Hi all,

Sorry it's a bit later than normal.

Here's the latest update, hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 17

'Welcome back after that slight intermission, ladies and gentlemen. Now we're heading into the final round, and there's only one question on everyone's lips: who will win this Contest Ribbon? Will it be K-Master, who wowed us with his psychedelic display of Breloom and Alakazam, or will it be May, whose pokémon have moved with sheer simplicity and beauty? Only time will tell as we enter the final round of the Vientown Contest!' Adrian's voice called, causing the crowd to cheer in eager anticipation.

'Now, to my left is an aspiring Coordinator who's come back with quite a sparkle after a lengthy hiatus. Put your hands together for the one, the only, May!' Adrian cried, flourishing a hand in May's corner.

The woman in question bowed deeply for the crowd, Elgyem floating by her side. She felt her heart warm at the eager cries of the crowd, reminding her again of why she missed Contests—the challenge was one thing, the beauty another, but it was still a form of intricate entertainment for all.

'And now, to my right is the mysterious Trainer with quite the flare for dramatics. He's bold, he's strong, his name's certainly not long, it's K-Master!' Adrian continued, flourishing her other hand to K-Master, whose black hood covered his features perfectly.

'And, Coordinators, please release your pokémon!' Adrian cried as their features filled the screen above the stage.

'Skitty, Munchlax, take the stage!' May cried as she spun on her left leg and threw her pokéballs in the air.

'Machoke, Floatzel, come on out!' K-Master cried, releasing the superpower fighting type as well as the sea weasel pokémon.

The humanoid Machoke flexed its well defined arms, its large pectoral muscles accentuated by the high-waisted golden belt, attached to its high black briefs. Beside it, the orange and cream Floatzel, glared, its arms crossed in a bid to seem threatening, hiding its blue fins from sight, somewhat covering its yellow floatation device which curled around the back of its neck. Behind it, its two tails twirled, the tips as cream coloured as its belly.

With a grimace, May muttered, 'Machoke's a fighting type, so he'll have the advantage. Skitty, I want you to freeze him when you can. Munchlax, we'll have to rely on your thunder punch get rid of that water type.'

Her pokémon both called out their names to her, reacting to her voice.

'Ladies first,' K-Master called, his features still hidden from her.

'All right, in that case, Munchlax, thunder punch, Skitty, ice beam!' May called, knowing her partners would target their designated opponents.

'Thought you'd do that, Machoke, use strength to get rid of that tiny normal type and Floatzel, razor wind to push that Munchlax away!' K-Master chuckled as his pokémon moved to do his bidding.

As instructed, Machoke grabbed a hold of Skitty's neck and threw her with formidable strength against the wall. Floatzel, on the other hand, spun its tail until Munchlax was rooted to the spot.

'Skitty, are you ok? Munchlax, you keep going!' May called to both of her pokémon, watching in horror as her small, pink pokémon who often popped out of her pokéball of her own accord struggled to her feet.

'Come on, Skitty, use assist!' May cried, knowing it was a long shot. The move would take an attack from any of her pokémon's current base, and there was no way for either of them to know what would come out.

'Nya!' Skitty cried before creating a shiny blue orb of ice before her. With a cry, she unleashed it, sending it flying at the startled Machoke, which had been distracted by the significantly smaller pokémon.

'Machoke, deflect it with vital throw!' May's opponent cried, sounding flustered by the surprise.

Barely in time, the fighting type forced its arm at the ice attack, sending it spiralling to Munchlax.

'Munchlax, hit it back with focus punch!' May yelled, hoping this would work in her favour. She was losing points fast, and wouldn't win the contest at this rate.

'Munch, laaax!' Her pokémon cried before smashing Skitty's original attack into smithereens, causing the stage to be covered in tiny icicles.

'Nice save,' K-Master called with a disbelieving laugh.

'I could say the same for you,' May grinned back at him.

'May! STOP FLIRTING WITH THE ENEMY! THIS IS A CONTEST BATTLE, NOT A FLIRT-A-THON!' Harley's enraged roar could be heard from the stands.

'I wasn't flirting!' May squeaked in response as Elgyem's lights flashed in anger. She needed to think fast, though. Harley was right, she had no time to waste, and the best way to win this was to do something spectacular.

