May waited in the ready room. Ash was out on the stage battling Harley and she couldn't bring herself to watch. "Maybe I should debut my new Pokémon?" She thought aloud as she stared at the ball marked NT. "If I do then who's her partner going to be?" May fiddled with her bracelet as she thought.
"May?" A voice asked. "Do you have a minute?"
At the sound of her name she looked up and saw Drew. "Get lost Drew. I don't want to talk to you." She growled.
"But May, please." Drew protested.
"Hey. She said get lost so get lost." A voice called from behind him.
"Yeah. Beat it." Another voice said.
May watched as Zoey and Dawn walked over and stood in front of her. "We know your reputation Drew." Zoey stated accusingly. "Slateports heartbreaker."
"You know she's already taken. So why even bother trying? Can't stand to see someone else happy?" Dawn huffed.
Drew took a step back and raised his hands in defense. "No. That's not it. Please just…just…" when he realised they wouldn't believe a word he told them he sighed and walked off.
May picked a second pokéball from her holster. "Perfect." She whispered to herself.
"Time!" Marian announced from the TV in the ready room. "The match between Ash and Harley has run for the full five minutes. Let's have a look at the points and see who won."
May pushed past Zoey and Dawn to look at the TV.
"It's close!" Marian announced. "But it looks like our winner won by exactly one point. Our winner is Harley!"
Ash slumped his shoulders and then walked over to Harley and extended his hand. "Great match. I tried my hardest but I guess I should stick to badge quests."
Harley took his hand and shook it. "You gave me a bigger challenge than I thought. May's in good hands with you."
"Hows that for an act of Chivalry folks!" Marian called out. "Ash is a good loser as well as a good winner."
May sighed as she watched the exchange. "Now I'll probably have to face Harley too."
Ash walked into the ready room and ran over to May. "Guess I should have expected that huh?"
May nodded and hugged him. "So what are you going to do for the rest of the week?"
Ash pulled out a pokéball marked LA. "Get a headstart on her training. Maybe even head to Pastoria to get my next badge."
"You're not going to be here to cheer me on?" May asked.
Ash placed his hands on her shoulders. "I will be here. Just not in person. I'll be thinking about you though. Plus Pastoria is only half an hour west of here. I'll be there and back in a day."
May sighed. "O-o-okay. But please be careful. Remember, Team Galactic still wants our heads."
"I'll be as careful as always." Ash smiled.
"Will May Takatou and Drew please head out to the stage." The PA asked.
The two of them shared a quick kiss before they headed to their respective exits.
May walked out onto the stage with her pokéballs in hand. The spotlights catching on the sapphire jewels all over her outfit. The once long dress had been cut down to a knee length skirt. The veil was gone and the emerald in the circlet had been replaced by a sapphire of equal shape. The top had the middle cut off leaving her entire midriff exposed. The gems caught the light and absorbed it as tribal tattoos began to appear on her skin. Her bracelet lit up as the tattoos reached her wrist.
"A rather stylish entrance for May. Fitting for the girl known as the princess of Hoenn." Marian said as she shielded her eyes from the light. "Can we have five minutes on the timer?" She asked as the light died down.
"Well that was new." May whispered to herself as she looked at the tattoos on her arms.
"Points meters reset." Marian noted as they refilled. "Coordinators ready?"
"Yes!" Both May and Drew replied.
"Alright then! The princess of Hoenn versus the prince of broken hearts! A battle of contest royalty! Begin!"
"Roserade! Flygon! Let's put the princess in the dungeon!" Drew yelled as he called out his two Pokémon.
"Rade!" Roserade sneered as he twirled onto the stage.
"Gon. Flygon!" Flygon cheered as she looped out of her pokeball.
"Banette! Ninetales! The stage is yours!" May shouted as she called out her Pokémon.
"Ban ban ban." Banette laughed as she appeared as a giant face and deflated herself to normal.
A charcoal grey fox Pokémon with nine long tails tipped with blue appeared in a long jump, trailing embers behind her. She landed in a low posture, growling at Drew's Flygon.
