How do you all like Battle Frontier? I am pleasantly impressed. The only thing I don't like about it is the abomination they claim is 'music' during the end credits. You know, the former Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon opening.

Anyway, May talks to Misty in this chapter. I wonder how far we can get inside her head?

Chapter 24, get Pokémon!

"What are you doing here?" the red-haired Gym Leader shouted at May when she looked up from Munchlax.

"I came to get my Pokémon, that's what!" May shouted back. "Munchlax, come over here!"

"Munch!" the giddy Pokémon smiled after swallowing the food Misty fed him. He waddled back from the pink blanket Misty and he were standing on over to his trainer and hugged her legs, hoping for more food.

"If you think you're going to get more food, you're sadly mistaken," she disciplined Munchlax. "You've been a bad boy, Munchlax. Wandering off like that."

"So this is your Pokémon?" Misty said, an annoyed look across her face. "I figured, seeing as to how hungry the poor thing is."

"Munchlax is always hungry," May explained. She reached into her pack and pulled out her trusty Pokéblock case. She popped out a pink Pokéblock and fed it to her Munchlax. The Pokémon swallowed it, then became satisfied, and sat down at May's feet. May looked up at Misty, a smile on her face. "So how was your picnic going?" she timidly asked, fearing the Gym Leader's anger.

"A lot better before you showed up," Misty spat, turning to the waterfall, standing next to her picnic basket.

"Misty…" May tried to get a sentence out, but she just couldn't put the words together.

"Azurill!" Misty called to the water. At her call, the small Normal-Type immerged from the water and hopped up to the dry land.

Munchlax walked over to Azurill and held out his hand in friendship. Smiling, Azurill moved her tail into Munchlax's hand and shook it.

Misty quickly snatched up her Pokémon. "We don't make friends with people like that," she scolded her Pokémon. Azurill put a sad look on her face.

"Why not, Misty?" May asked her. "We used to be friends before Harley talked to you…"

"You know very well why!" Misty spat. "You've been doing horrible things to Ash."

"That's not true, Misty," May calmly responded. "Like Ash said, Harley's been lying to you."

"He showed me proof!" Misty shouted in the coordinator's face. "You couldn't fake a picture like that!"

"That was only an accident…" May sighed. "I didn't mean for Torchic to hurt Ash." She sat down next to Munchlax and ran her finger through the loose dirt at the forest floor. "It was in North Petalburg right before Ash battled my dad for his fifth Gym Badge in Hoenn. A bunch of people egged me on, and I battled Ash's Taillow. I ordered an Ember attack, and Taillow flew out of the way, leaving Ash to get scorched." Looking up, she said, "I've already apologized to him. Can you forgive me, too?"

"No! You're just lying to me, trying to get me to call off the battle!" Misty snapped.

"I understand that you won't believe me," May sighed. A look of surprise settled on the combative Gym Leader. May continued, "and I really don't want to have to battle my friend with such bad blood between us."

"The only reason there's bad blood is because of you," Misty said harshly. "If you hadn't been deceiving everyone, then this entire thing would never have happened."

"Why don't you believe them?" May asked.

"What?" Misty was confused. "Believe who?

"Ash and Brock," May clarified. "They've both told you that I wouldn't do anything like that. Why Harley's word over your two best friends?"

Misty grunted, and turned back to the waterfall; she dipped her bare feet into the water and looked for her reflection in it. "It's not because I don't trust them." Misty sighed. "I really do. And I want to think you're a good person, May." The Gym leader looked up at the sky. "But Ash's hurt. His shoulders are sore. And no one but Harley ever gave me a reason."

"I can tell you what really happened if you want," May said, moving closer to Misty.

"What?" Misty was skeptical. "Did Brock do it?" she mocked the coordinator.

"No," May laughed. "It actually happened trying to save me."

"What?" Misty looked at the girl. "Seriously?"

"A few days ago, after another attack by Team Rocket, Ash and I were falling towards a forest from really high up," May told the story looking into the waterfall, picturing the series of events in her mind. "Ash called out Swellow, and his Pokémon gripped his shoulders tightly in his talons. So tightly, that they punctured the skin." May's eyes began to tear up, but she wiped them off onto her arm.

"So Ash did it to himself?" Misty asked.

May nodded. "When we got out of the lake, I saw that he was bleeding. Having nothing else, I tore my bandana in half and used it to bandage him. That's how it got torn." May placed her hand on her new, green bandana. Thoughts of the caring boy came rushing though her mind. "Thank you for telling Ash to buy me a new one," she told Misty.

The Gym Leader shrugged. "I don't know if I should believe this story you're telling me…"

"I didn't honestly think you would," May sighed. "I just don't want to fight anymore. I want us to be friends again."

"Does that mean you'll tell everyone what you've done to Ash?" Misty asked.

