December 31st (Snowpoint City, Sinnoh)
(May's POV)
"You know you guys don't have to keep me company 24/7," I voice for what seemed like the millionth time in the past 3 days.
"And as we said before, company is good medicine," Dawn dramatized.
"Besides, the guys are having some video game tournament downstairs," Leaf added as she typed something on her laptop. "It's less boring up here."
We then heard a knock, "Enter at your own risk," I called.
The door opened to reveal the guys along with Max and Lizzy, "How are you feeling May?" Max asked.
"Sore, tired, and hot, otherwise I'm fine," I reported.
"Are you drinking enough fluids?" Max asked.
"I am and I still have the IV in," I said showing him my hand.
"How was the tourney?" Leaf asked as she closed her laptop.
Paul scowled at Gary and Ash while Drew sighed tiredly as he also gave an annoyed glare.
"Don't ask," Drew muttered.
"What happened this time?" Misty decided to ask.
As Drew explained, I felt funny. Not from being sick, but from something else, like something was going to happen. I felt another hot flash and dizzy spell coming so I lay down and closed my eyes before I blacked out.
(Drew's POV)
I noticed that May laid down looking tired and hot before she closed her eyes. The girls took notice of this and got the thermometer again.
It beeped and showed 101 0F (38.3 oC) causing the girls to sigh, "This is the third time today," Leaf said tiredly. "Her fever shouldn't be this high at this point."
"What do you mean?" Gary asked.
"May's fever keeps rising up and down. Thankfully nothing as high as it first was, but we keep giving her meds and fluids and the illness won't go away," Dawn said tiredly.
I sat down next to May to see that she looked flush, "Lucario, do you want to bring Glaceon up here?" I asked.
He nodded before he left the room, "You would think the illness would have lightened up by now," I said thoughtfully.
The girls looked solemn, "We were wondering if all the stress from the past few weeks caused her immune system to weaken allowing her to fall sick this badly. It seems to be the only logical explanation we can think of," Leaf finally said.
"Makes sense to me, the events she suffered before Christmas and then the whole episode of stopping Team Galactic would cause a huge emotional strain," Gary agreed.
"She did admit yesterday that she was afraid of what happened three days ago. When it happened, she was more focused on what was happening than the emotional connection, but now it's starting to catch up to her. I think she's afraid of this power that she's supposed to handle," Dawn guessed.
"I'd be scared. Being told by a legendary pokemon that you have a huge amount of power and that you have to save the world, that's a lot to handle," Misty agreed.
Lucario then came back with Glaceon who immediately hopped onto May's bed and lay down next to her hoping to cool her down.
"How is May doing?" mom asked as she stood in the doorway.
"She had a fainting spell," Lizzy said.
"Goodness, hope she'll start to feel better soon. Anyways, if you kids are going to Hearthome City for New Year's, you better get ready to leave shortly," mom said.
"K mom, thanks," Lizzy said before mom walked away.
"You guys can go, I'll stay here and watch over May," I said.
"You sure, I can stay and watch her," Max volunteered.
"It's fine Max. Besides, you promised Lizzy you'd go," I pointed out.
"If you say so," Max said before everyone left the room leaving May, Glaceon, Lucario, and me.
"Glace glace," Glaceon said firmly to Lucario who didn't look happy.
"Ruh," he retorted.
"Glace glace," she argued firmly.
Lucario then reluctantly left probably to get some air or meditate. I then heard talking at the front of the door and heard everyone leaving.
I then noticed Roserade peaking inside, "Rose roserade?" she asked. (How is she?)
"She had a fainting spell according to the girls," I said as I felt May's forehead to see that it was warm and that she relaxed under my touch.
"Mind using Aromatherapy?" I asked.
She gave a look equaling "do-you-even-need-to-ask" before she used a light Aromatherapy causing May to relax some more before she moved slightly and woke up with a tired smile.
"Thanks Roserade," she said quietly as she sat up slowly.
"You feeling okay?" I asked.
"A little, though I still feel like someone used me as a punching bag," she said tiredly as she began to pet Glaceon. "I'm sick of the crap I've been thrown at the past two weeks, haven't I've suffered enough?"
