The waiting room was filled with energy. All of the coordinators in the Wallace Cup, along with a handful of their friends and family who had been allowed entry into the back rooms, awkwardly stood around as they waited to see who would make the cut.

  Or maybe she was the only one who felt awkward? Zoey seemed pretty sure of herself, leaning against the wall behind them with a confident grin on her face, and the rest of them might as well be stone walls for how well Dawn could read their emotions. With so many coordinators from all over Sinnoh, she knew at least some of them must feel as nervous and out of place as she did, but maybe they were better at hiding it. Was she good at hiding it? Zoey hadn’t said anything, so maybe she was fine. Though Pachirisu seemed a bit annoyed with how often Dawn had to keep reminding herself to stop squeezing the little Electric type…

  The coordinators from outside of Sinnoh, though? Hoenn, Alola, Paldea…. The people there must be made of sterner stuff with the way they were holding themselves together. Or maybe these ladies in particular were just sure of themselves? Their performances had blown her own out of the water, she knew that much at least. Just being in the same room as them felt a bit intimidating.

  Part of her felt like she should have ignored Zoey’s words. That she shouldn’t have come here at all. What right did she have to compete against coordinators like that?

  “Sorry to have kept you all waiting,” the voice from the televisions hanging from the ceiling caught the attention of everyone in the room, immediately halting any idle conversation as they all focused in on the announcer’s words, “but the judges did come to a decision!”

  Dawn tensed. This was it. The moment of truth.

  “And so, after a lengthy discussion, the coordinators moving on tomorrow to the exciting second stage will be…” there was a congratulatory sound effect as faces appeared on the screen. Dawn eagerly searched for her own. “The sixteen lucky contestants you see here!”

  There were shouts of joy. Reassuring words. Curses and choked back tears.

  Dawn merely sagged back against the wall like Zoey was, barely able to keep her knees from giving out as relief flowed through her.

  Zoey turned to look at her, amused. “You okay there, Dawn? I don’t know why you were worried, you had a good showing.”

  Was that really what Zoey thought? Or was it just kind words to make her feel better? Dawn hated that she couldn’t tell. Rather than question it, she decided to just nod back with a smile. “No need to worry! It’s just always a little nerve wracking, you know?”

  Whatever reply Zoey might have given was cut off by a shout.

  “This is an outrage! I demand a recount! How could I have possibly lost this early?!”

  Dawn blinked as a somewhat familiar face threw a tantrum. She’d definitely competed against the girl before. Her name had been… Jessilina, maybe?

  “Deja de hacer el ridículo solo porque no estabas a la altura.”

  There was a pause as everyone looked at the foreign beauty who had spoken. Her eyes were closed, but her pose was elegant. An almost haughty look, like she was ready to have her picture taken at any moment, fully aware that she was a big deal.

  “...uh, sorry, but I don’t think anyone here speaks Paldean?” May awkwardly replied.

  Tulip scoffed. “Wallace me debe una por tener que aguantar esto.”

  And with her piece said, yet not understood in the slightest, she walked out, her heels clacking against the tiled floor with every step.

  May frowned as those who failed to make it through followed Tulip out the door. “What’s her problem?”

  “Ah, sorry, sorry!” Olivia spoke up. “We… far from home? Sinnoh is… strange? Ah, wait, no…”

  The girl’s broken attempt at Sinnohian was appreciated after the complete barrier to communication that Tulip presented. Taking a bit of pity on her, Dawn stepped forward. She hadn’t been nearly as invested in learning Unovan from N as Ash, but she had picked up a little bit. “It’s okay! We understand!”

  The other League contestants looked at her a bit strangely, especially Zoey. “You speak Galarian?”

  That was pushed to the side when Olivia sagged, letting out a sigh of relief and switching back to her native tongue. “Oh, thank Arceus. Wallace tried giving us a crash course, but he’s not as good of a teacher as he thinks he is. Anyway, you’ll have to forgive her attitude, Sinnoh’s culture is a bit of a shock to me, let alone someone from Paldea. It’ll take time to adjust, and we don’t really have much of that.”

  Dawn paused, trying to parse through that rapid fire Unovan. She thought she understood most of what the woman said, but she wasn’t certain. “Um… sorry, my Unovan is, um….”

