I'm back, everyone!
(crickets chirping)
(Me: slumps)
-SILENCE-...
Well, I got one review!
YAY? gets a lot of cookies and such!
Okay, I don't own Pokemon. So just read and be content with it, okay?
Most of this chappie is on the contest, and I can't say that i'm really great at writing it, so it's like a skim over... (...)
Ten minutes till show time, May thought, in the back room with all the other coordinators, sitting on a bench and fingering Combusken's pokéball.
"Hello, May," said a slight monotone voice, and May turned to see Drew looking down at her.
"Hey, Drew," she greeted back. She looked him up and down. "So, how's your Roselia doing? She sure got one hell of a knock out of Grovyle's Solar Beam."
Drew scowled. "So your little boyfriend told you about his big victory today, did he?"
"No, I saw it," May replied. "And Ash isn't my boyfriend!"
Drew flipped his bangs. "To answer your question, Roselia's fine. And don't try to deny it, I know you like… What's his name again? Cinders?"
"His name is Ash, and he's just my friend!" And under her breath, she added something Drew didn't catch.
Drew raised his eyebrows. "So you and Cinders aren't together? Huh, I never would've expected that…" And his eyes went distant.
"Anyway, Drew, I heard you calling me 'weak' out there."
Drew made an offhand motion. "Oh, that. I just said that to make Cinders work harder, because I thought that you guys were—you know, together. I guess it kind of worked… But honestly, May, I don't think you're weak. If you were weak, than how did you win those two ribbons?"
"Well, Skitty and Beautifly were really good, it was pretty much luck…"
Drew snorted. "Don't give me that crap. It was you and you know it. Last contest, well…… I'm thinking you got overwhelmed by those ladies who kept calling you a 'pokémon prodigy'." He snorted a laugh out. "But you know what? I didn't lie when I said that I thought Cinders was weak. I've heard of him. Indigo League, Johto League… He didn't get anywhere." He rolled his eyes. "I bet if I wanted to win any of those leagues, I could have easily."
"Hmph," May grunted, annoyed. "What am I to say to that? Training is just what Ash does. He works hard at it…"
"Yeah…whatever. And what? Did he lose his Pikachu or something? I wouldn't be surprised… I mean, if I understand correctly, Pikachu is Cinders's most powerful pokémon." Drew sniffed. "Well, if he was so powerful, Cinders would have evolved him already."
"Don't you dare talk about Pikachu, especially not to Ash!" May hissed, glaring at him. "And from what I understand, Pikachu chose not to evolve!"
"Why? Because then he'd be too big to ride on Cinders's shoulder?" Drew questioned sarcastically. He shrugged. "Oh well, you know what they say. Once worthless, always worthless."
"Ash is NOT worthless!"
"Jeez, May, for someone who claims not to have feelings for Cinders, you sure like to stand up for him a lot."
"He—is—just—a—friend!" May spat. "And I wouldn't have to defend him if you'd stop saying bad stuff about him to me, instead of him."
"Oh, that's sure nice to say. I'll remember that next time I see our little Cinders."
"And now that Eric is done, we're proud to say that Drew is next. Coordinator Number Two, please come onto stage one!" May and Drew heard the voice from the back room and Drew threw May a fleeting glance before heading out on stage. "See you later, May."
Ash, Max and Brock were in the audience when they saw Drew come on the stage and let out Roselia.
"Okay, Roselia, let's show them your Magical Leaf!"
"Rosa," Roselia said, letting out her Magical Leaf, making it look like something extremely beautiful.
"And now add your concentrated Petal Dance," Drew commanded.
Roselia spun around and let out a ton of pretty petals, all of them bunched together. The earlier Magical
Leaf hit the Petal Dance full force and the lump of petals blew into a wonderful rain of petals, making the crowd ooh and ah.
"A wonderful display by Drew," the announcer said, and she turned to the judges. "Let's see what the judges have to say!"
In total, Drew's score was twenty-seven point five.
Ash saw Drew nod to himself and leave the stage. Next was May.
"Let's go, May!" Max shouted from his seat, doing his little brother support routine.
"Combusken, come on out and take the stage!" she said, throwing the pokéball. "And use Fire Spin!"
"Combusken!" Combusken said, flames coming out of his mouth as he preformed his Fire Spin attack.
"And now use Sky Uppercut!"
