May, Dawn, Leaf and Misty all headed out of the airport and into the arrival's waiting area. It was early afternoon and the sun rays were shining brightly into their eyes so they had to squint.
"It's so hot! I should have worn a tank and shorts but it was too cold back home!" complained May. She was wearing leggings and a hoodie over a shirt and uggs. It was the middle of winter in Hoenn.
Misty rolled her eyes, pushing her sunglasses down from her head. "May, I'm sure the car will have air conditioning and you can just change when we get to the house."
May pouted but didn't say anything else. They spotted a sign with their names and headed towards the person who was holding it. A pretty lady with a smile gestured them to come over.
"Eye of ze Liepaud? Iz zat all of you?" she said with a strong Kalosian accent. She had beautiful blonde hair and was holding a camera.
"Yes that's us! Are you here to take us to the house?" Dawn replied politely, bowing slightly.
"Yes, oh my I forgot mahnes'(manners)! Bonjour, velcome to Kalos! I'm Viola, ze official camera woman of Kalosian Idol! Come now, I'll show you to ze car."
Leaf and May exchanged excited looks, they couldn't wait to see the house. They all walked towards the car and gaped when they saw it. It was a sleek, black limousine. In fact there were two of them and the one in front was just about to drive off. May swore she saw a flash of green hair when the last person went into the car.
Could it be Palm Tree? May thought. Nahhh, he would never get into Kalosian Idol. But she still had her doubts, well how many other people have green hair?
"-May, are you even listening?"
"Oh, wait-listening to what?" May asked, confused.
Misty rolled her eyes, "Viola was saying that once we get there, we'll be introduced to the rest of the contestants because only us and another group haven't arrived and their car just left. So hurry up!"
"Oh yeah, of course!" May said.
They all speed walked to the limousine and got comfortable in there. They were all awed by the stunning interior of the long vehicle.
The green-haired assassin went into the car last, and gazed around at his surroundings. He wasn't awestruck, however, as he had been in the long, sleek cars plenty of times. Being an assassin did earn a lot of money, they just weren't free to spend it.
Paul resisted the urge to twitch as he watched ice-cream drip down Ash's cone. "Ash, you're spilling that everywhere."
The content raven-haied assassin ignored his disturbed comrade as he said, "Guys, I think this is gonna be a lot more fun than our other missio- mmph!"
Ash was cut off by Gary, who slapped a hand to his ice-cream covered mouth. Gary cringed, looking at his palm in disgust. They couldn't say anything about their real jobs, obviously. Raising suspicions were too much of a risk.
Ash, you idiot, Paul thought, wondering why he bothered to put up with him.
Drew was most likely thinking the same thing, as he rolled his eyes. "So, are you guys excited to meet the other contestants?" he asked, changing the subject.
"They're probably all irritating fangirls," Paul commented, annoyed. "Like the troublesome girl I met."
Gary ran a hand through his hair, smirking. "I'm just looking forward to seeing Leaf again. I bet all of you guys are looking forward to see them, too."
None of them said a word, but inwardly, they all agreed.
"So, May," Dawn said as the car drove out of the airport, "Why were you staring at the other car and completely zoned out just before?"
May sighed, leaning her chin on her fist. "Well, I saw a flash of green hair and I think it might be guy from the plane. Like, who else has green hair?" After a few seconds, she remembered something. "But he did say he was here to visit family."
"Oh, really?" Leaf gave a sympathetic look to the other brunette. "Man, it would suck if that guy who sat next to me on the plane was in the competition. But don't worry it's probably not him, snobs don't have musical talent."
May smiled. Her friends were always reassuring when she needed it. "I hope so-"
"OH MY GOD! GUYS! IT'S BOUTIQUE COUTURE, ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING STORES IN THE WHOLE WORLD!" Dawn squealed really, really loud while violently tapping the window pointing to a fancy looking store as the car zoomed past.
