There's some Pearlshipping in here if you squint really, really, eyes-buggin'-out hard. Also, this one is somewhat OOC, sorry.

Word prompt for this piece was 'Competitive', and the ladies starring in this one are the lovely Dawn and Misty.

Enjoy!

Dawn flings open the door, sweaty and panting from sprinting all the way to the Ketchum residence and then through the living room. Neither Misty nor Ash nor Cilan acknowledge her presence, their eyes tethered on the screen, thumbs moving at lightning speeds.

"I cannot believe" – she strides in front of the screen, wilting pom-poms on her hips, and Cilan shrieks unnecessarily loud – "that you started without me."

She points at Misty, who at least has the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm the one who bought this for you, and I know it's a gift, but really. This is how you repay me?"

Then at Cilan: "And seriously, I expected you to keep them civil. Distract 'em with food or something. But nooooo."

And at Ash: " 'No need to worry, Dawn, I would never start without you!' " She sighs. "And that is when I should've worried the most, but instead I trusted you three, and now –"

"Quit whining and grab a remote," says Misty, tapping her foot. "C'mon. We've already unlocked Marth for you."

"Our apologies," Cilan says. He shrugs, smiles. "It was in bad taste. But – this is Super Smash Brothers Brawl. We could hardly resist."

"Fine, okay," Dawn says. "Just know that I'll be forced to win the next match to avenge myself." She flops down beside Ash on the couch, cracks her knuckles.

Ash gives her a once-over, noting the pompoms and outfit finally. Frowns. "What's with the outfit? Where – why…?"

"Oh, so now you care," Dawn says. "If you have to know, Gary won a bet. This" – she tosses the pompoms over her shoulder – "is the result."

Ash doesn't press her for the details of the wager, but looks markedly weirded-out. Or, oddly enough, annoyed.

She wonders why briefly, then is jostled out of her thoughts when Misty tosses her a Gamecube remote, knowing her preference. They begin the match.

Dawn throws her body and controller (uselessly) to the left, thumbs mashing the A button or twirling the control stick. It's all for naught, however; Misty (playing as Toon Link) is the winner.

"Damn right," Misty says, as Cilan mutters something extremely un-gentlemanly-sounding in Misty's direction. "Rematch!"

Three rematches have Cilan sitting at two wins and Misty holding the other two. There is viable competitiveness in the air; both Cilan and Misty have migrated to the carpet, as the couch is not up to their jumps and constant movements.

"Miss Waterflower," says Cilan grandly, "your battle strategy has a unique flavor to it. Unfortunately" – he shrugs ruefully – "it's about to go bitter very quickly. I am a video game connoisseur –"

"Then you'll find it easier to eat my virtual dust," says Misty, cheerfully. "No way Kirby can stand up to the awesome that is Toon Link."

"No way we can, she means," Dawn mutters to Ash. "We're gonna lose again, just watch."

"Let's do teams," Ash says. " 'Cause this is just unfair. Can I have a Gamecube remote?"

"Certainly," Cilan says, handing him one. "Of course, you'll lose anyway, but who am I to crush your hopes?" He nods at Misty. "Partner?"

Dawn winces, picturing Final Smash after Final Smash, Misty and Cilan cackling.

But Misty stretches, grins. Shakes her head. "I don't think it'll be fair to Dee-Dee and Ashy-Boy –"

"Don't call me that," Dawn and Ash say at the same time, and grin at each other in solidarity.

" – if we go together. Besides, Cilan, I still have to whoop your – anyway, I'll go with Dawn." She smiles, teeth sparkling. Dawn wonders if it's a gym leader thing, why they're so intent on defeating each other. "We'll do a stock battle, ten lives each," Misty continues. "Cilan, you are going down."

Misty shrieks, "Dawn don't touch that mushroom it's pois –"

Onscreen, Marth, Dawn's character, shrinks as she touches the mushroom.

"Shoot," Dawn mutters, opting to ditch the suddenly-dangerous battle until she's restored to her rightful, less vulnerable size. Justdon'tdiejustdon'tdie…

"Sucks to be you!" Ash says, and cheerfully KOs her.

She glares at him. "Cowardly."

Misty says, "Oh, you shouldn't have messed with my partner, Ash. You better run."

Ash actually pales, but Cilan reassures him with a "Don't listen to her" his eyes glowing from the screen. Then: "Take that, ruffians!"

Cilan executes Kirby's Final Smash, beams as Misty swears.

"No need to worry," Dawn tells her. "We'll get 'em." And they better; Cilan and Ash both have seven and nine lives, respectively, whereas between Misty and Dawn their life count is down to five.

With this thought in mind, Dawn pauses the game amidst protests from Ash and Cilan. "Actually, we need a plan."

So Misty and Dawn leave the living room and head to the kitchen, where Misty shotguns a couple glasses of water, frowning contemplatively.

"I think our problem is that you're just going after Cilan, and ignoring Ash," Dawn says finally, tapping her fingers. "I know Cilan's the stronger player, but if we never KO Ash, he'll just win for their team, and you know he'll gloat forever."

Misty tilts her head. "Well, I think our problem is that you only chose Marth because of his hair, and don't know how to wield him well."

"You only chose Toon Link because of the whole 'sailing-the-seas' thing!"

"But I know how to use him. If you're really in it for the blue hair, you should try Ike instead; he'll fit your battling style better."

"We should try teamwork instead," Dawn says. "Seriously, I do a lot of double battles Pokémonwise, and we aren't in sync. We –"

From the living room, Ash calls, "I should unpause this, since they're obviously not coming back!"

"In a minute!" Misty yells, and turns to Dawn. "I'll go on the offensive towards Cilan and the defensive towards Ash, if you do vice-versa."

Dawn stares at her, slowly realizing the perfection of the plan. "We're so winning this."

As Misty turns to go, Dawn says, "Just one question – why're you so hell-bent on beating Cilan?"

Misty waves her hand dismissively. "We kinda have a bet. Let's go win it."

Whether Misty means the match or the bet, Dawn isn't sure, but she's quite willing to win both.

She and Misty swagger into the living room and sit back down in their places, fingers poised over remotes. They unpause the game and, after fifteen minutes, Ash and Misty are the only ones left, each with one life.

"You can do it, Ash," Cilan says in a voice that's way too solemn for a game, even if it is SSBB. That bet must be extremely important, Dawn thinks, and so does an impromptu cheer routine for Misty.

"Go, Misty! You can win! You can totally beat him!"

"That doesn't even rhyme," Cilan says scornfully, just as Misty sends Ash flying offscreen.

"WINNER!" announces the screen.

Cilan drops to his knees and howls.

"Happy birthday," Dawn tells Misty.

This was extremely silly, but also pretty fun to write.

Reviews would be hugely appreciated, as always.