I'm back?
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Ash and the femininely handsome golden haired boy named Robert were really destined to fight it out in the finals.
That's right, after May won her battle against Drew, she had to battle him. Which to be honest wasn't a surprise for anyone that she lost to him, but she did show a lot of promise in her battles, so that was always a good thing.
It was in this very same city, Slateport City, that Ash and May participated in an official Pokémon Contest for the very first time.
Now during that now quite very familiar finals, it was also a battle between Ash and Robert. Ash relied on his more real battle experience and tactics and used his still baby Ralts to defeat him with some difficulty and get his very first official Pokémon Contest Ribbon.
That was also the first time Ash saw a Milotic in person, which changed the course of his journey to also participate in official Pokémon Contests to make his Pokémon's even batter.
And now, after going through a full circle, the group returned to Slateport City again to participate in this years Grand Festival. In the finals, it was still a battle between Ash and Robert!
Ash very much suspected that there was something going on during the second round of the official rounds of of this year's Grand Festival, it was the very first time that they used rankings like these to determine the order in which the Pokémon Coordinators will go and show off their skills.
The two of them, who were in the leading position, were put to the end to create even more chances for the viewerships to increase, ushering all of that into the climax, which will be the finale.
But Ash was not disgusted with this by one bit, not one bit. Although it was a bit boring to fight mostly unknown Pokémon Coordinators, but thanks to this, May and Drew were also able to complete their fateful battle.
May defeated Drew and also broke through to the next level, all by herself without needing him to be her side at all.
"Everyone, the time has come for ghis year's very magical Hoenn Region Grand Festival competition to finally ushere towards the final battle, between contestant Ask Ketchum of Pallet Town and contestant Robert of Sootopolis City! Who will win the Ribbon Cup this year and write their names in the annals of history of becoming a Top Coordinator?"
"Robert, long time no see!" Ash greeted Robert like a friend while standing before the battlefield.
"Ash, to be honest, I already long expected that the end result will be that I'll standing here with you. I feel very honored to fight against you once again and prove just what me and my partners are capable of!" The blond man was both gentle and elegant, making people feel like they are taking to a breath of spring breeze, and not a man at all.
His fighting style was also very calm like he was, but that was the least interesting part as he, too, had pretty much a control over the battle situation. This was the perfect opponent for Ash now!
"Then let's see which one of us has improved more! Let this battle show you what I really am made out of!" Ash gently hrew out two of his Poké Balls, "Dazzle them all, Milotic!"
Ash's Milotic with the majestic golden and some pick scales appeared on the stage, followed by Ralts who was using its Teleport skill to land on its friends head. On the final stage of this world famous Grand Festival, Ash once again sent out his two girls to show off their power.
And Robert's Pokémon in the finals were his Milotic and his Claydoll.
"It's finally here, and now let the battle begin!" Vivian announced happily, especially knowing she had something waiting for her after this was all over.
Just after she said that, the 5-minute timer for this battle started.
"Let's begin this show with something simple, Disarming Voice!"
Ash always liked to open his show in this way, and it worked wonders for him, and now since this was a coordinated performance by two Pokémon's instead of one, a big and a small, the beautiful notes begin to jump throughout the open stage and closer to the audience section than ever.
This was a perfect interpretation of hearing and vision for the judges and the audience, who always seemed to prefer this kind of thing rather than the actual battles, but it had less of an effect on Robert and his two Pokémon. Seeing that his Milotic and his Claydol on his side were just a little shaken, he did not panic, knowing this was nothing compared to what they could have faced from Ash if he truly wanted to finish this battle early and not care for the show.
"Milotic, let's go with a Safeguard!"
Robert's Milotic nodded and let out a beautiful melodic cry to create a green veil around them, and now its creamy white body was shining with the luster of a pale green emerald.
With the Safeguard created by its partner, Claydol can attack more aggressively without needing to fear being jumped on, "Claydol, let's go! Use a dazzling Hyper Beam!"
His tone, like always, had a warm undertone to it, but this fight was a tough one and one that he couldn't let his guard down at all. Like now, although his Claydol was slower, he still made it go this fast and all out from the very beginning, and this is because he knew that his Claydol couldn't stand out in the long haul.
