while she looked at her teammates with a frown.

"I'm all for trying to catch Pikachu, but not today. Today is gonna be spent training for the contest tomorrow". The disguised Jessie stated, before turning around to face Dustox and Trubbish. Both Meowth and James deadpanned at their teammate, easily able to see that Jessie had every intention of entering the contest tomorrow.

"Jessie, ya can't be serious! You're still interested in those Pokémon Contests?" Meowth questioned the adult female with an annoyed voice, wishing she'd forget about that stuff for now. "We have better things to do than waste our time with showcasing to people. Our main purpose is to give our everything to Team Rocket without question!" James exclaimed, raising his left fist a bit into the air.

"Oh, put a sock into it you two! And like you're one to talk James! If we really were putting out everything into Team Rocket, you'd be gift wrapped and mailed off to your crazy fiancé by now and donating all your inheritance to the team". Jessie shot back without turning to face the two, throwing her right hand out to the side. Dustox and Trubbish nodded to their trainer before they turned around and took off a little.

James was paling a terrible colour at Jessie's words, while Meowth appeared like he had swallowed something sour at the thought of dealing with that crazy lunatic again. "Speaking of dat, how certain are we that we won't run into them again?" The Scratch Cat Pokémon questioned, turning to look up at James who gave a gulp at the thought. "I for one would be more than happy to never deal with them again". James replied, turning to look at Meowth for a moment before they both went back to watching the gang.

May had brought out an enlarged Poké Ball and Quick Ball with her right hand. "Go Skitty and Klefki! Come on out and take the stage!" The brunette cried out, rearing her right hand back and holding up the left leg before throwing both devices out. They spun through the air, before stopping and burst open with two bright white beams. They took shape and cleared to reveal Skitty and Klefki with them both crying out full of energy.

(Music end)

Immediately Skitty began playing its game of "catch its own tail", while Klefki floated above it and faced their trainer with its full attention. The rest of the gang were standing up and were behind May, watching as she began training. "The Pokémon Contest is tomorrow guys, and we can win it if we try". May said to her Pokémon with confidence, catching Skitty's fully attention as it stopped playing and looked up at May.

"Na!/ Klef!" Skitty and Klefki cried out, both ready to train and win the Contest tomorrow. "Okay, so Klefki you're gonna do the Performance Round while Skitty is in the second round. And remember Skitty if we manage to win this, I'll finally give you the chance to evolve into a Delcatty". May told the little Normal type, much to Skitty's excitement at hearing this.

"Now let's practice your new Blizzard attack". The Petalburg girl told Skitty, something it was more than happy to do. "Naaa!" Skitty leaped into the air, back flipped and unleash a blizzard from its open mouth. But unexpectedly, Skitty's Blizzard struck the gang.

Ash, May, Verity, Sorrel and Brock all cried out in surprise with their eyes shut, Max and Pikachu were nearly blown away yet managed to hang onto a nearby lightpost for dear life, while Lucario, Piplup and Jirachi all owlishly blinked in surprise at the unexpected attack. As for Klefki, the Steel and Fairy type just cried out in surprise at Skitty's actions.

"Skitty, not like that!" May cried out, holding her right hand out to the Normal type. Fortunately, Skitty ceased using Blizzard and just gave an innocent meow, all innocent-like without a single bit of shame. "Well, that was unexpected. I was feeling a bit hot today, so I guess that wasn't so bad". Verity remarked, reaching up to her hair and took her hairband off and let her hair loose. She shook her head sideways, hair blowing a bit until she was done and redid her hair.

May had a sweat drop and an anime exhausted expression on her face with both eyes closed. "Well, good job. We don't need to work on your Blizzard anymore". The Petalburg girl "praised" her Pokémon, suddenly wanting to move on from their Blizzard training since it seemed like they didn't need to do any improvements. What May said caught the attention of Sorrel, who had just finished checking his Rotom Phone that he's holding with his left hand.

"I'd advised against that for now, May. Skitty just recently learned Blizzard, so I highly doubt it has mastered Blizzard fully yet. Maybe a bit more training will do". The Veilstone boy told his traveling companion, putting the Rotom Phone away in his coat pocket. May blinked in surprise, before looking over to Sorrel. "Are you sure? Skitty's Blizzard just now seemed perfect to me". May said to her friend, turning to look back at Skitty.

"That was just luck, not mastery over Blizzard. That could coast you dearly in the Pokémon Contest tomorrow". Sorrel replied, turning to look at Ash once he finished speaking. "Ash, your Corphish knows Blizzard right?" He asked his sworn brother, catching Ash's full attention right away. The Rainbow Hero gave a nod of the head, one that Sorrel returned before looking back at May.

"I suggest having Ash and his Corphish help Skitty with its Blizzard training. It could help watching how an experienced Pokémon uses a move". Sorrel suggested to the Petalburg girl, catching May a little by surprise as she blushed at the thought of training with her boyfriend. "I...I'll think about it, but right now I need to work on Klefki's performance". The brunette said, turning to look at the floating Steel and Fairy type.

"May's got a point about this. Klefki's four moves are rather tricky". Brock commented, remembering Klefki's four moves perfectly and they weren't exactly the best ones to work with. "That just makes all the more fun to achieve". Verity remarked, folding both hands behind her head and gave a playful grin. "Piplup pip piplup". Piplup commented, jumping up from the ground to Verity's left shoulder and held on. What the Twinleaf girl didn't notice that just right outside the park was a young boy around their age staring at her.

He had fair skin, reddish brown hair, black eyes and wearing a uniform that consists of a white shirt, blue jeans and dark green shoes. "Huh?" He blinked at the sight of Verity, recognizing her as a rather famed Pokémon Coordinator. He narrowed both eyes, before looking around his surroundings a bit and took off down the street.

"Hmmm..." May held her chin with the right hand, looking down in thought for a good combination with the moves that Klefki has. She suddenly let go of her chin and snapped the right hand's fingers. "Oh, I got an idea now!" The brunette stated, before waving her right hand at Klefki to come to her. "Klef..." The Steel and Fairy type said softly, floating over to May and stopped right in front of her.

May leaned in and began whispering to her Klefki, keeping her voice low enough so that the others won't overhear what she's saying. "Hey Verity, can you think of a combination with Klefki's moves?" Max suddenly asked the Twinleaf girl, turning to look at Verity while paying no mind to Jirachi lying atop of his head. Verity blinked in surprise at Max's sudden question. She turned to look at him, while Skitty ran up to behind Lucario and began jumping up and down, reaching for the Aura Pokémon's tail with an excited voice, something that Lucario gave an unamused look at.

"Even if I could, my thinking is different to May's so she'll come up with something completely different to me". Verity told May's younger brother, speaking honestly because both her and May had different ways of thinking. "Aren't that the truth. Still, I'm sure we're in for something special". Ash commented, looking down at his Key Stone for a moment then at the Z-Power Ring.

May finished explaining her plan to Klefki and the two moved back an inch. "Okay, we got an idea for our performance. Now let's start practicing". The brunette said with a confident, which Klefki gave a nod of its head. But before the two could even begin, suddenly a sort of storm with rose petals came out of nowhere and hit the whole gang.

They all flinched and held their right hands up to protect their eyes. "This came out of nowhere!" Ash remarked, wondering who or what is doing this and what they want with them. May opened her eyes, then gasped in surprise upon seeing someone a few feet away from them with their back turned to the gang.

It was a boy around their age, wearing a sort of black suit with a top hat, cape and had some sort of mask on. They could also make out his light skin and reddish brown hair, but nothing else for the moment. The unknown started chuckling in a sort of amused way, cape blowing widely from the petal snowstorm. "You with the Skitty and Klefki, planning to enter the Pokémon Contest?" He questioned May, making no move to turn around and face her just yet.

"I'm starting to think that trouble just loves to find us". Verity remarked, her and the others lowering their right arms and stared at the unknown boy before them. "Are you... Phantom the masked Pokémon Coordinator?" May questioned, slightly narrowing her eyes at the black suited boy standing a few feet away. "So, you've heard of me. I guess that saves me the introductions then". The now revealed Phantom spoke, turning around to face the gang and allowed them to get a good look at them.

The mask he's wearing is a Dusclops-themed one. It had the face, red eye and two wispy, light gray growths coming out of the mask just like the Beckon Pokémon itself. He's also wearing black dress pants and a dress shirt over a white shirt with a blue tie. As for footwear, he's got black dress shoes as well. "Now, let's battle!" The Phantom called out, taking May a bit by surprise at learning what he's after.

"You want to battle me?" The Petalburg girl questioned, under the impression that he's challenging her right now. "Don't misunderstand me. We'll battle in the Pokémon Contest tomorrow. The one I'm interested in battling is... her". Phanton corrected May, pointing directly at Verity with her left hand's index finger. The whole gang blinked in surprise, before looking over to the Twinleaf girl.

"Me? Why do you want to battle me?" Verity questioned, pointing at herself with the left hand's index finger. "Because like Drew, you're a famed Pokémon Coordinator yourself Verity Awadetsu. Even I've heard your name and how skilled you are, already earning 3 Contest ribbons". Phantom explained to Verity, bringing up an enlarged Poké Ball with his right hand. "So, do you accept my challenge or not?" He questioned, ready to battle right away.

Verity blinked once more with an unsure expression, before letting out a sigh. "Okay fine. You want a battle, you got one". The Twinleaf girl told Phantom, resulting in him chuckling in satisfaction at the answer. "We might want to step back a bit". Brock advised his travel companions, something they silently agreed as they all stepped away from Verity while Piplup stayed right beside its trainer.

Meanwhile with Team Rocket; they had noticed the commotion going on and decided to watch, even Jessie stopped her training and recalled her Pokémon. The three were hiding behind the bushes, watching through binoculars. "Well now, who could this chump be?" James questioned with a curious face, no clue who Phantom is or what he's doing here.

"Who knows, who cares. But I do admit he's got guts challenging the twerps like that. Maybe we're in for a good show". Jessie said with a small eager grin, curious to see how the Phantom will do against Verity. "Don't expect much. Da twerp's girlfriend is one tough cookie". Meowth commented, giving a small wince upon remembering the beatings that Verity and her Pokémon gave him.

Back with the standoff between Verity and Phantom, the masked Pokémon Coordinator spoke. "I must admit that I'm excited to for this battle. I just hope you don't disappoint me like Drew did". Phantom said with a grin, getting Verity to chuckle a bit at what he said. "You don't have to worry about that. I have no intentions of disappointing you". The Twinleaf girl told Phantom, now getting him to chuckle with a grin.

"Shall I be the judge of this battle?" Brock question, taking a step forward only to stop when Verity held her left hand up. "No need for that. The rules of this battle are simple, right?" Verity spoke, lowering her left hand once she began speaking. "You got that right. Standard Contest rules with the usual time limit of a 5 minute battle". The black costume wearing boy declared, holding up his left hand with all five fingers out.

"Simple enough for me". Verity stated, holding up a shrunken Ultra Ball with her right hand. She taped on the center, causing the Ultra Ball to enlarge before rearing her hand back. "Gible, battle dance!" The Twinleaf girl called out, throwing the device into the air forward. Almost right away it burst up and a white beam struck the ground. It took shape, before clearing to reveal Verity's Gible with the Land Shark Pokémon gripping its fists. "Gib gible!" Gible cried out with energy, ready to battle.

"And as for me, come on out Dusclops!" Phantom exclaimed, holding up the Poké Ball once more before rearing it back and threw it forward. It immediately burst open with a white beam going straight up into the air and cleared to show Dusclops. "Clops!" The Ghost type cried out, landing 10 feet away from Gible and stared down at it.

'Ahhh!' Jirachi gasped at the sight of the Ghost type Pokémon, before shivering in discomfort upon remembering Butler's Dusclops and how tried to force him to open his true eye. Max took notice of his best friend's state and picked him up from his head. He hugged the Wish Pokemon tightly with Jirachi returning the embrace. "Been a while since we saw a Dusclops. Think this one's as strong as Butler's one?" Ash asked with a curious voice, turning to look at Sorrel once he finished speaking.

"Who knows. But I can tell that Phantom raised this one well". The Pokémon Professor in training answered, crossing both arms and looked over to Lucario, only to sweat drop at seeing Skitty was now full on hugging Lucario's tail with its whole body.

(Play Pokémon Anime Sound Collection- Hoenn Elite Four Battle Theme)

"First one to strike wins! Gible, Metal Claw go!" Verity commanded, pointing right at Dusclops with her right hand's index finger. "Gible!" The Dragon and Ground type responded, the tips on one of Gible's claws beginning to glow white before it charged at Dusclops.

"I agree with what you said, that's why we'll have the first hit! Dusclops, Shadow Punch!" Phantom cried out, punching the air with his right fist. "Dus...clops!" Dusclops cried out, hands becoming outlined in a gray aura before it punches the air with two black shadowy fist, outlined in a gray aura, launching right at Gible. "He can fire Shadow Punch from a distance!? Gible, dodge using Dig!" Verity ordered, rearing her right hand in before swiping it out to the side.

"Gib!" Gible responded, quickly jumping into the air and once it came down to the ground, started digging underground. Dusclops' Shadow Punches ended up striking the ground instead of their target, while Dusclops looked around its surroundings in search of Gible. "Nice one! Now Dusclops can't get to Gible!" May praised her friend with a wide smile, but her words only made Phantom chuckle in amusement.

"Oh, you really think so? Too bad you're dead wrong. Dusclops, fire Will-O-Wisp into the hole!" Phantom commanded, holding both hands up as if there were something in between them. "Dus...clops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out, summoning blue fireball appeared in between its hands. It then fired it right into the hole that Gible made when it used Dig.

"Verity, watch out! If Gible gets hit with Will-O-Wisp, it'll get burnt!" Max called out to the Twinleaf girl with a worried voice, fully aware just what sort of trouble Will-O-Wisp will cause if it hits. "I know, I know! Gible, retreat for now and get out of the ground!" Verity called out, holding her right hand out. A muffled cry came from the ground, before Gible suddenly erupted out of the ground 5 feet away from Dusclops.

The Dragon and Ground type landed on its feet with its claws no longer glowing. Dusclops' Will-O-Wisp quickly came out of the ground and went straight into the air until it died out completely. "Shadow Punch again!" Phantom commanded his Ghost type, a command that Dusclops was happy to obey as it fired two more Shadow Punches. Only this time they began circling around Gible in opposite directions.

"Gib!?" The Land Shark Pokémon gasped with wide eyes, right before both Shadow Punches began their barrage of striking her over and over again. "Gible!" Verity called out in alarm with wide eyes full of concern. "Dance like a Butterfree! Sting like a Beedrill!" Phantom called out, waving his cape around dramatically.

"That Dusclops is a master with its Shadow Punch attack, using it like that. It isn't giving Gible an opening to escape". Sorrel commented, watching with narrowed eyes and both arms crossed. "Not only that, but that masked Coordinator is no amateur either. It's no wonder how he was able to beat Drew like he did". Brock said with a small frown, breaking into a sweat at seeing how Phantom commanded his Dusclops.

Max and Jirachi looked at Ash with worried faces, while the Rainbow Hero watched with an expressionless face. "Ash, isn't there anything she can do?" The young Petalburg boy asked his idol, catching the attention of both Ash and Pikachu. The Rainbow Hero and Electric Mouse looked over and nodded to the pair of best friends. "Of course there is. Just watch and learn". Ash answered Max, all four of them returning to watching the battle.

"Piplup pip!" Piplup cried out to her teammate, waving both flippers up and down in encouragement to not give up the battle. Verity grit her teeth, before bringing in her right hand. "Gible, stay strong! Use Dragon Pulse on the ground below you!" The female Pokémon Coordinator commanded, throwing her right hand out. "Gible!" Gible responded, tilting its head down to look at the ground below her.

Gible opened its mouth and fired a purple beam of energy from it, striking the ground, resulting in Gible levitating into the air, dodging both Shadow Punches. Phantom gasped in surprise, both him and Dusclops gazing up to the airborne Gible as it ceased using Dragon Pulse. "Great work! They found a way out!" Brock called out in praise with a wide smile, approving of Verity's tactics. "That's my biggest rival for you". May commented with a smile of admiration directed at Verity's back.

Verity chuckled with a confident grin, then thrust her open right hand out. "Nicely done Gible! Dragon Pulse one more time and aim for Dusclops this time!" The brunette commanded, seeing this the perfect chance to go on the attack. "Gible!" The Land Shark Pokémon responded, opening its mouth and unleashed another purple beam of energy at Dusclops.

