All the other contestants went one after the other, giving performances after the high bar May left.
Solidad went in and brought out her Slowbro and Lapras, and with a combination of Slowbro's [Water Gun] creating a whirlpool of water for Lapras to ride and freeze with its [Sheer Cold], only for Slowbro to then make it explode with a [Hyper Beam], creating a disco-ball-like effect that also caused shards of ice to fall like snow. She got a 99.
Drew went in with his Masquerain and Roselia, combining Roselia's [Petal Dance] with Masquerain's [Silver Wind], causing petals and sparkling wind to fly around the stands in front of everyone, then fall softly. He ended with a 95.
Harley used his Cacturne and Banette to make a [Will-O-Wisp] and [Bullet Seed] combination, where Banette created the fire ring and shot each seed out of the air, creating mini green explosions in the air. But it was pretty short compared to other performances, so he ended with an 86.
Then there was Lisia, who had Ali and, actually surprisingly enough, a Galarian Rapidash. Ali flew up and shot out wide-spread Dragon Breath all over the field, covering it with bright purple fire, but Rapidash was unaffected since it was a Fairy-type, so it ran through the flames unharmed and shot a [Dazzling Gleam] through the fire, creating fireworks in the sky. She got the competition's first 100.
Chaz went next. He used Macherie and a Kantonian Rapidash, and while at first people thought he was just going to try to copy Lisia (don't ask me how), eventually he pulled it back by having Macherie ride on top of Rapidash and race through the stadium. He got the second 100, remember, he may be extra, but he is not a pushover.
Robert used his Milotic and Claydol, and together they created a shower of sparkles, with Claydol's [Ancient Power] shooting up into the sky and Milotic using her [Twister] to catch each of them and crash them together before getting thrown up into the sky, making a multicolored shower of sparkles and earning another perfect 100.
Jessie/Jessilina even managed to get a high score of 89, with her Seviper and Arbok working together, using a combination of [Poison Sting] that shot around her in the shape of a heart. Now, admittedly, she was nervous, when they did that, she had never practiced it before, but on the outside she stayed perfectly still, because she was paralyzed with fear. The judges thought it was just trust in her Pokémon, so that's how she got her score so high.
Now granted, these were not all in order; there were many other contestants, but with this, we finally had our top 8: May, Robert, Drew, Solidad, Lisia, Chaz, Harley, and Jessilina.
Once we had our top 8, the brackets were quickly randomized by the computer. Everyone held their breath, looking up, this was it.
The computer then finally spat out the matches:
Chaz vs. Harley
May vs. Drew
Solidad vs. Jessilina
Lisia vs. Robert
That was it. It was time for the combat section, and the matchups were chosen. Everyone quickly went into the back room except for the first match: Chaz vs. Harley.
Both of them stepped out on their respective sides after the stadium changed into a battlefield. Harley tried to get the crowd to cheer for him, but he was no match for Chaz's eccentric personality.
And to be honest, Harley was already salty that he didn't get first place in the appeal stage. But now his first opponent was Chaz, that was bad, because while he wouldn't be able to cheat, his usual strategy was to demoralize his opponent to guarantee a win.
But here was the problem: how the heck was he supposed to do that with someone who didn't feel any shame like Chaz? In the back room, he was announcing that the final was going to be Lisia and, I quote, "Chaz the a-a-a-a-awesome!"
He had absolutely no sense of shame, and that literally made him the worst possible matchup for Harley. The best thing Harley could do was use his Banette, since he knew that Chaz's main Pokémon was Macherie the Machoke.
But anyway, Vivian got into the center and raised her hand, "Alright, let's begin. Next is the Contest Battle section. Let's give it up for our starting act: Chaz and Harley. Both contestants are allowed 1 Pokémon. There is a 5-minute time limit. Both competitors will continue until one is unable to battle or time runs out. So without further ado, begin!" Vivian swiped her hand downward and got off the stage.
Harley quickly threw out Banette, letting the Ghost-type come out with its usual crooked grin.
Across the field, Chaz struck a dramatic pose, "Alrighty then! It's time for the a-a-a-a-awesome show!"
He tossed his Poké Ball high, "Go, Macherie!"