"I can't admit to crimes I haven't committed," May sighed, "so no."

"Then the battle is still on," Misty stood up. She began to pack up her picnic, and let out a giggle.

May turned around to see what she was giggling at.

Munchlax had fallen asleep on his back, and Azurill lay on top of him, also dozing away.

"That's so cute," Misty smiled.

"Misty…" May started. "…is there any other reason that you don't trust me?"

Misty sighed for a moment, bending over to pick up her baby Pokémon. "It just seems so easy for you, May," Misty sighed.

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"I mean, everything you have in the group seems to have been handed to you," Misty explained. "To accomplish your dream, you're able to travel and see new places. You're also very successful at it. You got to the top four in the Kanto Grand Festival. You… you've also won Ash's heart. And it looks so easy for you. And then I think about what I had to do. I had to come up with an excuse to travel. I had to fight tooth and nail to make my Gym successful. And regardless of how much I tried, I couldn't get Ash to like me back… Not in the way I wanted, anyway."

"Misty…" May sighed compassionately. "It's not as easy as you think it is. Training Pokémon for contests is hard work. My Pokémon work hard to compete in the contest battles. I've had to teach them many new moves to keep their appeals fresh, and we practice them all the time. I've also had a lot of people help me along the way, not the least of which are Ash and my rival. I barely beat Drew in the Grand Festival, and I just lost to him again because I haven't been keeping up my training."

"But you still got Ash to fall for you!" Misty grabbed the girl by her shoulders. "How did you do it?" she shook May, rattling the girl's head. She let go of the coordinator after she realized her mistake. "I-I'm sorry, May… I guess I just got a little emotional…"

May collected herself. "I… I never really tried to get Ash to like me. It just kinda happened. I made a wish on the Millennium Comet, to find true love one day. I never finished making the wish, but a few weeks later, I met Drew. But around the same time, I also noticed different things about Ash. Not that'd he been doing anything different, I just saw him in a different light, I guess. Ash would always be supportive of me. We never seemed to fight like I did with Drew. And even when we did, we always ended up apologizing with each other." Smiling, she added, "Sometimes I felt like his girlfriend even before he said he loved me," with a giggle. May closed her eyes and continued to reminisce about Ash. "I'd make fun of his complete obliviousness in the field of love, but I don't think it ever clicked with him at the time. Earlier, the day before I was kidnapped by Team Rocket, Ash told me about the day he started to fall for me. We were on this island with lotsa Donphan, and we got lost in the woods. I even jokingly mentioned that we might end up on the island forever together that day. Ash told me that it all clicked when he saw me crying that day, because Max was lost, and I wouldn't be able to go to the contest. He told me that he wanted me to be happy again. That's how, I guess." May realized that she had been babbling, and got embarresed. "I'm sorry. I guess I just let that all out, eh?"

"You…" Misty couldn't believe it. "You never tried? You never had him ignore your feelings?" Misty got hysterical. "You never stayed up on long nights, wondering when you'd be able to tell him your feelings, only to chicken out in the end, and then beating yourself up because you just made a fool of yourself?"

May pushed herself away from Misty, a look of apprehension on her face. "Hey, chill out!"

"How can you say that when I tried for so long to get him to love me?" Misty shouted.

"Hey, I thought you weren't interested in Ash anymore!" May called her out.

"Who told you that?" Misty snapped back.

"Ash did before you wacked out and got angry with me for no apparent reason," May growled. She took in some deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Well, maybe I'm not interested in Ash anymore…" Misty grunted though clenched teeth, "…and maybe I am. I don't know anymore. What I do know is that as one of his best friends, I should keep him from people who intend to harm him. People like you."

"So are you gonna be protecting Ash by forcing me to leave him?" May glowered. "Are you going to find fault with every girl he finds interest in?"

"Only if they're gonna hurt him!" Misty defended herself.

"Oh? And how many stories are you going to be told before you believe the accuser? Because all it took was one liar to convince you that your friends are conspiring against you," May sternly spoke to the Gym Leader.

"You be quiet!" Misty shouted. "You're only trying to confuse me, like you confused Brock! Ash won't admit it because he's afraid of what people will think about him getting abused by a girl! And Brock doesn't know that this entire thing is going on under his nose!"

"So says Harley, right?" May smirked. "And he's defiantly a reliable source to your best friends."

"Shut up! Quit trying to confuse me!" Misty shouted, her eyes watering.

"Why is it confusing?" May asked, calmer now. "Is it because you want me away from Ash so badly that you can't believe your friends?"

"Shut up!" Misty cried, holding her head in her arms.

May continued talking to Misty, her emotions calm and collected. "You know Ash and Brock probably better than I ever will. And yet, you yourself refuse to believe them when they tell you something. You want to be a part of the gang again, and when you see someone else stealing your role, you get jealous of them. Is that it?"

