"You're sure you don't want to let Misteon watch with me?" I asked Serena as we made our way to the newly constructed contest hall. She shook her head with a strange look in her eye but gave me a reassuring smile.

"Not this time, Bree. Thank you though." I nodded silently as I watched Serena checking out her fellow coordinators making their way to the contest hall.

After she had disappeared, I honestly had never been so scared in my life. I knew that Serena wasn't a little kid, but she had become incredibly important to me in the months we had traveled together, and thinking that I had been the one to tell Samantha she would be fine made me feel even more responsible. When I had seen her walking towards me that morning just a few weeks ago I felt so relieved I thought I would melt. I honestly hadn't even seen Satoshi and had completely disregarded the little pokemon Serena had been hiding in her jacket from the cold. But once I HAD realized what was going on, it hadn't taken a rocket scientist to realize that Serena now had two never-before-seen pokemon and both of them were somehow tied to Satoshi. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this odd coincidence, but for some reason, Serena wanted to keep Misteon on the down-low so I had decided to let it slide... for now.

"Oh..." Serena's anxiety was obvious with just that one word and I quickly looked around, landing my gaze on a familiar girl surrounded by a small posse of cheering fans as she walked toward the contest hall.

"Hmph. For being so strong you'd think she'd challenge a contest where it isn't ten times more likely to run into ice types than usual," I huffed with annoyance as I watched Keira walk purposefully through the doors, her entire body language screaming confidence.

"You know Keira?" Serena asked, turning to look at me with obvious worry on her expression.

Serena had told me about her crushing defeat against Keira in her very first contest and it honestly had made me want to strangle the little brat. I had never done contests myself, but after Theresa said she planned to be a coordinator I researched some of the people she might have to face and Keira immediately stood out. I knew a bully when I saw one, and I had told Theresa to avoid her like the plague if she could.

"Are you worried?" I asked Serena, who was watching Keira's fan group follow her through the doors with a small frown. She shrugged lightly and then gave me a small smile.

"I believe in my pokemon. We'll do our best to win," Serena said, looking more confident than I expected.

Although really she should have been even more confident. The entire time we had spent with Samantha and her hubby, Serena had been practicing tirelessly outside with her pokemon. Even though she came in shivering worse than a Snorunt, a fire seemed to be lit within her and all of her pokemon had responded enthusiastically to her training.

I loved watching Serena interact with her pokemon. Normally I prided myself on the strong bonds that I had with my pokemon, but seeing Serena treat them all with such tenderness and adoration made me wish I had spent a little more time bonding with my pokemon and not just training. Although if I suddenly started coddling my Empoleon or Garchomp I think they'd both think I'd gone crazy.

Serena's style of training had apparently been exactly what Absol needed though to thaw his frozen heart after so much betrayal, though. After Serena came back from her night in the forest, Absol stuck to her so close it was like he had become her shadow. Honestly, I was shocked when he actually participated in Serena's practice sessions. And not only did he participate, but he actually helped Serena's other pokemon. Like a silent guardian angel, he nudged them along until they had perfected a pose or lent a paw with a move like with Shinx and his Magnet Rise. Because of his change in attitude, I knew Serena had been wanting to use Absol in her battle rounds... but now that there was a high possibility that she was going to be up against Keira, who had a team full of fighting types, so I wondered if she would change her plan.

"I believe in you too, Serena. Go knock her socks off," I said firmly, giving Serena a squeeze around her shoulders. She smiled up at me with obvious gratitude and I couldn't help feeling grateful that she had become my friend.

I was close to all of my siblings, but in my travels, I had never really found a girl close to my age that I clicked with. Serena was special though. She was almost childlike in her admiration of me, but I was constantly impressed by her determination to improve both herself and her pokemon. She never shied away from my intense training regimen, even though she was so exhausted some nights she fell asleep before even changing into pajamas. I wanted to see her succeed more than anything, and I secretly hoped that she would stomp on Keira so hard her pride would puff apart like dandelion fluffs in a windstorm.

"Thank you, Bree. I better get ready," she said with a determined look in her blue eyes.

"Got your outfit all picked out?" I teased with a smirk and Serena blushed lightly. I had walked in on her last night with her room completely covered in piles of dresses, hats, slacks, and accessories. I had no idea that she was lugging around all the stuff and I honestly hadn't been able to stop laughing for a solid five minutes.

