Edit; Forgot to thank the person who reviewed anony.. anonmdknsd,.. ANONYMOUSLY! SO THANK YOU! ;D
Chapter 11, finally!
Sorry for the long delay..
Anyways, super duper thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! ^^
Poke' Hero
Advanced Love
Khorne's Bro
Mafee
Itachifreak8271
DBZ101
Airgirl1560
Ischys
mysteryangelcutlass14 - thank you for your -long- review ^^
Rayquaza45 - thanks for pointing that out, I'll try my best not to do that again.
And to compensate for the long delay.. EXTRA LONG CHAPTER WOHO!
As always, please review if you can, it'll make my day.
Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!
"Promise me you'll never, ever do that again." a young man told his pokémon.
His pokémon sighed and looked down in shame for disobeying its master, in a way or another.
"We're lucky that wasn't a full power attack."
"Garde.." the pokémon whispered.
"Just don't do that again, you could've killed him." the young man said and sighed. "Now, where is that hamburger bar?"
The young man and his pokémon walked through a part of the city that didn't have so much people around due to the festival. After a little while, they had finally reached their destination. The young man tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"Do you mind..?" the young man said and smirked.
His pokémon nodded happily and used Teleport to get both of them inside.
"Shall we..?" he said and smirked once again.
His pokémon nodded with a huge smile before heading towards a room that emitted a few shouting voices.
"Oh my.."
Mary Joy and the four teens had now reached the place where the pokémon contest, and talent show, would be held. The teens could only gasp and watch with smiles as they saw the huge, open contest arena.
"Now this is cool." the green haired teen said and chuckled.
"Indeed it is." the nurse said and giggled.
The four teens still watched the huge arena; it was almost exactly like a normal pokémon contest arena, but three times the size and almost four times bigger audience seats. The actual arena was built just a bit higher over the ground, and the place where the audience would be was built even higher so that they would get a clear shot of the battles and appeals. For the people that sat far behind, there was many tv screens above them, hanging on a few buildings around them, showing what was happening on the arena. The whole place was literally full, it was impossible to find a seat that wasn't broken or something like that.
"It's.. It's awesome, Nurse Joy!" May bursted out and jumped. "It's so huge! Howcome we haven't seen this before?"
"This was built not too long ago." the nurse replied and giggled. "Now, I have to go meet up with the other judges, you'll have to register over there before the time runs out!"
With that said, the nurse quickly ran off somewhere, leaving the teens to stare at the awesome arena.
"We'll be on tv..?" Amelia whispered and smiled widely. "Just like my sister!"
The teens, minus Dawn who searched for a good seat, went to the small reception to sign up before it was too late.
"They're planning on taking you out."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
The young man sighed; he didn't know how to tell his uncle that some of his members were trying to take over his "company", even right out kill him.
"They wanna kill you, uncle."
Silence.
"Excuse me?" the man continued over the phone. "Is this some sick joke?"
"No, I just went inside the hamburger bar and sneaked in.. They talked about how, when.. I recorded it all."
"Send me everything you got." the man said over the phone, enraged. "Thank you. I have nothing else for you today."
"Goodbye uncle."
The call ended, and the young man started sending the recordings of "The Fools" to his uncle. He sighed, sending his uncle those recordings could very well be the last thing anyone will ever hear about those three.
"C'mon, let's head to the contest." the young man said and nodded towards his Gardevoir.
The Gardevoir nodded happily with a smile and then went inside its pink and purple pokéball. The young man sighed again, staring at the ball. He missed her. He really did, so much.. And it was all his fault.
"I'm sorry miss, but this contest requires that you have atleast 5 official ribbons to enter."
"BUT THIS ISN'T EVEN AN OFFICIAL CONTEST, ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
The lady at the registering table sweatdropped and excused herself. She began to tell the rules about signing up - for the fifth time - making the pink haired girl pull her hair in frustration.
"Fine." the pink haired girl said and gave up. "I didn't have a chance anyway."
"I'm sorry, Amelia." a brunette friend whispered to the sad girl. "If I win, you can get the card."
"No, it's fine. I'm on a diet anyway.." Amelia replied and watched her slim, beautiful body.
"You're not fat." Drew said as he watched the huge arena. "You don't need to go on a diet."
"Don't speak to me." the girl said flatly and walked away to find Dawn. "Good luck, May."
May, Drew and the lady watched as she walked away towards the hundreds of people wanting to see some awesome pokémon moves and battles.
"What's her problem?" the lady asked and sweatdropped again.
"This dude kinda drived her insane." May said and giggled.
"I.. I didn't mean to." Drew said, closing his eyes. "But I guess I can't change her opinion about me anymore."
"Looks like you're the one falling in love, Dreeeeeew." May teased.
"Are you insane?" Drew said, snapping his eyes open. "Why are you assuming that?"
"Well, you care for her, don't you?"
"Looks like it." the registering lady said and smiled. "And I just met you."
"Hmpf, thanks for that." Drew said sarcastically and gave the lady a weak smile.
"Heh, your weeelcome." she replied. "Anyways, the contest is starting in a few minutes. You should head back and wait for the announcements."
May and Drew nodded before going behind the huge arena, walking past the four judges on the way.
"Good luck!" the nurse said and smiled. "I'll judge professionally!"
May giggled and thanked the nurse before going with Drew towards the hundreds of coordinators who were sitting or standing impatiently, waiting for their name to be called up. May and Drew took a seat a little bit away from the hysteric coordinators. In 10 minutes there had already been over 30 coordinators who made their appeal rounds.
"You know, these are some tough coordinators." Drew said, crossing his arms. "It won't be easy."
"Heh, I'm a top coordinator, I know that!" May said and giggled. "How long do you have to the appeal..? Feels like they only give you 30 seconds."
"I think it's like one minute or so."
"Well, I'm still gonna win this! I won over you last time, HAHA!"
May couldn't help but laugh an evil laugh.
"It's only because I let you win."
Silence.
"I know, Drew. You shouldn't have done that."
"You knew..?" Drew asked surprised.
"Yup. Why did you do that?"
"I wanted you to win. So I could congratulate you, and-"
"And then we walk together, take some ice cream and kiss? It doesn't really work like that, Drew."
"I know. I learned that the hard way. Anyways, I can get any girl I want, a single girl not wanting me isn't a big deal."
"Make that two.." May said and giggled.
"Hmpf, anyways, I'm not gonna let you win this time."
"Oh yeah! Let's see about that!"
"Could Drew Hayden please come out to the arena?" a loud voice could be heard from the speakers.
Drew stood up and smirked, this would be so easy. He started walking towards the arena with his hands in his pockets.
"Good luck." May said and smiled sweetly.
"Oh, sweetie." Drew started, stopping on his way. "You're the one needing it."
With that said, he started walking again, now out of sight. May sighed, maybe she needed it..
"Amelia, over here!"
"Thank Mew, Arceus and-"
"HURRY UP!"
The pink haired girl quickly sprinted towards her blue haired friend, afraid that her seat might get taken if she didn't. But running between tight, small chairs and hundreds of hungry, impatient crowds made her trip a few times. And almost everytime she did, a few naughty boys looked under her skirt, but they quickly regretted it afterwards, getting one or two kicks between their legs. Amelia was getting frustrated, why did Dawn had to take a seat so far in the middle? And then she did it again, she tripped. She quickly stood up again and scanned the people around her to see if somebody needed a kick between their legs. But she only locked eyes with a pretty boy who stared at her with worry.
"Shit." the boy started, getting out of his chair. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine." Amelia said with a smile and watched his pretty face - and body.
He had black hair just like Ash, but his hair wasn't messy like Ash's, it looked.. Normal, but still cute. He had a black hoodie and grey jeans, nothing special actually. The special thing was the person himself.
"Um, miss..?"
Amelia snapped her head up and quickly babbled a few words that didn't make sense.
"I'm.. I'm sorry for tripping over your leg, I-"
"No, it was completely my fault, I had my legs stretched out too much." the boy replied and smiled.
"How old are you?" Amelia asked, staring into his green eyes.
"What?" the boy asked surprised. "I'm 15, but I don't see how-"
"Perfect!" Amelia interrupted him. "You're sexy, you know that?"
"Ugh, thank you." he said and turned away. "You're not too bad yourself.. But you should probably get a longer skirt.."
"What? My legs too bad?" Amelia asked in a teasing way.
