Kanto Grand Festival

After traveling some more, the gang finally arrived at the Indigo Plateau.

"We are finally here." May said happily.

"The Indigo Plateau looks more amazing than I imagined." Max said.

Ash, Brock and Tomo stared at the area.

"This place brings back memories." Brock said.

"Yeah especially memories of me participating in the Pokemon League here." Ash said.

Tomo remembered that too.

"It's amazing that they will be holding the Grand Festival here, despite the fact they never did it until now." Tomo said.

"Well a lot of things have changed since then." Brock stated.

"Come on Ash." May said. "Let's go register for the Grand Festival right now."

May was very excited about this and it wasn't long until Ash and May registered for the Grand Festival with their ribbons and Pokemon. May and Max contacted their mom next to let her know they were at the Grand Festival. Unfortunately Caroline couldn't come because she and Norman were too busy, but she promised to watch May all the way on TV and wished her and Ash lots of luck.

After the phone call ended, there was a commotion heard in the lobby. A Vigoroth and two Aipom were running around. The gang ran over to the three Pokemon.

"What's going on?" Ash asked.

When the three monkey Pokemon saw Ash they calmed down.

"I think they know you Ash." Brock said.

Ash stared at the three.

"Hey are you three?" He seemed to recognize them.

Before he said anything else Nurse Joy came up to them.

"What's all this noise about?" She asked.

She saw the three monkey Pokemon.

"It's alright Nurse Joy, I know these three Pokemon." Ash said.

He explained that he met the two Aipom in the forest.

"It seems the two Aipom decided to follow me and I also think this Vigoroth who lived in the same forest must be their friend and decided to come with them."

"Oh that's alright then since no harm has been done." Nurse Joy smiled.

Ash told the three monkey Pokemon to come outside with him since they were causing too much noise.

The monkey Pokemon did as they were told and soon they were outside with Ash.

"What are you three doing here anyway?" Ash asked.

The Vigoroth and Aipom explained in their language that they were interested in Ash because of the psychic power he had and they were impressed with how he battled Team Rocket and the fake Slaking.

"Oh so you three like me then?" Ash asked.

The three Pokemon nodded yes.

This was a surprise one after another for Ash. He took out three empty Poke Balls from his backpack but then the three monkey Pokemon ran away.

"What was that about?" Ash asked.

Suddenly there was a surprise for Ash; it was Ritchie and Sparky.

"Hey Ritchie, what are you doing here?" Ash asked.

Ritchie explained that he had heard from Prof. Oak that Ash was participating in the Kanto Grand Festival.

"The Indigo Plateau brings back memories of when we battled each other in the Pokemon League here, so Sparky and I decided to check out the Grand Festival." Ritchie said.

Ash was happy to see Ritchie again, since they hadn't encountered each other after the Johto League and Pikachu was happy to see Sparky again. Ash showed Ritchie his Kanto ribbons and the six Frontier symbols he had.

"Wow Ash, you have done a lot on your journey." Ritchie said.

"How have you been doing Ritchie?" Ash asked.

Ritchie informed him that he had been traveling through Kanto and now he thinking about what to do next.

"I've been thinking about going to Hoenn because I haven't been there yet."

"That's a good choice Ritchie." Ash said. "I liked traveling through Hoenn and you will too."

Ash and Pikachu went back to the others with Ritchie and Sparky in tow. Brock and Tomo were happy to see Ritchie and introduced him to May and Max. A girl who was the same age as Brock had been talking to May, Max, Tomo and Brock. Her name was Solidad and she was a Pokemon coordinator entering the Grand Festival too. She lived in Pewter City just like Brock. Brock and Solidad were old friends. This meant that May and Ash had another rival for the Grand Festival in addition to Drew and Harley. Solidad told the others that she was Drew's old rival, having faced him in contests in the past. She also said that Drew cried when she beat him in his very first contest. This made May remember when she cried after Drew beat her in her first contest; so the rivalry between May and Drew was the same with Drew and Solidad.

