Author's note: Heyo!
Finally, it's time to end the Wallace Cup arc! Are you all excited? I know I am! Then it's on to a totally different arc! Woo! *confetti*
Hope you like the chapter!
Chapter Twenty-eight: Finale Fireworks
The following day, Pikachu was back to sitting on Cynthia's couch, ready to watch the third and final day of the Wallace Cup. Today would be both the semi-finals and finals, where the remaining four coordinators - May, Drew, Harley and the white-haired girl - would compete for this year's aqua ribbon.
It was a shame that Dawn was no longer competing. Pikachu would just have to change tacks and cheer for May, instead, he supposed.
... Heh. Since Dawn already had an aqua ribbon from last year's Wallace Cup, he couldn't help but wonder what having two was like.
Heck, what would happen if a coordinator collected five aqua ribbons, across five years? Could they just be used infinitely to get them into whatever Grand Festival they wanted? Or could they only use them once? Honestly, he wasn't really sure how they worked...
... Still, it was a shame that Dawn wasn't getting one this time around. It would have been nice to see Buneary happily cheering, while her trainer proudly held up the ribbon. The rest of the team, too, of course, but... it would have been nice to see that Buneary was doing okay without him.
... Of course she was. Yeah. Definitely.
He nodded to himself, reassured that everything was fine, and focused on the television.
Ah. It seemed Drew was first up, battling against the white-haired girl. While Pikachu wasn't too concerned about who would win, he supposed he should cheer for Drew, since he didn't even know the white-haired girl. So he decided to do just that.
He frowned. No, it was the battle after it that he was interested in.
... Wow. Now that Pikachu was actually paying attention, he could see what Iris had meant about the white-haired girl. Her pale purple eyes were piercing. On her face was barely a flicker of emotion, and every time the camera zoomed in on her, she had laser focus in her eyes. Barely blinking. Staring right into Drew's soul.
It was an odd contrast to her pearly white hair and pretty purple ribbons.
Pikachu watched as she commanded her hydreigon with absolute authority, taking full control of the battlefield. Though Drew's moves were much flashier, he and his flygon were clearly having a difficult time against them. Drew was visibly gritting his teeth, trying not to look distressed, while his fans cheered him on in the crowd.
Back and forth the two dragon-types flew, using whatever advantage they could, both in and out of the water. It was looking like a pretty close call.
At the last minute, though, Drew pulled off a victory.
Okay, onto the next match.
Pikachu frowned as May and Harley walked onto the battlefield. Now he definitely knew who to root for. Not only was May his friend, but he wanted Harley to pay for what his pikachu had done to Buneary. Destroying her in battle, ruining her self-esteem and killing off her moves again.
... He tried not to think about how he'd done the same.
Shaking his head to clear away his thoughts, he went back to watching the match. May called out her skitty, who happily ran in circles, and Harley called out his wigglytuff, who grinned evilly at his opponent.
Ah yes, there he was. The creepy wigglytuff he'd been reminded of yesterday. His frown deepened as he remembered that it had been Harley's pikachu that had reminded him of Harley's wigglytuff.
Urgh, why did Harley's pokémon have to be such jerks?
Well... Harley himself was a jerk, so that explained things, he supposed.
Still! He wanted May to kick Harley's butt in this battle for what his pikachu had done to Buneary!
"(Go, go, Skittyyyyy!)" a voice called out from the crowd.
Huh? Wait, that sounded like a pachirisu...
The camera quickly panned over to the audience, where Dawn was sitting. Pikachu's eyes widened. In front of the coordinator were three pokémon, standing on the backs of two empty chairs. All three were wearing cheerleader outfits.
Pachirisu was bouncing around, waving his pompoms very enthusiastically. "(You can do it, Skitty, woooo!)" he called out really loudly.
Huh. Pikachu hadn't known they knew each other.
Next to him, Piplup was waving his own pompoms, though nowhere near as much. "(Yeah, you show him what-for!)" he called out.
On the end was Buneary, who was waving her pompoms with very little enthusiasm. "(Yay...)" she said, clearly forcing a smile.
Pikachu felt his stomach cave in. She looked so sad...