Viola smiled at the over-excited girl. "Yes yes, Kalos is ze place for all your shopping! It has world-class stores in nearly every city! Boutique Couture is ze best in this whole region," she explained.
"Look guys! It's the Prism Tower!" Misty said, pointing out the window to a beautiful, tall tower as the car drove past.
"Wow! It's so much cooler than the photos!" Leaf said, gaping at the Prism Tower through the window.
As they drove on, to the house May was staring out the window the whole time and realised how different it was from her home region, Hoenn. She was rummaging through her bag when she realised a red rose attached to the strap of it.
I wonder who put that there...
The car stopped outside a huge, modern house cutting the girls out of their thoughts. It was surrounded by a large, black fence with gates just as magnificent. Grass, flowers, trees and a fountain were all in the spacious garden leading up to the home. Then there was a small, marble staircase to the door.
"Wait, this is the house?! It's amazing!" Dawn said gaping out the window. All of them were.
"Yes, this eez vhere you'll be staying for as long as you're in Kalosian Idol with ze ozer contestants!" Viola said.
The driver came out and opened the door of the limousine. They all got out and saw that the other limousine had arrived a few minutes ago because it was empty. As they were walking up the steps, Misty spoke up, "Guys we are literally five steps away from officialy being in Kalosian Idol!"
May grinned, looking up at the large doors. "Only one step away now."
Viola unlocked the door to the mansion and they all stepped in, gaping at their surroundings. They dumped their luggage there and stared in awe. Leaf gasped. "Woah, this place is massive!"
She wasn't exaggerating. On their right was a huge living room with a 64 inch flat screen TV, a few couches, beanbags and a coffee table.
To their left was another open room with a pool table and beanbags on the edges of the room. In front was a long, spiraling stair case going to the second floor and it was made of marble.
The four girls walked through the house, there were laundry rooms, bathrooms, and a huge kitchen with chairs around the bench and a long dining table. Outside, there was a amazing pool with sun chairs with large umbrellas attached, small tables, a dining table, palm trees and stones surrounding it.
Already filled with joy, they headed upstairs towards the rooms and Viola showed them their room.
"I think this is the biggest bedroom I've ever seen," May said, admiring the room. There were four beds, bookshelves, desks, chairs and many other things. There was also a beautiful en suite connected.
"Come on guys, let's head downstairs and meet the other contestants!" Leaf exclaimed. They had already seen a few but had quickly walked off to see the rest of the house. As for Leaf, she had never seen any luxury even close to what she was seeing in that house.
"Alright girls, make yourselves comfortable. I'll be leaving ze 'ouse now," Viola said, bowing her head.
Misty smiled gratefully, returning the courtesy. "Thank you so much for all your help, Viola. See you soon!"
The blonde photographer beamed, leaving the room. Then, she reappeared a moment later as she had forgotten something. "Before I go, I'd like to take a few photos of Eye of ze Liepaud," she explained.
"Of course," May replied, nodding. The others agreed and formed a line, smiling cutely as their Kalosian aid snapped a few shots.
Once again, they all said their goodbyes to Viola and she left their room.
"Alright guys, let's head downstairs," Dawn stated, breaking a short silence. "But first, let's change and freshen up."
The others nodded, agreeing. It took half an hour for them all to refresh and change their outfits. At around seven o' clock, the band headed downstairs for dinner, and to meet the others.
The four newcomers were amazed to see that everyone, except the anticipated boy band, were in the kitchen or surrounding it. Cooking, watching T.V or chatting amongst themselves. When Eye of the Liepard walked in, everyone went silent and turned to look at them.
"And yet another new addition to the zoo," came an amused voice from another girl band that consisted of four members. The speaker had dark red hair, and a cute face.
She giggled after seeing Eye of the Liepard's faces. She chuckled, saying, "I'm just kidding." She approached them, her three other band members following close behind.
