I am in such a bad mod today. My friend kept getting on my nerves and I think I totally failed a French test…oh well. Updating always lifts my spirits so I will do so and many apologies for all of you who have been waiting for this next chapter, but you know how school is…always ruining your life and crap.

VV

Chapter Forty One: How Appealing

"C'mon out Charmeleon." Ray said as he tossed his pokeball into the air. The white light shone bright from the orb before forming into the medium size fire pokemon that automatically took a stance, ready for whatever command its trainer had in store for it. "Use ember…"

Charmeleon obliged and released the bullet sized fire attack straight down onto the arena floor causing sparks and small flames to bounce up into the air. Spectators stared in awe at the light show being made by the attack. Ray snapped his fingers and Charmeleon automatically stopped and in a split second its tail flared with pure fire and energy before it released a fire spin straight into the air.

The left over embers continued to spark as the fire spin went higher and expanded further out. Ray smirked and snapped his fingers again. Charmeleon squatted before launching itself into the fire spin flying high up into the air until it reached the top.

"Now use flame thrower." Ray stated simply as he tucked his hands back into his pockets. Charmeleon opened its mouth unleashing a lethal flame thrower that forced the fire spin back to the ground in rings. The crowd stared in awe as Charmeleon fell straight into the mess of fire that soon exploded upon reaching the arena floor.

There was a short pause as everybody waited for the smoke to clear and hopefully see Charmeleon come out. Ray snapped his fingers one last time and Charmeleon flipped out of the smoky mess and posed for the crowd. Applause and cheers filled the arena as Ray took a quick bow.

"Wow! What an amazing display! Let's see what our judges have to say!?" Julian said as she approached Ray while clapping. Ray quickly returned Charmeleon as he waited for his verdict.

"That was amazing! I loved it!" Riley complimented as she nudged Rolyn's shoulder. She wasn't paying attention so the nudge had caught her by surprise. The ebony haired girl blinked stupidly before nodding with a sheepish grin.

"Yah! Totally awesome..." Rolyn trailed off sounding completely unsure.

"You weren't paying attention at all, were you?" Drew questioned. Rolyn put a finger to her lips gesturing for him to be quite before she returned to previous activity which was cleaning a spec off of her glasses.

"It was a good display of raw power." May inserted as Ray received a solid score of 28 points. Julian was just announcing the next coordinator which happened to be Drew. She glanced at him as he stood up and headed towards the door. "Drew…" She began.

He looked back at her waiting for her to continue and her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet color. She could not believe that she was still nervous while talking to him. It was probably the environment because of the many times Drew and her had been at contests together and going up against him made her nervous.

"Good luck, because you're gonna need it to beat me later!" She said smartly as her mouth curved up into a determined smirk. He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head before continuing on his way out into the open arena. May smiled softly to herself before turning her attention to the television monitor.

"Sparclet, c'mon out." Drew called while throwing his pokeball into the air. Sparclet came out in midair and chimed its name cheerfully before landing nimbly on its four paws. Peopled cooed and made remarks at how cute the pokemon was. Sparclet narrowed its eyes and smiled in determination.

"Sparclet!" It cried before its entire body went ablaze. People gasped in fear for the small pokemon as it jumped into the air but little did they know that this was call a blaze tackle that Sparclet had been training with when Drew tried to figure out an appeal.

Sparclet seemed to literally float in midair as it began to spin quickly. The speed increased until its flaming red body changed to a bright white color as it gained speed and energy. Drew smirked as the brightness intensified to the point that it began to expand.

In a few seconds the brightness went far enough to completely disappear with a small boom. Sparkles and small flames of fire rained to the floor of the arena as small white flames came flying from Sparclet's mouth adding to the effect. Sparclet landed on Drew's shoulder and as the last of the sparkles and flames began to fall Drew took his bow.

"Well that was simply astounding. Drew never disappoints!" Julian said as Drew smirked once again while they turned to the judges for Drew's score.

"No he does not. That was an amazing display of raw energy from such a little thing. I give you a 10." Mr. Contesta said.

"Remarkable beyond comprehension! I give you a 10." Mr. Sukizo complimented while giving his own private applause.

"Drew you never let down your audience. That little guy seems just fine so I give you a ten as well." The Maranell city Nurse Joy said with an affirming nod giving Drew the perfect score he deserved.

"Wow the first perfect score! That is amazing!" Julian said with an affirming nod.

The crowd began to cheer wildly and Jason was about ready to strangle someone because the fangirls were just about past his last nerve. He chose a horrible place to sit when Drew was competing. Drew took one final bow before making his way off stage with Sparclet still perched on his shoulder the way Keychimp would be on May's. He entered the back room only to be suddenly groped into a tight hug by said brunette who was smiling happily and proudly. Sparclet jumped away and joined Keychimp by Rolyn, Riley, and Ray.

