It's apology time again, sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out and I apologise for the quality. I don't think it's as good as my other chapters but it's taken so long to write and honestly I'm having trouble coming up with ideas for Contest ideas.

I'll keep writing and hopefully have some ideas for when the time comes to write the Grand Festival.

Now to the Chapter

Enjoy.

Chapter 45

Pallet of Colour

Wartortle spun through the air as she materialised, using the light of her appearance to her advantage and letting the Everstone shards in her shell glimmer. Once she had full appeared she send out short blasts of Ice Beam creating ice patches and bergs in a circle on the stage, landing gracefully from her spin she retreated into her shell and used Gyro Ball. When she felt she'd reached the right rotation speed Wartortle started to use Iron Defense, her shell taking on a metallic shine which made the Everstone fragments start shining again. She then started to move around the circle, the light given off from Iron Defence and reflected in the prismatic ice causing more colours to appear. While she span Wartortle shot out more short bursts of Ice Beam, slowly turning the circle into a dome, to the audience Wartortle looked like a disco ball flashing with light but the Turtle Pokémon wasn't finished yet.

By using Water Gun the dome was slowly filling with water and when it was full Wartortle combined Gyro Ball with Rapid Spin so she was spinning in all directions, agitating the water and causing the dome to shatter. Dropping Gyro Ball but continuing to use Rapid Spin Wartortle manipulated the water into a becoming a water spout, the shattered ice was picked up by the water column and continued to shimmer with colour. Riding the water Wartortle rose from the ground and moved into the middle of the column, she then froze the outside of the spout with a sudden powerful blast of Ice Beam while keeping the water inside the ice spinning and flashing with colour. The ice crept in towards Wartortle and when it looked like it would seal her inside the frozen spout she used Focus Punch to shatter the ice completely and landed gracefully on the ground with a flourish as the ice flakes twinkled in the light.

May could see that Wartortle had put her heart and soul into that performance and although the Turtle Pokémon was almost to the point of complete exhaustion she held her head up proud as the audience exploded into applause and wild cheers. A shot of ice, water and electricity flew into the air from Glaceon, Manaphy and Pikachu in support of Wartortle, along with a telepathic 'Well done' from Sabrina, as May ran on to the stage and picked Wartortle up, hugging her tightly.

"See, no one cares that your shell's damaged. They love the fact that you are you, no matter what. I'm so proud of you." May whispered into Wartortle's ear, causing happy tears to form in the water type's eyes. Once the audience had calmed and returned to their seats May and Wartortle bowed and turned to face the judges.

"That was a wonderful display." Warren said, "A truly colourful and creative use of a number of moves."

"Remarkable." Mr Sukizo added predictably.

"As always Miss Maple you and your Pokémon never fail to impress." Mr Contesta said. "A marvellous Appeal."

"Thank you." May replied. "But all the credit should go to Wartortle, she thought this up all on her own."

"Then you have an astonishingly talented Pokémon." Mr Contesta turned his head to look at Wartortle. "Well done, that was a beautiful Appeal."

"War…" Wartortle mumbled as she looked away, blushing slightly.

With the Judges comments spoken, May and Wartortle bowed to them and then to the audience before leaving the stage to more applause. From then the Appeals continued, Sian put on an impressive display with her Darumaka breathing out different shapes in different coloured flames. How Darumaka managed to change the colour of it's flames to green and pink no one knew but that didn't stop them from enjoying the spectacle. Drew's Appeal featured a Pokémon May hadn't seen him use before, a Vivillon with a Pokéball pattern on it's wings, the Scale Pokémon flew around the stage leaving trails of multicoloured powder and setting off small colourful explosions by using Powder and aimed Sunny Day balls. Drew's was the final Appeal of the day and the judges went backstage to choose who would make it through to the battle rounds.

