Hoenn Grand Festival

It wasn't long before the gang finally made it to Slateport City, where the Hoenn Grand Festival was taking place. And they made it to the area where the stadium for the Grand Festival stood.

"Wow." May said. "I can't believe that we are really here at the Hoenn Grand Festival stadium."

"We are here all right." Ash laughed.

There were hotels and restaurants surrounding the stadium and they were where the contestants and their guests were going to stay and eat during the Hoenn Grand Festival.

"With us being here all ready, it feels like only yesterday that we started collecting ribbons." Ash said to May.

"You're right." May agreed.

The gang headed to the contest hall where Ash and May had to register. The lady at the desk scanned Ash's ribbons and registered him with his Pokedex doing the same for May. Then she gave them both a guidebook which explained the rules of the contest tournament and it had maps of the stadium and where restaurants were. After registration was done, the gang headed over to the dorm rooms, where they would be staying. The dorm rooms were outside the stadium and surprisingly enough they were so big they were like hotels.

"Wow, I can't believe that we'll be staying here." May said.

"You should see what the dorm rooms are like at the Pokemon Leagues." Ash remarked.

"Yeah, those rooms were glamorous as well." Brock added.

Suddenly, a surprise sneaked up on May. It was Caroline. She had come to watch Ash and May participate in the Hoenn Grand Festival. May and Max were happy to see their mom again. Caroline explained that Norman wanted to come too but he couldn't leave the gym, he did say that he would watch the whole thing on TV. Caroline and the gang checked out the room they were staying in, and May was over the moon. The rooms were big and luxurious and they had a big view of the ocean even Ash, Tomo, Brock and Max were impressed.

"Come on May, we better see what the rules for this tournament are." Ash said.

Brock took a good look through the guide and looked at the rules.

"Well for starters." He said. "Like the Rubello Contest you use different Pokemon in each round of the tournament. Second you have to pass the preliminary rounds to get into the main tournament and get this; only 64 trainers out of 247 trainers will pass the preliminaries."

Ash and May were surprised by that.

"Well then May, you and I will have to practice then." Ash said. "That way both of us can pass the preliminary rounds."

"How can you be so calm Ash?" May asked.

"There was something similar to this during the Silver Conference in Johto." Ash said.

He explained that only 48 trainers out of 200 trainers, including him, made it into the main tournament of the Silver Conference.

"So Pokemon leagues have tough rules too, huh?" May asked.

Ash and May decided to practice for the preliminary rounds right away; they wanted to pass the preliminary rounds. So everyone went outside so Ash and May could figure out what to do. May introduced Caroline to her Combusken, Beautifly, Skitty, Bellossom, Azumarill and Altaria.

"Wow May." Caroline said. "These six Pokemon look wonderful. And I saw your other Pokemon Bulbasaur, Plusle, Minun, Volbeat, Illumise, Starmie, Lileep and Munchlax at Prof. Birch's lab when I last spoke to him over video chat and all of them looked wonderful."

"Take a good look at my new Pokemon mom." Max said.

He showed off his newest Pokemon Beldum to Caroline.

"Wow Max your Beldum is lovely." Caroline smiled. "Both you and May have wonderful Pokemon."

Just then Drew approached the gang.

"I see you made it here huh May?" Drew asked.

"Yes Drew I did." May said. "And so did Ash."

She and Ash showed Drew their five ribbons.

"Impressive, but I doubt you'll be going home with the Ribbon Cup." Drew said.

"We will see about that Drew." May replied.

Caroline asked Max if Drew was a friend of May's, but he explained that Drew was a rival and that he liked to boast about being a great Pokemon coordinator. Suddenly Harley appeared and he congratulated Ash and May for getting into the Hoenn Grand Festival. The gang was not happy to see Harley, especially May. Max told Caroline that Harley was a deceitful individual. Harley started apologizing for what he did to May in past contests, but Ash stopped him.

"Don't bother apologizing, because you don't actually feel sorry." Ash could hear the deception in Harley's tone.

He was only being nice so he could do something mean later.

"Come on May, let's start training." The gang and Caroline left, leaving Harley alone.

"Ash please make sure to tell me if Harley is going to try and trick me again." May whispered.

"No problem." Ash retorted.