I pulled her into a side hug letting her head rest against my shoulder and I heard her sigh in content, "Thanks Drew, I really needed that," she said relaxed.
"Rose roserade rose," Roserade teased. (Aww, you two are so cute.)
I looked at Roserade annoyed, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
She shook her head with a smirk, "Rose." (nope)
Suddenly I heard a stomach a growl and Roserade blushed slightly causing me to smirk, "Haven't you guys eaten yet?"
She glared at me, "Rose roserade rade rose rose rade rose rade," she snapped. (You and your friends forgot to feed us three hours ago.)
I raised my hands in surrender, "Alright, alright, I'm feed everyone," I said before turning to May. "Come on, you need a field trip."
"Drew, I'm not going anywhere. I'm sick and I don't want to spread my germs all over," she said firmly.
"May, you need to get out of here to get some fresh air and walk around. Besides, your pokemon are concerned about you and it's New Year's Eve," I argued gently.
"But Drew….," she argued.
"No buts, you're getting out of this room whether you like it or not," I said firmly.
She glared at me, but finely gave in and grabbed her IV that was on a rolling stand. We slowly made our way out of the room with Glaceon and Roserade following us. When we reached the stairs, I grabbed the IV stand and followed May as she slowly made her way down. Once we made it to the bottom, I put the stand down and she held it before continuing to walk while it rolled next to her. We entered the room where the pokemon were and May's were excited to see her while Lucario, Blaziken, and Gardevoir looked concerned.
"I'll be in the kitchen May, I'll see you in a little bit," I said gently before I went down the hall to start making food.
(May's POV)
"Ruh?" Lucario asked sternly. (What are you doing out of bed?)
I took a seat near the fire place because I was starting to feel chilled, "Drew said that I should move about and I might as well since everyone isn't here," I said tiredly.
Skitty then gently pounced on my lap scaring me slightly, but began to purr causing me to smile, "I missed you too you silly fur ball," I said teasingly.
"Gardevoir garde?" Gardevoir asked. (How do you feel?)
"I feel like someone used me as a punching bag and I keep suffering hot and cold flashes," I said tiredly.
"Are you really feeling alright?" Gardevoir asked me telepathically.
"I thought I said I felt sore, didn't you hear me the first time?" I asked confused as Skitty leapt off my lap.
"That's not what I mean, I think you know what I'm getting at," she said in a motherly tone.
I sighed, "I'm not sure. I don't know why, but I feel that something is going to happen," I said irritated.
"May, you need to calm down, I'm sure it's nothing," she said calmly.
"I wish I could believe you, but after everything that has happened in the past few weeks, I feel scared and timid," I said quietly.
She walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, "I can feel your fear and it's understandable, but understand May, you are not timid, you are strong. It takes a strong person to admit they are afraid."
I looked up at her and smiled while putting my hand over hers, "Thanks."
Drew then appeared in the doorway, "Beautifly, Umbreon, and Espeon, think you can help me out by using Psychic?" he asked.
They nodded and followed him to the kitchen so they could help distribute food to everyone. Once everyone had food, Espeon, Umbreon, Butterfree, and Beautifly returned to eat as Drew appeared with a tray of food for both of us.
"Thanks Drew," I said once he gave me a bowl of noodles causing me to smile immediately.
Drew smirked, "Someone looks happy," he teased.
I didn't say anything since I continued to eat happily while Drew chuckled while shaking his head in amusement.
Soon I finished eating, "That was really good Drew, thanks," I said cheerfully. "How did you know I liked pasta?"
"Call it a lucky stab in the dark," he said with smirk.
"Uh…..huh," I said not believing him as I took a sip of water.
"You don't believe me," Drew teased.
"Nope."
Suddenly Skitty jumped up on my lap again causing me to yelp in surprise, "Looks like someone's also jumpy," Drew laughed.
"Haha," I said sarcastically before looking at Skitty and tapping her on the nose, "You are going to be the death of me you silly cat."
"Nya," Skitty said as she suddenly jumped off and started chasing her tail causing me to laugh, "I swear, you have the shortest attention span."
The clock in the hall then rang signaling that it was 10:30, one and a half more hours til the New Year.
