Hey Everybody! Another late week installment, I know, but again I'm trying my best to acclimate to this fairly hectic new lifestyle, and I greatly appreciate all of your guys' patience as I struggle (in every sense of the word) to get back to normal update times. I'm currently sending thank you messages to everyone who reviewed last chapter, so if you have yet to receive one, please don't be discouraged because I haven't made it completely through the list yet, and I would, as always, love to hear what you thought about this chapter! Seriously, you guys and your awesome comments (be they good or bad) continue to motivate me to do better and work harder. Every time I think about putting off work on this fic, I read your motivational messages, and I am reminded of why I do all of this.
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Believe me when I say it took forever to work on (considering mid-terms, a terrible bout of writer's block, and all of the studying on Bulbapedia and YouTube I had to do to learn about contests). This entire chapter is basically about the huge contest May and Drew have been preparing for (their first one in Hoenn for the season). However, if you don't like it, please let me know!
Also, before I let you read this, I need to send a huge shout-out to Sapphire addict, my loyal reader who drew my newest (and permanent) profile pic of Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder. However, the actual focal point of this picture isn't him or Pikachu, but rather the hat. As you can clearly see, SA was awesome enough to draw me a profile pic with Ash wearing a Texas Longhorns baseball cap, and for that I am eternally in her debt! Thank you so much SA!
It should also be noted that she's currently working on drawing the battle scene between Ash and Mallory on Charizard and Fearow from chapter five right now, and Hikaru-pichu is drawing Misty and the Pikachu cake from chapter three (they already drew the scene from chapter one where Ash receives the Champion Trophy), and iluvpokemon101 has volunteered to draw a scene from chapter sixteen…so yeah, I have some pretty awesome fans all around helping me out in drawing out the story. I haven't yet, but I will soon create a Photobucket account so I can post all fan art from these great artists up on one place so all my readers can enjoy their work, but until then please take a moment to appreciate the hours of effort put into my great profile picture.
Now please, read and REVIEW!
"Ash, hurry up already!"
"Will you give me a second? I look ridiculous in this thing!"
"I bet you won't, but either way you have to hurry! The opening ceremony's in fifteen minutes and we're twenty minutes away!"
Misty heard a low grumble through the door.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing," a tired voice replied. Sighing, Ash looked down at his attire and rolled his eyes. He looked like a beach bum with the straw hat, blue sleeveless "Party Hard" t-shirt, ocean blue swim trunks, and navy flip-flops.
"You ready to go Pikachu?"
"Pika!" The electric mouse gave an excited thumbs-up. Despite his master's woes, he actually enjoyed wearing his new tiny swim trunks and blue water wings. Misty had decided on both of their costumes, and the yellow Pokémon believed he'd gotten the better end of the bargain.
Ash frowned. "You shouldn't look so happy about this. We're gonna be laughed at by pretty much everyone."
Though he didn't understand, Pikachu gave a sympathetic squeal before rushing to the door.
"Ash!"
"Coming, I'm coming…" Slowly, the champion made his way to the door and opened it.
For a brief moment, the fear he had of walking in public disappeared as he examined his girlfriend. She too, in accordance with the contest theme, was wearing an all-cerulean blue bikini along with a short skirt, and, unlike Ash, seemed to pull the ensemble off quite nicely.
However, that awe quickly turned to indignation.
"So you're allowed to look really pretty, but I have to dress up like some hobo?"
Misty eyed her boyfriend incredulously. "I'll have you know that it took me half a day to make the perfect costume for you! You should be thankful I did all that work for you instead of complaining."
"Gee, thanks."
"And besides," she continued, ignoring his sarcasm, "you never care about what you look like. Why are you acting like some teenage girl all of a sudden?"
Ash's face streaked crimson at the insult. "I'm not acting like a girl! I just think that it'll hurt my appearance if people see me dressed up like this!"
She rolled her eyes. "Well get over it. We've gotta go!"
He sulked as he turned away and locked his room door.
For a moment, Misty fought the urge nurtured into her demeanor to simply stomp off and leave the champion alone. After years of doing so, the instinct seemed to now kick in naturally. However, she quelled that desire and instead went with another tactic which she'd begun employing regularly when the raven-haired teen seemed put out.
"You know," she whispered seductively, near his ear. That alone gave him a small chill, as she watched him squirm slightly in place. "I think you look really nice like that."
"Y-you do?"
She placed her hands on his shoulders from behind and gave him a quick kiss on the back of the neck. She swore she could feel his heart racing through the thin fabric of the t-shirt…although she herself couldn't deny a slight jump in her pulse from the action. It was fun, and beneficial, to tease him, but sometimes it felt as if she were teasing herself.
"Um, you l-look nice too, Mist." He never understood it, but somehow Misty had a way of diffusing a number of their heated arguments with this method. Though he knew in the back of his mind she was just trying to win their fight, he couldn't resist the urge to be played.
"Uh-huh. Now can we go to the contest?" Her breath was warm on his ear, and suddenly he had to see her face. Turning around, he gave her a small smile.
"For a price."
She arched her eyebrows in surprise.
He's starting to catch on.
"Uh, what?"
"I think you know," he mumbled leaning closer to her.