She and Ash were certainly not going to let Harley ruin their time at the Grand Festival.

Meanwhile...

Jessie, James and Meowth had also come to Slateport City, but they didn't come here to steal Pokemon. The truth is Jessie and James had here for work while the Hoenn Grand Festival was in progress.

"I don't see why you two wish to find jobs." Meowth said. "Both Jumpluff and I know Pay Day and that makes plenty of money, and we get payment from the boss."

"Yeah but the money we get from the boss and the money we get from Pay Day isn't enough to buy us a car or buy us a house." Jessie said. "So if we work hard here we can get a house for us to stay in and get us a car so that we won't need to walk or run anymore or use our slow balloon."

Meowth saw the point. After all they didn't have a car, only a balloon and the only places they slept in were cabins or Pokemon Centers so they really didn't have a home to live in.

"Okay so where will we work?" Meowth asked.

James had a magazine which had job adverts in the Hoenn Grand Festival.

"Well there are waiter and waitress jobs in the restaurants." James said. "There are janitor jobs for the dorm rooms and there are working at stalls jobs."

"I'll take the stall job." Jessie said. "I did a pretty good job the last time I worked at a stall."

"Then I'll take the working at a restaurant job." James said. "I worked at a cafe one time."

"I can do a janitor job." Meowth said. "Because I can work with all four of my paws."

"Okay then let's go get jobs." Jessie said. "But remember no spending any salaries each day we get work."

"Yeah and we will eat meals and sleep in the Pokemon Center because they are free." James said.

So Jessie, James and Meowth agreed to work very hard and earn lots of money.

It wasn't long until the Hoenn Grand Festival started. Caroline, Tomo, Brock and Max were in the stands and Ash and May were in the waiting room with the other contestants. Three judges were judging the preliminary rounds. Vivian, who was the announcer for the Hoenn Grand Festival, welcomed everyone and explained the preliminary rounds; she explained that the contestants had to use Pokemon and the Pokemon could only use one move, and she explained that only 64 out of 200 contestants could enter the main tournament. The contestants started to show off their Pokemon; there was a Zigzagoon using Shadow Ball, Robert's Milotic gleamed after it came out of the Poke Ball, Drew's Roselia used Petal Dance while spinning, Angelica's Electabuzz showed off it's Thunder Punch, Harley had his Cacturne show off it's Bullet Seed, May had her Beautifly use Silver Wind and Ash had his Manectric use Thunderbolt. This went on until all 200 contestants had shown off their Pokemon.

The results soon came and Ash and May made it into the main tournament. So did Drew, Harley, Robert and Angelica.

"Phew I'm glad we made it Ash." May sighed.

"Yeah, but it's not over yet because we still have some more rounds to get through." Ash reminded May.

She knew that Ash was right, but she was still happy that she passed the preliminary rounds.

The next day...

May was having Nurse Joy check out her Pokemon to see if they were all right. Today was the start of the main tournament. The guidebook said that the first round was the appeal rounds and just like a regular contest the contestant had to use one Pokemon for the appeal round. It also pointed out only 32 contestants could go to the battle rounds.

"Don't forget May, the battle rounds are double battles." Brock said.

"Don't worry Brock, I haven't forgotten that because Ash and I looked at the rules yesterday." May replied. "And we have been going through with what to do as well."

Caroline could see that May had grown up during her journey.

Meanwhile...

Ash, Tomo and Max were on a training field. Ash was checking out his Grumpig, Gardevoir, Lairon, Milotic and Armaldo.

"Which one will you use in the appeal round Ash?" Tomo asked his brother.

"I've decided to use Armaldo for this round." Ash answered.

"Aw, what will you have Armaldo do?" Max asked, excited.

"You'll see." Ash smiled.

Then a boy with bluish-green hair came up to Ash, Tomo and Max.

"You have some great Pokemon here." He said.

"Thank you." Ash said.

The boy introduced himself as Anthony and he was a coordinator too. Beside him was a purple Pokemon with long whiskers that looked like a big blob.

Ash looked it up on his Pokedex.

"Swalot, the Poison Bag Pokemon and the evolved form of Gulpin. When Swalot spots prey, it spurts out a hideously toxic fluid from it's pores and sprays the target. Once the prey has weakened, this Pokemon gulps it down whole with it's cavernous mouth."

