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All Roads Lead to the Grand Festival (Multishipping, R)
- Thread starter Rave The Rich
- Start date
Rave The Rich
NOT the other 'Rave'
Suprise, Chapter twenty-six came early!
Well, thanks for the support. Even though he is in a relationship with another guy (Paul), he's actually bisexual. You'll find out that even though he plays a small role in the fic at large, it is a unique one that carries with ir a great story. Glad you like the fic nevertheless.
Lucky for my readers, I've been on quite the writing spree. I just finished this chapter of 'All Roads' and the hiatus is gonna be nowhere near as long as I would have thought. Enjoy chapter twenty-six!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/26/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 26- Promise Thing)
She would not think of saying a word to the person sitting across from her. She even finds it a difficult chore to look him in the face. Though she takes full responsibility for finding herself in a holding cell of Slateport City’s Central Booking station, Dawn only did it because her ex-boyfriend made absolutely no sense earlier while he spoke at the podium about his son.
He told her and the rest of the world that it’s his life and even after being discovered by Dawn and telling the world about his three-month old son, nothing seemed to change for Drew. Even after being embarrassed on worldwide television and getting beaten up by his ex, Drew appears to have everything back to normal in his life. Sure, Solidad spoke about things changing and maybe she meant it by the mere fact that she came out of nowhere with her and Drew’s son to make a point, but whatever she planned to do did not appear to have any real effect on Dawn’s ex.
“You know?” The jaded coordinator had to look up from her seat. The only two people in the holding cell are Drew and Dawn. Given this fact, he would have to be the one who apparently had the blatant audacity to want to start a conversation with her after everything they’ve went through.
Dawn shot Drew a glaze that would have enough power to melt metal. It was her hope that he would not complete his thought at that moment and just leave her alone. For that moment, hopes were unfortunately dashed.
“I really have given it some thought…”
“Drew, I don’t even wanna hear it. I don’t want to hear it, bottom line. You haven’t learned anything from what I said. Not a goddamn thing. It’s useless. You’re useless, and I don’t need to hear anymore garbage.” Dawn sniffles as she pauses in her speech. The most important part of this sad story still lingers in her head. She’s spoken to and yelled at Drew about it and at the very least, tried to beat it into him. Nothing worked and in her mind, one more mention shouldn’t hurt. One more mention should not hurt, rather if she puts her feelings into her words, one more mention has to help. “I just…can’t understand why you’d do that to your own son! I don’t know if you realize these two things, Drew, but here’s a bit of a refresher: telling the world that you have a son is still not enough, and whatever you do now will affect Damien later. Do you want that boy to end up hating you because daddy didn’t spend enough time with him?”
“Not this again.”
“Yes, this again!” Dawn says. “I wouldn’t be crying over this if I didn’t care about that kid! We were together while you had Damien and I guess I feel this sort of connection to him. I’ll tell you this much, though; I think I have a much better connection with him than his father and I’m not even his mother!”
“Emerson?” calls one of the officers from central booking. As Drew responds back to him, he opens the electronic lock to the jail cell door and says, “You’re free to go. Berlitz, we’re still working to finalize payment of your bail.”
“Okay,” she responds with her head down. She doesn’t even look up to see Drew walk out of the cell, but she does hear the officer say “Raoul Contesta would like to meet with you before the end of the day, Drew. He said it was of the utmost importance.”
“He said all of that?”
“Indeed. You know where to find him, right? He’s at the stadium and he said that you could speak with him during one of the breaks.”
“Very well,” Drew speaks to the officer as he leads him to the main lobby where Solidad is waiting with Damien in the stroller. After filling out a couple of forums and making a few signatures for central booking, Drew is officially free to leave the station.
While walking with Solidad, Drew doesn’t say much of anything, which perturbs the mother of his child to no end. “Well, do you have anything to say to me or Damien, Drew?”
Slowly turning his head in the direction of his past lover, Drew, much to the surprise of Solidad, does not have an answer for her but he does have a question. “Why did you come here?”
For Solidad, Drew might as well have asked her for the answer to two plus two. “Our son needs his dad, Drew. It’s that simple. Dawn…pretty much said everything that was on my mind when I decided to come here and set you straight. It’s not fair for me to have to take care of our child and it’s not fair to Damien that his father can buy his way out of his responsibility and think that that will cut it. I’m not gonna stand for it anymore, Drew. You’re gonna get into your son’s life even if it hurts, and that’s a promise.” Drew says nothing back in response to Solidad’s statements, only nodding his head while it remains down looking at the sidewalk before him downtrodden.
---------
Back in Central Booking’s holding cell, Dawn continues to think and recollect on everything that has taken place over the weekend and throughout her now terminated relationship with Drew. She knows that she did the right thing by ending her romance. The decision ultimately came down to attitude for her. Dawn’s ex-boyfriend’s attitude concerning himself and his family was downright frightening. If he treated his own son like he was property under contract, then there is no telling what he would do to her. She had to leave for her own good.
Now that it seems that there is no hope in convincing Drew that his life has to change and that he has to get into his son’s life, Dawn is questioning things with a great deal of scrutiny and wonder. Going through the entire process of making an appeal and attempting to qualify for tomorrow’s round of the Grand Festival just did not seem as important to her as it did before learning about her ex’s many wrongdoings. In the constant struggle that she found herself in with the Hoenn region coordinator, she became someone she wasn’t and lost hold of who she truly is. She became rude, vulgar, arrogant and even bigoted all in the name of a relationship gone sour. None of it added up to a hill of beans because the so-called match made in heaven went straight to hell in a hand basket. Pondering all of this, she has to admit that all of this thinking is giving her quite the headache, which confused her as she thought that she was over her pains this morning.
“Berlitz?” an officer said, pushing Dawn out of her thoughts for the moment. Turning over to the door of the cell, Dawn sees the officer open the door and tell her, “You’re free to go.”
“Thank you,” she replies, getting up from her seat on the cell bench and walking out to follow the officer to the lobby of Slateport City’s central booking station.
“You know, you’re a very lucky girl, Dawn,” the officer speaks. “Me and the others here at the station are wrapped up in Grand Festival fever just like everyone else. We saw the interview from the live feed, and we thought for sure that you would either be disqualified, have charges pressed against you by Drew or both.” Looking to Dawn while they make their way to the front desk, he adds, “Fortunately for you, neither one of those things happened; although I will say that Raoul Contesta wants to see you sometime between now and your appeal.”
“Is that all?”
“No, that’s not quite all,” he adds. “Don’t forget that the person who posted your bail wants to speak to you as well.”
Dawn deeply sighs before she rhetorically asks, “Why am I not surprised?” She asks this because using her one phone call; Dawn called her mother Johanna Berlitz asking her to wire one thousand dollars to Slateport City so that she could be released from jail. Given that her only phone call while in custody had a small time limit, Johanna could not get out all of the things that she wanted to say to her daughter then and there. Dawn’s mother let her know that she would talk to her the minute law enforcement released her. At that moment, she will get everything out into the open to her only child.
Once being led to the phone, the officer dials a code to get out of the station’s extension. He then hands the phone off to Dawn telling her to take her time as she hears rings from the other end of the line.
Three rings pass and the voice on the other end of the line asking, “Hello?” Dawn immediately identifies this voice as her mother’s.
“Hi mom,” she neutrally replies.
“Hello again, Dawn. Now you know what I want to talk to you about, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Look, I’m really sorry about how I acted mom. I—I was just so…incensed with Drew when I found out he fathered a child while we were together. But like I told him…and the rest of the world, if he showed any initiative at all in taking care of Damien, that’s the name of his son…things might have been different. Now, it’s not even worth speculating. It’s done and I finished it in front of an audience of over a billion people to boot.” After a bit of a chuckle, Dawn says to her mother, “I don’t think I’ll ever live that down.”
“No you won’t, and you know that you’ll have to face some punishment for it.”
“I know I shouldn’t have cursed like that, no matter how mad I was. I suppose…a lot of this has been building up inside of me for so many years that I just had to have some sort of release. I know it might sound like an excuse, but I guess I just wanted to prove to you and to everyone else that I could make it work out.” Now Dawn starts to tear up on the phone a bit as she admits that despite her lifetime trait of stubbornness, “I should have listened to you mom. That may not be saying much, but that’s how I feel. The night I brought him home for dinner and he left, you warned me that he’s not for me.”
“I remember that,” Johanna says. “Our first real scream fest. I knew that he was involved with May Maple some time back and for whatever reason, that relationship ended. I guess hearing May talk about him the way she does right after they broke up made me wonder. You understand that I was only looking out for you, right Dawn?”
“I know now. It’s just like what they say about hindsight,” she claims, gaining in virtue with every line coming out of her mouth. “You know, this entire thing just ended up in a big mess. You had to pay one thousand dollars to get me out of here; I’m likely going to lose a large chunk of my pay for cursing on television, and…I don’t even have to talk about your punishment that you have for me…”
“Forget it,” Johanna unexpectedly interjects. “I know it sounds…odd coming out of my mouth, but I’m glad that you had your release. I’m glad that you could get that out in the open because not only can you not shake it, but Drew can’t either. You both will have to live with it for a very long time, and as far as the bail money, never mind. No amount of money can compare to having my girl back. So, even though you’ve caught all of this negative attention, I want you to know that I’m proud of you, Dawn Berlitz. You stood up to Drew and that takes guts. You’ll need that attitude if you’re gonna get through the Grand Festival.”
Dawn winces for a bit over the phone. Did she really want to tell her mother this? Did she really have a choice? It seemed at that moment that Johanna was willing to drop everything that occurred between them while she was with Drew, but this had little to do with her past and a lot more to do with her present state. “Uh, yeah. About that, mom. I…I really don’t know how to let you know this, but…I don’t think that I’m going to compete in the Grand Festival.”
“What? What in the world are you talking about, Dawn? You’re not competing in the Grand Festival? Why? What’s wrong?”
“Mom, just hear me out,” she replies calmly. “This whole thing with Drew has just put a lot of things in perspective for me. He tried to buy his way out of taking care of his son, and now I have to compete against him? He shouldn’t even be here for that. Don’t we have a personal conduct policy or some other kind of…just any rule against that?”
“Why? This isn’t the National Football League, this is coordinating! They don’t pay people to be standup ladies or gentlemen in this sport. You’re paid to be a coordinator! That’s it! Look…I’m sure you’re a little traumatized. I know you went to the hospital for headaches. You sound alright, but I can’t be sure. I wanted to call you then, but I believe your phone was off. Now, I know you may not be thinking straight but consider this. Think about how hard you’ve worked to get your five ribbons to even get to this point. Think of that struggle and now think about the possibility of you throwing all of that away for what? Because you’re ****** off at your ex for not taking care of his responsibility?”
“It’s just that…I realize that there are more important things than coordinating. I feel like…”
“Uh, no ****, Dawn,” Johanna interrupts much to the shock of her daughter. “Of course there are more important things. But you can’t worry about him anymore! It’s not your business, so you can’t use his story as an excuse for not participating. Quit being such a damn softie and understand that you may not get another shot at this so you have to take full advantage of it. I know this has been your dream since you were five years old; to follow in my footsteps as a coordinator. So…just think about everything you’re saying. Promise me that you’re going to take as much time as you need and above everything else, do the right thing. Think about it.”
“I will, mom.”
“We’ll just see. I’ll talk to you later, all right?”
“All right, mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, and again, it’s good to have you back. Bye.”
After a brief pause, Dawn decides to just close the conversation by saying goodbye to her mother in return. Bringing down the phone’s receiver, she sighs deeply before she silently admits, ‘It’s good to be back.’
---------
Your Thoughts?
Well, thanks for the support. Even though he is in a relationship with another guy (Paul), he's actually bisexual. You'll find out that even though he plays a small role in the fic at large, it is a unique one that carries with ir a great story. Glad you like the fic nevertheless.
Lucky for my readers, I've been on quite the writing spree. I just finished this chapter of 'All Roads' and the hiatus is gonna be nowhere near as long as I would have thought. Enjoy chapter twenty-six!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/26/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 26- Promise Thing)
She would not think of saying a word to the person sitting across from her. She even finds it a difficult chore to look him in the face. Though she takes full responsibility for finding herself in a holding cell of Slateport City’s Central Booking station, Dawn only did it because her ex-boyfriend made absolutely no sense earlier while he spoke at the podium about his son.
He told her and the rest of the world that it’s his life and even after being discovered by Dawn and telling the world about his three-month old son, nothing seemed to change for Drew. Even after being embarrassed on worldwide television and getting beaten up by his ex, Drew appears to have everything back to normal in his life. Sure, Solidad spoke about things changing and maybe she meant it by the mere fact that she came out of nowhere with her and Drew’s son to make a point, but whatever she planned to do did not appear to have any real effect on Dawn’s ex.
