((After this Chapter, I'm basically gonna skip the Contest Chapters for this saga. The end results for May will stay the same in the canon. I did this because I was contemplating about it, so I can get chapters out sooner and be able to finish this saga faster and get to the Sinnoh one. I may make a book for those and other filler chapters in the future, so I apologize to the ones that like the contests, but at least there's the chance of a book having the rest of this contest arc. For now, enjoy this chapter))
( < > Is the translation of pokemon's speech , [ ] is the pokedex and bold are thoughts)
When our heroes arrive in Rubello Town for May's next pokemon contest the next day, May is getting really excited.
Lately, May has been getting...cocky about her wins, which leaves Ash concerned.
When May heads to the contest hall to register, some fans of hers approach her, some of them calling themselves Mothers for Pokemon.
A woman named Savannah seemed to be their leader, who had four pokemon with her, a Flareon, a Lairon, a Venasaur, and a Clamperl.
Savannah is also entering the contest, which has an interesting rule of needing at least one ribbon to enter.
Ash went of to train, having Spheal, Barboach, Corphish, Loudred, Lombre, Nuzleaf, and Taillow evolve into Sealeo, Whiscash, Crawdaunt, Exploud, Ludicolo, Shiftry, and Swellow. Ash scanned them all.
[Sealeo, the Ball Roll Pokemon and the evolved form of Spheal.
Sealeo often balances and rolls things on the tip of its nose. While the Pokémon is rolling something, it checks the object's aroma and texture to determine whether it likes the object or not.
This Sealeo is level 52 and knows the moves Water Gun, Defense Curl, Rollout, Encore, Ice Ball, Body Slam, Aurora Beam, Swagger, Brine, Rest, Snore, Rain Dance, Hail, Super Fang, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Surf, Aqua Tail, Aqua Ring*Egg Move*, Yawn*Egg Move*, Stockpile*Egg Move*, Spit Up*Egg Move*, Swallow*Egg Move*, Signal Beam*Egg Move*, Fissure*Egg Move*, and Water Pulse*Egg Move*]
[Whiscash, the Whiskers Pokemon and the evolved form of Barboach.
Mysteriously, it can foretell earthquakes. In the daytime, it sleeps in mud at the bottom of a pond. When it awakens, it continually feeds throughout the night.
This Whiscash is level 56 and knows the moves Hydro Pump, Mud Bomb, Aqua Tail, Earthquake, Rest, Snore, Water Pulse, Amnesia, Whirlpool, Earth Power, Dragon Dance, Mud Shot, Rain Dance, Bounce, Zen Headbutt, Protect, Ice Beam, Stone Edge, Bounce, Fissure, Muddy Water, Thrash*Egg Move*, Spark*Egg Move*, and Flail*Egg Move*]
[Crawdaunt, the Rogue Pokemon and the evolved form of Corphish.
Crawdaunt molts (sheds) its shell regularly. Immediately after molting, its shell is soft and tender. Until the shell hardens, this Pokémon hides in its streambed burrow to avoid attack from its foes.
This Crawdaunt is level 64 and knows the moves Hydro Pump, Harden, Swift, Guillotine, Ice Beam, Double Hit, Protect, Night Slash, Razor Shell, Crunch, Dark Pulse, X-Scissor, Water Pulse, Bubble Beam, Swords Dance, Dig, Dive, Rock Slide, Rain Dance, Avalanche, Surf, Ice Beam, Liquidation, Double Team, Payback, Aerial Ace,Waterfall, Crabhammer, Ancient Power*Egg Move*, Slash*Egg Move*, Chip Away*Egg Move*, Double-Edge*Egg Move*, Metal Claw*Egg Move*, Trump Card*Egg Move*, and Aqua Jet*Egg Move*]
[Exploud, the Loud Noise Pokemon and the evolved form of Loudred.
It has sound-generating organs all over its body. It communicates with others by adjusting the tone and volume of the cries it emits.