*The next day...*

It was time for the Kanto Grand Festival to begin. Ritchie sat in the seats with Brock, Tomo and Max.

"Last time I was in the seats was when the Pokemon league was being held here and now I'm here for the Grand Festival." Ritchie said.

"Well sit back and enjoy this." Brock smiled.

While fireworks were going off, Lilian started to do the introductions. First she showed the grand prize, the Ribbon Cup. This Ribbon Cup had bigger, fancier handles than the one on the Ribbon Cup in Hoenn and it had a small red ribbon in the middle. Then she showed off the second prize; a silver ribbon in a frame. Next she explained that the preliminary rounds were going to be held in two separate stadiums; there were 270 participants in the Grand Festival. The judges for the first stadium were of course Mr. Suziko, Mr. Contesta and Nurse Joy. But there was also a special guest judge; Vivian from Hoenn had come to be a judge for the Kanto Grand Festival. Everyone was happy to see her. For the second stadium three other Nurse Joy's were doing the judging and a woman named Jessadia was to be the host.

Jessadia was a disguised Jessie. Team Rocket had come to the Grand Festival to find work and Jessie wanted to be a TV announcer. James was the cameraman and Meowth and Wobbuffet were assistants. So Team Rocket wasn't up to their usual mischief.

The rule for the preliminary round was the coordinators had to use one Pokemon with only one move and only 64 out of the 270 trainers would advance. This was the same rule from the Hoenn Grand Festival. Soon the preliminary round commenced. There was a Rapidash spouting flames, a Goldeen jumping out of a pool, a Venusaur using Frenzy Plant, a Tropius using Solar Beam, A Pichu using Thunderbolt, a Jigglypuff singing, a Tyrouge using Karate Chop on a pile of slate and a Salamance using Flamethrower. Next it was Ash's turn and he had his Scizor use Hyper Beam on the ground. Then it was May's turn and she had Combusken use Sky Uppercut on a Frisbee. Solidad had a Lapras and it used Sheer Cold, creating a big pillar of ice. Next Drew's Masquerain created a gust of wind with Silver Wind. Last up was Harley. He was using his Banette and it was using Will-O-Wisp while laughing like a phantom. Ash and May could see that Harley hadn't changed a bit.

After the preliminary rounds were over the final results came up. Ash, May, Drew, Harley and Solidad made it to the main stage with 59 other competitors. Ash and May were happy to have made it past the preliminary rounds, but there was still the main preliminary round and battle rounds to get through.

*That evening...*

Ash and May thanked Combusken and Scizor for getting them through the preliminary round. Ritchie said that he found Pokemon contests to be very interesting and couldn't wait to see more. Solidad was with the gang too and said she couldn't wait to see what else Ash and May would show in the Grand Festival. Unbeknownst to Ash, Vigoroth and the two Aipom had been watching him and the two Aipom were interested by the contest.

*The next day...*

It was time for the main stage to begin; first up was the main preliminary round. The Nurse Joy's were no longer judging. Mr Suziko, Mr. Contesta, Nurse Joy and Vivian were the judges while Lilian hosted. Jessie was just going to interview the coordinators backstage.

Drew was up first and he used his Absol. Absol started off with Flash and the light from Flash made Absol's fur glow. Then Absol used Water Pulse, creating a watery tornado. Last but not least, Absol used Razor Wind cutting the watery tornado apart into sparkles. The audience loved it.

Harley was up next and he used his Octillery. Octillery released Fire Blast onto the stage and then danced among the flames. Brock, Tomo and Max thought this was one of Harley's typical performances. Even Ritchie found it to be strange.

Next up was Ash and he used his Magneton. First Magneton fired Magnet Bomb, which was light blue orbs into the air. Then Magneton fired a Tri Attack at the Magnet Bomb orbs. The fire, electric and ice orbs collided with the Magnet Bomb orbs and they burst into red, blue and yellow particles. Ritchie was impressed with Ash's coordinating skills.

Soon it was Solidad's turn and she used a Slowbro. Slowbro used Psychic to balance itself on it's tail and move across the stage like it was skating on an ice rink. Then Slowbro used Water Gun while twirling, creating a watery spiral. May and Ash could see that Solidad was a good Pokemon coordinator.

