Hello everyone! So, so sorry for the delay on this update. My life has gotten significantly more crazy over the past few months, and it's been difficult to find time to really buckle down and focus on these longer chapters! But since I start a new semester of school tomorrow, I really wanted to be able to get a new chapter out before that began, and I was able to do just that! Hopefully you'll all enjoy the conclusion of the Grand Festival!

LAST TIME: Michelle has her Top 16 battle against Clarisse and wins. Clarisse states that she is so proud of Michelle for how far she's come, and encourages her to win the rest of the Grans Festival for her.

Chapter 69: Eight is Great?

Somehow, the lights in the Contest Hall felt more blinding than ever.

Still, Michelle refused to allow that to throw her off of her game. She had made it to the Top 8 in her very first Grand Festival. That in and of itself was a huge deal, and Michelle knew it. But that wasn't enough for her. Michelle wanted to be Top Coordinator, and to do that, she'd have to finish much higher than where she was now.

She shifted nervously from foot to foot, tugging at the chiffon skirt of her teal dress. Michelle knew her mother would've scolded her, because pulling on that kind of material was probably going to make it a bit wrinkled. But the girl didn't really care about her dress at the moment. All she was concerned about was taking the stage for her next battle.

"We're ready for our next battle! This matchup is between Amanda and Michelle!"

Michelle walked out from backstage to the roar of the crowd. Across the way was her opponent, Amanda, a girl who appeared around the same age as Michelle, with an abundance of dark curls and piercing purple eyes.

The red head's family and friends watched as she took her position in the box. They were quite possibly more nervous than Michelle, though they were all trying their best to hide that little fact.

Once Michelle was situated, she retrieved her two capsule covered poke balls, eyeing them confidently before throwing them above her head. "Skitty, Roselia, curtain call!"

The Pokémon appeared on stage surrounded by a shower of color changing stars. Across the stage, Amanda did not appear phased, and pulled out her own poke balls.

"Snubbull, Dewgong, you're on!"

Michelle narrowed her eyes ever so slightly as the two rival Pokémon manifested before her and her own team. Skitty and Roselia put on similar looks of determination, and this seemed to give a jolt to Michelle's crowd of supporters.

"That's a bit different than what we've seen so far," Misty noted.

"Yeah, she looks confident," Brandon agreed.

"Well, that's a good thing!" Aiden crowed. "Confidence is super important!"

Ash hummed and lowered his eyes a degree. "Let's see what Michelle does with that confidence."

Down on stage, Michelle loosened her hands, feeling all of the tension dissipating through her fingertips. With less weight on her shoulders, the girl finally showed off a small smile, one that Amanda eagerly matched.

"Battle, begin!"

XXX

The fight Skitty and Roselia had put up was nothing short of amazing.

Before the battle started, Michelle could've never imagined anything like it. It wasn't that she didn't trust her Pokémon, or didn't think they'd trained hard enough to get to that moment. She knew she had, and everything seemed to click all at once. The whole thing, start to finish, was completely liberating for the young coordinator.

They'd started off at a disadvantage…Snubbull and Dewgong were extremely formidable opponents. Amanda had put up some truly impressive combinations, such as using Snubbull's scary face attack to cover up Dewgong's powerful aurora beam, which seemingly came out of nowhere thanks to Snubbull's trickery. Then there was Dewgong's hail attack, which caused a multitude of problems for Michelle, the worst of them being the affect it had on the battlefield. Skitty and Roselia struggled to see, or even stand up as the stage became icier and more slippery. And with those difficulties, it had been easy for Snubbull to then land its fire fang attack.

But Michelle refused to quit. She knew she could get around those challenges, if she put her mind to it and worked together with her Pokémon.

And then they started to come back.

"Roselia, use petal dance! And Skitty, use double slap!"

Roselia spun around in elegant fashion creating a slow moving tornado of pink flower petals. Skitty then jumped in front of the thorn Pokémon, violently swinging her tail back and forth and speeding up the petals. They struck Snubbull and Dewgong before either them or Amanda could react. It hadn't been suffering before then, but it was at that moment Michelle's confidence really surged.

From then on out, the battle was close. So close. Michelle and Amanda went back and forth, their point totals taking turns in falling. The crowd was enraptured by the match; it was one of the closest this Grand Festival had seen thus far.