"I'm Brianna," she introduced. She pointed to the three standing behind her, introducing them as she did. "These are my bandmates: Ursula, Melody, And Megan."
All four of them smiled sweetly, Eye of the Liepard doing the same. They didn't seem too bad. Yet.
"Hey, we're Eye of the Liepard," Leaf introduced. "This is May, Dawn and Misty. Nice to meet you!"
Most of the other contestants went up and introduced themselves. Such as Brendan, Calem, Serena, Iris, Brock, Danny, Rudy, a duo Jessie and James and the chefs, Brock and Cilan.
Eye of the Liepard were quite fond of Serena and Iris, as they seemed much more genuine than The Candies.
"So, have you guys met Ghost of the Night yet?" Serena asked.
Dawn raised a brow, folding her arms. "Uh, no, who's that?"
"It's the boy band that just arrived before you," Iris began, but was cut off. Coincidentally, the band they were speaking about strode into the room. Once again, everyone fell silent as they looked towards the doorway.
May's, Dawn's, Leaf's and Misty's jaws hit the floor.
"YOU!?" they all shouted in unison as they clearly recognised the boys.
The Candies had a completely different reaction than Eye of the Liepard's. "Oh my god, the one with the green hair is mine! I shotgun," Brianna whispered furiously to her bandmates.
"The brunette's mine!" Megan whispered back, smoothing her long, blonde hair.
"The one with the Pikachu is mine," Melody whispered.
"Hmph, lucky me! I got the one I wanted. Plum-head's mine," Ursula whispered with a sly smile on her face.
May blinked, blankly staring at Drew. Then, her eyes narrowed. "You said you were visiting family?"
"I lied," he casually said with a shrug. "I doubt you'll beat us, though. Have fun trying, December."
May crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Hmph, whatever. We'll see who gets kicked out first! You're just gonna be a ghost of the night in this show, pun intended," she shot back with a proud smirk.
The room filled with low cheers and laughs. The burgundy-haired member of The Candies shot a glare at May, but the proud brunette hardly noticed.
Drew smirked challengingly, raising a brow. "That was absol-utely horseable."
His rival grinned. "Hey, you can actually make up some puns!" She walked over and tapped his head, acting surprised. "You have a brain! That's onix-pected!"
The surrounding contestants were genuinely laughing at the comedy show. The auburn-haired assassin tried to steal the attention and shot one of his dazzling grins.
"Hey, I got one-"
Paul gave a rare half-smirk, cutting off his auburn-haired comrade.
"Shut up, Gary-dos."
By then, all the contestants had teary eyes and were clutching their sides from laughing so hard.
Ash chuckled. "Ha, yeah! Shut up, Gary-dos!"
The room just fell silent, as if he had drained the laughter out of everyone, and they all face-palmed.
"Ash, Paul just said that!" Misty groaned, face-palming.
"Yeah, but I thought it was funny so I said it again!" he protested, looking around the room in confusion, everyone sighing. "What?!"
Gary smirked and spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. "Leafy! Fate has brought us together once again, my beauty," he said with a fake English accent as he went on one knee and kissed the back of Leaf's hand.
"Well then, I guess fate hates me, right?" Leaf joked, and pulled her hand back nevertheless.
The whole room filled with laughter once again except for The Candies, who glared at Leaf.
The place became filled with chatter, the Brock and Cilan resuming their cooking. Everyone was introduced to Ghost of the Night. The Candies attempted a flirtatious conversation but were cut off by Paul.
"Hey, Misty!" Ash called, pulling away from Melody and heading towards the fit member of Eye of the Liepard.
"Hey, Ash, never would have thought you would be on this show!" Misty said with a smile as Ash walked over to her.
"Same goes, I really- oh sorry, Drew's calling," Ash said looking over to Drew who was gesturing for him to come over, "- I'll talk later, bye!"
"Bye!" she called out, waving to Ash as he walked towards his haughty green-haired friend
Damn you, Drew.
