Iron Willed
Feeling more like his old self, Drew called out to his Pokemon. "Roselia, combine Stun spore with Magical Leaf! "
"Roseeeell!! "
"Now, Petal Dance! "
"Amazing! The entire area has been filled with golden petals and leaves. A truly stunning appeal by Drew! "
May's eyes shone as she saw his score. 9.7, 9.8, 9.8, the total being 29.3. "Drew has moved to first place! Next up is Jasmine! "
As Drew left the stage, crowd still cheering for him, he flicked the hair out of his face and chuckled. He looked over, intending to talk to May, but at the sight of her laughing and talking to Chase, he closed his mouth and ignored them as best as he could as he watched Jasmine.
"Go, my steel soldier, Steelix! Iron Tail the ground! "
"Steeeaaaaal!! " The shining grey iron snake roared, hitting the ground with an Iron tail that shook the arena, his entire body shining white like his tail.
The crown gasped, overawed by the thunderous appeal. The judges were just as impressed, giving her a 9.7, 9.6, and a 9.9. Jasmine's score total was 29.2, just behind Drew.
The Hoenn opponents were stunned, but Chase and the other couple native challengers were proud for her. As the Gym leader left the stage, she gave Drew and Harley smug glances. "Not bad for a native who's knows nothing about contests, eh? My cousin Winona taught me all about them. "
She flicked her long hair off of her shoulders, imitating Drew and his stuck up manner, then walked over to talk to May and Chase.
Drew remained silent, in slight shock, hut Harley openly scowled at her. "Humph. I bet she think's she's better than me because of her home field advantage. I'll show her.. I'll show them all... Harley will not be messed with... "
"It's hard to take you seriously when you refer to yourself in third person. " Drew remarked, heavy on the scorn.
May was in slight awe of Jasmine's contest skill. "But... you're a gym leader... "
"So? If a sword fight is simply a violent dance, the same goes for contests and battling. I just had to improve Steelix's condition. The rest was not very hard at all. "
"You were amazing, Jasmine... " Chase smiled at his friend, and she blushed deeply.
"Oh, Chase, if I believed every word of praise you gave me, I would explode with egocentricity, " she said, looking at the floor.
"Oh, they're announcing the finalists! " cried random coordinator number one.
"Oliver, Kalli, Drew, Chase, Jasmine, May, Leanna, and Harley will be going on to the next round. Here are the match ups for the second part of the contest, battling. "
As the match ups were revealed, the finalists murmured about their opponents, as the other contestants resigned themselves to their loss and promising themselves to do better next time.
"Guess this is the end for us today, Magicarp. "
"I'm up against Drew!! Oh my gosh he's so awesome!! "
"Whoa, I'm against Jasmine. Never did I think I would actually be so very confident in saying that I am so utterly doomed... "
"Harley? " May's face was twisted in shock.
"Heheheh... Harley is looking forward to- Eeep! " The coordinator stumbled as he walked by Drew. "Grrr... "
"First up, Harley and May! Please come to the main stage. "
Oh, no... Not Harley... What if I can't beat him? What if-
May's thoughts were interrupted by Drew's remark from the opposite wall, apparently talking to himself. "Your Pokemon can sense your fear and hesitation, and they will become scared as well. "
His eyes flicked up meet hers briefly, then he closed them, a slight smile tinged with pain hovering around his mouth.
Harley snickered, then gave May a confident glance. "Remember, hon, don't cry too hard when I beat you! "
May let out a deep breath, letting herself relax completely. She walked up the ramp to the main stage, the MC's voice sounding as if it came from far away.
"... send out their chosen two Pokemon for a double battle... "
I can do this... Nothing to it... It's just another contest...
"Begin! "
"Take the stage, Blaziken and Skitty! "
"Come on for Harley, Cacturn and Bannet! "
Harley gave his opponent a cold glance. "You're going down! Cacturn, give that Blaziken a taste of your Bullet Seed! Bannet, follow it up with Will-o-wisp! "
"Blaziken, hit that Bullet Seed with Fire spin! Skitty, use Assist! "
Skitty threw a Shadow Ball at Bannet, dodging the Will-o-wisp as fire erupted in front of May's pokemon. Bannet reeled backwards, blinded by the fire and unable to dodge.
"Now, hit Cacturn and Bannet with Blizzard, Skitty! And get ready to defend her, Blaziken! "
"Pin missile and dodge, Cacturn! Dodge it too, Bannet, and retaliate with Thunder! " Bannet moved out of the way, but Cacturn caught a bit of Skitty's blizzard, still shooting pins.
"Fire Spin, then Sky uppercut, Blaziken! " The pins dissolved in the fire, and as the Thunder dropped down from the sky, Blaziken's Sky uppercut connected with Cacturn as the fire Pokemon appeared from behind the wall of fire. Both Pokemon felt the powerful Thunder, and both fell to the ground, partially stunned.
"Get that Blaziken with Thunder again, Bannet! "
Bannet raised his face to the sky, concentrating deeply. May knew that Blaziken would never be able to dodge it in time. She thought quickly, her mind finding a solution that was a long shot in the best of times.
"Skitty, grab onto Blaziken and use Assist! "
White light shone from Skitty's paw as the Thunder dropped down...