Voting Polls? Check.

Venue? Check.

DJ and Music? Check.

Food and Drinks? Check.

Security? Pending.

Tickets? Ready to go on sale.

Prom Decorations? Almost.

Dawn checked off the items as her eyes scanned down the list. It was the middle of the day, in the middle of Dawn's study hall, so she thought that she might get a head start and talk with Principle Rowan about the expenses of the event. She was currently on the cushioned seats outside of the principal's door. The entire administration building was quiet except for the ringing of telephones and the scratch of pen on paper.

As she was reading over the list again, the door swung open. Dawn glanced up to see Paul saunter in with a loose posture, portraying just how much he didn't care about everything. She gave him a disgusted look as he sat down next to her with about a meter of space between them. When he turned to make eye contact with her, she quickly averted her gaze back down to her notebook.

Paul gave her an equally perturbed look as the one she gave him. The school's goody-two-shoes in the principal's office? Well, that's a sight, Paul thought. Beside him, Professor Juniper had been writing the change in calendars on a blackboard with chalk. Paul smirked. He could have some fun with this.

"Hey, Juniper," He started, looking up innocently had her with his disheveled purple hair and piercing onyx eyes. Professor Juniper looked down at him with an air of disapproval.

Paul continued. "I turned 18 last week. You know what that means right?" He had a coquettish smirk playing on his lips.

Professor Juniper looked at him with mock curiosity. "They can try you as an adult?" and with a turn of her head, she was back to writing on the chalkboard.

"Juni! You break my heart!" Paul exclaimed like Tommy Wiseau in The Room.

Okay, Dawn had to laugh at that.

"It means we can finally run away together." Professor Juniper fully faced the troubled teen and raised an eyebrow at him.

Paul continued to run with the act. "You, me, the open road."

Professor Juniper let out a scoff and walked her way to the staff room, leaving Paul and Dawn alone in the waiting room.

It was silent for a beat until leaned his head over, glancing at the bluenette's notes in her lap. "So, what are you in for?" He asked her.

Dawn stayed quiet and so Paul continued to tease her. "Let me guess." He leaned in a little bit closer. "Trouble at the model UN?"

The bluenette stayed quiet.

"Prom poster crisis?"

No response.

"Wait, I know."

Dawn shifted quickly growing tired of his wit and jabs at her "perfectness."

"You're receiving an award," he paused for dramatic effect, "for most rewards." Paul smirked as if he finally had her.

Dawn only looked over with a sickeningly sweet smile and responded, "Actually, I'm in trouble this time."

Paul deadpanned. "Really?"

The bluenette nodded solemnly and started telling her sob story. "They caught me riding around school on my little moped." Paul rolled his eyes, acknowledging that this was a jab at him. "Because I think I'm such a rebel."

"It's not a moped," he was quick to correct her. Dawn inclined her head towards him. "It's a 1972 Norton Commando."

Dawn gave him another sickeningly cute smile. "It's adorable." And with that, she turned back to her notebook.

Paul narrowed his eyes at her and yet, he was amused. No one had ever dared to banter with him, in fear that they might get viciously attacked. This girl…Paul smirked, she really is something.

He was about to counter when a stern voice interrupted them.

"Paul Shinji, my office, now." Before them stood Professor Rowan, the principle of Veilstone High School. Normally a relaxed and sophisticated man of authority was now restraining his anger from getting the best of him.

He really must have done something to rile up Principal Rowan, Dawn thought as she watched Paul get up and walk into the Rowan's office.

"Dawn, I'll have those papers for you by lunch." Dawn broke out of her reverie when Professor Rowan spoke to her. She tried to flash him a quick smile, but it was too late. The office door had been closed and Paul was left to fend the dragon off himself.

X.X.X

"Shinji, Shinji, Shinji."

Paul plopped down on the cushioned seats. He slumped his figure, allowing his neck to rest on the back of the chair. He watched as Professor Rowan fetched a red file almost opened from the number of papers within it. No doubt referral notes and detention slips about Paul's behavior.

Professor Rowan flipped through some of the documents before reading one aloud. "Paul has cut last period every Monday for four weeks." His cold blue eyes glanced up from the paper to stare down the troubled trainer. "Know what this means?"

Paul shrugged. "I'm consistent?"

"You do realize you're only cheating yourself, Mr. Shinji?" Professor Rowan suddenly raised his voice.

