Heart of Champions

by stringdog

Dreams have been achieved, what needs to be won has been won, but now there is a burning question that needs to be answered; what comes next? That is a question that Ash and Dawn will soon have answered in this fifth and final installment in 'Hearts' series. One thing is certain though, going forward they will need all the heart they have to rise to what is coming. Pearlshipping.

17. Part CCVI: Getting Back in Shape

Well, here it is, the seventeenth part of the fifth and final installment in my 'Heart' series on the right day as promised. After what might have been one of the greatest upsets in Contest history where both Dawn and May, two Top Coordinators, lost to a performer with only 2 ribbons in their return to Contests as they seek to qualify for the Majestic Festival the girls need a moment to regroup and get back in shape. Thankfully they just so happen to be traveling with a regional Champion who has his own new Pokémon to train up so it's a win win for all of them as they train for what comes next in their respective journeys. That is all the administrative stuff I have for this Part and as there are no guest reviews to respond to or questions to answer I will leave this off here but do please keep your reviews coming as I love hearing from y'all. That is it for this pre-Part note which means that it is once again time to sit back which and enjoy the latest installment in Heart of Champions. Part CCVI: Getting Back in Shape.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part CCVI: Getting Back in Shape

"Alright, you two ready for this?" Ash asked with a grin as he faced off across the battlefield from Dawn and May who stood together on the other side though he wasn't addressing the girls. "It's going to be a bit chaotic, might be hard for your first training match but it's valuable experience and helps with teamwork."

"Florges." Florges said with a nod, a determined look on her face.

"Greninja." Greninja said from her side.

"We're ready to you know." Dawn pointed out. "And this is as much for us to get some more training in as it is for Florges to start getting experience with you."

"Yeah, the chance to face the new Champion of Kalos in this kind of battle." May said with a grin. "Many would love for this kinda challenge so we're going to make the most of it even if we're using Contest style battling and you're using normal battling. If we can at least put up a good fight against you we will know that we're getting back in shape for future Contests after that last one."

"Malamar." Malamar said with a nod in front of Dawn while Tyrantrum just roared from its position in front of May.

"Oh I know." Ash said. "This is going to be great training for facing a more unorthodox battle style and with Laverre so close I can get some tips from Valerie when we get there as Florges is my first fairy type since the new type appeared as well as the first that I'm going to be using frequently."

Florges just nodded again as she got mentally ready for what was about to come. This was going to be her first true time engaging in a battle against another Pokémon with Ash as her trainer and while it was only training against Ash's mate and the girl who wanted to mate with him she was still going to give it her all to show what she was made of.

After all, she'd taken Goodra's spot and would be a main rotation Pokémon for the year as Ash was going to keep her and Pikachu on his team when he left Kalos and that was it, though he would call in other Pokémon as needed, so she had to work hard to back up her bold decision to join Ash when he released Goodra and atone for her actions in the Wetlands. This was the start of that journey of growth and atonement for her.

To help her adapt a bit Ash had gone with Greninja as her partner in this training battle. While this was a battle mainly done for Dawn and May's sake so the double battle was the best way to do it, well at least to get a gage for the girls skills before doing solo battles against each of them, it would still be great experience for Florges.

It would also allow her to really see what one of Ash's top tier Pokémon could do and there was no doubt that Greninja was top tier. After all, he was the Pokémon that had won the Lumiose Conference and then cemented Ash's status as Champion with his victory over Mega Gardevoir in the deciding match with the former Champion so he was easily in the top three of all of Ash's Pokémon thus making him a great teacher.

Adding to that, Pikachu and Lucario, two more of the 6 who had led Ash to victory over Diantha, were on the side cheering and supporting them in this matchup along with Noivern and Talonflame who'd been in the final of the Lumiose Conference that had set Ash up for his run at the Champion. Florges couldn't have asked for better mentors as she began her own growth with Ash and with all these strong, accomplished, Pokémon as part of their little family she couldn't help but want to match them.

Of course, they also sorely needed a mother figure which she provided as well but right now she wasn't their mother, she was their teammate and ready to give her all against the two Pokémon on the other side of the battlefield. Neither of the Pokémon, both Kalos native Pokémon, didn't look like they should be with their respective trainers or in Contests for that matter, but Florges was learning that assumptions like that could be wrong. This was especially with the Malamar she was facing though that might be more due to Malamar's odd protective style with her trainer, Ash's mate Dawn.

