title: Scintillation Model
pairings: pokeshipping; contestshipping (other minors)

summary: "We're going to make this work, Misty. You're the contestant, and you're pretty, you've got this. You've got your best friend, Brock, as your coach. But most importantly, Ash is the judge, and he is our key to victory." CRACK.

notes:

- FINALLY THE FIRST NON-REWRITTEN CHAPTER OF THIS FIC. i apologize for the year-long wait! i'm back for good, i think. you may want to go reread this fic! ;)

- more stunning developments! team rocket sets off a bribe, serena arrives, and... what's this? cilan and bianca know something about all of this?

- kinda wanna pair off serena with someone else (though i may not.) any suggestions? i was thinkin' kenny or trip. (or if you want a girl, that's cool too.) i hope you guys notice that subtle hint at the end, too.

- i also kinda wanna pair off gary with someone. he's going to interfere with the pokeshipping (as serena is) but i want to see him with SOMEONE (other than leaf, please. she's a game character.) any suggestions?

- hinted minor pairings: handymanshipping. (also i can have cilan with bianca OR iris OR someone else. that last note at the end is supposed to hint at both.) (also max may be with either bonnie orrr OC julia from my other story.)

- also yeah this was rewritten to include more/new characters. ;) please review if you have any requests!

- this chapter was loosely based on BOHF by Annie Sparklecakes. :-) i credit her for any parallels!

ii. bribing the judge

Misty's reaction wasn't very... pleasant. Her team had tried to soothe her for past hour; a completely fruitless attempt. Brock snuck a glance at the redhead sitting across from him, noting the way her brow was still furrowed in aggravation.

"Misty, you're gonna get premature wrinkles."

"Brock, you're going to get a premature black eye."

Brock dropped the magazine on the table, bracing himself before opening his mouth. "Look, it won't be that bad, Misty. There's no need to feel... embarrassed."

Misty's eyes sharpened to a glare. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, you've worn one before. I don't see why it's that big of a deal—" Brock flinched as Misty advanced, half-rising from her seat.

"It's a big shitting deal when half the world is staring at your body with the eyes of a hawk!" she said, hands waving above her head in an attempt to get him to understand the seriousness of the situation. If that hadn't done it, the blatant cursing had.

Brock opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it. "I'm going to get Giselle for this." He promptly stood up and stalked off to find the brunette, the words "redhead" and "Ash's fault" audible.

When Giselle came over, Misty rolled her eyes. She didn't need to be "pep-talked" into doing this — her thoughts on this were final. She just... didn't feel comfortable with it, that's all. There wasn't a specific reason or anything ridiculous of the sort.

"So what's your problem?" Misty raised an eyebrow at the other girl's straightforwardness. Giselle's stern face didn't budge, so Misty exhaled and decided to amuse her.

"I don't want people looking at me when I'm clad in such little clothing," she declared simply. She crossed one leg over the other in a display of defiance. When she tilted her nose up airily, she failed to notice the other girl roll her eyes.

Giselle retorted easily, "You haven't had a problem with it before. Wearing swimsuits in public is a casual thing, Misty."

"Yeah but they're going to be looking at me—"

"You and I both know you don't care about what other people think." Misty's expression froze in place, realizing the truth behind Giselle's words. The girl sitting across from her smirked, realizing she had hit the nail on the head. "So tell me, what is it that really bothers you?"

Giselle's tone was cool and condescending. Misty hated it. "It's just — there's going to be people I know there!"

"Who exactly?"

The topic was really starting to grate on Misty's nerves, that much was obvious from the eye twitch and clenched fist. "It's none of your business whether it bothers me or not!" Misty outburst.

"It's because you will be under the scrutinizing, judging eye of Ash Ketchum. Literally."

And just like that, Misty felt the anger deflate within her. She was right, wasn't she? She was... uncomfortable with this. She was scared of being judged by Ash. She didn't want to be a number on a scoreboard to him. Even worse, she was afraid to find out what that number might be.

