'# - relevant or semi-relevant (aka please read the notes)
'''# - pondering/ranting (not really relevant to the story)

Chapter 6 '1

"And now, the first contest of this season in the Johto region! Are you ready?!" A voice called out. The audience screamed enthusiastically. "Alright-y!" The owner of the voice finally appeared, twirling onto the stage. "I'm Caspian! Emcee of the Johto region!" Caspian looked similar to the emcees of Hoenn, Kanto, and Sinnoh, except that her hair was a much lighter blonde and her beauty mark was just to the left side of her mouth.

Her outfit was bright red, with some orange markings. She wore a bright red tank top, sleeveless, with an orange sheer lining on the bottom, just barely covering half of her otherwise bare stomach. Below that, she wore a pair of bright red shorts with splotches of orange artistically covering it. On her feet were a pair of small, bright red shoes, and her hands bore orange gloves with red cuffs. Her headset was also specially designed, orange with a dark red microphones. Around her waist was a dark red belt, on which were six pokeballs, and beside her stood a large Raticate.

Drew was backstage, in the coordinator's lounge, waiting for his turn. He was surrounded by other coordinators, most of which seemed young, and new to the world of coordinating. He didn't recognize any of them, although one individual caught his eye, because of the person's unique appearance. The boy was about the same age as Drew, perhaps a year or two older, with had dark, almost black, skin. His starch white hair framed his face as he watched the screen in the middle of the room. A few of the girls in the room were trying to catch Drew's eye, but most of those seemed too scared to actually approach him. The others, although probably Drew's fangirls as well, were too busy shaking as they waited for their turn to go on-stage for the first time.

Caspian threw her arms out wide. "And now, our first contestant, Biff!" The crowd cheered, even though they had no idea who Biff was.

"It's BUTCH!" A voice called out. A moment later, a guy with short aqua-green hair popped up. He tossed a pokeball into the air, and a simple beam of red light came out, growing and transforming to reveal a large cloyster. "Cloyster, use double team, followed by bubblebeam!"

Cloyster called out its name before performing a double team attack across the stage. It looked like there were eight cloysters in a circle on the stage, faintly connecting by a constant blur between them. While keeping up the double team attack, it performed a bubblebeam, sending bubbles out in every direction from the circle.

"Faster!" It speed up noticeably, and the bubbles shot out so fast, it appeared to form a small bright blue whirlwind.

"Stop double team and use spikes and ice beam together!" Cloyster stopped, appearing the center of where it had been. The whirlwind of bubbles continued spinning, slowly down as the bubblebeam attack ended. Some of the audience giggled as a few stray bubbles popped overhead. Cloyster spun in a circle, shooting out spikes and covering them with ice using the ice beam attack. The spikes pelted into the bubbles, misting everyone and everything below. Once it was finished, Cloyster stopped spinning and faced the audience, Butch suddenly appearing beside it.

Butch held out the pokeball to withdraw Cloyster, then bowed to the audience as they began cheering, as though he had almost forgotten. Withdrawing Cloyster, he swiftly walked backstage. Caspian twirled to center-stage again. "Wow! What a performance! Let's see what our judges say!"

Nurse Joy smiled brightly, as she always did. "Dazzling." An eight appeared on her screen.

The second judge was Robert, the winner of the ribbon cup in Hoenn. He looked thoughtful. A seven appeared on his screen and he nodded towards Butch.

The third judge was a blonde girl, about twenty years old, her hair in thick curls and her blue eyes bright with excitement. "Oh wow! That was so pretty!" She giggled as a nine appeared on the screen.

"Well, there are the results!" Caspian said. "And now our next contestant! This is his first time in a contest, let's give it up for Driz!"

Driz appeared near the edge of the stage. His long white hair framed his face, in sharp contrast to his dark skin, but his lavender eyes were bright with confidence. Silently, he tossed his pokeball into the air. A beam of red light shot out, quickly forming into a Sableye.

"Shadow Sneak." Sableye's gems, including it's eyes, glowed a purple-black colour. Suddenly, a the stage darkened as Sableye's shadow grew and spread over the entire stage.

