Chapter 31

It is early in the morning, and Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers are already awake and eating breakfast at the Pokemon Center's cafeteria. While the trio is eating, the two men are planning their trip to the Seafoam Islands after Serena's contest.

"So from what I researched about our ride, the ferry will reach the Battle Palace in about two weeks," Coovers says. "Hopefully, the second to last Frontier Brain will be back on the mainland instead of somewhere far overseas, because if I had to guess that's where Brandon will most likely be."

"Makes sense to me," Timothy says. "Either way, I still wish there was a way you or your higher-ups at the International Police could contact Brandon, so we didn't have to go through the Battle Frontier."

"Ugh, I know," Coovers groans. "I've been reporting our progress to my superiors every time you win a battle against a Frontier Brain, and while they understand why this is the best way to get to him, they are still growing uneasy about what Team Rocket might be up to. It doesn't help that reports of the crime organization's activities have dropped significantly in the past two months."

Timothy frowns and asks, "So what do they call Cassidy and Brain or whatever his name is trying to kidnap Serena's Absol?"

"Apparently, our adventure at Cycling Road is the most anyone from Team Rocket has done in an attempt to steal other people's Pokemon," Coovers answers. "As far as my superiors are concerned, that just means Giovanni is clearly planning something big with his entire organization, making it all the more likely that he is going to want to do something with Arceus. To make matters worse, my superiors just found out that Giovanni has paid bail for the two crooks we encountered."

"What?!" Timothy exclaims. "But they are members of a crime organization that tried to steal a girl's Pokemon. Bail shouldn't even be a possibility."

"You'd think, but apparently that's how the justice system works here in Kanto," Coovers says. "What's worse is that Cassidy and Bert are one of Giovanni's best people who have done much worse than create an ambush in the middle of the road, and Giovanni has paid their bail several times."

"Ugh, curse the fact that Giovanni is so filthy rich," Timothy grumbles. "I hope you at least got some credit in the eyes of your superiors for catching them."

"I hardly did anything apart from contacting the police with Brock and Serena's help," Coovers points out before he smiles. "Even so, capturing them seemed to help the credibility of our mission from where my superiors are standing."

"Well, that's good to hear for what it's worth," Timothy says. "Still, we can't afford to lose any more time. The moment Serena is done with her contest, we have to race to the dock and sail to the Battle Palace, win my match there, and get to the last Frontier Brain before Brandon as soon as possible. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Coovers says.

"Raichu," Electchu says in agreement while still eating its Pokemon food.

Thus the three of them continue eating in silence for a few minutes until they hear a yawn and turn around to see Ash, Pikachu, Serena, and Brock entering the cafeteria. The honey blonde girl, the young tan-skinned man, and his Pikachu look fully rested while the raven-haired boy still looks half asleep much to his rival's amusement.

"Hey there, sleepyhead. Did you manage to sleep through all the sugar you consumed last night?" Timothy teases.

"I think so," Ash says in a groggy voice as he fills a tray of breakfast food.

"I gotta admit, it's nice to know there's some kind of limit to how much food Ash can consume," Coovers says to Brock, who is also helping himself to the food.

"Well, even so, Ash will probably still eat a lot of sweets whenever Serena makes them. He just loves her cooking," Brock teases.

Serena's cheeks turn pink, and she looks away from Ash to keep him from noticing her bashful state while her mind goes back to kissing his cheek last night. Once the three younger trainers and Pikachu have their food and sit down at the table next to where Timothy, Coovers, and Electchu are sitting, the seven of them eat together quietly for a few minutes until Timothy gets an idea.

"Oh, yeah, by the way, Ash," he begins, gaining the raven-haired boy's attention. "Do you remember who it is I'll face next after the Battle Palace and where it is?"

"Sure do, but I can't tell you who or where," Ash says. "After I spoiled that Brandon is your final challenge, Scott made sure I don't spoil anything else for you on your journey."

"Yeah, Timothy," Brock says. "Scott might not have asked me, but I think it's better that you find out for yourself like we did."

Timothy frowns and gives Coovers a shrug as if to say, "Well, I tried." The man from Unova sighs in defeat until he decides to change the subject.

"Hey, Serena, how did it go with trying to teach Absol Double Team?" He asks. "Did you figure it out in time for your contest?"

Serena turns to Coovers and gives him a teasing smile.

"You'll just have to find out at the contest," she says.

