Disclaimer: I is a kitty cat. Hear meh roar!
-meows- OK, close enough. Anyway, the next chapter of MTR is completed! Horrah! I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. Especially...you know...since the last chapter ended in so much SUSPENSE! -gaspeth- Anyway, guess I shouldn't really be ranting. I know, I do it all the time but I just can't help myself. To tell you the truth, I could go on and on and on about nothing of importance for hours (or in this case, pages) I guess. Don't really have much to say this time around, 'cept a 'thank-you' to Axletia Rosonetis, for inspiring me to continue this. XD Anyway, here's the next part of the story, hope you enjoy. No money or cookie back guarantees. ...sorryz...but da cookies are mine, foo. :P
...
The children sat in the cage worriedly as they were transported to the evil fortress. Max the Robot had the strength to hold up the cage all on his own, but that shouldn't come as to a surprise, seeing as his muscles were all programmed to be the way they were. May was shocked beyond belief to see her "brother" acting this way.
"Oh, Max." she sighed, looking down at the black/blue-haired robot. The head spun around and glared at her with a smirk at the sound of his name, but then quickly returned to the orders given to him by his Master. May continued looking at him, tracing his boy-like features. Her whole life she had trusted this child, only to now figure out that he had just been a robot sent to spy on her personal and family life.
"May, you can't let yourself keep thinking bad of Max." Brock said in attempt to try to comfort her. "Just think of all the good times you've had together."
May just sighed again. "All the good times..." she repeated. She would have liked to think of the good times, but what her mind really wanted was answers. Had he ever acted like a robot before? Has there ever been any evidence, or anything? Any suspicious behaviour that could have led to all this? She closed her eyes and began to think back to her past.
Flashback!
May was a couple years younger, and so was Max. Both of them were in a forest, screaming delightedly as they chased zigzagoon not too far away from their house.
"Gotcha!" said the little nerdy boy, grabbing the scared zigzagoon and lifting it to his chest. May looked over at him and smiled.
"Ooh, let
me see, Max!"
All of a sudden, Max's eyes turned an EXTREMELY red colour and he yelled at her through clenched teeth. "NO!" he snarled. May stepped back.
"Max...what's
gotten into you?" she quired in shock.
All of a
sudden, the boy became back to normal again. "Huh? Erm...what just
happened?" he asked, blinking and looking quite confused. He
dropped the zigzagoon and the creature, terrified from Max's scary
expression from before, darted into a nearby bush.
"Oh...it was nothing." May scratched her head, thinking it must've been her imagination. "Let's just continue chasing the zigzagoon!"
Max nodded eagerly. "K!" Both kids laughed as they ran after the runaway zigzagoon but the whole time, May couldn't stop thinking of that evil stare he had given her. Was that...normal?
She
remembered sitting on her bed that afternoon, pondering a lot of
things--something she did often because she much enjoyed
daydreaming. Like what she was going to do tomorrow, what she was
going to have for dinner, but most importantly--Max. What had made
him shout at her like that? He had never been so mean to her before!
It was then when her mother entered the room.
"May, are you alright, honey?"
The
brown-haired girl sat up on her bed. "Mm, yeah, I'm fine Mom."
"I don't know." her mother replied. "You seem a little pale. If there's anything you need to talk about, I'll always be here for you."
May
twiddled her fingers. "Well...there was a little
something...see, about Max..."
Her mother's eyebrow arched. "Hm, what about him?"
"Uh...well, it's kind of hard to say. He was acting...um...a little weird, I guess. Abnormal. I'm not really sure, but...it was just..." she stammered, trying to put in into words. "...he gave me this scary look and...I...I'm just not sure what to think of it..." Caroline put a hand to her daughter's head.
"May, dear," she said at last. "It must have just been a nightmare. Remember what your father said--no more horror movies at night." She bent down to give her a kiss.
"You're right...just a dream..."
The flashback faded out. Well, at the moment, that was all she could think of. She looked down at Max, carrying the cage. "Max, how could I let this happen to you?" she wondered aloud but the robot just continued smirking, not even bothering to lift his head to her.
"Ah, well. As long as we're stuck in here, who's up for a game of PacMan?" asked Ash, taking out his Game Boy Advance. Brock sweatdropped from next to him.
"Ash...we're stuck in a cage, probably to be locked up forever plus, we're probably being tracked down by the police for blowing up that lake and not coming back to court to settle the case." he explained. "Then, Max the Robot almost killed you and Misty with his chainsaw. We were about to die and now we probably will anyway...and now all you want to do is play games?"
