Chapter 44

Hearing her Xtransceiver ring again, May hurriedly pulled it out of her bag. Glancing at it to ensure it wasn't Brendan or Brawly, May frowned. The identification code for the incoming call was blocked.

Irritably, she wondered if she should even answer it. BuzzNav news had been warning people about an increased amount of scammers reaching out via unknown blocked numbers.

It could be about work.

Trying to hide her uncertainty, she answered, 'hello?'

'May! Oh I'm so glad you answered! I was shopping with Iris and then a creepy man wouldn't leave us alone. Iris was really mad by the things he said so I took her to the first exit I found in Mauville. It has a nice view of some water and if we'd wanted to head this way, I'm sure we'd appreciate it a lot more… but we're a little... lost,' Dawn chuckled nervously as Iris scowled, 'I told you that it was the wrong way! The clue was the cool breeze!'

'I know you did, Iris, but that cute little boutique with the stones was so nice, and that man was so creepy! Did you hear the stuff he was saying to you? And do you expect me to think coherently, especially with how loud you were yelling at him? Besides, don't you pretend you weren't admiring the bicycles at Rydel's, I saw your interest in the mach bike!' Dawn scowled back as May chuckled.

'So where are you?' May chuckled as she heard Iris argue some more in the background.

'Be quiet, Iris, I can't think. Let's see we're on Route 118, near Mauville City,' Dawn spoke as Iris yelled, 'no, I won't battle you, go away! Gah! Why are you all such little kids?'

'She's not in the mood, May. Someone mentioned ice types to her and shoved a pokéball in her hand, now she's looking for a fight. Please hurry,' Dawn whispered as May grimaced, 'I'll be there as soon as I can.'

Glancing at her tired Shroomish, May grimaced. Shroomish had been trying to learn a new move, but was having no luck. Whilst disappointed, May knew that it was extremely important to keep her hopes up. So, with a smile, she said, 'you'd better come back, Shroomish. It looks like we need to head back to Mauville.'

Rather than be disappointed, Shroomish grinned eagerly up at her.

With a small smile of her own, May took the pokéball from her belt and grinned, 'you deserve a good rest, Shroomish! I know you'll learn a new move soon! If only I had someone who could show you what leech seed looks like.'

Turning to head towards her home, May grinned as she saw Kenny sweeping the path in her front garden with a dedication that would have made Norman proud. The man had given up on helping Shroomish learn, so she'd told him to head home. Instead, he'd stayed.

Kenny had always hated being idle, especially with Norman being so ill. He'd taken to running double the chores at his house and the gym, and May didn't have the heart to ask him to stop.

Shroomish's body was encased in a red glow before she was transported into the pokéball.

'Hey May, want me to clean the gym later?' The man asked her as she met his eyes across the vast gym space.

'If you want, though I have to head out to Mauville right now,' she grimaced as she tried to find a phone number for a taxi she could use. It wasn't like she could go to Mr Stone, especially since she knew Dawn and Iris could look after themselves.

'What are you doing out there? Is this another one of those champion's orders you keep getting?' Kenny frowned, blinking at the brunette as he walked over to reach her, his eyes filled with concern.

Glancing at him, May frowned, 'it's not what you think. My friends got lost in Mauville and need some help. I'm not sure where they are, so it might take a bit to find them. Don't worry, if anything was wrong with my father I'd let you know.'

'I can take you,' the man offered as relief flooded through his eyes. He paused momentarily before grinning, 'provided Brendan has no objections.'

'What? Why would he object?' May asked as she stared at her friend and colleague.

'The same reason Brawly might,' the man chuckled, glancing knowingly at her as she walked ahead.

'Kenny, please don't be silly, I need to go to Mauville City, no matter what any male says. If you want to come with me then that's up to you,' May frowned at the man, who chuckled obviously as she walked towards the doors.

'I'll come with you, don't worry. You never know, your friends seem to be quite pretty,' the man chuckled, though May noticed a slight flush on the man's face.

'What's this, Kenny? Are you interested in one of my friends? Is it Dawn? Iris? Maybe Misty? How about Serena? Sakura was there too!' May beamed at the man, pinching his cheek affectionately as he swatted her hand away.

'What? N-no. I was simply making an objective observation,' the man stuttered, flushing as she continued to grin at him.

'Oh really?' May mused before the man shrugged out of her reach, readjusting his clothing and taking the keys out of his pocket.

'Let's go to Mauville. Brendan's staying?' Kenny asked, chuckling as he saw May's eyes narrow at his words.

'I doubt he's going to want to come with us, especially since we've just come from Mauville,' May grimaced at her friend, who nodded in agreement.