“You know?” The jaded coordinator had to look up from her seat. The only two people in the holding cell are Drew and Dawn. Given this fact, he would have to be the one who apparently had the blatant audacity to want to start a conversation with her after everything they’ve went through.
Dawn shot Drew a glaze that would have enough power to melt metal. It was her hope that he would not complete his thought at that moment and just leave her alone. For that moment, hopes were unfortunately dashed.
“I really have given it some thought…”
“Drew, I don’t even wanna hear it. I don’t want to hear it, bottom line. You haven’t learned anything from what I said. Not a goddamn thing. It’s useless. You’re useless, and I don’t need to hear anymore garbage.” Dawn sniffles as she pauses in her speech. The most important part of this sad story still lingers in her head. She’s spoken to and yelled at Drew about it and at the very least, tried to beat it into him. Nothing worked and in her mind, one more mention shouldn’t hurt. One more mention should not hurt, rather if she puts her feelings into her words, one more mention has to help. “I just…can’t understand why you’d do that to your own son! I don’t know if you realize these two things, Drew, but here’s a bit of a refresher: telling the world that you have a son is still not enough, and whatever you do now will affect Damien later. Do you want that boy to end up hating you because daddy didn’t spend enough time with him?”
“Not this again.”
“Yes, this again!” Dawn says. “I wouldn’t be crying over this if I didn’t care about that kid! We were together while you had Damien and I guess I feel this sort of connection to him. I’ll tell you this much, though; I think I have a much better connection with him than his father and I’m not even his mother!”
“Emerson?” calls one of the officers from central booking. As Drew responds back to him, he opens the electronic lock to the jail cell door and says, “You’re free to go. Berlitz, we’re still working to finalize payment of your bail.”
“Okay,” she responds with her head down. She doesn’t even look up to see Drew walk out of the cell, but she does hear the officer say “Raoul Contesta would like to meet with you before the end of the day, Drew. He said it was of the utmost importance.”
“He said all of that?”
“Indeed. You know where to find him, right? He’s at the stadium and he said that you could speak with him during one of the breaks.”
“Very well,” Drew speaks to the officer as he leads him to the main lobby where Solidad is waiting with Damien in the stroller. After filling out a couple of forums and making a few signatures for central booking, Drew is officially free to leave the station.
While walking with Solidad, Drew doesn’t say much of anything, which perturbs the mother of his child to no end. “Well, do you have anything to say to me or Damien, Drew?”
Slowly turning his head in the direction of his past lover, Drew, much to the surprise of Solidad, does not have an answer for her but he does have a question. “Why did you come here?”
For Solidad, Drew might as well have asked her for the answer to two plus two. “Our son needs his dad, Drew. It’s that simple. Dawn…pretty much said everything that was on my mind when I decided to come here and set you straight. It’s not fair for me to have to take care of our child and it’s not fair to Damien that his father can buy his way out of his responsibility and think that that will cut it. I’m not gonna stand for it anymore, Drew. You’re gonna get into your son’s life even if it hurts, and that’s a promise.” Drew says nothing back in response to Solidad’s statements, only nodding his head while it remains down looking at the sidewalk before him downtrodden.
---------
Back in Central Booking’s holding cell, Dawn continues to think and recollect on everything that has taken place over the weekend and throughout her now terminated relationship with Drew. She knows that she did the right thing by ending her romance. The decision ultimately came down to attitude for her. Dawn’s ex-boyfriend’s attitude concerning himself and his family was downright frightening. If he treated his own son like he was property under contract, then there is no telling what he would do to her. She had to leave for her own good.
Now that it seems that there is no hope in convincing Drew that his life has to change and that he has to get into his son’s life, Dawn is questioning things with a great deal of scrutiny and wonder. Going through the entire process of making an appeal and attempting to qualify for tomorrow’s round of the Grand Festival just did not seem as important to her as it did before learning about her ex’s many wrongdoings. In the constant struggle that she found herself in with the Hoenn region coordinator, she became someone she wasn’t and lost hold of who she truly is. She became rude, vulgar, arrogant and even bigoted all in the name of a relationship gone sour. None of it added up to a hill of beans because the so-called match made in heaven went straight to hell in a hand basket. Pondering all of this, she has to admit that all of this thinking is giving her quite the headache, which confused her as she thought that she was over her pains this morning.
“Berlitz?” an officer said, pushing Dawn out of her thoughts for the moment. Turning over to the door of the cell, Dawn sees the officer open the door and tell her, “You’re free to go.”
“Thank you,” she replies, getting up from her seat on the cell bench and walking out to follow the officer to the lobby of Slateport City’s central booking station.
“You know, you’re a very lucky girl, Dawn,” the officer speaks. “Me and the others here at the station are wrapped up in Grand Festival fever just like everyone else. We saw the interview from the live feed, and we thought for sure that you would either be disqualified, have charges pressed against you by Drew or both.” Looking to Dawn while they make their way to the front desk, he adds, “Fortunately for you, neither one of those things happened; although I will say that Raoul Contesta wants to see you sometime between now and your appeal.”
“Is that all?”
“No, that’s not quite all,” he adds. “Don’t forget that the person who posted your bail wants to speak to you as well.”
Dawn deeply sighs before she rhetorically asks, “Why am I not surprised?” She asks this because using her one phone call; Dawn called her mother Johanna Berlitz asking her to wire one thousand dollars to Slateport City so that she could be released from jail. Given that her only phone call while in custody had a small time limit, Johanna could not get out all of the things that she wanted to say to her daughter then and there. Dawn’s mother let her know that she would talk to her the minute law enforcement released her. At that moment, she will get everything out into the open to her only child.
Once being led to the phone, the officer dials a code to get out of the station’s extension. He then hands the phone off to Dawn telling her to take her time as she hears rings from the other end of the line.
Three rings pass and the voice on the other end of the line asking, “Hello?” Dawn immediately identifies this voice as her mother’s.
“Hi mom,” she neutrally replies.
“Hello again, Dawn. Now you know what I want to talk to you about, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Look, I’m really sorry about how I acted mom. I—I was just so…incensed with Drew when I found out he fathered a child while we were together. But like I told him…and the rest of the world, if he showed any initiative at all in taking care of Damien, that’s the name of his son…things might have been different. Now, it’s not even worth speculating. It’s done and I finished it in front of an audience of over a billion people to boot.” After a bit of a chuckle, Dawn says to her mother, “I don’t think I’ll ever live that down.”
“No you won’t, and you know that you’ll have to face some punishment for it.”
“I know I shouldn’t have cursed like that, no matter how mad I was. I suppose…a lot of this has been building up inside of me for so many years that I just had to have some sort of release. I know it might sound like an excuse, but I guess I just wanted to prove to you and to everyone else that I could make it work out.” Now Dawn starts to tear up on the phone a bit as she admits that despite her lifetime trait of stubbornness, “I should have listened to you mom. That may not be saying much, but that’s how I feel. The night I brought him home for dinner and he left, you warned me that he’s not for me.”
“I remember that,” Johanna says. “Our first real scream fest. I knew that he was involved with May Maple some time back and for whatever reason, that relationship ended. I guess hearing May talk about him the way she does right after they broke up made me wonder. You understand that I was only looking out for you, right Dawn?”
“I know now. It’s just like what they say about hindsight,” she claims, gaining in virtue with every line coming out of her mouth. “You know, this entire thing just ended up in a big mess. You had to pay one thousand dollars to get me out of here; I’m likely going to lose a large chunk of my pay for cursing on television, and…I don’t even have to talk about your punishment that you have for me…”
“Forget it,” Johanna unexpectedly interjects. “I know it sounds…odd coming out of my mouth, but I’m glad that you had your release. I’m glad that you could get that out in the open because not only can you not shake it, but Drew can’t either. You both will have to live with it for a very long time, and as far as the bail money, never mind. No amount of money can compare to having my girl back. So, even though you’ve caught all of this negative attention, I want you to know that I’m proud of you, Dawn Berlitz. You stood up to Drew and that takes guts. You’ll need that attitude if you’re gonna get through the Grand Festival.”
Dawn winces for a bit over the phone. Did she really want to tell her mother this? Did she really have a choice? It seemed at that moment that Johanna was willing to drop everything that occurred between them while she was with Drew, but this had little to do with her past and a lot more to do with her present state. “Uh, yeah. About that, mom. I…I really don’t know how to let you know this, but…I don’t think that I’m going to compete in the Grand Festival.”
“What? What in the world are you talking about, Dawn? You’re not competing in the Grand Festival? Why? What’s wrong?”
“Mom, just hear me out,” she replies calmly. “This whole thing with Drew has just put a lot of things in perspective for me. He tried to buy his way out of taking care of his son, and now I have to compete against him? He shouldn’t even be here for that. Don’t we have a personal conduct policy or some other kind of…just any rule against that?”
“Why? This isn’t the National Football League, this is coordinating! They don’t pay people to be standup ladies or gentlemen in this sport. You’re paid to be a coordinator! That’s it! Look…I’m sure you’re a little traumatized. I know you went to the hospital for headaches. You sound alright, but I can’t be sure. I wanted to call you then, but I believe your phone was off. Now, I know you may not be thinking straight but consider this. Think about how hard you’ve worked to get your five ribbons to even get to this point. Think of that struggle and now think about the possibility of you throwing all of that away for what? Because you’re ****** off at your ex for not taking care of his responsibility?”
“It’s just that…I realize that there are more important things than coordinating. I feel like…”
“Uh, no ****, Dawn,” Johanna interrupts much to the shock of her daughter. “Of course there are more important things. But you can’t worry about him anymore! It’s not your business, so you can’t use his story as an excuse for not participating. Quit being such a damn softie and understand that you may not get another shot at this so you have to take full advantage of it. I know this has been your dream since you were five years old; to follow in my footsteps as a coordinator. So…just think about everything you’re saying. Promise me that you’re going to take as much time as you need and above everything else, do the right thing. Think about it.”
“I will, mom.”
“We’ll just see. I’ll talk to you later, all right?”
“All right, mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, and again, it’s good to have you back. Bye.”
After a brief pause, Dawn decides to just close the conversation by saying goodbye to her mother in return. Bringing down the phone’s receiver, she sighs deeply before she silently admits, ‘It’s good to be back.’
---------
Your Thoughts?
shadow_shipper
...indeed...
Mother-daughter relationship : very touching, and at the same time, a mother will most likely always care for her daugther 
Now that that chapter is closed in this fic, let's see Dawn kick ass in the festival
Now that that chapter is closed in this fic, let's see Dawn kick ass in the festival
Lord Aggron
Reads too much
As shadow_shipper said, the relationship between a mother and daughter is one of the closest bonds in most cases. Another good chapter, and I'll be sure to check out those one-shots later. I'm glad that Dawn and Drew aren't together anymore; its best for both of them.
BTW, this might seem a little conceited, but chapters five and six are up on my story and I was wondering if I should start posting them here.
BTW, this might seem a little conceited, but chapters five and six are up on my story and I was wondering if I should start posting them here.
Liberty4Pokemon
Vogue to the Music
I've only read the first few chapters, but I have to say that, so far, it's really lovely (for lack of a better word ^^; ).
I'm a fan of Lilycoveshipping, and I've come to like ShootsDownShipping recently (I'm actually the one who submitted it, and I apologize for the awful name xD'), so this fic just really works well for me.
I don't know if you remember me from Fanfiction.net (I think I changed my username there to LibertyxIsxLove or something like that awhile back), but I'm glad to see you here at Serebii, and it's great to see that you're still writing.
Ciao!
I'm a fan of Lilycoveshipping, and I've come to like ShootsDownShipping recently (I'm actually the one who submitted it, and I apologize for the awful name xD'), so this fic just really works well for me.
I don't know if you remember me from Fanfiction.net (I think I changed my username there to LibertyxIsxLove or something like that awhile back), but I'm glad to see you here at Serebii, and it's great to see that you're still writing.
Ciao!
Rave The Rich
NOT the other 'Rave'
Next chapter is here!
Yep, a corner has been turned in this fic for sure. Drew and Dawn are both dead in the water as a couple and I specifically know what I have planned for the Drew/Damien/Solidad pairing.
I'm glad that you're liking this story so far, Libby. Don't worry about lovely. If you stick with the fic through the last 25-30 chapters, I think that would be the most appropriate to describe this story, aside from 'teamwork'.
Lilycove in Japan is actually called Minamo, which is technically the name for the pairing of Kelly and May, MinamoShipping, and that's been one of my favorite pairs as well. Once I started to tackle the pair of Kenny and Zoey, it started to grow on me quite a bit. The name's fine. The idea that Dawn will 'shoot down' both Kenny and Zoey is a really funny one, so it fits. I remember you from fanfiction.net and I'm glad that you like what I have here so far. Keep reading, now!
