Yo, I'm back again, friends of fanfiction, with a new chapter of BFTH. Chapter 10! Can you believe it? I can, hardly. Well enough rambling...

RR

Enjoy the chapter!

The tournament is back on. Red, Paul, Max, Gary and Makoto and others were all standing in the middle of the arena, waiting for the next match pairing. The feeling of the stadium was much different than only a few days ago. Brock's battle is still on everyone's mind. Makoto was met with some scorn from the crowd but, his face was blank, as if he wasn't even there. A spot light and everyone's attention went to a rising platform with the commentator on it. "It is with a heavy heart that today we will announce the match ups. We from the tournament staff give all our prayers to Brock Harrison's speedy recovery." The announcer took a moment of silence before getting back into his persona. "LET'S SEE THOUGH PAIR UPS!" He pointed to the large screen behind him.

It cycled around, showing all the faces of the competitors. The first match was Red VS Makoto. The second was Paul VS Max and last was Gary VS Seifer. "Huh? Who the hell is Seifer?" Gary asked no one really. "Was he always in the tournament?"

Max walked up to him and shrugged. "I never saw any of his matches."

Paul gave Red a look that said. "That's him. Right?" Red just nodded.

Makoto was also in shock, his eyes wide as saucers. "Seifer? What are you doing here?" Makoto Mumbled, before taking his leave from the arena. After all, he had to get ready for his match. "Against Red, huh." He looked at the big screen with an unreadable face. "Was this your doing, Giovanni?" He wondered as he walked away, head down.

In the stands stood Clemont, Serena, Misty and Bonnie "These are some intense matches..." Clemont breathed out a shaky sigh.

Misty nodded. "Yeah... But. Has anyone seen one of this "Seifer's" matches?"

Bonnie shook her small head. "Nope. I don't think so."

The orange haired gym leader hummed. "Interesting..."

Serena took Misty's hand. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm sure yet..." She squeezed back. "But there might be something going on beyond us."

Clemont pushed up his glasses. "You might be right..." He struck a thinking pose. "After all... A lot of things have happened." A sigh escaped his mouth. "But are they connected? Do they mean anything?" He shook his head. "I don't know."

Bonnie rested a hand on her brother's shoulder. "You don't always have to know." She flashed him a smile which he returned. "Come on. The first match starts in an hour. Let's go find May and Dawn." The group nodded and made their way out of the stands.

…

"That's them...? Asked a mature woman, hidden in the nearby woods, looking through binoculars. She looked to her left to see a younger girl, wearing the same uniform, nodding her head. "Okay. In one hour... It's mission start."

Dawn and May were currently in the waiting room of the Coordinator tournament. This was it. If the officials say it's over today then it's over. Dawn was trembling. She needed this. "With this contest I can show everyone that I'm better than HER." She thought, her hands gripped together, sweating. It almost looked like she was praying.

May looked to her right and saw the state that Dawn was and placed a hand over her own. "Hey." She smiled, Dawn looked up with disdain that May didn't notice. "Don't freak out so much. It's not like you. It's all work out!" She nodded for emphasis.

"Shut up." Dawn mumbled, looking away.

"What?" May question with a head tilt.

The blue haired woman jumped up from her seat in blind rage. "I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" May was taken-aback by her friends anger. "You act... NO! You all act like you know me..." Unknown to Dawn everyone came into the room at this moment. "YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!" She screamed, her normally calm blue eyes filled with hate and spite. "You all say "That's not like you..." BUT DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IS LIKE ME?!" She turned to face everyone else, hearing their footsteps and gasps. "What?! Do I shock you? Is this "Not me"?"

Serena cautiously approached Dawn and tried to put on a kind smile. "Where's all this coming from?" She made sure not to say it wasn't like her.

