Hello everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews!

I have an extended author's note at the end, so be sure to check that out as well. I'm not putting it here, at the beginning, because you guys probably want to go right ahead to the story.

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

Lucky Pencil

Grade Four

May (9), Drew (9), Paul (9), Dawn (9), Ash (9), Misty (9), Leaf (9), Gary (9)

May looked especially happy when she walked into her grade four classroom one morning.

"Why are you so happy today?" her friend, Dawn, asked curiously.

"Look at what my dad gave me!" May pulled out a red pencil with a Beautifly eraser on it.

"Wow, it's so cute!" Dawn gushed.

"I know! It's my lucky pencil!" May informed her proudly.

"Lucky pencil? I don't believe in luck." Misty, another friend, joined in. "It's just a pencil."

"It's not 'just a pencil'! My dad gave it to me, and it is lucky!" May insisted. "My family and I were playing a game. I had this pencil with me, and I kept winning!"

"Winning a game doesn't come from luck." Leaf, another friend who had decided to enroll in May's school that year, reasoned. "It comes from skill."

"Not if all you have to do for the game is roll a dice. Whenever I rolled the dice, I got a good number. I won three times in a row!"

Leaf shrugged. "Could happen to anyone."

"It doesn't matter what you guys think. I think this pencil is special, and that's that! And I'll show you how lucky this pencil is. I'm gonna use it for the test we have before lunch time."

"What's this I hear?" May's green-haired friend Drew, along with Gary, Ash and Paul, walked up to them. "You're going to depend on a pencil to get a good grade?"

"Well, I did study hard." May admitted. "But this pencil is gonna make sure I pass!"

"Don't depend too much on it." Drew warned, and then felt obliged to add, "September."

"My name is MAY!"

Everyone was getting ready for the test. The others around May were taking out pencils, erasers, and sharpeners. May had already taken out her eraser and sharpener beforehand, but had left her lucky pencil in her pencil case. She didn't want it to end up rolling off her desk and getting lost. One minute before the test started, May opened her pencil case to take it out. But it wasn't there.

"Huh?" May searched through her case thoroughly, but it didn't show up. Maybe it fell? She looked under her desk, but all she found was the Beautifly eraser. But where was the pencil?

"Okay, class, I'm going to start handing out the test. Please put away anything you don't need." the teacher announced.

May began to panic. Where was her lucky pencil? She needed it! There was no time to search for it anymore. She had to use a plain-old everyday pencil to write the test.

"So, how was it?" Dawn asked her when lunch break started. "Did your lucky pencil help?"

"It's gone!" May moaned. "I can't find it!"

Dawn looked shocked. "But... where could it have gone? You were taking really good care of it! Where did you put it last?"

"In my pencil case, but it's not there anymore! I did find the Beautifly eraser under my chair, though." May pulled out the eraser from her pocket.

"Maybe it fell and rolled away." Dawn said.

"But I didn't even take it out of my case! How could have fallen if it was in a box?"

"I don't know..."

"Wait!" A sudden thought occurred to May. "What if... someone took it!"

"Who would take it, though?" Dawn wondered. "And why would they leave the Beautifly eraser behind?"

"They left it behind, because if they are seen with it, it would be obvious they took it! And the only ones here who I showed my pencil to were you, Misty, Leaf, Drew, Gary, Ash, and Paul."

"Do you really think your friends would take it?" Dawn questioned doubtfully.

"Who knows? I know Ash would never do such a thing, and Paul may be mean sometimes, but he wouldn't take someone's things without asking. Wouldn't want to anyways. But Leaf and Misty might have wanted to show me that luck doesn't exist, and you can only do things through hard work. Gary might have done it as a joke, or Drew could have done it to annoy me!" May theorized.

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked uncertainly. "You could have just accidentally dropped it without knowing."

"Like I said before, Dawn, I couldn't have. Oh, I'm gonna go find everyone and get my pencil back!"

"No need to worry, May, I'm sure you'll find it! I'll check around the classroom just in case it's somewhere on the floor." Dawn offered.

"Thanks, Dawn." May appreciated her friend's help. And off she went to search for the others herself.

She found Leaf and Misty first. They were outside, trying to see who could skip rope for the longest. The two got along pretty well, since they lived in the same neighbourhood and hung out often. Leaf also loved to compete, which suited sporty Misty just fine.