The claws on Combusken's right hand began to glow and he brought his hand around right at the Fire Spin and the fire exploded into little sparks, causing a firework effect.
May's score was twenty-six point five.
"She's got to go onto the next round," Max whispered to Brock and Ash. "She got a pretty good score…"
"I'm sure she will," Ash said quietly. He was used to going to May's contests, of course, but Pikachu was always there with him, sitting in his lap, cheering his lungs out. Ash swore that if he saw Pikachu again, he would not stop until Pikachu remembered everything.
"Let's see which four trainers are going on to the next round, shall we?" And the announcer—along with the whole audience—looked at the big screen to see the answer to all of their questions.
"Eric and his Surskit! Drew and his Roselia! Emily and her Skarmory! May and her Combusken! Congratulations, you've made it to the second round! We are now randomly picking your opponents for the next round…," the announcer exclaimed. She waited for a few seconds and then spoke up again. "Eric verses Drew and Emily verses May! Eric and Drew, please come to Stage One for battle number one!"
"Man, that Emily person looks like she knows what she's doing," Max hissed. "I wonder if May's going to make it to the final round… That Skarmory looks real tough…"
May watched Drew's battle on the TV in the back room. Drew, since he had the evolved form of Surskit, knew exactly how to defeat his opponent's. He won easily… Returning to the back room, Drew came up to her, a 'that-was-too-easy' look on his face.
"Good luck, May," Drew told her calmly, handing her a rose that was a deep red color.
May's face turned almost the exact same color of the rose, and she wondered if Drew knew that she absolutely loved roses. She kept the rose in her hand the whole battle that she fought. The Skarmory was super-powerful, and May thought it was just pure luck when Combusken pulled off a narrow win.
"Drew against May," Ash breathed, observing the two coordinators facing each other, their pokémon doing the same. "This should be interesting." When he looked closer at May, he saw a rose clutched in her left hand, and he instantly knew who it was from. Drew, he knew… Ash looked over to Brock, who was smirking at the sight of the rose.
"What is it?" Ash asked him.
"Neither of them know it, but May and Drew are truly meant for each other," Brock replied sneakily. "They should be realizing it soon. I think Drew already has…"
"What! My sister, and that…that…that…that…," Max stuttered. He shook his head violently. "No way. You are totally wrong, Brock."
"Whatever you say, Max…," Brock replied, the smirk still fixed on his face, but he turned back to the battle, where both pokémon already seemed to be pretty tired, and both Drew and May had about the same amount of points…which wasn't much. There was a minute left. One of them was going to fall soon…
I've got the advantage. Fire beats Grass. I beat you, May thought. "Combusken, Flamethrower!" A huge shot of fire shot toward Roselia.
"Dodge it Roselia!" Drew ordered, and his pokémon jumped up elegantly.
"Now add Fire Spin to give more power to your Flamethrower!" May called out.
Combusken did as he was told and a huge flame leapt from his mouth and hit Roselia head on, driving her back and slamming her into the wall.
"Roselia!" Drew cried, going over to her.
Three red X's lit up on the little screens under the judges, indicating that Roselia was unable to battle.
"May is the winner!" the announcer cried, and Drew returned Roselia to her pokéball, whispering something to her…
"ALL RIGHT!" Max cheered, hopping to his feet. "Great job, May!"
As for May, she was hugging Combusken hard.
"You were awesome, May!" Max exclaimed as May met up with them just outside the contest arena. "Now you've got three ribbons!"
"Yeah, you were great," Ash added. "Another step closer to getting into the Grand Festival…"
"And I think I'm actually going with Cinders on this one, May," Drew said, coming up from behind them. "That was a good win. Type advantage, yes…"
"Well, thanks, Drew," May replied with a smile. "I'll see you at the next contest, okay?"
"Of course, May." And he walked off, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Ash stared after Drew for a second before something hit him. "Did he just call me Cinders?! That's not even close to Ash! Right, Pika—" he cut himself off, remembering Pikachu wasn't there again… Ash ignored the looks that the others shot him, and he limped a little ahead of them. "Cinders…peh…dumb ass…," he muttered under his breath.
"I say we go to that really good restaurant nearby and celebrate!" Max said happily, leading the way. "May, you were so great! And Combusken was really cool! I can't wait until I get my own pokémon…"
May and Brock smiled, trailing about a half a step behind Max, and Ash was just trailing more than ten steps behind the rest of them, hands deep in his pockets, looking down to the ground and trying not to limp.