"IT'S JUST..." Dawn sighed, looking down. "You all always say "that's not like me" when I act a certain way. But, May, she can act anyway she wants..." She looked up with tears in her eyes. "WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HER AND I!?" Everyone was silent, all realizing that her words were true. Even if they didn't know it. They all put Dawn on this happy, bubbly, pedestal. "Got nothing, huh?" The blue haired girl took their silence as her answer. "I'm leaving... I don't care anymore." She pushed the others out of the way and ran off.

Red breathed in and out. Something he feared was coming to reality. He must battle Makoto. Right now he stood in a dark tunnel, where you wait for your name to be called upon. He wasn't afraid to fight Makoto. He was afraid of why he was facing Makoto. He feared it was a long reaching plot from Giovanni. Red knew, better than most, that that man was capable of doing anything he put his mind to.

Makoto played with his ring. He was in the opposite tunnel, waiting for his name. Makoto wasn't afraid, after all, it was a pokemon battle. Not a fight with real weapons. Something he knew was going to happen soon, even if he didn't like it. The dark haired rocket member knew why he was fighting Red. He was to knock him out of the tournament. That was his role in this mission. Then Jillia and Maya would kill him. This was all planned by Giovanni, he knew, no one had to tell him. Makoto knew Ash knew too. Even if he's not supposed to, he hoped he knew.

"Will Makoto Akie come out of his tunnel!" The commentator commanded, holding his head out in the direction of Makoto's tunnel.

When he stepped out he was met with boos and shouts, he didn't care though, it wasn't his mission to care. "I must complete my mission..." Makoto muttered.

"Can Red Zero come out of his tunnel!?"

Red came out and was met with a cheerful crowd. He was pretty sure they weren't cheering for him to win but for him to beat Makoto. He didn't really care, though it was nice to have the crowd on his side again, it had been so long... "Here we go..." He mumbled.

…

"So it begins..." Maya said, under her breath. Her and Jillia were still in the trees, as they were commanded. She felt a tap on her shoulder and when she turned she was met with Jillia handing her a paper that said, "Are we really doing this?" Maya sighed, almost wanting to cry. "Yes. We must. It's our mission."

…

Red and Makoto stared each other down, both with cold focused eyes, this battle meant more than just a placement in the championship. They both knew that, even though no one else did. The crowd was complexly out of the loop. Out of the loop that a dark man, leader of Rainbow Rocket was pulling the strings behind the scenes. The results of this battle could thrust the evil out of the shadows for their mission or stay there and wallow in failure. It all rode this Pokémon battle.

"Time for the coin toss!" The Ref yelled, tossing the coin into the air. "CALL IT!"

"HEADS!"

"Tails..."

"It's heads! Red, you win! Makoto you must send out your first Pokémon."

Makoto silently nodded his head. "Alright... Go ,COFAGRIGUS!" He threw his pokeball and out came out the coffin Pokémon. Makoto closed his eyes and steadied himself. He had to win. He opened his eyes. "For my mission!" His head screamed. He was so in the zone that he didn't even hear May cheer for him.

Red nodded his head, he already knew that Makoto would start with his Cofagrigus, he always did. In his missions and mock battles. It was his first Pokémon ever actually. Given to him by Giovanni. "I choose you, Gigalith!" Out came the compressed Pokémon. Ash smiled at his Pokémon, he had recently evolved from Boldore and he was stronger than ever.

It was once again a staring contest, with Makoto as the loser. "Fine. I'll make the first move! Cofagrigus! Shadow ball." The living coffin formed a dark ball of energy in front of itself and fired it at the big mess of rock.

"Gigalith! Protect!" Red commanded. A force field formed in front of the Pokémon and made the dark ball bounce off. "Come on, Makoto. You've got to do better than that." The hooded figure taunted.

"You never change..." Makoto mumbled. "Fine! Get up close with Shadow claw!" Cofagrigus chanted their name and a big wicked looking claw came out and they charged at Gigalith.

"Good..." Red was having a bit of fun. "Use stone edge!" Three stone pillars came out of the ground with the intent to trap the enemy.