While she waited May sat next to Sian and just chatted about what they'd both been up to, and as usual Pikachu and Glaceon came running into the waiting room to see her but this time they had a security guard run in after them. They jumped on to May's lap and nuzzled her as the guard approached her.

"I'm sorry." May apologised when she saw the annoyed expression on the man's face.. "They were supposed to stay with my boyfriend but they can be a little…rebellious sometimes. I hope they didn't cause too much trouble."

"They nearly tripped me up while I was making my rounds but no trouble other then that. I think it would be better if they were returned to their Pokéballs though." The guard replied before backing away as Pikachu's cheeks started sparking.

"Pikachu, stop that right now." May scolded the electric type. "I'm sorry about that, he hates his Pokéball." May turned her attention to the Pokémon in her lap. "Both of you apologise right now."

"…Pika."

"Gla."

"I'll let you off with a warning this time but don't let them do it again." The guard said.

"I won't, they'll stay here until the Contest is over." May replied, the guard just nodded stiffly and walked away. May reached into her bag and pulled out her X-Transceiver, sending Ash a message letting him know that Pikachu and Glaceon had gotten into trouble and would be staying in the changing room until the Contest was over. Once that was over May and Sian carried on with their conversation while Pikachu and Glaceon glared at Drew while enjoying May stroking their fur.

In the Stands

While the judges conferred Donna was sat with Manaphy on her lap tickling the Seafaring Pokémon and receiving high pitched giggles in return. Ash and Sabrina were sat in a comfortable silence until the Psychic turned to face Ash, who was reading the message that May had sent.

"Helping Wartortle didn't give me much time to ask but how are you and May doing?" She asked.

"We're okay, May's recovered from what happened on Seafoam and…" Ash replied.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"We're okay, it's just…"

"Strange? Outside your area of expertise? Or just…hard?" Sabrina smirked as Ash started to turn red. "But in all seriousness, it's natural to feel uncomfortable to begin with. You've gone from being friends to something more, the dynamic between you has shifted and it takes some getting used too." She paused to study Ash's face, he understood what she was saying but even if she could read his mind she wouldn't need her psychic abilities to know what he was thinking. He was seeing May in a more romantic light but he didn't want to mess up the status quo they had as friends and risk loosing her completely. She watched as his hand twitched towards his jacket pocket again, he'd done it a few times during the contest mostly when May was on the stage. "So when are you going to give it to her?"

"What?!" Ash yelped as his face flared crimson.

"Get you're mind out of the gutter, dirty boy." Sabrina chuckled. "I meant that present you have in your jacket. A piece of jewellery I assume?" The shock on Ash's face made her grin. "No, I haven't found away to read your mind. It's written all over your body language, whenever May appears your hand twitches towards your pocket. You've done it quite a few times even when she's not been on stage. It's too early for you to propose seeing as you're still struggling with being a couple but it's still something that you feel is significant, something that the two of you have shared maybe or possibly something you feel you need to say but can't put into words properly. Too hazard a guess I'd say it's a promise ring or something similar?" Sabrina let a small grin grace her lips as she felt Ash's Aura flare stronger around his head. "From your reaction I take it my guess was correct."

"You're sure you can't read my mind?"

"I'm positive otherwise I could probably hear all of the curse you're currently thinking. I am a trained psychologist, I can read a person's body language as easily as I can read a mind. Now I know it's none of my business to ask but why do you feel the need to make a promise?"

"I…I'm not sure, I just…May told me how she felt and I still don't know if I feel the same way about her. Everyone's telling me that I do but I need to know it for myself before I can give her an answer. The ring, it's…" Ash sighed, "I don't know what it is, I just feel like I need to give May something to say that I care about her and that no matter what I won't abandon her." Sabrina studied Ash's face for a minute before nodding. "What?"

"Nothing." Sabrina smiled, "I just approve of how you're handling this." The lights dimmed. "If you want we can talk again later, remember I've made myself your psychologist and I feel like we still have a lot to talk about. Right now though, we should give May our support."

