Route 47

"You like them, Glaceon?" May smiled as she watched her Glaceon eat the Poké Puff with delight. Her Pokémon smiled at her and nodded.

She was once again in a Pokémon Center, waiting for her Blaziken and Wartortle, so she could go to the Safari Zone. Apparently it's just by the mountain at the edge of the city. May stroke Glaceon's dazzling fur, when all of a sudden, someone hugged her from behind.

"Oh, if it isn't my darling, May!" said a familiar voice.

May screeched. "Harley!?" She tried to free herself from his embrace.

"Oh, don't be so rude!" Harley said with a sarcastically sad voice. "We haven't seen each other for months! Now has my gingerbread-cookie doing?" He hugged her even tighter.

"I-I'm fine", she said with barely any air in her lungs. "B-but right now, you're suffocating me..."

Harley let go. "Oh, honey-bun, I'm so terribly sorry!"

No, you're not, May thought.

"Oooh, what are those cakes? They look delicious!" He pointed at the Poké Puffs.

"Those are Poké Puffs. It's food for Pokémon, coming from Kalos."

"Really, now? I heard Kalos is a fabulous region with beautiful places and marvelous- Excuse me, where do you think you're going!?"

"W-what? I'm not going anywhere, ehehehe..."

May was trying to sneak away while Harley went on about Kalos, but mission failed.

"You're really hurting my feelings now, May", Harley said with his eyes full of fake tears I thought you and I were friends now!"

"You... did?"

He sprung up to her, putting his face uncomfortably close to hers and grasping her hand. "But, of course! You don't see me as a friend?"

"Eh, uh, I don't know..."

A waterfall of tears escaped his eyes. "I even watched you compete in the Wallace Cup! Are you saying that was a waste of time?"

"No, but I mean..." May had no idea what to say, so she just sighed.

"Oh well", Harley shrugged and stopped crying immediately. "No hard feelings."

Well, he got over that quickly.

"So, anyway, tootsie roll, where are you off to now?"

"I'm thinking about going to the Safari Zone an-"

Harley interrupted her with a large gasp. "Reaaaally, what a coincidence! I'm going there, too!"

"Oh... Great..."

"It's perfect! Now we can spend some good quality time together to renew our friendship! Doesn't that sound fabulous?"

"Uh... sure..."

Not really...

So to the dismay of May, she and Harley went together towards the mountain. Harley went on and on about the Wallace Cup, saying how "absolutely amazing" she was and how "incredibly darling" she looked and how she was "super-uber-really close to win". May just responded with "yes" "I know" and "mhm"'s and waited for him to mention something for him to make fun of her of.

"So I guess you still only have three ribbons, May?"

There it was.

"Yes, still three", May sighed.

"Oh, hon, you don't have to sound so annoyed! But just so you know, I have four", he giggled.

"That's great, Harley."

"Yes, quite! And Drew has four ribbons, too."

May's heart skipped at the mentioning of Drew. "Oh, so you've met him recently?"

"Why, of course! He and I and Solidad saw the Wallace Cup together, you know", he smirked.

"Really?"

May felt all happy inside, knowing that Drew had took his time to watch her compete.

"Did he say anything?" May asked innocently.

"Oh, not much, honey. Whyyyy?" He looked at her with intense eyes.

"W-what? No reason! I just-"

"Ooooh, May, are you having some Drew-abstinence?" Harley squealed. "How adorable! Look at your face, it's as red as your outfit!"

She had to resist the urge to run away from him. "You know what? Let's talk about something else?"

"Sure", he smiled. "Like how Drew was totally checking you out in your contest-outfit!"

May blushed fiercely and groaned. This was going to be a looong walk...

After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at the foot of the mountain where the entrance to Route 47 was. A big cave with a big sign over it saying "Cliff Edge Gate". They went inside. Just by the entrance was a big lake to their left and by their right was a huge poster promoting the Safari Zone and an information desk, where a lady stood. Up ahead was a big staircase.

"Greetings, travelers", the lady shouted and waved at them. "Come over here!" May and Harley went over to the desk. "Are you two Pokémon trainers?"

"Why, of course, my good woman", Harley said. "I'm Harley, and this is my sweet friend May." He slapped May on the shoulder, almost causing her to fall over.

"Oh, how wonderful! I'm guessing you're going to the Safari Zone?"

"Yes", Harley said. "I'm hoping to-"

"Oh, that's great!" the lady interrupted. "The Safari Zone is the very best thing for trainers like you to find a new partner! Oh, it's amazing! Just take the stairs up there, and you'll soon find yourself on Route 47, where a lot of other fierce trainers like you are, and just follow the super-convenient signs and you'll be at the stupendous Safari Zone in a flash!"

"Wow, thanks, I-"

The lady kept talking, not listening to what Harley wanted to say. "This Safari Zone is like no other, it's even better! So many different areas to choose with different Pokémon for each area and you can even customize the Zone to your liking! Isn't that just incredible!?"

