Hi all,
Here's the latest installment. Hope you enjoy it :)
Chapter 12Following Harley through the forest as he hummed ahead of May and Dawn, May glanced back at the path behind her. She was sorely worried about the Elgyem she'd left behind, though her male friend had reiterated to her numerous times not to fret about the psychic type pokémon. He was right, of course. Elgyem was a wild pokémon, however, May couldn't help but wonder about the extra-terrestrial being.
'May, hon, how're you going with your appeals?' Harley called, reminding her once again of her slight problem.
'It's going swell,' May lied with a slight chuckle. She desperately wanted a distraction, but knew Harley and Dawn would not be side-tracked from their concerns.
'May, you need more confidence in yourself!' Dawn snapped, glowering at her friend in clear and uncharacteristic anger.
'What?' Harley frowned, turning to stare at the blue haired friend behind him.
'Seriously, the only thing holding her back is herself. I am telling you, May, that if you can call a customer to let her know that her 600,000 pokédollar wedding dress will be short picked and undelivered, then you can do this! Get your act together, and get it together before it's too late!' Dawn snapped at her older friend, taking her by surprise.
'I don't know what to say,' May whispered as she poked her fingers together anxiously. It wasn't like she wasn't trying to come up with a combination, she just hasn't found the inspiration yet. All around them was green grass and brown ground, and she had neither of those pokémon types with her. It was hard to find inspiration without anything to spark her imagination.
'Don't worry, hon, you've just got to find half of your move to have a fighting chance,' Harley grinned, not so subtly elbowing Dawn's side as he draped a languid arm over May's shoulders.
'Fighting chance?' May frowned, finding the man's words struck a chord with her.
'Yes, he's right!' Dawn beamed with more enthusiasm than usual.
The man send the blue haired woman a disgusted glance before continuing down the forest.
While she appeared eager, May could distinctly hear her friend mutter, 'geeze, there's no need for him to always be so icy to me.'
'Icy?' May frowned, considering her friends' words. She had to undergo the icy doubt within her to stand a fighting chance at winning.
'That's it! Harley, Dawn, you two are both absolutely fantastic!' May giggled, taking Dawn's hands in her own to dance around.
'We are?' Harley blinked at her, turning to glance at the duo as Dawn squeaked at being dragged around by the brunette. Before May could reiterate the affirmative, Harley beamed, 'we are!'
Hearing the man reiterate her statement, May couldn't help but giggle. She wouldn't be on a journey without some of Harley's antics to spur her on and make her laugh. Now all she needed was to revive May's Expeditions and she'd be all set.
'I think I may have one or two ideas,' May winked at her friends who looked at her with pleased expressions.
'Took you long enough, hon,' Harley chuckled as he led the way, swaying his hips as he walked.
'Hehe, sorry about that,' May muttered as she scratched the back of her head anxiously.
'Let's get going,' Dawn grinned as May followed behind, hearing the faint rustle of the leaves in the trees above her.
With a soft smile, May considered her options of combinations for her pokémon. There honestly was only so many fighting and ice combinations she could make with her pokémon.
'Next up, on May's Expeditions,' May muttered, placing her fingers before her face before her in a rectangle. She was walking behind Harley and Dawn, continuing in her faux reporter voice, 'we are on our way to Vientown, where Solidad awaits us after taking our captor to Officer Jenny.'
'May, what are you doing?' Dawn frowned as she glanced back at the quirky brunette.
'Oh, ignore her, hon. She's just being a childish little so and so,' Harley called over his shoulder, not deigning to turn back to them.
'Says you!' May retorted, blowing a razz berry behind his back.
The bluenette, in response, chuckled as Harley scowled back at her. Again, unperturbed, May continued to, for lack of a better word, zoom in on the scenery around them.
'Honestly, pipsqueak, don't you think you're a bit old for that?' Harley glowered as the branch in which he was standing under shook with the weight of an unseen pokémon.
'You're never too old for anything!' May retorted with a childish expression as Harley continued to walk on, Dawn following slowly.
Finding a pretty flower, May lingered under the branch. The scent of the earthy soil filled her nose as she admired the pink colour of its delicate petals. In her reporter voice, she continued, 'just look at this pretty flower, how strongly defiant it's growing near this patch of grass at the base of this giant tree.'
Hearing something crack slightly above her, May frowned. A soft voice muttered what could only be a pokémon's name before a shadow jumped across the branch above her.
With a small gasp, May looked up and above her to see the Aipom above her jump out from the branch.
'W-what's going on?' The brunette stuttered, not daring to believe her eyes. Blinking as she saw the branch angled precariously above her head.
'That's easy enough to ask. I'm toast!' May squeaked before glancing at her friends who were continuing their amble through the forest.
When nothing came crashing on her head, May looked up anxiously. Above her was a giant branch, almost completely severed from the tree. One tiny strand was clinging on for what seemed like dear life, whilst an eerie pink glow surrounded the branch.
With a yelp, May rolled out of the way, seeing the giant branch crash down to the ground where she'd momentarily been before. The flower she'd admired was gone, buried under the wooden debris that fell from above them.
'Who's there?' Harley's voice bellowed as Dawn gasped.
'Guys, it's just the tree. I think a pokémon hit it so it fell, but otherwise, everything's ok,' May called back as she glanced around her. Something had saved her from the tree, but she couldn't see any hint of her rescuer anywhere.
'Well then hurry up and get over here, hon. We aren't going to wait all day with Solidad being in Vientown before us!' Harley snapped in clear vexation. He'd never been the most patient of rivals.
'Oh, ok,' May muttered as she began to consider a way to climb the giant branch.
All of a sudden, her body glowed pink and she was lifted in the air, over the branch.
Landing on the other side of the branch in a daze, it took the brunette a moment to decipher what had happened. With a grin, she called, 'I'm not sure who you are, but thank you so much for helping me!'
With a light laugh, she turned to follow her friends. After all, she wanted to see Solidad and discuss possible appeals with the woman who acted as her second mentor.
'Come on, May! I'll race you!' Dawn called before rushing ahead.
'Hey!' May chuckled as she rushed past the man in the Banette costume, who seemed momentarily confused by the two's hurried movements.
'Both of you twerps, get back here!' Harley roared before rushing after them.
'What are you, Team Rocket?' Dawn giggled as she ducked underneath a particularly low branch.
'I wouldn't join with those useless rascals if I had a gun pointed to my head. Get back here so I can beat that nonsense out of you!' Harley scowled, stomping his feet slightly before running after them.
'Catch us if you can!' Dawn giggled whilst May anxiously tried to discourage her friend from making such challenging remarks to the ignitable man whose persona was almost that of a fire type.
'Get back here!' Harley roared, his speed increasing exponentially to catch up with the two friends.
'Last one there is a rotten egg, remember?' May yelled back with a laugh, recalling the man expressing similar sentiments before she split from Ash, Brock and Max all those years ago.
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