Yo, what up friends of fanfiction, I'm back, so soon, I know, with chapter 17 of Love, Pokemon and other Delusions. Not much to say, other than!

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Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, Gary, and Brock sat on a bench overlooking the frozen lake, each lost in their thoughts. The cold air seemed to deepen their collective gloom.

"So," Ash broke the silence, "we need to buy a ticket to Hoenn." He stood up, brushing off the snow that had gathered on his jacket. "Do we know where we can leave from?"

"The biggest city in Sinnoh is Jubilife," Gary replied, his voice tinged with frustration. "But we're nowhere near that place!" He clenched his fists, the frustration evident in his voice.

Brock stroked his chin thoughtfully, his eyes scanning the horizon. "There is a dock here..." he pointed out, a hint of hope in his voice.

"Yeah, but that wouldn't just take us to Jubilife, it doesn't have its own dock," Ash countered, his tone deflated.

The trio sighed in unison, their spirits sinking. "Did we come this far just to get stuck?" Ash muttered, feeling the weight of their predicament, blaming himself silently.

"There's gotta be something!" Gary groaned, his desperation seeping through.

Brock continued to scan their surroundings, searching for inspiration. His eyes landed on a map of Sinnoh pinned to a nearby board. "Wait, what about the Flight Area!?"

"The Flight Area?" Gary echoed, puzzled.

"That's on the Resort Area island, right?" Ash asked, trying to recall, digging up old memories.

Brock nodded. "It's not far from here. We might be able to take a boat there," he suggested, a spark of hope returning to his voice.

Gary shrugged, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Okay? And how does that help us!?"

"Well..." Brock began, his eyes lighting up as he snapped his fingers. "They don't just specialize in Flying Pokemon."

"Yeah...?" Ash gestured for Brock to continue, his curiosity piqued.

"I believe they also offer helicopter training, as well as Pokémon flight training," Brock explained, his excitement growing.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Gary grabbed Brock's shoulders, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You aren't suggesting we steal a chopper, right!?"

"Of course not," Brock replied, gently removing Gary's hands from his shoulders. "I think, if we explain our situation..."

"They'll fly us to Hoenn," Ash interjected, his head tilting as he began to understand.

"Exactly!" Brock exclaimed, snapping his fingers in triumph.

Gary scoffed. "You think they'll just fly three strangers to Hoenn because we're looking for a 'missing' girl? I don't know about that."

"What? Do we not look trustworthy?" Ash asked with a head tilt, genuinely confused.

Gary sighed, ruffling his spiky-hair as he searched for the right words. "That's not what I mean..." He looked away, struggling to articulate his concerns. "These flight guys don't know us. If we tell them we're looking for some girl, it sounds suspicious, that's all."

"I think you're being too negative," Brock countered gently. "You have to trust people more."

Gary crossed his arms, his skepticism evident. "Fine, whatever." He then locked eyes with his companions. "But I won't be held accountable for anything that happens!"

"Go, Electivire! Now, hit them with Thunder!" Paul commanded, his hands flashing with urgency. This was it—the final battle. Across from Paul stood the Johto champion, Lance. Electivire's fur crackled with electricity as it charged its attack. The air was thick with tension, and the audience held their breath in anticipation.

Lance stood tall, his iconic cape billowing behind him, his eyes locked on his Dragonite. "Dragonite, dodge and use Hyper Beam!" Lance countered. Dragonite soared into the sky, narrowly evading the bolts of lightning from Electivire's Thunder attack. With a roar, it unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam, the golden energy beam surging toward Electivire.

"Electivire, Protect!" Paul shouted urgently. A shimmering barrier formed around Electivire just in time, absorbing the impact of the Hyper Beam. Electivire stood firm, eyes focused and determined. "Now, while Dragonite is recovering, use Ice Punch!" Paul seized the moment. Electivire's fist glowed with icy energy as it lunged at Dragonite, delivering a powerful Ice Punch to the dragon Pokémon's midsection. Dragonite cried out in pain, reeling from the super effective attack.

Lance gritted his teeth, feeling the pressure. "Dragonite, use Outrage!" Though weakened, Dragonite responded with a fierce, frenzied attack, its body glowing with draconic energy. It struck Electivire multiple times, pushing it back. Electivire staggered and then fell onto its back, struggling to rise.

"Damn it..." Paul cursed, hoping his Pokémon could hold out just a little longer.

"DON'T GIVE UP, PAUL!"

Paul's breath hitched at the sound of a familiar voice. He looked up at the crowd and saw Dawn and Piplup in cheerleader outfits. He couldn't help but blush at the sight of her.

"Go, Paul, go!" Dawn cheered, performing cheerleader-like movements. "You've come too far to lose now!" It was an understatement to say they had a few eyes on them.

The normally composed boy shyly waved at them before taking a deep breath to regain his cool. She was right; he had come too far to throw in the towel now! "Come on, Electivire, we can still do this!" he yelled, his resolve fueling his Pokémon, who managed to get back on its feet.

"Heh, impressive," Lance mumbled with a slight grin.

