A Date with Destiny
Chapter One:
Welcome to the Future!
"Hey Brock, did'ja hear?" Ash and company—that is, Brock and Dawn—were currently on their way home from the Sinnoh League, and had chosen to stop for a short lunch break before making their respective ways back to their separate home towns. Dawn and Brock both turned to their friend, wondering what he was referring to exactly. "May gave me a phone call yesterday and told me that she placed second at the Johto Grand Festival! Is that awesome, or what?" Immediately, both companions perked up.
"Wow, May got second? That's so cool!" Dawn commented, thinking about her own second placing in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. "I was kind of hoping she'd win, though, you know?" Brock just grinned.
"Well, with competition like Harley, Drew, and Soledad, it's still a job really well done to make it to second place. Did she tell you who won?"
Ash shook his head, "Nah, it was a really quick call, so after she told me she got second place, she didn't really have a chance to tell me all about it. I think she said she was catching a boat back to Petalburg City to see her family." Pikachu gave its two cents from Ash's shoulder before finding interest elsewhere. Brock nodded, soaking up the information. Suddenly, Dawn jumped up from her seat, catching the attentions of her two male friends.
"Hey guys! Don't you think it'd be a good idea to go and see her? You know, as a surprise congratulatory visit! I was just thinking of heading to Hoenn anyways to enter in the contests there, so it'd let me kill two birds with one stone and we'd get to see May!"
Ash nodded excitedly, jumping off of his own seat and slightly startling his Pikachu, "That's a great idea, Dawn! Not to mention I can tell her about how I did in the Sinnoh League. How about you, Brock? You gonna come with us?"
Brock chuckled, "I don't see why not. It'd be a refreshing experience for all of us." Dawn and Ash cheered audibly and were already prepping their departure.
"Guess what, Pikachu? We're gonna get to see May again! Won't that be cool?" Pikachu gave an equally excited cry from its new perch on Ash's shoulder as said trainer and his friends dashed out the door to catch the nearest boat to the Hoenn region.
"I can't wait to see May again! Maybe this time I'll get to learn how contests are in Johto since we got interrupted last time," Dawn squealed as she, Ash, and Brock walked towards the quaint Gym-slash-home that belonged to the Norman, the Petalburg gym leader, and his family.
"And it'll be so much fun catching up! We haven't seen her since the Wallace Cup, after all!" Ash piped in, Pikachu mimicking its trainer's enthusiasm. The small group made their way to the front door of the house, Brock having been bestowed the honor of knocking on the door. From outside, Ash and company heard muffled voices from seemingly different ends of the small house until one grew louder and closer to the door.
"Don't knock again, I'm right here!" The somewhat muffled, thus barely recognizable, voice shouted from within as the door swung open to reveal the person they had been making the trip to see. May stood before them, surprise and shock, though lacking any negativity, evident. She was dressed in her Johto-wear, sans the head scarf and fanny pack, and her expression of surprise quickly shifted to that of unbridled joy and cheer.
"May/Dawn!" Came the simultaneous voices of the two girls as they shared an enthusiastic embrace before pulling away after a second or two. Ash and Brock only grinned widely as Pikachu jumped into May's open arms for a shared embrace of its own.
"It's great to see ya again, May!" May smiled brightly at her first travelling companion and first mentor in Pokemon as Pikachu still lay in her arms.
"I could say the same thing to you guys! What're you doing here anyway?"
Brock stepped in, "Ash told us about you getting second place in the Johto Grand Festival, and we all decided to pay you a visit and congratulate you on making the Finals." If it was possible, May's smile stretched even more.
"Wow, thanks! C'mon in, I wanna hear all about the Sinnoh Grand Festival and the Sinnoh League, too," May chirped, stepping aside to let her friends through the door. Norman, Caroline, and Max shared greetings with Dawn, Brock, and Ash as they all settled comfortably in the living room and exchanged stories of their adventures since they had all last seen one another. Ash detailed his getting into the Top 4 in the Sinnoh League and his fierce battle against Paul—while also giving a description of his purple-haired rival to those who didn't know him—while Dawn shared her own experiences in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Partway through the storytelling, Norman had gotten up to cater to some trainers stopping by to challenge the Petalburg gym leader and Caroline had gone to get some errands done.
"Seems like you guys have been really busy," May commented after the stories had been told, and the two returned with a "You bet!"
"Tell us about the Johto Grand Festival! I've been dying to hear it ever since Ash mentioned it," Dawn begged, looking expectantly at a giggling May.
"Well, you guys probably could've guessed, but it was really tough. Harley, Drew, Soledad and I ended up being in the Top 4, so of course we all battled against each other. I had to battle against Soledad, so I was really worried that I wouldn't make it to the Finals, but after a really grueling battle, I managed to win because the timer ran out. I was so relieved that I couldn't even hear the crowd cheering around me! It was really crazy," May recounted, earning her several approvals from her friends.