"Welcome back folks, it's time to reveal the lucky few that have made it to the next round." Julia said before turning to look at the screen. The screen flared to life as eight cards shuffled around, gradually slowing down until they formed two lines of four. The first card flipped over revealing Sian's face, the second showed Drew, the third a female Co-Ordinator with blonde hair and glasses, the fourth was a young man with a mop of brown hair and green eyes, the fifth a girl with a long blonde braid and blue eyes, the sixth face revealed was another woman with chin length dark red hair, seventh was a bald man with ginger stubble on his chin and finally May's picture appeared. "Congratulations to our semi-finalists and thank you to all the other Co-Ordinators that took part, we hope to see you again." A round of applause was given for the winners and losers. "Now we've got a twist to this Contest, our semi-finalists must pair up as the battle stages will consist of double battles. There will now be a few minutes for our semi-finalists to choose a partner and choose the Pokémon they will be battling with. Once the final team battle has been completed whichever pairing has won will then face each other in the final to see who will win the Palette Ribbon." As soon as Julia mentioned that they needed to pair up May and Sian high-fived without looking at each other. The girl with the braid lightly punched the young man with green eyes in the shoulder and smiled at him, from the way they acted May could tell they were a couple. The woman with blonde hair and glasses teamed up with the woman with dark red hair, which left Drew to pair up with the bald man.

May and Sian quickly decided on which of their Pokémon would work well together and began brainstorming combination while they still had time. As they whispered their ideas to each other Pikachu and Glaceon kept watch for any other Co-Ordinators that may be trying to listen in on them, their watch was unnecessary as not too long after they'd started watching for eavesdroppers an assistant came into the room and Julia's voice was heard again.

"Co-Ordinators, your time is up. If you do not have a partner yet then choose now and make your choice known to the member of staff, your battle stages will be starting as soon as the last pairing is confirmed." Everyone gave the assistant their name and who they were partnered with, once the last name and partnership had been entered into the system the assistant pressed a button and the first battle pairing appeared on the main contest screen. "Our first battle is…Michelle and Lisa versus Simon and Drew!"

As the chosen pairs rose from their seats and made their way to the stage May and Sian turned to look at the pair that would be their opponents. The young man wore a long-sleeved green shirt under a brown waistcoat and black legging like pants held up by a thick light brown belt with a pair of black boots, in all he didn't really fit the Contest theme of colour. The girl he was paired with however did fit the theme, wearing a short-sleeved light blue t-shirt, a pleated dark red leather skirt with metal studs, pale blue leggings, pale yellow ribbon wrapped around her forearms and, like her partner, wore black boots although hers were knee high. She also wore a light red band around her head which was partly hidden by her fringe.

"They're going to be tough to beat." Sian whispered, May discreetly nodded in agreement.

"I don't think the girl usually does Contests." May replied. "The Fraxure she used in her Appeal looked more like a battler then a performer."

"Might be a couple, doing the same that you and Ash did in Drummond Town but the other way around."

"I don't know, the guy doesn't strike me as a Co-Ordinator either."

"Well, we'll find out soon." With that said May and Sian turned their attention to the screen to see how that battle was going. Michelle and Lisa had a slim lead on Drew and Simon, but a combination attack of Night Slash and Magical Leaf from Simon's Liepard, Wiggles, and Drew's Roserade took away the lead and gave the advantage to the two men.

Lisa's Smoochum proved to be tough for a baby Pokémon and was quickly back on her feet attacking the Icy Wind which Lilligant added to by releasing a cloud of Sleep Powder. Wiggles dodged by leaping into the air only to be caught by Lilligant's follow up attack of Magical Leaf, Roserade was hit by the initial attack and while Sleep Powder didn't have any effect Icy Wind did causing frost to spread across the Bouquet Pokémon's flower-like hands.

