Here's another holiday one shot. It mightn't be very good I did plan on writing one but forgot and had to rush this one out in about 3 hour from a 5 minute idea.

All the masks are typical domino masks unless I've described them differently.

Just after I uploaded this I noticed a mistake and I tried to edit it but it wasn't working so I had to delete this and upload it again.

Sorry for any trouble caused.

Enjoy the story.

Advance Halloween

All was quiet in Petalburg City but our story starts at the Petalburg Gym where a sixteen year old girl was hanging decorations. She hummed a happy tune as she worked but under her smile was a tempest of mixed emotions. May was in a strange situation, she was excited, angry and sad at the same time. She'd organised a masquerade Halloween party for all her friends and their families, if they wanted to come, but the one person she wanted to be there more than anything else hadn't replied to her invitation.

She knew he was far away in Unova challenging the Gyms and preparing for the League Tournament but he could've taken a few minutes to send a letter or make a phone call to tell her he couldn't make it. May sighed and put the finishing touches to the Gym's battlefield, she then took a step back to admire her handiwork.

There were webs scattered around the walls and in the corners with plastic Spinarak sitting on a few of them, carved pumpkins sat on the tables which had been set up for the food and for everyone to sit at while they ate. Pumpkins also sat the windowsills with candles flickering inside them, paper chains in the shape of Crobats hung from the walls and May had gone out and bought a few motorized Ghost Pokémon decorations, which flew round in a circle when switched on, that were hanging from the ceiling. Her Pokémon had helped put up the decorations in places she couldn't reach. May smiled, pleased with her work and looked to the clock to see the time. She saw that there were still a few hour till the party was due to start and walked out of the Gym to see if her mom needed any help with the party food.

"Mom, do you need any help with the food?" May called as she entered the kitchen and saw her mom standing at the counter making sandwiches.

"Have you finished all the decorations already?" Caroline asked. May nodded her head and quickly explained the types of decorations she'd put up. "Well if you want to help, can you butter the bread while I put the fillings in and cut them?"

"Sure mom." May replied and picked up the butter knife and started to do as her mom asked. Caroline noticed that while May was smiling there was a sadness in her eyes, which hurt her just from looking at it.

"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked.

"What do you mean mom?" May replied looking up from the bread.

"Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad, why do you think that?"

"I can see it in your eyes and a person's eyes never lie. All your friends are coming tonight it'll be fun, tell me what's wrong, maybe I can help." May sighed in defeat, her mom could always see right through her.

"Not everyone, Ash hasn't replied to my invitation. I know that he's in Unova and busy with the league and everything but it wouldn't have taken long to send a reply saying he couldn't come. I miss him mom, he's my best friend and we haven't talked to each other since the party his mom threw when he came home from Sinnoh."

"I'm sure he would've been here if he could make it. Maybe his reply just got lost in the mail, you need to remember something," Caroline turned and cupped May's face, she smiled and said, "Ash cares about you just as much as you care about him. He wouldn't want you to be sad the day of your party so concentrate on the positive things. You get to see Misty, Brock, Dawn and everyone else so smile and let's finish making the food." She smiled and kissed May's forehead. May returned the smile and carried on preparing the food, when they finished May saw that there was just over an hour left before people would start arriving for the party so she went to get herself ready.

While she got changed into her costume she couldn't help thinking about how Ash wouldn't be there, he was the link they all shared, without him she wouldn't have met Brock, Misty, Dawn or anyone else. I didn't seem right that they all get together and not have Ash with them. She sighed again as she finished getting changed putting the last few touches to her costume before standing in front of her mirror to see how she looked.

May wore a dress similar to the one she wore in Rota but instead of a high neckline it dipped slightly to show a little cleavage, the dress was mostly pink with a white jacket over the top. The jacket had short sleeves with small pink bows stitched on the ends of the sleeves and the bottom half of the dress looked like it had three different layers each slightly longer than the one before, the first two were a light pink, the first stopped mid-thigh and the second fell to just below her knees and the last skirt that was a deep red in colour. A Beautifly bow was attached to the back of the dress at the waist and she was wearing a pair of white high heels, they were high enough to stop her dress trailing across the floor but not too high for them to become uncomfortable.