Soon it was May's turn and she used Munchlax. First Munchlax fired a Solar Beam shaped like a big ball into the air. Then Munchlax hit Solar Beam with Focus Punch. It created sparkling particles.

While the others were going on May was feeling relieved that the preliminary round was over. She just hoped she would make it to the second rounds, the battle rounds.

"Don't be nervous May." Ash said. "You put on a very good performance."

"I agree." Solidad added. "Your move was a move even I couldn't think of May. And I can say the same thing for your move too Ash."

Harley and Drew, who were standing nearby also admitted that their moves were good.

That evening...

Ash and Ritchie were talking alone in the park. Sparky was with them.

"Pokemon contests interest me Ash." Ritchie said. "It's like looking at Pokemon talent shows."

"Thinking of becoming a coordinator now." Ash teased.

"No it wouldn't suit me." Ritchie chuckled.

Just then the two Aipom and Vigoroth approached them.

"It's you three." Ash said. "Have you been here all this time?"

"You know these Pokemon Ash?" Ritchie asked.

Ash explained that he met them in the forest and they followed him here.

"So what do you three want?" He asked the Pokemon.

One of the Aipom pointed to the Grand Festival stadium.

"I think this Aipom is interested in watching the Grand Festival Ash." Ritchie said.

"Really?" Ash questioned.

Aipom jumped up and down to say yes.

"Well then you three can come and watch the Grand Festival with my friends, but don't cause any trouble understand?" Ash said.

The Vigoroth and two Aipom promised to behave.

*The next day...*

The results showing who made it to the Top 16 of the Grand Festival came up. Only 16 trainers passed the preliminary round. Ash, May, Drew, Solidad and Harley made it to the battle round. Ash and May were happy to have made it to the battle rounds. Brock, Tomo, Max and Ritchie were happy for them too. Vigoroth and the two Aipom were sitting in the seats with Brock, Tomo, Max and Ritchie.

Just then the big screen revealed who was battling against who first. To May's surprise she was up against Harley first.

"Oh man, this is just like the Hoenn Grand Festival when May went up against Harley first." Tomo said.

"You're right." Max added.

Harley called this a great opportunity to get back at May and defeat her like he did in the Wisteria contest. Ash, Solidad and Drew went up against other trainers.

Harley and May took their positions for their battle on the stage. May sent her Butterfree and Eevee out to battle. Harley sent out his Cacturne and a new Pokemon, a Wigglytuff. This Wigglytuff looked like it was using Scary Face; it seemed it was making itself creepy like Harley. May started off by telling her Eevee and Butterfree to use Tackle.

"Time to pump up." Harley said.

Wigglytuff inflated itself and Eevee and Butterfree bounced off when they tried to tackle it.

"That's a good technique to use." Ash said in the waiting room. "Using Wigglytuff's ability to inflate as a balloon like that. My Wigglytuff can do that too. But Harley better watch out because that has a weakness."

Drew and Solidad watched the battle closely.

"Jump Wigglytuff and use Poison Sting Cacturne." Harley said.

Wigglytuff jumped into the air and then Cacturne hit a surprised Butterfree and Eevee with Poison Sting. Thanks to that surprise attack May was losing more points.

"Needle Arm." Harley told Cacturne.

"Eevee use Shadow Ball and you use Gust Butterfree." May said.

Butterfree's Gust helped Eevee's Shadow Ball fly to Cacturne fast and Cacturne was hit by the attacks. It fell to the ground in defeat. So Harley still had one Pokemon to battle and May had two.

In the seats, the Aipom, who wanted to watch the grand festival, watched what was going on with interest. In the waiting room, Solidad was impressed with what was happening. Drew just watched in silence. Ash knew May had to watch out for the Wigglytuff, especially since it was still inflated.

Harley fought back.

