The Kanto Grand Festival
A/N: I tried my hardest with this chapter. So hope you enjoy it!
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After travelling some more, the gang made it to the Indigo Plateau.
"We are finally here!" May squealed, happily.
"The Indigo Plateau looks more amazing than I imagined!" Max beamed.
Ashlyn, Alain and Brock started at the area.
"This place brings back memories." Brock said.
"Yeah, especially memories of when I participated in the Pokémon league here." Ashlyn agreed.
Alain nodded, "Yeah, you and your Pokémon were great at the league." He smiled.
Ashlyn smiled back, "It's amazing that they'll be holding the Grand Festival here, despite they never did it before until now." She said.
"Well, a lot of things have changed since then, Ashlyn." Brock stated.
"Come on Ashlyn, let's go register for the Grand Festival right now!" May decided.
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Ashlyn and May had finally registered for the Grand Festival with their ribbons and Pokémon.
May and Max contacted their mum next to let her know they were at the Grand Festival. Unfortunately, Caroline couldn't come because she and Norman were kept very busy, but she promised to watch May all the way on TV and wished her and Ashlyn lots of luck.
After the phone call was over, Ashlyn noticed someone familiar nearby.
"Ritchie! Sparky!" Ashlyn called out as she and Tesla ran towards them.
The two turned to Ashlyn who called out to them.
"Ashlyn, Tesla, how are you?" Ritchie greeted.
"It's good to see you, Ritchie. So what are you doing here?" Ashlyn asked.
"Well I had heard from Prof. Oak that you're participating in the Kanto Grand Festival." Ritchie explained, "The Indigo Plateau brings back memories of when we battled each other in the Pokémon league here, so Sparky and I decided to check out the Grand Festival."
Ashlyn was happy to see Ritchie again, since they hadn't seen each other since Johto, and Tesla was happy to see Sparky again. Ashlyn showed Ritchie her Kanto ribbons and the six frontier symbols she had.
"Wow Ashlyn, you have done a lot on your journey." Ritchie commented.
"So how have you been doing, Ritchie?" Ashlyn asked.
"I've been traveling through Kanto. Now I've been thinking of going to Hoenn because I haven't been there yet." Ritchie admitted.
"That's a good choice Ritchie," Ashlyn agreed, "I liked traveling through Hoenn and you will too. Luckily you won't encounter Team Magma and Aqua."
"Oh I heard about those guys." Ritchie said.
"Yeah, they're all behind bars which is where they belong." Ashlyn stated.
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Later Ashlyn and Tesla went back to the others with Ritchie and Sparky. Brock was happy to see Ritchie again and introduced him to Alain, May and Max. A girl, the same age as Brock, had been talking to May, Max, Alain and Brock. Her name was Solidad, and she was a Pokémon coordinator entering the Grand Festival too, and she lived in Pewter City like Brock. Brock and Solidad were actually old friends.
This meant that May and Ashlyn had another rival for the Grand Festival, apart from Drew and Harley. Solidad told the others that she was an old rival of Drew, having gone against him in contests in the past. She also said that Drew cried when she beat him in his very first contest. This made May remember when she cried after Drew beat her in her first contest; so the rivalry between May and Drew was the same with Drew and Solidad.
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The next day it was time for the Kanto Grand Festival to begin. Ritchie sat in the seats with Brock, Alain and Max.
"Last time I was in the seats was when the Pokémon league was held here, and now I'm here sitting for the Grand Festival." Ritchie commented.
"Well sit back and enjoy this." Brock smiled.
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While fireworks were going off, Lilian started to do the introductions. First, she showed the grand prize, the Ribbon Cup. This Ribbon Cup had bigger, fancier handles than the one on the Ribbon Cup in Hoenn and had a red small ribbon in the middle. Then she showed off the second prize; the Silver Ribbon in a frame. Next, she explained that the preliminary rounds were going to be held in two separate stadiums; there were 270 participants in the Grand Festival. The judges for the first stadium were of course Mr. Suziko, Mr. Contesta and Nurse Joy. But there was also a special guest Judge; Vivian from Hoenn had come to be a judge for the Kanto Grand Festival. Everyone was happy to see her. For the second stadium three other Nurse Joys were doing the judging, and a woman named Jessadia was to be the host.
Ashlyn knew that it was really Jessie in disguise. Team Rocket had come to the Grand Festival to find work and Jessie wanted to be a TV announcer. James was the cameraman and Meowth and Wobbuffet were helpers. So Team Rocket wasn't going to cause trouble here.
The rule for the preliminary round was the coordinators had to use one Pokémon with only one move and only 64 trainers out of the 270 could pass. This was the same rule from the Hoenn Grand Festival.
