Hello everyone!

I'm feeling Christmas-y lately, are you? :)

At first this was going to be only a Contestship, but I decided I'd make it more interesting and throw in Pokeshipping and *cringe* Ikarishipping. See, I used to be totally against Dawn and Paul, but I'm warming up to it now. I wanted to see if I could write Ikarishipping successfully. So, if it sucks, I apologize. It'll be my first, so go easy on me, will ya? :) Nah. You can be harsh, if you feel it's necessary. I don't mind criticism, as long as it's constructive and nothing mean, you know?

So this story is basically like an advent calendar. But instead of getting chocolates, you get stories! I was originally going to have each day as a completely different story, but I found that would be too hard. So they all tie in together. Also, unlike an advent calendar, you won't get them everyday. It's too late and it'd be too hard to write 25 chapters in 25 days, would it not? So there will be a new chapter every 3 days (if all goes well). Sorry if that doesn't happen. You never know when I might get a huge test I'll need to cram for!

Anyways, on to the story!

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Pokemon. This honor belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.

* * * * *

December 1st

May

* * * * *

Could my day get any worse?

May groaned into the pile of snow. She had just taken a wrong step over a sidewalk cub and found her self face down in the white fluffy stuff. How was I supposed to know the curb was there? She thought furiously as she stood up and wiped the melting snow from her face. It's not like she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking. It was simply the fact that the snow was practically knee deep. The sidewalk was completely hidden from view, so she didn't know what was street and what was not.

Lovely. That's the perfect word to describe me right now. I do a face plant into the snow, my hair is frizzier than it has ever been, and I would bet all of my Pokemon that my mascara is running down my face from the melted mascara, the brunette thought furiously. She self consciously smoothed down her hair as a black car passed on the road beside her. Why can't I just spread wings and fly to the Pokemon Center? It's probably another mile. May ripped her way through the snow viciously, eager to get back to a warm, comfortable bed. All she wanted to do was curl up under some blankets and forget about the world for a few hours- maybe a few days, even.
But unfortunately, there was no way she'd get to do that anytime soon. With the rate that this blizzard was going and the depth of the snow she had to walk through, it would surely be another couple of hours before she would finally be able to relax.

Right now I really wish I had caught that Noctowl. Maybe I could be flying now… May sighed out loud and shook her head, trying to rid her head of the negative thoughts. There was no point in going over the 'what ifs'. There was nothing she could do about anything at the moment. All she could do was stay positive and focus at the task at hand: getting through the-

"No. Way." May muttered though gritted teeth.
She could handle walking through this depth of snow, somehow. At least the road would be plowed once she got on the main streets. But in order for her to get there, she had to walk through a field.
But there was one problem.
This morning, the field had been covered with snow, like the rest of the town. But it was manageable. May knew that walking was way cheaper than taking a taxi to her contest, even if it meant crossing through a few snowy landscapes.
But now, eight hours later, things were definitely different.

Piles upon piles sat along the once flat field. But these were no ordinary piles of snow; they were taller than three times May herself!
May heard a noise and glanced over to the right side of the field. A snow plow came and dumped a massive amount of snow on the side. Great, she thought bitterly. Her short cut field had been turned into a snow deposit for the snow plows!

There is no way in heck that I would be able to climb up and over those hills, May observed miserably. I'd sink right through!
Now May would have to go all the way around, which would probably cost her another sixty minutes. If she took that way, her toes were bound to fall off. They were so numb that she could hardly feel them! Plus, she was on the side of a run down, practically deserted road. Hardly any cars took that way, and May didn't see why they would with all of the snow they had that day. Plus, it was an unplowed road.

Okay, calm down, calm down, don't panic. Just breathe. In and out, In and out…
But May couldn't take it. Everything was overwhelming her now. She was stuck in the middle of nowhere, practically snowbound, it felt like her toes were practically about to fall off, and she had just lost spectacularly and embarrassingly at the contest she was in only two hours ago. So she sat down on a dense pile of snow (what else was she to sit on?) and buried her head in her knees, wrapping her arms around them.

The scene at the contest played over and over in her head. They were spinning around in circle, dizzying her, overwhelming her. She couldn't stop the memories.

"And next, we have contestant number eight, May from Petalburg City!"

Man ran out onto the stage, trying to look like she was confident; but she wasn't. Why would May, talented and famous coordinator, not be perfectly self assured? The reason was an equally, if not more famous green haired boy by the name of Drew.
He had said he would come to watch this contest; he had promised that he would be there beforehand to wish May luck. May had been looking forward to this day so much. She hadn't seen him in weeks, and she was starting to miss his naggings and insults. Instead of bringing her down right before her contest, they made her more confident and determined to prove him wrong.
So when he hadn't showed up, it was like a painful blow to her stomach.

"Alright, let's do this!" May yelled, faking confidence. She knew that if she couldn't really feel it, she'd have to fake it. It was the next best thing.

"Munchlax, Delcatty, take the stage!"

It was a double Pokemon contest, and May saw this as an amazing opportunity to show off her daring and confident coordinating style. It was supposed to be perfect; Munchlax's Metronome and Delcatty's Assist were sure to be a hit. They were prepared for no matter which types of moves were to transpire. May was extra confident in Delcatty's abilities. It had evolved recently and with that evolution came a new kind of strength and beauty. Delcatty was no longer the painfully cute, hyper Pokemon. It had grown into a poised, elegant powerhouse.
May really had to give it to Max, who had found a Moon Stone and sent it to her for her Birthday. It was also his idea to debut Skitty's evolution at this contest.
It was a genius plan.

May smiled, feeling more confident. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. All was quiet and all was still; the crowd was marveling at the beauty that radiated from Delcatty and the power and confidence that Munchlax exuded. They were eagerly anticipating this performance.