"So Anthony, I take it you're in the Grand Festival too?" Ash asked.

"Oh yes and I made it to the main tournament like you Ash." Anthony said. "And I can't wait to see your Pokemon in action."

"Wait until you see my Pokemon in action." A voice said.

It was Angelica.

"My darling electric type Pokemon will easily win me the Hoenn Grand Festival in a flash." She turned to Ash. "You may have defeated me at the Cottonton contest, but it won't happen again."

Then she left.

"Who was that?" Anthony asked.

"That was Angelica, who thinks she's the queen of electric type Pokemon." Max said.

"Yeah, but she still has a lot to learn about electric type Pokemon." Tomo added.

This meant Ash had to deal with another rival in the Hoenn Grand Festival.

Later that day...

It was time for the appeal rounds in the Hoenn Grand Festival. Raoul Contesta, Mr. Suziko and three Nurse Joy were the judges and Vivian explained how the appeal round works, only 32 contestants could pass the appeal rounds and she showed off the Ribbon Cup. And she showed off a silver ribbon in a frame; this was a prize for the runner-up of the Grand Festival. Ash and May were in the waiting room with the other contestants, waiting for their turn.

"You all right May?" Ash asked.

"I'm a bit nervous, but Starmie and I are ready to go." May said; she had decided to use Starmie in the appeal round.

"My Armaldo is ready too." Ash said.

Harley tried to get all friendly with Ash and May, but they ignored him. Drew was acting the usual 'bring it on'.

The appeal round soon began. First there was a Ninetales using Flamethrower. Next was Harley and his Banette used Will-O-Wisp and Thunder; putting on a creepy performance. Next was a Alakazam using Psychic, a Vaporeon using Water Gun, a Ledian using Swift, a Sunflora using Ingrain, an Electrode using Thunderbolt and a Lickitung showing off it's long tongue. Ash and May saw everything on the TV screen in the waiting room.

*'Wow the competition is tough.'* May thought.

*'These coordinators are good.'* Ash thought.

Then it was Anthony's turn. He had his Swalot use Sludge Bomb and Bullet Seed; the Bullet Seed made the Sludge Bomb break into smoke. Then to finish it off, Anthony had Swalot use Swallow to swallow the smoke. Next was May and she sent out her Starmie. She told it to use Swift and Psychic. Starmie's Psychic made the stars circle around Starmie like a planet's ring. To finish it off May told Starmie to use Rapid Spin and the Rapid Spin broke the stars into yellow particles. Next was Angelica and she showed off her Manectric's Discharge. Next it was Drew and he showed off his Masquerain's Bubble and Gust attacks. Next it was Ash. He started things off by having Armaldo use Swords Dance, then Armaldo used Rock Slide and then Metal Claw and Iron Tail to break the rocks apart. This went on and on until all 64 contestants showed off their Pokemon.

"Phew I'm glad that's over." A exhausted May said.

"You and Starmie did really well May." Ash told her.

Just then Drew approached them.

"It's clear you're better than when you started off as a coordinator May." He said. "But you will have to do better than that if you want to become top coordinator."

May puffed her cheeks.

"I'll have you know Drew I have been practicing a lot for this thank you very much." She said, annoyed.

Drew chuckled.

Just then the results were up and May and Ash got into the battle rounds, and so did Robert, Drew, Anthony, Harley and Angelica. Caroline, Brock, Tomo and Max were happy for Ash and May. Then the screen showed who will battle against who in the first round of the double battle matches. To everyone's surprise, Ash was up against Angelica and May would battle Harley in the first round. Angelica and Harley saw this as a chance to get even with Ash and May for defeating them in previous contests.

Ash whispered to May, saying that it was clear to them Harley and Angelica were going to show no mercy in their battles.

"Then we will show them no mercy either." May whispered back.

She really wanted to give Harley a piece of her mind this time.

It was now time for the battle rounds of the Hoenn Grand Festival to begin. And now it was May up against Harley first and they were ready to start the battle.

*'It's going to be so much fun when May loses.'* Harley thought.

*'I'm going to wipe the floor with Harley's face when I beat him.'* May thought.

Harley sent out his Cacturne and Banette and May sent out her Bulbasaur and Volbeat.

