Chapter 1: Lifeline

"I'm so sorry, but you're going home."

Those seven words are all it takes to create heartbreak for many. Yet you don't even think. It doesnt pull at your heart strings. When you watch reality shows on TV and see so many people fall at the last hurdle, you don't even consider their feelings or how much their confidence knocks because they didn't make it. You just think "Get over it!" or "Thank god they didn't get through." and then you concentrate on the happy, talented, popular ones. The ones that did make it. Then you forget about the rejects. Everyone does it.

That is until, it happens to you.

"Oh May, cheer up honey...I hate seeing you like this." May Maple's mother Caroline hugged the teen brunette gently as she wallowed in misery at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.

"Cheer up? How can I do that mom?" May snapped, angrily wiping tears away from her cobalt blue eyes.

"Don't take your anger out on me. You can sing beautifully May, don't let that competition or anybody else tell you otherwise." Caroline nodded and walked out of the room, a little disheartened that she couldn't cheer her daughter up. The house phone rang and Caroline picked it up, expecting it to be her husband Norman or one of May's friends from school.

"Hello?"

A few cities over from Petalburg, in the Hoenn region...

"Drew? Do you want to talk?" came a soothing voice from outside of Drew's room. He didn't care or listen to what his mom had to say and he continued to play his beloved guitar, staying in his own little world. Drew was generally an outgoing, over-confident person but ever since the singing competition SingOff turned him down, he turned to music, playing his grandfathers guitar whenever he had the chance. He wasn't about to let anything, or anyone, stop him.

"Drew? Please talk to me." She continued despite her sons obvious lack of disinterest in her.

His mother listened to the flowing music the Drew was creating and sighed heavily. This wasn't like Drew at all. A few minutes later, she walked away to answer the ringing telephone...

Meanwhile, in a quaint place called Pallet Town in the Kanto region...

"Aw man Ashy Boy...I can't take much more of this." The grandson of the famous Professor Oak, Gary Oak sighed and hit the back of his head on the tree he was leaning on. His friend Ash Ketchum also groaned. The sun was overpowering and their headaches were unbearable.

"Oh I know Gary...I mean it's bad enough that we got rejected, but Leaf is taking it hard." Ash ran a hand through his raven coloured hair and Gary looked at him.

"Taking it hard? Total understatement Ash! She won't stop fucking crying! It's driving me insane!" Gary growled.

"Calm down! We never should have entered that stupid competition..." Ash looked over in the direction of Leaf's house and saw her running out, she had tears flowing down her cheeks, but she looked...happy?

"What's up with her?" Gary muttered.

"You...you guys!" Leaf ran towards us but she tripped over her own feet and hurtled head first into Gary.

"Leaf!" Gary snapped, as her falling had caused him to smash his head against the tree again.

"Gary! You'll never guess what!" Leaf shakily stood up, her phone clutched in the palm of her hand.

In the peaceful Cerulean City, a few towns over...

"Aw Misty, don't be sad! You can't help not being amazing like us, The Sensational Sisters!" One of Misty Waterflower's sisters, Lily, simpered at her younger sister.

"You also can't help being a bad singer, it's not your fault..." Another of Misty's sisters, Violet smiled fakely at her.

Misty herself glared at Lily and Violet, and also Daisy, her third sister. She knew she could sing she knew it!

"Shut the hell up!" Misty yelled and put her head in her hands.

"Don't be so rude Misty!" Daisy smirked and walked out of the room, Lily and Violet close behind.

A few tears escaped her eyes but she wiped them away. Misty had wanted to enter the competition to show her sisters that she was talented like them, and she wasn't the waste of space they made her out to be. That backfired.

The phone began to ring and Misty reluctantly walked downstairs to answer it, as her socialite sisters had just walked out of the door.

She wondered who it might be.

Meanwhile, up north in the faraway Sinnoh region...

"Are you okay bro? I've never seen you look this miserable..." Paul Shinji's older brother Reggie asked as Paul was just sitting and staring at the blank TV screen.

"I'm fine." Paul grunted. He had an emotionless expression on his face, impossible for anyone to decipher.

"Whatever you say..." Reggie sighed. He should have known better than just expecting Paul to talk with him, just like that. "But I just thought you should know, I had a pretty important phone call just now."

"Hmph." was Paul's response. Reggie rolled his eyes at his stubborn brother.

"It was about that show you entered."

At that moment, Paul's eyes flickered from having no emotion to total curiosity. Reggie could also tell that Paul was trying not to convey his emotions.

In the tiny town of Twinleaf, also in the Sinnoh region...

"Dawn! Dawn!" Dawn Berlitz's mother Johanna called from downstairs. Dawn stopped kissing her boyfriend Lucas and sighed deeply.

"I better go see what she wants. Are you coming?" Dawn grabbed Lucas' hand after he nodded and they walked downstairs, Johanna looked blissfully happy as she cradled the house phone in her hands.

"What's up?" Dawn asked her mother, desperate to know what was going on.

"You know that singing competition you entered when the auditions came to Hearthome City?" Johanna was clearly trying to contain her excitement.

"Yeah..." Dawn sighed and clutched onto Lucas' hand. She'd entered the competition and, while she had aced her audition and the other two rounds, she didn't get put through to the live shows. But she wasn't just going to sit and mope about it.

"They want you to go to Ever Grande City in Hoenn tomorrow, along with seven other people!" Johanna beamed with pride and Dawn felt a burst of happiness inside her, along with the seven other people who, unbeknownst to Dawn, would all have a huge impact on her life at some point in the near future.

Authors note – Hey! Had some inspiration to start writing this after watching the amazing final of The X Factor. This chapter was honestly pointless and very short, but I just wanted to offer some backstory into this. Chapter 2 is where the story truly begins, so stay tuned! :) By the way feel free to leave a review as they actually do make my day. I get excited over the smallest of things. :')