Hey everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting, but here is the next chapter!

Today's topic was suggested by jessicuhxoo.

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

Clash of the Snowballs

Grade Two

May (7), Drew (7), Ash (7), Misty (7), Gary (7), Leaf (7), Paul (7)

Ah, winter! The time of year when the coldness was a perfect excuse to ask for as much hot chocolate as you want, and when winter holidays approached, and, best of all, when it snowed.

Some people didn't like winter, saying it was much too cold to enjoy the outdoors, and the clouds blocked out the sun, and the snow was bothersome to have to walk through. Like a grade two girl from May's school named Iris. She definitely didn't enjoy winter.

On the other hand, May and her friends enjoyed this time of year. True, some days it was too cold to go outside, but on some days, it was the perfect opportunity to play in the snow.

Like today.

There they were, all gathered at Drew's in his spacious front yard (which his friends thought might as well be called a field), all bundled up with their jackets and snow-pants and hats and gloves, running around playing in the limitless snow.

Ash and May were making snow angels, while Leaf was helping Misty make an enormous snow-Marill, with both using all their strength to push the massive snow ball they'd made even more to increase its size.

Drew was sipping on the hot chocolate his butler had brought, finishing up quickly so he could join the others, who had already drank theirs, when suddenly, a snowball came seemingly out of nowhere, hitting him hard in the face before falling into his mug.

"Huh?" he looked up, giving the culprit an annoyed look. "Gary! What was that for?"

"What was what for?" Gary asked innocently, bending down to pick up another handful of snow and rounding it off into a ball.

"The snowball you threw fell into my hot chocolate," Drew complained.

"Wasn't me," Gary said before throwing the snowball in his hand at Drew and grinning. "That was me."

"Gary!" But Gary had already turned and ran off.

Drew wondered for a moment whether he should chase after him. It was what Gary wanted, to lure Drew into a snowball fight, one in which Drew knew Gary's abilities excelled compared to his. He didn't have time to think for too long, though, because another snowball landed its mark on his jacket with the same force the first one had been thrown. Gary was right. It wasn't him who had thrown it first; it was another boy, one who was wearing a grey hat over his purple hair.

"Well?" said Paul impatiently. "Are you playing or not?"

Drew hesitated before determinedly accepting the challenge. "You're on!"

"Good." Before Drew even had a chance to react, he found his face covered in snow again before Paul made his getaway.

"Why you!" Drew ran after him, picking up some snow as he went.

Meanwhile, Ash and May were standing up to admire their snow angel masterpieces.

"Yours looks like a Beautifly," May said to Ash.

"I think it's more like a Butterfree," Ash said, cocking his head to look at it from a different angle.

"Mine's a Dustox," May said, pointing at hers.

"Yeah! It's so cool—"

But their chat was interrupted abruptly when Gary ran right over top their snow angels in an attempt to escape a storm of snowballs, courtesy of Paul and Drew, who had, at some point, agreed to team up against their spiky-haired friend.

"Sorry, make way!" Gary yelled as he passed them, darting behind a tree. He quickly threw a snowball back to counter Paul's and Drew's, but instead of hitting his intended targets, the snow hit Ash's jacket.

"Hey, stop it!" Ash said angrily.

"Yeah!" May said. "You ruined our snow angels!"

"Sorry!" Gary called out before running to reposition himself as Paul nearly caught up to him, with Drew following closely behind.

"Should we get him?" Ash said, turning to May.

May nodded. "Let's."

And those two took off, creating snowballs as they did to pelt Gary with their vengeance. They chased after him, throwing the snowballs they'd made, accidentally hitting Drew and Paul instead, since they were in the way.

"Come on, guys, aim better. Stop throwing them at me," Drew said, turning back to them.

"Sorry!" May called out, still running.

"Of course only you would have such bad aim, December."

"My name is May, Drew!"

Paul suddenly stopped to observe the situation behind him. It looked like Ash and May had joined in too, and they were all after Gary. But it wouldn't be fun if there were only one person he had to try to hit. He'd much rather fight against them...

"Gary, new alliance!" he called out. "I'm on you're side now!" And he made sure to throw a couple of balls at Ash and Drew before running off to join his new partner.

"All right!" Gary cheered.

"Traitor!" Drew yelled accusingly.

"Let's get them!" Ash said, raising both hands in the air, and the three continued the chase.

"All done!" Misty said proudly as she added the finishing touches on the snow-Marill she and Leaf had been making.

"Wow, this is the best snow thing I've ever made!" Leaf exclaimed.

"Yeah, it almost looks like the real thing!"

"What should we name it?"

"Hm, I think maybe..."

