Contest 1

The gang was getting closer to Rustboro City, but then a multi-colored butterfly landed on May's head.

"Hey it's a Beautifly." Ash said, remembering his mom's Beautifly.

Just then a man and woman came up to the gang.

"I'm sorry about that." The woman apologized. "I was practicing with my Beautifly, but it got carried away by the wind."

"It's no problem." May said kindly.

The man and woman introduced themselves as Chaz and Janet and they explained they were practicing for the Pokemon Contest.

"I've heard of those." Ash said. "Tomo and I saw them on TV on the boat that brought us to Hoenn. Pokemon Contests are competitions where you show off your Pokemon's attacks and skills and other things like cuteness and beauty etc."

"That's correct Ash." Chaz said. "And Pokemon coordinators win a contest ribbon if they win the contest. If you win five ribbons you enter a tournament called the Grand Festival and if you win you become top coordinator."

"Wow that sounds magnificent." May said.

Chaz and Janet showed the gang the ribbons they already had; Janet had two and Chaz had two. The ribbons were different colors but they both had a brass pin in the middle.

"The Rustboro Contest is today, so come with us and you can see what the Pokemon Contests are like." Janet said.

The gang accepted her offer.

The Rustboro Contest was held in a building called the Contest Hall. Ash asked the receptionist if he could enter too; the truth was he was interested in being a coordinator ever since he saw them on TV.

"Hang on Ash, aren't you competing in gym battles?" Max asked.

The receptionist explained that Ash could compete in both gym battles and Pokemon contests.

"There have been many contestants that participated in both gym battles and contests in the past." She said.

So Ash got a Hoenn contest pass and got the last opening spot for the contest; he registered with Mudkip. He even got a pinkish-red ribbon case to hold five ribbons in.

"Ash, do you know what you have to do though?" May asked.

"I sure do." Ash answered. "I practiced something with Mudkip the other day."

The gang couldn't wait to see what performance Ash would put on.

As the contest wasn't ready to start yet, Chaz and Janet talked with the gang outside.

"So Ash, are you taking on gyms as well?" Chaz asked.

"That's right." Ash nodded. "When I'm done with the contest, we'll be heading over to the Rustboro Gym."

"I better let you know Ash, they use rock type Pokemon at that gym." Chaz said.

"Yeah, I looked it up on the computer and my Pokemon are ready for it, especially Mudkip and Treecko." Ash said. "And I've been teaching some of my Pokemon Iron Tail, courtesy of my Pikachu as it knows Iron Tail."

"So you know that steel type Pokemon are super-effective against rock type Pokemon, huh?" Janet asked.

"He certainly does." Brock said.

He told them about the time Ash defeated his Geodude and Onix with Pikachu and Pidgeotto because they knew Iron Tail and Steel Wing.

"Wow Ash, you're one smart trainer." Janet said.

"Thanks." Ash blushed.

Soon it was time for the contest to start. The announcer of the contest introduced the three judges; Mr. Contesta, Mr. Suziko and Nurse Joy from the Rustboro Pokemon Center. He also presented the Rustboro Ribbon, which was light and dark pink. Janet asked May and Max to help her in the contest and they agreed to do so. She also explained how the contests worked. First the Pokemon puts on a performance and the judges gave points for the appeal and the level of cooperation between the Pokemon and trainer. The most important thing was not to mess up during the performance round or you would lose points. The next part was the battle rounds between the contestants who make it past the appeal rounds.

"It all sounds exciting." May said.

There were many wonderful performances during the appeal rounds, and then it was Chaz's turn. Chaz used his Venomoth and it was pouring tea into a cup using Confusion. He got the score of 29.5. Then it was Janet's turn. She had Beautifly use Flash to give off a dazzling light. Max and May threw china plates at Beautifly and Beautifly broke the plates into pieces with String Shot. Then Beautifly used Hidden Power that gave off little silver particles of light and then Beautifly landed on Janet's hand to finish. Janet got the score of 30.0. So far Chaz and Janet had the highest scores. Finally it was Ash's turn.

"Mudkip use Ice Ball." He said.

Mudkip fired three balls of ice into the air.

