February 15th (Lilycove City, Hoenn)
(May's POV)
"And so Miss Maple, you thought you could stop my plans on launching my satellite into orbit that will control the minds of every pokemon in the world, but you're stuck on a conveyor belt ready to smushed, MUHAHAHA *hack hack cough cough*."
Ugh, what is with this guy? I pulled out my laser lipstick and cut the ropes before I sprung up only to be sprayed with lime green paint.
"Haha, didn't think I planned on you escaping," Dr. Fumblesmirtz said with a chuckle. "But you're still too late."
He then flipped a switch causing an opening to appear and the rockets on his satellite started. I smirked while taking my ponytail and flicked it at the switch causing the door to close and the satellite to explode.
"NNOOOO!" he cried as he tried to run away.
I sighed, why do they always run? I watched him run to the door and open it to find Officer Jenny.
"You're under arrest," she said as she turned him around and cuffed him. "Thanks for the help May. You might want to clean up, you look like a bean sprout."
"Will do, see ya later Officer Jenny," I said before I started to sneak my way back to campus.
Thankfully, school was cancelled due to an emergency conference the teachers had to go to so I didn't have to worry about classes today. I climbed my way through the window to find Dawn on her bed reading a book.
"May, what the…," she said before she stared in shock at my appearance and started laughing.
"Dawn, what you laughing about?" Misty complained as she and Leaf walked in.
Misty smirked in amusement while Leaf joined Dawn in laughing, "Looks like Drew's not the only grasshead anymore."
"Shut up," I muttered.
"What's so funny in here?" Gary asked with the guys standing behind him.
I crossed my arms and frowned in annoyance as there was a small bit of silence before Ash and Gary fell to the floor laughing while Paul and Drew smirked.
"I knew you liked me airhead, but I never knew you had the guts to look like me," he teased.
"Shut up grasshead," I huffed.
"Which grasshead, you or Drew?" Dawn giggled.
I smacked myself in the forehead and sighed, I'm surrounded by morons, "Haha, now shoo," I snapped.
Everyone kept laughing, but left the room. I took a shower to get rid of the paint, but to my dismay, the paint had dyed my hair green like Drew's. Great, now I'm gonna be teased for life. I gathered my stuff for ballet and gymnastics as I changed and grabbed my white short-sleeve hoodie.
I sighed as I put my hair in a ponytail. I was feeling really tired and anxious. This Friday was my first gymnastics competition in two years. It didn't help that my coach decided to have morning practice every day since Monday along with practice after ballet for two hours. So far, no one knew. I'd tell them eventually, but right now, I just wanted to get back into the sport with no attention on me. The only people who knew were me, Jenny, and Madame Ashley.
I grabbed my bag and walked into the common area to find everyone sitting in front of the TV. I was hoping to sneak by everyone to get to the kitchen, it didn't work.
"Looks like you're gonna be stuck a grasshead," Drew teased causing everyone to look at me and snicker.
"Haha, it's not gonna stay this way for long," I retorted as I grabbed a water bottle.
"Where are you going?" Dawn asked as I walked to the door and put my hood up to cover my hair.
"Out, I'll be back around 8:30," I said stiffly and walked out before they could ask any more questions.
I quickly snuck my way to the dance studio where Madame Ashley was waiting, "What is with the green hair?" she asked as I walked in.
"I got painted on a mission and it won't wash out," I sighed as I changed into my dance clothes.
"If I know my sister, she'll do something to help you. Now start with the basic exercises," she barked.
For the next two hours, I did everything Madame Ashley told me. She was a little bit stricter than Jenny, but that wouldn't surprise me. She was a prima ballerina herself at my age and I guess her old age made her more of a perfectionist. Thankfully, time passed quickly and I changed before running to practice with Jenny.
"You're late," she said as I burst into the gym panting.
"It's a ten to fifteen minute run from the dance studio to here, can't you cut me some slack," I begged.
"You're a teen heroine, you can get here on time," she said firmly. "And why is your hair green?"
"Got coated in green paint," I said tiredly as I took a drink of water.