"Um, no, they're perfect.. It's just that they've been drawing alot of attention.."
"And you're one of them noticing..? Hehe."
The boy didn't answer and started to blush, staring at the huge arena. The appeal rounds had already started, but he found something else to watch instead.
"You have a girlfriend..?" the girl suddenly asked. "You have green eyes.."
"Um, yes." the boy lied. "Why are you wondering?"
"Well.." Amelia started, seeing Drew enter the stage. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour.."
The raven haired boy sighed an unusual deep sigh before staring at the completely black sky. He then lay down on the ground, not caring if his clothes got dirty. That wouldn't matter anyway, this was a dream.. Or was it? It wasn't reality anyways, that's for sure.
"This is getting boring." the boy started and sighed again. "Now why am I here again..?"
"You weren't supposed to wake up so early." the girl replied.
Ash didn't care to look at her direction, what was there to see anyways? Her beautiful back, nothing more.
"And what's that supposed to mean..?"
"Something made you wake up before you were meant to."
"English, please."
"You're stupid." the girl said and giggled.
"After all I've been through, it's only normal to be questioning stuff."
The girl only giggled again for an answer, making the boy sigh.
"So, why did I wake up?" the boy asked and sighed.
"Are you serious?"
"What? I only got a faint memory about me being in the pokécenter right now, I can't figure out anything else."
"Try.." the girl whispered. "Try to remember me."
Ash snapped his head up and raised himself from the ground.
"What?" he asked, staring at the girl's long brown hair that flew in the air by the gentle night breeze.
The boy didn't get any answer.
"What do you mean?" he asked again.
Still no answer. The boy was starting to get suspicious about this. What if this wasn't a dream, what if he got kidnapped and everything that has happened is just a sick experiment? And who the hell is this girl? What does she mean with trying to remember her?
"Who are you..?" Ash asked, his voice shaking abit.
Unlike the other times, the girl didn't respond with some stupid answer or riddle. She just sighed.
"Do.. Are you real?" Ash asked again.
It took a long while before the girl replied.
"It.. It depends on how you look at it."
"Who was that boy?" Dawn asked her friend.
"Just some cutie." the pink haired girl replied and took a seat next to her friend. "Nice seats you got here."
"You can't believe how hard it is to find a seat here." Dawn started and sighed. "And I even got some sweet seats, too."
"Yeah, I've noticed.."
"And our next contestant will be Drew Hayden!"
Everybody turned to the arena and saw that there was yet another contestant standing on the stage, but this one got a little bit more recognition.
"Is that Drew..?" a girl behind Amelia and Dawn whispered.
"Oh my god, it is..!"
"DREW! OVER HERE!"
Several girls were now screaming towards the green haired boy, hoping to get his attention. Despite the many girls who screamed, the green haired coordinator didn't care, he had other things on his mind.
"What's so special about Drew?" Dawn asked, sweatdropping over all the crazy girls.
"Are you kidding me?" the fangirl next to Dawn said. "He placed second in the Hoenn Grand Festival! DREW! I'M HERE!"
It took a few seconds before Dawn could hear anything at all after that scream that sounded louder than a machinegun.
"You think he'll make it to the next round?" Dawn asked, rubbing her ear.
"I don't think." Amelia said and crossed her arms. "I know."
Drew scanned the large audience after his two friends and finally found them; the only two girls that didn't jump and scream his name. He smiled when he saw that Dawn waved and smiled towards him, but he quickly frowned when he saw that Amelia wasn't even looking at the stage, having her eyes closed and her arms crossed.
He sighed before shrugging it off, why did he care if she was watching or not?
"Ladies and gentlemen!" a voice could be heard throughout the speakers scattered all over the place. "Our next contestant is the one and only, Drew Hayden!"
The crowd started to roar, mostly girls, and a few boys..
"Drew is a legend in pokémon contests, and he placed second in the recent Hoenn Grand festival!"
Drew flicked his hair, irritated by the contest announcer.
"So we can expect some spectacular beauty people!"
After that, the contest announcer moved away from the huge arena, giving room for Drew. Drew grabbed a pokéball and stared at it for a moment.
"Placing second is not an option." the boy said before throwing the ball into the air.
"So." the breeder started, glancing at his yellow mouse friend. "Why were you spying on May while she was talking to Ash? I thought I heard some screaming, too."
"Pika pika.." the mouse started. "Pi pikachu.. Pikapi, pi.. Chaaa.. Pikachu."
Brock smiled before dropping his head towards the floor.
"I wish I knew pokémon." he muttered.
Brock stood up and came up with something.
"Hey, who's gonna heal pokémon..?" Brock asked and sweatdropped.
Just as he said that, a girl came into he room holding a few pokéballs in her hands.
"Excuse me, are you a doctor?" the girl asked, clearly not happy.
"Um, no, Nurse Joy is-"
He was about to give the girl the unfortunate news, but stopped as he saw the girl's sad face and sighed instead.
"Fine." Brock started. "I'll heal your pokémon."
The girl's face instantly broke into a huge smile and she lunged herself towards the breeder.
"Thank you, Doctor!" the girl said, hugging the breeder with one hand.
"Doctor..?" Brock whispered. "That doesn't sound bad."
"Hi John! What took you so long?"
Amelia and Dawn greeted the young man, but they had a problem finding any seat for him.
"Sir?" John asked a man sitting next to Amelia. "Is this seat taken?"
The man raised an eyebrow and then chuckled.
"Why does it look like it isn't?" the man replied.
"Could I please get this seat? I have tickets to the towns theatre."
"What? You mean that love story thing?" the man asked surprised.
"Yes."
"How many tickets do you have, if I may ask?"
"10."
The man immediately stood up with a stunned face.
"Now that's a very generous offer young man, but I'd hate to take 10 tickets from you."
"No, it's fine." John said and put a bunch of tickets into the tall man's hands. "I don't need them."
The man thanked John big time before leaving. John sat down on his newly acquired seat, getting a few strange looks from the two girls.
"What was that..?" Amelia asked and snickered.
"Never mind that." John said and raised an eyebrow at Drew's performance.
"So.." Dawn started and stared at John. "Can you please explain what happened before with Ash and the Gardevoir of yours..?"
"And the handsome Drew Hayden starts out strong with a beautiful combination of Petal Dance and Solarbeam!" the contest announcer said and jumped a bit.
"I already told you? If you have any questions, I suggest we take it after the contest." John said and smiled. "Drew's doing pretty good."
"Hm, I don't care." Amelia said and crossed her arms, trying not to watch Drew's performance.
"And why is that?" John said, grinning.
"She's pissed over Drew.. He's been bad to her, if you know what I mean." Dawn teased.
"Oh shut up." Amelia bursted out, opening one eye to see how Drew was doing.
"You can't deny you're falling in love with him." Dawn continued.
"You got to be kidding me." Amelia said, closing her eyes again. "He's the most stupid, arrogant jerk I've ever met, he doesn't deserve to entertain me with his crappy coordinator skills."
"I don't think you should talk about him like that." John said, surprised that one single pokémon could achieve such beauty.
"Oh yeah?" Amelia spat out. "You don't know what he has done to me."
"It's the other way around."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I assume you don't know what happened last night?" John continued.
"Of course I do! We saved those captured pokémon from Team Rocket, and then.. Then.."
"Then what?" John interrupted her.
"Then.. I, I don't know.."
"Exactly. You don't know what he has done for you."
"You mind telling us what he did for her then..?" Dawn asked, still watching Drew and his Roserade.
"Team Rocket captured you." John said flatly.
"THEY WHAT?" Amelia screamed, almost louder than the fangirls.
"Yup. And Drew saved you."
"Hmpf, anybody can do that." Amelia grunted.
"Maybe. But he also saved you from getting sexually abused."
"What is that..?" Amelia wondered.
"She was about to get raped?" Dawn whispered.
"I WAS ABOUT TO GET WHAT?" the girl screamed even louder, now drawing attention from the fangirls who told her to shut up.
"Tell me somebody who can do that, Amelia." John said and smirked.
"H-How can you know that?" Amelia stuttered, trying to see if her private parts were untouched.
"I was there." John replied.
"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU HELP?" Amelia tried to whisper, but kind of failed.
"Well.." John said and flipped up his cellphone from nowhere. "You could say that he already had it all under control."