Coovers gives a comedic frown.

"Geez, you all feel like keeping secrets from your friends today," he grumbles childishly before turning to Pikachu. "What about you? Do you have a secret too?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu replies in confusion.

Ash, Serena, and Brock chuckle at Pikachu's response.

"Can you at least tell us whether or not you are excited about it?" Timothy asks.

Serena pretends to think about it for a moment before she smiles cheerfully and says, "Yes, I am. And I can't wait for you all to watch me get my third ribbon."

"You sound really confident today," Brock says.

"And that's fine by me," Ash says with a smirk. "You keep that confidence till the very end, Serena."

"Right," Serena says. "And who knows what kind of competitors are going to come my way today?"

********************************************************************

"Absolutely not, Jess!" Meowth shouts.

The Team Rocket trio and Wobbuffet are in their hiding place that they have been staying in ever since Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers started to stay in Fuchsia City. They have only left their hiding place once since then to secretly watch Timothy face Lucy at the Battle Pike and since then have been patiently waiting for the two men and the Raichu to leave for the next Battle Frontier match. But as the three of them wait for their targets to set sail, Jessie makes a request that immediately upsets James and Meowth.

"But I have to perform," Jessie demands. "It has been far too long since I've competed in a Pokemon contest or showcase."

"Then you'll have to deal with waiting a little longer," James says, seriously. "We are supposed to be in deep undercover until the boss can nab Brandon and get the Gieldanstone."

"But I must perform now!" Jessie growls, impatiently. "There is a contest happening in two hours, and I have to participate! My beloved fans need me!"

"What fans?" James and Meowth say at the same time.

Jessie grinds her teeth and gives her companions a menacing glare that sends shivers down their spines.

"Now look here, idiots, I'm going to be a contestant and that's that!" She declares. "I'm going to put on a disguise so perfect that my own mother wouldn't recognize me, and then I'm going to win a ribbon fair and square, and our targets will be none the wiser."

"Can you at least promise me that you won't try to steal the ribbon if you get disqualified like you used to?" James whines.

"Sure, whatever!" Jessie snarls. "Now if you will excuse me, density awaits!"

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet says, encouraging its partner.

Without another word, Jessie and Wobbuffet storm away from James and Meowth, leaving the two other members of the trio sighing in defeat.

"Do you remember when she was nice to us and would politely ask us for help?" James asks.

"Not really," Meowth answers.

"Me neither," James groans.

*********************************************************************

"Good afternoon, Fuchsia City!" Lilian calls out from the stage inside Celadon City Hall, "Welcome to this year's Fuchsia City Pokemon contest!"

The audience cheers in excitement, and Coovers stares at Lilian with a goofy look.

"Wow, that's who the host for these contests is? She's really cute," he says.

"Yeah, she is an attractive woman," Brock says in a mild-mannered tone.

Ash turns to Brock with a confused look on his face and asks, "Brock, are you okay?"

Brock turns to his younger friend and says, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask, Ash?"

Ash hesitates and says, "Well, you should be acting more gaga over Lilian than Coovers is right now."

"You mean as gaga as he was over Lucy?" Timothy asks.

"Yeah, Brock's normally like that over a lot of women," Ash answers.

"Pikachu," Pikachu says, nodding in agreement.

"And who says I have to still act that way, Ash?" Brock challenges. "Maybe I am over how amazing someone like Lilian looks."

Coovers stops staring at the host of the contest and looks at Brock in confusion.

"Seriously? How can you get over how much of a cutie that woman is?" He asks in disbelief.

"It's a secret," Brock says. "Now pay attention, you guys, she just finished introducing the judges."

Coovers, Ash, Pikachu, Timothy, and Electchu keep staring at their friend's unusual behavior before they silently decide to drop it and focus on the contest.

"And without further ado, let's hear it for our first contestant, Jessalia!" Lilian announces.

The crowd applauds as Lilian leaves the stage, and Jessie enters while wearing an over-the-top dress and sunglasses while giggling with glee.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" She says proudly as she takes out a Pokeball. "Gourgeist, showtime!"

The Pokeball opens to reveal a Gourgeist floating in the air.

"A Gourgeist," Timothy says amused. "Well, there's a Pokemon you don't usually see in Kanto."

"No kidding," Brock agrees.

"Gourgeist, use Seed Bomb at the ceiling," Jessie commands.