Dragon Pulse hit and created an explosion on impact. Duscops came out of the smoke, walking backwards and groaning a little, but remained standing at least. "Well, not bad". Phantom remarked with a grin, crossing both arms as the smoke cleared completely and Gible landed on the ground in front of Verity. "Back at ya. Looks like you're not just all talk after all". The Twinleaf girl said to her opponent, honestly impressed with Phantom herself.

"Glad to hear that. Now then, playtime is over". Phantom stated, bringing up his right hand and gripped it into a fist. "Dusclops, Hyper-!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator began, only to stop when a horn went off to his right.

(Music suddenly stop)

"Huh?" Phantom turned to his right and saw just out of the park a black limo driving up. At the sight of it, Phantom's calm demeanor disappeared without warning. "Oh, not now!" He exclaimed with a hint of panic in his voice, catching the gang by surprise. The surprises didn't stop there as Phantom brought out Dusclops' Poké Ball with his right hand and held it out.

"Return Dusclops!" He cried out, the Poké Ball firing a red beam that connected with Dusclops and recalled it. "What's the big idea? The match isn't over yet, it hasn't even been 5 minutes yet, so why did you recall your Dusclops?" Verity questioned Phantom, Gible tilting its head in confusion at the unexpected turn of events.

"We'll call it a draw! Until next time!" Phantom exclaimed, turning around and took off with the rose petal blizzard appearing out of nowhere again. The gang all cried out in surprise, covering their eyes from the sudden blizzard, even Team Rocket did the same from their hiding spot. "Why would he quit when he was winning?" James questioned, both eyes shut and right arm over them to keep any petals from hitting.

The rose blizzard storm eventually died down, allowing everyone to open their eyes. Verity looked at the running away Phantom in confusion. "Why is he running away?" The Twinleaf girl questioned, no clue whatsoever what just happened. The sounds of tires caught everyone's attention as they looked to the park's entrance and saw that same limo Phantom saw come to a side halt in front of the park's entrance.

Its right foot was pushed right open by a large middle age adult woman. She seemed to be in her late 30s, early 40s maybe. She had short red hair, blue eyes and a golden necklace around her neck. She wore a red dress jacket over a black dress, multiple rings on her fingers, light dark stockings and black heels. "Oh, no you don't! I got you now! You're not getting away from me this time! Come back here!" The unknown woman exclaimed, taking off after the fleeing Phantom into the park's forest.

Needless to say that the whole gang were a bit confused at what exactly they're seeing. "Does anyone know what's going on?" May asked her friends, though she honestly doubted that they had any idea. "Nope". Brock answered straight away, honestly zero idea what's happening.

Max and Jirachi looked up at Ash once more. "Should Jirachi teleport Phantom back here and that lady away?" The Petalburg boy asked his idol, yet Ash just shook his head in response. "Too soon to take any action. We don't want to make the situation worse". Ash told Max, no clue who's innocent or guilty and thought it best not to take any extreme actions just yet.

Meanwhile with the Phantom; he was running through the forest to get away from the woman that's chasing him. "Gotta... get away!" He exclaimed, bringing up his right hand and broke a tree branch in his way in half. However, it left a scratch on his right hand that tore through white glove. He stopped running and looked down at his hand, right at the new scratch.

He grit his teeth, while the unknown woman gasped at seeing what just happened. She stopped a few feet away and Phantom turned to look at her. "Now I got you". The adult woman stated, certain that the chase was over in her victory. But she was proven wrong because Phantom turned around and took off once more. "Get back here!" She called out, reaching out with her left hand.

She began to chase after him, only to trip on the ground. She groaned a bit, yet perfectly unharmed by what just happened. "Darn heels". She groaned out, opening both hands and unintentionally grabbed hold of something with her right hand. She lifted her head and saw that it was a pen.

She climbed up to her feet, staring down at the pen with narrowed eyes. "What's this?" She questioned, recognizing the pen in her hand. "Are you okay, miss?" A voice asked the woman from behind. The unknown adult looked to her left and saw Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Brock, May, Max, Pikachu, Lucario and Piplup standing 5 feet away, Pikachu on Ash's left shoulder, Jirachi floating beside Max and Piplup carried in Verity's hands, all of them staring at her. Skitty, Klefki and Gible weren't with them because Verity and May had recalled them.

"Huh? Oh, I'll be alright". The woman answered, turning around to fully face them and gave a suspicious frown. "Although, you aren't gonna be if I found out you're friends with that lousy masked Coordinator". She told them, much to the gang's confusion. "Huh?" Their confusion was clear to see on their faces, but that didn't detour the woman at all.

"Stop playing dumb! What have you done to my son Timmy!?" The adult woman screamed out, taking hold of Ash, turned him around and began comically shaking him back and forth all the while repeatedly saying "Tell me". The Rainbow Hero and Pikachu were making confused cries at what's happening to them, while the gang all widen their eyes in surprise at what's happening.

"Lady, we have never even seen this Phantom guy until just now". Brock told the unknown lady, holding up his left hand a bit. What Brock said took the woman by surprise as she ceased shaking Ash, turned to look at Verity, Sorrel, May, Max, Brock, Piplup, Lucario and Jirachi, even lowering the Rainbow Hero down to the ground with him and Pikachu having swirly eyes, not like how Pokémon that are knocked out in a battle though.

"Yeah. He appeared out of nowhere and wanted to battle us". May told the older woman, giving a short story of what happened. The adult woman broke into a nervously laugh as she let go of Ash, resulting in him and Pikachu comically collapsing to the ground, placed her left hand on the hip and held the right hand in front of her mouth. "I'm sorry, no hard feelings". She apologized to the gang, lowering her right hand once she finished speaking.

Verity and May immediately knelt down and helped their boyfriend to his knees, all the while he and Pikachu still had swirly eyes as they recovered. "It's no problem, miss. If I may ask, who is this Timmy and what does he have to do with Phantom?" Sorrel asked the adult woman with a curious voice, certain that she can answer a few questions about Phantom.

The woman suddenly started crying anime style, while holding up a handkerchief with her left hand. "Never mind, I'll be okay". She said with a "sad" voice, much to the confusion of Sorrel and Lucario at why she's suddenly crying. "Alright. Since you insist, I'll tell you the whole story". The woman declared, resulting in Sorrel, Verity, Lucario and Piplup sweat dropping since none of them insisted on knowing. As for Ash and Pikachu, they finally managed to recover enough to listen in.

"Timmy is the only child I have. Lately he started skipping school, so I hired a detective to follow him and find out where he's been going. The detective noticed that everywhere Timmy went, this strange Phantom character seemed to turn up". The woman explained to the gang, all of them back in the park with her sitting down on a bench while everyone is gathered around her.

She lurched forward with both eyes closed in a sad and worried way. "It seems obvious that this Phantom has lured my poor son into some kinda dangerous activity". The adult woman summarized, worried for her son and what Phantom could be doing to him. Ash, Verity, Sorrel and their Pokémon were silent as they thought over what they've learned.

'There's two scenarios of what this is. Either this Timmy kid really is in trouble with Phantom, or he is the masked Coordinator himself. Still, can't be sure about either of them just yet'. Ash thought to himself, having a little bit of experience with people taking up costumes like Phantom in the past but not much. "I see why you're so upset". Brock said in understanding, easily able to understand the woman's concerns since he'd be like that if one of his younger siblings were in a similar situation.

The woman lifted her head and looked right at Ash and Pikachu. "You're all Pokémon Trainers, aren't you?" She asked them with a hopeful voice, which Ash gave a nod of the head. "Yes, that's right". The Rainbow Hero answered, then gave a cry of surprise as the woman shot up to her feet right in front of him, placing both hands on Ash's shoulders. Needless to say the whole gang were taken by surprise.

"Then I want you to help me find out the identity of this Phantom guy!" She exclaimed, staring right into Ash's wide eyes of surprise. "You mean take off his mask?" He questioned just to be sure, blinking both eyes. "Yes! I'll reward you of course, money is no object". The adult woman answered, but Ash was feeling unsure about this whole thing though.

Unknown to all of them was that Team Rocket's still watching them through binoculars, only now they were eyeing the woman's rather expensive looking rings. "Well, she's a rather rich lady to have rings like those ones". James remarked, not the least bit amazed because he's seen plenty of expensive in his childhood. "You of all people would know that, James". Jessie remarked, giving a small groan upon thinking about her teammate's crazy family they ran into not that long ago.

Meowth suddenly chuckled, catching the attention of both humans as they looked and saw him grinning. "Okay, what are you planning this time?" James questioned the Scratch Cat Pokémon, recognizing that look since he's seen Meowth with it so many times. "Simple really. We unmask dat Phantom and get a reward from that rich lady". Meowth told Jessie and James, but they didn't look too impressed or interested.

"You're kidding, right? Why should we waste time trying to unmask some kid?" Jessie questioned her teammate, seeing no real benefit from unmasking the Phantom. "Because in case you've forgotten, we're starting to run low on funds". Meowth answered with an annoyed face, his words causing Jessie and James to pale a bit upon remembering that problem they have right now.

The repairs for their hot air ballon and machines coast a bit of money. Right now they weren't in the red, but were getting a bit close to it so they need to restock on cash for the future. And a chance like this, earning some money just from unmasking someone seemed like an easy deal to them even if Ash and the others were caught was too good an opportunity to miss.

"Okay, we'll give it a go then. Just don't blame me if this ends on a bad note". James told the Normal type, certain that this'll result in another battle with the gang. "Don't sweat it. We'll get the jump on them this time and they won't see it coming". Meowth said with a sly grin, confident of their chances this time. Jessie didn't look so convinced by Meowth's words, but didn't raise any objections.

The woman who introduced herself as Mrs. Grimm took the gang to her mansion through that same limo she arrived in. Her mansion was large and had a large yard at the front, it reminded Ash, Brock and Pikachu when they had first saw James' house with Misty in Kanto.

Right now the gang stood in front of Mrs. Grimm's home, all looking bewildered at the sight while the lady herself was smiling a proud smile. "This is my humble home". She told them all, right before they all blinked with a small gasp. "If humble means huge". Brock commented, always wondering why rich people say such things about their homes when they're so huge and expensive.

They all went into the mansion and entered a large hallway. The gang looked at their surroundings in wonder, especially for Jirachi since this was his first time seeing a higher class home. Ash, Brock and Pikachu weren't as impressed as the others since they've been in a place like this a few times in their journey and for some strange reason, Verity wasn't that amazed either. "Timmy, I'm home~" Mrs. Grimm sang out, holding her left hand to the side of her mouth to amplify her voice.

In a room inside the mansion, that same boy that had watched May's training sat on a chair in front of a desk, placing a bandage over his right hand. This young boy is Mrs. Grimm's son and the masked Coordinator's real identity; Timmy. And right now, he was taking care of that scratch he got.

He looked over to the front of his deck where some paper, a small blue notebook and computer were and picked the book up. "I gotta make some notes to myself about that Gible that I battled today. Not to mention its trainer Verity Awadetsu, I can see how she earned 3 Contest ribbons". Timmy said to himself, opening the notebook and reached for something in his right pocket.

However much to his surprise, what he was looking for in his pocket wasn't there. Timmy widen his eyes in alarm, bringing out his hand and stared at it. "Uh oh! Wh-what's going on?! Where's my pen? Did I drop it?" Timmy questioned, now worried because somebody could find out that pen is his and connect the dots to finding out he's Phantom. "Timathy!" A voice cried out, catching Timmy's attention. "Huh?" He turned to the room's door with a worried look, recognizing that was his mother calling him.

Back in the hallway; Mrs. Grimm stood with both hands on her hips as she waited for her son to come welcome her home. Eventually Timmy came out, but for some reason seemed more nervous and lacked the confidence he had when he battled Verity. "Mum, when did you get home? I was just upstairs in my room, studying". The young boy greeted his mother, stopping 5 feet away from Mrs. Grimm. He then widened both eyes slightly at seeing Ash, Verity, Sorrel, May, Max, Brock, Pikachu, Piplup, Lucario and Jirachi with his mother.

"This is my Tim". Mrs. Grimm introduced her son to the gang, gesturing to Timmy with her right hand before lowering it. "Hi, I'm Ash from Pallet Town". Ash introduced himself, giving a short wave of his right hand. "Pika-pikachu". Pikachu greeted Timmy warmly and with a wide smile. "My name is May". May gave out her name to Mrs. Grimm's son. "Verity and this is Piplup". Verity introduced herself and the Penguin Pokémon she's carrying in her arms.

"Hi, I'm Max. And this is my friend Jirachi". Max introduced himself and Jirachi, gazing up at the Wish Pokémon atop his head on its stomach. Jirachi gave a wave of his right hand, but didn't speak to avoid drawing unwanted attention. "I'm Sorrel from Veilstone City. And this is my partner Lucario". Sorrel spoke up, gesturing to himself first then to Lucario with his left hand. The Aura Pokémon slightly bowed its head in greetings. "And my name's Brock". The Pokémon Breeder introduced himself, both hands placed against his hips.

"Nice to meet you". Timmy greeted them with a small bow of the head. "Now, if you don't mind". He added, turning around and began walking back to his room. "Hold on!" Mrs. Grimm called out, resulting in Timmy stopping with a flinch. "You wouldn't happen to be missing something now, would you?" She questioned, holding up the pen that she found with her right hand.

Timmy turned, then gasped at seeing the pen because it belonged to him. "Ahhh! Where did you find my fountain pen?!" The young boy asked in surprise, wondering how his mother found that pen. "So you're admitting it's yours!" Mrs. Grimm exclaimed, stomping forward with Timmy backing away with both hands raised in a rather frightened manner. "Then explain why I found it where I chased the Phantom down in the woods today?" She questioned her son, ceasing her stomping and stared at Timmy with narrowed eyes.

"Right... I can explain". Timmy said with a nervous voice, the situation getting to him a bit because he did not want his mother to find out the truth. "You better! Did he steal it from you?!" Mrs. Grimm shouted out, frightening Timmy as he anime bounced back an inch and got down on his right knee with both hands over his head. "It's not like that". He said with a scared voice. Meanwhile the gang watched in bewilderment at the way they were interacting.

"Then what is it like? There's something going on here". Mrs. Grimm said with a suspicious voice, much to Timmy's further panic. "I don't know mum! I guess I dropped it!" Timmy exclaimed with panic leaking out of his voice, keeping his head low. "Tell me the truth Timmy! Why is the Phantom always where you are?" The adult woman questioned her son, no mood for games and wanted the truth.

"I don't know. Just give it back". Timmy pleaded, reaching for the pen with his right hand. But that proved to be a mistake as Mrs. Grimm immediately noticed the bandage on Timmy's right hand and gasped. She grabbed hold of Timmy's right hand with her own right hand and took a look at the bandage. "What's that?! What happened to your hand?!" She questioned, but Timmy didn't answer and instead broke free of her gasp and took his pen from her.

"Timmy!" She called out in surprise, looking at her son with wide eyes as he turned away from her. "I'll be in my room, okay". He told Mrs. Grimm with a frightened voice, before taking off and turned a corner, disappearing from view. Mrs. Grimm was left a bit speechless at how Timmy just ran away from her and how frightened he was. "Oh son, you're frightening me". She said in a low voice, afraid that this was more serious than she originally thought.

She led the gang to a living room to discuss what just happened. They were sitting down on three couches separate to one another. Mrs. Grimm was on the left on, sitting alone. Ash, May, Verity, Pikachu and Piplup were sitting down on the middle one. Finally; Sorrel, Brock, Max, Lucario and Jirachi were resting on the right couch. Finally, there was a square table in between them all.

Mrs. Grimm was currently looking down at her lap with a worried face, while everyone else is staring at her. "Timmy has a wound on his hand in the same spot as the Phantom. And he got so upset when I asked him about it. Could it be that the Phantom and my Timmy are the same person?" She spoke, worried that her son really is the masked Coordinator the whole time and she never knew.

"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet. It could simply be a coincidence". Sorrel spoke up, sitting with both arms crossed, right leg over the left one and leaning back against the couch. "He's right. Just because they both have cuts in the same place doesn't prove anything, Mrs. Grimm". Brock said in agreement, giving a nod of agreement to what Sorrel said.

Max lifted his right hand with the index finger out and spoke. "Plus, the Phantom seems strong. Is Timmy that good?" The Petalburg boy asked Mrs. Grimm, curious to hear if Timmy is a trainer or not. "That's true, he was honestly good with how he pushed Verity. Has your son been studying to become a Pokémon Trainer?" Ash asked with a curious voice, turning to look at the adult woman.

"Of course not!" Mrs. Grimm snapped, out of her worried state from earlier and now right in front of Ash with both hands on his shoulders all the while he sweat dropped at her. "Timmy is going to be a brilliant CEO that will take over my company! I'd never let him waste time on that nonsense!" The female adult exclaimed, shaking Ash back and forth comically once more with him crying out a little.

