Happy early Valentine's everyone! Hope you guys are enjoying your day even though I don't genuinely give a crap about that day XD I was going to update on the 14th, but I really don't care either way.

But heads up about this chapter: Ikarishipping will be taking a break, but there will be a bit of pokeshipping, contestshipping and leafgreenshipping...well idk about leafgreen but thats for you guys to decide.

Also this is random but holy crap, Superbowl was so boring. And this is coming from a person who doesn't even understand American football, so that has to tell you something. Plus, the halftime was crap af! I mean, I've never even heard of these so called rappers like "Travis Sicko" and "Big Boi" before the Superbowl, and they were terrible. Not to mention, Maroon 5 was also underwhelming. Also, they didn't play "Sweet Victory" to honour Stephen Hillenburg's death and opened up 'Sicko Mode'?! Wtf? That was hella disappointing. I don't care if you like the song or not, that's just not right to Stephen.

Anyways, enough about my rant. Enjoy the chapter!


Saturday; November 6th; Paul's Residence; 2:13 p.m.

Paul's hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel after he parked by his house. His eyes closed, the images of Dawn crying and her disappointed face burning in the back of his mind.

He knew he wanted Dawn to hate him and now that he had done it, why was he irritated with himself? His hands gripped even tighter and he opened his eyes, cursing inwardly to himself. He didn't understand why felt so angry and dissatisfied with himself.

He felt pathetic.

He forced himself to relax and then exited out of the vehicle, immediately noticing Reggie open the front door before Paul could approach him. From what Paul could tell, he seemed a bit tense and he could only wonder what was worrying him to this extent.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a concerned tone.

Reggie cleared his throat. "Another dream. I had another dream," he explained, and Paul raised an eyebrow, remembering the conversation they had on the phone only a while ago. "Let's talk inside," he suggested before Paul nodded in response.


Max opened the door to a confused and somewhat lifeless Dawn. She didn't even glance towards him and walked past him, taking out her coat and throwing it somewhere before she sat on the couch with a frown on her face.

"Well, hello to you too," Max spoke with sarcasm oozing from his tone as he sat down next to her. Dawn muttered a small apology but continued to frown. "What's wrong?" he questioned and then added, "Oh…" he said in realization. "Did your interview go badly?"

Dawn scoffed to herself. If anything, the interview was the highlight of her day. "Actually, my interview went pretty well," she explained, and then sighed to herself again. "It's just…" she trailed off, the memories of Paul blaming her for Reggie's accident flashing back to her. "It's something else," she confessed.

"Want me to get May?" he suggested. Dawn straightened her lips into a line before she nodded. "She might be busy though…if she's done making out with Drew that is," he added jokingly.

Her eyes widened like dinner plates and her lips then widened into a grin, her frown quickly fading away and her quirkiness returning. "Making out? May and Drew? Since when?" She questioned eagerly like a little toddler would.

Max laughed. "A few hours later, Drew came over and I think they're working on a project but I wouldn't be surprised if-" he stopped himself when Dawn abruptly stood up from the couch and ran away upstairs, absolutely thrilled that her friend had finally realized her feelings.

Max rolled his eyes. "I'm the only mature one in this house," he muttered to himself.


May and Drew were sitting next to each other and they seemed to be looking at a TV screen with controllers in their hands. They were both slightly surprised when Dawn opened the door with the widest grin etched upon her features and practically tackled May in a fit of squeals. Drew looked at the weird girl celebration and could only raise an eyebrow.

"I am so happy for you! Finally!" Dawn exclaimed, hugging the brunette so tightly that she was almost about to choke.

May grinned when she forced herself off from her, realizing she must have heard the news. "Well, thanks. But you made me lose, you know," she said, pointing degradingly towards the television screen. "I was about to blast Drew's character off the platform!"

When she made that comment, Drew scoffed. "Please, you were gonna get your ass whopped anyway. My character is a beast!" May was about to retort when Drew added, "And for your information, Dawn, you could congratulate me too. I'm your friend as well."

Dawn grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. My friend can be a little dense, so I was more excited for her than you. I'm so glad you two are together!"

"I am not that dense!" May retorted, as she crossed her arms. They both gave her dubious looks and that was when May sighed exasperatingly. "Okay fine, so I'm a little dense. But better late than never right?"

"They do say that it's good to be patient, so yeah, it was well worth it," Drew said, as a small smile formed on May's lips. "By the way," he said, looking towards the blunette, "May told me you went for your interview. How'd that go?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! How did it go?" May questioned.

Dawn shrugged. "It went pretty well, I suppose. I don't know if they're going to hire someone with no experience though."