Paul, defiant as ever, didn't even flinch. In fact, he decided to rile up the Professor even more just for calling him Mr. Shinji. "Y'know, I had a talk with myself about that." He sat up and placed his forearms on his knees.

"Turns out…" he paused for dramatic effect as the Professor leaned on his knuckles placed on the polished wood desk. "I'm okay with it."

Professor Rowan stood back up and tossed the file onto his desk. With an exasperated sigh, he stated. "I don't have time for this." He sat in the plush office chair.

The professor relaxed his neck. "Today, it's cutting class. Last month, it's fighting in the cafeteria?"

Paul smirked, remembering the clamor when he sent out his Torterra to battle Trip. Not that Trip was going to back down. He readily sent out his own Serperior and they were having a full out battle in the food hall. Paul would've won, too, if it wasn't for Mr. Wake and Mr. Byron stopping them.

"You don't care about anything, and both you and I know…" Paul forced himself to make eye contact with the steel gazed man. "…you're going nowhere."

Paul didn't want to admit that those words stung. His pride didn't allow him to feel the hurt as a principal, a person who is supposed to motivate students, essentially say that he was a lost cause. Paul, instead, sat up straighter in his chair, as if challenging the professor to say more.

"The good news is, the really good news," Professor Rowan continued, "in a month and a half, that's not gonna be my problem because I'm going on vacation, and you are gonna disappear forever."

Paul nodded as if he was listening. He really wasn't. He had heard this lecture as many times as he walked the halls of Veilstone High.

"You wanna do that with a diploma, that's up to you." Professor Rowan leaned forward and placed his hands on his desk and folded them. "Six weeks, Shinji. Six weeks. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yeah," Paul answered, even surprised at how loud he said it, "I'll leave this place in one piece for ya."

He mimicked the Professor's pose, placing his own hands folded on the polished wood of the desk. "Because in September, you're gonna be right back here."

Professor Rowan heaved out a sigh and very lowly, very dangerously, commanded. "Get to class."

Paul locked eyes for a second more before standing up and walking back out of the office space. Relatively speaking, it was better than almost all of the other meetings that took place with Professor Rowan or his teachers. Why?

Because he didn't compare me to Reggie.

X.X.X

"What is this?' Yellow asked Red in the secluded hallway between Pokémon Evolution Studies and Pokémon Psychology. In her hand, she held a sole dangling earring. It was gold with similar golden tassels dangling off of it.

Red raised an eyebrow at her and simply replied. "An earring."

Yellow rolled her eyes at his simplicity. "Very good." She shifted her hips. "Why was it in your car?"

Red looked taken aback for the fleetest of moments before resuming his neutral façade. "I drove half the girls' swim team to The Miltank Café last week."

"You did?" Yellow looked at him in disbelief.

Red took her by the sides and looked into her eyes. "Yes. Stop acting crazy. You're my girl." Yellow had to smile at that. "We're going to prom together." The smile was dropped and turned into a sour frown.

"What is it?" Red asked, crossing his arms.

Yellow sighed. "You need to ask me."

"I have plans." Red simply answered.

Yellow turned to walk back to her class but stopped. She grasped Red's hand and dropped the gold earring into the open palm. "Here," she started, "For the swim team."

As she walked off, Red grasped the piece of jewelry tightly.

X.X.X

*Moments by De Lux

After school was just as busy as during school hours.

The Veilstone "Impacts" Battlers were practicing for the tournament against Snowpoint City's "Gales" Battlers. Boys and girls clad in the golden and black jerseys called out attacks on the field. Red had ordered his Charizard to fly as Blue's Blastoise fired a Hydro Cannon. White, Sapphire, Platina, Pearl, Silver, Ash, and Brock watched from the sidelines.

The "Impacts" Coordinators were also prepping for their own tournament against Eterna City's "Roses" Coordinators. Fitted in their black and golden formal wear, they called combinations as their attacks rained down on the field next to the Battlers. Drew smirked as his Roserade successfully pulled off a Petal Dance and Seed Bomb combination, earning the compliments of Solidad, Harley, Brianna, Ruby, Kenny, and Zoey. He turned to address his teammates.

Then, there was the marching band: Veilstone's Golden Regiment practicing for their next marching season. They could hear the trumpets of "Say La La" play with gusto from the band field.

Dawn and May would be practicing along with the coordinators. Lucas and Barry would be practicing with the battlers and Leaf would be studying with Gary, but instead, they were carrying a paper maché moon into the unused shed by the battling field.

