"Ash. Hey, Ash! Wake up! What will it take for you to simply wake up, anyway?" Since he hadn't stirred from her wake-up call for too long already, Iris decided to go physical; she grabbed one end of of Ash's blanket, and then pulled on it, hard, causing Ash to roll over and fall to the floor.

The young man bolted awake instantly. "Who died and made you my alarm clock?" he asked, irritated; however, he did get up from the floor. "And just when I was having a good dream, too."

"AND what is it about? Is it about food again?"

Funnily enough, Ash didn't even realize that was a stealthy insult. "How did you know that? You psychic or something?"

Iris stared at him, then she rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a good theory, but, sadly, no," she muttered. "It's just that you kept dreaming about the same subject over and over for the past few days." She then added, with a shrug and a shake of the head, "You're such a kid."

Glaring back at her, Ash quickly changed the subject. "And why did you even wake me up in the first place?"

All Iris had to say was, "It's breakfasttime." and only then did Ash realize that he was hungry. He instantly fled the room, leaving Iris in his dust. "He's such a kid," she said with a shrug of defeat. "Not even a thank you for the wake-up call."

Much to Iris' chagrin, when she made it to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria where everyone was gathered, the situation got caught in reverse: it was her who had to be called out. "You shouldn't make the food wait, you know," Cilan reprimanded her. "You really have terrible taste when it comes to waking up in the morning. Maybe you need a well-patented alarm clock or something."

"Nice to hear that from someone like you," Iris replied, while mumbling something else under her breath that neither Cllan nor Ash could catch.

Not that they were paying attention, anyway, Ash was preoccupied with something else. "What is that you got there, Cilan?" he asked, spotting the latter reaching for the morning paper, but not unlike the kind of newspaper Ash would usually see Cilan was reading these days.

Cilan knew that Ash was thinking about the difference, so he instantly explained, without even waiting for a question. "This newspaper tells us of events that are happening in other countries. For some strange reason, they only release it monthly. Why don't you give it a quick read?" He handed the paper to Ash. "You might see something from your hometown."

"Don't mind if I do." It was rarely a second in his hands, however, when he read something in the very front page which made him scream, startling his friends and making everyone in the cafeteria around them stare at him. "No freaking way!" Completely oblivious that he was now the center of attention in the entire area, Ash got out of his seat and ran out of the room, dropping the newspaper on the ground.

"What was that about?" Iris mumbled, while Cilan picked up the newspaper that Ash dropped. "He embarrassed us in front of a large crowd, again."

"It must have something to do with what he read here. Now let's see." He guessed which article was what caused Ash's outburst, and read the title out loud, enough for Iris and the Pokémon to hear.

The Highly Anticipated Wedding of Hoenn's Prestigious "Princess" to be held this Saturday

"That's a pretty long-winded caption," Iris muttered. "Yes, it's a main article, but still...too many bold lettering splattered on a single page..." She rubbed her eyes, since the font alone was straining for her (to be fair, it would be a strain to anyone).

"Never mind that. Now why would he go ballistic over this?" Cilan murmured to himself. "Enough that he hasn't even touched his food, too." Cilan being Cilan, he went for the most outrageous conclusion. "Don't tell me that Ash has a princess for a girlfriend? Talk about leaving us out of the loop, don'tcha think?" He and Iris stared at each other for a couple of seconds, before realizing how absurd that would be...for someone like Ash anyway. They both shook their heads at the same time. "NAH. There has to be another..." And Cilan leafed through the newspaper again.

Meanwhile, Ash by this point had already made his way to the phones, and issued an urgent long-distance call to Hoenn. So far, he couldn't get through; the news of the wedding kept the phone lines directed to Hoenn very busy. On his third attempt, Ash has decided to given up, and decided to make another call, this time for Johto. That call, which, fortunately, was much more successful, was done by the time Ash's friends, having finished breakfast first (they don't see the gravity of the situation like he does yet), have finally caught up to him.

"What took you guys so long?" Ash told them, without even turning to look.

"And what made you run off like that?" Iris retorted, taking a seat right behind him, arms crossed.

Ash didn't even answer her. Instead, he got out of his seat, and went on his way to the door. "I'm going to Hoenn. I HAVE to go there." He didn't need to look at their faces to know that they were completely taken by surprise. "I have to stop that wedding."

This caused Iris and Cilan to be more confused. For the first time, Cilan himself looked like he might explode. "And why exactly do you even have to do that? Who exactly is this princess to you?"

"And just how are you going to get to Hoenn anyway?" Iris added. "That's halfway around the world! And the wedding is, if we follow the International Date Line," Ash stared at her, "I'll tell you about it later...anyway, you have less than a day to get there."

Ash just grinned at her; he then gave them the thumb's up. "I already have thought about that."

But Iris still had a few doubts about the whole thing. "So maybe you did think about going to Hoenn." To herself, she thought, 'Which I seriously doubt...' "But come on. Aren't you pulling this a little too far? About...wait a second, you still haven't told us why you have to go to Hoenn."

"I'll explain everything when I get back," Ash promised, getting up to his seat abruptly. "Right now it's time for me to go. I'll call you when I get there." And he sprinted off again, this time out of the Center.

"You mean, IF you get there!" Iris called after him, even though she knows that he couldn't hear her by now. "You haven't told us how you're supposed to travel around the world in quick time, either!"

Wanting his opinion heard, Cilan cleared his throat to grab Iris' attention. "I'm sure that he's worked it out somehow. Remember that old saying, 'Love will find a way'?"

Iris stared at him. "I thought that, a few minutes ago, we already agreed that that will never be the true reason why he's going to pull a harebrained stunt like this? Just make up your mind already!"

"Actually," Cilan admitted with a small, acute shrug, "right now I'm not so sure myself. He does come up with the wildest ideas, though."

It was around mid-afternoon in Petalburg City, at the posh hotel where the wedding reception would be held. Instead of preparing for the wedding tomorrow, May was sitting on a comfort chair at the balcony of the 5th-floor room rented out for her, elbows on the railing, looking at the grounds below where preparations are underway. With her thoughts to herself, she didn't even hear her mother knock, let open the door. Heck, Caroline would've gone completely unnoticed for the whole thing, but she didn't want that; she wanted to talk with her daughter.

Only when Caroline tapped May on the shoulder and say her name did the latter finally snap out of her absentmindedness. "You still feeling nervous about tomorrow, dear?" she asked, knowing what was troubling her daughter.

"Why wouldn't I be? Why did he ask me of all people? There are better candidates for this than me. I don't even know if I'm ready."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. He chose you because you're perfect for the part. I know that this will be a perfect wedding."

May turned around to look her mother in the eyes. "I really hope so, Mother. I don't want to ruin this for everyone." She then gave herself a confident nod. "Alright. I'll do my best tomorrow. I'll make you and Dad and everyone in the wedding proud."

"That's the spirit, my girl. Now, how about a couple of refreshments before your rehearsal?"

May gave her thanks. As Caroline left to pick up those drinks, May looked out the window again, her mind wandering to who knows where. 'He's overseas, right? Over at some place they called Anova, or something, right? I wonder if news about this was picked up over there...'