Election Week

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokémon USA/The Pokémon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 29- Both of the Exes Didn't Expect This)


Much like taking a stop into olden times, Regal takes the guest through an experience unlike any other, combining periodical Japanese settings, architecture and artistry with modern amenities and a cozy atmosphere to form the complete experience for the gang of fifteen houseguests after their reservations are confirmed and they are sent to a private setting as a way of accommodating their massive party.

All of them walk over to a large iron griddle, the main keystone of Teppanyaki cuisine, and gather around this spot, each one taking a seat around the large cooking area, with May picking the seat in the middle across from the position of the chef. During this time, Kelly takes a small, but proactive step by pulling out the chair for May.

"Thanks, Kelly," May smiles. "That was quite nice of you."

"You're welcome," she answers while taking a seat next to her crush. "Don't mention it." Ash, though not making much of a huff about the scene, does notice it and wishes to not be one-upped at all. Because of this, he takes a seat to the right of May. Sharing the right side of the table with him is Brock, Misty, Richie, Sandra, Brianna and Drew at the right end. On the left end is Kelly and next to her, in order is Katie followed by Zoey, Reggie, Jackie, Grace, Max and Solana at her end.

More comments are made from the people at the table about how beautiful things look before everyone opens up their menu and gets a look at the different selections made available to them. No one is nervous about picking something expensive from the menu for two reasons. One of them is because the reservations are designed to subsidize the cost of each person's meal meaning that even if they get an expensive selection, the cost will be absorbed by the fact that much of it is prepaid courtesy of May. Speaking of which, she's told everyone that she is more than happy to buy drinks for anyone, which is likely to drive the price of dinner even higher, but she doesn't particularly mind.

After a week like this, one might care to indulge at one of the events which will mark its tail end. Before they can get to that level, though, they have to get something to ready the palate for what should be an experience at the dinner table.

Three minutes after taking their seats, the group is met by three different servers, who give them their option of different green teas to have to begin the meal, along with an array of other non-alcoholics to get them started this evening with alcoholics saved for later in their meals. All of them make the decisions quickly, but Zoey seems to be somewhat impatient, as if she would like to get up from her seat and head to the restroom.

Reggie lets her know that in order for the two of them to get away from their table and meet up with Kenny and Dawn; they have to come up with a plan that fits both of them. The odds of them needing to go to the bathroom at the same time are quite rare and few people would even believe them if they said it was the truth. Reggie implores Zoey to wait and see what happens, saying all of this while whispering to her so as not to draw attention to themselves and their plans.

It's too late, though, as Brianna does notice the pair whispering back and forth as if in an intense game of telephone. While electing not to say anything, she instead pays close attention to any deviant behavior on their part before calling them out.

"Uh, May," Reggie begins, "I...uh…"

"What is it, Reggie?" she asks. "Come on, spit it out."

"We need to leave the table to take a smoke break," Zoey suddenly blurts out to her fellow coordinator friend.

That caught May off guard and had everyone at the table confused with Brianna knowing, for sure, that something is not up to snuff with their explanation.

"A smoke break?" the payer of this event inquires. "Well—wait a minute! You two don't smoke!"

"That's true," Reggie admits, much to the shock of Zoey who felt as if she came up with the perfect excuse for needing time away from the table to take part in their double date. "It's just that Paul sent me something that he wanted me and Zoey to enjoy alone for a moment while I gave him a call at the only time he said that he'd be available to talk this evening while he tends to Cynthia's needs."

Brianna's face says that Reggie is speaking from a place that she doesn't often like to go. In her mind if anyone believes what's coming out of this jovial jokester's mouth for one second, they're being idiotic. Looking around the table, she gets the feeling that Grace isn't really buying it and neither are the Maples, Max and Solana. She doubts that any of these well-minded, young adults would believe that if they've never seen Zoey and Reggie smoke.

Despite this, the woman at the head of the table is willing to let this particular unknown go if for no other reason than to make the date go smoothly for everyone. "Okay," May answers. "Don't forget to come back soon, because I think that we're gonna have to place orders soon for what we want."

"If they come around, and we aren't here," Zoey responds, "just let the waiters know that I'm gonna get the sirloin cut with the spicy noodles and wasabi on the side."

"And I wrote down a note with that information and my own," Reggie adds. "I believe mine says that I'd like the vegetable and rice combination plate with crispy noodles and egg ramen."

Katie, who is sitting next to Reggie, sees the note on his plate and confirms that both of their orders are on there, just as they requested. "Ah, here they are!" she exclaims. "And…it's just as both of you said it would be."

"All right, then," Zoey speaks, wanting to get out of the private room and to the entrance area to claim her and Reggie's reservations for their double date.

As they leave, Brianna awaits for the moment she knows that the two of them can't hear. Once it comes, she asks the table at large a very frank and somewhat obscene question; "All right. Who declares bullshit?" Without even calling for it, everyone at the table raises their hands and some of them add to Brianna's inquiry, claiming that they could see the lie from at least a mile away.

But there are those, the curious souls they can be, who wonder something of another sort. The consensus at the table is that Reggie and Zoey could not possibly be telling the truth, but, "I wonder what those two are doing?" Drew asks the table.