... It was definitely Harley's pikachu's fault! Yeah! And, by proxy, also Harley's fault! Which was why May had to kick his butt in this match!
Pikachu frowned, nodding to himself, as the match began.
So far, it had been a gruelling match. Harley was pulling out all the stops to try and get a win over May. Including several tactics that Pikachu was surprised were allowed. His wigglytuff had tripped Skitty up, spun her around by the tail, dunked her head under the water, and held her down while slapping her with his ears.
Seriously, did contests even have rules?
Despite all this, though, Skitty managed to pull through and secure a win for May. The humans on the couch cheered, and Pikachu couldn't help but beam in pride for the pink cat. That son of a gun had actually done it!
On-screen, Harley was positively seething. He was ranting and raving, spouting all sorts of angry nonsense words, while tugging on his long purple hair.
Pikachu felt himself smirk. Served him right.
"(Yaaaay!)" he heard Pachirisu cheer really loudly from the crowd. "(Way to goooo, Skittyyyy!)"
Although Skitty was panting from exhaustion, she took a moment to turn around and beam. Lifting a paw, she waved enthusiastically. "(Thaaaanks~!)" she called back. She almost fell over, but she kept on waving.
When the camera panned back to Dawn, Pikachu saw Pachirisu hopping up and down, waving his pompoms like there was no tomorrow. Piplup was also waving his pompoms, but far more normally. Buneary... looked like she was trying a bit harder, but she still didn't look happy.
Pikachu paused at this. But... she'd been avenged, right? May had defeated Harley, eliminating him from the tournament. Well, granted, it hadn't been his pikachu that had been defeated, but still! A defeat of Harley counted for a defeat of his pikachu!
... So why did Buneary still look sad?
He paused a long moment. Eventually, he sighed quietly to himself, his ears drooping. Oh, who was he kidding? It was his fault she was like this. It had always been his fault. He was the one who'd said those horrible things to her when they'd met, he was the one who'd rejected her, and he was the reason her moves didn't work.
It hadn't helped that he'd gotten angry over her having Thunderbolt, too...
Nope. He was entirely at fault.
Still, though... why was she still upset over all that? Did... she...?
... No. Surely not. It went against all logic. Pokémon didn't crush on someone for very long. Didn't care about them for very long. So she wouldn't still care about what he'd said.
... But what if she did, though?
Argh. He gave his head a hard shake, not wanting to think about it.
Because, if she did still care about him, then...
Nope. He wasn't going to think about it. Instead, he focused his eyes very heavily on the television.
Speaking of which, it was finally time for the final match! The deciding battle between May and Drew, for the coveted aqua ribbon. Pikachu had to admit, he was a little bit excited. He really hoped May would win.
He watched as the two coordinators stood opposite each other, intently staring each other down. They both smiled, sharing a respectful nod, before throwing their pokéballs.
On went the battle between May's blaziken and Drew's absol. The two had several explosive clashes, all very flashy, and the match was looking rather even. It was really hard to tell who'd win, because both were giving it their all.
A few times, Pikachu caught himself glancing at the crowd whenever they flashed up on-screen, but he could never quite see Dawn and her team properly. Argh, what was he doing, anyway? He should be watching the match! He focused his gaze back to where it was supposed to be.
The fight continued to rage on, with no clear winner in sight. Whenever May got the upper hand, Drew would take it right back, and vice versa.
... Somehow, Pikachu felt he should be more excited than this. Shaking his head, he kept his eyes on the screen.
After one final explosive clash, both Blaziken and Absol landed in the pool with a splash. There were a tense few moments as everyone wondered who would emerge first. There was no more time on the clock, so this would be the deciding factor.
Then it happened. A face breached the water, and under his arm was his battered opponent, who looked like he'd had enough.
"And the winner is..." the announcer called out, "May from Petalburg City in Hoenn!"
Pikachu smiled. Oh, wow, May had actually won. He watched as the girl in question beamed from ear to ear, before jumping in joy.
"Yeah! We did it!" she cried. "Way to go, Blaziken!"
Wincing from the water, Blaziken swam over to the edge, planting his free arm on it. He gave her a thumbs up. "(No problem,)" he replied.