John handed over his cellphone to the pink haired girl who took it with a curious face expression. Dawn glanced at the screen once, but strangely found that watching Drew was more awesome. Amelia took a deep breath before playing the 30 second long surveillance clip. It was very dark, but she could see the most of the road that was lit up by a few scattered lights.
"Oh, there's you!" Dawn said, she had stopped watching the show because of a few tall fangirls screaming for Drew, also jumping and blocking her view.
Just as Dawn had said, Amelia could be seen on the edge screen, tied up and surrounded by a few men in black. There was one man standing more close to the girl than the other men.
Amelia and Dawn could see that the man closest to Amelia was indeed trying to use her. Before he could get too close, a green haired boy had lunged towards the man and was giving him a few punches to the man's jaw that looked painful. In a matter of a few seconds, Drew had already beaten the man unconscious and untied Amelia with the help of a knife from one of the men in black. The clip had now stopped, ending as Drew was walking away with Amelia.
"What.. What happened?" Dawn whispered, still staring at the screen.
"He.. He really did save me.."
"Of course he did. Why do you think Drew was in your house when you woke up?" John said and smirked.
Amelia suddenly felt a sudden pain in her body, her heart, for being mean towards the boy who saved her.
"I.. I have to forgive him.." Amelia whispered, staring at the boy who had just finished his performance.
"A spectacular performance by Drew and his beloved Roserade!" the contest announcer said.
The crowd stood up from the seats and went nuts, applauding like crazy.
"How come I can't remember anything..?" Amelia screamed, it was impossible to hear anything other than the screaming and clapping.
"They drugged you." John screamed back and also applauded the green haired coordinator.
"Oh my.." Amelia whispered, watching the boy as the massive applauds didn't seem to affect him at all.
"And now let's see what the judges thought of the performance!" the contest announcer, Marian said and waved her hands towards the three judges.
Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo and Nurse Joy were sitting on chairs behind a desk where they could vote. The judges was now typing in their respective judging scores, and the crowd wondered how the green haired boy would do. Drew didn't really care anyways, he had his hands in his pockets, thanking his pokémon for a job well done.
The judges were now done, and everybody gasped at first, but then broke out into huge screaming and applauding.
"A perfect 30 points score!" the contest announcer said happily, jumping towards the awesome coordinator.
"You got a perfect score, Drew!" she said again, putting her microphone next to Drew's mouth. "How does it feel?"
Drew flicked his hair and recalled his Roserade before speaking.
"I haven't won yet."
With that said, he turned around and walked away, wanting to get a hamburger or something.
"That was a very nice show you put up there, Drew."
"Maybe."
The green haired coordinator leaned himself against the wall, closing his eyes.
"You got perfect score, that's pretty impressive."
"It won't be unless I win this thing." Drew replied and crossed his arms.
"Why are you acting like this?"
Drew sighed and stared at his old friend.
"I.." Drew whispered.
"You shouldn't have let May win last time." his pink haired friend said and smiled. "Don't do it this time."
"I won't." Drew replied and forced a weak smile to emerge. "And this time, I'll have the chance to kick your ass."
His older friend giggled, and the two of them stared at the tv in the small lobby.
May cried. She had run into the festival bathroom and just cried, cried after she saw how Drew performed.
Perfect score. He got perfect score. How would she top that..? And Drew was probably not the only one getting perfect score on the appeal round. May sighed, it would be impossible to win this. Every contestant were great coordinators, with atleast five ribbons. How could she be so stupid, thinking she could win this? She didn't want that buffét card anyways. Atleast not use it herself..
"Could May Maple please attend to the stage?"
May sighed. She had to do it, to proove that she was better than Drew. She stood up and wiped her tears and tried to fix her red eyes. This was it..
"Well, that was.. Odd." John said and snickered. "You think May will get perfect score, too?"
"I don't know.. I hope so." Amelia replied.
"Heh, still mad at Drew?" Dawn teased Amelia.
The pink haired girl didn't answer, she just sighed and applauded a little when the next contestant entered the stage. A cellphone was vibrating, making Amelia pick it up with a wide smile.
"Who's that?" her blue haired friend asked.
"Oh, nobody." the pink haired girl said and giggled.
NEW TEXT MESSAGE!
FROM: Cenry
READ MESSAGE?
Amelia pressed a button on her cellphone, and soon a short text message was shown on the screen.
I don't think this is a good idea, are you sure you wanna go through with this..? ;(
Amelia typed in something, ridiculously fast, so neither Dawn or John could see what she was typing. A total of 10 seconds had already passed, and under these 10 seconds Amelia had already read and responded to that text message.
"Messing around with other boys, hm?" John asked and smirked.
"Maybe." Amelia replied and giggled. "Hey, May's on stage!"
John and Dawn turned their heads around to see the cute, but sad, brunette on stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the contest announcer said towards the people. "Our last contestant iiiiiiiis.."
Most of the people in the audience gasped as they saw the last contestant, not believing their eyes.
"May Maple!"
Many boys started fixing their clothes and hair, while the girls screamed for May, wanting to get her autograph or some coordinator tips. But the brunette didn't really notice or care, she was too busy trying to calm herself down. She wouldn't have been able to do that if it wasn't for her three friends in the crowd, waving and smiling towards her. May sighed and took a deep breath; she could do this.
"May, how are you feeling right now?" the contest announcer started. "Do you think you'll win this, too?"
"Um.." May said and sighed. "I think so, Marian."
"Well, it looks like we'll have to find out, May!" the announcer, Marian said happily. "Good luck!"
Marian winked towards the girl before backing off a bit, so that May could get ready and start her show. May took a deep breath once more before grabbing her pokéball, staring at it.
"Take the stage!"
"You want her, don't you?"
Drew was staring blankly at the screen, seeing his rival perform.
"She's doing well." Drew said and smiled a bit.
"You didn't answer my question, Drew." the 16 year old said and giggled.
"Meh. She doesn't want me, I have to say ditto on that."
"What's that..?"
"Gosh, where've you been?"
"So you don't want her anymore?"
Drew shook his head and sighed.
"You know.." the boy started and grinned. "I never thought there was going to be any girl that didn't want me, even worse two girls."
"Two..?"
"Your sister."
"Second time straight." the girl said and giggled.
"What? Second time..?"
"You're not gonna watch May anymore, are you?" the girl said and nodded towards the tv screen.
"I don't need to, she'll probably pass anyways." Drew answered and shrugged. "Now explain."
"Ever heard the saying a picture is worth a thousand words?"
"No."
"Maybe it's time to learn the meaning of it then." the girl said and smiled.
"Please do so."
"Do what?"
"Explain? Duh."
"How old is your cellphone?"
Drew flipped up his cellphone and stared at it for a bit.
"Around 4 years. Now what does my cellphone has to do with this?"
"Remember that time you left your cellphone with me so I could put in some cool pictures?"
"I was 10, maybe 9. I don't remember."
"Well, you don't have to remember, atleast not that." the girl said and smiled. "Still got those pictures left?"
Drew browsed his cellphone and finally found a folder full of pictures named 'Solidad'.
"Found it." Drew said and opened it. "Why did you name it after yourself?"
"Doesn't matter." the girl said and giggled.
"Hm." Drew said and shook his head. "There's only lame pictures of trees and other crap, what does these things have to do with any of this?"
"There's one picture that isn't "lame", if you put it like that."
"M'kay, what should I look for?"
"I think it's easy to spot it."
"You mean a picture that isn't fully green and full of plants?" Drew asked and grinned.
"Kind of." the girl replied and giggled.
Drew sighed before browsing through the many pictures. After almost 100 pictures, he found one that catched his eyes.
"Found it?" the girl asked and stepped next to the boy, staring at his screen.
Drew enlarged the picture so that it was now covering up the whole screen.
"Heh, that guy looks like me." Drew said and smiled.
The picture was a very old one, probably several years old. On the picture, there was a green haired boy who was smiling brightly at the camera, getting hugged from behind at the same time from a girl who was also smiling brightly towards the camera. The two children were standing on a large grass field on a sunny summer day, with a few grass pokémon flying or jumping around in the background.
"When was this taken?" Drew asked, staring at himself. "I look so.. Kiddish."
"It was from before you moved to LaRousse city."
"What? I moved..?" Drew asked and faced his friend.
"I have to admit, I never thought you had such bad memory, Drew." the girl said and giggled.
"You're saying I used to live in Kanto?"
"Yes." the girl replied and sighed with a smile. "You two looked so cute together."
