CHAPTER 25
SHANA'S POV

Wow. Flare was just amazing during his performance. Like Vulcan, he used fire in a way I never would've thought of. He looked so cool spinning around like that with flames around him. He was just as good as Vulcan was.

When Flare was done and went off the stage, his legs began to wobble and he collapsed. Alarmed, I went on over to him.

"Flare, are you OK?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm fine..." he said woozily. "Shana...why's everyone using Double Team...?"

"They're not Flare. You were just amazing back there. You really impressed me."

"I...I was?" Flare blinked several time and got up; he seemed to regain his focus.

"Yeah, you're parents should've been here; they would've been surprised at how well you did."

Flare seemed to hesitate when he smiled. "Yeah well, they'd be surprised alright. Anyway, I gotta go; Zara'll probably want to comment on me too. See you later then."

He patted my back and left to join Zara in the waiting area. I was left all alone waiting tensely for my turn to come. Since I had a lot of time to myself and no one would bother me, I decided to think about my next huge challenge after the Contest: how to confess to Flare.

My plan was all figured out. Once the ball started, the first in the agenda is a nice, quaint dinner. All the tables there were for two which was perfect for me. After that, I and the rest of the choir would be called up to perform a few musical numbers for the crowd. After that, the main dancing would begin. I'd already told Mr. Specter that I would be the last to leave the choir for my turn to dance.; I didn't want to leave Flare's side after I danced with him. We would then dance and then I'd...I'd tell him.

I didn't know exactly what to say; I've been thinking about it over and over again in my mind but I kept coming up witha blank. I wasn't worried about that; I'd figure that out tomorrow but I was worried about something else.

What if Flare doesn't feel the same way about me?

That question has been bothering me for quite some time now. What if I told him I love him and then he says that he doesn't love me back? Or if he says that he doesn't love me the way I love him? What if he only sees me as his friend?

If he says no, that he doesn't return my feelings, I don't know what I'll do next. I'll be heart-broken definitely but what next? Would I be able to move on and try to forget about it or would I just let it break me for the rest of my life?

That's what's been on my minds besides my confession. Flare, would you make me feel like the happiest girl ever or the saddest one?

"Now it's time for our last performer. Performer number 48, come on stage Shana!" Lily shouted and I took center stage. I thought about how nervous Flare and Zara must've felt when they did this. My eyes traveled over to my parents; they both gave me loving smiles and I got ready to perform.

My first move was a Shadow Ball fired straight up into the air. As it traveled upwards, I used Double Team to make a copy of myself and just as the Shadow Ball began to fall, my copy and I used Dig to tunnel underground.

"Ooh, Shana's gone underground! I wonder what surprise she has for us!" I heard Lily say from underground.

"This Lily." I muttered. A trick I learned was the ability to know exactly what my copy was doing and I could make it do stuff. I made it go to the right position. I was at the 12 o'clock position and my copy was at the 6 o'clock one. Hoping that my timing was right, jumped out along with it.

My timing was spot on; my Shadow Ball was just about to hit the ground when my copy and I jumped out of the ground. Both of us used Iron Tail on the Shadow Ball and knocked it into the air again. Me and my copy crossed each other in mid air and reentered the ground opposite where we sprung up.

My copy and I both turned underground and tunneled until we were at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. We jumped out again and struck the Shadow Ball a second time. During the brief moment I was above ground, The crowd cheered as I hit my attack but then I went back underground as the Shadow Ball went up again.

This time, my copy and I stayed put and I made two more copies and made them go to the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions. Then all four of us jumped out at the same time and knocked the Shadow Ball up with Iron tail before reentering the ground opposite where we sprung up.

"Amazing, now we have four Shana's! Will she be able to handle more!" Lily shouted.

Now the tricky part came up. Having to split my focus into three copies was easy but when I made it 11, I began to have difficulty but I knew I would manage. I made all my copies get into their positions and all twelve of us sprung out of the ground and hit the Shadow Ball and the crowd went nuts. Heck, I doubt they knew which was the real me.

