Hey guys, time for another update. Couple new characters get introduced this time around.
Hope you all enjoy!
After registering May for the Floaroma Contest, the pair found that they still had two days before it began, and thus decided to go out and spend the remainder of the afternoon training. May hadn't entered a single Contest in Sinnoh prior to this one, and so felt a lingering need to brush up on her skills. And although there was no Gym present in the town, Ash had found it difficult to turn down an opportunity to get some more training in, especially if it was with May.
"All right, Eevee, let's go!" May cried, tossing Eevee's Pokeball out before her. The capsule cracked open in midair, sending forth a blast of white light that quickly reformed into the shape of a small, brown, fox-like creature.
"Eeveeee!" Eevee squealed happily, shaking itself off after being in its Ball for so long.
"Hey, Eevee!" May greeted, catching her Pokeball from the air as it returned to her. "We've got a Contest coming up in a couple of days, so we've got to make sure we're completely ready for it by then, all right?"
"Eevee!" Eevee responded in affirmation.
"All right…then let's see you do a Shadow Ball!"
As Eevee reared back and fired a ghostly black-and-purple projectile from its mouth, Ash watched from the side with a smile on his face before turning and retrieving one of his own Pokeballs.
"Starly, I choose you!" He cried out, chucking the Pokeball high into the sky before a tiny black bird Pokemon was released in a similar fashion to Eevee.
"Staaar!" Starly cawed upon its release, spreading its small wings with delight.
"Hey, Starly!" Ash called excitedly. "You up for some training today?"
"Star, star!" Starly replied energetically, flapping its wings in anticipation.
"Okay then, let's get going! Fly straight up and use Whirlwind!"
Starly did as it was told, taking off in a steep aerial climb before slowing and furiously beating its wings while remaining in place, creating a large gust of wind that blew over the entire field that they had set up on. Dozens of small flower petals were dislodged from their parent and scattered to the wind.
"Nice job! Now use Wing Attack!"
As Starly charged one of its wings with white energy and dove low to the ground, Eevee burst out of the ground on the other side of the field, spraying a flurry of six Shadow Balls in a hexagonal formation.
"Good job, Eevee! Now use Dig once more!" May cried out.
Meanwhile, across the region, in the docks district of Sunyshore City…
A sharp, cool wind blew across the surface of the water in the harbor. It formed a small wave, splashing up against one of the many walkways connecting the docked ships resting in the port. The resulting nautical spray found its way to a pair of two trainers, causing one of the two to shoot their gaze to the side before continuing.
"Are you sure this is the place?" The youth spoke to her partner, the two of them stepping out of the ferry together. They both appeared around the age of seventeen or so. "This place looks pretty…well, pretty." She chuckled to herself at her own joke, noticing how the sunlight glinted and sparkled as it bounced off the many solar panels stationed around the city.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure of it, all right." The male responded knowingly, surveying the surroundings as well. "Sure enough to bring the both of us all the way out here like this."
"If you say so." The girl replied, shrugging – then, a second later, she winced in pain.
"Are you sure you're all right?" The boy inquired, glancing at her injury as she drew in her breath.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." The girl affirmed, managing a grin as the flash of pain gradually subsided. "Guess I just need to watch what I do…"
"Yeah, well, if we're lucky, you won't have to watch yourself for much longer." The boy remarked. "Remember, we're here to find out what caused that."
"Right, I know."
The boy nodded to her. "Then let's get moving."
"Nice one, Starly!" Ash remarked, having just witnessed Starly's Wing Attack shatter a small rock out in the field. But before he could call out another command, his attention was drawn to the side, where May and Eevee were still training as well.
"Now, Eevee, use Dig!"
Eevee responded by almost immediately halting the charge it had been running and digging a hole underground faster than Ash had thought possible.
"Now finish it up with Tackle, just like we practiced!"
Eevee emerged from the ground in a flash a second later, barreling head-first into the air before flipping forward and landing perfectly on all fours with a pose.
"All right, Eevee! That was great!" May remarked, running forward and cuddling her Pokemon in her arms as it happily returned the affection.
"Piika." Pikachu chimed, tugging on Ash's leg and snapping him out of his trance.
"Yeah." Ash replied, nodding. "She's really great, isn't she?"
They both resumed their training after that, continuing for another hour or so, but after a long day out in the warm sun, they were both ready to call it quits by the time the sky began to grow dark.
"Great job today, Starly. You deserve a rest." Ash said, recalling his newest Pokemon before wandering over to join May as she did the same.