"Who is she anyways?" Drew asked and stared at the girl on the screen. "I thought I used to live in Hoenn my whole life."
She was wearing a white, thin summer t-shirt, and a pink skirt. Her shoes and most of her legs were not visible, and the most eye-catching feature was her pink, long hair that floated in the air.
The girl next to Drew sighed again before sitting down on a chair, motioning for Drew to do the same.
"Drew." the girl started, staring at the tv screen again. "Why are you the person you are today?"
"What?" the boy asked, sitting down next to his friend, still staring at that picture.
"Why are you the kind of person you are today?" the girl continued.
"That.. That doesn't make any sense, because I am who I am?"
"Maybe so.. I mean, why are you this kind of person? A cold hearted playboy who plays with girls like they were toys."
"That's me." Drew said and flicked his hair.
"Yes it is." the girl said and sighed. "You used to be so sweet and caring, Drew."
"Uhuh..?" Drew said and raised an eyebrow. "That's because I was still a kid, the boy on this picture is no more."
"I see.." the girl said and sighed again. "And at what point did it change?"
"Excuse me..?" Drew asked, irritated.
"When did you turn from sweet boy to playboy, Drew?"
"Now how should I know that? It's not like I had a freaking diary or so."
"Let me reformulate; why did you change?"
"I'm not gonna answer that, I don't even know what you're talking about or where you're heading."
"Think about it." the girl said, glancing at the picture. "Think of why you became the one you are now."
"Easy, cause I was too busy with girls."
"Drew, please be serious.."
"Fine.." Drew muttered and stared at the picture again. "I.. I don't know, I don't seem to remember."
"Who was your first girlfriend?" the girl suddenly asked.
"Now you're just being strange, Solidad." Drew said and sighed. "Emili, at age 12, we were together for a week."
"That's incorrect, Drew."
"And how the hell can you possibly know that?"
"First kiss?"
"Jane, age 13, together for two weeks."
"First time you had sex?"
"Now that's just inappropiate." Drew said and shook his head. "I haven't had that yet, I'm waiting for-"
"The right one?" Solidad interrupted him.
"Um.. Something like that."
"I see. Try to figure out who that girl is."
"You? It kinda looks like you."
"Maybe." the girl said and giggled. "It's not me, I took the picture."
"Hm.." Drew said lowly, thinking hard. "She looks like someone pink."
Drew muttered a few names, trying to figure out who that girl was.
"Pink.." he whispered. "Pink.. Pink-e.. Pink-el.. Pink-elia. Amelia. AMELIA."
Drew suddenly stood up, his eyes wide open, staring at the small cellphone screen.
"AMELIA?" he asked no one in particular.
"At last." the girl said and went to the boy, also staring at the screen. "Aren't you two just the cutest?"
Drew had his mouth open, trying to process this new, strange info.
"How.. When.. Who.. What..?" the boy got out, sitting down again.
"It all happened 5 years ago." the girl started, smiling. "Me and my sister were taking a walk around that grass field, we used to do that everyday. And then one day, we found you there, trying to catch a few Butterfrees. Of course you failed, having no pokéballs or any equipment at all. But you didn't give up. Amelia instantly noticed this and ran to help you, always having this strange smile on her face."
The girl glanced at Drew who was still staring strangely at the screen, hypnotized.
"Love at first sight." Solidad continued. "You played there on that field for the first time together, chatting for the first time.. First hug, first kiss.. All that on the same day, and I was watching it all, standing under a tree watching with a huge smile. Of course, we had to take a picture! That one there is the only one, you wanted to play some more together so badly, I should've taken some more pictures.. You even took my camera so I couldn't take anymore pictures!"
Drew closed his eyes and tried to remember those days, and smiled when he got a few funny memories to emerge. He then frowned, a bad, a terrible, a long time hidden memory also coming back like it was yesterday.
"But it all ended too soon.. On the very same day, your mother had gotten a call from one of her powerful contacts in Hoenn, saying that there was an available spot to work for him. Your mother, of course, accepted it so that nobody else would get that job."
Drew could only nod in agreement with his eyes closed, feeling like crying. It was a very strange feeling, he had only done it twice in his life, not counting the times from when he was under the age of 5. The last time, it was because Solidad had beaten him in his first pokémon contest. And the other time..
"And then you cried." Solidad interrupted his thought. "At the airport, you shared one last sweet kiss before you departed. And by that time, you had already decided when to meet up again! Two weeks."
Solidad glanced at the boy who tried to remain calm.
"Do you know what happened during these two weeks in LaRousse?"
"No." Drew answered, taking a deep breath.
"For some reason I think you do, Drew." Solidad whispered.
"Two weeks had gone, Amelia couldn't wait to see you again." Solidad started again. "But when we got there, you.. You changed. You had already gotten two girlfriends under these two weeks, and you didn't even recognize Amelia when we got there."
Drew sighed, he didn't really remember it all, but there were some faint memories there.
"Your mother had gotten so much power, and so did you. It looked like she had gotten what she wanted; a boy that had everything, but that no girl could get."
"Genuine explaination." Drew said, closing the picture. "Now.. She doesn't want me, that's that."
With that said, Drew started deleting pictures on the phone.
"No, Drew don't.."
"They're just bad memories to me, I have on use for them."
"That's the only existing copy, please don't.."
Drew took a deep breath before flipping down his cellphone. Solidad sighed and shook her head before standing up, staring at the tv screen.
"And that was a beautiful performance by May! Let's see what the judges thought of it!" Marian said through the screen.
The camera zoomed in closer to the judges while they were typing in their scores. All of the judges smiled, signaling that they were done.
9.5
8.7
9.0
"And May Maple gets a solid 27.2 points!"
The crowd was still for a few seconds before applauding, like they expected more from a top coordinator. But they went nuts anyway, loving every second of her performance.
"You did perfect." May whispered and recalled her pokémon.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Marian started as May went backstage. "The first round is done! Out of more than 50 contestants, only 16 will be chosen for the next round. As we pick the contestants for the next round, we'll show you replays over the appeals."
The tv screens now started to show a few randomly picked appeals, making John grunt.
"We already watched these." he said and sighed. "Why would anyone want to watch them again?"
"John, beauty can be watched over and over again, you don't understand stuff like this." Dawn said and giggled. "Amelia, what's up?"
"Oh.. I'm just.." the girl whispered and stared at her cellphone screen, but the blue haired girl didn't really care, she was too busy watching the replay of Drew's performance.
Amelia sighed before closing her eyes, taking a short rest.
May sat down like the rest of the other contestants, also getting compliments from a few. She sighed, knowing deep inside that she wouldn't make it to the next round. She raised an eyebrow as she saw her rival, staring at the crowd from a little window.
"What's up..?" May asked, stepping next to the boy.
"Nothing much." he replied, not turning around. "You did well."
"Thank you.. But I don't think it'll be enough to make it to the next round."
"Maybe not."
May sighed, wondering if something was up, usually at times like this Drew would insult her or something similar.
"Is everything okay..?" she asked worried.
"Why would it not be?"
"You're not being yourself.."
"And what is my real self then, May?"
"I.. Why are you acting like this, Drew?"
"I'm not acting, atleast not anymore."
"I.. Drew, you know I'll always be here if you need something."
"I'll keep that in mind, May."
May sighed, he would keep that in mind, but he would never talk to her about personal problems.
"And we're done! We've chosen all of the highest scoring contestants!" Marian said and chuckled. "But to make things more interesting, we won't announce the coordinators! Instead, one by one will be facing each other until there's only 8, then 4 and finally 2 coordinators left!"
The crowd went nuts again, and some of them, including John, sighed in relief, wanting to see some real, live action, not some stupid replays.
"And our first coordinator to battle will be.." Marian said and pointed behind the judges where a huge screen could be seen.
A person could be seen on all of the arena screens, and soon enough, several faces were popping up very fast, making it almost impossible to distinguish who the battling coordinators would be. The random selection stopped, and the person that got selected was an old man with gray hair.
"Bannil!" Marian said with a huge smile.
The old man who showed up on the screens from before now entered the arena with a huge smile on his face, clearly happy about getting to the next round.
"And our next coordinator will be.." Marian said.
The screens started spinning again, and this time, the next person was Drew.
"Drew!" Marian said happily and jumped a bit.
The green haired coordinator entered the arena with his hands in his pockets, getting many screams from fangirls. But he didn't care. The boy greeted the old man before going to his side of the "battlefield".
