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The Gems Of Sinnoh (Multishipping,PG-13)

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Okay,here's the next chapter...now that school's starting back, I'm not on the internet as often and I'm...er...getting a bit lazy lol:D

CHAPTER 5~
“Sit and we will talk. But don’t try to leave, unless you want to lose your ears.”-Talon of Swooping Eagle

“Wow, this place looks huge!” Dawn cried out.

Everyone gazed in awe at the enormous size of the Ribbon Syndicate. Recently, they found out that the contest that Dawn and Sara wanted to enter was an annual contest held.

“No wonder it was so close to the Grand Festival!” Zoey had said.

“This is a pretty high class place,” Sara remarked once they were inside, and had already signed up. “For a normal contest, this place looks better than the Grand Festival arena!”

“I know,” Dawn sighed. “It’s all about Ribbons! I could live here!”

Zoey giggled. “You’ve got that right, Dawn.” Suddenly an annoyed voice rang out.

“DREW!!! What do you mean, I look fat?”

“Please…you look like a Snorlax who went to four buffets in a row.”

Zoey, Dawn and Sara turned around and caught sight of a brunette, dressed entirely in red, yelling at a handsome green haired boy. Sara cocked her head in confusion.

“Hey! I know those guys! They were on Coordinators Xtra magazine!”

The brunette wore an angry face, as she glared angrily at the boy, who didn’t look like he cared one bit. It reminded Dawn of that time in Oreburgh City when Paul couldn’t remember her name. She wondered if he still remembered. Hmm…probably not.

“MAY???!” Dawn jumped in surprise as a voice rang out behind her.

Ash stood a distance away, gazing at the quarreling couple with wide eyes. The brunette froze.

“Ash!” May cried out in surprise, and the green haired boy had a sour expression. She ran over to him in joy and hugged him tightly. “I haven’t seen you in such a long time!”

She bent down and stroked Pikachu lovingly. “Hey, Pikachu.”

“Hey, I thought I heard…” Brock came into the room, and stopped dead in surprise. “May! It was you!”

“Brock! You’re here too?” May embraced him, a little more gently, with glowing eyes. “I missed you guys so much. What are you doing here?”

Ash smiled. “We missed you too.” His eyes flashed, as though his words meant more than it seemed. “Some of our friends wanted to participate in the contest here. Come over here and meet May and Drew, guys!” he said to the three girls, who were as confused as ever.

Dawn shook hands (she knew it was incredibly nerdy) with Drew and May shyly. Zoey just came out with a simple hello, and Sara didn’t speak at all; she just nodded curtly.

“So,” May said mischievously, “have you guys heard about the contest ball?”

“A ball? Like a basketball?” Ash asked, and Drew snorted impatiently.

“No, idiot,” he smirked, knowing how clueless Ash was, “a ball as in a dance.”

Dawn froze. A dance? Huh? The flyer didn’t say anything about a dance!

“A dance? Well, that’s a waste of time, those people could be training or something! They can't get distracted like that!” Sara said.

Zoey narrowed her eyes slyly. “What? Are you giving up a chance to dance with the boy of your dreams?”

Sara glared at her. “I have no interest whatsoever in men. They’re all the same; all idiots.”

“Hey!” Brock, Ash and Drew yelled in unison, while Sara smirked and Dawn and Zoey laughed.

This was going to be a long, long time here.

__________________________________________

“Maylene?” Mira opened the hospital room door, and found the Veilstone Gym Leader lying there on the bed.

“Oh…Mira? Is that you? Come here.”

Mira stepped closer to the paralyzed, pink haired girl and trembled. She wondered what it was like to be stuck in a hospital room for 3 years straight, with nothing to do but read boring newspapers and listen to nothing but nurses’ childbirth stories.

“Hey, Maylene, how are you?” she asked shyly.

Maylene glanced at her Lucario, who was snoozing in a corner, and looked back at Mira, smiling. “Fine.”

A huge grin swept over Mira’s face, anticipating the excitement of whatever she was about to say. “Guess what?”

“What?”

Mira stood on her toes. “I got into the Battle Tower finals!”

The Gym Leader raised her eyebrows. “Wow, really?” she closed her eyes. “That’s great.”

Maylene was incredibly weak after surgery after surgery; her family was nearly bankrupt after spending so much money to heal Maylene’s paralysis. Yet in the end, it was all in vain, and the poor girl got even weaker.

Mira knew she was getting worse. Every time she looked at one of the nurses, they cast their heads down, not willing to meet her gaze. Maylene was closing her eyes for longer and longer moments now, and she noticed there were three more beeping monitors in the room today.

“I mean…you will be able to come to the finals, right?”

Maylene met her gaze with pink eyes filled with regret. “I’m sorry; I can’t.”

