Today the gang had come to where the next Pokémon contest was. To Ashlyn's surprise it was in Dark City.
"It's amazing that Dark City has a Pokémon contest hall." Brock commented.
"Yeah, the last time we were here the people didn't want anything to do with Pokémon." Ashlyn added.
"Well that incident has been over for the past few years now, so the people must have gotten over it by now." Brock agreed.
"What incident?" May asked.
Ashlyn and Brock told Alain, May and Max about the battle between the wannabe gym leaders Kaz and Yas and how they caused a lot of trouble in Dark City.
"Wait, so this Yas and Kaz had a war with each other in this city, just because one of them wanted to be a gym leader in this town?" Max questioned.
"That's right," Brock answered, "and because of that the people in this city became scared of Pokémon trainers."
"But thanks to us and Nurse Joy of this city, we were able to stop them, and now Dark City is a peaceful place again." Ashlyn said.
"And Yas and Kaz rebuilt all of the damage they did and stopped their quarreling." Brock finished.
Alain, May and Max were amazed by this. Suddenly the kids, who Ashlyn and Brock met before, ran up to the gang.
"Hey Ashlyn! Hey Brock!" said one of them.
"Hey kids," Ashlyn greeted, "how have you all been?"
The kids explained that they had just become Pokémon trainers and they had a starter Pokémon. One of them had a Bulbasaur, the second a Charmander and the third a Squirtle.
"Wow so you kids are trainers now." Brock said, amazed,
"I'm glad to see this city is still at peace." Ashlyn said, relieved.
The boys explained that Yas and Kaz abandoned their plans of becoming gym leaders and they decided to become builders with their Pokémon after they repaired Dark City.
"Well since they did a good job of rebuilding Dark City, I think that job suits them well rather than gym leader jobs." Brock commented.
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The kids led the gang to the Pokémon contest hall. The hall was just outside the city and the building was made out of wood like the other buildings in the city.
"When did they build the contest hall here?" Ashlyn asked, surprised.
"About a year ago," The first kid replied, "at first we weren't sure about having a Pokémon contest hall built here because of what happened with Yas and Kaz."
"But after we learned what Pokémon contests were, we agreed because they were nothing like Pokémon gyms at all." Another kid added.
"It's true, they aren't like Pokémon gyms at all," Brock confirmed, "and this is something that Yas and Kaz wouldn't fight over."
"Absolutely." Ashlyn agreed.
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Ashlyn and May signed up at once to enter the Pokémon contest, but they weren't the only ones. Harley was there. When he saw the gang, he tried to do his usual fake welcoming, but the gang ignored him. It was clear to Ashlyn and May that they would have to face Harley again, but they weren't going to let him win that easily.
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Soon it was time for the Pokémon contest. Lilian did the usual introductions and showed off the Dark Ribbon. The ribbon was brown with a liter brown outline, and it was a bow ribbon like you see on presents. The kids were sitting in the audience seat with Alain, Brock and Max.
"Have you kids been watching the contests ever since this hall was built?" Brock asked.
"Yes, we love watching them." said one of the kids.
"We especially love to see the cool tricks the Pokémon do." said another kid.
It made Brock happy to know that the people in Dark City liked Pokémon and Pokémon trainers now.
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The appeal rounds were on the way and Ashlyn was up first. She called out Calypso (Vaporeon) and told her to use Bubble Beam. After Calypso blew bubbles, she burst them with Swift and then fired a Hydro Pump into the air.
Next was May's turn and she used her Combusken for the appeal rounds using Fire Spin and Sky Uppercut.
Later it was Harley's turn, and he used his Banette, doing the usual scary Will-O-Wisp and Scary Face combination thing.
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After the appeal rounds were finished, the board showed four trainers who made it to the battle rounds and Ashlyn, May and Harley were three of them. The battle rounds started; Ashlyn had to face Harley first. Harley had a new Pokémon, an Octillery. Ashlyn's choice for the battle rounds was Cleo (Persian). Harley, being cocky and all, was convinced that his Octillery will triumph over Ashlyn's Normal type
Pokémon. But Cleo defeat Harley's Octillery with Thunderbolt. So Harley suffered another defeat from Ashlyn, which of course made Harley mad, and he left the contest hall in a huff.
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After Ashlyn's win, May was battling her opponent with her Butterfree. May's Butterfree had been training under Ashlyn's Butterfree, Papilio, and learnt a lot of experience.
After doing Psybeam on the opponent's Poliwhirl, May had won the battle and had to face Ashlyn in the last round.
May's Butterfree put up a good fight against Cleo with the moves Gust, Psybeam and Silver Wind. But Cleo proved to be stronger with the moves (Ashlyn's surprise) Flamethrower, Icy Wind and Hyper Beam and Butterfree got defeated. So Ashlyn was the winner of the Dark City contest and won the Dark Ribbon, making this her fourth ribbon.
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After the contest was over, the gang had dinner at the restaurant they visited before, and the restaurant owner was happy to see Ashlyn and Brock again. The kids kept on saying to Ashlyn and May that their Pokémon were awesome and congratulated Ashlyn on her win.
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So today proved to the gang that Dark City was not a gang fighting place anymore, and the people of the city accepted Pokémon trainers and Pokémon again.
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Pokémon Caught: Shiny Arcanine (Sonia)(F), Magby (Fuji)(M)