A/N: Written for the Advancers AdvShip Unofficial Fanfic/Fanart/AMV Contest.
Plane engines whined and whirred in the distance as part of the background noise at the regional airport. People come and go through the doors, leave by the planes. Sometimes, they never look back. It's a place of goodbyes as much as it is a place of reunions.
'Reunions, huh?' thought Ash. 'How many of those have I gone through?'
Too many for him to count. He could still clearly remember his younger days as a trainer, traveling through Kanto for the Indigo League, Johto, Hoenn, and so on.
He recalled all his runs through each league as he passes by the airport, not entering, Pikachu sleeping in his backpack, but pausing at the side of the airfield. He remembers hopping on a plane, so many times with naught but his clothes, his bag, and Pikachu.
'How many times does this make it?' he wonders as he rests on a bench.
He was in Hoenn for his third attempt at the league. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. After all he travelled mostly alone ever since Kanto runthrough #3.
He wasn't alone at the bench, though.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Not since you caught me in Kalos."
May was a regular sight for Ash during his most recent attempt at Hoenn, or she was when he actually made it to the League. After all, he traveled alone, has traveled alone ever since Kanto #3. That didn't mean he never encountered his previous friends along his travels. Having traveled to the League location to support her brother Max, May was no exception.
"Which Kalos was it, again?" she asked. "You've been traveling so much lately that I've lost count."
"As have I, I have to admit," he lied, but not completely. He could remember each experience in each region well-enough with some error, but what he has lost count of were his defeats. Time and time again. "How's Max?"
"I dunno. Haven't seen him since the champion's inauguration ceremony," she said. "He was hoping that his hero would be there to see his crowning moment."
"Maybe I was there, maybe I wasn't. Either way, he doesn't need me to be his hero anymore." He was there, in fact. He was that one person in the crowd who didn't cheer or clap. He was there, offering his silent praise, doing his best not to draw any attention. He didn't stick around for the speech, though.
"That's cold of you, don't you think?" On the contrary, May is smiling softly.
"Not as cold as Paul used to be."
"I wouldn't know."
Ash recalled the last time he met May, where he was competing again in the Kalos League and coincided with her own adventure through the reason. He met her at the airport, where he had gotten down from the plane.
"Fancy seeing you here, Ash!"
"So, what's next?"
"Home." There was no hesitation in Ash's reply. "Just home."
May raised an eyebrow at this and turned to her former b—
...She'll leave the thought at that. Turning to Ash.
"Nothing else?" she asked. "No other leagues to conquer?"
"Been there and done them all so far, from Kalos to Alola." Ash felt a bitter taste creeping into his throat. "Never won once."
Silence passed between the two trainers as the planes from nearby continue to taxii and land on the runway, and people come and go. May did not know what to say, is there was anything she could have said.
Ash, meanwhile, sat there thinking. Thinking of what he would do next, if he would bother going out again. He had a home, a house that waited warmly. He had Pallet Town, where his mother wasn't getting any younger. Professor Oak would be retiring soon, he owed it to the man to visit him in his more difficult years ahead. Maybe it was time for him to settle down from the trainer lifestyle. Maybe permanently. Give the empty building he called a home a permanent resident.
"So you're just giving up?" May eventually asked.
Ash responded to her with a frown. "You call it giving up. For me, it's calling it a day."
"What happened to that trainer who taught me to keep going at it, no matter how much you lose?"
"Simple. I lost more times than I could count."
Ash sighed.
"Don't get me wrong, May. For all I've worked for, I've had a really good run. I met You, Misty, Brock, all my friends, all my Pokemon…"
May looked at him with interest.
"As it stands, however, only a few people can claim to have beaten the league, any of the leagues. A lot of trainers can claim that they participated, or made it to the top four, or even had the chance for regional championship just within their reach, just one battle away."
Pikachu slept still in his backpack.
"Right now," he continued, "I just want everything to be more than winning a battle or losing a battle. That's how it's been ever since my second run through Kanto. Even I can get tired of losing."
He reclined on the seat as may remained motionless beside him. The winds kicked up by the planes caused her bandana the flutter, and strand of his hair to sway into his vision. This was something that Ash wanted, even just for a little while. Sitting there. Being there.
May cleared her throat.
"Do you remember that day on the Blue Lagoon?" she softly asked. "The sun was out. Manaphy was still with us and we decided to go for a swim?"
Clear sea, blue skies. A stretch of saltwater is what separated the two trainers as their water pokemon took them on a tour of what lay under the surface. Corals of all colors and types creating a natural garden of beauty in the sea. Water pokemon swam about within coral and in the distance. Then, of course, there was the Luvdisc surrounding them. Heart-shaped, peaceful, beautiful. Of course, this was nothing compared to the sight of each other.
It was something that left them breathless, and not just because they were underwater.
"How could I forget?"
May smiled before pressing on. "Do you remember the Wallace Cup, that night?"
Stars shone brightly that night and moonlight glistened off the surface of the lake. Nocturnal pokemon flitted about in the lush green as two trainers stood on the balcony of a grand building. They were dressed plainly, in normal traveling clothes, but had an air of belongingness.
In their hands was a ribbon. Once shiny and pristine, now marked by a clean split down the center. Oddly enough, it only added more to the value of it. They each held a half and held it together.
"As if it were yesterday."
Now Ash was smiling too as May pressed onwards.
"Now, do you remember our night in Kalos?"
Ash's smile widened. How could he ever forget? Camping out in the wilderness, Fairy-type pokemon dancing under the starlight, and one of the most unforgettable experiences in his life.
"When I met you," May began, "You were nothing more than the guy who fried my bike."
Ash winced.
"But now, seeing you here after all we've been through, as someone who's watched all your major victories and defeats since we've met, I can tell you this."
She leaned closer to him. "You did win something. Something very important."
She closed the distance between them until their noses touched and their eyes met.
"You won my heart," she said and the softest voice possible. Smiling, she rose from the bench, hand outstretched to Ash, and the ring on her finger gleaming in the sunlight.
"Shall we go home?"
Ash smiled and sighed, absently fingering the identical ring on his finger before locking hands with May and allowing her to pull him to her.
"Let's go home."