A/N: I was in my pool pretty much all day today, and the kids at karate pointed out that the ends of my bangs are green. I was kinda amazed, because honestly who wouldn't want green hair? Personally if I had to choose a weird hair color, I'd go with bright bubblegum pink. But that's just me, of course.

The Ongoing Saga of Emi Hana

Chapter 3

When Emi awoke the next day, Nurse Joy came promptly with a breakfast tray. She ate slowly as her mind started to truly wake up.

"So, Miss Hana, have you reached a decision on that contest yet?" Nurse Joy asked once the redhead had finished.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna do it. I think my pokemon would really have a lot of fun with that." Emi stifled a yawn before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a hairbrush. She combed her ruby locks gently, taking as much time as needed.

After saying a quick goodbye to Nurse Joy Emi pulled out Swellow's pokeball and released him. The great blue bird pokemon took a quick warm up flight around the Pokemon Center before landing in front of his trainer.

"Morning Miss Emi!" Swellow chirped excitedly. Emi smiled at her pokemon and climbed up on his back.

"Nurse Joy informed me of a contest that's going to happen today in Hearthome City. I think it'll be fun to enter. What do you think Swellow?" Emi laughed as her pokemon let out a noise that clearly shouted his agreement. His wings expanded and they went zero to thirty in a matter of seconds. Emi closed her eyes as her hair streamed behind her like a waterfall of curls. Oh how good it felt to fly! It was obvious Swellow was enjoying himself as well.

'I love carrying you around Miss Emi! It's good exercise!' He didn't bother to say it out loud; she wouldn't have understood anyway. For an hour they flew through layers of cloud, silently screaming their joy. Emi felt like the ride had just started when Swellow took a dive downwards. She saw buildings coming closer, and Swellow pulled out of the dive just in time.

Even from up in the sky the Contest Hall wasn't hard to find. Emi ordered Swellow to drop her off in front of the large building, and as a reward she handed over a delicious pokeblock. Swellow gulped it down and returned to the pokeball sitting in Emi's hand. Now a feeling of nervous-ness replaced the elation that had previously occupied Emi's chest.

'I have no idea what to do here. I never participated in contests back in Johto… or Kanto or Hoen for that matter.' People bustled by; Hearthome was a very busy place. Before they could stare at the random redhead staring at a building, Emi walked inside. The inside of the Contest Hall was as magnificent on the outside as on the inside.

There were pictures of past winning pokemon in gold frames framed neatly across the walls, and both the audience and contestants mingled before the contest. Emi looked around and saw everyone in small groups talking and laughing. She felt alone, like everyone knew each other except her. Across from where she stood there sat a registration desk, and Emi walked over. The desk lady was very helpful; it must have been obvious that she was new at this.

"Here is your contest pass, and here is the paperwork that you need to fill out." The woman handed over a red pass and a piece of paper. Emi let out a sigh of relief to see that the paperwork was easy. It required basic information; name, age, address, etc. But soon that sigh became a sharp intake of breath as the tricky question came up.

"What pokemon do you plan on entering?" Emi read out loud. She hated how stupid she sounded, but the desk lady didn't seem to mind.

"For this contest two pokemon are required." She explained. Emi nodded and sent her a grateful smile. In her big, somewhat sloppy cursive writing Emi wrote out the name of the two pokemon she wanted to enter.

"Perfect, you are now able to compete in the contest. It will begin in a few minutes, so if you would follow the other trainers to the make up/waiting room…" The lady pointed over Emi's shoulder. The audience members were making their way to their seats, and the competitors were walking down a hallway. Emi followed after them and into a large waiting room.

Against the walls were stations for make up and dress up. Professionals stood waiting to assist the trainer's pokemon's looks, but Emi noted the prices were outrageous. Again everyone broke off into their own social groups, and to fill the lonely void Emi let out her two chosen pokemon. Skitty and Bulbasaur looked up at their trainer curiously, obviously wondering what was up. Emi smiled and announced that they were going to feature in their first contest.

"Hn, what an interesting combination." An unfamiliar voice said over her shoulder. Emi spun around to find herself face to face with a boy she had never seen before. He looked to be her age, and his black hair was shiny with gel. It was plastered against his head. His eyes were a muddy shade of brown, and he wore very expensive brands of clothes. Emi suddenly felt like she was underdressed. It was clear this stranger was loaded with cash.

"Hello my dear, my name is Rich R. Thenu. You've probably heard of my father, the inventor of Un-Stinkafy." Rich's voice had a smug tone. Emi's face remained blank; she'd never heard of the stuff. Rich looked slightly annoyed.

"You know, the stuff you use when your socks are dirty?" He frowned at Emi's unchanging expression.

"Never mind. Anyway, I like the looks of your pokemon. Have they been in contests before?" Emi shook her head as Skitty and Bulbasaur huddled closer to her legs.