Slowly, May turned towards her Pokemon. Her eyes remained closed as she said quietly, "Munchlax, Metranome. Delcatty, Assist, please."

Gasps came from many members of the audience. May was well knows for using chance moves like these in her contests, and she usually always got lucky. But would it happen again? May had not a doubt in her mind.

She smirked and slowly opened her eyes.
A strange sight greeted May. Around the bottom of Delcatty's paws were a strange, glowing white light, exactly like the one that Munchlax had in between his arms. What move is that? May had thought. Could another one of my Pokemon have learned a new move without me knowing it?

Then, it hit May. Delcatty was using Metronome. She had taken it from Munchlax.
Well, this should be interesting, May mused.
Suddenly, Munchlax fell to the floor, writhing around. There was a little puddle of water below it and it was splashing it all around. Splish, splash… Splash…SPLASH! Munchlax was using Splash!
May was horrified. Laughter had erupted from every single person sitting in the audience. Even the judges were laughing. No, this has to be some sort of dream! Please, this cannot be happening! May thought.
She looked at Delcatty desperately. Its eyes were closed and it looked like it was concentrating. May had no idea what move it was using. She looked closer and realized it appeared as if Delcatty was storing energy.
What could it be?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Delcatty burst out into a run. Its body was coated in white power as it charged around the room. Suddenly, it directed itself straight towards Munchlax.
That's when May realized what attack it was using.
Giga Impact.

"NO, DELCATTY!" May yelled frantically.
But it was too late.
Delcatty slammed into Munchlax, completely out o control. Munchlax went flying into the air, then slammed down onto the ground. It had fainted. Delcatty continued running around the room, completely unable to control this new power. It was going to crash into something or someone if May didn't do something quickly.
There was nothing left now.
May pulled out two pokeballs and yelled, "Return!"
With two flashes of red light, the Pokemon were gone.
"I'm… sorry…" May sniffed, and bolted for the doors and out of the contest.

She had never felt more mortified in her entire life.

May snapped back into reality. She couldn't stand to think over that contest for any longer.
Suddenly, she heard the roar of an engine. She realized her eyes were wet from tears so she quickly wiped them off. Oh, what difference will it make? She thought miserably. The snow's already soaked my face.

May looked up to see a yellow taxi pull up beside her. It stopped and a door opened in the back. May looked up in disbelief as she found herself staring into the face of Drew.

She opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out.
"Just get in," Drew commanded before opening the door for her. May crawled in gratefully and closed her eyes as she savored the warm air that enveloped her. Drew shut her door and walked around to the other side to get in beside her.

May sniffed and wiped her eyes again. She could feel it; they were puffy and red. How attractive, she thought bitterly. Though, it can't get much worse. At least that's something good to think about… Not.

Drew turned slowly to observe her. May could feel his eyes on her and she started to feel a little self conscious.
"Where to, May?" He asked, breaking the silence.

May sniffed again and looked up. "The Pokemon Center."

"Alright, you heard her," Drew nodded towards the taxi cab driver.

"This weather is crazy. If I knew I had to drive in conditions like this I wouldn't ever have become a taxi driver… not like I had much choice," the diver muttered under his breath darkly. Normally May would have giggled at that, but her spirits were so low. She didn't think anything could possibly make her laugh at that moment.

Only fueling May's bad mood was the awkward tension that had filled up the car. It was so strong, that May was sure the driver could feel it, too. The couple in the backseat stared out opposite windows, avoiding eye contact. Though once in awhile, they would throw sneaky glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes.
It was so unbearable, especially because they both knew why it was so tense and awkward. He was supposed to be there. He had promised. He knew how important this contest was to May and he knew how much she wanted him, her rival to be there.

Even though May was sort of glad, in a way, that Drew hadn't shown up to see her disaster, it was still horribly disappointing that he had broken his promise. Maybe it would have been a tad more bearable if he had been there, even though he definitely wouldn't have anything comforting to say at all.
So they avoided eye contact and avoided talking what they should have been talking about for the remaining twenty minutes.

"Alright, here we are, sweetheart." The driver had pulled up to the curb of the Pokemon Center. At least, May thought it was a curb. It was hard to tell with the million feet of snow that had piled up.

"Thank you," May mumbled sincerely. She dug through her pocket somewhat reluctantly to pull out some money but Drew held out his arm. Her skin burned with a peculiar sensation where his skin made contact with hers.
"I'll cover the money," Drew said, not looking at her.

"Thanks," she muttered again, not looking at him either. She sniffed and opened the door, running out of the car and towards the doors that entered into the heaven that was the Pokemon Center.

Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her. "Wait."

May turned around quickly, irritated. If she had to stand in this cold for another minute, she felt she was going to hurt someone… very badly.

Drew pulled out a rose from behind his back and tossed it to her. May caught it, stunned. She knew she shouldn't really have been surprised by this action, since it was typical Drew. She had probably been given over a hundred rose from him in the past two-three years that she had known him.
"May."

"Yes?"

"You'll always be number one, you know that, right? No matter how badly and horribly you fail." Drew tossed back his head, flipping his hair. He pulled open the door to the cab and got in without another word.

They drove away into the blizzard, a black dot amongst the swirling white. Soon, it was swallowed up by the snow and May could see no more.

She should have been comforted, but she wasn't. It was a compliment… But it felt more like an insult to her. Horribly… Fail…The hurtful words ran around and around in her head.

It looked like it was going to be another sleepless night.

* * * * *

Wow, that was a lot longer than I expected it to be. I hope I didn't bore anyone xD

I realized I started this on a very depressive note. Christmas is about being happy and jolly, not worried and upset like May.
Don't worry; everything will get happier and Christmasier as we get farther into the month. Stayed tuned! :D

Reviews anyone? :)