"Hmm….you know you're gonna have to compete as yourself, it's illegal to compete as someone else," she said sternly.
I nodded in understanding, "I know that and I'm okay with it, I'm just incredibly nervous. It feels as if I'm completing in my first Grand Festival all over again."
Jenny's face softened, "I understand that and that's why for part of practice, we're gonna do some relaxation exercises along with practicing your routines like crazy. You're really good May, you just need to gain confidence in competing again. If you can do that, you're guaranteed to win," she said gently. "We'll put practice on hold for a bit. Right now, we should fix your hair and I know just the person to help us out."
We left the gym for a salon that was a few stores down, the woman who owned it owed Jenny a favor. Thirty minutes later, I looked like May again, shoulder length brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. To avoid suspicion, the lady also gave me a wig that was brown with red highlights and red contacts. Jenny and I then went back to the gym and practiced the routines and meditated.
"Do I seriously have to be here at 5:00 AM tomorrow?" I whined.
She thumped me on the head, "Yes, we need to keep practicing like crazy though there will be no afternoon practice, you need some down time," she said.
I nodded and left to head back to the dorm exhausted. When I got back, I still saw everyone in front of the TV, "Have you guys been watching TV for four hours?"
"For the most part, we were all too lazy to get up and do anything," Leaf said. "Looks like your hair is back to normal."
I nodded, "Green hair wasn't really my thing," I said tiredly. "Night you guys, I'm going to bed."
"Night May," everyone said as I walked into my room and crashed.
February 16th (Lilycove City, Hoenn)
Currently, I was fighting to stay awake during history. I had trouble sleeping last night and then I had to wake up early again.
"Miss Mason, what year did the Brass Tower burn to the ground?" Ms. Williams asked.
"Uh….," I said as the bell rang. Saved by the bell, thank Arceus. I grabbed my stuff and left before she could talk to me causing Paul, Dawn, and Drew to follow me out in concern.
"You okay Lin, you normally exceed in history," Dawn said worriedly.
I sighed, "My mind drew a blank and I'm incredibly tired," I said with a yawn proving my point.
"Didn't you get any sleep last night?" Drew asked.
"Not really," I said. My nerves for the competition were eating me up making it impossible for me to fall asleep.
My poketch rang showing an incoming call from Max, "Hey Max, what's the sitch?"
"It's that time again," Max said. "Professor Rowan's lab was trashed yesterday and some papers were stolen, but he was smart like Professor Birch and made a copy of you-know-what."
I sighed, of all times for the next piece to be stolen, it had to be now, "Alright Max, we're on it."
I ended the call and went to change into my mission outfit while Drew, Dawn, and Paul went to get the others. They came back to the dorm and we found a jet hovering outside. Guess Max decided to "borrow" the jet again.
We climbed aboard and had a quick lunch while discussing the case, "Dawn, so according to your pattern, the next gem to be found is a green emerald?" I asked.
"Yea because the pattern in finding the gems is in color order," she said as a touch screen appeared with Max's image along with our files and theories from when everyone first discussed them.
"Max, can you pull up the back of the map?" I asked.
"Sure thing," he said and the image flipped over to show and 'e' in the bottom right corner.
"So I guess my theory is right. There are no other types of common gems that begin with 'e'," Dawn pointed out.
"I'm wondering where this gem will be found. The ruby was found in a museum, the second was found in ruins, and the last one was found in a cave," Leaf commented.
"That's a good point, maybe there's a pattern in location like with the gem shapes. Maybe they're all different," Misty guessed.
"That makes a good theory Mist, but there are ruins, caves, and museums all over Sinnoh. The gem could be anywhere," Ash pointed out.
"Max, can you put the two pieces together," Gary called.
Soon a bottom right corner appeared and connected with the piece Professor Birch found, "So we can assume according to the pieces of the map that we have that they are being found and put together in a clockwise pattern," Paul said.
"How can we say that that's what the pattern is?" Drew asked.
"Because Dawn said that since this had been planned centuries. There are patterns all over this and it makes sense to go from the top left in a clockwise motion to the last piece being the bottom left," Paul explained.