Gourgeist lifts its head up and fires multiple glowing seeds into the air. The seeds fly almost all the way to the ceiling before they begin to plummet to the ground.

"Now use Dark Pulse," Jessie commands.

Gourgeist fires Dark Pulse at the falling seeds, and they explode into purple and green fireworks upon impact with the dark type move. The crowd "ooo"s and "ahh"s while Jessie prepares her next move.

"Now use Leech Seed on the ground," she orders.

Gourgeist fires several seeds into the ground, and they initially grow into large vines.

"Now use Shallow Ball on the vines," Jessie orders.

Gourgeist summons a large back of black and purple energy and fires it at the vines. The vines catch the Shadow Ball and start entangling around it until it is completely trapped. Then the vines start to crush the Shadow Ball until it explodes into tiny black and purple pieces floating in the air. The audience applauds, and Jessie happily giggles again as she and Gourgeist take a bow before they leave the stage.

"Well, I must say, I didn't know you can those moves to create a spectacle like that," Timothy admits.

"Raichu," Electchu says, agreeing.

"Me neither," Coovers says.

"Well, that's what Pokemon contests are like," Ash says. "They coordinators find imaginative ways to create amazing performances."

"Yeah, and it takes a lot of practice just to get your performance right," Brock says. "Take it from us, we've seen our friends Dawn and May come a long way to be the coordinators they are today."

"Interesting," Timothy says.

The four trainers and Pikachu and Electchu continue to watch the next dozen performances while waiting for Serena and Absol. Though a couple of the performances were lacking, a few others were as well-choreographed as Jessie and Gourgeist. As time went on, Coovers and Timothy found themselves entertained with various performances that many coordinators come up with. Finally, it is Serena's turn, and she runs into the stage with a confident smile as she throws Absol's Pokeball.

"Absol, I choose you!" She shouts.

The ball opens, and Absol comes out letting out a pumped roar as it poses for the audience.

"Alright, let's see what those two conjured up," Coovers says excitedly.

"Come on, Serena and Absol! You can do it!" Ash calls out.

Serena waves the audience before she turns to her young Pokemon and kneels next to it.

"Now, just give it your all, and I know we're going to give a performance they'll never forget," she says.

"Absol," Absol says, nodding.

"Alright," Serena says energetically as she stands up and spins around. "Absol, start dancing."

Absol stars jumping and twirling around the stage. The audience looks at each other, confused with where Serena is going with the command until she speaks again.

"Now, use Double Team!"

Within seconds, Absol copies itself until multiple Absol fill the stage flipping, jumping, and twirling in unison. The audience becomes more invested and start to applaud.

"Now use Perish Song just like we practiced," Serena calls out.

As soon as Serena finished saying her command, Absol and all of its clones stop dancing and form a circle in two rows. Then they all lift their heads up and fire crimson sound waves out of their mouths. The sound waves collide with each other and start forming a large crimson ball that gets bigger and bigger as the disaster Pokemon keeps using the move. The crowd watches intently, wondering where this is going until Serena speaks again.

"Now, jump and use Scratch!"

Absol and its clones all jump in the air toward the large ball of sound waves with their front claws glowing white. They swipe at the ball, causing it to explode into a thousand crimson pieces that float in various directions. The audience watches with their eyes wide as Absol lands on the ground with its clones gone and makes a final pose with Serena.

"Ta-da! All done!" Serena says.

The audience cheers happily. Ash, Brock, Timothy, and Coovers all stand up to clap while Pikachu and Electchu cheer from the rail in front of them.

"Way to go, Serena!" Ash calls out.

"That was amazing," Coovers says.

"Yeah, clearly all their hard work paid off," Brock says.

"What an incredible use of Double Team, Perish Song, and Scratch," Timothy says, amazed. "Great job, Serena!"

Serena smiles brightly to see her friends and the rest of the audience so happy with her performance while the judges give her great marks. She turns to Absol and kneels down to hug it, which it happily accepts.

"I'm so proud of you," she says. "Whether we make it to the next round or not, I'm happy with how all of our hard work paid off."

"Absol!" Absol calls out in a giddy tone.

The two of them hold their embrace for a moment until they leave the stage for the next person to perform.

*******************************************

After another ten minutes, the performance stage ends, and everyone waits a couple of minutes until Lilian returns to the stage.

"Alright, let's hear it for our contestants!" She says cheerfully.

The audience applauds before she continues.