"I wonder why May decided to go with Volbeat instead of Beautifly?" Max questioned.

"Well Volbeat would do well against Cacturne since it's a grass/dark type and so would Bulbasaur as she knows some poison type moves." Brock said. "But why Volbeat instead of Beautifly, well I don't know."

Harley started off by telling his Banette to use Screech and Cacturne to use Bullet Seed. Banette's Screech kept Volbeat and Bulbasaur from doing anything and then they were hit by Cacturne's Bullet Seed.

"Bulbasaur grab Banette and Cacturne with Vine Whip." May said.

Harley told his Pokemon to dodge Bulbasaur's Vine Whip, but Bulbasaur grabbed Cacturne's and Banette's feet with her vines.

"Okay Volbeat Shadow Ball on Banette and Bulbasaur Sludge Bomb on Cacturne." May said.

Banette and Cacturne were hit by Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb.

"Wow, when did May's Volbeat learn Shadow Ball?" Brock asked.

"Last month." Max answered. "My Shuppet was practicing it's Shadow Ball and Volbeat joined in."

"I see." Brock said.

Caroline was amazed with how well her daughter was doing in her battle.

"Okay Bulbasaur you can let go of the Pokemon now." May said.

Once Bulbasaur let go of Banette and Cacturne, they started spinning around like tops.

"Now Volbeat use Silver Wind." May said.

Both Cacturne and Banette were hit by Silver Wind. Harley was losing points by the minute.

"It seems poor Harley is in trouble." Max smirked.

"Yeah May is giving him a really hard time." Tomo agreed.

Harley was getting angry.

"That's it Banette use Will-O-Wisp and Cacturne Pin Missile." He said.

Banette and Cacturne fire Will-O-Wisp and Pin Missile at Bulbasaur and Volbeat.

"Quick Bulbasaur use Petal Dance and Volbeat use Signal Beam." May said.

Bulbasaur and Volbeat fired Petal Dance and Signal Beam and they broke the Will-O-Wisp and Pin Missile attacks before striking Cacturne and Banette. Harley lost more and more of his points and then he lost all of his points making May the winner.

May was happy to have won the round and hugged her Bulbasaur and Volbeat right away. Harley was angry about his loss and for earning Top 32 in the Grand Festival. He returned his Pokemon and walked out of the stadium in a huff.

"I hope to see May lose in the Grand Festival." He said angrily.

A few matches after that was Ash's battle against Angelica.

*'This is my chance to beat that Ash brat.'* Angelica thought. *'And once I beat him, I will go on to win this Grand Festival.'*

She sent out her Electabuzz and Ampharos. Ash sent out his Flygon and Combusken.

"Um wouldn't Grovyle, Marshtomp or Breloom be better against Angelica's electric type Pokemon than Combusken?" Max asked.

"Yes, but Combusken wanted to participate in this battle." Tomo said. "The truth is when Ash asked Prof. Oak for Flygon, Combusken kept on chirping wanting to battle. And you know Combusken loves participating in battle."

"That's true." Max agreed. "He's loved battling ever since he was a Torchic."

Angelica started things off by telling her Electabuzz to use Thunderbolt on Combusken.

"Flygon take that attack and Combusken use Bulk Up." Ash said.

While Combusken bulked himself up, Flygon flew in front of Combusken and let the Thunderbolt hit him; since Flygon was a ground/dragon type, the electric type attack did nothing to him.

"What a clever way to defend a Pokemon by using a ground type." Caroline said.

"I'd like to see Angelica beat that." Max said.

Angelica lost points because the electric type attack didn't harm Flygon.

"All right then Ampharos use Thunder Punch on Combusken and Electabuzz use Focus Punch on Flygon." Angelica said.

Ampharos and Electabuzz ran over to Combusken and Flygon, ready to punch them.

"Flygon use Screech." Ash said.

Flygon screamed such a loud screech that it stopped Electabuzz and Ampharos in their tracks.

"Now use Flamethrower Combusken." Combusken sent a stream of fire at Electabuzz and Ampharos burning them significantly. Because the move Bulk Up increased Combusken's attack and defense, Combusken's Flamethrower was powered up. Angelica lost all her points and the round.

Angelica was enraged with her loss. She returned her Pokemon and walked out of the stadium in a huff.

"Ash sure showed her." Tomo said.