Verity, May, Pikachu and Piplup sweat drop at the sight, while everyone else weren't so amused. "You could learn some important lessons by interacting with Pokémon, Mrs. Grimm". Brock stated, speaking from experience since he's learned much in his journey thanks to Pokémon. "Enough from you!" Mrs. Grimm snapped, pointing at Brock with her left hand's index finger, taking him, Max, Sorrel, Jirachi and Lucario a bit by surprise.

"Your job is to find out who that Phantom really is! I have work to do. Don't come back until you have some information". Mrs. Grimm told the gang, walking out of the room with everyone watching her go with a sweat drop. Once she was gone, the gang relaxed a bit and looked at one another. "Yeesh, I'm sure glad she's not my mum". Max said in relief, wiping off imaginary sweat from his forehead.

"My mother is a bit stern herself, but even she's not that extreme". Sorrel remarked, looking up at the ceiling as he thought about his own mother. "And here I thought I had problems with my mum". Verity muttered to herself, then gave a small wince upon thinking about her past "problems" with her mother. "She does seem a little bit bossy, but clear on how she feels about Pokémon". Brock commented, Lucario letting out a small uncomfortable growl.

"I almost feel sorry for Timmy. He doesn't look happy". May said with a sad voice, looking down at her knees. "Yeah, I agree". Ash stated, both he and Pikachu looking at May right now with the Rainbow Hero having his arms crossed. "You're right". An unknown voice spoke up, Ash blinking in surprise because it was directly at his right. He slightly tilted his head and saw a new person sitting there, having appeared out of nowhere.

It was an adult man that looked to be around Mrs. Grimm's age. He had fair skin and dark hair the same style as Timmy's, and dark eyes. He is wearing a green vest over a blue shirt with a red tie, brown long pants and dark shoes. He had both eyes closed, had a sad frown and was holding a cup of tea with the left hand and a saucer with his right one.

"He's really not a happy boy". The unknown man said sadly, Ash turning his head to look at the man with a curious expression. "And you are?" He questioned, not really that taken aback by the man's sudden appearance out of nowhere. He's dealt with legendary Pokémon, fate of the world problems, ancient legends and much more so a sudden appearance wasn't really anything that could surprise him.

The man opened his dark eyes and spoke. "I'm Timmy's father. Tommy Grimm is my name". The man named Tommy introduced himself, much to everyone's surprise at learning this. "Wow... So then you're Mrs. Gimm's husband". May said in surprise, while Brock and Max got up on their feet and off the couch. "I heard what my wife asked of you. I can probably help you solve that little mystery". Tommy told them all, resulting in Sorrel raising an eyebrow at him.

Tommy led them all to another room in the mansion and soon presented the Phantom's outfit to them. Almost the whole gang gasped at seeing, except for Sorrel who noticed a few details with this costume. "Are you telling us all this time that the Phantom was you?!" Ash questioned with wide eyes, looking right up at Tommy's face.

"Wait Ash, I don't think that's the case". Sorrel spoke up, stepping forward and took the folded outfit into his hands. He narrowed his eyes and saw that this outfit he's holding isn't the same one that Phantom used. It was the same style down to every detail, only it was older and more run down than the one that masked Coordinator used. "This isn't the same one. This costume's too old and the size isn't the same". The Veilstone boy told his sworn brother, much to the surprise of Brock and Max at hearing this.

They, plus Lucario and Jirachi gathered around Sorrel and saw that he was right. "He's right. There's no way that this is the same costume we saw earlier". Brock said with a nod, taking hold of the hat while Max took the mask. "Please, allow me to explain". Tommy requested, catching the gang's full attention as they looked over to him.

"When I was a younger man, I was quite a good Pokémon Coordinator, see. And when I met Mrs. Grimm, I fell instantly in love with her. It seemed as though we were perfect for each other, except for one thing". The adult man began to explain his story and Verity had a guess what he meant by that "one thing" that he's talking about. "Let me guess; Pokémon?" Verity asked, yet completely certain that was exactly the problem he's referring to.

"Yup. She agreed to marry me only if I promise to never to allow them into the house. But I love Pokémon so much I couldn't keep my promise. I made this Dusclops costume and whenever I was out of Mrs. Grimm's sight, I'd put it on and enter Pokémon Contests as the Phantom. But eventually, keeping such a dark secret from my wife became too much. I gave up being the Phantom and hid the costume away. Forever". Tommy continued his story once more, this time Sorrel speaking and interrupting.

"And what about your Dusclops? Is it safe?" The Veilstone boy asked with traces of concern leaking out of his voice. "Don't worry, my Pokémon are all safe, sound and healthy. But back to the story; I thought the story of Phantom the masked Coordinator was over for good. When Timmy was born, it turned out he took after me. He loved Pokémon too, that's how he met his own Dusclops when it was Duskull one night". Tommy continued, giving a happy smile at the thought of that day Timmy met his precious partner Pokémon.

"He brought it home to our mansion. You can guess how his mother reacted to that". The adult man continued and Ash gave a wince at the thought. "Very easily, really. She was downright against it". Ash said with a look of pity at how Timmy was denied having a close like his Duskull by Mrs. Grimm. "Indeed she was. Powerless, and crushed that he wasn't allowed to interact with a Pokémon he loved so much, Timmy seemed to lose confidence in all areas of his life. I knew I had to do something to help". Tommy said with a stern face upon remembering how he passed the touch of Phantom to his son.

"I made a new costume just like the original, and Timmy became the second generation of Phantom the masked Coordinator". Tommy finished his story, gazing from his old folded Phantom outfit to the gang. During the story, Tommy took them to another living room safe from running into Mrs. Grimm. They were all sitting down on a round dark pink couch around a round table with Tommy's Phantom outfit right on the table's middle. Pikachu was still on Ash's shoulder, Piplup and Jirachi sitting on their trainers' laps and Lucario was sitting down with its back to the couch next to Sorrel who was sitting at the left end.

"Wow, so that's what's going on". Ash remarked with wide eyes full of awe, staring down at Tommy's old costume. "Now Timmy has his confidence back when he's the Phantom. And he's become a pretty good Pokémon Coordinator too". Tommy told them all with a proud voice, a sign of just how proud he was of his son for becoming as good as he is. "You can say that again. He was keeping up with Verity and they weren't giving it their all at the time". May remarked, gazing over to her fellow Pokémon Coordinator with a grin, one that Verity returned.

"Boy, it must have been pretty hard for Timmy all that time, never being allowed to play with Pokémon like the other kids". Brock commented, bringing both hands up and crossed them. "That's going way overboard I'd say". Max remarked, glad his parents weren't like that at all and he got to travel around with May and the others. 'She sounds really mean'. Jirachi said with a low voice to not draw Tommy's attention, feeling very sorry for Timmy right now.

"And Timmy would never be allowed to go off on a journey like you kids have. So, you can imagine for Timmy, the Pokémon Contest coming to town is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I would love for him to enter, but I just don't know". Tommy told the gang with an unsure look, because his wife was so close to finding out the truth and could stop Timmy's chance to enter.

"Well, that settles that. We gotta help out, I can't just do nothing after what I've heard". Ash spoke up, turning to look at Sorrel with the Veilstone boy nodding in agreement. "I'm with you on this. We need to think of a plan to shake Mrs. Grimm off Timmy's tail". Sorrel said with a frown, looking down as he thought of an idea.

"You don't have to worry about that, I have the perfect plan". Brock spoke up, grabbing both sworn brothers' attention as they turned to look at him. "I'll help. Tell me". Tommy spoke up, more than happy to help with this plan if it could allow Timmy to enter the Pokémon Contest tomorrow.

---

(A little later)

Timmy sat in his room in front of his desk, looking down at the folded Phantom costume that was given to him with a worried look. He breathed out, bringing up his bandaged right hand and stared at where he got scratched. "I hope mum didn't guess the truth". The young boy said to himself, desperately hoping that Mrs. Grimm doesn't find out the truth or else he won't get the chance to enter the Pokémon Contest.

Just then someone knocked on his door twice, catching Timmy's attention. "Huh?" He turned to his door just as it opened to reveal his dad on the other side. "Son, you have some company". Tommy told his son, right before Ash walked into view from behind him. "Hi there". The Rainbow Hero greeted Timmy with a warm smile. "Pika". Pikachu greeted from Ash's right shoulder.

"Ahhh!?" Timmy gasped in surprise at the sight of them, right as the gang followed Tommy and Ash into the room. "Dad, no!" The young boy exclaimed in panic, throwing his hands and body over his costume to hid it from view. "It's all right. You don't have to hide anything from these guys. They're your friends". Tommy told Timmy with a reassuring smile, much to Timmy's surprise at hearing this.

"What?! My friends?" Timmy questioned, lifting his head and turned to look at the gang. "That's right. And as your friends, we want to help you enter the Pokémon Contest tomorrow". Verity spoke up, slightly holding up her right hand. "Are you serious? Well if you knew me, then you'd know I'd do anything to enter that Contest!" Timmy exclaimed with spirit and a bright smile, a welcome sight to everyone.

Now all that was left is to execute their plan.

---

(Meanwhile)

Driving down a random road of Verdanturf Town was Mrs. Grimm's black limo with the businesswoman inside, returning home after work. Inside, the adult woman sat with her arms crossed in the back seat, while the driver did his job. Though they soon stopped at a crossroads and waited.

"Oh mommy, thank you so much!" A young voice cried out in joy, catching Mrs. Grimm's attention. "Hm?" She looked to her right out the window and saw a young girl standing in front of her mother, carrying a Poochyena in both hands. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it honey". The mother said to her daughter, raising her left hand and pat the Poochyena's head. "But it's your responsibility to take good care of it". She added, which the daughter nodded straight away.

"I will, mommy. I promise". The daughter stated, more than ready to take responsibility for the Pokémon that'll be her starter in the future. "Well Poochyena, looks like from now on you're part of the family". The mother said to Poochyena with the Dark type letting out a happy cry in response. Mrs. Grimm watched the whole interaction, yet didn't have a single bit of disgust at all. Then for some reason, she gazed down sadly as if the whole thing reminded her of something sad in the past.

---

(Later on)

It was time to execute their plan. Everything was set and Mrs. Grimm was just around the corner. At the front of the mansion were Verity, May, Max, Piplup, Jirachi and Skitty, but everyone else was somewhere else right now. Max, Verity, Jirachi and Skitty were standing across from May with the brunette holding a pair of small orange balls with her left hand.

"Now May! Here she comes!" Max called out with a wide smile, giving the signal to start their plan. 'Let's do this!' Jirachi called out cheerfully, standing on the ground instead of floating right now. "Okay! Skitty, use Double Slap to juggle!" May called out cheerfully, throwing her right hand into the air. Skitty gave a cheerfully cry in response. Verity and Piplup were silent, but were watching with curious faces.

"One, two, three!" May called out, tossing the balls one by one to Skitty. The Normal type gave a cheerful cry as it began juggling three balls with its tail masterfully. "Huh... Not bad I gotta admit". Verity remarked, honestly a bit impressed with how quick Skitty learned to juggle in just a few days. "Alright, that's it! Just keep them in the air!" May told her Normal type, holding her left fist up in an excited manner.

Mrs. Grimm's black limo drove on it and stopped right next to the six. The door opened and Mrs. Grimm stepped out with an unhappy expression. Right as she opened her mouth to speak, suddenly a rose petal blizzard came out of nowhere. Mrs. Grimm gasped in surprise, laughter suddenly coming out of nowhere from above. "Hahaha! You look like an interesting Pokémon Coordinator! How's about you and I battle!" A voice called out to May, her and everyone else gazing upwards where it was coming from.

"It's him again! It's that Phantom!" Mrs. Grimm called out as she, Verity, May, Max, Piplup, Jirachi and Skitty saw the masked Coordinator standing on a balcony above them. But for some strange reason, his hair was different now as its black instead of reddish brown. "It's pronounced Phantom the masked Coordinator. Can you at least get it right, but whatever. Now, shall we battle?" The "masked Coordinator" said with a confident voice, crossing both arms once he finished speaking. "Oh, no!" May gasped in "fear", hugging herself with both arms.

Just then Ash and Pikachu came out of the mansion with the Electric Mouse still riding on his best friend's shoulder. "May, what's wrong?" The Rainbow Hero asked, facing the brunette and not the Phantom. "The Phantom is back again!" Max told Ash, pointing up at Phantom with his right hand's index finger. Ash turned around, before he slightly widen his eyes at the sight of Phantom while Pikachu gasped in surprise.

Mrs. Grimm turned her gaze to the open doors right as Tommy, Timmy and Brock ran out with urgent faces. "What's all of this about the Phantom?" The adult man spoke, but Mrs. Grimm's attention wasn't on him instead it was on Timmy. She gasped in surprise at seeing her son here when the Phantom was here as well. "But wait a minute! I was sure you were the Phantom, Timmy!" Mrs. Grimm said in shock, certain that Timmy and Phantom were the same person all along.

At her words; Timmy and Tommy grew uncertain smiles at her. "Mum, you feeling alright?" Timmy asked with a nervous voice, hoping that she buys this whole thing. "That's crazy talk, dear". Tommy said to his wife, who was now beyond confused and uncertain with what's going on. "Well... Uhhh..." She stuttered, at a lost for words since she's starting to think it was all a misunderstanding.

Seeing Mrs. Grimm truly confused; Ash, May, Verity, Pikachu and Piplup all looked at each other with grins with the human girls giving their boyfriend a wink of their right eyes. Brock was grinning as well, while Max and Jirachi both chuckled in amusement.

This whole thing was actually a trick to confuse Mrs. Grimm. The plan was originally for Brock to pretend to be Phantom and appear with Timmy around at the same time. But due to some circumstances, the plan changed and it was Sorrel that took the part of Phantom for this performance.

And right now, the masked Veilstone boy's right eye was twitching a bit at what he's doing. He isn't an actor and he doesn't dress up either, so this was a bit irritating for him right now. 'I can't believe I'm really doing this'. Sorrel thought to himself, starting to wish he kept quiet and let Brock take this role himself.

---

(Flashback)

Everyone stood in the living room close to the round table where Timmy's Phantom costume was, their plan ready and almost ready to execute. "Okay everyone, when Mrs. Grimm shows up, I'll come out as the Phantom". Brock told everyone, turning his gaze over to the Phantom costume and took a step to it. "Actually Brock, it's best that I pretend to be Phantom". Sorrel spoke up, catching everyone's attention as they turned to look at him.

"Why's that, Sorrel?" Brock questioned his friend, wondering why Sorrel thinks he should be Phantom. "A couple of good reasons. You're older and taller than Timmy, while I'm around the same height and age as him. It'll be more convincing with me acting the role instead of you". The Veilstone boy explained, looking over to Timmy and true to his words, they were around the same height and age.

Everyone saw that Sorrel was right and the plan was changed just a little bit.

---

(Flashback end)

'Just a little more and then it'll all be over'. Sorrel thought to himself, teeth lightly grit yet managing to keep his cool. The Veilstone boy took notice of something on his right, a hook like that on a fishing rod was there and drawing closer to the Phantom mask. He gave a grunt, leaning back and managed to successfully dodge the hook, before swatting it aside like it was a bug.

Everyone gasped in surprise, before they and the disguised Sorrel looked up and saw Team Rocket abord their hot air balloon above them with the hook actually from a fishing rod that James just tried to use. 'How did I see this coming?' Sorrel thought to himself with a sweat drop, having been suspicious if they'd interfere and was proven correct.

(Play Pokémon Anime Sound Collection- Team Rocket Motto (Hoenn Version)

"Prepare for trouble, the Phantom's exposed!" Jessie began her part, both her and James standing with their backs to one another, arms crossed and eyes closed. "Make it double as our bank account grows!" The former rich boy said his opening line, keeping a hold of the fishing rod.

"To protect the world from devastation". Jessie continued the motto, speaking with a confident voice. "To unite all peoples within our nation". James said his next part of their motto. "To denounce the evils of truth and love". The female continued, uncrossing her arms and turned a little to the right, placing the right fist against her hip. "To extend our reach to the stars above". The former rich boy added, turning to his left and smirked. "Jessie!" The female adult called out her name. "James!" The blue-haired man gave out his name as well.

In some imagination space; the two were somehow in the air wearing black costumes of their own with white makes, black tops hats, capes with a red inside, white gloves and red ties. Not to mention the moon and a few stars were in the background.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie finished her part of the motto, right hand gripping her cape and holding it wide out. "Surrender now or prepare to fight, right, right!" James finished his part, posing right now with the cape spread out completely. Jessie brought her right hand in, revealing Meowth holding onto her cape with a white mask of his own. "Meowth, that's right!" The Scratch Cat Pokémon called out cheerfully. "Wo...bbu!" Wobbuffet cried out from the background, spin flying right into the moon and past it.

