Twinleaf Festival

Today the gang was heading to Dawn's hometown Twinleaf Town. A few days ago, Dawn found out the festival Twinleaf Town held once a year was coming up and her mom was going to be the chairperson this year. So Dawn wanted to return home for the festival and the others agreed to go as well; they wanted to see what Dawn's hometown was like.

Once they arrived, the boys were amazed with how nice and peaceful Twinleaf Town was. Ash thought it was like being back in Pallet Town.

Along the way to Dawn's house, the gang met one of Dawn's neighbors. A man named Sayer and a husband and wife named Izzy and Cara. Sayer, Izzy and Cara were in charge of sorting out booths for the Twinleaf Festival, but it was impossible for Sayer to work with Izzy and Cara. Izzy and Cara were the type of people who had trouble agreeing with anything.

"I'd like you to meet my neighbors." Dawn introduced the boys and Piplup. "We're here for the festival."

Once the gang reached Dawn's house, she immediately rushed inside and called out to her mom.

"You're home earlier than I thought Dawn." Johanna said. "And Ash, Brock and Tomo it's very nice to see you. You boys make yourself right at home and welcome to Twinleaf Town."

"Thank you very much." Ash, Tomo and Brock said at the same time.

Johanna was also happy to finally meet Piplup. Piplup noticed Johanna's Glameow as well as her Umbreon, who had been standing next to Johanna the whole time. Piplup greeted them but Glameow and Umbreon weren't interested, much to Piplup's disappointment.

Just then a girl came down the stairs, telling Johanna the bedrooms were ready. The girl's name was Noelle and she was an old friend of Dawn's. She was even a student of Johanna's; Johanna gave classes to trainers who wish to become a Pokemon coordinator and Noelle was one of them. Noelle has a Bellossom.

"You look great Dawn." Noelle said. "And I take it you're enjoying your Pokemon journey."

"Yes I am." Dawn nodded. "And look at the ribbons I have."

She showed her four ribbons to Noelle.

"I only need one more now."

"You're definitely working hard." Noelle smiled.

Ash noticed all the trophies Johanna had won from contests in the past and all her old photos.

"Look at all of this." Ash said.

"Even though my mom no longer enters Pokemon contests, she gives classes to Pokemon coordinators and also has contest battles with her students." Dawn explained.

That then gave her an idea.

"Mom, can we have a contest battle together?" She asked.

She wanted to show her mom how hard she and Piplup had been working together. Johanna saw no reason to say no and accepted her daughter's challenge. But first Johanna made some lunch and suggested the gang have it before it became cold. Ash and Tomo were hungry and couldn't wait for that. Johanna also had Noelle show Brock and Ash where they would be sleeping; the gang was going to stay at Dawn's house while they were in Twinleaf Town.

It wasn't long before the gang started digging into Johanna's food. To them it was delicious.

"So Brock, I hear you're a great chef yourself." Johanna said.

"Well it's due to having to cook all the time." Brock said.

He had made Pokemon food for the Pokemon, including Glameow and Umbreon. Johanna was impressed her Pokemon were eating the food because they were picky eaters. After lunch, Ash contacted Prof. Oak.

"Professor, I'm in Twinleaf Town." He told him.

"Prof. Oak is actually going to visit Twinleaf Town as a special guest during the festival." Johanna revealed.

"Please take care of my sons and make sure they don't cause any trouble." Delia spoke next.

Later on Johanna and Dawn were just about to get ready to have their battle, but then Sayer, Izzy and Carla showed up. They needed Johanna's help. Izzy and Carla were making it hard for Sayer to decide which food booth should go where by not making up their minds over and over. Johanna knew how hard it was for Izzy and Carla, so she had to help sort them out.

"Sorry Dawn." She apologized. "We can battle later after I finish the plans for the festival."

Dawn didn't mind; this meant she could plan her battle with Piplup. Ash decided to explore Twinleaf Town while Brock and Tomo stayed behind.

Ash went off to a small forest next to Twinleaf Town and saw some wild Pokemon. He saw some Sunflora and Ledyba.

"There must be lots of different wild Pokemon living around here." Ash said.

Suddenly he noticed some rustling in a tree and was just about to see what it was when he was stopped by a voice.

"Don't go that way please." The voice said.

It belonged to a boy named Nathaniel and he was hiding behind a bush. Ash went behind the bush.

"I put some honey on that tree to observe wild Pokemon." Nathaniel explained.

