Dusk Contest

Today the gang was in Dusk Town for the next Pokemon contest. Ash had his new Absol checked out at the Pokemon Center to see if it's wound was all right. Ash told Nurse Joy about what had happened in Riyado Town and the snare trap. Nurse Joy was angry that they hated Absol, but she was relieved that they didn't anymore. Ash's Absol was female and to his surprise she knew a lot of attacks. Absol knew Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Razor Wind, Swords Dance, Bite, Double Team, Water Pulse, Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam, Iron Tail, Aerial Ace, Secret Power, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse, Shadow Claw, Cut and the egg move Megahorn. Of course Ash was happy to have such an incredible Pokemon and couldn't wait to try her out in battles.

Right now the gang was at the contest hall so Ash and May could sign up to enter. At the reception desk, the lady said that there was only one more application left. May decided to let Ash have it; he had given her the last application to enter a contest twice before, so she wanted to return the favor. So this time only Ash entered.

"You sure you didn't want to enter the contest this time, May?" Max asked, worried about his sister.

"Ah don't worry Max." May said. "I can just enter the next contest."

"Oh not entering the contest May?" A voice asked.

It was Harley. He was entering the Dusk Contest too.

"What a pity, this could have been my chance to defeat you this time May. Never mind, I can just defeat Ash instead."

"If you think you're going to beat me in this contest, you're in for a rude awakening. I'm not going to be easy to defeat." Ash said, not happy with Harley's tone.

"Just don't disappoint me in this contest." Harley huffed and walked away.

"Harley hasn't changed one bit." May sighed. "Ash, do me a favor and defeat him please."

"With pleasure." Ash replied.

The Dusk Contest soon started and Vivian gave the usual introductions and showed off the Dusk Ribbon. The Dusk Ribbon was purple-pink with a light pink outline. May was sitting in the stands with Tomo, Brock and Max.

"If Ash does win this one, he will have all five ribbons to enter the Grand Festival." Brock said.

"I wonder what Pokemon he will use in this contest." Tomo said.

May and Max couldn't wait to see what Ash would do.

The preliminary rounds started and for once Ash was first. He called out his Grovyle and ordered it to use Aerial Ace. Grovyle ran fast across the stage surrounded by white streaks. The judges and audience were impressed with Grovyle's speed.

"Now Grovyle fire an Energy Ball into the air and then fire Dragon Breath at it." Ash said.

Grovyle fired Energy Ball into the air and then fired Dragon Breath at it. The Dragon Breath and Energy Ball attacks burst into bluish-green particles, and then Ash and Grovyle did their finishing pose. Ash received a score of 28.7.

Some more great performances came after Ash; there was a Shellder using Icicle Spear, Growlithe using Flamethrower, Bellossom using Magical Leaf and Crobat using Air Cutter. Finally it was Harley's turn and he called out Cacturne. Cacturne used a combination of Bullet Seed and Poison Sting which gave off particles of yellow and purple. After the performances were over, Ash and Harley made it to the battle rounds with two other coordinators. To Ash's surprise he had to battle Harley first. Harley declared that he would easily get to the final round in just a few minutes. But Ash warned him not to underestimate his Grovyle. In the stands May hoped that Ash would beat Harley.

"You shouldn't worry May." Tomo reassured her. "Harley may be strong, but Ash won't let Harley beat him that easily."

"Yeah, now watch the match and relax May." Brock said.

The battle rounds soon came and Ash and Grovyle were up against Harley and Cacturne. Harley ordered Cacturne to start off with Poison Sting.

"Counter that with Bullet Seed Grovyle." Ash said.

Poison Sting and Bullet Seed collided with each other.

"Now go in for Quick Attack." Grovyle tackled Cacturne really hard.

"All right then." Harley said. "Cacturne let's use Needle Arm."

One of Cacturne's arms glowed white and it got ready to hit Grovyle.

"Use Focus Punch Grovyle." Ash said.

Grovyle's arms glowed and he got ready to punch Cacturne. Cacturne and Grovyle were punching each other like they were in a boxing match. Brock pointed out that Cacturne would take more damage from Grovyle's Focus Punch than Grovyle would from Cacturne's Needle Arm.

"That's right." Max said. "Focus Punch is a fighting type move, so Cacturne a grass/dark type would have a disadvantage against it."

May watched the battle carefully, happy to see that Ash was giving Harley a hard time.

"Okay Grovyle, it's time to use X-Scissor." Ash said.

The leaves on both of Grovyle's arms glowed light blue and then he slashed Cacturne in a X-like fashion. X-Scissor was a bug type move so it would do 4x damage to Cacturne. Cacturne started to pant heavily and then fainted. Ash won this battle round.

May and the others in the stands were happy that Ash won, especially May. Harley returned his Cacturne and walked off in a huff. He also vowed to defeat May and Ash when they meet at the Grand Festival. Ash's final opponent was a girl named Jill and she owned Bellossom. Jill and Bellossom did what they could against Ash and Grovyle, but they were stronger than the two and Bellossom was soon defeated.

So Ash was the winner of the Dusk Contest and was presented the Dusk Ribbon.

"Ash, this is your fifth contest ribbon right?" Mr. Contesta asked.

"Yes sir it is." Ash answered.

"Well then Ash, this means that you have the right to enter the Grand Festival." Mr. Contesta said. "I look forward to seeing your performances there."

Ash was happy to hear that and was also happy to have earned five contest ribbons. Brock, Tomo, May and Max were happy for Ash.

"And now I just need one more ribbon for the Grand Festival." May said.

She was willing to earn her fifth ribbon and enter the Grand Festival at any costs.