"Can't believe that it's almost midnight, guess time must have flown by quickly," Drew said as he started to stand up, "Better clean everything up."
"Need any help?" I asked.
"I'm good. Besides, sick girlfriends are banned from the kitchen," he teased.
I put up my hands in friendly surrender with a smile, "Just thought I'd ask."
He smiled back as he called for Beautifly, Espeon, and Umbreon to use Psychic to bring the bowls to the kitchen while he carried the empty tray from our meal.
As Drew cleaned up from feeding the pokemon, I sat and chatted with them. Drew then snuck back in with a guitar which he played a while for our entertainment. I was lost in the music for a while that I missed some giggling in the hallway.
"Who's there?" I called out slightly suspicious.
The voices giggled again and poked there heads in the doorway.
"Ally, Annie, what are you two doing here?!" I asked in surprise as they rushed up and gave me a hug.
"We convinced mommy and daddy to take us to Hearthome City to celebrate New Year's. Then we met up with Max and your friends. We all got to talking and we all decided to come back and celebrate with you guys," Ally and Annie quickly explained as everyone came into the room.
"How long have you guys been here?" I asked.
"For a while, we heard Drew playing so we listened in the hall," Annie said excitedly.
I sighed, "How are you feeling May?" Nurse Joy asked.
I smiled tiredly, "I'm feeling better than I did a few days ago."
Annie then turned to Drew and pouted, "You forgot to play an important song."
"What song is that?" Drew asked.
I smiled as it dawned me that we did, "Ally, do you want to tell him?" I asked.
"It's a tradition you play and sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve," the five year-old stated.
"I suppose you make a good point," Drew agreed. "How about we fix that."
As he played, everyone but me joined in in singing and it sounded really good. We finished the song and everyone but the gang went into the hallway to look at the clock that was there.
The hall clock struck midnight and everyone shouted "Happy New Year". Suddenly the funny feeling from earlier came back really strong. I cringed in slight pain before it disappeared and I felt like I was in a trance.
"May, are you okay?" Drew asked concerned but it sounded light and distorted.
"Take out the IV and walk outside into the moonlight," Arceus told me.
I took out the IV feeling no pain and walked out the door in the room that led outside causing everyone to worry and try to follow me, but Lucario and Gardevoir stood in the way blocking everyone.
I walked a few feet into the snow and then stopped. I didn't feel the cold, strangely, I felt warm and light as a sudden ray of light came from the moon and shone on me.
"The moonlight has cleaned you of illness and the new year has awakened your true power," Arceus said calmly.
Suddenly, I felt a huge amount of power and I started to move around gracefully while using my pointer and middle fingers to generate lightning. A few seconds later, I pointed a hand to the sky to release a thunderbolt creating a loud sound.
I then bent forward slightly as I felt the huge amount of power leave me and was awakened from the trance with a slight headache. I quickly walked back inside to see everyone staring at me in shock including the majority of the pokemon. It then struck me of what just happened causing me to panic, but I didn't show it.
"How do you feel?" Lucario asked me telepathically.
"Freaked out sounds about right."
"That would make sense after what you just went through," Blaziken said to me telepathically.
I nodded in agreement but then it dawned on me that Blaziken talked to me telepathically, "Wait…did you just use telepathy with me?!"
He nodded as I got caught in a hug by Max, "Are you okay May, what just happened?"
"I'm not really sure. As the clock struck midnight, I felt like I was stuck in a trance and Arceus told me to go outside. When I was out there, he said that I was healed by the moonlight and the new year has awakened my true power."
"Then you generated lightning, but that's not humanly possible," Max said.
"Tell me about it," I murmured.
"Are you kids alright?" Jennifer asked as the adults came back into the room.
"We're fine, why do you ask?" I asked confused.
"Didn't you hear the huge burst of thunder?" Johanna asked?
"We didn't hear anything," I lied and everyone else followed my lead by nodding their heads.
The adults looked surprised, "Are you sure?" Delia asked.
"As we said, we didn't hear anything," Max said.
"If you say so," Maria said tiredly. "Time to turn in."
"Yes, especially you two," Nurse Joy told her daughters.