"Wigglytuff, Body Slam." As Wigglytuff was inflated it was heavier than normal, Eevee and Butterfree got out of the way before it could crush them. Wigglytuff grabbed Eevee with it's ears and flung him into the air then swatted Butterfree into the air with it's ears too.

"Now use Double Slap." Harley said.

Wigglytuff slapped Eevee and Butterfree hard with it's ears. Eevee and Butterfree fell to the ground, but they weren't beaten yet.

"Ready to give up toots?" Harley asked.

He felt he would win this. May wasn't giving up yet.

"Butterfree, Psybeam." She said.

Wigglytuff used it's jumping up ability to get away. Butterfree tried to hit it with Psybeam again, but Wigglytuff was able to dodge it again and again. May was losing more and more points.

"Okay let's do this then. Eevee use Swift." May said.

Eevee sent stars at Wigglytuff and it was hit by the stars. Because Wigglytuff was hit by Swift, it lost the air inside it's body and started to fall to the ground.

"That's Wigglytuff's weakness." Brock explained. "When it is hit by a move while inflated the air it used to inflate itself comes out like a real balloon."

Wigglytuff was now helplessly near the ground.

"Use Tackle." May ordered Eevee and Butterfree.

Wigglytuff was hit hard by the two Tackle attacks and was defeated.

So May won the match and Harley earned top 16 in the grand festival. May hugged her Butterfree and Eevee for the victory. Harley of course was angry about his defeat. Ash was happy for May's win. Solidad was impressed with how the match turned out and Drew just smiled. In the seats one of the Aipom's was cheering with excitement. It was clear that this Aipom liked watching the contests.

Ash was up next and he defeated his opponent's Raichu and Ivysaur with Rhydon's Megahorn and Hitmonlee's Hi Jump Kick. Drew defeated his opponent's Medicham and Loudred with his Roselia's Petal Dance and Masquerain's Gust and Solidad defeated her opponent's Zangoose and Girafarig with Slowbro's Hyper Beam and Lapras' Ice Beam. Soon the first battle round was over and there were eight coordinators left for the second battle round.

The results for the next battle round came up and May had to battle Drew, while Ash and Solidad were up against different opponents.

"So it's time for May to go up against Drew again." Max said.

"Well it was going to happen sooner or later." Tomo noted.

May sent out her Combusken and Squirtle and Drew sent out his Flygon and Absol to battle.

May began the battle.

"Squirtle, use Rapid Spin. Combusken, Mega Kick." Combusken jumped at Squirtle while he was spinning and went for a Mega Kick.

Flygon used Sandstorm and then Absol jumped into the sandstorm before using Flash. Combusken was blinded. Then Absol struck it with Iron Tail.

"Sky Uppercut." May ordered. "Squirtle, Bubble."

This was a combination attack. Combusken glided through Squirtle's bubbles, while getting ready to use Sky Uppercut. Absol fought back with Razor Wind, knocking both Combusken and Squirtle back. Next Flygon blew Flamethrower.

"Combusken, Fire Spin." May said.

The two fire type attacks fused together, exploded and then Flygon and Combusken were pushed back. Next Drew did a combination attack of his own. Absol used Razor Wind and Flygon used Dragon Breath making Absol's Razor Wind more powerful. Combusken and Squirtle tried to dodge the attack, but they couldn't and were hit by the move.

There was no doubt about it; Drew had grown stronger since he ran into the gang in Neon Town. Even May admitted that Drew was strong, but she wasn't going to let herself lose this time.

"Flygon, Steel Wing." Drew ordered. "Absol, Iron Tail."

"Combusken, Fire Spin." May said. "Squirtle, Bubble."

The Fire Spin and Bubble attacks created a fiery, bubble tornado that hit Flygon and Absol. This was the fusion tactic of fire and water that May learned from Tucker when he used it against Ash at the Battle Dome. Ash was impressed with May's fusion of fire and water with her own twist. Brock, Max, Tomo and Ritchie were impressed as well, especially Ritchie because he had never seen a move like that before. Drew was amazed by that move, but he wasn't going to let May beat him yet.

"Absol, Flash." He ordered.

