I know you've all been waiting for this next chapter and I finally got around to making it. I'm sorry about the wait but midterms have me way too busy. Luckily I found some time though. I've been receiving a lot of requests of making the whole group travel together and the reason why I don't intend on doing it because I love Drew and May's alone moments and I have this all heading in a direction already so doing that would make a huge U-turn.

VV

Chapter Forty: Girls Get It

"Hello people and Welcome to the Maranell City Contest!" Julian said in a sing-song tone as she spun in circles on the ball of her foot. The people in the closed arena cheered with such enthusiasm, you could have went deaf. Julian stuck her fingers in her ears and laughed childishly in the excitement of the moment. Once the cheers and yelling had died down she removed her fingers from her ears and brought the mic back up to her mouth. "Glad to hear you're ready for another great contest! Now let's get this show on the road!"

More screaming erupted and Jason who was sitting near a few of Drew's fangirls who proceeded to do a high school cheer in the green haired boy's honor, looked extremely annoyed. Of course people had screamed during some of his battles in the league's he's participated in, but the arena's were never closed to have the screams bounce off the walls. He was gaining a headache fast.

"Okay! Now let's welcome our very first contestant….Melody of Paramoon City!" Julian said as she retreated from her spot in the center of the arena. A girl with bright blue hair and dark eyes took her place with a blue colored pokeball in her hand. She was dressed in a a blue t-shirt that had a moon on it and a pair of purple jeans.

"C'mon out Castform!" Melody said throwing her pokeball into the air. Castform came out but looked like it was protected by a swirling cloud.

"Why is it in that cloud looking thing?" May questioned as she pointed at Castform who was on the monitor performing with its trainer Melody.

"A Castform can take upon different types May, fire, water and snow. This obvious is the snow version." Drew explained crossing his arms over his chest. For once he didn't insult her lack of knowledge before answering her question. May smiled at him as a thank you.

"That's amazing and Castform is so cute." Rolyn said clamping her hands together. Drew rolled his eyes as Riley and May made remarks in agreement to the statement just as melody and her Castform took their bows and retreated off stage and into the back room. May and Rolyn quickly swarmed the blue haired girl and her adorable pokemon as Riley bit her nail. She was up next.

"Well coming up next is a sweet one and her name is Riley Simmons!" Julian announced. Riley took in a gulp of air and shook off her nervous feeling. She turned to leave when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned a bit to face the person only to have Ray's lips brush against hers. Her cheeks automatically flushed in a blush as he gave her the slightest hint of a smile.

"Good luck." He said quickly before pushing her towards the door. She stumbled a bit before glancing back at him. He nodded at her and She smiled brightly before rushing out from the back room with a pokeball in hand and ready to go.

She entered the arena with her bright smile turning into a grin as she waved at the people who were cheering for her. She spotted Jason in the crowd and he gave her a two finger salute. She nodded at him before twisting her cap to the side.

"C'mon Leafeon! Let's get this party started!" Riley exclaimed throwing her pokeball in the air. It split open and from the white light it emitted into the air jumped a Leafeon that looked simply ecstatic. Riley smiled as Leafeon landed nimbly on its feet and posed. "Okay let's start out with razor leaf!"

Leafeon ran in circles knowing just how its owner wanted this performance to go. Sharp leaves came from its tail, flying in a circle as the pokemon kept running. Riley knew she had to act fast, because as they practiced this routine they realized taking their time was not an option if they wanted it to come out right.

"Okay now switch to magical leaf!" Riley said quickly and instantly the attack coming from the pokemon switched to multicolored leaves and as Leafeon continued to run in circles the two attacks began to mix together perfectly. "Now petal dance!" Riley said and just as before the attack automatically changed to the small pink rose petals she had asked for.

"Now solar beam!" Riley commanded. Although Leafeon had no way to obtain energy from the sun from this attack, she knew her pokemon wouldn't fail her. Leafeon stopped running in a circle and entered the center of the swirling attacks. It took a seat before tilting its head back and pointing its mouth upwards as a ball of energy materealized in its mouth.

Leafeon released the solar beam and as expected it was not as big as it would or could have been. It spread out, reducing the magical leaf, razor leaf, and the rose petal into a beautiful mixture of sparkles that hung in the air like a ring before expanding disinagrating into the audience.

People yelled and cheered for the performance as Riley and Leafeon took their bows. Riley smiled brightly before returning her pokemon to its pokeball just as Julian returned so that Riley could see what the judges thought of her performance.

"What a sparkling appeal. Now let's see what judges have to say about this performance." Julian said. Riley faced the judges with a hopeful smile on her face as they went to Mr. Contesta first.

"That was some very nice work. It worked precisely and smoothly. I'll give you an 8" he said bowing his head. Riley smiled happily.

"It was remarkable! You have definitely progressed! I'll give you an 8 as well." Mr. Sukizo said.

"It was adorable and Leafeon showed some strength by using solar beam in a closed arena. I'll give you a 9." The Maranell city Nurse Joy said.