"It beats just sitting here." Ash replied with a shrug. "Might as well pass the time, no?"
"ASH!" Misty shouted, almost tempted hit him right then and there. "Maybe instead of playing PacMan we should just listen to Brock and use our time wisely!"
Brock nodded. "Thank you Misty."
"Of course." she beamed. "Instead of playing boring old PacMan..." Misty turned her back and took out another game cartridge. "Let's play Mario Kart! It's waaaaaaay funner."
Everyone anime-fell in the cage and Ash picked himself up in glee.
"Really?!"
"No. Let's just try to find a way out of here." she informed, pretty amazed how nobody had not sensed her sarcasm before. But then again, it was typical Ash behaviour, was it not?
The cage continued to be carried by the robot. Ash really wanted to play a game, preferably PacMan, but Misty got him in the mood to play Mario Kart so he wanted to play that, too. Brock was trying to figure out a way out of the cage and May was still thinking about Max in her head. She wished she still had her iPod because she knew it would cheer her up but alas, it was not to be. Misty, like Brock, tried to think of an escape plan while at the same time, hitting Ash with a mallet whenever he said or did something of stupidity. Talk about multi-tasking!
Anyway, Max the Robot continued carrying the cage when finally, a building starting coming into view. It was a gray building. It was a scary gray building with spinaraks hanging from the edges of the stone walls and zubats flying around overhead. Lighting boomed in the distance.
"Uhhh...how can there be lighting if there isn't even a storm?" asked May.
Never you mind, we don't have time to look into science right now. Point is, the place looked pretty horrifying, creepy and just plain ugly--and that was exactly the destination Max's Master had in mind. The boy set the cage down with a large thump and all the children inside screamed in surprise, Ash hanging onto the bars for protection.
"We're here." he growled evilly. Everyone else in the cage blinked, wondering why he wasn't carrying them into the building.
"Um, Max, why aren't you--" started Misty, but he was soon interrupted.
"Master only told me to transport you to evil fortress, nothing more." he replied. "I must go back to Master, to get new orders. If I don't, Master will get upset, and I must always do what Master asks." Max started to leave.
"Erm, excuse me for prying, but who is your Master, exactly?" asked Brock, equally as curious as May. Max turned around. He was silent for a short moment, then spoke up again.
"Master's identity is to be kept anonymous and does not wish to be known."
"Huh? But Max, you have to tell us! I'm your sister!" May urged, but Max shook his head.
"I do not have a sister."
"Yes, you do! It's me--MAY! I AM YOUR SISTER! You're a part of my family, you know, in Littleroot Town?!"
Max still denied it. "I have no sister. Master is my family, and I am Master's."
All of a sudden, a voice came out of nowhere. It was the same voice from before, and no matter hard anyone looked, they could not find the source of it. "Max, my beloved, I see you've transported the children to the fortress." it told him and he nodded. "I am very pleased with your efforts today. Please, bring them into the basement dungeon, and then you may rest up for the day."
"Aye Aye." Max saluted, grabbing for the cage.
Ash looked up for a split second from playing Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland on his GBA. "A dungeon? Do they have an all-you-can-eat buffet there? An arcade? An ice skating rink? Anything?"
Misty sweatdropped. "Ash...just shut up." she sighed, rolling her eyes. Ash obeyed without question and continued playing his video game.
The next fifteen minutes went as planned. Max the Robot carried the cage carefully through the doors and hallways of the dungeon. The children inside the cage looked around at the artwork on the walls. They were pictures of explosions, destroyed cities, darkness, and even pictures of Mickey Mouse standing on top of the world--scary!
Anyway, after their in-cage tour of the evil fortress's art exhibits, Max finally came to a door labeled "Underground Dungeon". He turned the doorknob and pulled it open, creaking loudly as it did so. The prisoners looked down the long, dark staircase inside, leading down to the place where they were going to be kept.
"Um...do we have to go down there?" asked May.
"Yes." answered Max.
"But why?"
"Because Master told me to bring you there." he replied.
"Oooooooooof course." Misty remarked, rolling her eyes yet again. She was unexpectedly shifted to another side of the cage as Max tilted it in a crooked fashion in order to carry it down. It was pitch-black, however they were able to see somewhat thanks to Max's glowing red eyes directing them down the path. Everyone was scared of where they were being taken, and what their future fate might hold--except for Ash, who was still playing his game.
"Oooh--needle! I love that power! GIMMIE!" Ash laughed, clicking at the buttons of the GBA with his thumbs at an unnatural speed. Misty sweatdropped, but was in no mood to do anything more.
SLAM-ITH!
