The dull voice of an announcer ran through the lobby, telling all in the room to turn their attention to the screen for those moving on to the next round. Milly's eyes rose to watch, as did mine. I held my breath as each face moved across the screen, announcing the victors of the first round. Milly's face was one of the first but as each flashed across the screen, my nerves increased more and more as each disappointed. So far, I had not appeared with only five spots left.

No...

No...

No...

No...

N- Oh wait, there I was!

I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing my shoulders as I appeared as the very last face of those passing through. That was a close one for sure, but it didn't particularly mean I was bad since the faces popped up in random order with the exception of those who couldn't stand that kind of pressure because of anxiety difficulties, who appeared first.

Milly came up next to me, hugging me tightly from the side. "Looks like we're officially rivals now Paige." She smiled.

But I didn't, weren't rivals meant to fight all the time? I didn't want to have to fight Milly, I wanted to be friends with her, like we are now. Maybe being a coordinator wasn't such a good idea.

~Rivals don't necessarily have to be enemies Paige, a rival can simply be someone you know and compete with in certain tasks. Milly can be your rival but still be your friend too.~ Gardenia explained as she read my mind, giving me a reassuring smile as she did.

:Oh, so no fighting?:

~Not outside the battle field. You and Milly may end up having to battle each other in the rounds of a contest but after it all, you two will still be friends.~

:Right: I chirped, smiling up at my friend happily.

"Let's go see Jake, we have some time to prepare before the next round." Milly perked, gesturing me out of the lounge.

I beamed, happily complying since I would get to see the rest of my team. Though I had tried, I wasn't able to see their faces amount the crowds that came to witness the contest in action. I hope they'd all been well behaved for Jake since Miku could be a bit of a handful when she was excited and Champ still wouldn't listen to anyone other then Gardenia.

Jake was waiting for us in the Contest Hall lobby. My team was there to, patiently waiting by my friends side.... until their eyes found me amidst the crowd to which they all tackled me to the ground, hugging me tightly or licking my face in Angel's case. Champ was the only one who didn't, instead tapping his foot impatiently with a tight scowl. I should of named him Party Pooper.

~Guys, stop it. It's only been an hour.~

~Miku wiss mama. Miku no see Miku's mama in fowever.~ My little Manaphy squealed, clinging to my leg with her antenna wrapping around me knee.

"Milly!" Jake smiled, hugging his little sister. "You did awesome with Moon."

"Thanks Jake, that means a lot." Milly smiled back as her brother released her.

Jake turned to me, rested a hand upon my pink hair. "You and Gardenia did really well as well."

I gave him a closed eye smile, twirling around in a happy circle.... Until I crashing into Samurai and fell backwards. Huffing slightly, my playful glare met Samurai's amused smirk.

~Don't you think you're short enough Paige, what are you doing on the ground?~ He chuckled, sticking a hand out to help me.

:You're a meanie: I pouted, but accepted Samurai's hand regardless.

~You know you love me.~ He smiled, tousling my hair.

:Of course I do: I threw my arms around him squeezed him tightly. :But stop messing up my hair, Gardenia's going to have to do it all over again now:

Gardenia gave Samurai a playful whack on the arm. ~Oh leave her alone would you.~

"Hey Paige, we're going to go get something to eat before the next round. You coming?"

