Chapter 41

Ash, Alice, Max, and Golly are now at Ambrette Town, because Ash is participating in the contest for his third ribbon. Ash looks at the participants as he sighs, Max's sister, May, is actually in the same contest as him.

On the other side of the Contest Hall, May gulps as she sees Ash in the same contest as her. They haven't talked ever since Ash visited Petalburg Gym, and Ash has asked her to attend the Kalos Contests so that she will be able to earn forgiveness from Ash.

"There you are, May." While May is walking in the hallway after her performance stage is done, Max rushes to her.

"Max? What are you doing here?" May asks.

"I was asked by Ash to come." Max says. "Ash is my teacher and I have learned a lot from him."

"I see." May nods. "I can't mess this contest up...it is my chance to earn his forgiveness..."

"But it won't be that easy, though." Max says with a little frown. "Ash has been training for this contest as well."

"But still, I am not preparing to lose until then." May says with determination.

Max nods as he rushes to find Ash, and May looks at the half ribbon and frowns, "Ash...I can't believe I have burned your half of the ribbon because of Team Rocket. I will do anything to bring the old you back."

At the same time, Alice and Golly are by Ash's side, Golly says, "Your performance is really good, brother. The way you have Mimikyu and Pikachu do those moves is awesome."

"Yeah, it is a good thing that my Mimikyu is not the same one that Team Rocket had owned. Or else it will ruin the whole performance." Ash says. "And I see that even May gets into the battle round."

"This is your first time facing each other in the official Contest like this one, right? I am sure you can beat her." Alice says.

"No, I don't intend to beat her." Ash says, causing them to be confused. "What do you mean by that, brother? Don't you want your third ribbon for the Grand Festival?"

"Of course I want, but not this one." Ash says. "This match is to determine if she is really sorry about what she has done to me."

Alice remembers what Ash intends to do, and she asks, "But is it possible? I mean, chances of failing are really high..."

"It just means that there is only a shred of hope for her to earn my forgiveness." Ash says.

Then after the rounds are passed, both Ash and May are in the final round as they face off against each other. Ash steps in front of May and he says, "May, as you can see, this is your only chance. Don't mess it up."

May nods, but deep down, she is also scared to mess things up. And just like what she has thought, Ash goes with Sceptile for this one.

"Blaziken! Stage on!" May yells as she throws the Poke Ball, sending out the Pokemon.

"Looks like May is going to have an advantage over Ash Ketchum! Now, what will the match be like?" The emcee says as everyone cheers.

Max looks at the field and says, "I knew it, it is just the same as the Terracotta Contest..."

Sceptile goes with Dual Chop and Leaf Blade, but Blaziken manages to dodge all of the attacks, causing Ash to lose some points.

"Sceptile! Go after Blaziken!" Ash yells, and Sceptile chases Blaziken towards the wall, preventing it from dodging X Scissors' attack.

"Bullet Seed!" Ash commands, and May yells, "Don't let it hit! Fire Spin!"

Blaziken's Fire Spin neutralizes the attack and also damages Sceptile. May says, "Now it is our chance, Sky Uppercut!"

"Dodge it!" Ash yells, and Sceptile dodges the attack with ease, taking away May's points.

"Let's make it even! Dual Chop again!" Ash says, and Blaziken is hit by the powerful Dragon Move as the points are now equal.

"Now the scores are the same!" Golly gasps in surprise. "But how long will it last?"

Sceptile goes for Bullet Seed and Leaf Blade, but Blaziken dodges the attack and goes with Sky Uppercut. Sceptile takes the attack with Leaf Blade and negates it. With one minute left, both points are identical and both Pokemon are exhausted.

"Is it just me, or both Pokemon are now glowing?" Golly asks, and Max replies, "That is Overgrow and Blaze, along with Torrent, they power up moves when their health is getting low."

Sceptile's Leaf Blade and X-Scissor match Blaziken's Sky Uppercut and Blaze Kick, which causes them to lose points evenly.

"10 seconds left..." Alice looks at the time as they see how Ash goes for Leaf Storm, while Blaziken goes for Overheat. The attack creates a big explosion that covers the scoreboard just as the time runs out, leaving everyone in anticipation of the final results.

"Who won?" Golly asks, feeling a little bit nervous for her brother.

"Please be the ideal score..." Alice thinks while holding her hands like she is praying.

The emcee looks at the scoreboard and says, "Unbelievable! We have a tie! That means both Ash and May are the winners!"

The crowd is giving them a huge cheer, and May gasps at the points: Both of them are 7. Ash walks towards May and shakes her hand, he says, "Nice battle, May."

