Fighting the Fates

by Warlordess

Complete While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends run across a local Seer who says Ash and May are fated to be together! Then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. Whatever could they have to say about this? Poke x Contestshippy fic.

5. Running, Scared

Author - Chibi / Warlordess

Disclaimer - I don't own anything. . . But Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the show around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

Fiction Title - "Fighting the Fates"

Chapter Five - "Running, Scared"

Summary - While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

Ages -

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

"Well, then, I guess it's my turn."

Even as Misty took up her spot in front of the local Sootopolis seer, she seemed to be quaking in her shoes, but her resolve was strong, and if her affection - her love - for Ash was going to be seen as 'hopeless', then she needed to know why. She'd felt that way for him for years, after all. And so she clenched her fists and held her head high, gritting her teeth in a committed way and listening to what the woman had to say.

"You are Summer." Somehow, Misty wasn't surprised. . . She had always loved the sea, and Summer was the best time to have anything to do with the ocean. "You are physically afflicted by this, as is seen by your beach-sand complexion and your fiery hair. . . But you are also seen as a metaphor. . . A poison, sickly, intense, which sometimes ruins those relationships that haven't had enough time to grow. This has caused an independence which makes you quite the reliable being to a certain few, and quite the logical mind." The woman and the redhead gazed at each other in a swift, piercing sort of way.

"And. . . what are the qualities of. . . Ash's season?" Misty said, jerking her head in her best friend's direction. Ash knew that the answer was going to be nothing good before the fortuneteller even began to reply, and he sighed, looking disappointed somehow, scuffing his tennis shoe against the linoleum flooring.

"They are. . . courage. . . and passion. And your qualities consist of independence, reliability, and - sometimes - logic." The woman shrugged here, as though careless, "As you can plainly see, there can be no chance of a match. . . However. . ." And she turned her gaze between Misty and Drew, a strangely mischievous grin flitting upon her face as though something had crossed her mind, "You two, Summer and Winter, the cooling or warming of the ultimatum of the seasons. . . ! Your qualities, my girl, and his - they are nearly perfectly in tune. . . Do you think that maybe, there could possibly be a chance that. . ."

As though in reply to this, Misty and Drew automatically took three steps away from each other, and Ash and May, both with near-hostile expressions on their faces, stood in between the two.

"Uh, no! We've barely just met each other!" Misty started in a shriek.

"And, well, she's not really my type." Drew said, and though Misty could have made something of it, she decided against it, considering that could've been misinterpreted as jealousy, rather than a simple insult. Instead, she turned back to the seer.

"Why not?" And she looked terrified beneath the surface again because she was finally going to become aware of the reason. She stepped back and placed a hand to her chest as though her heart was physically pained at the thought of her and Ash not being able to work out. And then Ash was at her side, and he clapped a hand to her shoulder in a secure sort of way. She braved a glance at him, but saw that he was still staring fiercely at the fortuneteller as though willing her to come up with a very good explanation for this theory.

"It's very simple, really. If you think about it logically, the winds of Autumn and the seas of Summer would most often clash, be at war. The sea churns, spawns high tides that, with the crippling power of the wind, form a hurricane. That power devastates and causes destruction, demolishing cities, homes, lives. . . Do you see? If I'm not much mistaken, your friendship is already. . . not the most pleasant thing on the planet?" They seemed to quell under the woman's stare at the truth of the matter and she closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded, ". . . I see. I suggest you stop for a moment, you two. Think about it. You have a friendship that's shaky enough as it is and I'm giving you my fairest of warnings overtop all of your past experiences. . . Maybe you want to try this new thing on for size, despite everything I'm saying, maybe you'll defy all chances you've been given to go another way, but. . ."

Ash turned to Misty now and saw that she was looking very unsure about everything.

"So? So what? Who cares if we plan on trying on a relationship with each other? We don't need your blessing for that, lady!" He shouted, furious, swiping at her with his free hand.

"Ash. . ." Misty murmured, but not in a convinced way. She gave the others half a wary glance before turning back to the seer.

