Epilogue
"Who's your starter Pokemon gonna be?" George asks his daughter. Shane had left for Orre last week to arrive in time for the start of the tournament season. Shay will be traveling around Johto because it's closer to home. However, the season has started, and she hasn't left home yet, much less picked her starter Pokemon. Her parents are concerned, but the girl knows what she's doing. She's donning the red bandanna she's been wearing as a headband for the past couple of months.
"I want it to be a Cyndaquil!"
"You need to go to Professor Elm then." Pam knowingly tells her daughter.
Grinning at her parents, Shay exclaims, "I will!" She needs an escort to get her starter Pokemon since New Bark Town is far away from Cianwood. The parents exchange worried glances until the doorbell gets their attention. "I'll get it!" Shay excitedly runs off, leaving her parents alone.
"Maybe we should take her to Professor Elm?" George suggests.
"She already said she didn't want our help." Pam sighs.
At the door, Shay already knows who is here. She swings it open to tackle her best friend in a tight hug. With tears in her eyes, she chokes out, "What took you so long, New?"
He hugs her tightly back with his own glossy eyes. "Gramps wanted to make sure I'd be a strong enough escort."
Shay and Kai have been communicating virtually since he arrived under Professor Birch's care. The boy visited his father's grave many times, and learned a lot about him through pictures and stories from Professor Birch. The professor even gave Kai a pokemon to form a bond with, like he had done with Brendan and Treecko years ago.
Due to spending time in Little Root Town with the professor, Kai got to know of his father's best friend's family. Wally, his wife Jill, and their 7 year old daughter Amelia would interact with Kai often. Amelia has even declared her crush on Kai, though the boy knows Amelia is too young to understand what a crush is. Besides, Kai has always had his eyes on someone else.
When the two let go, Shay brings Kai inside to see her parents. They're ecstatic that he's here and grateful too because it means Shay will finally leave for her journey. They knew she was waiting for him, but they weren't sure if he'd be coming at all. After taking a few pictures as well as more hugs, the two are finally off on their first journey. The professor always knew Kai wanted his first year to be in Johto with his best friend. No one else Kai has met through the Little Root trainer school or while at the lab have come close to Shay. She will always hold a special place in his heart.
"We'll go to Hoenn next year!" Shay grins. "Then I can meet your family."
Kai shyly rubs the back of his head. He hasn't seen Shay in person for so long that he isn't sure how to behave around her. It's only been a couple of months, but the longest he's been apart from her before that was a week. Also, in the past, he didn't know he had this huge crush on her, and she kissed him the last time he saw her. "You already met my family."
She looks at him in confusion. "I never met Professor Birch or your dad's grave." There was that time Shay saw his mother.
Kai shakes his head as a nostalgic smile appears on his face. "Well, I meant my other family." He's excited to see May and Drew again, but they've been traveling around the world since leaving Cianwood. The last he heard, they were in Kanto where they are also visiting the Ketchums and Oaks. Now that Kai isn't under the orphanage's watch anymore, he can see and talk to May again, but he doesn't know where to find her. Plus, he's traveling too. Maybe he'll see her this summer at the lab?
"Oh yeah." Shay smiles. When she sees Kai nervously fidget, she can't help but giggle at him. It's like when they first met and he was getting more comfortable around her. Taking off her headband, she fixes it before grabbing Kai's hand. "Wait, Kai."
He raises a curious eyebrow at her. "What are-"
When Shay touches his face, he blushes deeply. Nevertheless, he allows her to finish playing with his hair. He likes the way her fingers run through his hair. Stepping back a bit, she grins at him. "There!"
He brings his hands up to feel the soft fabric he hasn't had in months. "Shay-"
She throws her hands up at him. "No! That's yours! You said I could borrow it until you came back." Walking back to swing an arm around his shoulders, she adds, "And it looks best on you."
Due to his flushed face, he allows her to lead him to the harbor where they can take a boat to the mainland and then figure out a way to New Bark Town. By the time Kai's face cools down and he looks up, he notices they're nowhere near the pier. If anything, they're on the opposite side of the island where the busier part of the city is.
"This isn't the pier."
"We'll go there after." Shay tells him.
"Where are we going?" Doesn't she want to get her starter pokemon already? They used to talk about it all the time.
