The long-anticipated Kanto Grand Festival is one day away as we stride towards the Indigo Plateau, May says, "There! Wow!"

"Woah! It's so big!" Max says.

"Seeing this place sure brings back memories." Serena says to me, and I nod, "Sure does, of course, this is the place where we fought the Indigo League two years ago."

As we rush towards the Grand Festival arena, we present the ribbons to Nurse Joy so that we can participate in this one. After that's done, May gets a call from her mother Caroline, who tells her that neither she nor Norman can make it to the Grand Festival because they're very busy, but she wishes her luck.

"Aipom, you're also excited to be in this place, right?" I say as I have Aipom out, who wants to see the Pokemon Grand Festival. However, Aipom is a little too excited as she starts to run around gathering hats.

"Aipom! What are you doing?" I ask with horror as some trainers are demanding Aipom to return the hats, but the hats fall onto me Aipom decides to take my hat this time.

"Cut it out, Aipom!" I yell as Aipom also takes Nurse Joy's hat.

"Roselia! Use Petal Dance!" Drew notices the chaos brewing in the lobby and directs Roselia to assist in capturing Aipom. Roselia releases an assortment of red blossoms which surround and envelop Aipom as Ariel has Umbreon use its Psychic to move Aipom into my arms.

"Looks like your Aipom is still a naughty one." Ariel comes and greets us.

"Yeah. Aipom, you should stop doing this stuff." I say while recalling Aipom into the Pokeball. "What a crazy Pokemon... thanks for helping us, Drew, Ariel."

"What's going on, you're way over the top. You need to chill out like that Aipom." Drew says.

"Come on, I'll bet you're as nervous as I am." May says.

"Sorry, May. But I don't do that." Drew says.

"But you used to, back in your younger days." We flinch as we turn around. Ariel says, "You have to be kidding me..."

"Hello again, Ash, Reisa, Ariel. I see that all of you are here."

"Solidad! What a surprise." Reisa says. "You're here for the Grand Festival as well?"

"Of course, I assume that all of you are? Maybe this will be the great revenge for the Johto Grand Festival." Solidad says.

"Oh no, I'm not partaking in this one." Reisa says. "Sorry about that. But I'm here to watch Ash and May's Grand Festival."

"Such a shame, but then again, you already won one back in the Sinnoh Region." Solidad says.

"Maybe this is going to be interesting as well." Ariel says. "What are the odds that we are in the same Grand Festival?"

Then May and Max also introduce themselves, and May asks, "So you used to attend the same Grand Festival as Ash, Reisa, and Ariel?"

"We were the Top 4, I lost to Ash back then. But this time things will be different." Solidad says.

"Yeah. It will be." I say back.

Just then, we also see my Mom come with Mark and Minami. We are shocked as I ask, "What are you doing here?"

Mark says, "We can't miss your Grand Festival, right?"

Minami says, "Yeah, we heard about it and then we came. How are you doing?"

"It is fine." May says to them.

My Mom says, "Now I should go for now since I am the special judge in this Kanto Grand Festival."

"Wait, you mean Mom is the judge?" Emerald asks. "That's quite cool!"

"I know. To think that the founder of the Contests will be judging us..." Solidad says. "And not to mention it's Ash's mother."

"Yeah, but that doesn't give me the advantage because she is fair." I say.

That night, when everyone is talking, Max holds an empty glass as a mysterious man collides with him and gives him a black rose to deliver to May and walks off into the distance. Max interrupts the conversation presenting the rose to May startling her. As May grabs the rose, it explodes leaving May in confusion.

"What..." May is confused.

"That's a weird rose..." Serena says.

"How unusual..." Solidad says.

"You know, I think that guy who gave you the rose must be Harley." I say with a sigh.

"So that guy is also here?" Ariel says in disgust. "Great, I should beat him to the pulp this time."

Mark says, "Hold on a second, you mean that Harley is also here? So it is a combination with your Johto Rivals and the Hoenn Rivals?"

I say, "Yeah. I remember the last time she tries to do dirty tricks on May, not to mention that last time he actually teamed up with Team Rocket to sabotage her final ribbon."

"Seriously? How low can he actually get?" Minami sighs.