"Nor will you be receiving it, but I give you one final word of advice." The woman drew breath again before she allowed herself to go on, "I've already told you how wrong I think you'd be for attempting anything more with each other in the future. . ." Ash felt Misty stiffen as she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder, ". . . but if you insist on ruining yourselves. . ." And at this point, Misty took a few steps back and away from him, as though scared he'd lash out at her, ". . . please consider the fact that yours are not the only lives affected." And Misty didn't wait for anyone else's reaction's to this statement, instead, turning and taking off at a run, her face bowed so low that her eyes were completely shrouded by her bright red hair.

"N - no; come back, Myst. . . !" Ash said, throwing out an arm to try and catch her, but too late, and he turned to the others, ". . . Do you guys think this is one of those times where she needs to be alone, or should I get going now. . . ?"

Brock, May, Drew, and Max exchanged a series of looks before they all leant forward and gave Ash a simultaneous push in the direction that the Cerulean native had taken off in before.

"Oh, just get going!" They said.

"Pikachu, I need you to stay here. . . !" Ash said, and his friend obeyed, leaping off of his shoulder and finding itself cozy between Brock and Max, and when the raven-haired trainer had gone, as well. . .

"Pika, Pikapi!" It called, wishing his trainer good luck.

"Normally, I'd say that it'd be better to give Misty some time to calm down first, but those were back in the days when she was actually traveling with us, and she didn't have a hometown to just run off to if she got upset enough. . . Still," here, Brock took a moment to look at the others, ". . . do you think everything will be okay?"

"Oh, sure. . ." Max said, and he sounded so confident that everyone sweatdropped as they looked to him for an elaboration, "Well, this is Ash we're talking about, here, and Misty. As Misty's a girl, the waterworks will have started up by now so she'll have sat down to let them cool off; and Ash being. . . Ash. . . he'll probably have gotten himself lost, which will give her an extra few minutes to collect herself." He cleared his throat and looked up at everyone. "What? That's just the logical conclusion!"

"Yea; okay." May said with a roll of the eyes at her brother's geekyness. "Let's meet up with them at the Pokemon Center, then. There's no point in sticking around here; unless. . ." And here she glanced hopefully around at all of the stores and then up at Brock.

". . . See, May? I knew something had been wrong with you lately! And now I'm positive all the fortunetelling, the lurve, the ness-ness (if you know what I mean) has unhinged a certain detail of your brain that clearly states 'Brock is not my Sugar Daddy!'"

"Oh, but please? Please, please, please, please, please?" She asked, puckering her lip again like the last time they'd been there.

"No."

"Oh, but. . . Nurse Joy was telling me that she really likes guys who take care of their little sisters. . . !"

"You're not my little sister!"

"Minor details. . . Besides, I'm the closest thing you've got in the immediate vicinity, and I'm sure that Joy would appreciate it either way." She inched closer to him and nudged him in the ribs, catching sight of the dreamy expression on his face, ". . . Right. . . ?"

Brock looked as though he was trying very hard to seem unaffected by the conversation, ". . . Fine. . ." He failed miserably, replying in his stiffest 'I'm finally maybe - sorta gonna get a girlfriend, or at least not get taken away in handcuffs' voice, and she proceeded to lead him away by looping one of her arms with his and pulling him along.

"We'll meet up with you later, and take Pikachu with you!" She said pointedly to Max, seemingly forgetting that Drew was even there, and then it was like someone had shot a gun off into the air, and it was a race to see just how fast and how far she could get the group into debt.

Drew took one uncertain step forward, heading in the direction May had gone, but Max, seeing this, put on his geeky, protective, little brother air, and called out to the older Coordinator.

"Hey, Drew? Have you ever seen a Pokemon trainer documentary?" He asked, the frames of his glasses flashing as he fitted them more firmly up the bridge of his nose.

"Uh. . . no." Luckily, it seemed to get the boy's attention. . . Or maybe he was just a bit scared of why Max was advancing on him.