  Olivia sagged even further, a defeated look on her face, switching back to Sinnohian. “Yes. I understand. Have a good night.”

  She made her way out of the room as well.

  Dawn thought she heard someone laugh off to the side, but when she turned, it was just the guy with the Mawile looking disinterested. Had she imagined it?

  Now that she was seeing him in person, something about him was a bit familiar. Where had she seen this guy before?

  She didn’t get a chance to ask before his Mawile’s giant mouth snapped at him and the Pokemon started leading him after Olivia.

  “Did you pick that up when you were travelling with N, Ash, and Brock?” Zoey probed again. “Seems you need some work, but that could be useful if you want to do contests in other regions.”

  “Yeah,” Dawn halfheartedly agreed. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to go digging all of that up when she was stressed enough with the contest itself. “I didn’t pick up much, though. Ash is better with it, I think.”

  “Did you say Ash?”

  With so few people left in the room, it was no surprise that May had overheard them. What was surprising was the Queen of Hoenn wanting to talk to her?! Dawn bit back a squeal as she tried to fight back the starstruck feelings bursting out of her. “Ah, um, yes?!”

  She failed to hold back the squeak at the end, but May was kind enough not to comment on it. “Then you must be the coordinator friend I heard about! I’d love to chat with you for a bit!”

  Zoey squinted her eyes next to her. “Coordinator friend? What do you mean?”

  “Oh! Right, where are my manners!” May laughed awkwardly. “I’m May Maple. You’re talking about Ash Ketchum, right? I travelled with him in Hoenn and Kanto!”

  She stuck out her hand, and Dawn awkwardly shook it, mentally cringing.

  It looked like there was no getting out of awkward conversations about why she was travelling with Zoey now.

  Not the way she wanted to meet a legend like May…

  The excitement for the day had ended, the sun having long set, and yet N found himself outside, peering out over the surface of the lake, unable to sleep despite the relatively late hour. Marowak and Rotom had been left in their room with Lucas. N hoped that they’d keep each other out of trouble.

  Mawile was still with the Shadows, but he felt more at ease regarding their situation having seen them just a few hours ago.

  “I dunno why yer so worried,” Mimikyu broke the relative quiet of the night air. “Dawn’ll be fine. She made it through the pre-lims, didn’ she?”

  N rolled his eyes. “Who said I was worried about Dawn?”

  “Ya may not’ve said it with yer words, but it’s been written all over yer face since ya saw ‘er perform.”

  Has it? That was worrying. Being able to control his emotions, to put on an unaffected air, was going to be an important part of acting as a proper king in the future.

  Although, while Mimikyu wasn’t entirely wrong in that he felt a bit of worry for their old travel companion, that wasn’t exactly what was eating at him at the moment. “It’s not that. I’m just… considering how much I don’t know.”

  Mimikyu let out a confused sound. “Yer gonna ‘ave ta clarify that one for me, Confucius.”

  “...what?”

  A disappointed sigh. “Jus’- tell me what ya mean by ‘ow much ya don’ know or whatever it was ya said.”

  “I’ve been considering how much you seem to know and how I know so little about you and the strange things you say,” N replied in a dry tone.

  “Ya know, if yer gonna consider how suspicious yer travellin’ companions are, I’d look at Rotom. Did ya actually see the little bastard at all durin’ the contest? For all ya know that piece of junk went ‘n’ stole secret documents from Wallace rather than watchin’ from up above.”

  A deflection like that was about what N had expected in response to his jab, but he felt a bit of disappointment at the lack of a real answer regardless. Mimikyu would open up eventually, though, and he would probably be a good brain to pick regarding the actual subject of his thoughts.

  “Why did Wallace bring Olivia and Tulip in?”

  Mimikyu jumped off his shoulder and onto the ground, shrugging as he scuttled over to the water’s edge. “I dunno. I can’t claim ta understand the mind of a dude who names an entire event after ‘imself ‘n’ then hosts it. Maybe it was an ego thing?” He switched to a very poor attempt at mimicking the man’s voice. “Look at me. I’m Wallace. I run the Wallace cup because I need validation from strangers. I brought in foreigners just to show them off. Aren’t I special?”