'All right, I'll drive us both there,' the man nodded as he led the way to his car.

A/N:

Housekeeping and some notes re: my stories on here and good old pat ree on (copy and paste from May's Belated Journey and Mt Chimney Catastrophe)

Firstly, thank you so much for supporting me by reading, reviewing, liking and following my work, it really does mean the world to me. With regards to Patty, I'll continue uploading the chapters ahead of time on pat r eon starting next month. I'll be honest, I've been struggling to upload my fan fictions there simply because I feel like I'm uploading more than I am writing and editing. For my sanity (and hopefully motivation), I'll be uploading the chapters for the month in one document per fan fic just so I can focus on my work.

For clarification purposes, I'm at the stage where I want to focus on my own stories for a bit. I still love Pokemon, but I'm writing these fictions with the pacing of the anime in mind, and I'd like to just focus on a more realistic pacing of a story with my own characters, world and lore. I've written a fair bit for both May, Gym Leader and May's Belated Journey so I've got a buffer to focus on my own stuff. I love how interactive the Pokemon community can be, but I'm really hoping that my dream of being a successful author can come to fruition (which is super hard because I'm such a perfectionist too, so I'm constantly reading and editing my own fiction).

As you can (hopefully!) tell from my stories on here, I try not to half-arse anything. Given that one of my favourite series is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, I really hope that I can write something with characters as realistic, raw and human as some of the people he's portrayed, as well as incorporate lore, worlds and cultures that I've created from scratch (probably using cultures from ancient history as a rough guide. I don't want to start adding real cultures or beliefs in there because, frankly, I doubt I'd do them justice, especially since cultures are so nuanced)

Unfortunately, that probably means I shouldn't be focusing on my fan fiction as much as I have been, especially since fan fiction and hobbies don't keep a roof over my head (if only it did, hey?) and I can't become a successful author just publishing fan fiction (unless Pokemon become aware of my work by some miracle and like it enough to ask me to work with them for a series based on adult characters, but that wouldn't happen, especially to me)

Like I said, I've got a fair bit written for both of my fan fictions, so uploads should continue as per usual (if only I could schedule chapter uploads on here so I can just power through with my own works) but I'm really hoping to publish a few original stories, otherwise on Kindle or maybe Royal Road (assuming Fan Fic lets me upload those names). If any of you are interested in reading more of my work but can't support me via Patty, I'd love to know if you have a specific preference for platform. As always, my dms are always open if you don't want to leave a public review.

I'm just itching to get some of my own work out there and see how people react to my original work and characters. My persona as lS2l started because I wanted feedback/to see if people liked what I could create, and I'm at the stage where I want to do it with my own work. Pokemon is a great foundation with a tonne of lore and characters (especially ones I struggle to write like Dawn, Drew or Serena, as well as unique ones such as Brock, Harley or Cilan), but they're not mine. I hope that I've added depth to them and added my own touch to them, but they're still characters I haven't created, with their own unique looks, style or catch phrases that I didn't create. It's a small nuance, but 10 year old me wouldn't have wanted to work with other people's characters, worlds and lore without trying to make my own.

Oh and by the way, I think I'm only halfway with what I've written for both of my fan fictions, and that's not even including the third arch I want to write too. Don't think I'm abandoning my fan fictions, I'm not. I'm at the stage in my life where I should otherwise do something about my dreams or give them up, and to try and fail is better than to not, right?

Sorry this is so, so long. I just wanted to update you on where things are regarding my personal desires. I promise I'll try to upload next week, though I have no idea when given how busy it will be (I might have to do a double upload the week after next, but I'm hoping it won't come to that). Also, I have uploaded everything I've written for Mount Chimney Catastrophe on Patty as well and lowered the rates for my tiers.

I really want to start publishing my own stories, so please let me know if you have a preferred platform. I have a special interest in fantasy (I've written one story for over 15 years), but I'm trying it out with some general fiction for now because I'm a wuss haha (namely, one of the ones from Patty, so that will probably become early access)

Like always, thank you so much for all of your support and I'll do my best to upload my stories next week sometime. We should be back to regular schedule from the week of Monday the 9th May. Sorry this message is super rambly, my head hurts and I probably need sleep and hydration.

If anyone has any suggested platforms, let me know. Once again, I can't thank you enough for continuing to read my work. I won't disappoint you, but if I disappoint myself and not try to achieve my dreams I'll have even less time to upload my fan fictions. I'm super curious if fan fic will let me publish royal road and kindle (or if I'll have to find a weird way of writing it like royal and road or k and indle)

Thank you so much for continuing to read my fan fiction, and I hope some of you will be interested in reading my original pieces too :)