"Dawn! Dawn" I yelled, at the top of my voice. But she didn't seem to hear me. Was the crowd really that loud? "Dawn! Dawn!" I yelled again, but she still didn't hear me. "Hey Dawn!" I said to her, tapping her shoulder as soon as I reached her.
"Oh, hey Ash. Didn't see you there," she told me, smiling. I could tell she was pretty excited.
"Congratulations on your first win. Wasn't that tough, huh?" I asked, mischievously. I knew it was pretty tough, especially for the fact that May definitely had a huge advantage.
She stared at me. "You kidding me? It was worst than tough!" I laughed.
"Yeah, I kinda figured," I said, winking at her.
"So, who are you up next?"
"Oh, I haven't checked yet. Wanna go check together?"
"Sure."
We walked over to the "Battle Board". Dawn scanned the screen for her picture. So did I. "Hey, here," I said, pointing at her picture.
"Oh great," Dawn said, sweat dropping.
I looked at the picture next to hers. She was up against Kenny. I wonder why she keeps battling coordinators. I mean, she can read coordinators, since she's one of them as well. It would be more of a challenge to battle a breeder or something. I mean, they battle completely different. "You're up against another coordinator, huh?"
She shook her head. "That's not the problem. It's Kenny. He's just…" she started, trying to find the words to finish the sentence.
I nodded, understanding what she meant. "It's hard to battle somebody you've known for such a long time. Especially since they can predict your every move. Plus, Kenny's really good. He almost beat me last year."
"Yeah, Kenny has known me ever since kindergarten. He could predict my every move. I can hardly read his. And he's really tough. How am I supposed to beat him?" she said, walking over to a bench.
I sat down next to her. "Better you than me," I said, remembering the guy I was up against.
"What do you mean?" she asked, leaning closer, real curious.
I stared at the sky. "I'm up against the senior that beat me in the semifinals last year."
"Wow. That's… tough," she said, giving me space.
"Yeah, pretty rough, I guess," I said, feeling uneasy. It's not that I'm uneasy 'cause I'm up against the senior. Well, that and the fact that Dawn just placed her hand on top of mine.
"It's OK, Ash. We can do it," she looked at me, her sapphire eyes sparkling like the radiant sun. Her smile was mysterious, yet sweet. "Promise me one thing."
I looked at her, curious as ever. "What?"
She leaned a little closer. I hope she's not leaning in for a kiss. She held out her pinkie, and said, "We're going to meet and battle in this festival, no matter what."
I did the pinkie swear. "Promise."
It looked like she was going to say more, but they just called my name. I had to go the principal's office, and I didn't like the sound of that.
When I got to the principal's office, Prof. Oak was there, waiting for me. I know, a Pokémon Poet doesn't seem much of a threat, but the guy who does all the threatening is the guy standing next to him, which was my worst nightmare; Prof. Rowan.
Anyways, as I entered the room, I knew I was in trouble. I quickly did a brainstorm in my head of all the pranks or the list of homework I haven't done last week. Today, I had been late, but Ms. Evans doesn't know that. The only prank I pulled was a harmless prank, and I pulled it on Drew, who didn't mind it at all. But I was behind on homework since last two weeks. Maybe that was why I was called. But no one gets called to the principal's office just for being behind on homework during the Battle Festival. Usually it's before or after. So that can't be the reason as well.
"Ash Ketchum," Prof. Oak said, looking at me. I have never seen him this mad. His forehead even has wrinkles. Prof. Rowan always looks mad, no matter what. "Can you tell me why you did this?"
Whoa. This guy is nuts. He called me here, didn't even tell me what I did wrong, and start firing questions. That's not how the system goes, and believe me, I've gone through the system tons of times. "What do you mean sir?"
"Don't play games with me, Ketchum," Prof. Rowan glared at me with cold eyes. "Just come clean, and we'll let you off easy."
"I'm serious sir. I have no idea what you are talking about," I said, trying to convince him. I seriously have no idea what they're talking about.
Prof. Rowan started walking around me. "Are you sure you want to lie, Mr. Ketchum?"
"I'm not lying, sir. But if this is about me being behind on homework, I promise to do better."
"Nice try, Ketchum. This time your pranks have gone too far." This time, it was Prof. Oak who snapped at me. "We know you were the one who blackmailed us into thinking that my grandson stole the prize money for the Battle Festival. This case has your name printed all over it. Now come clean, and we'll let you go."
"The prize money was stolen?" I asked, shocked.
Prof. Rowan stifled a laugh. "Ketchum, you have exactly until the end of the festival to return the prize money or you will be expelled."
"But I didn't steal it!"
Prof. Oak looked at me coldly. "And to think I trusted you ever since I gave you your Pikachu. Go now. You do have somewhere else to be." He waved his hand, and Prof. Rowan shoved me, yes shoved me, outside.
What a mess this is, and for once, I wasn't the mastermind behind all of that.