Speaking of kicking ass, here's chapter twenty-seven!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/27/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 27- Not Too Far Ahead)
Outside of the private costume dressing rooms for coordinators, a small but near-restless crowd of three is sitting and waiting. After being told by her and May’s mother to wait outside while she gets into costume for her upcoming appeal, Kelly is getting very antsy as she anticipates exactly what Caroline and Julia have planned for the coordinator soon to be her fiancé. Overtime, as the clock ticks closer and closer to appeal time for the Petalburg native, Kelly along with May’s father Norman and her father Erik wait for one of their wives to come to the door and say that May is ready.
“Do you have any clue what May is gonna be wearing for her appeal, Kelly?” asks her father.
“Not a clue, dad,” Kelly responds. “Whatever it is, though, it’s bound to impress. I know that much. She’s not gonna disappoint,” and with her final two words, she whispers, “she can’t.”
While Erik has a very good feeling what is on his daughter’s mind at the moment, Norman is very confused by the hopeful and seemingly pleading tone of his daughter’s girlfriend. “Are you alright, Kelly? You seem…not yourself.”
“I’m…okay, Norman,” she assures the gym leader. “I’m hanging in there as best as I can, but at the same time, I’m a ball of nerves. I’m thinking that no matter what any one of us do, it’s all gonna come down to May and what she does. At this point, we’ve done all we can do to prepare her for this, now it’s her turn to show the world what she’s got. There’s literally been a team of people that have come to help her because they believe she can do it. I just want her to win so badly, because…as her trainer, I know how hard she has worked over the past three to four weeks. Forgive my language, but she and her pokemon have literally worked their asses off for this moment and I don’t think that it is selfish of anyone to want her to win for the hours she has put into this tournament. And there is another reason for me wanting to win. It’s personal.”
Once again, Erik knows exactly what Kelly is talking about when she mentions her reason for wanting her girlfriend to end up the victor this weekend. Given the tone of her voice right now, it sounds as if the part time coordinator is mentally preparing herself to ask Norman the question to end all questions. May had a similar inquiry of him a few hours ago and he said yes. If May’s father claims to support her daughter and girlfriend’s union so much, then he already knows the answer.
“Personal?” Norman asks the girl sitting next to her. “What—what are you talking about, Kelly?”
Kelly is ready, or at least she had better be ready to tell Norman about her future plans involving May. After a quick nod to her father standing next to him, she looks the Hoenn gym leader in the eye before saying, “Well, before I tell you what I mean, I want you to know that this is something that’s been on my mind for several months now. Even while we were apart, this is something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time. The Grand Festival is the best place for me to surprise May and the world…”
Out of the blue, the sound of a classical tune is heard, and it is coming from the last place Kelly expected or wanted. Kicked out of his conversation with the Lilycove native, Norman reaches into his pockets to answer his cell phone. “Kelly, I’m sorry,” he apologizes. Taking a singular glance at the window of his clam shell phone, Norman has no choice but to answer the phone. After all, it could be anything and he does not want to take any chances. “I have to take this,” he explains, “it’s from my father in South Africa. Excuse me, you two.”
As Norman walks away from the father-daughter duo, Kelly can’t help but show her frustration. “Damn!” she interjects. “And you’d think that he would understand what I’m trying to say after all that, huh dad? I mean, if you consider the facts, I’ve been contemplating this for several months and I’ve wanted to do this since I fell in love with May. Forgive me, but what in the world do you think I wanna do? Take her out to eat?”
“Well after all of this, you’re gonna be doing a lot of that with May in the future. But watch it Kelly,” Erik humorously warns her daughter, “after all, you are talking about your future father-in-law!” Afterwards, the two share some healthy and hearty laughter. They laugh so much they don’t notice that Julia opened the door to let them inside.
“It’s nice to see you two in good spirits,” she says, thus stopping their laughing spree. “So, are you ready to see how May looks?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they say in unison. Before they go inside, however, they inform Norman that they are about to head inside to see May before her appeal. He went off to the side to accept a phone call from his father, and upon hearing that his only daughter is ready, he asked him to hold for a moment.
Led by Julia inside of the dressing room, they see that May is turned around in a chair facing a mirror with her mother brushing her hair so that it falls directly down her back instead of her traditional dog ear bunches that she’s continued to keep as a teenager. The way Caroline is positioned, only she and May can see how the coordinator looks at the moment.
“What do you think, honey?” she asks her daughter.
“I like it, and we’re just in time.”
“All right, everyone,” Julia responds. Turning her attention to Norman, Erik and Kelly, she proceeds to introduce May, saying, “I present to you the person we hope will be the next Grand Festival champion and Slateport City’s newest afternoon weatherwoman, May Maple!” After that, Caroline turns the beauty chair May is sitting in around so that she is now facing her father, girlfriend and her girlfriend’s father.
They look at her in awe. She is wearing quite the ensemble for her judge’s appeal. Looking at her face, one can immediately see the addition of black, thick-rimmed glasses with the lenses popped out. Her top is a black, pinstriped blazer above a white-collared shirt with a color-coordinated tie. The bottom is completed with a knee-length skirt, which is also pinstriped.
By instinct, Kelly comes forward if only to get a closer look at the gift from above before her. Smiling from one corner of her mouth to another, she touches both of May’s cheeks and gets the best look in the room. A few seconds pass and a question is on Kelly’s mind. Leaning in for a kiss, she stays close to the stylish trainer and simply asks her sweetheart, “Do you even know how beautiful you are, May?”
Diverting her gaze away from her trainer for a quick second, she doesn’t want the tomboyish teen to see the red that is forming on her face. “Oh, stop it, Kelly!” she says.
“No, I won’t stop,” she retorts as a matter of fact. “I wanna keep going. Aside from how great you look right now, I also want to know how I ended up so lucky to have such supporting parents, a loving girlfriend and a great core of friends.”
“Well, before you find that out,” Norman speaks, “we’re gonna have to go to the stage entrance before it’s too late. Umm, May? Before we came in here, Granddad asked about you. He’s on the phone if you want to speak to him.”
“Right now?”
“Right now,” Norman confirms as he hands the phone off to his daughter.
“Hey, Granddad Maurice,” she greets. “It’s me, May.”
“Well, May. How are you doing in Slateport?”
“Very good. Say, is it all right if I put you on speaker so that grandma can hear you?”
“Absolutely, if you don’t mind that I do the same on my end.”
“Okay,” says Maurice who is lounging on the beach with his wife. After both press a couple buttons on their respective phones to switch to speaker mode, May’s grandfather continues, “So I understand from your dad that you’re about to go do your appeal in a few minutes.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well the time is now just after ten o’clock in the morning over here in Cape Town, though we’ve been up quite a while touring the different spots,” May’s grandmother Katherine adds. “What time is it over there, May?”
“Five o’clock in the afternoon,” she answers much to her surprise. “My goodness! That’s a seven hour difference! Hard to believe, huh?”
“Tell me about it. Uh, is Max there with you?”
“Oh no, grandma. He’s either in the stands right now or en route to the arena, but if you wanna talk to him later, I’ll tell him you called.”
“Very well,” Katherine concedes.
“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Maple? Can you hear me?” Kelly chimes in.
“Kelly, is that you?”
“Yes sir. I just want you to know that May is ready to go in about half and hour. You’ll really like what we have planned if you can catch it in time. And I’m curious as to how you’re enjoying the trip in South Africa? May and I talked about going there in a few months for the World Cup and we wanted to know what the atmosphere was like.”
“Well, things are much calmer than they will be in three months time, dear,” Katherine claims. “As far as things to do, you won’t run out of those, especially in Johannesburg. But if you like surfing or just hanging out on the beach, Cape Town is probably where you will wanna stay.”
“Thanks, I’ll remember that,” Kelly compliments.
“Speaking of ‘stay’,” Maurice piggybacks, “we better get our butts back to the hotel or we’ll miss our granddaughter at her best.”
“Dad!” Norman exclaims. “Okay, we’ll give you time to head back and watch the appeal and then we’ll talk to both of you after May finishes her work.” Talking to everyone in the dressing room, Norman requests that they “say goodbye,” to his parents, which they do and not too long afterwards, both lines are hung up.
“Well, May, it’s time,” Kelly states. “It’s now or never, and I don’t want you looking too far into this. It’s no guarantee that you’ll make it past this round so give it you’re all.” Several seconds of silence pass before the trainer admits to her trainee with her signature smirk, “I…don’t know what else to tell you.”
She questions back to her girlfriend, “Perhaps that’s a sign that you’ve said all that you can say?”
“Well, I’ll be darned,” she admits before saying, “I guess there is nothing left to say except…” Leaning in to kiss her flame once more, she wraps up her final words of advice, whispering to May, “go out there and kick some ***, girl!”
The feeling is mutual. Whispering back to her sweetheart, May claims that she will do the aforementioned task, “With pleasure!”
---------
The next chapter is what you've all been waiting for! Until then, your thoughts?
Mother-daughter relationship : very touching, and at the same time, a mother will most likely always care for her daugther
Yep, a corner has been turned in this fic for sure. Drew and Dawn are both dead in the water as a couple and I specifically know what I have planned for the Drew/Damien/Solidad pairing.
I'm glad that you're liking this story so far, Libby. Don't worry about lovely. If you stick with the fic through the last 25-30 chapters, I think that would be the most appropriate to describe this story, aside from 'teamwork'.
Lilycove in Japan is actually called Minamo, which is technically the name for the pairing of Kelly and May, MinamoShipping, and that's been one of my favorite pairs as well. Once I started to tackle the pair of Kenny and Zoey, it started to grow on me quite a bit. The name's fine. The idea that Dawn will 'shoot down' both Kenny and Zoey is a really funny one, so it fits. I remember you from fanfiction.net and I'm glad that you like what I have here so far. Keep reading, now!
Speaking of kicking ass, here's chapter twenty-seven!
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/27/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 27- Not Too Far Ahead)
Outside of the private costume dressing rooms for coordinators, a small but near-restless crowd of three is sitting and waiting. After being told by her and May’s mother to wait outside while she gets into costume for her upcoming appeal, Kelly is getting very antsy as she anticipates exactly what Caroline and Julia have planned for the coordinator soon to be her fiancé. Overtime, as the clock ticks closer and closer to appeal time for the Petalburg native, Kelly along with May’s father Norman and her father Erik wait for one of their wives to come to the door and say that May is ready.
“Do you have any clue what May is gonna be wearing for her appeal, Kelly?” asks her father.
“Not a clue, dad,” Kelly responds. “Whatever it is, though, it’s bound to impress. I know that much. She’s not gonna disappoint,” and with her final two words, she whispers, “she can’t.”
While Erik has a very good feeling what is on his daughter’s mind at the moment, Norman is very confused by the hopeful and seemingly pleading tone of his daughter’s girlfriend. “Are you alright, Kelly? You seem…not yourself.”
“I’m…okay, Norman,” she assures the gym leader. “I’m hanging in there as best as I can, but at the same time, I’m a ball of nerves. I’m thinking that no matter what any one of us do, it’s all gonna come down to May and what she does. At this point, we’ve done all we can do to prepare her for this, now it’s her turn to show the world what she’s got. There’s literally been a team of people that have come to help her because they believe she can do it. I just want her to win so badly, because…as her trainer, I know how hard she has worked over the past three to four weeks. Forgive my language, but she and her pokemon have literally worked their asses off for this moment and I don’t think that it is selfish of anyone to want her to win for the hours she has put into this tournament. And there is another reason for me wanting to win. It’s personal.”
Once again, Erik knows exactly what Kelly is talking about when she mentions her reason for wanting her girlfriend to end up the victor this weekend. Given the tone of her voice right now, it sounds as if the part time coordinator is mentally preparing herself to ask Norman the question to end all questions. May had a similar inquiry of him a few hours ago and he said yes. If May’s father claims to support her daughter and girlfriend’s union so much, then he already knows the answer.
“Personal?” Norman asks the girl sitting next to her. “What—what are you talking about, Kelly?”
Kelly is ready, or at least she had better be ready to tell Norman about her future plans involving May. After a quick nod to her father standing next to him, she looks the Hoenn gym leader in the eye before saying, “Well, before I tell you what I mean, I want you to know that this is something that’s been on my mind for several months now. Even while we were apart, this is something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time. The Grand Festival is the best place for me to surprise May and the world…”
Out of the blue, the sound of a classical tune is heard, and it is coming from the last place Kelly expected or wanted. Kicked out of his conversation with the Lilycove native, Norman reaches into his pockets to answer his cell phone. “Kelly, I’m sorry,” he apologizes. Taking a singular glance at the window of his clam shell phone, Norman has no choice but to answer the phone. After all, it could be anything and he does not want to take any chances. “I have to take this,” he explains, “it’s from my father in South Africa. Excuse me, you two.”
As Norman walks away from the father-daughter duo, Kelly can’t help but show her frustration. “Damn!” she interjects. “And you’d think that he would understand what I’m trying to say after all that, huh dad? I mean, if you consider the facts, I’ve been contemplating this for several months and I’ve wanted to do this since I fell in love with May. Forgive me, but what in the world do you think I wanna do? Take her out to eat?”