A flash of light exploded. Macherie the Machoke landed with a heavy thud, and the only way people could tell she was a girl was thanks to the little flower on her head.
And Chaz was already hyping the crowd up, "Come on, everyone, let's give it up for the amazing, cute, tough, smart Macherie!" And it was working.
Harley's smile twitched, "Tch...annoying."
Harley moved first, "Banette! [Will-O-Wisp]!"
Ghostly blue flames burst outward, spiraling in multiple directions like floating lanterns.
But Chaz just laughed, "Ooooh! Spooky fire tricks! I LOVE IT!"
Chaz pointed forward, "Macherie! Break through it!"
Macherie nodded quickly, then charged straight in, closing her eyes as she tackled through the fire. She did get burned, but that was on purpose, because now Guts activated.
Harley realized his mistake too late. He was about to yell for Banette to get out of there, but Chaz and Macherie moved first.
"Show them your tough [Brutal Swing]!" Chaz announced.
Macherie raised her hand and slapped Banette across the face, sending the Ghost-type spinning like a beyblade. Then Macherie's hand came down again, hitting Banette into the ground and leaving it flat like a pancake.
But it was still up. Technically, the body Banette used was just a doll, so getting flattened like that wouldn't stop it. But it still hurt, and that made Harley click his tongue in frustration, realizing that Chaz could still hit Banette.
"Get out of there with [Shadow Sneak]!" Harley commanded.
Banette quickly sank into the ground and disappeared. Good news, it was safe, and Macherie was taking chip damage from the burn. Bad news: Banette had lost a lot of HP, and the crowd was getting annoyed that they weren't fighting. In situations like this in a normal battle, they would have to suck it up, but in Contest Battles this would get him disqualified, so he had to keep moving.
Harley waved his hand, "Now!"
Banette quickly reappeared behind Macherie and slashed at her back with a [Shadow Claw], then ran away again into another [Shadow Sneak].
And Banette continued the hit-and-run strategy, always appearing behind Macherie and slashing at her back before retreating again. It was a perfect plan in Harley's mind. Too bad it was garbage.
"Futile," Chaz flicked his hair, "Macherie, use [Bulldoze] on the ground."
Macherie raised her fist and punched directly at the ground, creating a shockwave around her that caused Banette to get thrown up out of the ground. But when it noticed it was exposed, it tried to run away again, this time, Macherie's second fist came in with an [Ice Punch] and hit the doll directly in the chest.
The hit sent Banette flying upward, but then frost began spreading from the point of impact. Within seconds, it was fully ice-covered. Banette's eyes widened as the freezing spread, and she was completely frozen.
Macherie lifted her hand and caught Banette's frozen statue, holding it up like a trophy. The crowd cheered, and just at that moment, the buzzer went off, the 5 minutes were up.
"Time is up! Chaz and Macherie are the winners!" Vivian announced excitedly.
Harley watched as everyone cheered for Chaz while he stood there as the loser. He clenched his fists and quickly returned Banette to its Poké Ball. Grinding his teeth, he turned away, muttering under his breath, "I will not forget this. I will have my revenge."
But no one heard him or took him seriously. Chaz just continued waving at everyone with a smile across his face. After a while, he quickly took off to get Macherie healed up for the next round.
Speaking of which…
With both of them out, the next round on the agenda was going to be none other than May vs. Drew.
Outside, Vivian was announcing and hyping up May and Drew's battle, but back in the waiting room, May was stretching her left arm over her right, getting ready. She already knew which Pokémon she was planning on using. Well, for a bit she did consider using Altaria, but she changed her mind, after all, that was Lisia's style, and she had her own. Besides, she had a much better idea.
But before that, May quickly checked her phone, where she had messages from her parents, Max, Brock, Wally, Brendan, and even Ash, all telling her she had this and that they were going to be cheering for her no matter what. That made her smile.
As she prepared and walked to the exit, Drew was waiting for her there with his arms crossed. He looked up at her, and May immediately sighed inwardly. She wanted to ignore him and just beat him on stage, but unfortunately she had made a promise that she would at least try to give Drew a chance to be nice.
So she sighed outwardly this time and nodded at him, "Good luck out there, but I'm planning on winning," she announced.
