Give me your Power Stones. Thanks and enjoy the double chapter.
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The rest of their day, which then continued into the late night, was spent rather well.
Ash then had to satisfy his other woman in Ciel as she was beginning to get impatient at not getting his attention at all.
Then all of this activity led him to only be able to go bed at 3 in the morning.
Though Ash didn't need the same amount of sleep he once needed, it was still best to get the full amount.
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The very next day, the first thing he did was to go and meet Maya's family member.
Which was rather unexpectedly uneventful.
All they did was to ask if he will treat Maya with love and respect, which he said yes to.
And they didn't even mention anything related to his other women despite knowing about them.
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Almost immediately after that, Ash had to say goodbye to Maya as she had to go back to the Whirl Islands a day earlier because something happened there and they lost contact with one of their ships.
On the harbor, Ash kissed her one final time and waved bye to her. "Maya, love, I'll miss you until we meet again!"
But this time, May was with him waving goodbye to her friend.
"Ash, don't be so over dramatic, we both know that you'll be taking to her in like a hour or so." She said with exasperation.
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{Back to the real journey of our group.}
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The group had finished whatever Juan took them to do, so it was time to begin on their journey again.
Ash had finally collected all eight of his necessary Gym Badges to participate in the Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference. In addition, he had also already won himself his five officially needed Pokémon's Contest Ribbons to participate in the Hoenn Region Grand Festival.
Now it was only May who should be truly worried about herself. She has only won three of her five official Pokémon Contest Ribbons so far, and now that the Grand Festival was about to be held very soon, there are not many official Pokémon Contest left to be held throughout the region.
Fortunately, Juan, a senior Pokémon Coordinator and someone with more than enough connections, pointed out that a small-scale official Pokémon Contest was about to be held on an island not that far from their current location of Sootopolis City.
The group rushed there without even having time to stay overnight at the Pokémon Center. Fortunately, they did successfully arrive on the island before the start of the Pokémon Contest here.
Without someone as strong as Ash or the likes, May was still confident in herself that she can get the Pokémon Contest Ribbon from here.
Ash was also full of confidence in May, so confident that he didn't even need go to the contest at all, he saw it through her eyes, literally. Instead, he went to the Pokémon Center to call Professor Oak and switch up some of the Pokémon's around him.
"Ash, have you gathered all of the Gym Badges you needed?" Upon getting the call from his prized pupil, Professor Oak was very happy for Ash as he knew that this entailed for him.
"Yeah, just two days ago. Just forget to call you, but I thought mom did when I called her yesterday."
"That's great. Now I have to go find the people from the town right away to celebrate your big achievement!" Professor Oak said with a very big smile, "I heard from Lance that this years Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference level is extremely high, more than any previous years because of one specific Pokémon Trainer, so you to be sure that you're in your peak level, you can't take it lightly. You must get that championship trophy, do you hear me, Ash?"
The old professor was even more excited about this than Ash.
"Of course, I am determined to win the championship. Though I'm even more interested in this new powerful Pokémon Trainer that Lance told me about. All I currently know is that he was was able to straight into the tournament because of some exam or whatever, and all of his Pokémon's are currently all confidential." Ash was very confident about his current strength, so he was more than happy about this hopeful challenge.
"I will also participate in the Grand Festival this year, even before the Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference. Tell mom and the others to remember to watch my performance! It will be something to remember!"
"Of course, your mother never misses any of your contest, she always asks their recording from the Vivian women you introduced her with." He didn't even seem to mind that Ash already had multiple women around him, all Professor Oak was now was very satisfied with Ash's current results.
No matter what happened, Ash only grew stronger, so he was delighted.
Not only has he become an excellent and a very powerful Pokémon Trainer, he has also made achievements in the field of Pokémon Contest. If he is really able to win that Grand Festival trophy, that would really be something to remember for.
"By the way, Professor, how's that little guy Groudon doing lately?" Out of all the Pokémon's under him, Ash was now the most concerned about his precious little adorable Groudon.
