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Chapter 34

Listening to the Swellow chirping outside her room, May stuffed her pillow over her head, trying to drown out the noise. She had no idea when sunlight got so bright, or when the flying types could possibly have gotten so noisy, but boy was she feeling it.

Sensing something try to pull her blanket off of her bed, May let out a slight groan. Her head was killing her and she couldn't quite remember what she'd done the previous night.

Sitting up groggily, May's eyes focused on a less than impressed Riolu, Roserade and an extremely annoyed Blaziken.

Blinking, her pounding head groggily recalled the events of the previous day. Manaphy. Drew. Riolu. Team Bright Moon. Jackie. Drew.

'Drew!' She gasped, trying to jump out of her bed, only to collapse on the ground in a heap, struggling to suppress a whimper.

'Argh, my head,' May groaned, trying to press both of her palms onto either side to stop the pounding.

'Blaziken,' her starter pokémon called, causing Roserade to chirp once before releasing a light pink spores at May. It smelled beautiful, like summertime gardens, with roses, freshly mown grass and carnations.

Letting out a relaxed sigh, May felt her aching head lessen drastically. With a small smile, she whispered, 'thanks, Roserade. I needed that.'

The grass and poison type crossed his arms and muttered his name, appearing pleased with himself.

Checking her Xtransceiver, May felt her disappointment increase as she saw that she had no missed calls. She tried to suppress the anxiety she felt as her lower lip shook.

'He still hasn't woken up, then,' she grimaced as she stumbled to the bathroom, turning the water on to the hottest setting she could handle.

Once she was dressed, she fumbled outside to see her pokéballs were gone. Glancing at Blaziken, she saw his self-assured eyes, his arms crossed as he arched an eyebrow at her. He was definitely not pleased with her, and she couldn't even sum up the courage to smile sheepishly at him.

'Are they with Solidad?' May frowned, only to have her pokémon shake his head, his eyes narrowing.

Grimacing, May racked her brain for an alternative. Wallace wouldn't be allowed in her room, not if Blaziken had a say. The man and her were friends, but not close enough for her pokémon to give him free reign of her personal space. Nor would they trust Harley, despite his recent efforts to gain their trust. With a frown, she questioned, 'Steven?'

Again, her pokémon shook his head, chirping his name in irritation as Roserade scowled at the man's name.

'Dawn has them?' May frowned, running out of people her Blaziken would trust.

Seeing him nod his head, May grinned, 'so she'll be training them, then. That's at least something.'

Blaziken let out a slight flame from his beak as he rolled his eyes at her words, but May only forced a smile. At least she now knew where her friends would be, and that they were in good hands.

'Riolu, you're still here. Sorry if I worried you last night,' May grinned at the pokémon, wincing slightly as Roserade chirped in disgust.

'Roserade, I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a break. I know I must have done something uncharacteristic last night, but I'm actually really worried about Drew. It feels like I've finally been reacquainted with him only to have him disappear again. Only, this time I'm not sure if he'll be OK,' May gritted her teeth at the grass and poison type, though it only narrowed its eyes at her.

'What did I do last night?' May frowned as she led the three pokémon out of the door, rushing to find Dawn. If anyone could explain to her what she did, it was her Sinnoh friend. More importantly, from Dawn's personal accounts of her own activities, she wouldn't judge May either. It was something that they had never done-judge each other. Not one of the girls who'd travelled with Ash could be so cruel to the others, even Serena and Misty.

'Guys, where do you think Dawn would have gone for training?' May frowned, glancing at the pokémon behind her, who rolled their eyes as Roserade led the way.

Turning a few corners, May saw Dawn's silhouette as she was fighting with Skitty against none other than Paul's Electivire.

'Skitty, use assist, then blizzard!' Dawn called as May crept onto the side lines to view her pokémon battling.

'Electivire, protect!' Paul called, not even glancing at the battle, his eyes fixated on Dawn.

Skitty's assist turned into a psychic attack before sending a powerful blizzard at the electric type.

'Go Skitty!' May called, trying to support her pokémon. Rather than encourage it to fight, however, Skitty turned to her and ran across the field, tackling her in a hug.

Letting out a disbelieving laugh, May grinned, 'or hug me, that's fine too.'

'May!' Dawn called, rushing over to the brunette as Paul recalled his pokémon and sauntered over, his hands in his pocket.

In a cold voice, he questioned, 'how's your head?'