"The contest hall finished being built this summer. Today is its first ever contest!" Shay excitedly leads him up to the large dome. This contest hall means a lot to them, even though they rarely spent time around it. It's where they all met Drew for the first time. It's where May and Drew reconnected. It's what brought everyone together. Their team.
"Don't we need to get your Cyndaquil? What if Professor Elm runs out?" They can visit the contest hall next time they're in the city. Shay doesn't have any pokemon to compete with. Plus, Kai isn't strong enough to battle the gym leader Jimmy yet.
"It's fine. I'll get whoever is left."
"What if no one is left?"
Shay grins at him. "Then you'll catch me one, right?"
The boy shyly rubs the back of his head as a blush tints his cheeks. "Yeah."
Once at the contest hall, Kai is amazed at how beautiful it looks. Shay got to see it a lot while on the island, especially because it's a place that makes her feel close to her old team. She'd spend hours working on homework or just hanging out on a bench near the contest hall. It helped her cope with her loneliness, and her parents would join her at times. Shay is glad these past couple of months are finally done with because now, she will never be separated from her best friend again.
The moment they get inside the contest hall, they notice it's not too crowded. This is partly because the Cianwood Contest hall is on a small island. Plus, the tournament season just started, so only seasoned coordinators can get here in time, or those who are already on the island. Therefore, there aren't many people because seasoned coordinators would rather compete in larger cities since there is more competition there.
"They're about to start!" Shay drags Kai into the back where they quickly climb up the stands. Due to it being the city's first contest, a lot of the islanders are watching in the stands. Nevertheless, Shay and Kai still get some pretty close seats.
As much as Kai would just like to leave for New Bark Town already, he'll let Shay watch a contest. It's her first live official contest, and she should watch it to help her gain more coordinating experience. Besides, it's not like Kai hates coordinating. No. He finds it interesting too, which is due to May and Drew.
A couple of coordinators show off their skills. Some were interesting, and some were boring. Nonetheless, Shay has been glued to her seat in anticipation the whole time. "And now, we have two special treats for everyone!" The MC announces.
Kai curiously raises an eyebrow at his giddy friend. "Do you know what he's talking about?" Why is Shay so excited? He understands this is her first contest, and it's the first one in her hometown, but she seems overly excited for just being a spectator.
"Our second to last competitor is a former Hoenn Top Coordinator…" Kai's eyes open wide in shock as he now too leans over his seat. It can't be. Can it? Can he be hopeful that it's her? Shay smirks at him. "May Maple from Petalburg City and her Beautifly!"
"No…" Kai's jaw drops when that familiar brunette walks out on stage with her Pokemon. The kids watch in awe as May and Beautifly put on a spectacularly beautiful performance. It's not Kai being biased, but he thinks May's performance tops all the previous competitors combined. May really has a knack for coordinating, and this is nothing like he's ever seen before. Could it be because she's been traveling with Drew? Did he reignite her passion for contests?
"Now, for our last competitor…"
"Drew?" Kai whispers hopefully at his friend. He knows May and Drew are traveling together, so it has to be Drew right? Unless Drew is just hiding in the back somewhere as May's support?
"The former Johto Top Coordinator, one of our saviors during the hurricane, and the fiance to May Maple…" the crowd screams because they know who the MC is going to announce. "Drewwwwwww Hayden!"
"It's him!" Kai jumps out of his seat, causing the people around him to give him weird looks. However, the shy boy is unfazed because he's just excited to see his former caregivers again.
"I know!" Shay grins. May had told the Enbars that she'd be in town for the first contest. Shay is glad Kai could make it in time to see them compete in person rather than old videos of them.
Kai's excited blue eyes meet Shay's happy green ones. This is the best surprise he's ever had. He tackles her in a hug, making her blush. Unlike with her, Kai hasn't had any communication with Drew and May these past couple of months. She knows he misses them a lot, especially May.
After Drew performs with Masquerain, the second round finalists are announced. In the second round, coordinators battle to move on. Only four coordinators advance to the second round. In the third and final round, there is a double battle where coordinators need to use both of their pokemon to put on a performance while also not losing the battle. It's very tough, so only seasoned coordinators can truly master this.
Of course, May and Drew move on to the second round. The contest hall doesn't want to lose viewers right away, so the two aren't paired against each other. They effortlessly defeat their opponents to move on to the final round. Kai is even more astounded at their battling technique. He's seen it before when Drew and May used to battle each other in the backyard, but seeing it on stage, after they've had lots of time to perfect their skills, is something else. Their battling styles are really beautiful and elegant.