When time ran out, both sets of Pokémon were still standing. It would all come down to points. Her mouth falling open, Michelle whipped around to glance up at the score board, her green eyes shimmering just before Lilian made her announcement.

"And the winner is…Amanda!"

Michelle's breath faltered as she continued to stare at the score board, the audience's fervent cheering drowning out. She had lost by just barely a sliver of a point. It was barely noticeable, in fact. Michelle knew it was true; it would have been foolish to challenge the results. She believed, deep in her heart, that it was a fair assessment by the judges. But it was so close. Michelle wasn't entirely sure how she felt.

As she continued to block out the rest of the world, having only eyes for the score board, she felt something rub against her ankles. Finally looking down, Michelle realized it was Skitty and Roselia, who had meandered over to her and were looking quite down on themselves. Michelle forced a smile onto her face and knelt down to address the creatures.

"Hey, you guys did your very best!" Michelle assured them. "I'm so impressed! You put up such a fight. We really almost had them there!"

Neither Skitty nor Roselia seemed placated. Her smile faltering a bit, Michelle reached out to pat both of their heads.

"No being down on ourselves, alright?" Michelle tried. "We have nothing to be ashamed of!"

Michelle stood back up with the intention of returning her Pokémon to their balls, but halted when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amanda approaching her. Looking up, Michelle locked eyes with the other coordinator, and sucked in a quick breath.

"That was some battle," Amanda complimented her, slowly shaking her head. "I haven't had a challenge like that in a long time! Thanks for that."

It took a moment, but Michelle displayed a far more genuine smile. "Same to you!"

Amanda offered Michelle her hand, which the redhead looked at quickly. "Best of luck to you in the future! I think you're going to make quite an impact on the coordinating scene."

Michelle giggled softly and shook Amanda's hand. "Thank you! And good luck in the semifinals!"

XXX

Once Michelle had finished changing back into her street clothes, she was somewhat surprised to find her family waiting right outside of the dressing room for her. She felt a little bit self-conscious about it, but nevertheless plastered a smile on her face and took a step forward.

"I thought you guys would want to watch the rest of the Grand Festival," Michelle began, catching their attention. They had, in fact, been watching the latest battle on a nearby television, and were startled by her appearance.

"Pi-chu!" Pichu squeaked, jumping from Elizabeth's arms to greet her trainer.

"It's fine, we wanted to make sure we caught you as soon as we could," Misty replied, smiling softly at her daughter. "Are you alright?"

Michelle sighed as she lifted Pichu up and placed the mouse on her shoulder. She knew that's what this was about. "Yeah, I'm okay!"

Everyone seemed surprised by this, which finally led Michelle to roll her eyes.

"Am I really that dramatic when I lose?" She asked.

"No, dear, of course not!" Delia quickly assured her oldest granddaughter. "We all just love you, and we want to be there for you, no matter what."

Michelle smiled admiringly at her grandmother. "Thanks, Grammy. I really appreciate that."

"You did put up one heck of a fight," Aiden jumped in, smirking at his twin. "That was a really close battle!"

Michelle returned her brother's sly smile. "Are you insinuating I learned those skills from you?"

"I am not," Aiden scoffed, folding his arms. "You did that all on your own! And I'm impressed."

Michelle finally backed down and giggled softly. "Well then…thanks! That means a lot, coming from you."

"I thought you were better than the other girl, Shelly," Elizabeth informed her sister.

"That's nice of you, Lizzie, but she was better," Michelle giggled. "That's why she won! It's just part of being a coordinator."

"I guess…" Elizabeth muttered. "But I still liked watching you better!"

"Well, I appreciate that too," Michelle laughed.

"You know, Top 8 is pretty impressive for a first Grand Festival," Brandon added. "Not many coordinators can say they made it this far!"

Michelle nodded in agreement. "The only thing I'm disappointed about is that I feel like I let Clarisse down. I told her I was going to try my best to win the whole thing after I defeated her."

"Yes, but you did try your best, sweetheart," Misty reasoned with her daughter.

"I know," Michelle quickly assured her. "That last battle was so close! I don't think I could've pushed it any closer. But still…I really thought I was on the verge of getting to that next step."

