Deceit and Assist (LAoPtS)

Plot
Nurse Joy returns May's Pokémon, all fully healed after their check-up. Brock asks for a check up of his own, but Nurse Joy simply walks away, leaving Brock dejected. As May prepares to leave she is approached by Harley, who asks if they can practice together. May agrees, asserting that a partner will make practice easier.

Drew is grooming his Masquerain and Roselia when Brock leads May, Harley, and Caroline past, explaining that she will need to get her Pokémon ready for the next stage of the Grand Festival, which consists of two-on-two Contest Battles. May is initially surprised but becomes confident that they will prevail. Meanwhile, on the beach, Ash, Max, and Snorunt are preparing to train Ice Beam again, but as the targets are finished, Snorunt sneezes and fires dozens of small Ice Beams at a nearby Swalot. Swalot's Trainer, Anthony, desperately leaps in front of his Pokémon, and his backside is frozen solid. After Torkoal thaws him out, Anthony explains that he was entered in the Hoenn Grand Festival, but he lost his Contest Pass and his Ribbon case to a strange trio. Ash boldly asserts that they will help Anthony track down the thieves.

Meanwhile, Jessie declares that she will win the Grand Festival, with five Ribbons pinned to her top. She imagines being on magazine covers, setting fashion trends, and getting a recording contract. Meowth says he would rather be a simple thief with no pressure, and Jessie shakes him violently to remind him who is in charge. James informs Jessie that using the stolen Contest Pass will result in Anthony's face being the one on the cover, which Jessie had forgotten.

May asks Munchlax, Skitty, Combusken, and Bulbasaur which of them wants to team up with Beautifly for their first practice, with the latter three cheering excitedly while Munchlax sleeps. May asks Harley if the others can take it in turns, which he says is fine, and May picks Skitty to go first. Brock questions May’s judgment, though she confidently responds that it was Beautifly’s Silver Wind that got her this far in the first place. Drew and his Pokémon watch the match. Harley invites May to make the first move, and Skitty's Assist becomes Combusken's Fire Spin, pushing Cacturne back several paces. Assist then becomes Silver Wind, which causes Harley to run over and seize May's hand, complimenting her on the move. Harley asserts that Beautifly's Silver Wind and Skitty's Assist could pull off an unbeatable appeal. May is unsure, saying that Assist is too unpredictable to place her faith in. Harley reassures her that the appeal of Assist is its unpredictability, and May agrees with Harley, choosing to use Skitty instead of Beautifly in the first round. Caroline thinks the strategy is risky, and Drew agrees as he walks off.

Ash, Pikachu, and Anthony have had no luck finding the thieves. After Max alerts Officer Jenny to the situation, Jenny reassures Anthony that he can still compete if he reports to the main office. However, Anthony is too devastated by the loss of his Contest Ribbons to compete. Max pipes up and realizes that with Anthony's Contest Pass also stolen, the thief must be planning to enter and all they need to do is check for someone whose picture and face do not match. Ash, Anthony, and Jenny agree to the plan, and Jenny tells them all to get to the main stage.

The main competition round is opened, with 64 semi-finalists out of the original 247. Ash, Anthony, Jenny, Swalot, and Pikachu are watching the corridor while Norman, Kenny, Kelly, Joshua and Erica, Timmy Grimm, Chaz, Dr. Abby, Savannah and Sandra watch the competition from the comfort of their respective homes. Vivian Meridian introduces the panel of judges, formed by Raoul Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and three Nurse Joy. As usual, Brock declares his love at the top of his lungs, much to the surprise of Caroline and the chagrin of Max, who yanks him back into his seat. Side-stage, May is helping search for the thief. She informs Harley of the situation, and he replies that he hates the thought of dishonesty around them. Nearby, Jessie has fashioned a decent Anthony costume and plans to enter in his likeness, revealing her true identity later.