"Well everyone has to start somewhere," Drew pointed out and Dawn nodded. "There are plenty of other places that are hiring so even if you don't get hired, it's not a big deal."

Before the group could chat further, Max entered the room and looked like he was about to ask something important, but it was quickly forgotten when he eyed the television. "No way, dude! You have the new Super Smash Bros Ultimate?" He gushed excitedly before he quickly approached Drew. "Can I play?"

Drew shrugged. "Yeah why not?" He picked up a controller as the fourteen-year-old did the same.

As the boys were staring at the screen, May looked towards Dawn, who seemed to be deep in thought. She noticed a frown then develop on her face. "Hey, what's wrong Dawn? I thought you said the interview went well," she said, raising an eyebrow in a perplexing manner.

Dawn shook her head. "No, it did." She was about to further explain when she realized she wanted to talk about this in private. "Can we talk somewhere else?"


Paul's Residence; 2:48 p.m.

Paul and Reggie were seated across from each other, a cup of warm black coffee in front of Paul. He had just explained the dream he had a while ago from the nap he took a few hours ago. While the dream seemed it had answered a few questions they both had in their minds for a while, it also brought up a few more questions and raised a bit more confusion.

"So just before the accident, someone who was drunk called you," Paul said, processing the information, before he sipped his coffee as he began to ponder. Reggie nodded. If Paul was assuming correctly, Reggie had probably driven over to where the caller was and possibly crashed into the person. "Anything else that you can remember?"

Reggie tried to think, but his attempts rendered to be futile. He shook his head. "No, sadly. All I know that it was a girl's voice. But I couldn't really tell if it was an older female or a younger one, her voice sounded a bit off since she was drunk." He explained.

He exhaled. "That actually helps a bit," he said. He began to think of all the possible females that Reggie were in contact with prior to the accident. He then remembered the one girlfriend he had back in his college days. "What about that one girl you dated?"

Reggie gave him a confused look, then as if a light bulb appeared above his head, he quickly replied, "Oh, you mean Maylene." Paul gave him a look of disbelief. "What?"

"You remember your ex's name but not the person that crashed into you?" He questioned in disbelief.

"I'm not in control of what I remember and what I don't," Reggie retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Hn. Why don't you look into your call records in your phone?"

"I had a different phone back then, Paul. This is a new number," he said, pointing to his phone.

He sighed, figuring that they still needed time to solve this mystery. Despite Reggie saying that the person who crashed into him belonged to a female, he still believed Dawn's words. "Well, we could still get in contact with Maylene over facebook," he suggested.

Reggie contemplated the idea brought up. "Hmm, that's not a bad idea. Let's do it," he said somewhat eagerly, as he began to type on his phone. Paul eyed his older brother with confusion on his features, unable to fathom the idea that he was eagerly looking up someone that could have potentially killed him.

"Wow," Reggie muttered. Paul raised an eyebrow, as if he was questioning why he was surprised. Reggie looked at him and pointed to his phone screen and scrolled through what seemed to be Maylene's pictures. "She looks amazing, doesn't she?" He grinned.

Paul rolled his eyes. "This girl could have killed you and that's all you have to say?"

"Hey, you don't know that for sure." he reminded him. "Personally, I don't think she's the type of person to do that anyway. Anyway, I'm sending her a message."

"Saying what?"

He finished typing and read it over to Paul. "Hey Maylene, long time no talk. What's up?" Paul nodded in response before he noticed Reggie growing excited. "No way, she's typing back! What the heck?" Even Paul was surprised. He didn't expect for a response so soon. Reggie watched the screen in anticipation before his lips parted in surprise. "She wants to talk. She even gave me her number."

That was oddly…quick. "Call her, I guess," he suggested but it seemed he was doing that anyway as he saw Reggie dial the number and hold up the phone to his ear. "Put it on speaker."

Reggie placed the phone on the table and they heard two rings before a female picked up. "Hello? Reggie?"

"Maylene!" He exclaimed. "It's been such a long time, how've you been?"

"I know right! I think the last time we saw each other was when we graduated from college. You haven't contacted me since and I tried to call you, but I stopped because I thought you wanted distance."

Reggie frowned. The two had broken it off because Maylene had quickly gotten a good job position in Veilstone City and Reggie didn't really favour the idea of long distance relationships. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I got a new phone number afterwards and I guess I didn't think to contact you through social media, which is kind of stupid of me to be honest. But I'm glad you're doing good. Are you still in Veilstone?" Paul refrained from rolling his eyes. He was supposed to question her about the accident, but they were just talking about useless information.

"Yup, I'm a karate instructor and it's been going pretty well. What about you?"

That question seemed to bring Reggie back to track. "Oh, well, I'm not too sure if you knew but I got into an accident-"

"What?! Are you okay?"