Nathaniel was a boy who couldn't wait to become a Pokemon trainer and have some Pokemon of his own. He reminded Ash of himself when he wanted to become a Pokemon trainer before he turned ten. Suddenly the boys spotted a Heracross and Nathaniel was delighted to see one. Bug type Pokemon were his favorite.

"I have a Heracross and lots of other bug type Pokemon." Ash told him.

*Back at Dawn's house...*

She was discussing some battle plans with Piplup and Pachirisu; she had decided to use Piplup and Pachirisu in her battle with her mom. Just then Pachirisu noticed something on top of the TV. There was a photo frame with newspaper pictures of Dawn from past contests and the Hearthome collection. Dawn was happy to see that her mom had kept and framed some newspaper clippings about her and so were Piplup and Pachirisu. Tomo, who was also in the house, was staring at Johanna's photos and trophies.

"Hey Dawn." He said. "I see lots of pictures of you and your mom, but how come I don't see any photos of your dad?"

Dawn frowned; she hadn't told the others about her dad yet and now was a good time to tell Tomo.

"That's because he and my mom divorced when I was really little because he abandoned us to live and work somewhere else." Dawn said. "My mom doesn't like to think or talk about him because of that which is why there are no photos of him around. Truthfully I still have a photo of him, which I've kept hidden in my room, but I never let her know about it because it would cause her to become upset."

Tomo nodded in understanding and promised to keep it a secret and so did Piplup and Pachirisu. Just then Johanna entered the house. She had finished sorting out the festival with Sayer, Izzy and Cana and now it was time for Dawn and Johanna to have their battle.

Out in the back of Dawn's house was a battlefield. Johanna had it for her Pokemon coordinator classes. Ash had come back now and he was standing on the sidelines with Brock, Noelle and Tomo. Dawn and Johanna took their places on the battlefield. Glameow and Umbreon were ready to battle and so were Piplup and Pachirisu.

"Finally a showdown between mother and daughter." Noelle said.

"You can start. Show us what you can do." Johanna told Dawn.

Dawn started the battle battle.

"Piplup, Whirlpool. Pachirisu, Discharge." She told her Pokemon.

While Piplup released a whirlpool, Pachirisu released a discharge on the whirlpool, making it an electrical whirlpool.

"Glameow, Umbreon dodge it and give me a double Quick Attack." Johanna said.

Glameow and Umbreon both used Quick Attack to dodge the whirlpool. Then they both used Shadow Ball which broke the whirlpool apart and hit Piplup and Pachirisu.

"Man am I impressed." Ash said.

He noticed that Glameow and Umbreon were very strong Pokemon. Dawn wasn't defeated yet though.

"Plan A." She told her Pokemon.

Plan A was Piplup creating a wall of bubbles with Bubble Beam and then Pachirisu jumped out of the bubbles in surprise attacking Glameow and Umbreon with Super Fang. Johanna was impressed but she wasn't defeated yet either.

"Glameow, Umbreon Attract." Johanna told them.

Piplup and Pachirisu were affected by Attract. Piplup and Pachirisu couldn't do anything now.

"Let's finish this." Johanna said. "Now Umbreon and Glameow give me a double Swift attack."

Glameow and Umbreon fired Swift together and Piplup and Pachirisu were hit by the stars. The poor Pokemon were defeated, so Johanna won the battle.

Dawn was a bit disappointed but she was happy she finally got to battle her mom. Johanna was impressed with how Dawn worked together with Piplup and Pachirisu. So with the battle between Dawn and Johanna having come to a end, the gang could now look forward to the Twinleaf Festival in Twinleaf Town.

*The next day...*

There was excitement in the air at Dawn's house because not only was the festival starting soon, but Prof. Oak was coming today as a special guest to do a lecture on Pokemon. Ash couldn't wait to see Prof. Oak again and Dawn couldn't wait to meet him in person. But Prof. Oak hadn't arrived in Twinleaf Town yet. Izzy and Cara were worried something happened to him and Johanna was worried he may not show up on time. The gang offered to look for Prof. Oak.

"I bet Prof. Oak had found an incredible Pokemon on the way here and stopped to examine it." Ash said. "He always does that. Whenever something excites him he forgets to concentrate on what he's supposed to do."

"That's Prof. Oak for you." Brock said.

He understood what Prof. Oak was like.

What had happened was that the taxi which was bringing Prof. Oak got a flat tire and the driver had to replace it. Prof. Oak was admiring the marsh lands and wanted to check out the Pokemon who lived there. As he started to walk towards the marsh lands, the gang turned up and noticed him walking away.