"Oh, I am starving!" May cried after a few long minutes in silence. "I was so nervous before the contest… It really worked up my appetite!" She looked back to Ash, who had eaten very little at lunch, and not at all at breakfast. "How 'bout you, Ash?"
Ash cocked his head to one side, thinking. He knew he didn't feel like eating, but if he said that, he knew the others would… "Oh, yeah… Starving…"
May beamed to the others. "See? I told you he'd start complaining about his stomach!"
Once they were in the restaurant, they ordered their food and sat down.
"Ash, you said you were starving," May said grumpily, seating herself next to Max on one side of the table.
Ash sat across from her, next to Brock. "Yeah…?"
"Number one, you ordered from the kids' menu. Max doesn't even do that anymore! Number two, you must have ordered the smallest thing there!"
Ash shrugged. "That's what's so great about the human body. It doesn't take that much food to keep it operating."
May folded her hands across her chest. "Ash, you've barely eaten today. You need to eat something. What's wrong with you, anyway?"
Ash gave her a 'you-already-know' look. "Come on, May…"
"Well it doesn't mean you have to eat or act this way just because of that."
"'Just because of that?'" Ash repeated.
"Why are you acting like this anyway? I doubt it all has to do with Pikachu!"
"Don't go there, May. Don't go there or you'll regret it," Ash warned, his voice surprisingly dark. And that's the last thing he said during supper.
That night, Ash once again found himself in his sleeping bag. He hadn't even talked when Brock or the others tried to get through to him. He was angry at May. She just thinks she can pry her way into my brain, huh? Thinks she can tell me how to act?
He sighed and felt his anger leaving him. He couldn't stay angry now, especially at someone who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Ash closed his eyes, falling asleep, dreaming of old but still fresh memories.
Ash fell into the bottom of the boat, his sore lungs breathing in fresh, wonderful air. "I'm alive!" He looked in his hand. "…Thanks to a Pikachu lure?"
"I can't stand you, Ash Ketchum!" May shouted.
"Gee, I'm heartbroken!"
"Pikapi!"
"Slakoth aren't that rare!" May stated.
"Neither is ice cream!" Max argued back.
"You're motivated to attack me?" Ash asked, feeling a little hurt.
"What he learned is what's important, Ash, not what the target was," May replied with a smile, looking to Treecko.
"Oh yeah? Well when the target's your head, it is important…"
Misty smiled at Sarah. "You may not believe it, but Ash has been known to really come through in times like these, so—"
"…Why wouldn't she believe it?" Ash asked, cutting her off.
"Pikachu, no!" Ash cried out.
"Pikapi!"
"My sisters are so generous—they like to give me all the work!" Misty exclaimed, giving Ash a meaningful look.
"Wow, that magic power is great!" Ash exclaimed, watching Swablu fly with the help of Max's "magic powder". Ash jumped under Beautifly. "Okay, Pikachu, we're up next!"
"Pi, pika!"
"Uhh…," Brock, May, and Max drew the word out in unison.
"The magic powder's fake, Ash…," Max said.
"No way, it looked like it was totally real…," Ash replied in disappointment.
"Totally real all purpose flour," Max explained.
Pikachu blushed. "Pi…pika…" Looking up to Ash, he shook his head.
A huge flash of red enveloped Ash, taking him away from the real memories and dropping him into a nightmare… A horrible, dark place, where all you can see is your own blood…
"Pikapi…," Pikachu said, coming out of the shadows, perched on top of James's shoulder.
"Yah know what Pikachu says all the time?" Meowth asked, coming out from behind Ash. "He does remember you. He hated fightin' for yah. He's sick of losin' all those leagues. He's only pretended tah have amnesia to get away from you. He with us now—"
"—for always and forever," James finished.
"Go to hell! Just go to hell! I know you're lying so just give me Pikachu back!" Ash yelled. "I'm never going to let you hurt him, and I'm never going to ever let you hurt anyone! Ever!"
"You won't stop us you know. We're…well, we're unstoppable!" Jessie exclaimed, also coming from the shadows and smirking.
Just then, Ash fell back, bombarded by happy memories of Pikachu. "NO! GIVE HIM BACK!" he shouted.