"Now the judges have made their choices, and the contestants that will continue in the battle stage will appear on the screen," Lilian announces.

Everyone looks at the big screen above the stage, and with a loud "ding," twenty-four faces appear, including Jessie and Serena.

"Alright, Serena made it to the next round!" Coovers says happily.

"I knew she would," Ash says confidently.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu says cheerfully.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the crowd, James and Meowth watch the contest disguised as civilians. The two of them sigh sadly after seeing Jessie's picture on the screen.

"Normally, I would be happy that Jessie made it to the next round, but I would feel better if she was disqualified for the sake of the mission," James whines.

"Yeah, but if she does get disqualified, she'll take her anger on us," Meowth moans. "So we're in a lose-lose situation unless she actually wins this thing."

"Right, but if she wins, she might get over-excited and want to participate in more contests so she can compete in the Grand Festival, making her focus on the mission even more wavering," James points out.

The two of them sigh, dreading whatever cruel fate is in store for them.

"Now, we will pick at random who will battle who on the first round!" Lilian announces.

The pictures on the screen disappear for a moment until they reappear in a tournament bracket. Serena's picture appears on the top left corner while Jessie's is in the bottom right.

"Alright, Serena's going to battle first," Ash says excitedly.

"Let's not waste any more time, let's begin our first battle with Serena and Ever!" Lilian shouts.

The audience cheers as Serena enters one side of the stage, and a tall, scrawny man appears on the other side.

"Sylveon, come on out!" Serena shouts as she tosses a Pokeball, and it opens to reveal Sylveon.

"What in the world is that Pokemon," Coovers asks, shocked as he takes out his Pokedex.

"Sylveon, the intertwining Pokemon and the evolved form of Eevee," his Pokedex says. "Sylveon affectionately wraps its ribbon-like feelers around its trainer's arm as they walk together."

"So Sylveon is another evolved form of Eevee, huh?" Coovers says. "I take it this is another Pokemon that originates in Kalos?"

"Sure is. Serena caught Sylveon when it was just a shy, little Eevee, and their bond became so strong that it evolved into Sylveon," Ash explains.

"Voltorb, let's go!" Ever shouts as he throws a Pokeball into the air, and it opens to reveal a Voltorb.

"Battle begin!" Lilian announces, and the timer starts counting down from 5 minutes.

"Voltorb, use Swift!" Ever shouts.

"Sylveon, you use Swift also!" Serena shouts.

The two Pokemon fire Swift at the same time and the golden stars collide with each other and explode into tiny golden pieces.

"Use Headbutt!" Ever orders.

"Sylveon, use Protect!"

Voltorb rolls toward Sylveon, who summons a blue forcefield around it. The ball Pokemon rams into the forcefield, and the impact makes it bounce back and roll the other way and run into the wall behind Ever, causing him to lose points.

"Now, use Fairy Wind!" Serena orders.

Sylveon puts its feelers together and fires a Fairy Wind at Voltorb.

"Voltorb, take out that Fairy Wind with Thunder Shock," Ever commands.

Voltorb summons electricity from all over its body and fires at the Fairy Wind. The attacks collide, and they explode into pink dust surrounded in electricity. The judges look at the display in awe as they take away some of Serena's points.

"What?" Timothy says, confused. "Why did Serena lose points? All Voltorb did was cancel out Sylveon's attack, not hit its opponent."

"I'm afraid battling in Pokemon contests are much different than normal Pokemon contests, Timothy," Brock answers. "You see, while a competitor can lose points if their Pokemon gets hit or get disqualified if their Pokemon is unable to continue, they can also lose points if their opponent performs a creative counter move or if the opponent Pokemon uses the other Pokemon's move to their advantage. In this case, Voltorb didn't hit Sylveon, but it created a creative spectacle when it countered Fairy Wind with Thunder Shock."

"So, in other words, they are still performing even though they are battling?" Timothy asks.

"Basically," Brock answers.

"Wow, that sounds kind of hard to focus on battling and still make an entertaining performance at the same time," Coovers says worriedly.

"Don't worry. Serena and Sylveon will pull through no doubt," Ash says confidently.

"Voltorb, use Headbutt again!" Ever commands.

Voltorb starts rolling toward Sylveon again, and Serena gets an idea.

"Sylveon, get on top of Voltorb and balance yourself on it," she calls out.