"Ready to lose, April?" smirks the man.
"Oh please, Drew, you're the one losing today." May smirks back at him. "And you're gonna get my name right!" She recalls their bet years ago where Drew would stop calling her the wrong name if she wins at this contest. If not, she has to do something he requests.
"It's why I call you 'babe'." he snickers. Throwing out two pokeballs, Flygon and Roserade come out.
"Let's win this, Blaziken! Skitty!" the brunette exclaims.
As Kai and Shay watch the amazing battle, they continue to be in awe at everything May and Drew do. It's like May and Drew are also moving with their pokemon. Everything is so sparkly and beautiful. Nothing like how ruthless pokemon league battles look like. When Kai sees Skitty take a hard hit to the ground, the boy stands up in his seat again. "You can do it, Skitty!"
May and Drew pause to blink at each other in confusion. Even the Pokemon stop what they're doing. The audience and judges are curious about why the coordinators stopped. May and Drew look around the stands. That must be Shay's voice right? Is she still on the island despite the season starting last week? Shouldn't she be in New Bark Town or something?
"Go, Drew!" No. That one was Shay's voice. So who was the other young voice? Both coordinators' eyes land on the quiet crowd towards the voice. They instantly spot Shay waving her hands, and next to her, is a white haired boy with a huge grin on his face. May and Drew, with their own large smiles, wave at the two kids. This causes people to follow their gaze, and the kids sit down shyly.
"We got fans." Drew tells his fiance.
"They're more like family, babe." May winks. "Flamethrower! Assist, Skitty!"
"I like it when you call me 'babe'." the man flirts back, earning him an eye roll. Yes. Contests are a lot more fun with each other. The spectators love it, the performances are better, and May and Drew are happier. Their passions for coordinating have returned, making them come back to the contest scene better and stronger.
Moreover, Drew's fans see he's a lot happier with May. Despite the news years ago over him cheating on Brianna, not many people have accused Drew and May of lying back then. Drew and May weren't lying at all, but the fact that they got engaged so short after announcing they were dating made some people skeptical about that scandal years ago.
Nevertheless, Drew has a lot of fans and supporters due to his relief efforts during the hurricane. His fans see how much happier he is with May. Those who remember when May and Drew used to be the Prince and Princess of Hoenn decades ago are happy to see the two finally together. They have always been meant for one another.
"Finish them with Attract and Flame Wheel!" May commands her pokemon.
"We're winning this!" Drew confidently flicks his hair. This battle is very invigorating, especially since they have Shay and Kai in the stands. "Petal dance, Roserade! Dragon pulse, Flygon!"
The flame wheel circles around Skitty's hearts from her attract while Flygon's dragon pulse mixes into a beautiful swirl of different shades of blue enveloped by the pink petals from Roserade. The attacks collide in the middle, cause a beautiful explosion of petals falling down. Blue sparkles mix with it along with the little embers from the flame wheel. Skitty's pink hearts fall in sparkles too. Everyone stares in amazement at the beautiful scene until Roserade and Flygon collapse from exhaustion.
"The winner of the first ever Cianwood Contest Hall Contest is May Maple!" the MC exclaims.
"Yeah!" May tackles her pokemon in tight hugs. The pokemon have missed competing, and competing seriously like this. May had lost her passion after traveling with Drew, so she wasn't training as hard as she once was. Now that she's with Drew again, the Pokemon are experiencing the levels of training they've missed.
"She won!" Kai cheers. He hugs Shay tightly again out of excitement. May always lost to Drew in Cianwood. This is her first time winning. Kai has never seen anyone beat Drew before.
"I know!" Shay also shouts happily. "That was epic!"
After May and Drew return their pokemon, they meet in the middle of the stage. May extends a hand to him as she smirks. "I win." She knowingly remarks. "What's my name?"
To her surprise, he doesn't shake her hand. Instead, he bends down on one knee, and pulls out a box, making everyone scream. "Mrs. Hayden?" Despite proposing unofficially months ago, Drew finally got May's family's blessing and a ring. He always planned to propose to her, but that moment months ago felt perfect. Now that he has everything set, he'll do it again.
May rolls her eyes at him. "I already said, yes."
"Maybe I just wanna hear you say it again?"
Her warm sapphire eyes meet his playful emerald ones. "Yes, grasshead."
