Jhoto

Ash decided to take part in the tournament which looked like a copy of a sumo tournament from Japan. The rules were the same only extra was no special moves or status allowed, the Pokemon would be depending on their physical strength and weight to fight. Ash entered using Tyrantrum who had the weight required to qualify while Gou chose his Munchlax, who was happy to see him. Max's eyes lit up seeing the happy go lucky Pokemon though he was a little bummed none of his Pokemon qualified.

Verity, "I don't have a Pokemon which could fit."

Sorrel, "We can enjoy the rest of the festival."

Casey, "I do, let's do this Ursaring."

Ursaring, "Urrrrr!"

Brock, "Golem, what do you think?"

Golem nodded, "Lem."

Ash, "Cool! Let's take part together."

Tyrantrum, "Rannnnn!"

Gou, "Yeah."

Munchlax, "Munch munch lax."

Max, "I should get a Pokemon who is heavy too in the future."

Ralts, -I'm sure we can find one who will fit in with us.-

Lucario, -Meema I think there are around sixty four contestants.-

Ash, "That's quite a lot for a local contest. I guess it's very popular."

Max gave Ash a look, "Once people realize you took part in this contest, more people will flock to this place to enter."

Verity snickered, "Free advertisement. Look the local news channel is here too."

Casey, "Oh, she's right."

Sorrel, "They have been trying to popularise this event. It's one of the major yearly tourist attractions."

Ash, "Well then! Let's give them a good performance."

Tyrantrum, "Rummmmm!"

"Yeah!"

The announcer was heard after a while, "Good morning, everyone! Welcome to the eighty eighth Ring Masters tournament."

The crowd cheered as the announcer continued, "Remember the rules, no battling allowed. You must push your opponent out in order to win. Special status and effect moves are not allowed."

Ash, "The rules are very simple."

Lucario, -Hopefully no one will mess up.-

Eevee, Abra and Absol were with Max who cheered Casey on as she was the first one to be called on stage. Casey walked up to the field with an excited grin, it had been a while since she battled with her friends on an official tournament. Yes, they had mock battles during training but it was not the same as an official battle. Casey grinned and waved towards Max, Sorrel and Verity who cheered her on.

Announcer, "The first battle will be between two Jhoto locals. On the left side we have Casey and on the right side we have Dani. Choose your Pokemon."

Casey, "Go Ursaring."

Dani, "Go Machamp."

Announcer, "Begin."

Casey, "Go Ursaring! Push her out! Show her who's boss!"

Dani, "Machamp show that female who's stronger!"

The two powerful Pokemon clashed and started to push, growl and snarl at each other trying to push the other Pokemon out. Both Pokemon were very powerful and grunted as they tried to kick the other opponent out of the running. Max watched and cheered as Ursaring pushed her opponent out of the ring and won the first round. Ursaring roared with pride as Casey pat him and congratulated him on a good job.

Brock and Golem were next and won against his opponent against a Lady from Hoenn and her Hariyama. Gou and Munchlax won in their own block, being shorter then most of the opponents Munchlax depended more on quick movement to win. Munchlax and Golem it seems enjoyed the tournament a lot though Munchlax was probably more interested in the food. One of the rewards was an unlimited lifetime supply of mid level standard poke blocks that Pokemon could have.

Ash, "Looks like we are going last."

Lucario, -Hmm.. Probably for the promotion factor. Like a special appearance.-

Announcer spoke, "Now we have a special contestant, taking part in the contest."

Ash, "Ah!"

Lucario, -Called it! Go Meema.-

Announcer, "Please welcome Ash Ketchum."

The crowd cheered as Ash entered the arena and his opponent he noticed was Percy, the sane guy he met at Cerulean City. Ash was surprised but pleased to see an old face and agreed to meet up later no matter the outcome of the match. The announcer then asked them to choose their Pokemon.

Ash, "Go Tyrantrum!"