Drew nodded back, "You too, but I'm going to win."
May actually raised an eyebrow at that. She did not expect him to wish her luck, she was expecting something like, "Wish yourself luck," or "People with skill don't need luck."
Drew noticed her look, "What? You're acting like I can't say that."
"Well, considering the fact that you've never said anything nice to me without trying to put me down first, can you really blame me?" May asked, putting her hands on her waist.
Drew huffed and looked away, making May sigh. There it was. But since they were here, and this might be the last time she got the chance
"Okay, real talk, why are you such a jerk? I never did anything to you, yet you act like me breathing wrong is a reason for you to insult me." May crossed her arms, because at this point, after what she went through and how much she had to change, she looked back and thought about how Drew didn't
It almost made her look at him with pity. Almost.
Drew, meanwhile, seemed taken aback by that, like he never expected he'd have to explain it. But before May could keep pushing, they heard Vivian's voice call them out.
Drew looked up and let out a breath. Then he looked at May, "Fine. You want answers? If you beat me, maybe I'll tell you."
May raised an eyebrow, but nodded, "Fine. I will. Let's settle this once and for all."
Together they walked out and took their places on the stage. The rules were the same, so Vivian didn't waste time repeating them. So they started.
Drew immediately pulled out a Poké Ball. He clenched it in his hand for a moment, then threw it out. As the ball hit the ground, it opened and out came a Flygon.
May looked at Drew's Flygon and had to admit, it was not what she expected. But hey, that didn't mean she wasn't prepared. I mean, both Ash, Wally, and even Norman had a Flygon, so she had picked up a thing or two about how they battled.
Speaking of which, when she stepped onto her plate, she heard the cheers of her parents rooting for her. When she took a quick peek over her shoulder, she saw them, Norman, Caroline, Brock, Wally, Brendan, and even Ash, cheering for her. And especially that silly Aipom, who was holding a little flag while sitting on Ash's head.
May chuckled and looked forward, pulling out the Pokémon she was going to use in this round, "Go, Glaceon!" she called out.
As the ball opened, Glaceon came out and landed on the field, staring down Flygon. But Glaceon immediately felt her Vee senses tingle and looked directly over at where Vee was. Seeing him, she did a quick pose.
Vee in the stands immediately sunk down, covering his face with his paws.
Vivian announced the start and quickly got out of the way so the battle could commence.
Drew quickly took the first move, "Flygon starts with [Sandstorm]."
The dragon roared and whipped its wings hard. In seconds, the battlefield shifted, grains of sand lifted into a swirling haze that made it hard to see, and within it, Flygon became almost impossible to track.
But May didn't even flinch. It wasn't her first time fighting a Flygon in a sandstorm. She lifted a hand, "Glaceon, [Quick Attack], don't give it time to breathe!"
Glaceon vanished in a streak of icy light, darting through the edge of the sandstorm before Flygon could fully track her movement.
Drew clicked his tongue, "Above you!"
Flygon snapped its head up just in time to see Glaceon already reappearing midair.
"Too slow," May called, "Now, [Ice Shard], point-blank!"
Sharp crystalline fragments erupted around Glaceon and fired in a tight burst. Flygon barely twisted out of the way, but a few shards clipped its wing, forcing it to dip in the air.
Drew adjusted instantly, "Flygon, shake it off! [Dragon Claw]!"
Flygon surged forward, claws glowing, slicing through the sand-filled air.
"Oh no you don't, dodge with [Quick Attack]!" May commanded.
Glaceon flickered and moved out of the way as Flygon cut through nothing. Then Glaceon landed on the ground.
May didn't give Drew the chance to recover, "Now, [Ice Beam]!"
Glaceon fired a bright blue beam that shot into the storm and hit Flygon. But while that hurt, Drew noticed something that was debatably worse than the damage, the sand was starting to freeze and attach itself to Flygon's wings, making it slow down.
Drew clicked his tongue, "[Earth Power]."
Flygon tried causing an eruption underneath Glaceon, but she quickly darted left, then right, never staying in one place for more than a second.
Drew clenched his teeth. So he went with the next strategy he had, "Flygon, get high into the sky!"
Flygon obeyed and immediately flew up. Since the stadium had an open roof, Flygon could go as high as it wanted.