"Oh, they're very interesting! They're directed by Professor Oak, and there's one for almost every Pokemon, and they cover a lot of topics for trainers when they're trying to tame the Pokemon; popular food recipe's, training techniques, breeding favors, etc." Max halted mid-rant and placed a delicate finger to his chin in thought, "Let's see. . . I should have quite a few by now; Munchlax, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Gyarados, Mudkip, Vulpix, Psyduck. . ." He got a look of thorough excitement in his eyes, "I know! Let's go watch one!"

"Uh. . ." Drew was still glancing awkwardly in the direction May had taken off in. He wanted to go after her; he wanted to talk about. . .

". . . Everything you will bring to fruit, everything you will bring to life. . . He will most likely undoubtedly be the death of it, as Winter is to Spring."

He couldn't help the inevitable and slight flinch that coursed through him at that. No wonder she didn't want to talk. . .

OoO

May's gaze was just slightly hazy as she stared through the window at one of the jewlery shops on the first floor of the mall. She blinked and tried to refocus, hoping that the diamonds, the sterling silver, would look more appealing through the glass cases. . . but all she could really see was her reflection.

She sighed and turned away, backing up and heading back into the main hall, glancing around at the many different stylish settings she had yet to detail into. None of it seemed very interesting to her at this point. . . She kept hoping that something would catch her eye, something that would make her feel like her old self, something that would get her mind off of everything that had gone on just a little around a half an hour ago. . . but that didn't seem to be the case.

Unfortunately, some part of her seemed to be set on blaming Misty, and while she felt a bit guilty for that, she couldn't seem to help it. If not for Misty's incessent need to find out about her compatibility with Ash, then she wouldn't have dragged everyone back to the Sootopolis shopping center to see the fortuneteller. . . She wouldn't have asked so much of the woman, paid so much just for the specificity of their possible future's with Ash and Drew. . . And May - she wouldn't have had to be so thoroughly disappointed - she could have lived with the carelessness of it all.

But now, well, that seemed to be over - and there was nothing that could be done to change it, if there was no chance. . . if destiny, or fate, or whatever, was totally against the possibility. But still, she had to wonder, if that was the way it was, how could she feel so attracted to him in the first place? So impossibly in, er, 'like' with him, if it would all be for nothing in the end? And Misty, too?

And that was what brought May back to Earth. . . and into a complete guilt-trip. Misty was only trying to find out why something so exhilarating as her love for Ash would never work out, and it just so happened that she was pushed into that, forced into finding out why, because Ash had been told that he and another girl would be near-perfect for one another. . . Let alone, he and a girl that he spent everyday with. May understood that. . . Now that she thought about it, if she'd found out that Drew and one of his fan girls were in a relationship, a long-lasting one at that, she might've. . . well. . . she wouldn't have been happy about it. Nevertheless, Misty's solution - it wasn't the best way to solve the problem, but then, in a way, maybe. . . maybe May should have thanked Misty. . .

After all, if not for the Cerulean native, the female Coordinator might have gone on for months fancying her rival, and that crush might have even grown into something more; she might have become lost in it. . . She might not have been able to help herself. At least this way, though. . . This way, she knew ahead of time that it was hopeless.

"May. . ." Brock cleared his throat. May's head shot up and she realized that she'd been standing in the middle of the mall hall for almost five minutes, simply thinking. "I know what this is about. Don't think that you've gotten past me with this sudden shopping spree; even you're not this materialistic."

She turned to look him up and down and saw that that was impossible, because, in her haste to get Drew off her mind, she'd run through half of the stores in the Sootopolis mall, slinging a credit card like it was her lifeline, and buying almost a thousand dollars in anonymous items. She felt bad now, as she wasn't sure that her older friend was even able to breathe under all of that. . . but the thing was, she was still unable to stop. . . Shopping was her stress reliever, and after what had happened, she certainly had a lot of stress that needed relieving.

". . . How would you know just how materialistic I am? I - I could be completely obsessed w - with clothes, a - and cars, and jewels, and things like that. . ." She attempted to argue half-heartedly, not in the mood for the lecture she just knew was coming, and indeed, she heard Brock utter a large sigh as they both made their way towards a bench beside a cellphone pocket office.