Reggie chuckled. "Yes, I'm fine, but I was in a coma for about six months."

"That sounds horrible! Why didn't you tell me? Oh wait, you couldn't tell me…" Reggie laughed. "But you're okay now, right?"

Reggie smiled. "Yeah I'm perfectly fine."

Paul assumed that it couldn't be her, judging from the way she reacted. She wasn't even aware he was in a coma. And now that he thought about it, Maylene had been in Veilstone City all the way in the Sinnoh region soon after Reggie had graduated from college here in Lumoise. The probabilities of her crashing into him didn't really add up.

He stood up, leaving the two to continue catching up.


May's Residence; 3:03 p.m.

"Honestly, I am going to murder him!" May exclaimed in anger as she clenched her teeth in anger.

Dawn had just told May the reason why she had been so upset and as she expected, that was her natural reaction. Honestly, at this point, she couldn't really blame her. "Okay I know you're angry but-"

"Angry?" May scoffed. "I'm furious! I mean, how can Paul think that you crashed into his older brother? That doesn't even make sense!" She continued yelling as she flailed her arms. Dawn cringed at the harsh tone while May was regretting giving her advice on confessing her feelings. "What happened after?"

Dawn frowned. "Well, nothing. He left. He literally blamed me, told me we aren't friends and he left," she said, her voice sounding disappointed.

"Well, good! You're honestly so much better without him anyway. Paul's a douchebag and if he doesn't wanna believe you, then that's his problem," May said, crossing her arms.

Blaming her for Reggie's accident was undoubtedly crossing the line, but even still, she knew Paul was smart. Now that she started deeply thinking about it, what reason was there to put a false accusation on her? There were literally loopholes everywhere with his logic. First of all, she didn't even own a car. Second, she had barely even known Paul or Reggie before they met in the elevator. And lastly, even if she had supposedly crashed into Reggie, she would assume she'd remember the incident and at the very least sustain some damages.

All in all, his logic of blaming her didn't really add up.

So why was he doing it?

"Maybe Paul's just…doing it on purpose?" Dawn suggested as she saw May look at her as if she had uttered something extremely stupid.

"What reason would he have to purposefully blame you?" May questioned in astonishment. Dawn shrugged, as no viable reason came to her mind…that is until, Reggie's words surfaced in the back of her mind. 'But just know that he's dealing with something at the moment. Paul is…complicated, to say the least.'

"I'm not sure, but, as far as I know Paul, he's smart. Maybe he's just blaming me because of something personal or something, I don't-"

May intervened before she could continue, "That doesn't mean he just goes right out and hurt you! This is probably like the hundredth time he's done this, and I don't know about you, Dawn, but I'm sick and tired of him treating you like shit."

Dawn knew that she was right. But her hopes weren't going to crash and burn. She was still going to remain optimistic, despite how unbelievable it sounded to her ears. If she wanted to be in a relationship with him, then she'd just have to face the consequences. Whatever Paul was going through, she'd patiently wait and hopefully when he'd figure things out, she could confess.

But for now, they weren't friends, at least according to Paul. Maybe he needed distance or supplement time.

So, she decided to give him just that.

"I'm just going to focus on other things now," Dawn told her. "Paul isn't my priority."

May was slightly surprised at her change in demeanour. Why did she seem so cool and collected now? Still, the brunette nodded and gave her a slight smile. "Good."


Monday; November 8th; Lumoise High; 7:55 a.m.

Sighing, the carrot top adjusted the skirt of her dress and her top as she looked in the sideview mirror of the car. Misty was wearing a short honey yellow sun dress that barely ended on her knees. Her short orange hair that usually was tied in a messy ponytail was now in slight curls as it cascaded down her neck. To top it off, she wore a bit of eyeliner and dark red lipstick.

Violet, who was in the driver's seat, looked away from the road and glanced at her younger sister for a split second. "Why are you constantly sighing and looking in there with a frown? You should be, like, totally excited!"

Misty glared at her. If anything, she was self-conscious. She felt very out of place with this outfit on. "I don't even feel comfortable in this, Vi. I can't even cross my legs without exposing more skin!" She exclaimed.

"That's the point!" She winked, and Misty rolled her eyes in response. "I thought you wanted this, little sis. Didn't you ask me to do this?" she asked as she began to look for a parking space when they arrived at school.

Misty sighed degradingly. Honestly, she didn't even know if this was what she wanted anymore. Sure, she looked amazing to Violet, but whenever she looked at herself, she felt as if she was hiding beneath a mask. Despite that thought, she still muttered, "Yeah." Violet grinned in response before parking the car and turning off the engine. "Thanks for the ride," she said, loosening her seatbelt and exiting the vehicle.