The cage made a loud banging noise as it hit the concrete underneath. The kids all yelped as they flew about the small area, then landed in a crumpled heap. Ash just bounced and hit the side of the cage's wall before falling, the whole time oblivious to what was happening as he was too engrossed in his hand-held electronic toy.
"Enjoy your stay and please, make yourself at home." the robot told them as they regained footing (well, sitting positions...they couldn't really stand in such a small cage).
"Uhh...what are we supposed to do here?" May quired.
Max shrugged. "Whatever you want, just stay in the cage...until Master comes, and they will dispose of you at their command."
"...dispose of us?" repeated Brock.
"That's right," Max replied with a nod. "Master sees you as their prisoners. It is up to Master to decide what to do with you...but most likely, you will be kept here as prisoners until the mission is complete."
"Then you will let us free?!" asked May, grasping the bars, eager to get out.
"No. You'll probably be killed."
Misty sighed, creating an anime-cloud. "Oh goody, I can now rest easily knowing that." she commented sarcastically. Everyone looked at each other worriedly. They were going to be...killed?! Oh my, how frightening! It was only Ash who paid the situation no heed.
"Holy freaking miltank, King DeDeDe just sucked me up and spit me up at the screen!" Ash practically yelled. "Now I only have one thingy left on the health-o-meter!" Misty was having enough of this. She swung out her mallet.
"Your health-o-meter is going to be down more than just one thingy when I'm through with you!" she threatened. Right as she was about to land it on him, the place suddenly became completely dark. The red, eerie glow of Max's eyes were gone.
"Drat. He left us." pouted May. "Ash, what happened to the light of your GBA?"
Ash blinked through the darkness. "Misty scared me, so I threw it into the air and it landed on the ceiling and shattered. Now it's...sob...broken..." He wiped his teary eyes with his shirt sleeve and tipped his hat over his face--which was kinda pointless...I mean, no one can see him crying anyway.
"Figures." Misty grumbled, smacking herself on the forehead. "Now I can't even see a thing."
"I can't either...but then again, I've never been able to, really." said Brock. Everyone groaned at the corny joke.
"Well, now what?" asked May helplessly. "Max is gone and everywhere is pitch-black! Don't you have a flashlight or something, Brock?"
"...um...well, you see--"
"Nevermind."
Everything seemed hopeless right then and there. Nobody was able to see anything at all, it was just impossible! And without a flashlight, a GBA's screen or creepy red eyes to give them light, where would they get it?
All of a sudden...a bright light ensconced the room! So bright, the children screamed and covered their opticals in pain. Brock just sat there.
"What's happening?" he questioned.
As soon as the light came, it left. Everyone opened their eyes slowly. Seeing was now made possible by a giant yellow light bulb in the middle of the cage with long ears and a tail.
"Uhhh...Pikachu...?" asked Ash in shock.
Pikachu sweatdropped. "Pi pi peeka tu. (of course it's me, who else? Not my fault the author forgot all about me!)" he shouted, waving his stubby arms in the air. Yes, it's true...I forgot about the main character in Pokemon. But I remembered him now. So boo-yah!
"Well...I guess that solves our light problem." Misty laughed half-jokingly.
"But there's still another problem..." May said softly. Everyone looked at her. "It's...Max. I just don't understand him. He's been acting so unlike himself this whole time."
"May." scolded Brock. "Now Max isn't really Max right now, he's something else. The Max that we're dealing with is not a human, nor is it any kind of living organism at all. He is merely a machine built to destroy and dominate the universe. Someone of higher power, the one this Max impostor calls his master, created this robot to take out their evil scheme. For some reason, whoever he or she is, wants to be rid of us."
"But Brock, who is behind it?" asked May, wanting to find out the answers.
Ash gasped, putting a hand to his heart. "GARY!" he accused. "It was him, I tell ya! He's out to get me, he is, he ISSSSSS!" Everyone sweatdropped.
"Personally, I think this must have something to do with Team Rocket in some way or another." Misty opinionated. "They're always up to no good...but then again, they didn't seem highly suspicious when we encountered them earlier today."
"You've got a point, but still...it seems possible, especially since what happened back about a week ago..." trailed Brock.
May's blue eyes opened wide. "Oh yeah, I remember that!" she realised.
Flashback Numero Dos!
It was a pleasant day in Hoenn, and it seemed perfectly normal. Brock was cooking something in a blackish pot, probably some concoction of soup. May was polishing her pokeballs and making them all shiny and new. Ash was busily training his corphish use crabhammer, thus breaking five to six trees in the process. Pikachu was...just sitting under an apple tree, satisfied that Ash had chosen to train Corphish instead of him. And MAX...well, he was just sitting next to Brock, playing with a set of marbles and every five seconds asking Brock when lunch would be ready.