"Dodge!" Makoto called out. This command was heard and the coffin was able to avoid the stones and hit Gigalith with their evil claw. Makoto smirked. So did Red.

In the stands stood everyone but Dawn. "C'mon, Mako!" May cheered.

"Hey..." Paul whispered into Clemont's ear. "Where is Dawn?"

Clemont's face fell remembering the very upset Dawn. "I'm not sure. Maybe the motel?"

Paul was confused. Why would she not be here? "How come?"

"Well..." The glasses blond tried to find the right words. "You can say that May and Dawn had a fight."

"Really?"

Clemont nodded.

"I'll go check on her."

Before Clemont could advise against it Paul was already gone. He sighed. "Eh, Maybe you could help here..."

Dawn was laying down on her bed, face in her pillows. The TV was on with the Red VS Makoto battle but she could barely hear it over her thoughts. Her head was killing her. With pain and words. Her mind was telling her things she knew weren't true but... What if they were? What if everyone does hate her now. Hate the "real" her. One that holds spite jealousy. What if they didn't even care that she wasn't at the match. Would it matter if she was here in the first place? Would anyone care if she left? After all the event she came to compete in is canceled. She heard a knock on the door but ignored it. It was probably room service or something, she thought.

"Dawn?! You there?"

Dawn's ears perked up, she knew that voice. It was... "Paul...?"

"Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

Dawn was silent for a little bit before saying, "It's not locked..."

Paul opened the door and sighed. He wanted to help but he had no idea how. Emotions were never his strong suit. Nor women. Put the two together and it was a recipe for Paul to say and or do something dumb. "Hey." Was all he said.

"Hey." She looked up from her pillow and faced him.

"So..." He tried to think of the right things to say but, none were coming to mind. "I heard you had a fight?"

"Fight of words not fists..."

"I know, I know." Paul took a seat on the bed. There was silence for a good few minutes, it wasn't awkward silence, they were both just trying to find the right words.

"Paul."

"Dawn."

They both laughed, they both each other's name at the same time. "Go first." Paul insisted.

"Alright..." She thought, trying to think on the right way to say this, the real way. "Paul, who do you think the real me is?"

"Huh?" The purple haired trainer didn't quite understand. "The real you?"

"Yes. Everyone always says that something I say or do is the real me or not like me. I want to know... Who is the real me, to you?"

"That's a deep question..." Paul said, his thoughts leaking out of his mouth. He struck a thinking pose and hummed. "I think the real you is the you you want to be." He ruffled his hair. "Agh, what I'm trying to say is that the one you want to be is the real you." Paul smiled at the girl with a dumbfounded expression. "No matter who the real you is, I'll still be with you. I'll still accept you."

Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. He'll accept her? He'll stay with her? Without a second thought she lunged at Paul and their lips met.

The battle between Makoto and Red was still raging on. Both were on their third Pokémon. Red had sent out Meganium while Makoto had Noivern out. It was pretty even. At least that's what Maya thought as she watched from her vantage point of a tree. "Come now, Makoto. Don't let us down..." She mumbled.

"Yo!" A loud voice boomed through the woods, which made both Maya and Jillia jump.

They looked down to see a familiar blond head, Maya growled. "Seifer?!"

"Hell~o!" He happily waved up to the tree. "Whatcha doing?!" A piece of paper fell on his face, he peeled it off and read. "What do you think, stupid!?" Seifer sighed. "Damn, Jillia, why you got to be so mean..."

Maya was getting tired of her teammate. "Seifer! Why are you here?"

"Oh! Yeah, the big dog sent me down to check on things." He looked past the tree and to the match. "It seems it's going well." The blond said as he watched Noivern knock Meganium out. Another piece of paper fell down, this time he caught it. It said. "I'll never understand your eyesight..." Seifer laughed. "My eagles eye is the reason I'm here with you guys." His eyes were greater than your average he can see as far as a hawk, and that's why Giovanni saved him from a life of loneliness and being treated like a freak. "Well, it looks like my work here is done. I'll leave you ladies to it." He turned and walked away waving, his white long coat dragging on the ground.

