Meeting Nando

On the way to Jublife City, Dawn was showing the boys her Buneary and shiny Ariados, and she told them how she captured Ariados. 
"Wow Dawn." Ash said. "I say that's lucky because when I caught my Ariados in Johto I had to battle it. And you getting a shiny Pokemon on your first day is lucky too." 
"Do you have any shiny Pokemon Ash?" Dawn asked. 
"Yes my Noctowl, my Milotic, my Aggron and my Arcanine are shiny too." Ash answered. 
Dawn was amazed.
"Are you going to use any of them in contests Ash?" Dawn asked.
Ash told her that he would only use Pokemon he caught in Sinnoh and the Pokemon he caught in Kanto for the contests and gym battles. 
"All of my older and stronger Pokemon have had their turn in leagues, contests and other competitions, so now it's my new Pokemon's turn to shine."
"I think I've got the message." Dawn said.
She didn't fully understand it, but this was Ash's choice not hers.
Suddenly they saw the move Sunny Day with gleaming rays in the sky.
"There must a Pokemon nearby." Ash said. "Let's check it out."
They didn't need to go anywhere as the Pokemon that was using Sunny Day came up to them; it was a Budew. A man who was a minstrel was standing by it; he was Budew's trainer. He had a golden harp in the shape of a Mew. The man introduced himself and said his name was Nando and the gang introduced themselves to him. Nando explained that he and his Budew were going around bringing joy to everyone.
"Can we battle?" Dawn asked Nando. 
She wanted to show the boys how strong she had gotten.
"Are you on a quest to battle the Sinnoh League, Dawn?" Nando asked.
"No, I am on a quest to win the Grand Festival." Dawn answered. 
Nando accepted the challenge and suggested they do a contest battle.
So Dawn and Nando got into position for their battle. Ash and Tomo wondered if Dawn will be alright since this was her first battle, but this was a good start to try battling. Dawn sent her Piplup out to battle Budew. That wasn't the best choice of course since water was weak to grass, but Dawn was more in sync with Piplup than her other two Pokemon.
"Use Peck." Dawn told Piplup.
She was aware that grass type Pokemon were weak to flying type moves. Budew dodged the attack and used Bullet Seed. Dawn knew that grass types had a advantage over water types.
"Dodge and use Bubble Beam." Dawn told Piplup.
The bubbles hit Budew, but didn't do a lot of damage to it.
"Water type moves aren't effective against grass type Pokemon Dawn." Ash called out.
"Use Solar Beam." Nando told Budew.
Dawn knew that Solar Beam had to charge before being used.
"Use Peck." She told Piplup.
Budew didn't have to charge up though and fired Solar Beam. Piplup instantly fainted.
Dawn was confused. Budew used Solar Beam even though it takes a turn to charge up.
"It's the sun." Ash explained. "If the sun is shining really bright or Sunny Day is used Pokemon can use Solar Beam right away. It also makes fire type moves stronger as well."
There was still a lot Dawn had to learn.
"You did your best during your first battle." Nando told her.
He was a kind man.
Nando then proceeded to leave.
For the rest of the day Dawn continued to sigh; she realized she wasn't the best when it came to battling yet. 
"Don't let your loss get you down Dawn." Ash said. "Remember, you're starting out as a trainer. Nothing will go your way in the beginning, especially when you first try to catch a Pokemon or battle another trainer. Every brand new Pokemon trainer experiences hard times like that."
"Ash is right and your loss will help you become stronger." Brock added.
By now it was nearly dark. Brock had a map book of the Sinnoh region and it showed a Pokemon Center nearby. Dawn was happy after hearing that because she preferred sleeping in a bed rather than a tent. Her mother packed a tent and sleeping bag for her. 
"Oh yeah, I brought my Bonsly and Nosepass with me." Brock informed the others.
"His family runs the Pewter Gym." Tomo explained. "Brock's a ex gym leader because his brother Forrest took his place."
Once they arrived at the Pokemon Center, the gang handed their Pokemon to Nurse Joy. Like all other brand new trainers, Dawn thought the Nurse Joy from the last Pokemon Center was in the one they were in now.
"All Nurse Joys look identical." Ash filled her in. "The same can be said for Officer Jenny."
Dawn was surprised.
"I'd like you guys to meet my mother." She introduced Ash, Tomo and Brock to her mother Johanna while the Pokemon were recovering. "I'm going to travel with them."
Johanna thought it was a great idea, especially considered they were veteran trainers; it would help Dawn gain experience.
"Be careful and make sure to work hard and learn from the boys." She told her daughter.
Once the call ended and the gang picked up their Pokemon, Ash and Tomo registered themselves to participate in the Sinnoh League.
"Excuse me Nurse Joy, do I have to register for Pokemon contests here too?" Dawn asked.
"No, we register for those and receive our passes at contest halls Dawn." Ash answered. "So once we get to the Jubilife contest, we'll register there."
"Got it, Ash." Dawn replied.
Just then Nando came up to Nurse Joy asking for Budew; he asked her to check Budew out.