A new day arrives and Lilian officially starts the Grand Festival as magnificent fireworks explode overhead and a spotlight showers overhead of the Ribbon Cup. The announcer reveals that the preliminaries of the Kanto Grand Festival will be held in two different stadiums. In one of them, The announcer introduces the usual Contest judges and announces the guest judge, which is my Mom.

"It doesn't matter if you are his son." Drew says, "After all, judges have to be objective."

"You bet." I say back.

After some people, it is my turn, I decide to go with Beedrill and the Mega Evolution. It shows its needles while combining the attacks, making it like a ribbon dance.

May's turn arrives as she explodes onto the stage and sends out her Blaziken. May throws the usual Frisbee as Blaziken blazes towards the rotating object and propels into the air slicing the Frisbee. Blaziken lands gracefully on the ground as the crowd bursts with excitement.

Solidad's Lapras splashes into the pool creating a wave of water and simultaneously freezes it into place creating a glorious pillar of ice with Sheer Cold.

Ariel's Pidgeot flies high in the sky and uses a combination of Brave Bird and Acrobatics to make the performance like a drawing.

Drew finally takes his place in the first round calling upon his Masquerain. Masquerain begins rotating at a high speed creating a magnificent gust of wind with Silver Wind to rotate around its body.

Harley finally makes his debut removing the cape and reveals himself dressed exactly as May.

"What is that guy thinking?" I ask with a speechless tone. As for May, she is covering her face with embarrassment.

Harley is on the screen as he calls upon his Banette, Banette displays its marvelous Will-O-Wisp attack as tiny blue flames glow surrounding Banette's body. As Banette gives out its evil laugh, Harley begins dancing as May watches the screen in disgust.

The contestants for the main Performance stage are announced including me, Ariel Solidad, May, Drew, Harley, and 58 other Coordinators.

In the first round of the second part, Drew sends out Absol. A whirlpool begins forming around Absol, creating a gigantic circle of water circling around him. After a few moments, Absol uses its energy from its horn to slice and dissipate the water creating a magnificent shimmering over the entire stadium. Drew bows taking a stance as the crowd applauds his performance.

Harley is next. His round begins as Octillery launches a Fire Blast attack toward the ground and propels him into the air slamming down into the flames. Octillery begins moving its tentacles causing the flames to move in a counterclockwise motion around his body in the shape of a ring.

I decide to go with Meowsie and have it use Payday to surround herself with the coins and dance around the attack. Then with the Fury Swipes and Power Gem, we finish with a sparkling stage. Ariel is using Houndoom and she has it use Dark Pulse and Fire Blast to make the field sparkle.

Solidad's round is finally underway as Slowbro uses its Psychic to rotate around the arena on the tip of its shell. Slowbro manages to come to a single point while still rotating and launches a stream of water overhead creating an effect of a fountain.

The crowd cheers as May makes her way into the middle of the arena. With a rotation of her wrist, a solitary Poké Ball is released into the stadium exploding with a bright light releasing Munchlax. Munchlax begins collecting energy from the sunlight launching a powerful Solar Beam. As the beam of energy ascends into the air, Munchlax propels into the air clashing with the energy with a Focus Punch. As the two forces clash, the sunlight slowly dissipates into the atmosphere creating a glimmering effect.

"Everyone did great, don't you think?" Ariel asks May.

"Yeah..." May says in an unsure tone since she questions her ability.

Meanwhile, Drew and Absol have their differences with Absol launching a blinding attack towards Drew just managing to slightly brush against his hair. May asks, "Drew, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, Absol wasn't doing it right, that's all." Drew says. "And this is serious stuff."

"Things are doing great at first, but the audience completely memorized by your Flash and Water Pulse attacks, you used Razor Wind as a finish and you felt like you failed." Ariel says. "It's true, isn't it?"

"I just don't have any passion." Drew says while recalling Absol. "I'm out of here."

"Drew! Your Absol tried as hard as he can, and all you can say is Absol failed? Don't you think he deserves a bit more than that?" May asks, and my Absol also agrees with me.

"Roselia, Masquerain, and Flygon... they can always give me a lot more than I could, simply trying your best isn't going to get praise for me. I'm not a wimp like you!"

When Drew lashes out in the end before leaving, Reisa says, "How could he say that..."

"Yeah, something's not right for him..." I say.