"Hmm…maybe there's a pattern to getting the gems as well," I said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean by that?" Drew asked curiously.
"Maybe the placement of the gems are in an environment that is opposite of them. The topaz represents lightning and it was placed in a cave because ground is a negative force for lightning. For the orange diamond that represents light, it was placed in ruins where it was surrounded by darkness which is its opposite," I explained.
"Hmm….that's an interesting theory but what about the ruby, it doesn't fit in," Leaf pointed out.
"That's because the ruby is the starting point of everything. It was meant to be found and put on display to start the cycle," I explained.
"That makes sense because if the ruby is out in public and not hidden like the others, it helps find the other gems," Ash agreed.
"So if your theory is right, where would the emerald be if you could guess?" Misty asked.
"Maybe some place with fire," Gary suggested.
I shook my head, "I think the balance has to apply to the elements in general as well as weaknesses in pokemon types. In study of the elements that make up the world, the opposite of earth isn't fire, it's air or for pokemon type weakness, flying types. So the gem is placed somewhere associated with high altitudes, maybe the mountains," I suggested.
Drew shook his head, "The more we discuss this, the more complex this is. It's crazy! You'd think it be simple, but I guess the legendaries wanted to make this a challenge and a test of knowledge."
We nodded in agreement, "For all the legends and myths of heroes who associated with legendary pokemon, they had to prove themselves to be understanding, wise, and have a pure heart. I guess that's the path I have to follow," I said knowingly.
"Out of curiosity, I've wondered if Team Rocket has been thinking about this the same way we have?" Paul asked.
"We'll never know, I'm also curious as to why Domino hasn't tried to swipe the gems from us?" Dawn asked.
"You're right, it's not like we're hidden. She hasn't threatened us or anything," Misty agreed.
"Did you do a topography scan of the world with both pieces connected?" I asked Max, changing the subject.
Max nodded, "It dropped a few possibilities, but there are still too many."
"Guess we'll have to keep waiting then," I said tiredly.
"You okay May, you seem tired and stressed out," Max commented.
I smiled softly and stared at the floor from where I was sitting, "You could say that, I haven't been sleeping well and my nerves are on edge."
"Anything happening this week that's making you nervous?" Max asked.
I suddenly struck by a force of energy that wanted to be released, "May, are you okay?" Drew asked concerned as he sat next to me.
It took everything I could to hold the power in so it didn't escaped. I then felt a headache coming, guess I need to let out some aura energy. I sat in the middle of the plane and began to meditate focusing on my aura and letting it out creatively. The headache dulled slightly, but it still hurt. This is the fifth time this has happened and it keeps getting worse.
"That was pretty May," Dawn commented as I saw a rose made of aura in front of me. "But are you okay, you look pale."
"I don't think I've been letting my aura out enough and it's giving me headaches," I said tiredly.
"Why don't you take a nap May? I think you're headache is stemming from not enough sleep," Drew said as I sat next to him.
I nodded as I put my head on his shoulder and went out like a light.
(Drew's POV)
I looked at May as she rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. For the rest of the ride, we chatted amongst ourselves. Every now and then I focused on May, she looked so adorable as she slept.
"We're flying over our target shortly. You guys better suit up and take the glasses," Max said.
I gently shook May awake and her eyes fluttered as she yawned. She then kissed me on the cheek, "Thanks for being a comfortable pillow."
We then stood up after grabbing the glasses and grabbed our parachutes and helmets before jumping out of the plane. After we landed next to the lab, we took off our helmets and parachutes before walking into the lab to find it a dump like the last few times.
"Well, Domino sure likes to make a mess of things. Makes me wonder if her middle name is destruction," Gary said.
"She has definitely made it difficult for me and my assistants to do anything," Professor Rowan said gruffly.
"Could you show us the room where you kept the map?" I asked.
Professor Rowan nodded, "Follow me," he gestured.
We soon walked down the hall through an automatic door to find the room trashed just liked the others. We put on the glasses and started to look to see if Domino was careless in leaving any clues.
"Did you guys find anything?" May asked.
"Besides the typical burn marks on the cabinet, nope," Ash said.