"I got it. I got it…" Barry said as prepared to hold the ending curve of the moon.

"Okay, here we go." Soon enough, five people all raised a moon decoration above their heads.

Dawn called out to the guys at the end. "You guys got it?"

"Yep. You guys alright?" Lucas replied.

Leaf answered for them. "Yeah."

"Feel like I'm carrying all the weight."

"Me too."

"I feel like you're carrying all the weight."

"Lower it." Dawn guided them into the shack.

The moon dangerously tugged on the star decorations at the top of the shack and so, May yelled. "Careful of the stars!"

"Let it down." Barry commanded, softly setting the moon

"Hey, man, relax." Lucas chided playfully.

*Music Fades Out

All five let out a sigh as the moon made it into the shack in one piece. Dawn walked out briskly and consulted her clipboard. The rest filed out behind her.

"Are we…" Lucas paused to look at all the completed prom decorations, "done?"

Barry spoke up beside him in disbelief, "What?"

Dawn turned and found all their eyes were on her. "Well…" she trailed off.

Barry, Leaf, and May looked at her in desperation. She knew that they needed to go practice with their respective teams and Leaf just wanted to spend time with her boyfriend.

"That was the last of our prom decorations…" Dawn continued, earning eager and excited smiles from everyone. "But…" the smiles faltered. "We still have to figure out a floor plan, come up with a schedule of who's selling tickets, get the voting system down for Prom King and Queen, and…" Dawn stopped when she realized that their smiles had disappeared. She quickly brightened up, "But you know what? I can totally do that stuff later." Their smiles came back.

"So, you guys are…done." May and Leaf let out a cheer as Lucas and Barry high-fived each other.

"In three weeks, Starry Night will be Veilstone's best prom ever." Dawn declared.

Barry looked at her dumbly. "Our theme is Starry Night?"

Lucas chuckled at him as May and Leaf offered endearing smiles.

Dawn sweat-dropped and motioned to the star and moon decorations. "Yeah."

Barry perked up and exclaimed, "Cool!"

The bluenette laughed at her childhood friend before addressing the four people that helped her. "I can't thank you guys enough for all your hard work, but when those couples walk through the door and see how perfect it is, it's gonna be so worth it." Lucas, May, and Leaf all gave Dawn soft smiles.

Dawn suddenly perked up and produced several envelopes from her back pocket. "Plus, you each get two free tickets to prom." She started handing out the tickets.

"May."

"Thanks!" She thanked before she skipped away to the coordinator field, tossing a pokéball that released her Blaziken.

"Leaf."

"Thank you!" She said, walking to retrieve her backpack.

"Barry."

"Ayyy." He strolled over to the battlers, releasing his own Empoleon to join the fight.

"And Lucas." He took the envelope with the same boyish smile he gave Dawn earlier, nearly causing Dawn to have the same reaction.

"Thank you." And he walked off, releasing his Mamoswine in the process.

Dawn stared after him longingly before turning around in dismay when he didn't come back. She saw Leaf struggling to put the tickets in her backpack and walked up beside her. She stuffed the clipboard into her own backpack.

"So," Dawn started. Leaf turned her head and tilted it cutely. "How did Gary take it when you told him about Kanto?"

"I haven't exactly told him yet." Leaf smoothly stated, finally getting the envelope to fit inside the front pocket her bag.

Dawn looked at her brunette friend with a dumbfounded expression. "Leaf," she started. Already, Leaf felt the seriousness in her tone. "You have to tell him."

Leaf focused on zipping up her backpack. In the process, she got out a pokéball and released her Leafeon.

Dawn noticed that it was a way to distract herself from the conversation, so she gently held Leaf's shoulder. "He thinks you're staying here and going to the Sinnoh Institute of Pokémon Research in Eterna City with him. You got into Elite University in Saffron City." Dawn let go of the other girl's shoulder. "It's a huge deal."

"I know," Leaf said, exasperation laced in her voice. "I haven't decided if I'm going. It'll be like breaking up with him. How can I do that?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Both girls instantly stiffened as the man in question appeared right around the corner. He surprised Leaf with a hug from behind.

Gary Oak was Professor Oak's grandson. Out of his own merit, and not nepotism, Gary had secured a spot in the Sinnoh Institute of Pokémon Research by accepting his grandfather's interning position. His brown hair was gelled up and he wore khaki shorts with a fitted black collared shirt and grey loafers. It was a miracle that Gary the Playboy had changed so much ever since he met Leaf. The two were practically inseparable.