May had straightened her hair, letting it cascade down her back and as a last minute thought she'd made a small braid which fell on the left side of her face with a small red bow at the end of it. She placed a silver tiara with a blue crystal in the centre on her head and applied a small amount of make-up to add emphasis to her natural beauty. Giving herself a quick twirl May was happy with the way she looked but felt that something was still missing. She opened her jewellery box and a smile formed on her soft red lips, she gently lifted out her most prized treasure. When she was travelling she kept it safe in her bag but when she was at home May would always put it in her jewellery box. It was a contest ribbon, well half of one, it had a small orange semi-circle with a spiked yellow semi-circle around it and a pink ribbon which had white edging attached to the back. It was her half of the Terracotta Ribbon which she had won with Ash, it was a symbol that wherever they were, they would always have a part of each other with them.

May found a simple silver chain in her jewellery box and threaded it through the loops of the ribbon before hanging it around her neck. She turned back to the mirror and gave herself a satisfied smile. If Ash can't be here in person then this ribbon lets a part of him be here with us, with me. May thought. She had planned on confessing her feeling to Ash during the party but now she'd have to find another time to do it. The door-bell rang and May went to answer it after picking up and putting on her mask, which was pink with a red border around the eyes. When she got downstairs and opened the door she was greeted by a Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, 3 Playboy Buneary and the Phantom of the Opera.

"Hi May," said the Mermaid. She wore a pink bikini top and a long green skirt which had a fish tail that trailed behind her. She had green eyes which were behind a cream mask with small shells decorating it and long ginger hair which fell across her shoulders in soft curls.

"Misty, it's great to see you again." May said giving her 18 year old friend a hug. Misty returned the hug and when they released each other she turned and grabbed the Phantom by the ear dragging him away from the 3 Buneary.

The Phantom wore a black suit, white shirt and a black cape which had a red inner lining. He wore a white mask which covered a quarter of his face, he had been staring at the 3 Buneary until Misty pulled him away. If that wasn't enough of a give-away then his tanned skin, brown spiked hair and nearly closed eyes told May exactly who he was.

"Brock, you look great." May said giving him a hug as his ear throbbed slightly.

"May, you look great too." He replied. Red Riding Hood stepped forward and smiled.

"Thank you for inviting me May, it's been years since I've been to a Halloween party." She said.

"That's not a problem Mrs Ketchum." May replied.

"I hope you don't mind but I brought some of Ash's Pokémon with me to keep yours company." Mrs Ketchum opened the picnic basket she had a part of her costume and May saw a collection of Pokéballs inside.

"I don't mind, I think it's a great idea. If you talk to my mom then she'll show you were the other Pokémon are." May smiled, happy to know that she'd be able to see Ash's Pokémon again and she knew that her own Pokémon would be happy to see them as well.

"May, these are my sisters." Misty said pointing to the 3 Buneary, "Daisy, Violet and Lily." The each wore the typical Playboy Buneary costume (AN just look up what a playboy bunny looks like if you not sure, I don't know how to describe the body suit part of it without it sounding like a full suit), right down to the small cream fluffy tail and the ears, they also wore small black masks which had white borders. Misty's sister waved to May and went into the house, May closed the door and saw her mom, dad and brother standing there in their costumes.

Caroline was dressed as a witch, Norman had dressed up like a Slaking but Max's costume made May burst out laughing. He wore a black short sleeved t-shirt under a sleeveless blue hoodie with a light blue hood and semi-circle on the front, black fingerless gloves with a green band round the wrist, a pair of light blue pants and blue trainers. The last part of his costume was a red hat with a black section on the front with a green half Pokéball symbol on it and a Pichu sitting on his shoulder. Max was dressed like Ash was during their trip round Hoenn and the Battle Frontier. Max had won a Pokémon egg during a battle tournament which had hatched a few weeks ago into Pichu.