“WHAT?!” Mira practically screeched, her eyes starting to fill with tears. “But…but…b-b-but you promised!”
“I’m sorry…I can’t go anywhere. It’s…my time now. Tell Reiji I said bye.”

Lucario was awake by now, from Mira’s cries, and just stood frozen there in shock.

“No!” Mira’s eyes widened in horror. “Don’t say that!”

“I’m so, so sorry…” Maylene stiffened all of a sudden, and looked up to the ceiling with a mystified expression. “…Mother? Is that you? I’m ready.”

“No…No! Maylene!” Mira shouted, once she realized what was happening. “SISTER!! Don’t die!” It was too soon, all too soon!

“I’ll see you in about 80 years, my dear sister.” The Fighting type Gym Leader shuddered once, and then she was still and did not move again.

Mira murmured her name, but it was too late. Maylene was dead.

Mira felt no pain, strangely, but her cheeks were wet, and taking a deep breath, she looked at Lucario, whose eyes became puffy, and she forced herself to turn away.

She felt as if she was going to be sick, and she didn’t want to do it in the hospital.

However,as soon as the automatic doors closed behind her, and she was outside, she burst into a fit of crying and gazed up at the sky.

Oh, Giratina, why did you have to take her already?


Eh, I'm pretty lazy,no?
 
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Aaron_fan

Well-Known Member
This chapter was pretty good. Maylene's death was written well, though it seemed a little too abrupt (so we meet her in the story and she just dies?), and the whole last-words thing has become a bit...I dunno...contrived to me over the years. I still think you're trying to shove in as many anime characters as possible into the story, when really you should just be focusing on a few. It's still moving alone well, though. I really liked the "Maylene was closing her eyes for longer and longer moments now" part. That impacted me a bit.
 

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Thanx... actually,I wanted to say that I really appreciate you wasting your time looking at whatever junk I wrote. Thank you~:)




CHAPTER 6~

“Dawn! Wait up!” Zoey called out, trying to keep up with her, as well as May, Sara and Drew. Dawn gave no efforts to slow down, leaving poor Piplup struggling to keep up. She was so excited about the contest that she was basically bouncing up and down in the middle of the night (much to Paul’s annoyance) and now she was sprinting down the hallways, dodging everything in the way. She even nearly knocked down an old lady.

“Sorry!” she panted, nearly flattening a coordinator and his Numel. She had to get down to the contest arena, but the Ribbon Syndicate had so many rooms that all looked the same, and the whole place was a maze of corridors.

Dawn wore a pink frilly dress with a star design, May wore a siren red slip dress decorated with sapphire rhinestones, Zoey wore a silky olive green cargo skirt and black shirt, and Sara wore a white halter dress. They had spent hours in front of the mirror fixing their makeup and hair. As consequence, they were late.

Very, very late.

“Good morning, Resort Area! Welcome to the annual Belle Championnat contest of the Ribbon Syndicate!” Marian’s voice rang out from the loudspeakers.

“We’re going to be late!” May whined like a child, causing Drew to smirk.

“Re-lax, May,” Drew said, “there are a lot of coordinators ahead of us, so we wouldn’t have to rush. Even the most idiotic of people would have known that.”

May growled angrily and looked as if she were about to say something, but snapped her mouth shut and just scowled in fury.

“No time to fight, guys,” Sara called out, Jewel racing by her feet.

Soon a crowded room came into sight; it was beautifully decorated all over with balloons, streamers, and large ribbons of all the colors of the rainbow, and the room was filled with about a hundred coordinators with their Pokemon, all watching the appeals on T.V.

“Ohhh…look at how much people here! It’s going to take forever to get our turn of appeals!” Dawn complained, alarmed at the amount of trainers lined up.

“You see; this is what happens when you take three hours to keep down a strand of your hair!” Sara yelled in annoyance.

“Oh, please!” May frowned, “you would be looking like a tramp if we didn’t…”

“Drag me to the bathroom, strip me down and nearly choke me trying to put on this dress?” Sara supplied, still annoyed.

May kept quiet this time.

“Oh, stop bickering, you two,” Zoey scowled, trying to watch the appeals on the television screen. “You know, you might as well watch and learn something, instead of fighting.”

Dawn figured she was right. She tried to calm herself, paying close attention to a blue-haired trainer’s Feraligator…

~*~*~*~


Cynthia ran as fast as her legs could carry her, ignoring all the usual “Hey, it’s Cynthias” she got. She needed to get to Resort Area. Fast.

She needed to warn Dawn and Paul of the upcoming danger they were in. Team Galactic knew where they were now…and they were already on the way there. She was so foolish for misjudging Cyrus. She should have seen this coming.

She only had time to take up her Garchomp and Milotic and rush out of her house, leaving a note saying where she had gone.