"What was that? Give him to the boss? Well, I heard the boss was awfully abusive, but… Okay, why not?" And Ash could spot James giving Pikachu over to someone in the shadows.
Ash ran as fast as he could to where Pikachu disappeared and found…nothing. He glared at James forcefully. "You son of a bitch!"
Jessie, James and Meowth retreated back into the shadows, leaving Ash alone, horribly alone…
Ash fell to his knees, covering his ears, but it didn't block out the bloodcurdling scream that could only belong to Pikachu.
Ash shot up, breathing heavily. "No…," he breathed. He wiped the sweat of his brow, getting out of the tent to get some fresh air.
He walked out a ways, making his way to a soft grassy area that was pretty far away from the tent. He sat himself down, hugging his knees to his chest and looking up at the stars. Usually the stars would give him hope, made him feel like he could take on all the gym leaders in the world with just Pikachu by his side. But now it just made him feel sad.
Pikachu's gone. Never coming back. Alone. Never again. Gone.
Tears began to stream down his face. This time he didn't even try to stop them. Who knew, maybe they'd make him feel better.
It was just a few minutes, his head buried in his arms, hot tears still falling, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder…
What was that? May asked herself, blinking her eyes tiredly. She thought she had heard something… But then again, she could have imagined it. She looked around and noticed that Ash's sleeping bag was empty. Where…? I better go see where he went… I hope he's okay… She carefully got out of her own sleeping bag and quietly left the tent, trying not to disturb Max and Brock, who were sleeping—or in Brock's case, sleeping and snoring—peacefully.
Once outside, May saw a dark figure in the distance, and she assumed it was Ash. So she walked up to him, the grass feeling cold and soft beneath her bare feet. She walked right up to the hunched figure and gently placed her hand on his shoulder…
"Misty?" the person asked, and it was clear that this person was Ash, and that he had been…crying?
"…It's May…" May sat down next to Ash. "Are you crying, Ash?"
Ash only replied with a small sniff.
"Ash, Pikachu is going to be alright. You don't have to worry… He'll come back…"
Ash brought his tear-filled eyes to meet hers. "I—I'm not sure about—about that…"
May looked at him sympathetically. She had never seen him cry before… But she would cry too if she lost…lost Combusken… And Pikachu was much closer to Ash than Combusken is to her… "He will, Ash, he will. You've got to keep faith!"
"I don't have any left," Ash grumbled. "It's just been so long… Team Rocket probably made it nearly impossible to get the real Pikachu back."
"Just because something is nearly impossible never stopped you from trying before," May replied.
"Yeah, but Pikachu was always with me," Ash pointed out.
"Ash, if you're going to get Pikachu back, you've got to learn how to work without him."
"What?"
"You have to work without him to get him back," May explained carefully.
"So you want me to strike out solo to get Pikachu back…?" Ash inquired.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to say! And when you get him back, you'll be a duo again. An unstoppable duo."
Ash thought about it. Solo. Go solo. Yeah, I guess so. There really isn't anything else that I can do. Perfect… I'll just set out solo, and devote my time to getting Pikachu back. And believe me, if it means looking through every one of Team Rocket's bases just to find him, I'll do it… "Yeah, you're right…" He shifted so that he was facing away from her. "I'm sorry for…crying…"
"It's okay…"
"No, it's not… I've got to be—be strong for Pikachu…" Ash sighed. "Strike out on my own," he whispered to himself. He looked at the dark form that was May. "I'm…going to go to bed now, Misty…" He then realized his own mistake. "I mean May!" He looked down. "Sorry…"
May raised an eyebrow. Twice now he had thought she was Misty. Thought or wished? asked a voice inside her mind. She inwardly shook her head. Of course he didn't wish I was Misty. He's just tired, and it was just a mistake. "That's okay, Ash…" And the two teenagers got up and went back to the tent, slipping into their sleeping bags and went to sleep.
You know, as i think i mentioned in the first chappie, there's only some MayxAsh fluff in the first few chapters. Unfortunatly for Advanceshippy fans, I'm a hardcore Contestshippy fan. (EEK, please don't hurt me!) So there'll probably be moreof that. You never know (I know, of course) AND, by the way, as you might have noticed...i'm into Pokeshipping. (Also unfortunate for Advanceshipping fans...)
Please...review?
(PS - I hope I got all the 'shippy' things straight. This IS only the first Pokemon fic i've put up here (The second i've ever written))