"Yes, tha-"

"Good luck, and have remember to have fun!"

The lady gave them the biggest smile she could pull off and May and Harley looked at each other, stunned over finding an even bigger talker than Harley himself.

They went up the big staircase out of rock and walked outside again, finding themselves at a road at the edge of a cliff.

"Oh, my", Harley gasped.

The road went along the mountain for them to follow. They kept on going, coming to a wooden bridge over a river just by a big waterfall.

"My, my, that looks dangerous", Harley said with enthusiasm.

"It doesn't look that bad?"

"No, hon, I'm talking about those two over there." He pointed at two people standing by the other side of the river. "Just preparing you for a battle, sweet cheeks."

"Oh..."

They went over and just as Harley had suspected, the two people went towards them. A boy and a girl, both of them a few years older than May and wearing matching outfits. Their hands were intertwined.

"Hi, there", the girl said. "My name's Eda, and this is my boyfriend Duff."

"Hello!" Duff bowed.

"Well, hello there, pumpkins", Harley tittered. "I'm Harley, and this is my darlinglove May."

He scuffed at May. "Excuse me? Darlinglove?" she snarled.

"What an adorable nickname you've got for your girlfriend", Duff said.

"W-wait, I'm not- We're not-"

"I call my Eda my moon sometimes! And she calls me her sun!"

"Aww, that's adorable! May, why can't we be more like them?"

"Because you're like ten years older than me?"

"Excuse you, I'm only nine years older! Rude!"

"Do you two cuties want to have a double battle with us?" Eda asked.

"Of course!" Harley squealed. "Let's go, pumpkin pie!"

May groaned. "Fine!"

Eda and Duff simultaneously tossed their poké balls, calling out an Onix and a Cloyster. For some reason it made Harley giggle.

"My, my, you naughty children", he sniggered.

May didn't even bother to understand what he was thinking, and instead called out her Munchlax, and Harley, still smirking, called out Cacturne.

Duff ordered Onix to tackle Cacturne, and Eda told Cloyster to use Water Gun on Munchlax.

"Munchlax, dodge it, then use Solar Beam on Cloyster!"

"Cacturne, darling, use Bullet Seed on Onix!"

Munchlax and Cacturne did as they said and managed to knock down their opponents immediately. It was almost disappointingly easy to May.

"Huh", she exhaled. "Great job, Munchlax."

She gave him a few of May's pink surprise before calling him back to the poké ball. Harley praised his Cacturne in his usual over the top way and then called it back.

"Wow, you two are a really powerful team", Eda said.

Even though we didn't do any team work... May thought.

"Why, thank you, darlings. You know, your choice of Pokémon is really... Amusing, to say the least", Harley giggled.

"Ehehe, you noticed that", Duff laughed nervously.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" May asked in confusion.

"Oh, no no no, you're way too young and innocent for these grown-up things, I'm afraid."

"Huh?"

"Oh, don't worry, honey. One of these days you'll understand", Eda chuckled.

They said goodbye to the young couple, but not until May had to explained that she and Harley definitely weren't a couple.

"Oh, no, May's already in love with another cutesy pie", Harley told them and nearly got slapped by May. "She's too shy to admit it, though", he added mischievously.

They finally arrived at the Safari Zone Gate after a long walk with Harley going on about how what a prude she was

It was an small village with its own Pokémon Center and everything. There were even market stalls with people selling unusual things. One of the market people called May and Harley over. It was and old frail man with squinted eyes.

"Say, young girl... Will you tell me what Pokémon you have on your party?"

"Uh, sure. Munchlax, Glaceon, Blaziken, Wartortle and Beautifly."

"Hm, a Blaziken you say... And what about you, young man?"

"Oh, I have a Cacturne, a Banette, an Ariados, an Octillery and a Wigglytuff!"

"Hm... a Banette. I see..." He opened a big chest, with multiple tiny pouches in different colors. "Ah, here we go."

He took a red pouch and a dark purple pouch and handed the red one to May and the dark purple one to Harley. May was surprised at how heavy they were.

"What are these?" May asked.

"Something called Mega Stones!" the old man explained. "It's a Blazikenite for your Blaziken and a Banettite your Banette. Let them hold the big stones, and it can unlock amazing powers. There's also a Key Stone with adjustable bracelets for you. You'll discover how it all works eventually."

"Why don't you just tell us now?" May asked.

"Oh, because I don't really know how they work", the old man chuckled.

"Oh, goodie", May sighed to her self. "How much?"

"It's free", the man smiled.

"Thanks loads, hon! Have a nice day", Harley smiled and blew a kiss. "May, darling, let's go to the Safari Zone now!"

May nodded, put her mysterious gift in her bag and waved goodbye to the old man.