Suddenly there was a ringing noise and Nurse Joy answered her phone. After a minute, she looked distressed and hung up.
"Anything wrong Nurse Joy?" I asked.
"I just got a call from Officer Jenny in Fallarbor Town. They need another Nurse Joy on duty and Mark has to leave for a business trip so no one can watch the girls," she said tiredly.
"I can watch them," I volunteered. I really needed a distraction from what just happened and I hadn't seen the girls in a while.
Everyone stared at me while the girls looked excited despite being tired.
"But you're sick May, you're in no condition to watch them," Nurse Joy said surprised.
"Let's just say I've been miraculously healed," I said. "Do I look sick to you?"
Nurse Joy looked me over, "Actually no, you look incredibly healthy, but how did you heal so quickly?"
"Like I said, I was miraculously healed," I said again not wanting to explain.
"If you're up to the task, how can I say no," she agreed.
"Alright, I'll just grab my things and then I can take them to Rosewall Town."
"You don't need to go anywhere. The girls can stay here, we have enough room," Jennifer offered.
"Are you sure?" Nurse Joy asked.
Jennifer smiled, "It's no trouble at all and it's only for the day," she said.
Nurse Joy looked relieved, "Thanks so much, I should be back late tomorrow afternoon," she said before she and her husband said "bye" to the girls and disappeared by teleport.
"Cousin May-may…*yawn*…I'm slweepy," Ally said with a yawn.
I smiled as I picked her up, "Come on Annie, time for bed," I said as I took her hand.
I led them both upstairs to a guest room next to mine that had two twin beds. They fell asleep instantly as I tucked them in and I left for my room to see the girls and guys in there.
"May, why did you volunteer to watch the girls? Aren't you tired from being sick?" Max asked.
"I'm fine Max. Besides, Nurse Joy needed help and I haven't seen the girls in a while."
"May, can we talk about what happened outside," Drew said with a frown.
"Not right now, I want to forget that ever happened," I said quietly.
"May, you can't….." Drew argued.
I glared at him, "Drew, please just drop it. I don't want to talk about it."
Drew looked disappointed, but didn't say anything. Soon everyone said good night and left to go to bed.
Thankfully, I had a dreamless sleep and woke up at a decent hour. I quickly changed and slipped into the room that Annie and Ally were sleeping in. I wanted to be there when they woke up so they didn't knock on every door trying to find me. I decided to meditate while I waited for them to wake up which to be honest wasn't that long.
Ten minutes later, I sensed that both girls were starting to wake up, "Good morning sleepy heads," I said gently as I sat on Ally's bed.
"So it wasn't a dream," Annie said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.
"What wasn't a dream?" I asked.
"That we get to spend the day with you," she said happily as she got out of bed and gave me a hug causing me to smile.
"May, why do your eyes look red and why do you have red in your hair?" Annie asked.
"It's to help keep my identity at school a secret. That way I can go to school without people knowing I'm famous. You have to keep it a secret, can you do that?"
Annie and Ally nodded, "Pinky swear," Annie said causing me to smile.
"Good, you two hungry?" I asked.
They nodded, "Alright I'll make some breakfast, but we have to be quiet, everyone else is sleeping," I whispered as we left the room.
We then tip toed downstairs to the kitchen, "What do you guys want for breakfast?" I asked.
The girls had thoughtful looks on their faces before they both smiled, "Strawberry covered pancakes."
I laughed, "Alrighty then, strawberry pancakes are coming up," I said cheerfully.
Soon I whipped up some pancake batter and the girls were munching on their pancakes, "These taste the best," Annie said with a mouth full of pancake.
"Annie, don't talk with your mouth full," I scolded before turning to Ally. "How are the pancakes?"
"They taste yummy," she said with a smile.
I smiled back before I continued to eat. By the time we finished, the gang including Lizzy and Max came into the kitchen.
"It smells so good in here," Ash said happily.
"What did you guys eat?" Drew asked the girls.
"We had strawberry covered pancakes," Annie said.
"They were yummy," Ally added.
I smiled while laughing lightly at Drew who looked dazed with the mention of strawberries, "There's plenty of pancake batter mixed up in the fridge along with cut up strawberries so you won't miss out," I teased.
