Chapter 4

May 13th, 2006

"Paul you are in my way!" Paul glared at the blue haired girl as she shoved him aside. "You're making me late!"

He was definitely not making her even remotely late. Not bothering to say anything, he chose to continue his glaring at her back. "Idiot." He muttered. May shoved herself past him after the other girl. "It's a contest not contact sport." He hissed to them.

"I agree." Drew huffed, "They still have time. May's not even in it."

Dawn pushed her way through the large crowd of people, "Excuse me! Pardon me!" She caught herself saying. May groaned as she realized that she would have to do the exact same thing. She weaved herself through the throng of people uttering the same words Dawn had. The crowd barely budged despite the two girls' pleads.

"Slow down Dawn!"

"You hurry up May!"

May had agreed to help Dawn get ready for the contest, deciding to dress nicely for this one, like she did for Sinnoh's contests. She had her routine all planned out right down to the smallest sparkle, now all she had to do was win the ribbon!

She rushed to the front desk, confirming that she was present, was given the number to her dressing room. May had caught up to her by then, panting to catch her breath from all the running, they had run farther than they had in LaRousse on their way to Drew's apartment and thins time Dawn was the one with the adrenalin rush. "You better win after making me run after you." She crossed her arms, together the two girls walked to the dressing area. "I'll warn you now, I'm not the best with hair so I apologise in advance."

Dawn laughed and unlocked the room, stepping inside and looking around. "I'm sure you'll be great, no need to worry right?"

"Why do you think I keep my hair like this? There's plenty to worry about."

"Your hair looks fine, May!" Dawn flashed her a bright grin, "Now help me get this dress on, it can be a real pain sometimes."

Paul leaned back in his chair, undeniably bored as they waited for the contest to start, May, who had returned not too long ago, was chatting to him about something she obviously found very exciting as she had a higher tone to her voice, but he ignored her.

"You should've seen it Paul! It was so pretty!" She said with a big smile.

Paul rolled his eyes, deciding to humour her, he answered, "What was?"

May sighed slightly annoyed that she had to repeat herself, but her excited admiration overwhelmed that annoyance. "Dawn's dress, usually I hate those things but it was just so beautiful, she looked like a princess! She said her mom got it for her as a present for coming here, Sinnoh has much more glam than Hoenn, here you need to be dressed for the extreme heat sometimes. Her dress was literally a ball gown, she's going to look stunning while she performs."

"Sinnoh's not much better," He grunted, "It's colder, especially in Snowpoint City, it only snows there." He crossed his arms, "If you want glamour go live in Kalos. Maybe you'll see your friend there."

"Ash? How did you know he was in Kalos?" May asked suspiciously, "I thought you wanted no contact with him."

Paul rolled his eyes at her again, "It's hard not to figure out he was the one who jumped off of the Lumiose Tower. What other idiot would do that?"

"What if your pokémon was the one falling off of it?"

"I wouldn't climb the outside of that tower."

The lights in the room dimmed and a spotlight was shone on a lady who was standing in the middle of the stage. She waved wildly and smup around in a circle to look at aver angle the people were sitting in around her. "Hello everybody and welcome to the Verdanturf Town pokémon contest!" There was a loud roar from the audience. "I'm Vivian Meridan and I'll be your host for today!" There was another loud roar from the audience that was deafning to the mauve haired trainer. It almost rivalled the one from the Lily of the Valley Confrence, and that was suprising sinch there was a much smaller amount of spectators. Paul rolled his eyes, wanting this to quickly be over and done with. "We have our three judges joining us today! Let's all welcome Mr. Contesta the head of the Pokémon Coordinators Association, Mr. Sukizo head of the Pokémon Fan Club, and Verdanturf's very own Nurse Joy!" She gestured to each person in their turn. "Let's get this show on the road; we have a whopping number of forty-three coordinators here today! Let's welcome our fist contestant Verdanturf's very own, the mysterious yet mesmerizing Phantom!"

May jumped up from her seat, "I remember Timmy!"

"Who's Timmy?" Drew asked.

