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Michelle's POV

Adam and I were battling with our new Pokemon. I needed to practice and see what Gastly could do, since I was planning to use Gastly in my contest. Since Adam had seven Pokemon with him, he had sent his Squirtle back to the lab in Pallet Town so he could use Haunter.

"Use Night Shade!"

Gastly shot three energy beams towards Haunter. One being a purple beam, and the other two being dark red beams.

"Dodge it!" Adam called. Haunter dodged and I thought of what to do next.

"Hey," a voice said, interrupting our practice. I glanced over to my left and saw Blair.

"Hey, Blair!" I greeted.

Adam and Jason greeted her, too.

"So, are you entering the contest here in Lavender Town?" I asked as Gastly floated over to Haunter.

"No, not this time." she said, walking over. "I'm sitting this one out and just gonna watch it."

"Oh,"

"Yeah. Is this your Gastly?" she asked.

"Yep. It's the newest member of our Pokemon family." I replied with a smile.

"I've never been fond of Ghost types. Bad memory as a kid."

"Well, all three of us have Ghost Pokemon now."

"Cool,"

Blair glanced at her watch for the time. "Well, I'll let you get back to practicing."

I nodded my head.

"Good luck in the contest, Michelle. Can't wait to see how you perform." Blair said, waving as she walked off. "Oh! Bye, Adam, Jason."

"Bye," we called.

I turned back to our Pokemon and Gastly came back to our side.

"Michelle," Adam said to me, "Blair might be watching the contest to see how you perform and how Gastly performs. She hasn't faced Gastly before or seen what Gastly can do. She could be watching your strategy so she can beat you if you use Gastly against her in another contest."

I looked at him for a few moments. "I don't think Blair would do that..." I trailed.

"It happened to my mom or one of her friends before."

"Well, I'll keep my guard up if I use Gastly in Saffron City."

"Okay. Well, let's continue."

"Gladly! Gastly, use Dark Pulse!"

But as we continued, I was unaware that there was something in a nearby tree that was watching me practice...

I stood backstage in my contest outfit with Gastly's Pokeball in the ball capsule, waiting for the contest to start. This contest was going to be Gastly's debut. Gastly would be my Pokemon for the whole contest.

"What's that smell?" Jason asked, sniffing. Jason wasn't fond of perfume, and I knew that.

"The perfume that I got from Erika in Celadon City." I replied. "I told you that I'd be using it in my next contest."

"It smells good." said Adam. "It suits you. And now you smell great, as well as look great."

"Thanks, Adam."

We talked for a few more minutes, but soon they had to leave to take their seats. I hadn't seen Nikki yet, and the contest was about to start.

"Good afternoon, everyone! It's time for another contest. The contestants will be competing to win the Lavender Town Ribbon! I'm your host, Jillian! Now lets meet our wonderful judges!" Jillian cried.

"We have Shawn Contesta!"

"Happy to be here. Coordinators, I wish you all good luck and look forward to your performances."

"Now, the President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Tatsu!"

"Another contest! More Pokemon and Coordinators!"

"Lastly, we have our very own Nurse Joy!"

"Good luck to all of you and I look forward to your performances."

"Well, we've met our judges, now lets get this contest underway! Entry one is Nikki!"

That explained why I didn't see her earlier. Nikki ran onto the stage and stopped just before the steps.

"Dratini, curtain!" Nikki cried, tossing her Pokeball. Dratini appeared, surrounded by bubbles.

"Thunder Wave!" The electricity popped the bubbles and water and sparks fell down.

"Now use Twister!" A Twister was now in the air.

"Use Aqua Tail!" Dratini jumped and used Aqua Tail into the Twister, causing water to swirl into it, creating a water cyclone.

"What a great performance!" Jillian cried.

"Now finish it! Use Hyper Beam!" Dratini charged the Hyper Beam and fired it at the Twister, causing it to vanish.

Nikki smiled as the crowd cheered.

"What a wonderful performance. It showed that a lot of time was spent practicing." Shawn said.

"Dratini had a blast!" Mr. Tatsu cried.

"Dratini looked lovely performing and it was a unique performance." Nurse Joy said.

Nikki walked backstage and spotted me.

"Hey, good performance." I said.

"Thanks. I hate going first, though." she said.

"You spent a lot of time with that Twister Aqua Tail, right?"

"Yes, too much time."

"There's never too much time spent working on your techniques."

Nikki just shrugged and I noticed that she wasn't in her usual mood.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Nikki glanced at me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired." she replied.

I guessed that was the truth, but I couldn't be sure. I know people act different when tired, but she had been like this when we ran into her in Saffron City. Maybe she and Trevor had a fight?

After watching a few more performances, it was my turn. "Next up is Michelle!" Jillian cried.

"Gastly, spotlight!" I cried, spinning and tossing my Pokeball. Gastly appeared, surrounded by a purple smoke.

"Confuse Ray!" I cried. Yellow orbs appeared through the smoke and started to spin, making the smoke vanish and circle around the yellow orbs.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Gastly shot a Shadow Ball and it headed towards the crowd.

"Night Shade!" The beams shot out and hit the Shadow Ball, making sparkles fall as it exploded.

"Wonderful!" Jillian cried.

"A well done performance to show off Gastly." Shawn said.

"Fun!" Mr. Tatsu cried.

"Gastly sure did show off its type abilities well." Nurse Joy said.

I walked backstage and Nikki walked over to me.

"Is Gastly new?" she asked.

"Yes,"

"That was a good debut for Gastly."