"Best girlfriend ever," Drew said as he kissed me before dashing for the fridge so he could start making pancakes and get his strawberries.
"Crazy grasshead," I muttered with a smirk as Annie and Ally giggled.
"Come on you two, let's go see if the pokemon are awake. We don't want to be in the way of the big, bad grasshead," I teased.
"I heard that," Drew shouted from within the fridge.
The girls giggled again as we left the kitchen to check to see if the pokemon were awake. Most of them were while a few were still asleep.
"There's so many pokemon here," Annie said in awe. "Whoa, a shiny Gardevoir, whose pokemon is she?"
"She's a free pokemon, I found her injured on the mountain so I brought her here and patched her up," I explained trying not to give any gory details. "How about we start serving the pokemon their breakfast?"
The girls nodded happily and we headed back into the kitchen to start delivering bowls of pokemon food to everyone. Once everyone was munching happily, the girls watched the pokemon eat and answered basic questions about pokemon that I asked them.
"Cousin May-may, can we play outside?" Ally asked.
"Let's clean up and then we'll go outside," I said with a nod.
"Can we play with the pokemon too?" Annie asked.
"That's up to them," I said as I took the empty bowls and brought them to the kitchen.
Soon everything was cleaned up and the girls and I were bundled up, "Let's go play in the snow Ally," Annie said excitedly as she ran outside.
"Wait for me," Ally complained as she ran after her sister.
I laughed as I walked outside to watch the two girls run through the snow having fun. They chased Glaceon around and then built a snowman. After a while, I noticed the two starting to shiver so I shooed them inside, helped them out of there soggy coats, and placed them by the fire place with a mug of hot chocolate.
"Alright you two, time for your nap," I announced once I saw that they were done with their hot chocolate.
"We don't take naps," Annie pouted with her arms crossed with Ally following her lead.
"How about this? Once you're done with your nap, you can watch some pokemon battles after lunch," I offered.
Ally agreed by Annie looked reluctant, "Promise?" Annie asked.
"Pinky promise," I said causing a smile to appear.
"I suppose we do need naps," she agreed.
"Good," I said with a nod as I picked up Ally and took Annie by the hand.
I put Ally on her bed while Annie crawled on top of hers and I covered both of them with a blanket, "I'll wake up when it's lunch," I promised before leaving for downstairs.
When I came back down, I noticed the gang sitting in the front room, "How goes the baby sitting?" Leaf asked.
"Good, I finally got them down for a nap after I promised them they could watch some pokemon battles after lunch," I said as I took a seat next to Drew.
"Ugh, I can't believe we have to go back to school tomorrow, why can't we be given another week?" Dawn complained.
"I'm actually looking forward to getting back to school actually," I said making everyone stare at me like I was crazy. "What?"
"Why in the world do you want to go back to school?" Dawn asked.
"I look forward to having a busy day of normality," I said as Drew's poketch started to beep. He pressed a few buttons before groaning, "What's the matter?"
"Lance will be calling in a few minutes asking more questions about the incident from a few days ago," he said annoyed.
"Are you kidding me, we already answered all the questions that they had," Leaf complained before everyone stood up to go somewhere private for the call.
While they did that, I quickly made a late lunch, woke up the girls, and fed them.
"You girls ready to watch some pokemon battles?" I asked once the girls were done eating.
They nodded excitedly as I returned my pokemon to their pokeballs though Gardevoir remained out and followed us as we started to walk to a practice field that was below the chalet, the vast size of this place never ceases to amaze me.
"Where are you going?" Delia asked.
"We're gonna watch some pokemon battles," Ally said excitedly.
"Mind if we watch?" Jennifer asked.
"The more the merrier," I said cheerfully.
Soon the whole bunch of us made our way to the field to find the gang already there, "Who's gonna battle first?" I asked.
"Actually May, I would like to challenge you to a pokemon battle?" Brandon asked.
I was surprised along with everyone else, "Why me, I'm not a battler."
"No but I've heard you've done well and have defeated Paul. Plus I would like to see the bond between you and your pokemon in battle," he said.
"If that's the case, I accept your challenge," I said determined.