Sylveon nods in understanding before it jumps high in the air right before Voltorb rams over it and lands on top of the ball Pokemon. The intertwining Pokemon begins rolling Voltorb from the top of it, causing it to roll across the stage like a real ball. The judges and the audience laugh in amusement while Ever loses points.

"She's doing the same thing she did to Giselle's Golem with Poliwag," Ash chortles.

"Yeah, but I doubt Ever is going to take her trick lying down like Giselle did," Brock says, concerned.

Ever grinds his teeth and shouts. "Voltorb, use Thunder Shock now!"

"Jump and use protect again," Serena calls out.

Sylveon stops rolling Voltorb and jumps and creates a forcefield from under it just in time for Voltorb to fire another Thunder hock. The electricity hits the forcefield and sends Sylveon rising into the air before it jumps and does several flips before landing on the ground feet first perfectly. The audience applauds, and Ever's point bar gets lower.

"Oh, that does it," Ever snarls. "Voltorb, use Thunderbolt!"

"Quick, Sylveon, use Double Team!" Serena shouts.

Sylveon nods before several clones appear all over the stage right before Voltorb uses Thunderbolt. Voltorb checks its surroundings, unable to figure out which Sylveon is the real one.

"Just use Thunderbolt on all of them!" Ever growls

Voltorb fires multiple Thunderbolts on all the Sylveon, but they all disappear, leaving the ball Pokemon even more confused about where it is.

"Now, use Fairy Wind on the ground beneath Voltorb!" Serena orders.

Ever and Voltorb only have a moment to realize that Sylveon is a few feet beside Voltorb before Sylveon uses Fairy Wind on the ground below its opponent, lifting the ball Pokemon high into the air. Sylveon keeps using Fairy Wind to keep its opponent in the air, wowing the audience while the judges take more points from Ever right before the timer lets out a loud "ding!"

"That's time, and the winner is Serena!" Lilian declares.

Serena's friends cheer with the audience while the honey blonde girl smiles and waves with Sylveon before leaving the stage.

"Wow, I can honestly say I've never seen a battle like that before in my life," Timothy says.

"Raichu," Electchu says, agreeing.

"Me neither," Coovers concurs.

"Well, you're going to see plenty more like that throughout the second half of the contest," Brock says.

Indeed, the contest went on with the next several battles on the first round. Jessie chose Wobbuffet as her Pokemon for the battle stage and easily bested a poor girl's Dewgong by having Wobbuffet constantly use Mirror Coat to send the attacks back inducing double the damage until Dewgong fainted. The next few rounds go on with Serena and Jessie winning every single one of their matches until they both make it to the final round, much to the excitement of their friends.

"Alright, one more win and Jessie gets a ribbon, and we scram," Meowth says eagerly.

"Yes, but now she's against the twerpette," James points out nervously. "She doesn't usually do well against her or the other twerpettes we've come across."

Meanwhile, Ash is waiting eagerly for the final match to start while, Pikachu, Brock, Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers wait patiently.

"I can't wait to see Serena win her third ribbon," Ash says confidently.

"Let's hope she will win," Coovers says. "That Jessalia woman has been handling herself pretty well just by having her Wobbuffet use Mirror Coat."

"Yeah, I hope Serena can find a way around that," Timothy says.

"So do I," Brock says.

"Alright, Fuchsia City!" Lillian calls out cheerfully with her microphone. "It's time to see who will win this year's contest. Will it be Serena or Jessalia?"

The crowd cheers to show their excitement while Serena and Jessie take their respective positions on the battlefield.

"Let's not waste any more time! Let the battle begin!" Lilian announces as the clock on the screen starts counting down.

"Sylveon, come on out!" Serena calls out as she tosses Sylveon's Pokeball into the air.

"Wobbuffet, dear, let's go!" Jessie orders as she throws her Pokeball.

The two Pokemon come out of their respective Pokeballs with Sylveon taking a defensive stance and Wobbuffet standing still.

"Sylveon, start things out with Swift," Serena orders.

"Oh please," Jessie scoffs with her eyes closed. "Use Mirror Coat."

Wobbuffet's body becomes surrounded in a white reflective color causing Sylveon's Swift attacks to bounce back to the fairy Pokemon.

"Use Protect!" Serena shouts.

Sylveon summon a force just in time to protect itself from its own attack. Serena thinks about what to do next until she gets an idea.

"Now, use Swift again!" She commands.