"Let's check down the hall by the window," Leaf suggested.
We went out of the room and searched outside, "Looks like Domino left her weapon of choice," May said as she picked the black tulip up carefully and then handed it to me.
"Think she'll come back for it?" Dawn asked.
"What do you think?" a voice asked sarcastically.
We turned around in shock to find Domino leaning against the wall, "Pff, don't look so shocked to find me here. Besides, I wanted a rematch with you princess," she said to May.
May looked determined, "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," she said annoyed while taking a battle stance.
Domino chuckled as she took a few steps away from the wall while pulling out a black tulip and made it into a staff. She ran forward at May and started attacking. May kept blocking the hits, but was being pushed backwards.
"May!" I shouted as I threw the tulip at her.
She caught it and swung it out to make a staff as well. She then started to counter attack making Domino mad.
"No one uses my black tulip except me!" she screeched as she hit May hard causing her to drop the staff.
May retaliated by kicking Domino's staff out of her hands making this a hand-to-hand fight.
May smirked, "You can keep your black tulips, roses are more my thing anyway."
Domino scowled, "What are you, a hopeless romantic?" she asked as she threw a punch at May which she blocked.
"You could say that," May said with a smirk as got on her hands and spun around with her legs hitting Domino causing her to crash into a stack of boxes before leaping back up.
Domino then jumped backward to land on a stack of crates, "You think you're so good," she said before smirking. "But you're outmatched, no way can you beat me."
Domino somersaulted over May and swung her leg out to hit May's leg, but somehow May used that momentum of falling backward to do a back-walk over.
May then grabbed Domino's arms and did an aerial front walk over to throw her against a tree, hard. I'm pretty sure I heard a bone crack.
May then took a step forward while jutting out a hip and put a hand on it, "Um….I'm pretty sure I just beat you according to your broken arm. Now this fight is over, I suggest that you leave or I'll have my Gardevoir teleport you somewhere unpleasant," May threatened.
"You'll pay for this," Domino spat before she ran into the forest nearby.
May huffed, "What a drama queen," she said as she picked up a black tulip carefully. "Max, do you think you can scan this?"
"Yea, just place it on the ground and scan it with your poketch," he said.
May did as he asked and pressed a button of her poketch once the scan was finished, "From what the scans show, this tulip possesses a huge amount of electric energy and has multiple functions. I guess that makes sense since Domino is an elite agent for Team Rocket."
"Guess we better start finding the next gem," Misty said.
May looked at poketch and then had a look of panic, "Crap, she's gonna kill me if I'm late."
We stared at her confused, "Who's gonna kill you?" Dawn asked.
May didn't answer, she called out Gardevoir and teleported away, "Well that was strange, wonder what she was late for," I said looking at my own poketch to see that it was 3:20 PM.
We then walked to the front of the lab, "Well, guess we're going back to the dorm. We don't know where the gem is since May left us," Leaf said irritated.
"That was rude of her to leave us like that. Couldn't she have missed what she left for," Misty wondered in annoyance.
"Apparently not, from the look on her face, she looked scared as if the consequences of being late are really bad," Ash said. "I can understand that, I get scared of the consequences for detention. *shivers* That teacher really dishes out punishment."
Gary shivered as well, "I'm with ya Ashy boy, Mrs. Ronalds is evil with punishment. One time in detention teaches you a lesson."
"When were you in….," Leaf started to say and then it dawned on her. "Oh yea, you and Ash got detention for riding a shopping cart down the school halls during freshmen year."
Ash and Gary then shivered again, "And we will never do that again," they both said.
We shook our heads as we started to walk to Jubilife City to get a ride back to Lilycove. Suddenly we felt a rush of wind from above to see the jet from PHPA.
We climbed up the rope ladder before taking off, "Are you ever gonna return the jet?" I asked Max.
His hologram appeared in front of us, "I will eventually, it's not like they will….," he started to say.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence unless you wanna face the wrath of my mallet," Misty threatened.
Max rolled his eyes, "Someone is superstitious."
"Max, we can't afford to get in trouble with Lance. We'll probably get fired if you keep this up," Dawn said sternly.