Claydol immediately shot a very bright Hyper Beam towards Ash's side.
"Isn't that a little too bright?" One of the judge Nurse Joy, couldn't help but say, to which the other two also nodded.
"Teleport, head! Dragon Tail!"
On Ash's side, he didn't need to say anything much as the moves he commanded his two Pokémon to do were very much exclusive to that Pokémon as the other one couldn't use it.
His Milotic suddenly stepped forward, all the training with her beloved trainer made it sure that her battle instinct was always alert and there to make sure that she knew what to do.
Her beautiful serpentine tail with the golden scales and a pink tail behind it was quickly gathering Dragon-type energy. She herself was also being covered with the very same cyan Dragon-type energy as it was now going through the scales and creamy skin under it, now she had a ferocious expression as she swiped the tail from behind its beautiful body. It was visually very explosive and beautiful.
Facing this very bright Hyper Beam, the beautiful, serene, and previously quiet calm Milotic whipped the incoming Hyper Beam with his tail until it stopped and exploded. The smoke enveloped the two Pokémon on Ash's side and was quickly spreading towards Robert's side.
Suddenly, the cute little figure of Ash's Ralts appeared above Claydol's head. The white little girl with green hair was particularly conspicuous on the brownish black body of Claydol.
As early as when Claydol was preparing its Hyper Beam attack, Ralts already knew that it was going to use its Teleport to avoid it, but after hearing Ash's commands, she teleported here on top of Claydol's head.
Ash knew how playful his little one can be, so he used it to his advantage and show the audience and judges her uniqueness to lower Robert's points even more.
Robert frowned, he knew Psychic-type Pokémon are very difficult to deal with, that's why he had a Claydol in the first place. After all, why would a Pokémon like Claydol be used in a Pokémon Contest when its an open secret that a certain judge doesn't favor the species at all and is somewhat biased against it.
"Claydol, use Confusion! Milotic, use Twister!"
He was calm and let his Claydol use Confusion to deal with the Ralts on top of its head, while he let his somewhat angry Milotic's Twister head towards Ash's more beautiful Milotic, to who he didn't really hide his belief on about the beauty and now is angry, who was still shrouded in the smoke from the point-blank hit.
However, Ash's next order shocked Robert, not to mention everyone else.
"Ally Switch!"
Ralts' body flashed with a pink light and she disappeared, and what now appeared was Milotic's still active and ferocious Dragon Tail getting ready to go all out and pummel Claydol.
This sudden appearance brought a huge impact to the battle, and the whole audience was now in an uproar of excitement.
Milotic suddenly appeared above Claydol's head with the help of Ally Switch, and the terrifying Dragon Tail whipped down hard, sending Claydol flying away despite being well known to have great Physical Defense.
However, at this time, Robert's Milotic, who had not yet had the time to stop its Twister, can only see in displeasure as its Twister only began to blow away the smoke to reveal Ralts' cute little figure, completely fine.
This little cutie even put on a cute pose, with its two fingers out and waving, when the smoke cleared up. The sight was so damn cute that it melted the hearts of all the young and old people at the scene, but it also made some people worried. The Twister attack was right in front of them, and all they see is what Ralts will now have to face now.
But Robert was very confused. He remembered the way the battle went the last time, when Ralts jumped into the Twister!
And he always believed the sentence "Know yourself and the enemy and you'll win" to its core, so did his best to research Ash's capabilities.
Ash on the other hand was also someone who believed in this, so he had long known that Twister was in fact the signature skill of Robert's Milotic. So he bet that Robert would command his Milotic to use Twister and not something like Hydro Pump, so if he did, Ash wouldn't need to use the Ally Switch tactic!
The Dragon-type attack was completely ineffective against Ash's Ralts, but the same couldn't be said for Robert's Claydol as Ash's Milotics Dragon Tail skill knocked it away by quite a distance.
Since this was the second time the two faced each other, Ash again used his ability to gain the upper hand with the field control aspect to already deduct a lot of points from Robert.
Now he has a significant lead. Although only 1 minute has passed, it can be said that the battle has been locked in if Ash could maintain this level of dominance.
As written, according to the rules of an official Pokémon Contest and the Grand Festival, whoever has the higher score after 5 minutes is the winner.