This Exploud us level 81 and knows the moves Stomp, Crunch, Roar, Supersonic, Astonish, Howl, Echoed Voice, Rest, Sleep Talk, Stomping Tantrum, Round, Rock Slide, Avalanche, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Swagger, Double Team, Work Up, Screech, Uproar, Hyper Beam, Boomburst, Hyper Voice, Circle Throw*Egg Move*, Disarming Voice*Egg Move*, Extrasensory*Egg Move*, and Hammer Arm*Egg Move*]
[Ludicolo, the Carefree Pokemon and the evolved form of Lombre.
Upon hearing an upbeat and cheerful rhythm, the cells in Ludicolo's body become very energetic and active. Even in battle, this Pokémon will exhibit an amazing amount of power.
This Ludicolo is level 64 and knows the moves Bubble Beam, Echoed Voice, Hydro Pump, Energy Ball, Zen Headbutt, Mist, Giga Drain, Hidden Power, Rain Dance, Bullet Seed, Uproar, Double Team,, Hyper Voice, Ice Beam, Encore, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Water Pulse, Whirlpool, Seed Bomb, Leech Seed*Egg Move*, Counter*Egg Move*, Sweet Scent*Egg Move*, Synthesis*Egg Move*, Teeter Dance*Egg Move*, and Razor Leaf*Egg Move*]
[Shiftry, the Wicked Pokemon and the evolved form of Nuzleaf.
Shiftry is a mysterious Pokémon that is said to live atop towering trees dating back over a thousand years. It creates terrific windstorms with the fans it holds.
This Shiftry is level 64 and knows the moves Razor Leaf, Air Cutter, Swords Dance, Heat Wave, Torment, Extrasensory, X-Scissor, Ominous Wind, Silver Wind, Twister, Razor Wind, Hurricane, Fake Out, Giga Drain, Payback, Sunny Day, Nature Power, Synthesis, Growth, Leaf Storm, Leaf Blade, Leaf Tornado, Dark Pulse, Swagger, Bullet Seed, Solar Blade, Solar Beam, Seed Bomb, Worry Seed*Egg Move*, Rollout*Egg Move*, Leech Seed*Egg Move*, Quick Attack*Egg Move*, and Night Slash*Egg Move*, ]
[Swellow, the Swallow Pokemon and the evolved form of Taillow.
Swellow is very conscientious about the upkeep of its glossy wings. Once two Swellow are gathered, they diligently take care of cleaning each other's wings.
This Swellow is level 52 and knows the moves Air Cutter, Agility, Facade, Peck, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Double Team, Aerial Ace, Wing Attack, Reversal, Twister, Steel Wing, Pluck, Swift, Ominous Wind, Heat Wave, Air Slash, Sky Attack*Egg Move*, Boomburst*Egg Move*, Steel Wing*Egg Move*, Roost*Egg Move*, Hurricane*Egg Move*, Brave Bird*Egg Move*]
The contest's other rule is you use four pokemon, two different one for each stage. Drew was also here and the pokemon the three mentioned coordinators will use are Savannah's Flareon and Clamperl for the preliminaries and Lairon and Venasaur for the contest battles, Drew's Roselia and Absol for the preliminaries and Masquerain and Flygon for the contest battles, and May's Beautifly and Combusken for the preliminaries and Bulbasaur and Squirtle for the contest battles.
Ash was taking notes on everyone's pokemon, finding points on all of the points they've mastered and points that need more work.
In the demonstration Ash has, he had Pikachu, Sceptile, Blaziken, and Swampert using Electro Ball, Energy Ball, Flamethrower, and Hydro Pump to make a large sphere, then use Liquidation, Leaf Blade, Blaze Kick, and Volt Tackle on it, but before that, they used Protect on the audience.
The sphere explodes into fireworks when Pikachu uses Volt Tackle on it, landing on Ash's head.
May's Combusken and Beautifly used a combination of Sunny Day and Morning Sun, Savannah's Flareon and Clamperl doing a fire and water performance very well, and Drew's Roselia and Absol did a Swords Dance and Petal Dance show.