And just like that, the anger came rushing back. "Forget it," she spat.

Misty stormed out of the house, not forgetting to slam the door behind her. She had vowed to put these stupid, stupid underlying feelings behind her but they just ended up resurfacing at every damn corner. And the worst part was that no one really understood how it really felt. Long, pining feelings for someone who would never understand...

She stepped in a puddle, muddling its reflection. When the waves cleared, she could see the edge of another familiar face in it.

"I — what are you doing here, Brock?" She whirled around, somehow feeling exposed though there were nothing like tears on her face to give her away.

Brock stepped forward and stood silently, surveying the girl standing across from him. This was the girl he had traveled for years with. His fellow gym leader, best friend, someone irreplaceable. "You may not take me seriously since I tease you all the time about it," Brock paused and Misty's eyes stayed trained on the ground, "But I don't think you should waste time worrying about it. Things will work out the way you want them to."

Misty eyes scrunched up in a frown before she gave up and sighed. "It's... just, I don't know. I hate acknowledging the fact I still feel this way."

"I've traveled with you two long enough to know what you're both like," Brock told her assuringly. "And I say don't worry about it."

Misty exhaled slowly, feeling a knot in her chest dissipate. This whole thing sure was mentally taxing. Misty vowed to leave the region for a week once all of this was done and over with.

But for now, she would face it head on. It was her style, after all.

"Thanks, Brock."

"No probs. By the way, you seen my magazine anywhere?"

"Why?"

"Um... well, I was just going through the swimwear section — OW — no, Misty, it was for research purposes! For the pageant, I swear!"

&.

"No way. You're blind. You can't seriously think that. It's... unfathomable that someone could have such bad taste."

"My fashion sense is impeccable."

May exhaled slowly, facepalming as she watched the two in front of her argue over fashion sense. Why did she have to get stuck with the most idiotic team in the universe? And why were they working in a stuffy storage room?

And of course the one time she could've used a distraction, Max was nowhere to be found.

"Guys," May groaned. She ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. "It's the color of a dress."

Drew scoffed. "I'll have you know evening gowns are one of the most important aspects of a competition. First impression is everything."

"While I agree with him on that, I disagree on green as the color. Just because he has some fetish for puke green doesn't mean he has to satisfy those annoying fantasies of his and dress you up in it!"

"Harley!" May screeched.

"What?" His tone was seemingly innocent as he shrugged casually. "I only speak of the truth."

Drew stood up from the small sofa squished into the corner and dusted off his pants. Nonchalantly, he said, "While I would love to argue with Harley about him and his tales of lies, I think we'd rather solve the bigger problem on our hands and find a better work space."

"Finally!" May threw her hands up. "Some sanity around this place."

As May fetched her bag and Drew held the door open for her, Harley sat defiantly with one leg crossed over the other. "I knew you two would have to relieve your sexual tension some time. Have fun on the date!"

May's face flushed and Drew would have seemed unaffected if not for the way he slammed the door behind him.

&.

Dear twerp,

Pikachu is held in our captivity. If you expect your precious little pokemon back, meet me at 7:00 p.m., Azure's Diner.

- From wouldn't you like to know?

Ash crumpled up the note and shoved it in his pocket. Did he really have to deal with this on vacation? He knew Team Rocket was evil, but hey, he thought they had standards! He expected that maybe they'd have a holidays-off policy but no, they had to screw up his life at every possibility.

Of course, there was a chance it wasn't Team Rocket at all.

This thought plagued Ash's mind as he finally reached the destination; nervously wringing his hands.

"Ahem. You there."

Ash glanced to his side to find a tall, blonde woman donning sunglasses and a deerstalker. If that wasn't suspicious enough, she wore a long trenchcoat; the collar partially shrouding her face.