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Soon the preliminary round was on. There was a Rapidash sprouting flames, a Goldeen jumping out of a pool, a Venasaur using frenzy plant, a Tropius using Solar Beam, a Pichu using Thunderbolt, a Jigglypuff singing, a Tyrogue using karate chop on a pile of slates and a Salamence using Flamethrower.
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Next was Ashlyn's turn and she had Tesla using Thunder Shock on the ground. Then it was May's turn and she had Combusken use Sky Uppercut on a frisbee. Solidad had a Lapras and it used Sheer Cold, creating a big pillar of ice. Next Drew's Masquerain created a gust of wind with Silver Wind. Last up was Harley. He was using his Banette and it used Will-O-Wisp while laughing like a phantom. Ashlyn and May could see that Harley hadn't changed a bit.
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After the preliminary round was over the final results came up. Ashlyn, May, Drew, Harley and Solidad made it to the main stage with 59 competitors. Ashlyn and May were happy to have made it past the preliminary rounds, but there was still the main preliminary round and battle rounds to get through.
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That evening Ashlyn and May were thanking Combusken and Tesla for getting them through the preliminary round. Ritchie said he found the Pokémon contests very interesting and couldn't wait to see more. Solidad was with the gang too and said she couldn't wait to see what else Ashlyn and May would show in the Grand Festival.
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Next day it was time for the main stage to begin; first up was the main preliminary round. The Nurse Joys' were no longer judging, Mr. Suziko, Mr. Contesta, Nurse Joy and Vivian were being the judges with Lilian hosting. Jessie was just going to interview the coordinators backstage.
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Drew was up first, and he used his Absol. Absol started off with Flash, and the light from the flash made Absol's fur glow. Then Absol used Water Pulse, creating a watery tornado. Last of all, Absol used Razor Wind cutting the watery tornado apart to sparkles. The audience loved it.
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Harley was up next and he used his Octillery. Octillery blasted Fire Blast onto the stage, and then danced amidst the flames. Alain, Brock and Max thought this was another typical performance of Harley. Ritchie found it strange himself.
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Next up was Ashlyn and she used Static (Magneton). First Static fired magnet bomb, which was an attack of light blue orbs, into the air. Then Static fired a Tri-Attack at the magnet bomb orbs. The fire, electric and ice orbs collided with the magnet bomb orbs and they burst into red, blue and yellow particles. Ritchie was impressed with Ashlyn's coordinating skills.
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Soon was Solidad's turn and she used a Slowbro. Slowbro used Psychic to balance itself on its tail and move across the stage like it was skating on an ice rink. Then Slowbro used Water Gun while twirling, creating a watery spiral. May and Ashlyn could see that Solidad was a good Pokémon coordinator.
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Soon it was May's turn and she used Munchlax. First Munchlax fired a Solar Beam, shaped as a big ball, into the air. Then Munchlax punched the Solar Beam with Focus Punch. It created sunny sparkling particles.
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While the others were going on, May was feeling relieved that the preliminary round was over. She just hoped she would make it to the second round, the battle rounds.
"Don't be nervous May," Ashlyn assured her, "you put on a very good performance to be proud of."
"I agree," Solidad agreed, "your move was a move even I couldn't think of May. And I can say the same thing with your move too, Ashlyn."
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Next day the results of who made it to the battle rounds of the grand festival came up. Only 16 trainers passed the preliminary round, and Ashlyn, May, Drew, Solidad and Harley made it to the battle rounds. Ashlyn and May were happy to have made it to the battle rounds. Alain, Brock, Max and Ritchie were happy for them too. Just then the big screen revealed who was battling against whom first. To May's surprise, she had to battle Harley first.
"Oh man this is like back at the Hoenn Grand Festival when May had to battle Harley first." Max said.
"You're right, Max." Brock agreed.
Ashlyn knew that Harley called this a great opportunity for himself to get back at May and defeat her like he did in the Wisteria Contest. Ashlyn, Solidad and Drew were against other opponents.
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In the end, May had won against Harley. Her Butterfree and Eevee managed to beat his Cacturne and Wigglytuff (who looked extremely creepy). However, Harley wasn't too happy about his loss, quite angry actually. To be blunt, he was way too confident and arrogant. So everyone was happy for May's win.
Ashlyn, Drew and Solidad easily defeated all of their opponents. That concluded the end of the first battle round.
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Soon the first battle round was over and there were eight coordinators left to challenge the second battle round. The results for the next battle round came up and May had to battle with Drew, while Ashlyn and Solidad were up against different opponents.
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"So it's time for May to go against Drew again." Max commented.
"Well it was going to happen sooner or later." Alain pointed out.
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As luck would have it, May had won against Drew! Everyone was happy at the outcome. Harley wasn't happy because he was hoping that Drew would defeat May like he did in the Hoenn Grand Festival. It was really Combusken's Overheat that really helped May win the battle against Drew's Absol. So Drew earned Top 8 in the Grand Festival. Solidad and Ashlyn both agreed that May did great out there.