Drew smirks as he slips the ring on her finger and everyone cheers. He then stands up to quickly peck her lips because they both get embarrassed from too much PDA. "I love you." He whispers in her ear. "I'll win the next one."
May giggles when Drew walks away to the back. "I love you too." She tells him.
After half an hour and some press conference time, May and Drew finally make their way out of the contest hall. "I don't miss that." Mutters the annoyed man.
"Me too. But you're the one who had to propose in public." May replies.
"It was romantic, right?"
"I should've said, no." May taunts.
"Then the world would hate you, May. I have a lot of fans." May curiously looks at him while stopping in her tracks. Drew realizes this so he gives her a confused eyebrow raise. "What?"
"You said my name."
"Well, yeah. I lost the bet." However, he knows he'll be back to calling her a different month in a week. This never lasts long. He loves teasing her.
May smiles as she intertwines her fingers with his. "I think I like Mrs. Hayden better."
Groudon, she doesn't know what she does to this heart of his that belongs to her. Bringing her hand up, which is the same one with the engagement ring, Drew kisses her hand. "Me too."
"May! Drew!"
The shout breaks both adults out of their lovely daze. Before they can look to see who called them, though they recognize the voice, they're both tackled in hugs. Drew looks down at the outspoken girl who called to them. He hasn't seen her since he and May moved off the island months ago. Hugging her back, Drew happily greets her. "Hey, Shay!"
May holds the boy tightly. She's missed him immensely, and he's missed her too. These past couple of months with no communication has really been terrible. They went from seeing each other every day to not even knowing how the other was. Nevertheless, they always knew everyone was fine. "Hi, Kai." May sniffles. She's been looking forward to seeing him again after spotting him and Shay in the stands.
Kai lifts his head up to look in May's blue eyes. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." May smiles warmly at him through her few tears. "I love you, Kai."
"I love you too, May." Kai then pulls away to hug the man beside her.
Drew chuckles. Shay gives May a hug too. Ruffling Kai's hair, Drew says, "Don't you love me, Kai?"
"Hm." The boy won't answer that, but everyone knows he does. Drew has always looked out for Kai, even when Kai didn't know it. While Drew teases Kai a lot, Kai has learned that's Drew's way of showing he cares. He doesn't express his feelings as much as Brendan did to Kai. However, Kai does see Drew expressing himself to May a lot. Kai knows Drew loves May a lot, and May loves Drew too. Thus, Kai is happy the two are finally together without any troubles.
Once hugs and greetings are out of the way, Shay excitedly tells the adults what she and Kai will be doing. They all catch up, which is when Kai learns that Drew and May will be traveling around Johto this year. The adults hope to run into Shay in a couple of contests, and Shay looks forward to the challenge.
Drew also mentions that he got an Eevee while in Kanto. The Eevee completes his team, and May suggested that he evolve her into an Espeon, like the one he tried to catch years ago. Obviously, this makes Drew roll his eyes at her teasing. Drew received the Eevee from Gary's lab where May's Glaceon had an egg. May wanted Drew to have the egg because he has that empty slot on his team.
Moreover, while in Kanto, Drew caught a Charmeleon. Well, he didn't exactly catch it. It's more like Charmeleon wanted to join him. This is the same Charmeleon who was a baby Charmander decades ago when May and Drew traveled around Kanto together. The adults had happened to run into him again, and he has been waiting to reunite with the trainer who rescued his mother years ago.
"Wanna see my starter pokemon?" Kai shyly asks the adults. Shay knows who it is because he's shown her plenty of times through the videophone.
May smiles warmly at him. "Yeah! Who did you pick?" Clicking the button on his pokeball, Kai releases a green gecko pokemon. May's eyes open wide in shock. Only she really understands what this Pokemon means. "Treecko!"
Kai nods. "Gramps says she's the granddaughter of my dad's Sceptile." The Treecko hops on Kai's shoulder to affectionately nuzzle his face. "Her name is Yuki." Kai's soft blue eyes meet May's nostalgic ones. "It's my dad's middle name."
"I like it." Drew grins while rubbing Yuki's head. "You guys are gonna be great trainers."
The group had been walking from the contest hall, and they now arrive at the docks where the sun is setting. These will be the last boats out for the day. May bends down to hug Kai tightly again and greet Yuki. "Your dad would be so proud."