Now that he has caught two of three ultra-ancient Pokémon's of the Hoenn Region, first Rayquaza and then Groudon, both of whom are still very young, so they need his special attention to make sure that they don't go haywire.
Because of the special characteristics that a Master Ball has built within itself, Ash was able to take his Rayquaza with him without needing to follow the Pokémon League's extremely strict rule about only being allowed to carry six Pokémon's unless it's an emergency, but Professor Oak needed to see it before and Ash needing its help in training his Dragonair and some of his other Pokémon's.
But his even younger Groudon was not so lucky and could only train with the rest of his Pokémon's in the backyard of Professor Oak Laboratory when he wasn't with Ash.
"Speaking of Groudon, like you asked me to, I told Blaine about it, and he immediately agreed to let Groudon stay inside of the giant volcano on Cinnabar Island. After all, Groudon could get a better sense of its power while truly being inside of its real home." Professor Oak said frankly, as if he didn't care that maybe Groudon can one day accidentally erupt the volcano it's staying on and destroy the whole island.
Not only Groudon, but also Entei and some of Ash's other Fire-type Pokémon's that also wanted to see what all the hype was around.
Now that he was focusing on Groudon's training to unleash his true super-ancient legendary power like Rayquaza, he had to be very careful in everything related to it.
"I know that most of my Fire-types have already gone to the Cinnabar Island volcano to check it out, Slowking already told me so. And Entei also told be that they have good arrangement there and most of them enjoy it there too." Ash nodded and didn't say much anything else, leaving it to Professor Oak for him to have some peace of mind.
In fact, when he mentioned Groudon, all he just wanted to know was about the reward that should be given to him.
"Don't act like I don't know yos yet, kid. Your reward will be given to you after you finish your current journey in the Hoenn Region m!" Professor Oak said loudly and hung up the phone.
"Well, then come on!" Ash put his Poke Balls on his magnetic black Poke Ball belt and went to a nearby forest outside the town with his Pokémon's alone. "Everyone come out, Ralts, Togetic, Phanpy, Lairon, Snorunt!"
Brock and Max were currently accompanying May to see the Pokémon Contest here, so Ash now finally had time to train some of his Pokémon's alone.
Togetic seemed very excited about this. Ash had asked Professor Oak to send the little one to the Cerulean City Gym to visit Misty in the past two days after being on a call with her.
And not to mention the little one also misses her mom, Misty in this case.
Putting his Ralts and Pikachu on his shoulders and his Togetic landing straight onto his head, there was a cute little guy bumping into Ash's feet.
Phanpy has become much more stronger physically during this period of his special training. He had actually reached the level of evolution long ago. After all, that intensive training he went under his two very powerful "parents" (who are Tyranitar and Rhyperior). It was just because it was hatched from a Pokémon Egg by Ash himself that he was kind of being selfish.
Ash had hoped to wait until it was a little more older to let him fully evolve.
Finally, when he turned to Ash again, Phanpy pushed his head against him. This was his unique way of expressing his closeness to his beloved Trainer, and it was also related to Ash's power, and Phanpy only used some small amounts of his power, otherwise he would have pushed Ash away, even if it was only an inch or two.
Although he was still young by their species, his size was not small at all, by no means. A normal adult Phanpy is about 0.5 meters in size, but Ash's Phanpy had already reached 0.7 meters, and he was still quite young.
"Phanpy, your power is getting stronger and stronger, isn't it? I'm so proud of you."
Ash pressed its head and couldn't help imagine what kind of defensive Ground-type tank it would be when it evolved into a Donphan. But that armored form now won't be as adorable as this cute one.
But Ash didn't know just how much accidentally watching the two Pokémon's it thought of as its mom and dad going straight at it would impact him.
It was a change that will stay forever for the still very young Pokémon.
Lairon, who has not yet evolved into his final behemoth form, has continued to improve significantly in his strength under the special training of his older and more defensive but still quite offensive oriented Pokémon's. He was already very terrifying just from his sheer size.
Ash gently patted his Phanpy away and gave him some of its favorite food to help him recover from that trauma he witnessed, he then reached out and knocked on Lairon's armor a few times!
Di ddy dis ciple!
