Scarow (ContestShipping)

[Harley Scarow]

Prolouge- Unexpected Invitations!

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The scene takes place two months after the last grand festival that May and Drew were in, the Orchida Festival in the Contesta region. It is a cold, winter day in the Hoenn region, where May is presently living with her family in the Petalburg Gym.

"It's so cold," May complained, "And I'm so bored!"

"What's the matter, dear?" May's mom asked her, whose name was Caroline, "You could go outside and play with Max, I mean, he just got home from his adventures in the Hoenn region ever since he became a trainer of his own."

"No mom. It's freezing outside," May replied, "And Max was always serious before he became a Pokemon Trainer. Now that he's a successful one, he's going to become an even more serious person, and you know how I hate people that don't hang loose."

"I guess that you have nothing better to do," Caroline smiled, "Maybe something will come up soon and then you'll have a place to go."

*DING DONG!* The door bell ringed.

Caroline had a curious face on, "Hmm...I wonder who could it be?" She came to the door and then opened it. There was a man in a brown cloak with purple hair and a green hat on; He was strangely familiar, "And who might you be?"

The man chuckled, "I'm a friend of a friend- That's what you can consider me as," he said in a girlish voice. It was a girly voice, but it was still close enough to be a man, "I have a letter for your daughter, May."

Caroline giggled, "Are you a boy or a girl?"

The man in the cloak suddenly got all serious and had a red face. He removed his cloak, and it revealed Harley! "I'm a boy...What do you think?"

Caroline laughed more, "It wasn't supposed to be a serious question- I was kidding! Now what did you say that you came here for?"

Harley's face became less red, "I have a letter here for May- Can you give it to her for me?"

"Sure."

"And don't tell her that it was me that gave the letter to her, okay? Keep this on the DL for me, okay?"

"How come you don't want me to tell May that you gave this letter to her?" Caroline asked, "I mean, you're one of her friends so I think that she should at least know that it was from you, right Harley?" Caroline was always one of the forgiving people and she didn't think of Harley as a bad-guy even though he lied and cheated May many times in the past and even tried to rape her once when she was in the Contesta region!

Harley laughed hysterically, "Oh how can I even think of doing something like that to her? Lying to her that somebody gave her a letter that she doesn't know who gave it? That's horrible. But that's not the point. Can you give it to her as a surprise? I'm sure that she'll find out that the letter was from me eventually. Pretty please? Pretty please?" Harley was on the ground pretend-begging Caroline.

"Of course Harley."

"Oh really?" Harley got all peppy, "Thank you so much for doing me this favor!" He ran off into the snowy areas until he was out of sight.

"Aren't you cold, Harley?" Caroline was always concerned about everybody's welfare, even if that person wasn't a part of the family, "Oh well...Harley told me not to tell May that it was from him. I might as well read it to see if it is something appropriate for her." Caroline opened the letter, and it revealed a sheet of paper with a green-tone color on it. She began reading it and this is what the letter said:

Dear May,

I think that you know who this letter is from!
It's me! I want to keep you guessing who sent this mail so that you can be that much more surprised when you find out who sent it. Happy times, right?

Have you ever heard of the Zuki region?
I heard that you're freezing cold from the winter in the Hoenn Region right now so I thought, why not give you free tickets so that you can go to the Zuki region?
The scenary there is awesome and it is summer all year long there- Don't you think that's cool? Well, not as cool as the Hoenn Region since it's freezing cold over there but you get what I mean.

Have fun there! And yeah, there's nothing but Pokemon Contests in that region like the Contesta Region so if you want to go and have fun, feel free to! All you have to do is meet me in Dewford Town so that we can take the S.S Atlanta there.

Your friend,
You know who

"Hmm..." Caroline murmured, "What am I thinking? Why am I mumbling? I'm so jealous of May? She gets to go to a region that's summer all year long and I have to freeze to death here in the Hoenn Region? I shouldn't do anything to ruin this wonderful moment that May is going to receive so I might as well give this to her!" Caroline said with rising excitement for May.

She walked into the Petalburg City Gym, "May? Where are you? I have some super good news for you!"

May ran into the living room where Caroline was right now, "Anything's better than what's going on right now. So what do you have for me?"

Caroline gave May the letter and the ticket that was attached to it.

"What's this?" May wondered, "It looks like a letter."

"It is," Caroline replied, "Open it!"

May did as her mom asked of her, "Dear May..." She began reading it outloud and when she was finished with the letter, she got all excited, "Yay! A trip to the Zuki region might be a fun one!"

"I knew that you would be happy if you read that letter I gave you," Caroline said, "Are you going to get ready so that you can go to that region?"

May laughed, "Of course!" She ran to her bedroom, which was on the left side of the Gym's Arena and immediately startrf packing her stuff, "I can't wait till I get to that region! Anything's better than the Hoenn Region, with all the snow there and such."

Max was walking down the hallway when he saw May, which he then walked into the room, "What are you doing, May?"

May was easily annoyed by Max, even if it was an innocent question, "Packing up, what do you think?"

Max reached down and picked up the ticket that was on the floor, "Ohh...I see what you mean. You're going to the Zuki Region, aren't you?"

"What do you think? You could read, right?"

"Can I come too? I mean, if you get to go on vacation, then I think that your nice little brother should get a chance to go somewhere like that also," Max got on the floor and began begging, "I got back from the Hoenn League and the least I deserve is a vacation!"

May looked confused, "I thought that you were going to the Orre Region next- I mean, that place is always scorching hot, so you can go there if you want to warm up, Max."

Max false chuckled, "Oh yeah...The Orre region...That will be a nice place to vacation..." He said fakely, "You're a great big sister and I'm sure that I don't deserve to go along with you on an adventure like that!"

May knew that Max would never say something like that, "Yeah right... Anyways, don't you have anywhere to go right now? Like pack up your stuff so that you can go to the Orre region?"

Max had already left the room without telling May that he did so.

"Max?" May looked surprised, "What's up with that boy? Oh yeah, this is Max we're talking about."

Max was walking in the Petalburg City Gym hallway muttering to himself, "I'll get to the Zuki Region wheather May likes it or not," Max's glasses suddenly shined, Japanese anime style, "She'll regret not inviting me when I beat her in a Pokemon Contest!"


In Slateport City, where Drew was in one of his many mansions that he brought from using money that he earns from his popularity and by winning Pokemon Contests, was sunbathing outside on his own personal beach with his Roselia by his side, "It's another day of boredom, right Roselia? Look at me, I"m trying to sunbath while it's winter...Isn't it sad?"

"Rose," Roselia said, agreeing.

"Yep, wish that there was something better to do than stay out here freezing all day," Drew sighed, "Wish there was a Pokemon Contest around that I can enter but it looks like non of them are open at the time..."

Roselia nodded in agreement, and in disappointment, as it always loved to compete in Pokemon Contests.

*RING RING RING!* It was Drew's phone on the inside of his mansion, "I really don't want to get up right now," Drew closed his eyes, "Look at me...I say that I want to do anything and I don't even want to get up and pick up the phone..."

One of Drew's maids got the phone and handed it over to him, "Here's the phone, sir," She greeted him. The phone was actually a picture-phone, the size of half of a laptop screen.

"Thank you," Drew replied as he held the phone to his ear, "Who is it?"

The person on the phone line had May's voice...
On the other side of the phone line, it was actually Harley holding a Voice Changer next to his mouth, a device that could let you change your voice to another person that it recorded! And not only that, but Harley changed his clothes so that it looked identical to what May wore! "Hello, is this Drew?"

"Yes it is," Drew answered, "Are you May?"

"Why yes!" Fake May replied, "And do I have a surprise for you!"

"Why did you dye your hair purple?" The purple hair is what got Drew suspicious, "And your hair is longer than usual if I do say so myself."

"Purple is the new do!" Fake May explained, "And you know, as time passes, I grow! After all, I'm still a developing teenager. That's why you can see that my body is much hotter than usual anyways!"

"I can see that," Drew wasn't buying the act, "Anyways, what could be the surprise that you wanted to tell me?"

"I just got tickets so that you can go to the Zuki Region! May-I mean myself, am going to be heading over there!" Fake May informed, "And I heard that May- I mean me, and you are bored to death from being here in the freezing winter of the Hoenn region! I certainly wouldn't want you to die of boredom, so I decided to give you this extra ticket!"

"Why do you refer to yourself as the third person?" Drew asked suspiciously, "You're more mature than that May- I known you for a long time."

"Oh silly old me," Fake May scoffed, trying to cover up the mistakes that he made, "That's me for ya, always making grammar mistakes! Anyways it's always summer there in the Zuki Region, and yes, that's right, Pokemon Contests galore!"

Drew stood up excited, "Really?"

"Yes, and all you have to do is meet me here at Dewford Town so that we can take the S.S Atlanta to the Zuki Region, okay?"

"Sure," Drew answered, "See ya," He hung up the phone and put his clothes back on, "What am I thinking, wearing nothing on my chest on a winter day?"

Unlike May, Drew didn't pack up like May, instead, he just left with his Pokemon. When he got to the shore of Slateport City, he threw a PokeBall that revealed Flygon, a dragonfly Pokemon.

"Flygon, can I get you to fly me to Dewford Town?" Drew asked it, "So that we can get to the Zuki Region!"

"Fly!" Drew and Roselia got on Flygon's back and in no time, they made it to Dewford Town. Flygon was supposed to be weak to the snow, it being icy, since it was a Dragon and Ground type Pokemon, but it somehow resisted the snow with no problem.

When Flygon landed on the shore of Dewford Town, Drew and Roselia got off it, "Thanks Flygon, I owe ya one," Drew returned Flygon to its PokeBall, "I wonder where May is? She was the one that asked me to come here, after all," He began scouring the snowy beaches of Dewford Town, and saw May lying on the other side of the beach.

"H-H-Hi Drew," May stumbled as she talked, "Having a-a great time here in the c-cold?"

"What happened to you?" Drew asked, "Did you swim to get to Dewford Town or something?"

May began blushing, "Y-Yeah..."

Drew shook his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk...I thought that you had a brain cell but now I think that I take that remark back. Your bad and nothing I can do about it."

"I-I just felt like s-swimming, okay?" May got back up, "Let's go find where this ship is."

"May, there's something suspicious going on," Drew stated, "Did you give me a phone call saying that you got tickets so that we can go to the Zuki Region together so that we can have fun there?"

"Of course not!" May exclaimed, "Did you send me a letter saying that you gave me two free tickets and that one of them was for you?" She took out the tickets that came with the letter and gave one to Drew.

Drew looked serious, "I think that this is a trap that someone set for us so that they can do something bad to us once we're on the ship."

"Or maybe someone does want us to have fun," May always looked on the bright side, "Who knows, it could have been Max that set us up like this as a prank."

Drew relaxed, "I guess you're right- I have to stop being so serious and let loose once in a while. I mean, you never think before you do anything and look where you are right now, I guess that being absent-minded does have its good points at one time or another."

"I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear what you just said to me, okay Drew?" May turned her head facing the ocean, "The ship's coming!" May exclained, "Wow...The thing looks so nice...So big and blue and majestic..."

"I see that you're not blind," Drew taunted, "The S.S Atlanta, I wonder how it's going to be while we're in there on the way to the Zuki Region?"

The ship made it to the Dewford Port, where May and Drew were at. It dropped anchor and the bridge that allowed the passengers to enter reached across. May and Drew walked on it to enter the ship. The other Pokemon trainers and coordinators that were waiting at the Dewford Port began entering the vessel as well.

May jumped, "I hope that they have some good food that we can eat there! Some cheeseburgers might be nice, and maybe some pizza might be great as well also! What do you think that we should eat when we get to the 'all you can eat buffet' there?"

Drew chuckled, "Food...Is that all that you can think about whenever we go someplace new? I mean, can't you at least think of the other amazing scenery that you might see on that ship?"

When they entered the ship, Max was behind the cargo and he snuck into the ship, and for some reason, Harley was standing right next to Max, "Thought you can get rid of me, eh May?" They both said in unison, "Well not once I get on that ship and make your life a living hell."

"Hey! What are you doing standing next to me?" They both were surprised.

Harley smirked, then came up with a plan, "You think that me and you can come up with a really cool plan that will make May super-surprised and the trip a blast?"

Max nodded, "Sure."

[Harley Scarow]

May and Drew were in the lobby of the S.S Atlanta, after they boarded the ship that arrived when they were waiting for it in Dewford Town. May and Drew were in the cafeteria of the ship, where May could be seen rushing food into her mouth with everybody surrounding her, watching her eat the food at an amazing rate, a comical one.

Drew had an embarrassed look, "Will you stop eating like that May? People are laughing at the way that you eat and I think that we're gonna get kicked out soon if those waiters see you acting like this. You really need to brush up on your table manners, May."

May washed down some soda, "What's your point? This place is an 'all-you-can-eat-buffet' so I think that I should take advantage of everything that I get. You should be getting some food into your body as well- Take advantage of life for once! You always worked for what you have now so I think that you should at least let somebody give you something for free."

Drew sighed, "Alright, feel free to eat as much food and have as many drinks that you want, May . . . It's your stomach, not mines. And if it was mines, then I would look too hot for my own good."

May smiled, "Of course it is, and you're already cute, so you don't have to worry about getting a better body or anything, Drew. I mean, you're like a magnet for girls or something!" Her face suddenly turned purple as if she saw something nasty.

"What's wrong, May?" Drew asked, "Are you sick or something? You look really funny."

May became more pale, "WHERE'S THE BATHROOM?!" She yelled out loud, "I regret eating all of those cheeseburgers, Drew. And can someone here help me?!"

Drew smirked, "Don't tell me that I told ya so!"

May ran off to try and find the bathroom as Drew waited back in the ship's restaurant for her to come back. She scurried off in a rush, accidentily hitting people and things as she ran, trying to locate the bathroom.

On another one of the tables, Harley can be seen drinking some coffeee, "Love this coffee!" He said fakely as he dumped it in the garbage can, which Max popped out of before Harley dumped it in. To Harley's surprise, the coffee flew in the air and landed on him, "Hot Hot Hot!" He complained, "You sure can show up at the wrong time, Max!"

"Sorry there, Harley. Are you okay?" Max apologized in embarassment, "So what's the plan to get back at May?"

Harley grinned, "I already have the person that I hired on the job. He's a big one and he should be able to stomp May and Drew down on the ground flat!"

"How'd you get the money to hire someone to do that?" Max asked, "And wouldn't it be better if we pranked May by ourselves, I mean, that would make it feel more better if we did that instead, right?"

Harley laughed, "Let's just say that I'm in much better condition than the last time that we were together. I also have more money from winning so many Pokemon Contests from regions around the world. I even have my own fan-club in the Zuki Region!"

Max looked unbelieving, "Oh really?"

"Yep," Harley said, "Don't you think that being famous all around the country is cool?"

When May came back from the bathroom that she was looking for, she had a relieved look on her face, "That's much better...and it's also the last time that I try to eat 50 cheeseburgers in one day!" She sat back down in the place where Drew was, "Hi Drew. Thanks for waiting for me. And yeah, you were right about me, that I should have slowed down and that I shouldn't have ate so much . . . I feel a thousand times better now."

Drew waved his hair, "What took you so long? I was waiting here doing nothing, bored to death."

"I'm a girl, what do you think?" replied May, "Yeah. I saw a really cool pool on the top of the ship...do you wanna go up there so that we can take a dip? I mean, you must be tired for no reason at all, right?"

''Whatever..." Drew answered without having any feeling, "Better than seeing you eat more than you already did, I felt like throwing up after I saw that. And I don't think that I was the only one that felt that."


May and Drew took the escalator so that they can arrive at the top of the ship, and when they did, they saw the huge pool that May was talking about. It was big and there were many people swimming there.

May changed into her swimsuit, which was under her clothes so she didn't have to go into a changing room so that she could get dressed for swimming. "Last one in is a rotton something!" May challenged, "I bet that I can make a bigger splash than you!"

"Oh yeah? You think that you can make a bigger splash than me, May?" Drew grinned, "It makes perfect sense since it looks like maybe because you're much more heavier than me! And more fat in you too!"

May became red, "I heard that! And as a beautiful young teenager, I find that remark very offensive!" May made a big leap and she landed into the pool with a big splash. Afterwards, Drew did the same.


Downstairs, Harley was with Max, having a discussion with each other there.

"You wanna know who I hired?" Harley asked, "I bet that you'll be shocked with how that person looks like."

"Sure," Max answered, "I hope that its not one of those people that just scam you for money."

"But we're doing this for a prank, right? So I say that we are making a scam on May and Drew? But don't forget, we're only doing this so that we can add some more fun to the place," Harley took out a walkie-talkie. He began to speak in it, "Captain Orc, I want you to make May and Drew's life a living hell while they're here. Make it a short one if you want to get the job done easier, and make my life easier to those words, too."

Max chuckled, "This is going to be a small prank, right? Nobody's going to get hurt or anything. May's just going to be a little scared, right?"

Harley smirked, "Something like that, Max. Something like that. But I can assure you, what your sister is going to experience is going to be so much fun for us! There's going to be a lot of yelling on the way so I think that you should wear some earplugs!"

Suddenly the ship started shaking a little.

"What was that?" Max wondered, "It felt like the boat hit something on the way . . . "

"Oh nothing," Harley replied, "Well, nothing yet. Don't worry, Max. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

A harder shake occured. This one almost made Max trip and fall to the ground.

One of the sailors came around, "Huh?"

*Boom!* A loud shake occured and it knocked everything over. The ground started breaking apart; furniture and trainers fell at the quake.

Max was freaked, "What's happening, Harley?"

Harley made an evil laugh, "You're having fun now?"

"No . . . "


On the top deck, where the pool was, which was where May and Drew were playing, the water suddenly started draining down like a whirlpool.

May freaked, "What's happening?"

Drew was calm, "May, get back where it's dry."

May got back on the deck and so did Drew. The water kept draining until there was nothing left. Complaints came from everybody that was forced to get out of the water. Everybody was leaving the area so that they wouldn't fall into the empty pool, as it was 10 feet deep. So did May and Drew.

There was a sailor heading over to the ship's control center, "The ship must have hit something and the vessel is hurt from the impact!"

Another sailor said, "But the radar shows that the ship is on its course and there are no obstacles! There has to be somebody behind this!"


Harley decided to run to the ship's control room so that he can check on the work, "Oh no!" He said fakely, "Who in the world would do this to us?"

"You --" Harley grabbed Max by the mouth.

"We can't let you ruin our fun, now can we?" He carried Max by force and ran off, "This is so cool! I bet that May and Drew are gonna have a blast once I'm done with this entire place!"

"Go, Roselia!" Drew threw a PokeBall and out came his Pokemon, Roselia, "Use Leaf Defense!"

"Ro-se..." The Pokemon raised its two roses and a green aura appeared around May and Drew.

May was calmed, "Thanks Drew."

Drew smiled, "No problem, May. This move should keep us safe from anything that may fall from the ceiling."


Harley ran to the upper-deck and ran into the control room, where his work-for-hire villian was, "Nice job that you did there...now where's the real captain?"

Orc ripped off his captain costume, and it revealed a man that wore a suit made out of rocks, he was a bulky man that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley, "Right here," He took out a garbage bag and dumped out the real captain from inside it, which was tied up, "Nice way to start the day, eh boss? Who's that kid that you have with you?"

Harley threw Max into the ground, "Nothing. Just a kid that wants to have some fun, but now he's scared and wants to go back home!"

Max got up, "I'm gonna tell May that you did this and she's gonna get you big!"

I'm gonna tell May that you did this and she's gonna get you big!" Harley mocked, "Oh please, you think that she's in any situation to be saving the day? And besides, why don't you defend yourself? Too scared that you might get a bruise?"

"Good idea," Max said, "Go, Vigoroth!" A white monkey popped out from the PokeBall. It was angry and lived up to its name, "Use Slash!"

The white monkey did as it was told, "Vigoroth!"

Orc wasn't afraid, "I don't think so!" He got in the way and all of the slashes from Vigoroth bounced off from his rock-armored body, "If it's a Pokemon Battle that you want, then I have one here for you! Go Sharpenail!" A brown-colored, many pointed Pokemon popped out. It had a drill for hands and didn't look angry.

Max knew that it was a Rock-type Pokemon and using Normal-type attacks like Slash would do very little damage to it, "Use Water Pulse!"

Vigoroth did as it was told and began forming a blue-orb. When it was big enough, it let go and the ball began rushing at the Sharpenail.

"I don't think so!" growled Orc, "You know..."

Sharpenail drilled a hole into the ship and it dived into the hole that it made, thus dodging the attack.

"Oh no..." Max said scared, "Vigoroth, watch out!"

It was too late, Sharpinail already emerged from the ground and drilled Vigoroth. Knocking it into the ceiling.

"You look kinda comfortable up there, Vigoroth," Orc said sarcastically, "Why don't you stay up there? Sharlpinail, use Rock Spear!"

Sharpinail's drills became rocks, and it aimed at Vigoroth. It then shot rock shaped like missiles that hit Vigoroth and pinned it to the ceiling, "Sha!"