"Our first battle will be between Bannil and Drew!" Marian said and smiled. "The standard official rules applies!"
The main screen and the other screens was starting to show a picture of Bannil and Drew, both of them having a yellow bar under the pictures. Between the two pictures, there was a timer that showed 5:00, and it was going start soon.
The old man grabbed a pokéball from his pocket, while Drew already had one in his hand.
"Begin!" Marian said with a huge smile.
"Young man, I hope you can make this battle a fun one!" the old man said, smiling.
"I'm sorry, old timer. But it's near impossible to make a defeat fun." Drew answered and flicked his hair.
The old man smirked before throwing his pokéball into the air.
"Hi, May!"
May turned around and saw one of her rivals coming towards her.
"Oh my god, Solidad!" the brunette said and hugged her friend. "It's so great seeing you again!"
"Same here, May!" the pink haired girl said and giggled. "How've you been?"
"I've been just great, thank you. You did great before."
"Thanks.. But I don't think it'll be enough to make it to the next round.. I see Drew made it."
The two girls and other coordinators stared at the tv screen, watching Drew as he showed his opponent a "fun time".
"He's doing good.." May whispered.
"But you'll do better." Solidad reassured.
May sighed, she didn't know if that was true or not.
"Don't worry, May. I'm sure you made it to the next round. There was only like 3 persons who got perfect score anyways."
"Really? Who? And are you in this contest?"
"Yes I am." Solidad replied and giggled.
"But we never saw you do the appeals..?"
"Me and a few other coordinators came here early and did them before the audience even got here." Solidad explained and smiled. "Me, Drew and some other girl got perfect score."
"Really? Who's the other girl?"
"I don't remember.. But I think her name was Aurielle or something like that."
"Oh.. Cool." May said and giggled.
Both of them turned their heads to the tv again and saw that the battle was already over, although both of the contestants had huge smiles.
"Now that was real fun, young man." Bannil said and recalled his pokémon.
"Not for me." Drew said and grinned. "You aim too much for the actual beauty that you forgot the battle."
Bannil chuckled out loud before leaving.
"Well that was an unusual short battle, and our next battle starts right now!" Marian said and jumped.
Drew flicked his hair before going backstage.
"And our next battle will be between.."
"I think Drew's gonna win this." John said, chuckling. "I really, really do."
"OH YEAH, WANNA BET?" Dawn challenged him.
"C'MON!" John said, smirking.
They never cared about the pink haired girl between them, who sighed from time to time.
"Alright then." John started again and smirked. "Who are you betting on?"
"May." Dawn said and smiled brightly. "She's gonna win this, piece of cake."
"Hmpf, if you win you'll get..?"
"Then you'll have to get me one of those buffét cards!" Dawn said proudly, absolutely sure that May would win.
"And for how long is that card going to be valid for..?"
"A WHOLE YEAR!" Dawn said and laughed like a maniac, drawing attention from a few persons nearby. "HEHE!"
"Do.. Do you know how expensive that is? And a YEAR? ARE YOU SHITTING ME?"
"Bet or no bet?" Dawn said, crossing her arms with a huge grin. "Or are you too afraaaaaid..?"
"YOU'RE ON." John said, getting irritated but still smirked like crazy. "And if I win?"
"I don't know, you decide." Dawn said and giggled.
John thought about it for a moment, but couldn't figure something out.
"I.. I don't know, any suggestions?" he asked the girl.
"How should I know?" Dawn asked and laughed.
"Hm.." John said and shook his head. "I already got like everything, so I should think about something you should do."
"Um.. And what's that supposed to mean..?" Dawn asked, not laughing so much anymore.
John didn't answer, he was still thinking about something Dawn could do or get for him. He then started to chuckle, his shoulders popping up and down. Slowly, he turned and faced Dawn with the scariest face ever seen, still chuckling.
"Great battle, Drew."
Drew nodded with a little smile towards his pink haired friend, and then went to the side, leaning against the wall.
"What's up with her?" Drew asked, staring at May who was sitting on a chair far away, staring at the tv screen.
"Oh, she's worried that she might not make it to this round." Solidad replied, also leaning against the wall. "I forgot how much score she got, how much was it?"
"27.2."
"I know, I just checked if you still knew." the girl said and giggled. "If you two end up battling each other, I assume you're not going to make a replay of last time?"
"Hell no."
"And Mickolo crushes his opponent with more than half of his points left! An amazing battle indeed!"
Solidad and Drew looked up and saw that the next battle had already ended, leaving a total of 14 coordinators left, and counting down fast.
"Next up will be.."
"Amelia, you've been awfully quiet, is something wrong?" Dawn asked her friend.
"Oh, no, I'm fine.." the pink haired girl replied, her eyes lost somewhere. "I think.."
The girl whispered the last words and sighed.
"You sure?" John added. "You're the only one not applauding after the battles."
The girl didn't respond, and John plus Dawn decided that it would be best to not dig deeper into the subject.
"Wanna switch places?" Dawn asked.
The pink haired girl only stood up so that Dawn could slip onto her seat before getting down on her new one.
"C'mon, John." Dawn started and glared at the young man next to her. "Don't you think that it's a bit cruel with a prize like that?"
"What, you scared that May'll lose?" John said and snickered. "Besides, do you know how much a 1-year buffét card costs?"
"F-Fine." Dawn grunted and crossed her arms. "Awesome, another battle!"
The screens all over the place started showing pictures of coordinators again, and stopped at a girl this time.
"Our next coordinator on stage will be, Aurielle!" Marian said with a huge smile.
John raised an eyebrow at the girl's picture but then shrugged it off. But when the girl entered the stage, he slapped himself on the face, shaking his head.
"What is it?" Dawn asked, staring at the girl. "You think she's cuuuuute? Oh, I wanna see her eyes!"
The girl, Aurielle, had long black hair that flied in the gentle summer breeze, sometimes covering her face and eyes. But her eyes were covered anyways with the use of strangely large black sunglasses. She had a thin, blue tank top and a pink and white skirt that was shorter than Dawn's and Amelia's. Her flip-flops made a few girls laugh and a few boys sigh, wanting to get the girl's phonenumber.
"No." John replied, trying to spot the girl's well hidden eyes. "I don't think so."
"What, are you gay?" Dawn teased and giggled.
John shook his head, this girl was a real kid.
"And the one to battle Aurielle will be.." Marian started and winked.
The screens once again started showing the pictures of coordinators, and stopped at another girl.
"Jennifer!"
A happy go lucky girl ran into the arena, waving towards the crowd. She had black hair with a hint of brown on a few places, and her brown and black clothes fitted perfectly with her hair. She had a brown t-shirt with her name printed on it with black, and her black baggy pants made her look a bit like a hip hop dancer.
"Heh, you know the rules, girls!" Marian said and giggled. "Begin!"
The clock started, and the two girls threw their respective pokéballs high into the air. Jennifer's chosen pokémon was a Hitmontop, a pokémon that some people would say was a break dancing creature. Aurielle grinned all the time while her Gallade was materializing in front of her. John slapped his forehead again, cursing.
"What?" Dawn asked, annoyed. "You think her pokémon is cute, too?"
"No, I just know for sure now that I'm winning this bet."
"W-What?"
"Just watch, this'll be interesting."
Dawn and John watched the Gallade that was standing down there, all ready to battle. Its lower body was white, and its hips looked like a round ball with two strong legs attached to it. The upper part of its body was mostly white, with strange arms that had extendable blades in the elbows. Like its counterpart, Gardevoir, it has some weird, red protrusions sticking out of its chest and back. Its head looks like a gladiator's helmet, and like Gardevoir, it has spikes coming out from its face.
"Charge them with Rapid Spin, Hitmontop!" Jennifer screamed with a smile, pointing towards the Gallade.
The Hitmontop immediately started spinning around on its head, going to Gallade at a high speed.
"Heh, let's have some fun, shall we?" Aurielle said and winked towards her Gallade.
Gallade nodded and also smiled, using Teleport to get behind the oncoming Hitmontop. Jennifer lost a few points for failing her attack. Gallade's eyes started glowing bright blue, and soon enough, the spinning Hitmontop was climbing through the air, still spinning.
"Aurielle starts out smart, using her opponents attack against her!" Marian said, smiling.
Gallade was apparently using a psychic attack, and threw Hitmontop forcefully towards the ground using its powers. Jennifer's points lowered even more after this.