  N didn’t quite laugh, but he did exhale a little harder than usual out of his nose. “Perhaps. But my thinking was more along the lines of how it doesn’t make sense for someone in his position to do something like that.”

  Mimikyu turned back to him, false head tilting. “Isn’ yer whole thing that humans are selfish ‘n’ jus’ do what they want regardless of consequences to others?”

  That… wasn’t exactly incorrect, but N didn’t recall explaining his views in such a way to Mimikyu before.

  “Although,” Mimikyu continued, “I s’pose in this case he’d get the consequences too, assumin’ the whole ‘secret’ business was ‘im bein’ somewhat serious. Can’t imagine Cynthia will be okay with it when she finds out.”

  “That’s exactly my point! Wallace bringing in coordinators from enemy regions, Lucian working with Team Galactic and brainwashing one of his own Gym Leaders, even Professor Rowan with his research he does behind the League’s back. Now that I think about it we haven’t helped him with that much, have we? But, anyway, at first I thought maybe it was an outlier or two, but the longer we travel through Sinnoh the more it seems like…. I don’t know. That very few people are actually on the same page?”

  Though the Mime Jr. disguise didn’t allow Mimikyu to express emotion very well, N felt that he was being judged somehow.

  “N, have ya ever considered that maybe organizations aren’ monoliths? Jus’ cuz they’re all involved with the League in some capacity doesn’ mean that they’re all necessarily workin’ towards the same goal.”

  N frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. If they aren’t all working towards the same goal, why would they all be with the League?”

  The feeling of judgement deepened. “N…. do ya think all of yer… associates, ya know, the Shadow Traid ‘n’ such, do ya think that they’re all workin’ towards the same goal?”

  N frowned. His associates? Had he… he couldn’t remember how much he had told Mimikyu about Plasma. Had he told him anything? Though with the Shadows around there was really no getting around the fact that he had a lot going on behind the scenes, was there? No, wait, Mimikyu had been right there when he first met the Shadows. He just hadn’t considered it because Dawn being there was more of a concern, but she didn’t speak Unovan…

  He was getting off track with his thoughts. Plasma’s goal….

  “Of course we’re all working towards the same goal. If we weren’t, what would be the point of working together like that?”

  If someone wasn’t dedicated to making Pokemon free of suffering by human hands, they had no place in Plasma.

  “....riiiiight.” Mimikyu dragged the word out for some reason. “Guess I dunno, then. Maybe a few of ‘em are jus’ weirdos….”

  N felt like he was missing something obvious, but he couldn’t piece together just what that might be. Mimikyu’s suggestion of a group not working towards the same goal was just silly. Wasn’t it?

  No. It definitely was. There was no room for doubt if he wanted to be king and help his friends. He would become king. He would fix Unova. And then the whole world was next.

  He’d make sure of it.

  The water of the lake rippled and splashed.

  With their attention suddenly drawn towards it, N and Mimikyu both looked, but… there was nothing there?

  No, there was something. He could see the water rivulets dripping down off of it. It was just… invisible, maybe?

  “Oh fuck.” Mimikyu cursed, sounding a bit faint.

  “Mimikyu? Should I be concerned?” He liked to think that he was a bit more open to listening to Mimikyu after the Spiritomb incident.

  “Uh, no! Nope! No concern at all! I jus’ need ta… um… shit…” He muttered to himself for a moment, and the invisible thing he presumed to be a Pokemon of some sort started to move, likely ready to leave. It’s not like it was here to talk to them or anything.

  But then Mimikyu started to do an odd whisper hissing. N didn’t catch all of it. “...idiot, you…. wrong… Pikachu, not…”

  A moment later, the invisible Pokemon sped off across the lake, only traceable with the ripples on the surface it left behind for a short distance.

  “....so,” N cautiously began, “Do you mind filling me in on what just happened there?”

  Mimikyu let out a frustrated sigh. “A case of mistaken identity, that’s all. We won’t need to worry about it.”

  “You don’t sound entirely sure of that….”

  “I’m pretty sure the fucker was lookin’ for Ash. I’ll jus’... I guess before we all get outta ‘ere I should make sure the two of them ran into each other… stupid Psychics….”

  N frowned. “That sounds like something I should know about.”