May lowered herself back into her seat, "That's the Phantom's real name; he's my friend, though we don't really talk much anymore. I wonder how he's doing." She leaned forward in her chair slightly to get a better look.

"Dusclops!" He said as he threw his pokéball into the air. The pokémon appeared from the pokéball, a strange black fog surrounding them. "Will-O-Whisp!" Blue balls of fire shot out from the mist, creating an eerie glow within. The flames surrounded the shadowed figures hiding in the mist creating a dazzling blue outline. The foggy area surrounding them soon disappeared and revealed the two characters inside, a Dusclops, as we already knew, and a boy wearing a Dusclops mask. "Finish with Psychic!" The Dusclops' eyes glowed red and the blue flames started to spin around it in a fast circle before exploding around it, illuminating the dark stadium.

"Oh wow! What an incredible performance, a great way to start this contest with and performed in only two moves!" Vivian said, "Let's see how our judges liked it! Mr. Contesta?"

"It was very well planned out, and exceptionally well done, excellent job!" He said with a grin.

Vivian turned to the next man, "Remarkable!" He said before she even got a chance to say anything.

"It left me wanting more!" Nurse Joy commented.

Paul didn't pay much attention to the rest of the contest; he found it boring, but also somewhat interesting to see what these trainers came up with. "Next up we have Dawn who visits us all the way from Sinnoh!" Paul adjusted his position a little; he was fairly interested to see what she had chosen to do for her appeal. She kept it quiet and refused to have anyone help her with it. She appeared on stage wearing a pink ball gown like dress, it was very different from the one he had seen her wear in Sinnoh. He only knew what it looked like from the TVs in the Pokémon center lobbies. It reached the floor in layers and just like May had said; it was a dress for a princess, not that she was one.

May sighed from beside him, "I'm so proud of her hair. I should be a hair dresser!" She said proudly. Paul looked closer at her hair; it fell into nice navy ringlets down her back, a pink bow placed on the back of her head. Paul had to admit, it did look nice.

"Togekiss, spotlight!" She threw the pokéball high into the air and the dual fairy and flying type pokémon appeared, sparkles dancing all around it. Her pokémon landed gracefully in front of her and did a little spin on its one foot. "Fly and use safeguard!" Togekiss sprung into the air, its body soon glowed a bright green and two vortexes of the same green colour formed around it, "Now use Aura Slash!"

Paul frowned, did she really combine two moves together? He hoped that they worked hard enough to actually accomplish it, so she didn't embarrass herself, and come crying to them after.

Togekiss formed a ball in-between its wings, it was still gliding through the air, there was a large blue sphere in front of it, it had many different shades of blue within it, it resembled a marble. Suddenly Togekiss shot forward, leaving the Safeguard vortexes where they were and shot the sphere at it. They collided and created a huge shimmering blue explosion. It made a loud boom and rained dazzling sparkles all around the stage, it was like a firework. Togekiss created another sphere and shot it at the other vortex which was just lazily floating in the air, creating the same reaction as the first one. With a low curtsey, both finished their appeal.

"That was simply breath taking; it reminded me of my childhood!" Mr. Contesta sighed dramatically. "I always loved fireworks!"

"Simply remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo nodded.

Nurse Joy clapped her hands together, "It kept me on the edge of my seat, gorgeous!" Dawn grinned and waved to the crowd before hurrying off the stage with her pokémon beside her.

"Dawn will move onto the next round for sure!" Paul heard Drew say, "It was better than anything May could have done."

"Hey!"

After many boring appeals later, Vivian started to talk again, "Well that's if for the appeals, now to cut it down and pick who moves onto round two!" She spun around and faced the large screen. The Phantom's face was the first to appear and a while after him Dawn's face was seen on it. Paul let out a breath he was unaware of holding and leaned back into the chair.

May elbowed him in the side with a smile, "You find them interesting don't you?"

"No." Paul said flatly, he did not enjoy them, he would much rather be training right now if he could.

"You're lying." She gave him a smug grin, "After the short intermission, battling is up next, something more up your lane." She stood up; Drew did the same, "Are you going to come with us to see Dawn before she has to go back out?" He shook his head, not wanting to. "Oh yes you are." May pulled him out of the seat, her hands on his shoulders and guiding him towards the backstage. "She'll feel more confident if you go too, you're a good battler, she wants praise from somebody like you."