"Crap.." Jennifer muttered, clenching her fists. "Hitmontop get up quick, let's use speed! Agility, now!"
Hitmontop got up from the floor, shaking its head before running at an incredible speed, also jumping around while doing so. Gallade smiled at its opponents speed, finally a worthy opponent. Or was it?
Gallade just stood there, concentrating hard on Hitmontop's every step and every jump. Hitmontop was now very close, only a second from Gallade.
"Close Combat!" Jennifer screamed.
A smile emerged on Aurielle's face as she told her pokémon to use a certain attack. Gallade was soon surrounded by a blue, round sphere, protecting it from any attack. Hitmontop however didn't really have time to stop, and before it could stop, it had already launched many kicks and punches towards the protected Gallade. Hitmontop flew back, falling to the floor by its own powers.
"And Jennifer once again fails using her attack as Gallade uses Protect to protect itself from Hitmontop!" Marian screamed happily.
"Grr.." Jennifer said annoyed, watching her points lower even more. "If this keeps up, we'll lose for sure! Hitmontop, Quick Attack!"
Hitmontop once again shook its head, and was soon running towards Gallade, fast. Gallade smiled, this would be easy, why not use some physical attacks this time instead of hiding with psychic moves? Gallade brought up its arms and smirked, getting ready to fight. Hitmontop was now a few inches from Gallade, awaiting Jennifer's next command. Gallade quickly brought its arm back and then forward, hoping to hit Hitmontop with a powerful Slash attack.
"Detect!" Jennifer screamed.
Hitmontop immediately spotted Gallade's incoming arm and jumped to the side, still listening for more orders.
"Endeavor!"
Hitmontop quickly pushed with all its might onto Gallade's back, hitting him with surprise. Gallade fell to the ground but quickly stood up, admiring its opponents speed. Aurielle clenched her fist and stared at the huge screen.
"A nice counter attack by Jennifer, making her take the lead!" Marian spoke out.
Everybody checked the scores, and could see that Aurielle's bar had reached half by that Endeavor attack, and that Jennifer had slightly more. Aurielle shook her head, enough playing. She closed her hidden eyes, sending orders to her Gallade.
"Why is Aurielle so quiet?" Dawn asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Telepathy.." John answered and sighed.
Gallade smirked, this would end, now.
"Agility, Hitmontop!"
Hitmontop started running really fast towards Gallade who still stood there with a huge smile. As Hitmontop was almost by him, he raised his arm, pointing it towards Hitmontop. Hitmontop was immediately stopped and pain cursed through its body as it was raised from the ground. Gallade raised an eyebrow, it wasn't using full power.. Was it still too powerful?
"NO, HITMONTOP!" Jennifer screamed. "TRY TO TAKE IT, YOU CAN MAKE IT!"
Gallade glanced to the left and saw that Jennifer's points were constantly dropping, and decided to end this before the points dropped to zero. His eyes glowed bright blue again, and he decided to use a less powerful attack, Confusion. Even if it was a less powerful attack, Hitmontop shook with pain, and then fell to the ground after Gallade let him go.
"H.. Hitmontop.." the fainted pokémon sighed.
The three judges pressed a button on their pads so that three X'S were shown, indicating that the match was over.
"And the winner is Aurielle!" Marian said and smiled.
The crowd went nuts like always and applauded the beautiful girl as she left the arena, going to get some ice cream before returning.
"How are we going to get passed the security cams, Jimmy?"
"Why are you asking me, Jessie should know.."
"SHUT UP, YOU DO THE THINKING, I'VE ALREADY DONE THE MOST OF THE WORK!"
"But you haven't done anything..?"
"OH YEAH? I'LL SHOW YOU SOMETHING I'VE DONE!"
A man with a Persian was watching a live security cam, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"These fools.." the man whispered, shaking his head.
"OW! THAT HURT!" a blue haired man on the screen said.
"Calm down, Jess. How are we supphosd to phull this off if you keep beatin' da' crap out of Jimmy?" a talking cat said and shook his head.
"YOU WANNA HAVE SOME TOO, HM?" the red haired women said, threatening to beat the crap out of the cat with a frying pan.
The man who watched the live action video laughed but clenched his fists at the same time, not believing that these three fools were actually working for him. But that wouldn't last for long. The man brought up his phone and called for one of his top members.
Soon enough, the door to the room opened and a man in black clothes and a red R printed on his shirt entered the room with a surprised face.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" the man asked, stepping forward.
"Indeed I wanted to, Jens." the man said, twirling around on his chair to face one of his fellow members. "I have a mission for you, or your team to be more.. Precise."
"Of course." the man in black, Jens, said and nodded. "What is it?"
"I want your team to kill these three idiots." the man on the chair said, showing Jens the surveillance screen.
Jens raised an eyebrow, smiling a bit when he saw that a cat was getting beat up by a women with a frying pan.
"But, they're with us..?" Jens asked surprised.
"Not anymore. They want to kill me."
"Oh."
A strange silence occurred, where Jens stared deeply into his boss's eyes. The man on the chair, for some reason, didn't like the way he was staring at him, and twirled around on his chair, staring out of the window.
"Send Jack first, then the others." the man started, linking his fingers. "If they can't do it, which I highly doubt, then they're yours."
"A man on a wheelchair can't bring 2 persons and 1 cat down, sir." Jens replied.
"Oh, right. Getting put on a wheelchair by a kid.. Now that's funny."
Jens forced himself to nod, he hated himself for doing stuff like that, doing things he didn't want to. But he had to. Why?
"Then this mission is all yours. I want them dead within 2 days, can you do that?"
"Of course."
"I like you, Jens. You're so professional, the perfect Team Rocket member. After this assignment, I'll give you a promotion, you haven't had one in ages."
Jens nodded again and thanked his boss before leaving the room. He took a deep breath, staring at the ceiling after he left the room. He was a terrible person. Getting orders to kill people, and even following those orders. But he had only gotten assassination assignments one time before. And he still hated himself for that.. For doing them.
"I'm so sorry.." he whispered.
"With only 8 contestants left, who will stand victorious?"
The battle rounds had almost come to an end, and now the quarter-finals were about to start. Solidad and May had defeated their opponents with ease, probably because they were just old persons, wanting to have some fun, not win the whole thing.
May, Drew, Solidad and 4 other coordinators were standing backstage, waiting for their names to be called.
"Where's that other girl?" one of the coordinators asked.
"I heard she was going to get some ice-cream." another coordinator said and chuckled. "But I think she'll be back sooner or later."
"And for our next battle, May will be facing Oscar!"
May took a deep breath, and could feel a hand on her shoulder shortly after.
"Don't worry." Drew said. "You'll be fine."
"Thank you.." May whispered back, staring at the audience.
"Alright, let's go, May!" a boy, probably Oscar, said and jumped. "Good luck!"
May opened her mouth to wish him good luck, too, but he had already run out to his side of the field, awaiting her to do the same. May took a deep breath again before stepping up, getting cheers from hundreds of people.
'I wonder if mom and dad are watching this..?' the girl thought and giggled.
"Just so you all know, we've made a slight change with these battle rules." Marian said and giggled. "First off, the time limit has been decreased with one minute, and the points will be drained at a higher rate."
The crowd cheered, knowing that these changes would result in more intense battles.
"And this time, May, a top coordinator is going to battle Oscar, who has been traveling through different regions, earning many different ribbons."
"Finally, a top coordinator." Oscar said and smiled brightly.
"Haven't met a good opponent in a while, huh?" May asked and winked.
"I'm afraid not." Oscar replied and smiled.
"And it looks like both of them are pumped up about this match!" Marian said and giggled. "Are you two ready?"
May and Oscar nodded, both of them holding a pokéball in their hands.
"Alright then." Marian said and giggled again. "Begin!"
"Take the stage!" both of them yelled at once while throwing their pokéballs into the air.
From May's pokéball, a Glaceon came out. The Glaceon was a fox like creature with light blue fur and dark blue fur on some places. From Oscar's pokéball, a Flareon emerged, making May gasp in surprise.
"The clock is ticking, and as you can see, Oscar has a type advantage over May and her Glaceon! Will she be able to win this anyway?" Marian said and jumped.
May clenched her fists and stared at the red fox in front of her. Just like her own Glaceon, the Flareon had evolved from an Eevee, but with the use of a Fire Stone. The Flareon looked a lot like from before it evolved, the only differences being its red fur, and yellow fur on its tail, around its neck and a tuft of fur on its head. And, of course, being a fire type instead.
