This was originally supposed to be published on Oct 31st, but 'mysterious circumstances' made this a few days late. Heh heh...

Dedicated to: AdorableMe

Happy (late) Birthday AdorableMe! While you're at it, why don't you check out her stories after reading this one? :D

Never Underestimate

"Hey, watch it!"

"Lemme through, lemme through!"

"Get in line!"

Today was a thoroughly chaotic day. It was only a few hours before the after-party of one of the most prestigious Contests held once a year in Goldenrod City. May Maple shook her head as she surveyed the scene inside Candyland. Frantic mothers were randomly buying candy by the kilogram, young children were taking advantage of free (and unfree) samples and the harassed shop assistants were trying to calm everyone down.

The Contest was held in Goldenrod City every year. Only Coordinators with three or more Johto Contest ribbons could enter. The city mayor drew the date of the Contest from 365 slips of paper, and this year the Contest fell on October 31st. May had originally decided to spend Halloween with her family, but seeing as the Contest was such a big event and she had just earned her third ribbon, she felt that it wouldn't hurt to meet more powerful Coordinators.

The Contest was very intense. The judges had refused to give marks higher than 8/10 for anything, so it was a fight between decimal place differences. May had scraped a pass in the appeals round, and to her shock, she was placed against Drew in the first battle round.

May smiled as she thought of the battle they had shared. When the time was up, they had an equal amount of points so they had gone into overtime. Unfortunately, both of their Pokémon fainted while they still had some points left, so the winner would be the person with the most points on the scoreboard. To everyone's surprise, the final tally was still a tie.

May and Drew had two options: They could choose one person to advance to the next round, or they could both forfeit.

As May managed to grab a plastic bag and started spooning candy into it, she grimaced as she remembered the mini argument they had.

***Flashback***

When their final marks were still being tallied, May and Drew moved to the centre of the stage by unspoken agreement. May had offered her rival a weak smile, but he had merely stared at her in return.

"Well, this is the most intense Contest held in Johto, so overtimes occur frequently, but this time their marks are so close that even I'm not sure who'll be the winner! While the judges are tallying the totals, let me ask you a question! Who are you rooting for?" Jillian boomed over the loudspeaker.

"May!"

"Drew!"

"Both!"

Jillian grinned at the audience. "Well, it seems as if we'll know the answer in a few seconds! The winner of this battle round is…"

The spectators leaned forward in their seats, ecstatic that something unexpected had happened so early into the contest. Sure, the battle had been intense, but these kinds of things sent them on the edge of their seats.

On stage, May and Drew were standing side by side, looking up at the large scoreboard. May was practically killing herself with anxiety, knowing that in a few seconds she's either enjoy the feeling of beating Drew once again, or she'd wallow in defeat under his win. Impatiently, she glanced briefly at him and was surprised that he was actually scowling a teensy bit. Not that his fangirls noticed.

"May the best person win," she said while breaking out in a warm smile, attempting to coax a smirk out of his slightly angry demeanour.

Drew stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, much to May's confusion. "Fine," he said coolly, and turned away from her.

Hurt, May turned her attention back to the scoreboard.

"Wow! We still have a tie! For the first time in Johto's Contest history, May and Drew have actually tied once more in overtime! Judges, what will you do to solve this problem?" Jillian squealed in excitement. The spectators chatted eagerly among themselves, glad that they had come to watch the contest.

May let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. For some inexplicable reason, she didn't even feel the slightest bit of remorse. It was almost as if that it was proof May and Drew were equal in their Coordinating abilities now.

Drew's opinions differed, however. He had spent weeks training for the Contest, and this contest was an important addition to the four ribbons he had. He planned to gather his five ribbons early, since he was a little rushed for time in Kanto. He was a person who liked finishing tasks weeks before they were due. Besides, he had never, ever thought that he would run the risk of losing in the first battle round in any contest. As he stared at the equal amounts of points they had on the scoreboard, an unnatural wave of fury swept over him.

Mr. Contesta stood up and cleared his throat to deliver a rare speech. "Well, judging by all the contests we've seen these two in, if we gave them extra overtime they'd either tie once more or one of them would win by a few points, which would be quite unfair. So today, I'm going to introduce a new rule to Contests. If a tie happens in overtime, the two Coordinators can decide who progresses to the next round. If they cannot choose, the spectators can vote for the one they want."

The crowd was in uproar; there had never been any alterations in the Contest rules before. Complete strangers were discussing with each which Coordinator was more worthy to progress to the next round, producing so much ruckus that May and Drew couldn't hear themselves speak.

"Please, calm down!" Jillian called over the loudspeakers. "Don't you want to see- and hear the discussion between the two Coordinators on stage?

The crowd quietened in an instant.

May gulped. "Well, how should I put this?" she said tentatively.

Drew turned to her, a closed expression on his face. May, however, saw that he was barely concealing his anger. His poise and slightly darkened eyes seemed to make an evil aura surround him, (according to May) She involuntarily shivered and took a step back.