The restaurant behind them chattered on noisily while Ash surreptitiously took a step closer. He didn't want to end up making a scene if this was serious business after all. Misty always used to berate him for all the times he opened his big mouth and got them into trouble...

He chuckled, amused at the thought. It was as if he had a miniature Misty in his head.

"What do you want?" he asked. The woman comically checked to see if anyone was looking before turning her shaded eyes to him. "I want the pageant."

This made Ash stumble. "Wh-What are you talking about?"

The woman scoffed and crossed her arms. "Really, tw — I mean, did you not see it coming? You're the judge, of course there will be some underhanded transactions made." She made a big display of rolling her eyes at his apparent stupidity.

"Wait," Ash said slowly, holding up a hand. "Are you... threatening me? All because you want to win that stupid pageant?"

The woman shrugged. "Of course."

"Are you that confident you won't win with your own skills?"

"It's — of course not! Everyone here knows that you'd be biased towards that redheaded twerp!"

Ash raised his eyebrows, thrown off by the statement. He hesitantly opened his mouth after a while of staring, "What are you talking about?"

She nearly fell over. "Dreadfully oblivious, just like someone I know. Everyone knows you have feelings for her."

Ash's eyes widened in realization and he bristled with annoyance. "I do not! Ugh — why am I even talking to you? Give me back Pikachu. Now!"

At the sight of his anger, the woman's temper was only further instigated. She stepped closer and her emerald eyes bore into his own — "You can throw how ever many tantrums you like, but unless I see the tide turning in my favor by our next meeting tomorrow, you will never get him back." — and then she stepped back, taking in the boy's fuming expression with satisfaction.

Ash's hands instinctively brushed against his belt, only to find it smooth and flat. For Mew's sake, of all of the days to leave his pokemon behind, it had to be this one? He cursed and clenched his fists as the woman walked away adjusting her hair. He thought he caught a flash of magenta before the blonde hairs came into place once again.

"Wait, don't tell me..." Ash's eyes leered into the distance. "That was Jessie?"

&.

"Man, what I don't understand is how you got yourself into this mess in the first place."

Paul turned to him with a dark face that suggested, "Don't ask me or I'll cut you." Ash liked to think he wore that face all the time. He had barely lightened up since he had last seen him in Sinnoh. For that matter, he even seemed to have darkened a little. Whatever happened to that little smile of acknowledgement he got from him after the Sinnoh League?

Ash voiced these thoughts to him, and Paul just rolled his eyes before claiming that never happened.

"It so did!"

"Did not."

Gary walked inside of the office the other two boys were in and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Ash. Shouldn't you be out getting your pikachu back from that Team Rockers or whatever?"

Ash's face turned dark at the memory of the meeting. How could he have been so foolish to not realize it was her? ... Then again, they had fallen for Team Rocket's disguises countless times. What made this one any different?

"I'd rather not talk about it," he told them wearily. He sighed and got up from the chair in front of Professor Oak's desk, visibly relieving Paul who was sitting on the other side. It wasn't like he was actually enjoying Ash's company.

The door opened and Drew and May entered, the former with a smirk and the latter with an exhausted grimace. No one in the room commented on this, strangely.

"We decided to come find you guys," Drew explained. "What's going on here?"

Gary smirked, as he always did at any opportunity to belittle Ash. "Nothing. Just talking about his failure to get his pikachu back from Team Rocket."

"It wasn't anything like that!" Ash snapped quickly, glaring at him. "They're bribing me. They want me to let their entry win."

May laughed merrily, mischievous eyes darting to Ash's figure, slumped in defeat. "Ah, the trials of being a judge. The bribery! It's already starting?"

"Can't see why they don't bribe me," Gary said haughtily. "It's not like I'm a judge or anything."

"Maybe because no one likes you," Ash supplied helpfully.

Paul cut in before anyone could reply, only so the two in front of him wouldn't launch into another argument and give him a headache again. "Who do you suppose they're entering?"

