Me: I'm on a creative burst of energy, I guess. Here's the second chapter! BTW, I fogot to mention last chapter-Dawn, May, Leaf, Zoey, and Misty's homeroom teacher (Mr. Nikaidou) was referenced from a pretty famous anime. Can you guess which one (hint: the anime was based after an award-winning manga, and the anime was three seasons long, subbed only.)
I bent down to tie the laces on my pink rollerblades.
"Come on, Dawn, we don't have all day!" Misty bellowed at me, and I stood up, ready to go.
"Sheesh, I'm coming," I answered, making my way over to them.
All five of us started going to school. I lagged behind in my rollerblades, and May stayed next to me on her bike. Zoey and Leaf chatted in front of us, both of them biking too. Misty forged ahead of us all on her flaming skateboard.
I dodged a pebble that was lying on the leaf-strewn sidewalk. The days had flown by-it was already mid-November, and the trees lining the road were bare. A chilly wind nipped at my black windbreaker, and my navy hair flew into my face.
"Thinking much?" Zoey asked, slowing down to come next to me. May moved around her and joined Leaf.
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," I admitted. Zoey had become a really good friend ever since the second day of school when she walked home with us. Now, she was close to all of us.
"Well, we all have quiet days," Zoey said softly. "It's nice to listen to the silence sometimes, to appreciate your surroundings."
"Yeah…" I exhaled, looking all around me like a fascinated toddler. The breeze rushed by and ruffled my clothes. All five of us enjoyed the quiet and sense of peace.
Misty flipped up her skateboard as she reached the high school's door. The rest of us soon followed, taking off helmets, un-strapping kneepads, and untying laces. We were about to walk inside when someone shouted out to us.
"Hey! Is that you, Misty?" A boy riding a skateboard jumped off, picked up the board, and ran up to us. A Pikachu followed him, and then jumped onto his shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you!"
Ash was someone that we regularly saw during the day. He was a really nice kid, but he was as oblivious and dense as a chocolate bar. Speaking of food, his stomach had an endless capacity. Once he started eating, he couldn't stop!
Ash and I had talked some-he talked with everybody. He loved to battle too-I couldn't even count the number of times he forced me out onto the Pallet High Battlefield impromptu. But, out of all of us, Ash always went to Misty. He always talked to her. They were good friends, really, no matter how much Misty yelled at Ash for being somewhat stupid.
"Hi, Ash!" Misty said cheerfully. Her face lit up in such a brilliant way, and her aura seemed to glow like a Lanturn.
Ash bent down as he panted. Pikachu jumped off his back and into Misty's arms, cuddling with her, and Misty smiled.
"I didn't know you rode a skateboard, Misty. Why didn't you tell me that?" Ash pouted like a toddler, and Misty giggled. I had heard Misty laugh many times before, but the way she laughed then sounded absolutely amazing. I had never seen her so happy.
"You never asked," Misty replied cheekily, and Ash grinned, not breaking the eye contact.
Misty's cheeks got a light pink dusting as she kept staring into Ash's chocolate brown eyes, and I saw Ash's ears taint red. That was so sweet!
Leaf was smirking, and May was softly squealing. Zoey shut her up, looking at the two of them expectantly. Would something happen? I thought.
"Um," Ash gulped, suddenly nervous. "Y-you can come skateboarding with me sometime, if you want. I mean, I'm not forcing you-"
"Yeah, I will sometime." Misty winked slyly at him. "See ya later."
I couldn't believe what I had just seen. Had a boy just asked Misty to do something with him? Does that count as being asked out? More importantly, did she actually flirt? I was in utter shock and disbelief for a couple seconds, as all those questions ran through my head.
"Woah, making your move, huh?" Zoey remarked suggestively, and Misty swatted her away. May laughed, and Misty swatted her too.
"But, seriously, do you like him?" Leaf asked, but we already knew the answer.
Ever since the first day of school, when Ash and Misty battled for the first time in Talents, Ash and Misty had been close. They were together a lot of the time during school hours, and lately, Misty had been texting him a lot after school.
It was clear to all of us that they really liked being in each other's presence, and that they probably were more than just good friends.
"He's just too dense," Misty replied, looking down at her uniform shoes.
"Actually, I think he's seeing you a little differently too now," I burst out, and Misty looked up at me dubiously. However, May nodded, and I became confident. "He was blushing."
Misty's face turned red as a tomato as she stammered, "St-still!" I didn't know what she still had to deny.
The bell rang, and we dispersed to our classes.
I trudged into the cafeteria much later into the day, exhausted by all the work our teachers were giving us.
I located our usual table, where everybody was already sitting. May had saved a seat next to her for me, and I plopped down in it. Leaf was on the other side of me, and Zoey was next to her.