"Good, it'll be a one on one," Brandon said before we walked to the ends of the field.
"I'll be the ref," Christopher said as he stood on the side.
"Regirock, I need your assistance," Brandon called as he tossed his pokeball.
"Lucario, let's go," I shouted as I tossed his pokeball.
"Battle begin," Christopher called.
"Regirock, use Stone Edge," Brandon ordered.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge," I told Lucario telepathically.
Fortunately, Lucario was able to dodge, but since Stone Edge was quick, he got clipped on the edge.
"You okay?"
"It's minor, I'll be fine," he replied.
I nodded, "Alright, use Aura Sphere."
Lucario then shot an Aura Sphere which hit Regirock straight on.
"Use Hyper Beam," Brandon ordered.
"Dodge it!" I yelled.
Hyper Beam hit Lucario before he could move causing a lot of damage.
"Use Iron Defense," Brandon ordered.
"Crap how we gonna penetrate that?" I asked Lucario in annoyance.
He didn't answer but I could sense that he was as frustrated as I was, "Try a combo of Metal Claw and Bone Rush to get through," I told him.
He nodded in understanding and shot forward to attack, "Use Shock Wave," Brandon ordered.
"Dodge it with Quick Attack and continue on," I ordered.
Lucario dodged the attack fully this time and hit Regirock with Metal Claw before using Bone Rush breaking the Iron Defense.
"Use Focus Punch," Brandon ordered which hit Lucario before he could dodge sending him straight back to me.
I could tell that Lucario was getting beat up quickly, "Use Zap Cannon," Brandon ordered.
I smirked, "Knock it back."
Lucario smirked and did as I asked causing some damage, "Use Stone Edge," Brandon ordered.
I grit my teeth in frustration, "Use Aura Sphere rapid fire then Copy Cat as a defense."
Lucario nodded and did rapid Aura Sphere to break up the stones and then used Copy Cat to throw stones at the incoming ones to stop them.
"Regirock, use Hyper Beam," Brandon called.
I kept a straight face but smirked internally, "Alright Lucario at my signal, use Quick Attack to dodge. Then use our special move and finish up with Force Palm."
Lucario and I then smirked as Hyper Beam was released and I snapped my fingers. Lucario then took off and dodged the Hyper Beam before using Double Team to surround Regirock and used Aura Sphere rapid fire along with Bone Rush.
Regirock then knelt down on leg along with Lucario. Even though Lucario was almost exhausted he had enough energy to finish this, "I'm sorry Brandon, but this is checkmate," I said before Lucario used Force Palm causing Regirock to smash into the wall behind Brandon and then fainted.
"Regirock is no longer able to battle, Lucario is the winner," Christopher announced.
Lucario then collapsed and I jogged to the center of the field to help him up, "You did well my friend," I praised with a smile. "You deserve a good rest."
I then returned to his pokeball as Brandon walked up to me, "That was a good battle May, I was impressed with the bond you and your pokemon possessed," he said in approval.
"Thanks Brandon," I said before I walked to the bleachers and sat between Annie and Ally.
"That was awesome," Annie said happily.
"It was impressive although you cheated by using telepathy," Drew teased.
"It's not cheating, it shows that I have a deep connection with my pokemon," I retorted as Gary and Ash walked down to the field.
For the next few hours, we had quite a few battles leaving Annie and Ally amazed every time. When it was 5:00, I received a message from Nurse Joy on my poketch saying she would be by to pick up the girls in a few minutes. We then went upstairs and had the girls help the gang and I feed our pokemon before Nurse Joy arrived.
"Thanks so much for watching the girls May," Nurse Joy said gratefully.
I smiled, "No problem, we had a lot of fun watching them."
"Come on girls, we have to get back in time for dinner," Nurse Joy said.
Ally went to Nurse Joy but Annie attacked me in a huge hug with tears streaming down her face, "I don't want to leave, I'll miss you," she sobbed.
I hugged her back before kneeling down to face her, "I'll miss you too, but you have to go with your mama. She and Ally will miss you if you don't," I told her gently.
"But cousin May-may," she cried.
