Hi all,
Thank you so much for all of your support, as usual.
Chapter 17
Finding herself back Petalburg, May let out a small sigh of relief. Whilst Brawly had been extremely friendly to her, May hadn't wanted to spend too much time with the man, lest his female companions seek revenge. She'd never been good at abating other people's fans, especially those of her male friends.
Almost immediately, May's thoughts returned to Drew.
With a heavy sigh, she turned to see Brendan pull her into a hug.
'How was your date?' May questioned him as she caught sight of subtle bruising around his neck.
'It went well, exceptionally well,' the man chuckled with a wink, causing the woman to purse her lips in disgust.
'Excuse me, I'm looking for the Gym Leader here,' a harsh voice asked, filled with an Unovan accent.
Turning her attention to the man, May frowned, 'that'd be me.'
'I heard it was a man called Norman,' the man with dirty blond hair asked, his pale grey eyes narrowed with a scepticism May was beginning to resent already.
'He's not available right now. I'm it, or you can go to the next town and challenge Roxanne,' May responded, crossing her arms impatiently. She didn't want to have a discussion with the man about where her father was—it had nothing to do with him.
'Hmmm, who are you, again?' The man questioned, his dark purple hooded jacket clashing with his orange shirt.
'The name's May,' the sapphire eyed woman responded as Brendan frowned slightly at the turn in their conversation.
'May? Aren't you a Coordinator of some sort? What would you know about Gym Battles?' The man scoffed, crossing his arms in a smug resentment that had May wanting to throttle him.
'I may be interested in Coordinating, but that gives you no right to belittle myself or this Gym. Now, you can stay here and wonder why you won't get the Balance Badge, or you can fight me for it. Brendan, do me a favour and get Kenny,' May responded before turning back to her father's Gym. This man was making her blood boil and she did not appreciate it.
'I'll fight you. I still think this is a hoax, but I'll fight you for it,' the man responded before sauntering after her and into the Gym.
'What's your name and where are you from?' Kenny asked, his tone more polite than May's would have been. His black eyes glanced at May's scowl before hastily returning to the challenger's face. From his slightly apprehensive expression, May knew that Brendan had informed the Hoenn man of just how much their challenger was getting under her skin.
'Trip from from Unova,' the man responded with a sneer, though neither of the Petalburg Gym members reacted to his tone.
'All right, then. This pokémon battle between May from Petalburg Gym and Trip from Unova is about to head underway. This will be a two on two match, with the challenger allowed to make substitutions,' Kenny called, his eyes tense as Brendan grimaced, taking a seat in the stands nearby.
'Go, Tranquill,' Tripp called as May spun on the spot and released her pokémon, crying out, 'go, Beldum, take the stage!'
The Unovan gasped once before shaking his head, saying, 'this was meant to be a normal type Gym!'
'It was under the previous Leader, but not anymore. Will you start the battle or do I have to?' May retorted, barely suppressing her anger.
'Tranquill, aerial ace!' Trip called out, clenching his hand by his side.
'Headbutt, Beldum! Stop that flying type in his tracks!' May responded, with a small smile.
'Fly over it,' Trip hissed, though May foresaw the attack, calling out, 'stop it with zen headbutt!'
Watching his pokémon become motionless in mid-air, Trip grimaced, 'get out of there, Tranquill.'
'Beldum, follow it up with iron head!' May grinned as she saw the man reach for his pokéball.
Just as the move collided, the man returned the pokémon.
'Go Frillish!' He scowled, his eyes narrowed in anger at May's tactics.
'Beldum, zen headbutt!' May called as she watched her newly attained pokémon.
'Frillish, use protect, followed by hex!' Trip sneered, his grey eyes glinting with an amusement May didn't share.
'Dodge it!' May called out, though her Beldum was hit head on by the purple glow of the super effective move.
'While he's struggling, use night shade!' Trip grinned, triumphantly as his ghost and water type was surrounded by an eerie glow, which was directed on Beldum.
'Iron defence!' May responded, but it was too late. With a small cry, Beldum fainted.
'Beldum, you did great, return,' May smiled before recalling her pokémon.
Seeing the man sneer, she pulled out another pokéball, crying out, 'go, Glaceon, take the stage!'
'A Glaceon? What's with your pokémon? I thought this was a normal type Gym?' The man frowned at her, causing her to grind her teeth slightly.
'As I said before, the previous Leader specialised in the normal types, however I don't have a specialisation,' May responded with clear vexation.
'Glaceon, ice beam!' May called out to her pokémon, who called her name once before sending a bright layer of ice at the pokémon.
'Dodge it and use water pulse!' The man called out, clenching his fist as he leaned on his front leg.
'Jump over it to use secret power!' May yelled, ignoring the glance Kenny sent her.
Watching her ice type jump over the liquid obstacle, May smiled as she saw her Glaceon hit her opponent head on, causing paralyses.
'Frillish!' Trip grimaced as May called out, 'now, use a combination of shadow ball and ice beam!'
Her pokémon, upon hearing her command, unleashed a dark pulsing orb from her mouth before shattering it upon near impact with her opponent, using ice beam to propel it into Frillish's face.
'Frillish is unable to battle, Glaceon wins this round,' Kenny said, pulling May back to a semblance of reality.
'Go, Tranquill, use air cutter!' Trip sneered, though May reacted, 'ice shard, Glaceon!'
The flying type barely had a chance before it was frozen.
'Now use shadow ball!' May called out, pushing a hand into the air.
Immediately, the ice type released a pulsing, dark orb which hit the frozen Tranquill in the face.
It fell to the ground, a frozen heap, and Kenny raised his flag, 'Tranquill is unable to battle, the victor is May and Glaceon.'
Watching the Unovan's expression darken, May sighed, 'you fought well, Trip.'
'What would you know about it? You're not even the real Gym Leader!' Trip roared at her before returning his pokémon and bolting out of the Gym doors.
With a grimace, May muttered, 'maybe I fought a bit too hard.'
'Nonsense, the brat had it coming,' Brendan defended her, causing her to smile slightly.
'But I should have been the mature one out of us two,' May responded, recalling her Glaceon and heading into her kitchen to contemplate her battle and emotions.