"No, not ever. This is my first time. What kind of pokemon are you using?" Emi felt her mouth drop open when Rich pulled out two solid gold pokeballs. Out came an Ekans and a Torchic, both of them wearing cocky expressions. Skitty exchanged a look with Bulbasaur; they didn't like the looks of these pokemon.

"Wow, I remember when my Arbok was just a tiny little Ekans…" Emi smiled wistfully as the memories came flooding back. Rich snapped his fingers in her face, bringing her back to the present.

"I didn't catch your name, my dear lady." Rich pointed out, gently holding Emi's chin with the tips of his fingers. Emi started to feel uncomfortable.

"M-My name is Emi Hana." She replied as her face lit up like a Christmas tree. Emi, like always, was the first to blush. Rich seemed to take that as an encouragement to continue.

"Well Miss Emi Hana, what say you and I go for a bite to eat at my mother's café after I win this contest?" Rich's free hand moved to hold one of Emi's and he moved his face awfully close to hers.

"Um, I…" Emi was at loss for what to say.

"Come on, I'm rich for crying out loud!" He wiggled his eyebrows in a way that was supposed to come across as sexy. Instead it made Emi want to use her karate skills to beat him to a pulp. She really didn't find Rich attractive, and was trying to think of a way to politely turn him down.

Torchic and Ekans sniggered at Emi behind their trainer's back, and Skitty hissed angrily at them. Bulbasaur used his mouth to tug on the ends of Emi's pants, trying to pull her away. A hand appeared and tapped Rich on the shoulder. Emi's eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Sorry dude, but that's my girlfriend you're messing with." Kyo Tunny had arrived just in time to save the girl whose pokemon he had tried to steal. Ironic, right? Kyo was smiling, but his eyes were iced over.

"Girlfriend?" Emi and Rich said in unison, both sounding confused.

"Does he mean you?" again, in unison.

"No!" The group answered, each staring at the other like they were crazy. When Rich wasn't looking Kyo winked at Emi to let her in on the plan.

"Um, yeah, I mean he's my…boyfriend." Emi's voice lacked the enthusiasm needed to pull the act off.

"Whatever." Rich muttered, looking deflated. He and his pokemon strutted off. Bulbasaur and Skitty glanced at Kyo with curious eyes; they didn't know who he was or why Emi seemed to not like him. To avoid an explanation Emi put them back in their pokeballs. When Rich was out of earshot Emi turned a death glare in Kyo's direction.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Kyo didn't seem to mind; he gestured at all the other contestants.

"What's it look like? I'm entering a pokemon contest." He smiled in an amused manner when Emi put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not planning on stealing any pokemon, don't worry. This is strictly off work time. Look, I'm not even in uniform." He had her there; Kyo looked really different in his fancy dress shirt and pants combo. Now she felt really underdressed.

"Well I'm still going to be keeping an eye on you." Emi promised, still suspicious.

"That's the way I like it, honey." Kyo winked at her again.

"Honey?" Emi repeated, raising an eyebrow in a puzzled manner.

"Yeah, since we're boyfriend and girlfriend now I can call you that, right?" She couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Hanging from the ceiling was a large TV, and it suddenly turned on. Emi stared at it like everyone else, though she appeared to be the only one surprised. The contest MC walked forward carrying a microphone and talked to the roaring crowd.

"Welcome to today's contest everyone! I'm Lacy, the MC for today. Are you ready for action?" Lacy paused as the audience went wild.

"And now, please welcome our first two contestants, Joby Hill and Emily Hutz!" The crowd roared and Emi saw the ones named Joby and Emily appear on the screen. They began to battle while showing off their pokemon's moves. Lacy announced that the winner of each round would move up into the finals. It took forever, or so it seemed, before the list of contestants dwindled down to just a few people. Emi noted that she was among those last few along with the boy named Rich and Kyo the Sinaps thief.

"Let's give a big hand to our next contestants, Rich R. Thenu and Kyo Tunny!" The MC applauded along with the crowd. Emi wanted to wish Kyo good luck, but reminded herself that he was evil. Kyo seemed to know what she was feeling.

"I bet you'll do good too!" He whispered before walking out the door that led to the battle area. He arrived at the same time as Rich.

"Winner gets dibs on the redhead." Kyo muttered seriously. Rich looked excited at the idea of a challenge.

"Deal!" He pushed past Kyo and walked out first, waving at the crowd and acting like a total attention stealing idiot.

"Whenever you're ready, you can begin." Lacy said. Rich made a big show out of letting Ekans and Torchic out of their pokeballs as Emi knew he would. But she was curious to see what Kyo had to offer. She only knew he had a Grovyle. Kyo smiled and casually flicked two pokeballs into the air. An adorable Spheal appeared next to a Vulpix.