She hastily brushed freezing crystals out of her eyes as she flew across the snow, hurrying to catch the boat at Snowpoint City. People scuttled out of her way, not willing to get knocked down. If she could only get there on time…

The boat to Battle Area came into view, and she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. She was going to make it.

However, she was not happy for long.

“What do you mean I can’t get on the boat?” she roared at the now frightened sailor, enraged.

The sailor managed to keep a calm expression and said, “Sorry, ma’am, but the boat’s ready to leave. We’ll be back by sunset.”

“SUNSET?! I need to get to the Resort Area NOW!!!!!”

“Ma’am, the passengers are waiting to leave.”

“LISTEN, YOU…”

“What’s all this noise?” a cheerful voice said from behind her.

Cynthia whirled around in surprise to meet the warm blue eyes of Candice, the Ice Gym Leader, who was standing there holding her pregnant stomach.

Candice stepped up to the sailor. “Is something wrong, Sam?”

Sam shook his head. “The boat’s about to leave, but this lady insists that she must get on the boat now.”

Candice blinked at him. “I hope you have a safe trip, Cynthia,” she murmured, making sure that the sailor heard her. Sam the sailor looked bewildered at Candice’s response.

“What?” he scratched his head, confused and surprised, before saluting to the two girls. “Of course…right this way, ma’am.”

Before leaving, Cynthia whispered to Candice, “Thank you so much. And tell Volkner I said hi.”

Staring out into the horizon, Cynthia thought of Dawn. She was the one Team Galactic was after…and she needed to protect her at all costs.


~*~*~*~

“LEAFGREEN, SARA,” The monitor called out; it was Sara’s turn to appeal.
“Guess I’m up!!” Sara said to the others, her eyes flashing. “See ya!”

“Hey, look, there’s Sara!” Ash murmured to Richie.

Richie’s teal eyes were glued to the stage. Knowing Sara, she would be attempting something unique and extraordinary, which made him all the more excited to see her appeal.

“And now, here’s Sara Leafgreen from Pallet Town with her Espeon and Furret!” Marian called out as the audience clapped.

Gary, hearing this, turned to Richie in surprise. “Huh? How come you two live in two different places and have different names if you’re both siblings?”

Richie shrugged. “Our parents divorced, and our Sara lived with our mom. Then our mom got married.” Gary mouthed a silent “Oh” as he turned back to the stage.

Richie felt himself smiling as he looked at his sister’s carefree expression. She was always a stronger trainer than he-or anybody-was, so why worry about
her?

“Trust me, Ash,” he whispered to his friend, “This will be good.”

_____________________________________


“I hope I can do this,” Sara whispered under her breath. “Alright; JEWEL, SWIFT! LAURA, THUNDERBOLT! You’re in charge, guys!”

I got a lot to say to you
Yeah, I got a lot to say


The Espeon shot out of her Pokeball, in a shower of glowing pink hearts, plus the shining golden stars from the Swift; Laura burst out in a cyclone of bubbles, blue fire and crackling electric rays. The crowd roared as they took the stage.

I noticed your eyes are always glued to me
keeping them here;
and it makes no sense at all


“Laura, use Surf, now!” Sara called out, and two seconds later, Laura landed smack in the way of a bubbling wall of water. Jewel just stood there, waiting to come in the act.
She’s crazy! Gary thought, seeing her put her Pokemon right in the way of danger…she couldn’t let them get hit by the Surf!


They taped over your mouth,
Scribbled out the truth with their lies
You little spies….


Sensing the shock, fear and disbelief in the spectators, Sara smirked knowingly.
“Ice Beam,” she called, pointing calmly at the tidal wave.

They taped over your mouth
Scribbled out the truth with their lies
You little spies


“Furrrrr…ETTTT!!!!” Laura screamed as a freezing blue ray shot out of its mouth and froze the wave solid, leaving only a shimmering curve of ice. The crowd gasped in surprise, but Richie smiled proudly.

Crush
Crush
Crush
Crush, crush
(Two, three, four!)


Sara nodded to Jewel. “Your turn! Dig!”
Jewel burrowed its way underground, coming out in various spots and leaving holes in the ground. This left the crowd slightly confused.
What’s she up to now? Gary thought.


Nothing compares to a quiet evening alone
Just the one two of us who's counting on
that never happens
I guess I'm dreaming again
Let's be more than this


“Let’s do this!” she yelled, thrusting her slender hands in the air, “PSYBEAM!!! DO IT!!!”
All of a sudden, rainbow, gleaming rays burst out of the ground, adding a colorful light everywhere, and made the curve of crystallized water even more dazzling, making it blindingly bright in all kinds of colors.

Oh hoooh, oh,
Ooooohhhh, ooohh…..


