After Turtwig completed its Bullet Seed training, Ash and his group of three continued their journey toward Eterna City.
They were currently heading toward a river. Not long ago, they had learned from a passerby about a powerful Floatzel, so they were making their way to the river where it lived.
Along the way, Brock was lovingly clutching a Pokémon Egg. Judging by its color and appearance, it looked exactly like Ash's Happiny Egg.
"Brock, your luck is so good! You actually won first place!" Dawn commented, watching Brock meticulously polish the Egg's shell.
"Hahaha!" Brock responded happily, not denying it. He hadn't expected to unexpectedly win first place in an imitation contest and receive a Happiny Egg. This was all within Ash's expectations; it was Brock's destiny to get that Egg, which was why Ash had secured the Pokémon Doctor's data from the Joy family.
"This is great! Our two Pokémon should be hatching in a few days, around the same time as yours!" Ash's and Dawn's Eggs were in their incubators and nearing their hatching time. Soon, they might witness three tiny 'nursing Pokémon' hatching at once.
The trio chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at a fast-flowing river. They each took out a fishing rod, baited them, and cast their lines.
"Huh?" Just as Dawn cast her line, she noticed that Ash's bait was unusual—a chibi-version of a girl with orange hair.
"Ash, your lure is a little special!" Dawn asked, pointing to the bait curiously.
"Oh, this... it was a gift from an old traveling partner," Ash explained.
"Oh!" Dawn nodded, but a look of danger flickered in her eyes. "Who is she? That girl looks quite pretty!"
"She's the Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym, a companion who traveled with me through Kanto and Johto. This symbolizes our friendship," Ash explained, amused by Dawn's gaze. Even Brock and Pikachu looked at Dawn with an odd smile.
"I see!" Noticing the attention, Dawn felt a little self-conscious and pretended to focus intently on her fishing rod. She couldn't help but wonder if their relationship was really just companionship. First, there was the halved ribbon, and now a lure shaped like a girl. She was highly suspicious.
Dawn secretly glanced at Ash, whose hair was fluttering in the breeze, but quickly turned her head back to the rod, blushing. She thought Ash hadn't noticed, but he was quietly observing everything while pretending to be indifferent. This back-and-forth continued until...
"Well, look who it is! Long time no see!"
A familiar voice rang out, startling Dawn, who quickly adopted a look of calm as she turned to face the newcomer. It was Zoey , an acquaintance and rival, who, despite being a girl, had a tomboyish appearance.
"Zoey! I didn't expect to see you here after Jubilife City!" Despite the interruption, Dawn ran over happily; the two were both friends and rivals.
"Me neither!" Zoey's eyes, however, landed on their backpacks. "Are you planning a hatching party? Why does everyone have an extra Pokémon Egg?" Zoey asked, a smile playing on her lips.
"It's a long story!" Since the real reason involved Suicune, Dawn quickly sidestepped the question and instead showed off the Contest Ribbon she had won.
"Congratulations, Dawn! I saw your performance on TV; it was great!" Zoey congratulated her, then looked at Ash. "I'm curious, why didn't Ash compete?"
"Because Ash is incredibly strong, and his main goal is to challenge the League! He only started entering Contests because of Aipom!" Dawn boasted, praising Ash lavishly as if he were her boyfriend, not waiting for him to reply. "You wouldn't believe how he handled the Gym Leader..."
"Is that so?" Zoey looked at the girl who seemed to be falling in love, a slight hesitation in her eyes. However, seeing Ash's calm demeanor and recalling his earlier performance, she was mostly convinced. Though she believed a person's energy was limited and they shouldn't try to conquer both the League and Contests simultaneously, Ash seemed to be the exception.
"So, Zoey, are you here to fish for Floatzel, too?" Dawn asked, pointing to the red fishing rod behind Zoey.
"Floatzel?" Zoey looked confused, shaking her head. "No, I heard there are many Water-type Pokémon here, so I came to try my luck." She explained that she was preparing for Contests and still only had one Ribbon.
"I see!" Dawn nodded in understanding.
"Dawn, your rod is moving!" Zoey suddenly pointed to the distance.
"Yes!" Dawn cheered, giving Ash a quick victory sign before reeling in her rod.
"You brat!" Ash knew exactly why she did that—it was definitely because of the Misty-lure.
"I knew it!" Zoey observed the interaction between Ash and Dawn, noting how even Brock and Pikachu were used to it.
With a strong pull, a Floatzel erupted from the water. It was mostly orange, with a cream-colored lower face, belly, eyebrows, and tail tip, and the flotation sac around its neck that looked like a life raft.
"It's really a Floatzel! Yes!" Dawn was thrilled. "But how do we know this is the same one the man told us about?"
No sooner had she spoken than the Floatzel jumped ashore, defiantly gesturing for Dawn to attack and repeatedly shouting, "Floa! Floa!" It had an unusually arrogant attitude.
"With that arrogant attitude, it has to be the one!" Ash laughed.
"But that also means it's very strong," Brock commented objectively.
"Don't worry, Piplup can handle it!" Perhaps because Piplup had improved so much recently, Dawn surprisingly didn't send out the Electric-type Pachirisu, catching everyone off guard.
However, in just two and a half minutes, Piplup was soundly defeated, making Dawn scratch her head awkwardly. "I was wrong. This Pokémon is really strong!"
"Floa! Floa!" Floatzel looked disdainfully at the fallen Piplup, then turned its attention to Zoey.
"It's that aggressive?" Zoey was surprised. After getting permission from the group, she sent out her Glameow. Glameow was clearly stronger than Piplup and fought the Floatzel to a standstill. Unfortunately, it was slightly outmatched and knocked down by two hits of Sonic Boom from Floatzel's split tail.
"Floa! Floa!" With two wins under its belt, Floatzel looked at Ash. But the arrogance in its eyes was gone, replaced by caution, as it sensed the unusual power of the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. Its demeanor had become noticeably reserved.
"In that case, Turtwig, you're up!"
And so, Turtwig, the small turtle with a sprout on its head and a brown shell, faced off against the untamed Floatzel.