Next to his feet, Pikachu gave a groan. Though he was happy for his two best human friends, he couldn't help but feel slightly sickened by their romantic displays. In public they were normally their old selves, arguing and teasing, and sometimes relying on him to shock them from a heated debate. In private though, he noticed they seemed less likely to need his help in terminating a dispute.
"Hey guys!" Dawn suddenly turned the corner, and then turned red.
"Ah!" Both teens jumped apart from each other, looking extremely guilty. Their lips were mere seconds away from sweet satisfaction, and the feeling of frustration momentarily boiled in Ash's stomach.
"I'm so sorry you guys!" She covered her eyes and tried walking away. Unfortunately, she instead walked directly into a wall.
"Ow!"
"Dawn, you can open your eyes," Misty advised, unable to resist a small giggle at the younger girl's behavior. "We're not doing anything, I promise."
"Oh, okay. I mean, I knew that, but you know, I just, um-well I didn't mean to interrupt a, well a, um…"
For a second all three teens stared at each other in awkward silence.
"Anyway," Dawn stated, clearing her throat, "May and Drew are about to lose their minds waiting. They said if you don't come down, they're leaving without you."
"We're coming," Ash assured. "We'll be right there."
"Okay," Dawn replied tentatively, standing in place a moment longer before realizing this was her chance to escape. "Um, see you guys downstairs!" In a flash she was out of sight, and Misty and Ash gave each other worried looks.
"We shouldn't be doing that when we know we could be caught."
"Well, I mean, we are going out. It's not like we're not allowed to kiss."
Ash nodded. "You're right, but even I know that was an awkward moment."
"Yeah, it was. We have to make sure we limit our, um, fun to inside the rooms until she's gone, I guess."
"Pika-pikachu!" The small mouse was calling to the two trainers from the end of the hallway.
"Oh man, we really do have to go!" Ash remarked looking at the time on his pokénav.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Would everyone please take their seat as we prepare to begin the Slateport Pokémon Contest?" Nurse Joy's voice echoed throughout the hall. Thousands rushed to their seats, all ready for what was sure to be an impressive spectacle. Though contests were rarely sold out, the fact that Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower were competing against their friends and current travelling partners spiked interest immensely.
"Are you ready Ash?" Misty asked above the bellow of noise. Ash looked a little nervous, as did Pikachu, as they prepared for the appeal round.
"Yep!" he insisted, giving her a thumbs-up. "You feeling good?"
She nodded. They were fortunate that they were given top priority in the appellate round, since she hoped going early would diminish any fears they had of competing together.
"Ladies and gentleman," another female judge's voice began, "would you please put your hands together for the first couple of this afternoon: Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City, Kanto, and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"
A thunderous uproar erupted from the crowd and through the small tunnel Ash, Pikachu, and Misty were all huddled in.
Misty gave Ash one last confident glance. "Let's go!"
Stepping out, the reverberating noise amplified. Many held up banners proclaiming themselves to be Ash's "number one fan", or Misty's "future boyfriend". Some even held up magazines with the couple on the cover, and several more held up Pikachu plush dolls from the local markets.
"It's not as bad as I thought," Misty remarked sarcastically.
Ash laughed and nodded. "I can barely hear them screaming for our autographs."
As they stepped into the trainer's square, the voice overhead boomed once again and asked that the audience remain relatively quiet for the start of the performance.
After a few moments, to Ash's amazement, the audience heeded the woman's words and began to quiet themselves. As the lights in the audience dimmed, and the spotlights focused their attention on the battlefield, he looked to Pikachu confidently.
"Just like we've practiced. Wait for Misty."
"Pika," the Pokémon responded in a hushed voice.
Misty closed her eyes for a second, hoping she'd trained Gyarados enough to handle this situation. Her sisters said they'd used him in a few water shows, but the Gyarados she knew over the last two weeks in practice still seemed fairly clumsy and clunky in his movements.
Taking a deep breath, and hoping he could hold his act together, she enlarged the capsule and threw it into the field's center.
"Now Pikachu!"
The electric type ran into the middle of the field, small surfboard in tow between his small teeth.
"For their appeal, Ms. Waterflower and Mr. Ketchum will be enacting a day at the beach, with our blue theme in mind," Nurse Joy informed the audience, whose rapt attention had quieted all noise within the hall.
Despite the urge to do so, Gyarados did not let out a mighty roar as he escaped the pokéball. Instead, he quickly coiled himself around the center of the field.
"Party on the beach is where I wanna be…" began the song overhead as Pikachu jumped over the flying and water type's girth and into the direct center of the field.
With his head turned inward, the blue Pokémon used a weak Surf attack which filled the area within his body with a rush of liquid. Standing atop the small surfboard, Pikachu managed to hold his balance on his hind legs as the water swayed to and fro beneath his small paws.
"Well this is certainly unique," Nurse Joy commented as Misty, Ash, and they rest of the audience watched on with bated breath. "It seems that Gyarados is using his own body as a makeshift pool for Pikachu and his surfboard!"
Ash had to wait a moment for the waters to calm before ordering his next move.
At least we got through the first part. This part alone had taken the entire first week of their last-minute two-week training session to get down correctly. Normally Gyarados would squirm and let water out, or Pikachu would lose his balance, but it appeared that both Pokémon, used to working under high-pressure battles, had solidified their performance for show time.