Under his other arm, Absol groaned, looking displeased with himself.
Pikachu gave a satisfied huff. Well, that was the end of this year's Wallace Cup. He was glad that May had won, at least. It was a nice comeback after her loss to Dawn in last year's final.
Still, though... he wished Dawn's team could've won this year, too.
He continued watching as Blaziken and Absol were pulled back into their pokéballs, and Drew spoke some unheard words of encouragement to Absol's. Then all four semi-finalists gathered together on the stage.
As the white-haired girl, Harley and Drew all stood in a semi-circle, May stood in front of them, as the judges - Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, Blackthorn City's Nurse Joy and Wallace - approached. After a small congratulatory speech, Wallace handed over the aqua ribbon.
With a graceful twirl, May posed with the ribbon, and everyone clapped for her victory. The white-haired girl had a small smile, and was clapping politely. Drew was smiling widely, and clapping fairly enthusiastically. Harley, however, was clapping harshly with a rather sour look on his face.
A brief flash of the crowd told Pikachu that Dawn and her team were also cheering for May, so that was nice. He couldn't see Buneary's face, but he hoped she'd cheered up a bit.
Suddenly, the camera showed Harley again, who was now grinning darkly to himself. Pikachu sat up straighter. What was he up to?
He watched as Harley put on a beaming smile and walked up to May. "Congrats again, May Doll~!" he said cheerfully. He grabbed both her hands and shook them. "You did great~!"
She beamed back. "Thanks, Harley!" she replied, though Pikachu couldn't help but notice that Drew was frowning at him, his eyes full of suspicion.
Pulling May towards him, Harley took a few steps backwards, closer to where the announcer was standing. Then he let go and exaggeratedly pointed a finger in Drew's direction. His voice carried through the microphone. "Your poor boyfriend must be so upset that he lost!"
Drew and May's eyes both widened in shock. The crowd in the stands went oddly silent.
Oh, no, he wasn't...
... He totally was, wasn't he?
Harley hugged himself, swaying from side to side happily. "Maybe you should give him lots of hugs and kisses to make him feel better~!"
The crowd started murmuring. Then the murmuring got louder and louder, until there were shouts of indignation.
"Are you really dating Drew?!" one shouted in disbelief.
"Say it isn't so!" another shouted dramatically.
"No, there's no way she's dating him!" a third shouted in defiance.
"Yeah, she can't be!" a fourth agreed angrily.
The shouts got louder and louder, beginning to drown each other out. The announcer tried to get things under control, but she was also being drowned out.
Amongst the chaos, May floundered, waving her arms around and desperately trying to convince people that she wasn't dating Drew, but nobody was listening to her.
Drew, himself, had an ever-deepening frown as he looked around at the crowd. The white-haired girl looked perplexed, but Harley was grinning to himself.
Pikachu scowled. That little...! He'd done this on purpose! His goal the whole time had been to rile up the crowd and turn them on May, so that she'd freak out and get upset. Thereby utterly spoiling her victory in the Wallace Cup!
He'd sunk to a new low.
"She must be lying!" a particularly volatile fan shouted.
"Yeah!" another shouted. "She said she was dating him, just to get attention!"
"But our Drew would never date someone like her!" a third shouted.
"She wishes he would!" a fourth shouted.
"But...! But...!" May protested weakly. "I...!"
One half of Drew's fans yelled their agreement, while the other half looked on in disbelieving horror.
Ash leapt to his feet off the couch, startling Pikachu. "Hey, come on, lay off her!" he shouted at the television. It was a pity they wouldn't be able to hear him.
Iris hugged herself, pulling an awkward face. "Yeesh... his fans are... something else..." she muttered.
"(Yeah, I'd hate to be in her shoes...)" Axew muttered sadly from her lap.
"They are..." Clian started, a frown on his face, "a most distasteful fanbase..."
Near him, Cynthia and Jervis shared a displeased glance, but said nothing.
Ash clenched his fists, fuming. "I just know Harley did this on purpose, the jerk!" he shouted.
Pikachu nodded, also frowning. "(Definitely,)" he replied.