"Sunny Day." Drew called, ready to use Weather Ball to clear away the frost but the buzzer sounded signalling the end of the match and looking at the screen he saw it also signalled his defeat. Thanking Roserade for battling hard Drew returned him and walked towards the centre of the stage to meet Lisa and Michelle with Simon at his side.

Lisa and Michelle were declared the winners and given their place in the next round while Drew and Simon received a round of applause and commiserations. It didn't bother Drew too much though, he already had the ribbons he needed to enter the Grand Festival. He was using this Contest to scout other Co-Ordinators and trying to thin the field a little by winning the Ribbon, no sense having more competition then necessary after all.

"Our next battle is about to begin, welcome our Co-Ordinators to the stage. May and Sian versus Henry and Astrid." Julia said, getting a cheer from the audience as May and Sian walked onto the stage from one side while Henry and Astrid came from the other side. "Co-Ordinators please release your Pokémon."

"Take the stage, Blaziken!" May shouted cheerfully.

"Come on out hun." Sian added as she sent out her Alolan Ninetales.

"Let's go bud." Henry said as a Hydreigon appeared in front of him.

"Stormfly, battle ready!" Astrid yelled letting her shiny Flygon out onto the stage.

"Our Co-Ordinators are ready and their Pokémon look fired up, so let the battle begin." Julia announced as she retreated from the stage.

"Stormfly, Flamethrower." Astrid shouted, her Flygon responded immediately sending a jet of fire towards Sian's Ninetales.

"Blaziken deflect it with Sky Uppercut." May countered quickly.

"Toothless, Dragon Rage." Henry said, pointing at Blaziken.

"Ice Beam." Sian called to her Ninetales.

Blaziken dashed in and destroyed Stormfly's Flamethrower, turning into a shower of embers before quickly rolling out of the way to dodge the incoming Dragon Rage as Ninetales' Ice Beam shot over her head and crashed into Toothless' chest.

"Iron Tail!" Astrid and Henry shouted together and both of their Pokémon spun around, slamming their now metallic looking tails into Blaziken's chest as she stood up. The Blaze Pokémon flew backwards but managed to save some points by turning her fall into a backhand spring to finally land on her feet.

"Blaziken, back."

"Ninetales, Swagger." Ninetales jumped forward as Blaziken leapt back, the Fox Pokémon glared at the dragons before her as she was surrounded by a red glow which confused and strengthened her opponents.

"Twin Blaze." As soon as Ninetales stopped glowing red Blaziken vaulted over her head and delivered two Blaze Kicks, one to each dragon. Reeling from the attacks and blinded by their confusion the dragons started to scuffled with each other. Henry cupped his hands around his mouth and let loose a perfect imitation of a Hydreigon's roar, followed by Astrid doing the same for her Flygon. Hearing the noise their Pokémon stopped fighting and looked at their Trainers, their confusions starting to fade.

"Aerial Ace/Tri Attack!" Henry and Astrid cried out together, Stormfly shot towards Blaziken with white energy streaming in her wake as Toothless fired balls of flames, electricity and ice from his three mouths which were caught in Stormfly's slipstream. Now Stormfly was flying across the battlefield with a trail of red, yellow and blue energy behind her.

"Meet her head on with Phoenix." May countered, Blaziken nodded and burst into flames with Flare Blitz before leaping high into the air. As Blaziken dropped back towards the stage the flames surrounding her turned purple with the energy of Brave Bird, Henry's Hydreigon tried to interrupt the combination attack with Dark Pulse but was hit by a Moonblast from Sian's Ninetales. As soon as Blaziken's feet touch the ground she launched herself forward, the purple flames around her flared up and changed back into a fiery red.

"Ninetales, Hail and Aurora Veil." Sian shouted quickly with her Ninetales responding just as quickly letting out a chilling howl that caused clouds to appear and hail to fall, once that was done Ninetales shone in a myriad of colours before radiating those colours out across the field. The colours reflected in the hail turning the falling ice into shimmering pieces of light.