Maya shook her head like a disappointed mother. "There he goes, I swear that boy." She turned to see paper, which read. "Where was his sword?" Maya sighed. "Good question. Probably forgot it... Again."

It was now the last Pokémon of their six. Red had Pikachu and Makoto had his ace Hydreigon. "Damn, Makoto..." Red said, out of breath. "This is fun!" He said with a slight laugh.

Makoto couldn't help but chuckle too. "Yeah... It is." This match brought back happy memories. Before Red left. "It's so fun... I'm almost forgetting why I have to win." He muttered.

"YOU CAN WIN, MAKO!"

These words pulled Makoto's face up to the stands to see May cheering for him. "Hmph! With her cheering me on..." He smirked. "I can't lose!"

"Pssh. We'll see about that!" Red mocked. "Pikachu! Volt Tackle!"

"Just watch, Red!" Makoto pulled his ring off. "I'LL WIN!" He screamed. "Hydreigon! Dragon Rush!"

The Mouse Pokémon and the Brutal Pokémon clashed, one covered in yellow lightning and the other coated in purple draconic aura. The collision lasted for a good three minutes, both Pokémon not wanting to give up. Not wanting to fail their masters. Their friends.

"C'mon! Hydreigon!"

Red smirked at Makoto. "You never learn..." He mumbled, remembering the old days. Their battles would always end up like this... And Red would always win. Because of one move... "Iron tail!" He commanded.

Makoto's eyes went wide when he saw Pikachu flip off of Hydreigon and make his tail hard steel. "No..." Just now he remembered all of his other battles with Red. All loses. Because he always made the same mistake. Pikachu's tail slammed into Hydreigon and crashed it into the ground, knocking it out. "No!" Makoto Yelled, slamming his fist into the ground. He lost. He failed his mission!

"Hydreigon is unable to battle!" The ref declared and raised his hand to Red's side. "RED ZERO IS THE WINNER!" The whole place erupted into cheer.

Red let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I win..."

…

"He failed..." Maya muttered. "Dammit!"

…

Red walked up to Makoto and said. "Not bad." Before walking out of the stadium.

"Shit..." Makoto cursed. He knew Giovanni was going to be pissed with him. "Fuck...!

Paul couldn't believe what happened... AND HE WAS APART OF IT! First it was a kiss and then it was a shove onto the bed and then... Well there was touching. He was glad it happened because he was always a little in love with Dawn, just too much of a coward to admit it.

He stared up at the ceiling, with Dawn in his arms, the only thing covering both their bare bodies. "I know how I feel..." He looked down at the girl he held. "But what do you feel?" Paul was wondering if she was just using him to blow off steam or just wanting to be accepted.

He just didn't know. The purple haired man wanted it to be a mutual feeling... But who knows.

Makoto sat in the Pokémon center, waiting for his Pokémon to be healed, head hung low. He knew what his loss meant, the mission was a failure. Because of him. His job was to knock Red out of the tournament so he was lost and didn't know what to do and then Jillia and Maya would swoop in... And kill him. Ending his little uprising. But... Makoto failed. He let out a heavy sigh, which was heard by the second most important person to him.

"I know you lost... But cheer up!"

Makoto looked up to see May's warm smile, which brought slight grin to his face. "Thanks. I'm okay."

May stared at him with a questioning gaze. "You sure? You looked really down a second ago."

He wanted to tell her that it wasn't about the match but what the match meant! But... He couldn't. Makoto just watched her face, when she noticed he was staring she smiled at him. The black haired rocket member looked away from her. It hurt to see something too bright. So beautiful. While you're so dark and ugly. She didn't know what he really was. He wasn't Makoto Akie the wandering trainer... He was Mako-Type-Blue... A killer, a member of Rainbow rocket. "M-may..." He stuttered. "I..."