"Bullying is not a way to treat Pokemon." Solidad says with a sigh.

Then Solidad decides to talk to May alone and we leave them, and then Ariel and I decide to find Drew.

"Oh, it's you guys. Look, I said what was on my mind, okay?" Drew says.

"We know that, Drew." Ariel says. "Solidad is talking to May right now. Thinking it will be a good time to do the same thing."

"You know, watching you out there makes me think about all the rivals I faced in battle during the years. I never thought how they train or anything, we deal with battle on the battlefield."

"I hear ya, we're rivals." Drew says.

Fireworks explode into the air as we are brought into the Battle Stage of the Grand Festival, to our shock is that May is battling Harley in the first round.

The countdown timer begins as May calls upon Eevee and Munchlax and Harley calls upon his Wigglytuff and Cacturne. Munchlax and Eevee begin the round blazing forward with a Focus Punch as Wigglytuff inflates to two times its size, dissipating the attack and knocking both Pokémon backwards. Wigglytuff blazes toward both the Pokémon as May anticipates the attack but Wigglytuff propels into the air and Cacturne strikes Munchlax and Eevee. Both Pokémon are knocked backward and a fifth of May's score is reduced. Cacturne extends its needles and goes in for a final attack as Eevee manages to recover and launches a Shadow Ball while Munchlax uses its Focus Punch to increase the speed of the attack colliding with Cacturne for a direct hit. The smoke clears as Cacturne falls to the ground and is announced as unable to battle. Three-fifths of Harley's score is removed.

Wigglytuff begins its descent from the air and crashes into the ground with Eevee and Munchlax managing to evade the attack barely. Wigglytuff extends its ears grasping onto both Pokémon's bodies thrusts them towards the air and begins repeatedly slapping both Pokémon with its ears and finally slamming them to the ground. Munchlax charges another Solar Beam and Eevee launches an additional Shadow Ball. Wigglytuff evades both attacks while additional Shadow Balls and Solar Beams continue their barrage. Two-thirds of May's score is removed reducing her down to a fifth of her original.

Eevee and Munchlax launch another attack but miss their target on purpose with both attacks colliding behind Wigglytuff and forcing it uncontrollably towards the ground. Munchlax runs forward and propels off Eevee's tail igniting into the air and striking Wigglytuff down with a Focus Punch. Wigglytuff crashes into the ground and is announced as unable to battle. Harley's score is reduced to zero and May advances to the next round.

"Alright! You two are totally amazing! I win it all because of you!" May says.

"She won? I hate it..." Harley yells as he storms off once more.

During the rounds, I use mostly Aipom with Pikachu or Absol to win through my way, and so do the others. Then we finally reached the top 8. May is battling Drew, and May goes for Blaziken and Blastoise while Drew sends out Flygon and Absol. May decides to try out the new Mega Evolution of Blastoise.

May quickly starts the battle with Blastoise using Rapid Spin. Flygon launches a whirlwind of sand toward Blastoise's direction as Blaziken jumps onto Blastoise's shell and jumps while charging up for a Mega Kick. Blaziken begins gaining altitude while Absol jumps into the sandstorm and launches a magnificent light blinding Blaziken and finally reveals itself from the veil striking down with a devastating Iron Tail. Blastoise launches Bubble, while Blaziken goes in with Sky Uppercut.

As a brilliant array of bubbles from Blastoise's Bubble attack shimmers throughout the stadium, Blaziken glides through with a Sky Uppercut towards Absol but is met with a Razor Wind from Absol. One-twentieth of May's score is deducted as Blastoise and Blaziken struggle to recover. Flygon continues the attack with a ferocious Flamethrower closing in on Blaziken and Blastoise at a high rate. Blaziken counterattacks with his own Fire Spin with the two attacks fusing and exploding throwing both Pokémon back and deducting one-twentieth from both contestants' scores. Drew doesn't hesitate to continue the attack as Absol launches another Razor Wind and Flygon releases its Dragon Breath on Absol's attack. Both Blaziken and Blastoise attempt to evade but manage to take direct damage from the attack and are thrust toward the ground. One-tenth of May's score is removed in the effort. Flygon and Absol explode forward with Steel Wing and Iron Tail attacks. As the two opponents close in, May evaluates the situation and directs Blaziken and Blastoise to launch their Fire Spin and Bubble attacks. The two attacks fuse creating an electrical effect colliding and making for a direct hit with Flygon and Absol enveloping them in shards of electricity and heat. Only five percent of Drew's score is reduced.