Squirtle quickly used Rapid Spin and being in his shell helped prevent Absol's Flash from blinding him. Flygon tried to hit Squirtle with Steel Wing, but Squirtle managed to fly above Flygon.

"Use Ice Beam Squirtle." May said.

Squirtle struck Flygon with Ice Beam. Flygon crashed to the ground and was knocked out cold. Absol moved in and struck Squirtle with Iron Tail, knocking Squirtle out cold.

So now May and Drew were down to one Pokemon each and they returned Flygon and Squirtle. By now there was two minutes to go.

"Combusken, Mega Kick." May ordered.

"Absol, Iron Tail." Drew ordered.

The two Pokemon bounced off each other when they hit each other. Then Absol used Razor Wind and Combusken was hit by it. Combusken fought back with Fire Spin, but Absol used Water Pulse which not only doused the Fire Spin attack but also hit Combusken. Poor Combusken started to get weak.

Suddenly Combusken started to turn red hot, like it was getting sunburned. What was happening was Combusken was learning the move Overheat. May knew this.

"Combusken, Overheat." Absol was hit by the move.

"It's great that Combusken learned Overheat." Ritchie said. "But it lowers the user's attack power after being used."

"You're right, so May better concentrate now if she wants to win." Brock said.

"Combusken, Flamethrower." She ordered.

Absol used Water Pulse to douse the Flamethrower.

Combusken moved in with Double Kick. Absol fought back by hitting Combusken with Razor Wind. May's point bar was getting near empty.

"Absol, Water Pulse." Drew ordered.

Combusken managed to survive that by using Overheat. By now Combusken looked like he would faint after being hit by one more attack. Absol moved in with Iron Tail and Combusken used Sky Uppercut. Combusken hit Absol before it could hit him. Just then time was up and as luck would have it, May was the winner because she had more points than Drew. So Drew was in the Top 8 at the Grand Festival.

"All right May finally beat Drew!" Max cheered.

This was the first time May was able to beat Drew.

"It's all thanks to Overheat." Brock pointed out.

Aipom was excited with this match. Harley was enraged; he was hoping Drew would defeat her like he did at the Hoenn Grand Festival.

"May did great." Solidad and Ash said at the same time.

"Good job." Drew told his Absol that he did well. He then smiled at May. "Congratulations."

May was happy to have won.

Ash was up next and he defeated his opponent with his Donphan and Tyranitar. As soon as he entered the waiting room the Vigoroth and two Aipom came into the room.

"Hey what are you three doing here?" Ash asked.

One of the Aipom grabbed his hat and then the three monkey Pokemon ran out of the room.

"Hey come back here!" Ash shouted.

He ran outside the stadium where the three monkey Pokemon were waiting for him and Aipom threw Ash's hat back.

"What do you want?" Ash demanded.

"I think they want to battle you Ash." Brock said.

Brock, Max, Tomo and Ritchie had followed Vigoroth and the Aipom after they left the seats in a hurry.

"They were excited about the battles and now I think they want to join us." He added.

Ash considered this a good chance to catch them and released Pikachu and Donphan from their Poke Balls.

Donphan used Ice Shard on Vigoroth and Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the two Aipom. Vigoroth fought back with Crush Claw and the two Aipom used Scratch on Pikachu. It was clear Vigoroth and the two Aipom were strong. Donphan slammed into Vigoroth using Rollout and Pikachu used Swift on the Aipom. Ash then threw three empty Poke Balls at the three monkey Pokemon and caught them. Ash felt pleased with himself as the three Poke Balls were transported to Prof. Oak's lab.

Just then Scott arrived. He had come to watch the rest of the grand festival. On the screen it showed Solidad defeating her opponent's Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan with Lapras and Butterfree.

"Solidad looks really tough to beat." Ritchie said.

Ash knew that defeating Solidad was not going to be easy for either him or May.

*The next day...*

It was the semi-finals and to everyone's surprise Ash and May had to battle each other and they were up first.

"Well this had to happen sometime." Max said.

"Yeah those two didn't end up facing each other in the Hoenn Grand Festival and now they are in this grand festival." Brock added.