"Yeah and Angelica still has a lot to learn about being an electric type Pokemon master." Max said.

Anthony, Drew, Robert and nine other trainers also defeated their opponents to get into the Top 16. Now Caroline and the gang were in the Pokemon Center so Ash and May could heal Combusken, Flygon, Bulbasaur and Volbeat.

"Phew, I have only competed in one battle and I already feel like I want to collapse." May said.

"Hang in there May." Ash encouraged. "There are still a few more matches to go if we want to reach the finals."

Just then the results for the next battles came up on the screen in the Pokemon Center. May was up against Anthony and Ash was up against a girl named Madison. The Top 16 wasn't until tomorrow, so Ash and May could rest.

Ash and May made it through the first battle round, but if they wanted to earn the title of Top Coordinator there were still some matches go.

*The next morning...*

Ash was outside. The next battle wasn't until later, so he used this time to get some training done.

"This is probably the best time for Snorunt to perfect his Ice Beam." He said to himself.

Ash then released his Snorunt.

"Come on Snorunt, we are going to have you master Ice Beam today." Snorunt couldn't wait to get started.

Ash also released his Milotic; since she knew Ice Beam Ash decided to use her to help Snorunt with Ice Beam.

"Okay Milotic show Snorunt your Ice Beam." Milotic fired Ice Beam at a rock and it froze.

"Okay Snorunt now it's your turn." Snorunt tried to freeze a rock with Ice Beam, but the control was terrible and Snorunt froze a bush.

"Oh dear, this is going to take a while if we want you to master Ice Beam Snorunt."

"I thought that was you Ash." A voice said.

It was Robert.

"Hi Robert, nice to see you again." Ash said.

"Same here Ash." Robert replied.

He saw Ash's shiny Milotic and was impressed.

"You are training your Pokemon for the battle rounds this afternoon Ash?"

"What I'm really doing is helping my Snorunt master Ice Beam." Ash answered. "But he is having trouble controlling it."

"Let me see Snorunt use Ice Beam. Maybe I can determine what's wrong." Robert said.

He was a kind trainer who was glad to help other trainers with their Pokemon.

Snorunt used Ice Beam again and this time he froze a bush instead of a rock.

"I see, Snorunt does have a problem with controlling it's Ice Beam." Robert noted. "Does it know any other attacks?"

Ash and Snorunt showed Robert it's Ice Shard, Powder Snow and Icy Wind attacks.

"Those are good." Robert said. "Snorunt has complete control over those attacks. Let me speak to Snorunt."

Robert knelt down to Snorunt's side.

"Snorunt you need to focus all your energy in your head when using Ice Beam."

"Come on Snorunt, let's try Ice Beam one more time." Ash said.

Milotic encouraged Snorunt to try again too. So Snorunt did try to use Ice Beam again and this time it successfully froze a rock instead of something else.

"You did it Snorunt, you mastered Ice Beam!" Ash cheered.

Milotic cheered for Snorunt too.

Suddenly Snorunt started to glow and then it grew into a white and black sphere shaped Pokemon with two black horns, big eyes and big teeth.

"Ash, your Snorunt evolved into a Glalie." Robert said. Ash was awestruck by this.

He looked Glalie up on the Pokedex.

"Glalie, the Face Pokemon and the evolved form of Snorunt. Glalie has a body made of rock, which it hardens with an armor of ice. This Pokemon has the ability to freeze moisture in the atmosphere into any shape it desires."

The Pokedex also said that Glalie now knew Protect, Ice Fang and Crunch.

"Thank you for helping us Robert." Ash said.

"You're welcome Ash." Robert replied. "But there is something I would like to ask you."

"I take it you wish to battle Latias and Latios if you and I have to challenge each other?" Ash quickly figured out what Robert was going to say.

He remembered that during the Aquadome Contest Robert hoped to face Latias again and battle Latios too.

"Yes Ash I do." Robert said. "And I warn you now I have trained my Milotic and Claydol well to take on Latias and Latios."

"I look forward to it Robert." Ash said.

He and Robert were friendly rivals towards each other.

Sometime later...