"Misty! Leaf!" May stomped up to them. The distraction caused Leaf, who was skipping at the time, to stumble and fall.

"Ooof! May you made me mess up!" Leaf complained. May didn't care.

"Leaf, Misty, I want my pencil back!" May demanded.

"What makes you think we have your pencil?" Misty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You guys probably took it so I would have to write the test without it. That way, you two can show me that you don't need luck to do something well."

"Look, May." Leaf said, frowning, as she didn't seem too happy about the accusation. "I know we both don't believe that pencil was lucky, but it was still yours. We would never take anything that doesn't belong to us without asking."

"So... you guys don't have it?" May asked hesitantly. When her friends shook their heads, she hung hers, feeling ashamed. "Sorry..."

Her friends looked at her sympathetically.

"Don't worry, May, I'm sure you'll find it." Misty assured her.

"We can help you look if you want." Leaf offered.

"No thanks, I think I might be able to myself." May left them to their skipping.

She tracked down Paul and Gary next. They were focused on a game of chess in a classroom where students usually played boardgames during lunch break.

Gary and Paul used to always play checkers when they were younger, but after they had mastered it, their games always ended in draws. So, they had moved up to chess. They weren't experts on it yet, but they were improving.

May made her way through the crowd that was watching their game. It was made up mostly of older kids, so it wasn't an easy task.

"I swear, they keep getting better every time I watch." May heard someone whisper to his friend as they watched the match. Finally, May had managed to push her way to stand beside the table the two boys were sitting at.

"Gary, where is my pencil?" she demanded. But Gary didn't even look up. He was too busy muttering to himself, thinking of all the possible moves he could make.

"Gary...!"

"In a minute..." he mumbled. He smirked slightly as he made his move. "Check." A crease appeared on Paul's eyebrow as he concentrated, trying to decide what was the best move for him to make that would protect his king.

"Gary, I want my pencil!" The boys paid no attention as Paul made his move, one that both protected his king and killed off a pawn.

"Thought you'd do that." Gary said as he took out Paul's bishop. "Check."

"Guys, are you even listening to me?!"

"Later, May, we're kinda busy." Gary said dismissively. He took another turn after Paul took his.

"I'm not leaving till I get my pencil!"

Gary finally looked up. "What pencil?" he asked blankly.

"My red pencil!" May specified. However, when she saw Gary's confused face, she knew she had been mistaken. "You... didn't take it, did you?"

"Check." Paul's voice got Gary's attention.

"Aww man! May was distracting me!"

"Make all the excuses you like. It's still check."

Gary's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think out a new strategy.

"Paul, you don't have it either?" May asked quietly.

"Bother me later..." Paul responded a bit absentmindedly, as he was too absorbed in the game.

May sighed as she began her journey back through the crowd.

After a while of searching, May spotted the one she was looking for walking down the hall. A girl from their class, Brianna, was walking with him, showering him with her admiration.

"Your hair looks extra-nice today!" Brianna complimented.

"Why, thank you." Drew smiled as he flipped the green fringe of his hair.

"DREW!" May's voice roared as she stomped her way to him. He turned around to face her.

"Hello, June." he greeted, but he became a bit confused when he saw the furious look on her face. Brianna looked a bit nervously at her as well.

"Maybe I should go now. Bye Mister Drew!" She hastily scurried away, not wanted to get caught in what could be a big argument between the two.

"It's not funny!" May was now standing right in front of her friend.

"What's the matter, March? Did you hear a joke that didn't make you laugh?" Even though he had no idea why she was mad at him right now, he felt the need to tease her.

"I want it back!"

"Want what back?" he asked calmly.

"You know what!"

"Why would I even have anything that belongs to you in the first place?"

"I don't know! Why do you flip your hair and call me different months all the time?!"

"Well, it's kinda funny..."

"Exactly! So give me back my pencil!"

Drew raised his eyebrow. "Your red pencil? I don't have your pencil. Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me, I just know! I mean, who else could it be?"

"Listen, May, I don't have your pencil. I don't know who took it, but it was definitely not me." The seriousness in his voice calmed May down a little. But it also upset her. If not even Drew had it, then who did?