"You're a good person, May; don't try to fight me on that." Brock said, thankful to be able to set down the large pile of boxes and bags, and he faced her, although she wasn't willing to look at him just yet, ". . . Look, you didn't like what the seer had to say; I get it. Actually, I didn't really like it much, either, but that's for a different reason. . . Well, for the most part. You wanna know something?" He allowed a small grin to flit across his face, and she finally gave him half a glance, if only for a moment, before looking down at the soles of her shoes again.

"What is it. . . ?"

"I've always been rooting for Ash and Misty, and you and Drew, to get together, too."

May scoffed, although, for some reason, she did believe him. There was something about the way he and her brother had been teasing her and Ash that made it seem as though they found it truly disbelieving and more hilarious, than as though they found something of truth in it. . .

"Well, even if that's the case, there's no fighting fate, so. . . you know. . . I guess that's it, somehow. I - I just don't want to have to even think about - about how she put it, that woman. Drew's basically going to be an undoing for me; he'll make me unhappy, no matter what I try to do for myself, or him. . . and no matter how much I like him, I can't handle that type of thing."

"Eh, May. . ." Brock sighed again, leaning sloppily back in his seat, almost like Ash would, ". . . 'Life is like a box of chocolates.' 'If you're not willing to risk it all, you don't want it bad enough.' Uhm, no, wait. . ." He said, because May was quirking an eyebrow at him and looking his way as though he was quite insane, "I think I have another one. . . Ah, yes. . . 'A push into First Love, a shove into Everlasting Happiness.'"

"U - uh, Brock, what are you quoting for? What do those have to do with anything. . . ?" May asked, uncomfortably aware that the last one had her turning quite red. Brock acted as though she hadn't said a word.

"A wise, young man, who isn't really that wise, but that's beside the point, once said that love doesn't matter or have anything at all to do with destiny. . . If you don't feel anything for someone, then it's not fair to say that you want to be with them." Brock commented, and May actually seemed to be looking relieved, as though she knew this person, whoever they were, had obviously experienced something along the same lines of her situation.

"A - and they told you that. . . ? Like, you know, personally?" After Brock nodded in reply, she couldn't help the curiosity that overwhelmed her, and so she continued, ". . . Who was it?"

"Well, actually, it was Ash. He said it yesterday; to me and Drew, before you came tumbling back onto the scene."

The comment sold May unlike anything she'd ever known before. If Ash had said that. . . it was a type of proof, somehow, that there was no part of him that wanted to have anything to do with this destiny that 'they' had. He wanted to fight it in its entirety, because he didn't feel anything for her, and that was just fine; the feeling, of course, was mutual.

It gave her strength, somehow. . . If he was so confident that he could overcome this whole thing, that he could win over Misty and they could be together. . . then what was to stop her, May, from doing the same thing?

The answer came to her almost immediately. Absolutely nothing.

Leaping to her feet, she turned on her heel and began running towards the Pokemon Center.

"Thanks, Brock!" She called, already knowing just what she had to do.

". . . H - hey, wait!" But it was too late. Brock sighed, almost knocking himself upside the head. Of course, he could be helpful to people, but did they ever remember just what they left him with. . . ? No. Of course, not. He glanced beside him at all of the boxes and bags that the young Hoenn girl had left behind. "I think that I'll just return these. . ."

He could already see the conversation he'd have with May later on, once everything had worked out with everyone. . .

"Hey, Brock, where did you put all of my stuff? You know, that we bought together after we saw the fortuneteller that second time?" She asked.

"Stuff? What stuff? I don't remember any stuff. . ." He replied in a completely innocent tone, turning away and preparing to run.

Back in the present, Brock blinked and continued to stare at the fifteen or so packages sitting beside him, wondering if he was truly brave enough to survive May's wrath. . .

". . . Nah." He sighed, and attempted to pick everything up into his arms again, heading off towards the Center at a much slower pace than the Hoenn girl.

OoO

Ash approached the fountain cautiously, not exactly sure of what he was going to say to Misty when she finally became aware of his presence. She was sitting on a bench opposite him, her face in her hands. . . Passersby were staring in an offhand sort of way as they went along, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was putting on a spectacle by crying publicly.