Drew sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making fangirls squeal and the crowd hold their breath. "Well, though I generally consider that I am a better Coordinator than you, this battle has changed my opinions completely. If I was feeling selfish, I would've claimed the victory, but since I think that you've earned it today, I vote for you to be the victor in this round." He said his speech smoothly, as if he had prepared it beforehand and handed May a yellow rose.

Jillian grinned and the crowd went crazy. Everyone knew that Drew gave roses to May on an infrequent basis. No one touched much on the topic yet, but fantasizing about famous couples was always fun, wasn't it?

May smiled fakely at him. "Well, I think differently," she countered. "I agree that you have been a better Coordinator since the beginning. I consider my slight wins as chances of luck, and therefore I vote for you to progress to the next round."

The crowd glanced from May to Drew to the judges, wondering what they would do. The judges huddled together for a brief discussion, while May and Drew engaged in a glare-down.

"Well, what do the judges have to say?" Jillian said expectantly.

As Nurse Joy opened her mouth, May quickly interrupted her.

"Wait, it's OK, because I forfeit!"

Every eye turned onto her.

"Umm, are you sure?" Jillian asked. "Personally, I think that both of you should progress to the next round, but since that option isn't available, would you two want to agree on a decision first?"

"No." Drew's eyes were stony as he looked at May. "I forfeit as well."

***End of Flashback***

"Well, at least he didn't yell at me afterwards," May muttered to herself while scooping up some rainbow –coloured candies, "but I wonder where he went after that?"

Shrugging, she paid for the candy she had bought after waiting in the queue for 15 minutes with screaming children and some more frazzled moms.

"I don't care about Halloween spirit, but next year I am not going to buy any candy," May grumbled to herself while exiting the store.

"I see that you're still the immature little girl I met three years ago."

May whipped around, only to find herself uncomfortably close to Drew.

"Whoa, May, not so close," he sneered, stepping back. "What's wrong with you, suddenly attracted to me?"

"What?" May said, shocked. "Are you okay, Drew?"

He smirked and flicked his hair. "I'm always okay, but right now, I'm a bit worried about you. What happened to your hair?"

May smoothed her hair. "Nothing's wrong with it," she said sceptically. "Why do you ask?"

"You look weird," Drew quipped. "On the other hand, I look awesome."

May was wearing a Glaceon costume, which she deemed to be quite cute. Drew was dressed up as a vampire, with fangs which actually looked genuine.

"Okay, thank you for ruining two minutes of my life, now would you like a candy?" May said, offering some rainbow-coloured candies to Drew.

He wrinkled his nose. "Are these…Skittles?"

May nodded slowly. "Yeah…what's wrong with them?"

Drew made a disgusted face. "A Skittle is just coloured sugar shaped into an oval."

"No, they're yummy, and that's what matters!" May defended. "Who cares, candy isn't supposed to be expensive anyways!"

"I beg to differ." Drew's eyes gleamed as he took out a small box full of classy chocolates from his pocket. "Care to have a toffee?"

"Ugh, no thanks." May shook her head slightly. "Well, I'm sorry, but I have things to do and people to see, so…" As she attempted to sidestep Drew, he blocked her way.

"Oh really?" he asked. "Let's see, there's still a few hours before the after party, and in these few hours, trick or treating doesn't start yet, and you already bought a year's supply of candy. Where are you going to go, may I ask?"

"Where I go has nothing to do with you," May snapped back, "And why are we arguing about candy, and about where I'm going to go? It's not like we're friends."

"Oh, really?" Drew asked, eyes gleaming. He took a step towards May. "I thought that after three years, we could be something more than rivals."

"Umm," May stammered, noticing some fake blood on his fangs now that they were in a closer proximity. She took a step back, only for him to move even closer.

"Why are you acting like this today?" she said, eyes wide as he leaned in.

He smirked and pulled back a little, much to May's relief. "Well, I have to act in character," he replied.

"In character for what?" she asked confusedly.

"You're a naïve little Glaceon and I'm a vampire," he said, rolling his eyes to somehow prove his point. "And how to vampires act?"

"Evil?" May squeaked as he leaned in to yet again.

"Haven't you ever heard of Twilight?" Drew breathed into her ear. May shuddered from fright and a twinge of disgust. And what else happens when May is frightened?

"Drew…" she said hesitantly, turning to him. "I wanted to say that…Ah-CHOOO!"

Snot flew and hit him square in the face. Drew stood there, shocked until he frowned and turned on his heel.

"Well, Happy Halloween, May." He muttered, throwing a rose over his shoulder. She caught it deftly and grinned at his retreating figure.

"It must kill him to not wipe it off his face in public, but hey, he knew I was ditsy." May shrugged and continued on her way. "I wonder what'll happen at the after party…"

The End

Well, this was a fun story to write, even if the ending was incredibly weird. What do you think? I sort of fail at humor, but oh well. :/

How much candy did you get for Halloween this year? I didn't go trick-or-treating. :(

Oh, and I attempted to draw a picture of May's costume! The link is on my profile!

Once again, Happy Birthday AdorableMe!

Now remember, check out her stories! :)

Please review!