Before Misty had a chance to decide, some snowballs came flying right in their direction. The two yelped and jumped to the side to avoid getting hit, but unfortunately, their snow-Marill couldn't move and was struck. One of its ears fell to the snowy ground.

"Hey!" Misty yelled angrily, turning to where her other friends were trying to aim at one another. "You ruined our snow-Marill! You have no idea how hard we worked on it!"

"Incoming!" Gary yelled as he threw more snowballs in their direction, trying to hit Ash who was frantically running everywhere to avoid becoming the target. Misty and Leaf managed to duck behind their giant snow-Marill for protection just in time. Its ear might not have been that sturdy, but the rest of it made a good fort.

Leaf and Misty looked each other in the eye. In a slow, determined voice, Leaf spoke three words: "This. Is. War."

"What the—? Where are those coming from?" Drew said in shock as he, as well as May, Ash, Gary and Paul became caught in an onslaught of snowballs.

"Fort Marill will show no mercy!" Misty cried out as she threw snowball after snowball in rapid succession.

"Take no prisoners! Bring them all down!" Leaf also let out her battle cry as she mimicked Misty's actions.

"Drats! Retreat is necessary!" Paul hissed, darting behind a tree. Gary tried following after his partner, only to find himself betrayed when he was struck in the face by a snowball by the purple-head.

"Hey, I thought we were on the same side!" Gary shouted, brushing snow bits off his face.

"At this point, it's every man for himself," Paul said solemnly.

"What?! Fine then!" Gary turned, his eyes landing on Drew. "Drew, team up!"

"Wha'?" Drew found himself being unexpectedly dragged behind another tree by Gary.

"So, what's the plan?" Gary said.

Drew peeked from behind the tree trunk to carefully analyze their situation. "We take down the Marill fort," he said.

"Excellent plan, Hayden," Gary said in agreement. "But the question is, how?"

Ash and May were also trying to escape Misty and Leaf, but were surprised when the snowballs came to an abrupt halt. Not only that, Misty and Leaf were calling their names.

"May! Ash! Over here!"

"May, Ketchum, get over here now!"

The two cautiously made their way over, only to be pulled behind the fort as well.

"What's this all about?" Ash asked warily.

"You guys are on our side now," Misty proclaimed. "Okay, Ketchum, you get to work creating snowballs. May, you try to make our fort bigger so that no one can hit us from any side. Leaf and I will do the snowball throwing."

"Wait, what?" Ash said, bewildered.

"I need to make this fort bigger all by myself?" May squeaked nervously.

"Yes, now, to work!" Misty said sternly.

Both obeyed without question. The four waited behind Fort Marill quietly, with perhaps the only one making noise was May, who was whining because she was having trouble making the fort walls. Their opponents didn't seem to be revealing themselves just yet.

"May, stop whining," Misty demanded.

"It's distracting when I'm trying to make more snowballs," Ash said.

"But I can't make this fort! It's too hard!" May complained.

"You have to," Leaf said. "It's your job."

"Hmph! Not anymore!" May stood up, arms crossed, frowning. "I'm gonna go join Drew and Gary!"

"Wait, May—" But before Ash or the other two could stop her, she had already run off into the open.

"Fire!" yelled Gary, as both he and Drew began pelting her with snowballs.

"Wait—!" May tried to say while avoiding getting hit. But before she could explain her intentions, she felt a rough hand grab her arm and pull her behind the cover of a tree.

"You're on my team now," Paul said. "Start making snowballs."

"But I—" May began.

"Hey, she can't be on your team!" Gary yelled from another tree. "Didn't you say every man for himself?"

"That means two men can't work together or help each other," Paul explained. "But May's not a man."

"I'm not sure that's what it means," Drew said thoughtfully, but was ignored.

"Come on, we need more snowballs," Paul ordered, and May, not knowing what else to do, obeyed.

Then, it was quiet. No one was making any moves just yet, everyone waiting for the right time. Until...

"NOW!" Misty screamed as she, Leaf and Ash left the cover of their fort, carrying armfuls of snowballs. Leaf and Ash ran towards the tree where Paul and May were hidden, while Misty went for Gary and Drew.

"Attack!" Gary yelled out.

"Onward! To victory!" Leaf shouted.

Snowballs collided. Everyone had piles of snowballs prepared for this. The final battle.

"Gary, the fort!" Drew reminded him.

"Right! Ready? Go!"

Gary and Drew leapt out from behind their tree, running in different directions, confusing Misty as to whom she was supposed to chase. She decided to go after Gary, speeding after him. But while she was distracted, Drew made it to the Marill fort.

"And I hereby claim this fort as Gary and Drew's!" Drew announced loudly, causing Misty, Leaf and Ash to look back.

"No!" Ash said in horror, as he and Leaf abandoned their attack on Paul and May to go get their fort back.