After a couple more seconds, Misty decided it was time for phase two.
"Now use Hydro Pump!"
Nodding, the water Pokémon poked his head underneath the self-created pool. For a moment, Pikachu remained alone in front of the audience, doing a very careful dance on the unstable piece of surfboard, much to the general admiration and squeals of younger girls.
However, the small jig was interrupted as suddenly a jet of water pushed through the surface and underneath Pikachu's board.
"Celebration where the fun is free…"
Clinging onto the board for dear life, Pikachu waited for the force of the attack to stop propelling him upwards.
"Oh no." Misty clenched her fist in anticipation as she watched Pikachu sail higher and higher. This was another rocky point in their training, since Gyarados seemed to have a difficult time controlling his strength. More than once he'd accidentally sent Pikachu flying through the air during practice, and Misty knew if that happened here, they'd lose immediately.
Fortunately, though he was a little off, Gyarados was able to reign in his power, and kept Pikachu at a steady twenty or so feet in the air.
"Impressive," Nurse Joy commented as they awaited the next move.
"Now Pikachu, use Thundershock!"
Carefully standing back up, Pikachu wobbled momentarily, inciting a few gasps from the audience and the judges. However, he quickly got his footing down, and obeyed the command.
"Protect, Gyarados!"
As Pikachu ignited a series of weak blues sparks down the upwards-reaming waterfall, Gyarados protected himself in a transparent blue shield. The sparks rippling down the water, along with Gyarados' protect, sent a general wave of "ooh"s and "ah"s throughout the crowd.
The song began to taper down after a few more seconds and Pikachu and Gyarados both ended their attacks. After slowly bringing Pikachu back down, both he and the electric type took a small bow while the audience applauded the effort.
The judges whispered amongst themselves for a few moments as the audience continued cheering. As the swell died down, an elderly woman to the right of the Nurse Joy shuffled some papers on the table before putting on her glasses and looking in the teens' general direction.
"I thought it was certainly a fun appeal. It definitely could have been better prepared, and there were some choreographic mistakes I could decipher, but I didn't see anything major, and that's good. I would like to see more from you two, so I say you should move onto the battle round."
The crowd cheered, though Ash was beginning to suspect their loyalty came more from admiration for his being a champion than from being good at contests. Misty held the same suspicion about her fans.
"Your Pokémon were wonderful, and they really did work within the theme," Joy added. "I especially think Pikachu's a little cutie in those swimming trunks, so I might be biased, but I want you two to move onto the battle round as well."
Another wave of applause rained down as the two breathed a sigh of relief and gave each other small smiles.
At least they hadn't been kicked out in the first round.
Despite their success though, the last judge still wanted to voice his opinion. Clearing his throat, he quickly quieted the crowd once more.
"I know that you two are already in, so it doesn't matter what I have to say." The middle-aged balding man spoke with the slightest hint of a country accent, and his tone caused dread to creep into both teenagers' stomachs. "But I still think I need to say it, because this has been weighing on my mind ever since I first heard that the Pokémon League's newest power couple would be joining us for today's contest."
Ash eyed Misty worriedly, but she seemed too intent upon hearing the man's words to exchange glances.
"Frankly, I don't think your performance was any good." He took a minute as several boos erupted from various sections of the hall. "Yes, I know that today this contest hall is filled with both of your many fans. But the truth is, your Pikachu, though indeed cute, was shaky throughout. And the only reason I can imagine you would let that monstrosity of a Gyarados out in this round was because it is blue. Having two such completely different Pokémon working together in an appeals round is never a smart move in reality. Of course, I'm not surprised by this considering you are both amateur coordinators."
More heckling came down from above, and the man waited it out before going on. "The truth is I don't think either of you two, if you were normal coordinators, would have even passed through this round. The only reason you are is because of your status. I don't mean to offend y'all, but I can't sit idly by and act as if just because you two are great battlers, you're somehow great at everything. Thank you."
Ash looked to Misty once again. Despite her cool demeanor before the monologue, now she appeared ready to launch across the field and slap the judge.
"You alright Mist?" He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and she seemed to snap back into reality.
"O-oh yeah, I'm fine." Her cheeks were ablaze, and he could tell she was trying her best not to retaliate.
Ash nodded. "Good. Don't worry. We're in, right?"
She swallowed and shook her head. "You're right. There's no reason to get mad at him even if he did just call us amateurs and bad coordinators." Her face was slightly flushed, and Ash sympathized with her. Misty was very…passionate, and he knew it was killing her not to express that passion right now.
Just hold it in a little longer. The last thing he needed was tomorrow's magazines' covers stating that the Sinnoh Champion's girlfriend was a psycho who couldn't take criticism.
Fortunately, she heeded his unspoken pleading as she reached for her pokéball and retracted Gyarados. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten about the pool of water and Pikachu, so the second he disappeared into the ball the hundreds of gallons splashed out, and Pikachu, along with the board, hit the ground.
As the water flooded the stadium floor, the man sighed into the microphone.
"Can we get a small intermission to clean this up?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Can you believe that jerk?" Misty screamed from within the locker room. Since she and Ash were first, and the contest had taken a brief break to clean the floors, they had the room to themselves until the next pair did their appeal. "He's calling us amateurs? I bet he's never even been in a contest before!"