Florges really didn't understand the Overturning Pokémon that the blue haired human girl had. Firstly, she'd been caught by accident, that was a story that took a while for Florges to grasp as it was so unlikely that it took a few moments to sink in, but despite that Malamar had stayed when given the chance to be released and proceeded to mother her own trainer in a strange style of tough love that involved literally slapping sense into her at times.

As a mother herself Florges didn't get that and to compound everything, Dawn's other unusual Pokémon for this part of their journey, Machamp, acted as her protector from Malamar as he seemed to often disagree with Malamar's reasons for slapping sense into Dawn and stopped her. That led to some strange dynamics between the two fully evolved and strong Pokémon that Florges really didn't understand at all.

Apparently the rest of Dawn's Pokémon, this time around it was Piplup who Florges had learned was Dawn's starter the way Pikachu was Ash's and always with her, Ninetales, Togekiss, and some small rodent Pokémon called Furret, also didn't understand the dynamic between Malamar, Machamp, and their trainer though Piplup clearly favored Malamar. Despite this they all got along and Florges really liked Togekiss, they could sympathize with each other given their motherly natures, so she didn't mind.

The other Pokémon she was facing, and who Ash had told her was her primary target at the start of the battle, was a large Tyrantrum that really looked at odds with May. As with Dawn, Florges could tell that the other human female also wanted to mate with her trainer but didn't for complicated human reasons that Florges didn't understand.

Regardless of that peculiarity in human mating habits, the large rock and dragon type was very different to the others May had. That said Florges did note that other than the very hungry, and currently sleeping, Munchlax and the Phantump that had traveled with them until that Contest the other, May's Pokémon were all fully evolved though more in line with what Florges might have expected from someone who specialized in those Contest things.

Regardless, after meeting that Spiritomb and Banette that Dawn had, Florges was learning not to judge a human's taste in Pokémon partners by his or her appearance or profession choice. She had learned that any Pokémon could work with any human for any good purpose and you judged a human at your own peril.

Hell, she herself, a Pokémon that many would assume would be in Showcases and Contests, was no exception as she was now the Pokémon to a Champion and a male one who's only other fairy type had been caught before the type had been mysteriously added at that. Not only that but she'd learned she was only the 4th confirmed female Pokémon Ash had ever caught so she defied his own norms and that was a useful battle tactic.

Naturally that wouldn't work now but in the future it could though for how long given Ash's status was uncertain. Now though it was time for the battle and Florges set herself for it as this was not only training for her but for the other Pokémon as well as they'd not really had experience in Contest style battles and after the other day they needed it.

That was because, in what had now made it not only to the rest of the Kalos Contest scene but the international one as well, both Dawn and May had lost in their first Contest on their road to the Majestic Festival and not to another Top Coordinator but to a Kalos native and performer called Amelia who only had two ribbons to her name at that point. It was one of the biggest upsets in a long time and showed how rusty some of the Top Coordinators were, as well as the sheer potential that Amelia had.

As such the girls had reset themselves, prepared their rosters for the upcoming Laverre Contest and gotten down to some hardcore training in the wake of that loss. Today was the big culmination of that where they took on Ash in a double battle that allowed Florges to get experience as well before having some solo battles with him as well to fine tune things for the next Contest.

They couldn't really do this before this moment as they'd been on the road but now they were at a rural Pokémon Center a day's walk from Laverre and they still had a few days before the Contest there they could. As such they'd set up here for that training where they could go all out and get healed afterwards before heading into Laverre early.

They had to do that regardless because Valerie and her girls were going to make outfits for all the coordinators so they had to be there and register two days in advance while specifying their appeal Pokémon for that. However, she'd actually asked the trio to get there a day before that as she wanted to get tea with May and Dawn and when she'd heard that Ash had caught a fairy type she wanted to meet Florges to see his first caught fairy type and as Ash wanted pointers it made sense to head early even if it wasn't strictly important to their journey.

All that was to come though, right now it was time for battle. The girls needed this to really help get back into the swing of things after that disappointing start to their latest, and biggest, Contest journey while Ash and Florges needed this to really get their teamwork down so that he could use her in a proper battle when they stopped off in Alola as Ash expected at least one big challenge to come his way when they reached their next region.

"Alright then let's start this." Ash said with little fanfare, they didn't have a ref but they all knew how to battle so it should be find and as Ash wasn't using Charizard there was a chance he wouldn't destroy the battlefield, well not as high a chance as usual, so he didn't need monitoring in it either. "Florges, use Moonblast on Tyrantrum, Greninja, Aerial Ace on Malamar."