The three mentioned coordinators reach the next round, Ash approaches May.
"Hey May, here's some tips for Squirtle and Bulbasaur-" May interrupts him with "I don't need help from someone that's not even a coordinator!"
Ash was genuinely hurt and left the building.
Molly was clearly upset from the scene and follows Ash, Brock and Max however, stayed behind to support May in her contest. Molly couldn't blame them.
After all, Team Rocket could appear and try to ruin the contest.
The two cousins met up and decided to head to the next frontier brain, Spenser of the Battle Palace.
Spenser was a kind and calm old man who uses a giant forest as his battle ground, making his opponents think on their feet.
Up first, was Spenser's Lapras against Ash's Sceptile. Type wise, they both have an advantage, but they were in a large lake area.
So putting that into consideration, Lapras has a territorial advantage, but there were a few stones and trees Sceptile could use to maneuver around.
Sceptile won rather easily by baiting Lapras to use Ice Beam and circled around the Transport Pokemon, basically trapping if in ice and used Swords Dance, than Leaf Blade to knock it out.
Next was Arcanine vs Swampert in the forestry. Arcanine was the more swift pokemon, but Swampert was able to tank every hit and hit back harder, defeating Arcanine with a combination of Ancient Power and a powered up Muddy Water.
Round three became Venasaur vs Blaziken in the sunny flower fields. Venasaur let out fast Solar Beams thanks to the sun. However, they were all blocked by Blaziken's Flamethrowers, managing to get Venasaur with the flames and with a powerful Bulk Up powered Blaze Kick, Venasaur going down.
Spenser let's out Starmie next while Ash sends out Absol, now in a beach like area. Starmie stayed mostly in the water to avoid Absol, but with Double Team, one of them got Starmie, then a Swords Dance boosted Night Slash finished the battle against the water type.
Now Spenser's Xatu faces Ash's Aggron near the mountain cliffs. Xatu's Psyshocks and Air Slashes were blocked by Aggron's Protect, then the Mystic Pokemon was knocked out by Iron Head.
Both trainers withdrew their pokemon, now using Medicham and Togetic now in an area with many trees. Medicham got some good hits in with Ice Punch, but Aerial Ace and Fairy Wind got Medicham down.
Eevee and Shiftry came out in a darker area of the forest. Both pokemon used Double Team and charged, Eevee getting a hit on the real Shiftry with Iron Tail.
Eevee then used Double-Edge to send Shiftry flying and ends the round with Trump Card.
Now it was the final battle, Pikachu Vs Claydol, this time, near some ruins. Claydol sent Stone Edge after Stone Edge towards Pikachu. Pikachu manages to dodge them by using Quick Attack to both dodge and attack, and then used a combo of Rain Dance and Surf to finish the job.
Spenser was stunned, but laughed heartily. "I'm impressed young man. You earned this." Spenser congratulated, them gives Ash the Spirits Symbol.
"Thank you." Ash said and headed back to the contest hall, in time to see the ending of the contest Savannah against May.
However, May was too pushy with Bulbasaur and Squirtle, who were experiencing stage fright and got defeated by Lairon and Venasaur.
May was still shouting that they weren't done, but Nirse Joy snapped with "You should be ashamed of yourself! Pushing your pokemon when they're injured!"
May was stunned by the scolding, but Ash sighed at that. He knows May was getting cocky, but he didn't think it'd go this far.
After that, Drew won the contest and ribbon. Hopefully, May has learned her lesson.
May approached Ash, clearly feeling guilty.
"Ash?...I'm sorry..I shouldn't have pushed you away..I should've realized you were only trying to help. And..I..I guess I had gotten a bit too big for my britches..But I promise. I'll be a better trainer and better person!"
Ash smiled and nods. "I'm glad you've learned your lesson."
Now our heroes head for the next town, as the journey continues.
End of Chapter Twenty Five