"YEAH, GO GET 'EM, YOU TWO!" Dawn cheered, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Alright Electivire, let's end this!" Paul shouted with a nod to his pokemon, which his pokemon returned with determination. "Hit him with your best ice punch!" Electivire used up all its remaining strength to form a glow of light blue around its fist. "Give 'em hell!" Paul yelled forming his own fist and punching the air. Electivire charged at the enemy Dragonite, aiming to end this with one last punch.

"Damn!" Lance cursed, shocked at the speed and true resolve of the electric type. "It seems I can't give up either! Dragonite!" He called out to his pokemon, "Meet him head on with one of your outrages!" Dragon started glowing purple and charged at the already charging Electivire with wild swings.

The two pokemon collided, causing a giant dust and dirt cloud to form, hiding the two Pokemon, many fists being thrown, everyone in the crowd held their breath in anticipation. Paul clenched his fist so tighty, he might've hurt himself, "C'mon man, we got this..." He tried to call out to his pokemon through the cloud of smoke and dust.

"Don't lose now, Dragonite..." Lance tried to call out as well.

"Please Electivire..." Dawn, with her eyes tightly shut, was almost praying in the stands, "Paul deserves this more than anyone, let him down, please!"

The dust was setting and in it was the silhouette of a tall, big, yellow pokemon on one knee. Paul knew who it was and a smile crept onto his face. The dust was now gone, and there Electivire was, panting, but still conscious, unlike the Dragonite below it with swirls in its eyes.

"DRAGONITE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE, THAT MEANS PAUL SHINJI AND HIS ELECTIVIRE ARE THE WINNERS!" The announcer, well announced, causing the crowd to burst into cheer for their new champion.

Paul let out a heavy breath and fell down onto his knee, "I... did it...?"

"That you did, young man." Lance said, his hand outstretched to pull Paul up, which he accepted, "You have beaten me, you are now the Johto champion!"

The referee guided Paul over to a small makeshift stage where there was a beautiful trophy waiting for him. Him and Lance walked up to the stage, and then the referee whispered something into Pauls ear, "Hey, you wanna bring anyone down from the stands to stand with you?"

Paul was taken-aback by the question, but had a quick answer, "There's a girl named Dawn up there, she's the one in the cheerleading outfit, you can miss her." The referee nodded and pulled out a walkie-talkie and the next thing Paul knew was Dawn was riding a Drifblim down from the crowd. "They sure work fast..." He mumbled, as he watched Dawn descend, looking a little nervous, he couldn't help but smile at her, she looked too cute all red faced.

The Drifblim landed next to Paul, letting Dawn get off, "Um, what's going on?" Dawn asked, not at all embarrassed by her cheerleader costume.

"Well, they asked if I wanted anyone down here with me..." Paul shyly, uncharacteristically explained.

Dawn gasped, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks, "And you said... me?"

Paul nodded with a smile, but before he could say anything else, him and Dawn were pulling into a big photo shoot and interviewing storm, "We'll talk later!" Paul called out, as he was being swept away by the media men.

Dawn sighed, holding onto where her heart would be, "Alrighty..."

Ash, Brock, and Gary made it to the docks and approached the man in charge, who, for some inexplicable reason, looked like a cowboy. They walked up with a sense of purpose, which the cowboy noticed.

"Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?" he drawled.

Ash spoke up first, "Is there a boat that can take us to the resort area?"

The man chuckled, pushing up his cowboy hat to get a better look at the trio. "Yes, yes there is!"

"What's so funny?!" Gary shouted, looking quite offended. "You better not be laughing at me!"

"No, no," the man said, calming Gary down. "It's just, not many people have wanted to go there recently," he explained. "So, before I let y'all go, can I know why?"

The guys exchanged a look, silently debating the best course of action. Brock nodded to the two, signaling to leave it to him, and they nodded back in agreement.

"You see, we're just really big fans of the Ribbon Syndicate!" Brock declared with enthusiasm.

"The Ribbon Syndicate?" The cowboy repeated, confused.

"The Ribbon Syndicate...?" Gary growled, trying to suppress his anger. "What the heck is that?" he whispered fiercely.

"Just leave it to me!" Brock whispered back, then turned to the cowboy. "Yeah, we're big fans of collecting ribbons! Right?" He looked at Ash for backup.

"Uh, RIGHT! We love all things ribbon!" Ash stammered, pulling out his split ribbon, the one which May had the other half of. "Look, see. We love them." He nudged Gary in the shoulder, "Right?!"

Gary was not happy. He licked his lips to hide the scowl forming. "Yes, love 'em!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Well, alrighty then..." The cowboy said, tipping his hat to them. "Follow me, I'll take you to a boat."

The guys shared a secret fist bump before chasing after the cowboy. "Maybe this will work after all?" they all thought simultaneously, unaware of their synchronized thinking.

As they boarded the boat, Ash couldn't resist whispering, "What even is the Ribbon Syndicate?"

Brock just grinned, "I'm not really sure, but, hey at least we're not swimming after May!"

I think that's where I'm going to end it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of LPAOD! I'm happy I was able to get a chapter out quickly for you guys. My university had a three day weekend, and my girlfriend was out of town, so I took it upon myself to pump this out for you, my friends of fanfiction. I know it may not seem like it, but we're actually getting somewhere with the plot! So, stay tuned! I also wanna say I really appreciate all the nice reviews I'm getting lately, it really keeps me going!