May shrugged. "No idea. Meowth, maybe?"

"Eh, but he's a pokemon. I'm thinking James?"

"Well... I guess he could, but I don't think he's gonna pull off the fake boobs thing again."

Gary sweatdropped. "Isn't it obvious it's going to be Jessie?"

Everyone's eyes brightened in realization. "Ohhhhhh."

"I guess that makes sense," Ash said, nodding his head.

Gary just shook his head in disbelief. Why was everyone around him so retarded? And if this was the case, more importantly, why was he hanging out with them!?

Of course, some questions could just never be answered.

"Imagine that walking across the stage though," Gary told them. He held out his arms like it was a Kodak moment, picturing the stage.

"Blech," Ash mimed gagging. "That's gross!"

Drew hummed, eyes scrunching up in a thoughtful face. "I dunno. I guess I could see it."

Suddenly, a tumultuous sigh was emitted from May as everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes sharpened to a glare. "Can you guys really think like that about someone who's supposed to be our enemy!?"

Most in the room winced at the shrill tone. Paul looked like he was struggling.

"Seriously, where's the loyalty with you all? It's not like I'm right here or anything!" With another indignant noise of frustration, May stomped out of the room, not forgetting to slam the door to leave her presence.

"Ouch," Ash said.

Gary smiled sympathetically and only shrugged, shaking his head. "This is the problem with girls, man. Jealousy."

As if that wasn't enough, Paul briefly nodded.

"It was you who started that, Oak," Drew pointed out, throwing an accusing finger at Gary. "She's not mad at me."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "You sure your girlfriend isn't mad? Because with the way she slammed that door and all—"

"What I meant, was," Drew cut in, "That she won't be mad anymore."

And then he was gone too, but more kinder to the already abused door as he left. God knows if it was slammed one more time it would fall off of its hinges. Paul, who had been idly noting the door's abuse from a distance could attest to this.

It wasn't like he had anything better to do, here, with these idiots with him.

"Hey, he actually admitted he liked her!" Ash's jaw had dropped in shock. He hadn't really expected this moment to come! Drew was so... stubborn and arrogant and May was just so... shy.

Gary scrunched up his nose before turning to Ash. "Wait wait wait, how did you know that?"

"Brock told me."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Everyone exchanged mutual nods of agreement over Ash's oblivion. Everyone except Paul, that is, who merely slammed his head to the desk.

&.

To: (534)6782222
From: Arrogant Grasshead

Just thought I should let you know that there's been an emergency. Your pokemon. They're dying.

-.-

Drew sorted through a bucket of shampoo bottles one by one. One of them was for 'extra shine' and the other one was for 'sexy curls.' Which one did May need? He wasn't sure if she needed extra shine or 'sexy curls.'

He took both.

"Drew!" May opened the door, heaving from running. "This emergency had better be false or I'm going to murder you!"

Drew took in the sight of her doubled over in exhaustion and laughed despite himself. "Of course it was false. Your pokemon are with you."

May slumped to the floor in an apparent combination of relief and disbelief. "What is your problem."

"Nothing. You seem to have plenty with me, though." Drew's tone was nonchalant and teasing as he went through the second crate of conditioner bottles. These were even more confusing than the last. Did it have to match with the shampoo?

May decidedly ignored his comment and instead pointed at the more intriguing question. "What are you doing with shampoo?"

"It's for you."

"Are you sure it's not for you?"

"Funny," Drew said flatly. He flipped his hair in annoyance, knowing it was the ongoing gag between him and May to make fun of his apparently "silky and smooth" hair. It was totally natural!

"I still can't see why you won't take it as a compliment," May pointed out, giggling behind her hands girlishly.

"Because you're obviously doubting my manliness," Drew said. He stood up with the bottles he had selected and crouched in front of her with a taunting smirk. "And I assure you it's nothing less of what you think it is."