"Hey." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If you can't say what's wrong. That's okay." May once again smiled. "I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I forced something out of you."

Makoto's eyes went wide. She trusted him... Too much! This girl doesn't even know who he was before they met... All that time ago. Five years ago. "May... Do you remember when we first met?"

"Huh?" May was confused by the random question but answered all the say. "Of course I do." She closed her eyes, with a nostalgic grin pulling her lips. "It was five years ago. I was really depressed back then... A friend was recently lost in my life... Someone I loved. I was just going around the Petalburg city woods, listless, and then you showed up and saved me from a tree that was about to fall on me." She giggled. "I had no idea. But you did..."

Makoto cringed. He did know. He was the one who made that tree fall.

"Then I took you home as thanks and after that we became friends..." May winked. "And more."

Makoto's usually stony face become a little red. "Thank you."

"Of course. Even if I don't know why you asked." She took a seat on the bench he was on and rested her head on his shoulder. "But it doesn't matter." She closed her eyes. "Because I love you."

"May?" He looked to her to see that she was now snoring. "Heh, fell asleep, huh?" he Smiled at her. "I love you too." Makoto rested his head on May's head too.

Unknown to the two of them, they were being watched.

Seifer was looking in through the window from a tree, using his eyesight to see them, all with a smirk on his face. "That doesn't look like furthering our cause." He let out a dry chuckle. "The big dog will want to hear about this." The blond leaped off the tree and slicked back his hair. "Sorry, dude. But Seifer Largo has to tattle on you." He flicked his cape dramatically and made his way to an airship he had ready. "You'll understand... Won't you?" He asked a question that he knew he'd never get an answer to.

Red was in the RV, looking up to the roof, laying down on one of the pull out beds. He let out a sigh. Many things were running through Red's head. His match with Makoto. His mission and the upcoming match between Seifer and Gary. "Should I tell him too?" He mumbled. Gary also knew his true identity but didn't know the whole picture Paul did. "His life could be in danger if I leave him out of the loop..." He turned. "But, if I fill him in his life could be in danger regardless..." Red slammed his fist into the bed. "Dammit!"

"Thanks for the lift, dude!" Seifer hoped out of the aircraft with a cocky grin. He was back at base, back from his info trip. The blond gave the guard a peace sign and said. "Yo, got news for the big dog." The guard gave his superior a salute and unlocked the door. Seifer patted the man on the shoulder. "C'mon, man. There's no need for that." He swatted the guards hand off his forehead. "We equals, homie." Seifer flicked his coat and left the very confused guard alone.

The white coat wearing member looked around the hallway he was walking through with disgust. Seifer was never the most involved member. He worked for Giovanni. Not Rainbow rocket. Seifer wasn't the biggest fan of this life. Killing, stealing and more. If Giovanni didn't save him he wouldn't be here. Maybe he'd be a rock star like he always wanted. That thought made him smile a wry smile. "Yeah right!" He chuckled. "That'd never happen..." He closed his eyes and frowned. "My parents never even gave me a chance."

Before long Seifer was at the door he desired. Giovanni's office. He had a few things to tell his boss. "Yo, big dog! It's me!" Seifer smirked when he heard Giovanni sigh.

The door opened and Seifer stepped in, still smirking. "Seifer... You know I hate that name." Giovanni said, rubbing his temple.

Seifer flipped the chair around and took a seat. "Aww, you know you love it."

Giovanni shook his head, he knew there was no way to escape the name. "Do you have new info? Anything I need to know?"

"Yeah..." Seifer paused for a second before shrugging. "A few things." He said, picking his teeth.

Well, that's the end of chapter ten of BFTH! I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter is going to be big and the start of the final stretch. I hope you've been enjoying reading this story as much as I have been writing it. Well, not much to say. See yea later. Friends of fanfiction!