...wait, that's not actually the end of it. Charizard flapped his wings once more, much more intense this time, followed by another cross slash from Snivy and Oshawott. And with one last explosion of ice, the rose transformed into a replica of a Contest Ribbon, complete with a divide at the exact center, making two halves. It's a symbol that sparked recognition from May, Max and Brock instantly.
Then May felt a couple of taps on her shoulder, and she whirled around, followed by everyone else. "What, I'll bet for a second there you thought I was on Charizard, eh?" Ash said, grinning broadly. He pushed the bouquet of flowers (yellow ones, not red, he made painfully sure of that) into May's arms, at the same time taking Pichu into his own arms to make room.
Angry instead of impressed by his showing, Misty marched right up to Ash, and pinion his free arm painfully behind his back. With one hand. She used the other hand to grab his ear and pull on it as well. "Ow, ow, ow, OW! Leggo, Misty!"
To the side, Brock can be seen smirking and nodding (not bothering to hide it), getting a kick out of seeing someone else receive that treatment. Never mind that Croagunk is right there beside him, ready to strike with his patented Poison Jab at any time when Brock steps out of line. And seeing Brock look like he's about to gloat is one of those boundaries. Brock collapsed in a heap in an instant, with Croagunk blowing into his fingers like a western gunslinger blowing out the smoke from his barrel.
"Oh, really now?" Misty was saying. "Pull a disappearing act on us, will ya? You do realize that you hurt May's feelings, since she believed you didn't watch her show. If you think we'll just forget your insensitivity just because you upstaged May's own performance, then you have another thing coming." She applied pressure to the hand holding Ash's ear to emphasize her point, causing him to howl.
Having had enough, Ash swatted Misty's hand to release his ear, conveniently dropping Pichu on to his left shoulder in the process. Someone's gonna have an inkling feeling that Pichu has taken their spot, and the look on its face as it landed looked like the little baby found its next favorite spot for that matter. "When I wrote that I had the best seat in the house," he continued, pointing to a pair of binoculars stringed around his neck, then to another building in front of the hotel's venue, specifically on one of its upper floors, "I meant there.
"Just so you know, I also knew where you have been hiding during the actual performance." And as if to answer the stares from the rest of his friends, Ash added, with a smug they-would-very-much-love-to-wipe-it-off-his-face-kind-of smile, "And no, I'm not telling any of you guys where. It's a secret for me and me alone."
He then cleared his throat, and for the very first time since the whole wedding ordeal Ash had put himself through, he became serious. That change startled May for a couple of seconds, especially since Ash was staring right into her eyes with that intense look on his face. "Look, I really am flattered that you said that you liked me, but I still don't know how to answer that. I figured that I'm not exactly popular, now, am I?"
"How many girls did I have to fend off again," Misty muttered sarcastically, "not to mention the Pokémon...?"
"I'd really like to make it up to you," Ash continued, intentionally ignoring the remark. He pointed to the sculpture he (or rather, his Pokémon, they certainly would want to insist that judging by the glares they've been giving their trainer) had built in May's honor. "Unfortunately, that's probably the best I can come up with to show you how I feel. New at this whole romantic thing." Again his Pokémon nodded, with a side of sniggering. He ignored that, too, for the time being, then pointed to the very top. "That ribbon...I don't even know how to put this...maybe it's a way for me to, no, that can't be it..."
May had to finish it for him. "The ribbon, it symbolizes something special between the two of us. And it does. The funniest and strangest thing is, though..." She hesitated. "I never would have thought that you would notice it before I do?" she smiled sheepishly.
"Well, I guess you could just say that it might...huh?" Ash blinked several times.
"Believe it or not, the ribbon," May went on, "I always kept it with me because it keeps reminding me of you." She even pulled it out of her skirt pocket to prove her point. "But, back then, knowing you are the densest," Dawn was about to add something but a look and a nudge, respectively, from Misty and Brock silenced her, "person when it comes to love, so it became more of a bittersweet trinket for me back then." May shrugged, while still wearing that sheepish, embarrassed smile.
It was then did Ash notice (perhaps he was the only one, as the closest to May) that a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "Like I said, it's hard to believe, isn't it? Even ironic, really..." The rest only caught on because May had to wipe the tears off her face. "Nevertheless, I'm glad that I was wrong in the long run."
It took a while for May to recover (everyone else, for that matter) that she didn't even speak for a while, looking like she lost her voice from that outburst. She even had to take a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm very sorry, I shouldn't have said that out loud. But I meant it when I shouted it like that."
If everyone went silent by May's whole long-winded epiphany before, they were certainly even more now. May felt like she had to repeat those last three words enough for everyone to hear, even though... "I LOVE YOU!" That outburst knocked everyone off their feet (almost literally in some cases) that May had to clasp her hands over her mouth thinking she's done something unrefined for a lady.