"I'll go first, I guess. Spheal, shoot out some ice for us!" Kyo commanded. Emi felt the urge to squeal at the site; that blubber pokemon was just so darn cute! Spheal's ice shards landed in a neat line in front of Rich's pokemon.

"Now, Vulpix, Sunny Day!" the increase of sunlight glittered off the icicles. The crowd stomped their feet in approval.

"You're not going to show me up! Torchic, use Ember!" Rich watched as the ice began to melt. Spheal, in a way that reminded Emi of her pokemon, started to splash around in the water.

"Spheal, focus!" Kyo moaned; he should have known Spheal couldn't resist the urge to play. It was its nature, after all.

"You should have remembered that Spheal love water; they can hardly resist it." Rich sneered.

"Now Ekans, use bind on Spheal." Ekans slithered over and wrapped its purple body around the tiny seal pokemon.

"Vulpix use bite on Ekans!" Kyo said once he saw Spheal couldn't dodge the attack. Vulpix growled and lunged for Ekans.

"Torchic, take care of that annoying fox." Rich ordered. He looked straight at the cameras playing this contest live on TV and made a pose.

"Show off." Emi muttered from her spot behind the scenes. Torchic let out a stream of fire straight at Vulpix. The bright sunlight gave the fire a glow that the audience really seemed to like.

"Isn't that something folks?" Lacy said while trying to protect her eyes from the glare. The heat was causing Spheal's puddle of water to melt, and he looked about ready to join in. Kyo, still seeming confident, ordered his Vulpix to use Confuse Ray. It was a direct hit on Torchic. In a daze, the fire chick pokemon stumbled around and almost fell over. The crowd laughed.

"Torchic, use your ember attack now! My reputation and love life are at stake here!" Rich snapped, looking around at his giggling fans. Torchic blew it's Ember attack but, because of the confusion, hit Ekans instead. Smoke filled the screen. Emi gasped.

'Oh no, Spheal!' She silently prayed it was alright, even if it did belong to Kyo. When the smoke cleared Emi saw that Ekans was out cold and Spheal was sitting inside a ball of ice. The crowd really liked how cute Spheal looked.

"Now, Rollout Spheal! And Vulpix, Fire Spin!" Kyo smiled as the flames spread out in a circle around Torchic. There was a space wide enough for Spheal to get through without getting burned. It rolled the ice ball straight into Torchic and knocked it backwards.

"Neither Ekans nor Torchic can continue this match. Kyo is our winner!" Lacy announced, much to the delight of the screaming audience. Bits of confetti fell from above the battle area, and Kyo and his pokemon grinned and waved. Rich returned his pokemon into their solid gold pokeballs and walked off, looking seriously downtrodden and confused.

'Tsk, whatever. Let that dork have Emi. I can have any girl I want!' Rich thought sourly as he walked away. Emi realized she had been holding her breath, and she let out a sigh of relief. Kyo walked off the screen and in a few minutes appeared beside Emi.

"Was that a good show?" He asked her, still smiling with pride. The way he looked at her made Emi think he knew something that she didn't, but she didn't bother asking.

"That was…wow." Emi answered honestly.

"Nice adjective. Did I really do okay?" Kyo asked, now starting to sound a little shy. It was as if he truly valued her opinion.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you really did. I hope I can do as well." Emi clutched her pokeballs to her chest and felt her stomach butterflies soar.

"Looks like we'll find out now." Kyo nodded at the screen.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, I know you've been waiting for this moment since the beginning. Please welcome our two final contestants, Emi Hana and Sheila Whynoba!" Lacy the MC clapped as Sheila appeared on screen.

"Go! Hurry! Kick her butt!" Kyo gave Emi a swift hug and gently pushed her towards the door he had just gone through. Emi wanted to correct Kyo on the fact that they weren't dating, but he was right; it was time to go. She walked into the bright battle area light, and the crowd cheered for her.

"You may begin whenever you're both ready." Lacy said before taking a few steps out of the way. Emi looked at the woman standing across from her. Sheila was a pretty woman, probably in her early twenties.

Her long hair was dark green and the way it streamed out behind her made it look like there was a bush on her head. She wore a low cut dress that was pearly white, and there were yellow sparkles decorated over it. Her eyes were the most surprising feature; they were orange.

"Um, good luck Sheila." Emi mumbled feebly.

"Whatever. Let's hurry this up; I hate wasting my time on losers." Sheila studied her fingernails as she pulled out her two pokemon. They were both tiny, like Emi's chosen team.

"A Hoothoot and a Shinx huh? This might be fun." Emi threw her pokeballs into the air. Bulbasaur came out first and shot his vines out to catch Skitty in mid air.