Without a ref the battle just started at that but May and Dawn were fine with the unexpected start. They were going to focus on their own battles though and while they may play of each other, this was as much for their individual training as it was for anything else so as soon as Ash said to start this and began his own orders they were going to start with to counter Ash's opening salvo.

"Malamar, use your body to dance and evade before countering with Brutal Swing to send Greninja back." Dawn ordered as Greninja's right forepaw glowed with flying type power and he charged the psychic and dark type. "In a Contest battle it's not about knocking the other Pokémon out, it's about elegance in battle and landing hits while avoiding them in return. Most high level matches go the full 5 minutes so points are crucial."

"Malamar." Malamar said understanding as she got ready.

"Tyrantrum, that's going to be super effective if it lands so block it with Stone Edge." May said as the battle really started and borrowed power from the moon. "Then use Dig the moment that you can."

Greninja was still closing in on Malamar when Florges blasted her Moonblast out and at Tyrantrum going for a strong hit off the bat. However, as the fairy type attack was nearing the Despot Pokémon, Tyrantrum roared and stamped its foot on the ground to cause a series of rocks to burst from the ground in a line at Florges.

The line didn't get near her because the Moonblast slammed into it and the moves exploded sending rock chips everywhere and canceling each other out though Greninja was already past it and closing in on Malamar so it didn't affect him. In the distraction of it, however, Tyrantrum dove forward and into the ground but Ash used that to his advantage.

"Florges, use that time to charge up Solar Beam." Ash said. "Then when you feel the ground move leap up with the move and blast Tyrantrum with it before using another Moonblast if you can. Greninja, evade the Brutal Swing the moment you can and then counter with Night Slash."

Greninja croaked in agreement as he neared Malamar while Florges nodded and kept herself ready as she began to store the energy from the sun while bracing for the impending Dig attack. She had to trust Greninja to do what Ash had said so she focused on her own goal and realized that part of this training was a trust exercise for their teamwork.

For his part Greninja trusted Ash implicitly and Ash had accepted Florges when she asked to join in Goodra's place so he trusted her as well and left the formerly extinct Pokémon to her as he reached Malamar and struck out with his forepaw. However, Malamar wasn't idle, she'd been waiting from him to reach her and the moment Greninja did she twisted her odd body to evade the attack and began to sway and dance the way Dawn had taught her for Showcases as she evaded the series of jabs that Greninja was launching at her with his Aerial Ace.

Malamar wasn't able to evade it for long, Greninja was too fast and skilled while Aerial Ace was too precise a move so when while she was able to twist and dance away a few times, which would have taken Ash's points in a Contest battle, she didn't outlast the move given all the factors at play and it slammed into the right side of her body. However, she'd expected that and took the hit there to roll with it, her tentacles fully out, and activate Brutal Swing.

She swung her body around violently, tentacles at full extension, and tried to hit Greninja with them. Alas for her, Greninja had his own orders and the moment she was hit he backed up and formed the blades of darkness that was Night Slash in his hands and leapt into the air with a barrel roll spin to clear the swinging tentacles.

As such he evaded the attack, which would cost Dawn points in an actual Contest, before he landed as Malamar came to a stop facing him which was the opening he was looking for and with a quick move he stepped and slashed her across the chest in an X shape. Malamar grunted in pain from it though that was more because it had been a critical hit as her dark type negated her psychic type's weakness to dark type attacks and rocked back from the blow. As she did Dawn gave the order and this time Malamar would be successful in using her momentum to her advantage.

"Payback." Dawn called out.

"Malamar!" Malamar yelled as she rocked forward and lashed her tentacles out before Greninja or Ash could react.

The blow, now twice as strong due to the preceding Night Slash though as Greninja was also a dark type that factor was negated, struck him in the chest and sent him flying back. This was fine with Ash because he'd been keeping an eye on everything and it was time for a little switch as this was also a double battle practice for him just in case he had to have a proper double battle this year on his travels.

That was because while Greninja was evading the Brutal Swing, Tyrantrum had burst from the ground beneath Florges, she was a shade too slow when she felt it to leap with it and thus took the full Dig attack, and hurled her into the air with a slight wail. Still, Florges adapted quickly and she'd fought from the air before so she was comfortable up off the ground.