Blaziken and Stormfly collided in the middle of the field, the concussive force of their clash sent a shockwave in all directions, pushing Ninetales and Toothless back a couple of feet and clearing away the snow clouds above them. Dirt was thrown high into the rafters of the Contest Hall as fragments of both Blaziken's and Stormfly's attacks flew around like fireworks out of the dust and smoke that concealed the two Pokémon.

"Ninetales, blow the smoke away with Icy Wind!" Sian shouted, her Ninetales raised all of her tails as they shone in a pale blue energy and a freezing breeze appeared, clearing the smoke to reveal both Pokémon to still be standing, if only barely. Ninetales' Aurora Veil had lessened the amount of damage that Blaziken had taken but there had still been a lot of recoil from the combination move, the Flame Pokémon was favouring one leg and panting heavily with many scuffs and cuts on her body. Stormfly was in a worse state, although she was standing she was stooped so she was nearly on all fours and breathing heavier then Blaziken was, burns littered her scales and her wings were hanging limp at her sides.

"The match ends here." Julia announced, stepping on to the stage before anyone could call for another attack. "There's no need to carry on as the timer will run out in a few seconds and there is no need for these two Pokémon to fight anymore after a clash like that. Let's look at the scoreboard to see who's won."

The opposing teams had been so focussed on their battle that they hadn't been paying attention to the scoreboard. With every move their Pokémon had made their scores had changed and looking at the final results there was only one winner.

"Congratulations to May and Sian, you have made it to the next round. Commiserations to Henry and Astrid, we how to see you again some time in the future." Julia said, drawing a round of applause from the audience. The four Co-Ordinators returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs and walked to the middle of the stage to shake hands, they exchanged pleasantries and were about to return to the waiting room when Julia spoke again.

"Due to a confrontation between Lisa and Simon the team of Lisa and Michelle have unfortunately been disqualified, meaning that the team of May and Sian…"

"My apologies but I must interrupt you once again Julia." Mr Contesta said, standing from his seat. "The rules you read out earlier are different from the actual rules in one way, there will be no final battle between our final Co-Ordinators. The statement that they would compete for the Palette Ribbon was to add a level of difficulty to the Contest, to see if they could still work together knowing that they would end up facing each other. I understand that it is an unfair challenge but it shows true sportsmanship and camaraderie that two people can form a viable partnership whilst knowing they will at some point be at odds." He walked around the Judges bench with Mr Sukizo and Warren. "So with that being said the team of May and Sian have each won the Palette Ribbon. Congratulations to you both."

May and Sian just stared at Mr Contesta for a few seconds before cheering happily and hugging each other, once they'd calmed down they were each awarded with a Palette Ribbon meaning that they were both finally able to enter the Grand Festival. They bowed to the Judges and waved at the audience before returning to the changing room to get out of their Contest clothes and into something more casual. While she was changing May received a message from Ash telling her that he was going to meet with Warren and Pikachu would be able to lead her to him.

Once both her and Sian were ready they left the changing room and found Donna waiting for them, with the brunette congratulating them with both words and hugs she then left with Sian as Pikachu sniffed the air leading May and Glaceon to where Ash could be found.

The Mouse Pokémon eventually stopped outside a door and knocked on it, the door swung open smoothly with a faint blue glow allowing Pikachu to run in and jump up to Ash's shoulder. May followed the electric type in to see Ash sitting opposite Warren with Manaphy still in his arms and Sabrina on a chair to the side.

"Ah, the beautiful Miss Maple. Welcome, now we can talk." Warren smiled and waved his arm towards were Ash was sitting, offering her a seat next to her boyfriend. Settling down next to Ash with Manaphy now held in her arms and Glaceon curled up on her lap May turned her full attention to Warren. "There isn't an easy way to broach this subject so I'll just come out with it, something is happening to the Legendary Pokémon and the situation is getting worse."

That's all there is for now

Until Next Time

Basic Trainer