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Thank you so much for all of your reviews, it means a lot to me, honestly. Here's the latest update :)
Chapter 15
Sitting in the waiting room of the Contest Hall, May tried to suppress her anxiety. She'd slept in that morning, so had missed the special guest who'd been requested to open the contest. However, that didn't perturb her mood. No, the problem was that she had absolutely no idea how the crowd would react to her reappearance. She was certain that Harley had spread rumours of her once again participating in contests, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that. Sure, she knew that the man was only trying to help her in her comeback, but he was still setting high expectations that she wasn't sure she could meet.
Next to her sat Elgyem, who had taken to following her around, though usually at a distance she wouldn't notice. It seemed worried about her troubled visage, though did nothing to appease her. After all, Elgyem wasn't her pokémon, even if it had followed her around, and it didn't seem too certain of how to appease her concerns.
'I'm so nervous, I didn't get any sleep at all last night, so I ended up sleeping in this morning,' May whispered to the pokémon as she once again tried to suppress her nerves. She certainly hadn't missed this, and knew that her pokémon would come out of their pokéballs to comfort her if it didn't ruin their seals.
Watching Elgyem's hands change colour, May muttered, 'I wish I knew what you were saying, I'm sure it would make me feel better.'
The light blue pokémon frowned once before leading her to a nearby mirror, waving at her altered physique.
Glancing at the stranger before her, May frowned at the woman who stared back at her. She doubted even her mother would recognise her in the outfit Dawn had made for her, even if she did begrudgingly admit she looked good. Instead of a normal top, she wore a white lace corset above a long skirt, which changed colour from white, to light pink and then red at her feet. She wore a headscarf with a similar colour scheme which attached to a cape of the same fabric. Hiding the lower half of her face was a sheer veil, which was also pink. If she'd seen it in a shop, she would have considered it a nice outfit, but definitely not her style. Furthermore, she was wearing a silver ring with a sapphire stone, in the shape of a small heart. Dawn had also insisted she wear a matching earring and necklace set of a similar style to match the ring, though she hadn't explained how she'd attained it. May had profusely wanted to refuse, however, Dawn had been as pushy as ever, and insisted May wear it, despite her qualms.
Clearly, Dawn was not going to let May's distress at Drew's remarks slide by. No, she wanted Drew to kick himself for those responses, and May had no say in whether she was taking part in this childish revenge.
'And next up, coming back after years of silence, making her first contest debut after spending a significant amount of time in her father's place as Gym Leader is a young woman who has travelled to be here in Almia today from the far off region of Hoenn. Now, put your hands together for May, from Petalburg City, the Princess of Hoenn!' A warm voice rang, cutting through May's thoughts.
'Oh, there I go again, stressing about this contest and losing track of everything! We're going to be late!' May groaned as she rushed ahead, hurriedly ensuring her headscarf remained intact, not noticing a silent figure in the shadows, watching her rush past.
Walking out onto the arena, May smiled and waved at the audience, relishing their cheers for her. She didn't recognise the hooded figure who stood near the entrance, watching as Elgyem floated beside May, flashing various patterns with its hands.
'And now, take the stage, Blaziken and Skitty!' May called, twirling on her left leg before throwing two pokéballs in the air.
Whilst her fire starter roared its name as it appeared from his pokéball in a shower of fiery sparks, Skitty revealed herself in contrasting shiny sparkles, reflecting the lighting in the arena. Blaziken stood his ground whilst the energetic pink pokémon danced around him, chasing her tail.
'Now, Skitty, use blizzard on the floor!' May called, not so much as glancing at the judges. This was her element, this was her home. She had to prove her worth and Groudon and Kyogre would both damn her if she failed now.
With a deep breath, her furry pink pokémon rushed to the centre of the stage before twirling around it, releasing its frozen breath.
'Blaziken, you know what to do,' May winked as she pointed at her normal type.
With a deep cry, the fire type rushed forward, grabbing hold of its normal type partner.