"I bet you're right. Though, to be fair," Misty cringed at these words, "he had a point. We're not exactly experienced or anything. I mean, I haven't been in a contest in years, and you've never done one!"
Misty shrugged. "So what? He doesn't know that. And besides, I've been in plenty of stupid water shows now. Those are ten times harder than what we were doing out there!"
"We shouldn't get so mad, though."
By "we" I mean "you".
"At least we made it to the battle round! It's obvious we'll wipe the floor during that. We knew this was gonna be our hardest event, and it was, but now it's over."
Misty's face was still ablaze, and she didn't seem too happy at Ash's logic. "I don't get why you're not more mad about this. We just got humiliated in front of everyone by some guy who sounds like a farmer just because we're good trainers!"
Ash had a slight mental panic. The last thing he needed was Misty angry with him before they went out and held a doubles battle.
"Listen, I'm with ya. I don't think that guy was being fair either and I think he was being extra mean just because we're well known too. But I don't think we should get so worked up over it since we're already done with that part. All that matters now is that we battle well with the new contests moves we've made. I don't know why this is such a big deal to you. We've met plenty of jerks before, right?"
She huffed and stomped her foot. "Yeah, but usually I could get back at them."
The movement suddenly brought back a wave of memories. Ash smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know, you kinda looked like your eleven year old self for a minute there."
Looking up at him dangerously, she asked what he meant.
"I don't mean anything bad by it!" he quickly explained, appearing amused that she'd take the comment as an insult. "I just remembered how you used to get all mad when anybody'd say something mean to you when we were younger. Don't you remember that guy who you almost beat up for saying you looked ugly? And then you destroyed him in a Pokémon battle in like five seconds?" Ash started laughing as he remembered Brock holding Misty back as she threw punches in the boy's direction.
She narrowed her eyes in recollection. "Oh yeah…I remember who you're talking about." She smiled too, remembering the satisfaction she felt when Staryu blasted his stupid Chikorita out of sight. "That was a little funny, I guess."
"You still have that fight in you…but you probably shouldn't show it to the judges who are going to grade our battle."
Giving him a look of forced acceptance, she slowly nodded. "You're right. I just don't like criticism…especially mean criticism."
"I know. And he really wasn't being very nice."
"So what do we do now?"
"I guess just wait for the rest of the appeals to be over. Then the battling starts."
Misty sighed. "This is why I could never be a professional coordinator. It takes too long. At least in battles you're constantly in action."
Ash agreed, taking a seat on a small bench between a row of lockers. A few moments later, the battlefield was clean and the contest began once again.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Come on May! I know you can do it!"
"Let's see that skill you're always talking about Drew!"
Ash and Misty cheered on the couple as they slowly walked out together, hand in hand, to a roar of applause.
"Do you think it's smart of us to be cheering on our rivals in this contest?"
Misty gave her boyfriend a shrug. "They're still our friends. Besides, what's the fun of being in a contest if we can't even beat them? That's the whole reason we signed up to begin with."
"I guess you're right." He turned back and continued to chide Drew on as the two entered the battler's box. Though tensions between the two boys were still slightly high after what had been said, he didn't want Drew losing before he had a chance to kick him out of the competition personally.
"We once again ask for complete silence as the next double team prepares to begin their routine."
A hush fell over the crowd, and the lights once again focused on the battlefield. However, unlike in the previous appeals, this time the lights began to dim, making the field almost completely unnoticeable. A soft piano medley began to play over the speakers as Nurse Joy explained the duo would be presenting an act entitled "Sunny Days".
"Come on out Altaria!"
"Take the stage, Wartortle!"
As the two jumped onto the field, they immediately took action. Altaria landed on the floor in the center and waited patiently as Wartortle jumped onto its back. The second the water Pokémon had its place, the dragon and flying type took off, hovering high above the field as the soft melody continued.
"Make it rain!"
Without a sound, the Wartortle lifted his head and released a powerful Rain Dance, which instantly had the entire field pouring.
"Do your part Altaria!"
The dragon type responded by releasing several low growls, which could have easily been mistaken for thunder. As they did this, the lights would temporarily flash, giving the appearance of lightning, and allowing the crowd a momentary glimpse of the partners mid-air.
"Wow! What an impressive sight by these Pokémon!"
"They must have practiced hard to perfect the sound of thunder," noted the man from earlier. Admiration seeped through his tone as the field continued to drizzle heavily and the music built up to a crescendo.
This continued for another minute as the music slowly increased pace from a cheerful tune to a hurried melody with a high level of energy. During one brief flash of "lightning" Ash could see May and Drew yell something to their partners, though he couldn't hear it over the noise. However, a moment later, he began to notice the rain was dying down, and the growls of Altaria diminished in size and frequency quickly as the music seemed to come off of its high and return to its cheerful, slow pace. Slowly, but surely the lights began to reemerge, albeit in a light blue hue.
"Now give us a Sunny Day!"
Beaming, the Altaria opened its mouth and shot a burst of light through the haze and small drizzle onto the middle of the field. With the light blue lighting effects, and Altaria's mouth open, the scene on the field did indeed seem to portray a sunny day.