I used my thumb to wipe tears from her face, "No buts," I told her firmly as I tapped her nose with my finger before smiling. "I'll visit you soon, I promise."
She stopped crying and looked slightly suspicious, "Pinky promise?"
I laughed as I took her pinky with mine, "Pinky promise."
She smiled and hugged me again before saying good bye to the gang and teleported back to LaRousse with Nurse Joy and Ally.
I sighed before turning to face the gang, "As much as you don't want to hear it, we should be heading back ourselves."
Dawn groaned, "Don't remind me."
We then went up to our rooms and packed our stuff before setting them at the bottom of the stairs and went to collect our pokemon.
"Where do you plan to go now?" I asked Gardevoir as I returned my pokemon.
She sighed, "I don't know, I would have thought you would have captured me."
I shook my head, "Not without your approval and if need be, I'll help you find a home somewhere where you won't be captured again."
She nodded, "To be honest, I would like to join you. I sense that you have troubling times ahead and I believe that we share a lot in common. I also want to help you in your times of helping others, plus I don't want to fear of being captured again."
I smiled, "I'd be happy to have you on my team."
I took an empty pokeball and she touched the center with her hand before she was sucked in, the pokeball wiggled in my hand but then dinged signaling she was caught.
"So you decided to catch her," Drew said as the others looked at me.
I smiled while shaking my head, "No, she chose to join me. I gave her the option of living freely, but she opted to join my team."
Everyone smiled as we walked into the entry way to say good bye to everyone, "Make sure you keep up with your emails in chatting with me," Lizzy ordered as she gave me a hug.
I laughed, "I promise, good luck with training for the next contest."
"Will do," she said before she called out Ralts and teleported out.
"Keep out of trouble please when you get back?" Max begged.
I laughed, "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."
Max groaned before he teleported out as well.
"Thanks for having me and Max over break," I told Jennifer.
"It was a pleasure, we all enjoyed having you here," Jennifer said with a smile.
I then let Gardevoir out and had her teleport us back to the dorm.
"Thanks Gardevoir, return," I said as I returned her to her pokeball.
After I put my stuff away, I went onto the balcony to meditate while the guys played video games and the girls were watching.
After a while Drew came out, "You doing okay?" he asked concerned.
I smiled, "For once I am, spending time with my cousins was what I needed," I said causing him to smile and relax.
"I could tell, you seemed to spoil them a little," Drew teased as he said on the couch that was against the wall.
I got up to sit next to Drew and rested my head against his shoulder as we watched the sunset, "Every child needs to be spoiled a little bit when they're young."
Drew said nothing, but squeezed my hand gently. For the next hour, we just sat and talked til we went inside to go to bed.
"You ready for school tomorrow?" Dawn asked from her bed.
"Yea, you?" I asked.
"No, I wish break was longer," she complained. "And I'm in no hurry to see the drama queens either."
I sighed, "We'll live, we've survived them so far and besides, if they step out of line, they're getting it," I said firmly.
Dawn laughed, "Good point," she agreed before yawning. "Night May."
"Night," I said before falling into endless dreams of previous gymnastics competitions.
January 2nd (Lilycove City, Hoenn)
"Lin watch out!" Dawn yelled.
I had a quick second to see the soccer ball fly towards me at a fast speed so I did a back flip to kick it back to have it hit Brandi in the gut. Serves her right, she probably kicked it at me on purpose. Everyone stared at me in surprise for my quick reflexes, but I continued to run ignoring them until the bell rang.
I sighed in frustration as I walked to the locker rooms. For the whole day, my mind has been wandering over gymnastics. It started when some were talking about it in homeroom and it didn't help when Brandi turned on the gymnastics competition on the school TV during lunch. I guess my heart wanted me to get back into the sport, but I was still scared from the incident in the past. Guess I'll just go to a gym after school and get this gymnastics craze out of my system so I can focus again.
"That was an awesome kick you did earlier, Brandi deserved it," Misty praised as we were in the locker rooms.
"Did she kick it at me on purpose?" I asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me if she did, but I didn't see it 'til the ball was flying at you," Leaf said.
"At least you got her," Dawn said happily as we left to meet up with the guys.