This time, I went with alternating pairs. I was in the 3 o'clock position and I made the one across me jump the only one to jump out the same time as I did. Our Iron Tails were slightly weaker and the Shadow Ball only went up a little but as me and my copy went underground. The 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock pair jumped out and used Iron Tail followed by the 11 o'clock and 5 o'clock pair, etc.

As the 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock pair jumped out, I prepared my finale. I made one last copy and left it where I was, the 9 o'clock position, and dug my way to the center of the stage. When the last pair was done and reentered the ground, I started the finale.

I made all twelve copies of me jump out of the ground and use Iron Tail and knocked the Shadow Ball upwards as they usually did but this time, I made my copies stay above ground and face the crowd. I could sense them wonder as they watched them wondering which was the real me. Meanwhile, I could tell the Shadow Ball was low enough so I sprung from the ground and surprised everyone at my appearance at the center of all my copies. My Shadow Ball came closer and closer and I swung my Iron Tail at it as hard as I could and it exploded into a flash of light and a shower of sparks.

As the sparks rained down on the stage the crowd went nut with cheering for me. I made all my copies bow and vanish before I myself bowed and the crowd cheered harder. I had done it.

"And that concludes the spectacular performance of the very original Shana! Now judges, do your job!" Lily called out.

"Her coordination with her copies was truly something to behold." Principal Marshal said.

"One word: splendid!" Sumo remarked.

"To split her mind and her focus into twelve copies and make them do spectacular trick, Shana is indeed one talented Pokemon." Nurse Glee added.

"And that's that! Let's give one last round of applause for Shana and for all the performers!" Lily said and the crowd started up again. I saw my parents, Zara's, Slick and my two uncles give me a standing ovation. Feeling close to tears, I thanked them all and left the stage.

"Well there you have it; all 48 performers have done their thing! We'll be taking a short break before we announce the twelve going onto the next round so stay in your seat!" Lily said as I made my way to the waiting area where all the other performers were.

I had only just got in when Zara and Flare confronted me. "Shana, why didn't you tell us you were doing something that good!" Zara exclaimed.

"That was good Shana. I mean seriously, you might have a future when it comes from performing." Flare remarked.

"I...I do? " I asked blushingly. Flare's comment seemed to push Zara's out of my mind.

"Yeah. You're bound to make it into the next round." he said with a smile.

All the other performers came in and gave their own comments about my performance. Even Vulcan said that he was impressed by what I did. With all the praise being heaped onto me, I hoped that it wouldn't get to my head.

Eventually, the time had come to reveal who would go on to the next round. The three of us and the rest of the players turned to the stage where Lily was.

"Well the judges have decided and the results are in!" she announced. She pointed upwards and a large screen began to slide down from the ceiling.

Here we go! These are the lucky twelve who're going to the next round!" Lily said. One by one pictures of performers within cards appeared on the screen. The fourth one to appear was Zara's.

"Oh my gosh, I'm in." Zara said. Flare and I congratulated her without taking our eyes off the screen.

Vulcan appeared after Zara which didn't really surprise me. More images showed up but neither Flare's nor mine appeared. After the tenth one, there were only two left. To our surprise, those last two were us.

"Flare, we did it! We're in the next round!" I cheered. flare andnI hugged each other and jumped up and down as we celebrated. Those performers who didn't make it gave sighs before leaving.

"Keep it down; she's gonna announce the match-ups." Zara said and Flare and I did.

"Now that we have our top twelve performers, it's time to shuffle 'em up and see who's fighting whom!" Lily said. Our images flipped over and appeared to be blank cars and they proceeded to shuffle themselves around the screen. Everyone was quiet and wondering the outcome of this.

The cards stopped but didn't flip over. Lily spoke to the silent crowd. "And our first match is..."

"Zara v.s. Flare!"