After arriving in Slateport City, known for its beautiful coastal scenery, Ash and the others did the first thing any smart traveler would do—head straight to the Pokémon Center!
Sure enough, the Pokémon Center was already crowded with Coordinators, all buzzing with energy and excitement.
"Wow! Everyone's really pumped up!" Max said, eyes sparkling as he looked around.
"Well, the Pokémon Contest is only two weeks away!" May beamed. It would be her official debut as a Coordinator, and she was both nervous and excited.
"That's why all these Coordinators came early for special training," Brock nodded knowingly.
"But let's be honest," Max smirked mischievously. "Even if you do your best, your odds aren't great—just look at how strong Ash is. He's competing too, you know!"
"Of course, I'm not worried at all!" May declared confidently—but her stiff smile betrayed her nerves. After all, her opponents weren't just a crowd of experienced Coordinators… Ash was one of them. And his last performance had been incredible.
Ash and May registered for the Contest at the Pokémon Center, then headed down to the beach for some practice.
The moment they arrived, Brock's eyes went wide and sparkly (♡⌂♡). "This is Slateport's famous resort beach… and there are beautiful ladies everywhere!"
"Yeah, and they're all just here to play, not train," Ash sighed, dragging Brock away. The group found a quiet, empty section of beach instead.
Ash tossed five Poké Balls into the air. "Come on out, everyone!"
Noctowl, Lairon, Corphish, Ralts, and Mudkip appeared one after another.
Before leaving Dewford Island, Ash had switched out Quilava and Croconaw to bring Lairon and Corphish back into the rotation.
Professor Oak had also shared some great news from the lab: Snorlax, Bulbasaur, Kingler, and Tauros had all broken through to higher power levels, and training activity was at an all-time high.
Everyone except Noctowl got the day off to play—Pikachu happily led the others down the beach to relax.
Then all eyes turned to May.
"Alright! Time to practice for the performance round." May ran to the side, struck a twirling pose, and called out, "Beautifly, take the stage!"
Beautifly appeared, gracefully flapping its wings and scattering shimmering scales that sparkled in the sunlight.
"Great entrance!" Brock praised.
Everyone nodded in agreement, but it looked like May had twirled a bit too much—she was visibly dizzy.
After a short break, she picked up again. "Beautifly, use Silver Wind!"
Beautifly flapped its wings rapidly—but only managed to create a small silver vortex before it faded out.
"Not again…" May sighed. "Why does this keep failing? The success rate is so low!"
"Looks like it'll be hard to use that move in the Contest," Max commented bluntly.
"But I think Silver Wind would really shine in a performance…" May muttered, still determined.
"You just need more practice!" Ash encouraged her, giving her a reassuring pat.
"You're right! Okay, Beautifly, let's try this!"
May pulled out three pink frisbees and threw them into the air.
"Beautifly, use Hurricane!"
Beautifly whipped up a gust of wind, bouncing the frisbees back toward May. She caught two of them perfectly…
…Then realized, belatedly, that she only had two hands.
The last frisbee sailed straight past her and toward a nearby railing—right where a green-haired boy around Ash and May's age was casually leaning.
"Watch out!" May shouted.
But the boy simply raised his hand and snatched the frisbee out of the air with ease.
"I'm so sorry!" May rushed over to apologize.
The boy spun the frisbee in his hand, sneered, and said, "You don't seriously plan to compete in the Pokémon Contest with that level of skill, do you? That wasn't beautiful at all."
He then tossed the frisbee at her feet.
May bristled with anger. "Excuse me?! Who even are you?! What gives you the right to say that?!"
"My name is Drew. I'm a Pokémon Coordinator."
"So what? You think you're better than everyone just because you've done this before? Don't look down on May—she'll be your rival!" Ash stepped forward beside May, glaring at Drew.
"Ash…" May looked at him, touched by his support.
"Rival? Her? Please." Drew scoffed. "Don't put us in the same category. She and her Pokémon aren't even close to beautiful."
May's fists clenched in rage. "It's bad enough you insulted me, but how dare you insult my Pokémon?! That's unforgivable!"
"And now you look even uglier when you're angry," Drew said coolly, completely ignoring her fury.
May looked like she was about to explode.
Drew turned to Ash. "I saw your performance at the Rustboro Tournament. I'm looking forward to facing you in the Contest."
Then he casually pointed at the luxury apartment complex behind him. "Also, this beach is part of the private property of the hotel I'm staying at—so if you wouldn't mind, please leave."
So that's why the beach was so empty.
"Let's go," Ash said, turning around. Max and Brock followed. May shot one last glare at Drew before storming after them.
"Now what? Where are we going to train?" Brock frowned. Most of the beaches were either private or packed with tourists—neither option ideal.
"We'll just have to rent a private apartment," Ash said. "Then we'll have access to a beach ourselves."
"But those are crazy expensive!" Brock pointed out.
"Don't worry—I've got a way."
They arrived at an apartment rental office, where Ash handed over a top-grade Moon Stone he had obtained through his system.
Even the best Moon Stones on the market barely reached this level, and it was extremely rare. The staff, understandably, agreed immediately.
On the apartment's private beach…
"Wow, Ash… you really went all out," May said, touched. "You didn't have to spend something so valuable just for me."
"Don't worry about it," Ash smiled. "This just means we can get serious about training for the next two weeks."
Ash pulled out a Poké Ball he had just retrieved.
"Yes!" May nodded.
"Come out, Beautifly!"
A gorgeous Beautifly appeared—its wings were light purple, and its body gleamed gold.
[Shiny Beautifly][Strength: Peak of Normal Tier]
"Wha—Ash! You have a Beautifly too?! And it's shiny?!" May and the others were stunned.
"I caught it at the same time you got yours," Ash explained. "I was saving it as a secret weapon—but now I want my Beautifly to teach yours how to use Silver Wind."
May was overwhelmed. "Ash… thank you. I promise I'll defeat that arrogant jerk."
Time passed quickly. With only two days left before the Contest, May's Beautifly had finally mastered Silver Wind.
Meanwhile, Ash had been busy swapping Pokémon to challenge Trainers across Slateport, gaining loads of rewards and experience.
He had also recently requested more Pokémon storage space from Professor Oak. Though the process involved League authorization, Professor Oak—grateful for Ash's contributions in Kanto—lifted the restriction on Pikachu's Poké Ball.
Ash was truly thankful. Without Professor Oak's help, he probably wouldn't even be on the League's radar yet.
In terms of training progress:
Pikachu broke through its bottleneck to Advanced (Quasi-Elite) level.
Beautifly reached Superior Initial Stage.
Eevee, Phanpy, Corphish, Taillow reached Superior Late Stage.
Heracross, Lairon reached Gym Leader Mid Stage.
Croconaw, Quilava took Rare Candies and reached Gym Leader Early Stage.
Ralts and Mudkip matured and advanced to Normal Mid Stage, learning Teleport and Rock Smash respectively.
"Treecko, use Bullet Seed!"
"Cha-ma!"
Treecko unleashed a rapid burst of seeds, striking down a wild Mightyena.
A glow enveloped Treecko's body—it was evolving!
The small green gecko grew taller and sleeker, two blade-like leaves forming on its arms and a long one growing from its head.
"Awesome! You evolved—Grovyle!" Ash cheered.
"Chama!""Pikapi~"
[Grovyle][Strength: Superior Late Stage][Moves: Leaf Blade, X-Scissor, Energy Ball...]
To be continued…