'Hmm, not bad considering we didn't plan any of this.' Emi thought happily, though feeling very annoyed by Sheila's attitude.

"Hoothoot, peck that bulbasaur as hard as you can." Sheila sounded very bored, as if she could do this type of thing with her eyes closed. Hoothoot darted forward with amazing speed, Shinx not far behind as its cheeks glowed with electricity.

'Okay, time to think. Bulbasaur is going to really get some damage if he gets hit with a flying type move like Peck. So that means…' Emi started to plan out her next few moves.

"Skitty, stand in front of Bulbasaur and use Attract!" She didn't like the idea of Skitty being the shield; if Hoothoot dodged then that's what Skitty would become. But Emi soon saw it was worth the risk. Skitty's pink hearts dazzled the crowd, and when Hoothoot pecked on of them by mistake a cloud of sparkling color sparkled down.

"Looks like the crowd really liked that." Kyo commented to himself, sounding amused. The few people standing near him gave him a funny look before walking away awkwardly. Kyo sucked in breath; he wasn't crazy, talking to himself. Right…?

"Shinx, use Thunderbolt." Sheila snarled, wanting to outshine Emi.

'Sheesh, if only Rich would ask her out. They're perfect for each other!' Emi complained to herself. Skitty easily dodged the attack, but Bulbasaur had more trouble. The lightning bolt hit and for a moment he couldn't move.

"Oh no, paralysis!" Emi gasped. Skitty glared at the other pokemon.

"You'll pay for hurting him!" She hissed, the ends of her fur standing straight up.

"Oh my, it looks like Skitty isn't taking any heat from Shinx!" MC Lacy said, her excitement bubbling up. Sheila appeared to have given up on the thought of Emi as a challenge; she was back to staring at her nails.

"Hoothoot, Wing Attack. Now." She ordered, not bothering to hide a sigh. Emi had to think fast as the bird pokemon came flying at her pokemon.

"Eh, Tickle Skitty!" Emi shouted, the crowd momentarily going quiet. When Hoothoot came soaring towards Skitty, she raised her tail and tickled Hoothoot's stomach. Hoothoot laughed and crashed into the floor.

"What? Impossible!" Sheila went from bemused to angry. Her eyes held no mercy in them as she ordered her Shinx to use its Thunderbolt at full power. Sadly Skitty was unable to dodge, and after shrieking her name in pain the cat pokemon collapsed.

Bulbasaur looked livid and it took a lot of self-control not to run over and mercilessly attack their opponents. Skitty stood up on shaky legs, and nodded at Bulbasaur. The grass pokemon stuck out his vines and latched them on Shinx's body.

"Your pokemon don't listen to you? Ha, how pathetic." Sheila giggled, sounding almost like an innocent schoolgirl. Emi narrowed her eyes but ignored the jab. Kyo watched intently as Skitty started uttering a sleepy slow song. Shinx couldn't move because of Bulbasaur's vines, and the attack hit. Shinx couldn't keep its eyes open and it fell to the ground, snoring loudly.

"Sheila's pokemon are unable to battle. Miss Hana is the winner!" Lacy announced, the crowd roaring its approval. Sheila walked away, doing her best to look upset. But Emi got the feeling that the strange green haired woman didn't really care about her loser status.

After waving at a few fans and returning her pokemon Emi slipped back to where Kyo stood, waiting. The Sinaps goon looked so happy a person would have thought he'd just seen a glimpse of heaven.

"All right! We're in the finals together!" and without a thought to the consequences of his actions Kyo pulled Emi into a bone-crushing hug. She couldn't breath, and still held feelings of dislike towards the criminal. Emi did the only sensible thing a girl could do; she gave him a good solid punch in the stomach. People standing near by thought he sight odd and quickly moved away, heading for the exits. Though gasping for air, Kyo seemed to be unharmed.

"Sorry…" He gasped, somehow managing to look sheepish. Miss-Blushes-A-Lot turned her red face away, allowing a grin to spread across her face.

"I'm so happy Kyo!" Emi whispered, looking at the boy who had just regained his breath.

"If you think you're happy now, then just wait for tomorrow!" Kyo said. Emi nodded, her head already filled with fantasies.

"Until tomorrow, Miss Hana." Kyo winked and blew a mock kiss at Emi. She rolled her eyes and watched him go. A realization hit then.

"I skipped breakfast. Man am I hungry!"

A/N: I have a poll on my profile page. Well, actually now I have two. Anyway the one is about what characters should get together at the end of this fic. You may have not read about some of them yet, so feel free to keep reading before you answer that poll. It's just that a few characters could really use a boyfriend/girlfriend, and I want to know what you readers think. But, remember, NO YAOI (or yoai, I forget how you spell it) OR I WILL TOTALLY DELETE THIS FANFICTION!!!! (okay, probably not, but still, don't do it!)