Ash and his friends followed Grace into the large estate. The moment they stepped inside, Grace called out, "Timmy! Come out here this instant!"
A boy stepped out from one of the rooms. "What is it, Mom? I was studying in my room!"
Ash narrowed his eyes. With his Aura sensing ability, he could tell without question—this boy, Timmy Grimm, was the mysterious Masked Coordinator who had battled them earlier.
Grace held up a fountain pen and shook it. "Is this yours, Timmy? Without it, how could you be studying?"
Timmy's eyes widened as he rushed forward. "Ah! That's my fountain pen!"
Snatching it back, Grace glared at him. "Then why did this fall out of the Masked Coordinator's pocket, hmm? Explain yourself!"
Timmy panicked. His secret identity was dangerously close to being revealed.
"Did you lend it to him? Or did that masked man take it from you?" Grace's logic jumped to wild conclusions.
Ash and the others could only sigh. Of course she couldn't imagine her own son was the Masked Coordinator.
Timmy tried to grab the pen again, but in doing so, he exposed a fresh cut on his hand—identical to the one the Masked Coordinator had sustained. Timmy snatched back the pen and bolted into his room.
"Timmy…" Grace stood there in disbelief. Even with the clues in front of her, she couldn't bring herself to accept that her son might have gone against her wishes.
As a busy company president, Grace soon had to leave. Before she departed, she asked Ash and the others to help uncover the truth about the Masked Coordinator's identity.
Once she was gone, Ash turned to Brock, May, and Max. "There's no doubt. Timmy is the Masked Coordinator."
The others nodded. More than anything, it seemed like Timmy and Grace needed to sit down and talk.
Just then, Timmy's father, Tommy Grimm, appeared and explained everything. He was once a famous Pokémon Coordinator himself—known as the original Masked Coordinator—before he gave it up to marry Grace. Their son, Timmy, had adored Pokémon since he was little. But when Grace forbade him from training Pokémon, Timmy secretly raised a Dusclops, and now, with the Verdanturf Contest being held, he had stepped into his father's shoes as the second Masked Coordinator.
Thanks to Tommy's support, Ash and the others finally got the chance to talk with Timmy. Ash promised to help bridge the gap between Timmy and his mother.
"Ash, how are we going to convince her?" May asked. "Should we just cover for Timmy?"
"No," Ash replied. "Let's do it the honest way—have her come watch the Contest. If she sees how passionate Timmy is, she might finally understand."
"Do you think that'll work?"
Ash nodded. "No parent wants to crush their child's dream. They just have to see it for themselves."
Later, the group met with Grace again and shared their plan.
"The Pokémon Contest?" Grace repeated. "Alright, I'll go watch tomorrow. But to make sure Timmy stays out of trouble, I'll assign him enough homework to keep him home all day!"
–––––––––––––––––––––
The next morning, Ash, May, and Timmy were already backstage at the Verdanturf Town Contest Hall.
"Sigh… Mom gave me so much homework yesterday. If Dad hadn't helped cover for me, I never would've made it here," Timmy admitted, scratching his head.
Ash smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Just give it your all. This might be the moment she realizes how serious you are."
"Right!"
The first round of the Pokémon Contest soon began. Jessie entered under her usual alias "Jesselina," and to everyone's surprise, didn't cheat this time. With a solid performance, she scored an impressive 28.5 points, raising the bar.
Next up was May, entry number 21. Unfortunately, Blizzard failed partway through her performance, but she quickly recovered using Skitty's Double Slap in a stylish display. Though the mishap hurt her score slightly, her charm pulled through—she earned 24.9 points.
"That's still pretty good," Max commented. "Most of the others are scoring in the low 20s."
Ash was up next. "Alright, Jigglypuff, it's showtime!"
"Pudding~!" Jigglypuff floated out onto the stage with puffed-up cheeks, spinning in midair and landing gracefully.
"Let's open big! Sweet Kiss and Swift!"
Jigglypuff released a flurry of hearts and shimmering stars that filled the sky. "Now, Dazzling Gleam!" A radiant pink flash lit up the air, bursting through the clouds of glitter.
Ash gave a nod. "Time to bring it home—Sing!"
"Pudding~" Jigglypuff picked up its microphone and began singing its signature lullaby, charming the crowd completely.
As the final note rang out, the hearts and stars exploded into a soft rain of sparkles. Jigglypuff bowed with pride as the audience erupted in cheers.
Ash's score: Perfect 30.0—the highest of the competition!
"Wow!" May beamed. "Ash's performance was incredible!"
Timmy stepped onto the stage shortly after, combining Dusclops's Will-O-Wisp and Psychic to create a dazzling display. His control over the ghostly flames impressed the judges, scoring a solid 27.8 points.
The four Coordinators advancing to the battle round were: Ash, May, Timmy, and Jesselina.
Ash's first opponent? Jessie.
"What?!" Jessie's eye twitched. "Why do I always end up facing him?!"
"Let's have a clean match, Jessie. No cheating," Ash said firmly.
"Tch, we'll see about that!" Jessie growled. "Go, Dustox!"
"Jigglypuff, I choose you!"
The crowd swooned at Jigglypuff's entrance, causing Jessie's score to dip from the start.
"Dustox is beautiful too, okay?!" she shouted, frustrated.
"Dustox, Poison Sting!"
"Jigglypuff, Light Screen!"
The attack was blocked instantly. Jesselina's score continued to drop.
"Fine! Dustox, use Psybeam!" A burst of colorful light shot toward Jigglypuff.
"Sing!"
Jigglypuff's lullaby washed over the field once again, sending Dustox to sleep mid-air.
"Disarming Voice!"
Boom! Dustox was hit and instantly knocked out. Jessie's score plummeted to zero.
"Dustox is unable to battle! The winner is Jigglypuff!"
Jessie stormed off in defeat.
Next up: Timmy vs. May.
And just in time—Timmy's parents arrived in the stands to watch.
To be continued...