"Alright Flareon, you know what to do!" Oscar said and smiled.
Flareon smiled as its trainer did, and soon, May and her Glaceon could see many but blurry Flareons all over the field.
"Flareon and Oscar starts with a simple Double Team! How will May counter this?" Marian said.
May concentrated and tried to spot the real one, but even Glaceon couldn't do that, Flareon was too fast.
"We'll have to wait and see.." May whispered to her Glaceon.
Glaceon nodded and got into a battle stance, preparing for any orders or incoming attacks. By the looks of it, Glaceon assumed that May wanted to play defensively in the start.
"Flamethrower!"
"Dodge it!"
The many Flareons quickly disappeared, and the only one left launched a very, very hot stream of fire that missed its target by an inch.
"Flareon fires the most hot Flamethrower I've ever seen - and felt - but misses Glaceon! Oscar's points decreases slightly!" Marian stated.
Oscar raised an eyebrow, he didn't expect that Flamethrower to miss at such short distance.
"Flareon, Quick Attack, follow up with Flamethrower!"
Flareon immediately started sprinting towards Glaceon, who awaited May's orders.
"Dodge it!"
Once again, Glaceon escaped Flareons incoming attack, but failed to do so the second time around. Glaceon screeched in pain, hot flames engulfing it.
"And this Flamethrower finally hits its mark, making May's points drop to a notable extent!" Marian said.
"Glaceon!" May screamed, thinking of ways to counter attack.
"Flareon, don't stop! Smog, now!"
Flareon opened its mouth and out came black filthy gases, threatening to poison Glaceon any minute.
"Glaceon, get out of there!" May screamed again.
Glaceon got up to its feet and sprinted from the oncoming cloud of poison.
"Fire Spin!"
Through the black filthy clouds a twirling stream of hot fire came, going towards Glaceon at high speed. May, knowing that there was no way Glaceon had time to dodge it by jumping over it or to the side, screamed the only thing she could come up with.
"Jump through it!" May screamed.
Glaceon knew that it would end bad, but she trusted her trainer with her whole life and did as told. The crowd, Marian and the judges eyes went wide open as they saw that the ice-fox jumped through the incredibly hot stream of flames, disappearing. Even Oscar gasped as he saw this. Flareon got caught off guard by this and blinked in surprise.
"Icy Wind!"
From the black clouds, a light blue wind that sent shivers through everyone watching came fast towards Flareon, hitting him spot on. The smoke and fire had now cleared, and everybody could see the Glaceon that made it through the hot fire and was panting like crazy. Flareon, that was caught off guard, shook off the icy wind, it didn't bother it so much.
May's points was just under half, while Oscar had plenty left, he had only lost a few points for missing and getting hit by that Icy Wind.
"Glaceon somehow made it through the incredibly hot fire, and for some reason, shoots an Icy Wind attack towards Flareon! Flareon didn't get hurt by it, at all, but it seems like the ice wind made a few changes." Marian said.
Flareon smirked towards its panting opponent, that attack did nothing at all.. Except for making it just a bit slower. May smirked, that was just what she needed.
"Flareon, Scary Face!" Oscar screamed.
Flareon's face turned into a.. Scary face, but it didn't have any effect on the tired Glaceon, it was too tired to even watch the "Scary Face".
"Glaceon, you know what to do, Blizzard!" May screamed.
"Flareon, dodge it with Double Team!" Oscar screamed, wondering why Glaceon was shooting that Blizzard upwards.
"And May orders her Glaceon to shoot the Blizzard attack towards the air! What does she have in mind?" Marian said and jumped.
"What the hell is she doing?" Dawn asked, wondering why somebody would launch an attack that on purpose missed its target.
John raised an eyebrow, this would be good.
Flareon had now produced many copies of itself, surrounding the Glaceon that was shooting the cold, icy wind filled with small snowballs into the air.
"Icy Wind!" May screamed.
Glaceon stopped its Blizzard attack, and was now instead launching icy winds from its mouth, directed at the already existing blizzard and snow far above.
"And May is using Icy Wind! What is she up to?" Marian started and jumped. "With only half of the time left, will May turn this match around, or will Oscar be the victor?"
"Flareon, Overheat!" Oscar screamed. "We have to take this opportunity!"
"Perfect.." May whispered and smirked. "Glaceon, keep it up!"
Oscar clenched his fists, May was really up to something, that's for sure. Flareon stopped its Double Team, and was now standing not too far away from Glaceon, about to charge its Overheat. A white ball was now starting to form just outside of Flareon's mouth, getting bigger and glowing brighter every second.
"Glaceon is now standing out in the open still using Icy Wind, while Flareon is charging up its Overheat! Could this be the end for May?" Marian said and backed off a bit, not wanting to get either of those attacks hit her instead.
The ball outside of Flareon's mouth was now glowing like crazy, and Flareon's whole body was shaking by the heat flowing through to the ball. Glaceon was still shooting its Icy Wind, and smiled when she noticed that she and May had gotten what they wanted.
"Glaceon, stop!" May screamed, getting worried that they might not have time to execute their plan.
Glaceon immediately stopped blowing cold winds from its mouth, and turned to face its opponent. Flareon had a huge smirk on its face, but it quickly faded away as it was about to launch its powerful fire attack.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING?" Dawn now screamed, making John jump in surprise.
John stared at the air over the field, wondering why the Blizzard and Icy Wind was launched by May and Glaceon. John then gasped, seeing several large ice-balls hovering in the air, quickly falling down to the ground.
"OVERHEAT, NOW!" Oscar screamed.
"Glaceon, JUMP, BLIZZARD!"
Glaceon jumped high into the air, now surrounded by several large ice snowballs.
Flareon was still shaking, and winked one time towards Glaceon before launching its attack. An intense stream of fire was going towards Glaceon's feet, making several people cover their eyes from the bright light. Glaceon, in mid air, opened its mouth and fired its Blizzard attack, blowing the ice snowballs so that they were going towards Flareon from the air. Flareon's Overheat had partially hit its target, hitting Glaceon's lower body as it was landing from the air. The different attacks hit each other, creating a large cloud of steam hovering, and covering, the pokémon and the coordinators. The ice snowballs that were going at a high speed also hit its target, hitting Flareon right on its head as it didn't have any power to dodge them after that Overheat.
Everybody gasped, except for the two battling coordinators who hoped that their pokémon were still able to battle. As the cloud of steam cleared, everybody could see that the two foxes were desperately trying to stand up, their legs shaking. Glaceon's whole body was darker from the intense fires from before and from the Overheat, while Flareon had gotten all beat up by almost 10 ice balls hitting him in his head, body and legs.
"Glaceon, you can do it, try to stand up!" May screamed.
Glaceon did as told, fighting with all its might so that she wouldn't fall to the ground.
"Flareon, finish this! Overheat!" Oscar screamed. "This is our victory!"
Flareon suddenly got steady and wasn't shaking its legs anymore, and a white ball was now forming outside of its mouth, again. The ball got bigger and bigger, and May and Glaceon watched with frowns as the time was ticking, slowly but surely.
"MAY! GLACEON! YOU CAN DO IT!" Dawn screamed all over the quiet arena, nobody spoke or did any sounds at all as they watched the intense battle.
Flareon was now at the edge of launching its attack, and winked towards Glaceon once before preparing itself. But it failed due to exhaustion, and instead fell to the ground.
It was quiet for a few seconds, as they watched the red fox on the ground that panted heavily. Glaceon, realizing that they had won, also fell to the ground, having a hard time to breathe.
The judges also realized this and pressed their respective buttons, showing up the X'S. All of the screens over the arena showed the picture of May with the text "WINNER!" next to her.
"AND THE WINNER IS MAY!" Marian screamed and jumped.
The crowd went nuts, a little bit more nuts than usual, and John sighed in relief, that was close. May blinked a few times, thinking that she had lost, but after realizing that she had won, she sprinted to her fainted Glaceon, embracing it.
"You did it..! I'm so proud of you!" May whispered, checking if Glaceon was alright.
Her pokémon only smiled in response, feeling too "burned up" to speak.
"YES! I TOLD YOU SHE WOULD WIN! IN YOUR FACE!" Dawn screamed and jumped out of her seat, pointing at John. "YOU OWE ME A 1-YEAR BUFFÉT CARD!"
"Um.. She hasn't won yet..?" John defended himself.