The thickness was very strong, it appears to be very dense, it was also a very hard armor with a brilliant shine to its color—Ash's test was completed.
"Everything went well it seems."
Aggron is actually still often mistaken for being another Pseudo-Legendary of the Hoenn Region like Metagross and Salamance. Although this was not actually the case at all, it still illustrates the difficulty of training up an Aggron.
Not only did they need a lot of resources and time, they also need a good Trainer to train them well in their perfect training method.
It was a known thing by now that Ash has a very high requirements for training up his Pokémon's. His Lairon now as it had the rare Heavy Metal as its Hidden Ability. So of course, Ash will try his best to train his future Aggron into a perfect land fighter that is both extremely tanky and can hit back with strong counterattacks.
He hoped to crate another war beast like Pokémon, like his Tyranitar and his Rhyperior.
The kind that can scare away weaker opponents without even needing to expensive on its power.
Finally, there was his little Snorunt, who had just been caught by him. He had already learned how to use Ice Beam, though not very proficient in sit, and so Ash planned to teach it a new move called Avalanche.
This was more of a counter-attack kind of move. If the user of this attack is attacked by the opponents moves, then they can attack with twice the power of the attack with Avalanche.
If it is used properly, this can become the finishing move in most Pokémon battles.
"Ash!"
Just as he was about to let Snorunt and Phanpy train in some of their moves, he heard May's voice, and her voice rose, he could tell without even turning that she was very happy.
"Babe, it looks like you won your fourth official Pokémon Contest Ribbon." Ash looked at May and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, her progress was obvious to all, especially him.
"Wow, Phanpy is back!" Max was the first to notice the cute Phanpy next to Ash. He remembered that Ash once challenged his father's Slakoth with this Phanpy. It was the first time he and Ash met, and Phanpy's power and small body had already left a deep impression on him.
So when Ash sometimes teleported his Phanpy over to him, Max would play with him. So it can be said that they are good friends.
"It's so cute! It gets cuter every time I see it!" May also liked Ash's cute Phanpy, though for a different reason, so she knelt down and gently stroked its head.
She wanted to make sure this little one forgets what happened as Ash told her.
"No, May, move quickly!" Brock suddenly realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.
Phanpy also liked May very much from the beginning, so he bumped into her and sent May flying several meters away. She was about to fall to the ground, but was caught in time by Ash, who used Teleport to catch her in his arms.
"Thank you, Ash!" May stood firm and quickly thanked him by giving him a hug and a passionate kiss.
Ash gently patted his Phanpy on the head and said, "I still remember this so well. This little was still inside of a Pokémon Egg that I got in the Johto Region, and which it then soon hatched. There are still around three months left until the Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference begins in full swing. I will take him with me to train up for a while, and since it had reached the time to evolve into a Donphan, I will use him there to his true power."
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{The second of the double chapter I told you guys about.}
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"Phanpy, use Earth Power!"
When Ash gave the order, Phanpy let out a roar that no longer seemed as childish as it ince did, and hit the ground with its cute long blue nose.
An astonishing amount of earth energy surged out from under its feet, and making its trunk, turning into earth-yellow energy balls into the earth that ended up hitting Snorunt from the bottom.
Snorunt gritted his teeth and actually took the move head-on without trying to dodge it. Then a white light flashed all over his body, and a dark cloud appeared above Phanpy's head. Large swaths of glacier collapsed, and they all hit Phanpy's head, hitting him directly without giving him enough time to move. This attack instantly smashed Phanpy to the ground, though it didn't take Phanpy out of the battle, even though it was a Ground-type Pokémon and was weak against Ice-type attack.
"Okay, let's stop for now!" Ash quickly stopped and came over to check on how Phanpy was doing, knowing it was mostly fine othe than some possible scratches on its body. At the last moment, it turned out that he turned himself into a ball in time and used his defensive Defense Curl move to improve its defense, making the new power of this move appear. So he took the damage and it was almost no big deal.
Just behind Ash, some applause broke out, "That's awesome, Big Bro, Snorunt and Phanpy are so awesome!"
