Let's get to that cliffhanger!
Those of you who guessed correctly about who would battle in the sudden death round were Squirtle Girl and MudkipLover33! You get virtual cupcakes!
Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The boys were huddled on one side of the field, and the girls were on the other. Each group was deciding who to send in for the sudden death round.
"Paul should go in," said Drew. "He's our best battler."
"But he doesn't even want to go on a date with Dawn! He might lose on purpose!" Gary countered.
"I don't lose," said Paul coldly. "Even if it means making sacrifices like spending a few hours with a ditzy whore."
"Would you stop calling her that?" Ash whined. "She seems nice enough, and she wasn't mean to you or anything."
"Shut up, Ketchum. You don't know what you're talking about," grumbled the lavender-haired boy.
"All I know is that Gary really wants into that nerdy girl's pants, so you better win Paul," Drew said, flipping his hair.
Gary punched Drew's arm roughly, causing the green-haired boy to wince. "That is not my goal here, Drew Hayden. She's not that type of girl. She's... different, but I'm not sure why. Besides, we all know you want to go on a date with May. You did give her one of your trademark roses."
"She's just a girl that could be temporary. After this vacation, we'd break it off and forget about the whole thing. All of us could use a summer romance," Drew insisted.
You'd really just blow her off like that?" Ash asked. "Isn't that kind of shallow?"
"No one asked for your opinion," Drew said. "Now, are we sending in Paul or not?"
"Yeah," they all agreed.
On the girls' side of the field, they were having a harder time making their decision.
"I just know they're going to send Paul in! You have to let me avenge myself!" Dawn screamed.
"Shut up or they'll hear you all the way over there!" Misty warned.
"Dawn, your Pokemon are mostly in their first evolutionary stage, and his are all probably insanely trained like that Torterra," May explained.
"I have Mamoswine!" Dawn stated.
"Mamoswine doesn't always listen though." Leaf said drily.
Dawn sighed. She wanted so badly to have a rematch with Paul, but unless she wanted to go on a date with him, she'd have to let one of the others battle him.
"I think Leaf should do it," said May. "She has strong Pokemon, and she's smart."
Misty nodded her head in agreement. Dawn did the same, but more reluctantly.
Leaf stepped up to the edge of the field and the other three girls headed back to the stands. The boys did the same, and Dawn let out a huff as she saw that Paul was indeed the one battling for the boys. She'd have to get her revenge some other time.
"Venusaur, let's go!" Leaf shouted, releasing the massive grass Pokemon.
"Honchkrow, stand by for battle," Paul said emotionlessly. The black flying type Pokemon glared at Venusaur with as much coldness as its master.
"Oh no, a type disadvantage!" May said with a frown.
"I wouldn't get worried yet, Venusaur is Leaf's ace after all," said Misty with confidence.
"Venusaur, use Razor Leaf!" With a thrust of its head, Venusaur released several spinning leaves at Honchkrow.
"Dodge, and use Aerial Ace," commanded Paul. Honchkrow's speed made it easy to dodge the attack, as well as impossible for Venusaur to avoid its own Aerial Ace attack. The attack hit the plant Pokemon head on, and caused a considerable amount of damage.
"Shake it off, Venusaur! We're far from done! Use Vine Whip to ensnare Honchkrow!" Leaf shouted. Vines were released from the Pokemon's back, reaching for the flying Pokemon in the air. They wrapped around Honchkrow's legs, stopping its flight path.
"Now use Slam!" Leaf commanded. Using its vines, Venusaur slammed Honchkrow into the ground, causing it to grunt in pain.
"Sand Attack!" Paul yelled. Honchkrow writhed on the ground and sent a cloud of sand at Venusaur with its wings, forcing it to close its eyes and lose its focus. Thanks to the distraction, Honchkrow was able to escape from the vines' grasp.
"Now use Sky Attack!"
"No!" Leaf cried as Honchkrow began glowing. It sped towards Venusaur and slammed into it, knocking the massive Pokemon out.
Gary was so happy that he jumped up and let out a triumphant yell, which luckily went unnoticed by Leaf as she returned Venusaur sullenly. She looked over to her friends and saw identical looks on their faces. Dawn even held her hair in fists. Misty and May just looked downcast.
"I can't believe he won," Dawn whispered. Now she'd have to go on a date with Paul next week, but she had a boyfriend! How was she going to explain this to Kenny? What would he say.
You don't have to tell him. He's not going to find out on his own. Isn't it better to avoid an argument? You're not doing anything wrong as long as you don't want to be on the date with Paul. It's not cheating. Definitely not.
Dawn's thoughts were confused. She knew that she should be honest with Kenny, but wouldn't it only cause a problem? It was just one date. An emotionless date. Nothing bad was going to happen, so it was okay, right?
The guys were crossing over to their side of the arena.
"So, what day next week is good for all of you?" Gary said, leaning on the side of the stands. He shot a seductive smile towards Leaf, who rolled her eyes.
"Let's hold it off as long as possible," grumbled Dawn.
"Gary and I's first lecture is Monday. And we have the first academic contest on Wednesday. How about Thursday?" Leaf suggested.
"I have a better idea," said Drew. "Their holding a dance at a teen club Friday night. We could all spend the afternoon on separate dates, and then meet up there in the evening. Sound good?"