May noticed immediately, "So that's your plan…" She smirked slightly, "Glaceon, [Ice Shard]."
Glaceon fired shards of ice one after the other into the air. And while Flygon tried to dodge them, the small bits of ice between its wings slowed it down just enough that it got clipped on its wing, which reduced its flight significantly.
Drew grit his teeth, "You're good, but not good enough. Flygon, [Dragon Claw]!"
Flygon dove straight down, pulling its wings back and using the velocity to build momentum, speeding toward Glaceon.
May's expression sharpened, "Glaceon, meet it head-on with [Ice Beam]!"
Glaceon fired a bright blue beam upward that crashed directly into Flygon. The two attacks collided, sending a burst of light-blue mist around the stadium and blocking people's view. The crowd could hear the sound of something hitting the ground hard.
But then, immediately, Flygon flew straight up, and on its head was Glaceon, holding on as Flygon rose higher into the sky.
Drew saw this, "Quick, use [Dragon Breath]!"
May heard it and countered instantly, "[Ice Beam]!"
Flygon opened its mouth to release purple flames, but Glaceon quickly fired a beam of ice, sealing Flygon's mouth shut in ice.
Drew panicked, but May's grin only grew, "Alright then...let's finish this, Glaceon. [Ice Fang]!"
Glaceon quickly moved to Flygon's back. While Flygon tried to shake her off, her grip was too tight. She opened her mouth wide and bit down on Flygon's wings, and the ice began spreading until Flygon's wings were completely frozen.
Then they started falling toward the ground, spiraling downward. The impact would knock them both out for sure, but at the last moment, Glaceon took a page from Vee's book. She quickly used [Substitute], leaving the doll to take the impact while she was safe.
Flygon, however, was not. The large dragon crashed into the ground with a heavy thud and was immediately knocked out, while Glaceon gracefully landed on its belly.
Once it was confirmed that Flygon was out cold, the crowd began cheering, and Vivian immediately took the stage.
"The winner is May and Glaceon! Incredible!"
May smiled brightly, hearing everyone cheer for her. When she looked over toward the people she cared about, they were cheering the loudest, or maybe those were just the voices that mattered the most to her.
Drew, meanwhile, lowered his head and returned Flygon to its Poké Ball, "You did great," he muttered before turning and walking back to the waiting room.
May noticed, and after one more victory lap, ran after him.
When she caught up to him, she crossed her arms and looked at him, "Okay, Drew, remember the deal. I won, so talk."
Drew looked up at her and sighed, "Fine...you want to know...it's because I'm jealous of you, May."
May stopped and blinked a few times. You could've given her a thousand guesses, and she still wouldn't have gotten that, "Eh?"
And as this conversation was going on, out there the battle between Solidad and Jessilina was starting up.
Drew looked at her, "You heard me. At first, when I first saw you at the beach, I said those things because you reminded me a lot of how I used to be. I thought if I did it and told you to leave, then you would ask me for advice, or ask if I could help you."
He scratched the back of his head, "Then your friend Ash stepped in and really cut my 'genius' plan short. It's nice to have friends like that, huh?" Drew said with a humorless laugh.
"Yeah...Ash is great. But is that what this is about?" May asked, looking more confused than anything.
But Drew continued, "No, listen. After the first day, I was planning on apologizing for what I said. And you don't have to believe me, but then when I was going to look for you, I heard that Lisia was coming, and she was going to scout someone...and I wanted that someone to be me."
May blinked, like she just realized where he was going with this, "Wait, so this is…"
"Yeah...it's because you got scouted by Lisia," Drew admitted, "And part of me wanted to say that it should have been me."
Drew reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled picture of Lisia. It was the one he had carried since the first day, the one he wanted to ask Lisia to sign, but never got the chance, because he kept getting in his own way.
"So I thought if I could beat you, even once, I could prove that it should have been me. So maybe I could go to Lisia and show her...but it never happened. I guess in the end, May, you are a better Coordinator than me."
Drew lowered his head.
But as his hand tightened around the picture, it was suddenly pulled from his grip. He quickly looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw who had taken it. It was Lisia.