"Where's Misty?" I asked automatically. Leaf shrugged.
"You know, I can't find Ash anywhere either…" Kenny added, munching on a cracker. Kenny, a slightly obnoxious brunette coordinator, was a regular around us too, and he and Ash were pals. Of course, he also had another legitimate reason to sit at our table-he was Zoey's boyfriend.
Kenny had entered our homeroom in early October, and Zoey was love struck as soon as she laid her eyes on him. She didn't waste any time either-she asked him out the very next day, and he said yes. Now, they were probably one of the school's cutest couples.
"Can't find Ash or Misty, and don't know why? You guys really are dumb." Drew flipped his forest green hair, sliding into the chair next to May.
May frowned. "Shut it, grasshead."
"They're probably making out somewhere, its way too obvious to see that they both like each other." Drew took a bite into his sandwich.
"I never thought I'd actually agree with you," Leaf remarked. May huffed.
Its way too obvious to see that you like Drew, May, I thought, smirking.
Drew, another coordinator with green, flip-able hair, became another addition to our table. Ever since May and Drew battled in Talents, they had been rivals, and Drew was always hanging around, pouncing on any chance to tease May. May, in turn, argued with him to the best of her abilities, which weren't very admirable.
But, you could really see that May was developing a very small, secret crush on him-and Drew, who was starting to get very flirty and suggestive with her, had liked her from the start.
"Where's Gary?" Kenny asked.
"He needs to stay in for lunch and finish something for Mrs. Jenkins," Drew replied, multitasking as he shoved May out of her seat.
Gary-yet another arrogant, brunette heartthrob who had decided to torment us. We hadn't thought that someone could be haughtier than Drew, but we were proved wrong by Gary's larger-than-life ego. A powerful trainer, he knew how to hold his ground in battle.
Out of all of us, Leaf seemed to be his main interest, and he picked at her a lot, quite similar in the way Drew teased May. Leaf reacted in the same way as May-arguing and hitting.
And, everybody knew that we had two budding relationships on our hands.
We all started to eat our lunch, with three empty seats glaring at us. While two of them did get filled later on, one stayed empty for the whole of lunch.
Ash and Misty came in about five minutes before lunch ended, and they were bombarded with questions like, "Were you making out?", "Who got expelled?", "Where is the crime scene?", and of course, "What happened?"
Misty smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see."
However, Ash did not have as much self-control as Misty, so he burst out, "Me and Mist signed everybody up for the Thanksgiving Fair Scavenger Hunt!"
My first thought was, OMG HE CALLED HER MIST! HE HAS A NICKNAME FOR HER! HE SO LIKES HER!
My second thought was not as exciting though (it involved lots of inappropriate language toward Ash)
I was decent enough to keep all of my thoughts to myself, however, the majority of the people at the table weren't. May, Drew, and Kenny had all shown Ash what they thought of his grand plan, and Misty was not left unscathed by Leaf. Zoey and I just sat there, unsure of what to do.
The Thanksgiving Fair was something held by the Pallet Town High every year during Thanksgiving break. It was a couple hours long, and it involved all the regular games, food, and fun that you would see at a regular fair. However, the main draw was the Annual Scavenger Hunt, which was the fair's claim to fame. Every year, that was the most popular and fun event, and people always tried very hard for the prize, which was an ice-cream machine, and the usual year food-supply of pokemon food for the winner's pokemon. Speaking of which, pokemon were allowed to be used in the competition.
"Well, there's no turning back now," Kenny sighed, leaning back in his chair. Everybody nodded. My nails inched toward my mouth.
"Hey…who wants to tell Gary?"
Unsurprisingly, Leaf got unanimously voted to tell Gary that they were going to participate in the Scavenger Hunt. We were all secretly hoping in our hearts that something might happen and force the two together, but instead, Gary came back after an abnormally long time to beat Ash up, Leaf coming up behind him, slightly red in the face.
Later, when the hubbub had died down, I asked Ash the details. Everybody was hanging outside the school, and it was a nice day. So, he told us.
"You know how there's teams for the hunt? Well, I put you five girls on a team, and us five boys on a team." Ash said smartly.
We girls grinned, and bumped fists. That's when I realized something. "Wait, there are only four of you guys…"
All the boys (who were also grinning and bumping fists) stopped in their tracks, but Ash kept talking smartly. "Yeah, I knew that, so I signed up Paul to be a part of our team."
I didn't know what to think. Paul actually said okay to be a part of a team that Ash was on?
Apparently, the boys thought the same thing. "What? Are you kidding Ash? Paul's really on our team!" Gary exclaimed, and Ash nodded. He let out a whoop, and added, "There's no way we can lose now!"