"Ash..." May shakes Ash's hand, and the emcee says, "As the rules, since we have a tie, that means we are going to have a tiebreaker! We-"

Ash walks toward the emcee and says, "I know the rules, but let me make an exception, please."

The emcee is confused as Ash takes the ribbon and has Sceptile cuts the ribbon in half, much to everyone's shock.

"What is he thinking?" "The ribbon is cut in half...that means...the ribbon is now invalid!" "Unbelievable, why would he do such a thing?"

May is surprised to see Ash holding two halves of the ribbon, he says, "I know some of you might question my actions. Before the whole Kalos Circuit, May and I made a promise. If we face each other in one of the contests, and if we get a tie for points, then we are going to share the ribbon. It is true that we can't use this ribbon for the Grand Festival, but this ribbon will be a friendship between May and me."

May gasps at what Ash is thinking, not only he is forgiving her, and he is doing the same thing before they separate back in Kanto. A lot of people start to understand what Ash is thinking as they give him applause.

Ash hands over the ribbon and says, "Here you go, May. I know you have ruined the Terracotta Ribbon, but this Ambrette Ribbon can be the new replacement for our new friendship. Please take it."

May smiles as she takes the ribbon, tears start to flow in her eyes as she says, "Thank you...Ash."


Once the contest is over, Max rushes toward the two of them and says, "I can't believe you two did it again! You tied each other! That was exciting!"

"Indeed." Alice says. "And that was a nice speech you have there. I'm glad you're able to forgive another one of your friends."

Ash says, "I only forgive them if they show how sorry they are. If they are willing to cooperate like what May just did, then it won't be a problem to forgive them."

Golly says, "Indee, brother. You are really good at this."

May is confused at how the girl is calling Ash brother, and she asks, "Um...I don't think we have met before..."

Ash says, "May, this is my twin sister, Golly."

"Twin sister?" May asks in confusion. "I thought you were a lone child, I mean, I have never seen her before even in Ms. Ketchum's house..."

Golly says, "Let's say I know how it feels to be killed and how it feels to be revived, quite spooky, don't you think?"

Max says, "What she means is that she was killed when she was three years old, and Ash just revived her with the help of Legendary Pokemon a year ago. During those missing years, she has been a monster that devours people."

May shivers a little and Ash says, "That's not important right now, so stop scaring her, Max."

"So I heard that even Max has become your student, but where have you guys been training?" May asks.

"An island which is known as Sevestar." Ash says. "It is actually an inheritance from my late father, only those who I trust know about this place."

"Okay...so some sort of faraway island..." May nods. "But why do you want to train Max and the others?"

Alice says, "Because we're going to have Gym Leaders on the island, as it is constructing to become a region. So far 5 years have passed and we haven't finished constructing."

Max says, "And I was going to be a Fighting-type gym leader."

"That's great, Max." May says. "Can I see what the region is like?"

"Sure, we can take the plane there." Ash says as they all head to AK151, and May is surprised to see a huge airplane in front of them.

Once she enters the plane, she is shocked to see the interior looking like some sort of hotel. Ash says, "Pick a room you want, May. After all, we still can't walk around or do anything when the plane is rising to the air."

May can only nod in shock as Ash and Alice leave, May says, "What kind of plane is this?"

Golly says, "This is also one of the inheritances from our father, as Skylar and Plania, Ash and Alice are actually the pilots."

"What? Ash and Alice flying a plane?" May says with a little fear. Max says, "Don't worry, they already have licenses for planes. And I have been staying on this plane a lot of times."

"If you say so..." May says.

After getting to the stratosphere, Ash and Alice switch into autopilot and open the door to May's room, Golly and Max following them. May asks, "Ash? Alice? If you're here, then..."

"Don't worry, we have an autopilot, and we can also use our auras to split ourselves into two to control the plane." Ash says. "Now it is a good time for some conversations."

May nods as they all head to the living room of the plane, with the big tv and sofas. May says, "So Ash and Alice. From what Max told me, is it true that you have been using a lot of disguises in different regions?"

"You're right about that, we've tried different jobs and stuff." Ash says. "We also owned a lot of stores and we are probably rich."

Golly says, "What he said. Rich enough to actually construct a region."

"Can you tell us a bit more? I mean...just how much stuff have you done after Team Rocket's mess..." May asks, wanting to know more about Ash and Alice.

"Sure." Ash says as they start to talk a lot.


And here is a new chapter, and as you can see, Ash and May have their legendary contest draw again and I decide to make it into an official match, as a way for May to earn forgiveness from Ash. I hope you like this chapter and in the next chapter, we will back to Phillip and Elizabeth's disguises again for some new stuff to do. I will also reveal Elline's team in the next chapter.