"Congratulations, May." Drew smiled.
"Thank you, Drew." May smiled in return.
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Ashlyn was up next, and she defeated her next opponent with Tantor (Donphan) and Fuji (Magmar). Just then Scott arrived. Scott had come to watch the rest of the Grand Festival. On the big screen it showed Solidad defeating her opponent's Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan with her Lapras and Butterfree.
"Solidad looks really tough to beat." Ritchie commented.
Ashlyn knew that trying to defeat Solidad will not be easy for her and May.
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Next day was the semi-final, and to everyone's surprise Ashlyn and May had to battle each other and they were up first. Scott was sitting in the seats with the others.
"Well, this had to happen sometime." Max said.
"Yeah, those two didn't end up facing each other in the Grand Festival in Hoenn, and now they're in this Grand Festival." Brock pointed out.
"I wonder how this will turn out?" Ritchie asked.
"This should be interesting." Scott commented.
"You have no idea, Scott." Alain agreed.
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May sent out her Munchlax and Combusken while Ashlyn sent out Mulan (Mienshao) and Calypso (Vaporeon).
"Munchlax, use Focus Punch! Combusken, Sky Uppercut!" Munchlax and Combusken charged towards Mulan and Calypso.
"Mulan, cover your ears! Calypso, Screech!" Mulan covered her ears as Calypso let out a loud screech. Munchlax and Combusken didn't like the noise and were stopped from attacking.
"Mulan, Attract!" Mulan winked at Munchlax and Combusken. Their eyes turned heart shaped.
"Munchlax! Combusken!" May gasped.
"Calypso, Water Pulse!" Calypso launched her water attack at Munchlax and Combusken, soaking them.
"Combusken, use Fire Spin! Munchlax, use Solar Beam!" Combusken blew Fire Spin towards Mulan and Munchlax fired Solar Beam towards Calypso.
"Calypso, Aqua Jet! Mulan, use Hyper Beam!" Calypso used Aqua Jet to dodge the Solar Beam and hit Munchlax, and Mulan used Hyper Beam, which shot through the Fire Spin attack and hit Combusken.
"Munchlax, use Metronome!" Munchlax started to wave his arms about.
Munchlax's Metronome became Bullet Seed.
"Mulan, Protect!" Mulan got in front of Calypso and projected a green barrier in front of them, protecting them from the Bullet Seed attack.
"Combusken, Mega Kick!" Combusken pulled his foot back, ready to kick Mulan.
"Poison Jab!" Mulan's paw glows purple and she jabbed her paw towards Combusken's foot.
Combusken flinched at the poison on his foot.
"Combusken, use Overheat!" Combusken uses Overheat next.
"Calypso, use Hydro Pump!" Calypso shot a stream of water at Combusken which doused the fire move and hit Combusken.
"Mulan, Rock Slide!" Mulan's body glows white and multiple white rings of energy appear above and around it. Then, several large gray boulders come out of the ripples of energy and fall down over Munchlax.
"Now Mulan, use Aura Sphere! Calypso, use Water Gun!" Calypso shot a stream of water from her mouth while Mulan launched a ball of blue energy towards Munchlax which slammed into Munchlax hard and Munchlax knocked Combusken back too, and they went straight to the back wall. Munchlax and Combusken were knocked out, so May lost to Ashlyn and earned Top 4 place.
Ashlyn went over to May and held her hand out to her, "You were great out there, May." She complimented.
May smiled sadly with misty eyes and held Ashlyn's hand, "Thanks, Ashlyn." She thanked her.
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May went into the hallway, where Brock, Max, Alain and Ritchie were waiting for her.
"You were magnificent out there, May." Ritchie complimented.
Alain nodded in agreement.
"You made it to the Top 4, higher than the place you earned at the Grand Festival in Hoenn." Brock stated.
"I'm proud to say you're my sister, May." Max admitted.
"I am?" May asked as she then started to cry because of her loss, and her brother and friends started to comfort her.
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Solidad went on to defeat her opponent and now it was the finals between Ashlyn and Solidad.
"Go Pidgeot, Slowbro!" Solidad called out her Pokémon.
"Tesla, Thor, come on out!" Ashlyn released her Pokémon.
{A/N: Thor - Shiny Raikou}
The four Pokémon appeared on the field, ready to fight.
"Slowbro, use Psybeam!" Slowbro's eyes glow red. It then releases multiple multicolored circles of energy from its eyes.
"Thor, Protect!" Thor got in front of Tesla and projected a green barrier in front of them both from Slowbro's attack.
"Pidgeot, Hyper Beam!" Solidad ordered.
"Thor, Thunderbolt!" Ashlyn countered.
The two attacks clashed against each other, causing an explosion that covered most of the field. Ashlyn took advantage of the opportunity.