"Now juggle it with Water Gun." Ash added.

Mudkip started to juggle the three ice balls by hitting them one at a time with Water Gun. The crowd liked it.

"Now Mudkip use Iron Tail." Ash ordered.

Mudkip stopped juggling and then he hit the balls of ice with Iron Tail. The balls of ice broke into little particles of ice. Ash and Mudkip shot their arms into the air to finish. Ash got the score of 28.9.

"Wow Ash, that was great for your first time competing in a Pokemon contest." Chaz said.

"Yeah, you and your Mudkip performed great together." Janet added.

"I have to say, I found that rather fun." Ash admitted.

"So does that mean you will keep on competing in Pokemon contests then?" Brock asked.

"Yes I am." Ash answered.

It was now time for the battle rounds, and Ash was up against Chaz first. Ash warned his Mudkip about Venomoth being a poison type Pokemon.

"Use Stun Spore Venomoth." Chaz said.

Ash had Mudkip use Dig to protect itself from the Stun Spore attack. Janet explained how the battle rounds worked. Apparently you lost points when your Pokemon got hit by an attack and when your Pokemon's move failed to hit the opponent. Mudkip was doing well against Venomoth, especially with Ice Ball; Venomoth kept getting hit by the balls of ice.

"Okay Mudkip, use Water Gun." He said.

Venomoth was soaked by the Water Gun and had trouble flying with wet wings. Just then the five minutes were up; the battle rounds lasted five minutes per battle. In the end Ash defeated Chaz by a few more points. Ash and Janet ended up battling each other in the final rounds. Tomo, Brock, May and Max, who were watching in the stands, were nervous about how this battle had turned out; they had seen Janet battling her previous opponents and she was strong. Of course they had faith in Ash, but they had no idea how this battle would turn out.

"Use Icy Wind Mudkip." Ash said.

"Blow it away with Gust Beautifly." Janet said.

Mudkip blew a icy wind at Beautifly, but it managed to fight back with Gust and Ash and Janet lost some points.

"Let's use Bide Mudkip." Ash said.

Mudkip braced itself while his body was outlined in white.

"Use Hidden Power." Janet said.

Beautifly hit Mudkip with Hidden Power, but Mudkip was still standing strong.

"What is the move Bide exactly?" May asked.

"Bide is a normal type move." Brock explained. "The Pokemon using it charges up and then releases the attack. Just like Solar Beam."

Beautifly struck Mudkip with Gust next, and then Mudkip released the attack dealing significant damage to Beautifly.

"Wow, what a cool attack." Max said. "I'm going to teach my Zigzagoon and Linoone that move."

"Use Morning Sun." Janet said and Beautifly glowed brightly.

Morning Sun was a move that healed the user.

"Use Ice Beam Mudkip." Ash said.

Beautifly was struck by the beam of ice and one of it's wings was covered in ice.

"Oh no, Beautifly's wing is frozen." Janet said.

She was about to tell Beautifly to try and fight it with Gust, but then the five minutes of battling was up.

The final result was that Ash had won the Rustboro contest, one point higher than Janet.

"All right we won Mudkip!" Ash cheered, hugging Mudkip.

Mudkip was happy with the victory. Ash was presented the Rustboro ribbon.

"This was your first contest as well as your first contest win, right Ash?" Mr. Contesta asked.

"Yes sir, it is." Ash answered.

"Well Ash, I think you did really well for a beginner as a coordinator." Nurse Joy said. "And I wish you luck with your other contests."

"Thank you." Ash said.

He did the same pose that he did when obtaining a gym badge with his ribbon. Mudkip cheered with him.

Chaz and Janet congratulated Ash for his victory.

"I cannot wait to see what other contest performances you'll perform in the future Ash." Chaz said. "And I wish you luck in your gym battle too."

"Thank you." Ash replied.

May looked at his ribbon in amazement.

"You know, I've decided to become a coordinator too." She said. "I thought that the contest was wonderful, so I've decided to enter the next contest."

"You see May, I told you that you would decide what to do while we're on this journey." Ash said.

"You're right." May smiled.

So May had found her goal at last; and that was to be a Pokemon coordinator.