Hi all,
As always, thank you so much for your feedback and taking the time to read this.
Here's the latest update.
Chapter 18Reaching the Pokémon Centre, May let out a slight huff as her pokémon lagged behind her. Leaning on the rendered white walls, May huffed, 'come on, guys, any slower and I'd have to wonder just how lazy your Trainer is!'
'Blaziken,' the fire type glowered, poking May's belly slightly as she breathily giggled in response, knowing how touchy her partners were about any who were allowed to remain behind.
'Point taken, I'm sure Venusaur is working everybody back home just as hard,' May grinned as Skitty fell on her chin at May's feet, followed closely by Glaceon, who nuzzled her pink friend softly. Munchlax, surprisingly, was the only one who seemed as fit as a fiddle, and May was pretty certain she knew why.
'All right, breakfast time for you all, and then I'm showering and eating food myself,' May grinned before rushing them all into the room she shared with a still snoozing Dawn.
After having showered and dressed, May walked out of the bathroom to see Dawn seated on her bed, smiling at her PokéNav, undoubtedly reading a message from one of their friends. Noticing Dawn's slightly flushed face, May knew it had to be a man, and not just any man.
'Who's that you're grinning at?' May questioned, running a brush through her soaked hair.
'I'd love to say that it's Kenny, but it's not. Paul just texted me to say he's heading to a certain beach,' Dawn giggled, winking at May eagerly.
Hearing this, May suddenly realised why her friend was smiling with a flushed face. For the stoic faced Paul to inform her of this, May knew that Dawn's endorphins would be working overtime for weeks.
Sending Dawn a glance that May knew was horribly unflattering, however, the brunette knew that her close friend would recognise and respond to the gesture. After all, Paul was clearly hinting something here, and if May were in her shoes, she wouldn't let up.
As predicted, Dawn flushed darkly, squeaking as she grabbed one of the numerous pillows on her bed. Without bothering to aim, the bluenette threw a pillow at the brunette, who let out a loud laugh, enjoying finally having the upper hand on her blue haired friend.
'Just you wait until Misty hears about this!' May giggled as images of the red haired woman's reaction filled her mind. After all, Misty had been teasing Dawn for almost as long as May had, and both had bets going about when Paul would finally crack. It was next to impossible to deny Dawn's well practiced charms, especially when she clearly favoured the purple haired man to any others.
'Don't you dare!' Dawn scowled, jumping off of her pink covers as the brunette dropped her brush onto her own bed.
'Blaziken, help!' May called for her starter as she rushed to her bag, knowing he wouldn't hesitate to restrain the furious bluenette.
'No you don't! Piplup, get in here and stop that fire breather!' Dawn called back as May reached for her Xtransceiver, dialling Misty's code and praying to Arceus that her friend answered quickly. Considering the woman could be in a Gym battle, or worse, swimming in the pool, the odds weren't in her favour, but she had to try.
'Hello stranger, I've been waiting on your call. How did your contest go?' Misty's grinning voice filled the room, on speaker phone as May continued to run out of Dawn's grasp.
'Misty, thank Arceus you answered!' May crowed as Dawn groaned, 'nooo, Misty why do you answer May so quickly? You never answer my calls that fast! The one time I don't want you to answer and you let me down, girl!'
'Why do I feel like I am coming into a conversation without having any idea of what's happening?' Misty's voice frowned as May danced around the room, serenading the small water type and her fully evolved fire type, who were both looking completely unamused.
'Oh, screw my pride, get Misty on video phone!' Dawn called, throwing yet another pillow at the brunette in a poor attempt at halting her ridiculous dance.
'All right, all right, be patient,' May giggled as she pressed a button on her device, revealing a hologram of the cheerful red head.
'Ok, May's got wet hair and probably just came out of the shower and Dawn's got bed head, has the world gone crazy?' Misty teased with a wink as Dawn squawked indignantly.
'Hey, I came from my morning jog whilst someone was muttering about her beauty sleep for a certain purple haired Trainer,' May crowed, quickly dodging one of the pillows from her bed.