"No thanks to you," Serena muttered with embarrassment before giving me a sweet smile.

"Thanks for always cheering me on, Bree," Serena said happily and I held two thumbs up for her.

"You're going to do great!"

Serena smiled again and then jogged to the side to join the other coordinators making their way to the waiting room. I followed the larger crowd of spectators and located a prime spot up on the front row of balcony seats right smack in the middle.

It's definitely easier to find a good spot when you are a party of one, I thought to myself as I sat back and hunkered down for the contest to begin. As my thoughts often did when I had a moment to relax, I found them wandering towards Aryan. Honestly, I had never expected to see him again after Taylor chose to become a breeder and Aryan left to travel the Kalos region.

I had known my school-girl crush on him would never be reciprocated, but when a year went by and he still hadn't come back I had foolishly gone to Kalos myself to see if fate would let me bump into him. I had been 17 at the time and he was a glorious adult at 20. Nothing could have prepared me for the shock of seeing him in the airport, looking more like a ghost than a human, as he had swiftly run towards a flight heading back to Sinnoh. I had run after him without thought, but the dude was wicked fast. He had already slipped aboard his flight and was out of my reach before I could even call out to him.

It hadn't taken me long to realize the flight attendants wouldn't let me through and I didn't have time to buy a ticket for the flight, so I had called Taylor. He hadn't known what would make his best friend act like that either and had said I had probably mistaken him for someone else. I had known that wasn't the case though, no way I could forget the guy I had been in love with since I was ten, so I made him promise to tell me if he heard anything about Aryan coming back home.

Not an hour later, I got a call from Taylor whose voice was shaking so badly I could hardly even understand what he was saying. When he finally calmed down enough to explain though, I wished I could pretend I hadn't understood him. Aryan's parents had been found murdered in their home. 

The news had completely crushed me. Aryan's parents were some of the nicest people I had known. His dad was the head accountant of one of the biggest auditing firms in Sinnoh and his mom had been a personal secretary for some important person in a corporation that created pokemon journey gear, such as the storage capsules trainers used, Pokeballs, etc. I hadn't known them super well, but they had sat with me when we watched Aryan and Taylor competing in the Sinnoh League when I was younger, and I had been shocked at how gorgeous and kind his mom had been. The news of their murder was devastating, and as much as I wanted to go and be there for the boy I had admired my whole life... a feeling of inadequacy paralyzed me.

I forced myself to go back to Sinnoh for the funeral, and I watched Aryan stoically help carry his parents' caskets to their burial spot. I would never forget the deep pain that I could see bubbling behind his brown eyes as he watched them bury his parents in the cold, uncaring ground. The experience had changed Aryan. Anyone could see that he was missing the spark he had always exuded that seemed to make other people immediately want to get closer to him.

But even though his parents' death had majorly affected him, when Taylor approached him he immediately put on a smile for his friend and thanked him for coming. My entire family had converged on him then, squeezing him in a giant group hug and he had lifted his eyes up to the sky and blinked rapidly to keep himself from crying. Mom and Dad tried to insist that he come stay with us for a while, but he shocked all of us by saying he had decided to join the police force and would be leaving for the academy that evening.

That was the last time I saw my first love until the day he showed up at the Oreburgh City contest to cheer on Serena. I was so shocked when he called out to me as I was waiting for the contest to start that I was struck speechless for a bit. It only took one teasing remark from him to make all my old annoyance at him treating me like a kid flare up though and we were soon heckling each other mercilessly. It was almost weird how happy he had appeared after the last time I saw him. As far as I knew, no one had ever figured out who murdered his parents. But I was glad that Aryan seemed happy with where his life had taken him. That alone was enough to make me happy.

Marian the contest announcer's voice jolted me out of my thoughts and I quickly refocused on what was going on in front of me. Snowpoint was a pretty quiet town, so I wasn't surprised to see that nearly the whole town had turned out to watch the show. Samantha's school had even turned it into a field trip and I knew she was around here somewhere surrounded by her small group of children as they all anxiously awaited the first appeals round to start.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the overly enthusiastic cheering that followed Marian's announcement that Keira would be the first to give her appeals round performance. What people saw in her I would never know, but I did have to admit that her performance was incredibly flashy. This was a doubles contest so she had chosen to use a Mienshao, which she must have caught in Unova, Kalos, or the Alolan region since it wasn't native to Sinnoh. And as its partner, she released a Hitmontop. The two fighting types had an impressive range of moves they used to make their performance eye-catching, but their movements were a little too rehearsed for my taste. She got a high score though and I reluctantly clapped twice as she exited the stage.