The main Appeals Round begins with a Ninetales's Flamethrower, before giving way to Harley and his Banette, who terrifies Vivian and even May side stage with its malicious smile. Banette uses Will-O-Wisp and then strikes itself with Thunder, scoring 89 out of 100. Several other Coordinators score well, an Alakazam, a Vaporeon, Sunflora, Ledian, Electrode, and Lickitung all scoring in the high seventies and eighties. Drew and May both show their confidence for moving on.

Vivian calls Anthony, while Ash, Jenny, and the real Anthony watch from the shadows for who comes out. Jessie in her best impression of a male voice, comes jogging down the corridor. As Jessie walks by, Anthony stops her in her tracks and confronts her. Meowth and James, watching from afar, are stunned by the appearance of the real Anthony, as well as Ash and Jenny. Jessie denies being an imposter only for Swalot to use Swallow then Spit Up, spitting out a now costume-less Jessie. Jenny orders her under arrest, only for Jessie to challenge her. However, before she can call out a Pokémon, James and Meowth, afraid of prison, seize her arms and drag her away. Anthony takes his place on stage with an impressive appeal by using Swalot's fluid body for an impressive entry. It then smashes apart its own Sludge Bomb with Bullet Seed and Swallows the whole lot for a clean finish, earning himself 82 points.

May comes out next, and sends out her Skitty to great applause. She orders Assist to successfully produce Silver Wind, then follows up with a range of other attacks which impresses Mr. Sukizo, but Raoul Contesta is not thrilled as Skitty is not showing its own attributes off. However, when Assist becomes Solar Beam, May is thrown off because she did not realize that any of her Pokémon knew Solar Beam. Caroline wonders if Solar Beam belongs to Munchlax, who is sleeping on her lap. May jumps back into action with an Assist that results in Petal Dance, which looks good but leaves Skitty confused. Much to the group's horror, Skitty begins to run in circles much to the audience's amusement. May has no idea how to get Skitty back on track, as she does not want to risk Assist again. Backstage, Harley is gleeful at May's disastrous performance before he is confronted by Drew. Harley shrugs off his foul play tactic as competition. Back on stage, May is still torn and thinks Harley had her best interests at heart, but decides to ignore his advice and tell Skitty to use Double Slap on itself, breaking it out of confusion. Harley is horrified, but Drew is satisfied. May orders Skitty to finish with Blizzard, creating a towering fortress of ice. May scores 79, which has the group in doubt as to whether she can advance. Backstage, May apologizes to Harley for not following his advice, only for Drew to tell her the truth. Harley shrugs it off, saying that if Drew had kept his mouth shut it would have worked. May is angry and hurt, but Harley explains that he wanted revenge for her defeating him in the Purika City competition. May complains that she won fair and square, but Harley replies that she only thinks so because she won. He remarks that she will not be advancing with only a 79 before shouldering past her as he walks off. Drew scolds May and agrees with Harley that she should not listen to other people's advice - she should only do what she knows in her heart is right. May takes the advice to heart, and becomes upset at herself.

Back on stage, Vivian Meridian announces the top three finishers from the Appeals Stage - third: Drew and his Hidden Power-using Masquerain. The field is then covered in Bubbles, which are diverted with Silver Wind, giving Drew a standing ovation and a perfect 100. Harley snidely says it's not great, but Ash and Caroline are both amazed. First place Robert and his Milotic also advance with a perfect score. The top thirty-two are announced. Robert and Drew easily make it through with Harley, and May scrapes through as well. The Coordinators who moved on are paired up for the Double Contest Battles and May is matched with Harley.

On the beach that night, Jessie plans to move on to Plan C - no matter what, she is going to be in the Contest. The next day, Harley and May kick off the first lot of Double Contest Battles - Harley's Cacturne and Banette against May's Bulbasaur and Beautifly. May calls for a fair battle, but Harley's only response is that they have different views of fairness. Finally, May says that she is willing to play rough if that's what it takes to beat Harley.

Major events

 * Harley is revealed to own a Banette.
 * May's Skitty reveals via Assist that Munchlax knows Solar Beam.
 * May, Drew, Harley, and Robert advance to the Battle Stage of the Hoenn Grand Festival.
 * May starts her battle with Harley in the first round of the Battle Stage.