Eventually they found themselves in the back hall; Dawn was sitting on one of the benches, talking to her Quilava. "Hey Dawn!" She turned around and smiled. May rushed towards her and gave her a huge hug, "That was so beautiful, you did amazing!" She pulled away with a smile.

"Thanks! It felt good, I'm glad it got me to the next round. Let's just hope Quilava has enough energy to beat our opponent, right?" She looked down at it kindly.

"Lava!" It flared the bright fire on its back.

"You're going to do great! Remember you were the runner-up for your first contest here, you'll win for sure!" May pumped her fist in the air, "Right guys?" She eyed both Paul and Drew.

Drew nodded and looked at the other man who had his arms crossed, "Think before you call a move." Was all he said.

Dawn smiled and nodded, "I can do this!" She said, "We're gonna win out first ribbon in Verdanturf!"

"Hey May!" The group looked towards the voice, the Phantom was standing there, a smile on his face, he didn't have his mask on and his brown hair was sticking up in different places thanks to his hat. "You still coordinating?"

May grinned at him, "Hi Timmy! Of course I am! I only need one more ribbon, but that weenie beat me to it." She pointed a finger at Drew accusingly.

"Weenie?" He furrowed his brows.

"It's what Max calls you." She waved her hand in dismissal. Drew frowned and uttered something that sounded like, "that little brat" or something along those lines.

There was a voice that announced through the speakers, "Round two will begin in five minutes, please return to your seats."

May shrugged and turned to Dawn then back at Timmy, "Good luck both of you, we'll be rooting for you!" She nudged Paul and nodded her head in Dawn's direction.

"Fine." He hissed to the brunette, "Good luck." He quickly turned around and left the room first. Not caring if May and Drew followed him.

Paul sat down in his seat, May still grinning at him. "What?"

"Do you want Dawn to win?" She asked.

Paul turned his attention to the stage. "I don't want to deal with her crying." He said simply and ignored the rest of what she had said. He heard her let out a frustrated groan, she became quiet again as the lights dimmed down once more, the lady in the pink dress appeared, the same smile plastered on her face as before.

"Who's excited for round two of the Verdanturf Contest!" A loud cheer echoed around the building, reverberating off of the high roof. "If you take a look on the screen above, you will see the match-ups for the battles." There were six different pairs on the screen, though you couldn't see their faces just yet. "And here are the match ups!" Each card flipped at the same time. Dawn was placed in the first pair, up against a black-haired boy. "Our first match up is Dawn versus Cole!"

"He looks pathetic." Paul grumbled. "A preschooler could beat him easily."

"What would you do if Dawn loses? Would you train her?"

"Ignore her." Was his answer. A large battlefield appeared from under the main stage. Dawn appeared from the entrance and walked across the stage to the field, Cole was already there. They approached each other and shook hands before retreating back to their own sides.

"Five minutes up on the clock and battle begin!" Vivian shouted enthusiastically.

"Quilava spotlight!" Dawn tossed the pokéball into the air, in an array of little blue flames, the fire type materialized in front of her, letting out a growl. Cole seemed to freeze for a second then let out his own pokémon, a Nincada. Paul rolled his eyes, his slight interest gone. "If she can't beat a measly nincada then that Quilava is useless."

"Nincada is part ground type," Drew said, "She's at a disadvantage too."

"Flame Wheel-Swift quickly!" Quilava opened its mouth and various golden stars shot out, surrounding it. It quickly engulfed itself in flames and rolled straight towards Nincada.

"Nincada dodge it!" The boy cried, a hint of worry was clear in his voice. Nincada was a bit late, Quilava had hit it, the flames engulfing it and the stars shooting into the flame and exploding, sparkles of gold was seen around the flame. Nincada let out a cry of pain and Quilava jumped back. "Nincada use dig!" Nincada burrowed its way into the ground without hesitation.