"Nice job, Orc," Harley complimented Orc, "Now let's blow up this here ship and get it over with!"

Orc looked confused, "That might be a stupid choice, Harley. A very stupid choice if I do say so myself."

"Nothing that I do is stupid!" Harley was raged, "And how is blowing up the S.S Atlanta a stupid choice?"

Max stood up, "You are stupid, Harley!"

Harley rose his voice, "How am I dumb? This plan was put together by me! And once Orc blows up the ship using the detonation Geodudes that he told me about, nobody on the ship will survive, not even May or that annoying boyfriend that she has with her!"

Max was confident he would win this argument, "That's exactly what I mean. All these years, you've been trying to get back at May and it all started with one tiny little Pokemon Contest in the Hoenn Region. But no! You couldn't let that one loss go and you had to start this humungous grudge with her! You are such a sore loser Harley, and no more than that!"

Harley's face rose red, Manga style, "How dare you say that to me when I've been trying to defend my honor all of these years! What you've said proved my point even more! She beat me once so it makes her a foe. I'm not going to let anybody beat me and get away with it!"

Orc sighed, "And Harley...if you want me to blow up this ship, then how will we escape it and make it safely to the mainland? You really don't think these things out, do you Harley?"

Harley had a Manga style sweatdrop, "Forgot about that part...my bad..." Then a volcano exploded from his head, "How dare you insult my intelligence? Time for me to step in- Go Rafflsite!" Harley threw a SeedBall and a humongous flower came out. It was pink and purple and had face details in the middle, "Like my new friend? Rafflsite, use Leech Root!"

"Rafflsite!" The creature did as it was told and launched vines into the woody deck. It then emerged from the ground and attacked Max directly. The vines also added to the quakes that were already taking place in the ship's hull and deck.

Max struggled to get free, "Vigoroth . . . Help . . ."

"Vigoroth . . ." The Pokemon said weakly.


May and Drew were busy helping the people in the ship avoid getting hurt from the collasping ceiling.

"Take this way so that you can get to the inside-upper deck, where the ceiling won't fall as much as it is here!" May directed, "And quickly! Before anybody gets hurt!"

A little girl was walking in the direction that May directed, when she tripped on one of the rocks that fell from the ceiling, "Waaahhh!" The little girl cried. Another ceiling chunk was about to fall on her!

"No!" Drew and Roselia went over to the girl, "Roselia, use Petal Dance Defense!"

"Rose . . . " The Rose Pokemon began spinning created a pink tornado that shattered the rock that was falling from the ceiling. Drew picked up the little girl and lead her where she was supposed to be.

"Thank you,'' said the girl.

"No problem," replied Drew.

All the passengers on the ship already knew where to go, so May and Drew decided to go to the source of the problem, which was in the control room. They began to run, not knowing where they were going to go.

Two sailors were also running towards them from the opposite direction, "Where are you two kids going? You need to evacuate to safety!"

"Are you two Pokemon Trainers?" the second sailor asked May and Drew, "Because if you are, we can really use your help here!"

"Well we train Pokemon, but since I decided to become a Pokemon Coordinator I've been competing in--" May was interrupted by Drew.

"Ok May, ok. We don't need to learn about your life story," stated Drew, "And yes, we are Pokemon Trainers. What do you need?"

"The captain of the ship is being held hostage in the control room of the ship," one sailor stated.

"The control room is right past the upper deck, where the pool is," the second sailor explained, "Got it?"

"Yep," May and Drew nodded, "Let's go!" They ran off until they got to the upper deck where the two sailors told them of, then they hurried in the control room to see Max, Harley, Orc, and the real captain there.

May was surprised, "Max, what are you--"

Max interrupted May, "It's a long story, sis."

"Harley!" Drew yelled, "I should have known that you were behind this the whole time!"

Harley evil laughed, "Well of course! You can't expect anybody else but me to--"

Orc interrupted Harley, and knocked him aside as well, "Actually, I'm the muscle behind this terror, and if you want to make it out of this here ship safely, then I'm afraid that you're going to have to beat me . . . This place looks pretty small . . . Don't you think?"

Drew didn't get what he meant, "Huh?"

Orc grunted, "That's right," He put his hands in his huge pockets and pulled something out . . . It was a Geodude! "You might have guessed this already, but these are real Geodude. The difference is that they're trained to explode rather than battle!" He tossed them, but not at May or Drew. But at the entire room, which completely destroyed it and the walls broke. They were outside now since there were no walls left.

"Vigoroth!" Max cried, "Are you okay?" Max somehow managed to break out of Rafflsite's vines.

Suddenly, out of all of the rocks, Vigoroth emerged out of them! "Vigoroth!" It grunted.

Max was relieved to see that his Pokemon was safe, ''I guess they don't call you the vigorous Pokemon for nothing! I'm so happy that you're safe!"

Drew looked confident that he would win, "Looks like it's time to battle . . . Let's go! Go Masquerain!" He sent out a Pokemon that looked like two eyeballs, blue and pink all over.

"A Pokemon that fits my hard ass personality is something good," stated Orc, "Rock on, Rumbull!" He sent out a Pokemon that looked exactly like a Granbull, except it was brown and had rock gravel on it.

"Masquerain, use Laser Eye!" Drew ordered.

Masquerain's two fake eyes glowed and sent out a two laser beams that hit Rumbull, but didn't seem to faze it at all, "Masq-ue-rain?" It said in surprise.

Orc laughed, "That's what makes Rumbull better than a Granbull! It has rock type characteristics making its defense much more powerful! Use your special ability! Rumble Jumble!"

Rumbull started jumping up and down, which caused quakes to occur from the ground, "Ruumm . . ."

Orc was surprised that nothing happened, "Your Masquerain should be dead by now! What's the deal with it still standing?"

Drew chuckled, "It's a Flying-type Pokemon, it doesn't stand, therefore, it didn't get hit by the attack. Should have thought before you decided to charge in with a dumb move like that, now did you?"

Orc growled, "Grrrr . . . "

"Masquerain, use Hydro Pump!" Drew ordered, "A water attack should take down that Pokemon. Now I think that you should regret bringing a Rock or Ground type Pokemon against me!"

"Uh oh . . . " Orc groaned.

The two fake eyeballs on Masquerain glowed blue, then shot water out that his Rumbull from two sides, knocking the rock bulldog out.

Harley was watching and was angered that Orc was losing the battle, "I think that it's time to cheat! Rafflsite, use Poison Petal!"

"Raffl-ssss," the many petals that Rafflsite had extended and attacked the May and Drew.

May was astonished, "You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I want in a battle with no rules, May!" Harley sneered, "Why don't you try?"

"Whatever!" May threw a PokeBall, "Go Beautifly!"

A beautiful butterfly appeared, as its name states, "Beautifly!" Glitter flew from its wings.

Harley laughed at the Pokemon, "Am I supposed to be scared of a little bug?"

"You should be!" May exclaimed, "Beautifly, use Cutting Wind on Rafflisite!"

The butterfly flew into the air and two waves of wind sliced in the air and hit Rafflsite, "Beautifly!"

Harley laughed, "No rules equal everything is fair play," he didn't order his Rafflsite to do anything, instead, he walked over to May.

May was confused, "What are you doing?"

Harley kept walking, "Oh nothing, just trying to have a little fun time with you!" when he finally made it to where May was, he kicked her!

Orc and Drew were still battling on the ship, and Orc was about to send out another Pokemon, "Go Sharpinail!" The pointy Pokemon that appeared from before came out again, "By the time that I'm done with you, you're gonna have a few holes through your scrawny body! Sharpinail, use Nail Attack!"

It shot many screws out, an unavoidable attack. A barrage of them hit Masquerain and it was down for the count, "Sharp . . ."

Drew returned Masquerain back to its PokeBall. Next he sent out Roselia, his best Pokemon, "This is our last shot so lets give it our all! Use Rose Buster!"

Roselia held one of its roses out like a gun and it aimed at Sharpinail. It shot many petals out which appeared to hit it, but didn't damage it at all! It looks like Sharpinail used its nails to cancel out the roses!

Harley's Rafflisite was losing to Beautifly, "I can't believe that you're letting a stupid little Beautifly beat you, Rafflsite! You're such a loser . . . Come on!"

May stood up for Harley's Rafflsite, "Maybe if you started treating your Pokemon with some decency, they would perform better in battle! In order for you and your Pokemon to succeed, you must work together in battle so that you can emerge victorious."

Harley laughed from that, "Don't lecture me, May. Oh yeah, I have things to do and places to go . . . So yeah. Time to make this battle go boom-boom!" Harley took out a remote control that resembled a Cacnea and pressed the red button. The ship began to split apart and all the trainers returned their Pokemon back into their PokeBalls.

May was shocked, "What are you doing, Harley?"

Drew sighed, "Too bad we won't be able to continue our battle . . . ''

Orc nodded, "I'll see you in the next Pokemon Contest so you better watch out."

Harley grabbed Max, "That's right, your little brother's mine for the taking. If you want him back, then you better find him on the island that we'll be blasting off to from the explosion about to occur!"

The ship completely blew up. May and Drew blew off in one direction; Harley and Max in another (Harley activated a rocket-pack so that he can control his direction); Orc went somewhere unknown.

May and Drew were lying together in an island. When they woke up, they realize that they were washed ashore onto a beach, having no idea where they are right now or what to do. Their only chance is to find someone that lives there.

[Harley Scarow]

May and Drew were washed up on the beach after being washed away from the S.S Atlanta by Harley's attack, unconsious. The night has already arrived at the island that they were on, as it has been a long day.

Drew suddenly woke up, "Gee . . . I wonder where we are?" he turned around and saw May sleeping, "Man, May is so lazy . . . How can she sleep at a time like this? And on a beach that we have no idea where it is?"

May was rolling over and moaning, "Happy days . . . I just won the Ribbon Cup . . ." she mumbled in her sleep, "Ha ha, Drew . . . you can't beat me . . ."

"That's right . . . in her dreams!" Drew laughed, "Should I wake her up, or should I let her stay asleep so that she won't rant on about annoying things?"

"Drew . . . you suck . . ." May mumbled, "I don't want to go out with you anymore . . . "

Drew chuckled, "There's no way that I'm going to let May think about me like that . . . not even in her dreams, because if I do let her, she's going to talk about how she beat me in her dream, and I forgot that she believes that dreams are true," Drew raised his fist and hit May directly on the head.

May woke up abruptly, "Ow! Who did that?" she turned around and saw Drew, "Oh . . . it's just you, Drew," she washed off the sand that was on her clothes and body, then she got up.

"While you were sleeping your big head away, we were in this island which we have no idea is!" Drew exclaimed, "Had a good sleep, May?"

"You were sleeping too, Drew!" May replied, "So you shouldn't be talking! Me, on the other hand, was getting my beauty sleep."

Drew chuckled, "It doesn't matter who was sleeping and who was sleeping longer. We need to find out where we are and get out of this place so that we can make our way to the Zuki region."

May noticed something, "Where's Max?"

Drew looked around, "Nope. He's nowhere in sight."

"Gee . . . I wonder where's Max?" May had a worried look, which then turned into a grin, "I bet he's lost. Serves him right for not listening to me and going to the Orre region!"

"Gee . . . that's harsh," Drew said, "I thought that you would at least care about your own little brother. Kind of low that you would say that you don't care, May."

May put on a reassuring look on her face, "Don't worry, Drew. Maybe a long time ago I may have worried about him, but there's no need to worry about him now. After all, he does have Pokemon with him."

"Change of thought?" Drew asked, "You're so moody."

"I'll take that as a compliment," assumed May, "Anyways, where are we?"

"I have no idea," admitted Drew, "Let's go and see if there's any people living here."

May smiled, "Good idea."

May and Drew began scouring the beach to see if there was anybody that lived on the island that they were presently on. It was nighttime, so they couldn't afford to get lost now. They eventually saw a patch of tall grass up ahead, and it was the only plant life that they saw so far on the island they were on.

May got excited, "Maybe we can play in that grass- we might find some wild Pokemon there!"

Drew frowned, "What's the matter with you? The only thing that we need to do right now is to find somebody that lives on this island, and then ask that person to help us out of this island."

May didn't listen and jumped into the grass as if it was a swimming pool, "Come in Drew! The grass is fine!"

Drew sighed, "Another one of your moments when you confuse one thing with another . . . there's no way that I'm going to 'dive into a patch of tall grass!"

"Come on, Drew!" May urged, "It's the only way to get to the other side of this patch of grass anyways."

Drew sighed again, "Fine . . . I'll wade through the grass. But I'm not jumping into it." He did as he said and began walking through the grass. Suddenly Drew heard a voice, as if he stepped on something, or it could have been somebody!

"Oww . . . " the voice mumbled, "Can you get off me, whoever you are?"

Drew was startled and jumped out the way, "Sorry . . . I didn't see you there, my bad.''

May sighed, "Tsk tsk tsk . . . that's what you get for entering tall grass and not looking where you're going!"

"But you told me to go through the grass!" Drew exclaimed, "Wow May . . . no sense . . . ''

The person that Drew stepped on got up. It was a women wearing a very revealing lab coat. She had blonde hair, golden eyes, and tan skin, "Hi. My name is professor Sap, who are you?"

''My name's May," May informed, ''Nice to meet you."

''My name is Drew," Drew stated, "Sorry for stepping on you . . . I should look where I walk next time . . ."

Professor Sap had an embarrassed look, "It's my fault for lying down on the grass. It was either you or a Pokemon that would have walked over me. So . . . what are you doing on this island?"

"We should be asking you the same question!'' May pointed out, "Kind of weird to see anybody on this lonely island."

Drew was against what May said, "What she means is, do you know how we can get off this island so that we can get to the Zuki region? The S.S Atlanta is supposed to take us there."

"The Zuki region?" Sap said eagerly, "That's the country that I live in! The S.S Atlanta is supposed to take you to my hometown, Maple Town. I just left there a few days ago so that I can explore this island."

''That's cool,'' May remarked, ''Can you tell us how we can get off this island? I want to return back to civilization so that I can go shopping again . . . and yes! I forgot . . . cheeseburgers!"

''Is that all that you care about, May?" Drew was always getting annoyed of the things that May were obsessed with, "So do you know how to get off this island?"

''Well we can get off this island and head over to Maple Town by tommorrow," Sap answered, "I'm here so that I can do research on one of the Pokemon that live here, Bevera. I have a Bevera of my own to help me.''

''Cool. Can we see it?" May asked, "I'm always excited to see new Pokemon."

''Sure," Sap answered, "Go Bevera!" she threw a PokeBall in the air that sent out a Bevera. As hints from its name, it was a beaver-like Pokemon that had huge teeth and tail.

''Nice Pokemon," Drew complimented.

''That thing looks so cute," May reached into her pocket so that she can get her PokeDex, but she remembered that she left the PokeDex back at home.

Sap giggled, "I see that you don't have a PokeDex of your own yet. Do you want one?"

"I already have one," May answered, "But unfortunately for me, I forgot it and I left it at home.''

Drew smirked, "That's May for ya, always forgetting things that are obvious."

Sap laughed, "Don't worry. When you two get to Maple Town tommorrow, I'll be sure to give you two the PokeDex for the Zuki region."

Drew got his hopes up, "Really? I can get my own PokeDex?" Drew never had his own PokeDex, "I always wanted to know what it was like to have a PokeDex. It seems that whenever I need one, May's not around to use her's to help me."

Sap smiled, "Sure, of course Drew," she looked at her watch, "It's getting kind of late right now. Why don't we find a place so that we can get to sleep?"

"Where can we sleep?" May asked, remembering that she forgot to pack up her sleeping bag, "I forgot another thing . . . my sleeping bag . . . ''

''That's right, as I pointed out, May for ya," Drew laughed a little, "I see that you forgot another thing."

May raised her voice, "It's not like you brung anything with you, Drew. So don't go and blame this on me as if I was the only one that came unprepared.''

Sap had a calm look on her face, "Don't worry, we can make a bed from wood coming from the trees. Wanna know how I'm going to do that?" she hinted.

''How?" May and Drew both asked.

''Bevera, use Woody Chomp on one of those trees!'' Sap ordered, "We can put the wood and the leaves together so that we can make a set of three beds.''

''Bev!'' the Bevera grunted. It came to the nearest tree and began biting it. The tree was biten from the center and it fell, along with the scattered leaves, "Bevera!"

''Good job, Bevera,'' Sap complimented, "Now we can make three beds out of these materials.

May, Drew, and Sap began building beds out of the wood. The leaves were used as a cushion and a blanket. It took them an hour, but they were done.

May sat on the ground, tired, "Wow . . . that was fun. But hard work can sure get you tired . . . a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza would be really nice right now. My favorite foods . . ."

Drew got annoyed by May, "As usual, all you want to eat are cheeseburgers and pizza.''

Sap laughed, "Ok, lets go to sleep now. We can use my motorboat that I docked to get to Maple Town tommorrow after I'm done with my research here. Goodnight to you two.''

''Goodnight,'' May and Drew said. Then the three fell asleep into the night.




The next morning, as the sun was rising, professor Sap was with her Bevera, gazing at the ocean.

May woke up refreshed, "That was a great sleep!''

Drew also woke up, "For once, you're right May.''

May liked the beautiful scenery, as she saw a flock of Wingull fly above her, "I never knew that sleeping on wood would feel so good!"

Sap walked over, "I like to stay with nature. That's why I always go outside."

''Is it time to go yet?" May asked, "It would be nice to stay here on the island a little longer."

''No!" Drew disagreed, "We have to get going to Maple Town so that we can start our way. Not only that, but we don't even know the name of this island!"

Sap looked surprised, "You don't know? The name of this island is Woodsu Island, and it's famous for the wild Bevera that lives here. That's where I met my buddy Bevera here, and I wanted to let him visit home again. This island is technically on the Zuki region map."

Bevera was standing beside Sap, "Bev!"

Drew was getting impatient, "Well . . . can we go to Maple Town now?"

''Sure," Sap answered, "But I docked the boat on a river on the other side of the island. We have to go there so that we can reach it.''

May was happy that they could take the scenic route around the island, letting her see all of the sights, "Yay! You don't get to see nature like this in the city.''

Drew was confused, "I thought that you liked the city life. That's why yesterday you were complaining about wanting to go back, right?"

May sweatdropped, "That was then, and this is now! As time passes, what I want is bound to change."

Sap walked at the lead, ''Well lets go and find that river. Maybe we can find some Pokemon here that you may be interested in.''

They began walking. May was constantly looking around, amazed at how wonderful a place could be if it didn't have any human society living there. She constantly stopped so that she can touch the plants that she saw, to Drew's annoyence, as he wanted to get to the Zuki region so that he can compete in the Pokemon Contests that he has been waiting so long to do so.

May giggled, "This is so cool!''

Drew sighed, "Will you stop touching the plant life here? Knowing you, you'll probably kill what you touch.''

May kept her happy face, "Oh chill out, Drew. You really need to lighten up and as they say, stop and smell the flowers for once."

Sap spotted the river, and pointed at it. It was 20 feet wide across, making it impossible to cross as there was no bridge, "Here we are, guys.''

May was frightened, "It's so . . . so big! How are we going to cross that thing without a bridge?"

Sap was confident that they would make it across, "There's no need to worry, we have Bevera with us- he can make us a bridge.''

''May may may . . . you always overlook things,'' Drew smirked at her, "You should know by now that Pokemon are always ready to help us when we need it."

May ignored Drew's comment.

Sap pointed to a tree, "Bevera, use Wood Chomp on that tree so that it can make us a bridge!''

''Bev!" It began rapidly chomping down on a tree and after it was done, it tumbled and landed across the river, making a bridge as Sap said it would.

''Good job, Bevera!" complimented Sap, ''Now we can cross the river with no problem.''

Drew chuckled, ''Ladies first.''

May began crawling across the log, scared that she might be washed away by the river, ''I-I wonder what w-will happen if I l-let go of this l-log?'' she stumbled. She was scared and lost her grip of the rope, and fell! ''Help me Drew!''

Drew wasn't frightened at all. He held out one of those red roses that he was famous for, "Here May . . . grab ahold of this rose . . . ''

May did so and had her hand prickled by the rose. Drew then grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to the land, ''That's what you get for not being careful.''

May was relieved, ''Drew . . . did you have to hold out the rose? I mean, you could have just grabbed my wrist and helped me out from there!''

''I could have saved you either way,'' Drew explained, ''The rose was to punish you for acting so carelessly . . . maybe next time you'll watch out.''

Professor Sap laughed, "That was a close one. Let's continue across the log, okay you two?"

The three climbed on the log. Drew was walking over it with his eyes closed and May was holding Drew's shirt while still crawling. Sap made it over to the other side first, then followed May and Drew.

''Let's follow down the river's shoreline. That's where I left the motorboat that I used to get here in the first place. Don't ask me why I left it there.''

They followed the shoreline until they saw the motorboat that Sap was talking about. It was ocean blue colored with slight orange streaks.

When they approached it, Bevera had a disappointed face on it, ''Bevera . . . '' it said sadly.

''What's the matter, Bevera?'' asked Sap, ''Is something bothering you?"

''Bev . . .''