"Prom's looking good," he said to Dawn as he placed his chin on Leaf's head. The brunette snuggled into his embrace. "Guess I better find a hot girl to go with." Leaf smacked him for that.

"Right," the brunette said before leaning up to kiss him. Dawn awkwardly stood in her spot and studied the grass by her dusty pink flats.

"What are you doing here?" Leaf asked once they broke apart.

Gary only gave her the grin that made Leaf absolutely mad about him. Something about the way one corner of his lips upturned caused her to go wild. Not that Dawn could complain. Lucas does it every time. Must be a guy thing.

"Come with me." And with that Leaf was whisked away, leaving Dawn to herself.

"Bye guys." Dawn called after they left.

X.X.X

*If You're Over Me by Years & Years

Gary led Leaf to the front rows of the darkened auditorium. The curtains were drawn to a close on stage and it was empty save for the two of them.

"Sit here." He guided her.

As he got up to leave, Leaf lightly grasped his arm. "Wait, what's going on?"

Gary only winked at her. "You'll see." And then he dashed off behind the stage.

Leaf waited patiently and was startled when the curtains suddenly pulled apart to reveal a pitch-black stage.

"P" Gary's voice was amplified by a microphone. Speakers in the auditorium echoed his voice. On stage, the letter P was constructed out of white cardboard and was illuminated by a spotlight. "It's for the paralyzing crush I had on the new girl in my math class in the eighth grade."

Leaf had started crying when she remembered the awkward boy with too much gel in his hair approach her and asked for help on systems of equations.

Gary kept talking. "Her name was Leaf, and she was awesome."

The spotlight on the P died out and soon illuminated the letter R.

"R: It's for the really long time it took me to get up the nerve to ask her out." Leaf laughed as she remembered how it took Gary the entirety of sophomore year to become her boyfriend.

"O: is for the only girl I've ever called my girlfriend, and the only one I ever want to." Leaf smiled softly at this profound declaration. Gary the Playboy had indeed settled down.

"and M…is for my future with you, of course, when we take the Sinnoh Institute of Pokémon Research by storm together!" Leaf felt as if she had been punched in the gut.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself," Gary's voice broke her out of her reverie, "Because before graduation and college and the rest of our lives together, there's something I need to ask…"

All stage lights turned on to reveal the four letters that were previously illuminated. At the end, Gary stood with a question mark written on poster board. He grinned cutely at Leaf who just cried in joy.

"Yes! Yes!" Leaf answered. She quickly got up from her seat as Gary placed the poster on the floor before inviting her in for a hug. She ran up the stage steps and into his opened arms for an embrace, ending in a kiss amongst the stage light.

X.X.X

Throughout the course of the following week, the number of promposals had sky-rocketed upon word of Gary's promposal. Immediately, other seniors started jumping on the bandwagon.

Xavier had placed sticky notes on the walkway window connecting the upper floors of Building 15 and 16 together, spelling out "Prom?" When he saw Yvonne walking up the steps from the parking lot with Moon, he called out to her. She jumped in happiness and quickly accepted. Xavier ran down the building staircase to meet her whilst Yvonne ran into the building to meet him.

As Platina was driving home, she pulled up to her driveway to find "Prom?" decoratively drawn in chalk. She parked her car and walked up to the front steps of her house. Diamond was waiting there with a bouquet of flowers. She eagerly accepted and the two shared a hug.

When Whitney arrived at her locker on Wednesday morning, she saw that rose petals had been placed to spell "Prom?" on the next 5 lockers. Behind her was Blake asked her to prom. She kissed him instead of answering verbally.

Blue told Green to meet him in the quad. Before she walked onto the field, he covered her eyes and led her towards a line of guys. When he let go, she laughed upon seeing that Pearl, Silver, Red, and Gold were shirtless with the letters of "Prom" painted on their chests and stomachs. Blue ran to the end and took off his own shirt, revealing the missing "?". Green laughed and accepted. She gave Blue a kiss as the guys hooted and wolf-whistled.

After school, N was decked out in a full tux. He finished writing the message on his poster-board in black Sharpie. It said: White, let's go to prom if you ever get out of detention! He capped the marker, fixed his suit jacket, and made sure the flowers didn't slip when he held the board. With an air of confidence and childishness, he marched into the room that hosted detention. White immediately saw him and laughed. She nodded her head and N placed the flowers on her desk. However, she didn't get a chance to hug him as the detention teacher, Mr. Grimsley chased after him. N threw the poster at the teacher before darting down the halls with Mr. Grimsley hot on his trail.