After another moment, the silence of the crowd broke as the fans of the couple displayed their approval. May and Drew both took courteous bows before returning their Pokémon and looking to the judges to hear the final decisions.
"Well, to start," began the older man, "you could have made better use of the theme. Even though both your Pokémon were blue, and I suppose, the lights were too, you could have done more with the color. But I do think y'all put in a great effort, and the efficiency of your Pokémon has been unmatched today. The way they worked in harmony with the music was great, and I think yours was truly one of the best of the day."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Nurse Joy agreed.
"Same here," noted the elderly woman. "It makes me glad to know that young people such as yourselves still show such great enthusiasm for the sport we all love. Keep up the great work in the battle round!"
Another round of applause sounded for the pair as they quickly retreated for the tunnel.
"I knew you could do it May!" Misty cheered as she hugged the younger woman. "You two looked awesome out there!"
"Thanks Misty! I thought you guys looked great earlier too! Sorry we weren't around to cheer you on like you were for us, though."
As the girls continued to talk in the cramped hallway, Ash and Drew averted their eyes from ever meeting each other. Though the women had managed to put aside all feelings of rivalry, the two boys were hard-pressed to actually forgive the other for what had been said weeks earlier.
"Um, it wasn't that bad," Ash remarked finally, realizing that Mist and May could continue their conversation for another twenty minutes knowing their stamina. He scratched Pikachu behind the ears idly as a distraction to avoid looking at the green-haired coordinator.
Drew smirked. "Yeah, it wasn't, huh? I thought we were pretty much the best act out there."
Ash gave him a stern glare. "I didn't say you were the best. I just said it wasn't that bad."
"Gee, thanks for telling me what I already know," Drew remarked smartly. He rolled his eyes, and Ash narrowed his own.
"You know what? It wasn't that great! Your Altaria wasn't even that graceful, and the only reason anyone thought it was any good was because it was dark half the time!"
"Oh yeah?" Drew balled his fists and leaned towards his new rival. "Well you guys had the clumsiest performance I'd ever seen! I thought Pikachu was gonna go flying off of that stupid surfboard you made him stand on!"
"It wasn't stupid! It took me forever to find a surfboard that small!"
"It was too! We don't have to use props to make our appeals interesting, but I guess fake coordinators need-"
"What are you guys yelling about now?" Misty interrupted, coming between the two and shoving them backward. "I swear that you two haven't gone a single day without fighting!"
"And after you became such good friends!" May added in a sorrowful tone. "Why don't you just forget this stupid fake rivalry and make-up?"
"This isn't fake!" Drew protested. "He's my archenemy here!"
"Same here!" Ash insisted.
Misty gave her boyfriend a look of disbelief. "Ash, we're competing in a contest against them one time. That doesn't exactly qualify as heated rivals. You two are just mad still because of what you said about each other's sport."
"Well who can blame me at being mad at some guy who thinks contests aren't difficult?"
"And some jerk who says that contests are harder than battles?"
The two stared at each other once again as Misty kept them apart.
"Drew, I want you to apologize to Ash right now."
"You too Ash. Drew's a good friend, and you need to stop acting like he's not."
However, rather than heed their respective counterparts' advice, the two instead turned away from each other with a unison of "humph"s.
"I'm not apologizing for anything. If he wants to, then he can."
"Same here…uh, I mean, except he has to apologize to me."
Misty looked back to May, who simply shrugged. "They're too stubborn right now. After this is over, I'm sure all will be forgiven."
"Yeah right," the two responded, once again in unison.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
In the second round, May and Drew used the Pokémon caught by Misty and May weeks earlier, and while the pair of Tentacruel were indeed powerful, they'd taken severe damage during the round, causing Misty alarm.
"If they already used the Tentacruel up, I don't know what they plan on battling with," she mentioned to Ash as the watched the pair on the television in the locker room. Now the room was filled with plenty of other couples, but they were all so immersed in their own discussions and strategies that no one heeded the two celebrities in their midst.
"Well, they don't know what we'll be using either," Ash mentioned with a wink. The last two battles he and Misty had stuck with his recently acquired Marshtomp and her Gyarados. Unfortunately, both Pokémon were now too weak to continue, so they were going to have to switch teams for the next round.
Misty looked to the board in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Of the original hundred coordinators, only twelve teams remained. "It's coming close. We have to face them eventually."
"Are you nervous?"
Misty tried to look incredulous at the inquiry. "Me? Of course not! Battling's my job. What about you?"
"What do you think?" He gave her a confident smirk which he hoped would hide his true worries. Though they'd easily defeated the previous coordinators they'd faced, they'd actually come quite close both times to losing the rounds. Despite the strength of their Pokémon, the grace of their attacks left much to be desired by the judges and resulted in serious losses of style points.
"And now let's see who will be competing in the first battle of the third round!" Announced Nurse Joy, now standing by a small lottery machine which slowly spun around the small numbered balls of each team. "The first team to compete in this round is number fourteen; May and Drew!"
Despite the fact that they were well removed from the crowd in the locker room, all of the coordinators could hear the uproar from the crowd as their favorite pair was announce.
"This is great!"
"Really?" Misty was perplexed by Ash's joy. "Why?"
"They just competed! Their Pokémon are tired, so maybe now we'll get to see what they're gonna use against us."