"It's hard to say, really," May answers. "I don't wanna speculate, really. Both of them are adults and as long as it's safe and legal, who am I to judge?" Although Ash and Brock do sort of a double take when they hear the 'legal' aspect of May's admission, they just as quickly get back to figuring out what they want this evening.

"I couldn't tell you how long I've had Teppanyaki, you guys," Kelly tells the table, "that's why I was so excited to come here. What with me in my new position at Goldenrod City with their television department and being given so many assignments with the network, it's not that often that I do much in the way of food that I don't already make for myself or get when I'm really on the run. This will be a great change of pace, for sure."

"I'm glad that you could take this week off and come here. I really am," May states to her female fellow. "That goes for all of you, honestly. I thought that…a lot of money that was used to pay for the beach house for the week and for…another person had gone to waste, but it was great to have all of you come, relax and enjoy Porta Vista like I thought you would.

"Now that we have our drinks, I'd like to…propose a toast. If everyone would raise their glasses," she says, doing so herself, "I want to thank everyone here, including Zoey and Reggie in their fibbing absence, for coming and here's to great days ahead for all of us. No matter what happens here, let our fortune and foresight always face forward as we go from here. Let us continue to disagree without being disagreeable for our own sake, and let us always remember that a friendship doesn't die out after springtime…that is, of course, if you don't let it happen, at least. Can I get a here-here?"

"Here-here!" is the response from the people in a unanimous fashion. Given that most of the people can't reach across the large griddle, they compensate for the distance by clanging glasses with the people next to them at the table as the waiters enter the private room to take each guest's order.


"Do you see them at all?" Dawn asks, a bit impatient as she sits next to Kenny and a few others at one of the stations. Next to them are two reserved seats that, per the reservations, have been saved for Reggie and Zoey. Obviously, both of these chairs have not yet been claimed.

"No," Kenny answers. Though not showing it, he's growing quite impatient himself. The three really hyped up going to this place and the expense for just having Regal hold a seat for them is enough for them to hope that the food speaks in high favor of the prices. "I don't know. Perhaps they got…stuck getting things together for the code or—oh, wait!" He exclaims as he notices the two being led by a waitress for the restaurant to the large griddle over by Kenny and Dawn's station. "There they are as if on cue, no less," the young male remarks while he gets up from his seat, shakes both of their hands and sits back down as Dawn does the same.

"We've been wondering about you both," Dawn says, wanting the two of them to know that before she begins any other conversations with the pair.

"Yeah, that's our fault. I'll take full responsibility for that," Reggie retorts, willing to take the full blame for what happened on his shoulders. "There was a window from the time we left our residence to the time we got here where we could've called to at least let you know that we'd be late, but I think Zoey and I were so focused on getting here quickly that we didn't even consider it."

"Well, that does make some sense," Kenny says, attempting to formulate what might have happened in his head. "I mean if you thought that you could get here on time, but an incident happened where you…might have taken a wrong turn or you got held up by the vendors out by the walkway. It's understandable if you got here late and we got impatient because we came early."

"You're right," Zoey answers. "That's the reason for the holdup—because we, literally, got held up by one of our roommates and had to hurry to get here, missing a turn when we walked."

"I notice it, too. You're looking kind of clammy there like you were in a hurry to get to the table and running to make sure you weren't late. Well, that's better for you two to burn off some energy before you eat some of this food that I'm seeing here on the menu."

"Dawn's right, you two," Kenny affirms. "I hope you're ready for it all, because it seems like Regal pulls out all the stops when it comes to their meals. Everything I see here would headline most other four-star restaurants, but I'm seeing all of the specials here in one spot, which I say…be ready my dear stomach for what's about to occur at this table."

"Sounds great," Reggie replies, though apprehensively knowing that he and Zoey will have to go back to the private table very soon. "All right, then. Let's crack this bad boy open," he adds, referring to the menu in front of him. While doing this, Zoey taps her boyfriend on the shoulder, silently asking him if there are any bright ideas in his head right now.

Much like a pitcher/catcher combination in baseball, using signals and covering their mouths with the menus so that neither Kenny nor Dawn can read their lips, Reggie gets the message across that he is essentially winging it. "I don't really have anything planned, per se. My thought was to just keep things copacetic given that both of them are here. You know? Our job, given, what we know, is to make sure that the two don't…come in contact with one another for anything."

"Okay, when do we leave to go back to the big table?"

"I think that we wait to order our drinks and then…" giving it some thought, he comes up with this solution; "we'll keep the meal stalled for a little bit longer by offering to order an appetizer to go along with it. How's that?"

Shrugging her shoulders and fortunate that the menus are large enough for her to do that and not get caught, Zoey claims, "It's better than no plan at all."

"You two seem to be having a real spirited conversation," Dawn unexpectedly says, interjecting herself into their mix, though not having the slightest idea what's on their minds.