We then split off for our last class. When we walked in, Solidad told us to work on appeals so I decided to call out Skitty and practice a few of our old ones. When the bell rang, we left the arena and met up with everyone else after school.
"Ugh, it felt like school was never gonna end," Dawn complained.
"It wasn't that long Troublesome," Paul said flatly.
"Well it felt like forever to me," she retorted.
"I'm with ya Dawn, it felt like forever to me too," Ash complained.
"Yea, I'm not the only one," she cheered.
"Lin, can you come here for a sec?" Nurse Joy hollered.
I nodded to her and turned to the gang, "I'll see you later," I said before I kissed Drew on the cheek and walked over to her.
"What can I do for ya Nurse Joy?" I asked.
"I was wondering if you could deliver a pokemon for me. I was watching her since the city's Pokemon Center was closed for a few days over break. The owner owns the gymnastics training gym in town," she said as she handed me the pokeball.
Talk about an interesting coincidence, "Sure thing, see ya later," I said before heading to the dorm.
Since I didn't want the gang to know where I was going, I climbed up the tree in back and snuck in through the window after Dawn left the room. I hid my backpack out of sight and packed a small bag with training clothes and such for the gym. I quickly left and shut the window before climbing down the tree. I then walked to the gym which was about a fifteen minute walk from the school. When I walked inside, there was no one was around. Guess the owner must have stepped out.
There was a sign saying that the equipment could be used by the public so I decided to change and practice for a bit. I just finished a whip, back half, punch front tumbling pass when I noticed someone watching me.
"That was a perfect tumbling pass. Tell me dear, are you in gymnastics?" the woman asked.
I looked surprised, out of all the people who had to own this gym. It was Jenny Black, my old coach from when I was in gymnastics, "I used to, but I haven't touched the sport in a few years due to an accident," I said as I walked over to my bag. "I was to deliver this to you from Nurse Joy."
"Oh, thank you," she said as she let the pokemon out. "How are you feeling Lopunny?"
"Lopunny," she said. (Much better)
Lopunny then turned to me and beamed before giving me a hug causing Jenny to look surprised.
"My goodness, this is strange, she never hugs strangers," she said confused.
"It's okay, she remembers me from being in your class years ago when she was a Buneary," I said.
"Wait, are you May Maple?!" she asked surprised.
"The one and only."
I was then ambushed in a death grip hug, "It's so good to see you," she said before bopping me hard on the head and said angrily. "That was for disappearing from the sport and being reckless."
I sweatdropped. Yup, this was Coach Black alright.
"So you say you are done with the sport yet you just did a perfect tumbling pass, care to explain?" she asked.
"Well, I guess doing missions and such gives me opportunities still practice some," I explained.
"Well, show me what you've got," she said motioning to the different equipment.
I did simple tricks on the uneven bars and vault, a few tumbling passes, but I couldn't bring myself to do the balance beam.
"Hmm…," Jenny said thoughtfully as I walked up to her drinking my water. "I'm gonna enter you in the World Gymnastics Competition in May."
I did a small spit take, "Wwwhat!" I spluttered.
"You heard me, I'm gonna enter you in the World Gymnastics Competition," she said firmly.
I gave her a crazy-old-coach-say-what look, "I thought the competition was in September and even so, I couldn't re-master the sport in time," I said flabbergasted.
"They postponed it this year. Besides, you want to do the sport again don't you?" she asked.
I sighed, "I guess I do," I finally admitted.
"Good, I'll train you personally, but from what I saw, you're gonna have to take ballet as we train to get your grace and balance back. You'll take ballet every day except Sunday in the late afternoon class. Then you'll practice gymnastics on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays before school and Saturdays in the late morning til the early afternoon," she summed up cheerfully as she guided me to the door.
"But but….," I stuttered. "That's a lot!"
"If you're gonna enter the competition, you need to practice, practice, practice," she said firmly as she handed me a piece of paper along with my stuff before opening the door and pushing me outside. "This is the address of the dance company where you'll be doing lessons with my sister. I'll see you Wednesday morning at 5:00 AM, don't be late."
She then shut the door and pulled the shade down along with turning off the open sign. I stood there numbly, what in the world did I just get myself into?!