Just as I had predicted, nearly all of the trainers used at least one ice type pokemon in their appeals round. Serena's performance was like a breath of spring after winter when she came onto the stage. She had chosen to use Milotic and Squeaker for this appeal round, and I watched with delight as her elegant Milotic seemed to dance across the stage while showing off her newly learned moves alongside the young Ponyta.

My favorite combination that they did was with Milotic using Life Dew and Squeaker using Agility. Life Dew was a move that gave energy to the user and its ally pokemon, and it looked like a fluorescent green drop of water that hit the stage and sent ripples of glowing water outwards from Milotic while casting her in a beautiful green shimmer. As Squeaker triggered her Agility move, her body began to flash in and out of existence. As she zoomed about she was illuminated by the greenish-blue Life Dew for several moments which caused her flaming mane to shimmer beautifully before disappearing and reappearing in a different spot on the stage seconds later. I could hear gasps of awe all around me at the gorgeous display and grinned with delight.

Not quite sure what made me do it, I pulled my PokeCommunicator out and snapped a picture before the combination had played out. Trying to shield the glowing screen so it wouldn't bother the other spectators, I sent a quick message to Aryan, bragging about how well Serena was doing. Serena, Milotic, and Squeaker had just taken their bows at the end of their round when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out a little guiltily, but couldn't help my silly grin when I saw the response.

So proud of her. Thanks for the text, Bree. Tell her good luck from me

A twinge of jealousy made me grimace slightly but I quickly shook my head and chuckled at myself before letting out a shrill whistle as Serena made her way off the stage. I knew being jealous of Aryan's relationship with Serena was silly. Especially after seeing her and Satoshi interacting after their night hiding from the blizzard together. But I wondered if Aryan's feelings for Serena were strictly platonic or if they went deeper than that. If they did... he deserved to be happy... but Serena did too. And I just wasn't sure how everything was going to work out.

I wasn't surprised when Aryan didn't respond when I sent him a thumbs up emoji, and I wondered if he had found any new clues to the case he was working on. My thoughts were distracted though as the last of the coordinators gave their performances and Marian announced the ones that would move on to the battle rounds. I was a little miffed when Keira's picture was the first to appear, but Serena's wasn't far behind and I cheered loudly when I saw it displayed.

I was a little shocked when Serena came out in the first contest battle against some random coordinator and released Shinx and Absol. Biting my bottom lip gently, my thoughts immediately went to Keira and her fighting types. Absol is a dark type, so fighting type moves are super effective. And Shinx is still just a little guy, so he won't be able to take the brunt of hits even if Absol would let him... I don't know how this is going to go, I thought worriedly to myself.

The worry subsided ever so slightly though when Serena called out a Psycho Cut attack. I watched, feeling a sense of pride bubbling up as Absol's horn glowed brightly before releasing four streaks of pinkish-purple rays that shot toward their opponents. They suddenly split off mid-flight though and slammed into both of their opponents at the same time, dealing a huge amount of damage and looking gorgeous all at the same time.

Huh, I didn't know that Absol knew Psycho Cut. And he's got good control over it. That'll come in handy against Keira even if it isn't a STAB move, I thought as I found myself going into my analytic mode.

I wasn't sure when it had happened, but I absolutely loved pokemon battles. The adrenaline rush you got from leading your team to either victory or defeat was incredible and unlike anything else I had experienced. Contest battles weren't quite as exciting, but I could appreciate the beauty that the coordinators were able to pull out of moves that I had used a million times before in a regular battle.

Once again a sense of pride filled me as Serena battled back her opponents easily. Absol had obviously been holding back in his training with Serena's other pokemon, but he had completely let down his barriers now and was letting loose powerful moves with a vengeance against his opponents, which obviously had their trainer intimidated. Serena clinched an easy win when Absol and Shinx managed to KO both of their opponents and I could see Shinx puffing out his little chest with obvious pride as the two followed Serena off the stage.

Serena really is blossoming as a trainer. You'd never know that she only started her pokemon journey a few months ago, I thought to myself as Keira came out and began her contest battle. She had chosen to use her Infernape, which was obviously her starter pokemon, and a Pangoro.