Taking in the way she almost squeaked and actually jumped, he didn't have to feign a satisfied look. Riling her up had always been a favorite past-time activity of his. Deciding to add fuel to the fire, he smirked and pointed outside. "Well, go on ahead to the bathroom for your spa treatment."

Before May could even ask any questions, Drew pushed her out of the storage room and shoved her into the bathroom next to it, closing the door. He dusted his hands off, prideful of his work as she pounded on the locked door.

"Dress into something more comfortable," he answered through the door. "Someone will be here in a second."

After a few grumbling noises of relent, the knocking ceased and May presumably went on to change into the clothes he had already kept inside for her.

Taking the phone he had (stolen) from May, he scrolled through her contact list. Hmm, Misty... Drew had met her before in Johto when May had called her to visit. She would be perfect for this.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Drew."

"Oh, hi. Need something?"

"Yes, actually. Mind coming over here to do a quick favor for May?"

"While I would normally say yes, no! I'm kind of busy here, for I dunno, the pageant coming up next week?"

"It won't take long."

"Drew, you're her coach. This is your job, not mine. I'm supposed to be working against her, too! Man, you've got no tact."

Misty hung up and Drew heaved a sigh. Well, this was not going to end up well. How had his own plan to beautify and appease May end up backfiring this badly on him? He even went to the trouble of making Harley go buy the hair stuff for her. (That kind of backfired too. Who knew Harley was so knowledgeable on hair products and would end up buying fifty of them, half of which Drew couldn't even name?)

Oh, whatever. It was just washing hair. He could handle it, right? Just rinse and repeat.

Or maybe that wasn't the best imagery to keep in mind right now.

Whatever. Drew shook his head briefly to clear it of traitorous thoughts and entered the bathroom.

"What — oh my god what are you doing in here — what!?"

Both parties stared at each other for a long moment, confused. May stood in front of the bathtub clad with a towel wrapped around her body, her clothes neatly folded and placed on the countertop by the sink.

"I thought I told you change into the clothes I left you," Drew bit back, looking away instinctively.

May growled. "They don't even fit me!"

He snickered.

"Shut. Up. It's not fault you think I'm some anorexic size negative one-hundred chick."

He didn't say anything, still clearly amused. It was an honest mistake on his part; he had simply given her his little sister's clothes (who was scheduled to arrive at Kanto the coming week, but that was another story) to change into.

Something finally seemed to hit May, and she clutched her towel tighter. "Wait — I thought I was getting beautified. What are you doing here?"

In response, Drew sighed and held up the shampoo bottle. "Get in," he said flatly, wielding the bottle at the bathtub.

May looked horrified. "Absolutely not!"

Drew folded his arms. "Would you rather Harley do it?"

When May's terrified expression wavered, Drew raised his eyebrows pointedly. She sighed and stepped into the tub, with Drew kneeling behind, wondering how he was able to keep his cool in such a horrifying situation.

Absolutely horrifying.

May took off her bandana, and Drew pointedly didn't look. He knew looking would be an extremely bad idea and would probably lead to his very early, impending death.

"Oh yeah," May said, turning around to face him, "My mom always ends up yanking half the hair off my head when she brushes it. Be gentle."

Drew resisted the urge to facepalm and swallowed thickly instead. Really? Was that really the word choice she had thought to use in this kind of situation? Be fucking gentle? It was like he was living a nightmare. A nightmare, or... a really bad preface to an intimate scene. Maybe this was a really bad idea after all.

With a very careful and shaking hand, he ran a round brush through her hair to comb out all of the tangles. Since May already took decent care of her hair, he was done in no time at all.

"Well, you've got nice hair. You might actually win," Drew mused, gauging May's reaction as he experimentally ran his fingers through her (soft, silky, shiny — what?) hair.

May's back was turned to him, the only thing in his peripheral being her bare (pale, smooth — not again) shoulders. "U-Um, yeah. Hopefully."

