Hey all! Back with yet another chapter. I need to give a big thanks to LoveLoverGrl for this idea. It was originally Pokeshipping in my head but I did decide to make it Contestshipping. It just works better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to the apparently not dead Satoshi Tajiri.

Ego

May POV

May sat backstage at the Violet City Pokemon Contest waiting for her turn to begin. The contest had only just got underway and May was already nervous. It was her first Contest in the Johto region and she hadn't seen any of her rivals yet. May hoped she wouldn't run into them until the Grand Festival. It would make her life a lot easier.

She was starting to feel a little less nervous before she saw a flash of green among the crowd of coordinators. Sure enough, if she craned her neck, she could see Drew staring intently at the TV.

'I hope he doesn't see me.' thought May. But then she realized that she would be appearing on the TV soon enough. 'Shoot.'

When her name was called she forced herself not to look at Drew, or the smirk that was undoubtedly on hi face right now.

She got onto the stage and released her Blaziken and Skitty.

"Blaziken, Fire Spin! Skitty, Ice Beam!" The Fire Spin attack spiraled high into the sky like a firey tornado. Before it could engulf the stadium in flames, though, Skitty's Ice Beam froze the twister. When the excess snow cleared, it looked as if a ribbon had been suspended in mid-air. However, what was unique about this ice ribbon was that you could see flames dancing under the surface.

"Blaziken, use Sky Uppercut! Then finish it off with Mega Kick!" Blaziken jumped into the air with Sky Uppercut, shattering one side of the formation. Using gravity and momentum, Blaziken powered up a Mega Kick as he plummeted downward, destroying what was left of the sculpture.

Flaming chunks of ice plummeted toward the ground, but melted before they hit the earth. Blaziken landed on the ground and Skitty jumped onto his shoulder so they could both take a bow.

"The bond between May and her Pokemon is simply astounding!" stated Mr. Contesta.

"Yes. Remarkable!" agreed Mr. Sukizo

"That was a splendid performance. Clearly a lot of work went into it. And the ending was just darling. Blaziken and Skitty must be close friends." finished the Nurse Joy.

May recalled her Pokemon, thanked the judges, and hurried off the stage.

'Whew!' thought May. 'We totally nailed that performance. Let's see Drew top that.'

The very boy of her thoughts was there to greet her as she walked through the door to the waiting room.

"Top notch performance, May." complimented Drew as he flicked his bangs. May gave a small smile. "Unfortunately you're still not good enough to beat me. You're Blazikens timing was a bit off. And shouldn't you have a Delcatty by now?"

May smile dripped off her face like acid. "You know what Drew? I really don't care what you say any more. I'm done trying to impress you. Whatever I do is never enough. And you know what else? My Pokemon are fine the way they are. I don't use your medieval training methods (1). I don't yell at them when something is the tiniest bit off. I encourage them and show them love. I'm proud of what they did out there, regardless of what you think!" And with that May stormed off.

Drew POV

Drew was extremely taken aback by May's outburst. He hadn't meant to insult her, just tease her. He was about to go apologize when his name was called. With one despairing glance over his shoulder, he headed out to the arena.

"Go Roserade! Absol!" Drew's two Pokemon appeared out of their capsules with grace and dignity, just like Drew had taught them.

"Roserade, Magical Leaf. Absol, Razor Wind." Multicolored petals appeared out of Roserade's hands and quickly began to fill the stage. Before too many appeared, Absol's Razor Wind began to move the petals into a shape. Soon enough, a large rose made out of sharp leaves was at center stage.

"Quick! Into the rose! Then use Flash and Solar Beam." The two Pokemon did as they were told and vanished into the rose. The next thing anyone knew, the leaves were pushed apart by blinding light. Drew's Pokemon landed on the ground as shimmering leaves fell to the floor.

After hearing the judges' comments, Drew returned his Pokemon and left the stage. He walked back into the waiting room and immediately tried to find May. He saw her in the corner watching the TV, her gaze unwavering, even when he walked up to her. It was only when he cleared his throat that he got a reaction.

"What?" snapped May, finally turning toward him.

"I kinda, sorta, wanted to apologize for what I said before. So I guess I'm sorry."

May sighed. "Apology accepted." She gave Drew a small smile and went back to watching the screen.

Drew plopped down next to her as they waited to see who would get through to the next round. As the preliminary round drew to a close, Drew could see May was getting nervous. He was contemplating giving a few comforting words but decided against it. After all, that's not what he does.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the faces of those who would move on began to appear. Drew came in first with May in second. Drew thought he heard May sigh next to him but didn't press the matter.

May's battle was up first. No matter how much he wanted to, Drew said nothing as May got up and walked toward her battle.