“Well after all of this, you’re gonna be doing a lot of that with May in the future. But watch it Kelly,” Erik humorously warns her daughter, “after all, you are talking about your future father-in-law!” Afterwards, the two share some healthy and hearty laughter. They laugh so much they don’t notice that Julia opened the door to let them inside.
“It’s nice to see you two in good spirits,” she says, thus stopping their laughing spree. “So, are you ready to see how May looks?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they say in unison. Before they go inside, however, they inform Norman that they are about to head inside to see May before her appeal. He went off to the side to accept a phone call from his father, and upon hearing that his only daughter is ready, he asked him to hold for a moment.
Led by Julia inside of the dressing room, they see that May is turned around in a chair facing a mirror with her mother brushing her hair so that it falls directly down her back instead of her traditional dog ear bunches that she’s continued to keep as a teenager. The way Caroline is positioned, only she and May can see how the coordinator looks at the moment.
“What do you think, honey?” she asks her daughter.
“I like it, and we’re just in time.”
“All right, everyone,” Julia responds. Turning her attention to Norman, Erik and Kelly, she proceeds to introduce May, saying, “I present to you the person we hope will be the next Grand Festival champion and Slateport City’s newest afternoon weatherwoman, May Maple!” After that, Caroline turns the beauty chair May is sitting in around so that she is now facing her father, girlfriend and her girlfriend’s father.
They look at her in awe. She is wearing quite the ensemble for her judge’s appeal. Looking at her face, one can immediately see the addition of black, thick-rimmed glasses with the lenses popped out. Her top is a black, pinstriped blazer above a white-collared shirt with a color-coordinated tie. The bottom is completed with a knee-length skirt, which is also pinstriped.
By instinct, Kelly comes forward if only to get a closer look at the gift from above before her. Smiling from one corner of her mouth to another, she touches both of May’s cheeks and gets the best look in the room. A few seconds pass and a question is on Kelly’s mind. Leaning in for a kiss, she stays close to the stylish trainer and simply asks her sweetheart, “Do you even know how beautiful you are, May?”
Diverting her gaze away from her trainer for a quick second, she doesn’t want the tomboyish teen to see the red that is forming on her face. “Oh, stop it, Kelly!” she says.
“No, I won’t stop,” she retorts as a matter of fact. “I wanna keep going. Aside from how great you look right now, I also want to know how I ended up so lucky to have such supporting parents, a loving girlfriend and a great core of friends.”
“Well, before you find that out,” Norman speaks, “we’re gonna have to go to the stage entrance before it’s too late. Umm, May? Before we came in here, Granddad asked about you. He’s on the phone if you want to speak to him.”
“Right now?”
“Right now,” Norman confirms as he hands the phone off to his daughter.
“Hey, Granddad Maurice,” she greets. “It’s me, May.”
“Well, May. How are you doing in Slateport?”
“Very good. Say, is it all right if I put you on speaker so that grandma can hear you?”
“Absolutely, if you don’t mind that I do the same on my end.”
“Okay,” says Maurice who is lounging on the beach with his wife. After both press a couple buttons on their respective phones to switch to speaker mode, May’s grandfather continues, “So I understand from your dad that you’re about to go do your appeal in a few minutes.”
“Yes sir.”
“Well the time is now just after ten o’clock in the morning over here in Cape Town, though we’ve been up quite a while touring the different spots,” May’s grandmother Katherine adds. “What time is it over there, May?”
“Five o’clock in the afternoon,” she answers much to her surprise. “My goodness! That’s a seven hour difference! Hard to believe, huh?”
“Tell me about it. Uh, is Max there with you?”
“Oh no, grandma. He’s either in the stands right now or en route to the arena, but if you wanna talk to him later, I’ll tell him you called.”
“Very well,” Katherine concedes.
“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Maple? Can you hear me?” Kelly chimes in.
“Kelly, is that you?”
“Yes sir. I just want you to know that May is ready to go in about half and hour. You’ll really like what we have planned if you can catch it in time. And I’m curious as to how you’re enjoying the trip in South Africa? May and I talked about going there in a few months for the World Cup and we wanted to know what the atmosphere was like.”
“Well, things are much calmer than they will be in three months time, dear,” Katherine claims. “As far as things to do, you won’t run out of those, especially in Johannesburg. But if you like surfing or just hanging out on the beach, Cape Town is probably where you will wanna stay.”
“Thanks, I’ll remember that,” Kelly compliments.
“Speaking of ‘stay’,” Maurice piggybacks, “we better get our butts back to the hotel or we’ll miss our granddaughter at her best.”
“Dad!” Norman exclaims. “Okay, we’ll give you time to head back and watch the appeal and then we’ll talk to both of you after May finishes her work.” Talking to everyone in the dressing room, Norman requests that they “say goodbye,” to his parents, which they do and not too long afterwards, both lines are hung up.
“Well, May, it’s time,” Kelly states. “It’s now or never, and I don’t want you looking too far into this. It’s no guarantee that you’ll make it past this round so give it you’re all.” Several seconds of silence pass before the trainer admits to her trainee with her signature smirk, “I…don’t know what else to tell you.”
She questions back to her girlfriend, “Perhaps that’s a sign that you’ve said all that you can say?”
“Well, I’ll be darned,” she admits before saying, “I guess there is nothing left to say except…” Leaning in to kiss her flame once more, she wraps up her final words of advice, whispering to May, “go out there and kick some ***, girl!”
The feeling is mutual. Whispering back to her sweetheart, May claims that she will do the aforementioned task, “With pleasure!”
---------
The next chapter is what you've all been waiting for! Until then, your thoughts?
Lord Aggron
Reads too much
I got lucky, I broke my toe today, can't do anything but sit indoors and type what is in my head. Or play games, depends on what is in my head.
But that's off topic. Suspense is good and this chapter is merely setting up for the net one. Can't wait to see the next chapter. So, your story is set as if the regions are on Earth; good idea, allows for a lot of backstory.
But that's off topic. Suspense is good and this chapter is merely setting up for the net one. Can't wait to see the next chapter. So, your story is set as if the regions are on Earth; good idea, allows for a lot of backstory.
shadow_shipper
...indeed...
I got lucky as well, I'm completely healty, had eight of my friends over on Friday after finishing our last exam, we played football (soccer) for two hours, drank beer and cocktails and ordered pizzas by the poolside at my house, then we got drunk, went clubbing, slept three hours at a friend's house, then went to see our results posted on the school doors...
I aced every exam ! And now I'm free !!! School's over !!
Now, to review
Okay, so maybe she did work her ass off, but how can Kelly be sure nobody else worked even more and harder than her ?
Since South Africa is mentionned : where would Hoenn be on the globe ? Since, I assume, Slateport is still in Hoenn lol
Building hype, and I hope she does one hell of an appeal ? What could go wrong ?
PS : What World Cup in South Africa ? Football in 2010 ??
Lord Aggron
Reads too much
Cue Alice Cooper music. Well I'm in a good mood today, I get to stay indoors and watch my brother and his friend shoot each other with airsoft guns. I know I've already mentioned this somewhere, but yeah, from what you've said so far Rave, this appeal is going to kick ***.
P.S. Chapter 7 is up on ff.net and Chapter 2 is up here.
P.S. Chapter 7 is up on ff.net and Chapter 2 is up here.
Rave The Rich
NOT the other 'Rave'
I can reply back to everyone AT LAST!
To Lord Aggron: The pokemon world is based of the real world (well, at least all the regions are). Hoenn is based off of the Japanese island Kyushu. They're even the same size and shape with Hoenn turned around 90 degrees. When I think about it, it does allow for quite a bit of back story to base Hoenn and the other regions in the real world.
To Shadow Shipper: Glad school is over for you. It's been over for me for over six weeks! I'm lucky! Of course Kelly can not be sure if the other coordinators have worked their tails off as much as May has, but she has been there for hours on end for May's training and knows more than anyone else the time she has put into the Grand Festival. Like I said to Lord Aggron above, Hoenn would be like the Japanese Island Kyushu. For reference, this is how the island of Hoenn looks here. There is still a chance for things to go wrong, but May knows what she's doing here. The chapter was meant purely to build the suspense for the next chapter. Finally based on the World Cup being in South Africa, you've figured out the year this takes place (in 2010 FYI) and that I have May and Kelly's birth years as 1992/1993. Enjoy the rest!
To CB: Glad you liked these last two chapters. The only reason I am a believer of the pokemon world being a part of the real world is that the idea isn't that far fetched given that many regions are based on the real world (heck, the Orre region is based off of the state of Arizona) and that's why I place them in the 'real world'.
My writing schedule has cleared up, so expect the next chapter to come this week!
Maybe I should make a PM list. For those interested, either PM me or post a reply to this story. I'll see the response that I get and come to some sort of decision soon. Thanks everyone for the reviews!
To Lord Aggron: The pokemon world is based of the real world (well, at least all the regions are). Hoenn is based off of the Japanese island Kyushu. They're even the same size and shape with Hoenn turned around 90 degrees. When I think about it, it does allow for quite a bit of back story to base Hoenn and the other regions in the real world.
To Shadow Shipper: Glad school is over for you. It's been over for me for over six weeks! I'm lucky! Of course Kelly can not be sure if the other coordinators have worked their tails off as much as May has, but she has been there for hours on end for May's training and knows more than anyone else the time she has put into the Grand Festival. Like I said to Lord Aggron above, Hoenn would be like the Japanese Island Kyushu. For reference, this is how the island of Hoenn looks here. There is still a chance for things to go wrong, but May knows what she's doing here. The chapter was meant purely to build the suspense for the next chapter. Finally based on the World Cup being in South Africa, you've figured out the year this takes place (in 2010 FYI) and that I have May and Kelly's birth years as 1992/1993. Enjoy the rest!
To CB: Glad you liked these last two chapters. The only reason I am a believer of the pokemon world being a part of the real world is that the idea isn't that far fetched given that many regions are based on the real world (heck, the Orre region is based off of the state of Arizona) and that's why I place them in the 'real world'.
My writing schedule has cleared up, so expect the next chapter to come this week!
Maybe I should make a PM list. For those interested, either PM me or post a reply to this story. I'll see the response that I get and come to some sort of decision soon. Thanks everyone for the reviews!
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Lord Aggron
Reads too much
That put's them at my age (well, by birthdate). Anyway, yeah I'm aware of the regions being based on the Japanese Islands. Sinnoh is based of the island(s) of Hokkaido (yeah that's spelled terribly wrong).
Don't worry about putting me on a PM list; I check pretty much only this sub-forum.
Don't worry about putting me on a PM list; I check pretty much only this sub-forum.
Liberty4Pokemon
Vogue to the Music
Phew! *wipes forehead* I did just did a reading marathon, and I finally got all the way to Chapter 27! As mentally exhausted as I may be, it was definetely worth it...the characters are developing really well, and the suspense of waiting for May's appeal (and, I admit, Zoey's, Kengo's, Holly's, and Conrad's "encounter" ^^') has me at the edge of my seat. And I LOVED how Drew's little interview went all Jerry Springer xD'.
It's nice to know I'm remembered from FF.net...I plan to do some more fanfiction (romantic, of course). I don't think the one fic I did post is the best I could do, but after I re-read some of the reviews, it helped to up my confidence. Anyway, I don't want to steer the thread off topic, so I'll stop myself here n_n'.
~Ciao and here's hoping for some great chapters to come!
[P.S.- I'd really like to be on the PM list if you decide to make it :^)]
It's nice to know I'm remembered from FF.net...I plan to do some more fanfiction (romantic, of course
). I don't think the one fic I did post is the best I could do, but after I re-read some of the reviews, it helped to up my confidence. Anyway, I don't want to steer the thread off topic, so I'll stop myself here n_n'.~Ciao and here's hoping for some great chapters to come!
[P.S.- I'd really like to be on the PM list if you decide to make it :^)]
Lord Aggron
Reads too much
Libby, you're from ff.net? Same here. Anyway, we'll be waiting here oh so patiently.
I'm in the process of reading 'A Confession Gone Awry' and it's just as good as this! I love how May and Kelly are the sexually active ones (also kinda bad guys) and Dawn, Zoey, and Drew are all good and virgins (except maybe Drew on the virgin part) I've read about 11 chapters and it's again really good =D the only problem is Ash and Jesse, that's annoying but it's also cruical to the plot (atleast the charector development of Ash and Misty)
Rave The Rich
NOT the other 'Rave'
Thanks, CB, but...
Glad you like my longest work to date, but I should warn you that I think you went off-topic for writing about 'Confession' on the 'All Roads' thread. They are different stories after all. ^__^
In the future, if you want to tell me what you like about 'Confession' and other stories of mine, PM me or post a message on my profile. I wouldn't want you or anyone else to get in trouble with the mods.
On another note, you and Libby have both been added to the PM list for this story, which you can find on the first post! Thanks for your interest, especially Libby who went on a reading marathon to get to the point this story is at right now!