Laura slid down the top of the glittery wave, and landed on the left of Sara while Jewel landed on the right. They ended the appeal with a flip and a dainty bow, and it was over.

As soon as Sara’s head rose from the bow, she nearly got deafened by the screams and shouts from everyone. Her amber eyes glowed as she bent down, brushed a strand of sweaty brown hair and hugged Jewel and Laura. “You guys sure earned your Poffins,” she whispered.

Dawn was watching every move on the television screen and did not even blink as she felt a sinking feeling in her chest. How could she compete with that?



I used a song for her appeal, It's called Crushcrushcrush by Paramore.

NOTE:I cut the song short.
And...Belle Championnat means beautiful championship in French...I think. I seriously couldn't find anything else to call it.

Bye~;munchlax;
 
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Aaron_fan

Well-Known Member
No problem. I don't see reading your story as a waste of time. In fact, it often gives me something to do during the ending hours of the day.

Ah, I see you've added more description this time around, but at the same time, not too much description. Good job explaining things, why they were late, and all. It was simple and to-the-point, which is good - I tend to blabber on and over-explain things, so I'm glad you haven't fallen into that trap.

Sweet! Team Galactic's coming! I've been waiting for that. I liked the "freezing crystals" part - it gave me a very good image of how 'snippy' the snow was. But that said...I don't know where Cynthia is rushing from. Yeah, there's snow, and it says she's going to Snowpoint City...eh, I don't know the region of Sinnoh that well, so I might just be missing somethinWHOAHOLDUP. Candice is pregnant, huh? That shocked me. A lot. I don't know why, though...so...Galactic's after Dawn, huh...? That'll be interesting.

I liked the descriptions of Sara's appeal, but the lyrics seem a bit out-of-place. Perhaps if I know the song it would help me with the mood. The "you guys deserved your Poffins" made me feel warm inside. Overall I think this chapter was your best so far.
 

mew..

What do you want?
good chapters, i do like how u explained the appeal, i could picture this whole chapter.
cant wait til the next!
 

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Thank you, mew..!;026;
I'm kind of running out of ideas...

CHAPTER 7~

“And now presenting the winner of Johto’s Grand Festival, it’s May Maple!”

As Marian introduced May with her Glaceon and Blaziken, Dawn was lost in thought about this contest…

There was so much competition! After seeing Sara’s performance, and Zoey with a Shadow Claw and Shock Wave combination with Glameow and Misdreavous, it seemed almost impossible that she could win. She did the same combination that she had practiced with Piplup and Buneary, and it worked out perfectly, but it seemed so weak now compared to the other appeals. She couldn’t forget the Hearthome and Solaceon contests, and how she couldn’t even get past the first round…No! I can’t let that happen to me again! But what else could she do?

Dawn let out a long sigh.

She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and glanced up to look at Zoey, with a concerned Glameow next to her.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Dawn gulped. She didn’t want Zoey to start worrying. She nodded and forced a smile-that slowly melted into a slight scowl as Zoey continued, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

“That sigh didn’t have anything to do with a certain prune-headed trainer with a Torterra, did it?”

Dawn blinked. “No, it didn’t,” she said, trying to keep herself from murdering her best friend, “nothing to do with a certain trainer at all!”

Zoey just smirked, the faintest hint of disbelief in her chocolate brown eyes.

May created a whirlwind of flames and glowing ice crystals, thanks to Fire Spin and Avalanche, and the crowd was actually quiet, for they were speechless as the flames died, leaving the crystals in glowing orange dust as they floated down.

All at once the crowd let out a deafening roar of excitement and awe as May shyly took a bow and scurried off the stage before any fans could bombard her. Everyone was cheering so loudly, the judges’ comments were nearly inaudible.

A scowl crept across Drew’s face, and narrowed his eyes.

“Rose?” Roserade spoke up beside him.

“Hmm…you’ll have to try your best out there in the battle round. I underestimated the people here.”

_________________________________________

“Alright, folks,” Marian spoke through her microphone, “Did you like or love our talented young coordinators?”

The audience answered by an earsplitting scream.

“Well,” she said, building up the anxiety,” It’s time to see which of our contestants will move on to the second rounds…the double battles!”

She pointed to the large screen at the top of the stage. Several pictures of trainers appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye to be replaced by another that disappeared as quickly. From the stands, the others watched anxiously for the results.

“Aw, man, I really hope everyone makes it to the second round…” Ash muttered.

“Yeah, I guess it’s hard to vote for everybody to win,” Richie agreed.

Ash looked in doubt toward the screen. He remembered how torn up Dawn had been after the Solaceon and Hearthome contests. May had never been cheerful about losing contests, either…

Brock noticed his uncertainty and rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Ash, Dawn will be fine.” He paused before adding, “No need to worry, remember?”