Driz nodded in approval. "Shadow Ball and Claw." Sableye began to form a giant shadow ball, drawing in the large shadow it had just created. It tossed it high into the air, and then jumped after it and performed a Shadow Claw attack, shattering the ball in mid-air. The ball exploded, and the audience gasped.

As the air cleared, it revealed Driz to be standing in the center of the stage, Sableye safely balancing on his head. Driz bowed, with Sableye jumping down before falling off and bowing as well. The audience clapped and whistled while the two calmly walked off-stage.

Caspian jumped to the center. "Let's see what the judges say!" She gestured dramatically to the judges, her hair bouncing around her.

Nurse Joy spoke first, an ever-persistent smile on her face. "How dark!" An eight appeared on her screen.

Robert nodded as his turn came. "An excellent use of Sableye's dark abilities. Such a wonderful display of shadow attacks." A nine appeared.

Sarah was practically jumping out of her seat with excitement. She giggled. "He's cute." A ten appeared on her screen. "And that performance was really amazing! I don't really like dark pokemon, but Driz made me realize how powerful and beautiful they can be."

Caspian took center-stage again. "Wow, what amazing scores! And now, are next contestant!"

A young girl, obviously new to the world of coordinating, walked timidly onto the stage, her long blonde hair pulled into a loose ponytail to the side. She gulped visibly when she saw the audience, as her bright pink eyes grew wide with stage fright.

Drew watched the appeals from the coordinator's lounge, standing confidently in the middle of the room, slightly to the back. He didn't seem to care about the appeals, but in his head, he was taking notes of all the best parts of each appeal. A girl in the back of the room was watching him silently, debating, her short orange hair falling to her shoulders in thick waves, with off stiff places from where it was usually pulled into a side ponytail. She kept whispering to the boy beside her, her green eyes curious. The boy beside her seemed mostly un-interested, running his fingers through his spiky brown hair. After a couple more appeals, Drew finally heard his name.

Caspian twirled in the center of the stage. "And now, famous coordinator, Drew!"

Drew walked onto the stage, smirking as all his fangirls started screaming. "Roselia, take the stage!" Drew called, before almost wincing as he realized he'd used May's signature release phrase. Roselia appeared from the red beam, twirling dramatically and calling it's name.

"Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy!" He called, remembering his appeal in the meadow. Roselia laughed, also thinking about the previous appeal, and realizing immediately what Drew would ask her to do. She twirled around, spinning faster and faster, sending out waves of the pink dust of Sweet Scent and the blue powder of Aromatherapy. The audience was awed at the beautiful blend of the pink and blue particles.

"Petal Dance and Toxic Spikes." Roselia thought for barely a moment, figuring out how to pull off the new combo. Roselia spun in slow circles, releasing a calm petal dance before the particles from the previous combo fell to the ground. Immediately after finishing the petal dance, so flawlessly the two attacks seemed to blend together, Roselia started the Toxic Spikes attack. The spikes shot out before the petals were more than an inch away, spearing all the petals. The audience cheered as the speared petals burst into a purple mist.

Roselia bowed as Drew flicked his hair. They calmly walked off the stage as Caspian ran to the center. "And let's go to the judges!"

"What a sparkling performance!" She said. A nine appeared on her screen.

"Wouldn't expect anything less from Drew." Robert said in approval. Another nine appeared on his screen.

"Wow! The Drew!" Sarah said with dreamy eyes, a ten appearing on her screen. "And that appeal! Roselia is so adorable!"

Drew waited backstage, trying not to gag at Sarah's enthusiasm about him rather than Roselia's performance. Another new coordinator came on stage next. Behind Drew, the orange-haired girl was waiting impatiently, tapping her foot, her friend no longer beside her.

Finally, it was time for the last appeal. Caspian was practically jumping with joy. "And for the final appeal of the day, I'm proud to present, Misty! The water gym leader from Cerulean City in the Kanto region!" A wild applause began as an orange-haired girl ran on the stage, the same one who had been watching Drew.

