Dawn's POV

Over the past few weeks, news has spread throughout town about a ball within the main castle. I was beyond excited to go. That is if the other girls agreed to come with me.

Compared to the other three, I love going to events like these. I just loved the thrill of meeting new people and dancing around. Then there was Misty who completely despised social events.

In fact, Misty just hated anything to do with people.

But other than the news of the ball, there was news about something completely unexpected. After the King and Queen of the kingdom of Sapphire departed, their kingdom was overtaken. The note that had been in the murderers hand was a warning to all kingdoms about something that was rising. But no one seemed to care as everyone was too distracted with the upcoming ball.

At this current moment, all kingdoms were on edge. For now, the King and Queen were staying in this region before they went back to claim their own home once again. They were in charge of the ball apparently and were not allowed to leave. And right now, everyone was stressing over the ball all throughout town.

And that was exactly what I was doing as well.

"Misty, Leaf, May! Come here!" I yelled throughout the household.

The three of them came scrambling in the room and they ended up tumbling over each other. May crashed into the doorframe and slipped while Leaf tripped over her. Misty just straight up piled on top of the both of them. The landed as a heap on the floor while I stood in front of them desperately trying to hold in my laughter.

"Ouch." May gasped as she was crushed under both Leaf and Misty's weight.

"Get off me!" Leaf groaned at Misty who got up immediately.

"What's with all the commotion?" Ms Greenfield asked emerging from the other room.

"I'm so sorry Miss. These three were just being very clumsy." I explained with a grin while I felt the glares of the girls burning the back of my head.

"Oh that's alright. It happens." She said with a sweet smile before walking off to the kitchen.

"Now, what did you need us for?" Misty asked, helping the other two up.

"You've all heard of the recent announcement going around town right?" I asked slowly getting excited.

"Which one, the fallen Kingdom or the ball?" Leaf asked.

"The ball of course!" I squealed.

"And here we go." Misty sighed while rolling her eyes.

"So, can we go?" I asked jumping up and down.

"Nope." Misty answered immediately.

I glared at her then turned to the other girls who gave me thoughtful looks.

"I mean, I don't mind." May shrugged.

"Don't expect me to dance though." Leaf nodded.

Then we all turned to Misty who had her arms crossed and looked grouchy. We pouted and gave her puppy dog eyes. She stared at our faces for a while before sighing.

"Alright. Whatever." She said exasperatedly.

"Where have I heard that before?" I murmured to myself in thought not bothering to acknowledge the fact that Misty agreed.

The girls looked at me in confusion.

"Someone always used that phrase whenever I begged them to do something with me..." I pondered.

They turned to each other then shrugged and turned back to me.

"Well, so what do you want to do about the ball?" May asked me while snapping me out of my own thoughts.

I thought for a moment before snapping my fingers and grinning.

"Clothing!" I announced and ushered the girls out of the house.

"So, are you going to make them or are you going to buy them?" Leaf asked me.

"Make then of course. Only I make the best dresses." I said proudly.

"I guess we can't deny that." Misty said before groaning as we approached the shopping district of the town.

May adjusted her glasses slightly as she entered a shop with Leaf. Misty followed me to a fabric shop as I looked for what I would make the clothes with.

After I finished picking out all the materials I needed, I finally exited the shop. Misty was dragging herself behind me in exhaustion.

"Stop being so over dramatic." I rolled my eyes as she glared at me.

"I'm not being over dramatic. These bags are very heavy." She groaned as she slung the bag of fabrics over her shoulders, a ribbon roll slipping out of the bag.

I sighed and ran after the ribbon roll which was now rolling away. Then all of a sudden, a hand made me pause in spot. They picked up the ribbon roll and handed it to me.

"Um, thank you." I said gratefully before ushering Misty over.

I stuffed the ribbon back in one of her bags and I carried my own bags over my shoulders.

"Oh it's you again!" The guy spoke up while looking at Misty.

"Hello." Misty greeted calmly although I could see she was tired after carrying the bags over her shoulders.

I examined the man closely and realised who it was. It was the same guy from the forest that Misty and Leaf had met.

"Are you girls going to the ball?" He asked us, gesturing to our bags of fabric.

"Yep!" I said happily while adjusting the bags over my shoulder.

"I never caught your name by the way." He said looking at Misty with curiosity.

"Oh I'm so sorry. We must be on our way now. Goodbye!" Misty spoke quickly before dragging me away not giving him a chance to speak anymore.

I turned back around to see Alf join these five other guys before disappearing into the town.

"What was that all about?" I asked Misty who had a tight grip on my wrist.

"Nothing."

I looked at her unbelievingly before walking off to find Leaf and May. We eventually found the two sitting on a bench eating ice cream.

"You guys got ice cream? And without me?!" Misty asked as soon as we approached the two.

They paused what they were doing and stared at Misty, then at their ice cream before continuing to eat it. Misty just stomped her foot and pouted as she drooled over the dessert.

"Come on Misty, we'll go get some now." I sympathized before dragging her to the ice cream counter.

"One cookie dough ice cream please." I ordered cheerfully while flashing the shop owner a bright smile.

"A mango ice cream for me thank you." Misty ordered.

"Double scoop chocolate please!!!" Another voice behind us yelled at the counter.

The man behind the counter rapidly scooped up ice cream and presented us with our dessert which we immediately paid for. Then I spun around to see who the third voice was. A girl was grinning at me behind her hooded face.