The Top 16 would soon begin. Ash was up against a trainer named Linda and she was using a Venomoth and a Politoed. Ash was using Sableye and Linoone. Linda and her Pokemon did their best against Ash and his Pokemon, but Linoone took Politoed out with Thunderbolt and Sableye easily defeated Venomoth with Fire Punch. So Ash would move onto the next round. Next it was May and she was battling Anthony. Anthony was using his Swablu and a Pinsir and May was using Combusken and Azumarill. Anthony turned out to be very strong, especially with his Swablu. But once time was up May had more points than Anthony and she won. Drew and Robert also defeated their opponents easily.

"I must say May you have improved your battling skills." Caroline said once everyone went to the Pokemon Center.

"Thanks mom." May said. "And I have Ash and Tomo to thank for that. Especially with their other Pokemon helping my Pokemon learn new moves."

"I find it wonderful." Caroline said. "Before you hated Pokemon because you were afraid of them."

"Not only that but she didn't know a thing about them and clearly had no idea how capturing and battling works." Max teased.

"Hey I like Pokemon now and I have learned a lot thank you very much." May said, embarrassed.

At that moment the results for the matches in the Top 8 came up. By surprise May's next opponent was Drew.

"Oh my, I'm up against Drew." May said.

She was a little bit nervous, especially since she hadn't faced Drew since the Slateport Contest, but she knew she had to face him sooner or later.

Soon it was time for May and Drew's battle. Drew sent out his Roselia and his newest Pokemon, a Flygon. May sent out her Combusken and Altaria.

*'So May has a dragon type too huh?'* Drew thought.

He had never seen May's Altaria before. Drew started things off with his Roselia using Petal Dance and his Flygon flew towards Altaria and Combusken.

"Combusken, Flamethrower and Altaria, Dragon Breath." May said.

Combusken's Flamethrower burned Roselia's petals to a crisp and Altaria sent a flame at Flygon. But since Flygon was really fast, it dodged Altaria's attack.

"This will be a problem for May." Tomo said. "We've seen how fast and strong Flygon is because of Ash's Flygon."

"Yeah and May has learned how fight dragon type Pokemon thanks to Ash, but he has more experience at that than May." Max said.

Drew told his Roselia to use Solar Beam and his Flygon to use Flamethrower; this was a double attack.

"Fly out of there with Combusken Altaria." May said.

Combusken got onto Altaria's back and Altaria flew away dodging Solar Beam and Flamethrower.

"Okay Altaria, Ice Beam and Combusken Flamethrower." May said.

Altaria fired a beam of ice at Flygon and Combusken fired a stream of flames at Roselia.

"Use Flamethrower Flygon and Roselia dodge Flamethrower." Drew said.

Flygon's Flamethrower melted Altaria's Ice Beam and Roselia dodged Combusken's Flamethrower.

May had lost a lot of points.

*'Drew and his Pokemon have grown stronger since I battled him in the Slateport contest.'* May thought. *'But my Pokemon and I have too.'*

She ordered Altaria to use Feather Dance and Altaria produced a lot of feathers and they flew towards Flygon and Roselia. The feathers surrounded Flygon and Roselia.

"Feather Dance lowers the attack stat of the opposing Pokemon but this isn't going to stop me or my Pokemon." Drew said.

He ordered his Flygon to use Sonic Boom and Roselia to use Poison Sting. Both attacks hit Altaria and Combusken. Time was up and May had lost all her points, so Drew was the winner and May placed Top 8 in the Hoenn Grand Festival.

May was a bit down after losing, but since she was now a good sport she told her Pokemon that they did a good job and congratulated Drew. To her surprise she received a big round of applause from the audience because of how she and her Pokemon battled. Ash defeated Linda and her Pokemon Beautifly and Gorebyss with Grovyle and Torkoal. So now the gang rested in the Pokemon Center after Top 8.

"How are you feeling May?" Ash asked.

"Well I must admit I hoped I would win this tournament." May said.

"I know the feeling." Ash replied. "When I entered the Indigo League, I hoped I would win it. But I ended up in the Top 8 which wasn't bad for my first Pokemon League. Top 8 isn't bad for your first time in a Grand Festival May."

"Ash is right May." Caroline said. "You should be proud of yourself for what you've achieved."

"Yeah and you can train hard for the next Grand Festival." Ash pointed out. "Just like how I kept training hard for the Johto League and what I'm doing now for the Hoenn League."