Another pokemon that isn't native to Sinnoh. I didn't realize Keira had actually traveled to other regions, I thought to myself with a frown. As I watched her my frown deepened at her battle style. It wasn't just her, she had apparently trained her pokemon to be bullies too. I felt sickened as I watched her call out moves with a smile that her poor opponents couldn't even dream of withstanding. Her pokemon were obviously high-leveled and well-trained, so I wondered why Keira had chosen to take the route of terrifying her coordinator opponents when her style seemed more suited to full-on battles. Especially since her opponents didn't even last two minutes before they were KO'd.

There was a huge roar of approval from the crowd when Keira was declared the victor, but I stubbornly refused to clap when I saw her self-satisfied smirk. I wasn't a mind reader, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that this chick only cared about being the best and wanted everyone around her to know it.

I hope Serena knocks that smug grin off her dumb face, I growled internally. And if she doesn't I will, I decided, mentally preparing myself to offer her a challenge right after the contest ended to humiliate the bully in front of all her fans.

Both Keira and Serena won their next matches as well and I sat forward with nervous anticipation as the two girls came out to face each other in the final battle to determine the contest winner. Keira's fans were going wild and I frowned heavily, standing up and cupping my hands around my mouth.

"YOU'VE GOT THIS SERENA! SHOW HER HOW IT'S DONE!" I yelled in the loudest voice I could muster and I smirked with satisfaction when several of Keira's fans turned and glowered at me.

Several small voices could be heard chanting Serena's name from the front of the audience and looked over to see Samantha leading the chant with her students enthusiastically. I grinned broadly, making a mental note to thank her when we saw her later tonight, and then turned my attention back to the battle.

Keira didn't even hide her disdain when Serena released her Absol and Shinx and I could feel my shoulders tense up at how blatantly she was looking down on my friend. You better hope Serena creams you, brat, or else you are going to have to deal with me, I growled inwardly at her.

Marian said her little spiel before exiting the battle area and starting the countdown. When the battle officially started I was surprised when Keira made the first move and Serena watched her calmly.

"Take out the weakling first with a double Bulldoze attack!" she ordered her pokemon and both her Infernape and Pangoro grinned while looking at Serena's unevolved and unassuming Shinx. Before they had even lifted their big bodies up into the air to begin their ground type move though, Serena grinned.

"Shinx, use Magnet Rise, and Absol use Bounce!"

I pumped my fist and watched with glee as confusion descended across Keira's smug expression. Several Ooo's could be heard from the audience as Shinx triggered his new move, trickling liquid-like drops of electricity down his body to blend with the normal crackling electricity around his feet. Pangoro and Infernape were jumping up and down in sync, creating small waves of dirt to rush toward Absol and Shinx. Just before the first wave hit them though, Shinx's Magnet Rise ignited and he shot up into the air, hovering several feet above the ground and safely avoiding the super effective ground type move. Absol also waited until the last second, but before the wave of earth reached him he sprang up into the air, jumping so high he nearly touched the ceiling.

Wow, whoever trained Absol before Serena taught him some awesome moves. I wonder why they would abandon him when he's got so much potential, I thought to myself as Keira's face mellowed into a look of mild annoyance as her points took a nice hit from Serena's pokemon avoiding her attack, not to mention the beauty of Shinx's Magnet Rise.

"Fine, dodge her Absol and use Blaze Kick and Brick Break on Shinx," Keira said with a hmph. The two fighting types dashed forward, although Infernape was much faster than the hulking Pangoro.

I watched with pleasure as Shinx crouched down and wagged his little butt in the air in an obvious taunt at the two pokemon. Shinx had improved by leaps and bounds with using Magnet Rise and his confidence was through the roof. As Infernape's leg caught fire and began streaking through the air towards the little guy, he angled himself backward and easily swooped underneath Infernape's leg, running along his electrified floor that almost looked like a magic carpet as easily as if it were solid ground. Shinx shot straight towards the hulking Pangoro, using Charge to make his whole body shimmer with electricity and I could see Keira's points take another hit. Just before Pangoro was about to clobber the little guy though, a streak of white shot down from the sky, and I cried out in elation as Absol slammed into Pangoro's back, causing him to face plant into the ground while Absol stood regally atop him.

