In this beautifully scenic city, the first order of business is, of course, a trip to the Pokémon Center!
Upon arriving, it's clear the place is buzzing with a huge number of Pokémon Coordinators. "Everyone is so excited!" (´∇?) Max exclaimed. "That's because the Pokémon Contest starts in just two weeks!" (´?)? May was also thrilled; this would be her very first Contest.
Brock nodded in agreement. "That's right! All these Coordinators came here early to start their special training!"
"Big sister, not only do they all look strong, but Ash is competing too! Your chances are slim," Max said, teasing May.
"It's no problem at all!" May said, though she was panicking inside. She had to face a bunch of rivals and a strong opponent in Ash, whose performance last time was nothing short of spectacular.
After Ash and May registered for the Contest, they headed to the beach for training.
As soon as they got to the sand, Brock got carried away. (???) "This place really lives up to its reputation as Slateport City's famous resort coast! Wow, there are so many beautiful ladies everywhere."
But the others were here to train, so they dragged Brock along until they found a quiet part of the beach.
Ash threw out five Poké Balls. "Come on out, everyone!"
Noctowl, Aggron, Corphish, Ralts, and Mudkip appeared.
Before leaving Dewford Island, Ash had swapped his Quilava and Croconaw for Aggron and Corphish.
At Professor Oak's lab, Professor Oak had some good news for Ash: Snorlax, Bulbasaur, Kingler, and Tauros had all had breakthroughs and were training very hard recently!
Ash gave them all a day off, except for Noctowl. Pikachu took them to play on the beach.
Then, everyone looked at May. The stage is yours.
"First, let's practice for the preliminary round." May ran a short distance and spun around a few times. "Beautifly, take the stage!"
Beautifly appeared, fluttered its wings, and released sparkling powder that glittered in the sunlight.
"That's a great entrance," Brock said, impressed. Everyone nodded in agreement.
However, May had spun a little too much, and her head began to feel dizzy.
After a short break, May continued practicing. "Alright, Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"
Beautifly flapped its wings quickly, but it only managed to create a small white whirlwind before stopping.
May looked disappointed. "Why did it fail again? The success rate is so low!"
"Big sister, it might be too difficult to use this in a Contest," Max said.
"But I think Silver Wind would really catch people's attention in the stadium."
"You just need to practice a lot more!" (´?w?)ノ(._.`) Ash encouraged.
"You're right!" May took out three pink discs and threw them at the airborne Beautifly.
May then gave the command, "Beautifly, Gust!"
Beautifly flapped its wings, and a gust of wind blew the discs back. May gracefully caught two of them but didn't account for the fact that she only had two hands.
The last disc flew past May and sped into the distance. Ash and the others looked in that direction and saw a short-haired boy with green hair leaning against a railing. He looked about the same age as Ash and May.
"Look out!" May yelled.
The boy simply raised his hand and casually caught the disc.
"I'm so sorry!" May ran over to apologize.
The boy toyed with the disc and sneered. "You can't seriously be planning to enter the Pokémon Contest with that level of skill, can you? It's not beautiful at all." He then tossed the disc at May's feet.
May immediately got angry. (??へ??╬) "Who are you to say that?"
"My name is Drew. I'm a Pokémon Coordinator," he introduced himself.
"So what? Are you trying to show off your superiority as a veteran? Don't underestimate May; she'll definitely become your rival!" Ash walked over to stand up for May.
"Ash..." May was so touched she couldn't speak.
"A rival?! Please. Her?! Don't compare me to her. Neither she nor her Pokémon are beautiful at all," Drew said dismissively, looking at May.
This was the last straw for May. (╬◣д◢) "You can say what you want about me, but to look down on my Pokémon is unforgivable!"
"Getting angry makes you even uglier!" Drew continued to taunt May, completely ignoring her outburst.
May felt like she was about to explode!
"I saw your performance in the Rustboro City Contest, Ash! I look forward to meeting you there." Drew said, then pointed to the luxury apartments behind them. "By the way, could you all please leave? This area is the private beach of the hotel where I'm staying."
Everyone finally understood why the beach had been empty.
"Let's go. We'll leave this place." Ash said, walking away. Max and Brock followed close behind, while May gave Drew an angry look before leaving.
"So where are we going to practice?" Brock asked, frowning. After all, the beaches were either private or crowded, neither of which was suitable for training.
"Let's go rent a private apartment, then we'll have a place to practice," Ash suggested.
"But private apartments are expensive!" Brock asked. If they stayed in an apartment, they might not have enough funds.
"Don't worry, I have a way!"
At the apartment rental office, Ash took out a high-grade Moon Stone that he had exchanged from his system. The best Moon Stones on the market were only of this quality, a top-tier choice for most trainers, and they were very rare. The staff member agreed to the deal.
On the private beach of the apartment, "Wow, a high-grade Moon Stone. Ash, you spent a lot on this," May said, feeling guilty. Because of her, Ash had to use such a valuable item.
"It's fine, May! Now, let's get ready for two weeks of special training!" Ash said, pulling out a freshly retrieved Poké Ball.
"Got it!"
"Come on out, Beautifly!" A Beautifly appeared on the field. Compared to a regular one, its wings were a lighter purple, and its black body was now a brilliant gold.
[Beautifly]
[Rank: Normal - Peak]
"Wow, Ash, you have a Beautifly too?! And it's a shiny!" ?(?'?'?)?????? Everyone was surprised.
"I caught it with you back then. I was originally saving it as a secret weapon, but I'll have my Beautifly teach yours how to do Silver Wind!" Ash revealed his purpose.
May was incredibly moved. To help her, Ash was even willing to reveal his secret weapon. "Don't worry, Ash, I'll definitely beat that annoying guy."
Time flew by. The Contest was only two days away. May's Beautifly had mastered Silver Wind, and Ash had been busy swapping out Pokémon to battle with trainers in Slateport City, gaining a lot of experience.
A while back, Ash had also asked Professor Oak if he could have more slots for his Pokémon. Professor Oak said it was complicated and required special permission from the Pokémon League, but thanks to Ash's many contributions in Kanto, Professor Oak was able to grant him an exception to release Pikachu's Poké Ball permissions. Ash was very grateful, knowing that without Professor Oak's help, the League wouldn't have listened to him.
Pikachu had broken through its bottleneck and reached the early Elite Four level. The other Pokémon also saw significant gains. Beautifly reached the early Elite level. Eevee, Phanpy, Corphish, and Taillow advanced to the late Elite level. Heracross and Aggron reached the middle Gym Leader level, while Croconaw and Quilava took a Rare Candy and reached the early Gym Leader level.
Ralts and Mudkip also grew up. Their carefree childhood was over, and they began their rigorous training, successfully advancing to the middle Normal level. Ralts also learned Teleport, and Mudkip learned Rock Smash.
"Treecko, use Bullet Seed!" "Trecko!" Treecko used its newly trained move, firing countless seeds from its mouth, defeating a Houndoom.
"Trecko!" Treecko's body was enveloped in a blue-white light of evolution. It grew larger, becoming a tall Pokémon with three leaves on each arm and a long leaf on its head!
"That's great! Grovyle!" "Groov!" "Pika-pi~"
[Grovyle]
[Rank: Elite - Late]
[Moves: Leaf Blade, X-Scissor, Energy Ball...]
To be continued...
Ash's current team: Pikachu, Noctowl, Grovyle, Corphish, Aggron, Ralts, Mudkip