When we finally get to the battlefield, we are waiting for the Gym Leader to show up, and then we hear a voice, "I suppose you're right, OK, I'll get things moving here on my end."

We turn around to find a woman on the phone talking. "Let's keep the tagline simple - "Naturally Beautiful." And order the new eye-shadow color too, would you?"

"Wait, so that's the Gym Leader?" I open my mouth wide, I did see her a lot on the commercials here at the Paldea Region, but I never thought that it is actually her. Though she seems to be on the phone, is that because she's busy?

"Thanks, you're a doll. Gotta run now. Chat with you later." Tulip ends the call and turns to me. "Hello there. I'm Tulip, the Gym Leader here. Though I must tell you that being a makeup artist is my main line of work. Why don't you say that we work together in the future? Ash Ketchum, the World Monarch?"

"I will consider it." I say.

Dawn says, "Wait, is Ash really considering Tulip's offer? The old Ash would never do that!"

"Well, he's growing after all." Lillie says.

"Dendra had nothing but praise for you. She said you totally slayed out there." Tulip says. "Hehe. I must say, you are a cute challenger, Ash."

I blush with slight embarrassment, it is not normal for somebody to say me cute, and I can see that both Lillie and Nemona are flaring with jealousy. Tulip says, "I'm sure my ESP exercise made you all the more beautiful. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Well, it was fun I guess." I say.

She notices my Pikachu and says, "You keep your Pokémon beautiful and clean as well. I see you have quite the aesthetic sense. Appearance is equally important for both people and Pokémon."

Then the referee comes and says, "The Battle between the Alfornada Gym Leader Tulip and the challenger Ash Ketchum is about to begin. Each trainer will be using 6 Pokemon, and when one loses all 6 Pokemon, the other trainer wins."

"Makeup is like magic. Anyone can use it to change their appearance. Allow me to put my skills to use to make your cute little Pokémon even more beautiful! Let's see how you handle Farigiraf!"

When the Pokemon appears, I say, "Farigiraf? If that's the case, I'll go with Grimmsnarl!"

As I send out my first Pokemon, the battle begins. Tulip says, "You're quite a good base to test my makeup magic on. What shall I use on you? I think I know. Use Iron Head!"

A Steel Type move in the beginning? And Grimmsnarl manages to take a lot of damage. I yell, "Use False Surrender!"

Grimmsnarl goes for the fake movement to let Farigiraf come closer and then hit with the super-effective move. Farigiraf goes for Reflect, raising the defenses, and it goes for the Crunch, but Grimmsnarl blocks it with the Hammer Arm.

Dawn says, "Ash is doing well in this gym..."

"This is surely an interesting battle." The girls turn to see that Professor Dendra is also watching the battle, and I also gulp to see her watching my battle.

"Use Spirit Break!" I decide to attack Farigiraf again, but Farigiraf goes for Iron Head, making Farigiraf flinch, but in the end, I go for Spirit Break once more, and Farigiraf is defeated.

"Now let's see if my Gardevoir can give you some trouble." The second Pokemon is a Gardevoir... I click my tongue because it is a Fairy Type. I have Grimmsnarl use Torment, preventing it from using two same moves in a row, but Gardevoir goes for the Dazzling Gleam, knocking out my Grimmsnarl.

"Pikachu, I need your help." I decide to have Pikachu on the field as my second Pokemon, but Tulip says, "Pikachu... I see. Use Mystical Fire!"

I widen my eyes as I see the fire attack hit Pikachu and lowers the Special Attack.

"Pikachu, ignore the pain and go for Iron Tail!" I have Pikachu use the Iron Tail and slamming at the Gardevoir, but it goes for Psychic to crash it to the ground from midair. Then Gardevoir goes for the Energy Ball, but I have Pikachu use Shadow Volt, which overpowers the Pokemon, and once the Reflect wears off, I finish Gardevoir with the Crunch attack.

"Nice work, Pikachu." I smile at my mouse Pokemon.

"Now that's two wins for Ash." Dawn says.

"I wonder what kind of Pokemon she'll go next..." Lillie says.

The third Pokemon for Tulip is Gothitelle, and it goes for Future Sight. "Future Sight... this is awful... Pikachu, return for now!"

I have Pikachu returned and go for Sableye. "Ah, a Sableye I see..." Tulip says as she has Gothitelle use Thunder Wave, paralyzing my Sableye.

"Sableye! Foul Play!" I let my Pokemon use the attack and it deals a lot of damage to Gothitelle. Gothitelle goes for Shadow Ball, and it also deals a lot of damage.

"Sableye is still a Ghost Type..." I mutter, and I have Sableye go for Power Gem, knocking the Gothitelle out.

The fourth Pokemon is Espathra, I pale when I see the Pokemon.

"Oh no... it has the ability Opportunist... I have to be careful." I say.

And I have Sableye use Shadow Claw again, but this time Espathra goes for Dazzling Gleam, dealing a lot of damage to Sableye.

"Sableye! Return for now!" I decided to recall my Pokemon. "Pikachu! You're up again!"

Pikachu gets back to the field, and I have it use Shadow Volt, but Espathra goes for Quick Attack to knock Pikachu to the ground. Then it goes for Psychic, hurting Pikachu a lot.

"Can Pikachu take this kind of attack?" Dendra wonders.

"He can, Ash's Pikachu are stronger than this!" Lillie says.

I notice that Pikachu doesn't have any health left, if that's the case, I have to do something. "Pikachu! Let's finish with Wild Charge!"

I decide to go for a suicide move, and much to our surprise, both Pokemon end up with a draw.

"I'm sorry Pikachu. But you did a great job." I say.