"Soon, could'ya stop asking that?" Brock ordered, getting
fed up with it. "Seriously, what does it take in this world for a
guy to cook in peace?"
"Hmph." Max sat down and crossed his arms against his chest. He was oh, so very hungry and bored too. Without being a pokemon trainer nor the group's personal maid, he pretty much had nothing to do during his spare time.
All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, some rubber hand thing extended from the sky and zoomed in to the children at full speed. Now usually, this particular hand would have grabbed for the relaxing yellow mouse under the tree, drinking coconut juice, but this time it went for an awkward turn. It dove down and rounded in on...no other than Max Maple.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed the horrified boy as he was lifted into the atmosphere. Everyone looked up from their peaceful set-up to watch at the terrifying scene!...except Pikachu, who merely lifted up his sunglasses for a second before returning to sunbathing his yellow body. "MAY! ASH! BROCK! HEEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!" he yelled.
"What the?" asked Ash as Corphish flew into a tree.
"Holy fishsticks! MAAAAAX!" screamed May, her face turning a pale white as she watched the hand clutching at Max's belly pull him higher and higher into the air.
"Muahahahaha!" came three corny, goofy laughs from above, inside an air balloon shaped like a Meowth.
"WHO ARE
YOU PEOPLE?!" demanded Ash. His corphish--a bruise on his head,
but otherwise fine--stood by his side.
"We are Team Rocket!" shouted a male voice. "And we finally captured...wait a second, why are we capturing the twerp again?" There was a whacking noise.
"Just go along with the stupid plan!" yelled the second voice, female.
Ash twisted his hat backwards with this determined look on his Z-plastered-cheeked face. "TEAM ROCKET!" he screeched. "Um...why aren't you taking my pikachu?"
"Hahaha, none of yer business, twiop-o." said the third voice with a British accent.
"And what about the motto? Aren't you gonna...you know...say it?" Ash wondered aloud. It only seemed like an appropriate question at the time.
"Listen here twerp," said the female voice--Jessie. "We can say the motto as we please, but today we're just not in the mood! What, do you expect us to just spurt out the motto as you please, like some kind of theatre performance? NO! Alright, no, you shouldn't! So just leave us freaking alone!"
"Yeah...it's called PRIVACY!" agreed James.
Everyone sweatdropped, but it was soon interrupted by Max, still hanging in the air. "Haaaaalppppp...I is dying..." he sobbed from between the red, rubber hand. (lol, rubber hand...it sounds like "rubber band"... XD)
"Pikachu!
Help us out! Use thunderbolt!" demanded Ash.
"Zzzzzz...piii...peeka...biiiiii...(mmm,
ketchup...me want ketchup...ehehehe, I wuv ketchuppp...)" Pikachu
muttered in his sleep, grasping a bottle of the sweet tomatoey
goodness in between his paws, smoothing his tongue over the magical
plastic surface.
Ash's eye twitched. "And this is the reason why I wanted a squirtle."
"Hahahaha, yay!" Meowth screamed giddily, jumping for joy inside the air balloon. "We're gettin' away with it!"
Jessie
smiled triumphantly. "We be going now."
"NOOOO!
You cannot take Max! I won't let yoooooou!" howled May, grabbing
into the air as if it would somehow help her to reach her brother.
"Yeah!
You give Max back!" shouted Brock.
"We won't let you get away with it!" sobbed Ash, shaking his fist. "Corphish will get rid of ya! Go, Corphish! Use bubblebeam!" Corphish nodded and lifted his claw as he got ready to attack.
"Uhhhh...Look! Over there--it's a nidoking selling Hannah Montana tickets wearing an isty-witsy teeny weeny yellow polka-dot bikini and fuzzy bunny slippers!" yelled James, pointing beyond the great unknown. The children turned away for a moment to see and as they did so, Team Rocket, Max and the whole air balloon disappeared in a mysterious cloud of fuchsia. Brock and May looked back.
"Oh noes! They're gone!" gasped Brock.
"Max! Nooooooooooooo!" May cried to the heavens.
"Ugh. Those liars." Ash scoffed, rolling his eyes. "That pokemon is clearly a nidoqueen, and those are totally not bunny slippers--they're frogs. And what kind of moron could mistake Hannah Montana tickets with those of the Jonas Brothers?!"
"There is no time to wonder about such things of unimportance!" Brock said to this. "We need to go find Max!"