Misty, Brock and Delia chuckled when they saw what Max was wearing, Max walked off and sulked for a few minutes before Caroline made May go over and apologise. Time went by quickly with more people arriving, Dawn, her mom Johanna and Zoey had come with them. Zoey had dressed like a Gallade, a pure white mask around her eyes and she'd dyed her hair dark green except for a strip down the middle which was light green and spiked up at the end. Johanna was wearing a pale ball gown, had a crown on her head and a pale blue mask with a gold border, Dawn had gone all out with her costume though. She wore a white mask with a small section of light blue just above her nose which had 3 point at the top and the part of the mask that covered her nose was yellow. Her hair was straightened and flowed down her back, she had a light blue long sleeved top on which has two white circles on side by side on her stomach, light blue pants and yellow boots. A dark blue cape was attached to her shoulders. The rest of Dawn's face was painted white and her lips were painted yellow. She had dressed up like Piplup, who she carried in her arms.

Solidad, Drew and Harley came next, May had only invited Drew and Solidad but somehow Harley had found Solidad's invitation and decided to invite himself. Drew wore a white three piece suit and white mask with a red rose attached to his lapel, Harley was wearing his usual Cacturne inspired clothes and simply added a green mask with a dark green border. Solidad had come to the party dressed as Nurse Joy which got Brock's undivided attention until he saw what Nurse Joy had come to the party dressed as, she was wearing a police uniform and had restyled her hair to look like Officer Jenny. Brock started to feel faint at that point and had to go lie down for a while surprising Misty and Max who thought they'd need to drag him away, after Brock went to recuperate the door bell rang again. When May answered it she was greeted by a Pokémon Ranger and a pirate, it was Gary and Tracey. May had invited them even to the party even though she didn't know them that well.

"Hi, May." Gary said, "Thanks for inviting us, Grandpa said thanks for inviting him but he couldn't make it cause he's in the middle of writing a research paper about how poetry can effect the mental growth of the bond between Pokémon and people."

"That's okay," May said, "His work's really important." She moved out of the way to let them in, they were the last people to arrive. May looked out of the door turning her head from side to side, trying to see if Ash was on his was but there was no-one around, she sighed and slowly closed the door. She walked back to the gym and looked at everyone having fun, though there were a few people she didn't recognise. She assumed that someone else had opened the door while she'd been talking to someone, one was a man she thought had come dressed as a Pokémon but she didn't recognise which one he was meant to be, he looked like a green monkey wearing a mask where the top half was green and the bottom half was a golden brown. May thought he might've come as a Shiny Mankey, one of the others was a girl with a mass of purple hair and what looked like some sort of tribal dress, she had lightning bolts painted on her face and a purple mask which had a gold border around the eyes and the edge. May thought that their costumes were the reason why she didn't recognise them, there was one other person she didn't recognise but she couldn't get a clear view of them, all she could see was that they wore a dark blue wide brimmed hat and a dark blue cape.

A couple of hours later the party was in full swing, everyone was having fun but May still felt sad. She walked out of the Gym to get some fresh air, she stood looking at the stars and remember the wish she was making on the millennium comet but missed the final night.

"Ash, I miss you." She whispered to herself as she clutched the Terracotta ribbon to her heart with both hands, feeling a single tear roll down her cheek. She lost track of time as she remembered all of the adventures she'd had with Ash and all of the little things he did that made her feel the way she did. His smile, his unruly hair, the way he could always cheer her up no matter what and how he had saved her from drowning in the Temple of the Sea by putting her in the Phantom's escape pod while he went to put the last crystal back in the Sea Crown.

"May, can I talk to you for a minute?" a male voice asked behind her. May turned round and saw Drew standing there with a bottle in his hand, It looks like a bottle of beer May thought, Harley must've given it to him.

"Sure Drew." She replied, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I wanna…I want to tell you how I feel." He slurred, taking a few wobbly steps towards May. She moved backwards not sure what Drew would do since he'd been drinking.

"Drew, why don't we go inside and sit down where we talk properly?"

"No it needs to be right here, right now." Drew said staggering forward, "May, I want you. I love you and I want us to be together now." He took another swig from his bottle.

"Drew, I'm really flattered but I don't like you that way, there's someone else." May told him taking a few more steps back as she tried to move around Drew so she could get back to the Gym.