"You're right Ash." May admitted. "I will just continue working hard until I become a Top Coordinator."

Caroline and the boys were happy to hear that.

The next day...

It was time for the Top 4. Ash and Robert were paired up with each other first. Robert sent out his Claydol and Milotic and Ash sent out Latias and Latios. Everyone in the stadium was surprised to see Latias and Latios, except Caroline and the rest of the gang. Ash told them about Robert's request to battle Latias and Latios yesterday.

"Since Robert wanted to battle Ash's Latias again as well as his Latios, I bet he has trained his Milotic and Claydol to be strong enough to face them." Brock said.

"Yeah even if Latias and Latios are legendary Pokemon, that doesn't mean Robert won't try to defeat them." Max said.

May, who was now in the stands with the others, felt nervous for Ash.

"Okay Latios Shadow Ball and Latias Thunderbolt." Ash said.

Latias and Latios fired Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt at Milotic and Claydol; Shadow Ball was meant for Claydol and Thunderbolt was meant for Milotic.

"Claydol take Latias' Thunderbolt and Milotic fire Dragon Pulse at Shadow Ball." Robert said.

Claydol went in front of Milotic and took the Thunderbolt while Milotic dealt with the Shadow Ball using Dragon Pulse.

"Shadow Claw, Latias." Ash said. "Latios, Steel Wing."

Latias quickly struck Claydol with Shadow Claw and Latios struck Milotic with Steel Wing.

"Sorry Robert, but I know the strategy of using ground type Pokemon to defend against electric type attacks." Ash said.

"You are clearly a great battler Ash." Robert smiled. "I think this will the greatest Pokemon battle I ever had."

"I think Robert is enjoying this." Tomo said.

"Well Robert has been waiting for the day that he would have a rematch with Ash, so it's no surprise." Brock said.

May felt like this battle was going to be similar to the battle she had with Drew.

Ash and Robert went after each other with their Pokemon. Ash's Latias and Latios showed Robert how strong they were especially with their signature moves Mist Ball and Luster Purge. But Robert was no pushover either and neither was his Milotic and Claydol. Before everyone knew it Ash and Robert lost all their points together, and even though it looked like a draw the winner was Robert. It turns out Ash lost his remaining points before Robert lost all of his, and the rule was whoever lost all of their points in a draw first loses. Latias and Latios were disappointed that they lost, but Ash hugged them.

"You two did wonderfully out there." He said.

Latias and Latios hugged him back. Ash congratulated Robert and wished him luck in the final round.

Soon it was the final round between Robert and Drew. Drew did the best he could with his Roselia and Masquerain, but Robert's Milotic and Claydol were stronger and Roselia and Masquerain were knocked out by Claydol's Hyper Beam. So Robert was the winner of the Hoenn Grand Festival and the winner of the Ribbon Cup and Drew earned the silver ribbon for being runner-up.

When the Grand Festival concluded a party was held for the coordinators. May enjoyed the party a lot, even though she didn't win the festival. Suddenly Drew came up to her.

"Down because you didn't win May?" He asked.

"Yeah, you?" May replied.

"Yeah, but I'm going to train hard for the next Grand Festival." Drew said.

"Me too." May added. "I'm not going to give up until I earn the title of Top Coordinator."

Drew was happy to hear that and said to May that he couldn't wait to challenge her again, and then he walked off. It was clear that May and Drew were friends/rivals now. Caroline then told them that she had to get back to Petalburg City now and she wished Ash luck in the Hoenn League.

So now with the Hoenn Grand Festival over, it was time for Ash to head to the Hoenn League.

*Meanwhile...*

Jessie, James and Meowth were discussing their jobs.

"I ended up with a lot of tips from women because of my handsome looks." James boasted.

"Thanks to my four paws I got a lot of cleaning done quicker than anyone else, so I got extra money." Meowth smiled.

"Working in the shop was tough, but I earned a lot in the end." Jessie said.

"So we earned a lot of money here." Meowth said. "Where will we go to get more?"

"The Hoenn League." James said. "Remember we got a lot of money when we worked at the Pokemon leagues in Kanto and Johto. So we can get lots of money there too."

"I agree, so let's go there next boys." Jessie said.

James and Meowth agreed, so their next destination was the Hoenn League.