  “Look, I’m like…. ninety-five percent certain that it was lookin’ for Ash. If I turn out ta be wrong about that when we ask ‘im tomorrow or whatever, I’ll fill you in. It’s just a headache I really don’t want to get wrapped up in.”

  N sighed. “You can’t do stuff like this just a few minutes after deflecting about how secretive you are, Mimikyu.”

  “One day! That’s all I’m askin’ for!”

  Would Mimikyu actually hold to that promise? N wasn’t entirely certain, but…

  “Fine. But you’re telling me whether I’m directly involved or not.”

  Mimikyu didn’t respond to that. The walk back to their room was quiet.

  Dawn was a bundle of nerves as she walked out onto the stage.

  Yesterday had been a rollercoaster of emotion. Having to perform in front of so many people, managing to make it past the first stage, the surprise encounter with May Maple…

  She could hardly believe that she had talked with the Princess of Hoenn. Even if the conversation hadn’t been anything she’d have ever expected…

  No. She couldn’t be thinking about that right now. Not when the randomizer had set her up against an opponent like this.

  In the same purple dress as yesterday was the Paldean woman, Tulip. The crowd still wasn’t fond of her, boos ringing out from the stands until the announcer called out Dawn’s name.

  Then they cheered.

  It was odd, having so many people rooting for her. Hoping that she’d win. But it wasn’t really for her, was it? They’d have cheered on anyone who went up against Tulip. It had been luck of the draw that she was the one who ended up here.

  They didn’t really want her to win. They wanted Tulip to lose.

  Just more being demanded of her. Just more pressure.

  “Farigiraf.”

  When Tulip released her Pokemon, Dawn had to look up. And up. And up. It was more than twice her height. Four pale legs standing on brown hooves. An orange fur coat on its body and running up as spots across the long, long neck, which was a shade of brown with white spikes jutting out of the back. Its head was… well. It was either a head with a strange helmet, or a head with a strange tongue. She couldn’t tell which was the case. The outer “head” was black and rounded, with four growths on the top and big yellow eyes. The wide open mouth, which featured few teeth, housed the inner “head”. Angular and orange, with a pale spot running from the pink nose and between the black eyes.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  She’d never seen it before, but with how much it resembled a Girafarig she had no doubt it was an evolution of that line. Probably Normal and Psychic, then…

  “Buneary, spotlight!”

  Her own Normal type appeared with a flurry of heart shaped seals, landing on the edge of her platform. The two Pokemon stared each other down for a moment, and just when Dawn was considering Ice Beam to create a path over the water, Tulip called out her own command.

  “Campo Psíquico.”

  Dawn tensed. The language barrier was going to make it difficult to counter Tulip’s moves. She could only watch as a purple light shot out from Farigiraf’s mouth, quickly expanding into a dome that covered the whole field. The crowd beyond it was still visible, but as if she was watching through tinted glass. The ground glowed with the power as well, including the surface of the water.

  She’d never seen anything like this before. Was it just to look pretty? Did it actually do something?

  Farigiraf snorted before it started walking onto the water, its hooves taking on the glow of its attack with each step it took towards them.

  Was that it? It let them walk on water? She couldn’t just assume that though…

  Gritting her teeth, Dawn went for what she initially planned. “Buneary, Ice Beam!”

  Pale blue light shot out of Buneary’s mouth like electricity, freezing the water’s surface wherever it touched. With a flourish they had practiced for hours on the lake just outside, Buneary jumped onto it and started skating along, making her way towards their opponent.

  “Amazing!” The announcer shouted into the microphone. “It seems both coordinators have developed techniques to walk on water! But will they hold up when push comes to shove?!”

  That was a good question. This had held up well enough against Piplup, but a Pokemon like this? Dawn wasn’t entirely sure.

  With doubt like that on her mind, waiting for Tulip to make the first move again seemed like a bad idea. Better to strike first.

  “Dizzy Punch!”

  The fluff on Buneary’s ears started to glow as she leapt towards Farigiraf. With a shout of “Bun!” She reared one back, ready to connect the hit as soon as she was within range.

  “Vasta Fuerza.”

  Before Buneary could actually land the attack, rings of purple energy appeared between the two Pokemon. Faster than Pokemon or trainer could react, the glow on the water’s surface directly beneath Buneary intensified before erupting into a column of pure power.

