Type: Fairy
Shipping: RibbonCheerShipping

One-Shot 7: The Evergrande Cheerleaders

The Evergrande Conference was around the corner. Ash won his eight badges throughout Hoenn: the Stone Badge from Roxanne in Rustboro City, The Knuckle Badge from Brawly in Dewfort Town, the Dynamo Badge from Wattson in Mauville City, the Heat Badge from Flannery in Lavaridge Town, the Balance Badge from Norman in Petalburg City, the Feather Badge from Winona in Fortree City, the Mind Badge from Liza and Tate from Mossdeep City and the Rain Badge from Juan in Sootopolis City. With Brock and the siblings, May and Max, Ash and his Pokémon had one objective. "Evergrande Conference, here we come!" he cheered. Brock and the siblings sighed to Ash's eagerness.

"Is he always like this?" groaned Max.

"This is Ash you're questioning, Max," Brock reminded. "Misty sometimes couldn't handle his excitement." May shook her head before going to Ash and Pikachu's side.

"Are you sure that you don't wanna bring Bulbasaur to the Conference?" she asked. Ash sighed as he turned to May.

"Hey, it's a new strategy to use Pokémon from the region to compete," he briefed. Max saw a problem with Ash's explanation.

"If so, Pikachu's not suppose to be part of the team," he clarified. "Not to mention if what you're implying is the plan, that means you only have five Pokémon to use."

"Like heck I'm gonna abandon my best friend and besides," Ash countered. "He wanted to be with me so that I didn't want to be defenseless and Team Rocket wouldn't get a cheap attempt at him." To May, Ash wasn't wrong.

"The latter sounds more plausible, especially Team Rocket," she mulled. "Anyway, let's get registered."

("Can't compete without entering,") Pikachu recalled. They proceeded on when a Mawile jumped onto Brock's back. The momentum was enough to push the future Pokémon Breeder to the ground face first with a yelp. Everyone turned to Brock and the Mawile that appeared with a Plusle and Minum just behind. Ash, May and Pikachu got worried but Max scoffed.

"Looks like a Pokémon's happy to be back with you," he punned. Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder to the arriving Pokémon. Plusle and Minum seemed excited to see Pikachu before Mawile came to Ash's Pokémon.

("We made it in time!") the Deceiver Pokémon huffed. That's when two youngsters joined.

"Plusle!" a boy called out. "Minum!" Plusle and Minum turned to Thatcher. Behind Thatcher was Samantha.

"Mawile, seems you wanted to catch up with old friends," she figured. Hearing her voice, Brock bounced back and performed his shtick, grabbing Samantha's hands.

"I knew it couldn't be once in a Mawile, Samantha!" he praised. "Only someone as yourself can give me the romantic ribbon for the bow of our newfound relationship-" His grasp was stopped by Max's grasp… on his earlobe.

"It's you who needs to tie up loose ends," he scolded as he dragged Brock away. Ash and May came to see their friends from the journey.

"This is a bit of a surprise," May voiced. "What brings you two to Evergrande City?" Thatcher chuckled to May's query.

"We came to cheer Ash on," he replied.

"You see, Thatcher and I met on coincidence," Samantha added. "It wasn't much of a surprise that Mawile didn't want Plusle and Minum, since they're as chipper as Pikachu." Ash laughed, recalling how Mawile was after Brock's Ludicolo when it was a Lombre and his Torkoal and Corphish wanted her.

"You know, I remember coming across a Pokémon Psychologist in Johto," he thought back as he knelt down to Mawile's level. "I'm believing you want to help lift Pokémon's spirits, right?" Mawile blinked, unsure what Ash meant.

("You wanna help sad Pokémon,") Pikachu squeaked. Mawile understood Pikachu and nodded.

"Anyway, May…" spoke Thatcher as he approached May. "I had learned from everyone about how well you did in the Hoenn Grand Festival. I wish I was there to support you." Max turned to see Thatcher's face becoming a little pink.

"Thanks," she smiled. "That's real sweet!" Thatcher's face had a slight pinkish glow. Ash grew a little impatient.

"Hey, I'll see you guys in a bit!" he called out. "I gotta register for the Conference!" With Pikachu back on his shoulder, Ash raced out toward the Pokémon Center and Samantha and Mawile came with.

"Wait for us!" she hollered. They soon arrived at the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy welcomed the pair in.

"Welcome to the Pokémon League Registration Table!" she greeted. "Are you two entering the Evergrande Conference?" Samantha quickly wove her arms.

"Oh, no!" she denied. "I'm not! I don't have the badges, let alone the Pokémon!"

"But I do!" confirmed Ash. Joy hit a button that made a pair of slot open.

"Would you slide your Badge case and PokéDex?" she gestured. Ash inserted the case and Dex in the slots. Joy used her computer to scan each item. Her screen flashed green and the case and Dex emerged. "Ash, your registration is complete. Congratulations on making it to the Evergrande Conference." Ash took his items back with a smile.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" he greeted. Out of nowhere…

"NURSE JOY!" screamed Brock. Reaching over the counter, the young man latched on Joy's hands. "Thank you for registering my friend to the Evergrande Conference. Now, I need to register for a dinner date with you!" Believing Max's punishment didn't work, Mawile used Bite and her appendage chomped Brock in the buttocks. He jumped with a booming yelp, dropping his grip on Joy and flying upward while holding his wounded pride. He fell flat onto his back.