"Excuse me?" Zoey hastily replies, not realizing until much later that she disturbed some of the people at her table with the high and sudden inflection in her voice. At this point, she realizes her error, which can undoubtedly be blamed on nerves at the thought of the two exes coming together unexpectedly. She humbly apologizes for that outburst and then hears Dawn ask her if she can take part in their conversation. "Sure, no problem," she answers while they all give their drink orders to their personal garcon. After putting in an order for Coca-Cola and Merlot, Zoey asks what Dawn has on her mind and wanted to speak about to them.

"You two said that you plan on leaving the beach tomorrow night like Kenny and I planned," Dawn begins. "Well, I just wanted to know what you'll be doing afterwards. Both of us are heading back to Sinnoh for some downtime for the rest of the summer and to start a journey through Hoenn again and see how that goes."

"That's cool," Zoey replies. "I'm…saving my schedule this fall for a tour coming up in Australia, but I'm trying to get around a loophole of having Reggie come with me. I don't really plan on doing much after that with the exception of helping Cynthia and Paul with whatever they might need for their baby on the way…"

"Wait, Paul's having a baby? With Cynthia, no less?" Kenny questions. "Ah, great for them! Do we have any idea of the sex of the child at all?"

"No, Cynthia is only about two months ahead," Reggie answers in his brother's absence, "but with another month or so, I think we'll get that news."


"Reggie and Zoey have been gone for a while, you guys," Ash finally speaks up as soup and appetizers enter the dining area and word of the chef's arrival hits the table. "I know I'm probably gonna get calls of them being grown and able to take care of themselves, but…that doesn't mean I can't show any concern for those two."

"You're right, Ash," says, of all people, Kelly. "I mean, those two don't skip out on a meal for any cavalier reason. Even if it were a conversation with Paul, though I seriously doubt that it was, they'd finish that pretty quickly and move on to whatever they were initially doing, don't you think?"

"I don't just think, I know," Ash says, smiling at the thought of something coming before a hearty meal or an even heartier laugh between the absent duo. "They're crazy, Kelly. We can agree on that much, right?"

He's right, as much as she never wanted to admit such words. In this case, though, she can do nothing but agree. "I'll be damned. I agree," and from there, the two reach across the person in between them and shake hands, if only for a brief moment. Between the two of them sits a very surprised May, who gets the feeling that her words from earlier in the form of a toast might have had some lasting effect on the two people longing for her affection this evening.

With that in mind and the feeling that she can leave the two of them alone for a few minutes while she tells everyone that she's leaving for the bathroom to take a moment and wash her hands before dinner truly begins. Letting the table know this, she has no problem or issue with the other twelve and leaves for the restrooms out of the private room and just to the right of said exit.

This area leads her to a lengthy hallway which has both male and female-designated areas. May heads towards the one door that won't land her in jail, or worse, and proceeds to the left side door and the sinks. No other business needed to be taken care of at this moment that couldn't be done back at the house, so she got to work.

No one, including herself or her family, would consider her obsessively compulsive in terms of cleanliness, but it was better to be safe than sorry in any case. Getting a customary amount of soap in her hands, she lathers all of her parts, from in between her fingers, the corners and even the middle of her wrists. Then she sticks her hands underneath the faucet, which is automatic in design. May harkens back to a time, not too long ago, when her ex-girlfriend would take a while inside any bathroom, but not take too much time on her hands. She'd especially see this during some of their double dates, but quickly eliminated these thoughts from her head.

She was, quite simply, in the past and a part of her future waits in the private room a few seconds away.

These can be quite tricky, especially when the faucet only lets a certain amount of water out at a time. This one is quite giving, however, letting enough water flow out so that the soap gets completely washed off of her hands leaving them clean.

From there, she turns around and heads over to the paperless air-dryers for about twenty seconds before putting her hands together and feeling them to be dry enough to head back to her private table to meet up with the chef and start the meal. 'Hopefully, Reggie and Zoey will come back in time for what should be a great meal,' she thinks before she reaches for the exit door to head back to her table.

May doesn't get the chance to open the door as it is opened, but not necessarily for her. The person who comes through the door gets a good look at May, who does the same for this young lady who just entered the lavatory.

Both of them gasp, not believing that their paths crossed on this week, during this night and at this very restaurant at the same time. The odds of all of these things happening and coming together so that the beings could bring them here to see one another were impossible to measure, but about as unlikely as the idea of Professor Oak finding comfort in another man during his early twenties.

Alluding to the past only seemed appropriate right here and now, given that she's come across it, not even believing that she's real, she's there and she's in front of her at the door right now.

Using her right arm, she points in the direction of her fellow human being and says one word that encompasses all of her pent up feelings at the moment and those that dated back over her four year relationship with the girl just six feet across her. "You," she speaks, finding it difficult to get out any other words as seeing her has done nothing but irked her.

This whole week was about having fun and while the unexpected events have been, at times, vexing, this was simply out of this world.

Here came Dawn Berlitz back into her life in the last place she thought she'd be; staring at the end of pointed arm in total shock not knowing what may come next.


A/N: About two more chapters left, folks! Next chapter, coming in the week after next, is May and Dawn exposed in a tell-all conversation that is as emotional as it gets! Stay tuned for that!

Until next time, this is Rave! Don't forget to leave a review on this and other chapters when you get the chance.