Glad you like my longest work to date, but I should warn you that I think you went off-topic for writing about 'Confession' on the 'All Roads' thread. They are different stories after all. ^__^
In the future, if you want to tell me what you like about 'Confession' and other stories of mine, PM me or post a message on my profile. I wouldn't want you or anyone else to get in trouble with the mods.
On another note, you and Libby have both been added to the PM list for this story, which you can find on the first post! Thanks for your interest, especially Libby who went on a reading marathon to get to the point this story is at right now!
Rave The Rich
NOT the other 'Rave'
And now...the moment we've all been waiting for!
May's appeal is here! Enjoy! I hope it doesn't disappoint!
http://http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/28/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 28- Without Any Further Adieu)
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“Paul, what kind of soda do you want before I leave the kitchen?”
While on the couch with Ash lying across his body, he answers “Uh…do you have any ginger ale, Ms. Ketchum?”
Checking the refrigerator one more time, she sees that there is one more ginger ale remaining. “Yep! It’s the last one too!” she says as she enters the family room with a tray containing a large bowl of popcorn, Paul’s ginger ale and Ash’s lemon-lime soda. “Here you go, boys!”
After comments such as “Great! Thank you!” from Paul and “Awesome! Thanks mom!” from Ash, Delia makes the turn to leave and go back into the kitchen while her son starts to dig into the great collection of kernels.
Before she can get any further, Paul takes a hold of her arm and says, “Wait a minute! Aren’t you gonna stick around? May’s appeal is next!”
“It is?” Mulling over it for a second, she realizes that her son and his boyfriend are correct. “Oh, yeah! That’s right. Forgive me, Paul. I guess making all of the dinner plans for tomorrow’s has got me running in a thousand directions. I have no choice to go at it on my own, though. Even after all these years, Ash still doesn’t know how to boil water on a stove.”
“Mom!” Ash counters, trying to save face in front of his ex-rival. It doesn’t work as Paul is chuckling at the sentence-long story from Delia.
“Oh, God. That sounds so…”
“Pathetic?” she asks.
“Yep! There’s my word!” he exclaims, giving Delia a high five in the process. Patting the left side of the couch where he was just sitting, Paul says to Ash’s mother, “Come on, have a seat! We’ve got plenty of room!” While she obliges to Paul’s request, the star pokemon trainer makes the comment to the young man next to him, “I like your mother more and more each day, Ash! Not to mention the fact that she has so much dirt on you that you could be a large construction site.”
“Okay, enough Paul,” Ash says, desperately seeking to regain control of the conversation, “I think that we are supposed to be watching an appeal of our friend now. I don’t know how this turned into the roast of Ashton Ketchum so quickly.”
“Oh, come now! It’s all in fun, buddy! Loosen up!” Paul retorts. “Besides, I know Nata has something awesome planned for May. She wouldn’t let May or any of her friends down for nothing. She’s like Allstate; with her you’re in good hands.”
“Hold that thought, Paul. They’re about to start.”
Putting down the remote to the television, the trio in Pallet now have their eyes and ears glued to the television as they hear the play-by-play man Gavin, analyst Melinda and commentator Professor Birch talk about who is next on the list to do qualify for the second round.
“Coming up next is someone in coordinating who, quite frankly, has a pedigree that says she should be one of the absolute best by the time her career ends,” Gavin explains to the viewing audience. “Her father is a prominent gym leader here in the Hoenn region and her mother was a champion pokemon coordinator during her teen years. But when she was young, her parents felt it best to keep her from the spotlight and let her live a normal life, much like her father’s specialty pokemon during battle.”
“Not once did they ever say that their daughter or younger son had to follow in their footsteps and become great pokemon trainers or coordinators,” Melinda adds, “but it seemed that the itch caught them very early like it does many youngsters nationwide. I was not innocent of it myself, but I digress. Initially, as she admitted to us earlier, she was not the greatest fan of pokemon, but she became a great student of the game learning from trainers and coordinators alike over the past eight years.”
The film now cuts to a sit-down interview that May gave earlier to the press, more specifically, Melinda about how she came to be as a top coordinator. “Truthfully speaking, no one can ever do it alone,” May says to the 1992 Grand Festival Champion. “I’ve had so much help, not just this tournament, but for my whole career. I’ve gotten help from the whole spectrum of people who I really cared for a while back, but not so much right now. It doesn’t matter, though, because the life lessons that I’ve learned from this line of work have put me in what I feel is my greatest position yet. I know that I can win the Grand Festival. My trainer Kelly, her family and all of my friends…”
“I don’t see why they have to do this all the time,” says an observer sitting at the foot of his bed. “All of these are the same when you get down to the basics.”
“What are you moaning about now, Drew?” Solidad asks, leaving the bathroom of her hotel room. Unlike Drew, May and the other coordinators competing in the Grand Festival, Solidad is not staying in the Slateport Milton. Her time is being spent at a local hotel within the city limits, allowing for more family oriented room styles including the one she chose with a separate room giving her more space to place a collapsible crib for her son and several other items of choice. “It better not have to do with Damien. I just got him to go back to sleep.”
“No, May’s on the television, and she’s about to do her appeal. The thing is they’ve got these useless interviews where they just talk about how you got to this point, and how you couldn’t have gotten here without the help of so many people. Whenever you do an interview like that, you undermine yourself so much. Yes, there are a lot of people that have sacrificed so we could have great careers, but we had to put in more than our fair share of effort too! That’s all I’m saying.”
“Really?” Solidad replies, not entirely convinced. “Because I get the feeling that you have some sour grapes because May is being negative towards you once again. No one has those feelings unless they…have feelings.”
“I just…you know what? She’s chosen her lot in life and she can live with it. She claims she won’t be together because of Kelly, and if she wants another girl, fine, but I hope she’s ready…”
“Drew, cut the crap, please,” Solidad interjects. “Forget her. She’s in your past. She’ll handle her own when the time comes.” Pointing to the other bedroom, she states, “In that bedroom is your future and it’s not a girlfriend or some other sex symbol. Despite what Dawn said, you don’t have to be with me to love that boy. I’ll be honest; I do want to be with you. I really do want to be with you as crazy as it might sound, but remember that the way to my heart is through my son.”
“Isn’t he our son?”
Thinking about it for a second, Solidad knows that by blood, Drew is absolutely correct. But excluding that single factor, he is not getting the whole picture. Sitting down with Drew because she wants to see appeals, Solidad says “Not yet. I gonna get to the bottom of why you came up with that plan and lost three months of his life and then…we’ll see.”
Going back to the television screen, a middle aged man in his lab coat says, “I’ve watched this person grow up from a little girl into a young woman before my very eyes. She is a world champion no matter what happens from this moment on, but if she wants to go past this level, she has to impress just like her mom and her old man before her.”
Lowering his head upon hearing that last remark, Norman laments, saying, “I resent being called ‘old man’ on worldwide television.” He is sitting down in the waiting room of the stage entrance in front of a big screen television. Watching the program along with him are his wife and all three of the Marins. “I’m not old, am I?”
Kelly, Erik and Julia decline to answer the question through their silence, but Caroline decides to answer her husband by telling him, “Well, you’re not that far off for you, honey. After all, you are forty-one going on forty-two in November,” says his wife.
“So are you.”
“Do you really feel the need to rub it in, Norman?”
“Hey, Norman! You want some company?” someone asks, potentially saving himself a scolding from his wife. Turning around, it seems that Kenny has gotten his girlfriend and everyone else that has lent a helping hand towards May’s Grand Festival efforts to come together in support of the coordinator. With Zoey, Kenny, Holly, Conway, Lucy, Brock, Max and Harley all greeting the Petalburg gym leader, he begins to get more than a bit choked up at the respect that is being show for his only daughter.
“Everyone?” he says to get the attention of the large crowd which formed very quickly, “I just wanna thank you all for supporting my daughter this weekend. It means so much and…it really makes this father proud of his girl.”
All of the friends and family feel for Norman during what is clearly an emotional moment for the gym leader. As they sit down in the waiting room in front of the TV, they make it clear that they don’t mind lending a helping hand to May in the least bit.
“Now, down at ringside, we have Robert Weis waiting for May’s arrival in just a few seconds,” Professor Birch informs the audience, “and I understand that May has some…instructions for you and everyone else here in the Slateport Stadium. Would you care to let us in on what the live audience is apparently supposed to do before the appeal?”
“Yes, professor,” he answers after a second-long delay. Holding up a clear, plastic item in his left hand he explains, “A runner handed this to me during the commercial break. He told me that everyone here in the stadium should be wearing one during her appeal. It is a poncho, and as everyone out there knows, you wear one during inclement weather. They are provided for each member of the audience in case it does rain, but as I look up in the sky right now, there’s not a dark cloud to be found. It would seem very silly to wear this at the moment, but if May says we have to, then she must have something…monumental planned that would put even the gods and the titans to shame. Will May write her own chapter of avant-garde pokemon coordinating and tell a story that will be heard long after numerous millennia have passed? The wait is over. Without any further adieu, here is Ms. Vivian Meridian to do the call.”
As music blares through the loudspeakers in the large arena, public address announcer Vivian Meridian is given her cue through an earpiece to read off the card describing the next coordinator to come on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen! Coming to the stage at this time is the 253rd coordinator attempting to qualify for this year’s Hoenn Grand Festival. She is an eight year veteran of the sport who has the rare but potent combination of power pokemon with the finesse and a flare for the spotlight that makes for a true champion of this sport. Now in her seventh attempt at a Grand Festival victory, she will use the services of an unproved rookie trainer in the hopes of catapulting her to the top. To get here, she has won ribbons in Oldale Town, Rustboro City, Fallarbor Town, Fortree City and Mossdeep City. Ladies and gentlemen, from Petalburg City, she is May…Maple!”
Watching from a local hangout in Slateport, Dawn sees the telecast switch to the stage entrance of the large stadium. Swirling her soda with a straw, she makes the comment, “Well, that introduction took long enough.” Just a few seconds later, the second generation coordinator watches as May comes out and walks to the center of the stage in her weatherwoman attire carrying what appears to be a pink poncho in her right hand. Dawn has to give her rival some respect and she does so by saying, “Damn, she looks good!” Taking a couple of gulps of her cream soda, she adds, “Now let’s just see if she can pull this off.”
After walking past half of a football field to make it to center stage of the arena, May puts on her poncho and stands at attention at one end of the ring floor awaiting the instructions of the referees on duty. Those who watch in the stadium and at home can see that her poncho has several pictures of Skitty on it, and it becomes quite clear to just about everyone which one of her pokemon she will be using this afternoon.
As the referees convene between one another, they decide that it is time to get the show on the road and begin the appeal. “May, whenever you’re ready, you may begin,” the senior referee says to the coordinator.
Nodding, she reaches into the front pocket of her skirt, presses the button of her pokeball to expand it to regular length and throws it to the center of the stage, saying, “Skitty, front and center!” The ball opens up to reveal a red light and a cat pokemon who says her name briefly before smiling while on center stage.
Walking in the direction of her pokemon, May takes out another item from her pockets. Kneeling down, she brushes the fur of Skitty and then places what appears to be some sort of ring around her tail with a large pink block attached to one half of the band. May clasps the ring onto a portion of the tail and makes sure that it will not fall off easily. After a final check, May is assured that the performance will go off without a hitch. “Do well, my friend,” she says before once again brushing her fur with her hand and going back to her position at the other end of the battle floor.
Nodding to the referees once again, May lets them know, “I’m ready,” and they blow their whistles signaling the booth to start the clock for her appeal.
“Hey, Skitty! Turn around!” she exclaims to her pokemon. Turning around, Skitty sees something that she likes quite a bit. It’s one of Kelly’s special pokeblocks, which are like candy for the cat pokemon. Skitty goes through the exercise of chasing her tail in an attempt to reach the ring and get her mouth onto the block.
‘Perfect,’ May thinks. “Now let’s get going! Start off with rain dance!” Slowly but surely, drizzle starts to saturate portions of the field and a few of the spectators, but at the moment, nobody is reaching for their ponchos. Seconds pass and the rain gets to shower level and most of the folks in the audience are putting on their weather wear so they will not get drenched. Rain dance is doing its job and then some as the field and its observers feel waterlogged.
Feeling that Skitty has proven her point, May goes to her next command. “Okay, how about we cool things down? Let’s see ice beam, now!” With an attack like ice beam fired in every single direction on an already drenched field, the live crowd can feel the chill. Shivering through their sandals and light shoes, they know that ponchos were not enough for this occasion and they would have been better off getting heavy coats for the appeal instead of thin plastic even though Hoenn is not known for being a cold region. Despite the cute and cuddly look of the pokemon performing at the moment, Skitty packs a heavy punch bringing a cold snap to a place which experiences more than its share of warmth.