"Hi everyone!" She yelled happily to the crowd. She expertly tossed a pokeball high into the air. "Come on out, Dewgong!" The beam of red light grew larger and larger, finally forming a large dewgong in the center of the stage.

"Ok, Dewgong, use Icy Wind!" Dewgong immediately opened it's mouth, releasing a cold frost around the stage, tinting everything a bright white.

"Ice Shard, then Icicle Spear!" Dewgong released a powerful ice shard attack, spitting large chunks of ice in the air over the audience, before spearing them with it's icicle spear attack. A mist showered over the audience, forming beads of water on everything and everyone.

"Finish with Ice Beam!" Dewgong powered up, then released a strong Ice Beam into the sky, clearing the air of the Icy Wind. Misty curtsied as Dewgong bowed it's head. The crowd cheered while they ran off-stage, Misty blowing kisses.

Caspian skipped onto the stage. "And that's the final appeal! Judges?"

"It was so cold and icy, yet filled with warmth and love." A ten appeared on her screen.

Robert nodded, as he had with Drew. "The appeal truly shows how much experience Misty has with her pokemon, and had a trainer's edge to it." A nine appeared on the screen.

Sarah waited eagerly, obviously annoyed that she was always last. "Oh my gosh! That was amazing! Misty, you're just…like, so cool! Dewgong is adorable!" She squealed. "Can we be friends?" A ten appeared on her screen.

Caspian ignored Sarah's childish enthusiasm. "Now let's look to the screen to see which four will move on to the next round." She turned around and gestured to the screen. Four boxes appeared, then flipped one at a time to show the continuing coordinators. The first box twirled around to show Misty, followed by Drew, Driz, and finally Butch. "And there they are! Come back tomorrow for the semi-final battles!"

Drew left the building secretly, avoiding his fangirls. He made his way back to the pokecenter, thinking about the appeals. Before he had walked even a hundred yards from the contest hall, he was stopped by a shadow appearing in front of him. The shadow looked masculine, and young, only a few years older than him. Suddenly, another shadow, this one female, appeared beside the first. Drew's first thought was another Team Rocket group and he carefully inched his fingers towards his pokeballs.

The two figures stepped out of the shadows, and Drew relaxed, recognizing Misty from earlier. The other boy he remembered glimpsing in the coordinator's lounge, with brown spiky hair. Up close, he realized the boy had black eyes. Misty walked up to Drew first, the boy just behind her.

"Hi, Drew!" She said happily. "I'm Misty, and this is Gary, Ash's rival."

Drew glanced at Gary. "Ash's rival? I've never seen you before. Did Ash beat you that badly?"

Gary snorted, before replying, just as arrogantly as Drew. "Of course not. I always beat Ashy-boy. When he went on to Hoenn, while I left for Sinnoh to research pokemon like my gramps."

"So why are you here?" Drew asked, becoming more curious.

"Misty called in a favor. I have plenty of free time, and Misty wants to compete in Johto contests, so I'm her partner." Gary said, seeming a bit bored. "I'm still studying in Sinnoh, but I'll have to come to Johto every now and then to compete in contests so Misty can get to the Grand Festival."

"Partner?" Drew asked, surprised.

"Yeah, some of the contests in Johto, including the Grand Festival, are doubles. You need a partner or you can't compete."

"Really?" Drew hadn't heard about it before. He shrugged. "Well, I'll deal with it when I get to one."

Misty had been watching the two the whole time, somewhat surprised that their arrogant personalities hadn't clashed yet. Finally, she cut in. "So where's May?"

Drew blinked. "Why would I know where May is?"

Misty gave him a lopsided look and raised her eyebrow. "Because you're…" She stopped, catching herself. "Never mind. If she's not here, she must still be in Olivine. Oh well, see you later Drew, let's go Gary."

Drew watched them leave, wondering what Misty had been about to say. After a couple minutes, he just shook his head and continued on, eventually reaching the pokecenter. His pokemon were still in good shape, so he simply went straight to his room and went to sleep.