"Aw maaaaan. Can't I at least buy a ticket first? They're on sale!" Ash pouted. "And who cares about Max? I never liked him anyway!" From next to Ash, May started turning this boiling red colour as she stared angrily at him for his remark. She didn't say or do anything, but the look on her face told anyone who saw that she meant business.
Corphish stepped back, frightened. "Cor, corphish, cor. (Apparently, she does)." said the crab-like creature, sweatdropping.
So, the children left to look for Max. They were all very concerned about his well-being...even Ash. (Brock said he would buy him a Jonas Brothers ticket if he acted like he was concerned) They weren't really searching for too long (about five minutes) when they came to a spot in the forest thick with evergreen trees. Brock stopped short all of a sudden.
"What is wrong, Brock?" asked May.
"I can feel my sixth sense tingling." he replied, just standing there as if taking in some kind of hints or clues from nature. "Since I am blind, I have this other sense. It is telling me that there is trouble ahead."
"What
kind of trouble, Brock?"
All of a sudden, there was this huuuuuge explosion! From not too far away, dust and debris flew high until they touched the sky. May, Ash and Pikachu ran underneath Brock, using him as their personal shelter so that they would not get injured from the flying crap in the air.
"What's going on?!" asked May, terrified.
Ash smiled.
"I just beat Spyro, that's what." he replied smugly, holding up
his GBA. More stuff flew into their faces and they all ducked in
pursuit of shielding themselves further. Just above their heads,
three figures (two identified as homo-sapien and one identified as
felis catus) soared away...faster than the speed of sound, because
the speed of light is just waaaay too fast.
"We're blasting off? Again? HOW RUDE!" yelled two shocked voices as they rose into the sky. The other voice, female, screamed out a record of fifteen inappropriate words in one entire sentence. Then, they all just vanished...over the horizon, that is.
The explosion ended. All three of the children and the yellow mouse just stood there, looking like this: O.o
"Um...that was weird." said Ash.
"Holy crud! I hope Max is OK!" May said worriedly. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "MAAAAAAAAAAX!" she called into the great wilderness. "Where art thou?"
"I'm right here." came Max's voice. He was standing not too far away from his friends. Strangely enough, he didn't look like he had been hurt or injured in any way at all, in fact he seemed...almost untouched. To make circumstances even weirder, he didn't seem to know any much more about what was going on than his friends did, which was clearly indicated by a clueless look on his face. "Hey guys, what's going on? Why is everything in shambles?" he questioned, looking about.
Ash, Brock, May, Pikachu and Corphish all sweatdropped. "We don't really know." said Brock.
"Ah, well. At least now that he's back, we can continue on our way to...that one town that I forgot the name of!" screamed Ash in excitement, pumping his fist. "To the gym!"
"Bigga bi...(oh please no, not again...)" Pikachu whined.
"Corphish,
cor cor. (I don't think we have a say in this one)." sighed
Corphish, an anime-cloud forming out of his mouth.
"Right...well, I guess we'll just go now." Brock said. He, Ash, Max and the pokemon all went on their way. May was about to follow when something sparkly caught her eye. She crouched to the ground and looked at it. It seemed to be some kind of wedding ring with an emerald birthstone, right in the spot where Max suddenly reappeared. She thought she saw something like it before, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"May!"
came Ash's impatient voice. "Come on, we have to go to the next
gym, already! Badges don't win themselves, you know!"
May got up. "Coming!" she shouted back, running to them and leaving the odd ring behind.
The flashback ended. All the children stared at one another from inside the cage, all scratching their chins in deep thought.
"You know, when you put it that way, it does seem to make Team Rocket look guilty." Misty remarked. "But then again, you never know. I mean, they never did get away with Max. So I guess it's hard to say--either way you look at it, they're either completely innocent or completely guilty."
"Yeah, sometimes it's hard to tell...but I guess Giovanni could be the true mastermind. I don't know much about the guy, but it seems possible that he would just be using Jessie, James and Meowth as bait to lure him in..." Brock trailed.
Misty nodded. "It's definitely gotta be Team Rocket, some way or another." she agreed. "...unless of course, there's somebody else who could've done it?"
"GARY!" yelled Ash, almost at random. "It was Gary, it was Gary, it was GAR-EEEEE!" Everyone just sweatdropped.
"Chillax, Ash. Why would Gary want to do this?" Misty asked, rolling her eyes. "I mean, he's just your rival. Well--was. Why should he care anyway? Does he even know Max?"
May suddenly slanted her eyes. "Rival..." she repeated. "That brings up somebody else...oh, I bet it was him all right...he hates my guts."