Percy, "Go Feraligator!"

Ash grinned as the announcer started the round and the Pokemon started to push and fight against each other. Feraligator snarled at Tyrantrum who snarled back and the two large lizard Pokemon didn't back down. As they were battling Tyrantrum realised he was way too close to the ring boundary and one more move would end up in his disqualification from the tournament. Feraligator pushed against Tyrantrum again only for Tyrantrum to quickly move away making Feraligator stumble. The water lizard managed to stop right at the edge of the ring but Tyrantrum gave him a push making him land outside.

Announcer, "Winner Ash Ketchum!"

Percy laughed, "Looks like you won again."

Ash, "Hey it was not exactly easy. Tyrantrum almost lost."

Tyrantrum sat down exhausted, "Rummmm."

Feraligator was amused, "Rrrrr."

Percy, "I can see that."

Ash, "We should meet up after the tournament is done."

Percy, "Sure!"

The rest of the tournament went by with Casey, Brock, Gou and Ash reaching the top eight when Gou was against Ash and Brock was against Casey. The four of them grinned and battled enthusiasticly resulting in Ash and Casey going to top four. Gou and Brock were a little bummed but perked up as Ash went against Casey next and they started to cheer them on. Tyrantrum and Ursaring went against each other both snarling and growling at each other and pushing each other. The announcer made commentary excitedly as the two Pokemon went against each other and Ash guided Tyrantrum.

Casey, "You can do it Ursaring."

Ash, "Stay calm Tyrantrum."

Tyrantrum and Ursaring growled as they fought to stay inside the ring and after many grunts and pushing Tyrantrum managed to push Ursaring out. Tyrantrum gave a roar as the announcer announced his his victory and Ash was going to the next round. Gou was sitting next to Max and noticed there were notifications on his phone. Turns out the entire Kanto, Jhoto and Orange Archipelago region were tuned in to the local channel to watch.

Lucario snorted, -I told you so.-

Ash laughed, "Yes, you did."

Lucario, -You should listen to me more."

Announcer, "Would the two finalist join us on stage?"

Ash, "They must have cleaned up the arena."

Lucario, -Go Meema, do your best Tyrantrum.-

Pikachu, "Pi pikachu."

Ash nodded and went to the stage and shook hands with his final opponent, Dylan and the fight began again. Tyrantrum who was starting to feel exhausted as he was never part of a long term battle decided to end the last round as quickly as possible. Ash guided Tyrantrum as he fought against his opponent who was looking exhausted as well. Tyrantrum was hyper focused on the fight and Ash was a little worried seeing the aura appearing in Tyrantrum's eyes.

Ash, "Tyrantrum quick push back."

Dylan, "Beartic don't back down."

Ash, 'Don't enter rage again. Need to bed this soon.'

Dylan, "Beartic push!"

Ash, "Tyrantrum jump away!"

Tyrantrum got sharped eyed and jumped up and landed behind Beartic who was shocked and couldn't stop himself. Tyrantrum grinned and the announcer announced his victory before he fell to the arena exhausted. Ash rushed to him and congratulated him on the win making Tyrantrum wag his tail happily, he had won. The awards ceremony went without any hitch and Ash received a specialised card which would allow him to receive the poke food if he went to department stores.

The news reporters were soon asking Ash questions about how his journey was so far, what he was up to and how far he had come in Jhoto. Ash answered two of those questions by taking out his badge case holding four badges and ribbon holder holding three ribbons. The audience had exclaimed in excitement on seeing the collection and Ash then had to hold Tyrantrum back who was getting annoyed by the people disturbing his Meema.

Ash, "Apologies but Tyrantrum is very protective. Please keep a distance."

A reporter, "Isn't that troublesome?"

Ash, "Why would it be troublesome? As long as you keep a respectable distance, there is no trouble."

Another reporter, "You are already half way through the gym challenge and contest. Is there any advice you have for other contestants and gym challengers?"