"Oh no, that marsh land is going to be full of quicksand!" Dawn cried.

"Then we better go after him and bring him back now." Ash said.

*Meanwhile...*

Prof. Oak was admiring the marshland and noticed a Poliwhirl. Then a Politoed came out of the long grass and it saw Prof. Oak. Politoed clicked it's fingers and out came two Quagsire. The Quagsire picked Prof. Oak up and they walked off with Politoed. At that moment the gang turned up and they saw the Quagsire carrying Prof. Oak.

"Hey, what are those Pokemon doing to Prof. Oak?" Tomo asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like they're attacking him." Ash said.

"Something must be wrong." Brock said.

They ran after Prof. Oak.

*Meanwhile...*

Johanna, Izzy and Cara were getting worried about Prof. Oak not coming for his lecture. Lots of children were waiting in the town hall.

"What will we do?" Cara asked. "Prof. Oak still hasn't arrived and the children will be disappointed if he doesn't."

Johanna decided to give a talk about some Pokemon herself until Prof. Oak arrives, that way the children won't have to wait for long. She had faith that her daughter and her friends will arrive with Prof. Oak soon.

*With the gang...*

They had lost track of Prof. Oak.

"Where could Prof. Oak have gone?" Dawn asked out loud.

The boys were about to walk forward to search for Prof. Oak, but Dawn stopped them to remind them about the quicksand.

"Alright, time for my aura to be put to use." Ash said.

He used his aura to indicate where it was safe to walk.

"I'll take the lead." Ash said.

He started to lead the group, making sure to check where it was safe to walk. But then Piplup walked ahead of Ash; the silly Pokemon was confident he knew where it was safe, but of course he didn't know. Piplup was suddenly caught in quicksand and Ash levitated him out of it with his psychic power.

"Piplup." Ash said in a irritated tone. "When I say follow my idea, you follow my instructions. You don't have the instinct to tell where quicksand is."

He handed Piplup back to Dawn and told her to hold onto him until they found Prof. Oak so he doesn't cause anymore trouble.

"Sorry Piplup, but we need to do what Ash says and just follow him." Dawn said.

Piplup sulked; he was still a stubborn Pokemon that wouldn't admit there were a lot of things he couldn't do, and hated it when he couldn't be in charge. Thanks to Ash's aura, the gang got through the marshlands safely and they came across a small cave, where they believed Prof. Oak was taken.

Suddenly the Politoed and Quagsire came out of the cave and immediately saw the gang. Pikachu got ready to fight, but Ash quickly stopped him. Ash walked over to the water type Pokemon.

"Excuse me." He said bravely. "You took our friend Prof. Oak into the cave with you. Can I ask why?"

Politoed started to talk.

"What's Politoed saying?" Dawn asked.

"It's saying it needed someone to help it's friend in the cave." Ash answered.

"Ah, so something has happened." Brock said.

The gang followed Politoed and the Quagsire into the cave. Prof. Oak was standing next to a Lombre, who looked really miserable.

"Prof. Oak, there you are." Ash said after he saw him.

"Well hello there, Ash." Prof. Oak said.

"We were worried about you." Dawn said.

"Is everything okay?" Brock asked.

"Oh I'm alright, but this Lombre isn't." Prof. Oak said.

The gang saw the Lombre.

"What's wrong with Lombre? It looks completely miserable." Ash said.

Politoed started to talk.

"It seems Politoed wants me to lift it's spirits." Prof. Oak said.

"That's amazing." Dawn said. "I mean, I know Ash can understand Pokemon because of his aura. But you don't have aura do you professor?"

"No, I don't have the same power Ash does." Prof. Oak said. "But I open my heart, join it with a Pokemon's heart and then understand it's feelings, simple really."

"I remember you telling me things like this back before I became a Pokemon Trainer Prof. Oak." Ash said.

Prof. Oak explained that Politoed noticed he had a Water Stone with him and took the stone out of his pocket.

"I remember the Water Stone allows Lombre to evolve into Ludicolo." Tomo said.

"That's correct Tomo." Prof. Oak nodded. "Politoed is the leader of the marshland and it wants to make the timid Lombre evolve. I brought this stone with me because my lecture is about Pokemon evolution and evolutionary stones."

Prof. Oak gave the stone to Politoed and Politoed presented the stone to Lombre. Lombre touched the stone and started to glow. Everyone watched as Lombre evolved into Ludicolo.