"Who?" asked Misty.
May looked as if she had finally put together all 1000 pieces of a puzzle together. "Oh, it had to be! It happened around the same time that Team Rocket stole Max! It has to be him, it just has to!"
Brock seemed confused for a second until it clicked in. "Oh yes, I believe you are onto something! He seemed very suspicious after out last encounter! A little too suspicious!"
"WHO?" asked Misty.
May leaned her back against the cage. "Just listen...I'll tell you what happened..."
Flashback Numero Tres!
"But I wanted to go to the gym!" Ash complained, crossing his arms to his chest. He and his friends, Brock, May, Max and his trusty Pikachu had been on the road for a couple hours and now they stood in front of a large decorated building with ribbons all over it.
"Come on,
Ash, pull yourself together." Brock scolded. "Having May join our
posse was a sacrifice you had to make and now in order to fulfill
that sacrifice, you have to support her in her contests like she
supports you in your gym battles."
"But Brock, she was the one who insisted on joining me, not the other way around!" he pouted.
Brock lifted his brow. "They're selling cracker jacks today."
"REALLY? Then let's go then!" he yelled, jumping for joy. "Why are we walking so slow, anyway?!" He started running up to the front door.
"Erm...alright, that works." May laughed. "Anyway, I'm gonna go off to prepare for my contest inside. You guys can go wait at the snack bar if you want."
"K, sounds like a plan. Come on, Max, let's go." Brock said, heading into a different direction with Max, trying to catch up to the eager Ash. May nodded and went her own way. She had already registered for this contest in advance, so all she had to do was go into the Practice Room to get her pokemon all ready and spiced up for their next appearances on stage.
The Practice Room wasn't too far away. Upon arriving, the other contestants looked up for a split second to see who was coming in, and, when deemed they had more important things to do, continued cleaning their pokeballs and feeding pokeblock to their pokemon before the event began. May herself did not hesitate to grab the bench nearest to her and start with her own business. She grabbed two pokeballs off her belt and tossed them on the floor, revealing a tall orange chicken and a pink and beige-coloured kitten who both smiled up at her in being let out of captivity.
"Alright,
Combusken and Skitty. You two will be helping me out with my contest,
today. Combusken, remember to watch out for those water gun attacks
and Skitty, you remember to use that doubleslap and assist combo I
taught you the other day." she explained. Combusken started biting
at his claws and Skitty ran around chasing her tail. May
sweatdropped.
"You've been learning from Ash's pokemon, haven't you?"
"Scraaaaaaa." answered Skitty before once again returning to her tail-chasing game. It took a little while to get the pokemon to cooperate, but it was not at all a task impossible. She managed to get both Combusken and Skitty to focus, at least a little bit for now, got their pokeballs cleaned and was just finishing feeding Skitty a pink pokeblock when all of a sudden, the announcer's voice rang out from the speakers on the wall.
"Attention: All contestants please make their way to Backstage! Repeat, all contestants make their way to Backstage!"
"Oh my,
it is about to start!" realised May. She picked up her pokeballs
and returned both chicken and cat to their homes, which she then
afterward blended in with the rest of the crowd who were busy trying
to shove five people at a time through one single door. It was very
hard trying to reach the destination but eventually she managed to
swim through the sea of humans and pokemon alike to get the the
Backstage area where she slumped down on the ground and took some
deep breaths. Darn claustrophobia!
"Hi,
May."
May turned around to where she heard the voice behind her and came face to face with a roselia. She put her hand to her mouth, shocked.
"A...a talking...roselia?!" she gasped. "Or have I just been drinking too much caffeine?"
"Uh...neither...it's just me, May. Up here." replied the voice. May looked up, seeing the trainer standing above the flower-like pokemon--thank goodness, she wasn't going crazy after all! "Oh, Drew! What a surprise, seeing you at the Contest Hall! I mean what a coincidence, eh? Well, there's a first time for everything, I suppose."
"May..." started Drew. He cleared his throat and tugged at his shirt collar nervously. It was evident he was trying to cover it up due to the fake smug smile on his face, but it wasn't really working too efficiently. "Well, there's been something I've wanted to tell you..." he continued. "for a long time..."
"Um, what is it, Drew? The Contest is about to start!" May said, side-glancing at the announcer coming out on the big screen to officially start the Contest.
"Forget about the stupid Contest!" Drew practically shouted, then his voice became quiet again. "There's something more important...something that I want to tell you, May...something that could change our lives forever..."
"Well,
could'ya hurry it up?" May asked, a little impatiently.