"Be careful!" Dawn warned. A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Then suddenly the ground exploded from underneath the fire-type. Quilava was thrown into the air and crashed back down to the ground. "Smokescreen!" Dawn called; a thick mass of black smoke oozed out of its mouth and soon filled the battle area. "Flamethrower." She said confidently, a smile plastered on her face. Quilava was seen creeping throughout the smoke then a large stream of fire was shot from it, hitting Nincada dead on. The light illuminated the smoke and gave it an orange glow. Nincada was thrown against the wall behind her opponent and skidded down the wall, landing in a heap on the floor. A buzzer rang out and on the screen, the time was up and the opposing pokémon was knocked unconscious. It flashed a picture of Dawn's smiling face, flashing the word 'winner' coloured gold across the screen.

Quilava raced over to her and leapt into her arms, letting out a pleased cry. "That was a pathetic battle." Paul murmured. "If she used flamethrower first it would've been over sooner."

"It's a contest battle," Drew said. "She has to show off her pokémon and present them."

After a long wait of watching agonizing battle rounds, two finalists were announced, one of them being Dawn, the other was Timmy, or the Phantom as he was better known. Both were standing at opposite sides of the field, eagerly waiting for the okay to start their battle. The timer went off. Paul had to admit, he was feeling a little excited at this point, mostly for the pride of his region of course. Dawn threw her pokéball in the air the exact same time as Timmy threw his, him releasing his Duskclops, Dawn with her Quilava. That only left her with three moves she could use, swift was out of commission against a ghost type.

"Flamethrower!" She called instantly, the large beam of fire aimed directly at the ghost-type.

Timmy swung his arm around in front of him. "Psychic!" He shouted.

"Quilava!" Dawn shouted and the pokémon ran around, trying to keep out of Duskclop's range, the flamethrower still burning the pokémon, though it didn't seem to be affected all that much, aside from the occasional flinching. "Smokescreen!" The same dark smoke emitted from its mouth and leaked around the field. Making psychic harder to use without the lack of vision. "Swift!" She called.

"He'll know what she's doing." Paul heard May say. "She already used that technique. Besides, that won't affect it..."

Stars came from all different areas of the smoke, making it hard to pinpoint where exactly the pokémon was, the stars aimed their path to Dusclops, hitting it but not harming it whatsoever. "Flamewheel!" Quilava jumped from behind Duskclops, a bright spinning blaze, hitting it square in the back. "Flamethrower too!" As Quilava was spinning, flames were shooting out around it, giving it the impression of wings.

"Will-o-whisp!" Timmy yelled. Blue flames appeared between Dusclops's hands, then flying behind it and adding to the flame Quilava was controlling, a purple hue to it now. Timmy let out a noise of annoyance. "Shadow Punch!" Its fists became enveloped in a gray shade; two large fists shot out from it and pounded into Quilava who was thrown backwards. By now both pokémon were panting. Thirty seconds still counting down on the timer.

"Go all out with Flame Wheel!" Dawn said. Quilava's flames on its back grew to a terrifying size and created a massive sphere of fire around it. It raced forward colliding with the ghost type.

"Focus Punch!" Quilava pushed harder, Duskclops' hands were confined, smothered in front of it, unable to move. Paul felt himself stand up, May and Drew following his lead.

"Come on Dawn! Ten more seconds!" May screamed and shook Paul. "Say something! It'll help her!"

"No way!"

"Just do it!"

Paul thought for a moment but begrudgingly complied and yelled. "Show him what it's like in Sinnoh!" Quilava suddenly pushed more, making Duskclops' skid backwards slightly. "Show them how we're the best!"

Beep!

The time was up and the winner was clear.

"And the winner of the Verdanturf Contest is Dawn from Twinleaf Town all the way in Sinnoh!" Paul actually smiled at this. Dawn shook hands with Timmy, grinning hugely. It was a beautiful emotion placed on her face. She and Quilava raced over to receive their ribbon, pride emanating off both trainer and pokémon.

May placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down the stairs quickly. "I told you it would work!" Pushing their way through the crowd they made their way to Dawn's dressing room where she and her pokémon were happily celebrating. She noticed them standing in the doorway and hurried over, enveloping Paul in a hug. He tensed up slightly at the embrace.

"Thank you!"