"Hey, it is the fusion of Fire and Water used by Tucker." I say.

"She really copies well." Ariel says.

Both Flygon and Absol are thrown backwards removing ten percent of Drew's score.

The Contest Battle timer slides to just below four minutes while Drew and May continue the attack. Blastoise withdraws into its shell and uses Rapid Spin. Absol uses Flash, blinding Blaziken but having no effect on Blastoise. Flygon attempts to use its Steel Wing attack to divert Blastoise but only manages to knock him above the arena. With Flygon's back turned, Blastoise launches a devastating array of bubbles towards Flygon. Absol responds to divert the attack with Razor Wind but Blaziken blocks Absol's attack with his Fire Spin. The Bubble attack makes direct contact with Flygon removing another ten percent of Drew's score. Upon Blastoise's decent, he strikes down with a finishing Ice Beam just inches away from Flygon, knocking it out. As Blastoise begins its final descent, Absol takes advantage of the time and uses its Iron Tail to harshly knock Blastoise into a stadium wall, rendering Blastoise unable to battle. Both Coordinators return their unconscious Pokémon. The battle now resides between May's Blaziken and Drew's Absol. Blaziken uses Mega Kick and Absol uses Iron Tail. Both attacks hit one another. As Blaziken manages to recover, Absol manages to strike with an additional Razor Wind hitting Blaziken for a direct hit before he is able to recover from the prior attack removing twenty percent of May's score. Blaziken launches another ferocious Fire Spin but Absol manages to gain the type advantage with a Water Pulse attack. The gigantic wall of water crashes onto Blaziken removing another twenty percent of her score leaving her with only forty percent of her original score.

As the water dissipates, Blaziken's body begins glowing red as steam begins forming around his body. Drew doesn't hesitate to attempt to gain the battle advantage directing Absol to launch another Razor Wind towards Blaziken. As the attack begins its descent, Blaziken uses Overheat, launching an extraordinary amount of firepower dissipating Absol's attack and hitting for direct damage. Absol's entire body is engulfed in flames. The battle timer moves to just under 1:30. Both Trainers attempt to guess the other's strategy but May makes the first move directing Blaziken with Overheat. Another devastating ball of energy is launched towards Absol but Absol counterattacks with its Water Pulse attack dissipating the flame attack. Another fifth of May's score is removed reducing her score to only twenty percent of her original. Absol glides forward attempting to blind Blaziken as he rotates forward striking Absol but managing to make no damage. Blaziken uses the advantage of the close range launching another devastating Overheat attack engulfing Absol in the magnificent flames.

After the continuous Overheat attacks, Blaziken begins showing fatigue. Absol disperses the flames from the previous Overheat attack. Drew notices Blaziken fatigue from the continual Overheat attacks and takes advantage with Absol striking forward with a Razor Wind hitting Blaziken for direct damage. Blaziken is thrown backwards reducing May's score to only five percent of her original. Absol strikes forward with another Water Pulse attack as Blaziken manages to use another Overheat attack with much weaker force proving no effect on the Water-type attack. The water engulfs Blaziken, causing steam to rise from Blaziken's body. Absol launches forward with a last Iron Tail propelling into the air. Blaziken attempts to take advantage of the airborne attack and uses Sky Uppercut. The attack manages to make contact just as the battle timer expires. May is announced as the winner of the round between herself and Drew advancing her to the semifinals.

"I beat Drew..." May says in shock.

Drew thanks Absol for his effort and turns around approving May of her effort with a simple eye gesture.

"Awesome, so May also advances." Ariel says.

"Yeah. It is just four of us." Solidad says.

The semi-final list shows that May is battling Solidad and I'm battling Ariel.

"We are facing each other again." Ariel says to me.

"Yeah..."