The next morning, Drew got up early to train with Absol for awhile, then headed to the contest hall, arriving within ten minutes of the start of the second round.

"First up, Driz versus Drew!" Caspian called out, before skipping off the field. Drew and Driz took their places. "Release your pokemon."

Drew dramatically called a pokeball into the air. "Go, Absol!" On the other hand, Driz tossed his pokeball silently, releasing a Sneasel.

"Wow, two dark types! Ok, coordinators, ready? And…Start!" Caspian walked offstage as soon as she finished, disappearing into the shadows.

"Quick Attack!" Both voices called. Sneasel and Absol immediately obeyed, but merely bounced off one another. Each coordinator lost a couple points.

"Shadow Ball!" They both called again. Both pokemon jumped back and released a large shadow ball. The two attacks meet in mid-air and exploded, knocking both the pokemon and the trainers back a few inches. Again, they each lost some points.

Caspian suddenly appeared beside the stage. "It seems our two coordinators are evenly matched!"

For a second, Drew and Driz stared at one another, but time was against them.

"Ice Shard." Driz called.

At the same time, Drew gave his command. "Razor Wind."

The two well-trained pokemon responded immediately. Absol jumped back and jerked it's head around, releasing a powerful Razor Wind attack from the blue sickle jutting oddly from it's head. Simultaneously, Sneasel pulled it's claws back, quickly releasing an Ice Shard attack. The sharp spears of ice flew through the air, cutting through the Razor Wind attack, but not destroying it. Absol dodged, missing the majority of the ice, but was still hit by a few. Sneasel, on the other hand, couldn't dodge fast enough and was hit by the full power of the Razor Wind. Both coordinators lost a few more points, but Drew was just barely ahead.

"Only two minutes left on the clock!" Caspian said enthusiastically, re-appearing from the shadows again.

"Absol, Double Team and Bite!" Drew called quickly.

"Metal Claw." Driz said calmly as Drew called his attack.

Absol quickly performed a Double Team attack, multiple absols appearing in a line where Drew's Absol had been, faintly connected by a blur. Sneasel watched, preparing it's metal claw attack, it's entire paws glowing a bright white. Time was running out, and both pokemon had to attack. They rushed forward at the same time, Absol breaking it's Double Team attack as it did so.

Absol bit down on Sneasel as Sneasel's claws hit it. Absol held it's grip while Sneasel clawed at it. Both coordinator's watched, precious few seconds remaining on the clock.

"Ice Beam!" They both called. The two pokemon jumped back and quickly prepared their ice beam attacks, Sneasel building the energy between it's paws while Absol did the same using it's mouth. Sneasel thrust it's paws forward, but was a split-second too slow as Absol side-stepped to dodge it while it released it's own Ice Beam attack.

Driz lost a lot of points, although not quite all, because of the hit. Before the two could call more attacks, the clock buzzed to signal time was up. Driz sighed, knowing the outcome even as Caspian re-appeared and walked to the edge of the stage.

"And the winner is…" Caspian said dramatically. On the screen, Driz's picture disappeared and Drew's grew larger. "Drew!" The audience applauded wildly, and Drew's fangirls screamed. Driz and Drew shook hands. Flicking his hair, Drew recalled Absol and walked off the stage, Driz and Sneasel just ahead of him.

Caspian watched them leave, then turned to face the audience. "For the next battle, Misty versus Bob!"

"It's Butch! Butch!!" A voice called as the two trainers walked onto the stage, Butch fuming and Misty smiling and waving to the cheering crowd.

Butch tossed a pokeball to the field angrily, making it hit with a loud clunk. A beam of red light released a dizzy Mightyena. "Go for it, Mightyena!"

Misty, on the other hand, gracefully twirled around and tossed her pokeball into the air. "C'mon out, Corsola!" She said enthusiastically.

Caspian looked between the two coordinators. "Ready, start the clock!" She said, before walking off-stage again.

The instant the clock started counting down, the coordinators gave their commands.

"Corsola, Bubblebeam!" Misty called fiercely.

"Use Iron Tail, Mightyena!" Butch yelled.