"Seriously? I thought you learned your lesson," Jessie mocks. "Use Mirror Coat again!"

Once again, Wobbuffet's body is surrounded by a white reflective color, and the golden stars bounce off and head toward Sylveon which only makes Serena smile.

"Now, use Swift one more time!" She commands.

Sylveon smiles as she fires several stars again, and they collide with the ones that bounced back from Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat, causing golden fireworks. The judges and the audience look at the display in awe while Jessie loses a good chunk of her points.

"How dare you!" She shouts.

"Now, use Fairy Wind!" Serena commands.

"Oh yeah? Then you use Mirror Coat again, Wobbuffet!" Jessie growls.

Wobbuffet summons another Mirror Coat and waits for Sylveon's next attack to move back again. However, Fairy Wind successfully hits the patient Pokemon and sets it falling down on its back.

"What?!" Jessie screams as her point bar shrinks again. "How did that not work?!"

"Oh, I get it," Brock says in realization. "Fairy Wind is a special attack that's not affected by Mirror Coat. Wobbuffet's move is completely useless against it."

"So Sylveon has an attack that it can use against Mirror Coat. That's great!" Ash says excitedly.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu cheers.

Serena grins at the sight of her opponent, dumbfounded that she found a way around her Mirror Coat attacks, and shouts, "Sylveon, use Fairy Wind once more."

"Wobbuffet, use Counter!" Jessie snarls.

Sylveon releases another Fairy Wind, and Wobbuffet raises its tail, and becomes outlined in an orange glow. But instead of Sylveon's attack bouncing back, it hits Wobbuffet, making it fall down again.

"Oh, come on!" Jessie screams.

"Whoa, Counter didn't work either," Timothy says, surprised.

"I knew it wouldn't," Brock says. "Counter only works with physical attacks which Fairy Wind isn't."

Serena's grin grows, knowing she has the underhand against Wobbuffet's defense. She considers constantly using Fairy Wind to finish the battle, but the performer in her wants to continue wowing the audience and the judges through the battle.

"Sylveon, use Swift!" She commands.

"Wobbuffet, use Mirror Coat!" Jessie barks.

Wobbuffet gets back up, and its body becomes deprived in a white, reflective color. The golden stars bounce back towards Sylveon again, but Serena was expecting it.

"Sylveon, use Double Team to dodge!" Serena instructs.

Sylveon nods before it creates countless copies of itself all over the arena right before the Swift attack hits some of them, causing them to disappear. Jessie and Wobbuffet grow nervous as they are unsure of which Sylveon is the real one, which gives Serena another idea.

"Sylveon, show everyone how you love to dance and then use Fairy Wind followed by Swift when you have the right opening,"

All of the Sylveon smile excitedly at Serena before they happily begin to dance all around the stage. The judges and the audience watch in amusement while Jessie grows more and more frustrated. The multiple Sylveon begin dancing around the patient Pokemon, making it constantly move around to find it's real opponent. Unfortunately for Wobbuffet, it turns it's back on the real Sylveon, and the eeveelution takes a moment to fire another Fairy Wind followed by Swift. The attacks successfully hits Wobbuffet in the back, and it tumbles to the ground face-first on impact. All copies of Serena's Pokemon disappear to reveal where the real Sylveon is. Jessie grinds her teeth as she watches her points bar shirk further.

"Wobbuffet, get up!" She barks.

"Wobbu...Wobbu…." Wobbuffet moans as it stays lying down face first.

Then a loud "Ding!" is heard, and everyone looks up to see that time is up with Jessie keeping only a fifth of her points, and Serena still has all of hers.

"And by a landslide, the winner of this year's Fuchsia City Pokemon contest is Serena!" Lilian announces.

The crowd goes wild with thunderous applause while Serena and Sylveon run over and hug each other. Ash, Brock, Timothy, and Coovers stand up again as they applaud while Pikachu and Electchu jump for joy. Jessie, on the other hand, is livid as she returns Wobbuffet to its Pokeball and storms out in a fit of rage. After a minute, Mr. Contesta steps in with a contest ribbon at hand.

"Congratulations, Serena. Here is your ribbon," he says.

"Thank you very much," Serena says happily before she presents her ribbon to the crowd.

Meanwhile, James and Meowth sneak away with their heads hung low.

"Poor Jessie...more importantly poor us," James moans.

"Yeah, at least those two dweebs and their Raichu won't be going anywhere near another contest any time soon," Meowth groans.

