This chapter is dedicated to  ShreevibhaSR who is constantly leaving me such sweet and encouraging comments. Thank you so much for your support! It means a lot and you are so sweet!

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Previously...

"The contest is tomorrow! We definitely need to do some more last minute practicing tonight and tomorrow!" May said as she shoved a bite of salad in her mouth. Drew laughed at her before responding.

"Well duh, everyone always practices before the contest" she frowned and rolled her eyes at him.

"I was just reminding you, jerk," she pouted as she stuffed another bite of food into her mouth.

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Her Eevee purred affectionately as she pet her. She and Drew were sitting in the coordinators room of the contest hall, waiting for the contest to start. Absentmindedly, she stopped petting Eevee to which the Pokemon cried in protest and nudged her hand for her to continue. May giggled before giving in. She looked over to say something to Drew when she saw that he and Absol both looked a bit distressed.

"What's wrong?" May asked. Drew sighed.

"Absol seems on edge. I'm worried,"

"It'll be fine, we'll win!" She said encouragingly. He laughed softly.

"That's not what I'm concerned about," he said seriously.

"Then what?"

"Absol can sense when danger is going to happen. I'm worried because he is on edge, like he's suspecting something bad to happen," he explained.

"Oh..." she said, her voice quivering slightly. She began to glance down at her lap, her hands now clenched together and Eevee curled at her side. She was startled when Drew put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to face towards him. His emerald eyes stared straight into hers.

"I didn't mean to scare you or anything, but just be on your guard. Don't worry about it too much, okay, I'll be here if anything happens. I promise," he smiled softly at her.

"Thank you Drew," she said gratefully. She brought her arms up and she held onto Drew's wrists for a moment before she reluctantly pulled his hands off her shoulders. She still held onto him for a little longer, their arms in between each other before she finally let go of his wrists. On the outside she didn't seem any different, but on the inside she was screaming.

Why did she do that? Why was her heart beating so fast? Why didn't she want to let go of him? It just didn't make any sense. She felt warm and happy inside but at the same time she felt emptiness and a longing for more. More of what, she wasn't sure. That or she was deliberately shielding herself from it.

The contest began soon after and May and Drew watched as many pairs performed their appeal routines. They were one of the last ones to go and finally it was their turn. They made their way to the awaiting stage. After Adrian introduced them to the crowd, they began. Absol shot a water pulse towards Eevee who used an iron tail to send it back. Absol then used iron tail as well to send it back again to Eevee who then used iron tail to dissipate the attack. Then Eevee shot 5 shadow balls towards Absol who then used flash. The giant light collided with the shadow balls. They mixed and the shadow balls began to give off the light from flash before exploding into purple sparkles that fell over the crowd as they cheered.

"Let's hear what our judges have to say about this performance,"

"Quite Remarkable!" Mr. Sukizo said with a 9.2 popping up on his board.

"It was short but it was clear to see the skill of the coordinators and Pokemon in this performance," Mr. Contesta said. He gave a score of 9.8.

"This performance was very high energy and both coordinators and Pokemon worked very hard! The shadow ball and flash combination was truly lovely," Azalea Town's Nurse Joy said. She gave them a 10.

"A total of 29! What a great performance!" Adrian complimented. The crowd cheered as May and Drew headed off the stage back to the coordinators room. When they got back, they only had to wait a few more people before the results were posted. She and Drew had made it to the next round. They won their qualifying battles and made it to the final battle. With 5 minutes on the clock, the match began.

The opponents were another boy and girl team. The girl used a Chikorita while the boy used a pidgeotto.

"Chikorita! Use razor leaf!" The girl called.

"Eevee! Dig to dodge!" May said. Eevee burrowed it's way underground.

"Water pulse!" Drew called. Absol shot a ball of water toward the pidgeotto but it easily dodged. Their points went down a little.

"Pidgeotto, grab Chikarita and keep it in the air!" The boy called. Now May couldn't attack with dig. Still, she had the element of surprise. When Eevee shot out of the ground, May had her shoot a shadow ball at the Chikorita, hitting it. Drew had charged up a razor wind in the confusion Eevee caused and neither opposing Pokémon could dodge. Pidgeotto dropped Chikorita to the ground. The opposing team's points fell shorter than theirs.

The battle was back and forth after that. Absol went into with a quick attack towards the pidgeotto which he used the momentum to land a powerful iron tail on the Pokémon, sending it crashing to the ground. Eevee also landed a shadow ball on the Chikorita, finally giving May and Drew the momentum they needed to keep the lead. The buzzer went off not long after, signifying the end of the battle.

"And the winners of the Azalea Town Contest are May and Drew!" The crowd cheered as they stepped up to receive their ribbons. They were a hot pink color to signify an azalea. They shook hands with their opponents before they went back into the coordinators room to collect their things. Suddenly, Absol broke back out of its pokeball. She had almost forgotten that it had sensed something off earlier.

"Sol!" It cried urgently before a loud explosion shook the building. A hole was blown through the side of the building and a small regime of team rocket grunts poured in.

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-A/N-

Happy Halloween everybody!! I hope you had a good week! Mine was terrible, I got sick Tuesday and I still have a cough. Not sure if it's the Rona or not but it still sucks. My symptoms didn't match most of the covid symptoms, just a cough was pretty much all that was similar but still could be. It was also my midterm week so it was a whole lot of fuuuuun. I almost didn't post but I just couldn't skip out because I was tired, I still had time to write and I've been looking forward to this next chapter too much to postpone it anymore. I'm probably overhyping it a little too much, but this next chapter is where things are going to take a turn... Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and until next time,

YouDontKnowShipping