"May..." trailed Drew. He looked her in the eye for a few seconds and plucked a rose out of seemingly nowhere. "I just wanted to say that I--"
"MAY!" came another voice. May instantly snapped up in the direction from where it came. A spikey-haired boy ran up to her at full-speed, then stopped once he got in front of her, panting as he caught his breath.
"Er...Brock?
What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the audience?"
she questioned on appearance of her slit-eyed friend. "And where
are Ash and Max?"
Brock scratched the back of his head. "Ash is at the snack bar, demanding a free refill for his Coke after he accidentally spilled his first cup on one of the janitors. I'm surprised Security hasn't gotten to him yet."
May sweatdropped. "Well, alright. Where's Max, though?" Her blue eyes scanned the room before her in hopes to catch a glimpse of the short, nerdy child.
"Well...er...that's the problem..." Brock admitted.
"Holy Cheeze-Nips! Max! Is he OK?!" May screamed, directing attention from a good number of people in the room.
"I'm afraid I don't know. See, at the snack bar, your rival Harley came along. Before I could protest or anything, he just grabbed Max, telling me he'd bring him out for ice cream and promised he would deliver him back before the Contest started." Brock explained between breaths. "He swore to me he wasn't planning on humiliating you like he did before, well, at least not too much...anyway, there was no way I could've stopped him and now the Contest is about to begin and they aren't back. I don't know exactly what Harley has up his sleeve but I'm concerned about what he might do to Max. Ash and I are going to go and investigate...meanwhile, you just stay here for the Contest and do your best."
May just stood there as she tried to absorb the information. "Wait, stay here? But what about Max?"
"Like I said," repeated Brock. "Ash and I will take care of it. You just concentrate on trying to get that ribbon."
May continued standing there with her jaw wide open when she finally came to her senses and shook her head. "No, Brock...I have to come with you. Max is my brother."
"But your Contest, May...you pre-registered and everything..."
"It's alright, family always comes before competition." May told him. "I'm coming with you and Ash."
Brock shrugged. "Uh, sure...your loss, though." He turned around and started to leave. May also began to do the same when she saw Drew next to her with a blank look on his face and quickly figured out that she had pretty much forgotten him. "Oh yeah, Drew," she said before leaving. "What was it you wanted to tell me, again?"
Drew collected the words onto his tongue and regained himself. "Oh...well, I was just gonna say that I hate your guts, that's all."
"Uhh...and that was important why?"
Drew smiled at her smugly as he twiddled his rose in between his fingers. "Because it is." he replied. May rolled her eyes, not expecting anything more from Drew and ran to catch up with Brock. Drew watched her disappear and as soon as she was out of sight, he looked down at his roselia and sighed. "I just don't get it, Roselia." he said, scratching his chin. "I conditioned my hair for three hours straight and smoothed every visible wrinkle out of my clothing and she's still not attracted by me? I mean, what am I doing wrong? Could it have been something I said?"
Roselia smacked herself on the forehead. (Roselias have foreheads? O.o) "Rose, rose, roselia. (You're a hopeless romantic...)" she muttered.
Meanwhile,
the other kiddos (Ash, Brock and May...oh, and Pikachu) were busy
running down a busy street as they tried to transport themselves to
the Ice Cream Parlor. Cars beeped and tires screeched as they zoomed
across the road. Ash was skipping merrily along when all of a sudden,
a guy on a scooter whooshed past him at full speed, barely crashing
into him.
"Hey! Get
on the right side of the road, buddy!" he yelled after him, shaking
his fist.
"Ash,
this isn't the time to start yelling at people on scooters!" Brock
advised as they weaved through the automobiles, including a Home
Depot truck, an orange buggy and the Mystery Machine. "We have to
focus on finding Max!"
"Oh,
right!" said Ash, jumping over a blue Honda Civic and springing off
the head of some man in a red convertible before making a graceful
landing onto the patio next to Brock and May. As soon as they were
all together, they started up again.
They ran for quite some time until they came to the Ice Cream Parlor. Without stopping to think, they pushed their way through the doors and sped in until they reached the front counter where they panted and wheezed to fill their lungs with much needed oxygen.
"Um...may I take your order?" asked the woman behind the counter.
"One
eight-year-old child with blackish-blue hair, large geeky glasses and
a puke-coloured shirt, please!" said May. She glanced at Brock
beside her, hearts in his eyes as he stared at the woman and drool
hanging from his lower lip. May sighed, rolling her eyes. "And lay
off the cute girls." she added.