"Yeah, it was one of the best battles I've ever seen!" Max interjected from beside his sister, the awe in his voice noticeable. "But the best battle was in the Finals. Man, that was one heck of a battle!"
Ash turned to May, his voice curious, "So, who'd ya end up battling in the Finals? Harley or Drew?"
"I have a feeling it was Drew, huh?" Brock said, a grin visible on his face as May happily nodded.
"Drew's battle against Harley was really awesome, too, but he knocked out Harley's Pokemon before time ran out. I almost thought Harley was going to find a way to turn the battle around, but he wasn't able to in the end."
"Are you kidding me? Drew won that battle by a landslide!" Max disagreed from his end. "Harley looked like he was gonna win at the very beginning, but about a minute in, it was obvious he didn't stand a chance."
"I guess I didn't notice that. I must have been still getting over the shock that I beat Soledad," May admitted sheepishly, "but I have to say, that battle was nothing compared to the one in the Finals. Drew used his Absol and his Butterfree while I used Glaceon and Wartortle, and I couldn't relax for even a second the whole time! It was like my battle against him in the Kanto Grand Festival all over again, but much more intense since we'd both improved a lot. The battle went on until the timer ran out, but unlike the Kanto Festival, both of our Pokemon made it all the way to the end this time. The match ended in a really close tie with both of us having the same, small amount of points left, so we continued into Overtime. It was amazingly intense."
"No kidding. You guys were in Overtime for almost ten minutes! I may not have been in the crowd, but I think everyone who wasn't there could tell that the entire audience was on the edge of its seat the whole time. I bet everyone watching on TV was glued to their seat, too."
"Wow, that sounds so awesome! I wish I coulda been there to see it!" Ash exclaimed, pumping his fists as the idea of such a fierce battle energized him. Dawn seemed to agree, though she was a tad less psyched.
"Ash's right, that's amazing! Since you came in second, though, that means this Drew guy must've won, right?" May nodded, though not a trace of sadness or disappointment could be found on her visage.
"Yeah, but after a battle like that, losing to him really didn't matter all that much. We shook hands afterwards, and then the award ceremony took place. And, of course, the after party."
"Let me guess, Drew left early this time, too? Seems to be a trait of his to leave right after the Festival's over," Brock added in, his voice containing a somewhat implicative edge to it. Max caught on to what Brock was attempting to imply, and subtly grinned.
"Mm-hm. He told me he was going back home to LaRousse City before deciding on where he was heading to next."
"And I suppose he left you a gift this time, too?" Max casually but slyly tossed in to the conversation. A barely visible blush spread on May's face as she simply nodded, which made Dawn curious as to what they were talking about.
"A gift? What do you mean?" Dawn turned confusedly towards the other occupants of the room, from Max's snickering face to Ash's somewhat lost one to Brock's knowing grin. May had ever-so-subtly begun poking her index fingers together, being unable to bring herself to answer the question. Her younger brother just playfully nudged at their breeder friend and exchanged knowing glances.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that her rival seems to have a thing about giving her roses after stuff like this happens," Max replied with all the nonchalance he would use while talking about the weather. The inner romantic in Dawn seemed to suddenly overtake her as she squealed girlishly at the idea.
"Oh my gosh, that's so romantic!" She giggled, before something came to mind. "Wait, but, if he's your rival, why's he giving you roses?" May chose this moment to find her voice and force herself to stop twiddling her fingers.
"Well, the first time he did it, which was a really long time ago, he said it was for my Beautifly. I never really thought to question it after the first few times, so I just accepted them without asking. I guess I can't really ask him now, since I don't even know when I'll be seeing him again…" Dawn tsk'd at May, wagging her finger in a "no" fashion.
"C'mon, May! That's such a lame excuse! He was obviously giving them to you and using your Beautifly as an excuse! What kind of roses were they?" Instead of answering vocally, May produced the brilliant red rose from her fanny pack, which had been thrown onto the opposite end of the couch. Before May could pass it over to the blue-haired girl, it was swiped from her fingertips and underwent meticulous inspection by said blue-haired girl.
"A thorn-less red rose? May, do you have any idea what that means?" Dawn cried out excitedly, raising the single rose up as if it were the Holy Grail itself. Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn saw the particularly clueless look on May's face, as well as a raised eyebrow at the strange, worshipping pose the bluenette was in. She sighed in frustration, somehow delicately swinging the rose to and fro in front of May's bewildered eyes. "It means—"
"Prepare for trouble!" A womanly voice shouted from seemingly nowhere. If it were possible, May's eyebrow went even higher.
"A thorn-less red rose means…prepare for trouble?" Now it was the brunette's turn to receive odd looks.
"And make it double!" Came a more manly voice from a completely different direction, followed by a loud explosion in front of the house. It only took half a second for Ash to spring up from his seat, an agonized look on his face.