'Wait, what about Kenny?' Misty frowned, her cerulean eyes filled with a confusion that May would have felt too if she hadn't heard about Paul's message and seen him in Almia, probably chasing after Dawn.
'Kenny hasn't spoken to me in just over a month, and besides, you know he pushed me into this relationship against my wishes,' Dawn muttered bitterly, hugging her Piplup a little too tightly after he had unwisely shuffled into her lap.
'Oh, Dawn. You know if there was anything I could do, I would, but I'm hopeless with romantic situations. I'm nothing at all like my sisters,' Misty whispered, her eyes widening in shock.
'Or that could just be the nature of the object of your affections,' Dawn drawled, sending the fiery woman a flat stare.
'Don't worry, Paul will be here to save the day,' May grinned, ignoring Dawn's evil eye as she successfully diffused Misty's oncoming anger.
'What makes you say that?' Misty frowned, completely forgetting Dawn's slight as Dawn hissed at their other friend, not appreciating being thrown into a wild pokémon horde.
'What? If my love life is going to be as dead as it is, and Misty's is going to pretty desolate too, we've kind of have to live vicariously through you, you know! Make it decent so the three of us can feel somewhat accomplished,' May lectured the bluenette who rolled her eyes at the argument.
'May, shut up so Dawn can give us her version of events!' Misty hollered, silencing the brunette, who chuckled sheepishly, lest Misty's wrath be triggered. Only Ash could survive those tirades unscathed, and May knew that from personal experience.
'Well, there's nothing really to say,' Dawn chuckled before seeing Misty's flat glare. With a heavy sigh, she muttered, 'ok, so May wanted to go to Nabiki Beach, and that coincidentally happens to be were Paul is heading to right now.'
'Please, he texted you about going there, he so wants you to meet him there and be his eternal loverrrr,' May giggled, dancing around the room as her Blaziken sighed in embarrassment.
'May, embarrassing,' Dawn groaned, hiding her head in her hands.
'Yeah, she needs some R&R with a certain Oddish brain, but we know that's not going to happen. Not unless Wally tries to take his place, and we all know how she'll react to that,' Misty smiled, waiting for May to register her words.
'Misty!' May roared, falling right into the trap, and over her own feet in surprise.
'Easier than anything Team Rocket ever did,' Misty winked at Dawn, who chuckled in response, 'that's not hard. Those three were pretty embarrassing.'
'So wait, didn't you tell me about a plan where you'd try to make Ash jealous? I can't even remember how long ago that was, though. Didn't it work?' Dawn frowned, poking her bottom lip thoughtfully.
'Oh, yeah, that was with Gary. If either of you know Gary, you'd know that that didn't last very long. He can't be loyal, that one, not for anyone, even a fake girlfriend like myself,' Misty sighed, her face flushing at the memory.
'Wait, is this the same Gary that Ash grew up with?' May questioned, her expression filled with bitter resentment.
'Yes, which is why I agreed to go along with his stupid idea. If anyone knows Ash as well as I do, it's Gary, but clearly even we overestimated Ash's maturity. We should have known that Ash's emotional development hasn't happened yet,' Misty groaned, hiding her face in her hands as one or another rather embarrassing memory filled her mind.
'Wait, you mean the son of the poet?' Dawn squeaked, her hands clasped together as her face lit up into a huge smile.
'If by that you mean Professor Oak, then that would be him,' Misty offered a hesitant response, sharing an uncertain glance with May.
'Oh, he's so awesome!' Dawn squealed as May and Misty's jaws dropped.
'He's what?' The duo shrieked in surprise, staring at the woman as if she'd grown a second head.
'What? Was it something I said?' Dawn murmured as May's scowl deepened uncharacteristically.
'He's a despicable, deplorable, disgusting excuse of a man! I cannot believe you both willingly associate with him! Am I the only person who hasn't been impressed by his pathetic arrogance?' May scowled, surprising her friends by her anger.
'Wait, what just happened? Did May just become Misty, or worse, Jessie?' Dawn frowned, scratching her head slightly in confusion as May continued to rant about her hatred for Gary.