"No problemo, little sis!" She exclaimed from the window. "See ya after school!" Then, she started the engine again, put the car in reverse and drove away.

Slowly, she walked into the school (well, she could barely walk since she was wearing extremely high heels and nearly tripped) and approached her locker after what seemed like forever. After grabbing her books, she felt a few eyes on her, as if they were burning into her soul.

She looked around only to see a few males ogling her shamelessly. A red crimson blush brushed her cheeks as she began to walk, attempting to avoid them. Her attempts were rendered futile when she lost balance due to those ridiculous high heels and fell to the floor.

And to add her embarrassment, some people started laughing; no one even bothered to check if she was unhurt. Were people this cruel?

As if magically hearing her thoughts, a hand was brought towards her and she looked up to see a familiar face. Grabbing his hand, Ash helped her up to which Misty smiled gratefully for. "Thanks," she said.

He returned the smile. "No problem…" he said, trailing off as his eyes caught her outfit and the unusual getup. "Woah," Ash said, blinking in surprise. "You look…different," he admitted. Actually, she looked breath-taking, but he couldn't really find the courage to say something like that.

"Thanks?" She stifled a laugh.

Ash grinned. "Good different, don't worry. What's up with the change anyway?" he asked curiously. Misty didn't seem like the type of girl who'd flaunt around in a dress to Ash, so even though she looked spell bounding to her, he was still confused as to why she'd change her appearance.

"I just wanted to try something new," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Ash nodded in response before the two started walking together. "I just didn't know I'd get a lot of attention."

Ash seemed perplexed by her words. "What do you mean?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "Some guys were staring at me, Ash! It was kind of disgusting!" She elaborated, which only resulted in him chuckling. "Don't laugh! Ugh, men are pigs," she said, in disgust.

Ash shrugged. "Guys will be guys. But yeah, I do see your point. Honestly, I kinda don't blame them," he said, resulting in Misty giving him a killer look. "Relax! Let me finish, woman!" She rolled her eyes before he continued. "They were staring probably because you look-"

"Like a bimbo?" she suggested before she cringed, wanting to bite her tongue off.

Ash was taken aback at her choice of words. "I was going to say 'hot' or 'unrecognizable'. Why'd you say that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Misty waved him a hand. "It just slipped out, that's all," she said and then Ash noticed her adjusting the skirt of her dress.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Do you not like what your new look?" That question seemed to have rendered her speechless as she refused to answer. But her silence gave him the answer. "Misty, if you don't like it, then why are you wearing it?"

"Because!" She started exasperatingly as her green eyes softened, "I'm just…" she sighed, trailing off.

"Just what?" he pressed, wanting to know where she was going with this.

She bit her lip. "Because I'm trash, okay?" She looked up at him, seeing a confused expression on his face, so further explained. "Nobody has even complimented me on my looks at all. No guy has ever said that I'm beautiful or anything because I'm not that girl who wears makeup or dresses and stuff like that. I wear shorts or track pants and I'm not pretty, so what's why I can never ever get someone to like me!" She finally blurted. And now that the words were out in the open, she was afraid to hear what Ash had to say.

Ash wasn't even sure what to say, but he was sure surprised as hell. He never thought that she'd be insecure about her looks. "Seriously?" he commented, trying to comprehend her logic. "Look, you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not to get some guy to notice you."

She scoffed. "Then why were those guys ogling me?"

Ash frowned. "Yeah, they were, but that's not the kind of male attention you were looking for, right?" he asked smartly, recalling her comment on how disgusted she was. Again, Misty hesitated to reply. "Sure, you're different but that doesn't mean you have to change your appearance."

"Then…why did Paul reject me? Why does he like Dawn better than me? What does she have that I don't?" Misty asked, and it looked like she was on the verge of crying.

Ash placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're still hung up over that?" he asked incredulously. "I told you before and I'll say it again; it's his loss. There are other guys who'll like you for who you are," he said.

"Then why hasn't he shown up?" she asked, her voice soft and fragile.

Ash felt his neck heat up for some reason. "I don't know," he admitted. Misty sighed in disappointment. "But there will be a guy who knows that looks aren't everything when he looks at you. Beauty isn't the only thing that matters."

Misty couldn't believe that Ash was telling her this. It seemed so odd and out of character for her idiot of a friend to be giving her words of wisdom. "This sounds so weird coming from you," she admitted, letting out a grin.

Ash shrugged but let out a smile of his own. "What can I say? I can be smart sometimes." Misty let out a small laugh before he said, "Why don't you change out of those clothes and go back to the Misty we all know and love?" he suggested.