Sap knew why it was so sad, ''It's because you weren't able to see or meet any of your other Bevera friends, were you?'' she thought for a little, ''It's kind of strange. I thought that we would meet a lot of them here. Something must be wrong with the ecosystem . . .''

Suddenly, the three heard an explosion coming from the jungle! Then they heard the whimpering of some Pokemon that sounded a lot like Bevera.

Bevera jolted up, ''Bevera!'' it ran away to the direction of the explosion.

Sap was worried about what might happen to her poor Pokemon if it got to the midst of the explosion site, ''Bevera, come back! It's not safe--'' she didn't finish, and saw that a tree was going to hit her if she didn't move quick, ''Oh no!''

Drew pushed professor Sap and May out of the way and the three escaped where the tree fell, ''Are you two okay?"

''Yeah . . . '' May answered weakly, ''Thanks for saving me again . . .''

Sap got up and ran in the direction where Bevera was going, even though it was already almost out of sight, ''Something bad's happening here.''

''We should follow her,'' Drew suggested, ''Something like that can happen again.''

May got up, ''You're right. She helped us get through this island without going nuts so it's the least that we can do for her.''

May and Drew ran off where Sap was running. Little did they know that they would meet the person that was destroying the forest soon . . .

[Harley Scarow]

''Wait for me!" May shouted, "That scientist can sure run quick. Wish I could."

Drew was picking up speed, ''You would do the same if one of your Pokemon was running away, confused, now would you May?"

May sweatdropped, "Of course I would!''

Professor Sap made a turn to the left, where she entered a thick forest of trees, with very little light as the tall trees overshadowed them as they ran towards her. A snap was suddenly heard.

Sap stopped, "What was that?" Another tree was falling towards her like last time, "Oh no!'' she ducked, avoiding the tree.

Standing on top of one of those trees, a tall man wearing brown and pointy shoes was looking down, "Don't think that you can get away from me that easily, professor." he leaped off using the trees.








May and Drew caught up with Sap.

May was sweating, "Next time, don't run off like that!''

Sap had a serious look, ''Sorry, but I can't stop.'' she continued running off again.

Drew sighed, ''Here we go again,'' May and Drew ran off, chasing her again into the thick woods, which seemed to be getting more and more dark as they continued on.




Harley was on the island, holding Max in his arms, struggling to get free, "Ha ha! Looks like you're not going anywhere, now are you, Maximus?''

Max was annoyed that he couldn't escape, ''I don't even need to worry. May and Drew are going to stop you and save me before you can even do anything to me!'' Harley was running along the side of the trees in order for May and Drew not to see where he was.

May stopped, ''I could have swore that I just heard Max's voice. I even heard Harley's voice!''

Drew didn't believe her, ''Maybe you're just hearing things . . . again. I think that you need to have your ears checked before they get worse.''

May ignored Drew, ''It doesn't matter,'' she began running off again, seeing that the forest was almost pitch black now and that she couldn't see Drew anywhere, ''Where are you, honey?"

Drew grabbed May, "Boo!''

May was startled, ''Ah! Who is it? Get off me before I use my superpowers against you!"

Drew spoke, "It's just me, May. Man are you gullible. It's pretty dark here, but I think that it's going to get brighter for some reason if we keep walking.''

May was confused, "Why would it get brighter? Ever since we started running in this here forest, it seemed to get more and more dark as we kept running!''

''Ever heard 'the light at the end of the cave'? Or in this case, the light at the end of the forest.''

May smiled in relief, ''I guess you're right . . . I mean, you're always right Drew.''

They kept running, and in a few minutes, May realized that Drew was right- the forest did seem to be getting more light shown in it!

May was impressed, "Drew, how did you know that?"

"You know how we entered the forest from the edge of it, right?" Drew explained, "Well as we got deeper, the forest got darker, so that would mean that if we kept going, we would get to the other edge of the forest, which would have light there unlike the center of it, which is the most darkest part.''

"Good . . . I guess," May complimented, "Do you feel like something's going to attack us if we don't move?"

Drew was cautious, "Yeah . . . ''

May was right. A wooden block shot out of the ground and attempted to hit Drew, which he leaped out of the way as if he was expecting it to be launched there from the start.

''See?" May was scared, "Hope that thing doesn't hit me and lift me into the air, I'm really scared.''

Another wooden tower shot out from the ground and it was from where May was standing, shooting her into the air with immense force.

"Ahh!!!" May screamed, "That really hurt and I think that Drew just saw up my skirt! Not that it would be a bad thing, but . . . '' gravity pulled her back down and she landed on the grass, surviving somehow.

Drew laughed, "That's what you get for being so careless! Next time, you should watch where you stand before you hang out there.''

May wasn't laughing, "You think that was funny?! Somebody or something must be behind this crap, and I want that to stop before I sue somebody for ripping off a part of my skirt!''

Drew moved a little so that he can look at where May's skirt ripped a little, "Wow . . . that looks nice.''

May was blushing, "Drew . . . you pervert!'' she stated that even though she secretly wanted Drew to look at her at that part of her body, "Turn around unless you want to get a slap on the neck.''

Drew was also blushing, since May knew that Drew was looking there, "Sorry . . . ''

A green bush with eyes, mouth, and a long nose appeared behind them, "Bushose!'' without catching May or Drew's attention, its long nose extended and shot them in the back.

May was angry, "Drew, did you touch me in my unmentionables? I'm going to hurt you for that!" she held out a fist, but then realized that Drew wasn't behind her, but side of her on the ground, startled from the long nose, "Drew, are you okay?"

Drew got up, "What do you think?"

An annoying laugh was heard from the top of the trees, which caught May and Drew's attention. They looked up and saw purple hair, a green outfit . . . it was Harley!

May was spooked, "What are you doing up there?!"

Harley was holding onto Max tightly, "What do you think? I'm keeping your annoying little brother Maximus hostage if you can't see that already.''

May was worried, "Max, are you okay?"

"I knew that you would come and help me!" Max said happily, "Get rid of this creep!''

A man with a voice as if he had a stuffy nose rose up, "So you're May and Drew! You two should be easy enough to take care of!''

"Who are you?" Drew asked, "What are you trying to do? Be cool by hanging on top of a tree?"

"Are you with Harley?" May asked, "I hope you're not.''

Drew sighed, "He's standing next to him. What do you think, May?"

The man chuckled, then jumped from top of the trees and landed on the grass, "That's right . . . the name's Two-Shoes, Woody-Woody Two-Shoes! Hired by Scarow to take you down and collect the cash!"

"What's Scarow?" May asked, "Sounds kind of cute.''

Harley was annoyed that May would describe the name of his organization cute, "There's nothing cute about Scarow, honey. At least nothing that you'll ever think will be cute. Now take him down, Woody!''

"That's right," Woody chuckled, "Bushose, use Woody-Woody Nose!"

"Bushose!" Woody had two of them in his team. They both extended their long noses at a speedy rate that attempted to hit May and Drew, but missed.

"Looks like you want a Pokemon Battle, now do you?" Drew assumed, "Well that's something that I can do. Go Flaritten!" he threw a PokeBall that released the fire Pokemon, Flaritten.

"Flare!" the Pokemon said.

"Burn down those Bushose!" Drew ordered.

"Flar!" the Pokemon blew flames at the Bushose.

Drew was confident, "That should take care of you!"

Woody chuckled, "I think that you should know that I can take care of a fire attack anyday."

The Bushose were closing their eyes and mouths, and the fire attack completely deflected off them. They then reopened their eyes and three more bushes appeared in front of each one of them, for a total of eight Bushose!

May was scared, "How did you do that?"

"Bushose's special ability, of course, which is known as 'Bushy Hair' " Woody explained, "As you can see, every Bushose can close its eyes and mouth once during battle to deflect any attack that is dealt towards it. Then when it reopens the eyes and the mouth, three more Bushose are summoned in front of them. Since I have two Bushose with me that were attacked, each one gave me three, meaning that six more were added to the two that I already controlled, allowing me to control eight Pokemon at the same time! However, the next time that a Bushose that has already used up its ability is attacked, it is automatically destroyed regardless of how much HP or defenses that it has left."

Drew understood what Woody said, "You shouldn't have said that. Now I know exactly how I'm going to counter those Pokemon, but I'm going to need your help in this, May. Do you have any Fire Pokemon with you right now?"

"Yeah," May replied, "I have my Combusken with me. I would never leave it at home or forget about that Pokemon, since it was the first Pokemon that I ever had when I started my journey."

Drew nodded, "Good. Here's the plan. You know how that Pokemon of his can multiply, right? Well if we can destroy them quick enough, then they can't regenerate themselves with those clones that they make, okay?"

"I got it," May threw a PokeBall that released Combusken, the yellow and orange 'young fowl' Pokemon, "Combusken, use as many Flamethrowers as you can on those Bushoses, and as quick as you can!"

Combusken did what it was asked, "Combusken!" it shot out flames from its mouth that hit the Bushoses on the spot.

"No May!" Max warned, "That won't--"

Harley held Max by the mouth, "I can't have you spoiling this battle, now can I? May has to think for herself, when she does learn how to think."

Woody was confident, "You think that the same trick is going to work twice? So slow, you two . . . "

It was true. The two original Bushoses were destroyed, but the six copies made three copies each, for a grand total of eighteen Bushoses on May and Drew's back.

"Attack with your Wood Nose!" Woody ordered, "With so many, there's no way that you're going to be able to get out of this one."

"Bush!" all of them growled, and then they did what Two-Shoes asked them to do, except that it ended up being a huge surprise.

May was worried, "We're going to die! It was nice knowing you, Drew, and I can't believe that we were never in the bed having whatchamacallit!"

Drew shook his head, "Don't worry, you'll still have plenty of times to see me and well you know . . . me. I bet that you're going to laugh out loud after what you're going to see.''

There were so many extended noses that were being shot by the many Bushoses that were surrounding them, all of the points being aimed at May and Drew. Because of the number that were there, all of the noses crossed and hit each other! The Bushose from the left side shot first, so they had more power than the ones on the right side, since they were still charging up to attack. When they let go of their fully stretched noses, the left side, with more force, destroyed the right side Bushoses! Since they were already attacking, there was no way that they could stop, close their eyes and mouth to guard themselves, and then duplicate. Now there were only nine left.

Two-Shoes was angry at what he just witnessed, "This isn't over yet . . . not by a mile! You may have found the weakness to my Pokemon's strategy, but I don't think that you know that this is a street battle, meaning that the trainers are allowed to attack as well."

May was confused, "How can a human attack in a Pokemon Battle? Wouldn't that person get hurt if they got involved in it?"

Drew was disappointed in May's lack of knowledge, "What do you think May? This is a street fight, meaning that you're allowed to do anything that you want so that you can win the battle.''

Harley was smirking, "Maybe it would be best if I intrude onto this battle, you know, to make victory 100% . . . ''








Professor Sap was running in the forest, and she finally caught up to where her confused Bevera was, which was where the light at the end of the forest was.

"I'm so happy that you finally stopped," Sap said.

"Bevera . . . " Professor Sap knew that it was still sad that it couldn't find any of its buddies, so now she was determined to get to the bottom of that.

She knew there was something strange about the location of where they were, but somehow guessed that they were still on the island. Sap peeked out into the end of the forest, which was the light part, and saw May and Drew, "Oh no . . . I have to do something about this. This can't be good at all . . . "








Back at the battle, Woody was still confident that he could win the battle, "Go on, May and Drew. Use another Fire-type attack on my Bushoses! After all, Fire attacks do beat Grass Pokemon, right?"

Drew caught on already, "Don't think that you can get us again with that trick, Two-Shoes. We already caught on to your little Pokemon's trick."

May was still worried, "But Drew, even if we know how to not activate Bushose's Pokemon ability, the only way not to set it off is by not attacking it. And if we don't attack, then we can't win this battle.''

"Then we'll just surprise attack them," Drew explained, "Return, Flaritten!" Drew returned it back into its PokeBall, "Go Roselia!"

"Hmmph," grunted Woody, "A Grass on Grass attempt? If Fire didn't work on my Pokemon, then why would you think that a Grass-type Pokemon could do any better than that?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Drew said, "Roselia, use Leaf Defense!"

"Rose . . . " the green Pokemon with red and blue roses as its hands began spinning in the air. Pink petals were flying around May and Drew as if it was forming a dome.

Woody was mystified, "What do you think that you're doing with that gay move? Grr . . . Bushose, use Bullet Seed on the shield!"

"Bush . . . " the dark green, long nose bush Pokemon opened its mouth and an array of yellow glowing seeds shot out of their mouths, hitting the constant flying pink petals, but it seemed to not even damage the dome! The Bullet Seeds deflected and destroyed the remaining Bushoses that were still there.

"Hmmph . . . " Drew chuckled, all of the flying pink petals that Roselia unleashed fell to the ground, and a glowing green dome was created that protected May and Drew from harm, "That's what you get for using a Grass attack on a Grass defense."

Harley was shocked that even nine attacks couldn't get through to them, "You better get rid of them quick if you want to be promoted, Woody-Woody Two-Shoes, because I'm tired of waiting."

"Then why don't you join the battle?" Woody added, "This is a street fight after all, and breaking the rules are impossible since there are no rules."

Harley laughed, "Good idea. Go Rafflsite!" Harley threw a Purple PokeBall that released his parasite Pokemon with four huge purple petals and its face lying in the middle of the plant, "You know what to do."

"Raugh!" Rafflsite growled as if it was a beast than a plant, "Rufu!" It grew vines from its bottom and shot them underground where it was standing.

"Where is that going to hit?" wondered a confused May, "Wait . . . please don't tell me where those vines are going to hit . . . I don't want to think about it."

Drew had a worried look on, which was rare, "Uh oh . . . we're in this Grass defense, that means that nothing can get in, but nothing can get out either."

Harley laughed, "That's right! From under you!"

Harley's Rafflsite did as the others predicted. The vines emerged from inside the barrier and snatched May and Drew, holding them at the ceiling of the barrier.

"No!" screamed May and Drew, "Let go of us!"








Professor Sap was watching the battle, with a horrified look, shocked at how any person that engages in a Pokemon Battle would attack another trainer, "I wish that I could help . . . but how?"

Bevera decided to stand up for May and Drew, and ran out to the battle scene, "Bevera!" it said determined to help them. And the long tailed beaver ran off with thoughts of helping its friends, which Sap decided to follow so that she can assist it in any way.








When Bevera and Sap arrived at the battle scene, Woody was laughing when he saw the small Pokemon.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Woody laughed at Bevera, "You think that you can take care of me with that?"

"That's right," replied Sap, "Bevera, use Tail Rack!"

The beaver Pokemon did a backflip and attempted to slam its tail onto Woody-Woody Two-Shoes, "Bev!" it shouted in anger as it almost hit him.

Woody vaulted in the air and landed on top of one of the trees, dodging the attack, "You want to battle also, I see . . . "

"Bevera!" it grunted, eager to battle so that Woody-Woody Two-Shoes would go away.

"Not really . . . " Sap stated, "But if it's a battle that you want, then it's a a battle that you'll have! Bevera, use your Quick Attack!"

"Go Woodnote!" Woody threw a wooden PokeBall that released his Pokemon, Woodnote, which was a brown log, with sleepy eyes, long nose, and blubbery mouth, "I think you know what to do for me."

"Woody . . . " the Pokemon began materializing grass lumps from air that blocked Bevera's Quick Attack. The Grass lumps looked a lot like Bushose, and were destroyed by the attack.

Sap was surprised, "How did it do that?"

Woody laughed, "You're a Pokemon scientist . . . why don't you tell me? Whip out one of those PokeDexes that you guys always carry with you and find out what my Pokemon can do for yourself. Oh yeah, by the way, Woodnote, use Wood Missile!"

"Woody!" the Pokemon's nose started to charge up energy, and it released its nose like a missile towards Sap, which Bevera took the hit.

"Bev . . . " Bevera moaned weakly, trying to recover from the hit that it took.

"Are you okay?" Sap asked, worried about her damaged Pokemon. She took out her PokeDex which resembled a PSP, as the PokeDexes always resemble a device.

The PokeDex spoke in a female mechanical voice, "Woodnote, the Wood Nose Pokemon. This Pokemon is the evolved form of Bushose. It is able to materialize and download living grass bush to attack its opponents. It can also log out of its present body and log in again as one of the Bushose to avoid an attack."

Sap was surprised, "Download? Logging in and out? That must mean that this Pokemon is one that came from cyberspace. From the way that it battles, I'm assuming that it is specifically the Virus type."

"Woodnote, use Woodstomp!" Woody ordered, "This should take care of your Bevera once and for all."

"No!" May and Drew yelled, worrying that the hit may finish off Bevera, their last chance.

"Woodnote . . . " the brown and long nose log jumped into the air and was above Bevera. It forced pressure into its body and slammed onto Bevera, causing an explosion once it landed on the damaged Pokemon.

"No!" Professor Sap yelled, "My poor Pokemon!"

Harley was laughing, "First we took care of May and Drew, and now we took care of a scientist that should have minded her own business!"

Woodnote's body completely covered Bevera. Suddenly, a shining sound could be heard. Woodnote was being lifted into the air!

"Wood?" it said surprised.

Bevera was evolving, as shown when it was becoming bigger when it was lifting Woodnote!

[Harley Scarow]

Sap was surprised, "Whoa . . . good job Bevera!" little did she know that its name wasn't going to be called Bevera anymore.

The Pokemon Evolution was complete. The new Pokemon was standing on two feet. Its tail became a whole set of logs that were side by side. It was taller, bigger, and more serious. The color of the new Pokemon changed from a brown to a golden color, "Bevadam . . . " it growled.

"That's a Bevadam!" yelled May and Drew.

"Hmm . . . Bevadam," the amazed professor flipped open her PSP PokeDex, "This is cool . . . "

The PokeDex, with the female voice spoke, Bevadam, the Dam Pokemon. The evolved form of Bevera can use an entire river as its home when it builds a dam there. Being very territorial, Pokemon are feared by it. Its Dam Tail can destroy trees with one attack."

Professor Sap was very proud that her Pokemon had evolved, despite the situation that it was in before. "Thank you so much, Bevadam . . . I am proud of you for getting out of the most harsh of troubles. Now take down that Woodnose!"

Woody giggled, "You may have your Pokemon evolved, but don't think that's going to help! Woodnose, use your Bamboo Sword attack!"

Max was confused how Woodnose could use any kind of sword attack, considering the fact that it doesn't have a sword with it, and even if it did, it couldn't pick it up since it has no hands, "What's he up to?"

Woodnose went through a transformation. It grew wooden arms from its side. The way that the sword was going to appear was astonishing, since Woodnose's pointy, woody nose grew in size and popped right off! The wooden sword suddenly had a handle so that Woodnose can carry it. It held it in a threatening way at Bevadam, confident it will win. "Woodnose . . . "

The professor was still convinced that the newly transformed Pokemon can't attack Bevadam from a distance. "How can that thing of yours move if it doesn't even have any legs to do so?"

Woody-Woody Two-Shoes knew that it had legs, but wasn't planning on using them to advance, "If you look closely, you can see that it does have legs, but that's not what I'm going to do . . . "

Woodnose's wooden arm grew rapidly towards Bevadam with the wooden sword in its hand! "Wooden . . . "

Bevadam managed to use its huge tail and push it to the ground, vaulting the brown beaver up into the air, "Bevadam!"

Sap was relieved that it missed, "That was a close one. Good dodge Bevadam! Now its time to retailiate, Bevadam, use your Surf!"

"Beva!" it jumped into the air, and a huge blue wave appeared from the ocean that was behind it, and was aimed at Harley and Woody's side.

Harley laughed. "Maybe it's time to stop you from losing, Two-Shoes. Rafflsite, use Attack Drain!"

While still holding onto May and Drew, Rafflsite's body glowed red and the Surf attack was redirected to it, and canceled out by it. However, May and Drew were free right after it absorbed the damage!

"We're free," May said calm. "That thing was gross!"

Drew was exhausted. "I feel like my energy was drained from that Rafflsite . . . "

"That's because it used its Attack Drain move," Sap explained. "When using that technique, any attack that is targeted to another Pokemon can be redirected to the Pokemon using Attack Drain, with the opposite effect, which means that the attack would heal that Pokemon. However, in order to use that attack, the Pokemon must focus its energy, meaning that it couldn't hold on to you two. So that also means that Harley made a foolish move!"

Harley was offended. "If I didn't have to rescue you from that Surf attack, then this wouldn't have happened you stupid idiot!"

"I didn't need your oversized petal to do that move!" Woody said. "I thought that you knew that Woodnose was a Grass type Pokemon so it wouldn't have taken so much damage anyways! And I was going to use the Bamboo Sword as a whirlwind so that I can repel that Surf attack, so now who's dumb, dummy?"

Sap was laughing that two people on the same side would argue over each other. "Want to finish this off, Bevadam? This is getting kind of boring."

"Beva!" Bevadam nodded in agreement.

"Good idea," Sap decided that in order to blow Harley and Woody off, they would have to use a finishing attack. "Bevadam, use your Wood Chuck attack!"