Ash, meanwhile, was cleaning his ear with his pinky finger, which was ringing horribly since he was at the brunt of May's outburst; his other hand was busy holding Pichu, still on his shoulder, keeping it away from trying to clean the other ear. "I'm glad you like it. You might have heard about it from everyone else, but I wanted to give you something romantic, and I'm still rusty on those sort of things." He just ignored the masses behind him all nodding in agreement at what he said. "And I doubt Brock would be of no help, that the advice he'd give, if any, actually would probably even be useless." More mass nodding, until one voice among them shouted out, "Hey!" Again that was ignored.
Taking one more look at the sculpture Ash made for her, May chuckled nervously. "Umm, with all that's going on, I feel embarassed to say that we might have eclipsed the party's true guests of honor." She turned to them, and clapped her hands together in apology. "So sorry, again, about all this."
Winona accepted the apology with a quick wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. This story feels like it's more about you two than me or Wallace, come to think of it."
At this Wallace gave a seemingly uncharacteristic laugh, instantly unsettling everyone but his bride. "I may be one for a limelight, but I completely agree with my wife." He took a dramatic bow, at Ash and May, confusing the former but further embarrassing the latter. "What will the two of you do from here on out?"
Ash and May stared at each other; an oblivious Pichu, who was still on Ash's shoulder and is in both their lines of sight, looked pleased, because to the little baby it looked they were both looking at Pichu. "I guess I should be heading back to Unova," Ash started to say, scratching his cheek uncertain. "But after that...what was I supposed to do next again...?"
To his surprise, May took a few steps behind him, put her hands against his back, and then started pushing. "Well, I guess that answers it, am I right?" she asked him, smiling with her eyes closed. "It's decided. We're going to Unova."
Once again a deafening silence, and then a deafening "WHAAAAAAAT?!" This time around Ash was among them. That fact alone was enough to get a small smile as well as a giggle from May.
"Wait, May, you can't be serious, can you?" Dawn asked, stepping in front of Ash and started pushing him from the front, opposite May. It was like Ash is now being squeezed between two slices of bread. Comparing him to that is kinda degrading, especially for someone with an appetite like Ash himself. "I thought you were going to take a break from Contests for a while?"
May actually had an answer for that ready. Not that it was that hard. "Then I guess a scenic new locale would be ideal for me to head to next, am I right or am I wrong? I want to see a new country. I mean, what normal girl wouldn't?"
Neither Misty nor Dawn could make an argument there. Deep inside, in fact, they looked like were wishing the same thing. (And, for some reason, Charizard nearby had a sudden feeling of foreboding, like inmate facing the death sentence for some reason. Can he actually carry four or more people? He certainly thinks he couldn't. He plans to roast Ash again later should such a thing actually happen.)
For some reason, Caroline stole a glance at her husband, who still hasn't recovered from the shock of her news earlier. "Well, once May has her mind made up, there's no stopping her," was her say on the matter. She stepped forward, and, as a sign of approval, she gave her daughter a light push. "Go right ahead, dear, I know better than to deter you. I'll explain everything to Normie over there when he...eventually...wakes up. Don't worry."
May gave her mother a warm hug, which was reciprocated in kind. "Thank you, mom." And they also dragged Max nearby into the fold, to his chagrin. Well, he is embarrassed and is probably getting choked to death, since he's stuck between the two females, so can you blame him?
The family of three broke off of their hug ("The longer we stay like that, the twins may not probably like it," Caroline said, while rubbing her stomach.) leaving Max room to breathe again. Then May took off for her hotel room, presumably to pack up her things.
Casting a quick look at the still-in-a-vegetative-state Norman, Ash whiled away his time by asking a few questions. "So, you are all SURE that Norman is not going to make me his Slaking's next punching bag after this whole new stunt, right?"
"I keep telling you, Ash, it's nothing to get worried about," Caroline replied with a small wink. "I may not look like it, but I can easily 'take care' of Norman if and whenever his temper gets the better of him."
Max could only come up with a nod. "You, uh, better take Mom's word for it, Ash," he said, a hand on Ash's shoulder. "And you should probably have figured out who the true head of our house really is."
"Yeah, I think I'm getting the idea," Ash replied, nodding solemnly. For some reason, he didn't dare look Caroline in the eyes afterward. Instead, his gaze drifted to the hotel, where he realized that it was taking May a while to pack her things. What he was thinking must have shown on his face, because...
"May is taking her sweet time," Dawn piped up. "You should know better than to rush her, Ash; one should never do something like that. Besides, it's not been that long after she took off anyway. Are you getting impatient, as usual?"
Ash's answer was to point to still-comatose Norman again. "No offense," he said, not to Dawn, but to Caroline, "but I'll probably feel safer if I put a couple of cities, or an entire region, between myself and Norman. Oh you know what? As a matter of fact," without a forewarning at all, he took off for the hotel, "I'll just go ahead and intercept May halfway."
"Oh, ye of little faith," Caroline muttered, rolling her eyes ruefully.