However, before Leaf could contradict that statement, Ash remarked, "Well, I still have to tell him."
It was quiet for a moment. Everybody was completely stunned at what he said, including Misty, who had been only half-listening to the conversation the whole time. (She was listening to her IPod) Then, the boys broke out into chaos, while all five of us girls started snickering.
Gary roared, "What the hell Ashy-boy!" Leaf had to hold him back, and she started turning red, whether from the effort or blushing was unknown.
Drew held his head and looked like he wanted to pull out all of his gorgeous locks of green hair that he must have spent hours on each morning.
Kenny just plopped onto the ground, shell-shocked. He didn't say a word, and we thought he had died sitting down with his eyes opened and jaw touching the ground.
Of course, Ash was the one who must have really died, because after the boys were done with him, I was sure he would never look the same again. (Miraculously, he was all better the next morning)
"Someone has to still tell him," Kenny pointed out, after getting over his shock.
Drew, Gary, and Kenny all glared at Ash with as much ferocity as Misty, and poor Ash had no choice but to weakly gulp yes.
Ash headed to the back of the school, where Paul was shooting hoops at the school's basketball court. Paul was the best player on the school's team, and he put in a lot of practice every day. He was quite serious about it.
All of us snuck after Ash. We didn't want to miss a second of it. So, as Ash walked up from behind Paul, we all peeked around the wall, holding our breaths.
"Paul." Ash tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't move.
"Paul." Ash tapped again. He still didn't budge.
"Paul!" Ash started punching him lightly in the back. Paul twitched slightly.
Just when I thought Ash was going to go on overdrive and jump onto his back, Paul turned around. He bonked the basketball into Ash's face, and Ash fell onto the grass, knocked out. Misty gasped and we all came out from our hiding place to make sure he was okay. Paul went back to shooting hoops.
"Hey, don't you even care that you might have killed him?" Misty shouted, and Paul sighed.
"Can't I get some peace and quiet when I practice?" Paul growled, but Misty kept glaring.
"Hey dude, we didn't mean to annoy you, but we needed to ask ya something," Kenny said.
Paul turned around. "Will you get out of my face if I listen to you?"
Gary was about to make some cheeky reply there before Leaf clamped a hand over his mouth. What I saw Gary do after that caught me completely off-guard. He started licking her hand. Leaf gasped softly, and I seemed to be the only one who heard. (probably because I was next to her) He then bit her hand gently, and a short, deep sound came from Leaf's throat. Before I could vomit on the ground and say anything, Kenny continued.
"Ash did something stupid and signed us all up for the Thanksgiving Fair Scavenger Hunt. Because we needed five on the team, he signed you up with us, thinking you would come along. I feel like an idiot asking, but will you come?"
Paul was quiet for a moment. Then he simply said, "No." Kenny nearly fell over.
Drew stepped up. "Please, man, we need you. We can't back out now."
Paul sighed again and turned around to face us. "It's not my problem that you were signed up. I never asked to be a part of this. Just because Ash signed me up doesn't mean I'll just automatically go with you guys. I have a life too. I don't care that you guys might get disqualified or whatever. Isn't that what you want anyway? You never wanted to do this, right?" All the boys stared, dumbfounded.
Then I spoke up. I still can't explain why I did, but something in my gut compelled me to.
"I know you don't like us and don't want anything to do with us. But that doesn't mean that you just leave us out in the cold! The guys need you. I agree, it was a dumb thing on Ash's part, but he trusted you, and thought you would help. Would you really put someone down like that? Would you really let down your team? Just because it's not basketball doesn't mean its okay to just do what you want. What, do you do this in basketball too? Disagree with your whole team and try to make the winning shot of glory yourself?" I said. I felt like a college professor giving a lecture.
Paul stared at me, his cold onyx eyes unwavering. I kept the eye contact, feeling drawn to his porcelain face. His purple bangs flew around in the breeze and his mouth was pressed in a tight line. His mouth…I was suddenly disgusted with myself for looking at his mouth with interest, and dropped the gaze.
Paul looked away too. He glanced at the hoop, me, the hoop, the boys, and me again. Finally, he said, "Yeah, fine, I'll be there. But don't get used to it."
Soon enough, the dreaded day of the Thanksgiving Annual Fair arrived. I came, dressed up in jeans and a Team 5 t-shirt. All of the participants in the scavenger hunt got a t-shirt with their team number on it. There were six teams; we girls were the fifth, the boys were the sixth.
Since it was a bit early, we set around to playing some of the games. At the Potato Sack Race, Drew won, after knocking over Ash and Misty. (The only ones who could catch up with him) Sadly, May, the one who actually wanted to compete with him, fell over herself in her own well-known clumsiness.