The woman
blinked. "A boy? I think I saw a boy like that matching your
description but--"
"But WHAT?!" demanded May desperately, getting into the woman's face.
She stepped back nervously. "Um, he left a couple minutes ago with some weird doofus in a cacturne suit. He assumed you guys were coming, so he left you this note. He told me to give it to you upon your arrival." The woman grabbed something from behind the desk and handed it to May. "Here."
May opened
the letter.
Dear May...
Like, OMG! I hate you! :P
Love, Harley.
May sweatdropped. "Great. Another rival who hates me." she proclaimed sarcastically.
"Well, now at least we know they were here." Brock said, all of a sudden not attracted by the woman in front of him. (el gaspeth!) "But that still doesn't answer our question...where is Max?"
Suddenly, an explosion sounded outside and a bunch of sirens went off. The building they were inside shook and the people eating their ice cream screamed and ran out the door. The woman at the counter hung onto the wall for dear life.
Then...it stopped. A voice came. "I'm right here."
Everyone turned around. Sure enough, just like after the last explosion, Max stood--no injuries, boo-boos or anything--right behind them as if he magically appeared there.
"Uh...Max...what just happened?" asked Brock.
"I don't know..." Max admitted, scratching his chin. "I can't really remember..." He looked up at the bulletins with ice cream flavours on the wall and squealed in excitement. "But while we're here, can we get some ice cream, maybe?!"
"Ice cream?" Ash clapped his hands in delight. "Good idea!" He looked at Brock, who just shook his head in amusement.
"Alright...let's get ice cream." he said, causing the two boys to cheer as they went to stand in line. May however, looked again at the spot in which Max appeared. This time, instead of a ring, there was something else. She approached carefully and soon inspected it as a pink hairbrush. And just like last time, she almost thought she remembered seeing that particular hairbrush, but again her friend's voices snapped her out of her fantasies.
"May! Come up and order your ice cream!" shouted Brock.
"OK!" she replied hastily, abandoning the mysterious
hairbrush.
All the children sat inside the cage, blinking awkwardly from the third and final flashback. Misty was the first to speak and break into the silence.
"Looks like Team Rocket's got some competition." she stated.
Brock nodded thoughtfully. "It really makes Harley look bad." he agreed. "And after he's been so mean and unfair with May in her past contests, it only stacks the evidence that could prove him to be behind this."
"But why do you think Harley would do it?" Ash asked.
Brock shrugged. "My guess is that it might be some kind of prank of his. He's probably trying to get his revenge on May somehow, and to do it, he tied Max into this mess. He could be paying Max to help him out with his scheme...you never know."
"Well, I know it almost seems that Harley really is the bad guy...but then what about Team Rocket? They were just as suspicious as he was." Misty pointed out. "I mean, which one of them do you think could've done it?"
"Either." Brock replied. "Or both, even. They could be working together. They've done it before, why not again? Harley's pretty smart in knowing what Team Rocket wants and he doesn't hesitate to give it up on account of making May's life more miserable."
"So...I guess those are our suspects, then." May said. "Team Rocket...and Harley."
"AND GARY!" yelled Ash at random.
"Ash...for the last freaking time, Gary's a scientist now...he doesn't even give a crap about you anymore." grumbled Misty.
"How do you know?" Ash quired. "He could have world domination at his very fingertips. WORLD DOMINATION, I TELL YA, WORLD DOM--"
Pikachu put his paws to his head, feeling migranes coming on. "Pi, peeka, peekachu...(this is going to be a loooooooong night...)"
...
OK, either I updated this story, or dolphins have suddenly grew wings and learned how to fly. Unbelievably, both. It's honestly been a while--almost a month since my last update, but not quite. ;) Anyway, I know the small amount of people who have actually been waiting for this...well, have been waiting for this for a LONG time. And so, here ya go! Sorry about so many flashbacks...I was hoping to make them shorter, but it just didn't happen, lol. Plus, I know some of them were OOC. Ash mostly, but that's just because I like filling his mind with random, insane things! XD And Drew, 'cos I honestly can't write that guy worth my life. (If you happened to notice, I actually did add some contestshipping, but you can only see it if you squint hard between the lines, haha. XD) Oh, and the suspect behind it all should be obvious...at least to some of you. (I actually did give it away on some occurrences) and I'm going to tell you now, I'm terrible at mystery stories, rawr-ith. :3 Anyway...to end this freakishly long note...I is just gonna say thanks for reading and sticking with da story, even though I hardly ever update it! If you can survive dealing with an author like ol' Wolfy here, you can survive anything! So with that in mind...bai peoplz! XDD