  Dawn could only stand there and gape in shock as Buneary was hit so hard she shot up through the top of the purple dome, almost making it out of the open roof of the contest hall entirely.

  “Tulip and her Farigiraf take the lead with a nasty Expanding Force! With the power up provided by Psychic Terrain, can Dawn’s Buneary still go on?!”

  The commentary snapped Dawn out of her stupor.

  She needed to focus! Buneary was counting on her!

  “Dizzy Punch straight up and then Bounce!”

  Buneary managed to aim her ear up towards the sky before launching the original Dizzy Punch, the recoil of hitting the air so hard sending her back to the pool just a bit faster.

  Tulip clicked her tongue. “Nada mal. Rayo.”

  Farigiraf’s mouth opened again, this time with a yellow glow. But, before it could launch the new attack, Buneary came crashing down, smacking her fluffy foot right into the Psychic type’s face.

  “Buneary recovers with style! Does Tulip have an answer for that?!”

  Dawn allowed herself to smile, really smile as the rush of a contest started to flow through her. This is what it was about!

  Tulip sighed. “Lo siento chica. Tienes potencial, pero aquí es donde terminan las cosas para tí. Reflejo. Reflejo.”

  As Buneary bounced back, creating a bit of distance between herself and Tulip’s Pokemon, a wall of Psychic energy suddenly appeared behind her. She crashed into it with a startled yelp.

  “Buneary!” Dawn gasped. That was… Reflect? It was okay, they could recover from that! She just needed another Ice Beam and then–

  “Cabezazo Zen.”

  Before Dawn could get a word out, Tulip issued her next order. Farigiraf’s head took on the same glow as the dome around them before more than a meter of neck suddenly snapped down, thwack-ing that armored head right into Buneary.

  Dawn could hear the snap of bone just before Buneary’s limp body crashed into the water, quickly sinking.

  She managed to recall her Pokemon before the shock truly set in.

  “Ouch! In a brutal, yet calculated move, Tulip’s Farigiraf seems to have won by knockout! Tulip of Paldea will be moving onto the next round!”

  The crowd roared in anger. Boos and curses and insults and even a few thrown objects that were stopped by hastily erected psychic walls.

  They were angry with Tulip. She knew that.

  But as she stood there, having been knocked out of the contest by her very first opponent, she couldn’t help but feel that they were boo-ing her.

  As tears ran down her face, she ran back to the waiting rooms.

  She was a failure, just like she feared.

  Again.

  Mawile was bored.

  The Shadow guy had been weirdly interested in that crying girl, but that had been the only thing of any note for the first round of the bracket. Did they know each other or something?

  Eh. It’s not like Mawile actually cared.

  Especially when there was so much waiting. Practicing before the contest had been fun, and the excitement of actually performing had gotten her through the preliminary performances, but waiting through battle after battle was just…. Lame.

  Not even her first match had been fun! Just some random guy with his stupid Kecleon. The creep had put his tongue on her! Gross!

  The Shadow guy had tried listening in on Wallace between rounds, but Mawile hadn’t picked up on anything interesting. Just a lot of yelling at some people named Cynthia and Steven, whoever they were supposed to be.

  The top eight battles turned out to be a little more interesting, though. She watched them on the little box in the waiting room while that Shadow guy played the “cool guy who doesn’t talk to people” act. Pelliper vs Gallade, Mothim vs Misdreavus, Venasaur vs Marill… the Pokemon who had made it this far were at least a little bit skilled.

  But now? It was her turn.

  The Shadow guy didn’t say a word, but she made sure to follow after him as he walked out onto the stage, having grown tired of crawling up into his cape, smiling and waving to all of her adoring fans!

  On the other side of the pool was the lady from Alola. She was interesting. Her Pokemon were all kind of weird and ugly, but she made them look good anyways!

  “...and begin!”

  Oh! It was starting!

  Mawile ran forward, waiting at the water’s edge, her maw drooling uncontrollably, not that she even noticed.

  “Carbink!”

  Huh. It was sort of like if you mashed together a Geodude and Sableye? Just sort of a rock, but with blue crystals in it. It had weird pointy ears? And kind of a… mustache, or beard or something that looked fluffy, the only thing not made of rock on its body.