"Brock doesn't need a nurse," Ash nagged. "But… he'll need a doctor."

"Please, tell me not for that injury," Samantha irked. During the registrations, Ash and the gang met up with plenty of different trainers, including some that Ash met along the way like Morrison. At night, Ash and Pikachu began to walk around the area, knowing that they're going to compete in a tough Conference. Ash seemed preoccupied in thought. Samantha and Mawile came to Ash.

"Good, you're here!" she gasped. The trainer and Pokémon turned to Samantha who seemed worried.

"What's wrong, Samantha?" he asked. Samantha pulled a Brock, grabbing Ash's hands.

"You gotta come! I believe Thatcher's with May right now!" Hearing the information, Ash and Pikachu began to wonder.

"Oh, this should be good…" They followed Samantha and Mawile to where they eyed Thatcher and May sitting on a bench. Thatcher held Plusle and May held Minum. Ash, Samantha, Pikachu and Mawile ducked behind some shrubbery.

"I didn't want to reveal this in front of Alyssa, mainly because she'd poke fun of me," Thatcher gulped. "After you guys stopped Team Rocket from taking the light stone, I looked up to Ash to see if there's a way I could be like him and be a hero. The reason was that when I first saw you, my heart suddenly skipped a beat and I didn't respond to Alyssa. After being with Ash, I wanted to be a hero… to protect you." May gawked to Thatcher's confession.

"Wait, you mean…" she pondered. Thatcher fluffed a nod before looking down.

"Ash is more of a hero than I'll ever be. I didn't want to feel like a failure in front of my sister."

"But… you're not." The reply shot Thatcher's head to look at May. "I find it admirable that you want to be a hero for your sister's sake. I also find it cute that you want to be a hero to me." Embarrassd, Thatcher looked back down. May irked, thinking she misspoken. "I-I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to make fun of you!" Plusle and Minum became worried for their trainer. "Listen, Ash is a hero by result, not by choice." That made Thatcher look back to May. "Ash does things because he feels it's the right thing to do, not because he wants glory or fame or anything." Thatcher laughed, knowing he made a blunder in his thoughts.

"I shouldn't do anything over the top then. If I feel like something's wrong, I should help and fix it."

"Exactly. Ash follows his heart and uses it to his battle with his Pokémon. Sometimes, it's not about what someone does, but how someone reacts. If you learn from Ash for a small time, you'd know that he goes with his instinct that gets him out of tough spots, as well as the environment." To Thatcher, May had an inkling for the boy from Pallet.

"So, you like him?"

"Well, as a friend." That made Thatcher breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, I may have a chance with you. Maybe we can have a date before or after Ash's battles." May's face blushed red, realizing Thatcher's wish. Humored, May had a chuckle.

"You're a little quick to strike. Sure, I hope Ash or Max don't mind."

"Great." He leaned in but May palmed his face.

"Not yet. Let's wait until the date, okay?"

"Yeah, I did want to show what I learned from Brock as well." The information made May start to regret the plan.

"Oh no…" Ash, Samantha and the Pokémon bailed and returned to the guest hotel.

"I never would've guessed Thatcher joined me to see you guys to ask May out for a date," Samantha giggled.

"Not that I minded," Ash shrugged. "Still, Thatcher wants to impress May. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt about it."

"Yeah, and that I can see the two of us being a couple as well." That made Ash stop and Pikachu blink.

"US!?"

"Yes… us. You rescued Mawile when Team Rocket attacked us, then our performance where they took Lombre… and you actually controlling Lombre, even though he wasn't your Pokémon." The memory made Ash laugh.

"Hey, I asked if he was okay, and wanted payback on Team Rocket."

"And I'd probably trust you more with Mawile than I do Brock." Mawile blinked to Samantha's belief. "Heck, I want to root for you and more. Brock's too pushy anyway." Ash nodded to the claim.

"I've separated Brock from girls, Misty has, May has, Max has… and still, he acts really goofy with girls. There are times that, honestly, I'm better off without him… but he has given me advice so I can't be too upset with it."

"True. He'd be more upset with this." That's when Samantha kissed Ash on the lips as Officer Jenny came by. She caught a pair of kids breaking curfew but ended up seeing a romantic moment and hung back to watch. "Promise me that you'll go far."

"Always going for the top." Clearing her throat, Jenny spoke up, spooking the group.

"Now that you've had your moment under the moon," she voiced. "How about you get back to the hotels. It's about time for curfew." Ash and Samantha nodded before she kissed Ash's cheek. Completely embarrassed, Ash's face became beet red. Jenny couldn't help but snicker before she escorted the two back to the hotels. Once in a Mawile, Ash would show his disdain about Brock. Then again, the only things deceiving him were his friends for acting like a fool. Ash's newfound love may tie a ribbon to his spot of Pokémon Master. The Plusle side being that Max can't argue about his sister and his friend with new loves. The Minum side: listening to a dejected Brock.

END of FAIRY
Next up: GHOST

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