"Hello there." She greeted me. "So, cookie dough huh?"

"My favorite ice cream flavor." I told her.

"So, what's your name?" The girl asked curiously.

I looked at her for a moment then wondered if I should tell her. I decided against all my negative thoughts and just did what I thought was right.

"My name's Dawn." I told her then suddenly regretting it as I realized that this was a stranger I was talking to.

"Dawn huh? That's a pretty name." She smiled sweetly at me.

"Thank you." I smiled back but felt uncertain if I should've told her or not.

"Hey Amethyst! The boys are this way." A voice yelled from behind us.

"What?" The girl, Amethyst, spoke in surprise.

A boy, a couple of years younger than me approached us and then out a hand on Amethyst's shoulder. Then I looked at him closely. He had the black hair and wore glasses.

"The boys are this way." He repeated then dragged Amethyst away. "I apologise for interrupting but we must go!" He yelled from the distance while Amethyst just waved at us.

I looked over at May who had her head down then once she heard the voice, her attention shifted from her ice cream to the source of the sound. Only to find that both Amethyst and the boy had disappeared already.

"That voice..." May said with wide eyes. "Sounds so familiar."

"Really?" I asked her.

"Yeah. I just can't think of who it belongs to. Maybe just someone I've met before." May said but she herself looked unsure of her statement.

"Well, it was a boy with black hair and glasses." I described to her. She suddenly looked at me with shocked eyes.

"No way!" She exclaimed. "It's got to be him. Which way did they go?"

"That way." I said pointing to the direction that they had gone then I looked back at May who had now stood up. "Whoever it is wont recognise you with the disguise though."

"You're right." May sighed and looked at her feet. "I can't risk giving it away just yet."

"What are you both talking about?" Leaf butted in.

"Oh it's nothing." May said before I could speak for her. I just nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." Misty said grumpily. I could tell she was still upset about the whole ball situation.

"Let's just go back so I can make these dresses now." I said with a small smile then picked up the bags and went back home.

Paul's POV

"When are Amethyst and Max going to get here?" Drew asked while tapping his foot impatiently.

"If they even come." I said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they won't back down at a chance to eat the town famous spaghetti everyone speaks about." Ash said while licking his lips. "I can't wait to eat!"

"I'm just glad we're off duties for the moment." Gary said while wiping his forehead like there was swear there. "And wearing a crown on your head all day is not exactly fun."

"Guys! We made it." Amethyst yelled as she paused in front of us to take a breath of air.

"You took your time." Brendan said while rolling his eyes.

Max stood by the side of everyone and just stayed there in silence. He looked deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, we got caught up." Amethyst explained. That's when we all realised what was in her hands.

"You got ice cream." Drew said, face palming at the same time.

"At least bring us next time." Kenny spoke up.

"What caught you up?" I asked in curiosity.

"More like who." Amethyst said before continuing. "I was speaking to this girl named Dawn at the ice cream shop since she got the last of the cookie dough ice cream. But I don't think she realised that."

My eyes widened as I heard the familiar name. "Her name was Dawn?" I thought out loud.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Amethyst said sarcastically. "Anyway, we didn't talk that much since someone pulled me away." She rolled her eyes and elbowed Max who just winced.

"We were going to be late." He said quietly.

"Speaking of late, we have to get to the Spaghetti restaurant!" Amethyst said with bright eyes before literally dragging everyone but Ash with her.

Everyone but Ash because he was already sprinting off to the restaurant at full speed.

"Dawn..." I kept repeating that name in my head over and over again. She was in the same town as me...

I looked over at Max who was still being dragged by Amethyst. He was still deep in thought.

"She looked familiar..." I heard him murmur.

Could he be talking about Dawn? Maybe he recognised her as a princess.

"Hey Max, you alright?" I heard Drew speak to the boy with concern, breaking us both out of our thoughts.

"I'm just fine." He replied with a small smile.

"Alright then." Drew said, clearly not believing him.

"May...." I heard him whisper under his breath. I raised an eyebrow.

Is he talking about the month or a person?

"We're here!" Ash announced as we stood outside a huge restaurant which was filled with many hungry customers.

Amethyst and Ash flung open the doors of the restaurant and their eyes sparkled with admiration as they say waiters carrying trays of different assortments of pasta. I just rolled my eyes at their actions as they practically begged for a table immediately to the counter who just sweatdropped and led us all to a table for eight.

What luck I have. I'm next to Kenny.

"Kenny." I said stiffly.

"Paul." He responded sternly.

"I hate you. So don't talk to me." I huffed and shielded my face with a menu.

"Wasn't planning to." Kenny replied before hiding his own face in a menu as well.

I glanced at Max who was just staring off into space.

What was going on in that mind of his?

—-

I'm so sorry for this chapter. I know I know, I could've done better. But for now, it's more focused on Ikarishipping.

But that's only for this chapter. I'm hoping to put more of oldrivalshipping and pokeshipping in soon. Maybe a bit of contestshipping.

This is also them preparing for the ball. This is more of like a filler for the book.

So basically, Kenny and Brendan are brothers in this book. Drew and Brendan are technically friends since Brendan is friends with Amethyst. Max is Amethyst's best friend. And that's about it.

THIS STORY IS TAKING A WHILE TO GET TO THE MAIN POINT. YOU SHALL SEE SOON.

Alright, goodbye now!!

- April

17th Feb, 2018