  It looked like something the Sableye from back in the cave would try to eat.

  “Stealth Rock!” The pretty lady shouted. Carbink did a little spin, and then pointed stones rose up out of the water.

  That was dumb, though. Did they think some silly little rocks would hurt her? If anything, it beat trying to swim!

  She jumped off the platform and onto the closest one, then again, and again, using them as stepping stones to get closer to Carbink.

  “What’s this?!” The loud lady shouted. “It looks like Mawile doesn’t care about the Stealth Rock at all, using them to her advantage and crossing the gap!”

  Mawile pouted. They hurt a little bit, but it wasn’t that she didn’t care! She was happy Carbink did this for her!

  She should thank the pretty lady for this later!

  The pretty lady frowned, though. “Moonblast!”

  A pink glow started to build up in one of Carbink’s crystals, and for a moment, Mawile found herself mesmerized. Something about that glow… resonated with her. Something inside her? It was hard to say, but it felt good!

  Her moment of distraction cost her though, because she took that Moonblast straight to the face.

  The light blinded her, burned against her skin, and the impact sent her flying off of the Stealth Rock she was standing on, flailing as she fell back into the pool.

  That wasn’t very nice at all!

  Using her maw to push off the bottom of the pool, she grabbed onto a different Stealth Rock and scrambled on top of it, her face covered in Fake Tears. “You meanie! That hurt!”

  But it… didn’t seem to do anything? Why wasn’t it doing anything? That always worked!

  Tch. Fine then! Swinging her maw around, Mawile bounced from rock to rock. If Sableye could eat pretty rocks, then so could she! She just needed to take a Bite and put it in a Vise Grip–

  “Reflect!”

  A barrier popped into existence behind her maw, but in front of her face. She smacked right into it, recoiling in pain.

  “Ow! What’s the big idea, you jerk!” She yelled out as she tried to rub the pain away. She was really going to show them now!

  When the real tears cleared from her eyes, she saw the pretty lady smirking at her. “Sorry cutie, but we didn’t do all of that practice for nothing! Carbink, Power Gem!”

  Rocks appeared all around her, but that was fine. She could just shield herself with her maw. Or at least, that was her plan until she tried to tug it into the right position and found it stuck. Another Reflect had appeared above the first, with just enough room for the antennae to fit through but not enough to maneuver the giant maw.

  She was trapped in place.

  “Uh oh.”

  The Power Gem was launched at her, and the last thing she saw before she blacked out was the rocks chipping away at the edges of the Reflect screens, a single large one getting caught halfway through. The end result was almost like an artist’s recreation of Carbink if it had pink crystals instead of blue.

  So pretty….

  Ash felt guilty about not checking up on Dawn right away. The more time that passed, the more true that was.

  “She’ll be fine, Ash. What was it she liked to say? No need to worry?”

  Ash sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, Brock.”

  “You can’t win them all, and this is quite a competition. If it wasn’t Olivia it might have been May or Zoey.”

  Speaking of May and Zoey, the two of them were about to start their own match.

  “Alright, Beautifly, take the stage!”

  “Now, Glameow, curtains! Go!”

  “Pikaaa….”

  Ash shook his head, barely paying attention to the match. “I know, Pikachu. I just… I can’t help but wonder if it’s my fault somehow, you know?”

  Silver Wind into Psychic. A Shadow Claw to stop it.

  “How could it possibly be your fault, Ash? She hasn’t travelled with us since before Hearthome! Not every coordinator can turn out like May.”

  Water splashed up like a curtain. Shockwave ran electricity up it.

  “You know how, Brock.” He didn’t want to say it. Didn’t want to think about it anymore than he absolutely had to, even if it constantly ran through his mind. Speaking about it made it feel more real.

  Iron Tail stopped by a Silver Wind. A surprise Psychic creates room for a Morning Sun.

  Brock sagged. “Look, will it make you feel better if I go talk to her? I know you want to see Tulip go up against Olivia. Not for the right reasons with beauties like them involved, but I guess I can’t fault you for that…”

  Despite himself, Ash found Brock’s… Brockness brought a small smile to his face. “Would you?”