"It's Team Rocket!" The boy explained before dashing out the door, his friends in tow. True to his word, outside of the house stood the team of unbelievably incompetent criminals and their typical Meowth hot air balloon. The group took notice of a new mechanism in James's hands, and before the group of evil-doers could utter another word of their favorite motto…
"Pikachu, use Thunder on them!" In an instant, a flash of lightning swooped down and electrocuted Team Rocket in a burst of lights and loud noises, causing James to drop the machine in his hand and, against all laws of anything, sending the trio flying into the atmosphere.
"What's the big idea, Twerp?" Jessie screamed as she and her cohorts sailed through the air towards an unknown destination.
"We didn't even get to finish our motto," James moaned, though it lacked any real disappointment.
"I tink dey're gettin' tired of our motto."
"Or us, for that matter."
"Who cares? They're the good guys! They should have the decency to let us finish our traditional introduction!" And with that final proclamation, they disappeared from view in a twinkling. On the ground, Brock and Max took notice of the now sparking machine that lay forgotten after Team Rocket's blasting off. It did not explode, as was expected of most of Team Rocket's contraptions, and simply sat there, sparking dangerously with Pikachu's high voltage attack.
"That…whatever-it-is that Team Rocket brought with them this time looks like it's gonna explode any minute now. We should probably get it away from the premises," Brock decided, and the group knew that if Brock suggested it—granted it had nothing to do with women and wooing tactics—it was probably a good idea.
"Looks like it'll zap anybody who touches it. We should probably use a ground-type Pokemon to carry it," Max suggested, eyeing the zapped box intently. They all looked to each other, wondering which one of them had a Ground-type on hand until Brock pulled a Pokeball from his pocket.
"I have Sudowoodo with me, so I think that should work just as well. C'mon out!" He clicked the button on the pokeball, and in a flash of light, the Rock-type Pokemon materialized, crying a greeting to its trainer. "We need you to carry that machine over there somewhere into the forest where, if it explodes, won't destroy anything. Be careful."
"Sudo!" It said before trotting over to the contraption, which had suddenly stopped sparking. The adolescents stood what they believed to be a safe distance away from the object, in case it blew up in their faces. Just as Sudowoodo found itself reaching for the machine, it burst, and engulfed Sudowoodo and the teens in a wide radius of blinding white light, successfully causing them all to lift their arms up to shield their eyes. Dawn opened her mouth to try and scream for her friends, but found that her voice refused to come out, and her vision was practically nullified.
It was indefinite how much time they spent in the seemingly white space, but when they all came to, it was nothing as they had expected. The first to rise was Dawn, and the first thing she noticed was that they weren't in a dirt field anymore, and that they weren't facing a forest.
"Guys, wake up!" Dawn hissed to her friends, who all groggily sat up and yawned, as if they had all been asleep moments before. The sleepiness left them suddenly, and they were wide awake in only moments. Surveying the surroundings, they all decided on one thing: they weren't at the Petalburg Gym anymore.
"Wh…Where are we?" May asked quietly, the place they were in unfamiliar to her. They all seemed to find it unfamiliar as well because nobody answered her. It seemed as though they were in a small room, four cream-colored walls surrounding them. Along one wall was a small desk littered with pokeballs and some seemingly high-tech gadgets, as well as a few pieces of crumpled paper. Clothes lay sprawled on the floor in a disorderly manner and, in the corner, a twin-sized bed was placed. Before any of them could speak another word, rustling was heard on the bed as the blankets began to shift wildly and very quiet murmurs could be heard. They all froze in fear. As they looked at each other, Brock brought his finger up to his lips and motioned for all of them to get into a standing position as quietly as they possibly could. In a minute or two, they all found themselves tip-toeing towards the bed, their curiosity beating out their urge to run through the door and out of the building.
"Maybe we should leave…" Max whispered to his friends, although he, too, wanted to know exactly whose room they had unknowingly barged into. It was too late to agree or refute that comment, however, because the two girls and two boys were already crowding around the person lying on his or her side facing the wall. Through the layers of rumpled bed sheets and randomly strewn clothes, the first thing to catch their eyes was green. There were more mumbles as the sleeping person, who was now identified as having green hair, rolled over towards the crowding teens. In an instant, four pairs of eyes widened in surprise, shock, and disbelief.
"I-Is that…Drew?" May whispered harshly to her companions, forgetting to be as quiet as she intended due to her obvious surprise. The others had begun jumping at her to cover her mouth and shush her, but froze when they heard the sheets begin to rustle again, the stranger's eyes beginning to open.
"…May…?" Came a very low mumble as a large, calloused hand rubbed at his eyes. Then, it hit May that this guy looked too old to be Drew, though it didn't explain how he had the same green hair, the same emerald eyes, and knew her name. Not to mention his voice was too deep. The green-haired man blinked once, then twice—the group assumed it was to clear his vision—before his eyes took on a whole new, brilliant glow to them. From what they could see, the groggy expression in his eyes took an almost immediate shift to that of unbridled happiness, clear surprise, and something they couldn't identify. In that instant, none of them took even the slightest notice of the room's door come crashing down, nor did they hear the demanding voice that accompanied it.
They were too busy staring in utter shock as May was pulled into a rough kiss.