"Alright, alright, sheesh, it's not like I steal it every day or something. I'll fly it back to your headquarters after I drop you off," he said bored with a wave of his hand before looking around looking confused. "Where's May?"
We shrugged our shoulders, "We don't know. After scanning the tulip, she looked at the time and panicked saying that if she was late someone was gonna kill her. She called out Gardevoir and teleported away," I said.
"Weird, wonder what May was late for?"
"Join the club," Dawn said tiredly.
"We'll find out later when we get back, something tells me that it's the same place she goes to after school every day," I said.
Everyone else nodded in agreement before chattering about other stuff. Instead I looked out the window trying to figure out what May was doing.
(May's POV)
I was back at the dorm fixing myself some spaghetti. Thankfully, I wasn't late for ballet so I didn't have to suffer Madame Ashley's punishment for being late. Everyone was still gone when I got back to the dorm so I decided to make supper for everyone when they did come back which should be soon. I finished before everyone came back so I decided to meditate on the balcony trying to get rid of my anxiety for tomorrow.
I heard the door open and everyone shuffle in, "Mmm, spaghetti," Ash said dreamily.
I heard them sit at the table and began to eat so I decided to walk in and grab some tea, "Hey May, spaghetti is delicious," Ash complimented with a full month.
He then covered his head with his arms knowing he talked with his mouth full and feared Misty's punishment.
"I'll let this one slide, I'm too hungry to punish you right now," she said.
Ash then kissed her cheek before continuing to plow through the spaghetti. I grabbed my mug of tea and sat at my usual place.
"Care to tell us where you disappeared off to this afternoon?" Drew asked.
"As well as every day after school for a month and a half," Dawn added.
I took a sip of my tea, I wanted to tell them, but I vowed I wouldn't tell anyone until after my first competition. I wanted to get myself back into the game without being peer pressured.
"I'll explain everything after tomorrow," I simply said.
"You promise?" Drew asked suspicious.
"Pinky promise," I teased with a wink.
"Can't we get a hint as to what you're doing?" Ash asked.
"Nope, no one is going to be told until tomorrow. Even my pokemon don't know what I've been up to so don't feel like you're being left out."
"Must be some secret if you haven't even told your pokemon," Misty commented.
"Not really, I just have my reasons for not telling anyone," I said with a shrug.
"If you haven't told anyone, it must be pretty big," Paul pointed out.
"It's not big to me, guess it just depends on the opinion of the other person," I said before standing up. "You guys can keep eating, I'll get the gems from Max."
After messaging him with my poketch, a box appeared on the coffee table with the three gems inside. I sat on the floor and placed the gems in front of me before meditating focusing on the unknown energy inside them.
As I focused, I felt everyone move from the kitchen to the couches and chairs around me. Suddenly, I felt the connection with a shock and saw the emerald before the vision zoomed out to show a mountain near a lake with Mesprit.
The connection then broke and I fell to the floor, "Ugh, the continuous falling on my butt after this is really starting to hurt," I said annoyed.
"Did you see where the gem is?" Drew asked.
I nodded, "It's on a mountain by Lake Verity," I said.
"Guess the pattern of the gems being found in different places is legit," Gary said.
I called out Gardevoir, "Can you teleport us to the place that I'm imagining," I asked.
She nodded and soon we found ourselves on a ledge with the wind hollowing, "This is as far as I could teleport you," she said.
I nodded thanks and returned her, "Couldn't she have teleported us somewhere less windy," Dawn shouted.
"This was a far as she could teleport us, let's keep walking up the path," I said as I started walking.
We carefully climbed to the top which was flat with nothing there, "Uh…..May, there's nothing here," Leaf said. "You sure this is the right place?"
I nodded, "I feel the gem's presence. Remember the cave, we found a secret control that changed the cave entirely to show the location of the gem," I reminded them.
"Yea, but there is nothing here to press," Dawn argued.
I looked around then noticed something on the ground a few feet away. I stepped on the spot with my foot to activate something. I looked over the edge as I heard rumbling and in the middle of the ravine, a pedestal with the emerald appeared. A rectangular hole also appeared with three empty gem holders next to my foot. I put the gems in their places causing a riddle to appear next to it.