(I'm going to skip all battles beside the final one involving May and Drew because it's not important to the plot line. And spare me if their battle is horrible because I've never done this. On with the story!)

May POV

Soon enough, both May and Drew were taking their stances at either end of the battle field. The battle was to be a single battle.

'Drew has strong, well trained Pokemon.' May thought. 'I'm going to need power if I want to beat him.'

Without a second thought, May threw Venasaur out onto the battle field. May thought she saw a smirk flit across Drew's face but she dismissed the thought.

To May's surprise, Drew sent his newly caught Quagsire to the field. May clearly had the type advantage but that almost definitely meant that Drew had something up his sleeve.

Suddenly, May heard the buzzer that meant the battle had begun. She immediately went on the offensive.

"Venasaur use Razor Leaf!" The sharp leaves went up into the air before descending toward Quagsire at blinding speed.

"Quagsire, dodge and use Slam" Quagsire narrowly avoided the leaves and slammed its body into Venasaur, who had little time to move.

However, using Slam had made Quagsire get close to Venasaur. May ordered her next attack without missing a beat.

"Venasaur, fire a close range Razor Leaf!" This time, Razor Leaf hit its mark. Quagsire was thrown back by the Grass attack and had sustained a fair amount of damage.

Drew grimaced. "We're not giving up yet! Quagsire use Muddy Water!" Filthy water rose up from the ground and descended upon Venasaur, whose size made it so it was too slow to dodge.

By the time the water was gone, Venasaur was panting heavily and leaning on its front knees. When he saw this Drew smirked.

"Once again May, it looks like you've miscalculated your opponent"

"Actually Drew, you miscalculated. Venasaur, Synthesis"

"What? No!" However, before Drew could even utter a command to stop the healing process, Venasaur was back on its feet and healthy as ever.

"Quick Quagsire, finish this! Earthquake!" Once again, Venasaur's size kept it in place to endure the attack. The ground began shaking and soon boulders rose up to bash Venasaur all over its body. When the attack was finished Venasaur looked ready to go down.

Drew gave a wide smirk. "Quagsire finish this with slam!"

May went through everything she knew to see how she could dodge it. She was about to lose hope when one certain memory came to mind. May remembered a battle she once had with Harley back in Kanto. His Octillery had held her Munchlax in place while it fired a close range attack.

'That's it! I know how to finish this!' May thought. Quagsire was getting closer and closer by the minute. She had to act now.

"Venasaur! Grab Quagsire with Frenzy Plant!" Venasaur's eyes began to glow green as the ground shook. Suddenly, thorned vines sprang up and ensnared Quagsire right before it hit Venasaur, putting directly above the Grass Dinosaur.

May gave a smirk of her own and looked Drew right in the eyes. Realization and horror dawned on his face as he began to comprehend what was happening.

"Venasaur lets finish this! Solar Beam!" The flower on Venasaur's back began to glow as it charged power. Before Quagsire could even blink, he was hit point blank with the powerful grass attack.

Quagsire landed in a heap at the other side of field. The swirls in its eyes showed that he was done.

The referee raised his green flag toward May. "Quagsire is unable to battle. Venasaur wins! The victory goes to May of Petalburg!"

May ran out onto the field to hug her Pokemon as best she could while Drew returned Quagsire with a frown. He and May met in the middle of the field and shook hands and soon May was presented with her ribbon. When she looked for Drew thought, he was no where to be found.

May ran out of the Contest Hall and began looking around wildly. At first, she couldn't see anything, but she soon caught a flash of green in the corner of her vision.

"Drew!" she called out as she began running toward the figure. Said green haired figure turned around at the sound of his name. When he saw who was running toward him, he smirked.

"Just couldn't stay away from me long enough, huh?"

"Shut up. I just wanted to say good-bye." May said when she reached him. "When will I see you next?"

"Probably at the next contest. If you make it on time."

"Where is the next one?"

"I heard Azalea Town. I also heard Harley and Soledad might be there."

"Really? Cool. I hope we can all hang out" May expected him to scoff at her comment, but instead he gave a small smile.

"I'd like that." He pulled a rose out from behind him and handed it to her.

May took the rose and smelled it. "You know, you're not so bad when your ego isn't getting in the way."

"Gee, thanks." Drew said sarcastically. He was about to turn away when May stood on her toes and gave him a small kiss on his nose.

"I'll see you at the Azalea contest, Drew!" May called over her shoulder as she jogged away.

As Drew crossed his eyes to glance at his nose and where she had kissed him, he let a real, genuine smile cross his face.

"Maybe I should deflate my ego more often."

Thanks to all those who read this. Hopefully my skills are improving. I will once again state that I do take requests for the ships I support. Clearly those who read this support them too or else they wouldn't, well, read this. Leave a review! It would make my day!