Bevadam materialized a huge, brown wood block out of nowhere and it began glowing. It then charged right at Harley and Woody-Woody Two-Shoes and knocked them into the sky. "Bevadam!" Unfortunately, Max was knocked along with them.

Harley was shocked that they would lose. "Oh great. I lost again! Except this time, it wasn't my fault . . . "

"What are you talking about?!" Woody shouted. "It was your fault that May and Drew escaped, so you better not say anything!"

"I can't believe that I'm going sky-high with these clowns . . . " Max mumbled. "I wonder how I even got into this the first place?"

Max?!" May called. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah!" Max replied. "As a matter of fact, I think that I'm having fun hanging out with these guys!"

May thought that Max was weird for having fun at this situation. "Be careful and I hope that you never find your way back to me, okay Max?"

The three were knocked acrossed the horizon.

"I'll beat all of you in the next Pokemon Contest!" they both yelled, as their voiced reduced while they flew across the horizon. "Go . . . to . . . hell . . . "








May and Drew ran over to professor Sap, happy that she saved the day with her newly aquired Bevadam, which proved to be a strong opponent when in battle, as shown a little while back.

"I'm so happy that you did that for us!" May exclaimed. "You're such a great Pokemon trainer!"

Drew smiled. "Even I have to admit that was a great performance, and I'm a pretty hard to impress!"

Sap was proud to do her part. "It was nothing. All I did was make sure that you guys were safe eventually and that Bevadam is happy."

The sound of wild Pokemon could be heard approaching, as there wasn't any during the battle, since they were probably hiding while it was on. May, Drew, and Sap turned around and saw a brown tail . . . a tail that rapped the ground back and forth. As the three slided over a little, they could see that the brown Pokemon were Bevera!

Bevadam ran over to the Pokemon out of happiness, as eariler it wanted nothing more than to meet its friends on the island. "Bevadam!" More Bevera appeared when it ran over to where the first one was.

Sap was happy that Bevadam was finally able to get what it wanted from the start. "You're so lucky, to have those friends here on the island like that."

May had an idea. "Maybe you should let your Bevadam stay here. It seems really happy being with all of its friends on the island."

Drew was appalled by what May said. "How can you even think about something like that May? You're acting like Sap did something bad to Bevadam and that it would be better off here!"

"I was just saying that it would be more happier here, Drew!" May replied. "I'm not saying that professor Sap did anything to it. As a matter of fact, I say that Sap treated that Bevadam since it was a Bevera with so much care and love that it's scary. After all, the main reason why she went to this island was so that it can meet all of its friends again."

"You do have a good idea, May," Sap said. "Bevadam, can you come over here for a moment so that I can ask you something? It's really important and I'll only take a moment, okay?"

The big brown beaver ran over to Sap as she asked. "Beva?"

"Do you want to stay on this island so that you can always be here with your friends?" Sap asked. "I mean, you look much happier here, and I always want the best for you since you're such a good friend."

Bevadam was touched by what Sap asked. It turned around and looked at its friends. Then at Sap. It looked at its friends again, then Sap once more and faced that way. It then jumped into Sap's arms and gave her a big and emotional hug, showing that it wants to stay with her, since she looked out and cared about it from the start, "Bevadam!" it said in happiness.

Sap was smiling so much that it almost became tears. "Thank you so much, my good friend!"

May wondered why it chose her over the Bevera, then came to a conclusion. "Love for Pokemon and love for trainers can sure take you far."

Drew chuckled. "For once you said something right, May. I think that you should practice more."

"So . . . you want to head over to Maple Town now on my motorboat?" Sap asked, and took out a remote control with a blue button in the center. She pressed it, and the motorboat suddenly came over to the sea area that they were at.

Drew was confused. "If you had that before, then how come you didn't use it last night or this morning so that we could get to Maple Town earlier?"

"Because I wanted to find out what was wrong with my Bevadam when it was still a Bevera, Drew," Sap explained. "It was acting weird last night so I wanted to stay here a little longer so that I could find out why it was so sad, and now I found out why. Yeah . . . I have to admit that I was stalling you two so that I can stay here with you guys, since I wanted some company with me on the island."

May laughed. "You're so funny! But thanks . . . even though we were attacked by Harley and that Two-Shoes creep, I really did enjoy my experience on the island, so thanks."

Sap was walking over to the boat, with May and Drew following behind her. "Lets go over to Maple Town now so that I can get you two started, okay?"

"Ok!" May and Drew agreed.








So May, Drew, and professor Maple used the boat so that they can get to Maple Town. After the events that have happened so far on the island and the ship from before, and even without entering the mainland of the Zuki region yet, how much more exciting adventures will May and Drew experience when they get started on the new region? Stay tuned!

[Harley Scarow]

As May and Drew are on professor Sap's motorboat, they head on to their first town in the Zuki region, Maple Town, so they can get ready for their adventures when they travel there. The sea was calm and the sky was blue, and every minute they were getting more and more close to the town that they have been waiting to get to for a while, since on the S.S Atlanta, the ship's route was ruined when it exploded, leading them to the deserted island in which more events occurred. Now they were finally able to use a motorboat so that they can get to where they wanted to from the start.

May looked over the boat. "Hey! There it is! Looks kind of cool . . . and lame if you ask me."

"I see that you have eyes," Drew taunted. "What's it going to be when we get there, professor Sap?"

Sap was the one that was captaining the boat. "You'll like it. The place isn't what you would call a city place, but one where you can relax your troubles away without having to worry about anything bad happening while you're doing so. I don't know if May's going to like it, though, since she said that she wanted a city place to hang out, since she was tired of seeing the same scenery for a long time.

As they got closer, they noticed that there was a large amount of trees that surrounded the town, more specifically, maple trees, as the name of the town states. They could see houses and parks there, with the houses having brown and green tones and the parks with relaxing trees that anybody would love to sit under and read a book. The port that the motorboat was going to get off soon had a sky-blue floor, with several types of plants on the ground, put there to greet the Pokemon and their trainers when they arrive.

"Not this scene again . . . " May moaned. "I'm tired of seeing plants and ponds and nature . . . I want to see a city for once!"

"I thought that you loved to be with nature," replied Drew. "Remember? When you were on that deserted island, I wanted to get off more than anything, but you insisted on staying longer on there."

"We had no choice," May replied. "We had to stay on that island either way whether we liked it or not. Besides, I thought that you would be the one that stays with nature. After all, your Pokemon have a nature theme in them. Like Roselia, which resembles a rose. And Masquerain, a Pokemon that can be found around nice and calm rivers."

The boat made it to the port of Maple Town and docked, as professor Sap threw an anchor to prevent the boat from drifting away on its own. "We're here, you two!" exclaimed Sap. "Where do you want to go in this beautiful town first?"

"I want to go to a place that has cheeseburgers!" answered May. "I love cheeseburgers more than anything, and at this particular moment, I'll do anything so that I can settle for one!"

"I want to go and get some pancakes so that we can have a proper breakfast, not one where you eat that much meat," stated Drew. "Besides, we can get cheeseburgers anywhere. Why don't we get something else for once?"

Professor Sap was delighted that Drew would want pancakes, since Maple Town was special when it came to eating something that had maple syrup in it. "Would you two also want some waffles and French toast?"

"Sure," May and Drew both answered in unison.

"Then lets head over to my house," said Sap. "My husband is great when it comes to making any kind of food. May, do you still want cheeseburgers?"

"Sure!" May answered. "Can I have cheeseburgers along with that other food that you're going to serve?"

Drew thought that May was acting rude. "You're acting like this nice professor has to do this for us, May. Don't forget that she's doing this for us."

Sap smiled. "It's okay, Drew. I like to put a smile on other people's faces. Now lets go and head over to my house, okay?"

Professor Sap lead the way, with May and Drew following behind her as they followed the road that looked as if brown sugar was thrown on it, and in a good way that you can see all of the beautiful crystals. Small gray steps were on the ground as the three stepped on them while walking, along with green leaves on the ground that added more to the calm scenery.

Professor Sap stopped when they got to a rather large house. It was three stories high, with the roof being a fall-brown color, a chimney with crimson-red color. The door had a window so that whenever one comes along and knocks on the door, another could see who it is. Silver paved stones led the way to the door, and there were several potted plants on the windowsill, possibly for the Pokemon that Sap and her family has, since she is a Pokemon professor.

Sap approached the door and dug in her pockets so that she can get her keys. She took them back out, empty-handed. "Uh oh . . . looks like I forgot my keys . . . "

"Looks like that's going to be some trouble," May moaned. "And I'm so hungry!"

Drew was relaxed. "By the way that you're moaning and begging for food, I say that you deserve to starve. You were right, Sap, this town really is calming and relaxing me down with its fresh air."

Sap sweat-dropped. "How clumsy of me. I think that I should knock the door and hope that my husband is home." she knocked on the brown wooden door and looked inside the window. "He better be there, because I told him that I would be coming home today."

Footsteps were heard and someone approached on the other side of the door. "Who is it?" asked a rather gentle voice, but clearly heard, meaning that it was someone that was in good shape.

"It's me, your wife," answered Sap. "I have some friends with me- can they come in?"

May laughed at the fact that professor Sap used the word wife. Drew thought that May was acting immature, laughing at even the most smallest things.

The door opened and the man that answered the door was seen. He was wearing a brown sweater and blue jeans with a belt. His hair was sticking up with sweat, which means that he probably just got back from some exercise outside. "Hi you guys. Who are you two?" he asked pointing to May and Drew. "Come in and I'll whip you two up a good meal."

May and Drew walked into the house. The inside had lodge furniture, and the entrance led them to the dining room right away, which got May's hopes up as she rushed herself to the seat, hoping that something would be served to her right away. Drew walked in, closing his eyes and calmly settling himself to a seat on the opposite side of May. The table was made out of wood and it had a vase of roses in the center, there to greet the people that sat there. The professor's husband gave her a kiss and hung up her lab coat for her, and she got onto a seat at the lead of the table, which had a more developed seat than the other ones around her.

"I want some pancakes!" May exclaimed. "With blueberries and raspberries and chocolate and cranberries and vanilla and EVERYTHING!"

Drew was annoyed at the way that May was acting. "May, can you stop acting like a little kid? You're a teenager right now and you need to act like one. Not a spoiled little kid that thinks that she can get whatever she wants whenever she wants!"

Sap didn't mind the way that May was acting at all. "I say that I like the way that youthful people act, Drew. I wish I was a little kid again. There's so much work to do these days that it takes up almost all of my time."

Drew changed his mind. "Maybe you're right. I need to lighten up a little bit- that's what almost everybody that I meet tells me to do," Drew smiled. "Well if you want it that way, May, then I'll get a cheeseburger with extra everything and hold the pickle!"

May was happy that Drew was taking Sap's advice. "That's the way to go, Drew!"




Syrus was in the kitchen, making flapjacks. He tossed them into the air and skillfully caught them onto the frying pan with ease, which would mean that he has done this many times before and has become experienced with it. Then again, Maple Town is famous for the delicious pancakes, waffles, and French toast that they serve there, so everybody should be good at it. "Here's a plate for ya!" he caught a flapjack onto one of the plates and threw them onto the wooden table that was next to him, skillfully without breaking it. "Now who wants to get the first plate? Food's here for DA first person that comes here!"

May's ears perked up like she sensed something. "Did I just hear the word food?" she was so hungry at the moment that even hearing the word "food" made her mouth water. She rushed to the kitchen with her legs in a blur and stared at the flapjacks mouthwatering. "Food! I'm so hungry!" she took the entire plate and tossed all of the flapjacks into her mouth, swallowing them all with one bite. "I'll get seconds, please. And maybe thirds if you have enough food and time to go!" she rushed back to the dining table, not even fazed at what she just ate.

Drew was trying to chill out, like the advice that Sap gave him earlier, but couldn't feel anything but disturbed that May would do something like that. "You know May, you should really get some table manners. After all, this generous guy is making the pancakes for you, and he's doing it for free, so the least that you could do is say thank you after you gobble them all up like that."

Syrus chuckled at Drew's remark. "You don't have to worry about that, Drew. I like it when someone eats down all of my food. After all, that already means that they appreciate it, since you don't always have to say thank you to show another person that you're grateful for what you have, don't forget that. Actions speak louder than words after all," Syrus put his left pointing finger on his chin in a thinking position. "Now how many meals do I have to make again? Let's see . . . a handful for that hungry May, one for that polite Drew, my darling and beautiful wife, my always going outside son Rick, and of course myself. Come to think of it, where is that Rick? He's never at home for some reason."

Drew was curious on who this Rick is. "Who is this Rick that you speak of? Is he good with Pokemon?" Drew was always trying to find Pokemon Trainers that could stand a chance against him, since he was a legendary Pokemon Coordinator around the world and there are only few that can last a round against him.

"He's my son, and a very good Pokemon Trainer. To be more specific, he's a Dragon trainer that has beaten everyone in town at least once," explained Syrus. "And he's pretty good when it comes to Pokemon Contests also. He entered his first Pokemon Contest a few days ago and beat it with flying colors. I'm not trying to brag about him though, don't get me wrong- I'm just telling you how it is." Syrus caught another flapjack on a plate and tossed it onto the table nearby him, which May devoured again. "You're such a good eater, May. It's nice to serve food for you."

Drew wasn't believing every word that Syrus said. "You don't have to worry about me not believing you. You're an adult and adults have more to do than to lie to other people anyways. Where is Rick at the present moment? I want to see the way that he battles so that I can take him down for the count."

May was surprised that Drew was acting so competitive all of a sudden. "I've never seen you wanting to challenge another person so much, Drew. Normally, you reject the challenges of the people that have known you for a long time. Now you want to battle a Pokemon Trainer that you've never even met yet?" May was getting ready to rush and get another batch of flapjacks to devour them just like she did the others.

Drew was confused at what May said. "I thought that you wanted me to act different, May. You've been pestering me on that for almost every single day. And I'm not being too competitive, I just want to check on the way that Pokemon Trainers and Pokemon Coordinators battle here in this country," Drew turned his head over to Syrus. "So where do you think that he is right now? I want to head over there and check on the competition right away."

"He's at Syrup Park right now. It's in Maple Town so you don't have to worry about going too far. When you get there, you'll probably see him trouncing another Pokemon Trainer in a Battle," Syrus explained. "Aren't you hungry right now? Why don't you get some food into yourself and then you can set your sights on battling my son later?" Syrus handed a cheeseburger over to Drew.

Drew accepted the cheeseburger and rushed it into his mouth. "Thanks *munch* for the *munch* cheeseburger," he swallowed it. "I'm gonna get going and head over there now, okay?" Drew turned the wooden doorknob and left the house.

Sap smiled. "I love to see young Pokemon Trainers that like to battle others. It increases charisma and karma in another person."




Drew ran out onto the sidewalk, walking on stone-steps on the way and passing the beautiful garden plants. He ran down the sidewalk, passing the people on the way that walked at a speed as if they had all the time in the world to get where they wanted to. Drew forgot to ask for the exact directions to get to Syrup Park so he was trying to find a sign that told him where. At the end of the first block, he saw a brown sign and read it silently to himself. "Syrup Park two blocks ahead . . . go for a nice walk in the park or have a nice relaxation time there with you and your Pokemon. Don't forget to visit our own Syrup Park arena, where battles are hot-red. Enjoy the beautiful sights there as you vacation all day . . ."

Drew learned that it's only that far away and decided to slow down a little, only jogging now. The road was already like a park so going to one in this town wouldn't be much different. There were people that sat down below the trees and had gentle conversations with each other. It was the kind of place where you could do anything that you want and not have to worry about another person saying that you can't do that. There were car roads, even though there weren't any cars around, and it looked like the black road was decorated with white glitter that glistered as you walked and looked at it, creating an effect that made the streets seem like a work of art.




Drew arrived at what was a tan-colored, four-feet tall gate. It was the kind that you could just leap over if you wanted to, but you shouldn't because that would be rude. There was a sign above the gate that told him where the things in the park were as he read them out loud. "Take the left so that you can go and sleep under the calm and gentle shade of the trees, sleeping the day away . . . take the right so that you can go on a nature walk with your Pokemon and experience the scene that you go. . . go to the center so that you can experience some red-hot Pokemon Battles in our very own Syrup Park arena, featuring our current champion, Rick!" Drew became excited for the battling one and ran to the center of the park, passing children playground equipment and running kids, almost hitting them but avoided them, not stopping to see the beautiful scenery that he passed.

There was a crowd at the center part and Drew could see a Pokemon Battle occurring on the arena, which was made out of wood blocks with syrup leaking out from the top of it. Drew examined the trainers. The trainer on the left was a bulky figure with a huge backpack, stuffed pants, a brown hat, and was tan, which would suggest that he is a hiker. His Pokemon was the Rock and Ground type Golem, made out of stone and had a head sticking out of the center of its brown and black body. The right side had a young trainer- possibly his age, having blond hair, red-tone eyes, a red blazer, blue jeans, and black sneakers. His Pokemon was a Sharpoile, a Dragon Pokemon with sinister red eyes, a yellow horn, set of razor-sharp teeth, red spikes on its back, black nails, body the color and size of a Charmander, and a sharp, metallic sickle for a tail.

The Golem was constantly pushing its body at the ground, sending rock particles from its body that were heading in Sharpoile's direction. However, the small Pokemon managed to dodge every last one of those rocks, by pushing its dagger-shaped tail onto the ground and using that to lift itself in the air with astonishing force for a a Pokemon that size. When the Golem decided to use Rock Slide, an attack that caused rock attacks to fall from the air, Sharpoile stayed mid-air and destroyed the rocks with its dangerous tail head-on, avoiding damage. Sharpoile didn't get hit by an attack even once so far, but it didn't seem to amaze anybody that was in the stadium, as they were probably expecting him to win in the end anyways. However, Drew, not knowing Rick yet, was impressed.

Drew was wondering if the kid with the Sharpoile was the Rick guy that Syrus told him about, since the description of him being a young kid with Dragon Pokemon matched, even though this could be a coincidence. Drew asked a kid with a yellow shirt, blue shorts, and a backward blue cap to help him out. "Is the name of that battling kid over there Rick?"

The little kid looked at Drew strangely, as if not knowing Rick meant that you were living under a rock. "Yep, that's right. The cool Dragon kid over there is Rick. I can't believe that anybody that lives in this town wouldn't know who Rick is, after all, he beat just about everybody in the town."

"I'm not from Maple Town," Drew informed. He moved closer to the stage, deciding to get closer to the action and see what strategies would occur.

"Golem, use Rock Slide!" the battling bulky man ordered. "This should be able to take care of that little Pokemon in one shot."

"Golem . . . " the rock Pokemon said intimidatingly. It began dropping rocks from the sky that attempted to crush Sharpoile, but it dodged with ease.

Rick had a confident look. "Sharpoile, use your Slicing Wind! Cut that rock down to size!"

"Sss . . . " the sinister Dragon Pokemon began spinning, unleashing a force of wind that hit Golem, but didn't damage it that much.

"You think that's going to stop me from taking down that puny dragon?" snarled the bulky trainer. "I don't think so! Golem, use your Rock Vengeance!"

The Golem withdrew its head into the center rock and began spinning. Rocks were sliding, even though there was no slope, at Sharpoile's direction.

Rick was confident that this attack would miss. "You know what to do."

"Sss . . . " the small dragon Pokemon's tail began splitting into three tails, as if a card player split one card into three skillfully. The tails began to whirl and Sharpoile jumped. It charged back down and its tail destroyed all of the rocks, reducing them to tiny pieces of gravel as Sharpoile charged up again.

The bulky trainer was frightened that a Pokemon so small could do something like that. "No! How could something so small like that gete rid of those rocks?!"

"You're the kind of person that I hate, you know that? You underestimate the power of a Pokemon that's lower-leveled, small, and unevolved and I consider that something very offensive to every Pokemon that starts out in their first few battles. Rick was sure now that he was going to win, so he made a grin and sweeped his hair backwards in a streak of confidence. "Sharpoile, use Triple Dagger Slash!"

Sharpoile hissed as it began to attack with the razor-sharp tails again. It jumped and hit Golem directly, breaking the rocks that Golem was composed of, even though they seemed to be as hard as diamonds, reducing it to nothing but a large pile of rubble as rock pieces were scattered on the ground and its head has fallen and seperated from the rest of its body, almost dead from the battle that it was just in. Rick was declared the winner, and also greatly damaged a Pokemon, even though it wasn't on purpose, since he was in a Pokemon Battle and technically followed all of the rules.

The hiker returned his Golem, in its gravel-reduced form back into its Poke-Ball and forced his fists together, wanting to beat Rick down for destroying his Pokemon, but couldn't since it was a fair battle. "I can't believe that I could let something so small like that beat me and leave my Pokemon half-dead! Tough, I guess. Now I know how I'll beat little pipsqueaks like that next time," the hiker trainer left in a fury, knowing that his Pokemon was beaten by a pre-evolved one.

The crowd was applauding at the performance, but had a look on their face as if they were expecting Rick to win the battle in the end.

"That guy's amazing," one stated. "I wish that I could become a great Pokemon Trainer like him.