In order to grab the beauty that lies on air
Here is the one thing you must be aware.
In order to not fall and cross safely to the other side
You must have blind faith, grace, and balance as your guide.
"Okay, so you're just supposed to walk across nothing to grab the emerald, that's a death wish right there," Dawn said flatly. "How is faith, grace, and balance supposed to help?"
Hmm…..seems almost like the third Kanto Cuke movie where Kant has to take a walk of faith, but I'm not sure where balance and grace come in.
Then it dawned on me, you have got to be kidding me, "I've figured out the hint means," I said tiredly.
"What's is it?" Misty asked.
I sighed, "You'll find out. Leaf, can I borrow your scarf?"
She looked confused as she handed it over. I walked to the edge and put up a wall of aura so I could focus. I took a deep breath and focused as I put the scarf over my eyes. I then leapt gracefully onto what looked like nothing, but felt firmness underneath my foot. I then saw a picture of what was in front of me in my mind and focused as I continued to dance across the way. Ballet was the answer to this or incredibly gracefully martial arts because they require you to be light on your feet as if you were walking on air and you need a ton of balance.
I ignored everything and just danced across to the emerald. Once I knew I was on the other side, I took the scarf off my eyes and picked up the gem. As I did so, I began to feel shaking and saw that where there was nothing were thin stone pillars for me to walk across. I hopped from one to one with balance back to the other side.
Once I was on firm ground with the gang, the pillars then moved back down, "So ballet was the answer to the riddle?" Leaf asked.
"More or less yes because dancing requires you to be light on your feet as if you are walking on air and the test is to do that while not being able to see as well as have faith in knowing you'll make it to the other side," I explained.
"That makes sense and you did a great performance by the way. Are you secretly a ballerina or something?" Drew teased.
I rolled my eyes despite Drew being right-in-a-way, "Since we found the gem, we better give these gems to Max and head back to the dorm."
After all was said and done with us now in the dorm, I gathered my stuff for tomorrow and set up a hologram that would make it appear I wasn't in bed to be set to start at 4:00. I also set up a premade message saying that I was on a mission and that I didn't know how long I would be gone to be sent to Drew at 7:30. Finally, I got ready for bed and made myself a drink that contained sleep powder to guarantee that I would sleep well. I felt prepared and ready as I slipped into bed. Alright tomorrow, bring it on.
February 17th (Lilycove City, Hoenn)
(Dawn's POV)
I woke up the next morning to find that May's bed was made and she wasn't in the room. I changed and grabbed my backpack before walking into the kitchen to find that I was the first one there.
I grabbed a croissant and some hot chocolate before sitting down, "Morning Dawn," Misty called as she and Leaf came into the kitchen.
"Morning," I said cheerfully as I took a bit of the croissant.
Leaf looked around the room, "Where's May?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, she wasn't here when I woke up meaning she'll be here in a little bit."
"How do you know that?" Misty asked.
"Because when we can't find her in the morning, she shows up at 7:15 to grab something to eat before going to homeroom with us," I stated.
"Now that I think about it, that is what seems to happen," Leaf agreed.
"What seems to happen?" Gary asked as the guys came into the kitchen.
"That when May isn't here, she shows up at 7:15 to grab something to eat before going to homeroom with us," Leaf said as she grabbed a bagel and cream cheese.
"That's what seems to happen every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday except she has been missing every morning this week," Ash said before taking a bit of his waffle.
"We'll find out why later, she promised she would explain," Drew said as he took a sip of orange juice.
We nodded in agreement as we continued to eat. By the time it was 7:29, May still hadn't shown up, "Wonder where May is?" I wondered.
Drew then looked at his poketch and pressed a button, "May's on a mission right now and she doesn't know when she'll be back," he reported.
"Guess that explains why she didn't show up this morning," Leaf said as we left the dorm for homeroom.