Drew was still mesmerized with the action of teasing her hair; he was expecting a reaction from her. Why wasn't she talking?

May swatted his hands away from her head and handed him the shampoo bottle. "Will you just start already?" She couldn't believe him. Did he really not see how... uncomfortable he was making her? Well, it was uncomfortable yes, but certainly not undesirable —

"Sure, princess," he said sarcastically.

Drew casually dumped a mug of cold water over her head. Before he could even smirk, May whirled around to face him angrily, shivering with her hair plastered to her face. "Don't," she warned, tone deadly.

Drew however wasn't concerned with her tone as much as she was dripping wet and five inches away from him. Yeah, he was probably going to shut up now and not take the risk of his voice cracking pathetically by attempting a response. He had dignity to salvage here.

He squeezed a small glob of shampoo onto his palm and begin to work it into the roots of her hair. Once the suds begin forming, he carefully begin to massage the solution evenly throughout the rest of her hair.

May tried to keep her mouth shut during this amazing process, but her traitorous mouth ignored her and had to let out this very satisfied groan.

A beat of silence.

Okay, that was it. Drew had to interrupt the silence now or he'd lose it.

"So," he said, voice an octave higher. "Why did you... agree to do this? Misty's sisters didn't force you, did they?"

May chuckled. "Nope, but Misty did."

Another silence. At least this time it was devoid of any (what should be illegal) noises.

"Do you actually want to win?"

"Hmm, I guess it would be nice. Besides, isn't that Paul guy the prize?"

Drew felt something in his stomach lurch. "You want to date him?"

"Ridiculous," May scoffed. "But revenge would be sweet. He was a total jerk when I met him in Sinnoh."

And as quickly as the knot had formed in his stomach, it dissipated. Oh, that's what she had meant. Okay, cool. He could deal with that.

"Drew, I think you should quit coordinating."

"...Why?"

"You'd make a much better spa worker."

This time, he dumped hot water on her head.

&.

"How long is this gonna last?"

"At least another hour."

Misty groaned as loud as she could with her faze frozen under a mud mask. One of the cucumbers fell off her eyes, and Giselle bent over to retrieve it with a frown. "Stay still!" she chided.

Dawn, sitting in the chair next to her, was much more relaxed with her legs kicked back and hands resting behind her head. One would say she was cut out for this kind of thing. Zoey was rather proud of her.

The stylists had teamed up to get facials out of the way. Exfoliation had already been done (which Misty had claimed was a very painful process) which left them with their last, hydrating facial. Giselle and Zoey chatted it up, sprawled across the grass of the pokemon's grazing field.

"Why didn't May come?" asked Misty, desperate for conversation. She had never thought boredom could ever reach such impossible highs.

Giselle glanced up to respond. "I texted her but she said she was already busy. Probably off getting pretty and cute with her boyfriend."

Misty's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Hm... why didn't she tell anyone anything?"

"It's probably something juicy," Dawn mentioned absentmindedly in her hazy state. She rolled over to the side and slipped back into said hazy state, with Misty wondering how the hell her eye-cucumbers stayed on.

They remained still for another twenty minutes but Misty demanded freedom so they ended up washing everything off early. Dawn seemed disappointed, but they supposed it didn't make a difference in the end. Both girls' faces practically radiated with brightness.

After heading back inside, they stumbled upon an intriguing scene where all of the boys were huddled over the table in the main living room eating Chinese takeout.

Giselle shook her head. "Don't you guys have, I don't know, lives to tend to?"

"We stick together," Brock told her around a mouthful of rice. "One of us suffers; we all suffer."

Ash nodded next to him, words barely recognizable around a gulp of soda. "We're like one big happy family!"

Most nodded comically in agreement, with Paul looking mildly disgusted. He refrained from commenting and continued to eat his fried rice.

"Ramen." Misty's pupils grew in happiness as she fell into the seat next to Ash. "Gimme!"