However, if all the points of one side are deducted within 5 minutes or their Pokémon lose their battle capabilities, they will also be declared defeated.
Although Ash, or any real Pokémon Trainer, could easily win most of the official Pokémon Contests with their usual methods of regular methods, they will quickly be completely disqualified from Pokémon Contests as a whole. And this is simply because they don't show anything that makes the judges and the audience understand that this a real Pokémon Contest and not some regular Pokémon battle.
"It's simply amazing! Contestant Ash's Ralts and Milotic swapped places in an instant, catching Contestant Robert off guard! Moreover, Contestant Ash's two Pokémon were so beautiful during their entrance and their follow-up moves! This is what a contest really is!" Vivian made a very high evaluation, to one which no one could deny even if they tried to.
Robert looked at Ash. The boy in front of him had been able to defeat his own Milotic with a small, young Ralts during their first meeting, and now he was doing it again, and this time also using a Milotic to defeat him.
'But now that I'm here, as long as the battle is not over, we must not give up,' said Robert to himself. "Claydol, can you fight?"
Claydol stood up. Ash didn't need his Ciel to tell him that their Bond Value was also very high, he could see it by the determination he can see from Claydol, and that told him just how much he wanted to respond to his trainers wishes.
"Then, Claydol, please use your strongest Hyper Beam! Milotic, you too use your strongest Hydro Pump attack!" Robert kindly ordered both of his Pokémon to release their strongest moves. Such a double attack was so powerful that it would be nearly impossible to avoid the aftermath of it since with the cooperation of the two was so strong and their individual strength was also not something to scoff at.
However, the two girls on Ash's side looked at each other, and Ralts turned into white light again and disappeared, leaving Milotic alone to face this double attack.
Ash raised his hand, "Surf!"
Milotic's body was shining with cerulean light with a little bit of golden glow from its body, a large amount of water appeared behind it, and there was now even a pair of water wings spread out behind it, looking like a mermaid from the heavens.
A huge wave set off on the open stage, hitting Robert's two Pokémon hard without them being able to do anything to stop it.
Ash let his Milotic go through and used the Transitional Stage of their Bond Evolution, further strengthening Milotic's already very powerful water control ability, and the power of Surf was also greatly enhanced because of this minor evolution.
Robert's Milotics Hydro Pump and his Claydols powerful Hyper Beam hit the huge wave and tore a hole in it.
But that's all it managed to do.
That plane in the wave was then immediately restored, and Robert's points were deducted again as his strongest moves ultimately failed to do any real damage.
Ralts' figure again appeared above one of Robert Pokémon's heads, and this time it was Milotic, and with a bang, the readily made Shadow Ball in her small delicate hand loudly dispersed.
And with that, it was over.
"Now I can say it — ladies and gentlemen, this year's Grand Festival is officially over, the winner is Contestant Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! Lets all congratulate him on this very impressive achievement!" Vivian announced the victor of the competition like she was the one who won it.
Which wasn't far from the truth as although she didn't win it, her lover did.
Seeing this, Robert smiled calmly, accepting his loss and Ash victory over him. He had battled against Ash twice and was deeply impressed by his strength both times. He had a feeling that Ash's strength was far beyond what he showed against him, but only time will tell. Although he did not experience it this time, he was hopeful for the future.
He bowed gently to Ash and stepped away, leaving the stage to Ash!
"The performance at this year's Grand Festival captured everyone's hearts with its charms and power, and now the winner, Ash, has been awarded the Ribbon Cup!" Vivian and the 3 Nurse Joys were the one to give Ash his trophy during the award ceremony!
Once that was over, he took a picture with them and winked at them, making sure they and the other knew what was soon to happen after this.
They all blushed but nodded gladly, knowing that this was what they truly wanted.
("Wink Wink" —The Creator)
Beside him stood his Milotic, and on his shoulders sat his little cutie Ralts.
He fulfilled his promise and led his Milotic to the most contested place she wanted, but now this wish of hers was now the third most important thing in her life.
The first was her beloved trainer Ash.
The second was all of her friends, who were all Ash's Pokémon's.
And this victory was her third most important thing.
However, before becoming a Pokémon Master, Ash earned a new title, Top Coordinator!