"That's right." another said. "He's famous around here for being able to beat Pokemon that are higher level and more evolved than his Pokemon."

Drew was also impressed at Rick's performance, but decided to cover that up. "Beginner's luck. Anybody could beat a Golem like that, since Golems are brawns, and not brains." Drew knew that the Sharpoile won using both brawns and brains.

Rick walked down the platform, which was made out of silver stones. When he saw Drew, he stopped right in that place, as if he had just seen a god or something.

Drew got the creeps. "Whys this kid looking at me like that? Acting like I'm a celebrity or something . . . " the truth was that Drew was a celebrity, since many people around the world know Drew as a household name.

Rick began walking towards Drew. Most of the people that were watching the last battle were gone now. "Is your name Drew?" Rick asked.

"Yeah . . . " answered Drew weakly. "Yours Rick?"

Rick nodded. "Let's battle and see which one of us is the best one here."

Drew was surprised that it would be Rick asking for a battle and not him. "Why?" Drew did want to battle him though to see if he could beat him.

[Harley Scarow]

Rick's voice became serious. "For a long time already, I've been wanting to face you since I've seen you compete in Pokemon Contests on TV. Now it's my chance to see which one of us will turn out to be the better one." Rick walked on the silver stones and entered the arena again. Drew followed onto the stage as well. Both trainers took out a PokeBall, preparing for the heat of the battle that is going to start.

"Let's make this one to remember," stated Rick. "You don't know how much this battle will be important to me, even though you think that this will be a regular challenge like your other battles," Rick was determined and his eyes had a burning flame of passion glowing.

Drew was confused at what Rick said, but still decided to start the battle. "I don't know what you're talking about, even though I know that you're a good trainer around these parts; that means that I'm going to go all out on you wheather you like it or not!" Drew threw the red and white PokeBall. "Go Flygon!"

The PokeBall released the mystic green body, wearing red goggles, Dragon and Ground Pokemon on the arena, flapping its green and red scaled wings and landing itself to the battle site with a dramatic entrance, "Fly!" Flygon was one of Drew's best Pokemon, as he only used it whenever there was something big going on (With the exception of having it fly Drew in the air).

"You think that's going to beat me?" snickered Rick. "I think that you know what I'm going to bring out," Rick threw his PokeBall into the air and it released his Sharpoile in its sinister sight and blade-sharp tail. "The same Pokemon that beat another twice its size and twice its level is going to beat you! Looks like this is going to be a fight of a Dragon Pokemon vs a Dragon Pokemon. Of course, I'll win."

"Sss . . . " the scary Pokemon hissed.

Drew didn't underestimate the Pokemon and began attacking right away. "Flygon, use Steel Wing!"

The green dragon flew into the air, with its dragon wings glowing a silvery aura. "Flygon!" it then swooped down from the sky with its wings facing front as much as possible, shining in the sun as the glow of the wings, with Sharpoile getting ever close to getting hit.

Rick was confident that the attack wouldn't hit his petit Pokemon. "Sharpoile, dodge at the last moment."

Flygon was an inch from hitting the Pokemon, when it suddenly disappeared as if it was an illusion!

That must have been either a Teleport or an attack that always striked first, thought Drew. But Rick didn't even order his Pokemon to do anything; this must be some kind of trick that he's playing. Or maybe it's something that I've never encountered before. Either way, I'll have to be careful as that Pokemon has a handful of tricks up its sleeve. Drew swept his hair up, showing that he was impressed. "That was pretty good for one facing an elite trainer."

Rick ignored Drew. "I think that it's time to end this battle. Sharpoile, Blade Refection!" Rick had an expression that he was sure this would rid Flygon and defeat Drew.

"Sss . . . " Sharpoile's tail suddenly became loose. After a few seconds, Sharpoile's double-dagger-tail was severed from its body! *sound of metal falling* Sharpoile fell as if something has hit it hard.

Drew was astonished that a Pokemon attack could actually hurt its body, but wasn't going to wait to see what would happen next. I can't underestimate this Pokemon; instead I better get rid of it before it gets rid of me somehow! Drew thought to himself. "Flygon, use your Red-Eyes Laser!"

Drew's Flygon's red eyes began glowing a crimson color and energy appeared to be charging from there. When there was enough energy, it released a double beam from the eyes, targeting the Sharpoile that was on the ground and appeared to be a helpless target. "Fly!" it yelled intensely as the beams were released.

Suddenly a clear dome appeared and surrounded Sharpoile, blocking the attack from Flygon.

Drew was shocked that the helpless Pokemon managed to defend itself. "H-How did you do that?"

Rick sighed. "I thought that you of all Pokemon Trainers would know what that is. See the tail blades that it dropped? It was able to create a mirror that managed to generate a barrier to block your attack. Not only that, but I think that you're going to be surprised on what those mirror blades that Sharpoile dropped are going to do to the 'so called' powerful Flygon of yours. Then you're going to wish that there was a Pokemon Center in this town to heal it afterwards."

What Rick just said was true! The tails began glowing on the ground and casted a reflection of the Sharpoile, which was also on the ground. After that, something seemed to be coming out of the ground, but while it was doing so, a glow was so bright that Drew couldn't see what was happening.

"Ahh!" Drew shouted, protecting his eyes from the blinding light that surrounded it. "What's happening to that Pokemon of yours?"

The light began to fade away slowly, revealing the Sharpoile that was on the ground. After it completely faded away, Sharpoile was completely healed and there was . . . two other Sharpoile next to it, the two having a monochromatic body that seemed to have an emotionless face as it looked at the Flygon, while the original one was angry at it.

Rick chuckled. "Let's go."

Drew was terrified and stumbled as he talked. "F-Flygon . . . use y-you your Dragon Claw!"

The Pokemon did as it was said, as its sharp claws glowed red and attempted to slash the three Sharpoile, only to have its attack miss by the speedy Pokemon.

The triple-Sharpoile began to jump randomly around the stadium, at such an amazing rate that they seemed to be teleporting around the field. One stopped when it rushed up to Flygon and slashed it in the face, dazing Flygon and knocking it down into the ground.

Drew was scared. "No!" he knew that there was nothing that he could do so that he could stop the next attacks that were going to hit his poor, defenseless Flygon on the ground.

The other two Sharpoile vaulted, then jumped on top of Flygon's body and began slashing away at it, making the poor Pokemon suffer from a barrage of nonstop attacks that were to soon knock it out.

Rick closed his eyes, knowing that victory was certain for him and his Pokemon. "You know, I have to say that you're a pretty good Pokemon Trainer, Drew. After all, you're one of the few trainers around here that can last even a minute against me. But the tales that I heard as you being a legendary coordinator, I don't think that the stories are true about you."

Drew was mad that Rick would petrify him like that. "This isn't a fair battle . . . there has to be something bigger behind this!"

"Well there's not. All that this takes is practice."

The Sharpoile continued to slay the dragon, and once it couldn't take anymore, it leaped off Flygon, leaving the defeated Dragon and Ground Pokemon fainted with the squiggly-eyes and heavy scratch marks that almost seemed to sever its body parts.

Drew was shocked at the conditon of his Pokemon and ran over to it to see if it was okay. "Flygon . . . I'm sorry for what I put you through . . . that was a good battle Flygon and I appreciate the effort that you put into the battle against that powerful Sharpoile. It wasn't your fault at all; you were just overwhelmed," Drew took out Flygon's PokeBall and it released a red laser, returning Flygon back. "You deserve a nice long rest."

"Well if you want to face off against me, then you better not rest unless you want to lose!" smirked Rick. "Later, wannabe. And what do you mean that it wasn't your Flygon's fault? If you trained that Flygon well enough, then it would have been able to beat my Pokemon, don't you know that? So I say that it was both you and your Flygon's fault!"

Drew was angered that Rick would say something like that, but knew that it was true, despite the training that he has put into his Pokemon all of these years. I must have gotten too overconfident. I even think that I underestimated somebody today. "I guess you're right . . . see ya . . . "

Rick walked off without replying.

Drew was on the ground, in deep thought over the battle that he just experienced. "This is something that I have to think about . . . I can't believe that something like this could happen . . . "

The sky was an orange-yellow and the sun was beginning to set, ending the day. Gentle falling leaves flew where Drew was, causing a breeze that lifted his green hair. The winds of change were going through Drew's cool, calm, and collected body, with the fact of having a new rival to beat, and a new burning will of determination set him off, as he walked through the near vacant park with plans on how he is going to train when night hits the town.

Drew's expression became a smile. "Time to train."

[Harley Scarow]

Nighttime has arrived, with the silvery moon glistering over the peaceful and calm area of Maple Town, when May is in professor Sap and her husband, Syrus's house relaxing after a day of doing absolutely nothing but devouring plate after plate of food. The streets still had people, but not a crowded amount, and the sound of petit Pokemon such as Rattata, Sentret, and Zigzagoon were still heard as trainers stayed out and played with training.

In the wooden, but sturdy house that May, Sap, and Syrus were in, May was still gobbling down more food, this time eating two cheeseburgers that Syrus cooked for her with lasting patience, as he has done so for her throughout the day without a word of complaint. May wiped her mouth with a table tissue. "That was sure good! Can I get another double-cheeseburgers? I love the way that you cook and I wish that I can get as much as I want."

"You're going to get a tummyache if you keep eating your food at that rate, May," warned Sap with a voice showing that she cared. "Maybe you should chew all of your food before you eat, like normal people- it makes the food tastier and easier to digest."

May shrugged her shoulders. "Nah. I don't feel like it. Food never gives me a tummysche," she finished another plate. "Can I get another one?"

The doorbell suddenly rang, alerting Sap. "I wonder who it is? I'll get it for you," she approached the door and opened it with a wooden creek. "Oh hi."

It was Drew, with a serious yet negative look on his face after what happened to him earlier. "Yep, it's me, Drew," he walked inside the house, closing the lodge door as he did so and sitting down on one of the seats on the dinner table. "So what kind of training did you do, May?"

"I had a lot of eating training!" answered May, perky. "Ate as much as I wanted to!"

Drew grunted. "Hmmph . . . you sound just like a little spoiled rich girl that deserves to get nothing."

"And what do you mean by that?" May questioned sternly.

"Like I said earlier today, you're acting like these people have to cook food for you, May. You should show some consideration by saying a 'thank you' or an 'I appreciate it' once in a while. You can't just gobble up all of that food and expect this to be an all you can eat buffet!"

Syrus, wearing a gray sweater and blue jeans, was doing talented cooking moves with the saucepan that he was holding as he tossed food into the air and skillfully caught it. "You don't have to worry abour any of that, Drew. Seeing people eat the food that I make is thanks enough for me. Don't forget that it's show and not tell, after all." Syrus looked directly at Drew. "So . . . did you meet my powerful son, Rick? How did the battle turn out?"

Drew slowly turned his face the other way, showing the back of his green hair with the white streak shimmering in the light. "I . . . I lost . . . " answered Drew in a very low and unclear voice, but was just enough to be heard. "I did . . . it was a tough battle that I had with Rick . . . " as he said those words, he slowly turned around again.

May had an astonished look on her face. "You lost, Drew?!" May began laughing out loud. "No way! There's absolutely no way that you could lose, Drew! You're just saying that so that Syrus won't be down that his son lost, aren't you, Drew?"

Drew was annoyed at May's words. "Yes! I lost! Do you have a problem with that? You're acting like I'm some kind of magical trainer that can never lose a Pokemon Battle, May! Well if you really think that, then I say that you should go and get some training of your own, since this is real life that we're talking about here!"

"I wouldn't be sad if my son lost," Syrus caught food onto a plate and placed it on the dining table, which May started to devour without saying a word. "If he lost, then I say that's reasonable. Like Drew said, nobody in this world is actually unbeatable- every trainer has his or her weakness, and that can't be avoided." Syrus looked directly at May with a reassuring face. "I say that you should take Drew's advice and train, May. Hard work always pays off at one time or another."

May had a look of laziness on her face. "Nah . . . I don't want to train right now."

"You don't have to go outside into the silver of night right now, May," explained Sap. "We mean that you should go out and have that preparing when tommorrow comes, since that's when the sun is up and you and your Pokemon are all fully refreshed, after all. You should go and get some rest in your guest room upstairs."

May stretched her arms, showing that she was tired of eating and was ready to settle in. "Maybe you're right, and maybe you're not. You're right about the going to sleep part- I'm all tuckered out and I really need my beauty sleep. But you're wrong about the part of me having to train myself and my Pokemon tommorrow, since it's going to be another day of me doing nothing and resting my troubles away in bed, getting free food whenever I want some like a spoiled little brat."

Syrus was astonished at those words. "How can you even say something like that? Whatever. We'll worry about all of that tommorrow. Just go somewhere and get a good night sleep, since I'm all tired to make you any more food. I also need to get some rest also." Syrus looked around. "Where's Rick doing out this late?"

"Chances are that he's outside somewhere training," explained Drew. "And by the way, I should go to the yard and train also."

"What kind of lowlife would devote all of his free time on training?" May wondered. "I say put off what you can always do tommorrow," she got up and began walking out the room. "See ya. I'm heading over to bed now so that I can get a good night sleep, unlike the most of ya."








May went up the stairs, holding the dark-brown wooden handrails, until she got to the hall. She went left and entered her room, which was filled with small flowers inside little cups that greeted her as she entered the room; a double-bed with a blue blanket and the floor was made out of smooth wood that wouldn't give a splinter; Sky-blue curtains were there to add more flavor into the room, and happened to be thin enough to see outside the yard and would allow the sun in the morning. The room smelled as if you were outside in nature, with flower pots in a comfortable spot just outside the open window, letting in a gentle breeze that waved May's hair slightly.

May jumped onto the bed the moment that she entered, with the bed puffing up and down from her force. "This is the life . . . I love this bed . . . I love the food . . . I love the smell . . . I love the house!" she then mumbled small things under her breath that was vauge, and she closed her eyes with a little of her hair falling on her forehead. "Yeah . . . I wish that I can stay here forever . . . "








Back downstairs, Drew left the house without taking anything with him except for himself and his PokeBalls. Before the door closed behind him, the gentle night breeze slightly flew into the house. Some outside noise of trainers making silent conversations and Pokemon cries were also heard.

"That boy sure is dedicated!" commented Syrus. "One heck of a good trainer."

"Yep," agreed Sap. "Kind of reminds us of our son."








Outside, in the cool breeze of night, the stars were seen above the tranquil town; the colorful leaves that decorated the ground during the day had a more calm and monochromatic color; with the breeze flowing through Drew's green hair, lifting it up a little bit.

Drew walked in circles outside in a slow, pacing manner. "What can I do to train? I doubt that doing the usual 'send out Pokemon and practice' will help," he was talking silently to himself. "Maybe the best thing that I can do after what happened today, is think . . . " he stopped walking at one spot and slowly settled down, lying down on the lush, green grass with his arms behind his head and his legs straight out in a relaxing matter. His eyes looked at the stars, with the appearence reflecting off his gazing vision.

A couple walked by with two kids on the sidewalk.

I think that the best training that I can do at this point is think . . . thought Drew. A good way to release my mind and come back to what it once was. Drew's head moved as he looked at the many stars in the sky. I can't believe that Rick was able to beat me so easily. I have to say that any trainer that can even stand one minute against me has to be someone good, not that I'm trying to be a conceited person or anything. But the way that he was able to emerge from the battle victorious, without me even landing one hit on his Pokemon, is something that I'm going to be contemplating for a long time . . . I find it something amazing . . . something remarkable . . . something I'm missing . . . Drew smiled as he saw images of his Pokemon forming from the stars; his Roselia, Masquerain, and Flygon appearing consecutively. I think that the best thing that I can do now, is get some rest . . . Drew's eyes closed with a winning smile on his face as he lied down on the bed in a comfortable manner and appearing to be more relaxing or calming than sleeping in a real bed.

* * *

After a few hours of sleep in the smooth and silvery night, with May in her comfortable bed upstairs with her spoiled face, and Drew in the front yawn, sleeping as if he was in luxury. The sun gently shined down on May's face in her bedroom, making her turn to the size and resume sleeping in her vast laziness, along with the chirping bird Pokemon that have also woken up, like Pidgey and Taillow. Drew got up at 7:00 PM, going inside the lodge house and doing the usual morning routines in the bathroom, unlike his lazy friend May, whom has been acting like this since yesterday, while Drew already has thoughts of training.

Drew went downstairs after brushing his teeth and washing his face, also pulling on his purple blazer a little until he was comfotable. He went into the living room, which had a lodge table with four stools on it, sinilar to the dining table in the other room but smaller; a tv that was in a drawer that you could open to reveal the screen; and a shining, wide window with the sight of the backyard garden; the walls were also decorated with beautiful pictures of Pokemon, including Furret, Noctowl, and Bevadam. "This place sure looks like a nice place to rest," Drew took a seat.

Syrus entered the room, wearing a long-sleeved orange shirt with blue stripes on it and his usual jeans, "Hey Drew. Good morning."

"Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna head out and train right now, okay Syrus? I told myself yesterday that I would do so the first thing that I wake up in the morning, so here I go." Drew looked around the room for a moment, expecting that another person would be here. "Where's May right now? She should go outside and train with her Pokemon too. After all, you said that tommorrow would be the day of the Pokemon Contest of Maple Town, is that right?"

Syrus nodded in agreement. "Yep, that's right. I'm going to head out and go for a morning walk as well . . . May, on the other hand, is keeping her word about staying inside and lazing off all day. What should I do? Knowing that someone is goofing off in my house does disturb me to the end."

Drew put his finger on his chin, indicating that he was thinking. He then jolted up from his light-brown stool with an idea. "I have a good one." he went over to Syrus and whispered something in his ear.

Syrus was amazed. "How can I forget something like that, Drew? You have such good ideas." Syrus began walking the other way, with a scheming look on his face as he took a plate of cheeseburgers that were on the kitchen table. "I'm putting that plan to work!" he said in the kitchen from a distance.

Drew smirked. "Lazy, lazy May . . . "








Syrus was upstairs, and made a left so that he could get to May's room, with the comfortable ornaments of home neatly arranged in there. He came over to May's ears, with a look of excitement on his face. "Hey May . . . I think that I have something that you may want . . . but if you want to get it, then you're going to have to get up and do something for me." he held the plate with the cheeseburgers near her nose.

May, without opening her eyes, sniffed the cheeseburgers with a morning, smiling face. "Huh . . . id that what I think it is? . . . " May jolted up from the bed as if she drank ten energy drinks and grabbed the plate of cheeseburgers. "Cheeseburgers! Give me them! Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme!" she held the plate above her mouth and they both fell in, being devoured by the hungry May in seconds. She gulped them down with a spoiled look of unsatisfaction on her face. "Hey . . . I need more! Two is definitely not enough when it comes to feeding me!" she calmed down. " . . . can I get some more?"

Syrus chuckled, about to reveal his plan. "Sure you can get some more, May . . . I'll make anything that you want for you . . . "

"Oh really? Then get me twenty more cheeseburgers and hold the pickle!"

"You're going to have to do something for me."

"What do I have to do for you?" asked May. "Is it something big? Do I have to eat ten plates so that I can get an extra twenty or something? If that's it, then I'll do it for you!"

"You're going to have to have a Pokemon Battle with me right now," explained Syrus. "If you somehow manage to beat me in one, then I'll be glad to give you a hundred cheeseburgers for all I care. However, if you lose, then you get nothing and I won't cook for you as long as we're in Maple Town until you train and show me that you're determined to live up to that. Is that a deal, May?"

May nodded her head in agreement. "Fine. Where are we going to have this Pokemon Battle? Can it be somewhere that I can breathe and not have a whole bunch of other Pokemon Trainers watching? I don't want you to embarass yourself when a little girl like me manages to beat an adult like you." May giggled. I can't wait until I get those super delicious cheeseburgers! she thought. "Well then let's get going already. The sooner that I beat you, the sooner I can get my cheeseburgers and eat all day without having to worry about having to do any 'training.' I think this is going to be an easy one."

Syrus pointed out the window. "We're going to be battling out there, okay May?" he approached it and looked down, with May also doing so. "You see that arena down there? We have our own private arena so that our family and friends can participate there without having to go somewhere else." he began walking out the room and went to the top of the stairways, with his finger curling at May, informing her to follow him downstairs so that they can get to the arena. "Come with me, May . . . the arena's in the backyard and I can see that you're pretty hungry. Let's go and bring it on!" he started walking down the stairs.

May began rushingly moving also. "Wait for me, Syrus! I'm gonna beat the pants off ya!"

[Harley Scarow]

Syrus arrived outside in the backyard, with May arriving moments after he did. There was a Pokemon Battling arena that was made out of furniture shining wood, the kind that wouldn't give you any splinters. There were a set of stairs at each side that was meant for the battling trainers to walk up. You could see that the furnished wood is brand new, it wasn't battled on that much, or was kept in good condition. There was a grill a few feet away from the arena, with buns and cheeseburger ingredients on a small table next to it, which got May excited but didn't eat anything because she didn't know how to put the buns together.

Syrus went into the left-side of the arena, going up the small set of steps with a hollow sound inside. May jumped up the right-side of steps, landing on the trainer's box with a fairly loud thump.