He stepped up beside the bench and took the empty seat next to her. She removed her hands from her face, proving his theory, and revealing blood-red eyes that could've only been brought to existence by at least a good fifteen minutes crying. . . But Misty was all for denying it.

"W - would you believe. . ." She started, ". . . that some weirdo came up a - and pepper-sprayed me? Right out of the blue. . . ?"

Ash couldn't help the wry grin that crept upon his features, "And what about the fact that your shirt is so damp?"

". . . Some kid was running around, and he tripped and spilt his soda all over my front. Would you believe that?"

He quirked an eyebrow and gave a light snort. "Not in a million years, Myst. Sorry."

"Oh. . ." She moaned, and the tears started up again, almost in reply. She didn't wipe them away, or try to hide them from him, as though knowing it would be useless, "I - I guess we'll both just have to live with them. . ." And then she allowed her face to droop slightly lower, and the two of them just sat there.

Ash couldn't help but feel slightly bewildered by what was going on. . . Misty had told him that she was doing all of this, that she'd come all this way, forced the group to return to the Sootopolis shopping center, and faced the seer a second time, all to 'test a theory'. . . But, somehow, and maybe he was losing his mind, overreacting for thinking about things this way. . . It seemed strange that 'testing a theory' would include running away and breaking out into a fit of tears upon hearing the results.

His brow creased. May had attemted to warn him of that. . . and it wasn't as if the thought hadn't crossed his mind beforehand, but still. . . If nothing else, here was the proof. What should he say to her, then, to make it better? She already looked as though she believed it, and, if May's episode back in front of the fortuneteller had been any indication, so had the Hoenn girl. Whether or not he, Ash, was willing to fight against it meant nothing, if he was the only one.

So, maybe that was the best place to start. . .

"You know. . . we don't have to listen to her." He shrugged in a nonchalant sort of way as Misty looked at him. "The seer; she might be wrong. . . You never know."

"Ash. . ." Far from compelling her towards strength, Misty felt as though, if she were to stand, her legs would simply cripple beneath her, whatever she did. "You don't get it; of course not, you never have. . . I'm not going to risk it. She was right about everything else, wasn't she? She was right about me, about my 'season', about our friendship. . . What makes you think that she could be wrong about anything else?" She shook her head and, for the first time since he'd joined her, turned away from him, as though rejecting him, "No; no. . . I'm - I won't risk it. I don't want to destroy us, or our friends. . . and that's what we'll do. . . isn't it?"

"Ugh, Myst!" He said, and crumpled a hand through his hair in frustration, "I know you'd be worried about what could happen. You don't think I would? The point is. . . it's not like I'm saying we should only do this because it's a challenge for me, or because it's something that will obviously make you happy." He spat, and stomped a foot to the ground in his position before continuing. "What I meant when I said that we could go ahead with this - what I meant when I said that we don't have to listen to her. . . is that I don't want to."

". . . Y - you. . . ?" By now, the tears had stopped, as though frozen to the ducts of her eyes. She blinked, stared at him as he glanced almost anxiously back at her, although, at this point, he basically knew what to expect from her. After all, they'd spent years together, years arguing, years laughing, years being taunted by anonymous people about their abstract way of flirting, by friends and strangers alike, and then. . .

"C'mon, Ash, even you're smarter than that." May had said. . .

Yes, contrary to popular belief, he was. He was fifteen years old, he'd been traveling for five years with people who'd constantly been teaching him life's lessons. . . Of course, he had to learn something once and awhile. And here it was; the fruits of his labor.

". . . Ash. . ." He was relieved, because this time, Misty had this small, weak grin on her face as she said his name, as though it were a remedy to an ancient illness that she'd fallen prey to. And then she was crying again, and still speaking, and he didn't know any way to comfort her, other than to keep listening. ". . . I - I thought it was so useless. . . because she said so, that woman. . . I gave up so easily. I - I'm sorry. . ." She continued to ramble on, and Ash only nodded, not entirely sure as to where this was going; at least, not immediately. ". . . I mean, I - I've kind of. . . been in love with you for. . . for years now, your know?" The tears slid down her cheeks, past her chin, neatly onto the front of her shirt as she spoke. "Maybe it's because of how easily we've always been able to lose sight of the important things, you know, like when we're fighting with each other. . . It's like the fortuneteller said. . . Our friendship's so shaky already. . . Why be the ones to make it crumble? I - I don't want to ruin anything. . . or everything. . ." She looked away from him again, as though growing slightly fearful, and he sighed and rose from his seat.