She frowned in response. "I would but I didn't bring extra clothes."

Ash rubbed his chin in thought for a brief second. "Well, I can drive you home and you can change," he said, and Misty didn't hesitate to agree as she nodded in response. "Alright, let's go," he said, before walking forward, not seeing the vibrant smile on her face return.


12:35 p.m.

The school's auditorium slowly started to become crowded as hundreds of students gathered around for the Chemistry Bowl. The Chemistry Bowl was often an event held every year at Lumoise High and it was one where the winning team had the potential to win several prizes. However, if the students ever desired, they could make the choice of going for regional competitions as well.

On most occasions, the auditorium was utilized for sporting events or morning announcements, but this event was an exception. The grey bleachers on opposite sides of the auditorium slowly started to fill up and there were several murmurs and chattering heard from students.

A large sign with the words 'Lumoise Chemistry Bowl 2018' was protruding in gold colours above the bleachers and in the middle of the auditorium stood a podium, a microphone stand and a couple of sound systems. Two tables with five seats aligned behind them stood across from each other.

After a few minutes, Leaf and the remaining four team members strolled across the auditorium and as the brunette slowly eyed the hundreds of students across the school, she felt her stomach tie into knots as her nervousness began to get the best of her. Of course, her teacher did warn her about this piece of information but witnessing this was suddenly overwhelming. She tried to calm herself as she took several breaths.

During these past few weeks, she had been doing an immense amount of studying and she even stayed up a couple nights remembering all those dreadful formulas, which she considered to be the bane of her existence. She also knew Gary was probably studying as much as she was, possibly even more. Also, speaking of him, the two decided to study separately instead of together since they'd end up…distracting each other.

Soon enough, Gary and the others were seen on the opposite side of the auditorium. Contrary to what Leaf was feeling, he looked much more confident of himself as he sported a smile and talked to his teammates. Then he glanced at the girls' table and spotted Leaf before he decided to walk over to her.

He gave her a charming smile. "Hey," he greeted with a kiss on her cheek.

She returned the smile. "I needed that. I'm so nervous," she admitted.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Have you seen the amount of people here?" She gestured to the bleachers and nervously gulped. "Are all these people really interested in this?"

Gary shrugged in response. "It's a school event, it's not like they have a choice anyway. And you don't have to be nervous you know," he said, rubbing her arm in a comforting manner.

Leaf scoffed. "Says you. You're not nervous at all," she pointed out in a dry manner.

Gary frowned. "Well that's what you think." Leaf's eyes widened a little; she wasn't expecting that. "I mean maybe not as much as you are," he further emphasized. "Just relax. You've worked hard for this so don't let a few butterflies get in the way," he said.

She stared at him for a short while before she nodded, giving him a small smile, as her nervousness slowly started to fade, and she felt herself relax. "You always know what to say," she said.

"Of course." He smirked in response.


Dawn and May managed to find a seat before the seats were filled up. "Wow, this is kind of exciting," the blunette commented, noticing the crowds of students.

May smirked in response. "Be careful Dawn, your nerd is showing," she teased as the blunette rolled her eyes in response. May looked towards the center of the auditorium. "Hey, I see Leaf," she said eagerly. Dawn looked towards Leaf was and noticed she was sitting behind the table along with four other girls.

"And I also see Gary," she noted, looking towards the boys' team.

"And Drew." Drew's voice was suddenly heard behind the two as they nearly jumped in shock. He was sitting behind them, giving the two an amused smile.

May turned around and glared at him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack," she said, almost whining. Dawn almost laughed at her dramatic antics.

"Sorry." He shrugged unapologetically and then seemingly out of nowhere, a red rose was seen in front of May's light blue eyes. "Would this help?"

Dawn was about to question where the random rose appeared from but May gushed in response as she took it from him and grinned happily. "Wow, thanks, Drew! You know red is my favourite colour," she said matter-of-factly.

Drew dramatically gasped as he put a palm over his chest. "Oh really? I had no idea, I mean I really couldn't tell from the red outfits you wear almost every other day," he said in a sarcastic manner. True to his words, May was indeed wearing a red top and a red bandana.

Dawn laughed as May rolled her eyes. "I could do without the sarcasm, thank you," she said as Drew chuckled in response before she turned her back towards him, facing the front. But she was constantly smiling, staring at the red rose.

Dawn nudged her playfully, giving her a playful smirk and May glared at her, telling her to shut up while resulted in Dawn laughing. When her laughter subsided, another voice was heard. "Is this seat taken?"

Dawn looked up, only to realize it was Conway. She smiled. "Uh, no, you can sit here," she said, and he quickly nodded, taking a seat beside her.

