Chapter 8: Revitalizing

It was noon already. May sat in the living room of the Ketchum residence still reminiscing about the incident that occurred earlier that day. Ash was worn out from what had happened and was resting in his room and Mrs. Ketchum was out visiting a friend. It was just Misty and May.

Misty was feeding her Togepi in the dining room. The little pokemon trilled as it took tiny bites out of the food. Misty giggled. May ended catching Misty's eye when she noticed how quiet it was around the house. Not that they conversed much when they were alone together, but there was such a gloomy atmosphere to her silence. Misty couldn't take it. She wanted to see that cute kid sister girl she had seen previously.

May continued to replay that moment over and over in her head. She just couldn't help but feel that it was all her fault that Ash almost turned to, well, ash. She depressed herself even more thinking so.

Misty finally got up with Togepi cradled in her arms. She walked over to where May was seated on the couch. Upon her face was a stern look as if she was about to bite May's head off. May noticed and prepared herself for an earful. Instead, she saw Misty's expression turn into a warm and friendly smile.

"May, how about we spend the day together? You could use some cheering up!" Misty said with a gentle voice. May was a little shocked to say the least, but gave Misty a small grin to thank her for her offer. Then she lowered her face and returned to her solemn look.

"No thank you Misty, I'm not really up to doing anything right now." Misty wouldn't take no for an answer. She grabbed May's arm and pulled her up to her feet.

"Come on May, it'll be fun! We haven't spent any time together ever since we found out that we both liked you-know-who. Let's just take the day off from him and have some quality girl time!" Misty said in an all too perky tone. At that moment, May couldn't refuse. She smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's go." She said quietly still feeling like she didn't deserve any kindness.

Misty had led May to what she had found out to be one of her favorite places to go, the mall! It was rare to find one in Pallet Town, so Misty ended up taking May to a bigger city. May was definitely up for shopping.

"Wow! Thank you so much Misty! Come on, let's go in!"

May dragged Misty up and down the entire mall. They tried on outfit after outfit, bought swimsuit after swimsuit, and ate snacks after snacks. The two girls were having a blast.

They sat at the food court to take a breather after all the running around. May was slurping up a strawberry smoothie while Misty licked away at an ice cream cone sharing it with Togepi who was sitting in her lap. May never knew she could have so much fun with her rival, but something was plaguing her mind about it.

"Misty, can I ask you a question?"

"Mm-hm" Misty managed to let out as she continued on her ice cream.

"Why are you doing this for me? I thought you held a grudge towards me." Misty stopped licking her ice cream cone and looked at May seriously.

"Because I wanted to see that cute little girl again." May was confused, but urged Misty to continue.

"When I first met you, I thought you'd make such a nice friend. You kind of reminded me of a younger sister that I had always wanted. One that would look up to me, share secrets with me, come to me when she has a problem, think of me as her influence. That's the impression you gave me that first day. I wanted to become friends so that maybe we could develop that sort of relationship." May smiled as Misty spoke of her dream sister that she never had.

"But once I found out that you liked Ash, I felt like I had to sacrifice that dream in order to make another dream come true. I noticed the way how Ash treats you and I felt threatened. That's when I knew that I couldn't let our friendship come between my love for Ash, and so I put an end to it." May's smile faltered.

"I was so gung ho on every chance of getting Ash to like me more than you, but earlier today I saw something in you that I had forgotten all about and I remembered the reason why I wanted to be your friend in the first place. When I saw that little sister quality again, I didn't want it to go away, and so that's why I'm so determined in making you happy. I just want to see that little sister again." Misty finished with a small blush and a smile.

May didn't know what to say. She was touched, so much that tears had formed. She blinked them back. There was silence until Misty gasped when her ice cream started to drip onto her hand.

"Aah! My ice cream!" Togepi trilled happily in Misty's lap. May giggled. Misty glanced at May and smiled.

"Should we head back now?" Misty asked. May stopped to think. She didn't want her time with Misty to end. Once it ended, their rivalry would begin again. She turned to Misty with an idea to stall it.

The two girls ended up at the beach in Pallet Town. They lied on their towels soaking up the sun while wearing the swimsuits they had just bought.

"Ah! Nothing's better than a day at the beach!" May exclaimed.

Suddenly one of May's pokeballs opened. Out popped her Skitty.

"Skitty!" It cheerfully exclaimed. May sat up and was about to scold Skitty.

"Skitty you've gotta stop popping out of your pokeball!"

"Hey, it wouldn't be a bad idea to let our pokemon out. They need some relaxation every once in a while too!"

Misty began releasing her pokemon. Out came Politoed, Corsola, Goldeen, Staryu, Gyarados, and Psyduck. Those that weren't able to be sustained on land stayed in the ocean. May gazed in awe.

"Wow! I've never seen so many water pokemon owned by just one trainer!" Misty turned to May with anticipation to see her pokemon.

"Oh right!" May began releasing her pokemon as well. Combusken, Beautifly, and Bulbasaur were released. Beautifly returned to the top of May's head, Combusken ran off to familiarize itself with Misty's pokemon, and Bulbasaur began running around in the sand curious to know what it was and where it was. Skitty began chasing its tail as usual.

"Your pokemon are so cute!"

"Thanks!"

May's pokemon began to gather around Misty full of curiosity of who she was. Misty petted Skitty and Bulbasaur on top of their heads. She then noticed the two heart shapes on Bulbasaur's forehead. Misty thought about Ash's Bulbasaur and wondered if it had markings like that as well, which in turn led to her thinking about Ash.

"May?"

"Yeah Misty?"

"How much do you like Ash?" May sat silent a bit.

"I don't know how to rate it on a scale, but I'm guessing it's pretty close to yours."

"Why do you like him?" May thought a moment.

"It's kind of weird. He's nowhere near romantic, and he can be kind of dense, but he's the kind of guy that only comes around once in your life. The one that changes you forever, there's just something about him. I don't know, maybe it's his love for pokemon, or his undying desire. Whatever it is, he makes you smile and want to be with him all the more, you know what I mean?" Misty turned away as she thought it over. She chuckled.

An hour later the sun was beginning to set. The pokemon fell asleep on the warm sand while some of Misty's water pokemon continued to swim. Misty and May looked out to the horizon enjoying the beautiful oranges and reds in the sky. It was getting late. May knew what was about to come. They'd go back to Ash's house, and once they're there, they'd end up saying goodbye to their friendship as their rivalry will start all over again.

"Misty?"

"Yes May?"

"I'm glad we got to hang out today, I just hope we can do it after Ash chooses one of us."

"Me too, but it might be hard for us to be around each other when we know that the other got the guy. It would be too heartbreaking I think, for me anyways." Misty had a point, and there was no way of getting around it. May sighed.

The girls recalled their own pokemon and headed back to Ash's house. 'Why'd we have to like the same guy?' the two of them thought.

Sure enough, May was right. Their rivalry did arise once again. It was inevitable, but both girls had hoped otherwise. Who knows what was to come of their camaraderie, but they soon started forgetting about all about it when they were around Ash.

Well there was no round for them this chapter, but don't worry, there are more to come!

And a note to Gryphon Turboclaw: I appreciate the info, but I don't need it. I'm updated on what's going on in the show by visiting Serebii.net and Pokelord.com so please don't type up spoilers, I know that must have taken you quite a while to type up and I don't want you to end up getting writer's cramp. All I ask of you is a review, nothing more^_^