Paul heard him, and murmured to himself, “But…that’s when I worry the most.”

________________________________________

“WHERE IS SHE?!” Cyrus grabbed a frightened brunette by the collar of his shirt and screamed in his face. This could not be happening. His radar had a small spot where that girl …Dawn was, but suddenly the radar stopped working because some grunt fool messed it up. Now he and his commanders had to look for her themselves.

“I don’t know!!” Holly wailed, tears streaming down her face. She wished Brock was here to protect her now…

“I KNOW you have her hiding somewhere!!” He felt a sense of annoyance at the girl’s stubbornness.

“I don’t. And if I did, I wouldn’t betray her to a scum like you!” she growled, but still trembling in sheer horror.
Cyrus looked as if he was about to explode with fury, but he managed to keep his cool. Instead, he nodded toward Mars. “Do it.” This one would learn her lesson.

He let go of a shivering Holly, whose eyes filled with fear at the sight of Mars, coming toward her with a knife in her hand.

There was suddenly a flash of metal, a bloodcurdling scream from Holly, and in a split second she lay in the middle of the room, the life bleeding out of her.

Her lifeless eyes looked up toward the ceiling, wide and frightened.

Mars put away the hard strip of red and silver with a smirk on her face as she returned to her boss’ side.

“And that,” he spat, with an air of finality, “is what happens when you argue with Team Galactic.” And they left the room, leaving Holly’s body behind.



Yes yes yes I didn't explain anybody's appeal, but like I said, I'm runnin out of ideas and i can't really drone on and on about the appeal round and delay Team Galactic by doing so. I'm really sorry if it caused any disappontment, but I'm running out of time, too.I can't spend as much time on the computer now. And besides, I'm getting very bad sleep lately, so I'm very, very sleepy. Not to mention studies; It's hard to write fanfics when the only thing in your head is-"Yo estoy muy mal". It's my personal problems...:(
 
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mew..

What do you want?
i liked this chapter. team galatics here.

liked the appeal.

and,cyrus sure can get angry at times.

good. keep up the good work
 

Ominous Doom

You are the CHASER!
WoW. Kill'em all. BTW, we need more legends = 0. I think I know why you named it that way... Hehehe...
 

mew..

What do you want?
what are u talking bout kegends for????

this isn't about legendary pokemon...-.-

did u read any of the chapters besides 7??

anyway again awsome chapter!!!!!
 

Aaron_fan

Well-Known Member
It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, if you're running out of ideas, maybe you should take a break - something might come to you.

Now, for the chapter review...
May Maple, huh? Well, looks like she won the Grand Festival just like she wanted. Uh...isn't that the reason May left in the anime? I haven't watched the Hoenn series, but I've heard people mention it. Anyway, I liked the interaction between Dawn and Zoey. Dawn's...hidden emotions were a nice touch. Nice to see that Drew's confidence has been wavered a bit.

Ha! I really liked Brock saying Dawn's motto, and Paul repeating the "that's when I worry the most," which...seems to have become an after-phrase in the anime or something.

...Cyrus is in a bad mood. I can't say you're sticking very close to his defining character attribute, but bringing in Holly was a good idea...ah...even though she didn't last too long. I've noticed a strange trend in Team Galactic fictions (or even just stories with them in it), Mars always stabs somebody to death. It's amusing, in a way.

Overall, it was an okay chapter. More description would be appreciated, but if you're really that tired you should just get some rest - there's no need to write chapters in accordance to a schedule.
 

Ominous Doom

You are the CHASER!
Yes, I did. Roark was killed, blah, blah, blah. And I loved this new chapter. Especially the deaths.
 

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Thanx you guys!
I've noticed a strange trend in Team Galactic fictions (or even just stories with them in it), Mars always stabs somebody to death. It's amusing, in a way.
...Really?...oopsie, never knew that.. 8-0
And you know, I might just bring in a legendary or two. But not now, a little later, so you'll see them in time, Ominous doom.
WoW. Kill'em all.
When I said a lot of character deaths, I wasn't kidding!:)
 

foxfyre

Ninetales Queen
Interesting fic. It's a bit abrupt though. Keep up the good work.
 

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Thank you foxfyre!And everyone else, too. Happy Valentine's day! Even though it's very late :D

CHAPTER 8~

May’s picture appeared on the screen. Then Drew’s, Zoey’s, Sara’s…

And finally, Dawn’s.

“Yes! YES!!” Ash jumped up and down in his seat in happiness and waved his hands until an angry spectator silenced him.

Brock sighed. “Great! Everyone made it into the second round!”

Casey grinned from ear to ear, seeing her friends succeed. “I’ve never seen a contest before. I wonder what the battle round is like?”