Kai doesn't want to cry. This isn't goodbye. It's far from it. If anything, he's free to see May whenever he wants. He just wished he had more time with her before being forced to separate from her months ago. None of them knew that the night before May left for Sinnoh would be May's last night under the same roof as Kai. It would be the last time Kai slept in his Cianwood home. The two always thought they had months until he would leave for his pokemon journey. Nevertheless, the world had other things planned for them.
"Thank you, May." he quietly says to her as they pull away.
May fixes the red bandana on his head. "You have nothing to thank me for, Kai."
"No. You adopted me and took care of me."
"Because we're a family." May's eyes meet his. "Now make me proud."
With a determined look on his face, Kai nods. He gives May and Drew one final hug before he and Shay hop onto a boat headed to Cherrygrove City where they will then walk to New Bark Town. "I'm happy you're my family too, Drew!" Kai shouts from the departing boat.
The man can't help but grin with his arm wrapped around May's waist. "I love you too, Kai!" Drew chuckles. He and May watch the boat disappear into the sunset. Sighing, Drew looks at his fiance whose head is lovingly rested on his chest. "Ready to go?"
"Where to?" May asks without looking up.
Drew pulls out Flygon's pokeball. "Olivine City?" It's the nearest place with a contest hall.
"Isn't your crazy ex there?" May climbs onto the dragon.
Drew shivers at the reminder. "I don't know. I don't talk to her, remember?"
With her sitting in front of him, May leans back to his chest as Flygon takes to the sky. "True. I can't wait to beat you in Olivine City too."
Drew rolls his eyes at her. "You got lucky today."
"Someone sounds jealous."
He kisses the exposed nape of her neck, making her shudder. Resting his chin there, Drew breathes out, "I'm so happy."
May relaxes in his hold. "Me too." She turns her head to peck his cheek. "I can't want to marry you, Drew."
His tired emerald eyes gaze lovingly into her beautiful sapphire orbs, and a small smile forms on his lips. "Will I be a part of your family then?"
She closes in on him to kiss those soft lips she loves. Groudon, she loves this man. She can't believe she thought she was better off without him years ago. May is glad he was so persistent to get back in her life, else they both wouldn't be this happy right now. Once they pull away, May softly replies, "You're already my family."
If these past couple of years have taught her anything, it's that family is important. All families are different. Some don't talk often, some see each other every day, and some aren't even related by blood. However, at the end of the day, what makes a family...May squeezes Drew's hand, earning her a smile from him...is love.
I was gonna add more drama with Wally wanting to adopt Kai now that the professor is accepting of Kai. Like I intentionally wanted to make Wally an asshole. Anyway, I grew tired of the story because I hate drama and action. I just like romance and family. So I ended the story here. I think it's fitting that the final struggle is over Shelly and this huge showdown on Mirage Island. Plus, the Professor took Kai in. Oh. And I started like 3 stories while this one was in the works.
I was also gonna make Brianna into a good guy at the end. Like she helps Drew and them find Kai, and she fights alongside them. However, I already had too many characters I didn't wanna keep track of. It would've made a nice character development, but screw it. I don't really like Brianna much anyway. :P
Furthermore, I wanted more of Drew/Solidad/Harley/May hanging out, but I never did it. Harley and Solidad aren't really the characters I like typing about or focusing on, which is why I would forget them a lot. I do have a lot of Pokeshipping and Oldrivalshipping just because I love those shippings.
Moreover, I wanted to make the Maple family strife against May adopting Kai more, but there's not really much to do there. The Maples are understanding. They're not mean, so it's not like I could make them do anything OOC. They'll also do anything for May, so of course they gave in to her and Kai eventually.
An idea I had was for Kai to not be found. Drew and May would travel the world looking for him. Once Kai is 10, and the tournament season starts, I was going to have him runaway from Team Aqua or convince his mother to let him leave on his own journey. Then he would go back to Cianwood where he surprises Shay at her house. The two would travel the world searching for May and Drew to surprise them. However, that wasn't gonna be dramatic enough, and it would take too long. An epic showdown on Mirage Island was a lot better climax to end this story.
Well, that's it for this story. I know I started this before Things Money Can't Buy, but that story got too complex. I still have more hurdles to jump there, so bear with me. It's gonna end. Thank you to everyone who was in on What Makes A Family this whole time. I appreciate you! See ya in the next story! :D (Or one of my other many incomplete stories...)