  Aerial Ace meets a Shadow Claw for a buzzer beating clash, finally bringing Ash’s attention back to the fight. Didn’t look like there’d be a knock out this time, and the scores were close. If his time watching all those contests had taught him anything, though…

  “Great job, May!” He shouted the words just before she was actually announced as the winner, and she turned to smile and wave at him.

  At least one of his friends was having a good time with this contest.

  Brock hummed. “Guess this gives me a chance to congratulate May as well. I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t get into too much trouble without me.”

  “No promises!” Ash laughed as his brother in all but blood walked away.

  He barely heard the roar of the crowd around him as he was left alone with his partner.

  “Pikachu… do you think Dawn would have had a better journey if it weren’t for me?”

  “Pika, pikachu!”

  Ash rolled his eyes. “Fine. You’re lucky that this should be an interesting match…”

  The transition from May vs Zoey to Tulip vs Olivia took less than a minute.

  Alola and Paldea….

  He’d learned a bit about the first because of his time around Mimikyu, but he’d only heard of Paldea in passing. Tulips’ Pokemon had been interesting so far, but did he really want to learn another language? His Unovan was getting decent, he thought, but… Hmm. He could always go to Paldea after the regions that spoke unovan. Might make things easier in the long run.

  “Well on your way to becoming a Gym Leader, huh?” He heard Olivia shout over the roar of the crowd. “We don’t have those in Alola! I’ve always wanted to know how I stack up against one!”

  Tulip rolled her eyes. “Deja de hablar como si pudieramos entendernos. Pero... si lo que quieres es una Líder de Gimnasio, entonces tal vez pueda estar a la altura.”

  “Lycanroc!”

  “Gardevoir.”

  Ash was a bit disappointed to see a familiar Pokemon like Gardevoir from such a far flung region, but Lyconroc was super cool! It reminded him a bit of Lucario, but with red and white fur rather than blue and black. This one didn’t look like a Steel type either…. It was hard to tell what it was, really, but Olivia’s track record pointed towards her being a Rock type specialist like Brock.

  Both women got an intense look in their eyes, and Ash got the feeling that neither of them were really thinking about the contest.

  This was looking more like a good old fashioned battle.

  “Stone Edge!”

  “Psíquico!”

  Rocks erupted from beneath the pool in a huge crash of water, rocketing towards Gardevoir only to be stopped in midair when they went under the blue-ish glow of Psychic control, being launched right back at Lyconroc.

  “Woah! We’re off to an explosive start as–”

  The announcer didn’t even get to finish her commentary with how fast paced things were right from the start.

  “Brick Break!”

  Lyconroc’s fists glowed orange before it hit the incoming rocks with a series of karate chops, obliterating each and every one into hundreds of smaller pieces.

  “The counter is countered?! What’s next for–”

  “Rock Climb!”

  The tiny shards were apparently still under Gardevoir’s Psychic control, because they shot towards Lycanroc’s back. The Rock type just jumped up into the air, though, evading the attack and then climbing the rapidly moving “path” to help launch itself clear over the pool and towards Gardevoir.

  “?Brillo Mágico!”

  That same move that Tulip’s Espathra had used blinded Lycanroc for a moment, long enough for Gardevoir to sidestep the incoming attack. It was still stuck on the tiny platform with Olivia’s Pokemon though, and Tulip seemed well aware of the threat that posed.

  “Energibola!”

  A bright bundle of Grass type energy shot towards Lycanroc in a flash. With so little distance between them, there was no time to dodge, meaning the super effective hit to the chest left Lyconroc whimpering and clutching at its side. There wasn’t much visible damage, but Ash knew that didn’t mean much when it came to that sort of attack.

  “Crunch!”

  Lyconroc growled as it whipped its head around, lunging at Gardevoir and trying to snag the Psychic’s right arm between its teeth.

  That was when Gardevoir revealed that Olivia’s endeavors would be fruitless.

  With a flash of light, Gardevoir teleported behind Lyconroc, launching another of that Grass move into its back and knocking it into the water with a yelp.

  Despite his morose mood, Ash couldn’t help the way his blood was pumping at the sight before him. The only flashiness on display was the level of skill both trainers and their Pokemon possessed. These two must not be into contests back home, if they even had any, because they were doing this his way.

  What would Olivia pull out next? Another fancy move he’s never seen? A technique he could try to replicate with his team?

  “I forfeit!”