"Good work, Eevee! I feel like you're ready for this Contest already!" She encouraged, before recalling her Pokemon as well and was joined by Ash.
"You ready to start heading back?" He asked her, Pikachu bounding up on his shoulder as he did.
She nodded, and the two began walking back toward the Pokemon Center side by side, so close that their shoulders almost bumped while they were moving.
They quickly discovered that nightfall in Floaroma Town didn't mean much to the local populace when it came to the image of their city. Almost all of the flowers that were mounted on a structure had a small light in the center that shone brilliantly when the ambient light became dark enough.
Ash and May spent some time admiring the lights display, especially May. Not too far from the Pokemon Center, however, while May was busy admiring a particularly impressive display involving some Illumise mixed in with the flowers, and Ash was preoccupied with watcher her, they turned a corner and bumped head-on into a strange someone they'd never met before.
"Ouch…" May mumbled, holding her nose with both hands. Although she had been walking at a leisurely pace, the other member of the collision had been moving at a significantly faster speed.
"Oh, man, I'm so sorry!" The stranger replied urgently. He had been holding a stack of five or six books, and, of course, had managed to drop all of them during the fall. He was hurriedly attempting to gather them all back up in his arms. "Are you both all right?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Ash answered, kneading his shoulder, which had received the brunt of the blow on his part. "May?"
"Y-yeah, I'm okay." May affirmed, removing her hands from her face a moment later. "Where were you going in such a hurry, anyway? And with all those books?"
"Oh…well, you see…I've been doing some research about Mount Coronet recently…" He began, stacking the last of his books back up and rising to his feet. He has short, black hair and a thin pair of glasses resting on his nose, and wore a dark gold button-up shirt with a black t-shirt underneath it, and simple blue pants.
"Mount Coronet?" Ash questioned, crossing his arms across his chest in confusion.
"You, uh…haven't heard of it?" The researcher replied, momentarily at a loss. Then he noticed Pikachu perched on Ash's shoulder. "You guys aren't from around here, are you?"
"Not really." May answered, chuckling. "By the way, my name's May."
"And I'm Ash."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Chance, I live just down the road from the Pokemon Center, which I'm assuming is where you guys were heading?" When they nodded, he continued, "Well, anyway, Mount Coronet is that giant peak you've probably been noticing off in the distance ever since you got here. It's pretty much visible from just about anywhere in Sinnoh."
At his words, Ash and May panned their heads over to the side, focusing on the enormous mountain range off in the distance for the first time. "Really? Mount Coronet, huh…" Ash mused.
"There's a lot of weird myths and conspiracies surrounding it. That's what I've been doing my research on lately."
"Research? Why are you doing so much research in the first place?" May asked as the three continued back down the illuminated street to the Pokemon Center.
"Yeah, wouldn't it be easier just to go there and find out the stuff for yourself?" Ash added.
"Well…maybe it sounds easier, to somebody like you." Chance answered softly. "The truth is, I don't really get out and travel that much. I prefer to just sit in my room at home and read about something rather than go out and see it…"
"Well, I can't say I know what that feels like." Ash admitted, shooting him a sad grin as they arrived at the front of the Center.
"I'm not surprised. You go your way and I'll go mine, I guess, and we'll both be none the wiser. Eh?" Chance offered, grinning at the two of them as he began to step away, edging further down the street. "Nice meeting you guys, though. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime!"
"Yeah, I hope so. Maybe you can tell us more about that mountain." Ash remarked, raising his hand in farewell along with May's.
"Bye!" Chance cried out, raising his hand in response before he disappeared off down the road.
"That guy was nice. A little clumsy, though." May spoke as the pair entered the Pokemon Center's main lobby.
"Yeah. Was it just me, or did he remind you a lot of Max?"
"Hmm." May replied, thinking about for a moment. "Now that I think about it…you're right."
The two ascended the staircase in the back and found their way to their two-bed room they were staying in. They began getting ready to turn in for the night. They dumped their packs against the far wall, removed their respective headgear, and so on. Pikachu took it upon himself to immediately find a suitable position on the floor.
Just before they were about to crawl into bed, however, May crossed the room and hugged Ash tightly.
"What do you think we should do tomorrow?" May asked, looking up at him from within their embrace as Ash wrapped his own arms around her as well.
"What do you think?" Ash responded knowingly. "More training, of course!"
"Of course." May chortled, nuzzling her head against his chest before pulling away from him and crossing back to her bed, Ash climbing into his own bed as well. "'Night."
"'Night."
Please R&R!