Corsola called it's name as it prepared the attack, then released a surge of bubbles towards Mightyena, hitting it full-on, as it prepared it's Iron Tail attack. Butch lost a few points, but Mightyena broke Corsola's attack by rushing sideways and attacking with Iron Tail from the side. Corsola slid across the field, causing Misty to lose more points than Butch.

"Corsola!" Misty called, worried. When Corsola got up and called it's name, she relaxed for a moment, before a determined look swept across her face. "Rock Tomb!"

"Mightyena, Hyper Beam!" Butch called quickly.

Rocks began appearing all around Corsola, and started hurling themselves at Mightyena, enclosing it in a sort of cavern beneath them. As soon as the tomb was finished, it collapsed on Mightyena, causing Butch to lose a few points. At the same moment the tomb collapsed, Mightyena finished charging it's Hyper Beam attack, releasing the beam of power through the rocks, and freeing itself. Because it had been trapped, Mightyena's attack missed Corsola, but Misty lost a few points because of the beauty of the attack. Misty had a few more points than Butch, and the clock read "2:30."

"Bite!" Butch yelled harshly.

"Harden, then Spike Cannon, Corsola!" Misty called out expertly.

Corsola shone as it used it's Harden defense. Mightyena ran forward and bite down hard on Corsola, but immediately let go, howling in pain, a chipped tooth visible to the judges, and Butch's points went down more. Corsola released it's Spike Cannon attack, shooting spikes towards Mightyena. Surprisingly, the attack didn't knockout Mightyena, but it cost Butch the last of his points, with just less than one minute left on the clock.

The audience was silent for a moment, processing the end of the battle. Then the cheering and whistling began. Butch returned Mightyena, fuming, and starting storming off the stage, bumping into Caspian as he did so. Misty wasn't watching, as she was hugging Corsola and laughing.

"And the winner is…Misty!" Caspian cried passionately. The audience cheered again as Misty got up and waved to them, before running off the stage to the coordinator's lounge. "The two trainers competing in the finals will be Misty and Drew! Let's get started! Coordinators?" She turned, waiting for Misty and Drew to come back on-stage for the final battle.

Backstage, Misty and Drew prepared to walk out on the stage. Misty turned to Drew.

"Good luck, may the better coordinator win!" She held out her hand, and Drew shook it. "Of course, it'll be me." She teased, laughing. Her laugh was light and friendly.

Drew smirked, flicking his hair. "You wish." Misty just smiled. They walked out to the stage to wild applause, and a few squeals from Drew's fangirls.

Caspian twirled around one final time. "Coordinators, ready?" Misty and Drew took their places. "The clock starts when both pokemon have been released! Start!"

Drew tossed a pokeball into the air. "Absol, take the stage!" The beam of red light formed into an absol.

"Go, Corsola!" Misty called, releasing her own pokemon from the pokeball in her hand.

"Time starts now!" Caspian called from the side of the stage, as the clock started counting down.

"Corsola, Spike Cannon!" Misty called quickly.

"Dodge! Razor Wind!" Drew commanded.

Corsola cried it's name, then released a spike cannon towards Absol, but it jumped high into the air, above the attack. As soon as it was high enough, it swung it's head around, releasing a razor wind from the scythe on it's head. The strong force of wind hit Corsola head-on, knocking it back several feet. Misty's point meter decreased.

"Bubblebeam!" Misty yelled, a determined look on her face.

"Quick Attack!" Drew called. He had been about to call the attack Bite, but remembered how that had ended in the earlier battle.

Absol moved faster, rushing forward swiftly, reaching Corsola at the same moment it released it's bubblebeam attack. Corsola's attack was powerful enough to knock Absol back, were it not for Absol's momentum from it's own attack. Absol lost it's balance and slid across the floor, sliding into Corsola, who was still performing it's bubblebeam attack. The collision surprised Corsola, causing it to end it's attack. The two slid across the field almost to Misty's feet.

"Corsola!" "Absol!" The two trainers called to their respectively pokemon, worried.