Misty looked slightly surprised by her boyfriend's thinking. "You're right, Ash. Huh, maybe you're smarter than I thought."
He narrowed his eyes.
"And competing against May and Drew in this round will be…number eighteen, Ash and Misty!"
Again, the raucous from the crowd drove through the walls and assured all inside of the excitement building up.
Suddenly, all eyes were on the pair.
"Did they just call us?"
"Yeah."
Misty let out a slow breath. She couldn't believe that from all the numbers, hers and Ash's had to be called at this moment. "Well then, I guess we better go." She stood up and reached for her new partners pokéball.
Ash nodded, gritting his teeth in determination. It was odd for him to feel nervous about this after all he had done, but he was honestly beginning to worry about their chances. Despite his feelings for Drew, he couldn't help but admit that the young man indeed possessed some flare for his sport; and May was not far behind, if behind at all, in skill.
Standing up, he grabbed Misty's hand as they headed for the doors.
"Let's see them try and beat us."
"Pikachu!"
"Yeah!" Misty declared excitedly, gripping Ash's hand tighter.
Together, the pair walked out of the room and down the small hallway once again. Seeing the light at the end, along with the roar of the crowd, reminded Ash a lot of when he was younger and first competed in the Indigo League. He'd been so nervous then, much like now, and the walk to the end of the hallway seemed like a voyage all its own.
However, once they stepped out, everything was different. At the other end, he could see Drew and May, also hand-in-hand, waving to the crowd as everyone voiced their opinion on who they preferred for the match.
"Ladies and gentlemen," spoke the referee, standing on a small stool in the middle and just outside of the battlefield. "The rules are the same as before. Both team are only allowed one Pokémon per person, and the team which loses its style points first loses. If a Pokémon faints before the match is over then whichever team possessed the most points before the Pokémon fainted is the winning group."
As Ash and Misty stepped into their box, May and Drew followed suit. Even from this distance, Ash glared intently over at Drew, who reciprocated the action.
"I'm gonna beat him."
"Ash, don't be so mad at Drew. If I can forgive them, then you definitely should."
"Yeah, but he's acting like some overconfident jerk."
"Gee, I wonder what that's like to deal with."
Ash gave her a quick glare of her own before turning his attention back to Drew. "You don't get it."
"Yes I do. You boys started a fight about who has it harder and now neither of you wants to back down. At least me and May realized how stupid our fight was and forgave each other."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, unsure of how Misty, of all people, could not see the obvious need to crush Drew and May and prove that Pokémon battling was the better sport. "Do you have Dratini ready?"
"Yep!" She enlarged the pokéball given to her months earlier.
"Then let's go!" He hurled Gabite's pokéball onto the field alongside Misty and the two immediately took shape.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Two dragon types?" May asked in disbelief. She hadn't been aware of either Pokémon. "How did they catch those?"
Drew was momentarily too stunned to speak. He and May had focused their entire strategy on battling Pikachu and Gyarados. Still, the strategist within him forced his mind to immediately shift gears and prepare for the battle.
"They still don't know what we're gonna use, though. You focus your attention on that Dratini and I'll take care of Gabite."
"Right," she nodded, enlarging her own pokéball. "Take the stage Metang!"
"Come out Salamance!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Do you see what I see?"
Ash was too busy trying hard not to stare in amazement to understand Misty's question. In all of the studies he'd done of the pair online, in not a single contest had he seen them use either of these borderline-legendary Pokémon.
"Um…"
"How do you guys like our new Pokémon?" Drew asked from across the field. "We caught Metang as a Beldum, and Salamance was actually from Johto originally."
Ash shook his head, determined to not allow the green-haired coordinator to see him impressed by his fighting creature. "You think that's impressive? Wait until you see our Pokémon in action!"
"If both sides are ready," interjected the referee from his side, "we can now begin the battle."
"We're ready!" Misty called determinedly to the official.
"So are we!"
"Then let the battle begin!"
The battle began in the blink of an eye. The second the flags were lowered, Metang and Salamance jumped into action.
"Sal!" cried the Pokémon as he shot out a flurry of flames in the form of a Flamethrower attack.
Metang followed suit and, his eyes aglow, shot forth a huge burst of purple psychic energy at the Dratini.
"Ah! Watch out!" Ash commanded, caught off guard by their precision.
It was too late for their partners, however, as the moves quickly made impact with their intended targets, resulting in a rather large explosion on Ash and Misty's side of the field. With smoke obstructing their view, Ash only had the words coming in from above for comprehension of the battle so far.
"And with a huge Flamethrower and powerful Psybeam, this battle gets off to a rough start for team Ash and Misty. Their points won't stop falling until they somehow retaliate."
Through the choking heat, Misty decided to take action. "Dratini, put out the Flamethrower with a Surf!"
"Dratini!" Opening his small mouth, the dragon type released a huge volume of water upon the field, instantly forcing Salamance to fly high and quit his attack. Metang, though trying to lift itself higher with sheer psychic willpower, found itself unable to avoid the attack and was ultimately drenched by the attack.
We need to clear up this smoke.
"Give us a Twister Gabite!"
Taking a deep breath, Gabite obeyed the command as a huge, spiraling burst of energy emitted from his jaw. The swirling cloud of wind quickly tore through the smoke and identified the other side of the field to the two trainers.