Misty lurched forward, swinging her arm at the coordinator. "I hate you, May!"

May caught the arm of the tearful Gym Leader. "No," she responded. "You shouldn't hate, Misty." May's expression changed to one of sadness. "When you hate someone, you can never see anything good about them. You get consumed with their faults that you can't see the beauty they have inside. And you never allow yourself to become their friend. When you hold grudges, and hate, it's you cutting yourself off from everyone else, not them cutting themselves off from you." May smiled kindly at the Gym leader. "That's a lesson Ash taught me."

Misty stood there, crying. She reached for her Pokéball and recalled her Azurill. "You…" she choked. "Why you? Why not me? I loved him, and he didn't feel anything for me!"

"Believe me, having guys fall for you isn't all it's cracked up to be," May sighed.

"What do you mean?" Misty cleared her tears.

"There's this other guy I like, and he and Ash both told me that they loved me in the same night," May explained. "I like them both, and I can't put one over the other," she sighed. "They're both so important to me."

"You have two guys!" Misty shouted again, her voice rattled with disbelief. "Not only Ash, but another guy?"

"I know I can only keep one, though," May cried out. "And it's hard to choose between two people you love so much! And everyone seems to be hanging on which I choose!"

"Just take the other guy, then, and avoid all of this trouble," Misty shouted.

"No," May stepped back, standing infront of her sleeping Munchlax. "I'm not going to pick before I know for sure." May glared at Misty. "And besides, you've already brought the trouble. And Harley's just made it double."

"Oh, you did just not compare me to Team Rocket!" Misty glared angrily at May.

May smiled. "There's the Gym Leader." May recalled her sleeping Munchlax. "I'll see you tomorrow, Misty," she called, walking back toward the way she came. "You can let out your frustrations on me in battle."

"Hey, wait!" Misty called to the departing coordinator. "I'm not done yelling at you, yet!" But May had already left. Misty sat down and looked into the pool of water at the base of the falls for a moment. Is what she said true? Am I just being jealous? Am I cutting myself off from them? She shook her head. No, I can't let her shake me. I've gotta beat her to get Ash to see that he doesn't have to be afraid of her.

"Ash, you should just let it cool off," Max advised the trainer, leaving the room to follow his new friend. Ash stood over the stove, watching May's Ramen. He hadn't eaten his rice balls yet, as he waited for the girl to return to eat her meal. Brock, Max, and Cyndi had already eaten, but Ash wanted to wait. Pikachu followed to boy's lead, leaving his bowl full of Pokémon food and following Ash inside. Ash kept looking into the pot, the stovetop set to low to keep it warm for May at her return. His stomach growled at him, ordering the boy to eat.

Ash shook it off. I'm gonna wait for May, he told himself. He began to pace around the kitchen, Pikachu watching him walk around in circles. The mouse Pokémon watched with worry on his face. He hopped on Ash's back, trying to give the trainer some support. "Thanks, Pikachu," Ash smiled at his partner. "But I'm getting worried. Maybe I should have followed her out…"

"Pika!" the Pokémon protested. "Pikapi, Pikachu pika pika chu!"

"I know she'd think that I don't trust her to be out on her own," Ash responded, "but I'd almost rather have her be annoyed with me, rather than having to wait for her to return." Ash looked out the kitchen window. He nodded his head at the sky. "I'm gonna try to find her," Ash said to Pikachu. "You wanna come with me?"

Pikachu obediently slid over to his shoulder. "Pika!" The Pokémon smiled.

"Alright, I knew I could count on you," Ash smiled, rubbing Pikachu's head behind his ears. "But we can't just leave the ramen here. It could burn with no one looking after it." He thought for a moment.

Pikachu leapt to the counter, and pulled a plastic container out of the cabinet. It was an orange bowl with a semi-translucent white snap-on lid. "Pika," he handed it to the human.

"Great idea, Pikachu!" Ash laughed. "We'll take it with us, and we can have a small picnic with her outside."

After containing the ramen, bagging the rice balls, and getting together an assortment of other foodstuffs, the duo stepped out of the kitchen and looked to make sure no one was watching them leave their post. Brock had fallen asleep on the couch watching television, and the sounds of Cyndi and Max could be heard arguing in her room upstairs. Smiling, they snuck out of the room, quietly closing the door behind them. Ash tiptoed through the storefront and snuck out as noiselessly as possible. Pikachu sat on Ash's backpack, hoping that his weight would help hold all the items together without destroying them.