:Of course!: I perked, nodding my head to my thoughts as my Pokémon translated.

~~~🌺~~~

My lungs filled with the stuffy air of the arena, the sent of many people being stuffed indoors had been lazily covered up with a perfume that was far to pungent and gave me a sharp headache in the far reaches of my mind. The yells of the impatient crowd hurt my ears as the strained to pick up words but everyone was to busy yelling over one another to realise no one could hear a thing.

I huffed lightly, facing my opponent with a straight face. Battling wasn't such a strong point of mine, though Jake said that over these last few months, the strength of my Pokémon had increased considerably. Plus, I had the telepathic communication with my Pokémon that most trainers would never be able to posses, giving my communication an edge

Luciana, my opponent, was studying me over, no doubt she had seen me with Samurai in the waiting room and had concluded him to be the Pokémon I would use but her Pokémon was a complete mystery to me. Her pale green hair was obvious anything but natural, blonde roots showing through the undertones of of green. Her face had enough makeup to ice a cake and her skimpy outfit looked more like a a swimsuit then an actual contest outfit. She wrinkled her nose slightly before she giggled out a high squeal, waving and blowing kisses towards the crowds.

I ignored her though, my fingers dancing over my Pokéball, Samurai's Pokéball. The buzzer sounded, making me wince slightly as it pieced my concentration and echoed through my mind. My fingertips glided over the cool metal of the Pokéball as it unclipped from it's place on my belt and sat within my small hands. I hit the middle button with my forefinger, giving a brief moment for the capsule to enlarge before tossing it into the air.

Samurai materialised in a cloud of black smoke, his head raised in a confident manner as a bright array of sparkles followed his entry, as it did with every shiny Pokémon. The crowed ooed and aahed over Samurai's appearance but my mind was focused on my opponent as her Pokémon.

The Pokémon I was faced with was a grey feline Pokémon, chubby with a pudgy face. Splotches of spoils milk stained white fur stained the dullness of the grey as it's twin curled tails, each poofed with a white rags of cotton. It snarled at Samurai, it's lips curling back in an unruly state of disgust.

:Samurai, use Close Combat please!: I asked, ignoring my headache to focus on the battle.

~Smart move Paige.~ Samurai smiled softly as his fist glowed with the necessary power he needed.

"Purugly, use Body Slam." My opponent ordered.

~Ugly.~ The Feline Pokémon growled, leaping in the air with the skill and grace of a confused Swalot.

~Attack it from beneath!~

~Gallade.~ Samurai muttered, slamming his fist into Purugly from beneath, jumping into the air after his opponent. He hit the feline Pokémon several more times before one final blow sent it flying into the ground.

Luciana shouted a bunch of incoherent gibberish, stamping her foot as a big chunk of her points were deducted.

:Great work Samurai~!: I hummed cheerfully.

"Purugly, use Charm." The died green haired girl ordered.

~Ugly pur.~ It growled, it's eyes going wide and glazed over in what I guess was a flirtatiousness was as she waved her twin tails into a heart shape. From there I looked away, not quite ready to have my innocent nature destroyed.

~Ahh, my eyes, my eyes are burning!~ Samurai screeched, covering his face with his hands. The crowd was sent into a fit of laughter by my Gallade's out burst.

:Oh stop being such a big baby, use Psycho Cut: I giggled, rolling my eyes.

A smirk danced on the lips of my Blade Pokémon. ~Ya love me for it-!~ He chuckled as his bladed arms glowed with a pinky aura.

:Oh oh oh, use Teleport to get in close!:

~Paige, you aren't a Mankey.~ Regardless of his remark, he disappeared, appearing behind Purugly to slam a his psychic energy infused blade into the back of his opponent, giving no chance to counter or dodge. Once more a slight chunk of my opponents points were lost while mine were hardly touched, with just a few seconds left.

Samurai used Teleport to reappear in front of me, giving a casual bow to the audience. Purugly was defiantly not happy, growling at Samurai in a tone that made it sound like to was gargling nails before the battle but my brother Pokémon simply brushed it off with a wave of disinterest.

"Purugly, get that stupid Pokémon!" The normal types trainer ordered.

Without having been giving specific instructions, Purugly charged in of Samurai with a claw glowing of deep shadows. My Pokémon simply crossed his arms, waiting calmly for Purugly to be in front of him before nailing it in the face with a Close Combat. The buzzer rang out, signalling the end of the match. I turning to the board, relieved to see that less then a quarter of my points had been deducted while my opponent had almost a quarter left.

I leapt in the air, pumping my fist in joy as I was announced to be the victor. Running to Samurai, I threw my arms around him, unable to stop giggling the entire time. :We did it!:

~We sure did, good work Paige.~ He praised, patting my head as he lead me from the arena and back to the waiting lounge where Milly and Gardenia had spent the match.

"You did awesome Paige!" Milly perked. "You have the makings of a great coordinator in you! I'm almost nervous about possibly having to battle you later."

A bright smile formed on my face as the next two coordinators left for their own rounds while Milly left to mingle with other coordinators and prepare Serene for her match. I was left with Samurai and Gardenia with free time until the next round. My gaze turned up to my older Pokémon who watched Milly go off with a blank stare.

:Samurai, do you need to go to the Pokémon Centre before the next round?:

~Are you kidding? After the Charm I'm lucky to not be blind.~ He chuckled,matting my head softly.

:It was pretty bad: I giggled.

~~~~~~🌺~~~~~~
Word count: 1770

I got kinda board towards the end so I'm sorry if it was rushed. I'm just writing so many battles, it's getting kinda... Eh. *shrugs* I'll probably glaze over then next few rounds cause *shrugs again* sorry~!

Anyway, remember to vote, comment and keep on reading on~!