In the battle, I decide to use Electivire and Magmortar while Ariel uses Crobat and Ditto to change into Magmortar. Electivire uses its tails to toss Crobat in the air and Magmortar uses Flamethrower from his hands to hit Crobat, causing her to lose 5 percent. Ariel calls Crobat to use Swift and Smokescreen to make a surprise attack, it also hits two Pokemon, causing Ash to lower his score. After a series of attacks, I have Electivire to dig, but constantly doing it on the field, and then Marmortar uses Inferno in the holes, making a line of Fire pillars and knocking Crobat and Ditto out.

"The winner is Ash Ketchum, he will be advanced to the finals."

Ariel recalls her Pokemon and says, "I think using Ditto is a bad idea."

"But you really think very quickly. You should be proud of yourself." I say.

We are taken deep into the semifinal round between Solidad and May leaving Solidad with seventy-five percent of her original score and May with only twenty-five percent as the battle timer moves to just below two minutes. Solidad has chosen her Pidgeot and Slowbro as May has chosen Munchlax and Blaziken. Munchlax launches forward with a Focus Punch while Slowbro uses its Psychic to rotate around and counter attack, dissipating Munchlax's attack and knocking him backward. Blaziken's devastating Fire Spin envelops Pidgeot but after a few seconds, Pidgeot manages to recover and counterattacks with Feather Dance. The extraordinary feathers dissipate the flame attack and begin to rain down on Blaziken and Munchlax with a flame effect. Slowbro uses Yawn to create a gigantic bubble which manages to collide with Blaziken causing him to fall into a deep sleep. Munchlax collects energy for his Solar Beam attack but is only evaded by his opponents and meets with Slowbro's Psychic and Pidgeot using Double Team to create illusions of himself and striking for direct damage. Slowbro launches a finishing Hyper Beam as Pidgeot blasts forward with an Aerial Ace making contact with both targets knocking both opponents unconscious, advancing Solidad to the next round.

"Oh no...May lost." Mark says.

"Yeah... but she did very well." Minami says.

May shows her support for Solidad and greatly thanks Munchlax and Blaziken for their effort and for making it to the top four. Heading backstage, May finds Drew and I.

I say, "You're awesome out there, May."

May then lowers her head and says, "But I lost..." She bursts into tears as Drew quickly hugs her. Drew says, "Cry doesn't suit you, you should be happy. You also defeated me, which means you also did great."

I look at the two and smile, then I'm going to the battlefield so I can face Solidad in the finals.

"Ready for the rematch from last year's Johto Grand Festival?" Solidad asks.

"You bet. I am not losing." I say back.

She sends out Mega Pidgeot and Lapras while I use my own. We basically use the same moves and we are not holding back this time.

"Pidgeot, let's show them how the training works!" I say as she nods. "Lapras! Cover Pidgeot with Ice Beam!"

Everyone is shocked at the move, and then Lapras uses the ice to cover Pidgeot, Pidgeot then flies towards the two Pokemon with the Ice outside and gives them serious damage.

"Not bad..." Solidad says.

"I've learned this move from my Mom." I say as I can see her smiling at me. And then my two Pokemon finish with Brave Bird and Thunderbolt, which cause her Pokemon to faint.

"It is decided! The winner of the Grand Festival is Ash Ketchum! It is his 3rd Grand Festival Win!" The crowd cheers for me, and I can hear my friends cheering the loudest. My mom is the one who gives me the cup, and she says, "I am very proud of you, you won the Grand Festival."

I take the third ribbon cup and hug my mother, the crowd is cheering for me with this.

Later that night, an after-party is held for all the participating contestants. Drew begins to leave as May manages to catch up to him holding a solitary rose.

"Well... I want to give you this." May shows the rose to him, Drew blushes a little and then takes it. "Thanks, I will take care of it."

May wishes him an exuberant parting as he walks off dispersing into the distance.

And we are enjoying the party until we meet up with Scott. "Hey, Scott, why are you here?"

"To congratulate you, right now Brandon is in the ruins of Fennel Valley."

"Cool. I will go there and get the final symbol." I say.

"Sure, but you should enjoy the party for now." Scott says as he leaves.

Ash asks Solidad and the others if they have other plans, Solidad says she will try to compete with Johto for the second time as she leaves, Ariel, Mark, Minami, and even my Mom decide to watch my last battle Frontier battle.

Here is the Grand Festival, and I hope you like it. The next chapter will be the Battle Pyramid.