The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 55

The third day of the Grand Festival arrives, and everyone has already gone to the Main Stage stadium. Serena picked up Braixen and Poliwag after they spent the night in Nurse Joy's care, and now she is waiting for the festival to continue with May, Dawn, and Piplup. Her hands are balled into fists, and she looks down as if she is deep in thought, which easily catches May and Dawn's attention.

"Take it easy, Serena. You're looking tense," May says.

"I know, but I'm trying to be prepared for what to expect," Serena says. "After you told me all of those stories about Harley, I want to be prepared for anything he tries to pull on me."

"Yeah, but you're not going to help yourself by being edgy the whole time," Dawn says. "You gotta think positive. Show him that anything he tries to pull on, you will never work. Come on, Serena. Let me hear some deep breaths."

Serena hesitates before she takes a large breath and slowly lets it out. She turns to her friends and smiles.

"Thanks, guys," she says.

"Anytime," Dawn says with a cheerful smile. "Besides, if you beat Harley and I win my battle, then we will get to face each other in the semifinals, and I want you at your best when that happens."

"Piplup," Piplup says, agreeing.

Serena's smile turns into a smirk and says, "Don't worry. I will give it my all and beat you. That's a promise."

Dawn smirks back before turning to May with another teasing grin.

"So I couldn't help but notice your first battle today is with Drew," she says teasingly.

"What? I'm going against Drew already?" May says, shocked.

Serena looks at May confused and says, "You mean you didn't notice on the tournament bracket? His battle yesterday was right after yours, so you two are going to battle right after Dawn."

May blinks before she puts the pieces together in her head and gasps.

"I am going against him," she says. "I guess I've been so caught up on making sure Serena is ready for Harley that I didn't notice."

"That's not good."

May nearly jumps off her seat to find Drew standing next to her with his hands in his pockets.

"I was hoping you'd noticed that you're already thinking of a strategy against me," he says.

May panics for a moment and stands up before she claims, "Don't worry, I've been working on my strategy since Johto. So I'm ready for whatever you throw at me no matter what."

Drew looks at May skeptically for a moment before he flips his hair and walks away.

"I hope so," he says dully. "I wouldn't want you to disappoint me."

May frowns sadly and sighs as she sits down. Serena looks at her friend sadly

"You really want to impress him, don't you, May?" She says.

May nods robotically.

Serena opens her mouth to speak again, but she is suddenly interrupted by an attendant.

"Excuse me, Serena. We're about to start in a couple of minutes, and you're battling first," she says.

"Okay, thank you," Serena says as she stands up and turns to May. "Don't worry about how Drew is going to feel. Just think about the battle at hand, okay, May?'

May didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually, she turns to the honey blonde girl and says, "Right."

Serena smiles back before she follows the attendant down the hall, where she can already see Lilian and the judges entering the field. The crowd is cheering at the sight of them before Lilian steps up and turns on her microphone.