1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 6: First Ribbon

The Contest poster found us before the road did.

It hung outside Wedgehurst's Pokémon Center, bright enough to catch Gloria's eye while she was still checking Scorbunny's Pokédex entry for the third time. Silver letters curled over a painted stage, and a Wooloo with ribbons in its fleece rolled across the bottom like it was inviting every passerby to imagine applause.

Gloria stopped so suddenly that Scorbunny almost hopped into her boot. "Galar has Pokémon Contests here?"

Alice smiled before I answered. "Not every town, but enough to matter."

I stepped closer to read the date. "Today. Registration closes soon."

Pikachu leaned forward from my shoulder, cheeks bright with interest, "The stage is calling before the road can."

Gloria looked from the poster to me. "Wait. You are interested? I know you battle in Leagues, but you really do Contests too?"

Alice's smile became dangerous. "He has seven Ribbon Cups."

Gloria stared at me like the poster had changed languages. "Seven?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Contests taught me things battles could not. Timing, beauty, restraint, trust with the audience, and how to let a partner show something besides power."

Scorbunny tilted its head at the word restraint, then immediately bounced twice.

Scorbunny caught itself, planted both feet, and stared hard at the poster, "If standing still is part of winning, I will defeat standing still."

Gloria looked down at its stiff posture and laughed. "We may need that lesson someday."

The registration desk stood inside the small Contest Hall attached to the community performance building across the street. It was not as grand as a major stadium, but the banners, lights, and polished floor had their own kind of pressure.

The moment we stepped inside, people recognized me.

The whispers came first. Then a few phones lifted. Then the name Ash Ketchum moved through the hall in a wave that I had learned to feel before it reached me.

I drew one slow breath.

Being known did not surprise me anymore. After seven Champion titles, it only meant I had to be careful not to let the room become about my history before my Pokémon even stepped onstage.

Alice touched my sleeve. "You are all right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Just hoping the judges watch the performance, not the history."

A girl near the registration table turned when she heard that.

She looked about my age, with dark red hair tied back by a cream ribbon and a Milcery floating beside her like a tiny swirl of sugar and confidence. Her jacket was neat, her posture sharper than casual, and her eyes studied me as if she had already decided I would be worth challenging.

"That depends on whether the performance gives them something stronger than the history," she said.

Gloria stiffened. "That sounded a little rude."

The girl's mouth curved, not unkindly. "It was meant to be honest."

I faced her properly. "I am Ash."

"I know," she said. "Megan. Galar Coordinator. I made my first stage appearance here when I was six, tripped on my own ribbon, and still finished the routine. I have been trying to make the stage take me seriously ever since."

Milcery spun beside her, scattering a faint sweet scent.

Milcery drifted close to Megan's shoulder, tiny body turning with careful pride, "Sweet does not mean soft enough to ignore."