The Mechanics of Hidden Machines

Chapter 1: The HM Hypothesis

In Ecruteak City, it was near-midnight and all of the residents of said city had all turned in long ago, while the night sky was clear as ever with stars shining brightly and the full moon in clear view. In the nearby Pokemon Centre in the centre of the city, all of the Trainers that were staying over for the night were in their rooms and were sound asleep which meant that all was peaceful.

That was, all except for May Maple.

What was May doing still wide awake at this unholy hour of the night? The answer was very simple: she was relaxing on her bed with her handheld system and playing one of her favourite games, which was, of all things, a Pokemon game. The name of the game was Omega Ruby. May loved the game like crazy; when she wasn't busy training her Pokemon for an upcoming Contest or looking around at the local shops of whatever town she was in, she had her nose and eyes on the game at every opportunity she got.

In fact, simply describing how often she would play the game as loving it would be the understatement of the century; if anything, it seemed that May was obsessed with the game, and from her view on the matter, she had every right to be. Everything about the game just worked, from the gameplay to the music, everything seemed to come together to make this brilliant gem of a game.

In spite of all of this, there was one particular feature that had caught May's attention as of late, and that was the Hidden Machines, or HMs for short. While she knew how the HMs worked in the games, there was something she couldn't help herself wondering about, and it was one simple question:

How did the HMs translate into the real world?

Initially, May didn't think too much about it as she knew that things in the virtual world were very different from reality. But the more she thought about it, the more she became genuinely interested in finding out about it. And then, in that one moment of brilliance, a light-bulb seemed to go off in May's head and she sat up in her bed.

"I have an idea!" she happily commented, seemingly unaware of how loud she actually was. She then quickly covered her mouth as soon as she realised this, but much to her relief, no one else in the Centre heard her declaration of excitement. With this, she switched off her game for the night and placed it on her bedside table before making herself comfortable in her bed and turning in to sleep; she couldn't wait to share her idea with the others the next morning.

Amazingly, morning came sooner than expected as the sun rose over the horizon and in the Pokemon Centre, Drew, Soledad and Harley were waiting for May out in the hallway sitting at one of the tables; she seemed to be taking longer than usual to get herself ready. Though, this wasn't all that surprising considering that this was May they were talking about and she usually always took a long time in the mornings. "So, what do you think could be keeping May so busy this morning?" Drew asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as he was wondering what it could be that was holding up his former rival; for quite a while now, he and May had become very close friends and they now got along better than they ever did in Hoenn or Kanto. One could be forgiven for wondering how they even got along so well given their past history.

"I'm not sure. When I went to check on her to see if everything was okay, she said that she had something she wanted to share with us. I wonder what it could be, though." Soledad replied, placing a hand under her chin as she was wondering what May had to share.

Just then, the door of the room May was staying in suddenly swung open and the brunette in question stepped out fully dressed before closing the door behind her, even though to the others, it looked like she had accidently slammed the door; they were mostly glad she hadn't broken the door off its hinges yet, though Harley was still counting the days. "Hey, guys! Thanks for waiting for me." May cheerfully said, walking over to where the others were sitting.

"So, May, what was it you wanted to share with us?" Soledad asked, as she and the others turned their glances to May, all of them sharing the same thought of wondering what kind of idea May had in mind if she went through the trouble of organising this little meeting in the first place. May arrived at the table the little group were sitting at, and pulled the chair that was at the head back, before making herself comfortable in the seat and turning her attention to the small group.

"Everyone, thank you all for coming. The reason I called you here this morning is because I have something I would like to suggest. You all know how I'm usually up late at night playing my new favourite game?" May asked. There was silence from the others for at least a few seconds before the reception came through: Drew started to shake his head in silence, Soledad showed a smile of amusement and Harley could only stare with his mouth wide open.