"You are going to pay for this!" Misty screamed at Gary as he ducked behind the fort as well. She began running towards them like Leaf and Ash were, throwing snowball after snowball while they countered with their own snowballs in return.

"Now?" May asked Paul.

He nodded. "Now."

Both finally left the protection of their tree, charging toward their victims with arms full of snow.

"What the—" Ash managed to say before he was hit in the face.

"It's an ambush!" Leaf yelled out, trying to counter. Unfortunately, she, along with Ash and Misty, was being attacked from both sides, from Gary and Drew, and Paul and May.

"We need an escape. Retreat!" Misty called out, and she and her two partners jumped behind a large snow-covered bush.

"What do we do now?" Leaf wondered. "It'll be hard to take them all down and get our fort back."

"I know," Misty said, snapping her fingers as an idea popped into her head. "Think about it. There are three of us, and two teams out there. Ash can run out into the open as a distraction, while Leaf can do a sneak attack on May and Paul. As for me, I'll go get our fort back. One good thing about May leaving us: she never did end up securing our fort defense, so it shouldn't be too hard for me to sneak in from behind. Everyone clear? Any questions?"

"Why do I have to be the distraction?" Ash said sulkily.

"Good, let's head out," Misty said, ignoring his question. "Ash, you have to run out first."

Ash scowled, but obeyed. He ran out in plain view of his enemies, and was instantly bombarded with with dozens and dozens of snowballs. But he endured it. He had to for his teammates. He couldn't let Misty and Leaf down!

As planned, Leaf then slinked through the cover of trees and bushes to get behind Paul and May (who were busy attacking Ash) undetected. Then, as quickly as she could, she began creating snowballs and aiming them at her targets.

"Gah! Where did that come from?" May said once she was hit, turning around to catch sight of the culprit.

Paul turned around too, and reacted instantly by retaliating. When Leaf made a run for it, Paul uttered only two words to May: "Get her."

While Ash continued being targeted by Drew and Gary, and Leaf wove in between trees to escape her chasers, Misty took the opportunity to win back Fort Marill. She very stealthily positioned herself behind the two boys, and before they knew it, they were under attack.

"Gah! We've been infiltrated!" Gary shouted as he jumped away from the snow-Marill.

"What does 'infiltrated' mean?" Drew asked as he followed behind.

"It means someone's in our fort and we need to get away!" Gary explained while they ran.

"Hah!" Misty cheered victoriously. "Leaf, Ash, I got the fort back!"

"Great!" Ash cheered. As he was no longer being hit by snowballs by Gary and Drew, who were currently looking for another refuge, he was free to join Misty behind the Marill.

"Come on, Leaf!" he called out to his friend.

"Yeah, Leaf, hurry! Get away from them!" Misty chimed in.

Poor Leaf was finding it impossible to comply with their wishes, but she finally found a way out by luck. She'd been running, when she slipped and bumped into a tree, causing the tree's branches to shake, and let all the snow on top of them to fall... right onto Paul and May. As they struggled to escape the avalanche, Leaf arrived at Fort Marill, tired, but perfectly all right.

"Yes! Victory!" Misty cheered.

"Young Master, it is time to for you and your friends to come on inside," Drew's butler's voice suddenly interrupted their intense battle.

"What?" Ash said in surprise.

"Already?" Gary grumbled. "Right when we were about to start our counterattack!"

"Can we stay for five more minutes?" Drew asked hopefully.

But his butler shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Your friends' parents will be arriving soon, and currently, your and all of your friends' jackets and snow things are covered in snow. They need to be tidied up before they leave. Now come inside and have some hot chocolate."

Snowballs flew no more as the seven made their way through the door.

Well, almost no snowballs.

Right before Paul and Gary entered, they found the back of their heads struck with one snowball each.

"What—?"

"Huh?"

When they turned around, they came face to face with a rather smug-looking Drew, smirking at them in triumph.

"Hah!" he said as he flipped his hair and proudly strutted inside, thoroughly content at having exacted his revenge for earlier.

Yay, Drew got his revenge! Paul and Gary had started the snowball fight by first making Drew their victim, and Drew got to end it! I'd actually had the idea for doing a snowball fight one for a looong time, but then someone suggested it, so voila!

Oh, and you may have noticed that I changed the cover back to the original. I hadn't been sure which would be better, but thanks to your comments, I was able to decide. Thanks!

School's starting on Monday, and this year is kind of going to be the school year that decides my whole future (which I don't think is fair, because why must school be the thing to decide your whole future?!), so don't be surprised if I don't update often. So, yeah. (Aw, my summer holidays are almost over. Oh well, they were fun while they lasted!)

Thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)