Pikachu assures me not to worry, and I see Tulip's fifth Pokemon is a Gallade. I decide to go with Bombirdier, and I have the Pokemon use Dual Wingbeat, dealing a lot of damage, but Gallade goes for X-Scissor, which deals a lot of damage.

"Bombirdier! Let's use Rock Slide!" I decide to let the bird tossing rocks, but Tulip has Gallade slashes all the rocks using Leaf Blade.

"Close Combat!" And Gallade jumps into the air and continues to hit Bombirdier, and then finishes with another X Scissor.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask in shock. "How strong is this Gallade?"

"More than you think." Tulip smirks at me as I scowl a little, I decide to go with Tinkaton, having it go for the Gigaton Hammer on Gallade, but much to my annoyance, Gallade manages to use another Close Combat and manages to hit Tinkaton.

"Tinkaton! Play Rough!" I just wish that my attack will hit the Pokemon, but Gallade goes for the Psycho Cut and Close Combat at the same time, and Tinkaton is also defeated.

"What's going on here? How come Ash loses two Pokemon to the Gallade?" Lillie asks.

Dendra says, "Like my Medicham, Tulip has been training hard with Gallade as it symbols our friendship."

I curses a little as I have Sableye out again, and this time Sableye uses Shadow Claw to finally defeat the Pokemon.

"You're just as hard to get rid of as caked-on mascara, I see. I need a good makeup remover! Florges, I need your help!"

The final Pokemon is a Florges, it is not that surprising since it used to be a Fairy Type, and it defeats my Sableye with a Moonblast. My final Pokemon is Banette, and I decide to Terastallize this Pokemon so it will become stronger. Though it is still a Ghost Type...

"Come here, my little Florges! It's time for a makeover. You'll become a new you!" She uses the Tera Orb and Terastallize her Florges, giving it the giant eye on top of the Pokemon.

"So that's her Terastallize Pokemon..." Dawn says.

"Ash is in trouble right now." Dendra says.

"My bewitching beauty methods will cleanse you right down to the depths of your pores! Use Psychic!" Tulip yells.

Banette is hit by the attack, but I say, "Banette! Use Shadow Claw!"

Banette uses the Ghost Type move and it manages to land a hit on Florges. Florges goes for Charm and Petal Blizzard, but Banette dodges the attack and lands the Will-o-Wisp, and eventually defeating the Pokemon with Shadow Ball.

"Florges is unable to battle! Banette wins! Which means the victory goes to Ash Ketchum!" The referee says.

"We've done it." I sigh as I hug my Banette, it is not an easy battle to win it.

"Your strength has a magic to it that cannot be washed away." Tulip sighs while recalling Florges. "And your beauty rivals even my own? I can't believe it. You are quite splendid. Yes, truly amazing! Perhaps I should take you under my wing before you make your big break elsewhere..."

I widen my eyes a little, and she continues, "But I suppose I need to work on myself a little more first before I run off and do such a thing. You have earned my Gym Badge. Allow me to strike one of my best poses to give it to you. Congratulations, Ash."

I get the seventh Gym badge from the Gym Leader, and she asks me to do a pose like her as we are taken the picture by Rotom.

"Don't go uploading that selfie we just took to social media, OK? I think my makeup has run a little with all the moving and sweating I did during our battle. I need to fix it fast before my next appointment. My schedule is absolutely packed, you know. Farewell, then. You did splendidly today."

"Thanks." I say as she leaves.

Lillie says, "She sure is a troublesome opponent."

"Indeed." Dawn says.

The next day, Professor Dendra isn't going to watch the battle with us like yesterday, and Lillie is facing Tulip with her Farigiraf, Gardevoir, Espathra, and Florges. Once she gets the badge, we are now back at the gym building.

Rika is there with a girl and she says, "Hey hey! Rika here, at your service!"

"What are you doing here?" I ask with surprise, not expecting to see the Elite Four member here.

"These Gyms really aren't givin' you much trouble, are they?" Rika asks.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Lillie says.

"Rika! Rika!" The girl beside her says.

"Huh? Oh, right... You two haven't met, have you?" Rika asks. "These two young trainers are Ash and Lillie! They're so good with Pokemon, even La Primera's taken an interest in them!"

"Oh wow... Oh wow!" The girl says."B-but I think my Pokemon are really strong, too. Like, REALLY strong!"

"Um... and you are?" I ask, but I'm cut off by Rika.

"Which one of you is stronger, do you think?" Rika asks, "Poppy, just so you know. Ash here is the World Monarch."

"Well, umm..." Poppy mutters. "I'm one of the Elite Four! So I'm more amazing!"

Every one of us except for Nemona has our mouths open wide. This little girl here is an Elite Four member? That means she's the youngest Elite Four member that I've ever met!

"Ahahahaha! Now aren't you just adorable!" Rika asks. "I know it's hard to believe, but this tiny little one is indeed one of the Elite Four."

"Yeah, I am! I hope I get to show you my Pokemon soon! So hurry up and come to the Pokemon League! It's where the, um... pinnacle! It's where the pinnacle of Pokemon battling happens!" Poppy says. "See you there!"

Then she rushes off, and Rika yells, "Hey, wait up!" Before she leaves, she says, "Well, you keep up the good work! You heard the kid - she's waiting for you! Wait up, Poppy! Don't leave your pal Rika behind!"

After she leaves, I say, "Seriously? That girl is the Elite Four member? And she seems to be 10 years younger than us!"

Nemona says, "There is a good reason why she's stronger than Rika after all."

"You're kidding..." Lillie mutters as we leave the Gym.

And here is a new chapter, as you can see, Ash and Lillie have their seventh gym badge, and they also get to meet another Elite Four member, Poppy. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be another Treasure of Ruin.