“It’s like a normal battle, except you have to make your pokemon look the best it can.” Richie replied. “You can’t switch out pokemon, because you can only use one or two depending on the conditions. Also, there are points, and you lose more points every time you get hit by an attack, and then there’s the time limit…”

He trailed off, seeing Casey gape at him.

“But that sounds so hard!” she said.

“It is, but it’s still cool for a coordinator. I guess other trainers challenging the Gyms would find it difficult. But it’s still beautiful.”

Paul just muttered to himself, “This should be interesting.”

_________________________________________________

“WE DID IT!!” May cried out, twirling around the room.

“We’re going to the second round; we’re going to the second round…” Sara sang, dancing around with Jewel and Laura. "And in our first contest, too!"

Drew just smirked, thinking that the champion’s ribbon was his for the taking.

“YES!!” Dawn screamed, nearly deafening Zoey. “That ribbon is as good as ours, Piplup!”

“Dawn!” Zoey sighed, as did Piplup. “Not this again! Just because you made it to the second round means you’re gonna win!”

Dawn didn’t listen to her and just kept jumping about. Zoey just sighed and looked at the screen.



“As you all know, before the second round begins tomorrow, the Grand Ball will be tonight!” Marian said into her microphone. The crowd’s yells dropped to excited whispers as she spoke.

“HEH?!” Paul asked in disbelief. “A grand ball? WHY didn’t I hear about this?”

“You didn’t hear?” Gary looked at him and sweat dropped. “Heh, sorry about that. Well, there’s gonna be a ball tonight, like a dance sort of-”

“WHAT?” he shrieked. “I can’t go to that! I don’t even have proper clothes to go there. They have rules like you have to wear a tie or tux or something like that.”

“You worrying about what clothes you wear? You’ve been spending too much time around Dawn,” Casey teased.

“Speaking of Dawn,” Misty smirked, trying to hold back a laugh, “Isn’t she coming too? Wouldn’t miss out on that, would you?” Misty couldn’t hold it back anymore, and burst out laughing.

“Wouldn’t you be goggling at Ash?” he retorted, and Misty’s smile quickly transformed into a scowl.

“I hope I get to meet some pretty girls at the ball!” Brock exclaimed, lost in daydreams.

Misty’s scowl deepened. “Fat chance…”

~*~*~*~
“GGGGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!” Gary yelled, tearing through his wardrobe and tossed clothes everywhere. “Oh, I can’t find my tux!”

After the contest, everyone had met up and returned to their rooms. The girls had been pretty tired after spending all day just looking for the right dress and the makeup to go along with it, hair accessories, shoes, the works. The boys, as usual…put it off. Now they were struggling to get ready.

“Check the closet,” Richie suggested.

“It’s not there,” Gary replied irritably. He continued to pelt his clothes all over, trying to uncover his tux that his Prof. Oak had sent him.

Drew stared helplessly at the clock on the wall. “Gary, you have to find your tux now. If you don’t we’re gonna be late. Even the girls are gonna reach there before us, and they take forever.” He turned his head away.

“PAUL!!” He shrieked when he saw him standing in the corner. “You haven’t dressed yet!”

“Neither has Gary,” Paul pointed out, gesturing towards the brunette. “And do I really have to go?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I won’t anyway.”

“Oh for Pete’s sake…” Drew reached into his bag, pulled out clothes and tossed them at the stubborn boy. “Here. You have something to wear. Happy? Now hurry up.”

“Oh, fine, fine have it your way. You guys seem too excited to go to this thing, anyway. Hmmph.” Paul scowled at him while he zipped down his jacket and took it off. Ash winced when he saw a large purple and reddish scar stretching across his upper arm, a mark left from some painful event.

“Oww. Whadja do?” he asked with a slight grimace.

Paul glared at him. “None of your business,” he snapped, and slipped on the pants and crossed his arms.

“Found it,” Gary called out.

“About time,” Drew muttered under his breath.


________________________________________________

Mira bustled about the house, fetching food and other supplies for the pokemon. Reggie sat in the corner, reading a newspaper with a frown on his face.

Mira scurried up to him and shoved a container of brown pellets right under his nose.

“Are these the right ones for Alakazam, Reggie?”

“Huh?” he seemed distracted. “Oh, yes, yes. Those are the right ones.”

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and they looked up in surprise, even the pokemon. There weren’t usually visitors.

“Coming,” he yelled. “Mira, would you get that please?”

She sighed and shot the teen an annoyed look. “But-”

“It’s just a door.”

She bit back a protest. She’d been dashing around all day. “Okay,” she said finally, and ran for the door.

But, as she pulled the brass knob, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up to see the person’s face.

“Mrs. Hikari? Hi! What a surprise!”

“Hello, Mira,” Ayako spoke coolly.