"Ash, your Pokémon's condition is really good, you know." Brock was naturally very happy for Ash, as any best friend should be.
"Of course, I am determined to win that Hoenn Region Ever Grande Conference Championship, and take the trophy back home to show everyone." Ash took back his two Pokémon to rest up, they themselves were full of fighting spirit.
"Sis, we are going to Pacifidlog Town to participate in the Pokémon Contest being held there next, right?" Max looked at May and questioned her.
The next goal of the group had already been determined. There were not that many official Pokémon Contests left to be held, the closest one to them was the one being held at Pacifidlog Town, and May still had her last official Pokémon Contest Ribbon left to be won. If she missed this, in the upcoming Grand Festival, she might only be able to watch Ash and the others compete while she is sitting on the stands.
Although the situation was urgent, May still seems quite optimistic about herself, "Yes, if I win there, I can get my fifth official Pokémon Contest Ribbon and then I can also be a part of the stage of the largest Grand Festival with glory!"
Ash also smiled at his girlfriend when he heard this. He was also quite confident in May's current strength. He then quickly noticed a familiar Aura quickly approaching their group.
"That's not enough!" At this moment, the voice of Drew appeared from behind one of the larger trees, with his Masquerain floating besides him.
"Drew! Let's have a battle then!" May was actually quite happy to see her rival Drew here, and she was full of fighting spirit.
"Huh, a battle you say? I have no objection to that! But you should try to win those five Ribbons of yours first!" With that, Drew took out the official Pokémon Contest Ribbon Case from his pocket and he opened it in front of their eyes.
There were five official Pokémon Contest Ribbons there, he was now qualified to participate in the Grand Festival.
Putting away the ribbon medal in a snarky manner, Drew looked towards Ash, "Ash, by now you should have heard that this years Hoenn Region Grand Festival will be held in Slateport City, and it will be in one and a half months. Ash, I will definitely beat you by there. Mark my words."
"I'm also looking forward to going up against you, Drew." Of course Ash was more than happy accept a challenge. This was one of things he lived for.
Seeing Drew's attitude, May became a little mad at him and said, "Drew, since we can't have a real battle now, how about you and me have a little practice battle for my next Pokémon Contest? I want to show you my current strength, and how much I have grown compared to your whinny self!"
"Of course, I also wanted to show you my Masquerain's strength! We have trained a lot for the Grand Festival!"
Brock was again in charge of being the referee for this battle, and their small practice Pokémon Contest Battel soon followed.
The battle was May's Beautifly against Drew's Masquerain, so it was like butterfly fighting against a moth. This was actually quite an interesting battle.
"Since I'm so nice, you can go first this time!" Drew generously gave the initiative of the first love to May.
His manner had always made people irritated, especially hothead people like May. May couldn't bear that irritation and snarky attitude anymore and decisively launched her attack, "Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"
This was a move that Beautifly has worked very hard on for the longest time. It was both beautiful and powerful at the same time. And when it comes to real battles and official Pokémon Contest battle, in terms of activation speed and power, it was an excellent choice.
Not to mention this move was one of the very few moves that can very rarely boost all the stats of the Pokémon's using this move. Other moves like this thay have such a power are Ancient Power and Ominous Wind.
"Masquerain, use Circle Sky to get away from the range of that Silver Wind attack!"
This was not a real Pokémon move, but a combat skill developed by Drew and his Masquerain, and this was mainly used to deal with Special Attacks or attackers from a longer distance.
Masquerain was hovering over the Silver Wind and began to use its Tailwind while hovering. The already cool Silver Wind seems to be blooming around it and just couldn't seem to harm or even touch it anymore.
Although Drew and his Masquerain didn't counterattack, he was able to neutralize the opponent's skills in such a beautiful way. If this was real Pokémon Contest, Drew could have been able to deduct quite some amount of May's points with this single move.
In this battle, Brock was responsible for being both the refereeing and the timer, while Ash was responsible for judging the points of both sides. This 5-minute Pokémon Contest practice match was very interesting if used correctly, it can help the Pokémon Coordinators think of new strategies on the spot without needing to fear the failure of losing a official Pokémon Contest Ribbon.