"No!" Drew shouted, his voice even more slurred, "You can't reject me, I'm Drew Larousse and I get what I want." He lunged forward trying to grab May. May turned and cried out before running into the trees which surrounded the Gym trying to get away, she went as fast she could but her shoes made it difficult, she grabbed the front of the dress' skirt and lifted it so she didn't trip over it. Drew chased after her and was quickly gaining on her, after a couple of minutes he reached out and grabbed her arm making her loose grip on her skirt. She stepped on her skirt and fell forward hitting her head on a tree, dazing her as she felt Drew flip her onto her back and loom over her.

"See," he slurred menacingly, "I always get what I want." Drew started to kneel down, leaning over May as he tried to kiss her. She tried to beat him off but the blow to her head was making her feel faint, her vision started to turn black when she saw a shape over Drew's shoulder. The shape reached out grabbing Drew's shoulder, pulling him away from May and turning him round. The shape and Drew started arguing but May couldn't make out what they were saying as she clung to consciousness, Drew swung a punch at the shape and missed, the shape lashed out hitting Drew in the jaw sending him to the ground. Drew didn't get back up, the shape then moved towards May and brushed her hair away from her face before gently picking her up bridal style. May was still scared and struggled against the shape but eventually lost her fight to stay awake and passed out.

When May opened her eyes again saw the ceiling of her bedroom, she was laying on her bed and her mom was sat in a chair next to her. Slowly May lifted herself up so she was now sitting on the bed.

"Mom," she said, "What happened? I remember being outside looking at the stars and talking to Drew then it's all blank." Caroline sat on the bed next to May and stroked her daughter's hair.

"Take it easy dear, you've been unconscious for a couple of hours. Drew told you how he felt and when you rejected him, he attacked you. You fell and hit your head on a tree, Nurse Joy said you'll be okay but you need to take it easy for a while."

"Did anything else happen?" May asked her voice breaking, not wanting to voice her thoughts out loud. Caroline wrapped her daughter in a hug, rocking her gently.

"No, nothing like that, don't ever think like that. One of the Pokémon saw you running away from Drew and got help. The person they found followed you and stopped Drew from hurting you."

"How did I get back here?"

"The person who stopped Drew carried you back, told us what happened and brought you up here. Your father, Brock, Gary and Tracey went to get Drew, Officer Jenny came by about an hour ago and took him away."

"Who was it that saved me?"

"Why not go and find out, he's outside calming the Pokémon. They're all worried about you." Caroline replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she stood up and watched as May shakily got to her feet. "Remember what I said May, take it easy. Don't rush yourself." May nodded and picked her mask up off her bedside table and she put it back on, it was then she realised that something was missing.

"Mom, where's the necklace I was wearing?" she asked.

"I don't know dear, it must've fallen off while you were running, we'll go out to try and find it in the morning."

"No mom, I put my half of the Terracotta Ribbon on it. I need to find it now." May said frantically.

"May, calm down." Caroline said putting a hand on May's shoulder and pulling her into a hug, knowing how much the ribbon meant to her daughter. "After you thank the person who helped you we'll go and look for it, We'll even get the Pokémon to help. Okay?"

"Okay." May replied once she had calmed down and with help from her mom she started to make her way downstairs.

As May walked through the Gym she could feel everyone looking at her, she stopped and looked around. Everyone suddenly turned away and started talking amongst themselves, Dawn gave May a nervous smile and waved. May smiled back and carried on walking to the door that lead outside.

When she was out in the fresh air she started to feel a little better and made her way to the Pokémon, some of them she didn't recognise though Ash's Pokémon seemed to be getting along with them. Standing facing them was a person in a dark blue costume, it was the person May had seen earlier.

"Excuse me." May said suddenly feeling very nervous. The person turned around and May saw that he was dressed as Sir Aaron, he looked like he was 18 years old and quite muscular. He was wearing a midnight blue mask, edged in gold, which covered most of his face leaving his mouth the only part visible apart from his eyes. "I wanted to say thank you for helping me. I don't want to think about what might've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"It's not a problem," The man said, "You should thank the Pokémon they're the ones who saw what happened and came to get help." May turned to the Pokémon and smiled.