"Are you staying here too Nando?" Dawn asked.
"No I'm just here to ponder." Nando said.
He then proceeded to leave with Budew.
"Nando can't make up his mind to compete in gym battles or Pokemon contests." Nurse Joy explained.
"He can do both." Ash said. "That's what I'm doing and I'm happy."
"That's a great idea Ash." Dawn said. "Let's tell Nando that."
The gang went outside to look for him. Finding him was easy because he hadn't gotten far. 
Dawn ran up to him.
"Ash came up with the idea for you to compete in both gym battles and Pokemon contests." She told him.
"Hmm, I think that's a wonderful idea. I'll do that." Nando said.
It was decided he would compete in battles and contests.
Nando set up a fire and had a conversation with the gang.
"So Ash, is it alright for someone to compete in both gym battles and contests?" He asked.
"Of course." Ash nodded. "Besides if it wasn't I wouldn't have entered the contests in Hoenn or Kanto. If that was the case I would've just continued challenging gym because I like Pokemon battles. However, it's not against the law to compete in both battles and contests."
Nando acknowledged his point and so did Dawn. 
"Can you help with Ariados?" She suddenly asked.
Since he knew a lot about Ariados due to having one, he would be the perfect person to help Dawn with her Ariados. Ash agreed to do so and took out his Pokedex.
"You can use the Pokedex to switch Pokemon around from whatever lab has them. In Ash's case, it's Prof. Oak's lab." Brock explained.
As for Dawn, she would be switching her future spare Pokemon from Prof. Rowan's lab.
"One more thing, if you have more than six Pokemon they'll go to Prof. Rowan's lab like Ash's extra Pokemon go to Prof. Oak's lab." He added.
Ash used his Pokedex to switch his two Aipom for Ariados and Budew; his party was now Pikachu, Riolu, Budew, Ariados, Piplup and Starly.
Ash released his Ariados and Dawn released hers. Nando was astonished by Dawn's shiny Ariados. Ash showed Dawn some tricks that he picked up in the Johto, Hoenn and Kanto regions with Ariados. First he demonstrated the trick of using the web to avoid attacks and use it to attack opponents. Next he showed off Ariados' moves including his egg move Sonic Boom. Nando and Dawn were impressed with Ash's Ariados and so was her Ariados.
"It seems you've learned a lot during your journeys Ash." Nando said.
"I've experienced lots of things during my travels." Ash responded.
It was at that moment Dawn started thinking about something.
"Ash, have you ever encountered mysterious Pokemon before?" She asked.
"I saw the spirit of a Pokemon on my first day as a trainer." She explained.
"Odds are you saw something Dawn." He remarked.
"Me and my previous traveling partners ran into all sorts of legendary Pokemon." He elaborated. "In fact, not long after starting my journey I spotted Ho-Oh from a hilltop."
Nando and Dawn were amazed when they heard that.
"I wonder if it was a legendary Pokemon I saw at Lake Verity." 
Ash then looked at Nando.
"Could you and I battle?" He asked.
"Since we're rivals when it comes to the Sinnoh League and Grand Festival, I want to see how I fare against you." Nando agreed and they decided to have their battle tomorrow since it was dark.
The next day
Ash and Nando got ready to battle. Nando was using his Budew and Ash decided to use his Budew. 
"Bullet Seed." Nando told his Budew.
"Dodge and use Razor Leaf." Ash told his Budew.
Ash's Budew dodged the seeds and Nando's Budew was sliced by the razor sharp leaves.
"Hey." Nando said. "Is that by chance one of Budew's egg moves?"
"Yes and that's not all. Budew, show him your Leaf Storm." Ash said.
Budew glowed light green and fired a flurry of leaves from her body which sliced Nando's Budew.
"Ash's Budew is amazing." Dawn said.
"Pokemon sometimes inherit their parent's moves when they've been bred, which is the reason they're called egg moves." Brock explained.
It was one of nature's mysteries.
"Budew, Mega Drain." Nando ordered.
It tackled Ash's Budew and sapped some of her energy to heal itself.
"Use Extrasensory, Budew." Ash said.
Budew's eyes glow gold and it releases a circular beam of energy at Nando's Budew. As Budew was a grass/poison type, Extrasensory weakened it because it was a psychic type move.
Suddenly, Nando's Budew started to glow and evolved into a Roselia.
"Wow, what a beautiful Pokemon." Dawn said.
This was the first time she had seen a Pokemon evolve.
"Sunny Day." Nando told his Roselia.
This was a indication it would use Solar Beam next.
"Use Extrasensory again, Budew." Ash said. 
Budew fired another circular beam of energy at Roselia. Roselia wasn't able to handle it and fainted. Ash ended up winning the battle.
Nando picked Roselia up.
"You did a good job." He said, returning it to it's Poke Ball.
"Thanks for the battle." He hoped to face him and Dawn in a Pokemon contest.
"Goodbye." He said farewell to the gang and left.
Ash and Dawn had a rival.