“What are you doing here? Why’d you come all the way from Twinleaf?”

Ayako’s warm smile disappeared, and her face became serious. “Actually, Mira, I came because I wanted to speak with Reiji.”

The pink haired girl tipped her head in confusion. Reiji looked up at that, and glanced at her with the same bewilderment.

“S-sure, come in,” Reggie called out. Mira led Ayako inside and both of them sat down beside him. Both he and Mira stared at the woman, eyes huge.

“Well, Reggie,” she let out a deep sigh, “have you heard about the deaths that have been taking place?”

He nodded slowly, feeling bile rise in his throat. He’d just read it in that newspaper…and every page seemed to have someone dying.
“W-when I first f-found out, I thought it was nothing, and then…” She trailed off, and it was harder than ever to keep her serious face up. “Then a girl named Holly was stabbed, and close to the Resort Area, too…and that’s where she is….” she took a deep breath. “Reiji, you have to understand, I’m extremely worried about Dawn.”

He reminded himself forcibly that Ayako was Dawn’s mother, but she was voicing his exact thoughts. He had to admit that he was worried about his younger brother, Paul, as much as she was concerned for Dawn’s safety, but they could take care of themselves….

“Mrs. Hikari, I know,” he said, emotion welling in his voice. “But surely they aren’t in any real danger?”

Her blue eyes were filled with sorrow. “I hope not.”

Reggie flashed a look at Mira, who had her head bowed. She had said nothing the whole time; she just sat there, her face pale. He suspected she was thinking of her dead and formerly paralyzed sister, Maylene, and her death had distressed everyone. He just couldn’t stand losing Dawn or Paul forever, despite the bond he had with Paul was less-than-close. They're still my friends...

“I hope not, either,” he murmured.




I was gonna write more, fix it, you know, but then my dad kicked me off the computer.;107;
Anyway, I live on a small island off the coast of Venezuela, so I didn't see the Lucario episide, so don't blame me if Reiji is a bit OOC.
 
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mew..

What do you want?
lol! awsome chapter. i just laughed because of this chapter.

awsome work. ash's reaction to everyone winning was so funny.

awsome chapter by far oh yeh i forgot!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!(yes, i know its a bit late, but still)
 

Aaron_fan

Well-Known Member
I kind of liked this chapter. It helped me get back into the story. I laughed at all the trouble Paul was having...and his scar was an interesting touch. Strange. Usually I find scars a bit annoying in stories, especially if they're on the 'bad boy' characters. Anyway, nice inclusion of Reiji and Dawn's mom. I'm kind of hoping Commander Jupiter will show up soon, but anyway, you did a nice job of characterizing Reiji - he's a nice guy.
 

~FireLeaf~

♫ Miss Murder ♫
Okay! It's the next chappy! And it's been a pretty long while...
Ah, well.

CHAPTER 9~


The ball was a huge one, according to everyone on the island. The whole place was decorated in colorful streamers, balloons, and an ice sculpture in every corridor (there were a lot).

“I look like an idiot.”

“Oh, Paul, you look cute! Seriously!” May reassured him.

“I’m not supposed to look cute! Plus this thing is on waay too tight!!” Paul complained.

“Oh come on, I’m in enough of a mess as it is!” Drew pulled out the lavender haired boy from the room, who was struggling. Eventually he calmed down and crossed his arms stubbornly.

“Should we wait for Casey? She didn’t come out yet,” Misty said. She wore a sparkling blue dress that was dappled with a bubble pattern.

“Casey will be fine. Can we go now?” Sara said irritably.

In the dance hall there was double the décor. A huge ice sculpture of Dialga and Palkia were in the center of a long table covered in food-chicken, desserts, and others.

“FOOOD!” Ash made a beeline for the feast table and immediately began devouring a piece of chicken. Misty sweat dropped in annoyance, so much of her ‘date’.

“Hey, look over there!”

Dawn looked over at where May was pointing and gaped in shock.

It was Casey.

She was in a dress. A pretty dress.

Which brilliant strategist managed to get Casey in a dress? It was bright yellow and puffy. Her hair was tied up into two glossy braids with a daisy clip. For the first time, instead of sneakers, she had high heel shoes. She scurried over to the other girls with a faint blush on her face. She was both smiling and scowling at the same time.

"Thank me later," Sara whispered to herself while touching a place on her arm where she's been whacked with a baseball bat.

“It took me forever to get this thing on! And now I look horrible!”

“It sure did take you eternity,” Sara muttered.

Dawn shot her a look. “You look fine! You are a vision! You look great, I swear!”

“That I doubt. Anyway, when are you guys gonna dance?”