As such, the moment that she could she let out a cry and unleashed her Solar Beam from her mouth and down at Tyrantrum as it looked up at her, jaws open and ready for the next order. This was a combo that May and Tyrantrum had been working on to maximize its ability and with Florges's resistance to dark type attacks this was a great way to test it, not that Florges was going to let them test it that is.

That was because before May could get the order off, Florges's powerful grass type attack tore down and into Tyrantrum's open maw so that it practically swallowed the attack and was blasted down to its knees though thanks to its dragon type the attack was only regularly effective and not super effective. Still, it was a solid hit and disrupted Tyrantrum as Greninja was blasted back and Ash used this for his next play.

"Switch!" Ash called out. "Greninja, Water Shuriken on Tyrantrum, Florges use that Moonblast I ordered on Malamar instead."

"Evade and counter with Psychic." Dawn said reacting right away to the switch in opponents as it fully opened up Malamar's move set. "We can use that on Florges, grab her and slam her into the ground. Keep it up for as long as you can manage, we need to keep her out of the fight, she's the one with the advantage over both of us and in a Contest battle something like this will take away a good chunk of point if done right."

"Dragon Tail." May said a second behind Dawn as she too realized what Ash had done and interestingly the switch meant that the immunities that his Pokémon had against the girls' were no longer there in the new matchups so like Dawn she too used the move she initially couldn't. "Then follow it up with Crunch. We need to set that move up more, I know you can do it."

As May had been giving her order, Ash's Pokémon had switch with both twisting in the air to face their foes and attacking almost at the same time, Florges blasting out her fairy type attack as she fell to the ground still in the air while Greninja slapped his thighs and pulled off the pair of Water Shurikens that he then spun and tossed at Tyrantrum as it got back to its feet following Florges's Solar Beam. Given the situation only one of the two attacks landed.

The one that did was the Water Shuriken and water type attack slammed into Tyrantrum's belly causing it to roar but as with the Solar Beam its dragon type prevented the attack from being super effective. It also didn't knock Tyrantrum back thanks to its size and weight so the large Pokémon charged forward with a bellow and at Greninja it's tail glowing with dragon type power.

As for the other attack that Ash had called out, Florges had had it ready as soon as she'd finished her Solar Beam so she'd gotten it off as turned to face her opponent but Malamar had twisted away from what would have been a super effective attack, her body making it possible, before she glowed blue. Florges was still in the air when Malamar got the fully evolved fairy type in her hold and the moment Florges was grabbed by Psychic, Malamar slamming her down into the ground as hard as she could.

Florges let out a wail of pain as she was driven into the ground hard enough to kick up dust. As she hit the ground, Tyrantrum had reached Greninja who'd landed and slid on the ground due to his momentum, planting its left foot and spinning more elegantly than Ash had ever seen a Pokémon of its size do to swing its tail around and slam it into Greninja's chest. The blow blasted Greninja back with a grunt as he wasn't resistant or weak to the attack and Tyrantrum finished the spin and resumed its charge its teeth now glowing with dark type power with barely any loss in momentum.

The girls had landed attacks and shown their Contest skills but Ash was far from put off by it as he prepped his next counter. All he needed to do was set it up and that required a little trap to ensure that one move in particular was used against his Pokémon.

"Florges, Moonblast." Ash said as Malamar kept the Psychic up and raised Florges into the air. "That will at least distract Malamar into letting you go. Greninja, leap over Tyrantrum and prepare Night Slash but wait for my order before using it."

"Florges." Florges grunted out as she was slammed into the ground and borrowed the power of the moon while Malamar raised her up for a third slam.

"Greninja." Greninja said with a nod as he flipped and landed on his feet, skidding back on his paws as Tyrantrum bore down on him.

Greninja wasn't going to give his opponent the chance to get to him this time though and as soon as he came to a stop he pushed off the ground and charged at Tyrantrum before leaping up with all his strength and flipping over the taller Pokémon so that its jaws snapped on thin air as Tyrantrum tried to grab him with them and the blades of darkness formed in his forepaws. However, Ash had told him not to use it yet so he didn't and waited.

That was because Ash was sure May would call out a new move now that Greninja was behind Tyrantrum and he was about to use something he'd only used once before, though this wasn't going to be as spectacular as the first time he'd done something like this. It was all falling into place and he knew that he had it when Florges blasted her Moonblast at Malamar just as Dawn and May gave their orders.

"Release her." Dawn called out. "Evade that attack before using Psywave."

