Rose Petals in the Wind

Bonus Mini-Chapter: Story of the Shadows

{Harley's POV}
MY OH MY, WHAT A DAY!

Sweet little May has been caught in my web once again. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

Oh wait, I need to tell you idiots what happened. I scared May off with one little glance. She looked so small when she ran off with her tail between her legs, scared and intimidated by me. It was so funny. I bet she's so nervous she jumped off this ship. One rival down.

Wait, rival? No no, I don't have rivals, only weeds in my path in need of clearing. Of course I don't acknowledge May as my equal in Contests. No, absolutely not.

Anyway.

The only thing more pathetic than May right now? This sea of people waiting to battle this rich little granny, who's apparently on a winning streak, downstairs. I ought to teach her a lesson. Watching her Espeon telekinetically slam something that's starting to look less like a Pokémon and more like a squishy hairball into the floor six times was so not entertaining. Pathetic. At least use an Umbreon, you idiot!

After around ten seconds of waiting give or take, I ran out of patience. I walked to the front of the crowd and challenged the Lady directly. The guy originally next in line yelled at me. I ignored him. He gasped, then fainted. Typical.

The Lady reluctantly agreed to battle me since I had already sent out my Banette. I made quick work of that sloppy purple cat and the blob of DNA she sent out afterwards. I'd never seen that Pokémon before, but did it matter when it was just as much of a joke as its trainer? How in the world did no one, except I, manage to beat her?

In the midst of the wide-eyed crowd gawking at me, I made eye contact with a woman, at least I think, dressed in a similar fashion as me. Some people call it cosplay, I call it style, something that many can only dream of. She was part of the, stupidly small, crowd cheering me on.

Only her face was visible, as most of her figure was covered by her zipped up greyish-black leather coat, with yellow lining on the hood, sleeves and hem. It had a silver zipper and silver beaded pull strings for the hood. Moving my gaze downwards, I could make out pants that are black on the right leg and pink on the left, and knee-high silver-trimmed combat boots. (Inspired by the coat of Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts)

When the woman waved at me, I noticed a hot-pink leather glove on her right hand. Interesting choice. She looked like a human-sized Banette that's trying to hide an obsession with pink. The space around her was completely empty, since her appearance scared a lot of bystanders, as if everyone had collectively decided to stand at least 6 feet away from her. (Social distance, everyone. Stay safe from COVID-19)

I loved her already. Oh, and she was walking towards me right now.

"Hello, Harley." She said, "My name is Celina and I'm a huge fan." Without letting me answer, she whipped out a Polaroid and snapped a picture of me and her. The photo printed out instantly, and I was soon staring at my dumbfounded face and her beaming smile. She pocketed the picture immediately.

Yeah never mind, I don't love her. I didn't mind the rudeness, I minded having my picture taken without my consent. 

"Lady, I'm flattered, but I'm getting slightly annoyed right now, so if you could just-" I got cut off.

"Oh, of course. In fact, why don't we sit down and get some food together?" She asked, pulling me away.

We got seats at a French restaurant, and she ordered us lunch. Then, we talked. A lot. It was weird. Somehow I chatted up a storm with her. This girl actually had a decent brain in her head. I got along with her, which irritated me to no end.

So.

When she left her seat to refill her drink, I reached over and grabbed her wallet.

Did I just steal from her? Yes. Yes I did.

I figured she was too gullible to find out until we were both far away from this ship. Plus, even if she did found out, she should consider it as supporting her favourite Coordinator.

I waited for a long time. Where in the world was she?

I wasn't going to wait anymore, so I reached for my stuff and realised it felt lighter than usual. I took a glance at it and instantly the issue made itself clear. One of my Pokeballs were missing. Banette's.

I whipped my head around to look for that wicked thief. Her own fashion unfortunately betrayed her, as I spotted the hem of her jacket whip around a corner and I followed it around the ship, screaming her name like a maniac. When we both ran out of breath, we mutually decided to talk on a nearby balcony with relatively few people.

"The truth is," Crossing her arms, she confessed, her face the colour of her glove. "I have seen you in Contests on TV before, but I'm not a fan. Not just a fan, anyway."

"Yeah, I had a feeling." Celina raised an eyebrow.

"Let me finish." She said firmly. I only did so out of the last shreds of respect I still had for her. Sighing, she continued. As she talked, I could tell she didn't have many friends or people to confide in. I might've been the first person she had ever talked to about this particular topic.

"My family rejected me for loving Pokémon. I love Ghost-types in particular. Most of my relatives couldn't care less about my interests. Or me. I was cast out when I was old enough to take care of myself. I've been living on the streets ever since."

Celina tossed Harley Banette's Pokeball nonchalantly, before saying anything else.

"I know you probably hate me now, but please don't tell anyone about this. I only boarded this ship to meet the Ghost-type specialist and Gym Leader of Ecruteak City."

"Fine. How did you do it? How, how dare you by the way, how did you commit your crime?" Harley spat out his question like a fish bone. "I know you did it during our lunch date."

Sighing, Celina whipped out another Pokeball.

"Come on out, Drifloon." The Balloon Pokémon materialized next to her and waved a string arm.

"I'd love to have a full team of Ghost Pokémon some day." She continued, "If I had gotten away with taking your Banette, I would have loved using it in battle."

"Then catch your own."

We were both silent for a long time. Celina started breathing heavily. Don't tell me she's hyperventilating or I might actually scream. Or maybe this room doesn't have good ventilation.

"Go." I finally say.

"Go?" She asks.

"Go! Before I regret it." Celina doesn't think twice before darting out the door.

{Narrator's POV}
Harley screamed internally. What just happened? He was not used to the amount of emotions churning inside him right now.

He was frustrated and mad, both at Celina and at himself for being tricked and for feeling sympathy for her. Even if he related to her, having come from a rather poor background himself, it was no excuse to get soft. Only his own interests mattered, no one else's. At the same time, he liked and respected her, as no one before her had even come close to his own level of malice and trickery.

Harley looked at the photo he had swiped from her earlier. He clenched it in his hands before shoving it in his photo album of people he hated.

Right now, he needed to vent. He needed something to punch or kick or beat up and release all that pent-up anger, frustration whatsoever. He needed a battle.

After lingering in the main room for a while, Harley spotted May passing by. Smirking maliciously, he walked over to her, eager for a fight.
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{A/N}
Here's a bonus chapter, 'cus why not. I love May, and her relationship with all of her rivals is precious and so intriguing. Out of them all, Harley, in particular, interests me a lot. I love hating him and I love loving him.

Bit of a writing flaw of mine, but this might end up turning into a continuation of "May and her rivals" or May's story in general, instead of pure Contestshipping content😅

Quick side-note: why do all three chapters as of now have an 'S' in the title? I'm weird.