'All right, Skitty use ice beam on the ground and then jump on Munchlax's head,' May cried as Munchlax glanced at her in disbelief.

'Don't let them do anything, Floatzel, use aqua jet on that tiny pokémon, Machoke, you use strength again,' K-Master scowled as her pokémon moved to follow suit.

'Munchlax, counter that Machoke with your secret power!' May cried as her big eater pokémon hurtled forward, landing against the fighting type with probably no damage.

'Your pokémon didn't do any damage to my Machoke,' K-Master bragged, not noticing the trap May was setting up.

'You're right, but it's too late for you to attack my Skitty,' May grinned as Skitty jumped into the air to dodge the pokémon whose shield of water was covered in snow in an attempt at freezing nearly the whole stage.

'How can your pokémon move so fast after everything we did to it?' Her opponent snarled as Munchlax jumped up to catch Skitty.

'That's easy, sheer determination. Now, while they're struggling, Munchlax, use earthquake!' May cried, ignoring the gasps from her friends. After all, the move was still very hit and miss, but she needed something big, and luck had to be on her side.

Her pokémon were falling back to the ground head first as Munchlax's feet began to glow.

With a wince, May realised that this could cause her to lose more points. Letting out a strangled cry, she called, 'you can do it, Munchlax, I know you can!'

Turning at the last moment, the big eater pokémon's feet crashed into the smooth ice, causing it to shatter as the fighting and water partners struggled to find a place to stand.

Unable to defend from the all-out attack which took place on the whole arena, K-Master watched in horror as May's points overtook his own.

'Now, while they're distracted, Munchlax, thunder punch, and Skitty, double slap!' May called to her pokémon, hoping that they at least had some energy left.

With a loud call, Skitty rushed towards the fighting type to slap its face, left cheek, right cheek, left, right and down, whilst Munchlax's right fist glowed yellow, surrounded by electric currents, colliding with a startled Floatzel.

Loud beeps filled the air and May's breath hitched. Afraid, she almost couldn't make herself look, except Elgyem lifted her head up to the screen, its green lights flashing in joy.

'We-we did it, we won!' May whispered, noticing that she'd won by a hair's breadth against her opponent.

'Munchlax, Skitty, you were both awesome!' May whispered, crouching down as her pokémon jumped into her arms.

'Congratulations,' a soft voice grinned, pulling her attention upward.

'Thank you,' May beamed back, standing up to shake her opponent's hand.

'Tell Dawn I said hi,' K-Master whispered before turning to leave the stage.

'Hey!' May cried, her sapphire eyes widening in confusion, though the cloaked figure didn't turn around. Frowning after him, May barely registered as Adrian's voice called, 'And now, we'll take a moment for the ribbon to be awarded to May!'

With a small smile, May and her pokémon headed onto a previously unnoticed small podium near the judge's desks.

'Congratulations, May, I hope that you have the best of luck with your future contests,' Mr Contesta beamed at her as he handed her a small, grey ribbon with sparkles in its centre.

'All right, we got the Vientown Ribbon!' May cried, holding it out before her and posing, her pokémon crying out near her.

'Congratulations, May,' Lisia's warm voice grinned at the young brunette.

'Thank you, Lisia, how do you think I went?' May whispered, turning to her friend with the turquoise coloured hair.

'Well, I think you went ab-sol-u-tely amazingly! Honestly, not even my big brother could keep up with you, May!' Lisia beamed, pulling the unsuspecting brunette in a tight hug.

'Oh? You and your uncle never named your brother, even Wally hasn't mentioned a name,' May muttered, not daring to ask for details on the topic, lest it be taboo.

'Oh, you definitely know him, though he's told me many a time to keep my mouth shut in front of you,' Lisia winked slightly before Adrian glanced at the two.

'Lisia, sweety, I don't think your uncle would be too pleased to see you fraternizing with the contest winner so,' Adrian whispered in a feverish manner, sending May a pleading glance.

'What is May, the enemy? Please, don't make me laugh!' Lisia giggled endearingly at the frazzled orange haired woman. Turning more serious, she continued, 'besides, May's close friends with my uncle and cousin, aren't you?'