Skitty, despite having spun for over forty-five seconds, does not appear to be tired as she remains on the chase for a very stubborn pokeblock. “Skitty, I don’t think that it’s cold enough here. Give ‘em blizzard and let’s turn this into a winter wonderland.” Given that it is the month of March, that is quite a proposition for the normal type but considering the success of the ice beams, it was not difficult by any means. Skitty successfully played the role of a snow blower, but in reverse. She blew snow onto the crowd and on the field, covering spectators and turning them into snow people before May’s very eyes. If they didn’t feel the cold then, they were cold-blooded.
“All right! Now, let’s see thunder!”
More than a minute has passed with Skitty still spinning in her pursuit of the pokeblock. Though the snow continues to fall, a bolt of lightning makes an appearance during the fall of frozen water. Seeing lightning during a snowfall is a rare but possible occurrence and it shocked many people in the crowd, no pun intended, to see the thunderbolt come down directly from the sky and onto the playing field.
“Now, combine more thunder with an icy wind!”
Even more thunderbolts come down to the playing ground and with Skitty in continual motion around and around, the icy wind twists around in a funnel that rises to the top of the stadium growing in size and stature as the seconds tick down in her appeal time. Lightning strikes and a cold tornado cause a one of a kind effect to happen and a curious public to look on in awe. May’s appeal seemed to mimic movie magic with everything looking larger and more defined like it was seen through a silver screen in a dark room. High definition had nothing on what the many spectators in Slateport were seeing.
May takes yet another look at the clock to see that there were about forty seconds remaining in her appeal. At this point, she is on schedule in terms of what she wanted to do in the time she wanted to do it. For the longest time, she holds onto this particular combination of thunderbolts and an icy tornado longer than any other command in her appeal since it began. This allows the attacks to grow even greater in their overall size as Skitty continues to keep up her overall pace in her spinning.
As the tornado continues to rise higher and higher into the air twisting its cold air mass in a foreign direction compared to its natural tendency to fall down to the ground, the time continues to tick. If May did nothing else after this point, she will have given the fans an appeal that would take her to tomorrow’s elimination round, but she has just a little bit more in store for the masses.
“Now, flash!” she screams with all her might, and all at once the crowd is temporarily blinded by a flash of energy in the form of light. The audience can’t see anything, but what they can here is the faint sound of wind gusting off in the distance and light thunder booming with less frequency than just fifteen seconds prior to the flash.
While all is calm at this moment, May continues to keep the atmosphere going in that direction with her final command. “All right, Skitty! Wrap things up with sunny day.” With this command, the storm that once dominated the field is now cleared and the sun intensifies, even though it will go down in just a few hours. The sun carries with it several effects. For one, the field and the people in the stands are drying very quickly, rendering the use of the ponchos unnecessary for some folks. Another effect that comes with the blazing sun in the sky is that the moisture that is still in the atmosphere refracts the rays of the hydrogen and helium orb, creating a large rainbow in the sky and eliciting ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from those watching live. The arch of this semicircle in the air stretches from one end of the stadium to the other, with its intent for everyone to see it made possible through many weeks of practice and not a single moment left to spare as the referee’s whistle blows once more signifying the end of the appeal and causing a high amount of applause inside the open-aired stadium.
Chants continue for the coordinator, and a few people even chant the number ‘fifty’ to let the judges know what they thought of the appeal. Raising her arms in a sign of a small victory, she takes her poncho off of her back, stuffs it in her pocket and walks up to her pokemon to let her know she can stop spinning. Pulling out another special blend of Kelly’s pokeblocks, she feeds a blue and a pink one to Skitty, returns her to her pokeball and says to her, “You were incredible, Skitty. Thank you, my friend.”
Then, much to her surprise, an arm is draped across her shoulder. Sharply turning around she feels relief knowing that it is Robert, who wants to speak to her about what just occurred. “May. May, I know that as a reporter for this event, more or less, I should be objective, but I doubt that anyone will fault me for saying…that that was one of the finest appeals that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in person.” The crowd once again cheers wildly as they agree with the former Hoenn Grand Festival champion. Though May does not speak through the microphone, she does thank Robert for the compliment.
“Unfortunately,” Robert adds, “I do not have a vote in the appeals. The five individuals over there, however, do have a vote. Why don’t we begin with Director Contesta?”
“Yes, May. I can’t be objective, but I will say that I agree with everything Robert said. You brought what is often referred to as the ‘A’ game. Using all the elements in unique ways showed your Skitty’s power along with its gracefulness as it was able to harness all of this energy without things getting out of control. Fantastic work!”
“Thank you. Now Suziko?”
“Amazingly remarkable are the words that come to mind immediately,” Suziko responds.
“And Slateport City Nurse Joy?”
“Just a great weather display. You never get the feeling that Skitty is capable of doing so much as a normal type pokemon, but she overachieves in the right way putting her work front and center more so than she did herself.”
“Three down and two to go,” Robert states. “Now let’s hear from the Littleroot Town Nurse Joy!”
“I’ll just say that you’ve made your first step to the next round. If you haven’t made it to the next round with that performance, something is wrong.”
Awaiting yet another bout of applause to die down, Robert then says, “And last but not least, the Nurse Joy of Ever Grande City.”
Smiling towards May and not being able to find the words to say, she just adds, “What everyone else said. Incredible job! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!”
“Okay, while the judges tally their scores, I’ve got a few questions. First off, May, how in the world did you come up with the idea for this appeal?”
“Well, it came about while I was training for the Grand Festival. My main trainer Kelly Cruz-Marin did a great deal of studying on Skitty’s attack list and found that a lot of the attacks would correlate together well. It was just a matter of getting things done in time, which I was able to do.”
“Now, where did the idea of having Skitty spinning throughout the appeal come from?”
“That was actually an eleventh hour decision. Brock Harrison is here with his girlfriend Lucy to help me during final practice, and he made the suggestion that having Skitty spin would increase the attack power and make it so everyone in the arena could see just what was happening. I’m glad that it was able to work so well.”
“And indeed they did see all that happened. This audience; some of them are still in awe of what you’ve done this afternoon. Finally, I’m sure everyone out there wants to know what you used to keep Skitty running in circles for so long.”
“It’s her favorite blend of pokeblock called ‘Sweet Caroline’ attached to a ring on her tail. It was made by my trainer just for Skitty. She likes it more than my other pokemon.”
“Okay, I’m being told now that the judges have their scores ready.” Pointing to a part of the stadium with a screen, Robert explains, “If you look up there, May, you’ll see the overall score for your appeal. Now…let’s all see what you got. Up in the booth? What’s the score?”
A second or so passes as May takes a deep breath and watches the screen without blinking an eye or turning her glaze. It pays off as she is rewarded with seeing the numbers five and zero on the screen in that order. The crowd, May and Robert all go wild with Robert exclaiming “You got a fifty! You got a fifty! You got a perfect score! It’s the first perfect score today! You’re number one on the charts, May!”
May does not really listen to what Robert has to say. Instead, she screams wildly and jumps up in the air several times knowing that all the hard work it took just to qualify for this event has paid off, and then some. All May cares about is hugging the person nearest to her, and that happens to be Robert, who she squeezes with all her might while still jumping up in the air taking the former Grand Festival champion with her.
Letting go of May, there is one question that Robert is sure is on everyone’s mind. “May, how do you feel?”
After a squeal and a wide-mouthed smile, May looks at the microphone in front of her face and says, “I…I…I’m speechless. I’m sorry. I got no words. But I did it! I did it!”
“Thanks, May, and now you can head to the back and celebrate. You deserve it!”
“Thank you, Robert, and extra special thanks go out to each and every one of you here! I just can’t do it without your support over the last eight years. Thank you!” she says once more running down the ramp leading to the stage entranceway. While a walk takes about thirty seconds or more, the run cuts the time into about eight seconds and runs through the curtain where she is met by welcome arms.
While friends and family applaud, whoop, holler and congratulate May in the backstage area, Kelly gives her the greatest congratulations of anyone else by holding her girlfriend in her arms and swinging her around saying “You did it, May. It was all you, baby! I knew you could do it!”
“Kelly, cut it out,” Kenny interjects. “I don’t know if May is as well conditioned as Skitty. If she throws up, then it’s your fault.”
“Kenny, be quiet,” Zoey replies while a lot of the other guests laugh guiltily at his quip. “You just might save a life—like your own.”
Kelly finally stops swinging her girl around like she was a participant of the hammer throw in the Olympics to say, “Don’t worry, Zoey. Nothing will get me down.”
“Now I gotta say,” Conway adds, “that was worth the cost of admission alone. I love training, but that would convince almost anyone to get into coordinating. I would have given you an eleven if I had a vote. Damn,what an appeal!”
“I agree,” says Pike Queen Lucy. “You stuck with the plan until the very end, and it paid off. I said you were well on your way to a fifty earlier and…let’s just say that I know great work with pokemon when I see it.”
Shaking the hand of the Frontier Brain, Lucy thanks her while being held and hugged by her parents and brother, who can not stop telling their daughter and sister how proud they are of her. From this point on, May gets the same treatment from everyone else close by.
Hearing the compliments come almost ad nauseum, Kenny grows more than just a bit impatient. While still in the midst of many kudos going in the direction of May, with one now coming from Holly, Kenny makes the suggestion, “Okay, no offense meant but I think we all understand. We are all proud of May for getting the perfect score in her appeal. So why don’t we do the appropriate thing and…celebrate! I know of a great restaurant in town. When they know who you are, May, I know they’ll give you a free meal and then we can all go dancing.”
“Yes, Kenny,” Zoey agrees. “They’ll give her the free meal, because she got the perfect score. What did you do to deserve a free meal?”
“I made the suggestion, Z-Girl.”
“You know what?” Kelly interjects in order to avoid any further arguments between Kenny and Zoey, “That’s a great idea, Kenny. This victory does deserve to be celebrated. Who wants to celebrate?” Kelly gets nothing but approval for the idea to go out and give May a proper celebration for her accomplishments. Turning to her partner; she feels it necessary to emphasize an important point. “But remember, May. This is just the beginning. Your foot is in the door now, but I know you’re not satisfied by just making it to the next round, right?”
“Heck no,” she answers. “I know I’m just getting started. I’ve got work to do to figure out when to utilize Blaziken and the others tomorrow. I know I can’t celebrate for long, but I will most certainly enjoy this one as long as I can.”
“As you should, girl,” Kelly responds. “I mean, think about it! There are seventy people left! Only a couple of coordinators have a shot at matching you. There’s Dawn Berlitz, who will go out last, and then there’s…”
Kelly was about to finish her thought and let everyone in the party know who she thought had a great chance of scoring a mark like May just did. She was close, but ended up not doing it because she heard the sounds of members of the paparazzi flashing their cameras and asking for someone to pose along with her boyfriend. This person, along with the throng of media, walks through the tunnel and talks about proper conduct of an ‘idol’ while in contest mode. Kelly could care less what she is saying to the press, but Zoey can’t help but exclaim, “Hey, it’s Marina Del Raymond and her boyfriend Jimmy Aurum! I didn’t know they’d be here!”
Zoey, a big fan of the pokemon idol, waves in the direction of Marina, who is getting a look at the backstage area before her appeal in about an hour. Marina, who never misses an opportunity to show her fans her love, walks over to Zoey to say hello…and she unexpectedly sees Kelly, Erik and Julia Marin off to the side. Watching Kelly wide eyed, she can’t find the words to come out of her system having not seen either of the three in several years.
Out of whatever politeness she can muster for the young woman, Kelly greets Marina, unemotionally saying “Hello, Marina. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Hey, Marina. Who are these people?” Jimmy asks from behind her back, not recognizing any of the faces.
Flustered, the coordinator does not know how to answer the question. The fact is that answering the question will bring about many more questions and Marina just isn’t ready for the third degree to come. “Uh…no one,” she answers, hoping that Jimmy didn’t hear Kelly call her by name. “I thought they were someone I knew from a while back, but…I made a mistake. I don’t know them. Come on, honey. Let’s go to the club box and check out some more appeals,” and with these words, Jimmy, Marina and the paparazzi walk through the tunnel once more and away from Kelly and the crew.
Watching what happened, no one really knows what to make of the scene. Everyone feels more than a bit uncomfortable given the situation and no one really wants to say anything. Losing her mind in the midst of the silence, Kelly says “Let’s just go, everyone. Come on. Let’s celebrate. Don’t worry about it.”
“Kelly, what was that?”
“I said don’t ****ing worry about it, Zoey!” Kelly screams before leaving through the tunnel and out of the stadium. May runs after Kelly with both sets of parents and the rest of the family and friends not that far behind her.
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Longest chapter by far at nearly six thousand words. And some trivia; 'Why did I give Jimmy the last name of 'Aurum'?'
Your Thoughts?
May's appeal is here! Enjoy! I hope it doesn't disappoint!
http://http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4127100/28/All_Roads_Lead_to_the_Grand_Festival
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 28- Without Any Further Adieu)
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“Paul, what kind of soda do you want before I leave the kitchen?”