(Music end)

Back in reality, everyone stared at Team Rocket with Ash displaying an annoyed expression. 'Why is it that they always show up at critical moments like now!?' The Rainbow Hero shouted out inside of his mind, honestly wishing they were still being hunted down by James' family right now.

"Now to reveal the Phantom's identity and collect that reward!" Jessie laughed out, an enlarged Poké Ball in her right hand. "Seviper, go!" She exclaimed, tossing the device forward. It burst open and released a white beam headed straight for Sorrel. With a flash, it cleared to reveal Seviper with the Poison type glaring down at its target. "Seviper!" Seviper hissed out, full of energy and ready to brawl.

"Parasect, you attack too!" James called out, throwing out an enlarged Great Ball with his left hand. It burst open and released a white beam in the air, quickly taking shape and cleared to reveal Parasect. "Parasect!" The Mushroom Pokémon cried out, suddenly turning around and went straight for its trainer. It almost came close to hugging James, but the blue-haired man managed to catch and hold Parasect a safe distance away. "I thought this whole thing was over when Cacturne evolved, but you're still not over it. Attack the Phantom!" The former rich boy told his Pokémon, turning Parasect around and threw it at Sorrel.

"Seviper! Use Fire Fang on the Phantom!" Jessie commanded, pointing at Sorrel with her right hand's index finger. "Parasect, immobilize him with Toxic!" James ordered with a smirk, holding up his gripped left fist. "Seviper! Jessie's Seviper hissed out, flames erupting inside of its mouth. "Parasect!" The Mushroom Pokémon cried with narrowed eyes, releasing a stream of thick purple liquid from its mouth.

Seviper and the purple liquid drew closer to Sorrel, the 12-year-old boy gazing up at the approaching attacks with his teeth grit. He placed his right hand behind his back for a moment, before thrusting it out to the side only with an enlarged Quick Ball.

---

(Flashback)

Sorrel stood in front of the folded Phantom costume with Lucario right beside him, both of them staring down at it with eyes full of wonder. The Veilstone boy looked at everyone over his right shoulder, right at Timmy and Tommy. "There's one last thing I need to know. Is the Phantom a Pokémon Coordinator that only uses a Dusclops or Ghost type Pokémon?" Sorrel asked the pair of father and son, a question that took them a little by surprise.

Still, Tommy answered Sorrel's question. "Phantom is commonly known for using a Dusclops, but he isn't limited to just one Pokémon though. So you could say Phantom is a Ghost type Pokémon Trainer". The adult man informed Sorrel, much to his appreciation at learning this. "Thanks for telling me that. I have just the Pokémon to help if things go out of control". The Veilstone boy stated, turning to look at his sworn brother with a growing grin.

---

(Flashback end)

Sorrel used Ash's Pokémon Box Link to transfer one of his Pokémon from Professor Oak, sending Aerodactyl to Pallet Town for a bit. And it turned out that Sorrel was right to be prepared for out-of-control trouble like right now. "Drifblim, Psychic go!" The disguised boy called out, holding the Quick Ball up. The device burst open and released a white beam that quickly took shape.

It cleared to reveal Sorrel's Pokémon. It has a large, spherical, purple body with the lower quarter of its body being a lighter purple. The colors are separated by a repeated semicircle pattern all around its body. On the top of its head is a puffy, white mass, which closely resembles a cloud. In the center of its body is a large yellow "X" mark, and on either side just above the "X" are its small, red eyes. On the lower portion of its body are four long, thin arms that extend diagonally in four different directions. Its arms are tipped with yellow and have three short points each. The bottom of its body narrows into a short, red extrusion that fans slightly outward.

Drifblim gave a soft cry, its eyes glowing a clear blue light a few seconds later. Suddenly both Seviper and the purple liquid had blue outlines, the Fang Snake Pokémon blinking in shock. Both were sent flying back with the Psychic enhanced Toxic striking the airborne Parasect, blasting it upwards as well.

Jessie and James cried out in surprise, right before Seviper and Parasect crashed into them, resulting in them all collapsing with a crash. "Huh?!" Mewoth gasped in surprise, gazing down at his knocked down teammates for a moment before gazing at Sorrel and Drifblim.

Ash, Verity, May, Max, Brock, Timmy, Tommy, Pikachu, Piplup and Jirachi all sighed in relief. "That was close. Good thing that Sorrel's quick to react". Ash uttered to himself, something that Timmy overheard and gave a nod in agreement. "Nobody make any sudden moves. Just let Sorrel handle this". Verity said through her grit teeth, looking at May through the corner of her right eye.

Drifblim floated down to its trainer's side, right before Sorrel threw his right hand out. "Drifblim, end this with Thunder!" The disguised boy commanded his Blimp Pokémon, wasting no time and ending this annoyance right away. The Ghost and Flying type gave a soft cry, then fired a massive beam of yellow electricity from its body at Team Rocket's hot air ballon.

Thunder landed a direct hit and made Team Rocket all scream out in pain, right before the ballon exploded. And like usual; Jessie, James, Meowth and their Pokémon were sent blasting off into the air. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They cried out in sync, eventually disappearing in sight with only a twinkle in the light left.

Sorrel and Drifblim watched them go, before the masked Pokémon Trainer let out a sigh of relief. 'Well, things went better than normal with them this time. Now to finish up this little performance'. Sorrel thought to himself, turning his gaze to everyone down that was staring up at him. "I've had my fill for today. But next time those clowns won't be here to save you from me". The disguised Veilstone boy told them all, giving a dark grin right before the petal blizzard appeared out of nowhere again.

Ash, Verity, May, Max, Brock, Tommy, Timmy, Mrs. Grimm, Pikachu, Piplup, Skitty and Jirachi all cried out in surprise, shutting their eyes and raising their hands to shield them. After around 10 seconds, the petal blizzard storm died down. Everyone lowered their hands and saw Sorrel and Drifblim were gone without a single trace of them left. "Crap, he got away!" Ash "cursed", keeping the act up as he brought up his right fist and gripped it in anger.

Timmy and Tommy remained silent, both keeping their eyes off of Mrs. Grimm and deeply hoped she bought the whole thing. And fortunately for them, their hopes were answered. "Of course it isn't Timmy!" Mrs. Grimm laughed nervous, catching everyone's attention as they gazed over to her. "As for me, I gotta get back to work now". The adult woman told them with an uncertain smile, turning back to the mansion and walked forward.

Everyone watched her enter the mansion and close the door behind her. Tommy let out a sigh of relief that everything went well, while Ash turned to some nearby trees. "She's gone, Sorrel. You can come out now". The Rainbow Hero said out loud, sensing Sorrel hiding behind there. And he was right as the disguised Sorrel walked out into view with Lucario and Drifblim behind their trainer.

Earlier Sorrel had gotten away thanks to Drifblim with the Ghost and Flying type taking its trainer to the nearby trees. Once there, he let out Lucario from its Poké Ball, having recalled it earlier so that Mrs. Grimm wouldn't get suspicious on why he's gone and Lucario were still here.

The disguised Veilstone boy let out a sigh of relief, bringing both hands up and took the Phantom mask off. "So, how was it being a masked vigilante?" Verity asked with a teasing voice, folding both hands behind her back. "...We will never speak of this again". Sorrel replied to Verity, getting everyone to start laughing at what he said. Sorrel walked up to Timmy and held the Phantom Mask out to him, which he took.

"With this, your mother won't suspect you're Phantom. You're good to go for the contest tomorrow". The Veilstone boy told his newest friend, causing Timmy to smile brightly at hearing this. "That's so great. Thanks you guys!" Timmy thanked the gang, turning to look at them all. "Know what this means?" May spoke up, kneeling down and picking up Skitty in her hands.

She climbed up to her feet and turned around to face Timmy once more. "I guess we'll see each other in the contest tomorrow". The brunette said with an eager voice, something that Timmy returned with a nod. "And I plan on winning it all May!" The young boy told his future rival, holding up his right fist to express how determined he was. "Oh yeah? Well we don't plan on losing!" May told Jimmy with a confident grin, no plans on losing herself in tomorrow's contest.

"Right Skitty?" The brunette asked her Pokémon, tilting her head down to look at Skitty. The Normal type gave an eager cry in response to its trainer's words, excited itself to battle. Everyone else watched the soon to be rivals with eager faces, looking forward to seeing them battle at the contest tomorrow.

---

(The next day)

After that whole performance at Timmy and Tommy's home, the gang left so that May could resume her training for tomorrow. Sorrel, Brock and Lucario went to do some shopping for supplies, finally Ash, Verity, Max, Pikachu, Piplup and Jirachi all relaxed or trained at the Pokémon Center. The day quickly passed and now the day for the Pokémon Contest has arrived.

And finally; the day for the Pokémon Contest has arrived. The gang made it on time to the Contest Hall nice and early, not to mention the building was different compared to the last view ones they've been to.

The waiting room was filled with dressed up Pokémon Coordinators and their Pokémon, all getting ready for the big event. Among them was May, dressed in her own Pokémon Contest dress, sitting down on a bench and looking down at her lap with a worried expression. Skitty and Klefki were in front of their trainer, watching the Petalburg girl. "Why am I so nervous? It's not like this is my first time competing". The brunette said to herself, wondering why she feels so nervous right now.

"Naaa! Naaa!/ Klef!" Skitty and Klefki called out cheerfully, catching May's attention. "But it is my first time with you two. Oh, I sure hope we're ready for this". The Petalburg girl said with a hopeful voice, tilting her head down a little. "Stop worrying about yourself already, you'll be fine". A familiar voice told May, a familiar pair of shoes stepping into her view right behind Skitty.

May blinked in surprise, before looking up to see Verity standing in front there with the Twinleaf girl carrying Piplup in her arms. "Verity?!" May called out in surprise, Verity gave a wink with her right eye. "I get that you're worried, but just think about it. It isn't really much different to your last Contest. You went with Combusken and Gastrodon with it being their first times, but you won the whole thing. Even beat someone that got a one-sided victory over Drew". Verity told the young Pokémon Coordinator, reminding May of her previous Pokémon Contest and how she rocked it.

At Verity's words, May's face lost a bit of the tension and she drew a smile at the Twinleaf girl. "You've trained hard with Skitty and Klefki. You'll do fine so long as you stay calm just like before". Verity told May, resulting in the Petalburg girl laughing in joy at her friend.

Meanwhile in the entrance hall; Ash, Brock and Max stood near the front desk where Coordinators sign up for the contest, waiting for Timmy. Pikachu was on his best friend's right shoulder like normal and Jirachi was floating beside Max. And right now they were all growing worried because time was running out for Timmy to enter the contest.

"Darn it, Timmy doesn't have much time. The deadline is almost up and he'll miss his chance to enter". Ash said in concern, teeth lightly grit as he and Pikachu looked around their surroundings. Just then however, the Rainbow Hero and his best friend caught sight of their new friend running into the Contest Hall from the entrance. He wasn't in his Phantom costume just yet and in his normal clothes.

"You made it in time!" Ash said with a relived smile, one that Timmy returned completely. Ash, Brock and Max run up to their new friend with Jirachi floating beside Max before they all stood once they were in front of each other. "Thanks for waiting for me". Timmy thanked his new friends, then blinked upon noticing Sorrel, Verity, Lucario and Piplup weren't with them.

"What happened? We thought you'd be the first one here today". Brock spoke up, followed by Max speaking up. "Was there a problem?" Max asked with a curious voice, a question that made Timmy smile a nervous smile. "Yeah, my mom". The real identity of Phantom answered, resulting in them all sweat dropping at the answer. "We'll discuss that later, but right now you gotta hurry up and register". Ash told Timmy with a serious voice, pointing over at the registration desk.

Timmy nodded to Ash, before they all hurried over to the registration desk. Unknown to them all was that Jessie, James and Meowth were watching them from behind one of the pillars, Jessie in her Jessibella disguise and mask on. Jessibella chuckled as she held her right hand's index finger up and waved it around. "Showing up late to enter a contest proves that he's an amateur". The disguised female said with an arrogant voice, certain that Timmy was a rookie that she could beat with no problem.

"Wow, you're in high spirits after what happened yesterday". James remarked, instantly wiping the grin off of Jessibella's face at the reminder. "That was just bad luck. Today's gonna be different and I'll be walking away with a ribbon!" The female hissed at her teammate, griping her left fist and raising it. "Well, ya have fun with dat. Jimmy boy and I are gonna go look around for some cash". Meowth said with an uninterested face, before both he and James turned around and walked away.

Jessibella watched them go until both James and Meowth disappeared from view. "Geez, thanks for the support you two". The disguised female said with a sarcastic voice, turning around and walked off to the waiting room.

---

(Meanwhile with Sorrel)

Like last time; Sorrel was busy with something so he couldn't afford to watch the first half of the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest. As for what that something is, that's securing their way to Rustboro City through Rusturf Tunnel once they're finished here in Verdanturf Town.

As always, Lucario was by his trainer's side as they ventured off. And so far, it has been very easy and relaxing without any trouble. The only trouble they did have were encountering wild Whismur and Geodude, but they were easy to take care of.

Right now; the two partners were walking down a straight path in the cave right beside one another. The Aura Pokémon had its eyes narrowed, hazing through the corner of its eyes every now and then in case a Pokémon tries to attack them again. The Veilstone boy, however, was holding a small gem in his right hand and was staring down at it in curiosity.

This gem wasn't a normal one, it was another Mega Stone; a Mawilite to be exact. They had come across the stone earlier in Verdanturf Town when they were leaving to check the Rusturf Tunnel. The only problem was that no one in the gang had a Mawile, but still it was a good find and it might come in handy in the future.

'Maybe I should consider catching a Mawile myself someday'. The Veilstone boy thought to himself, pocketing his new Mega Stone in the right pocket. "Raa, raaa!" Lucario suddenly cried out, catching Sorrel's attention. But suddenly a feminine cry up ahead quickly captured Sorrel's attention. He gazed forward and saw a girl around his age up ahead with a giant large bolder past her, blocking the way forward. The girl had green hair kinda like Wally's hair, even the same skin and eye colour. She's wearing a white button up shirt, a red skirt and white sandles.

The girl blinked in surprise at the sight of Sorrel and Lucario, before sighing in relief. "Oh, thank goodness". The unknown girl said in relief, much to the two partners' confusion. "Is there something wrong?" Sorrel asked with a curious voice, both him and Lucario walking up and stopped just 5 feet away from her.

"Yes, actually there is". The girl answered, turning around slightly and looked at the large boulder behind her. "The rock is blocking the way to Rustboro City, it's the only way between the two cities and nothing we've tried has worked on it". She explained to Sorrel, lifting her right hand and placed it on the large boulder. Sorrel and Lucario grew curious faces at hearing this, before turning to look at one another.

"I can't even visit my boyfriend because of this". The unknown girl said in sadness, rubbing the boulder a little bit. She then turned to Sorrel exactly when he and Lucario turned back to her. "Please tell me; do you have a Pokémon that knows Rock Smash?" She asked with a hopeful voice. Sorrel and Lucario blinked at the mention of "Rock Smash" and wondered why that's important.

"I do. My Skorupi knows the move". The Veilstone boy answered, holding up an enlarged Net Ball with his right hand. The girl grew a massive smile at what Sorrel told her. "Oh, thank goodness! Please, destroy this boulder with your Pokémon!" She pleaded, turning to face Sorrel fully and bowed her head to him. Sorrel blinked at the girl, before he looked at Lucario for assistance.

The Aura Pokémon gave its trainer a shrug of the shoulders, before waving the left paw as if saying "Go ahead already." Sorrel let out a sigh, before turning back to the girl and nodded to her. "Alright, I'll take care of this". He told the unknown female, much to her delight as she let out a happy gasp and raised her head. "Really? Thank you so much!" She cried out in thanks, bowing her head once more in gratitude.

"You don't need to bow like that. For now, please step aside". Sorrel advised the girl, which she took and moved to the side. With her out of the way, Sorrel and Lucario faced the large boulder blocking their path. "Skorupi, clear the path with Rock Smash!" The Veilstone boy commanded, holding the Net Ball out forward. The device burst open, despite still being in Sorrel's hand, and released a bright white beam.

It struck the ground, took shape and cleared to reveal Sorrel's Skorupi. The Bug and Poison type gave a cry, right before its right claw began glowing bright orange. It suddenly leaped at the boulder and rammed its glowing right claw into it, resulting in the boulder growing massive cracks all over it. And in the next second, it completely broke apart.