"Who's the nerd?" May questioned curiously.

Dawn's eyes widened as she wondered why she would ask a question like that, especially in front of him. However, Conway took it as a compliment as he grinned and adjusted his glasses. "I prefer the term 'genius', thank you very much."

"He's my new tutor," Dawn explained, ignoring his explanation.

"Wait," Drew barged into the conversation from behind them, "Paul quit on you?"

Dawn rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah, but it's probably for the better, to be honest." He seemed puzzled at her words. "We…we're not exactly friends anymore," she said, her voice small. Drew could only wonder why or what must have happened for their friendship to drift apart.

"As it should be." May scoffed.

Conway adjusted his glasses. "Some people just don't understand the joy of getting to tutor you," he said, before he put an arm around her shoulder. Dawn wondered what he was doing and tried to gently remove his arm without seeming rude. "Sorry," he chuckled.

May saw the gesture, but she didn't question it. "So, Conway, if you're a genius as you so call it, then why aren't you in the competition?"

He scoffed in reply, "Please, this competition is for a bunch of amateurs. Plus, I'm more of a math and statistics type of guy." It seemed to May that his ego was getting more inflated the more she spoke to him.

"Clearly," Dawn added sarcastically.

When the group wasn't looking, Drew quickly typed a message and sent it to Paul.


After a few minutes, an older woman who was probably in her mid-twenties tapped onto the microphone and the students stopped chatting. "Good afternoon Lumoise High! Welcome to our annual Chemistry Bowl 2018! Thanks for coming out to support your fellow students up here, I'm sure they could use all the support that they can get."

"First, I'm going to explain the rules just as I do every year. There is a total of forty questions that we're going to ask. Some of them are multiple choice and some of them are word basis questions. To answer, all you have to do is buzz in and whichever person from these teams buzzes in first, gets to answer the question. If the teammate gets the question wrong, then the same question shall be passed over to the opposing team. However, if no team is able to get the answer correct, then we'll explain the correct answer and move on."

"Also, if any teammate is caught cheating on this competition, then your entire team is going to be disqualified. We do not tolerate this at all. Lastly, whichever team receives the highest number of points wins. And if there's a tie, we'll throw in one more question. Is there any comments or concerns anybody may have?"

Once she saw several nods from the students, she smiled in satisfaction. "Alrighty then. Let's get started!"

~.~.~.

Paul managed to find a seat at one of the far ends of the bleachers and that was when his phone buzzed. Slightly curious, he removed it from his pocket and saw a text from Drew.

1:15 Drew: Dude what the hell? Why are you and Dawn suddenly not friends?

How the hell did he manage to even figure that out? Usually Paul would hesitate to answer texts and would resort to calling but he was probably in the auditorium as well and he wouldn't hear him over the competition occurring. So, he typed back.

1:20 Paul: I don't think that's any of your business.

He set his phone back in his pocket and set his gaze forward, not paying attention to the competition and instead looking at the floor. He needed to get his mind off Dawn and Drew texting him about her wasn't exactly helping.

His thoughts were interrupted when the hostess started to speak into the microphone. "Okay teammates, your first question is…" she started, reading off a handheld card. "Lithium reacts with water to form lithium hydroxide. What mass of lithium is required to produce twelve grams of lithium hydroxide?"

Each member from the opposing teams began to scribble fervently across the papers that they were given and soon enough a buzzer was heard. "Boys' team!" The woman exclaimed, turning over to the boys' table. "Do you have an answer?" she asked towards Gary, who had buzzed in.

Leaf watched him, her jaw threatening to drop. She couldn't believe how fast he was. "3.48 grams," he said into the small microphone that was given to him.

"That is correct." She gestured over to the scoreboard and the number 1 was now being seen under the boys' team. The guys cheered in excitement.

Leaf sighed and looked towards the other girls. They were already behind, but there was still a lot of time to catch up. "Okay, next question. Heads up, this is a multiple-choice question," she heard the woman say as she and the other girls listened keenly. "Decomposition of one gram of which of the following compounds into its constituent elements gives the greatest amount of N2 gas?"

"Is it A: NO2, B: NO2, C: N2O4, or D: NH3?"

Gary quickly did the math and was about to buzz in when he heard the opposing team buzz in first. It was Leaf. "The answer is D," Leaf said confidently.

"Correct! And now we're tied as both teams have one point! Good job!"

~.~.~.

Paul's phone buzzed again, and he eyed the message.

1:27 Drew: Don't give me that bull. Tell me why. Are you ignoring her? :/

Before Paul could type back a message, he heard familiar voices from behind him. "Finally, we found a seat!" Ash exclaimed and then sighed a breath of relief. "Hey, is that you, Paul?"