"Thank you for doing that. I'm really grateful." The Pokémon smiled at her as the man reached into his pocket.

"I think this might be yours." He said holding out his hand, in it was May's necklace complete with the Terracotta Ribbon. It was a little dirty but May easily brushed the dirt away and placed it round her neck again.

"You found it. Thank you." May said. The man scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't find it, he did." The man pointed at one of the Pokémon.

A small Pokémon walked forward and smiled at May, he had a round white head with dark blue ears, a brown nose and black eyes, the rest of his body was a light blue except for his arms, feet and tail, his arms were white and his feet and tail were dark blue. There was a beige shell stuck to his stomach which he patted proudly.

"Osha." He said before the shell fell of his stomach and rolled towards May. May giggled and knelt down as she picked up the shell, handing it back to the small Pokémon.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"His name's Oshawott." The man answered as Oshawott focussed on putting his shell back in place. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," May replied as she stood up.

"What were you doing outside, away from your party?"

"I wanted to get some fresh air and have a little time alone."

"Why?"

"When I decided to throw this party I had another reason for doing it." May said looking at the night sky that twinkled above her. She didn't know why she was telling the man this but she felt safe with him and that she could finally say out loud what she had been holding in for years.

"What reason was that?"

"There's a friend of mine that I haven't seen for a while and I miss him. I was planning on telling him something that I've been keeping secret for a while." May looked at the man, "You remind me of him, in fact seeing you dressed like that reminds me of when we went to Rota, that was when I first knew. I'd thought about it a lot before then but that's when everything made sense, that's when I realised."

"Realised what?" The man asked, sounding nervous. May took a deep calming breath, this was the first time she would say it out loud, she had wanted to say it to Ash first but for some unknown reason she felt the need to say it now.

"That I love him." She said smiling as she looked to the night sky hoping that somehow, someway Ash had heard her, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that," The man said as he lifted his hand to his face taking hold of his mask, "but why couldn't he make it?"

"He's in Unova and couldn't make it, I didn't get a reply from him but it probably got lost in the mail."

"Are you sure?"

May turned to look at the man again and saw that he'd taken his mask off, standing next to her was Ash. May grinned and threw her arms around Ash's neck hugging him tightly.

"You made it." She squealed, she then remembered what she'd just said. "What…er…" she started to say but was stopped when Ash put a finger on her lips.

"May, I feel the same," he said with a grin, "I love you too."

May pushed Ash's arm away and jumped at him wrapping her arms around his neck again, crashing her lips against his showing him exactly how she felt. Ash was shocked at first but soon relaxed and put his arms around May's waist, holding her close as they shared a blissful moment in each other's arms. The Pokémon cheered and celebrated by sending attacks into the air to create a fireworks display, causing everyone to look outside to see what was happening. Ash and May separated when a flash went off, looking over they saw Caroline and Delia each holding a camera, the new couple turned red.

Once everyone has teased, congratulated them and stopped Brock from crying because Ash got a girlfriend before him they left the new couple to have some time together.

"Ash," May said as she rested her head on his shoulder, " why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"When I got your invitation, I called the Gym and your mom answered. I asked if I could talk to you but she said that I should surprise you, so she kept it a secret that I was coming. I hope you don't mind but I brought Iris and Cilan with me, I'm travelling around Unova with them."

"I don't mind their seem like really nice people and I should've guessed that my mom would have something to do with it."

"So," Ash said nervously, "What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going back to Unova tomorrow but I don't want to leave you." May was quiet for a few minutes before a smile crept across her features.

"Well there is something we could do." She said.

"What's that?"

"I could come to Unova with you."

"That's a great idea May but will your mom and dad let you?"

"Of course we will." Came a female voice from behind them followed by flash of light, Caroline and Delia were stood behind them with their camera's again. May stood up and gave her mom a hug.

"Thank you." She said happily and she ran back to Ash and grabbed his hand, "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Ash asked.

"You're going to help me pack."

"Okay but I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Who's Max supposed to be?"

The End

And that's the end of that.

Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think.

Until next time

Basic Trainer