'Now, it's time for sky uppercut!' May called, jumping and lifting an arm in the air as she said it.
Blaziken, upon hearing her cry, called his name, using the momentum from his move to launch Skitty into the air.
'Now, Skitty, use thunderbolt!' May cried, hoping this would work. Only Dawn had seen her appeal, and the young SInnoh native had given her this idea.
As Skitty covered the frozen arena with yellow flashes of thunder, she clicked her fingers, a sure sign for her Blaziken to utilise their next move.
As practiced, her fire type raced around the stage, scattering the ice with blaze kick, resulting in a multi coloured shine on the ground, reflecting the yellow thunder and multi coloured warm flame.
'And now, Blaziken, on the ground!' May called, punching her arm down for effect. Her pokémon responded by quickly collecting a still airborne Skitty before sending a thundering kick down to the ground, shattering the icy field so it broke into a million little pieces, reflecting the light, remains of thunder and fire.
Blaziken bowed in unison with the aspiring Top Coordinator as Skitty sat perched on his shoulder, appearing more demure than either of them had ever seen it.
'Wow, what a glamorous show!' The same voice as before called, slicing through May's thoughts and bringing her back into reality.
'The crowd definitely loves it from the deafening cheers, but there's one question going through our starlet's head: Will this spectacular display be enough to please the judges?' The voice continued as May's sapphire eyes focused on the familiar orange curls belonging to someone from the Meridian family. The woman's blue eyes met May's and she winked, the pink, folded bandana holding her hair back from her face, her arms and shoulders covered in an opened, light pink and white varsity jacket. She wore an aqua tube top underneath, and white short shorts. Her legs were covered in light pink leg warmers, whilst her feet had canvas shoes which were coloured white, aqua and a light pink.
'Thank you, Adrian,' the familiar face of Raoul Contesta smiled, his black eyes shining with delight, his aging hair reflecting the hot stage lighting. The man paused in his response to send a brief smile at May, before he stated, 'May's pokémon appear strong, and haven't lost any of their elegance in their time away from contests. I think I'd be the first to say that it's great to see this familiar face back in our ranks and I hope she, and all our other contestants, do well in the contests to come.'
May nodded slightly at his positive smile, feeling her stomach blossoming into butterfrees and beautiflies. A score of eight appeared on the black screen underneath his grey desk.
Next was Mr Sukizo, a brown haired man with eyes rivalling those narrowed slits Brock had. He was a man of little words, and that hadn't changed at all as he stated, 'remarkable.'
The man pressed a button and the mark seven appeared on the screen.
Trying not to grin at the memories which filled her, May's attention turned to the next judge. Blinking, May felt surprise to notice that the judge was not Nurse Joy. Instead, at the nurse's usual position was none other than Lisia. The bubbly woman with turquoise hair, parted on either side of her face and pulled into a high ponyta-tail winked very obviously at May.
Her usual contest gear of a blue bow over a slimming white top and frilly blue and white shorts made May smile. At least the Hoenn native hadn't changed since the last time they'd encountered each other.
'Hiiii ev-er-y-bo-dy! May was simply mar-vel-ous! Her debut was sparkling, beautiful and revealed the connection she shares with her pokémon. To give her a low score would simply not do her justice!' The bubbly Contest Star grinned, winking at the audience before elegantly pressing a button to reveal a nine.
Blinking, May couldn't help but quickly do the math as the crowd roared in her favour. She gotten twenty-four out of thirty, an incredibly high score considering how out of practice she was.
'Thank you so much, guys! I owe that amazing mark all to your amazing hard work!' May whispered, pulling her two pokémon in a tight hug before recalling them.
With a small smile, May returned to the back area for contestants, relishing the familiarity of it all.
'Well, you did well,' a voice glowered, sounding sarcastic to May's ears.
'Who are you?' May frowned, unsure of how to respond to the clear jibe.