Reluctantly, he turned around, not expecting to see Misty sitting beside him. She was now dressed in blue jeans shorts and an orange top. Her makeup was removed, and her hair was tied in a neat ponytail. He just nodded in response. "Cool, so did we miss much?" Ash asked.

Paul gestured over to the scoreboard. "It's tied right now," he explained.

"I told you to drive faster Ash!" Misty complained.

"Hey, it's not my fault there was traffic on the road!" He retorted. She punched him on the shoulder. "Ow! Quit abusing me, woman!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "You're such a priss," she said, her lips lifting into a smile. Ash frowned in response. Paul simply huffed, returning his attention to the competition.


The competition continued, and both Leaf's and Gary's team were constantly going back and forth giving the correct answers. There wasn't a single question that they didn't know; all it took was the speed of the buzzer.

Gary had to admit that he was very impressed. But to match his skill at the same level as him…was kind of sad, in his opinion. His own girlfriend was beginning to become a threat. At first, he assumed this was going to be an easy win, but he didn't expect for them to be matched at almost every single question, which was unbelievable.

Wait, he thought, There's nothing wrong with Leaf winning. She's my girlfriend. And plus, this competition shouldn't get in the way of us. This was just a silly little-

Gary's thoughts were interrupted when the hostess spoke. "Okay, so after around forty questions, we have yet another tie…hopefully the last one this time, geez you guys are smart," she said exasperatingly as she read from another card. Both teams had forty points. "Okay teams, this is the last question. Whoever gets this one…is the winner. Are you ready?" The students nodded in response.

"Explain briefly why only some wavelengths of light are absorbed when a white light source is directed through a sample of helium gas."

Everyone in the bleachers remained quiet, as tension built up in the air.

For once, Gary was sort of stumped. Answering this many amount of questions had put a serious toll on him and he had been exhausted. Tracey, one of his teammates, nudged him with his leg and he looked over at him as he subtly pointed to his phone in his hand cleverly hidden underneath the table. His eyes widened, as several disapproving thoughts came into his mind.

He had read the answer, but he wasn't sure this was right.

Then he saw Leaf and the other girls nod in agreement with each other, as if they had known the answer too and as a reflex, he hit the buzzer before she could.

The hostess glanced at him in anticipation. A guilty expression was seen on Gary's face before he spoke into the microphone, "Some wavelengths are absorbed when a light source is directed through helium gas because light's only absorbed if the photon energy matches the energy gap between atomic orbitals on helium."

Damn it, Leaf thought. He was right.

"That is correct! And we have our winners, the boys' team! Congratulations! Give these young guys a round of applause, everyone!"

Everyone roared and cheered in applause. Leaf was a bit disappointed that her team couldn't win, but no doubt she was happy for Gary. She applauded with the rest of the crowd.

"So now, we have a few prizes for our team," she said excitedly. Gary frowned, the guilt penetrating deeper. "Everyone in the team gets a new laptop and this beautiful trophy right here," she said, pointing to the tall golden cup behind her. "So, come up and claim your prizes guys!"

Once Gary and the other guys approached them, he shook hands with her and retrieved his prize, as he glanced over at Leaf, who was smiling cheerfully for him. He gave her a faint smile before walking away, leaving her with a perplexed expression on her face.


2:15 p.m.

It was lunch break now and everyone had sent heartfelt apologies to Leaf for the team losing. But in her opinion, they didn't exactly lose. The results did come close, after all. Missing only one question throughout the whole competition was a win for her already.

She looked around for Gary in the hallways, where she suspected him to be. Fortunately, he was in front of his locker and she smiled as she quickly hugged him from behind. "Congratulations, you were so awesome!"

Gary stumbled forward a bit before he turned around. "So were you," he said, placing his hand on her waist.

She kissed him quickly, but he didn't reciprocate for the first time. Dejected and a bit shocked, she pulled back, seeing a frown develop onto his features. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" she asked.

Gary bit his lip, not sure how to respond. He didn't deserve this kind of treatment from her. He didn't deserve to have that those prizes that he didn't genuinely earn. Quickly, he pulled out the new laptop from his backpack and handed it to her, and as he expected, she seemed confused.

"Why are you giving me this?" she asked. "It's yours. Just because I'm your girlfriend doesn't mean that-"

"No, it's yours," he cut her off and she raised an eyebrow, not understanding. Gary sighed heavily before he continued, "I don't deserve it because…I cheated."

Leaf stood still, unable to process what he had said. "What?" Her voice was soft but still laced with shock and disappointment.