Ash, who had remained silent this entire time, finally let out a long breath and chuckled softly. This gained him Michelle's attention, who turned towards him with an eyebrow raised.

"You know, it's funny," Ash began, rubbing his chin. "Someone else I know made it the Top 8 in her very first Grand Festival, too. She had a lot of struggles leading up to that moment, and sometimes she became pretty discouraged. But she never gave up. And when she finished in the Top 8, she was very proud of how far she'd come in such a short amount of time. That only gave her more motivation to continue to improve. She actually went on to become a very successful Top Coordinator."

Michelle seemed intrigued. "Really? Who?"

Still smirking, Ash lowered his hand and replied simply, "May."

Michelle blinked hard. "May? Wait…seriously?"

"Yep, it's true!" Ash crowed. "You followed a very similar path your first season as a coordinator as she did. I've been thinking about that for a while, but today really solidified that."

After taking a moment to think about her father's words, Michelle smiled. It wasn't big and wide; it was a bit on the smaller side, but it was genuine.

Michelle knew that this was just one step closer to following in her idols' footsteps. And to her, it meant the world.

XXX

After everyone had been convinced that Michelle was just fine, they all headed back into the stands to watch the completion of the Grand Festival. Like Clarisse, Michelle was eager to see the grand finale, even if she wasn't participating in it.

The final match of the tournament wound up being between Amanda and a male coordinator, Bryce. Michelle knew how good Amanda was, but she hadn't gotten to see much of Bryce during the competition, or even the whole season. She was looking forward to watching the two square off against one another.

It was, just as Michelle had hoped, an amazing battle absolutely worthy of being the final match of the Grand Festival. Both Amanda and Bryce had put their all into the battle, but ultimately, it was Amanda who came out on top. Michelle watched with sparkling eyes as the girl was awarded the Ribbon Cup and proclaimed the newest top coordinator. She had never seen the presentation in person, and it only made her that much hungrier to win the title herself.

"Those were some of the best battles I've ever seen," Delia remarked as the family made their way out of the Contest Hall. "I swear, these young trainers keep getting more and more talented!"

"This was definitely a great Grand Festival," Misty agreed, nodding her head.

"Hey! Michelle!"

The girl blinked and whipped her head around. Clarisse was running towards her, a big smile on her face.

"Clarisse, hi," Michelle greeted, still taken a bit off guard.

"I was hoping I'd run into you again before leaving," Clarisse sighed, obviously relieved she had.

"Really?" Michelle sounded surprised.

Clarisse grinned and nodded her head. "I wanted to tell you how great your battle against Amanda was! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!"

Michelle's face finally lit up. "Thanks! But…I lost."

"Yeah, but it was super close!" Clarisse calmly argued. "Plus, you ended up losing to the Grand Festival champion! That's super impressive!"

"I guess you have a point," Michelle relented.

"We'll just have to keep training for the next Grand Festival," Clarisse concluded.

This piqued Michelle's interest. "Where do you plan on going next?"

That question seemed to catch Aiden's attention as well, which did not go unnoticed by Misty.

"I think I'm going to take a little break and then head to Johto," Clarisse replied. "It's not far from Kanto, which I like, and I've heard that the Contest scene there has gotten pretty hot as of late. I think it'd be a great challenge! Where are you gonna go?"

Michelle twisted her mouth. "I'm not sure. I haven't actually thought about that just yet."

"You could always come to Johto with me, if you want!" Clarisse offered. "I'm not sure when I'm leaving yet, but I could always let you know!"

"That's very nice of you, Clarisse," Michelle giggled. "But I definitely have to stay around here for a bit longer! The Indigo League starts in a few weeks, and I want to cheer on Aiden!"

The blonde grinned almost instantly. "Right, I forgot that's coming up! That's so sweet of you!" Looking over at Aiden, Clarisse added, "I hope you do great!"

The boy appeared surprised, but then offered the girl a confident smile. "Thanks! I'm gonna give it my all!"

Clarisse giggled. "I wouldn't expect anything less out of you!"

Glancing up a bit, Clarisse realized that both Ash and Misty were standing just a bit behind Aiden. She suddenly appeared a bit flustered, her face turning a light shade of pink. Realizing why Clarisse had suddenly faltered, Michelle cleared her throat and introduced, "Clarisse, these are mine and Aiden's parents."