"At least we'd spend some of the time as a group," Misty pointed out. "I think it's a good idea."
Everyone nodded their heads, and with that the day was set in stone. Five days from now, they'd all go on their dates. No backing out.
Leaf looked down at her Poketch. "Crap! We have to get back to the hotel! The opening night speech is in an hour!" Everyone's eyes widened and they all headed for the exit. They were going to have to sprint to the hotel.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I can't attend this thing without taking a shower!" Dawn wailed.
"There isn't enough time! We only have half an hour left!" May said, running a comb through her chocolate locks.
"At least let me rinse off!" Dawn begged.
"All right, but at 4:55 we're heading downstairs whether you're ready or not," Leaf warned.
Dawn ran into the bathroom and took the fastest shower ever. She only had time to do a quick body wash and wet her hair, but it was better than nothing. When she got out, she quickly dried herself off and blow dried her hair.
As she came out of the bathroom, she caught Leaf informing the others that this was semi-formal and that they should dress up a little bit.
Misty was already ready to go. She wore black dress pants and a blue plaid button-up shirt with a lighter blue tank underneath. Black flats completed her look. Her hair was still up in a side ponytail, but she never wore it down unless she had to.
Leaf was searching through her bags looking for something, and May was putting foundation on her face.
Dawn bent over her bag and lifted some of the folded clothes up until she found what she was looking for: a dark pink skirt that went to the knee, and a light pink scoop neck top. It was kind of low-cut, so she decided to where a black Camisole underneath. She quickly got dressed and began doing her makeup. She knew that she was almost out of time, but it's hard to rush putting on eye liner.
May was now done getting ready, wearing a tank that tied around the neck but didn't have a low neck line. She also wore a white skirt with a black flower design that reached just above the knee. Red flats completed her outfit, giving her a casual, but elegant look. Her hair though, was what really looked beautiful. She'd braided her chocolate locks into a glorious mermaid tail that made her look older and less naive.
"Whoa. Drew is going to flip when he sees you," Dawn said, causing May's cheeks to turn red. The bluenette had opted to French braid her own hair, so that it was close to what she normally did, but just a bit fancier.
Leaf was the best looking of all though. She wore a dark green cotton dress that had only one thick strap, and silver sandals with a lot of thin straps wrapping around her feet. She'd left her hair down. Leaf never wore her hair up unless absolutely necessary.
"I thought you said it was only semi-formal," Misty joked.
"Well, I am representing our school," Leaf said shyly. "Now let's get downstairs before we're late."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The boys were already in the dining room, which was decorated a bit more since this morning. They sat at a table together, making small talk.
"So, Paul. I'd like to thank you again for winning that battle earlier," Gary said, slapping his back. The lavender-haired boy grunted in response. He was still mad at Gary for getting him roped into this date with Dawn on Friday. He would gladly undergo any sort of torture to get out of spending time with that girly girl.
"Why do you hate Dawn anyway Paul?" Ash asked.
"She's annoying. Too happy. Happy people are unintelligent."
"Spoken like a true emo," Drew said.
"I'm not emo," growled Paul. "I'm just not a social butterfly like the rest of you. If it wasn't for Ketchum, we never would have met those girls at all."
"They needed seats! I was just being polite!" Ash said.
Paul slammed his fist on the table. "You're almost as bad as that troublesome girl!"
"Shut up before you cause a scene!" Drew hissed. "Look Paul, she doesn't want to go on a date with you either, so why don't you just not go? I'm sure she'd be thrilled to get out of a date with Oscar the Grouch."
Paul grunted. He hated it when Drew talked sense. It wasn't often, but it made him feel inferior.
"Here come the girls," Gary said, nodding at the door.
"Whoa," said Drew. "May looks... hot."
None of the boys responded. Gary was too busy taking in how beautiful and unlike a smart girl Leaf looked in her dress. Ash was looking at Misty in her tomboyish outfit. She still looked pretty in her own special way. Even Paul had to admit that Dawn looked nice. If she was a true whore, then she wouldn't be wearing that black Camisole to cover her chest.
The girls saw the boys and walked over to their table. They didn't know anyone else here after all. They each took a seat, and a man on the stage near the back of the room began to talk. He spoke about what an honor it was for everyone to be here and how they should all do their best to be good representatives of their school.
Soon, dinner was served to them. It was a delicious pasta dish. Ash ordered seconds for himself, while the others had desert, which was strawberry cake with whippy vanilla frosting.
After the meal, another man got up to speak.
"We would like to acknowledge all of the academically talented students among us tonight, so when you hear your name called, please stand up," he said. The man began naming off names alphabetically. After a few, a familiar one was called.
"Leaf Green."
Leaf stood up and everyone clapped. Gary let out a whistle, causing her to scowl and others to laugh. The announcer cleared his throat and continued on. Soon, he came to another familiar name.
"Gary Oak."
Gary stood up, and everyone clapped except for Leaf. He shot her a smirk as he sat down. "It's okay. I know you wanted to," he whispered.
She kicked him under the table and he just laughed. She kicked him harder and he stopped.
Soon, the opening night speech ended and everyone was dismissed.
As Dawn left with her friends, she could have sworn that Paul had been looking at her tonight.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
I feel like this might be a boring chapter, but I hope it wasn't too bad. Please review and tell me what you think!