She quickly signed it, then held it back out to Drew, "You could have just asked, you know," Lisia said with a smile. She had heard everything.
Drew sputtered, looking like his system had crashed, "I-er-but-brr…"
Lisia laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Drew, I saw what you could do. You were amazing out there, and I think you have what it takes to become a top Coordinator. But there's just one thing you need to stop worrying about."
She pointed at his chest, "You should do it for yourself, not to prove it to anyone, okay? If you try to do that, you'll get in your own head and you'll never get far. All I want is for everyone to have fun together and enjoy Contest Spectaculars. So, Drew...do you have fun?"
Drew blinked. He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out. Slowly, he gave a small nod.
Lisia smiled, "Then in my book, you're also a winner, okay? So from now on, don't try to compare yourself to me, or May, or anyone. And maybe next time I'll see you in the finals!"
As she said that, May sighed and looked up at Drew, "Drew, I'm going to be honest, you're a jerk, you're insensitive, and an idiot. And the worst part is you never really apologized to me. But…" May sighed again, "Maybe I can give you one chance. If you promise to stop acting like a jerk all the time, and also never try to put anyone down, maybe, just maybe, we can be friends."
Drew blinked and looked up at her, "Really?"
"Yes. But there's a big IF. You're going to have to actually work to show me you're really sorry," May clarified. She didn't know if she was doing this for her own sake or for Drew's, since the whole Drew situation was really the only thing weighing on her mind anymore.
Drew took a breath and nodded, "I understand. And I am sorry for what it's worth. Even if it's not enough, I still wanted to say it," he said, and this time May thought he meant it.
Lisia gave a quick little clap between them, "Yay! This is what Contests are all about!"
But then May remembered something, "Oh yeah, by the way, sorry in advance."
She gave Drew a slap across the face as hard as she could. It was so hard her hand stung afterward. She shook it out, letting out a breath, "Oh my Mew! That felt good! You have no idea how long I've been holding that in!"
Drew nearly fell over from the force of the slap and held his reddening cheek. Lisia covered her mouth, but Drew nodded.
"I probably deserved that."
May nodded, rubbing her hand, then held it out, "Okay, now we're even."
Drew accepted it and shook her hand.
Lisia looked between them and seemed slightly conflicted, "I...guess that's one way to do it."
As they did, their attention was quickly grabbed by the screen switching back to the battle between Solidad and Jessilina.
It was Solidad's Slowbro against Jessilina's Seviper, and things were not going too great for Jessilina. Seviper already looked like she was going to go down. Granted, Slowbro was also breathing heavily, so it was pretty even if you looked at it that way.
Jessilina watched the scene, feeling a bead of sweat roll down her face as she adjusted her glasses. As she tried to focus, she heard the crowd.
"You can do it, Jessilina!" James called out, waving a flag that had her face on it. Meanwhile, Meowth and Wobbuffet did the same, cheering loudly for her.
Usually their voices would make her angry, but today, right now, it made a warm feeling spread through her chest.
Solidad noticed and smiled, "You have good friends. But…" She shot her arm out, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to win. [Psychic]."
Slowbro's eyes glowed purple, and Seviper began floating. She tried to break out, but it was no use. Seviper was slammed into the ground hard, so hard she was finally knocked out.
Jessilina, or rather, Jessie, looked at her Seviper and slowly returned her to her Poké Ball so she could rest. Around them, the crowd cheered for the great battle they had seen, and Jessie could still hear her "idiot crew."
"Jessilina, you're always #1 in our hearts!" James cried, no i mean he literally cried, tears were falling down his face.
"Don't cry, you'll make me cry too!" Meowth said, though he was already crying.
"Wooooobbbuffet!" Wobbuffet cried too.
And that made the pain in Jessie's chest hurt a little less. She slowly gave Solidad a small bow, "Thank you."
Then she walked back to the waiting room.
When she got there, she saw May, Drew, and Lisia, and immediately Lisia clapped for her.
"Congratulations! You did amazing!"
Jessie blinked, "I…erm...really? But I lost," she said, looking surprised that the top Coordinator of Hoenn, Lisia, was talking to her.
Lisia shook her head, "Winning and losing doesn't matter. I could see how happy you were out there, so that means you had fun, right?"