'Killing me. Roserade's aromatherapy helped, though. What happened last night?' May grimaced as she glanced up at them.

'I'm not sure you want to know,' Paul grimaced, surprising May by his tact. From all the accounts she'd heard of the man from Dawn and Ash, the man wasn't usually this sensitive.

Turning her sapphire orbs to Dawn, she saw her friend's face flush.

'Dawn, what did I do?' May questioned, her eyes narrowed as she felt her heart pound in her chest. Was this why her pokémon were so disappointed in her?

'You and Steven drank a bit too much. Wallace stepped in before either of you did anything you'd regret. He removed Steven whilst Paul took you to your room. I'm not sure what you two did in there, but Paul had to change,' Dawn giggled, sending a knowing glance at Paul, whose face turned pink.

'Paul?' May frowned, glancing at the man with plum coloured hair. Of everyone in her vicinity, she wouldn't have pictured Paul to step up his game and help her. Having said that, she wouldn't have pictured Steven to act so irresponsibly too, so something was definitely bothering her close friend.

'You didn't make it to the bathroom in time,' Paul grimaced as Dawn continued to giggle.

'Oh Arceus, Paul I'm so sorry!' May squeaked as Dawn grinned, 'I knew it! Your face said it all! May, how are you still alive?'

'I don't know! I should have died back in the Cave of Origin!' May cried as she stared at the other Sinnoh native in disbelief.

'You know, you didn't cause Drew's accident. He was responsible for his own actions,' Paul scowled at her, surprising her with his in depth analogy of her problems.

'But if I hadn't asked him to come along—' May began, only to have Paul cut her off, 'if he hadn't come along, we'd probably all be dead. He only had one of his pokémon, but he took out a few of theirs. If they didn't have an indefinite army, I'm not sure they would have survived. That Zorua of his is impressive, too.'

Hearing this May heard Riolu whimper.

'Come on, Riolu, chin up. How about you come with me?' May said as she glanced at the small fighting type.

It looked up at her, his red eyes reminding her of Brendan's. Instantly, it raised its hands at her, wanting a fight.

'You want to battle me?' May frowned at the smaller pokémon, who nodded his head in agreement.

'You're on!' May grinned as Dawn handed her her pokéballs.

'Elgyem, take the stage!' May called, spinning in a circle before releasing Elgyem.

The psychic type seemed surprised as May grinned, 'Riolu, you get the first move.'

The small bipedal pokémon smirked before rushing forward, a bone appearing in his hands.

'Bone rush? Riolu don't usually learn that until they're Lucario,' Paul commented as May called out, 'get him in the air with psychic!'

'Drop him on the ground and then get him with hidden power,' May called just before Elgyem dropped Riolu on the ground, sending a barrage of pink orbs at the pokémon, who threw them back by manipulating bone rush.

'Try again with psychic!' May called, wincing as Riolu dodged the attack with a quick attack, colliding painfully with Elgyem.

'Get back up and use psychic again! Follow it up with hidden power again!' May called, watching Riolu meditate on the battlefield, appearing unaffected by the psychic attack.

'He's using endure!' Dawn gasped as Elgyem dropped him once again on the ground, followed by a barrage of pink balls.

'Here goes nothing, pokéball go!' May called as she threw an empty pokéball at the weakened fighting type.

She watched in eager anticipation as Riolu went into the ball, his body shining red before it landed on the ground, twitching once, twice, thrice, four times, five, six and it stopped with a hollow sound.

'Yes, I caught Riolu!' May beamed as she picked up the pokéball, dancing around in a circle as Elgyem floated nearby.

'Well that's something,' Dawn smiled at her friend, who grinned at them, petting both Roserade and Blaziken before recalling her Elgyem with a grateful smile.

Just as she was about to say something else, her stomach growled loudly.

'Looks like someone skipped breakfast this morning,' Dawn teased before linking arms with both Paul and May, dragging them to a nearby café.

Letting out a sheepish chuckle, May took a seat on the bench outside the café, Dawn appearing completely at ease as a young waitress brought them their menus, her long purple hair reaching down to her waist.

'I'd like a pecha berry pancake with a skinny mocha and two sugars please,' May smiled before Dawn grinned, 'I'll take one too, but with a latte and two sugars please.'

The waitress glanced at Paul, who scowled, 'I'll have a long black.'

With a contemptuous glance, she walked away from the group, not one member of their group noticing how Paul's eyes were focused on a pair walking towards them.