"Thor, Electric Terrain!" Thor releases multiple bolts of yellow electricity from his body, causing his body and the surrounding area to glow yellow, "Agility and Thunder Fang!"
Thor appears in front of Pidgeot and bit its wing with Thunder Fang, making it cry out in pain.
"Tesla, Double Agility! Then jump on Slowbro!" Tesla used Double Team and used Agility to run towards and landed on Slowbro's tail, "Thunder Shock!"
Tesla let out her electric attack, causing Slowbro to scream out in pain.
"Pidgeot! Slowbro!" Solidad called out.
Tesla jumped away from Slowbro, who looked really beat up by the attack, while Thor jumped away from Pidgeot. Pidgeot was in the same condition as Slowbro.
"Slowbro, use Ice Beam!" Solidad commanded.
"Tesla, Protect!" Ashlyn ordered.
The Ice type clashed against the green barrier, causing the field to be covered in ice.
"Slowbro, use Confusion!" Slowbrow's eyes glowed blue and Thor was lifted into the air.
"Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace!" Pidgeot flew straight towards Thor.
Just when Pidgeot was getting closer...
"Thor, Thunder Shock!" Thor let out his electrical attack which zapped Pidgeot.
Then Pidgeot fell to the ground while Thor landed gracefully on his feet.
Suddenly time was up.
"Both parties have covered the field in ice while Pidgeot has been defeated. But only one has dominated the contest! Give it up for our winner...Ashlyn Ketchum from Pallet Town!" Lilian announced.
The screen showed Ashlyn, Tesla and Thor.
The crowd cheered loudly at Ashlyn's win.
Ashlyn, Tesla and Thor bowed towards Solidad and her Pokémon. Then Tesla and Thor went over to Ashlyn.
"You two did great out there today." Ashlyn smiled as she petted them.
Tesla and Thor trilled at their trainer's compliment.
Solidad walked to Ashlyn, "I have to admit, Ashlyn. You were somewhat unpredictable during the match. I really enjoyed today's match." She complimented.
"Thanks, Solidad." Ashlyn thanked her, smiling.
"Raichu!" Tesla smiled.
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"She made it all the way up the mountain and the Ribbon Cup is all hers! Congratulations, Ashlyn!" Lilian announced.
Ashlyn waved at everyone as she held the Ribbon Cup with Tesla and Thor next to her.
May, Drew, Solidad and the other coordinators clapped for Ashlyn.
"That brings us to the end of another exciting Grand Festival! And don't forget in another few hours is tonight's biggest celebration!" Lilian announced happily.
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Ashlyn had sent her Ribbon Cup and five Contest Ribbons back to her mom in Pallet Town. She didn't want them to get ruined while she was still traveling. The party of the ending of the Grand Festival has started. Everyone was having some great food and talking to one another.
"Hey Ashlyn, May, I found it really fun going against you guys." Solidad admitted.
"I was about to say the same, Solidad." Ashlyn said.
Solidad smiled at that. Then she took out a rose and handed it to May.
"Is this from Drew?" May asked.
"Yeah, he told me that he had to get going." Solidad replied.
Then May left the room.
"I wonder where she's going?" Max pondered.
"To talk to Drew." Ashlyn said.
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So Scott and the gang followed after May and saw her talking to Drew.
"Yeah, no doubt, May." Drew confirmed.
May smiled at that.
"'Kay, bye." Drew said before he walked away.
"Bye, Drew! Take care!" May waved him goodbye.
"He left early." Ritchie commented.
"A no nonsense guy for sure." Brock added.
"I can't wait to see what he comes up with for next time." Alain said.
May nodded, "Yeah." Then she turned to the others, "Now it's time for the Battle Pyramid with Brandon, right Ashlyn, Alain?"
Ashlyn and Alain nodded, "Yeah."
"Right now Brandon is at the ruins in Fennel Valley." Scott informed the gang.
"Where is it?" May asked.
Max opened his PokéNav, "It's not far from the Indigo Plateau." He informed.
"Soon we'll have our rematch, huh Alain?" Ashlyn said.
Alain nodded, "Yeah, I almost can't wait." He admitted.
"I wish you and Alain luck at the Battle Pyramid, Ashlyn." Ritchie said.
"Thank you, Ritchie. We'll see you around, right?" Ashlyn asked.
Ritchie nodded and then he left.
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With the Kanto Grand Festival now over, it was time for Ashlyn and Alain to try and earn their last Frontier Symbol again at the Battle Pyramid with the Pyramid King.
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Pokémon Caught: Shiny Arcanine (Sonia)(F), Magmar (Fuji)(M), Hisuian Zorua (Yuki)(F), Sprigatito (Fleur)(F), Aipom (Shantae)(F), Aipom (Luffy)(M)