Ash looked over at him. "You agree, buddy?" Pikachu nodded again, and Ash turned back to glare at the screen. "If only I was over there, I'd give him a piece of my mind!"
Pikachu's cheeks sparked angrily. "(Me too!)"
He was immediately jolted out of it when he heard angry chanting coming from the television. Whirling his head around, he saw the volatile half of the crowd chanting, "Li-ar! Li-ar! Li-ar!" The other half either looked horribly embarrassed to be breathing the same air as them, or angrily trying to shut them up.
The chanting only grew louder, though.
The announcer was still desperately trying to calm everyone, but she was still being ignored. Pikachu had to give her credit for trying, but it was a wonder they were still on-air at this point.
When the camera focused on May, Pikachu's eyes widened. She was biting her lip, and her eyes looked like they were watering. Was she... trying not to cry?!
He stared in shock, horror, disbelief and anger.
But... at the same time, it was horribly reminding him of something. Something that had happened a month ago, down on the beach...
Before he could linger on that thought, someone cleared their throat super loudly. When the camera shifted, Pikachu was surprised to see Drew holding the announcer's microphone to his mouth. The entire crowd went silent.
"Okay, first off," he said, looking at the offending fans with a frown on his face, "I don't appreciate what you're saying to May. She and I have been rivals for a long time now, and I'd like you to give her some respect."
There were some awkward grumblings in the crowd.
"Second..." he continued, glaring at Harley, who was whistling innocently, "I really don't appreciate how you let this guy rile you up like that. You fell right into his trap, and I'm really disappointed in you."
There were more grumblings, though they had an air of sadness to them this time.
"Third... and most important..." He strolled over to May, who was wiping her eyes while looking at him in a mixture of awe and intrigue. He smiled warmly at her, then grabbed her hand in his. Interlocking their fingers, he looked back up at the crowd with an intense gaze. "We are dating! So never imply she's not worthy of me again!"
... Pikachu's brain blanked out. He stared at the screen, unable to process this.
May's face exploded in heat, and the crowd went nuts with all sorts of emotions running high.
"D-Drew!" May shrieked, her voice partially picked up by the microphone.
A light blush dusted Drew's face as well, yet he still smirked. "Heh. What? Why should I be ashamed? I'm the one who asked you out, remember?"
"W-W-Well, yeah, but...! But...!"
Harley's jaw had gone slack, so clearly he hadn't expected this response either. The white-haired girl still looked perplexed, but also a little intrigued.
"... Huh?" Ash asked, sounding confused. "... They're actually dating?"
"Aww, that's so cute!" Iris cooed. "Sticking by his girl like that!" Her voice suddenly turned energetic. "Yeah! You show those stupid fans who's boss!"
"(So cool...)" Axew murmured in awe.
Cilan chuckled. "Well, this was an unexpected flavour, but certainly not unwelcome!" he said. "It has the sweet aroma of heroism!"
"You're darn right it does!" Iris agreed. She heaved a dreamy sigh. "I'm kinda jealous. I want a guy like that..."
"O-Oh, is that so?" Cilan chuckled somewhat awkwardly.
Cynthia hummed in agreement. "He stood in the face of adversity," she said, "all in the name of love. Who wouldn't want a man like that?"
Something in Pikachu's brain flickered. Love...?
"Rather romantic, isn't it, madam?" Jervis asked.
Cynthia chuckled. "Quite."
Suddenly, on-screen, May's eyes bugged. She shrieked, her face somehow going even redder. "Oh noooo!" she screeched to the heavens. "What if Mom, Dad and Max are watching?!" She buried her face in her hands, one of which was still attached to Drew's hand. "Then I'll never live this down...!" Her voice cracked into a squeak at the end.
Drew gave her a sympathetic smile. He passed the microphone off to the announcer and gave May a few pats on the back with his free hand.
The camera then focused on the announcer, who was smiling rather awkwardly. "Well, now that the chaos has finally died down..." she said down the microphone. She immediately perked up. "That's it for this year's exciting Wallace Cup! Be sure to tune in again next year to see who gets the next aqua ribbon!" She waved at the camera. "Until then, this is your master of ceremonies, signing off!"
The television cut to commercials, though Pikachu continued to blankly stare at the screen.