But then everyone was taken by surprise by a started scream from the other side. Sorrel, Lucario and the girl blinked in surprise, while Skorupi landed on its feet before they all looked to see who screamed just now. It was a guy older than Sorrel, maybe a bit older than the girl. He had black very short hair, tan skin and black eyes. He was also big and brawny, like a boxer. The guy had rather large lips too. He's wearing a white karate outfit, black sash and a red headband, no shoes whatsoever.

The unknown guy had a surprised face, but that immediately changed once he took notice of the girl standing at the side. He gasped in pure delight, a massive smile forming on his face. "Wanda!" He called out in joy, giving away the name of the girl that pleaded for Sorrel's help not too long ago.

Wanda herself had a smile full of affection and love directed at the unknown male, just as happy as he was to see him. "Riley!" She cried out in joy, taking off into a run with her hands reaching out to him. He held his arms out as well, and once Wanda jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, Riley wrapped both arms around Wanda's waist.

Due to the difference in height, Riley was now holding Wanda from the ground. Wanda pulled back to look at Riley's face with the two smiling at each other, before they leaned in and kissed. The sight took Sorrel, Lucario and Skorupi by surprise as they all blushed, before they all turned away from the scene, being respectful to them. Fortunetly for them, they won't have to wait long.

Riley and Wanda soon ended their kiss after 7 seconds. The large man put his girlfriend down on her feet, but they kept their hands where they were. "I'm glad to see you, but what happened exactly?" The large man asked his girlfriend, a bit lost on what happened exactly. He had just came to this tunnel to try another method to break the boulder to reach his girlfriend's hometown, but it just shattered without warning all of a sudden.

Wanda smiled at her love, before looking over to Sorrel and his Pokémon over the left shoulder. "This young man destroyed the boulder thanks to his Skorupi's Rock Smash attack". The young woman explained, much to Riley's surprise before he looked over to Sorrel. The Veilstone boy, Lucario and Skorupi all turned to look back at the couple now that their moment was over, much to their relief.

Riley let go of Wanda's waist and she unwrapped her arms around his neck. Wanda stepped to the side and Riley walked over to the Veilstone boy, stopping right in front of him. "Wow! You shattered that boulder blocking the way. To show you how much I appreciate it, I'd like you to have this!" The large man said with a massive smile, placing his right hand in his outfit, quickly bringing it back out and held it out to Sorrel.

The Veilstone boy gazed down at the closed hand right as Riley opened it to reveal a rather shocking sight. It was a Mega Stone, a different one than the ones he, Ash, May, Brock and Verity had. 'A Mega Stone?' Sorrel mentally questioned in surprise, turning his gaze up to Riley's smiling face. "A-Are you sure about this? Do you even realize what it is you're offering to give to me?" The Veilstone boy questioned, wanting to make certain that Riley knew what he was giving away to him.

Without wasting a second, the large man gave a nod of the head to Sorrel. "Yes, I know exactly what it is. An Aggronite". Riley answered, increasing Sorrel's surprise at learning what Mega Stone this one is. "I honestly have no need for it. I don't even have a Keystone myself". The large man added, Sorrel finally taking the Mega Stone with his right hand.

The Veilstone boy held it up and stared at the Aggronite with wonder filled eyes. "Something tells me that you can use it". Riley told the younger male with a supportive smile, before he turned around and walked back to Wanda. He stopped right in front of his girlfriend and, much to Wanda's surprise, picked her up in a princess carry. "R-Riley! W-what are you..." Wanda stuttered, face flushed as she stared at her boyfriend's grinning face.

"It's almost been 2 months since I last got to hold you! Just think of this as practice for when we get married!" Riley laughed out, turning around and walked off passing through Sorrel and his Pokémon, all of them wide-eyed at what they just heard. 'They're engaged!?' Sorrel shouted out inside of his mind, completely shocked because he didn't expect such a young couple like them to be engaged.

The Veilstone boy let out an emotionally exhausted sigh, putting the Aggronite away in his coat's right pocket. "You know what? I'm just gonna forget about that stuff". Sorrel stated, Lucario and Skorupi nodding in agreement to their trainer's words. "Let's continue. Gotta make sure there isn't any more of those boulders blocking the way". The young boy said, already walking forward even before he stopping speaking.

Lucario and Skorupi followed their trainer without question. Their little search around the tunnel is gonna take a bit of time and by the time they're finished, the Contest will have already moved onto the second round.

---

(Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest)

The time for the Pokémon Contest to begin was drawing closer and the citizens of Verdanturf Town were growing restless from the wait. The stage had square edges with a rounded middle with the battlefield there. Behind the stage was a yellow paneled wall with a screen. In simple man's terms, it was exactly like the one in Fallarbor Town's Pokémon Contest hall. The three podiums for the judges were already there and waiting

On the opposite side of the stage were two teared seating areas divided by a runway. The seats were right beside each other with nearly all of them already full of people, among them was Drew who had come to watch and see the Contest. The young man was even a bit eager to see how well May has improved since he last saw her in Fallarbor Town. The only thing he was a bit disappointed about was that he wouldn't get to see Verity compete again.

Meanwhile in the waiting room; the gang and Timmy were all together as they spoke. Right now Ash, Verity, Brock, Max stood across Timmy with Pikachu, Piplup and Jirachi in their usual spots. May was still sitting down on the bench, only now Klefki and Skitty were out with the three of them gazing at Timmy.

The secret identity of Phantom just told them why he was late, and the reason was a bit surprising. "Really? You were late because you had homework?" Ash asked the rich boy in surprise, both arms crossed. "I think my mum maybe knew I was trying to get to the contest. There were so many, I'd be stuck in there for the whole day". Timmy told his friends, causing Max and Jirachi to shiver at the thought and not in a good way.

"So, how'd you get away?" May asked with a curious voice, wondering how he managed to escape his house. "Just as it looked hopeless, my dad came to the rescue. He came from the window and had a ladder ready". Timmy answered, mind flashing back to how his dad helped him escape from home and make it on time. "I hope your dad will be alright when your mum finds out". Verity remarked, pitying Tommy because she's certain Mrs. Grimm is gonna shout her head off at him. "Piplup pip". Piplup said with a paling face, glad to be far away from that mansion.

"He'll be fine, there's no doubt about that. I just hope I can find some way to make it up to him someday". Timmy said, tilting his head down slightly. Ash gave a grin at Timmy's words, before holding up his left fist. "Well, I can tell you how to do that, Timmy. Just do your best today and that'll make your dad proud". The Rainbo Hero told his newest friend, resulting in Timmy tilting his head up and nod to him.

"Yeah, I'll try". He replied, not sounding too energized right now. He then brought out his Phantom mask and placed it on his face, hiding his identity once more. He chuckled in a confident way, before turning to May and raised his right fist.

"You ready May? Let's show em what a really great Coordinator can do!" The Phantom said with confidence and energy, unlike just a few seconds ago. May blinked with a rather startled smile at Timmy's chance in personality, but still agreed with him on that. "Ahhh... Okay..." The brunette responded, mentally wondering how a mask makes Timmy change so much.

Verity gave a small chuckle at her fellow Pokémon Coordinators and wished them luck in this contest.

---

(Later/ Play Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire OST Contest Hall Music)

The time for the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest to begin has arrived. All the stands were filled completely with people. The judges; Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and Verdanturf Town's Nurse Joy were all at their podiums and finally the announcer, Vivian Meridian, was standing at the stage with her microphone in hand.

The crowd cheered in excitement as Vivian spoke through the microphone. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, fans and contestants to the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest! I'm your host; Vivian, and you can just feel the excitement building here!" The adult woman spoke, looking over the crowd watching her. Ash, Verity, Brock and Max were sitting down on seats of their own on the right seating area, Pikachu, Jirachi and Piplup sitting down on their trainers' laps.

"Now before we get started, please allow me to introduce our panel of judges. Our head judge; Mr. Contesta. Mr. Sukizo, director of the Pokémon Fanclub. And our very own Nurse Joy from Verdanturf Town". Vivian introduced the three judges, the crowd applauding for all three of them. "Now let's bring on our first contestant, shall we?" The adult female said cheerfully, before bringing up her friend hand and gestured to the first Pokémon Coordinator contestant.

By some stroke of fate, it was Jessibella. The disguised Team Rocket member was standing with confident, left fist pressed against her hip. "Coordinator number 1; Empress Jessibella!" Vivian called out, the crowd cheering for Jessibella as she held up an enlarged Poké Ball with her right hand. "We'll be starting out with Dustox!" She cried out, throwing the device up into the air.

Jessibella's Poké Ball burst open and a bright beam came out, taking shape before clearing to reveal Dustox. "Dustox!" The Poison Moth Pokémon cried out full of energy, sparkles surrounding it. The Bug and Poison type flew down and perched itself on top of Jessibella's head, the sparkles now surrounding both of them and giving a rather majestic sight.

"Isn't that beautiful, foks? Striking, majestic! A perfect opening statement!" Vivian called out on her microphone, the audience all in awe at the rather spectacular opening of Jessibella's performance. The disguised female chuckled at their cheers, eyes closed in a delightful way and right hand raised to her mouth. "How easily impressed, I'm just getting started". Jessibella stated, lowering her head and opened both eyes to gaze up at Dustox.

"Dustox, Poison Sting!" She commanded the Poison Moth Pokémon. One of the many things she, James and Meowth discovered about their new Rotom Phone is that it has a function that can help their Pokémon relearn moves that they knew in the past, something very useful for Pokémon Contests and she had every intention of using it. So she had Dustox relearn Poison Sting for this performance, but intends to replace it with Sludge Bomb later. But that doesn't mean it was the only move she had it relearn.

Dustox started flapping its wings and took flight. "Dus...tox!" The Bug and Poison type cried out, opening its mouth and fired white darts forward into the sky. "Follow up with Whirlwind!" Jessibella added, an order Dustox was quick to obey. "Dus dus dus!" The Poison Mouth Pokémon exclaimed, flapping its wings and creating a strong gust of wind.

The gust of wind struck the white darts, resulting in all of them going up into the air and spinning around at an incredible speed. "And now Psybeam!" She gave the final order for this performance. "Tox!" Dustox cried out, releasing a multicolored beam from its eyes. The Psybeam went forward to the middle of the spinning white darts, blowing them away before it spread and struck them all, resulting in it all turning into a shower of rainbow coloured sparkle winds.

"Unbelievable! Dustox used Whirlwind to lift Poison Sting high into the sky and then set it aglow with Psybeam! An impressive combination of technique, foks!" Vivian called out with an amazed smile, the crowd completely loving Jessibella's performance as they all cheered for her.

(Music end)

Jessibella chuckled in joy once more just like before at their cheers. "I'd like to see anyone top that". She chuckled, before turning to the screen on the wall and saw it displaying an image of her and Dustox. "Let's see what the judges thought of Jessibella and her Dustox". Vivian spoke, turning to look up at the screen as well. It changed, displaying the numbers "28.5" with a black background. "28.5! A tough act to follow!" Vivian called out, the crowd cheering at the large score from the first performance of the contest.

With the gang watching from the stands; they were a bit impressed with Jessibella's performance. "She's clearly kept up her training. Almost got a full score". Verity remarked, right leg over the left one and both arms holding Piplup's sides. "No kidding. That was really good". The Rainbow Hero said with a small voice, comparing Jessibella to the version of her from the last Pokémon Contest.

The new Pokémon Coordinators took their turns performing with their Pokémon, like a Charizard and Blastoise to name a few. But now, it was finally May's turn. "Next up contestant 21; let's hear it for May!" Vivian called out, turning to look at the brunette standing on the stage with an enlarged Quick Ball in her right hand. The crowd immediately cheered for May, some recognizing her and others just to be a good audience.

(Play Pokémon Anime Sound Collection - Dawn's Contest Appeal)

"May, show them what you're made of!" Ash called out in encouragement to his second girlfriend. "Pika!" Pikachu called out, lifting both hands into the air. "Alright, go May!" Max called out, lifting both fists up and slightly shook them. 'Go, go!' Jirachi called out, waving both hands up and down in encouragement. "Do your best!" Verity called out to her friend, watching May with complete faith in her.

May gave a smile, before rearing her right hand back. "Klefki, take the stage!" The brunette called out, tossing the device forward with it spinning. It suddenly stopped spinning and burst open, releasing a bright white light into the air. It cleared to reveal May's Klefki with the small Pokémon crying out.

"Okay, let's start off with Light Screen!" May commanded, gazing up at the airborne Steel and Fairy type Pokémon. "Klef!" Klefki called out, yellow transparent squares appearing in the sky around it yet were a little bit away from the Steel and Fairy type. "Oh my! This is an interesting start. What could May be planning to do with those?" Vivian questioned with an eager voice, staring up at the yellow transparent squares floating in the air above.

"Now Klefki, spin and use Fairy Wind!" May commanded, slowly lifting her right hand into the air and held it there. The Key Ring Pokémon gave a cry, before it began spinning, but didn't use Fairy Wind just yet. First it shot forward and began bouncing off of the transparent squares. It shook its body, releasing a wind with pink energy that glistens off it, making Klefki shine brightly.

"Now finish it up with Thunder Wave!" The Petalburg girl called out with a wide smile, waving her right hand down. "Klef!" Klefki cried out, body becoming covered in yellow electricity that surrounded it. Once it came into contact with a single transparent square, it broke apart with Klefki's body sparkling even more. The crowd gasped in awe as Klefki continued onto the other squares, breaking them apart with its body sparkling even more.

Once the last one broke, Klefki's body sparkled the brightest one last time. Klefki ceased using Thunder Wave and Fairy Wind, before floating down to May, stopping right beside the brunette's face with May giving a small bow to the crowd.

(Music end)

The audience all cheered for May and Klefki's performance, having enjoyed how creative it was. "What a fascinating performance that was. Using Light Screen, Fairy Wind and Thunder Wave to show off Klefki's strength, speed and beauty, what a creative combination that was!" Vivian said through her microphone with admiration on her face. She then turned to the screen on the wall and saw it displaying images of May and Klefki.

"Now let's see what the judges have to say". The female announcer stated, everyone turning to the screen right as it changed to display the numbers "26.5". "A score of 26.5. I'd say that's pretty good". Vivian stated, turning to look at May and saw the brunette appearing a bit relived at the score.

With the others in the stands, they were a bit impressed with May's performance as well. "Not bad. I can't say I would have thought of a combo move like that". Verity remarked, looking down at Piplup with the Water type gazing up at her. "Piplup lup". Piplup said softly, both partners turning back to the stage. "26.5 points is good, it could have been worse". Ash remarked, personally seeing that as a good score.

In his seat; Drew had a passive face from seeing May's performance. He admits that it was impressive and creative, but felt like it could have been better.

May left the stage and soon it was Phantom's turn to perform. He already had his Dusclops out and ready. "Dusclops, Will-O-Wisp!" Phantom commanded, holding his left fist up and pointing forward with the right hand's index finger. "Dus...clops". The Ghost type said softly, holding its hands out as four blue fireballs appeared in front of him and floated slightly up.

"Follow up with Psychic!" The masked Coordinator told his trusted partner. "Clops!" Dusclops responded, its red eye glowing a blue colour. The fireballs moved forward and gained blue outlines. They ascended into the air and multiple, forming a formation. "Wow... A mind bending combination of Will-O-Wisp and Psychic from the Phantom". Vivian said with an amazed smile, the audience watching in awe at Phantom and Dusclops' performance.

The screen then displayed Phantom's score, which was "27.8". "27.8, the judges loved it too. Let's hear it for the Phantom who finishes the first round beautifully!" Vivian called out as the audience cheered once more, the contest's first round now over with all the coordinators having performed.

---

(Meanwhile)

As the Contest was proceeding, a certain married couple were on their way there via their family's black limo. Inside of the limo, Mrs. Grimm and Tommy sat across each other with the businesswoman having a deep frown directed at her husband.

Let's rewind a bit; just like Timmy said Mrs. Grimm tried to keep him from leaving the house through homework. When she went to check on him, she found her husband there instead of Timmy. Tommy didn't attempt to hide anything from her and revealed Timmy was. Straight away, Mrs. Grimm took off to the contest with Tommy coming along.

And it was clear to see that Mrs. Grimm was unhappy with her husband right now. "How could you do such a thing?! You actually encouraged him to enter that ridicules contest!" The adult woman said with an upset voice, arms crossed and frowning at Tommy. "Yes. Timmy loves Pokémon more than anything". Tommy told his wife with a stern voice, because that was the truth about their son no matter how much Mrs. Grimm wanted to deny it.