At the Three-Legged Races, I teamed up with May and Leaf. Misty went with Zoey and Kenny. I paired up with Leaf because I wanted to ask her about what went on with her and Gary yesterday, but I didn't get the chance to during the game.
Then, it was time for what we all had been waiting for-the Scavenger Hunt.
"Come one, come all, come for the Annual Scavenger Hunt!" the MC, Vivian, called, and the crowd roared back with much enthusiasm.
"Now, now, keep your hats on; I know this is exciting, but really!" Vivian laughed, and then turned around on the stage. "This year we have six teams. A little on the lesser side, but nonetheless very thrilling!"
Vivan started presenting the teams as she did every year, and the crowd was clapping and hooting their heads off. The first team was made up of some giddy adults. The second was made up of some random kids I had never seen before. The third team was actually May's younger brother, Max, with a bunch of his other nerdy friends, and he cracked his knuckles and laughed at May's shocked face when Vivian announced his team.
The fourth team, however, changed our entire demeanor entirely.
"And, here is the top favorite, the team that has won the Hunt for three years in a row, the Anti-mon team!"
The crowd went absolutely wild as they were revealed, and I clenched my fists. Even though I was doing this for fun, I really didn't like the people on this team, and I certainly didn't like their style of playing. I could even use the word hate to describe how I felt toward them, I just really loathed them.
Amy, a girl with short silver hair and glasses, could be considered the leader. Her main purpose for living was really Paul. We all doubted whether Paul even knew she existed, but when she saw him on the boy's team, she squealed in delight and started jumping up and down.
Her team included Drew's ultimate fan girl and May's rival, Brianna; Melody, a musically talented girl who seemed to have a major crush on Ash; Giselle, an extremely pretty brunette who was a sucker for Gary; and Ursula, who was just a pink-haired, mean, spoiled brat.
"Hey, nice, we could use this to our advantage." Drew started whispering to his team mates, and I overheard. "Amy might be so much of a sucker for Paul that she could give us the win!"
I smirked. They had forgotten about us, and how we were going to kick their butts in the Hunt.
"Next, with a very good chance of winning, is the Poke-Gals Team!" We girls all bowed in unison like we practiced, and the cheering increased. We smiled at each other, and exchanged a feeling of sheer confidence.
"And last, but certainly not least, is the all-boy team, the Poke-Guys Team!" The boys waved to the crowd, and fan girl screams erupted from the crowd. Paul didn't even move, yet he still got some of the loudest hollers (a lot coming from Amy)
"And, now, that all the teams have been introduced, we're ready to start!" Vivan bellowed, and, though it seemed impossible, the crowd got louder. A nervous clenching feeling occurred in my stomach, and suddenly, my nails looked extremely appetizing.
Every team assembled at the starting line. Vivan walked through and handed a list of the items we needed to find to one person in the team. She handed ours to Misty. Then she ran through the rules.
"All of the items are located in the Viridian Forest here, so you will get disqualified if you go out of bounds. And remember, you all have the same list, and there is only one of each item available, so to get as many items as you can, you can battle others or use other cunning means to get the item from them! You can also get the items from other sources as long as they are inside bounds. But stay safe, or you'll get disqualified. In two hours, everybody must assemble at the finish line, and the team with the most items at that time wins!"
Misty huddled us together. "Look, there are twenty items on the list. So, each of us will have to find four."
"May, you find the lip gloss, the watch, the fountain pen, and the-" Misty squinted at the paper. "Thorn less rose." May blushed a deep scarlet red, and we all knew why.
"Zoey, you're finding the picture frame, the-" Misty stifled a giggle. "The Hanes boxers, a diary, and a fake nail." Zoey also flushed red, but started laughing, so there was less tension in the air.
"Leaf, you need to get a rubber glove, a pair of headphones, some aftershave, and a crushed up soda can. Dawn, you're in charge of the pillow, the accordion folder, the cheerleader pom pom, and the neon green bow tie. I'll find the scarf, a hat, the ninja star, and the conch shell."
Misty finished just in time, because at that moment, Vivan started the countdown from three. Everybody bent back at the line, ready to bolt into the woods when she said go.
"Three…two…one…GO!" She shot off a blank from the starter's pistol, the crowd cheered, and we were all off.
I dashed into the woods, fingering my Empoleon's pokeball. How was I ever going to get out of this alive? And, how would I ever find a pillow, an accordion folder, a cheerleader pom pom, and a bow tie in the Viridian Forest? Not to mention that the bow tie was neon green.
I sighed, deciding to look for the pillow first. I headed deeper into the forest, hoping that I would magically find a clean pillow propped up against a tree.