Jessie opened her mouth, then closed it. She thought back on it. When they came to Hoenn, she thought they wouldn't get to do anything. But while they traveled, she remembered James and Meowth, and even Wobbuffet, going along with her.
She had just said she was going to do the Contests, and they all helped her without hesitation. James learned everything there was about making Pokéblocks, Meowth studied other Coordinators to help her come up with strategies, and even Wobbuffet volunteered to be the training dummy so she could practice.
Jessie opened her eyes and muttered, "Yeah...I guess I did."
Lisia beamed as May walked up to Jessie and smiled, "I saw your Dustox back in the Appeal stage. She was really cute too!"
Jessie bit her lip and looked away, "I...thanks."
Then Vivian announced the final round: Lisia vs. Robert.
Lisia stood up and did some last-minute preparations, "Well, looks like it's my turn!" She looked at Jessie and smiled, "Wish me luck!" she said happily, running off to the stage.
Jessie gulped and waved, "Good...luck," she muttered silently.
As Drew and May stayed to watch Lisia's battle, Jessie felt like going out to get some air. She excused herself and walked out, taking the back exit. Once she was outside, she took off her fake glasses and took a moment to breathe against the wall.
But then she heard those familiar voices, "Jessie!" James and Meowth said in unison.
She looked over and saw them run toward her after finally finding her. James was out of breath, "Jessie, I'm sorry you didn't win. What do you think, should we do that plan you wanted to try, so we could try to steal everyone's Pokémon?"
Meowth nodded, "Yeah, I even built da new super powerful Poké Ball magnet! This time I know we can steal all da Pokémon!"
But Jessie looked at them with a small, helpless smile on her face. She walked up and grabbed the two of them in a hug, "Both of you, shut up. Not today. We can be fabulous and evil tomorrow."
James and Meowth looked at each other, confused, but went with it.
Then slowly, Wobbuffet peeked in, tapping his fingers together like he wanted to join but wasn't sure if he was allowed.
Jessie reached out and pulled him into the hug too.
—
The battle between Lisia and Robert, with Ali vs. Milotic, continued, and while you might think Lisia was only a Contest girl, she was still trained by Wallace and Juan themselves. How else do you think she got so good at Contests?
She had trained from a young age to become as skilled as she was, so she could still battle at a high level, and that was showing clearly in her match against Robert and his Milotic.
"Milotic, now [Aqua Ring]!" Robert commanded quickly.
A glowing ring of water formed around Milotic, rotating slowly at first, then accelerating as it caught the surrounding energy.
Lisia smiled, "Beautiful…" she whispered, almost to herself. Then louder, "Ali, let's raise it higher! [Dragon Pulse]!"
Ali flapped his wings once. A pulse of raw energy burst outward, striking the Aqua Ring and sending it spinning faster. The entire construct lit up like a stained-glass window.
Robert continued, "Milotic, finish the rotation! [Hydro Pump] into the spiral!"
A massive torrent of water erupted upward, crashing into the spinning construct and forming a single rotating sphere of energy hovering above them.
Lisia's eyes narrowed slightly, but she just grinned, "Then let's end it properly." She raised her arm, "Ali, [Moonblast]."
Ali cried out into the air, and a beam of soft, brilliant lunar light descended from above, striking the rotating sphere dead center. Then, with a flap of his wing, Ali sent it, an orb of energy, shooting toward Milotic.
For a moment, Milotic tried to catch it, but after the battle they had just endured, she could barely hold on. The orb struck, exploded, and created a dust cloud. When it settled, Milotic was lying on the ground with spirals in its eyes.
The crowd cheered loudly. Meanwhile, Robert returned Milotic to its Poké Ball and smiled down at it, "You did wonderfully."
Lisia quickly approached Robert and clapped for him too, "You did amazing! I hope you compete next year, I want to perform with you again!"
Robert looked at her and smiled, giving a polite bow, "I am honored."
Vivian stepped up and spoke into the mic, "And that is it! We have wrapped up the quarterfinals. May, Chaz, Solidad, and Lisia will move on, but of these four, only two can move on to become this year's Top Coordinator!"
As the crowd cheered, the matchups were as follows:
May vs. Chaz
Solidad vs. Lisia