"Hey, Paul, wait up!" she called as she followed Paul outside to the veranda. It was a lovely, small place and looked even more beautiful as the beams of moonlight shone from the clear sky.
"What do you want, Troublesome?" Paul replied without tone. He was staring up at the sky, gazing at the millions of shining dots of silver scattered across the sky.
"Well, thanks for helping me out- WAIT, WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Dawn said, glaring at Paul.
"Troublesome," he replied simply. Although, Dawn could swear there was a hint of a smirk growing on his mouth. "And quieten down, you're ruining this atmosphere."
Dawn huffed, but lowered her voice anyway. "I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out at the airport and the plane. Oh and there's just one more thing I need to ask," Dawn said nervously, trailing off.
Paul grunted in response, leaning back on the railing and staring up at the sky. "Hurry up, what is it?"
"Oh, um..." Dawn scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. "Can you take my luggage upstairs for me? It's way too heavy for me to carry all the way up those stairs. Pretty please with a Cheri Berry on top?" Her eyes widened, as she attempted to do puppy dog eyes.
Suddenly, a flash of recognition passed Paul's face. Those eyes! Those diamond-like eyes, he thought.
He dismissed the thought, looking down on the short bluenette. He sighed, rubbing his temples. "If I do, will you leave me alone?"
She grinned, nodding. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, hugging him without thinking. When she realised what she did, her cheeks turned red and she immediately let go.
"Oh- uh -sorry about that, I've got to go to the... er... bathroom! See you later!"
The monotonous assassin watched as she scurried off, sighing. He turned back to staring at the sky but once again, was interrupted.
He heard someone walk onto the veranda, and a familiar voice spoke up from behind him, "You have to stop scaring girls away, Paulie-bear."
"She scared herself away," Paul stated bluntly, not bothering to turn around.
Gary leaned on the wall, folding his arms. "Try to be nice to her, okay?"
"If she can make herself tolerable, then sure," he shot back, rolling his eyes. The truth was, he was already feeling a strange connection to her. Like they were once related, or close.
He couldn't understand, Dawn's beautiful eyes seemed so familiar, the way they reminded him of diamonds. But it just wasn't coming to him almost as if someone or something had locked it up in his mind. He turned around to leave, he had enough star-gazing for the day.
"Diamond eyes..." Paul muttered quietly as he left the veranda, what he didn't notice was Ursula, who was right there behind the curtain, he was too busy thinking about Dawn's eyes.
Diamond eyes? Ursula thought with a frown. Weird, but doesn't change the fact that you're not going anywhere near Paul Shinji while I'm around, Dawn.
"What is it, Drew? You interrupted my conversation with Misty!" Ash whined as he approached his comrade.
"The red-head? You like her?" Drew asked, raising a brow as he folded his arms.
"Of course I do! It's going to be hard to- youknowwhat -because I think we're going to be good friends!' Ash replied.
Drew face-palmed. He hadn't meant 'like her' in that way, but it was Ash, what else could he expect?
"I was saying, you know The Candies? I can tell they're after us so watch out." He turned around to look at someone, but then turned back. "Although, I wouldn't mind hanging with that girl, Brianna, she's pretty cute," Drew pondered.
The raven-haired assassin looked confused, scratching his head. "How can they be after us? I'm pretty sure they're not assassins you know!"
Drew face-palmed again and ran it down his face. "How dense can you get? Not like that, they're after our hearts, love, feelings- how else can I explain the damn thing!" Ash's denseness when it came to romance drove Drew crazy.
"Ohhhh, right, sure I will! Melody came up to me and was twirling her hair and blinking a lot. I think she has blinking problems, and why doesn't she just use a hair curler, geez," Ash said and then walked off. Brock and Cilan were calling everyone, dinner was ready.