'Wallace and Wally? Yes, they're both some of my closest friends from Hoenn,' May smiled nervously, not enjoying the questions which would definitely come. The secrets she'd shared with Steven always scared her, after all, only their closest friends and family had known of their relationship. And even then, they didn't know of her and Steven's arrangement, though she didn't like to think about it.

'Wait a second, how do you know Lisia's brother and uncle? And does this Wally person enter contests?' Adrian frowned, crossing her arms and appearing to have forgotten her own warnings.

'Well I first met Wallace at the Wallace Cup, as I'm sure most people saw me attend it years ago on television. As for Wally and Lisia, I met them whilst I was on hiatus, employed by the League to take care of Petalburg Gym,' May responded awkwardly, hoping her relations with Steven weren't brought into light.

'Isn't Wallace a bit young to be your uncle?' Harley scoffed, entering the discussion with an exaggerated saunter.

'Oh, that's easy, my grandmother had my mother young, but left quite a few years between the her and my uncle, and the same happened with my mother and us. Unfortunately my brother broke the tradition of the women coming first in our family,' Lisia winked, posing her hands before her in a 'V' shape.

'So, who's her brother?' Adrian frowned at May, who shrugged, equally perplexed. She was as clueless as the MC in this.

'Lisia, do you think your brother would want you to be gossiping about such things so easily?' Solidad's voice called to the trio, sounding bemused.

'Yeah, hon, from what you've said, it sounds like he's not too happy with everyone knowing who he is,' Harley frowned as he stood beside the pink haired woman, hands on hips.

'Guys, can you believe I won!' May called, grinning childishly up at them, hoping to diminish the awkward lecture which would probably ensue.

'Yes, you were great, May, congratulations,' the pink haired woman smiled, eying the rose in May's veil subtly as Harley muttered bitterly, 'no need to brag about it, especially after all that flirting, too!'

'May! You were awesome!' The dark blue haired coordinator who was missing from their little group called, tackling the brunette into a tight hug.

'Thanks Dawn, can't breathe,' May whispered as her face flushed at the tight grip.

'Oops, sorry, Zoey always tells me off for how tight my hugs are,' Dawn giggled, releasing her friend immediately.

'That's ok, thanks for letting me go,' May whispered as she breathed in and out slightly.

'How did you think I went?' May questioned her friends, who seemed pleased by her chipper behaviour.

'You did well, there's no need to worry about a thing!' Dawn winked as she slung an arm around her friend's shoulder.

'Bluenette twerpette is right, though your executions were a bit sloppy,' Harley muttered, winking one of his green eyes at her.

'They were?' May squeaked, turning her wide eyed gaze to Solidad.

'Nothing that can't be fixed with practice,' the older woman assured her, subtly stepping on the purple haired man's shoes.

'Oh, before I forget, K-Master told me to tell you he said hi, Dawn,' May whispered to her close friend, who glowered at the news.

'Did he, now? Well he's got another thing coming if he thinks I'll forgive that brief little message! Who does he think he is, to just disappear and ignore me?' Dawn snarled, her face flushing in anger.

Wondering what was irritating her friend so, May sent a furtive glance to Solidad who responded by mouthing, 'Paul.'

Knowing that nothing else needed to be said on the matter, May was almost certain that Paul had done something to offend her friend before disappearing into thin air. The man could never be found in any place for long, something she'd learnt from her friend's many rants.

'So, shall we go out to the next town?' Harley questioned, smiling softly down at May.

'Can we go somewhere first?' May asked back, biting her bottom lip hopefully.

'Where would that be?' Dawn frowned at her sister.

'Well, my brother and his Ralts were reunited on Nabiki Beach, and it's said to bring together people and pokémon who will share an incredibly strong bond,' May whispered, bouncing on the balls of her feet anxiously.

'If it's what our fair haired brunette wishes, then so be it! But first, I demand an extra night of beauty sleep as celebration of my little gingerbread cookie's success!' Harley cried, extravagantly taking Solidad's hand in his own and walking out of the door.

'I suppose we'd better follow them. Thank you so much, Adrian!' May grinned at the surprised MC before rushing after her friends, the psychic type following her along the way.