"May, you were great!"
"OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!"
The brunette hugged her old friend, getting a wink from Drew as she did so.
"Nice job." the boy said and smiled. "I'm up, see you soon."
The boy then left the backstage with another contestant, probably his opponent.
"You might just win this thing." Solidad said and winked.
"Oh please." May said and took a seat, staring at the tv screen. "I only won last time because Drew let me and that you weren't there."
"Hm, you're right about the part where I wasn't there." Solidad replied and giggled. "But I think that you could've won Drew, without him letting you."
"Maybe.." May said and sighed. "I wonder if he'll let me this time.."
"He won't. And neither are you."
"Thank you, Solidad. You're the best."
"No problem." Solidad said and winked. "Woah, Drew has been getting good."
The two girls stared at the screen and could see that Drew had already drained his opponent's score to half, while his own has still full.
"Do you think Drew can win you..?" May asked her friend.
"There is a small chance, Yes."
"And that means no..?"
"Exactly."
The two girls were quiet for a few seconds before bursting out with huge laughters.
"Drew is really good." John said and nodded. "Not only at pokémon battles."
"Maybe he is!" Dawn said and smiled. "But May is better! She used the Icy Wind to freeze the Blizzard snowballs and then launched them at Flareon! So she is 100% better than anyone! Right Amelia?"
The pink haired girl was sleeping for some reason, and only responded by waving her hands in her sleep, accidentally slapping the blue haired girl on the cheek.
"Wanna bet?" John said and chuckled at the little incident.
"WE ALREADY DID?" Dawn screamed, rubbing her sore cheek.
"We can bet about something bigger?"
"LIKE WHAT?"
"You get a 2-year card instead, and in return.."
"NO WAY!" Dawn bursted out and watched as Drew finished his opponent.
"Scared..?"
"C'MON THEN! WHAT DO YOU WANT IF YOU WIN? HM?"
John thought about it for a moment, before smirking like crazy again. He started to chuckle, and his shoulders were popping up and down as he did. Soon enough, he was staring at the blunette with a creepy smile.
"That was too easy."
The green haired coordinator entered the room with the two girls and the other remaining contestants who were chatting on the other side of the room. They complimented Drew for his battle, which Drew shrugged off, hoping that they would give him a better one.
"Have you seen Aurielle?" one of the remaining contestants asked Drew.
Drew, Solidad and May shook their heads, making the coordinator return to his other friend.
"Aurielle, she's also good." Drew admitted, putting his hands in his pockets. "She got perfect score."
"Yes she did." Solidad said and thought about it. "And where is she? I think she's going to battle now."
The coordinator that asked the three teens from before was now called up to the stage, and the three teens checked the tv screens and saw that Aurielle was standing on one side of the field.
"Well, there she is.." May whispered, staring at the girl who didn't want to show her eyes for some reason.
The battle had already started, and ended right after the girl had launched her first attack towards the shocked opponent.
"And Aurielle takes the record in finishing a battle in shortest time!" Marian said, surprised that it only took a few seconds.
Aurielle's Gallade sighed, it didn't want to use psychic attacks, they were too easy to win with..
Aurielle recalled her Gallade, going off to get some ice cream.. Again.
"With only 5 contestants left, there will be one final battle before going to the last battle round, and then lastly the finals!" Marian said and smiled.
"So I guess I'll be battling you then." Solidad said and greeted the lone coordinator.
"Indeed." the boy said and smiled. "Good luck."
"You too."
Solidad hugged May and winked towards Drew before stepping out to the arena.
"Do you think she'll win this?" May asked the boy who leaned against the wall.
"I don't think, I know." the boy replied, closing his eyes.
"Jeez.. Drew, you sound like Amelia." May said and giggled.
She expected the boy to say something like "no you" or "yeah right", but she didn't get any, and she started to get more and more suspicious about his acting.
Click.
Two persons and a talking Meowth had their hands up high into the air, fearing that their lives would end right there, right now.
"H-Hey, whatcha doin', we're on tha same team!" the cat said, backing off.
The two persons standing next to the cat wouldn't dare to speak, afraid that they would get shot if they did.
"Giovanni knows you want to kill him." a man said.
The man was holding a pistol aimed towards the two persons and the cat, explaining why.
"I have orders to kill you." the man, glaring at the persons.
"W-What are you talking about?" the red haired woman finally said, scared to death. "We-We're not trying to kill our own boss!"
"This tape says different."
The man with the gun brought up a cellphone from his pocket and played an audio file.
"Why are we doing this again?" a voice could be heard from the phone.
"Because we want him gone!" another voice could be heard.
"Gone? Whaddaya mean with that..? Can't we just capta' him or somethin'?"
"NO! I WANT HIM GONE, DEAD, BURNED TO CRISP, BARBEQUE, KEBAB!"
The man then turned off his cellphone, trying not to laugh about the recording.
"So.. This is it?" the blue haired man asked. "I thought I was gonna grow old.."
Those words hit the man like a dagger.
Grow old.. Something a girl from long before hadn't had the chance to do. Because of him.
"No." the man replied, lowering his pistol.
The two persons and the cat sighed in relief, but then quickly stared at the man, wondering what was going on.
"So what are you doing here then?" the blue haired man, James, asked.
"I told you, I'm here to kill you." the man replied.
"Then why aren't you doin' that then?" the cat asked.
"What? You want me to?"
"N-Nah, it's cool.." the cat said and backed off even more.
"Now." the man with the gun started. "I want you guys to run, leave, disappear. Get as far away as you can from Giovanni and Team Rocket."
"What if we don't?" Jessie asked.
"Then I'll kill you myself."
The trio gulped, that didn't sound good.
"Leave, now. Before I change my mind."
The trio stared at each other before running as fast as they could from the hamburger bar. But before they left, the cat wanted to know something.
"Why are you doing this..?" he asked, staring at the man.
"Don't ask, just go. Now."
The cat nodded with a grateful look on his face before running off with his two friends. The man with the gun also stepped out of the hamburger bar after a moment, breathing in the soft air that flew by his face. He shook his head; Giovanni would never believe that they somehow escaped from him. Him, Jens, the legendary member of Team Rocket.
No, he had to do something, make it believable. He stared at his gun, the same gun he used five years ago, the gun he hated, but the gun he kept to never do the same mistake again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before shooting himself in the leg.
"A stunning battle between Solidad and Trancor! Truly spectacular!" Marian screamed together with the audience. "That leaves us with only 4 coordinators left in the pre-finals!"
"Who was that girl?" John asked and stared at the pink haired girl that was leaving the stage. "She looks awfully a lot like Amelia."
"That's what I SAID." Dawn muttered.
"Whatever!" John said and stretched. "Auror- I mean, Aurielle, Drew, May and Solidad left. Who will stand victorio-"
"MAY! MUHAHAHAHAH!" Dawn suddenly interrupted John with an evil laugh. "WATCH OUT RESTAURANTS, I'M GONNA EAT ALL YOU FOOD HAHAHAHA!"
John stared at the crazy blue haired girl before shaking his head, any boy who fell in love with this girl would also fall into a hell hole.
"Our next battle starts in.." Marian started and winked. "RIGHT NOW! May Maple, could you please enter the stage?"
Soon enough the brunette entered the stage and waved towards the crowd. Now, there were a few tv cameras hovering around the place, she was sure that her parents were watching now..
"And the one to battle May will be.."
A picture of Aurielle, Drew and Solidad came up on the screens, and a spinner, very similar to a roulette game, started spinning and landed on Aurielle.
"Oh no.." May whispered. "She's too good.."
The girl that got chosen for this battle entered the stage, getting a few whistles from a few boys. The girl got to her side of the field and always smiled towards May.
"Umm.. Hi..?" May said and giggled, wondering why the girl was smiling so much.
"Hi, May." Aurielle started and winked, although May didn't see it of course due to her black sunglasses. "I've been looking forward to this."
"Are you girls ready..?" Marian started and nodded towards the girls.
"Uh, do I know you..?" May asked, nodding towards Marian.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Aurielle said and also nodded towards Marian. "How ruthless of me."
Aurielle took of her sunglasses, revealing her beautiful eyes, making most of the boys in the crowd to gasp. May, Dawn and Drew's eyes went wide open, realizing who that girl was.
"A.. Aurora..?" May stuttered, not believing her eyes.
"Hi May." the girl said and winked. "Miss me?"