"Let's start this," Syrus took out a PokeBall and threw it releasing a Shiftry. "Make your move."

Shiftry, a the Grass and Dark wily Pokemon with white fur on top and brown on the bottom, with shocking yellow eyes, a pointed-brown nose, leaves for hands, and two bars for feet had an angry look on its face, ready to battle. "Shiftry!" it screeched.

May wasn't scared. "That thing looks so . . . not scary!" she threw her PokeBall, which released Combusken. "Go Combusken and teach Syrus and his Shiftry a lesson!"

Combusken, a standing Fire and Fighting young fowl Pokemon with sharp claws and toenails, also having red lips that looked as if it ate something spicy. "Combusken!" it had a loud and raspy voice.

"Shiftry, use your Wind Leaf!" ordered Syrus.

Shiftry jumped in the air, leaping as it did so and swung down at Combusken with its razor-sharp leaves shining in the morning sun with red patterns on it aiming at its face. Combusken managed to jump out the way and land on its feet with Shiftry attempting again.

"Combusken, use your Slash attack to defend!" ordered May, with one of her insane antics.

Syrus was confused. "How could Slash defend? . . . " he whispered to himself. "Watch out!"

Shiftry attacked Combusken with its leaves, only to be blocked by Combusken as it crossed its arms, now with glowing nails from using Slash, across its body in a defending stance. Combusken attempted to Slash Shiftry when it fazed a little, but Shiftry jumped out of the way using its Quick Attack.

"Combusken, use your 10KPS Kick!" ordered May. "Give that Shiftry something to really feel pain!"

Combusken jumped and kicked Shiftry so fast that it looked as if there were many copies of it doing so, but was blocked by it as it used the same method as Combusken; holding its leaves out as a sheild.

May, not knowing what was happening, had an excited look on her face, convinced that she would win. "Keep going at it, Combusken!" I can't wait until I get my cute hands on those cheeseburgers! May giggled.

Combusken leaped into the air again and went back down with blinding speed, attempting to hit Shiftry. Shiftry used its own speed to dodge the upcoming kicks, jumping out of the way multiple times. The next one looked as if it was about to hit for real.

"Shiftry, use your Double Team!" ordered Syrus.

Shiftry became multiple copies, six to be exact, which didn't cast a shadow in the sun and looked slightly transparent. Combusken multiple-kicked the the fake one, making it vanish and the real one was safe.

"Keep going at it!" urged May. "We almost got those cheeseburgers, Combusken!"

Combusken used the same attack again, with the speed building up so quick that it looked as if there were multiple copies, all going for one Shiftry at a time. All of the Shiftrys leaped and dodged; even the fake ones acted as if they were real as they leaped in their own directions. The blinding speed Combuskens became one again.

"When it attacks, you go," said Syrus.

"If that thing keeps moving, then it looks like we're gonna have to stop you somehow!" yelled May. "Combusken, use your Fire Spin attack!"

"Combusken!" the young fowl Pokemon shot a twister of flames from its mouth that directed Shiftry, which used Quick Attack to move out of the way. The Fire Spin caused a tower of flame that began to follow Shiftry, with the wooden arena burning as it went so. Shiftry was eventually surrounded by the flames on the ground caused by the attack, and had nowhere to go while the tower was approaching in speed.

"Use your Fan Whirlwind!" directed Syrus.

Shiftry began waving its two hands made out of sharp fan leaves and the fire began to blow in the other direction, even heading for May's trainer box and surrounding her with small flames. The Fire Spin blew out and caused more small embers to burn on the ground, which happened to singe the wooden floor, making some of it collaspe and potholes forming.

May laughed. "You should have thought better before you decided to use a Grass-type Pokemon against a Fire-type Pokemon, and don't think that the wooden arena makes that one any better." The flames surrounding May began to get a little bigger and grew until they began to burn her skirt. "Ow! Ow! Get it off, get it off!" she yelled as she left the trainer's box, grabbing a water hose and spraying the flame off her butt's fire, which was almost beginning to spread. "What kind of foolishness?!" May also dosed out some of the fire in the trainer's box, and got back on it with an embarassed face that she had to do something like that in front of another person, and during a Pokemon Battle makes the situation worse, as Shiftry went in the air and slashed Combusken while it didn't have any time to react to it.

"Good job," complimented Syrus. "Yeah . . . that was kind of funny, May, the way that your rear was flaming like that. Maybe if you didn't eat so many cheeseburgers, an accident like that wouldn't happen!"

May was angry at those sarcastic comments. "What the f*** are you talking about?! If it wasn't for that stupid Shiftry of yours blowing my beautiful Fire Spin away, then none of that sh** would have ever happened! And you are so cheap, you big dumba**! You attacked my Combusken when I was trying to save myself and put out the fire on your arena! I should have left the cheap field burning for all I care!" May's face burned in anger. "Combusken, use your Fire Spin on that stupid trainer so he can know how it feels!"

"Combusken?" it didn't want to harm any human, and knew that May was out of control anyways. It nodded its head and didn't obey.

"So that's what you think about Pokemon, May? Tools of fighting and hurting others so that you can get a good lunch?" Syrus was disappointed. "Well then you might as well give up right now. Shiftry, use your Faint Attack on Combusken!"

"Shiftry!" the many Shiftrys vanished in a purple leave and reappeared, surrounding Combusken and all hitting it at once.

May was enraged. "Oh there you go again, with the cheap antics! You know that I was angry so you decided that taking advantage of that situation would make things better, right? Well if you want to feel the power of cheapness, then here it is!" May ran in a rage over to Syrus's side and attempted to punch him, which was blocked when Syrus held her hand back.

"What do you think that you're doing?" forcingly asking May. "I think that you're out of your mind!"

May swung her arms in anger and in a blur, but none of them hit as Syrus held her head in front with her arms not long enough to do so. "What do you think that you're doing? Scared to face me head on?"

Syrus grabbed May by the collar, and threw her all the way across the field, making her land back in her trainer's box as Syrus was worried about May's behavier. "I think that you're nuts. I should disqualify you right now, but you're lucky that I'm the kind of guy that could put up with you."

May got on her feet with fury and shaking as there was dirt on her body and even though the arena had shining wood, she had splinters from the burning rush of her body as she was pushed over there. Combusken went over to her side, worried about its trainer's craziness. "What do you think that you're doing? Go use Sky Uppercut and beat that cheapstate Pokemon and its oversized trainer!"

"So you're calling me a cheapstate for legally battling, are you May?" Syrus shouted. "Sorry for breaking the rules, commissioner, but I never heard of a rule that said you couldn't make a move on another Pokemon while its trainer was being distacted by something. Now Shiftry, use your Still Life attack."

Shiftry and all of its fakes began glowing green, and when it stopped, the fakes no longer had a transparent body and there was a shadow now. "Shiftry!" they all screeched in the sound of a crowd. The Sky Uppercut from Combusken hit Shiftry directly, but the glow seemed to repel the attack.

May was confused and still angry, but not insane as she was a few moments ago. "What the fu** do you think that you're doing you moving piles of sh**?! Combusken, use your Flamethrower on all of them!"

Combusken responded by shooting out a jet of flames that attacked the Shiftry, but all of them used their bar-shaped feet to jump out the way as the flame went to each one respectively. When they landed, the wooden stage underneath them broke at that spot, as their feet were very heavy and made a loud crushing noise. The Shiftry were right next to May, and Combusken kept attacking, and when that Flamethrower was dodged by the agile Shiftry, it hit May by accident!

May was being burned with the flames with her arms flying comically and her face being singed by the attack. She punched the raging flames in anger and the attack stopped, with May's face burnt in a comical way and her breathing hard in rage. "What the fu** do you think that you're doing you stupid chicken Pokemon?! You didn't stop attacking when that flying hairball got to where I was?! Your lack of marksmanship amazes me, Combusken!" May shook her head, making all of the soot on her face and on her blouse fall away onto the ground and leaving the dirt that she had on herself earlier shaken and littered the almost destroyed arena.

"Maybe if you treated your Pokemon with more respect, you can get them to do what you want them to do," explained Syrus. "You're acting like Combusken is some kind of fighting machine that has no heart in it and can follow your every command without having some kind of reaction to it. That kind of thinking about Pokemon . . . no. If you think in any way about that in anything that lives, if its a plant, a person, or even something that is immobile, then you have a lot to learn, May. That Combusken of yours was doing a fine job before you decided to make yourself angry from one tiny little accident and let that overwhelm you. If you can't let small things aside, then I'm afraid that you better go out and train more often, as you're not in any condition to be inside snoozing the entire day away."

May became angry again. "If I can't use my Pokemon to do the work for me, then I might as well get you myself." May took the water hose that was lying on the ground and sprayed it intensely, with the target being all of the Shiftrys. "Take that!"

Shiftry jumped out of the way, and the water hit Combusken! Since it was a Fire-type Pokemon, it yelled in pain while it was on the ground, weakly crawling away and struggling to stop its suffering. "Combusken . . . combusk . . . "

May instantly dropped the water hose. "Combusken!" May calmed down sharply and ran over to the fallen fowl Pokemon on the ground, tripping on one of the broken spots on the arena that was destroyed by the attacks used during the battle. "Ow . . . " she rushed up, ignoring that there was a bruise on her leg and ran over to her Pokemon. "Are you okay, Combusken? Please tell me that you're alright, my beloved Pokemon."

Syrus actually felt kind of sorry for May at this point. "I still need to teach you a lesson . . . the hard way . . . Shiftry, use your Wooden Kick attack!"

"Shiftry!" all of the copies jumped in the air and did a flip, then all of their bar-shaped feet glowed, kicking Combusken and May while they were all on the ground without any showing that it cared for the situation that their opponents were in right now, and knew that Syrus was right about this being a Pokemon Battle and that there were no exceptions for feeling sorry for an opponent that happens to be down. After the attack, all of the Shiftry vaulted into the air and one of them landed, with the others falling into that one's body and them joining back into one Pokemon again. It crossed its fan-leaf hand across its body and closed its eyes as a sign of victory.

May and Combusken were both on the ground, with squggly marks on their eyes and prone on the ground, indicating that they have lost the battle. May jolted up comically as if she wasn't harmed at all. "What do you think that you're doing, attacking a trainer and a Pokemon while its down?"

"You had to learn it the hard way," said Syrus. "You can't forget that a battle is a battle and there are no exceptions to that one. Think about it; if you were in a Pokemon Contest and you were about to win, and the opponent's Pokemon was down but still up, you wouldn't go easy on it, would you? I heard from you on tv in some Pokemon Contests that you said 'a battle is a battle and if you don't give it your all, then it's an insult to your opponent,' right? You need to remember the things that you say and not forget that other people are going to take those words and utilize them at one point or another, even if it's in a moment that you don't want them to."

May calmed down completely and her eyes almost had tears in them. I can't believe that I could let my lust for some stupid fast food bring me this far . . . so far that I would disrespect my Pokemon, and myself, in order to get it . . . I don't feel like I'm good enough to be a Pokemon Coordinator . . . "You're right and I know that all the things that I did today were wrong, even how I reacted to Drew yesterday when I said that he couldn't lose . . . " May wiped her eyes with her gloves before any tears could drip down. Her eyes were shining bright with good after she held her hands on her fainted Combusken.

"Combusken . . . " the young fowl replied weakly.

May looked at it with one of care. "I'm sorry for all that I put you through today . . . " she took out Combusken's PokeBall. "You deserve a nice long rest," she returned the Pokemon back, with her and the exhausted young fowl smiling at each other, both knowing that she learned something important today.

"I guessed that you took in a vital lesson from today's experience, didn't you May?" asked Syrus.

"Yeah . . . " replied May. "Something that I'm going to have to think to myself for a little while." her little stomach grumbled. "I'm kinda tired form all of that yelling that I did today . . . can I get some . . . "

"Yep," Syrus held out a plate of cheeseburgers.

May ran all the way over to that side to get them, gobbling them up like she did earlier, but showing some gratitude as she did so this time. "Thank you for the cheeseburgers, Syrus! . . . can I get some more?"

Syrus chuckled. "Sure, of course . . . but only if you get to training!" he said that in a friendly way.

[Harley Scarow]

Morning arrives, and May and Drew both wake up in a refreshed manner after a hard, yet productive training day that they had yesterday when May was finally able to snap out of her laziness, learning it the hard way after being slapped in the face when she was battling professor Sap's generous husband, Syrus. May and Drew were in two guest rooms during the night, and have slept well.

The sunlight shined through May's window, which was bright enough to convince May enough not to forget about the importance of this day. "The sunlight is so bright! I wish that it wouldn't be so much so that I can get back to sleep, since yesterday was a really hard time of training." she was yawning as she talked.

Drew walked by her room, noticing May stretching her arms and decided to come in and talk to her. "You do know that today is the day of the Pokemon Contest, right? And you know that this is also our first one, right?

May spaced out for a while. "Of course I know that, Drew! Good thing that we signed up for it or else we would have been out!"

Drew swayed his head. "Um . . . no. We didn't apply for it."

May had a look on her face as if she didn't believe Drew. "You're kidding about that, right Drew? That's not what I would consider funny."

"Well we didn't because somebody didn't remind us to! Professor Sap, Syrus, and Rick already registered for the contest yesterday, so we better go right now!"

May sweatdropped. "Well then we better go now, right?" she shoved her hair back a little and proceeded to walk downstairs. "Come on, Drew!"

Drew followed May. " Wait up. Don't forget that I'm entering also!"

May paused when she opened the wooden door and entered the garden with rare plants in the beautiful country garden. "Um . . . where is it?"

Drew caught up to her, not tired like May was. "It's at Syrup Park, the place that I went to two days ago when I . . . you know."

May and Drew walked rather quickly so that they can get to the park.








When they arrived at the countryside-smooth Syrup Park with fall leaves decorating on the ground with its flavorful colors and children's playground equipment with the kids enjoying themselves at the moment, there was a table up ahead that was similar to a lemonade stand that kids would have, except it had a staff member wearing a blue vest; the person that registered you when you enter a Pokemon Contest.

Drew walked up to the smiling woman, ready to except more contestants into the contest, first. "We would like to enter the Maple Town Pokemon Contest, please. It will be me, Drew, and my friend here, May."

May was behind Drew, looking with her big head over his green hair so that she could see the lady registering them in the laptop. "Where exactly is the place, I mean Pokemon Contest stage, going to be? Is it going to be outside in the park? That would be sooo cool if I do say so myself."

The receptionist smiled. "You're a pretty good guesser. It's going to be on the center stage of Maple Park, where all of the battles usually take place. And you two are lucky; Drew, you're contestant number 29, and May, you're contestant number 30, the least two spaces remaining in this Pokemon Contest."

Drew frowned at May. "See? I told you that we shouldn't have procrastinated. Stuff like this always happends whenever I'm with you."

May was upset that Drew would put the blame on her. "You know that I can't rememnber things, Drew. And besides, you don't have to rely on me to depict when we should do something; you should have went ahead and do it yourself!"

Drew had an expression that he knew May was right. "Yeah . . . whatever. Let's just go inside and enter the contest already."

"Of course I'm right." smirked May, as they proceeded in walking to the center field, where there were people sitting down on the grass, gazing at the syrup arena with anticipation of what they will see in this contest.

A familiar voice appeared . . . it was Vivian Meridian! As usual, she came out with her perky voice, wearing different clothes. This time she wore a sky-blue swimsuit upperbody with blue jeans on; for some reason, her clothes get more revealing every country that they travel to. "I'm your host, Vivian Meridian, and I'm going to be your host for your Pokemon Contest today! she pointed to the panel of judges. "Here are our panel of judges, and the first and head-judge is Beauty Gala!""

Beauty Gala had a pink-blazer on with hearts on it, a red undershirt, crimson-colored sunglasses, and dark-blue jeans. "I love being head'judge!" she wasn't as strict as the head-judge in the other regions, Contesta. "Happy to be here!"

Vivian pointed to the middle judge. "Here is one of our old favorites, Sukizo, the ehad of the Pokemon Fan Club!"

He had on a navy-blue shirt with a picture of three bunnies on it, and blue jeans that everyone wears. His eyes were shut in a manga way. "Happy to be here!"

Vivian pointed to the last judge. "Here is our beautiful judge, Nature-Lover Sharmin, cares and loves all!"

Sharmin had caramel-dark skin, black hair, a revealing shirt that showed the stomach, and blue jeans that had pictures of flowers on them. "Care and love for all!"

"Time to start things off with contestant number 1!" announver Vivian. "Give a hand for one of the well-known traines of Maple Town, Rick!"

Drew had a look of negativity. "Hmm . . . "

Rick, with his blond hair, red blazer, black shirt under, and blue jeans walked out with a look of confidence. "This is going to be easy." He threw his PokeBall and it released his Dragon and Sharp type Sharpoile with its wicked stance. He threw three blocks of wood at the Pokemon.

"Sss . . . " the Pokemon slashed all of the logs through with one shot before they landed on the ground, making shaved wood out of them. The crowd cheered.

"Amazing accuracy!" commented Sukizo.
.
"What will Rick use to finish this appeal off?" announced Vivian.

"Tail Whirlwind!" ordered Rick.

The Pokemon began spinning its sharp tail and all of the shavings spun in the air, leaving the arena and cleaning is well, but creating what looked like a real-life twister, but wasn't harming anybody. "Sss . . . "

In the crowd, May's hair was swaying with the wind from the appeal. "That is so
good . . . makes me feel so warm and fuzzy in a cool way . . . "

"So amazing." announced Vivian. "But harmless. What ill the judgees think?"

Gala gave 8.7. "Great control!"

Sukizo gave 9.0. "Looks dangerous, but safe!"

Sharmin gave 9.0. "A great use of nature!"

The overhead score was 27 on the monitor.

"A good, solid score!" said Vivian. "Next up . . . "

In the crowd, Drew had an impressed look on his face. "Nice job . . . for a beginner."

Moments flashed with appeals of other Pokemon on stage performing all of their respective appeals.








After more appeals with other Pokemon and their Coordinators passed on, with them getting scores low like 10 to 20 as they didn't actively coorporate with their appealing Pokemon,Vivian continued to announce on the stage. "Now we're up to contestant number 9, our famous professor here in the Zuki region, professor Sap!" announced Vivian. Everybody clapped for her.

Professor Sap walked on stage with her hair swaying with the gentle wind brewing in the arena. "Go Bevadam!" she threw a PokeBall that released her big and strong beaver Pokemon. Like Rick ,she threw a huge wood block in the air, shaped like a cube that was probably meant to be in that shape when it was cut down. "Use you Woody Chomp and form you-know-who!"

"Bevadam!" the Pokemon said excitedly, then began to carve out the wood. After a few moments later, Professor Sap, her husband Syrus, and Rick was formed.

"What an artistic move!" commented Gala. "That would look good on my front porch!" she gave Sap a 10.

"Simply remarkable!" complimented Sukizo, giving Sap a 10. "Just remarkable!"

"Great use of nature!" stated Sharmin, also giving a 10. "Not a waste at all."

"Sap gets a perfect score!" Vivian announced, with the 30 showing on the overhead board, impressing the spectators. "Next up is contestant number 10, professor Sap's husband from here in Maple Town, Syrus!"

Syrus walked on stage, waving his hand at the audience until he got to the center. "Go Shiftry, and make me proud"

he released his PokeBall that released the wily grass and dark with top-white-fur, brown under-the-belt and sandals for feet Pokemon. "Shiftry!" it did a backflip before it landed on the stage.

"A great entrance!" announced Vivian, "Good start."

"Double Team into Razor Wind!" ordered Syrus. "Make me proud!"

The Shiftry split into six copies, with the doubles slightly transparent and without a shadow in the overhead sun in a circle formation. They held their fan-leaves for hands out and began blowing wind, causing a white tornado with colorful fall leaves flying as the twister rose in speed, causing a massive wind that was felt throughout the audience and well-controlled not to hurt anybody.

"A creative use of nature." commented Sharmin, giving a 10 as a score.

"Simply remarkable!" Sukizo gave a 8.

"Nothing better than a nice summer breeze," said Gala, giving a 9.

"And Syrus' final score is 27," announced Vivian. "A good solid score! Next up . . . "








As the contest continued on, May steeped down from the spectator seats and was amazed at the high scores that Sap, Syrus, and Rick got in the first round and was wondering if she could match up to that good skill. "I hope that my Combusken can stand a chance against them . . . they seem like such good coordinators, and this is only my first Pokemon Contest in this country!"

"Next up is contestant number 18," announced Vivian. "The mysterious rock-hard Orc!"

Drew noticed and remembered that name. "Orc . . . the one that I faced when I was back on that ship a little while ago . . . he is here."

Orc, with his tan skin and rock-solid body, came onto the stage, causing mild tremors as he approached the center arena. "Rock on, Sharpinail!" He released his Pokemon out.

Sharpinail with its jaggered-rock body and nails as feet appeared onto the field with a determined face that didn't look dangerous. "Sharpen!"

"Rock Slide into Swords Dance!" ordered Orc. "Rock on and win!"