"Misty. . ." He resigned himself; he looked as though he were ready to leave her there, but then he knelt down beside her and gently grabbed a hold of both of her shoulders, "Look; we shouldn't be depending on strangers for advice, should we?" He waited for her to nod her head and then continued with what he had to say. "You know what I think? I think we should. . . I think we should depend on only us. What do you say, Misty? We can give this a shot, the tiniest bit of a shot, even, and if we think it's starting to fail, then we can bail on it and flip out, and run in opposite directions. . . if that's what you want to do."

She blinked at him in a bemused sort of way, and then raised one of her hands to grab his, which were still gripping her shoulders.

". . . Maybe - maybe that's a good idea. . . for right now."

OoO

Notes - Yes, progress! Er, it's not the exact way I wanted to end the chapter, like, at ALL, but I really had no choice, so there we are. Anyway, yes, thanks to all of you for your fascinating and wonderful reviews! Heh heh! I'm surprised that so many of you find this fic funny! I mean, I never really prided myself on a sense of humor, so, well, I never saw it coming - you know - all those reviews with the choking-on-humor action-y lines and things. Thanks so much. It really means a lot.

So, next chapter, we have Ash and Misty, and May and Drew, going on dates! YAY! Not a double-date! I thought about it and, well, I didn't want them to do anything too formal for their first time out, so I decided against it. Heh. So, yea, they're gonna go on dates with each other! How will it all turn out? Will the seer's foretelling of disaster come to be? And if it does, what will May and Misty have to say about it, when they're already shaky on accepting anything less than what the woman's said? Yee, only about two chapters left. . . !

Crap, that counted as a spoiler! I should really start to warn you all formally about them, shouldn't I. . . ? Oh, well. . . ? You know what? I should go start working on "The Strangest Kind of Love" again, that I should. . . I have yet so even start the third chapter. . . Yuck; that won't be pretty. . .

So, anyway, reviews will be appreciated! Flames will not! I'd actually like to set a bar this time around, as it seems that I've hit a low; not an all-time low, but just a late-time low. . . for Pokemon fan fic reviews. Heh. I'd like to have at least sixty reviews by the time I update again, please. Pretty please? It'll help Chibi out of her swirling - vortex - of - doom depression. . . Just thought I'd give it a shot.

Oh, wait! I have a life lesson to teach you all first before I go!

What is Pokeshipping? It is the romantic relationship between Ash and Misty of the Pokemon anime or manga.

What is Contestshipping? It is the romantic relationship between May and Drew of the Pokemon anime. . . and not the manga, since I'm not sure if Drew even exists there.

Now, in my summary on FFN, and in every chapter posted here, I've stated that this fic is going to be a Poke x Contestshippy fic. Now that you all have read the above statements, can you please learn to remember, live, breath those statements and not keep asking me who's going to get together, or keep saying things like 'I can't wait for Ash and May to get together, and Misty and Drew, too!' cause it's not gonna happen! Really, have I ever written an Advanceshipping fic? Did I say that this was going to be an Advanceshipping fic? Have I had Ash and May show anything remotely related to love towards each other. . . ? . . . I didn't think so.

Seriously, I don't know how much more obvious it can get. . . If you don't know the name of the ships, then you shouldn't even be reading this and saying how good it is! And really, like I said, how much more obvious could the emotions between the characters be expressed. . . ?

Oh, and, lesse. . . Gods, I think I had something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember, so, yea. . . Sorry to those who actually know what's going on, if you read through all of that for nothing. I just had to get it out. Please review, and to those who think I've mislead you, you know, like any Advanceshippers who might have been expecting some huge turn of events sometime soon, don't even go there. I did say that this was going to be a Pokeshipping and Contestshipping fic from the very beginning. . . It's your fault for misinterpreting it.

Until next time. . . !