"Um, no." Brock glared and pointed to another box on the table. "You'll find that you're dinner is right there."

"Let me guess. Salad?" Her tone was cross.

"You know me too well," Brock claimed, wiping away a tear.

As Misty grumbled, reaching for her supposed "food", Ash wondered aloud, "Where's Tracey?"

Gary shook his head. "He's letting the assistants look after the lab, again. Headed off to Cerulean again to get some."

"I can attest to that," Max confirmed, head lowered as he raised his hand. "But I don't know where May is. I've been looking for her all afternoon."

"You're right," Gary noted, eyes scanning the room. "Where is that cute brunette, anyway?"

Drew stood up abruptly, prompting all eyes to snap to him. "I'll go check on her."

Everyone in the room exchanged knowing glances (even Ash this time, since Brock let him in on the fun) at Drew's departure. Misty, appalled, asked Ash how he knew. Ash, offended, told her that he wasn't stupid. They argued over this for quite some time.

"So Paul," Brock begin while they continued arguing. "How're you putting up with all of this?"

Paul said nothing. His deathly expression, however, spoke volumes.

"Ah." Brock nodded in understanding. Everyone stared at him. "What? His expressions do convey a lot of meaning."

Dawn re-entered the room, having left earlier in favor of changing back into her signature black dress. "They convey desperation," she said smugly, grinning at the way Paul's glare flickered towards her.

"I'm gonna feel sorry for the sap that ends up having to date you." Gary leaned back with a smirk, and one couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. Either way, Paul didn't seem to care.

"If I win," Dawn proclaimed while sipping at a water bottle, "I'll relieve you of the trouble."

"Thanks," Paul muttered, tone sarcastic yet surprisingly lighthearted.

"God," Gary groaned and fell back into the couch. "Is this another connection I see forming? Starting to feel left out here!"

"Welcome to my world," Brock told him, crumpling up the paper from his fortune telling cookie.

&.

It was already nine p.m., so Serena wasn't expecting anyone to welcome her when she arrived.

She checked into the local Pokemon Center as soon as she came, and bumped into a girl with bright orange hair and cerulean eyes. She looked rather familiar.

"Sorry," the girl apologized. "You won't be able to use the phones tonight. We're on a power outage."

Serena nodded understandingly. Oh, well. She would just have to call Ash tomorrow, seeing as she didn't exactly know where he lived. "Looks like I'll be calling Ash tomorrow..."

Suddenly, Misty realized who was in front of her. "Hey, you're Serena, aren't you? I saw you competing in the Kalos League!"

Serena still had yet to recognize that familiar face in front of her. "Oh, yeah! You are...?"

"Misty." She smiled and held out a hand that Serena shook. "Wait, you're the lure!" Serena pointed at her, eyes widened in bewilderment.

Misty's eyes widened in surprise, but the happiness warmed her and it mellowed out into a gentle smile. "You're not the first person to say that. I can't believe he still has that stupid thing, all these years..."

Serena tried to reply, but she found that she couldn't reach her voice.

&.

To: Drew
From: Misty

hey, do you know where ash is? i can't find him anywhere!

-.-

Drew couldn't find May, either, and he was beginning to worry.

He stopped outside of Azure's Diner, which was closed for the night with its sign flickering hesitantly on the outside. He couldn't believe it was just a coincidence. Where could those two have suddenly gone?

He begin to walk again, but froze in place at the taunting note he found resting at his feat.

Dear Ash,

We know where Pikachu is. We know how to get him back, too.

Don't worry, this isn't another bribe - we just want you to go easy on our contestant, okay? We know she's way too capable to have to bribe you.

We just wish to... improve Iris's self-esteem in this aspect of herself.

Don't let those great times in Unova go to waste, okay?

- Cilan & Bianca

P.S. Not '&' like we're together. Because, um. We're not. - Cilan

P.P.S. Sorry about Cilan. - Bianca