Drew sighed. He wondered why Ash was even a assassin in the first place and how he was one. Then he remembered his dad was an assassin and heck, a good one too! Ash was really dense but was a genius when it came to battling, he could make a strategy out of any tough situation in a blink eye and also had very fast reflexes which helped him a lot in hand-to-hand combat.
Drew was known for his amazing hand-to-hand combat and his stealth, Gary was known for his ability to hack computers and his stealth as well and Paul was known for his amazing strength and hand-to-hand combat.
Gary was walking to the dining table since he heard Brock and Cilan call everyone for dinner, he was suddenly stopped by a short, tanned girl with belly length, pin straight blonde hair. She was wearing a loose cropped top which showed her pierced belly button and short shorts.
Immediately, he gave a charming smirk. "Hey there, ahhh, Mary?" Gary said, not sure of her name. She had introduced herself but he had forgotten her name, only remembered that it started with M.
She smiled, showing her pearl-white teeth. "No, silly!" she said in a high-pitched voice and flicked her hand. "My names Megan!"
The assassin scratched his spiky, auburn hair. "Oh, right sorry about that!" He winked, regaining his composure.
Megan talked for a while about her life in Hoenn, but Gary wasn't listening, he was thinking about Leaf. When she finally finished talking, the assassin spoke up.
"Well see you around, gorgeous," And with that, he walked off to eat dinner, what he really wanted was to talk to Leaf, but Megan didn't know that.
Megan's cheeks turned as red as the rose May found on her bag. I'm not gonna make this easy for you, Leaf Greene, I'll get Gary! No matter what.
Dinner was enjoyable, Cilan and Brock's food was amazing, Ash and May ate a lot, which actually didn't leave a shortage of food for everyone else because the members of The Candies only ate salad, a food that both Ash and May despised.
Some of the contestants stayed downstairs, including Leaf, Gary, Megan, Iris, Serena and Calem but the rest went back up to their rooms. However, May went to Eye of the Liepard's room, grabbed her iPhone and a few music sheets and went to the practise room instead.
In Eye of the Liepard's room
Dawn was laying on her bed, on her phone, probably on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and Misty was on her laptop, typing up something when May came walking in.
She took her phone and a few music sheets, saying, "Guys, I'm heading down to the practise room to play piano."
The bluenette smiled, she was closer to May than Misty and Leaf. She knew just how talented and amazing May was when it came to piano.
"Sure, have fun," Misty said from the other ride of the room. "We'll be here, and I think Leafs downstairs with the others."
May just nodded and headed out of the room.
"Hey, Dawn," Misty said, a few minutes later, turning around in her chair.
"Hm?" Dawn asked, looking up from her phone.
"Don't you think it's a bit too much of a coincidence that the boys we met on the plane are all a band that are in the exact same show as us?" Misty pondered with a frown.
Her friend put her phone down, it was an interesting question. "I hadn't really thought of that until now... yeah I guess so, but they could be thinking the same thing you know."
Yeah, but we weren't planning to sit next to them and we know that," Misty continued, ignoring the bluenette. "My seat got moved from next to Leaf by Ash and Gary, why didn't they just sit next to each other?"
"Oh...you're right...maybe it was just an error made by the flight organiser people or whatever they're called, they can't be that bad, Paul helped me out a lot despite his coldness," Dawn said with a shrug.
Misty nodded, unwilling to give in. Her frown grew deeper in concentration. "Yeah, I guess so, Ash is really nice but what about Paul and Drew sitting next to you and May?"
Dawn sighed, shaking her head. "Look Misty, you're over thinking this. Maybe it was just the organisers of the show that put us together, you never know! We have more important things to think about, we have to start writing our song for next week's performance soon! First impressions are everything!"
"Hmm, I guess you're right," Misty gave in, but she wasn't entirely convinced.
At that moment May walked in, her sheet music, phone and a red rose in her hand.
A RED ROSE? Dawn thought excitedly as she saw the flower in May's hand. "May! Where'd you get the rose? Who gave it to you!?"