"Malamar." Malamar agreed as she let go of her Psychic as Florges was being driven to the ground and prepared to leapt to the side to avoid the fairy type attack that she was sure was incoming.

"Dragon Tail." May called out a second later as Greninja twisted to face Tyrantrum's exposed back as he neared the ground while the Moonblast was being sent at Malamar though as Malamar was ready for it she easily dodged the attack. "Force Greninja to block that if nothing else."

"Now!" Ash yelled as Florges righted herself to land on the ground her stem thing slightly bent to absorb the blow looking a little disheveled but otherwise fine. "Switch!"

"Oh." The girls said in unison as Ash's Pokémon twisted and switched places for the second time.

This was classic Ash and they should have seen it coming. The moves hadn't been meant to hit, they'd been meant to distract and displace Dawn and May's Pokémon while also setting it up to bait the latter into the Dragon Tail that was now glowing on Tyrantrum's tail. With Malamar out of position and Tyrantrum turning, neither Pokémon nor their trainers had the time to either abort or call out an attack before Florges had reached where Greninja was while the latter began charging at Malamar.

As such, the Dragon Tail slammed into Florges's side and stopped there doing nothing thanks to her immunity to dragon type attacks though she was pushed along the ground a little by the force of a solid tail hitting her in the side. That was what Ash had been after and to add to it Florges instinctively grabbed Tyrantrum's tail to briefly hold it in place as it stared wide eyed at the ineffective attack which gave her the opening that Ash needed for the next attack.

"Florges, Moonblast!" Ash said. "And Greninja, Double Team!"

"Brace!" May said as Florges once again borrowed the power of the moon. "And then use Stone Edge as soon as you can."

"Ignore the Psywave order, that won't affect Greninja, use Brutal Swing instead." Dawn added as Greninja croaked and several shadow clones of him appeared as he bore down on her all of them holding the blades of darkness that was Night Slash. "That will displace them."

That was all the girls could do before the Moonblast was shot off and slammed into Tyrantrum's gut blasting it back with a roar of pain from the super effective attack just as it yanked its tail free from Florges's hold. The rock and dragon type hit the ground hard on its side and slid over it creating a deep furrow on the battlefield and Ash was already prepared to finish it as he could tell that Tyrantrum was still in it but barely.

"Petal Blizzard!" Ash called out. "This will do it and then turn to use Moonblast on Malamar as soon Greninja gives you the opening. Greninja, keep Night Slash up until that is the case, I trust you to set it up and not take that Brutal Swing in the process."

"Florges!" Florges cried as she opened her mouth and unleashed the storm of petals just as Tyrantrum came to a stop while Greninja just croaked in agreement the first of his clones reaching a now swinging Malamar.

Tyrantrum tried to get up to use Stone Edge but before it could the grass type attack was on it and scoring hits all over its body. As with the Solar Beam and Water Shuriken it wasn't super effective but those attacks combined with the Moonblast was too much for Tyrantrum and with a wail it only managed to raise its head and neck before the Petal Blizzard pushed it over the edge of how much damage it could take and Tyrantrum crashed back to the ground with a thud lying on its side at the end of the furrow it had made with swirls for eyes.

As this was happening, Greninja and his clones had reached Malamar while she was swinging and the clones took the attack so that when she ended her attack she had once again missed Greninja and he used that to slash her in the chest again though this time there was no critical hit from the blow. As soon as he did, Dawn called out another Payback but Greninja was ready for it this time and leapt over it as he formed the Night Slash blades again before he twisted in the air to land behind his foe. That was the opening he was looking for and as soon as he did he put his all into the blow and slashed Malamar across the back.

The force of the hit blasted the psychic and dark type forward with a wail as another critical hit was triggered and before she or Dawn could do anything Florges had already turned and saw the opening that Ash had spoken about. She was amazed at the coordination Ash and Greninja had needed to have to set this up and it really showed her that she'd made the right decision to join Ash because this was something she wanted to have as well. Naturally she'd deal with that later as this was the opening she needed and she already had her Moonblast ready to go.

As such the fairy type attack shot out and slammed into Malamar's face as she was blasted at Florges. After the Aerial Ace and three Night Slashes, two of which were critical hits, Malamar knew she couldn't take a super effective attack and stay conscious, probably not even an attack that she didn't at least resist either, so she knew this was over. It hadn't even been close and Dawn was so going to get slapped for this when she was all healed up, her human really needed to learn from this loss she'd put Malamar through.