"Let me guess: you've been up late at night playing your game again? This is the fourth week in a row now. I'm surprised you're still able to catch up on your eight hours at this rate." Drew stated, looking up at May in disbelief. "And I'm even more surprised you've been playing it for that long. It's almost as if you've become attached to it." Harley agreed, showing a cheeky smile before he burst into laughter while Drew and Soledad stared at him in bewilderment. May didn't seem all that amused by this comment, because she showed an expression of annoyance at Harley's immaturity.

"Oh, very funny, Harley!" May snapped. But unsurprisingly, Harley payed no attention to May's annoyance of him, because he fell off his chair laughing like silly at his comment. May stared at him in disbelief before she let out a sigh of dismay, as she began to wonder how she even had the patience to deal with his childishness. But she decided that it would be best not to dwell on that and turned to her attention back to Drew and Soledad, the only sane two in this group. "As I was saying, I have been playing the game for a while now. And there's something that came to my attention: the HMs in the game. I've started to think about how the HMs could work in our world, and so that comes to why I've called you all here. I'm going to run a few tests to see how the HMs work in the real world, and I would like one of you to be my assistant. So, who would like to help me out?" May asked, standing up from her chair and pacing around the table while Drew and Soledad followed their glance as they watched her, before she came back to the head and placed her hands on the table to explain her idea, and then looking around to see who would want to volunteer to assist her with her tests. She had already mentally ruled out Harley, so that left a choice between Drew and Soledad.

Silence filled the air as the group around looked at each other, like they were registering what it was that May had suggested. But then, the silence was broken by Harley, as he resumed his laughing frenzy as he had collapsed on the floor while May, Drew and Soledad turned their glances down to him, to which May showed an expression of annoyance; there was a reason she mentally ruled him out for this in advance. She then looked up at the other two, wanting to know what their response to her suggestion would be.

Drew and Soledad both looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before they turned their glances back to May. "Thanks, but I'll pass." Soledad kindly replied, before she stood up from her chair and walked off, making sure to avoid stepping on Harley in the process. May and Drew both watched her leave, before May turned her head to realise something; Harley had already made his answer clear, while Soledad had declined as well. But Drew was still sitting here with her, which could only mean one thing...

"Drew... you'll be my assistant?" May asked, with a bright smile slowly showing on her face. Drew stared in surprise upon hearing this, but before he could have a chance to answer, May jumped up from her seat in excitement. "Yay, that's great! Thank you so much! I knew there'd be someone would be willing to help me out even though they knew how crazy my idea was." May excitedly said, before she pulled Drew close to her in a hug to show her gratitude.

Drew stared blankly, blinking for a few seconds before he lifted his glance up to her, as he wanted to set the record straight before she got too carried away. "Uh, May? I didn't actually say I'd help..." Drew started, but unfortunately, May was too wrapped up in her joy that he would help to pay any attention to him, and then she let go of him before she started to twirl around the room from delight.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We'll get to try out the mechanic of the HMs and find out how they work, and if we get a chance, we might even try out the TMs. This is going to be the best next few days ever!" May happily commented, while Drew watched her in silence, wondering when she was going to give him the chance to speak and she would actually hear him out. But it seemed that chance wasn't going to come anytime soon as May finally stopped twirling around to turn her head to him.

"Thanks so much, Drew! I'll be down in the Ilex Forest so we can start our tests. See you there, assistant!" May said, before she turned and made her way out of the Pokemon Centre; she couldn't wait to get started. What she didn't notice was Drew standing there like a sitting duck, trying to register the fact that he had been signed on to this little 'idea' of hers and she didn't even give him a chance to have his say on the matter, not that she was going to pay attention to him to begin with.

"May..." Drew started before he noticed that she had already gone; she was probably on her way to the Ilex Forest by now. Drew stared in stunned silence for a few seconds before he let out a sigh of dismay and lowered his glance down to the floor, now fully realising what he had been signed up for against his will.

"What have I gotten myself into now?" Drew asked himself. But he figured that now wasn't the time to be worrying about his own troubles, as he had something else to worry about for now. So with that, he started to head off towards the Ilex Forest where he was sure that May would be waiting for him, looking forward to starting her tests.