"Thanks,"

After a few more performances, the first round was over and we all waited to see who would be moving on.

"Now, the coordinators that are moving on."

I had made it and so had Nikki.

"Oh, first one to battle again..." she muttered.

"Good luck, Nikki."

"Thanks,"

"It's time for the first round of our battles. To my left is Oliver, and to my right is Nikki! Five minutes on the clock, and begin!" Jillian cried.

"Empoleon, let's go!" Oliver cried.

Nikki frowned and tossed her Pokeball. "Vulpix, curtain!" she cried.

Now I knew why she had frowned. She had a type disadvantage. But she had speed on her side, if I wasn't mistaken.

"Use Aqua Jet!"

"Fire Spin!"

Throughout the battle, Nikki didn't seem focussed. I knew that something was up. Nikki's points were halfway gone, and Oliver's were barely gone.

"Time's up!" Jillian cried.

"The winner is...Oliver!"

Nikki walked backstage and went to change. I had to go battle now.

"To my right is Grace, and to my left is Michelle! Five minutes on the clock, and begin!" Jillian cried.

"Eevee, dazzle them!" Grace cried.

"Gastly, spotlight!" I cried.

Normal attacks don't affect Ghost Pokemon, so I had a type advantage and Grace frowned at my Gastly.

"No fair..."

"Gastly, use Hypnosis!"

"Eevee, dodge!"

But Eevee couldn't avoid the attack, and fell asleep.

"Use Dark Pulse!" I yelled. After getting hit with the attack, Eevee woke up. While Eevee was sleeping, Grace's points had suffered, since she couldn't do anything.

"Eevee, use Shadow Ball!"

"Night Shade!"

The Shadow Ball approached Gastly, but never touched Gastly, as it collided with Night Shade.

"Time's up!"

"The winner is...Michelle!"

"Way to go, Gastly!" I cried happily.

After two other battles between the other coordinators, it was my turn again. I battled, and easily beat the other coordinator by status affect. It was now the final few minutes of the final battle for the ribbon.

"Gastly, dodge!" I cried. I was facing off against Tyler and his Charmander. Gastly dodged the Flamethrower.

"Use Shadow Ball!"

"Split the Shadow Ball with Metal Claw!"

"Night Shade!" I cried.

"Charmander, no!" Tyler cried.

The Shadow Ball was successfully gone, but the Night Shade came right after it and hit Charmander, knocking it out.

"Time's up!"

"The winner of the Lavender Town Contest is...Michelle and Gastly!" Jillian cried.

I was handed my third ribbon. The Lavender Town ribbon was purple. I walked backstage and changed. Once I was done changing, I made my way to the exit, running into Blair.

"Congrats on winning, Michelle." Blair said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Well, I have to go. I'll be seeing you in the Saffron City Contest, right?"

"You bet!"

"Well, see ya. And congrats again."

Blair walked off and I wondered...did she really watch the contest to see my techniques, like Adam suggested?

I found Adam and Jason outside and Eevee ran over to me.

"Way to go, Michelle." Jason said.

"Thanks," I said as I picked Eevee up.

"You're doing great, Michelle. You have three ribbons now." Adam said.

"Yeah...only two more to go!" I couldn't believe that I had three ribbons now.

Now we were on our way back to Saffron City for another contest and the boys' gym battles. But as we left Lavender Town, we were unaware that we were being followed...

Normal POV

A young woman who was in her early thirties walked through the halls of Team Rocket's base. She had black eyes and long, straight purple hair that went down her back, with bangs over her forehead. She had on red lipstick and wore the same attire that all of the Team Rocket Pokemon Hunters wore: a red jumpsuit with a long black coat over it. Her jumpsuit hugged her body, showing off her curves and her D-cup breasts. And like all hunters, her arm cannon was strapped to her arm. This beautiful, but deadly hunter was named Pokemon Hunter Mya.

"Where are you off to?" a voice said, causing her to stop. She looked to her side and saw that it was one of her fellow hunters, Darien.

"To my airship." she replied. "Your father just gave me my next assignment. Hopefully, I'll find some better Pokemon than I did the last time. But I'm more interested in finding those three kids. Like every member of Team Rocket, I want that reward that your father promised to give to the one who captures them."

"Don't be too rough. The black-haired kid with the Pikachu is my nephew, after all."

"Since when did you care what happens to him?"

"I don't. I'm just sticking to the orders. My father said to bring them to him alive, and I'm making sure that happens, so don't you forget it. You can hurt them a little, but don't get too carried away, Mya. My father doesn't like it when people disappoint him. Remember what happened when Oliver disappointed him?"

"Oh, please. You don't seriously think that I'm the same as that idiot, do you? He's all brawn and no brains. And don't think that you're able to intimidate me just because your father is our boss."

Mya then walked away from Darien, continuing on her way to her airship in the hanger.

Author's Note: So Michelle wins her fourth ribbon with ease, thanks to Gastly. Nikki, meanwhile, seems to be distracted and losing her touch in contests. Now the kids are heading back to Saffron City for Michelle's next contest and Adam and Jason's next gym battle. But they are unaware that they're being followed by someone...or something...

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is preparing to send out another one of their Pokemon Hunters. (Note to readers: For those who don't know, "Mya" is pronounced the same as "Maya", it can just be spelled one of two ways.)

Why is Nikki doing so poorly in her contests now? What is following the kids as they head back to Saffron City? How will they do in their next contest/gym battles? Will they bump into Team Rocket again?

Find out next time on Pokemon NG!