In Lava [Pokémon Watty Awards, 2016 2nd Place Romance]

Chapter Sixty-Four

The day of the Grand Festival had arrived and May couldn't have been more nervous. She was now sitting in the Slateport City Pokémon Center. The entire city was packed full of trainers and contest lovers alike. She had seen large crowds before, but this was the Grand Festival. It was the biggest event next to the Hoenn League and thousands of people were going to attend.

The doors to the center opened and in walked Lisia. May smiled as she saw her friend. Lisia smiled back and hurried over to hug May tightly.

"Today's the day!" Lisia squealed excitedly.

"I know! I'm so nervous!" May exclaimed, pulling out of the hug and placing her hands on her hips.

"I just want you to know that I am proud of you May. When I saw you in the crowd I knew you'd be great. And look at you now! You're competing in the Grand Festival! We get to be on stage together!" Lisia declared.

May beamed happily. "Now that's something I look forward to. I just hope I make it through the qualifiers. I hear the judging for this event is a lot more harsh than the others," May sweat-dropped.

"Well...my uncle is a judge. There's also three nurse judges along with Mr. Sukizo and Raoul Contesta. They don't pull any punches," Lisia chuckled nervously.

"That sounds nerve-wracking," May laughed. "I'm not sure how well I'll be able to face that kind of pressure."

"Oh you'll be fine! Remember your first contest? You won the crowd over so quickly. You even made Chaz envious. But like hell he'd admit that," Lisia giggled.

May snickered at the thought. "Sounds like him. Anyway, thanks. You cheered me up like usual."

"No problem! So, I've been meaning to ask, what's up with you and Derrick, hmm?" Lisia grinned.

"Uhhh...see I-" May began.

"Did you two-?"

"No! I mean...not...recently..." May trailed off.

"But you did," Lisia smirked.

May gave a defeated sigh. "Yeeeessss. We started going out after our fourth contest. I wanted to get to know him better before we became an item. Well...after our fifth win, one thing sorta lead to another and...you know?" May stated, playing with her hair as she awaited Lisia's reply.

"That's awesome bestie! Though I admit, I would have thought you'd have done it after the Fallarbor contest. With the looks you were passing him, I'm surprised you two didn't end up in a locked dressing room," Lisia said with a devious grin.

"Lisia!" May whined, crossing her arms and fake pouting.

"Oh come on, you know I'm right," Lisia giggled.

May smirked and chuckled. "Yeah, you are."

The doors to the center opened once again and in walked Brendan. He was dressed in casual attire. He wore black cargo shorts, a short-sleeve white button-up top and sneakers to match. His signature hat was atop his head and his gauntlet was secured as usual. Beside him was Courtney. She had on a red spaghetti strap top with black capris that hugged her curves. She wore a pair of red and black wrist bands and boots.

"Brendan, Courtney!" May exclaimed, rushing over to embrace the two.

"Been a while May, how are you?" Brendan inquired.

May released them from the hug and smiled. "I'm well, just nervous is all, considering the festival starts in a few hours."

"Is it really that close to starting?" Brendan inquired, looking behind the counter to see the poster for the event. "Wow, one o'clock huh? Well, you have three hours, you should probably get ready," Brendan stated.