Ash walked to the edge of the forest where they had seen May disappear into. The peered inside as far as they could without stepping inside. Seeing no sign of May yet, they stepped into the bushes. Looking for a land mark they could gauge their travel in the small forest on, they quickly found a river that ran up into the middle of the forest. Given that the ground near rivers is usually clear, Ash and Pikachu decided to travel along it in hopes of finding May. Fortunately for them, May had almost returned by this point. She was also walking by the river, and saw Ash and Pikachu, and ran up to them.

"Hey guys!" May smiled, catching her breath. "It's good to see a friendly face again!"

"I'm glad to see you again, too" Ash laughed. "What do you mean a 'friendly face?'" he asked.

"You'll never believe who I ran into in here," May said, walking with Ash toward drier land than that next to the river.

"Who?" asked the trainer as he led May, without the latter asking where they were going.

"Misty was here!" May exclaimed.

Ash almost jumped out of his skin. "Misty?" he gulped. "Did she try to battle you?"

May shook her head. "No, I think the only Pokémon there were my Munchlax and her Azurill. We talked for a while though."

"Really?" Ash asked. "About what?"

May's stomach growled quite loudly. "I'd like tell you, Ash, but I'm too hungry to tell stories right now."

Ash laughed as he set down his backpack in the small clearing they were in. "Well, I thought we could have a picnic, since you were out here, anyway," the trainer smiled at May. He pulled out the bowl he had contained the ramen and handed it to May. He took out his carefully wrapped rice balls and handed them to Pikachu. He also uncapped the container to Pikachu's Pokémon food and placed it where the Pokémon could get it.

"Is this my ramen?" May asked meekly.

Ash nodded. "Pikachu and I kept it warm for you, just like you asked. Pi-"

"I love you, Ash!" She blurted out, hugging him. Both Ash and herself realized what she said and blushed brightly. May held him a moment longer before she released him. "I mean, I love the ramen you brought me," she covered for herself, running her hand through her hair. "Thank you."

Ash, stuttering, replied, "N-no p-problem, May." He shook off the embarrassment. "I wanted to make sure you got what you wanted," he added, taking the rice balls back from Pikachu.

"You haven't eaten yet, either?" May asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"No," Ash said rather plainly. "I was waiting for you to come back before I ate. I eventually got too worried about you, and Pikachu and I came looking for you. So when we came to look for you, we decided to make it a picnic."

May smiled as she sat down next to him and took a pair of chopsticks out of her pack. She popped off the lid to see her piping hot ramen looking back at her.

"Thank you for this little picnic, Ash," May smiled at him. "It's very sweet of you."

"Well, I don't know about that," Ash modestly blushed.

"Don't be so modest, Ash," May playfully nudged him.

"Well, let's eat," Ash smiled, grabbing a rice ball and chomping down on it.

May slurped up some of her ramen, looking over at Ash, watching him eat. She pulled a few noodles into her chopsticks and was struck with inspiration. As Ash opened his mouth to take another bite of rice ball, May barged her ramen noodles into his mouth. Surprised, Ash opened his eyes to see May's face almost directly in front of his. He slurped the noodles from May's chopsticks and looked into her sapphire eyes, and her cherry lips. Shaking his mind from that subject, Ash held his rice ball up to May's mouth, prompting the coordinator to take a bite. Ash smiled as she cutely chewed so close to him. His eyes kept being drawn to her lips. Why am I looking at those? he pondered to himself.

Before things got too much more serious, May backed off and took her place next to Ash again. The two laughed out loud together.

"So, May," Ash tried to start a conversation, "what did you talk to Misty about?"

"Oh, stupid stuff," May tried to ignore the subject. "Do we have to talk about it now?" She leaned her head on Ash's shoulder and nuzzled the top of her head against the side of his face.

Ash smiled. "No," he said. He placed his arm around May's shoulders and held her there, next to him. "No, I guess we don't."

And so, another chapter comes to a close. Are there still some unanswered questions? Don't worry, chapter 25 (Pika, Pika!) is already underway.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm going with a Tuesday-Friday update schedule. That allows me time for college stuffs, and lots a time for you guys to read the current chapter. Some of you might think this is too slow. I, honestly, believe it is too fast. As it was said, Rome wasn't built in a day. Or with a couple as cute as Ash and May.

I read in my Obligatory Freshman Class Textbook™ that having a goal increases your self-esteem. Well, I have a goal in writing fan fiction, as of now. And I feel a lot better about myself (not to say I had a negative self image to begin with). I hope to continue for a while. I hope this is done before September ends, but I can't help it if it drags into October. I'd like to continue to some other projects, so I can write more Advanceshipping.

Lots of you seem to be worried about when the final battle will occur. I can't give a specific chapter, but do know that it will happen. I can't resolve the plot without this major event, can I?

Not if I claim to be a good writer.

Continue to review, and send any questions/comments to me via PM! You guys/girls are great!

Until next time, Everyone, Get Pokémon!