Clarisse still seemed star struck, but she managed to squeak out, "h-hello, Master Ketchum, Mrs. Ketchum. It's an honor to meet you."

Ash grinned at the girl, and it hit her right away that Aiden's smile was identical. "Nice to meet you too! Your appeals and battles were amazing!"

Clarisse's eyes widened, disbelieving that she had just been complimented by the Pokémon Master. "Oh…thank you!"

"Michelle's told us about all about how you two have become such good friends and rivals," Misty added, smiling sweetly at Clarisse. "I'm very thankful for that! It's good to know my children have made such kind friends on their journey. I worry about them when they're gone, and that helps ease my mind quite a bit."

Both Aiden and Michelle blushed furiously and shot their mother dirty looks, while Clarisse laughed gently. "That's so nice of you to say! Thank you!"

During all of this, Elizabeth had managed to wander closer to the blonde, her eyes set wide. Clarisse noticed the child staring at her and giggled again, concluding, "You must be Elizabeth. You're very cute!"

"Thanks!" Elizabeth chirped. Barely taking a breath, she continued, "You're really pretty, like my mommy!"

"Oh!" Clarisse gasped. "Well…thank you! That's very sweet!"

"You should date my brother," Elizabeth casually added. "He's kind of annoying sometimes, but he's nice! He's good at making me laugh. Do you want to be his girlfriend?"

Aiden's blush intensified, and now Clarisse was sporting one as well. Misty laughed nervously and gently steered her younger daughter away by her shoulders, earning loud, squeaky protests from the child.

"I'm so sorry," Misty apologized earnestly. "She's got no filter on her! We never know what's going to come out of this one's mouth."

"It's fine," Clarisse assured Misty, waving her hand.

"Mommy, I meant it, she's really pretty," Elizabeth whined.

"She is, but you didn't need to include her brother," Misty sighed, trying to keep her voice low.

Ash smirked and turned his attention back towards Clarisse. "That might be my fault. Misty thinks I just say whatever I want, too!"

Clarisse was surprised by this. "I don't believe that. You're so well spoken in every interview of yours I've ever seen!"

"Years of practice and other deceptive editing work," Misty teased.

Michelle rolled her eyes, but confirmed to her rival, "He really isn't quite as cool or well put together as he appears on TV."

"What?! Michelle!" Ash cried.

Clarisse started to laugh again. "Your family is great! It's really making me excited to get back home and see my parents. In fact, I think I'm gonna start heading back that way now. I think if I really book it, I can make it there by tonight!"

"Good luck!" Michelle offered.

"Thanks!" Clarisse replied. Looking back over at Aiden, she added, "and good luck again to you at the Indigo League, Aiden!"

The boy blinked before smiling and responding, "Thanks!"

With one last wave, Clarisse was off. Once she was gone, Misty looked over at her older daughter and said, "What a sweet girl! I can see why you two became friends."

"Yeah, Clarisse is awesome," Michelle agreed.

"I still think she should be Aiden's girlfriend," Elizabeth muttered.

While Brandon snickered, Aiden growled and whipped his head around towards his younger sister. "Elizabeth!"

Ash hummed lowly, closing his eyes. "No one is going to be anyone's boyfriend. Or girlfriend."

Misty smirked at her husband. "I'm thinking life was a lot easier for you when you didn't understand the concept of romance."

"I like it when it comes to you," Ash sighed. "Just not our kids."

"Well, you don't have to worry about any of that dumb stuff!" Aiden assured his father, eyes set ablaze with determination. "The only thing I care about is the Indigo League! I've got to start my special training so I can kick some serious butt!"

Ash's own glee returned in full force. "Yeah, that's what I like to hear! As soon as we get home, we can get started!"

Delia sighed and crossed her arms. "He's still got a one track mind."

"Yeah, and he passed it onto our son," Misty muttered.

Elizabeth blinked and glanced up at Michelle. "Hey, they're not paying attention to you!"

"That's fine," Michelle assured her younger sister, a smirk appearing on her face. "I think I need a bit of a break from the spotlight for now! I'll just let Aiden get embarrassed by everyone else for now…"

Now it's Aiden's turn to compete in the Indigo League! Wonder what'll happen there...?