*Music Fades Out

X.X.X

It was Thursday afternoon. Afterschool practice had just been going on in order to prepare for the tournaments on Friday. Reaching almost 6:30, both the battlers and the coordinators decided to call it a day.

Dawn was decked out in black athletic shorts, black crew socks, white trainers, and a yellow crop top she cut out of an oversized shirt advertising "Veilstone Varsity Impact Coordinators". Her hair was up in a disheveled ponytail as sweat trickled down her neck. She recalled her Togekiss and complimented on a job well done in battle. She drank from her water bottle as she walked from off the fields to the parking lot.

"Hey, Dawn!" The blue-haired coordinator turned to find Lucas jogging to catch up with her, his Magmortar and Torterra struggling to keep up with him. Her breath stilled when she saw that he was still wearing his athletic clothing. He had just come from Battling Practice also.

His hair was free of his red beret and was artfully disheveled as sweat dotted his forehead. He wore a red muscle shirt and black gym shorts along with black crew socks and black trainers. Dawn's eyes focused on the envelope in his hands.

"Looks like it's just us." Lucas started. Dawn raised an eyebrow at him.

That was a blatant lie. The Coordinators and the Battlers were still on the field with them. Dawn quickly took a glance behind Lucas' head to find the coordinators preparing an appeal. Ruby released his Milotic and Delcatty. Lucas' Torterra and Magmortar made their way to them. Her heart sped up.

Did he get Ruby's help to come up with an appeal? Are Torterra and Magmortar going to perform a combination for me? Dawn was brought out of her musings when Lucas spoke again.

"Do you have a minute? I was…" Lucas trailed off. Dawn's eyes nearly shot out of her head. Lucas was usually calm and composed. Surely, he wasn't that nervous. "I was hoping to talk to you alone."

Dawn stuttered. It's really happening! She gathered herself to look as cool and as nonchalant as possible in front of Lucas. "Yeah. Sure. What do you want to talk about?" She flashed him a smile.

Lucas mimicked her smile and glanced down at the envelope in his hands. "It's about prom."

"Oh," Dawn said, flinching as her voice went up an octave.

"We've been working on the prom committee now for several months," Lucas started. Dawn's hopes started to fly higher with every word he spoke. "And, since we're on the committee, I think it's a good idea for us to arrive a little early on prom night. Y'know, make sure everything's copacetic."

CRASH! There goes Dawn's hopes. She forced a smile as she replied. "I suppose that makes sense."

Lucas didn't seem to notice. He continued talking, "So, driving-wise, we should go together."

Oh? Dawn thought. Maybe he's just dancing around his words? She glanced behind his head and saw Milotic and Delcatty preparing to do something. Torterra and Magmortar stood near them.

"You want to…" Dawn suggested, hoping Lucas would finish it.

"Carpool!" Lucas finished with a bright smile.

Dawn looked behind his head to find that Milotic had done Ice Beam as Delcatty did Icy Wind. The Ice Beam spelled out the words "Sapphire, Prom? Luv, Ruby" as the Icy Wind caused it to sparkle. Sapphire jumped in excitement as she screamed her acceptance. Ruby rushed to her side and hugged her.

Realizing that she hadn't responded to Lucas, she forced one out. "Right." She responded lamely.

"Well, you know, people get so carried away with the whole prom-date thing," Lucas explained, "I say, why not be practical about it, you know?" He finished with that boyish smile Dawn always fell for.

This time, she didn't. "Lucas, I…"

She watched as the coordinators congratulated Ruby as Sapphire gushed about it to her friends.

"Is that a yes?"

Dawn looked at the innocence and excitement in Lucas' eyes. She sighed and gave him a soft smile. "I'd love to."

"Oh! Okay then," Lucas opened the envelope in his hands and gave her one of his two free tickets. "Here you go."

Dawn didn't take it and just stared at the ticket, as if it had offended her.

"Or do you want me to hold on to it?" Lucas asked.

I have a free ticket also, Dawn wanted to scream. Instead, she rigidly grabbed the ticket from Lucas and forced a grimace.

"So, it's a date!" Lucas stated before walking off to the parking lot.

Dawn stared after him, cursing every legendary there was.