While on the couch with Ash lying across his body, he answers “Uh…do you have any ginger ale, Ms. Ketchum?”
Checking the refrigerator one more time, she sees that there is one more ginger ale remaining. “Yep! It’s the last one too!” she says as she enters the family room with a tray containing a large bowl of popcorn, Paul’s ginger ale and Ash’s lemon-lime soda. “Here you go, boys!”
After comments such as “Great! Thank you!” from Paul and “Awesome! Thanks mom!” from Ash, Delia makes the turn to leave and go back into the kitchen while her son starts to dig into the great collection of kernels.
Before she can get any further, Paul takes a hold of her arm and says, “Wait a minute! Aren’t you gonna stick around? May’s appeal is next!”
“It is?” Mulling over it for a second, she realizes that her son and his boyfriend are correct. “Oh, yeah! That’s right. Forgive me, Paul. I guess making all of the dinner plans for tomorrow’s has got me running in a thousand directions. I have no choice to go at it on my own, though. Even after all these years, Ash still doesn’t know how to boil water on a stove.”
“Mom!” Ash counters, trying to save face in front of his ex-rival. It doesn’t work as Paul is chuckling at the sentence-long story from Delia.
“Oh, God. That sounds so…”
“Pathetic?” she asks.
“Yep! There’s my word!” he exclaims, giving Delia a high five in the process. Patting the left side of the couch where he was just sitting, Paul says to Ash’s mother, “Come on, have a seat! We’ve got plenty of room!” While she obliges to Paul’s request, the star pokemon trainer makes the comment to the young man next to him, “I like your mother more and more each day, Ash! Not to mention the fact that she has so much dirt on you that you could be a large construction site.”
“Okay, enough Paul,” Ash says, desperately seeking to regain control of the conversation, “I think that we are supposed to be watching an appeal of our friend now. I don’t know how this turned into the roast of Ashton Ketchum so quickly.”
“Oh, come now! It’s all in fun, buddy! Loosen up!” Paul retorts. “Besides, I know Nata has something awesome planned for May. She wouldn’t let May or any of her friends down for nothing. She’s like Allstate; with her you’re in good hands.”
“Hold that thought, Paul. They’re about to start.”
Putting down the remote to the television, the trio in Pallet now have their eyes and ears glued to the television as they hear the play-by-play man Gavin, analyst Melinda and commentator Professor Birch talk about who is next on the list to do qualify for the second round.
“Coming up next is someone in coordinating who, quite frankly, has a pedigree that says she should be one of the absolute best by the time her career ends,” Gavin explains to the viewing audience. “Her father is a prominent gym leader here in the Hoenn region and her mother was a champion pokemon coordinator during her teen years. But when she was young, her parents felt it best to keep her from the spotlight and let her live a normal life, much like her father’s specialty pokemon during battle.”
“Not once did they ever say that their daughter or younger son had to follow in their footsteps and become great pokemon trainers or coordinators,” Melinda adds, “but it seemed that the itch caught them very early like it does many youngsters nationwide. I was not innocent of it myself, but I digress. Initially, as she admitted to us earlier, she was not the greatest fan of pokemon, but she became a great student of the game learning from trainers and coordinators alike over the past eight years.”
The film now cuts to a sit-down interview that May gave earlier to the press, more specifically, Melinda about how she came to be as a top coordinator. “Truthfully speaking, no one can ever do it alone,” May says to the 1992 Grand Festival Champion. “I’ve had so much help, not just this tournament, but for my whole career. I’ve gotten help from the whole spectrum of people who I really cared for a while back, but not so much right now. It doesn’t matter, though, because the life lessons that I’ve learned from this line of work have put me in what I feel is my greatest position yet. I know that I can win the Grand Festival. My trainer Kelly, her family and all of my friends…”
“I don’t see why they have to do this all the time,” says an observer sitting at the foot of his bed. “All of these are the same when you get down to the basics.”
“What are you moaning about now, Drew?” Solidad asks, leaving the bathroom of her hotel room. Unlike Drew, May and the other coordinators competing in the Grand Festival, Solidad is not staying in the Slateport Milton. Her time is being spent at a local hotel within the city limits, allowing for more family oriented room styles including the one she chose with a separate room giving her more space to place a collapsible crib for her son and several other items of choice. “It better not have to do with Damien. I just got him to go back to sleep.”
“No, May’s on the television, and she’s about to do her appeal. The thing is they’ve got these useless interviews where they just talk about how you got to this point, and how you couldn’t have gotten here without the help of so many people. Whenever you do an interview like that, you undermine yourself so much. Yes, there are a lot of people that have sacrificed so we could have great careers, but we had to put in more than our fair share of effort too! That’s all I’m saying.”
“Really?” Solidad replies, not entirely convinced. “Because I get the feeling that you have some sour grapes because May is being negative towards you once again. No one has those feelings unless they…have feelings.”
“I just…you know what? She’s chosen her lot in life and she can live with it. She claims she won’t be together because of Kelly, and if she wants another girl, fine, but I hope she’s ready…”
“Drew, cut the crap, please,” Solidad interjects. “Forget her. She’s in your past. She’ll handle her own when the time comes.” Pointing to the other bedroom, she states, “In that bedroom is your future and it’s not a girlfriend or some other sex symbol. Despite what Dawn said, you don’t have to be with me to love that boy. I’ll be honest; I do want to be with you. I really do want to be with you as crazy as it might sound, but remember that the way to my heart is through my son.”
“Isn’t he our son?”
Thinking about it for a second, Solidad knows that by blood, Drew is absolutely correct. But excluding that single factor, he is not getting the whole picture. Sitting down with Drew because she wants to see appeals, Solidad says “Not yet. I gonna get to the bottom of why you came up with that plan and lost three months of his life and then…we’ll see.”
Going back to the television screen, a middle aged man in his lab coat says, “I’ve watched this person grow up from a little girl into a young woman before my very eyes. She is a world champion no matter what happens from this moment on, but if she wants to go past this level, she has to impress just like her mom and her old man before her.”
Lowering his head upon hearing that last remark, Norman laments, saying, “I resent being called ‘old man’ on worldwide television.” He is sitting down in the waiting room of the stage entrance in front of a big screen television. Watching the program along with him are his wife and all three of the Marins. “I’m not old, am I?”
Kelly, Erik and Julia decline to answer the question through their silence, but Caroline decides to answer her husband by telling him, “Well, you’re not that far off for you, honey. After all, you are forty-one going on forty-two in November,” says his wife.
“So are you.”
“Do you really feel the need to rub it in, Norman?”
“Hey, Norman! You want some company?” someone asks, potentially saving himself a scolding from his wife. Turning around, it seems that Kenny has gotten his girlfriend and everyone else that has lent a helping hand towards May’s Grand Festival efforts to come together in support of the coordinator. With Zoey, Kenny, Holly, Conway, Lucy, Brock, Max and Harley all greeting the Petalburg gym leader, he begins to get more than a bit choked up at the respect that is being show for his only daughter.
“Everyone?” he says to get the attention of the large crowd which formed very quickly, “I just wanna thank you all for supporting my daughter this weekend. It means so much and…it really makes this father proud of his girl.”
All of the friends and family feel for Norman during what is clearly an emotional moment for the gym leader. As they sit down in the waiting room in front of the TV, they make it clear that they don’t mind lending a helping hand to May in the least bit.
“Now, down at ringside, we have Robert Weis waiting for May’s arrival in just a few seconds,” Professor Birch informs the audience, “and I understand that May has some…instructions for you and everyone else here in the Slateport Stadium. Would you care to let us in on what the live audience is apparently supposed to do before the appeal?”
“Yes, professor,” he answers after a second-long delay. Holding up a clear, plastic item in his left hand he explains, “A runner handed this to me during the commercial break. He told me that everyone here in the stadium should be wearing one during her appeal. It is a poncho, and as everyone out there knows, you wear one during inclement weather. They are provided for each member of the audience in case it does rain, but as I look up in the sky right now, there’s not a dark cloud to be found. It would seem very silly to wear this at the moment, but if May says we have to, then she must have something…monumental planned that would put even the gods and the titans to shame. Will May write her own chapter of avant-garde pokemon coordinating and tell a story that will be heard long after numerous millennia have passed? The wait is over. Without any further adieu, here is Ms. Vivian Meridian to do the call.”
As music blares through the loudspeakers in the large arena, public address announcer Vivian Meridian is given her cue through an earpiece to read off the card describing the next coordinator to come on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen! Coming to the stage at this time is the 253rd coordinator attempting to qualify for this year’s Hoenn Grand Festival. She is an eight year veteran of the sport who has the rare but potent combination of power pokemon with the finesse and a flare for the spotlight that makes for a true champion of this sport. Now in her seventh attempt at a Grand Festival victory, she will use the services of an unproved rookie trainer in the hopes of catapulting her to the top. To get here, she has won ribbons in Oldale Town, Rustboro City, Fallarbor Town, Fortree City and Mossdeep City. Ladies and gentlemen, from Petalburg City, she is May…Maple!”
Watching from a local hangout in Slateport, Dawn sees the telecast switch to the stage entrance of the large stadium. Swirling her soda with a straw, she makes the comment, “Well, that introduction took long enough.” Just a few seconds later, the second generation coordinator watches as May comes out and walks to the center of the stage in her weatherwoman attire carrying what appears to be a pink poncho in her right hand. Dawn has to give her rival some respect and she does so by saying, “Damn, she looks good!” Taking a couple of gulps of her cream soda, she adds, “Now let’s just see if she can pull this off.”
After walking past half of a football field to make it to center stage of the arena, May puts on her poncho and stands at attention at one end of the ring floor awaiting the instructions of the referees on duty. Those who watch in the stadium and at home can see that her poncho has several pictures of Skitty on it, and it becomes quite clear to just about everyone which one of her pokemon she will be using this afternoon.
As the referees convene between one another, they decide that it is time to get the show on the road and begin the appeal. “May, whenever you’re ready, you may begin,” the senior referee says to the coordinator.
Nodding, she reaches into the front pocket of her skirt, presses the button of her pokeball to expand it to regular length and throws it to the center of the stage, saying, “Skitty, front and center!” The ball opens up to reveal a red light and a cat pokemon who says her name briefly before smiling while on center stage.
Walking in the direction of her pokemon, May takes out another item from her pockets. Kneeling down, she brushes the fur of Skitty and then places what appears to be some sort of ring around her tail with a large pink block attached to one half of the band. May clasps the ring onto a portion of the tail and makes sure that it will not fall off easily. After a final check, May is assured that the performance will go off without a hitch. “Do well, my friend,” she says before once again brushing her fur with her hand and going back to her position at the other end of the battle floor.
Nodding to the referees once again, May lets them know, “I’m ready,” and they blow their whistles signaling the booth to start the clock for her appeal.
“Hey, Skitty! Turn around!” she exclaims to her pokemon. Turning around, Skitty sees something that she likes quite a bit. It’s one of Kelly’s special pokeblocks, which are like candy for the cat pokemon. Skitty goes through the exercise of chasing her tail in an attempt to reach the ring and get her mouth onto the block.
‘Perfect,’ May thinks. “Now let’s get going! Start off with rain dance!” Slowly but surely, drizzle starts to saturate portions of the field and a few of the spectators, but at the moment, nobody is reaching for their ponchos. Seconds pass and the rain gets to shower level and most of the folks in the audience are putting on their weather wear so they will not get drenched. Rain dance is doing its job and then some as the field and its observers feel waterlogged.
Feeling that Skitty has proven her point, May goes to her next command. “Okay, how about we cool things down? Let’s see ice beam, now!” With an attack like ice beam fired in every single direction on an already drenched field, the live crowd can feel the chill. Shivering through their sandals and light shoes, they know that ponchos were not enough for this occasion and they would have been better off getting heavy coats for the appeal instead of thin plastic even though Hoenn is not known for being a cold region. Despite the cute and cuddly look of the pokemon performing at the moment, Skitty packs a heavy punch bringing a cold snap to a place which experiences more than its share of warmth.
Skitty, despite having spun for over forty-five seconds, does not appear to be tired as she remains on the chase for a very stubborn pokeblock. “Skitty, I don’t think that it’s cold enough here. Give ‘em blizzard and let’s turn this into a winter wonderland.” Given that it is the month of March, that is quite a proposition for the normal type but considering the success of the ice beams, it was not difficult by any means. Skitty successfully played the role of a snow blower, but in reverse. She blew snow onto the crowd and on the field, covering spectators and turning them into snow people before May’s very eyes. If they didn’t feel the cold then, they were cold-blooded.
“All right! Now, let’s see thunder!”
More than a minute has passed with Skitty still spinning in her pursuit of the pokeblock. Though the snow continues to fall, a bolt of lightning makes an appearance during the fall of frozen water. Seeing lightning during a snowfall is a rare but possible occurrence and it shocked many people in the crowd, no pun intended, to see the thunderbolt come down directly from the sky and onto the playing field.