"That was so great Drew! Sparclet did a wonderful job." May complimented as she tightened her hug. Drew's eyes widened as his circulation was cut off and the air was forced out of his lungs. May was a very strong hugger.

"Uh…M-May?" Drew said trying to squirm out of her grip. May placed her head on his shoulder and nodded. He tried sounding as nonchalant as he could but that is a pretty challenging task if you were being choked to death by a girl with a really good grip. "Would you mind…I don't know…letting go because I know I'm not supposed to but I think I need to breath just this one time." He said sarcastically.

May pulled away from him and he took in a gulp of air and let out a sigh of relief. When he looked towards the brunette she looked quite upset, probably because of his heavy use of sarcasm. He smirked to himself at his luck. He just loved to drive her to the point of insanity.

"Drew Benjamin Hayden the sarcasm was sooooo unnecessary!" May exclaimed stamping her foot like a child. Rolyn chuckled from behind at the fact that Drew's middle name was Benjamin…and Riley smiled brightly as she scribbled down the middle name for future reference.

"It got you off, didn't it?" He questioned. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a glare that he was so accustomed to seeing on a regular basis.

"That's not the point." She retorted in a matter-of-fact tone. He quirked an eyebrow at her and stood up straight while shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Okay then…what was the point Maple?" He inquired. May narrowed her eyes to the point that it seemed nearly impossible that she could even see. Drew's smirk widened as she remained silent for a moment before walking away with her nose pointed in the air. "Oh yea walk away." Drew laughed lightly.

"FYI it's my turn for an appeal and second of all SHUT UP!" She retorted. Rolyn chuckled again as Keychimp ran after May and jumped onto her shoulder just as she left the back room. Drew let out a satisfied sigh as he watched her leave. All in days work…

"Okay Keychimp! Take the stage!" May said as she twirled in a circle with a bright smile on her face. Just by her cheerful disposition one could tell May wasn't just here to win, but to have fun as well.

Keychimp jumped into the air from May's shoulder during mid-twirl and twirled a couple times in the air so it looked like the two of them were doing a synchronized dance. May finally stopped posing on one foot and Keychimp did so also once it landed to the ground.

"Okay Keychimp use swift!" may commanded pointing up into the air. Keychimp jumped up into the air and released dozens of sharp golden stars that hung there like in the night sky. Keychimp would move its position every now and then before finally landing smiling at the end result of what it had done. The swift had come together to make a Keychimp made entirely out of golden stars. People marveled at the art before May gave her next command.

"Okay now get in there!" May commanded. Keychimp launched itself into the air again with another high jump and jumped from star to star until it had reached the top of the swift Keychimp. It stood at the top and posed a few times causing laughter and coos of how cute the pokemon was to erupt throughout the arena. "Now let's show us what you're made of! Use zap canon!"

"Key….CHIMP!" Keychimp called out as it absorbed some energy letting the orb known as zap canon form within its mouth. May smiled in determination as the orb grew larger than it had any other time. Keychimp let the attack go on the swift attack and this caused a chain reaction as each star exploded into mini fireworks just as May intended.

Keychimp chimed its name quickly as it fell right onto May's shoulder. It posed cutely and May followed its example by posing with a piece sign. The cheering had started ever since the small fireworks display had commenced but now it intensified ten times as May came out of her pose to do a mock curtsy.

"Well this brunette surely has got it going on, but let's see if the judges agree!" Julian said as she pointed towards the judges whom May had all her attention on.

"That was a very creative piece. It was entertaining as well. I give you a 9." Mr. Contesta said with a nod. May smiled thankfully as they went to Mr. Sukizo.

"That Keychimp has such remarkable talent! I give you a 10." Mr. Sukizo said with a kind smile. Keychimp clapped for himself and May laughed lightly as did a select amount of people in the crowd.

"Keychimp is so healthy and lively. I was truly entertained by this appeal. I will give you a 10 as well." Nurse Joy said.

May gave another bow and thanked them before running off towards the back room while waving at the crowd as she left. Keychimp hugged her head as they walked backstage and May smiled brightly while chuckling at her Pokémon's actions.

"You did great Keychimp…now all we have to worry about is those battles." May said with a determined smile on her face. "I am going to get that second ribbon."

Kinda short, yes I know but now I'm going to try to fit as many battles into one chapter as I can. I will try to update soon but if I don't update during this weekend, do not wait up. Thank you for reading and loving this story so much and now I will leave you to do what ya gotta do and Pweez review.

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