That would come but for now the Moonblast struck Malamar with a boom and she wasn't just stopped but blasted back the way she'd come with Greninja casually side stepping out of the way of the other dark type in the battle so that she sored past him and crashed into the wall behind Dawn that surrounded the battlefield with enough force to crack it. Malamar stayed there for a moment before she slid down and flopped to the side to lie in a heap on the ground with swirls for eyes.

The battle was over, there was no need to announce it, and Ash let out a cheer as the girls just blinked at it while their Pokémon stared in disbelief had how the match had gone and Ash's celebrated on the side. There wasn't an expectation for the girls to actually win, Ash was a regional Champion after all, so the shock was more for how coordinated Greninja and Florges had been which really showed why Ash was now the Champion of Kalos.

For his part, Greninja just walked forward to his partner who was still standing slightly amazed at everything. She'd trusted Ash like the others told her to do and she'd won, even landed both winning hits, and she'd played off a Pokémon who's reputation in Kalos was now borderline legendary following his two great wins and his unique ability. This was the strength that Ash offered her and she knew for certain now that she was going to really grow with him and then she could show her daughter, Goodra, and all the Pokémon in the Wetlands just how strong she'd become when they all returned to Kalos.

"Greninja." Greninja said as he reached his battle partner and held out his first with an explanation of what to do. "Greninja."

"Florges?" Florges asked surprised and Greninja smiled at her and nodded so she did the same with her own small fist and bumped it with Greninja's as she smiled back at him. "Florges."

"Greninja." Greninja said with another nod while Florges continued to have her small smile on her face as for the first time she truly felt part of the team as Ash and the other Pokémon came to congratulate her and Greninja and discuss the battle.

"Malamar return." Dawn said with a sigh as she recalled her Pokémon and looked at the Poke Ball in her hand as her own Pokémon came up to her to make sure she was ok after the loss. "Well, that was good and it showed us a lot of what we had to do so we'll use this. We won't have double battles this time around but we should be ready for them down the road as other regions do have them and they'll likely appear in the Majestic Festival so this was good experience. Next we'll practice one on one with Ash, not just you but the others who've never battled in a Contest before. Take a rest, you earned it and please don't be too mad at my mistakes for this."

"Tyrantrum, return." May said at the same time while her own Pokémon likewise came over to her to make sure that she was doing alright. "That was good, we showed some of what we can do and you'll really shine as few will expect you, or your grace, in battle but don't worry we will get stronger for Laverre and beyond. That really showed us how fairy types have changed the game so we'll be ready. Take a rest, let's get you all healed up for some more training."

"We should get all four healed up." Dawn said as she put Malamar's Poke Ball away. "Then we can regroup with them and go over the battle."

"Agreed." Ash said as he pulled out Greninja and Florges's Poke Balls. "Alright you two, time for a break while you get patched up. That was a great battle and you did amazing but we still need to go over it so that Florges understands how to improve and get even better going forward."

Ash's Pokémon nodded and he recalled them. As he did his stomach growled loud enough for them all to hear eliciting a laugh from the girls and smile from Ash.

"Looks like we could use a break as well." Dawn said still chuckling. "Let's grab some food and discuss that so that May and I can see where we need to go while our Pokémon heal up before this afternoon. I want to work on my appeal so I need to go over that with my chosen Pokémon for it."

"Same, gotta be ready for that aspect as well." May said with a nod. "Lunchtime then."

"Alright, let's eat." Ash said as he turned and led his Pokémon into the Pokémon Center to first ask Nurse Joy to heal up Florges and Greninja and then eat.

The girls just chuckled at that and they and their Pokémon followed Ash in to do the same and breakdown the training battle that they'd just had. It had been needed and the girls were really getting back in shape, that battle showed it, so they were ready and rearing to go because the next stop for them was the Laverre Contest and this time one of them fully intended to win her first ribbon on the road to the Majestic Festival.

A nice, simple, transition chapter between Contests for Dawn and May to get some training in, Ash and Florges to work together for the first time, and really prepare for what is about to come, that being the Laverre Contest. That is what is next and while this does set up some Supplements, and yes I do plan to get to them eventually but life has been rather chaotic as of late and will be until the end of the month I presume, the next focus will be the Laverre Contests. Will Dawn or May claim their first win on the path to the Majestic Festival or will we see another upset? Stay tuned as all that will be answered soon but for now that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. As always if you like my work then please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), if possible leave a review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.

Stringdog