Dawn looked across towards the crowds. Everyone seemed to be having a good time dancing. Yet something made her reluctant to, with everyone watching.
She looked back at her friends. Richie and Ash were clearing the dessert table, Sara and Casey were chatting, and May and Drew were arguing. As people passed left and right, she noticed that Paul wasn’t around. She whirled around, and just saw him leaving the building. Where was he going?

“Dawn.” A hand rested on her shoulder, and she turned back around to find Misty giving her an annoyed look. “Are you going to stare at nothing for the entire night or are you going to come with us to watch May and Drew humiliate themselves on the dance floor?”

Dawn laughed. “I’ll come soon. Just tell them not to do it yet-I wanna see!!” As soon as she was out of sight, Dawn raced outside to follow Paul.

A chilly wind blew past, plastering her hair to her face and raising her dress. The stars glittered in the sky, and the full moon turned the trees silver. Paul was nowhere in sight.

She tried to race ahead, but her high heels sank into the ground. Angrily, she had to stomp forward. She was careful not to rustle among the fallen leaves too much. Soon, she saw him sitting on a smooth rock, looking down into a pond.

“Hey!” She called out, a little softly, not wanting to startle him.

He spun his head around in confusion, saw her standing there. He wanted to be alone. She couldn’t be more troublesome if she tried! He thought in annoyance.

“You okay?” Dawn raised the bottom of her contest dress and sat down beside him, looking into the water. The surface of the pool was still, and their faces were reflected perfectly into the greenish water. A dazzling circle of white light reflected in the center, it was the face of the moon.

Paul was silent for a while. After a few seconds he spoke in a nearly inaudible voice; “I was just…thinking of my parents.”

She froze. He had only spoken of his dead mother and father when Reiji brought it up in conversations, and only speaking a few sentences, usually by then the subject would have been changed. She took a pebble nervously in her hand and threw it with a noisy plop into the water, breaking the glassy surface and the uncomfortable silence.

“You never really said how they-” she flinched, “-died.”

Dawn half- expected Paul to slap her. But he didn’t even look at her. Instead he let out a deep sigh and said, “They died when the bomb hit Veilstone about nine years ago.”

Mystified, she watched as he pulled one of his sleeves revealing the ugly scar stretching down his upper arm.

“This is the practically the only thing I have to remember them,” his calm, quiet voice turned into a fierce shriek, “A mark to remind me of the pain of when they died! All thanks to Cyrus!” He spat the last words out.

Dawn was taken aback by his change of mood. Before she could stop herself, the question came out, “Are you scared of joining them?”

He was silent for a while, and then stared intensely into her blue eyes. His eyes were so piercing they made her blush for some reason. “I’m not afraid of dying,” he said slowly, “at least, not of me dying.”

“What do you mean?”

He gave her a long look, with the usual coldness...and something else. He got up to leave, saying, “You’ll find out.”

“Huh? What?” she called after him. Dawn couldn’t ever understand him. He always left her or her friends with something to bug them forever.

The ripples from the pebble had reached the edge of the pool, where she sat. Wanting to check if any dirt got on her dress, she looked down into the water, only to recoil back with a scream of horror.

She could have just sworn she saw, instead of her own face, that of Dialga’s. Her heart hammered against her chest as she forced herself to glance at her reflection in the water again.

But she saw her own. Same blue hair, eyes, pale skin and frilly pink dress.

It was nothing, she thought with relief, probably has to do with something I ate or drink. Or those tea lights inside are brighter than I thought.

Hands shaking, with the image stuck in her head, she bustled back to the hall, trying to push away the memory.

~*~*~*~

“Ahh! I’m finally here!” Cynthia took a while to stretch out her cramped limbs before reaching for her Rapidash’s Pokeball.

I’m gonna need a lift, she thought. Team Galactic could be here already!

“Rapidash, let’s go!” she sent out a flaming unicorn, which let out a high whinny as she climbed onto its back.

It seemed ready to run like the wind at first, but then it lowered with unease and reared up.

“Whoa, girl! Easy!” Cynthia pondered on what could have gotten into the usually calm creature.

A rustling came from the bushes nearby. She whirled around.

“Who’s there?” she called out bravely, hiding the fear that rose in her chest.

The whole place was still.

With a shrug, she gestured for Rapidash to go.

“GGGRRRAAAAARRRR!!!!!”
A flash of mint-green, red and grey came out of the corner of her eye, and before she knew it she and Rapidash were bowled over. She caught for a fleeting moment, the sight of Rapidash struggling against a shiny Toxicroak and a Purugly. Before she could scramble to her feet, another force knocked her over, freezing her and setting her face-down into the cold dirt.

Seething, she turned her head away from the ground, to meet the sneering face of Commander Jupiter.

“Where do you think you’re going, blondie?”






Team Galactic will come next chapter! ~YaY~
And now I must go to enjoy my long-weekend. Goodbye for now~;026;
 
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