“Now, combine more thunder with an icy wind!”
Even more thunderbolts come down to the playing ground and with Skitty in continual motion around and around, the icy wind twists around in a funnel that rises to the top of the stadium growing in size and stature as the seconds tick down in her appeal time. Lightning strikes and a cold tornado cause a one of a kind effect to happen and a curious public to look on in awe. May’s appeal seemed to mimic movie magic with everything looking larger and more defined like it was seen through a silver screen in a dark room. High definition had nothing on what the many spectators in Slateport were seeing.
May takes yet another look at the clock to see that there were about forty seconds remaining in her appeal. At this point, she is on schedule in terms of what she wanted to do in the time she wanted to do it. For the longest time, she holds onto this particular combination of thunderbolts and an icy tornado longer than any other command in her appeal since it began. This allows the attacks to grow even greater in their overall size as Skitty continues to keep up her overall pace in her spinning.
As the tornado continues to rise higher and higher into the air twisting its cold air mass in a foreign direction compared to its natural tendency to fall down to the ground, the time continues to tick. If May did nothing else after this point, she will have given the fans an appeal that would take her to tomorrow’s elimination round, but she has just a little bit more in store for the masses.
“Now, flash!” she screams with all her might, and all at once the crowd is temporarily blinded by a flash of energy in the form of light. The audience can’t see anything, but what they can here is the faint sound of wind gusting off in the distance and light thunder booming with less frequency than just fifteen seconds prior to the flash.
While all is calm at this moment, May continues to keep the atmosphere going in that direction with her final command. “All right, Skitty! Wrap things up with sunny day.” With this command, the storm that once dominated the field is now cleared and the sun intensifies, even though it will go down in just a few hours. The sun carries with it several effects. For one, the field and the people in the stands are drying very quickly, rendering the use of the ponchos unnecessary for some folks. Another effect that comes with the blazing sun in the sky is that the moisture that is still in the atmosphere refracts the rays of the hydrogen and helium orb, creating a large rainbow in the sky and eliciting ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from those watching live. The arch of this semicircle in the air stretches from one end of the stadium to the other, with its intent for everyone to see it made possible through many weeks of practice and not a single moment left to spare as the referee’s whistle blows once more signifying the end of the appeal and causing a high amount of applause inside the open-aired stadium.
Chants continue for the coordinator, and a few people even chant the number ‘fifty’ to let the judges know what they thought of the appeal. Raising her arms in a sign of a small victory, she takes her poncho off of her back, stuffs it in her pocket and walks up to her pokemon to let her know she can stop spinning. Pulling out another special blend of Kelly’s pokeblocks, she feeds a blue and a pink one to Skitty, returns her to her pokeball and says to her, “You were incredible, Skitty. Thank you, my friend.”
Then, much to her surprise, an arm is draped across her shoulder. Sharply turning around she feels relief knowing that it is Robert, who wants to speak to her about what just occurred. “May. May, I know that as a reporter for this event, more or less, I should be objective, but I doubt that anyone will fault me for saying…that that was one of the finest appeals that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in person.” The crowd once again cheers wildly as they agree with the former Hoenn Grand Festival champion. Though May does not speak through the microphone, she does thank Robert for the compliment.
“Unfortunately,” Robert adds, “I do not have a vote in the appeals. The five individuals over there, however, do have a vote. Why don’t we begin with Director Contesta?”
“Yes, May. I can’t be objective, but I will say that I agree with everything Robert said. You brought what is often referred to as the ‘A’ game. Using all the elements in unique ways showed your Skitty’s power along with its gracefulness as it was able to harness all of this energy without things getting out of control. Fantastic work!”
“Thank you. Now Suziko?”
“Amazingly remarkable are the words that come to mind immediately,” Suziko responds.
“And Slateport City Nurse Joy?”
“Just a great weather display. You never get the feeling that Skitty is capable of doing so much as a normal type pokemon, but she overachieves in the right way putting her work front and center more so than she did herself.”
“Three down and two to go,” Robert states. “Now let’s hear from the Littleroot Town Nurse Joy!”
“I’ll just say that you’ve made your first step to the next round. If you haven’t made it to the next round with that performance, something is wrong.”
Awaiting yet another bout of applause to die down, Robert then says, “And last but not least, the Nurse Joy of Ever Grande City.”
Smiling towards May and not being able to find the words to say, she just adds, “What everyone else said. Incredible job! I’ve never seen anything quite like it!”
“Okay, while the judges tally their scores, I’ve got a few questions. First off, May, how in the world did you come up with the idea for this appeal?”
“Well, it came about while I was training for the Grand Festival. My main trainer Kelly Cruz-Marin did a great deal of studying on Skitty’s attack list and found that a lot of the attacks would correlate together well. It was just a matter of getting things done in time, which I was able to do.”
“Now, where did the idea of having Skitty spinning throughout the appeal come from?”
“That was actually an eleventh hour decision. Brock Harrison is here with his girlfriend Lucy to help me during final practice, and he made the suggestion that having Skitty spin would increase the attack power and make it so everyone in the arena could see just what was happening. I’m glad that it was able to work so well.”
“And indeed they did see all that happened. This audience; some of them are still in awe of what you’ve done this afternoon. Finally, I’m sure everyone out there wants to know what you used to keep Skitty running in circles for so long.”
“It’s her favorite blend of pokeblock called ‘Sweet Caroline’ attached to a ring on her tail. It was made by my trainer just for Skitty. She likes it more than my other pokemon.”
“Okay, I’m being told now that the judges have their scores ready.” Pointing to a part of the stadium with a screen, Robert explains, “If you look up there, May, you’ll see the overall score for your appeal. Now…let’s all see what you got. Up in the booth? What’s the score?”
A second or so passes as May takes a deep breath and watches the screen without blinking an eye or turning her glaze. It pays off as she is rewarded with seeing the numbers five and zero on the screen in that order. The crowd, May and Robert all go wild with Robert exclaiming “You got a fifty! You got a fifty! You got a perfect score! It’s the first perfect score today! You’re number one on the charts, May!”
May does not really listen to what Robert has to say. Instead, she screams wildly and jumps up in the air several times knowing that all the hard work it took just to qualify for this event has paid off, and then some. All May cares about is hugging the person nearest to her, and that happens to be Robert, who she squeezes with all her might while still jumping up in the air taking the former Grand Festival champion with her.
Letting go of May, there is one question that Robert is sure is on everyone’s mind. “May, how do you feel?”
After a squeal and a wide-mouthed smile, May looks at the microphone in front of her face and says, “I…I…I’m speechless. I’m sorry. I got no words. But I did it! I did it!”
“Thanks, May, and now you can head to the back and celebrate. You deserve it!”
“Thank you, Robert, and extra special thanks go out to each and every one of you here! I just can’t do it without your support over the last eight years. Thank you!” she says once more running down the ramp leading to the stage entranceway. While a walk takes about thirty seconds or more, the run cuts the time into about eight seconds and runs through the curtain where she is met by welcome arms.
While friends and family applaud, whoop, holler and congratulate May in the backstage area, Kelly gives her the greatest congratulations of anyone else by holding her girlfriend in her arms and swinging her around saying “You did it, May. It was all you, baby! I knew you could do it!”
“Kelly, cut it out,” Kenny interjects. “I don’t know if May is as well conditioned as Skitty. If she throws up, then it’s your fault.”
“Kenny, be quiet,” Zoey replies while a lot of the other guests laugh guiltily at his quip. “You just might save a life—like your own.”
Kelly finally stops swinging her girl around like she was a participant of the hammer throw in the Olympics to say, “Don’t worry, Zoey. Nothing will get me down.”
“Now I gotta say,” Conway adds, “that was worth the cost of admission alone. I love training, but that would convince almost anyone to get into coordinating. I would have given you an eleven if I had a vote. Damn,what an appeal!”
“I agree,” says Pike Queen Lucy. “You stuck with the plan until the very end, and it paid off. I said you were well on your way to a fifty earlier and…let’s just say that I know great work with pokemon when I see it.”
Shaking the hand of the Frontier Brain, Lucy thanks her while being held and hugged by her parents and brother, who can not stop telling their daughter and sister how proud they are of her. From this point on, May gets the same treatment from everyone else close by.
Hearing the compliments come almost ad nauseum, Kenny grows more than just a bit impatient. While still in the midst of many kudos going in the direction of May, with one now coming from Holly, Kenny makes the suggestion, “Okay, no offense meant but I think we all understand. We are all proud of May for getting the perfect score in her appeal. So why don’t we do the appropriate thing and…celebrate! I know of a great restaurant in town. When they know who you are, May, I know they’ll give you a free meal and then we can all go dancing.”
“Yes, Kenny,” Zoey agrees. “They’ll give her the free meal, because she got the perfect score. What did you do to deserve a free meal?”
“I made the suggestion, Z-Girl.”
“You know what?” Kelly interjects in order to avoid any further arguments between Kenny and Zoey, “That’s a great idea, Kenny. This victory does deserve to be celebrated. Who wants to celebrate?” Kelly gets nothing but approval for the idea to go out and give May a proper celebration for her accomplishments. Turning to her partner; she feels it necessary to emphasize an important point. “But remember, May. This is just the beginning. Your foot is in the door now, but I know you’re not satisfied by just making it to the next round, right?”
“Heck no,” she answers. “I know I’m just getting started. I’ve got work to do to figure out when to utilize Blaziken and the others tomorrow. I know I can’t celebrate for long, but I will most certainly enjoy this one as long as I can.”
“As you should, girl,” Kelly responds. “I mean, think about it! There are seventy people left! Only a couple of coordinators have a shot at matching you. There’s Dawn Berlitz, who will go out last, and then there’s…”
Kelly was about to finish her thought and let everyone in the party know who she thought had a great chance of scoring a mark like May just did. She was close, but ended up not doing it because she heard the sounds of members of the paparazzi flashing their cameras and asking for someone to pose along with her boyfriend. This person, along with the throng of media, walks through the tunnel and talks about proper conduct of an ‘idol’ while in contest mode. Kelly could care less what she is saying to the press, but Zoey can’t help but exclaim, “Hey, it’s Marina Del Raymond and her boyfriend Jimmy Aurum! I didn’t know they’d be here!”
Zoey, a big fan of the pokemon idol, waves in the direction of Marina, who is getting a look at the backstage area before her appeal in about an hour. Marina, who never misses an opportunity to show her fans her love, walks over to Zoey to say hello…and she unexpectedly sees Kelly, Erik and Julia Marin off to the side. Watching Kelly wide eyed, she can’t find the words to come out of her system having not seen either of the three in several years.
Out of whatever politeness she can muster for the young woman, Kelly greets Marina, unemotionally saying “Hello, Marina. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Hey, Marina. Who are these people?” Jimmy asks from behind her back, not recognizing any of the faces.
Flustered, the coordinator does not know how to answer the question. The fact is that answering the question will bring about many more questions and Marina just isn’t ready for the third degree to come. “Uh…no one,” she answers, hoping that Jimmy didn’t hear Kelly call her by name. “I thought they were someone I knew from a while back, but…I made a mistake. I don’t know them. Come on, honey. Let’s go to the club box and check out some more appeals,” and with these words, Jimmy, Marina and the paparazzi walk through the tunnel once more and away from Kelly and the crew.
Watching what happened, no one really knows what to make of the scene. Everyone feels more than a bit uncomfortable given the situation and no one really wants to say anything. Losing her mind in the midst of the silence, Kelly says “Let’s just go, everyone. Come on. Let’s celebrate. Don’t worry about it.”
“Kelly, what was that?”
“I said don’t ****ing worry about it, Zoey!” Kelly screams before leaving through the tunnel and out of the stadium. May runs after Kelly with both sets of parents and the rest of the family and friends not that far behind her.
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Longest chapter by far at nearly six thousand words. And some trivia; 'Why did I give Jimmy the last name of 'Aurum'?'
Your Thoughts?
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Liberty4Pokemon
Vogue to the Music
This has to be one of my favorites so far. Very action-packed throughout, but still adding that bit of drama at the end. The appeal was awesome, and so descriptive--I especially appreciate that since I can't write action scenes to save my life ^^;.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that, since most of the main characters have done so well in the appeals, something's going to go very wrong during Ms. Berlitz's turn...but, the suspense is what keeps us coming back.
Even though I'm not a huge fan of Questshipping, I do rather like Jimmy and Marina, so it's great to see them. And as for Jimmy's last name,
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that, since most of the main characters have done so well in the appeals, something's going to go very wrong during Ms. Berlitz's turn...but, the suspense is what keeps us coming back.
Even though I'm not a huge fan of Questshipping, I do rather like Jimmy and Marina, so it's great to see them. And as for Jimmy's last name,
aurum is the Latin word for gold, which is the name of Jimmy's manga counterpart and the game from which the character originates