"Oh, this?" May said, picking up the rose that was flung onto her bed with the other things. "Drew gave it to me."
Dawn gasped and then started squealing hysterically, this creeped out May, a lot.
"Uh, well I'm just gonna go take a shower," May said as she grabbed her pyjamas and went in the en suite. She shut the door behind her, surprised by how much Dawn had freaked out.
Why do you have to be so dense? A red rose is the cutest thing ever. Hehe, good luck Drew! Dawn thought with a smile.
When May went to practise piano...
As Drew was going up the spiraling staircase, May was going down it, he was curious when he saw her enter the practise room so he followed her and stood outside the door, listening to what she was playing so beautifully on the piano. He walked in quietly, May was facing the other side so she couldn't see Drew. He recognised the song as What I've Done by Linkin Park, one of his favourites. She was swaying as she played the chords effortlessly.
Drew joined in when the music calmed a bit at the end. "I start again, and whatever pain may come, today this ends and, forgiving what I've done!" he sang flawlessly and the music intensified again.
May recognised his voice straight away and smiled, she wasn't surprised, she saw someone come in through the reflection on the shiny, polished piano.
Drew continued singing, his voice intensified with the chorus. "I face myself, to cross out what I've become, erase myself, and let go of what I've done!" He held the note on 'done'. "What I've done!" He held the note on 'done' again.
"Forgiving what I've done!" he finished flawlessly, holding the note on 'done' for the last time. He smiled as May finished her piano piece.
May turned around when she finished and gave a huge grin. "So you actually can sing!"
Drew smirked, rolling his eyes. "Yes June, I can. And a lot better than you as well."
The brunette narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Whatever, you haven't even heard me sing yet, and I sound ten times better with Eye of the Liepard."
"Well then, you'll have to prove you're better than me next week during the first performance and then maybe I'll believe you," Drew said while flicking his hair.
May raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"
"Sure is," Drew said casually.
May gathered her things and got of the piano bench. "In that case, challenge accepted." She gave him a smirk as she walked past him towards the door and he gladly returned the favour.
As May was heading out, Drew threw her a red rose, she caught it in one hand skilfully. She gave Drew a confused look but he just walked past without even looking.
"Hey! Drew! What's the rose for?" May called out, still standing in the doorway of the practise room.
He shrugged. "I liked the song you were playing on piano," he called back nonchalantly as he walked up the stairs and out of sight.
Did he give the other one as well? May thought. She shrugged and as went upstairs to Eye of the Liepard's room, she could hear Leaf, Gary and some of the other contestants laughing about something in the living room. She smiled to herself, she was glad Leaf was having a good time on her first day.
What no one noticed was that a dark-red-haired girl was watching May and Drew the whole time in the practise room. Oh, that's how you want to play it May? Fine, you're on, she thought with a evil grin, You're not having Drew, not as long as I'm around.
A/N Oooooooooh DRAMA!
The song that May played on piano was What I've Done by Linkin Park, I highly recommend going back and reading it while listening to what she's playing, here's the link of the piano cover, Drew starts singing from 2:18 and stops at 3:05. I know it seems like a waste of time but its an amazing piano cover so just go on the link on my profile (it wouldn't let me on the story) and watch it while reading, it really helps get the feel!
I picked Gohan and Ash are Awesome 7's suggestion for the boy's band name, good job! :)
Thanks for the birthday wishes :) This chapter is much longer than the first two and most of the next chapters should be this length, if not longer :)
Who liked the Ikari and Contestshipping in this chapter? Yeah sorry about the lack of Poke and Oldrivalshipping, there'll be quite a lot in the next chapter (hopefully!) The punny conversation was inspired by maycontestdrew's conversation with me xD I saw the Garydos one on Facebook, it really got me laughing :')
Viola is also a gym leader in Kalos so you should Google her if you don't know what she looks like :)
-ShinyDragonair2