"Masquerain, use Silver Wind!"
It was Drew this time that hit back with a Silver Wind. Seeing this scene, Ash nodded immediately in understanding.
He was guiding both May and her Beautifly by giving them the demonstrations of how to better handle these kind of situations. He was really a qualified senior. Tho he would still have been better if he didn't have that annoying attitude.
"Beautifly, use the mid-air flip technique we practiced to dodge!" May was not to be outdone, using a move that she saw in one of the Pokémon Contest on television to avoid the opponents Silver Wind's attack, and her performance while doing it was also quite good.
"Alright, I'll give it to you, that was actually pretty decent! Masquerain, use Double Team! And then Hidden Power!"
Drew directly enlarged his moves and launched one of his signature combo attacks, and what they saw was that his Masquerain multiplied into many and they were beginning to do something. In front of them, a view dense area was filled with lots of fake Masquerains.
Then each Masquerain began to emit bright green light, which came out of their body and formed several green light balls. At this time, an astonishing number of green Energy Balls danced in the air. This was again something that one of those official Pokémon Contest Judges will really like.
However, Ash just shook his head in disagreement. Drew's talent at being a Pokémon Coordinator was very high, and maybe that was still an understatement, and he was indeed very confident, maybe not that much of a good thing. But perhaps because of those two factors, his focus was always too much on the way his moves looked and not on the speed of those said moves. Power was different tho for him, he mostly understood that major fact.
If he had fo deal with someone like people like Ash, Juan, Wallace, or Pokémon Coordinators that have some real Pokémon battle experience, even by a small margin, this would be pretty much seen as a death sentence. If they were to deal with it, this combo could be cracked in seconds, but against May, it would still cause her a lot of trouble from her lack of much experience in real Pokémon battles. And this was also the reason Ash was trying to change May's prospective little by little.
Ash looked at May like this. Her fighting style was very reminiscent of his own. In addition, she also learned quite a lot from Juan before when he took the group to explore part of the city and his Gym, so she should be able to crack this move soon.
He at least had that much confidence in his airhead lover.
Sure enough, just as he thought, May's face turned grim at the beginning, "Beautifly, while flipping in the air, use Silver Wind again!"
This scene was something that made Ash's eyes light up with delight. This move was very similar to the Counter Technique (not to mistake it for the Fighting-type move Counter, this is merely a technique and not an actual move) he created and trained May in before. This can turn even attacks into defense, and the same can be said for the reverse. It serves as both an offensive and defensive skill. It was the most suitable way to deal with the dense combination of skills, like the ones in front of May right now.
The silver whirlwind bloomed like a flower. The powder scales scattered in all directions. Masquerain's Hidden Power could not get close at all, and instead were launched at various directions.
All of the Double Teams were destroyed, either by the Silver Wind or their own attacks, leaving only the true body left.
"Now, Beautifly, use Tackle!"
The Silver Wind bloomed and went towards Masquerain's true body away.
This was May's chance to fight back.
This time, she chose not to use String Shot to hold her opponent down. Now was the opening to hit her opponent quickly and accurately.
Beautifly flapped its big wings and rushed forward with the help of the force of the winds.
"Masquerain, we can't lose to them like this, use Quick Attack!" Of course Drew would not admit defeat like this, this was not something he signed up for. Under his call, his Masquerain suddenly opened its eyes, flapped his wings that looked like big eyes when they were touching, and blasted towards where Beautifly was also coming from.
With a crash, the two flying insects collided and fell down to the ground in a daze.
"And this is end of the battle! Time ends!"
Ash pressed the timer next to Brock and declared that this battle was a draw.
"May, you really did make a lot of progress. Hurry up and get that last official Pokémon Conest Ribbon from the one in Pacifidlog Town. Let's meet at the Grand Festival and fight with everything we got!" Drew took back the Masquerain and walked away like he didn't care about anything.
"Alright then, Pacifidlog Town Pokémon Contest, I will definitely win it!" May was full of fighting spirit at this moment!
And she rightfully deserved to.
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Give me your STONES!