"I wonder how this will turn out." Ritchie said.

Scott was in the seats with the others.

Ash sent out his Kabutops and Omastar and May sent out her Munchlax and Combusken.

"Munchlax, Focus Punch. Combusken, Sky Uppercut." May told her Pokemon.

Kabutops rubbed his scythes together and used Metal Sound. Munchlax and Combusken didn't like the noise and they stopped their attacks.

"Now Spike Cannon, Omastar." Ash said.

Omastar fired spikes from his shell and they struck Munchlax and Combusken.

"Combusken, Fire Spin. Munchlax, Solar Beam." May said.

Combusken blew fire at Omastar and Munchlax fired a beam of energy at Kabutops.

"Kabutops, Aqua Jet. Omastar, Brine." Ash said.

Kabutops dodged Solar Beam and hit Munchlax and Omastar shot through Fire Spin then hit Combusken.

"May's getting creamed out there." Ritchie said.

"I agree. Ash's Kabutops and Omastar are stronger than May's Combusken and Munchlax." Brock said.

Even Max was convinced May was going to lose.

May decided to go with her emergency move, telling Munchlax to use Metronome. Munchlax started to wave it's arms around.

"Keep your guard up." Ash warned his two fossil Pokemon.

There was no telling what move Metronome would turn into. Munchlax's Metronome became Bullet Seed and it hit Kabutops.

"Combusken, Mega Kick." May ordered.

Combusken kicked Omastar.

"May's fighting back here." Tomo said.

"But is it enough though?" Brock asked.

Combusken used Overheat next, but it was doused by Hydro Pump and the water type move struck Combusken. Omastar fired Rock Blast at Munchlax. Both were becoming weaker.

"Now Omastar, Rollout. Kabutops, Water Gun." Ash said.

While Omastar used Rollout, Kabutops used Water Gun on Omastar; this gave Omastar's Rollout a slight power up. Omastar tackled Munchlax really hard and it knocked Combusken back too. Both were sent straight into the back wall. Munchlax and Combusken had been knocked out, so May lost and was in the top 4.

May went into the hallway where Brock, Max, Tomo and Ritchie were waiting for her.

"You were magnificent out there May." Tomo said.

"You made it to the top 4. That's higher than the place you earned in Hoenn's Grand Festival." Brock said.

"I'm proud to say you're my sister, May." Max said.

She started to cry over her loss and her brother and friends began comforting her.

Solidad went on to defeat her opponent and now it was the final battle between Ash and Solidad. Solidad was using her Pidgeot and Slowbro and Ash used Pikachu and Lapras. Despite Ash having a type advantage, Solidad proved to be difficult for him to defeat. Slowbro's psychic type move and Pidgeot's speed made it difficult for Pikachu and Lapras to attack them. Even Lapras' Sing and Confuse Ray attacks and Pikachu's Thunder Wave didn't help; Slowbro and Pidgeot kept dodging them and Confuse Ray didn't affect Slowbro. It wouldn't have affected Pidgeot due to it being a normal/flying type. It wasn't long until Ash lost all his points while Solidad still had a lot more.

So in the end Solidad was the winner of the Kanto grand festival and she earned her Ribbon Cup while Ash got a silver ribbon for coming in 2nd place. Everyone clapped and cheered for them.

*That evening...*

A party was held following the end of the grand festival. Jessie was finishing her job as a presenter by presenting the party and talking to the coordinators.

"It was fun competing against you." Solidad told May and Ash.

Drew then got ready to leave.

"I can't wait to face you in another Pokemon contest."

"Same here." Drew replied.

Ash had his silver ribbon in a frame and his five contest ribbons sent back to his mom in Pallet Town. He didn't want them to get ruined while he continued traveling.

"Brandon is in Fennel Valley. It's a area not far from Indigo Plateau." Scott told Ash.

Ritchie decided to leave as well.

"Good luck at the Battle Pyramid." He said out loud.

So with the Grand Festival concluded, it was time for Ash to try and earn his last Frontier symbol again.