Sharpinal jumped up and down, almost destroying the stage as rocks from above fell in the direction of the arena. While in midair, Sharpinail's sharp arms transformed into a rock sword and broke all of the rocks, turning them into gravel and falling onto the stage without damaging it one bit.

"Time to clean up this mess," said Orc. "Use your Spinning Sword!"

Sharpinail's sword span like a baton in a skillful manner, making all of the gravel caused from the attack fly at the excited crowd, but high enough so that nobody could get hurt, flying outside the entrance and onto the sidewalk, making the stage clean without anything on it as before.

"I thought that it was going to hit me," said Gala, giving an 8.5. "But that amazing accuracy was cool, and yeah, that makes all the difference."

"Amazing, remarkable, but risky!" Sukizo gave 8.5 as well. "I like that!"

"Nice use of non-living nature," Sharmin gave 9.5. "Rock on? That sounds so very
. . . yeah."

"Orc gets a 26.5!" announced Vivian with the score showing on the overhead board. "A good solid, rocky score! Next up is contestant number 19. The lodge-loving Woody-Woody Two-Shoes! Weird name . . . whatever. Come on stage!"

Woody Two-Shoes came on stage with his long, pointy nose and oversized shoes. "That was so offensive that it's scary!" he yelled at Vivian. "Who cares? You think that what I'm going to do on stage is weird? Here it is!" He threw a PokeBall that released out Woodnose. "This is going to be nice!"

Woodnose had a long, red nose with sleepy eyes, no legs, a woody-body, and big ree lips, short arms, giving it an appearance that looked like dead wood. "Woody."

"Dulp yourself and make a nose sword formation!" ordered Woody.

Woodnose made 9 small, blue-green colored bushes materialize from the wooden surface of the arena, which were actually Bushose, the pre-evolved form of Woodnose.. The bushes had no mouth, purple and blue eyes that was in a dizzying spiral, and a long yellow nose. They had no emotion. " . . . zzzzzzzzz . . . " the Pokemon's noses extended and they all touched each other at the top, like when warriors clash their swords together in honor before battling, but with much more than usual in this crowded appeal, with Woodnose in the middle of the crowd.

"Now use your nosey beam!" ordered Woody Two-Shoes.

The Pokemon's interconnected noses released a large green beam with different shades into the sky above with a dazzling shine to it, creating a green glow that could be seen a distance from the park. After a feew moments, the magnificent beam nulled and the copies fadede away slowly, ending the appeal. The people in the crowd were mesmerized with the control of the attack.

Woody Two-Shoes came on stage, with him and his Pokemon giving a bow. "Now that's the way that you do it." He walked out of stage before knowing what his score is.

"Gives me the creeps," Gala gave an 8.2. "But it looks so cool!"

"Remarkable and surprising!" Sukizo gave 9.1. "Nice pattern."

"Nature is so wonderful . . . " Sharmin gave a 10. Fun times . . . "

"And Woody whatever gets 27.3; a good solid score," Vivian got the creeps all of a sudden on her face. "Next up on contestant number 20 . . . is the scary Harley! One of the known coordinators for making scary and startling appeals with a sadistic personaility . . . I love this guy!"

Harley walked out on stage with his Cacturne outfit, with a black cape as an additional, while waving to the audience with a joyous face. "Thank you! Thank you all! I'm so happy to be here today." Harley took out a PokeBall.

May and Drew were frowning at Harley after putting them into so much trouble before they made it to the region by the people that he hired, which made their appeal earlier in the contest already.

Harley threw the PokeBall. "Allow me to introduce, Rafflsite!" the PokeBall released the Pokemon onto the field.

Rafflsite had huge, gothic purple petals with strange patterns on them, with the face in the middle having an expression so terrifying that even by looking at it from a distance would give you the creeps. Being a petal lying down, it didn't have any legs, but did have small, black arms that were on the side of it. "Raffsss . . . "

"Petal Dance!" ordered Harley. "Make the crowd happy!"

Rafflsite began spinning while still on the ground, like a CD while it is being played, showing a blur of purple shades moving. Evil, dark purple petals with a violet aura flowed out which flew above the crowds, causing a lavender smell throughout the air that when sniffed, smelled like the darkness of night with nobody around. The crowd reached their noses out to sniff the beautiful aroma.

Sharmin was impressed. "Nature at nighttime!"

May and Drew's face smiled as they sniffed the petals, forgeting that the person that was pulling off this appeal was Harley.

"That smells so good . . . " May said softly. "I wish that this would last longer."

"You're right," said Sukizo. "Simply remarkable!"

"Feels like I'm on vacation . . . " said Gala softly. "Wish it was real . . . "

Drew, for once, was also mesmerized by the smell. He was closing his eyes and relaxing back on his seat. "For once, you're right May"

"This happy-go-lucky appeal is starting to get on my nerves," snickered Harley. "Too boring and making people happy isn't something that I would want to do . . . making them yell in agony would be better." Harley pointed at Rafflsite. "I think that it's time that you give the crowd something to really sniff at! Use Bitter Scent!"

"Raflsite!' the parasite petal Pokemon stopped unleashing its evil, yer elegant petals and began releasing a purple gas from its petal with a purple color, approaching the crowd as they watch with surprise of what they are about to face.

When the smell got to May, she was astonished. "Hey what the f*** is this sh**?!"

"You better not talk -- " the smell got to Drew. "You're right. This oversize Pokemon is releasing some sh***y smell!"

The crowd all covered their noses with either their fingers or their shirts in agony as they tried their best to avoid the putrid smell that became stronger and stronger as moments passed in the park. Soon the smell got outside of the location and people that were walking in the street were also noticing the horrible smell.

Sharmin was coughing. "The bad sides of nature . . . "

Sukizo was covering his face with his bunny-shirt. "I have allergies!"

Gala had a noseplug on herself. "This DOES NOT seem like a good vacation!"

Harley was enjoying the smell with a satisfied look on his face, as if he wanted the crowd to suffer like this. "Exactly what I wanted to happen." he smelled the poisonous scent even more. "I think that it's time to stop now."

"Raflss . . . " the parasite plant stopped releasing the gas, and settled down with an emotionless look.

Vivian rose up. "Harley and his Rafflsite sure have given us a big fart today!" she pointed to the panel of judges. "Now what will our judges think of this surprising, yet effective appeal?"

It took them a few seconds, but Gala, Sukizo, and Sharmin all put 10 on their counter, awarding Harley with a 30 and showing it on the overhead counter.

May was astonished. "But why?"

Drew wasn't, though. "You'll see."

"And the judges have decided to give Harley and his Rafflsite a perfect score!" announced Vivian as she approached to Gala, the head judge. "Why have you decided to give Harley this great score?"

"Because it was the last thing that the crowd and us, the judges, could have expected from anybody," explained Gala. "Sure I might not want to get that when I'm on my next vacation, but the originality and the daring of the trainer and Pokemon is something that seperates him or her from another Pokemon Coordinator."

Harley walked offstage with a proud look on his face. "Yep. I knew that I would be able to get a perfect score," when he was offstage, he walked to where his two workers were, on the front row of the audience.








After more contest appeals pasted, with the below-average scores as usual, it was Drew's turn, as he was contestant number 29 before May and her Pokemon.

Drew walked on stage, with his eyes closed in a confident look and his hands in his pocket. When he made it to the center, he took out a PokeBall and threw it without saying a word, releasing out his Flygon onto the field.

"Flygon!" the green mystic, Dragon and Flying with red goggles roared.

In the crowd, May was watching excitedly. "Go Drew!"

"Make a Sandstorm and then go into it!" ordered Drew.

The mystic Pokemon flapped its wings, creating a sand tornado that rose from the ground, soaring high into the air, then walked into the center of the twister. While it was in it, it seemed to be nothing but a green and red blur.

"Flygon has enveloped itself into a Sand Tomb with wonderous beauty!" announced Vivian. "What will he use to finish this amazing appeal off?"

Drew chuckled. "Use your Desert Song!"

Flyong closed its eyes and began singing a song that was so soft, yet a volume loud enough to be heard from far away. "Flygon . . . " it had a surround effect.

"That sounds so cool . . . " complimented May. "I wish that I could sing like that Flygon someday . . . "

The song became softer and softer, and the tornado dwindled and dwindled, with the crowd relaxing upon the sound of the song that they didn't realize anything that was going on stage. After a few moments, Flygon reappeared with an stand of elegance.

"Now what will the judges think of this ear-warming performance?" asked Vivian.

"Brilliant use of Flygon's desert Pokemon legend," complimented Sharmin, giving Drew a 10 on her counter. "As the information states in the PokeDex."

"Simply remarkable!' Sukizo gave a 9. "Just remarkable!"

"The desert isn't somewhere that I would want to chill out in," Gala gave a 9 on her counter. "But that windy appearance might just change my mind!"

"And Drew gets a 28, a good solid score!" announced Vivian as the score showed overhead on the screen. "We're getting ready for the closing of the Appeal Round of Maple Town's Pokemon Contest! Please welcome contestant number 30, May!"

May walked at a rather quick rate on stage, walking past Drew without saying any words as she did so. When she got on stage, she sent out a PokeBall. "Go Combusken!"

The PokeBall released the Fire and Fighting young fowl Pokemon. "Combusken!" it said in a raspy and determined voice.

"Flamethrower into the air and use Red Hot Kick afterwards!" ordered May. "Make a meteor shower!"

Combusken shot a Flamethrower into the air, then it jumped to the top of it with amazing leaping skills. It's feet then glowed red, kicking down the flame and making fiery sparks fly like cotton as it went back down to the stage, scorching the wooden arena and setting it on fire.

Vivian ran off the stage, avoiding the flames. "What will May do to complete this appeal and hopefully get rid of these flames?"

"Use your 10-duple Kick!" ordered May. "Put out those flames!"

Combusken ran at all of the spots on stage at a speed so quick, that it made copies of itself, with each of them kicking at the fire and putting it out. "Combusken!" it yelled in a voice that sounded as if there were many in the room. The 10 young fowl Pokemon all jumped in the air, disappearing and reuniting as one in mid-air. It then returned to the stage after the performance.

Vivian ran back onto the stage. "What a magnificent performance! And we didn't even have to get a new stage!"

"Don't play with fire," warned Sharmin, giving an 8. "But in this case, it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself!"

"Remarkable ending," complimented Sukizo, giving a 9. "We don't have to buy a new stage for Maple Town!"

"I would love to vacation during winter in a place that hot!" explained Gala, giving 1 9.5 on her counter. "Red hot is passion of fire!"

"And May gets a 26.5, a good way to end the appeal round!" the overhead board displayed her score. "And that's the end of the first round . . . who will make it to the second round and get ready for the Contest Battles?"

May walked offstage.







After a few moments, Vivian went back on stage with an excited look on her face, the look that told people that she was going to announce who made it to the next round and who didn't. "I know that all of you coordinators are eager to know who made it, so will you all pleaase look at the screen and see if you have made it or not. Good luck to you all and may the best trainer win!"

All of the Pokemon Coordinators clenched their fists, looking at the screen with hopes of making it to the next round of Contest Battles.

Harley smirked. "I know that I'm going to, after all, I got a perfect score!"

Drew and May also looked confident.

Vivian was pointing to the overhead. "And the battling Coordinators are . . . "

The screen showed eight mugshots, and sounds of disapointment were heard from many, since they didn't pass the Appeal Round.
It was:

May vs Rick

Drew vs Orc

Sap vs Woody

Syrus vs Harley

May was excited that she passed the round. "Yay! I made it!" she screamed as if this was her first Pokemon Contest.

"You won't be there for long," commented Drew. "You're facing Rick, the person that beat me, which means that he's going to beat you."

Sap and Syrus came over, with their son walking with them as well.

"So we all made it, right?" Syrus said. "This is going to be nice. Too bad that you're facing my son, May. He's going to beat you out."

"Good luck to all of you!" Sap bidded, smiling. "Hope we face each other."

Rick had a serious face on. "So you're the one that's facing me?" he said at May. "Good luck and may the best trainer win."

May blushed. "You know, I have to say that he's kind of cute! Maybe I should go and ask him out on a date after I kick his behind . . . "

Drew blushed as well. "Not as much as I am! And what makes you think that you have even the slightest chance of beating this guy? He beat me without my Pokemon landing even on hit on that Sharpoile of his!"

"Because I'm not you!" replied May. "You May have lost to him, but that was your fault and nobody elses.

"I love seeing determination from young trainers," said Sap. "I hope that the both of you win this Pokemon Contest."

Syrus spoke up. "You better wach out- Don't forget that underestimating your opponent will cause your downfall in the end!"

May tripped over a small rock that was on the park's landscape.
They all laughed at May's silliness, but in a friendly way, with hopes of winning the Pokemon Contest Battle round..

"Now this is going to be a a good one," stated Sap and Syrus in unison.

[Harley Scarow]

May, Drew, and all of the other contestants, including professor Sap, her husband Syrus, and their son Rick, are in the waitingroom of the hall as they prepare for the upcoming Contest Battles that they are about to commence in, as they have all made it past the Appeal Round stage with flying colors. As an exception, the waitingroom for the Maple Town Pokemon Contest is outside in the brilliance of nature with beautiful fall leaves decorating where they stand and some shades next to the gate of Syrup Park for those that want to escape the sun, which was mildly up right now in an amount that was soothing and didn't require shading.

May had an excited face yet nervous one, with her hands shaking as she looked at the screen showing who she and the other passing Pokemon Coordinators would face in the next round. "I can't believe that I have to face Rick already . . . I wonder if I'll be able to stand a chance against him . . . he did so good in the first round and the night before yesterday, Drew told me that Rick managed to beat him," her face turned into an optimistic one. "Nah . . . of course I'll be able to beat that cute little guy! Just because Drew wasn't able to beat him doesn't mean that I can't; after all, we're two trainers that have almost equal skill."

Rick was listening to the low-spoken words that May said, and had a slightly red face of rising blush with his hands in the pockets of his red blazer as he slowly appoached May, still managing to have a serious look on his face as he did so. His blue eyes glistered as he walked towards him and his hair slightly flying from the gentle fall wind. When he got to May, he stopped blushing and put on a serious face. "So you're the one that I'm going to be facing in the next round, are you? I saw you and you were pretty good when you made your Contest Appeal in the first round, even though that one seemed risky and careless, you managed to make it through to the end. Your name is May, right?"

As Rick's surprising blushing faded away slowly as he waited for May to talk, May's increased as her face became more and more red, and showing it even more as she tipped her two feet back and forth, putting her hands behind her back and making Drew look at her with a look of worry that she might flirt with Rick instead of him. "Yeah, my name is May. You were pretty good when you made your Contest Appeal in the first round, too. Good for being the first contestant, at least. What do you mean that I was being all that risky and careless during my appeal? If you ask me, I did just as good as you and I deserved maybe the score that you got."

"I think that you're the kind of trainer that needs to get out of my way, May, since you're only a little obstacle on my way of defeating him," replied Rick rudely, forcing a smirk on his face as he said those words and pointing at an astonished May with his index finger. "I won't even break a sweat beating you in the next round, May, so move out of my way," Rick walked passed May in a way that almost hit her, missing by an inch.

May was surprised at the way that Rick acted towards her after that friendly greeting that he gave her the first moment that he talked to her. "Well I can't wait until I beat the blue pants off you, you little jerk!" she yelled at the trainer walking away. "You think that you can do any better? If you think so, then you have a lot of thinking to do in a contest and about talking to a nice person like me!" Rick was out of sight when May said those words and it seemed as if she was yelling to herself in a silly way. May calmed down and talked silently to herself. "It doesn't matter. As long as I beat him, or Drew does, I don't really care."








A few minutes have passed since the announcement of the pairings of who will be in the Contest Battles of the second round, and after the surprising discussion that May and Rick had a few minutes ago. Many people that got up so that they can use the bathroom or get some refreshments during the short intermission returned to their long wooden seats with a look of anticipation on their face, anxious to see the upcoming battles on the center stage made out of wood with leaking syrup on one of the nearby maple trees that gave the town its gentle name. A soft wind with gentle leaves flew from one of the many trees that were behind the spectator area protected by a gate and slightly dangled the hair of everybody that was in the location.

Vivian, with a revealing blue swimsuit on and a matching swim cap, carrying a microphone in her hand with a look of excitment of what she will announce next in the Pokemon Contest, ran on stage in a girly gait with her hands making rushing poses as she did so and the microphone swinging in a way that looked like the leaves on one of the nearby trees that were about to fall off any second. When she got to the center stage, she held the microphone next to her red lips as she began to announce. "Thank you all for waiting and I hope that all of you have enjoyed the dazzling Contest Appeals that you have seen earlier in the beautiful Syrup Park and its glorious nature! Allow me to announce the set of Pokemon Coordinators that will be battling in the first battle of the second round, May and Rick, the firey young and talented trainers!"

May and Rick were already on the stage in their respective spaces, with May staring a look on Rick showing that she didn't get over how Rick treated her a little while back, and Rick staring at her with a look thinking that May deserved it, even though May did nothing to get that kind of respect from him. The crowd was cheering for these two trainers, with chants of "May" and "Rick" in the air as if they have either known them for a long time.

"I'm going to get you back for how you acted towards me earlier, Rick, so don't think that I'm going to be going easy on you during this match, okay?" May took out a red and white PokeBall from her knapsack with a look of determination on her face as she threw the PokeBall, kicking her feet back and her bandana flying back as she did so. "Go Combusken! Teach his Pokemon a lesson to keep!"

The PokeBall released a red laser of energy that sent out the Fire and Fighting type young fowl Pokemon, with sharp claws and toenails, knees that were pumped up, and lips that looked like it just ate something spicy but didn't react to it in any way. It had its left knee down on the floor and its two sharp claws crossed on top of each other, with the right one on top of the left one in a serious stance. It stood up, uncrossed its arms and jolted its arms down in a look of determination of what Pokemon Rick would send out for it to face in this Contest Battle. "Combusken! Combusken!"

"I'm not even going to waste my breath on you, May; I'm only here so that I can face him," Rick pointed at Drew with his index finger in a demanding way, with Drew looking back at a look of seriousness with his arms across his lavender blazer and black undershirt. "You're only here so that I can get some practice before I battle him, so don't think that I consider you someone important or anything, okay? Say goodbye . . . go Sharpoile!" Rick also threw a PokeBall onto the center of the field.

The PokeBall released his Sharpoile, with a sinister look on its face with small fangs hanging out that looked big from a distance, reptile thin yellow eyes that shifted as it entered the field into ghastly glowing red, sharp nails and toenails for something that size, and its known tail looking like two daggers that was ready to stab somebody as they glowed in the sun overhead, and having a dark-orange body with scales to finish off the Dragon and Sharp type characteristics that it had. Its tail was wagging, with metal clashing sounds as it hissed in a way that sounded as if it was ready to murder someone. "Shar . . . sha . . . shh . . . sss . . . "

Vivian rose up with excitement. "Who will win this battle?" she showed her hand at May. "Will it be May and her Combusken?" she showed her hand at Rick next. "Or will it be Rick and his Sharpoile? Let the battle begin with these two Pokemon!" she pointed to the overhead screen, showing May with an optimistic smile and Rick with a serious look, and the timer beginning at five minutes before walking off the field for the battle.

"No time to waste," said Rick. "Sharpoile, use your Tail Whirlwind and blow that bird away!"

Sharpoile immediately spun its tail with blinding speed before May and her Combusken could notice anything, and generated a gust of wind that was bigger than the small Pokemon at Combusken, blowing it away and nearly hitting May, but managed to jump and land before it did so.

"You think that trying to hit me with my own Pokemon's going to help you?" yelled May as her points dropped by 10%. "Use your Sky Uppercut!"

Combusken's sharp claws glowed, followed by the first half of its arms as it jumped into the air, landed back down, and attempted to hit Sharpoile, which used both of its razor-sharp tails to counteract its arms as if they were hands themselves. "Combusken!"

"You think that head-on attacks are going to help?" Rick smirked as May lost 5% of her points. "Use your Tail Blade attack, Sharpoile!"

"Sss . . . " the sinister Pokemon obeyed as its silver tail glowed and became a shining white, jumping in the air at a speed that looked as if it teleported and coming down behind Combusken and hitting it in the back without the young fowl Pokemon even noticing that it snuck to the back of it. It dashed back to where it was before with the glow fading and Combusken getting back up on its feet, as May lost another 10%.

Drew was in the front-row of the crowd, looking at May at a look that he didn't care of her performance but inside worrying about her. I hope that you win, May . . . or at least if you learn from this loss.

The battle continued with May making the next move. "Combusken, use your Fire Spin on that moving reptile!" You want a non-contact attack? Well you got one so here it comes!

Combusken charged a growing and burning fireball in its mouth, and when it became big enough, launched at Sharpoile with speed and encasing it with a flames that became a burning tower of fire surrounded with decoration rings that circled as the attack did. "Combusken!"

Vivian ran next to the tower of flame, with her eyes having the reflection of the flame and glowing with excitement and not fear that she was next to it. "What beauty from a Fire Spin as Rick's points drop 20%!"

Rick was surprised that May was able to pull that off on his small but speedy Pokemon. "That was a pretty good trick that you did there . . . use your Quick Attack to get out of there in style!"