"That is too bad and I refuse to allow it!" Mrs. Grimm stated, closing both eyes and tilted her head down. "When I was his age, I was always studying! I never wasted my time with such nonsense!" She said, but Tommy knew full well that wasn't the truth. "That's not entirely true, dear". The adult man stated, taking Mrs. Grimm by surprise at what he said.

"Huh?" She opened both eyes and stared at Tommy. "You may have, but I haven't forgotten". The adult man stated, eyes narrowed at his wife. "Uhhh!" Mrs. Grimm blinked, before lowering her head in sadness upon the reminder of her tragic past.

---

(With the gang)

Back in the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest; the gang and Timmy had regrouped in the waiting room. Right now everyone was gathered around May, who was sitting down once more on a bench, gazing down at her knees in concern. "I really hope my score was good enough for me to make it to the second round". The brunette said in a low voice, fearing that her score wasn't good enough.

"Aww, don't worry. Your score was one of the top ones". Max told his sister, currently carrying Jirachi in his hands. "Your chances of making it to the second round are good, just stay positive". Ash told his girlfriend, Pikachu on the Rainbow Hero's right shoulder like always. "What Ash said, you'll be fine". Timmy spoke up, standing behind the Rainbow Hero and had his mask off currently.

Verity took a step forward and placed her left hand on May's right shoulder, catching the Petalburg girl's attention. "Hey, stay cool May. Timmy and that Jessibella were the only ones that got a score higher than yours. If they made it, then I'm certain that you're gonna be in the second round too". Verity told her friend, giving a wink of her left eye once she finished speaking. "Piplup!" Piplup cheerfully cried out from her spot next to Verity.

May gave a smile at her friends' support, greatly appreciating them for their words. 'Attention, please'. A familiar voice spoke from the monitor, catching everyone's attention. They looked over to the monitor and saw it displaying Vivian's smiling face. 'We now have the final scores from the judges. Contestants moving on to the second round are...' The female announcer began, right before the monitor's screen changed to a four splits.

'Jessibella! Stefano! The Phantom!' Vivian announced, three images of the Coordinators coming up on screen. Timmy smiled a big grin at seeing he had made it to the next round. "Yeah". He said in joy, feeling high spirited after making it this far already.

'And finally, May for a total of four!' Vivian announced, the last image displaying May and marking her as the final contestant to make it. Right away the gang all smiled brightly, May especially as she got up from her seat. "Yay!" The brunette called out in joy, holding both fists up in excitement. "See? I told ya you'd make it to the next round!" Verity said with a grin, both her and May making eye contact followed with a nod.

"Great job". Ash told his second girlfriend, before turning to Timmy. "You too". He added, which Timmy gave him a thankful smile for his praise. "This is where it's gonna get really tough". Brock told Timmy, but there was nothing to worry about for the young boy. "I know". The masked Coordinator stated, turning to look at May with her facing him.

"But May, we're friends no matter what, right?" He said to May, receiving a nod from her right away. "Yeah! May the best Coordinator win". The Petalburg said to her rival, both sharing an unspoken promise that no matter who wins they'll still be friends. Verity gave a small smile at the two rivals, eager to see their battle soon.

10 minutes later; the first match of the second round was about to begin. And it was May against Stefano. May was standing at the stage's battlefield's right side, holding an enlarged Poké Ball in her right hand, while Stefano was standing on the left side. Ash and the others were back in the stands, Vivian and the judges were at their places. The screen had everything for the battle such as points, images and time limit. Everything was set for the match to begin, Vivian just needed to officially begin it.

"Welcome back to the second round; contest battles! Victory is awarded to the contestant who in five minutes can take away more of his/hers opponent's points. First up, May versus Stefano. Begin!" Vivian called out, giving the signal for the battle to begin with the time limit counting down once she finished speaking.

Outside of the Pokémon Contest hall; the black limo drove and stopped a few feet away from the entrance. Mrs. Grimm pushed open the double door with her right hand, then stepped out and walked to the building. Tommy followed after his wife, an eager smile displayed on his face.

Meanwhile back with the battle between May and Stefano...

Kablam!

It has honestly been one-sided for May. Her Skitty has absolutely destroyed Stefano's Wartortle, it was honestly sad. And right now; the little Normal type was crying out as it hit Wartortle with its tail using Double Slap without letting up. "Wartortle!" The Water type cried out, Skitty's last Double Slap sending it crashing onto the ground on its back, eyes in swirls as a sign that it can no longer battle.

Upon catching sight of this, the judges quickly displayed red crosses on their podiums. "Wartortle is unable to battle. May and Skitty will proceed to the final stage!" Vivian announced, gesturing to May and Skitty with her left hand. The audience immediately cheered for the winner, while May thrust her right fist into the air in excitement. "Alright! Skitty, you were awesome!" May praised her beloved Normal type Pokémon for their victory. "Naaa". Skitty said with a happy smile from receiving praise and making May proud.

May and Stefano quickly left the stage, allowing Jessibella and Phantom to take their places on the battlefield. "Now in the last semifinal match, it's our leader Jessebella versus the third seat; Phantom!" Vivian announced, both Pokémon Coordinators standing across from each other with confidence.

The crowd all cheered in excitement. Ash, Verity, Max, Brock, Pikachu, Verity, Piplup and Jirachi were all just as eager to see this match. Yet at that moment, Verity took notice of something through the corner of her left eye. She looked to the isle in between the stands and saw, much to her comical horror, Mrs. Grimm standing there and watching her son about to battle Jessibella.

"Uh, guys? We have a problem". The Twinleaf girl said to her friends, catching the attention of Ash, Brock, Max, Pikachu, Jirachi and Piplup. They looked over and saw Mrs. Grimm and gasped at seeing her. "Oh no! Timmy's mum!" The Rainbow Hero called out in alarm, but then they all caught sight of Tommy walking into view behind his wife. The adult man gave them a reassuring nod and smile, telling them everything was okay.

He turned to the stage, just as Vivvian announced the battle's start. "Let the battle begin!" The female announcer cried out, officially starting the battle between Phantom and Jessibella with the time limit beginning its countdown.

5:00 = 4:59.

(Pokémon Anime BGM - Johto Wild Pokémon Battle (1999~2001-M18)

Phantom immediately brought out his partner's enlarged Poké Ball with his right hand. "Better watch out! Dusclops and I are unbeatable! Go, Dusclops!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator cried out, rearing his right hand back and tossed the device out. It immediately burst open with a bright white beam coming out into the air. It took shape and cleared to reveal Phantom's Dusclops. "Dusclops!" The Ghost type cried out, ready to battle and win for its trainer.

"Oh yeah? We'll just see about that". Jessibella shot back, an enlarged Luxury Ball already in her right hand. "Show them who's boss around here, Trubbish!" The disguised female cried out, rearing her hand back and tossed the Luxury Ball into the air. It burst open with a bright white beam coming out into the air. It took shape and cleared, revealing Trubbish with the Poison type displaying a determined expression. "Trubbish!" Trubbish called out, both it and Dusclops landing on the ground a few feet away.

Jessibella wasted no time and took the first attack. "Hit em with a Sludge attack!" She cried out with a serious expression on her face. "Trub!" Trubbish cried out, opening its mouth and began spitting out balls of purple sludge at Dusclops. The barrage of Sludge struck and continued to hit Dusclops over and over again, giving it no room to attack. "Oh boy! The match just started and Jessibella has already landed a deadly blow to Dusclops!" Vivian called out in surprise as the monitor displayed the lost of points for Phantom.

Phantom: 100 = 85.

Despite this, Phantom had no intention of giving up. "Shadow Punch, Dusclops!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator commanded his Beckon Pokémon. "Dus...clops!" Dusclops cried out, immediately unleashing a single shadowy fist that blasted right past the Sludge attack and landed a direct hit on Trubbish, sending it off of its feet. "No way!" Jessibella called out in surprise at Phantom's counter attack. "Take that!" Phantom exclaimed, feeling a sense of satisfaction at landing a direct hit.

"A flawless counter attack! And with that, Jessibella's points have taken a serious hit!" Vivian commented, gazing up at the monitor just as Jessibella's points went down bigger than Phantom's did.

Jessibella: 100 = 70.

The gang were all smiling as they watched, Brock even nodding in approval. "Timmy's not bad at all". The former Gym Leader remarked with both of his arms crossed. "You can say that again. I'm honestly a bit worried on how I would have done against him in a real contest battle". Verity commented with a grin, wondering how their battle from yesterday would have ended if they weren't interrupted.

"I think he's gonna beat Jessibella". Max remarked with a wide smile, confident that Phantom will be the winner of this match. 'Go Phantom!' Jirachi quietly cried out in encouragement to the Ghost type character. Ash and Pikachu remained silent as they watched, though the Rainbow Hero glanced over to Timmy's parents and saw Mrs. Grimm watching the battle with all her focus and attention.

Trubbish crashed down on the ground on its back, but quickly anime bounced back onto its feet and glared at Dusclops. "Okay, have a taste of this! Trubbish, Dark Pulse go!" Jessibella commanded her Poison type Pokémon, throwing the left arm out. "Tru...bbish!" Trubbish cried out, forming a dark purple orb of energy in front of its mouth. It then fired a beam of dark purple rings of energy at Dusclops, landing a solid hit on the Ghost type.

"Dusclops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out in pain from the super effective hit. "Oh no! Dusclops!" Phantom gasped in concern for his trusted partner Pokémon, fully aware that hit was very effective against Dusclops. "And Jessibella fights back and takes points from the Phantom". Vivian commented, Phantom's points dropping from the super effective hit.

Phantom: 85 = 60.

Jessibella laughed out in delight at taking the lead in this battle, while Phantom grit his teeth and let out a low growl at his opponent. Mrs. Grimm gripped her right hand into a fist from seeing her son in trouble, but made no move to interfere and continued watching. Tommy took notice of that and looked at his wife. "What's wrong?" He asked Mrs. Grimm, but she gave no answer and continued watching.

"Dusclops, fight back with Will-O-Wisp!" Phantom commanded, throwing his right hand out. "I don't think so! Stop it with Sand Attack!" Jessibella commanded her Poison type, much to Phantom's alarm at hearing this. "Trubbish!" Trubbish called out, hitting the ground with its arms and sending sand right at Dusclops.

The Beckon Pokémon had just finished creating a blue fireball in between its hands, but before it could launch the Will-O-Wisp, Dusclops got hit in the eye by the sand. "Dusclops!" The Ghost type cried out in surprise, vision blocked from the sand and hurting from it. "Dusclops!" Phantom cried out in alarm at seeing Dusclops' current predicament.

"Uh-oh! Before Dusclops could use Will-O-Wisp, Trubbish stopped it with Sand Attack! Now Dusclops can't see!" Vivian commented, watching as Dusclops ceased using Will-O-Wisp and began rubbing the sand out of its eye. "Haha! I've got this match in the bag! Trubbish, Seed Bomb go!" The disguised female Team Rocket member ordered, holding her open left hand out.

"Trub!" Trubbish opens its mouth and fire multiple glowing green seeds from its mouth at Dusclops, exploding on contact with Dusclops collapsing onto its back. "And Jessibella and Trubbish lands another hit!" Vivian remarked, gazing up to the monitor just as Phantom's points started going down again.

Phantom: 60 = 35.

Jessibella laughed out once more in delight. Phantom was now harshly gritting his teeth, before he threw his head back and cried out. "No! This battle's not over, the Phantom doesn't know the meaning of defeat!" Phantom roared out, refusing to give up the battle even when it seemed certain that he was gonna lose.

Tommy stepped up beside his wife on Mrs. Grimm's right, both of them watching their son with serious expressions. "Tell me... when was the last time you saw Timmy that focus and determined about anything?" Tommy questioned his wife, but she gave no answer because she had none. It has been too long since she saw her son like that after all.

"Trubbish, Seed Bomb again!" Jessibella ordered once more, throwing her left hand out. "Trub!" Trubbish opens its mouth and fire multiple glowing green seeds from its mouth at Dusclops. "Not this time! Dusclops, send it back with Psychic!" Phantom commanded, raising his right hand and pointed the index finger out.

"Dus...clops!" Dusclops exclaimed, eye glowing a bright blue colour. The glowing green seeds suddenly gained blue outlines and stopped mid-air, before they flipped over and shot back to Trubbish. They struck and exploded on impact, resulting in the Poison type flinching and crying out in pain. "What!?" Jessibella called out in surprise at the unexpected turn around.

"And another turn around! Looks like this battle isn't over just yet and that Psychic enhanced Seed Bomb must have hurt!" Vivian called out with a wide smile, watching Trubbish crash down on its back harshly.

Jessibella: 70 = 50.

"Now Dusclops, surround Trubbish with Will-O-Wasp!" Phantom commanded his Beckon Pokémon, keeping up the momentum to attack. "Dusclops!" Dusclops cried out, holding both hands out right before multiple blue fire balls appeared and shot forward. They all went and surrounded the down Poison type with it looking around and saw it was indeed surrounded on all sides.

"Now, control them all with Psychic and attack!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator ordered, holding his hands in a cross with the palms facing outwards. "Dus...!" The Ghost type cried, its red eye glowing a blue colour once more. All the blue fire balls gained blue outlines, before they all shot forward and struck Trubbish on all sides in a barrage, exploding on contact and covering the Poison type in smoke.

"And Phantom lands another direct hit! This time with Will-O-Wisp and Psychic!" Vivian called out with a wide smile, whole Jessibella harshly grit her teeth so hard that one could imagine sparks coming out of them.

Jessibella: 50 = 30.

"I've had just about enough of this! Trubbish, full power Dark Pulse now!" Jessibella shouted out, now more than a bit frustrated with this battle going against her. "Tru...bbish!" Trubbish cried out, forming a dark purple orb of energy in front of its mouth. It then fired a beam of dark purple rings of energy at Dusclops, intending to deal it some massive damage.

"Dusclops, fight back with Hyper Beam!" Phantom commanded, taking this final attack challenge on without a single shred of fear. "Dus...clops!" Th beckon Pokémon cried out, gathering blue energy in its eye and fired it as an orange beam of energy. Dark Pulse and Hyper Beam collided and created a power struggle, both sides giving it their all to win this contest of power.

"Push harder Trubbish and get us that win!" Jessibella called out, raising her right fist and punched the air with it. "Trub..." Trubbish groaned out, adding in more power and pushing Hyper Beam back a little. "Push Dusclops! We're almost there, give it all you got!" Phantom shouted out to his partner, encouraging him not to give up. "...Clops!" The Ghost type responded, pushing in more power and pushed Dark Pulse back by twice the amount it got pushed back earlier.

Everyone watching the battle felt like they were at the edge of their seats from this intense. "Neither side is giving an inch! This has become quite a battle!" Vivian called out, watching the power struggle between Hyper Beam and Dark Pulse with all her attention and focus to not miss a single detail.

Meanwhile in the waiting room; May was watching the monitor from her regained seat on that same bench from before. "Come on... don't give up". May spoke, supporting her friend in this intense battle against Jessibella.

Back on the stage; Dark Pulse and Hyper Beam continued to struggle against one another until eventually both attacks exploded with a smoke screen created. "Ahhh!?" Phantom gasped in surprise, bringing both arms up to shield his face and turned away right as the smoke engulfed and covered him from view completely. Jessibella gave a yelp of surprise, bringing both arms to shield her face right as the smoke covered her from view as well.

(Music end)

Thankfully though, the smoke quickly cleared to reveal both Pokémon Coordinators were unharmed. There was just one problem though and that was the lack of mask on Timmy's face. Timmy gasped in surprise from his mask missing, before looking over his left shoulder to see it lying on the ground 5 feet away from him.

The gang all gasped at seeing Timmy's unmasked face, especially because his mother was here to see it. Before anyone of them could even say anything, a loud beep caught everyone's attention as they gazed up to the monitor and saw the time limit was up.

Jessibella: 10.

Phantom: 15.

"Time is up! The winner on points is, Phantom and Dusclops! Please proceed to the final stage" Vivian announced, the monitor changing to displaying pictures of Phantom and Dusclops. Timmy blinked in surprise, while the crowd all cheered for his victory.

The unmasked Phantom faced forward, before giving a grin of victory and raised his right fist into the air. "Way to go, Dusclops!" Timmy praised his partner Pokémon for their victory. "Closp!" The Beckon Pokémon exclaimed in joy, floating above the ground with its eye closed in a happy manner. Mrs. Grimm blinked at her son, while Tommy crossed both arms and nodded in approval with a smile. "That was some pretty impressive battling". The adult man stated, proud of his son for winning a tough battle.