*********************************************

Five minutes later, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Timothy, Electchu, and Coovers meet up with Serena outside of the contest hall.

"Congratulations, Serena," Brock says. "Now, you only need two more before the Grand Festival."

"That's right," Serena says as she presents her three ribbon inside her ribbon case. "Hey, Timothy, I guess that means we both have two more ribbon or symbols to earn before I go to the festival, and you face off Brandon."

"Yeah, that's true," Timothy chuckles. "Speaking of which, do you know where to head to next?"

Serena slightly gasps, realizing that she hasn't thought of that and takes out her tablet.

"Let's see," she mutters. "Ah, there's a contest starting in eight days in Neon City."

"Neon City? That's great," Ash says. "That's about a week-long journey from here."

Serena smiles at the raven-haired boy before turning to Timothy and Coovers.

"So, did you two enjoy the contest?" She asks.

"We did, actually," Timothy says with a smile. "It was interesting to see Pokemon moves used that way during the appeal and battle stages."

"I'll say," Coovers says. "It must take a lot of work and creativity to do what you do, Serena."

Serena smiles and says, "Yes, it does. My Pokemon and I work really hard to accomplish our dream. I have to think of new ideas every day to successfully make the people and Pokemon who watch us happy because of what we do."

"And you did a great job doing that today with Absol and Sylveon," Ash says cheerfully.

"Pika, Pika," Pikachu says.

"Oh...thank you, Ash," Serena says bashfully as she looks down to hide her blush.

Brock looks at Serena with a smug look while Timothy and Coovers smirk at each other over the honey blonde girl's bashfulness until Coovers looks at a clock post from over Timothy's shoulder and gasps.

"Good grief, we need to get going," he says. "Our ferry will be heading out soon."

Timothy turns around to look at the clock post, and says, "Yikes, we do!"

"Alright then, good luck with the Battle Palace," Serena says.

"Thanks, Serena!" Timothy calls out as he, Electchu, and Coovers begins running.

"Hey, Timothy!" Ash calls out. "The next time we meet, I want to have another battle with you."

"Sounds great!" Timothy calls out while still running. "You better train your Pokemon hard if you want an inkling of a chance with me, though!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," Ash counters as the two men and Raichu run until they are out of sight.

"Well, we might as well get going too, gang," Brock says. "Neon City awaits."

"Right," Ash and Serena says at the same time as they and Brock begin walking with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.

*****************************************************************

After making it to the ferry, Timothy, Coovers, and Electchu watch the ship sail away from Fuchsia City. Unknown to either of them, though, Jessie, James, and Meowth are following them again in their Magikarp submarine. James and Meowth struggle to petal as fast as Jessie is, who is pedaling rapidly to let out her venomous anger for losing the contest to Serena. As the two groups continue their journey through the Battle Frontier, Timothy and Electchu watch the view of Fuchsia City grow smaller and smaller from the railing. The trainer from Pallet Town sighs as he thinks about the past four days with Ash and their friends.

"Missing them already?"

Timothy and Electchu turn around to see Coovers walking over to them, carrying a couple of juice boxes. He passes one to Timothy and kneels down to give Electchu one before he opens his own.

"Yeah, I kinda am," Timothy admits. "I think I was starting to get used to having them along in our journey."

Coovers smiles, happy to hear his friend say that.

"It has been fun to have them around," he says.

"You're only saying that because I'm opening up to them," Timothy accuses.

"Of course I am," Coovers says with a toothy grin. "I've never seen you being friendly to other people who aren't Laura or me much less enjoying riding bikes together or having dinner at someone's house or go see a friend perform at a Pokemon contest. Face it, Timothy, you're really improving every time we bump into them."

"Raichu," Electchu says, smiling and nodding.

Timothy turns to his trusty Pokemon, surprised.

"You're glad that I'm enjoying spending time with them as well?" He asks.

Electchu nods again, and Timothy smiles before looking back at the direction of Fuchsia City.

"Yeah, I have to admit I'm glad to," he says. "I hope we can see them again sometime before the Indigo League once our mission is over."

"I think we will, Timothy," Concerts says confidently.

Thus, the three of them continue watching the city grow farther away as their ship makes their way to their next destination. As they do, the cloaked figure watches them intently as it hides on the roof of the ship.

"I hope to see them again soon," it says. "I know what it's like to miss Ash and his friends."