"Sss . . . " its body jumped onto the unsharp ends of its two razor-tails and it launched itself in the upward direction with a white streak behind it, then landing on the wooden arena, escaping the flames and breaking some of the wood as it landed. The Fire Spin ceased and embers were created on top of the wood that began to spread and surround Sharpoile and Combusken, with them both in worry.

May was worried that Combusken would get hurt; even though it was a fire type, being trapped in a rising flame with its opponent wouldn't help. "Oh no!"

Vivian ran away from the embers that were about to burn the tip of her blue swimsuit. " . . . whew . . . that was a close one!" she wiped some sweat off her face. "May loses 15% for not caring about the aftermath of her attack and Rick loses 20% for the same reason and for being at the end of that attack, with two minutes running on the clock, and both of their scores tied with both trainers having 60% left!"

Rick was confident. "Use your Double Tail Blade attack, Sharpoile and wipe it out!"

"Sharp . . . sss . . . " the sinister Pokemon held its two sharp tails up in a threatening way and charged at Combusken quickly. Combusken defended itself when Sharpoile got to it with its two hands, using the talons as little swords and deflecting the hit off, but couldn't resist the rest of the attack as Sharpoile pressured more and more; both Pokemon blew back in opposite directions hitting the flames.

"From both sides tieing and getting hit by the flames, both trainers lose 40% of their points, leaving at a love score of 20%!" announced Vivian. "One minute left!"

May was insulted that Vivian used the word 'love'. "You better not say that again . . . use your Slash!"

Combusken charged at the Pokemon, with Sharpoile retailiating by holding its tail up and using it to block the attack, with both sides left with 10% of the score.

"I think that it's time to kill this pattern," declared Rick. "Use your Knight Dulpication!"

In the crowd, Drew had a worried look on his face, as this was the move that was used so that he lost. "Watch out May!"

Sharpoile quickly dropped its two swords-for-tails and they materialized into two more Sharpoile, each with the same sinister look on their face and the same murderous hiss. "Sharp . . . shh . . . sss . . . " all three held their blades out in a furious charge, and Combusken, confused by their blinding speed, couldn't do anything about the attack that was about to hit it. It was slashed by six blades with blinding fury, jolting up and down as it was attacked from all directions and not able to do a thing about it. May's points dropped to zero when Combusken fell, with squiggles on its face showing that it was unable to battle.

May ran over to her Combusken with a shocked look on her face, holding her fainted Pokemon in her hand and moving her hands at it to comfort it. "Are you okay, Combusken . . . too bad . . . we lost . . . "

"Combusken . . . " it moaned in a weak, raspy voice that sounded as if it didn't live up to what it was supposed to do during the battle.

"It's okay," said May. "You deserve a nice long rest," May took out Combusken's PokeBall and the red laser returned it, with May putting it back on her knapsack.

May and Rick left the arena, with neither saying a word to each other and Vivian went back on the stage, ready to announce the next battle. "That was a great and intense battle between these two red hot trainers as Rick advances to the second round! The next battle will be the calm, cool, and collected Drew against the rock hard Orc for the second battle!"

Drew with a confident look as his green hair and purple blazer flew mildly as a gentle wind blew by in his trainer's box. Orc, big and literally as hard as a rock, came onto the field causing tremors as he walked and crushed stems and stones on the path that he walked. When they were both in their respective corners, they looked at each other with a look ready for battle as they both have faced each other during the terror of S.S Atlanta earlier when Harley and Orc were destroying the ship, reducing it and the many passengers to rubble and May and Drew being one of the few to survive the crash. They also said with honor on that day that they would face each other in a battle during the next Pokemon Contest, which is this one, in one not because of anger or money, but a fair one.

Drew threw his PokeBall without saying anything, releasing his green, mystic Dragon and Flying type Pokemon with a red visor and different patterns of blue on it, flapping its wings as it was sent from its PokeBall in midair and gently landing on the field, causing a slight thumping sound as it did so on the wooden arena.

"Go RockBall!" yelled Orc, taking out a unique PokeBall that wasn't quite the regular red and white one, but rather looking like a gray-stone PokeBall with the same pattern on it and rigid appearence as he threw it in the air, releasing his Shapinail; the Rock and Sharp nail Pokemon had sharp craters for a body, legs that kept going thinner until it was as sharp as nails finishing the feet with what seemed like hooves of steel, and a face that looked like something that would rather relax in the summer park than battle another Pokemon in any kind of competition.

Drew, making sure that he would get the first move in this battle, didn't hesitate to attack. "Use your Dragonbreath, Flygon!"

Flygon charged a green ball of fire in its mouth that had similar shading to the green on its body and released it at the Sharpinail that seemed in be immobile. Sharpinail dodged the attack by using its steel-sharp feet to slide out of the way, making a screeching sound on the wood that made some of the members of the audience cover their ears as the sound rose and rose. Drew lost 5% of his Contest Points for missing and Flygon continued to attack, each missing and Sharpinal causing constant screeching sounds that made May, Sap, and Syrus cover their ears, but Rick with a serious look on his face that he didn't mind the piercing sound, and looked at Drew in a way that he is expecting something. Drew lost more points and was left with 85% left, but Orc lost 5% for only dodging and not doing anything back.

"You think that a move like that is going to stop my Pokemon?" Orc pointed his hard finger at Flygon. "Use your Rock Slide with a footing screech!"

"Sharpinail!" the pointy nail Pokemon began spinning its steel feet, and the sound of screeching occured once again with rising pain as it became more and more quick, making Drew lose 5% of his points since his Flygon was startled by the sound. Rocks began falling from the sky, and Flygon in its dizzy state from the sound flew randomly, and dodged all of the big rocks that targeted it in the air with impeccable luck, regaining its stance as it landed on the arena with the rocks falling and some of them causing potholes in the wooden floor as it wasn't able to withstand the weight. Orc lost 10% for all of the rocks missing.

During the previous attack, Vivian got close to the action and was dodging the rocks as they fell as if she was in the battle herself, and managed to make it to the edge of the field, putting her microphone to her mouth in sweating excitement of the battle. "This battle is sure getting good, with neither side giving up on their powerful attacks! Who will win in the three minutes left in this Contest Battle?"

"Use your Dragon Burst!" ordered Drew.

"Use your Hyper Beam!" ordered Orc.

Both Pokemon obeyed as Flygon charged a yellow electric burst and red fire flame in its mouth that increased in size as moments passed, with Sharpinail clashing its hands shaped like swords together and charging a white ball of energy that also grew in appearence. When both attacks were big enough, their respective trainers looked at the opposite Pokemon with thoughts that they would win, and both attacks were unleashed with speed and fury as they both collided in midair, red and yellow on one side, and shining white as the swords unleashed a white beam. Both Drew and Orc lost 10% of their points simutaneously as the attack kept going, with neither giving up, and both of them dropping their points until both sides had 35% of their points left. Flygon was standing after the attack stopped, still with bruises, when both Pokemon ran out of energy; Sharpinail was blown back slightly as Dragon Burst was an attack that managed to do so.

Why did my Pokemon get blown back and his didn't?! thought Orc. Both attacks were unleashed at the same time and hit at the same rate! "Tell me how your Pokemon managed to pull that off!" having been blown back more, Orc lost 10% of his points.

"That's because my attack was more powerful," answered Drew as the timer showed one minute left. "As you can see, your Sharpinail is a Rock type Pokemon, and it used a Normal one, which doesn't give it the extra boost, even though Hyper Beam's Base Power is 150 and that is higher than my Flygon's Dragon Burst, which is only a flame of 120 Base Power."

"So how can a 120 Base Power beat a 150 one?" asked Orc. "You're doing the math wrong!"

"That's because my Flygon, being a Ground type, also with Dragon type characteristics, can have its Dragon type move's power multiplied by 1.5 the regular amount, adding up to 160, higher than 150. All it takes is STAB, or Same Type Attack Power."

The timer on the overhead ran out, and with Drew at 35% points and Orc at 25% left. The screen showed Drew and his Flygon with the word "winner" next to it.

Orc walked over to the center of the stage, with Drew doing so as well. "That was a good battle," Orc replied, shaking hands with Drew willingly. "See ya," they both walked off stage with Drew having a surprised look of how a villian could act like that, Harley angry in the crowd that an evil guy would have sportsmanship, and the rest of the crowd cheering over the performance including May, Sap, and Syrus; Rick was staring at Drew in an unsurprising look.

[Harley Scarow]

After a few moments passed, Vivian went back to the center of the now scorched stage, with some of the smoke of the battle left but quickly vanished. She held the microphone to her mouth and spoke, "We're now in the second half of the first round! The next battle will be our relaxed Professor Sap against the "long nosed" Woody-Woody Two-Shoes . . . what a stupid name! I'll just call you two-shoes . . . "

Sap and Two-Shoes were on the center arena, holding their PokeBalls out. May getting ready while Two-Shoes makes annoyed remarks at Vivian for insulting his name, like "Shut up, hag," "Underpaid announcer," and "very *friendly* person . . . pregnant dog . . . Prostitute!"

"You do have a weird name, you know that?" remarked Sap. "Not like you can do anything about it anyways, so you better get into court after this and change all that."

Woody shook his hands in anger. "What do you think that you're talking about, you stupid little hag?!" he began making rude imitations of Professor Sap, like pretending to wear glasses and making girly movements. "Look at me! I'm a lowlife professor that doesn't go out much! I love Pokemon and I think that they're good friends and not tools for getting what you want! When my Pokemon are down, I believe that they can get up so that they can continue battling for me because we believe in each other deep down inside!" he stopped imitating the honorable professor, and put on a disgruntled look. "That's you! You better cut off the nuts if you want to face me and win! Now lets go!" he threw a PokeBall that released his Woodnose.

"You have no idea what the meaning of care and friendship is, Woody . . . " she threw her PokeBall that released Bevadam into the center of the field. "You're the lowlife for working for the same kind as Harley, after all. You're in no position to be calling anybody that. Now lets test your Pokemon's strength and I can show you that you're wrong in every sense of the word."

Woodnose was a brown log with droopy eyes and a long nose, looking as if it wasn't ready for battle as the body motion and heartrate seemed to be very low. Bevadam was a large, brown beaver with a lot of logs for a tail, the same way that a Sceptile had many pointy leaves for its tail. With one side looking excited for battle, and the other one looking ready to have a nap.

"Begin!" Vivian announced, with the timer on the overhead beginning with 5 minutes and showing their mugshots along with their respective Pokemon.

"Use Tail Ram attack!" ordered Sap.

Bevadam's large, dark-brown tail glowed black, and it charged into the air, ready to ram down on Woodnose, which at the present moment, wasn't doing anything to stop the attack. When it got all the way down, a dark-green bush appeared with cute eyes and a large nose, appearing to be more active than the Woodnose itself, blocked the tail and disappeared without the defending Pokemon being touched by one hit. Green shreds of the destroyed bush littered the battling field, and gave Sap a look of shock, but not surprise, as she has faced that attack before when she was on the deserted island with May and Drew. More copies of similar looking bushes appeared around Bevadam, making it look in different directions and preparing to defend.

"Sap loses 10% for having her attack blocked," announced Vivian. "And Woodnose didn't even move one bit!" she walked over, nearing some of the dark-green bush, almost touching it before she annouced again. "What will Two-Shoes get these . . . cute little green bushes to do and how will they affect the battle?"

Woody had an angered look on his face again. "What do you think that you're doing calling me that name again? What kind of announcer are you?! The name is Woody-Woddy Two-Shoes and if I have to tattoo it into your heads by myself, then I will!" he turned his head over to the field again. "Now my Bushose, use your Nose Stacker on that Bevadam by ganging up on it."

The Bushose fakes's noses began charging up a green energy on the spot, and Bevadam had a look of fear on it. With the Bushose and a look of feeling, but deep down having even less emotion than the Woodnose already has since they were fakes after all, unleashed a glowing green brown nose that charged up into the air and clashed at each other at the pitch of the attack, forming a cage that was made of noses for bars that had Bevadam with a look of fear on its face. More Bushoses appeared and began attacking the trapped Pokemon through the small gaps of the cage, avoiding the many other Bushoses that were supporting the bars with great accuracy, but missing Bevadam once the brown stick got inside the glowing cage.

"Sap loses 30% of her points for letting the Bushoses get in control of her Pokemon and Two-Shoes loses 10% for having the extra Pokemon miss the attack, announced Vivian. "Since this is a Pokemon Contest Battle, everything must be done perfectly, even when you get your opponents into a tight spot, and with three minutes left, both Two-Shoes is showing Accuracy that seems to be repelled by Sap's Evasion!"

Sap, thinking voiceover. I can't believe that I could let my Pokemon get trapped like this . . . Sap looked at the bars of the cages closely with her Pokemon looking calm as it used its large tail to constantly dodge attacks made by the other Bushoses, leaping in the air and not hitting the cage bars. I think that I have to destroy the bars in order for my Pokemon to get out of this situation . . . this isn't a real prison, so destroying branches should be easy, and having them be fake branches should make the job even easier. "Use your Wood Tail so that you can destroy all of the brown-branch bars and get out of that weak excuse for a cage!" the idea put a look of shock on Woody's face as he knew this would work for Sap and Bevadam.

Bevadam, still using its tail to leap distances into the air to dodge the Bushoses, and having its opponent miss many more times cost its opponent another 10% of the points, landed down as another branch charged at it. Instead of vaulting itself into the air and dodging the attack this time, it held its rather large tail made out of logs in front of it, and the nose rushed at the board and was destroyed by the tail, causing a loud crunching sound and crushing it to pieces. The other Bushoses, having no mind of their own as the other ones supporting the cage, continued to attack with their noses and were destroyed on contact. Breaking wood dropped down to the ground and were deleted as the Woodnose and the fakes were Virtual-type computer viruses.

Woody looked at his falling Pokemon with disaster. "What in the WORLD do you think that you Pokemon are doing?! Don't you get the plan that geeky professor and her oversized rodent made up for you?! Didn't you see one of your dumb and mindless fools get destroyed because he was too idiotic to stop the attack? I don't know why I even bother trying to help any of you in this battle."

"That's why you and your Pokemon are losing right now," said Sap. "For one thing, the real Pokemon that you have is nothing but a computer virus and that means that it has no will of its own -- it just follows orders from its dumb master. You think that those annoying copies are anything smarter? I've seen and faced all of your moves when we were back on that island." That guy knows nothing when it comes to making your Pokemon love you . . . that's why HE'S losing right here, right now.

Bevadam destroyed all of the copies that weren't making the cage, and then its tail stopped glowing. In a few moments, the large tail's logs became filled with dark spikes that decorated it like ninja stars, and it ran with speed rather quick for its size. The Bushose that were supporting the cage didn't attack the impending Pokemon, having no minds of their own and were simply stationed there for one purpose, having Bevadam smash all of them and destroying the glowing green noses, with them blowing up afterwards, but not in an explosion that was big enough to hurt the attacking Pokemon. All of the copies were destroyed and the rude and large nosed with a now red face trainer lost 20% of his points for carelessness.

"Time to use your secret weapon!" declared Woody. "Use your Bamboo Sword and rip that oversized rodent to pieces!"

The Woodnose's eyes suddenly opened up in a fearful shock to anyone that sees it, and it's left arm suddenly glowed a dark-green. After a few moments, the left arm was severed from the rest of its body and floated in the air, shaping itself into a wooden sword that had a sharp edge like an ax, with the fingers of the dispatched arms being the part that you hold it with. A painful sight that didn't seem to harm the using Pokemon at all, as the left arm was held by Woodnose, and it grew brown legs that were surrounded with dark-green roots that seemed to rise up from the wooden arena, breaking some of it and surrounding the Pokemon with ivy that shaped into legs and had rose thorns for its feet. Now able to stand, the Pokemon charged at Bevadam blindlessly, but accurately, landing a clean sweep on the large brown beaver and putting a look of astonishment on the fallen Pokemon and the professor, even though Sap already seen this attack when they were back on the island, it was nulled when Harley made a foolish move that cost them the battle.

"Are you okay?" asked Sap to her damaged Pokemon, and the attack that it just received from a weapon that didn't look dangerous but turned out to be harmful cost them 20% of their points, dropping it to 40% left. "Try to stand up, and then you can try to break that sword using Iron Tail!"

The fallen Pokemon slowly got up, and the Woodnose came up to it in surprising speed compared to what it was like before it transformed into a standing creature, holding the bamboo sword next to Bevadam and preparing to strike again. Bevadam managed to get up in time and dodge that attack in perfect last-second move, then returning down in an aerial dash with its tail glowing a powerful silver, smashing the bamboo sword and making remdants of its pieces clatter to the ground, shattering like like glass. The Woodnose, having an unknown look on its face, as it has always been in any situation, has cost its trainer 10% of his contest points and the left arm regenerating after the arm has been severed from the attack.

Woody chuckled, not caring about what has just happened with his contest points. "You think that a horrible appearence like that can stop my Pokemon? Well then I think that you're wrong, since Woodnose is very ambidexious with its body."

The unfazed Woodnose suddenly closed its empty eyes, and its hideous toes curled up, signing for an upcoming attack. It began materializing shadows from underneath it that began to grow, expanding into larger shades and growing in a matter that looked like you were downloading something, with scattered pixels forming together making three copies of Woodnose. The newly made Pokemon were the same as Woodnose before they began their transformation into the one with a bamboo sword, then in a few moments underwent the drastic change into the dangerous one, leaving a look of shock in the judge's face and having Vivian move back from the attack as they grew into Pokemon that looked like the original, but seemed to have a more empty shade than the real Pokemon had. As an added bonus, the newly made Pokemon didn't have their left arm become a sword to be held by the other, but each had two swords for a total of eight threatening ones.

Sap was shocked. "Look out! That thing is more mobile then we think that it is!"

The Pokemon slashed with a total of eight swords, with Bevadam using its tail to dodge the first six, which were the fakes made by the real one, costing Woody 10% of his points for having lack of accuracy. But then when it seemed like the attack was over, the real one appeared and slashed Bevadam twice, costing Sap 20% points lost for the damage and lack of evasiveness. Now Sap had 20% left and Woody had 40% left.

Sap had an idea, and pointed to Woody. "If you're going to use swords to try and take me down, then so am I! Bevadam, use your Log Slasher attack and cut that Pokemon down to size!"

"Bevadam!" the big brown beaver growled. It got up after it was hit and then prepared to unleash its next attack, which involved taking the sharp logs that were as its tail and removing them from the main body, holding them as swords. From that point, they seemed like burned cinder or a black sword that has been in the experience of battle for a long time, as the dark color unleashed a glowing shine that came from the sun. To every spectator in the arena's surprise, the sword began glowing burning red, like a campfire when you tell stories, causing small embers to spark from the sword and Woody having a worried look that his Pokemon is going to lose. The beaver than slashed the sword at the ground, setting the wooden arena on fire and spreading over to the fake Pokemon, destroying them and causing Woody 20% as they were incinerated like trees in a burning forest caused by careless humans.

Woody had an angry look on his face as his points dropped to 20%, matching his opponent's score and the field having one Pokemon on each side as the fire blazed in anger. "What do you think that you're doing, beating my Pokemon like that? Well if you think that making this into a 'fair' one on one battle is going to work, then you're right . . . but I have one last shot to take down you, the geek, and your Pokemon, the polluted rodent that shouldn't be here on the field in the first place, and make my way up to Harley!" he laughed, with an insane thought that he was going to win and not expecting what is going to happen in the next round of battle on the burning red field, which has gone through many challenges today already, becoming more and more scorched as moments passed during the battle. "Ready? Use your Woody Nose attack!"

The emotionless Pokemon charged up a green energy, one that looked bigger than before as this would be the final move of the battle as thirty seconds and counting were on the clock, and the spectators a look of anticipation. Bevadam, however, was also holding its Log Sword up in a determined stance, and it caused more embers that were soon drained up by the sword, making it an even darker red that became as big and glowed with passion as moments passed. When both attacks were charged up, Vivian looked at the two attacks with amazement as they were both released from the respective Pokemon, clashing in the middle as Bevadam released a fire beam and Woodnose charged its nose into the center. Bevadam's fire managed to continue on, attacking the defending nose like when electricity travels through a wire, leading up to the empty Pokemon and burning it as if it was a dish in a campfire.

"What an attack!" commented Vivian. "It looks like the winner of this battle is already decided."

After the smoke cleared up, with some of the members of the audience holding their shirts on their faces to avoid inhaling the gas, and others tipping their heads toward in hope; revealed a singed Woodnose as the eyes became a burned black, its nose dark-gray, and the body black as ash, finished with smoke coming out of it like a campfire's logs that have just been put out with forced water. Woody-Woody Two-Shoes lost ALL of his contest points, followed by a battle out from each of the judges, making him angry and run up to his defeated Pokemon with a lack of words, kicking it into the air with shreds of its body flying out before his PokeBall's red laser returned it back before it could be completely destroyed. He left the stage with no words, and Harley smirking at him for his loss at professor Sap. The professor soon left the field as well, with a look of victory as the overhead screen showed her mugshot and Bevadam with the words "victory!" on it.