"Oh my. I don't think I've ever seen a Ninetales of that colour. It's remarkable." Mr. Contesta remarked.
"I have seen this coloration before. It is extremely rare however." Nurse Joy said. "It makes me feel lucky to have seen such a rare Pokémon twice in my life."
"The grey and blue complement each other quite well. Arceus was clearly feeling quite artistic when he created this particular Ninetales." Mr. Sukizo added.
"If we could award points for how a Pokémon looks then May would win on the spot hands down. That primal hunting posture is simply divine." Wallace swooned.
"Banette use pursuit on Flygon. Ninetales use fire spin in Roserade!" May ordered.
"Right here should do." Ash said to himself as both he and Raichu reached the beach behind the hotel. "Alright Latias, Riolu. Time for some training." He called out as he let the two of them out of their pokéballs. "Riolu, practice those moves May's Blaziken taught you."
"Lu." The jackal-esque Pokémon nodded and launched straight into a martial arts kata.
"Latias. You can learn a wide variety of moves. But we don't have an awful lot of time to teach them to you." Ash said as he rifled through his bag. "Here they are. Four Technical Machine." He said as he pulled out 4 discs. "Let's start with an easy one."
He pressed a disc to Latias' forehead. "Now open your mind and let the resonations into your head."
Latias focused and cleared her mind.
When she nodded Ash continued reading the instructions. "Now close your eyes."
As soon as she did an image appeared. It started to move. It showed her claws glowing blue and red before she charged forward and cut a tree in half. Her mind was flooded with information on how to focus her power into this attack. With a silent gasp she her eyes flew open.
"Well?" Ash asked.
Latias flexed her arms and her claws started glowing blue with red tips.
"Hmm. Not bad. Let's try something a little more difficult." Ash said as he put the broken Dragon Claw TM in a plastic bag and picked up a yellow disc. "Same deal as before."
"and Drew takes another devastating hit. May isn't holding back folks." Marian announced.
"Hey Drew what's the matter? At least put up a fight!" May taunted.
"Grrr." Drew growled. "That attitude, that style. It reeks of him." He clenched his fist. "WHY? WHY WHY WHY! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HIM OVER ME? HE"S PATHETIC!" Drew screamed. "I"LL END YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING THIS RIBBON RIGHT HERE AND NOW!"
Ash's hair stood up on end as the shock wore off. "Alright. Well Raichu?"
Raichu held his hand in front of his face and rocked it from side to side with his head cocked to the side. "Rai."
Ash laughed. "An average from Raichu. Potential. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Now the next disc is brand new to the market. But it should give you an amazing attack if it works." He said as he picked up a pink disc.
Latias nodded and cleared her mind. When she felt the disc press against her head she closed her eyes and let the video play. This one showed her body glowing bright white before unleashing a wave of energy and flattening a forest.
Ash braced himself as her eyes opened. "This one is going to hurt."
"NO! NO! NO! THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Drew screamed as his Roserade collapsed from a fire blast.
"This is what happens when you lose your cool Drew." May smiled.
"Time!" Marian called. "We don't need to go to the judges for this one folks. May Takatou is advancing to the next round."
"AHHHHHHHHHH!' Drew screamed before he charged forward. "WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME? WHY HIM? WHY? WHY? WHY? I'VE RUN THROUGH EVERY REASON IN MY HEAD AND NOT ONE OF THEM MAKES SENSE! HOW IS HE BETTER THAN ME?"
A pair of security guards charged out and tackled Drew to the ground before he could reach May.
"Why?" He started sobbing.
"With an attitude like that Drew." May said over her shoulder as her bracelet started to glow again. "You'll never know." She said as she walked back down the corridor, the tattoos disappearing as she left the light of the stage.
Ash picked himself up and peered into the crater of sand where Latias was panting. "I think we'll save the last disc for tomorrow." He said as he returned the Eon Pokémon. "Riolu! Time to go!"
"Riolu!" The baby Pokémon called out as she bounded down the beach towards him.
Ash recalled her as she reached him and pulled Raichu out of the sand. "We should probably get back to the hotel and take a shower."