The battle wasn't over though, and I gasped when Infernape showed up out of nowhere and began punching Absol so quickly you could barely see his fists. Absol was sent flying back and Shinx followed after him, obviously concerned for his mentor. Infernape did not apparently have the same feelings of concern for his partner though as he mercilessly kicked Pangoro in the side, prompting him to laboriously get up off the ground after being slammed with the super effective flying attack.

Absol also picked himself up, growling threateningly towards his opponents and I couldn't help a shiver going down my spine. Man, that is not a pokemon I would ever want to have ticked at me, I thought with a slight grin. Keira looked a little shocked that Absol had actually gotten up, but she quickly doled out her orders and I was proud as Serena followed up immediately with a solid command of her own.

Apparently, Keira had decided to go after Absol instead of the slippery Shinx, and both Infernape and Pangoro were once again on the offensive, rushing toward the injured Dark type. Absol followed Serena's instructions and I watched with a grin as his horn glowed and he sent four streaks of psychic energy racing towards Infernape. Shinx chased after the Psycho Cut attack, lighting his fur up with electricity as he charged across his magnetic floor straight for Pangoro.

I scowled when Infernape managed to dodge Absol's Psycho Cuts with a back handspring, landing him within inches of Absol. I knew Absol was strong, but after the Close Combat attack he had just gone through I wasn't sure he could take any more. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets though when Absol's body shimmered briefly and suddenly Infernape was completely surrounded by growling Absol's, all with their shoulders hunched threateningly, looking like they were ready to tear into his throat at any second.

Infernape obviously hesitated at the predicament he found himself in and the entire audience gasped when Shinx dodged Pangoro's swatting paws and slammed directly into the larger pokemon's chest. Pangoro let out a wail as some of the electricity from Shinx's Magnet Rise washed over and into Pangoro, zapping him several times as he fell onto his back, looking confused and in pain. Shinx was slowly sinking back toward the ground, showing that his Magnet Rise was close to burning out. I couldn't help but move my attention back to Infernape and the half-dozen Absol surrounding him, though.

Under Keira's direction, Infernape let out a roar and spewed a powerful Flamethrower at the closest Absol, and began spinning in a circle. The Absols began to melt away when hit by the attack and I cheered loudly when one Absol peeled off from behind Infernape and brought his forepaw directly into Infernape's gut, hitting him with a Sucker Punch, which wasn't usually effective against a Fighting Type, but was enough to cut off his flamethrower and toss him back a few paces.

I could see Keira gritting her teeth at the scene of both of her pokemon laying on their backs on the stage. Neither of them was down for the count though, and they were both pushing themselves back to their feet. Serena's clear voice rang out with both determination and obvious confidence in her pokemon's abilities.

Shinx zoomed back to stand by Absol's side, using the last of his Magnet Rise's strength to float gently to the ground once he had reached him. Then he lifted his head and let out a strong, purr-hum. Blue musical notes began to appear in front of Shinx, floating gently out towards both Infernape and Pangoro, and then Absol released several weak but extremely fast Psycho Cuts that propelled the music notes speedily toward the recovering pokemon. The two fighting types growled in annoyance at the musical notes as they burst against them, beating them back as they continued to come at them like a wave.

Suddenly a buzzer rang out and I blinked rapidly, glancing up at the big screen to see that Keira's points had zeroed out while Serena still had half of her bar to her name. The battle stopped and Keira's picture faded away, while Serena's picture grew to fill the whole screen with the word "Winner" spelled out underneath her. She ran out and hugged Absol and Shinx tightly, looking relieved that they were both still standing.

Keira, however, looked like she was contemplating murder. I was just reaching for my belt to call on one of my pokemon for backup when she turned her back on Serena with her head held high and stalked away. Her Infernape and Pangoro followed after her, both looking shocked at having been beaten, and I sank back into my chair and clapped enthusiastically for Serena as she accepted the Snowpoint Ribbon from Marian.

She won! I texted Aryan as Serena took her bow on stage and I smiled happily, wondering how life could get better than this.

A/N It was kind of interesting to write about a contest from an audience member's perspective... I'm not quite sure if I did it justice, to be honest :P Hopefully you enjoyed learning a little more about Aryan and Bree's background though. And yes, Keira was based off of Bea, but to be fair I found her fan art on Pinterest even before the games came out so I actually didn't know she was a gym leader in Sword & Shield until after I had introduced Keira's character :P My bad