The pokemon stood up and shook themselves off, and Absol ran back to Drew's side of the field. Misty visibly relaxed, while Drew silently breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the clock, which only had just over one minute left, and watched for a moment as both he and Misty lost a lot of points. Drew lost more because Absol had fallen. He made a mental note to work with Absol on it's balance while being attacked later.

"Water Pulse." Drew called quietly, trying to restore the atmosphere before the odd collision.

Misty recovered as soon as Drew called the next attack. "Mirror Coat!" She called hurriedly.

A large ball of beautiful blue water appeared in front of Absol, it's mouth open, drawing the energy. The ball turned quickly, spinning in mid-air, and when it was large enough, Absol thrust it forward, sending it whipping across the stage to Corsola. Misty lost a few points. Corsola began shimmering with a Mirror Coat attack.

"Dodge and use Iron Tail!" Drew called quickly. Absol rushed forward. It's Water Pulse attack bounced off Corsola and came flying back towards Absol, but Absol jumped to the side, dodging it. Misty lost points because of the miss, while Drew lost a few because of the beauty of the attack. It's tail began to glow silver and it jumped into the air, attacking Corsola with the Iron Tail attack.

Misty opened her mouth to give another command, when the clock buzzed.

Caspian came back on-stage. "And that's the end of the contest! It's was a close battle, but we can only have one winner!" Everyone look at the screen. Misty's and Drew's points were almost even, then Misty's picture disappeared, as a large red X appeared, and Drew's picture covered the screen, colourful confetti falling around it. "And Drew wins!"

Drew and Misty walked to center-stage and shook hands collegially. Misty smiled and walked off-stage as Drew turned to face Caspian, who presented him with the Ecruteak Ribbon. The ribbon was simple, with only two ribbons coming from the gold oval-shaped clip. The two short ribbons were dark blue with white edges on both sides, but not on the end. '2

The audience was cheering loudly, and Drew's fangirls were swooning. He could practically see little pink hearts floating above their heads. He smirked, flicked his hair, and held up two fingers in a peace sign, creating another round of wild applause, then quickly walked off the stage.

"And that concludes today's contest! I hope you had a terrific time! See you all at the next contest! Bye!" Caspian happily waved to the departing crowd, before skipping off the stage.

Notes:

'1 – Chapters 6 & 7 are "Contest chapters". In a contest chapter, I will write out 4 appeals and 3 battles, with the exception of the Grand Festival, but that's a long way off, so I'll explain it later. There are more coordinators than the 4 I include obviously. The 3 battles are 2 semi-finals and the finals. All of the contest chapters are going to be a lot longer than the other chapters. Should they be split in half? One chapter for appeals and one for battles? I would prefer to have the entire contest in one chapter. It's a lot longer, but it's easier to include that way. However, I don't mind writing them in separate chapters, so it's up to you guys!

'2 – This is based off the design of May's Johto ribbons, shown in the DP episodes she appears in.

A/N:

I don't have as much to say about this chapter. Next time, I'll try to have more variety in my appeal styles. So, basically, the designs for the Johto contests (my way) is very different from those of Hoenn, Kanto, and Sinnoh. They still need 5 ribbons to make it to the Grand Festival, but half the contests are doubles, and half are singles. The ribbons, for the most part, are simple. As far as I could tell, the contest ribbons in the other regions were the same design throughout the region, just in different colours and such. (For example, Hoenn's ribbons are shaped like a bow.)

Review Replies:

nekosoulreaper
Yes, May will have a dragonair at some point.

stardreamer87
No, Phillipe doesn't have a crush on May. It's more like he's treating her like a little sister. Brendan will appear eventually, but only for a very short time.
Of course! So far, I have about 40 chapters planned out.

DigidestinedxPoketrainerxZoey
Annie and Oakley will do have their chance to cause trouble, just not quite yet.

Feb. 15th - I started a Contestshipping forum where anyone can discuss anything and everything related to contestshipping. Just remove the () and replace dot with a .
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net(/)forum(/)Yet(_)More(_)Contestshipping(/)57089(/)