'I take it you've met him and it went about as well as my first meeting with him,' Misty mused, crossing her arms smugly as she pointedly ignored Dawn's dig.
'If you hated him then as much as I do now, what made you change your mind?' May glowered, having calmed down somewhat.
'He matured, slightly,' Misty chuckled, sending the woman a knowing smile.
'He was worse before?!' May gasped, not daring to believe her ears as Misty's amusement increased visibly.
'Oh yeah, he was unbelievable. Had a group of fan girls that followed him around and cheered for him in a cheerleader costume—much like Dawn's when she was with Ash. I was constantly having to defend Ash from him because Ash was too thick to think up a response, whilst Brock just didn't even think of getting involved,' Misty chuckled, pulling a Psyduck into view, wearing inflatable pink floaties, as she adjusted her Xtransceiver's position to reveal a large, rectangular swimming pool.
'I cannot believe this. There were a bunch of girls that actually liked him? Am I the only sane person left in the world?' May whispered, feeling the blood drain from her face.
'Why don't you like him, May? Has he done something to you?' Dawn frowned in confusion as she watched the older woman with clear apprehension.
'Don't go there, Dawn!' May cried as Misty chuckled.
'I think Gary's got his eye on her,' Misty teased, sending a subtle wink to Dawn, who pouted, 'really? I should be so lucky!'
'You would consider yourself lucky! I hate him!' May cried before promptly bursting into tears.
'Whoa, May, are you ok?' Dawn whispered, pulling her friend into a tight hug as Misty frowned at the sight.
'What's he done? If he's so much as touched a hair on your head, not even Ho-Oh or Lugia or any other legendary pokémon can stop me from avenging you, May!' Misty glowered, her tone becoming increasingly more menacing.
'It's not that,' May whispered, not wanting Gary to feel Misty's wrath for her sake.
'Then what is it?' Dawn frowned as she pulled away from the brunette slightly.
'He just reminds me so much of Drew, it hurts,' May whispered so softly that her Xtransceiver nearly didn't pick it up.
'But Drew was at the contest, surely you saw his performance?' Dawn frowned, touching her friend's shoulder gently.
'No, I slept through the whole thing,' May wailed as guilt ate at her. She didn't notice Blaziken roll his eyes before going through her bag.
'Well it was beautiful, May, the whole thing. He had his Roserade cover the stage with petal dance before using magical leaf too. Then his Masquerain used silver wind and it just created the most dazzling display of a rose! Oh, it was so beautiful!' Dawn recounted, her big, blue eyes sparkling at the memory.
'He created a rose?' May whispered, snivelling on the ground.
'Yes, and he said it was for someone special too, and that he needed to apologise to her for something. You should really have been there to see it, May. All of the girls in the crowd were in tears,' Dawn giggled, not noticing Misty's vehement head shake, an unnoticed silent plea for caution.
'He had someone he dedicated it to?' May sniffed, her eyes brimming with tears again.
'May, hon, are you ok?' Harley's voice called through the closed door, sounding worried.
'Misty, we'd better go, or else he'll kill you and me,' Dawn grimaced as she took the device from the ground.
'That's ok, call me,' Misty responded as May hurriedly scrubbed at her eyes.
Disconnecting the call, Dawn turned her attention to the door, 'Harley, I'll get her out in a minute, we've just got a bit of a girl's dilemma going on in here, no need to worry!'
'There better not be,' Harley growled, his steps heard from the other side of the door.
'Come on, May, I'll teach you some beauty tips that I've learnt as a Stylist. Please cheer up, I'm sure he doesn't really have anyone he's interested in. Trust me,' Dawn whispered, pulling her friend in a tight hug.
Hiccuping slightly, the brunette nodded with forced cheer, 'of course I trust you, don't be silly.'
'Good, now let's make you look as happy as you feel,' Dawn beamed, dragging her friend into the bathroom.
I know it was very fluffy and effeminate, but there was a point to this. Please let me know what you think.