"Perfect! Now Dragon Rush Salamance!" He pointed upwards, and Gabite nodded with understanding.
"Dratini, Thunder Wave Metang!"
As Gabite prepared to launch himself, Dratini's body became covered in blue sparks as he unleashed a weak electrical frenzy to paralyze his opponent.
"Salamance, Dragon Rush Twist!"
As soon as Gabite shot off from the ground, Salamance took action. Doing a small somersault mid-air, he charged Gabite while rapidly twisting his body.
"What a beautiful move!" chimed the elderly woman, and Ash nervously realized that he'd once again forgotten that he was fighting for points in this battle.
Bang!
Too late to change that.
The two dragon types, who'd turned completely silver from the power they were bringing out, had just collided halfway across the field.
"Gabite!"
"Salamance!"
Neither responded as their skulls popped against one another and then forced them both to fall backward from their heights. Despite his ability to fly, Salamance looked just as incapable as Gabite of fighting his impending fall to the earth.
Meanwhile, below, Metang and Dratini had been waging a small war of psychic and electrical energy. Both were sending off small jolts to one another blow-by-blow. However, seeing their partners' Pokémon in trouble, both young women ordered their fighting assistants to save their friends.
"Dratini, Safeguard!"
"Metang, Psychic!"
Using its powers, Metang caught Salamance before it hit the ground and quickly righted its position so that it would land slowly on its feet. At the same time, Misty's Dratini created a blue shield around itself and waited for impact from Gabite.
Bam!
Ash had to grimace slightly as he watched his Pokémon bounce off the shield and hit the ground hard.
"Oh man! Ash, I'm sorry! I forgot how strong Dratini's Safeguard is!"
Ignoring her for the moment, he called out to Gabite. "Are you okay buddy?" Though the Pokémon was certainly damaged by the collision, Ash was heartened by the slow movements he was making to stand back up. Any joy gleaned from his Pokémon's condition, though, instantly evaporated when he looked up at the board. More than half of his and Misty's points had disappeared from the board already, while May and Drew had barely lost a quarter of theirs.
Gulping, he decided it was time to change pace. He and Misty had both practiced several new moves with their Pokémon specifically for this contest, and he was sure that the stylish combinational attacks could win the judges over.
"Great job Gabite! You damaged him! Now use Dragon Pulse!"
Misty immediately caught on and nodded to her Pokémon. "Time for Dragon Rage Dratini!"
Both Pokémon reared their heads back and formed orbs of energy. Dratini's was red while Gabite's was blue.
"Now!" Ash and Misty ordered together, pointing to the other side of the field.
"I got this May!" Drew warned. "Salamance, Protect!"
As the two moves neared the opposite side of the field, though, it quickly became apparent that the Pokémon weren't actually aiming for their opponents. Instead, the two moves collided with each other in the air, causing a blast of purple energy to emanate. The bright light temporarily blinded May and Drew's Pokémon and gave Ash the opening he needed.
"Now go at 'em with a Dig Claw!"
Gabite instantly dug its way underground as May and Drew began to panic and waited to see what Ash was planning. The light had faded, but it was clear that the Salamance and Metang were still disoriented as their masters tried to force them into the air and away from the impending assault. Despite their wishes, though, Salamance seemed unable of achieving flight after the attack from earlier, and Metang was too busy rubbing its eyes to heed May's wishes.
"Bite!" Suddenly the Pokémon jumped through the ground, his claws a dark hue as he struck Salamance from below. He ejected from the hole with such force, and his attack was so powerful, that the heavy flying and dragon type was actually thrown quite high into the air and almost hit the ground on his back. Fortunately, Metang once again prevented his imminent plummet with a quick Psychic.
"Look at that!" Ash joyously pointed to the board and Misty momentarily divided her attention just in time to watch and Drew and May lost almost a quarter more of their points on the spot. Though she and Ash were still behind, the small planned assault had worked wonders in catching them back up.
"I'd say they both have a good chance of making it at this point," Nurse Joy commented excitedly. "What a great battle so far!"
"And it only gets better from here!" May announced. "Metang, show Dratini your Psychic Bullet Punch!"
Metang's right fist glowed with an inky darkness while the other turned a metallic-steel hue. Using its psychic energy, the Pokémon propelled itself with amazing speed to Dratini who, on the other side of the field, awaited his master's command.
"Ash, take care of Salamance. We've got this!"
Ash nodded. "Alright then! Use Dragon Pulse again!"
"Zen Headbutt!"
Salamance lowered his head and simply took the attack straight on. Slowly lifting himself back, up he gave a mighty roar and Ash's heart sunk as more points were taken away from him and Misty.
"Tang-tang-tang!" Screeched the metal and psychic type ferociously as he began pelting Dratini with blows.
"Keep dodging Dratini!" Misty cheered. For each missed attack, May and Drew lost points.
"Tini!" cried her Pokémon, ducking his head as the darkened fist swung overhead.
"Focus Metang!"
"Salamance, use a Flamethrower to finish it!"
Lifting its head, Salamance built a solid wall of flame within its jaw, and Ash tried to respond quickly. "Let's finish it with a Draco Meteor! Show him what you're made of!"