"And that gives Riley a score of 25! Good job Riley and up next is an amazing and talented girl, Vanessa Ortiz!" Julian said as Riley made her way off stage. She passed Vanessa in the hall and the older girl bumped Riley roughly on the shoulder making her stumble a bit.

"Oops, sorry twerp." Vanessa said with an evil smile. Riley narrowed her eyes at her and simply shook her head. She understood this girl was mean but not as mean as this.

"It was my fault entirely." Riley said sarcastically before walking on. She mentally wished that Vanessa would get taken away by a random Charzard as she reentered the back room where she was quickly greeted by her friends.

"You did great Riley." Rolyn mused giving the younger girl a tight hug. Riley gagged as the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

"You did an amazing job with all those attacks. It was a good way to show off Leafeon's abilities." May commented clamping a hand on the white haired girl's shoulder. Riley grinned at her friends and said her thank you.

"Well done Riley." Drew commented. "You could always work on a few things such as what would work best in your situation and your pokemon's strong points because magical leaf was much more stronger than razor leaf." He criticized. Riley nodded in understanding knowing that taking suggestion from someone as good as Drew was a once in a life time chance.

"You should also work on timing and placement. You were a bit off." Ray added. Riley lowered her gaze a bit before nodding. She tried to get her timing perfect and the placement was an important aspect.

"You two never focus on the good things do you? She did fine and if she needs to fix something she'll recognize it and fix it on her own." May said wrapping her arm around Riley's shoulders. Drew and Ray glanced at each other before shrugging and crossing their arms over their chests in unison.

"Whatever." They dead-panned together. Rolyn couldn't help but laugh and May gave them a strange look. They were a bit too similar and some ways.

"Up next we have an all time favorite, Rolyn Josephines!" Julian's voice boomed both from the monitor and the hall that led to arena. Rolyn jumped at the sound of her name. Two performances had passed since Vanessa and it was now her turn.

"Oh, wish me luck!" She said rushing out from the back room and passed the boy who was just coming off stage with a long face. He must have gotten a low score. Rolyn ran out into the center of the arena and waved at the crowd.

Her smile brightened when she spotted Jason clapping for her. He wasn't a screaming fanboy like certain others even though he was her boyfriend. She blew him a kiss and he pretended to catch it as she enlarged a green pokeball.

"Alright Wolversteel! You know how to bring the house down!" Rolyn called out throwing her pokeball in a specific way that had it spinning rapidly. Wolversteel came out spinning before landing on the ground in a pose on its hind legs. It smiled before calling out its name.

"Oh my, what an adorable Wolversteel." Julian cooed as did many other people in the audience.

"Okay Wolversteel use dig!" Rolyn ordered. Wolversteel unsheathed its claws and went pawing at the ground before quickly going under. It came back up that far from the original hole and hopped out only to dig another hole again. It repeated this process before it came back up and looked towards its trainer for the next command. "Now get in there and down and us metal sound."

Wolversteel jumped into the nearest hole and a sudden sound similar to screech came from the hole. The sound was like running nails over metal however it still sounded controlled like a note. Wolversteel hopped out and jumped into another hole doing the same thing and this time it was a higher note. It did this over and over and before people could understand what was happening. The pokemon was actually playing a song with the ground.

"Well this is simply amazing!" Julian exclaimed in her excitement. "Is that 'Hot n'Cold' by Katy Perry?" Rolyn nodded just as Wolversteel had finished and proceeded with refilling the holes. The audience applauded and cheered loudly as Rolyn picked up Wolversteel and bowed before her audience.

"Well, let's see what the judges thought about this…astounding performance." Julian said as she wrapped an arm around Rolyn's shoulders.

"I have to say that, that was the most original thing I have ever seen!" Mr. Contesta said. Rolyn smiled thankfully for the remark. She had done this out of her love for music. "I'll give you a 9."

"Remarkable, astounding, amazing and simply well thought! I give you a 10." Mr. Sukizo said. Rolyn bowed her head to him in a thankful manner.

"I have to say this is the first time I've ever seen someone do something like that. It must have taken a lot of training and that Wolversteel looks as happy as can be." I give you a 10 as well." Nurse Joy said.

"Well that gives our musician a score of 29! The highest score yet, let's see if someone will be able to beat her and get a perfect twenty!" Julian said as she ushered Rolyn off stage. The cheering seemed to drown her out as Rolyn waved before leaving the stage.

She returned Wolversteel to its pokeball before hearing Julian announce that Ray was next to compete. She looked up just as the brown haired boy came down the hall with a nonchalant look on his face. Rolyn smiled at him and he paused by her.

"Nice appeal." He commented. She smirked and nodded.

"I try. Good luck with yours." She said before heading down the hall. He proceeded to head out into the arena with his hands shoved into his pockets.

All finished here. I hope that was good. Next chapter will be Ray, Drew, and May's appeal. They will all be spectacular and then the battles come around and we get to see who wins that ribbon. Again, I'm sorry about the wait for the update. I'll try updating earlier next time, but no promises. Now do what cha gotta do and Pweez review.

V i D a V e N d E t T a . . .