As for Jessibella; she let out a sigh of disappointment at her defeat. "Once again, I come up short". The adult female said to herself, opening both eyes and gazed right at her Trubbish and saw it sitting down on the ground a few feet away. She couldn't see it due to Trubbish facing the other direction right now, but the Poison type had a sad frown on its face at losing.

"Trubbish, turn that frown upside down! We'll win next time!" The disguised female Team Rocket member told her Poison type, capturing Trubbish's attention. It looked over to its trainer and saw Jessibella's soft smile directed at it, the sight greatly eased Trubbish's concerns. "Trub..." Trubbish uttered, getting up on its feets and ran over to Jessibella. The Poison type stopped right in front of its trainer and gazed up at Jessibella's face.

She gave Trubbish a nod, before turning around and walked off with the Poison type following its trainer out. Meanwhile with Vivian, she turned to Timmy to congratulate him on his victory, only to gasp at the sight of his maskless face. "Oh wow, look at the Phantom now! His mask is off, his face is revealed!" The female announcer called out in surprise, resulting in Timmy widening both eyes in alarm.

"Timmy!" A familiar voice cried out to Timmy, catching his attention. He looked over to isle and saw his parents standing there. "Mum! Dad! What are you doing here?" He questioned in surprise, having thought that they were back home. "Timmy, I... I'm so..." Mrs. Grimm stuttered, before she shut both eyes, turned and walked away. Tommy watched his wife go with a simple smile, before looking back at his son and nodded to him.

Timmy blinked at his father, wondering what was going on and why his mother looked like that. "Wait, mum?" He said in confusion, no clue whatsoever what's going through his mother's head right now.

---

(5 minutes later)

In the Contest's hall; Ash, May, Verity, Max, Brock, Timmy and their partner stood around Tommy, who was sitting down on a random bench looking directly at his son. He called them all here because he had something important to tell them all. "Yes. Believe it or not, your mum loved Pokémon too when she was young". Tommy told his sister, causing Timmy to widen both eyes and let out a small gasp at hearing this.

Growing curious at hearing this, May spoke up. "What happened to make her change her mind?" The brunette questioned Tommy, a question that made him lower his head in sadness. "I'll tell you. Mrs. Grimm was the only child of wealthy parents. And so it was expected that when she grows up, she'd taker over the family business. She had to grow up fast and things her parents thought were childish were taken away from her. Including her beloved Poochyena. She was forbidden to have any contact with Pokémon ever again". Tommy told them all Mrs. Grimm's sad past, much to the sadness of everyone at hearing this.

Outside of the contest hall; Mrs. Grimm was sitting down on a random bench and gazing up at the sky with sad eyes. It was weird because exactly when Tommy was telling everyone about her past, Mrs. Grimm's mind was filled with images of the day her beloved Poochyena was taken away. "Poochyena..." She almost whimpered in sadness, dearly missing the Pokémon she loved with all her heart.

She caught sight of something through the corner of her left eye. Mrs. Grimm turned her head left and saw it was Sorrel and Lucario walking down the street to the Pokémon Contest. The two took notice of Mrs. Grimm and stopped in their tracks. "...!" Sorrel widen his eyes in surprise at seeing the sad look in Mrs. Grimm's eyes and wondered why she had that look. Lucario himself gave a sad frown at sensing Mrs. Grimm's sadness through her aura.

Back inside the contest hall; Timmy tilted his head down in pity after hearing what his mother went through. "I...never knew that". He uttered to himself, feeling a sense of shame at never once considering that his mother had her beloved partner Pokémon taken away. "So you see, your mother really doesn't hate Pokémon Timmy. She just thought if you never fell in love with Pokémon, you'd never be heartbroken". Tommy told his son, speaking true because that really was why Mrs. Grimm tried to keep him away from Pokémon.

"Like her..." Timmy said to himself, feeling truly sorry for his mother and all she had been deprived from. Tommy closed his eyes and frowned a little before speaking. "But apparently she still can't bare to see you with your Pokémon. So this could be your last chance to be in a Pokémon Contest". The adult man told his son, opening both eyes once he finished speaking. "Which means you go make the most of it. Go get em". He added, receiving a nod from the unmasked Pokémon Coordinator nodded to him.

"Kay. You can count on me". Timmy replied to his dad, intending to give it everything he's got and go without any regrets. Both he and May made eye contact with one another and nodded, intending to battle with everything they've got.

---

(A little later)

It was time for the final round of the Pokémon Contest and the whole room was stacked with people excited to see this grand final. On the stage; Vivian and the judges were at the places and so were May and Phantom. May's on the left side, while Phantom is standing on the right. In the stands; Ash, Verity, Max, Brock, Pikachu, Piplup and Jirachi have all retaken their seats and were waiting for the match to begin, only now Tommy had joined them.

The crowd cheered in excitement, eager to see this match get started. "And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. The final championship showdown between May and the Phantom!" Vivian called out on her microphone, turning her gaze to May first and then over to Phantom.

"Come on May, you can do it!" Max cried out in encouragement to his sister. "Both of you give it your all and don't leave any regrets!" Verity called out to her friends with a supportive smile, eager to see their match. "Piplup!" Piplup cried from Verity's hands, waving both hands into the air. "And begin the battle!" Vivian officially started the match with the monitor's time limit beginning its countdown.

(Play Pokémon Johto Journeys BGM - Johto Rival Battle)

Time limit: 5:00 = 4:59.

Phantom: 100.

May: 100.

Phantom immediately brought out Dusclops' enlarged Poké Ball with his right hand. "Go! Dusclops!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator cried out, rearing his right hand back before tossing the device out. It burst open and released a bright white light that took shape and cleared to reveal Dusclops. "Dusclops!" The Ghost type cried out, full of energy and restored completely from its battle with Trubbish.

May tossed her Poké Ball out straight away. "It's showtime, Skitty!" The brunette called out right as her Poké Ball opened and let out a bright white beam. It took shape and cleared to reveal May's Skitty with it having a massive smile. "Naaa!" It meowed out, still as happy as ever despite the pressure going on right now.

"Kay Dusclops! Focus Punch!" Phantom commanded the Ghost type, wasting no time and going straight for a super effective hit. "Dus...clops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out, rearing its left fist back before firing blue energy in the shape of a fist at Skitty. "Skitty, Assist!" May commanded without fear, much to the surprise of her friends at hearing the surprising command so soon.

A white orb appeared on Skitty's front paw, followed by a strong gust of sparkling wind coming out that blew away the Focus Punch into nothing but sparkles. "What!?" Phantom gasped in surprise, while May grinned at what she saw. "Talk about lucky! Assist ended up as Fairy Wind, a Fairy type move that's just perfect against a Fighting type move like Focus Punch!" Vivian commented, turning to look at the monitor just as Phantom's points went down.

Phantom: 100 = 85.

"We're not through just yet! Focus Punch again!" Phantom commanded, refusing to give up despite this little setback. "Dus...clops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out, rearing its left fist back before firing blue energy in the shape of a fist just like before, only this time landing a hit on Skitty with the Normal type crying out in pain.

May: 100 = 90.

"Skitty, time for your new trick!" May exclaimed, before throwing her left fist up and out. "Thunderbolt!" She cried out, much to Phantom's surprise at hearing this. Skitty gave out an energetic cry, before releasing a powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at an unexpected Dusclops and landed a direct hit on it. "Dus!?" The Beckon Pokémon exclaimed in both pain and surprise. "Oh no, Dusclops!?" Phantom cried out with wide eyes, even though it couldn't be seen because of his mask.

Phantom: 85 = 78.

"Well, Skitty performed Thunderbolt better than it did with Blizzard". Ash remarked with his arms crossed. A few days earlier, on the one just after they said goodbye to Dr. Abby, she had come and asked him for a TM that could teach Skitty an Electric type move. TM24 Thunderbolt turned out to be the one that May had been looking for and Skitty took to it like a duck on water. She had Skitty replace Charm with Thunderbolt to make room for it.

Brock gave a nod of approval with his arms crossed. "It's always a good idea to have not just one, but two surprises in store. Timmy wasn't expecting Skitty to know Thunderbolt and that cost him". The former Gym Leader remarked, something that Tommy gave a nod in agreement to. "It's best to keep an unexpected surprise in store. It could really turn the tide of a battle". The adult man stated, remembering the times he performed and how an unexpected surprise helped him greatly.

The electricity attacking Dusclops disappeared, yet the Ghost type was still standing. "Dusclops, Will-O-Wisp!" Phantom commanded, holding his left fist up and pointing forward with the right hand's index finger. Dusclops created four blue fireballs from its hands and they floated up a bit. "Now, follow with Psychic!" The masked Pokémon Coordinator added, not done with commands yet.

"Clops!" The Beckon Pokémon responded, eye glowing blue as the fireballs gained blue outlines. They all shot forward towards Skitty, closing in on it fast. "Phantom is using a combination attack!" Vivian commented, right as the combo attack of Will-O-Wisp and Psychic began a barrage of attacks on a helpless Skitty. "Skitty has no defense for this one! A heavy point lost for May!" The female announced called out and true to her word, May lost a good amount of points.

May: 90 = 75.

May grit her teeth, but kept calm despite the current situation. She gazed over to the time limit just as it reached 3 minutes left. She turned back to the battle, before holding her open right hand out. "Got nothing to lose! Skitty, Assist again!" May commanded, deciding to bet on her luck again since it was better than doing nothing at all. "Naaa!" Skitty called out with a massive smile, a white orb appearing on Skitty's front paw. Skitty's body began glowing multicolored, becoming outlined in light blue right before it disappeared from sight.

Skitty then reappeared in front of Dusclops, much to the surprise of it and Phantom. "That was Teleport! Skitty must have used that because Jirachi knows it!" Max exclaimed in surprise at seeing Skitty using one of Jirachi's moves. 'Wow!' The Wish Pokémon gasped with wide eyes of surprise, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Skitty, Thunderbolt again!" May commanded with a confident smirk, taking this chance to press the attack. Skitty cried out and let loose another powerful bolt of yellow electricity from its body at Dusclops, landing another direct hit on the Ghost type. "And Thunderbolt strikes again!" Vivian commented with a wide smile, gazing up to the monitor.

Phantom: 78 = 68.

"Dusclops, shake it off and fight back with Hyper Beam!" Phantom ordered his partner Pokémon, holding up the right fist. "Dus...clops!" Th Beckon Pokémon cried out, gathering blue energy in its eye and fired it as an orange beam of energy, dispersing the electricity surrounding it. Hyper Beam landed a direct hit on Skitty, blasting the Normal type off its feet. "Phantom isn't out of the battle just yet!" The female announcer stated, smiling an excited smile from watching this battle.

May: 75 = 60.

May grit her teeth, while Skitty backflipped and landed on its feet. She gazed over to the time limit once more and saw there was only a minute and a half left. 'Not much time left. I have to finish this fast!' May shouted out inside of her mind, turning back to the battle in front of her.

"Dusclops, Focus Punch go!" Phantom commanded with a confident grin. "Dus...clops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out, firing Focus Punch the same way just like the last few times. May widen her eyes, realizing that this was a perfect chance to make a counterattack. 'Gotta act now!' May shouted out inside of her mind, before punching the air with the left fist.

"Skitty, deflect Focus Punch with Double Slap!" The Petalburg girl commanded, much to Phantom's surprise at hearing this. Skitty let out a happy cry as it leaped towards the blue fist shaped energy, before suddenly spinning around and slapped it aside with her tail. "What the!?" Phantom called out in surprise, honestly bewildered at what he just witnessed.

"What a surprise!? May used a move that would have been useless against a Ghost type to knock Focus Punch away! Now that's a perfect example of thinking outside the box!" Vivian called out with an amazed smile on her face, the audience all cheering for May's surprising move.

Phantom: 68 = 50.

"That's not fair! Dusclops, stop Skitty in its tracks with Psychic!" Phantom commanded, throwing its right fist into the air. "Dusclops!" The Beckon Pokémon responded, eye glowing blue as it used Psychic once more. Skitty's body gained a blue outline, right before it suddenly crashed down on the ground as if something was squashing it. "Skitty!" May cried out in alarm with wide eyes, now a bit worried for her Pokémon.

"Skitty's been immobilized! What will May do now?" Vivian questioned, turning to look at the brunette once she finished speaking. 'Well, guess I've got nothing to lose now'. The brunette thought to herself, before throwing her left hand out. "Skitty, try Blizzard!" May called out, deciding to take a gamble and use their wild card here.

"Naaa..." Skitty opens its mouth and white sparkles form in its mouth. A moment later, it fires a blizzard from its mouth at Dusclops, but it looked weaker than the last time Skitty used Blizzard. The Ice type move struck, but Dusclops didn't so much as flinch from the attack, a sign that Skitty hasn't fully mastered the move yet. "And Skitty's Blizzard has failed!" Vivian commented with wide eyes, Phantom grinned at the sight while May frowned in frustration.

With the gang watching, they were all frowning at Skitty's failed Blizzard attack. "That did not go well". Verity remarked, shaking her head slightly and mentally kicked herself for not giving May's Skitty more help with training Blizzard. "That's an understatement. And after how Skitty's last Blizzard was such a success. I'm wondering just why it had trouble just now, especially with how easy a time it had learning Thunderbolt". Ash said with a frown and both arms crossed, wondering why May's Normal type was having such trouble with that move.

"Dusclops, Hyper Beam!" Phantom exclaimed with a smirk on his face, seeing this as a good chance to make a comeback. "Dus...clops!" Th Beckon Pokémon cried out, firing a Hyper Beam once more at the still immobilized Skitty. "Quickly Skitty, Assist!" May commanded, refusing to give up the battle just yet after how hard they've fought so far. "Naaa!" Skitty called out with a massive smile, a white orb appearing on Skitty's front paw.

The white orb suddenly disappeared and five glowing yellow walls appeared and form a box around Skitty, much to its surprise. The Hyper Beam struck the glowing box with smoke covering it for 3 seconds before clearing to reveal it undestroyed and an unharmed Skitty inside. May sighed in relief at seeing this, while Phantom grit his teeth.

"Looks like May's luck hasn't run out yet. This time Skitty's Assist turned out to be Light Screen, a move from May's Klefki from the first round". Vivian said from her microphone, turning to the monitor just as May's points went down, but not by much thanks to Light Screen.

May: 60 = 55.

Phantom looked at the monitor through the corner of his right eye and saw there wasn't much time left before the match ends. "I have to stop her. But how?" The masked Pokémon Coordinator spoke to himself, thinking as hard as he could for a way to stop May and win this match. "Timmy!" A familiar voice called out to Phantom, catching Phantom's attention.

(Music end)

He looked over to his left and saw his mom standing right in front of the isle, while Sorrel stood 5 feet away leaning his back against the wall with both arms crossed, Lucario standing beside its trainer with all three of them staring at Phantom. "Mum?" The masked Pokémon Coordinator said in surprise to see her, having thought she'd had left earlier.

With the gang in the stands, they were now a bit worried after seeing Mrs. Grimm here. "It's Timmy's mom". Ash stated, a single trace of sweat dropping down the left side of his face. "Pika". Pikachu commented from Ash's lap, a bit worried himself that Mrs. Grimm could try to interrupt the battle. "Hopefully she doesn't try anything". Verity said with traces of worry leaking out of her voice.

But to the surprise of the gang and Tommy, Mrs. Grimm didn't do anything they were dreading. "Don't ever collapse under pressure, Timmy. Dusclops is battling for you because it trusts you. Just like May's Skitty trusts her". The adult woman told her bewildered son, both him and Dusclops staring at her in surprise that she was supporting them. Even May and Skitty were staring at the adult woman in surprise.

Mrs. Grimm smiled a smile full of belief at her son, a sight that surprised Phantom greatly. "Have confidence and have faith in your Pokémon. Then you won't need a mask". She told her son, speaking from the heart right now. Sorrel gave a small smile from his place a few feet behind Mrs. Grimm, before he and Lucario made eye contact and nodded to one another.

Phantom continued to stare at his mother for a second or two until he eventually spoke. "Yeah... You're right". He stated, reaching up with his right hand and took the Phantom mask off. Timmy gave a confident smile and nodded to Mrs. Grimm. "There". He spoke, feeling more free right now than he did with the mask on. And speaking of the mask, Timmy dropped the Phantom mask to the ground and dropped the hat as well.

With the gang in the audience; all of them were smiling proud smiles at Timmy no longer needing his mask to be confident. "Now he knows his mum's on his side". Max said with a bright smile, happy for Timmy that he made up with Mrs. Grimm. "That's good". Ash remarked, glad to see the two finally acting like mother and son. "And it will make this battle an even better one". Brock stated, certain that this battle has just became more important for Timmy. Tommy was silent yet had a happy smile from seeing his wife and son finally close again. "Go Tim". He uttered, proud of his son for no longer needing that mask.

