Following their travel route, Ash and his friends arrived at a dreamlike town filled with childhood wonderO-Hina Town.
The streets were lined with streamers and balloons, and shop windows displayed all sorts of exquisite dolls. The air itself felt sweet. As it turned out, the annual Princess Festival was underway!
"Wow! It's the Princess Festival!" Misty's eyes turned into stars the moment she entered the town, her heart completely captured by the adorable dolls. "I want to buy this! And that one! Oh, that one is so cute too!"
She instantly activated "shopaholic mode" and began a frantic shopping spree.
Coincidentally, the Team Rocket trio had also drifted into town. Jessie, who had no resistance to cute (and potentially valuable) items, immediately joined the crowd, engaging in a fierce "battle" for goods at various stalls against Misty.
During the scramble, a beautiful hairpin Jessie was eyeing accidentally fell to the ground, only to be swallowed in one gulp by a passing Lickitung with an abnormally long tongue.
"Ah! My hairpin! You glutton!" Fuming with rage, Jessie immediately pulled out a Poké Ball. "I'll teach you a lesson! Go, Poké Ball!"
Perhaps fueled by her anger or simply a twist of fate, she actually succeeded in capturing the Lickitung.
Jessie looked at the Poké Ball with a conflicted heartshe was heartbroken over her hairpin, yet she had gained a Pokémon out of nowhere.
In the town's largest mall, they saw a massive poster for the Queen of the Princess Festival Contest. The winner would receive a set of extremely exquisite, limited-edition dolls! To their surprise, the competition was held via Pokémon battles.
Even more unexpected was the rule: it was a Double Battle, aimed at showcasing the brilliant cooperation between trainers and their Pokémon.
Ash was a bit puzzled. Wait, were Double Battles already this popular? He remembered that Double Battles only really started to develop in the Hoenn Region.
What he didn't realize was that the butterfly effect had already begun when he became Professor Oak's research assistant. While publishing papers on other regions, he would occasionally introduce their battle styles and customs. Thus, O-Hina Town had innovated and adopted the Double Battle format for the first time.
Seeing how much Misty wanted the prize, Ash and Brock decided to help her. Ash said, "Misty, let them help you! Pikachu, Togepi, and Bulbasauryou guys coordinate well with Misty!"
Brock also smiled and took out a Poké Ball. "I'll lend you my Vulpix too. Its elegant posture will definitely help with the scoring."
"Pika!"
"Chaki-pri!"
"Bulba!"
"Vul..."
Jessie sent out her usual lineup: Arbok and Weezing, along with her newly caught Lickitung. Meowth was also forced onto the stage to make up the numbers.
The Queen of the Princess Festival Contestthe Pokémon battle phase officially began! The stage transformed into a battlefield, surrounded by an enthusiastic audience.
Misty's command style was flexible and focused on coordination. She had Pikachu use Quick Attack to disrupt the opponents, Bulbasaur use Vine Whip for control and interference, and Vulpix use Flamethrower to display both power and elegance.
Meanwhile, Togepi stood to the side using Metronome, bringing occasional surprisessometimes a Sweet Kiss to confuse the foe, other times a Safeguard to protect its teammates.
Jessie's style was much more aggressive. Arbok's Poison Sting and Weezing's Sludge attacks were launched frequently. Although Lickitung had just been caught, its Lick move occasionally caused paralysis, while Meowth mostly used Fury Swipes to harass.
The battle was exceptionally intense, with moves colliding and light radiating everywhere.
With the four borrowed Pokémon, Misty formed a versatile team with complementary attributes and varied styles.
Finally, relying on superior tactical planning and better chemistry between the Pokémon, she commanded Vulpix to fire a precise Flamethrower combined with Pikachu's Electro Ball. The combo successfully defeated Jessie's final duo of Arbok and Weezing, securing the victory!
"Great! We won!" Misty excitedly hugged the limited-edition dolls she had dreamed of. Pikachu, Togepi, Bulbasaur, and Vulpix crowded around her, crying out happily.
Ash and Brock were genuinely happy for her.
However, amidst the clamor of the awards ceremony, Ash's gaze swept over the Team Rocket trio below the stage. Though defeated, their eyes couldn't hide their disappointmentespecially Jessie, who had a fleeting look of longing when she looked at the doll set.
Even though they're villains, this time... it seems they just entered the contest normally, Ash thought to himself. He quietly activated his ability and whispered in his mind, System, can you perfectly replicate this champion doll set?
[Affirmative. Consuming 100 World Origin Points for material structure scanning and energy reconstruction. Do you confirm?]
"Confirm."
With an imperceptible flash of light, an identical set of exquisite dolls appeared in the System's temporary space.
Using the crowd as cover, Ash quietly packed the replica and left it at the mall's lost and found under the name "Miss Jessie," leaving an anonymous note.
As the trio prepared to leave despondently, Meowth unexpectedly found the package and the note.
"Jessie, look at this, meow!"
Jessie confusedly opened the package. When she saw the complete, limited-edition doll setidentical to the one Misty heldshe was stunned.
"Who... who sent this?"
The note was simple: [Encouragement for the runner-up. Your Lickitung has great potential.]
Holding the dolls, Jessie's expression was a complex mix of surprise and confusion. Finally, she huffed, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward. "This... this anonymous fellow certainly has good taste! Let's go!"
Ash watched the backs of Team Rocket as they walked away clutching the dolls and smiled slightly.
Sometimes, a tiny act of kindness could bring unexpected change. At the very least, it made this Princess Festival more complete for everyone.
[Ding! The host has secretly gifted the doll set to Team Rocket, slightly altering the interaction. Reward: 50 World Origin Points. (Act of Kindness Reward)]
[Current World Origin Points: 22,250.]
Carrying the joy of the championship and a small secret, Ash and his friends left the laughter-filled O-Hina Town and set off toward their next adventure.
---
Author's Note: I can't stand regrets, so I added this part. I hope it doesn't feel too abrupt; I just wanted things to be a bit more fulfilling.
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