Chapter 43

Jax being none the wiser about the misunderstanding he just created with Ally, was still staring at the pink-haired girl with the same shade eye color. Evelyn at a naturally slim, athletic build and was taller than most girls in the grade. Combined with the dimples on her cheeks when she smiled, many of the guys in class had their eyes on her after they saw that Ally and Jax were becoming closer. Feeling the not-to-subtle stare of one of her fellow classmates, Evelyn turned towards Jax and boldly started a staring contest with him! Amused, Jax didn't turn away but kept his sights trained only on her eyes. Ally, on the other hand, turned red but for a different reason than when she normally did.

As neither one seem close to blinking any time soon, the referee blew their whistle to rush Evelyn off the battleground since there were still battles to be had. Not wanting to lose, she kept her eyes locked with Jax as she walked off the stage. Sadly, she forgot that the platform was raised! Missing the step, Evelyn fell off the stage and closed her eyes on reflex fully expecting to eat dirt!

KYA!

Instead of feeling the hard soil beneath her, she felt something else. It was still hard and…was it poking her? Opening her eyes, she looked down to see what she landed on and saw that the thing she assumed to be the ground was…purple?

"Good job, Vioarr! You're like Prince Charming on a white horse saving the damsel in distress! Wait, you would be the white horse! HAHAHA!"

Seeing that it was a Nidorino that she landed one, Evelyn briskly got off his back and hopped to her feet. Dusting herself off, she looked that the boy who was currently laughing his head off, shook her head, and headed to where the rest of her friends were waiting.

The whole time, Ally was peeking off to the side trying to not see too interested in the interaction between pink and silver, but she couldn't help her curiosity! Sighing in relief when Jax summoned Vioarr to catch the falling girl instead of doing it himself, Ally then slapped her cheeks with both hands. 'You crazy girl! I thought we didn't care about him anymore! Hmph!' Yelling at her heart which reacted to Jax's slightest movements, Ally couldn't help but feel betrayed. It was her heart, but it was almost as if it didn't even belong to her anymore.

As the rest of the battles continued, it was finally around midday, so the staff called for a break allowing the students to rest up and eat a light meal. Jax thought that it was finally time to stop playing hard to get so he got up from the bench from strode towards the cute blonde. "Hey, is this seat taken?"

"Hmph!" Turning her head away, Ally tried her hardest not to let her excitement show.

Finding her current attitude to be extremely cute, Jax couldn't help but want to mess with her. "Well, seems like it's already taken. I'll go sit over there with Evelyn and her friends instead then." About to walk about, something pulled the hem of his shirt. Smirk!

"Y-you! Ugh! Why are you doing this to me!? Bad! You're a bad boy!"

"Aha. You're finally willing to talk to me?"

"Hmph! You're annoying! I didn't even do anything! You're the one who…who…ARGH!"

"Mhm. What exactly did I do, little princess? Was it…because I hugged you?"

Remembering the scene from yesterday, the blood rushed to Ally's head again turning her into a distant relative of a tomato. "Y-yes but not e-exactly! It's b-because my m-mommy was recording us!"

"Oh, ho. So you're saying it's okay to hug you when it's just the two of us?"

What's a shade of red darker than tomato? Whatever it is, that was now the shade on Ally's cheeks. Instead of replying, Ally just pulled Jax by the hem of his shirt and made him sit down next to her so the two can eat together. Not seeing the mood around the two, Vioarr sauntered over and started chatting with Jax.

"Hey, Brother! I'm done eating. Imma go visit that Nidorina from yesterday!" Saying so, Vioarr rushed off after destroying the good thing that was going on between the two. After finishing their light lunch, the duo sat down at the bench side-by-side as the rest of the matches continued.

Because of Jax's bold sacrifice yesterday, there were only seven students left to compete in the annual Battle Competition. But no matter how you try to split seven in half, it just doesn't come out to a whole number! Realizing this point, the staff adamantly told the student's that NO ONE would be fighting anyone else that they weren't listed for. After saying so, the students were forced to draw lots to see who the lucky winner would be to directly enter the quarterfinals. As the students took turns coming up to the stage based on their student ID number, it was finally down to the last two; Ally and Jax!

'Please let Ally draw the golden ticket! I don't want freebies! I want to prove my worth as a trainer!' Sadly for Jax, this whole lot drawing was rigged from the first place. After taking the brunt of the attack yesterday, Headmaster Leon could still feel the lingering effects and he was a veteran trainer! Jax was pretty close to the attack as well and being only 6 years old, Headmaster Leon wanted Jax to sit out a fight. In fact, Leon even tried to push the competition until tomorrow, but the teachers were adamant about finishing the event within these two days.

Arriving in front of the box, Ally reached inside and felt around in the box. Since the box wasn't see-through, she had no idea that a little compart was hidden at the top of the box! Digging around inside, she felt a piece of paper, pulled it out, looked at it, then turned and looked at Jax. She knew that Jax felt like he had something to prove and didn't want any freebies, but this was outside of her control. Shaking her head, Ally stepped off the stage and Jax replaced her spot.

'Whew. I don't know what Ally got but the other students didn't draw the gold piece of paper. Hopefully, little Ally was the 'lucky' winner.' With that thought, Jax reached inside not knowing that the paper he so didn't want was only now finally being released from its hiding spot. 'Click,' a piece of paper fell from atop the box and landed in a corner. 'I think this is the piece of paper.'