  Olivia recalled her Lyconroc.

  Oh.

  The announcer looked stunned. “Did- did she just…? Forgive me folks, my Galarian isn’t very good, but I think Olivia just forfeited the match! With more than half the time left on the clock, it’s already over!”

  The cameras turned to Wallace as he laughed in a manner that wasn’t quite awkward. “What can I say? As beautiful as they are, it seems these trainers couldn’t bring themselves to focus on the beauty of contests. A good trainer knows when to recall their Pokemon, and…”

  On and on they droned, stalling until their commercial break.

  The crowds booed her, but Ash knew she had done the right thing.

  “Even if it is a bit of a lame way to end the semi-finals…” he lamented.

  “Pika….”

  “You said it, buddy. So. Who do you think wins it all?”

  “Pika!”

  Ash laughed. “You’re not wrong!”

  Dawn didn’t particularly want to talk to anyone right now.

  Zoey’s attempts at cheering her up had been nice, but unwanted.

  Brock’s had frustrated her.

  And the way that Mawile’s trainer kept staring at her….

  She sighed, pressing her face into her knees, sat on the floor of a mostly empty hallway of the contest hall. Even here, there was a television displaying the action.

  May’s Glaceon against Tulip’s… she had missed the name. Some big flower looking thing.

  She couldn’t bring herself to watch it, and yet she couldn’t look away.

  That was what real coordinators looked like.

  Not frauds like her.

  What had she been thinking, participating in the Wallace Cup of all things?

  Zoey had talked her into it, but she’d known from the start how this would go.

  She wasn’t good enough for the Wallace Cup.

  She…

  …was she even good enough to be a coordinator at all?

  How many times has she failed now?

  She was what, half way through her journey around the region?

  She only had a single ribbon to show for it.

  All this time, all this effort, and just one ribbon.

  “And Tulip’s Florges pulls out a beautiful Petal Blizzard, only for May to instantly turn it around on her! It seems the judges love the way she froze that storm of petals with an Ice Beam!”

  Ice Beam? So May was even outshining Buneary’s signature move. It made sense, with Glaceon being an Ice type.

  But…

  What did Dawn actually bring to the table as a coordinator?

  Forget how dumb it had been to join the Wallace Cup.

  Had it ever been a good idea to go down the path of a coordinator?

  Sure, she had her mom’s expectations and everything, but…

  She wiped away the tears building in her eyes.

  Maybe it was time to face the facts.

  Maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be a coordinator.

  Maybe she should just go home.

  “...and May Maple is the winner of the Wallace Cup!”

  Even out here in this side hall, she could hear the roar of the crowd as May won.

  That was right.

  May deserved to win. She was amazing.

  And Dawn?

  She….

  …what did she deserve?

  Translations:Shout out to Rim in the discord for helping me with the spanish in today’s chapter

  Deja de hacer el ridículo solo porque no estabas a la altura = “Do not make a fool of yourself simply because you were found to be lacking.”

  Wallace me debe una por tener que aguantar esto = “Wallace owes me for putting up with this.”

  Campo Psíquico = Psychic Terrain

  Vasta Fuerza = Expanding Force

  Nada mal. Rayo. = “Not bad. Thunderbolt.”

  Lo siento chica. Tienes potencial, pero aquí es donde terminan las cosas para tí. Reflejo. = “Sorry kid. You have potential, but this is where things end for you. Reflect.”

  Cabezazo Zen = Zen Headbutt

  Deja de hablar como si pudieramos entendernos. Pero... si lo que quieres es una Líder de Gimnasio, entonces tal vez pueda estar a la altura = “Stop speaking like we can understand each other. But… if it is a Gym Leader you want, then I may be able to rise to the challenge.”

  Psíquico = Psychic

  Brillo Mágico = Dazzling Gleam

  Energibola = Energy Ball

  The time has skipped around a lot between perspective changes these last few chapters, which I normally try to avoid because it can read a bit strange, but there was no getting around it with how long this contest arc drags on in canon. I thought about condensing it and saying “fuck canon”, but then trying to fit the late night lake encounter in was… yeah.

  In canon, Dawn wins the Wallace Cup. Here, she loses in her first battle. I sure hope this won’t have consequences on how her story plays out :)

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)