Ash, "Hmm... Only this, remember trainers, your Pokemon work hard to gain victories for you. So if you want your Pokemon to perform well whether in battle or performance, then make sure you take good care of them."

Before another reporter could ask Brock swooped in wearing his medicine badge and hustled Ash and his Pokemon to the Pokemon center. The reporters could only watch as Ash was taken away by the Doctor in training. Percy and Anabeth joined them outside and went along with them to the Pokemon center. Ash invited them to join them to a little after party and the two agreed to join as it was late in the evening almost dinner time.

Anabeth, "Perce here has been a big fan of yours since Cerulean City."

Ash smiled, "Thank you. I'm very flattered."

Percy turned pink out of embarrassment, "Your combinations for the contest are fun and awesome to watch."

Ash, "Really? I'm happy to hear that."

Gou sat next to Ash, "Ash works really hard to come up with those combinations."

Percy, "I bet."

Gou's hand was twitching behind him, "Yeah, it is awesome to watch."

Cinderace watched shaking his head, "Race cin."

Lucario snickered, -Yeah, I don't think Meema noticed the interest.-

Abra grouched, -I don't want to share Meema.-

Lucario pat Abra, -Of course not. None of us do.-

Abra humped and floated towards Ash followed by Eevee and Absol acting cute and getting his attention. Anabeth's eyes lit up seeing the younger Pokemon and started asking questions about them that Ash answered. At that moment Anabeth's own baby Pokemon peaked out from her hoodie and cooed at them. It was a baby Pachirisu and a very adorable one at that. The little one was a very friendly guy and happily played with the rest of the baby Pokemon. After a while they decided to go outside to have dinner at a local restaurant. Todd snickered when he realized what Gou was doing as he stuck close to Ash.

Todd, "Hey Casey. Correct me if I'm wrong but does Gou... Does he like Ash?"

Casey, "Yeah, both him and Serena has a thing for Ash, though Ash does not want to have a relationship at the moment."

Verity, "He he he he! It's very cute."

Sorrel, "It sort of is, I guess."

Max, "The food is here."

Brock, "Eat up."

Anabeth, "By the way, I heard Jack Pollockson and his team of Smeargle are making live art."

Ash, "Really?"

Percy, "Yeah, he specially makes art based on the Hogwarts Chronicles series. His latest art was the Hippogriff."

Ash gave a smile, a few months ago he had given carter blanche to artist to draw their own perception of the many magical beasts in the books. There had been many art pieces that had surfaced in the internet about it and still came out even now. They went to see the art competition after finishing dinner and the skill displayed by the Smeargle was very impressive. Even though Ash didn't know much about art and painting, even he could see the amount of hard work the team had poured into their piece. The Hippogriff in Ash's opinion looked majestic and reminded him of the movies.

Ash took out his phone and went to the rarely used account he had on Pokebook and found the art being uploaded. He gave it a like and commented on how well the art was and very close to how he, the writer, imagined the majestic Hippogriff would look. After that he logged off and enjoyed the festivities and the stalls filled with snacks, drinks and games around him. Unknown to him, his one comment from his official writer account attracted a lot of attention from the book lovers. The next morning, Mr Pollockson, was bombarded with questions ranging from about his art to the mysterious author who was apparently present during his love art show.

Poor Jack was overwhelmed by the offers he received, flattered that the author loved his work and out of depth with the reporters banging on his door. His Smeargle however was not amused and chased the reporters away, angry at being woken up so early in the morning. A few minutes after the comment was posted some of the fans who were at the festival had requested they make art for them and that had kept them awake beyond midnight. So the Pokemon's irritation was understandable, Jack only hoped the crazy fever died down soon.

[A. N.: Happy weekend.

Hope you all are doing well.

I know the government has declared Covid as not dangerous in some places now. But still stay safe and sound.

Follow hygiene rules and eat well.

Stay healthy and happy.]