Verity was quiet and had a smile as well, but it was different to everyone else's ones. She was smiling a bit out of envy because she and her mother haven't fully sorted out their little "problem" yet. It isn't as bad as it used to be thanks to her time with Ash and Sorrel, but there's still some things left to do.

(Play Pokémon Johto Journeys BGM - Johto Victory Theme)

"Alright then! Let's go!" Timmy cried out with energy and spirit, holding up his right fist. "Bring it on! Let's give it our best!" May responded with her own confident grin, more than ready for whatever Timmy throws her way. "Dusclops, Will-O-Wisp!" Timmy commanded, throwing his right hand out. "Dusclops!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out, holding both hands facing each other and unleashed a barrage of blue fireballs.

"Assist Skitty, do it!" May commanded, holding up her left clenched fist. "Naaa!" Skitty called out with a massive smile, the white orb reappearing on its right front paw and this time a swirling stream of fire came out. It burned through the blue fireballs, reducing them to nothing. "That was Fire Spin!" Ash remarked with a grin, recognizing the attack to be Combusken's Fire Spin attack.

Phantom: 50 = 30.

"Nice try May". Timmy said with his teeth grit, spirit still strong despite the disadvantage going on for him. "Assist, again!" May commanded, betting on her luck again. Skitty gave a cheerful cry as the white orb appeared again and a wind with light blue sparkles inside came out of it. "That's Gastrodon's Ice Wind!" Max called out with an excited grin on his face.

"Dusclops, Psychic!" Timmy commanded his Beckon Pokémon, a plan in mind to deal with this. "Dus...clops!" Dusclops cried out, firing a blue beam from its eye that tore through Icy Wind. "These two are really going for it! I've never seen a final battle go down with a wire like this one!" Vivian called out with an amazed smile, glancing up at the monitor.

May: 55 = 30.

"Tied up with only seconds left on the clock". The female announcer added. Mrs. Grimm watched with her hands clapped together in a prayer for Timmy's victory, while Sorrel and Lucario continued to watch in silence.

'There's no way I'm losing after what it took to get this far. One last attack should finish her off'. Timmy thought to himself with his teeth grit, deciding to bet it all on one last attack. 'It's just too much to expect Assist to come through for me again. I'm gonna have to put all my faith in Skitty". The Petalburg girl said inside of her mind, changing her mind on relying on Assist since it was too much of a risk now.

"Go Dusclops, Hyper Beam!" Timmy commanded, throwing his right hand forward. "Dus...clops!" The Ghost type exclaimed, firing an orange beam from its eye at Skitty. "Now Skitty, Blizzard!" May cried out, throwing her left hand out. Ash, Brock, Max, Verity, Sorrel, Pikachu, Jirachi, Piplup and Lucario all cried out in surprise at hearing the move May told Skitty to use with how risky it was.

"Naaa!" Skitty cried out, then unleashed a massive and power Blizzard attack from its mouth, a true Blizzard attack this time. Blizzard and Hyper Beam clashed, but the Ice type move was pushing its way through right away until it completely blasted through Hyper Beam and continued on to Dusclops. "Dusclops?!" The Beckon Pokémon cried out in surprise as it was lifted off its feet from Blizzard.

The gang all smiled in relief at seeing this Blizzard attack wasn't a failure like the last one. "It worked this time!" Max called out in joy, standing up from his seat with both fists up. 'Horay!' Jirachi called out in joy, floating in front of Max and waving both hands up and down in joy.

Dusclops came down and crashed on the ground in front of Timmy, much to his concern as he reached out for the Beckon Pokémon. "Ahhh! Dusclops, no!" He cried out in dismay, but then a loud beep sound caught his attention. Timmy looked over to the monitor and saw that time was up and the winner had been decided.

May: 30.

Phantom: 10.

"Time is up! And the victory goes to... May and her Skitty!" Vivian announced, the monitor changing to display May's picture with a picture of Skitty with a pink background and the words "Winner" underneath. The crowd immediately began cheering for May while she threw her right fist into the air in victory. "We won!" She cried out in triumph, lowering her arm and gazed at Skitty with an overjoyed face. "And it's all because of you, Skitty". The brunette stated, truly thankful to her Kitten Pokémon for winning this match. "Naaa... naaa" Skitty meowed out with a smile, happy that it made May happy.

(Music end)

Back with the gang in the audience, all of them were smiling even Tommy despite May being the winner. "That was a great battle". The adult man stated with a smile, holding up his right hand a little. "I'll say. Really good". Brock said in agreement, giving a small nod of approval. "Good job, May". Ash praised his second girlfriend, despite her being unable to hear him.

"Yeah, way to show em". Max remarked, holding up his fists in an excited way. "She's getting so much better faster than a Rapidash can run. I'm certain she'll reach Top Coordinator one day soon". Verity said with a proud smile with her pupil in Pokémon Contests. "Pika pika!" Pikachu called out from Ash's lap, a wide smile on its face. 'Hooray!' Jirachi exclaimed in joy, waving both hands up and down with his eyes closed in delight. "Piplup!" Piplup cried in joy from Verity's lap, jumping up and down in joy.

From his spot in the audience; Drew had wide eyes at seeing May's victory over Phantom. "May actually beat the Phantom?!" He stated, before growing his usual cool look and flicked his hair the usual way. "Shows how luck plays a part in any battle". The green-haired boy said to himself, but truthfully he was impressed with his rival greatly.

May and Timmy met in the middle of the stage's battlefield and had a handshake as a sign of good sportsmanship. "Congratulations May. But there's no way I'll ever lose to you again". Timmy told the brunette, congratulating her on winning their match and the contest. "Yeah? We'll just have to see about that". May replied to her friend, both letting go of each other's hands.

Mrs. Grimm walked up to the two and stopped beside them, looking at her son with a proud face. "Hey kids, both of you were really great". She told the two Pokémon Coordinators, grabbing their attention as they turned to her. "Thanks mum". Timmy thanked his mother for her praise, turning to fully face Mrs. Grimm and bowed his head to her.

"I'm sorry though. About sneaking-" Timmy began, yet his mother spoke up and cut him off. "That's alright, I understand". Mrs. Grimm told Timmy, much to his surprise at hearing this. "You do?" He asked to be certain, even taking a small step forward to his mother. Mrs. Grimm gave a nod of the head and closed her eyes. "And as long as you don't fall behind in your homework, well, then you can continue to enter these Pokémon Contests". The adult woman told her son, finally deciding to allow him to continue entering Pokémon Contests because she can see he loves entering them.

Timmy was in a state of bewilderment at his mother's words, finding it hard to believe even. "Wait... you mean..." He uttered, before finally registering what his mother said and breathed out in pure joy. He was filled with so much joy at this moment that he went up and hugged Mrs. Grimm who happily returned it. "Thank you mum! I love you so much". He told Mrs. Grimm with joy, something that made her laugh in joy at hearing.

From his seat in the audience; Tommy nodded with a face of pure happiness at seeing his wife and son like that again after so long. This was worth everything he's done and he couldn't be happier.

It was soon time for May to be handed her new Contest Ribbon by Mr. Contesta. Right now she, Mr. Contesta, Vivian, Ash, verity, Sorrel, Brock, Max, Timmy, Mrs. Grimm, Tommy, Nurse Joy, Skitty, Pikachu, Piplup, Lucario, Jirachi and the other Pokémon Coordinators that had entered the contest were standing at the stage just as the winner was handed her award.

"With the judges' presentation to May and Skitty the prized Verdanturf ribbon, the Verdanturf Pokémon Contest comes to a close. Congratulations May!" Vivian praised May, speaking through her microphone still. The brunette girl was gazing down at her new Pokémon Contest ribbon with an overjoyed face.

The audience all cheered for May and Skitty once more, the gang and their friends smiled for the Petalburg girl as well for her victory. "Wow, haha! I can hardly believe it Skitty, but we did it!" May cried out in pure joy, taking a pose with her new ribbon. "Naaa!" Skitty called out with a massive smile, jumping up and joined her trainer's pose.

And with that; May now had two Pokémon Contest ribbons under her belt. Just one left before she catches up with Verity.

---

(Later on)

With their business in Verdanturf town over and no longer needing to stay, the gang began their journey to their next destination; Petalburg City. They said their goodbyes to Timmy and his family and headed off. Yet there was one last thing left to do before they were on their way.

Right now the whole gang were standing in the same park that they first met Timmy in. Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Brock, Max, Pikachu, Piplup, Lucario and Jirachi were standing 10 feet away as May stood in front of her Skitty with the Normal type gazing up at its trainer with its usual smile.

May knelt down on her right kneel, still facing the Kitten Pokémon. "Skitty, you were really amazing out there today. I'm honestly prouder of you than I have ever have". The brunette told her Normal type Pokémon, reaching out and pat Skitty's head much to its delight. May retracted her hand, then placed it in her bag to fetch something important. "That's why I think you're ready... for this". May stated, bringing up her right hand and revealed a Moon Stone in hand.

"Na?" Skitty gazed up at the Moon Stone May's holding and stared as she placed it down in front of her. The Petalburg girl retracted her hand and looked right at Skitty once more. "With this Moon Stone, you'll evolve into a Delcatty. I won't force you if you don't want to evolve, so just-" May spoke, only to come to a halt because Skitty jumped onto the Moon Stone with a happy cry.

Both the Normal type and Moon Stone began gleaming bright white, before Skitty began evolving. May and everyone watched with wide eyes full of surprise as Skitty grew larger with its tail growing as well. After 15 seconds, the glowing disappeared to reveal in Skitty's place its evolved form; Delcatty.

Delcatty is a quadrupedal, feline Pokémon with a mostly tan body. It has a pointed, whisker-like protrusion on each cheek. Its purple ears have three tufts of fur at the tips, and there is a purple ruff-like collar with pin-like extensions around its neck. It has slim legs with tiny, digitless paws. It also possesses a purple, flower-like tuft of hair on the end of its thin tail.

May's newly evolved Delcatty let out an energetic cry with the same happy grin it always possessed as a Skitty. May let out a happy laugh, before wrapping her arms around Delcatty's neck and hugged the Normal type, rubbing her cheek against Delcatty's. Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Brock, Max, Pikachu, Piplup, Lucario and Jirachi all watched with smiles on their faces, letting May have this moment with her Delcatty.

Another day has passed, but their journey was still far from over. And now, it was time for them to advance on to Petalburg City for Ash's longtime awaited match with Norman. And it will be a Gym battle that he will enjoy fully.

---

(Pokémon ending 5: Type Wild)

Ash's Rotom Phone spin around with a rainbow background a few times, before drawing closer to the camera and then stopped. As it turns on, the running silhouettes of Ash and Pikachu appeared on the side of the screen while Ash and Pikachu themselves appeared on the bottom, running forward towards the camera.

"Since I've said good-bye to Pallet Town".

"I guess a bit of time has passed".

The Rotom Phone's screen then lit up and began to display events of the Rainbow Hero's life when he became a Pokémon Trainer. First, it showed Ash in his pajamas rushing out of his house and towards Professor Oak's lap. Then, it showed the Rainbow Hero in Professor Oak's lap, first meeting Piackhu. It showed Ash picking up his best friend and spun him around, which annoyed Pikachu as it used Thunderbolt and zapped Ash, who cried out in surprise.

"As with the number of scrapes, cuts, and friends I've got".

"They all give me a sense of pride".

The Rotom Phone's screen then changed to show Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, looking up into the red sun as Ho-Oh flew over them with the Rainbow Wing floating down from the Legendary Pokémon. Ash held up his hands as the Rainbow Wing floated down onto them. He then took hold of the quill with his right hand as it let out a rainbow glow, much to Ash and Pikachu's amazement.

The two looked back up at the sky as Ho-Oh flew away and disappeared from sight with a rainbow in sight. The Ash on the Pokédex's button stubble over his feet, getting Pikachu to look at him, but the Rainbow Hero regained his balanced and continued running with the running silhouettes of the two copying their movement.

"Since they were all the rage that time".

"I had ran off to buy these sneakers".

"But now, they can't even be found".

"Anywhere else in the world".

"They're the best pair of worn out shoes!"

The Rotom Phone's screen then changed to show Ash and Pikachu hiding behind a tree, looking up at a tree branch where a Caterpie was crawling around. It changed once more to show Ash and Verity racing against one another in the forest when they heard Entei was nearby. The Pokédex's screen changed once more to show Sorrel and Lucario with the Aura Pokémon in front of its trainer, charging up an Aura Sphere. Sorrel gave a command and threw his left arm to the side, while Lucario thrust his hands out and fired Aura Sphere.

The Rotom Phone's screen then changed to show the three officially meeting with Ash and Verity deciding to have a battle against one another. It changed once more to show Ash, Verity, Pikachu and Piplup surrounding Charmander, who was sitting down on a rock in the middle of the rain. It changed to show Charmander run up to Cross's right leg and hug it happily, only for Cross to kick him off. The device's screen then showed Ash standing across Cross, glaring at his unimpressed look.

The Rotom Phone's screen then changed to show Caterpie, on the solid ground, evolve into Metapod, then changed to show Charmander in the air, evolve into Charmeleon, before falling down with a happy look. The device's screen then changed to show the late night, where Verity first saw Suicune, who was looking at the girl who would become its chosen trainer. It changed once more to show Ash and Cross standing across one another on a battlefield, about to battle.

"Before you know it, Type: Wild!"

Ash and Pikachu were then suddenly replaced by Verity and Piplup running besides one another with their silhouettes replacing the ones from before. The two started to long run as the Rotom Phone's screen changed to show Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Pikachu, Piplup and Lucario being thrown into the air by Primeape. Then it changed to showed Ash carrying Metapod as he ran through the forest at night.

"Little by little, Type: Wild!"

Verity and Piplup were replaced by Sorrel and Lucario with their silhouettes being replaced as well, running in the same style. Ash's Rotom Phone showed Metapod glow as it evolved and flew into the air. The evolution light cleared to reveal Butterfree with it flapping its wings.

"More and more, Type: Wild!"

Sorrel and Lucario were then replaced by Cross and Incineroar with the silhouettes being replaced as well. The device's screen changed to show Verity holding up a Poké Ball with her right hand, before she kissed it. The Pokédex's screen then showed a white beam take shape in a lake, before clearing to reveal Verity's Lapras, who let out a cry.

"Gonna be strong, Type: Wild!"

Finally, Ash and Pikachu retook their spots with their silhouettes returning as well, with the two long running now. The Rotom Phone's screen showed the group of 3 humans and Pokémon looking up a hill towards Raikou, who was looking down at them. Then, it showed Ash, Verity, Sorrel, Pikachu, Piplup and Lucario meeting Bonja. The Rotom Phone then showed a bright white shape figure, before it cleared to reveal Charizard, who let out a fierce roar.

The device's screen changed to show Charizard's massive Flamethrower attack closing in on Incineroar, before engulfing it completely. Then, it showed Cross kneeling down in defeat as he lost the battle against Ash.

Ash then grew his Rainbow Hero wings and slightly flew off of the ground and started flying just above it with Pikachu now running normally. The Rotom Phone then showed Ash recalling Pikachu to his Poké Ball to protect him, and then showed the two best friends hugging in the other world with Ash regaining his colour.

"And someday I will say".

The two best friends slowed down their pace with their silhouettes copying them, while the Rotom Phone showed Ash and Pikachu beginning their battle against Ho-Oh. The device's screen then showed Ash and Cross saying good-bye on friendly terms, before changing to show Ash, Verity and Sorrel parting ways as well. The device's screen showed Verity and Piplup on a boat as they returned to Sinnoh, before changing to show Sorrel and Lucario in a cold environment with an Articuno flying over them. The Pokédex's screen then displayed Cross, Incineroar and Midnight form Lycanroc sitting around a campfire, eating.

"Hello to my dreams".

Then, Ash landed on the ground as Pikachu jumped onto his right shoulder, before Verity, Sorrel, Piplup and Lucario joined them, all of them forming a group hug with the silhouettes mimicking them. The Rotom Phone's screen showed Ash sending Pikachu out into battle against Heracross, then Ho-Oh flying over the planet and finally, an image of the six all together in their group hug.

---

And with that, this chapter has been completed. But don't worry my friends, I intend to update this story two more times before I move on to the next story. I know it will be a bit of time since I'm back to playing World of Warcraft, but the good news is that I've already started. Just you all wait and be patient with me, the chapter after the next one is one I'm looking forward to doing.

The reason why? Because that is where Ash's Grovyle will finally evolve! Haha! Just a little longer and one of my most favorite Pokémon will be on Ash's team and he'll have another Mega Pokémon.

I'll see ya later.