"I'm telling you, back in kindergarten, Dee Dee..."
The four of them sat on a bench outside the Pokémon Center, chatting after introducing themselves. However, Kenny, as a childhood friend, couldn't help but bring up Dawn's embarrassing past. He brought up the origin of the nickname "Dee Dee" and other stories from kindergarten. After each story, Kenny, along with Brock and Pikachu, would burst out laughing. After all, old embarrassing stories are always funny. Even Ash could only hold back his laughter. He knew better than to laugh out loud, especially with Dawn's face turning a shade of dark gray. Being a good friend, Ash chose to hold back his laughter to save her some face.
But Kenny, her childhood friend, was not so thoughtful. He showed no signs of stopping and only became more relentless. Ash couldn't help but wonder if Kenny knew the meaning of "knowing when to stop."
"By the way, did you also come to Floaroma Town for the Contest?" Brock, sensing the change in atmosphere, quickly changed the subject.
"Of course! I came to Floaroma Town to get my first ribbon, and I bet you did too, Dawn!" Kenny asked Dawn with a grin.
"Of course!" Despite him revealing all her embarrassing moments, Dawn still replied. "So, who is your partner?"
"What? You don't know who my partner is?" Kenny looked incredulous. "I thought you chose Piplup to imitate me!"
Ash rolled his eyes at that. What are the odds? Just because they chose the same starter Pokémon out of three doesn't mean she was imitating him. Besides, from Dawn's reaction, it was clear that she didn't even care about that. It seemed like Kenny was a bit self-centered.
"Pip!" Piplup and Kenny's Prinplup weren't getting along, either. Both were proud Pokémon, and Piplup especially hated losing face.
"What a shame. I was so close to winning a ribbon!" Kenny was now bragging about the strong opponents he had faced, making them sound incredibly powerful.
"He really... likes to save face," Brock commented with a wry smile. When Kenny revealed that the opponent who defeated him was Zoey, who had also defeated Dawn, Dawn's face lit up with a smile.
"But the person who defeated Zoey is standing right in front of you!" Dawn grabbed Ash's arm and proudly introduced him to Kenny, as if she were the one who had won.
"What?" Since Dawn lost, Kenny hadn't watched the rest of the matches. He had no idea that her companion was the one who had won. And... they seemed a bit too close, didn't they? Looking at Dawn holding Ash's arm, Kenny felt an indescribable emotion. More importantly, all his bragging about how strong Zoey was just made the boy in front of him look even better, making him seem inferior in comparison. Thinking of this, Kenny felt annoyed. His actions had just helped his rival.
"You're going to participate in the Floaroma Contest, right?" Kenny clenched his fist and asked loudly. "I'll definitely..."
"Sorry, I'm not participating in this Contest," Ash replied directly before Kenny could finish. Ash remembered that Dawn would win her first ribbon in this Contest. So, even though Aipom wanted to participate, he had to decline but did give Aipom a spot in a Gym battle later on.
"Why not?" Kenny asked, unable to understand.
"Because Ash is a Gym Challenger! He's only participating in Contests because Aipom wants to!" Before Ash could answer, Dawn happily spoke up. "You have no idea how strong Ash is!" Dawn got excited when she recalled Ash's performance in the last Gym Battle. "He can defeat an ancient Pokémon like Aerodactyl. He can Mega... oh, I can't say that!" she quickly covered her mouth, remembering to keep the secret about Scizor. "In short, Ash is amazing and super strong!"
"Amazing?" Kenny repeated softly, feeling that something wasn't right. Looking at Dawn who was showing off Ash, Kenny's face became sullen. Ash just stood silently next to her.
"Looks like we're in for a show, Pikachu!" Brock whispered to Pikachu, his fellow bachelor. A boy who had a girl fall for him from out of nowhere was about to face off against a girl's childhood friend. Brock wasn't going to miss this drama.
"Pikachu~" Pikachu scratched its head innocently. It had no idea why Brock was saying that. The only thing it knew was that it was best to just nod along.
"Let's battle, Ash! I challenge your Pikachu with my Prinplup!" Kenny suddenly said something shocking. Pikachu, hearing its name, looked over innocently.
"Pika?" Pikachu pointed at itself in disbelief. It was their rivalry, so why was it getting dragged into this?!
...
"Why would Kenny suddenly challenge Ash? And with Prinplup against Pikachu? How can he possibly win?" Dawn shook her head in disbelief, looking at her childhood friend. She knew that Pikachu could use a cleaver-like Iron Tail, a single hit from which could make a Tyranitar feel pain!
"Since that's the case, let me..." Brock, as a spectator, was ready to jump in now that the climax was approaching.
"Wait, could you be the referee, Dawn?" Kenny interrupted Brock and looked at Dawn.
"Um..." Dawn hesitated. She wasn't very good at being a referee.
"Don't worry, Dawn. You just need to make the final call once the battle is over!" Brock was eager to get Dawn involved, so he quickly tried to persuade her.
"Well... okay!" Dawn looked at Ash and Pikachu, thinking that the battle would be over quickly anyway, so she agreed.
"Kenny, are you sure you want to challenge Pikachu?" Before the match started, Ash decided to give him a warning. "Do you want me to switch to another Pokémon...?"
"No! I'm choosing Pikachu!" Kenny said decisively.
"Tsk, tsk. It's good to want to impress a girl, but he's picked the wrong opponent," Brock commented.
"In that case, you can have the first move!" To prevent a one-hit knockout, Ash kindly reminded him.
But Kenny didn't appreciate the gesture. He looked insulted and gritted his teeth. "Prinplup, use Bubble Beam!"
A large amount of multicolored, light-blue bubbles flew towards Pikachu. Pikachu didn't need Ash's command and simply moved to the side to dodge them.
"You're so quick! Prinplup, use Metal Claw! Show everyone your power!"
Dawn couldn't bear to watch. How can you compare your power to a Pikachu who can chop a Tyranitar with its Iron Tail?
"Iron Tail!"
Pikachu's serrated tail glowed white and met Prinplup's metallic claws. Although it was a normal-strength Iron Tail, it was enough. The single swing sent Prinplup flying. The force was so great that Prinplup's entire head was buried in the ground. As Prinplup cried out, Dawn announced the verdict: "Prinplup is unable to battle! The winner is Ash!"
Dawn looked on as if she had expected it. She had witnessed Ash's power. It was something a regular person could not resist.
"I lost! He didn't even use an Electric-type move!" Kenny stared at Pikachu, completely baffled.
"Oh no, Pikachu, you used too much force!" Ash said.
"Pika~" Pikachu waved its hands frantically. It was the first time it had ever used so little force. It didn't even use an Electric-type move, which was very generous. It had no one to blame but itself for trying to be a type-disadvantage master!