Hi all,
Sorry for being (once again) late to update!
For Reinpianist, this is a prequel to my story May's Belated Journey.
Hope you enjoy the update!
Chapter 29Seeing the homely arches of Mauville City, May grinned as she dragged her friends inside, making sure she held a tighter reign on Dawn than Brendan. You could never tell when Dawn was going to let impulses rule her actions, and she'd rather not be side tracked. Sure, she loved shopping too, but Wally needed her.
'This place is so cool!' Dawn gasped as Iris hissed, 'don't let her go, May! She'll spend more than she can afford!'
In response, May simply nodded her head, ignoring Dawn's deliberate scowl.
In the distance, Wally's familiar chartreuse hair could be seen talking to an older gentleman.
'Wow! So this is Mauville?' The younger man frowned, glancing up at the high ceilings and many people.
'Hahaha! You sure seem to be enjoying it, Wally. So what would you like to do? Do you want to grab a bite to eat at the Mauville Food Court? Or maybe we should get you a bike of your own at Rydel's Cycles. Would you like that? I bet the exercise would be good for your health,' the man grinned with eager cheer at Wally's enthralled expression.
'No, thank you! I want to challenge the gym right away! It's the best way for me to improve my pokémon and myself,' Wally grinned back, his light blue eyes lingering on the stores nearby.
'Let me see… I'm pretty sure the gym is… Yup! Straight ahead this way! Just through the inner courtyard!' Wally grinned before scrambling ahead, not at all perturbed by the older man's surprised expression.
'What? Hey wait! Wally?!' The man snapped before chasing after him.
With a chuckle, May glanced back at her friends, Orlando grinning sheepishly at the reaction of his travelling partner.
'He looks fine to me,' Brendan scowled at his brother, who shrugged slightly.
'Let's go catch Wally,' May intercepted the inevitable argument, sending both men a subtle glower.
Without another word, she led them towards the gym, where she saw Wally talking to the same man from before.
Upon nearing them, she heard him say, 'uncle, I'm begging you! I want to challenge this gym to see how much stronger I've become! Please! You'll let me, won't you? I've been training since I lost against those Grunts, I swear!'
'Now hold on, Wally… It's certainly true that you've grown quite a lot stronger alongside your pokémon. But don't you think that jumping right into challenging a gym might be pushing it?' The man chuckled nervously, though May detected a chastising edge in his voice.
'I'm not pushing it! If it's me and my Kirlia, we can beat anyone!' Wally argued back, his eyes filled with a determination May understood.
'You tell him, Wally,' May grinned as Orlando chuckled at his friend.
'Ah, May! Kirlia and I have gotten a lot stronger since we first met. Growing together! I want to prove that to you and my uncle both, May. Please help me once more, and have a battle with me!' Wally asked, clenching his hands slightly.
'Sure thing,' May grinned back as she placed a hand in her pouch, taking out a pokéball.
'Thanks, May. OK, here we go!' Wally grinned before releasing his Kirlia. Seeing the smiling psychic type before her, May grinned as Wally said, 'we're going to win this, Kirlia. We have to!'
'Go, Glaceon, take the stage!' May called out as she twirled on the spot before releasing her ice type.
'Start it off with dig!' May called out when Wally didn't make a move.
'Teleport!' Wally retorted, though May had anticipated this move. After all, Ralts, the pre-evolved version of Kirlia, were found near Petalburg City, and she'd had a few battles with them.
'Use your ears, Glaceon!' May called back, ignoring Dawn and Iris' whispered comments about the distinctive colour of Wally's hair.
'Get out and use ice shard!' May grinned as her pokémon jumped out of the ground, sending Kirlia flying into the wall of the gym.
'Echoed voice, Kirlia!' Wally growled, gritting his teeth in frustration.
'Don't you let him do that to you! Shadow ball, and aim for his mouth!' May scowled back, not at all noticing the crowd that was growing around them.
Glaceon cried her name once before unleashing a powerfully dark, pulsing purple orb at the psychic an fairy type, sending him back into the wall again.
'Come on, Kirlia!' Wally cried, though May interrupted, 'this battle is over, Wally. Kirlia has fought well, but he can't win against Glaceon. Know your limits, for the sake of your pokémon as well as yourself, please.'
The man's light blue eyes widened slightly before he grimaced. With a grim nod, he returned his pokémon, murmuring his gratitude softly.
His eyes flickered from May before settling on the oldest man. In a soft voice, he said, 'uncle, I'll go back to train harder… May, thank you. Being a trainer is tough, isn't it? It's not enough just to battle with your pokémon. I can't become a true trainer like that, not really.'
'Well there's no need to get so down on yourself. Why, what's keeping you from becoming stronger?' The older man smiled down at his nephew, his expression filled with a fondness the younger man seemed to subconsciously draw out of others.
'Nothing is! All you need to do is keep growing,' Orlando interrupted, his grey eyes intent upon his friend.
'May, I, I'm definitely… I'm going to get stronger. Much, much stronger!' Wally promised, his eyes alight with a rivalry May had seen in Ash's eyes a few too many times.
'No worries, Wally, I'll keep growing too,' May winked back, sending the man a thumbs up. All she wanted to do was to keep the fire in Wally's eyes well-lit so he wouldn't become deflated again.
'I feel like I learned a lot from just one pokémon battle with you, about my limits, about Kirlia. So, um, that's why… May, could I call you… could I call you my r-riv,' the man stuttered, a flush filling his cheeks.
'What was that, Wally?' May blinked, unable to believe her ears. The man who reminded her so much of her old rival, Drew, could he possibly be asking her to be his rival? The thought alone caused her to blush quite suddenly.
'Ah, never mind! S-sorry!' He continued as Dawn and Iris unsuccessfully stifled their giggles at May's flushed face too.
'A-are you sure?' May stammered, struggling to maintain her quiet confidence of earlier.
'It was nothing! Please forget about it!' The boy pleaded, his lips forming a subtle pout.
'Guh… good-bye!' He stumbled, sparing a glance for his uncle and Orlando before scrambling away.
'It just dawned on me that you must be the young woman who kept an eye out for Wally when Wallace encouraged him to have his first gym battle. So it's you we have to thank for Wally becoming so positive about the future. Thank you,' the man smiled before following Wally, his face flushed too.
'Err no worries,' May said, blinking as he hurried away, chasing the younger man.
'Hey, wait for me! Thanks again, May! I hope we'll both be able to meet even more pokémon on our journey!' Orlando grinned at May before scrambling after the other men, sending his brother a rather rude sign with his hand after he made an obscene comment that May hadn't heard.
'You take care of yourself, Orlando!' May called out after them, ignoring the group of people that were beginning to surround her.
'Hey, are you May from Petalburg?' One man asked, causing May to blink.
'Errr,' May said, glancing at her friends, who grimaced at his question.
'What's going on between you and Steven Stone?' A girl asked, her eyes narrowed in clear anger, her BuzzNav showing images of May an Steven in Mauville Hospital.
'Never mind that, what about Brawly?' Another scowled as May and her friends began backing up, into the gym, not noticing the magazine which had images of May with Brawly, her eyes glued on the images of her in the nearby hospital.
The door opened behind them, causing them to fall back into the pristine foyer. Almost immediately, the door shut again, blocking the strangers out. May's eyes roamed around the room before realising there was a trap at their feet.
Her eye twitched as May clutched onto Brendan, squealing, 'no, Wattson's done it again!'
'Let go, May!' Brendan yelped as he stumbled into Iris, who in turn grabbed the man and fell onto Dawn.
'What's going on?' Dawn hissed as she steadied her friend before the ground gave way beneath them.