'I'm the one who's going to show you how to do it properly. Try not to be too jealous of my prowess,' the man bragged before stalking out of the door.
Blinking, May shrugged at Elgyem before taking a seat on the awaiting seats.
Glancing up at the screen, she saw the braggart on the screen, an Alakazam lifting Breloom into the air, twirling it elegantly as it unleashed energy ball after energy across the stage.
The Breloom landed softly on its feet as Alakazam released its hidden power at them, causing them to smash into tiny sparkles which surrounded the stage.
'Beautiful,' May whispered as Elgyem sat on her lap, cowering at the various glances the other coordinators in the room threw at her.
'I'd give it a five, maybe a six if I was feeling lenient,' a familiar voice shrugged from beside her.
'Drew!' May squeaked, turning to see the man standing beside her. To see him so soon filled her with disbelief, and she clenched her fist with nerves, the pain of her nails digging into her skin flowing up her arm.
Sapphire eyes met emerald as the man glanced at her. She saw him grimace slightly before he offered her a fresh, red rose, as beautiful as the first he'd ever given her.
'Here, it's a peace offering of sorts,' Drew offered, giving her a small smile as she bashfully took it in her hand.
Enjoying its sweet smell, May hesitantly asked, 'Beautifly isn't with us at the moment, care to tell me if this is for Blaziken, Glaceon, Munchlax or Skitty?'
The green haired man briefly flicked his fringe out of his eyes before smirking, 'I'm sure you know the best response to that.'
Smiling down at the rose, May tried to fight the flush which must have been on her face. After all, Drew was as smooth as ever, and didn't seem nearly as angry at her as the last time they'd met.
'Didn't you think of dressing up for this contest?' May frowned at him, disappointed that he was in the same garb she'd seen previously.
'If you hadn't been snoring as contently as your Munchlax in bed, you wouldn't have missed my awesome appeal,' Drew scoffed, flicking his hair before holding a hand at her flushed, angered cheeks.
'Why, you! Some of us couldn't sleep a wink last night, you know?!' May glared at the man who couldn't help but chuckle.
'You haven't changed a bit, have you?' He grinned at her, his emerald eyes void of all their previous anger.
'Not really,' May muttered, sheepishly pointing her fingers together as Elgyem used psychic to lift the rose over her veil and onto her ear, balancing it perfectly.
'Well, that's a good thing. They'll be announcing the people proceeding soon, so pay attention,' He chuckled again before sauntering out of the room, as suave as ever.
Blinking, May shared a bemused glance with the pokémon near her. It flashed its hand at her, appearing to question the man's sanity.
'Don't look at me, I haven't seen him in years and he still confuses me,' May shrugged slightly before Adrian's voice filled the screen, 'aaaand it's that time again, folks! For this contest, we've only got four runners up to get the Vientown ribbon! Who will be the winner? Check the screen now for answers!'
Grimacing, May whispered, 'I can't look!'
Sensing Elgyem's soft touch, May blinked once before glancing up to see the hooded face of K-master, the smug act that had followed hers. Freddie, a normal-type trainer was runner up, followed by herself and Courtney, a purple haired woman who seemed strangely familiar to May.
'We made it!' May beamed before hugging the extra-terrestrial pokémon, who seemed as delighted as she was.
'Now, we're shuffle the decks to see who'll be up against who!' Adrian continued as May placed her anxious hands on her knees.
'And it's decided! Freddie is up against K-Master whilst May and Courtney battle it out to see who will go to the semi-finals!' Adrian called, punching the air for effect.
'Well, Elgyem, we'll see how we go,' May whispered as the psychic type flew onto her shoulder, apparently noticing her unease.
'I'm as ready as I'll ever be,' the young woman grimaced before heading down the corridors, head held high.
If any are interested, I have entered a competition with a rather colourful (for lack of a better word) story. It's focused on BrunetShipping but has minor IkariShipping. If you want to read it or would like to vote for me, you can do so below. The story itself is called Facing Houndoom.
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