At his words, Gabite thrust his head high and shot off several large, fiery orbs into the air. Drew's head shot up with the attack and he commanded Salamance to stop his fire attack.
"Protect instead!"
As the comet-like balls all began to spiral towards the blue dragon type, Salamance closed its mouth and instead surrounded itself in a blue bubble. As the fireballs began crashing in on and around the dragon and flying type, his protection proved strong enough to hold, and Ash dreaded to even look at his points as the last of the Draco Meteor evaporated into the small forcefield.
"Dratini, no!"
Looking to his left, he was reminded that his girlfriend's Pokémon was not faring much better in the battle as Metang's metallic fist finally made contact on the upswing beneath her Dratini, forcing it several feet in the air with a cry.
"Now finish it with Psychic!"
"Flamethrower!"
In a swift move, Metang lifted Dratini back in the air and threw him towards the center of the field, by Ash's Gabite. As the flames neared the two Pokémon, Gabite gave a final push by using a small Twister attack, but it barely resisted the onslaught of heated power before it was completely overpowered.
"Dratini!"
"Gabite!"
The buzzer sounded overhead as the last of the couple's points dissipated from the board, along with Salamance's fairly short attack.
In the middle of the field, surprisingly to the audience, both Dratini and Gabite were still standing and in fact did not appear much fazed by the fire type attack.
"They're dragon types, so I guess they weren't really hurt," Ash reasoned, taking out his pokéball. "Too bad this isn't a regular battle, or they coulda kept going. Gabite return!"
As the dragon type came back to his pokéball, Ash congratulated him on his work. "That was a great job, Gabite. You deserve a long rest."
Misty, May, and Drew followed suit before walking across the fairly beaten up battlefield to shake hands. The crowd was going crazy, alongside the judges who were all voicing opinions at once, but none of the teenagers heeded their words as they prepared to meet.
"That was an awesome battle May!" Misty congratulated. "I'm so impressed. No wonder everyone calls you the Princess of Hoenn!"
May blushed a little. "Well I wasn't the only great one! You and Ash worked so well together, it looked like you've been doing this for a while. Look at how many points you took away from us!" She nodded to the scoreboard where, sure enough, almost three-quarters of her and Drew's points had disappeared from existence.
"Yeah, but we still won," Drew added, smiling at Ash.
"You're just lucky this wasn't a real battle or Gabite woulda finished your Salamance off."
Misty smacked her boyfriend on the back of the head.
"Ow!"
"Pikachu!" screamed the small rodent as he almost toppled off of his trainer's shoulder.
"You don't need to act like such a spoiled sport! Just admit that Drew is a better coordinator than you!"
"And you," May looked sternly at her boyfriend, a look he wasn't too familiar with from his counterpart. "You need to be nice to Ash. We both know he would destroy us if this were a normal battle. Besides, wasn't battling them the most exciting thing we've gotten to do in a while?"
Both boys took a moment, staring each other down as the crowd continued their cheering and sobbing.
"Do it or I'll slap you again."
Sighing, Ash finally relented and stuck out his hand to Drew. The green-haired teen appeared to hesitate, so May took charge and gave him the same threat. "And I know how much time you spend on your hair."
Rolling his eyes, he accepted the hand and the two shook.
"I guess you were pretty good," Ash admitted.
Drew gave a small smirk. "And you were pretty good for a rookie. Besides, I need someone to talk to other than May. She's about to drive me insane."
"You too?" Ash quickly caught onto the joke as May gaped at her boyfriend. "Misty won't leave me alone. She's bugging me all that time, and I don't have anyone to complain to except her which…isn't a good idea." He rubbed the back of his head and Drew cracked up.
"Whaddya mean I'm bugging you?"
"Oh, nothing," Ash took a step away from her as she readied to slap him upside the head once more. "It's just a joke, Mist."
"Yeah May," Drew reassured, sensing a disturbance in his girlfriend. "You guys need to lighten up."
The two girls eyed each other before shrugging. "What did I tell you? They're fine now that the contest is over."
Author's Notes: Welp, there you go. It was an all-contest chapter, with a little bit of rivalry for flare, so I hope you were all at least entertained. However, now that we're through with the contest, you can expect for the plot to once again delve into more serious matters over the next few chapters as we deal with Dawn as well as some…unfinished business with Giovanni.
Before I go, I need to mention that last chapter I said that my favorite fanfiction author of all time, Spruceton Spook, never responded to my message where I basically (and unashamedly…mostly) went on and on about how much I loved her writing and how it inspired me to write, and etc. Well, believe it or not, despite how much of a girl I surely sounded like (again, mostly not ashamed of it), she actually wrote me back! And it was a long message at that! And then I wrote her back, and she wrote back, and I wrote back and…well, you get the picture. Anyway, long story short, she said that she would actually READ MY STORY! And then she said SHE'D REVIEW IT! So yeah, that's pretty awesome. I expect it'll take her a while to actually get through all of these chapters, but when she does, I can't wait to hear what she thinks (good or bad), and I want to remind everyone once again that if you haven't already, then you absolutely MUST READ "STARS FELL ON PALLET TOWN" BY SPRUCETON SPOOK. It's a great trilogy, and you're only hurting yourself by not reading the greatest thing ever written on this site.
Alrighty then, I better let you get back to your real lives now! See you in two weeks…for real this time!