"I didn't want to," he protested, "But one of my teammates gave me the response from his phone on that last question. And you were about to answer so-"

"So, you couldn't let me win?" She continued for him, as she gaped at him unbelievably. Gary was about to retort but she continued, "You couldn't let me win just because you didn't want your fragile ego to get hurt?"

"Hey, I didn't want to cheat, Leaf-"

"But you did!" She exclaimed in anger. "You still did. You could have chosen to be quiet!"

"Come on, is it really that big of a deal?"

"Maybe not to you, but it is to me! I worked hard for this and I even stayed up late nights just for this stupid competition!"

Gary didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. They were arguing and from the sound of it, it wasn't going very well. "We promised to not let this get in between us, remember?"

Leaf looked at him, anger infiltrating her eyes. "The competition didn't get in between us; you did," she said, as Gary felt a needle pierce his skin at her words. "I would have been happy if you won fair and square and I was happy because I thought you played fair!"

He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew was wrong. "I'm sorry," he offered. "I didn't mean to, I promise. Here, take the laptop, I don't need it," he said, gesturing to it in his hands.

"I don't want the laptop," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms as she avoided his gaze. Gary tried to place a hand on her before she pried it off. "Stop. Just leave me alone," she said.

He internally groaned. "Come on, I said that I'm sorry. What else do you want me to do?"

"Sorry doesn't change the fact that you cheated. That's what you are and always have been! A bloody cheater!" She quickly exclaimed and then immediately wanted to take her words back. That was not what she meant, and she regretted it.

Gary stared at her, appalled. He couldn't believe that she still hadn't changed her opinion about him. He said nothing and placed the laptop back into his backpack as he tried to walk away.

"Wait, Gary, t-that's not what I meant," she started to say from behind him.

He turned around to face her as a look of hurt was seen on his face. "What did you mean, huh? We've been dating for, what, a month? I've always been faithful to you and never even glanced at another girl. And you still have that disgusting opinion about me?" he asked in astonishment.

Leaf shook her head. "It just slipped-"

"I'll talk to you later," he said, refusing to listen to her and walking away.

Leaf groaned to herself as she scolded herself internally.

She had just screwed things up.


Paul was looking throughout his locker for the books he'd need for his next classes and closed it. He was about to walk away when he heard a familiar voice behind him. Turning around, he saw Dawn and a guy he couldn't put a name towards. A bunch of students blocked their path, so she didn't notice him as he stood a couple feet away.

He heard a conversation ensue between the two of them. "So what you're saying is that you got an A in Math almost every year?"

He heard the guy answer, "No, not almost, Dawn. I got an A every year. That's just how smart I am," he said proudly.

He heard her scoff. "I wish I could get amazing grades like that in math. You don't even have to try, Conway."

"Well not everyone is born with natural mathematical talents like I am," he stated. Paul could tell this guy was extremely conceited and rolled his eyes at the thought.

"Okay, you need to stop that." She laughed, a sound that Paul realized he hadn't heard in a while. This Conway guy could make her laugh within seconds of just making small talk, and all he could do was make her shed tears. Come to think of it, he wasn't ever sure he had ever made her laugh.

"Well, I'm sure with my help you'll get a good grade in the class. You can be smart if you try hard enough," he said. Paul clenched his teeth unconsciously. Now he was complimenting her, something he rarely did.

"Thanks, Conway. You're a pretty good tutor," she said.

"Tell me something I don't know," he replied smugly.

How was he able to just carry a conversation with her so naturally and make her laugh at the same time? And more importantly, why couldn't he do the same? He recalled all those times he had insulted her for no reason and those few moments where he'd made her cry. He hated when she'd cry; it would just pierce his heart like a sword. He unclenched his fists and his eyes wavered, as he became more and more confused as his thoughts continued to flow. He didn't understand why he was feeling this way, over some random guy he barely knew. Besides, whoever Dawn spoke to was none of his business, so why did this bother him?

He walked forward as the conversation between Dawn and Conway started to fade away as he purposefully ignored them.

He was screwed.

But he didn't know why.


Oooooooh, Paul is feeling the feels! :3 Who would have thought he'd be jealous huh? Well he didn't know he was jealous, but still.

So a lot happened in this chapter, including an argument. Was it unnecessary drama? Eh, you're probably right but I don't really care. It can't always be peaches and cream in a relationship. Also, regarding the pokeshipping, if you guys have any suggestions on how to push their relationship forward, then please let me hear them. As for right now, I don't really have a solid plan on how to have Ash and Misty end up together and it's been a little tough for me. This ship has been the only one that I don't have a plan for, so I'd really appreciate the suggestions.

Also...do you guys think it's Maylene? Hmmm...let me know what you guys think.

Thank you guys for reading. Make sure to leave a review below and I'll see you guys next time!