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Drew nodded. "Completely."

"But then who?" May wanted to know. "The only ones who knew about it were me, you, Dawn, Misty, Leaf, Gary, Ash, and Paul. I already asked Misty, Leaf, Gary, Paul, and you."

"May, do you really think one of your friends took it? There were lots of other people around. Someone might have overheard." Drew pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." May sounded discouraged as she began heading back to class.

Who could have been the culprit? Who could have stolen her special, lucky pencil? A sudden thought hit her. Could it have been... Dawn? Dawn really liked the pencil after all. Did she like it enough to take it? Or did she just want to use the lucky pencil for her test?

May shook her head. No, she wouldn't have! She's helping me find it, which she wouldn't be doing if she had it.

"May! MAY!" May snapped out of her thoughts as someone called her. The blue-haired friend she had just been thinking about came running up to her.

"May!" she huffed when she arrived in front of her. "I think I found your pencil!"

"Really? Where?" May asked quickly.

"I think... you should come see for yourself." For some reason, Dawn sounded a bit nervous.

The two friends headed back to their classroom, which was mostly empty, except for Ash, who was leaning against his desk.

"Hey, May." He straightened up when he saw them coming. "So... you lost your red pencil?"

"Yes. Wait, are you saying you have it?!" May was surprised. Ash, of all people, had stolen her pencil?

"Wait, let me explain! I didn't know it was yours. I needed a pencil for the test, and found it on the floor. It didn't have the Beautifly eraser on it, so it just looked like a normal red pencil. I didn't see anyone looking for it either, so I thought it wouldn't hurt if I used it for a while." Ash explained.

"But how did it get out of my pencil case?" May wondered.

"I don't know for sure," Dawn said, "but maybe when you were taking out something else, the pencil fell out too. Then the eraser got off, and it rolled away and ended up with Ash."

May thought about it. It made sense, so there was no point in being angry at her friend. He just hadn't known. She sighed.

"It's okay, Ash. Can I have my pencil back now?" Ash and Dawn exchanged a nervous glance.

"Well, the thing is..." Dawn started.

"Here." Ash held out the pencil. May's mouth dropped open.

It had shrunk! And not just a little, either; it was now one fifth its original size.

"Err, sorry about that." Ash apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I think I sharpened it a bit too much." May continued staring.

"Hey, no need to worry!" Dawn tried to stay positive. "You still have the eraser. You can just put it on another pencil, right?

May finally managed to say something. "My... pencil..."

"I'm very sorry, May." Ash said with a sigh. "I can get you a new one if you want."

May smiled at his sincerity. "It's okay, Ash. Besides, it was just a pencil. It would have ended up like that anyways, since I would have needed to sharpen it too. And like Dawn said, I still have the Beautifly eraser." She took it out of her pocket. "I'll just put it on another pencil." She went to her desk to get one.

"You know," Ash said to Dawn, "I actually do think that pencil was lucky. I really did need something to write with for that test. I wouldn't have been able to write it at all if that pencil hadn't suddenly rolled to me."

And that was the story of May's lucky pencil. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

I have been asked if I would be adding in any other characters, like from Unova and Kalos, in these one-shots. I was originally planning to have different characters from regions up to Sinnoh make appearances as minor characters from time to time, but I can totally bring in some from Unova and Kalos as well. I just want to keep the 'main eight' as the focus of the fanfic.

However, there was one thing I realized. If I am going to bring in characters from Unova and Kalos, then Iris, Trip, Serena, and Clemont would eventually make appearances. These four are all about the same ages as Ash and the others, meaning they would be in the same grade. But the thing is that they are also major characters in the anime (Ash's traveling partners/rival (in Trip's case)). It would make sense to make them a part of the main eight group.

So here is where I need your guys' opinions. Do you want me to bring these four in as minor characters, or do you want them to become part of the usual group? My original plan was to only make one-shots of up to grade four (because the main point is to keep them as little kids), but I can add in grades five and six (I am not going higher than that) and make it so that these new four join them as best friends then. Whatever I do, I can definitely weave them into the story.

So what do you guys want? I might bring those four into one-shots sometimes, but I won't consider adding them into the main group until I get your opinions.

Anyways thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think about the whole character thing! See you Monday!

Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)