For the morning classes, I was bored and eager for the day to finish up. I was also wondering what May's mission was. Was it investigating a theft, rescuing kidnapped pokemon, or rescuing a hostage? By the time it was lunch, I was hungry and irritated that the day was going by slowly causing me to walk fast down to lunch.
Paul grabbed my arm forcing me to slow down, "Slow down Troublesome, lunch isn't going anywhere. You aren't turning into Ash are you?"
I rolled my eyes, "No, I'm not turning into Ash. I'm just hungry and irritated that the day is going by slowly," I complained.
"Just be thankful it's Friday and put a smile on your face, it's weird not seeing it," Paul muttered.
I smiled and kissed his cheek before the three of us continued to lunch. After grabbing our food, I noticed that in the middle of the room was a portable screen and then someone rolled in a cart holding a projector along with a laptop.
"What's with the setup?" I asked.
The girls shrugged, "We're wondering ourselves, it was setup here before we got to the table. Brandi is behind it though because she was complaining to the tech crew," Misty said.
"Yo Miss priss, what's with the setup?" I asked Francesca who looked at me annoyed.
"Why should I tell you loser?" she said bored while looking at her nails.
"Because I'll smack you with my mallet," Misty threatened making Francesca tense up.
"Alright, geez, don't blow a fuse. Brandi just wants to watch some gymnastics competition that her cousin is in," she said bored.
"It's not just some gymnastics competition, it's the gymnastics completion. My cousin needs to earn two more medals before the World Competition in May," Brandi corrected as she pulled Francesca away.
"I wonder if her cousin is as much of a stuck up prick as Brandi," Leaf wondered.
"Who knows, hopefully we'll never had to find out," I said as I took a bit of my salad.
With a few minutes left at lunch, the competition was finally starting making Brandi extremely hyped up, "Welcome to another qualifying gymnastics competition for the World Gymnastics Meet. I'm Stanley Morse with my cohost and previous winner of the World Gymnastics competition Mindy Cosmo. Care to explain the basics of the World Gymnastics Competition to those new to watching?"
"Sure Stanley, the World Gymnastics Competition takes place every 2 years in a different region. To gain entrance, a gymnast must have won three medals over the two year gap in order to compete in the preliminaries where it narrows down to eight gymnasts to compete in the finals. We are on our final year having finished competitions in Sinnoh, Kanto, and Johto. Only seven competitions are left in Hoenn before the big meet in May," Mindy explained.
"I'm sure we are expecting great things as we watch these girls compete," Stanley commented. "Are there any particular girls to keep an eye on?"
"First there's Hailey Hartwood. This is her third competition to get her second medal and she's a particular favorite to make it to the finals in May. There's also Jordan Marsh who's coming back after recovering from a torn ligament in her leg, and the last interesting person to watch for is….."
The bell then rang causing us to stand up and move to our next class. Guess we're not gonna find out who the other interesting person is.
For the rest of the day, my mind wandered to where May was and it kept distracting me. I could tell I wasn't the only one because everyone else was the same way.
"I wonder where May is, a mission shouldn't take this long," I said thoughtfully.
"Maybe we can ask Max, he might know," Leaf suggested.
Drew nodded and called him on his poketch, "Comeoncomeon..annnnnndddd…YES!" Max shouted.
"Geez Max, what are you doing, watching a game?" Drew asked after regaining his hearing back.
"Yea, anyway, what's up?"
"Do you know where May is, she sent a message earlier today saying she was on a mission and she didn't know when she would be back," Drew said.
Max smirked, "You don't know do you?"
"I don't know what?" he asked annoyed.
"What May's doing," he said.
"No, I don't, why do you think I'm calling you?" he asked getting irritated.
Max had a thoughtfully look but then smirk, "Nah, you guys can figure it out for yourselves….YES! KEEP IT UP!"
Max ended the call leaving us really confused, "Well that was odd," I finally said as we walked in the dorm.
"I'll say, I wonder what Max was watching that got him so excited," Misty wondered.
"Why don't you turn on the TV and flip through channels to find out," I suggested as I walked to my room to drop off my backpack.
After hearing the channels flip, I then heard, "Up next on balance beam is May Maple," an announcer said.
Wait…..….WHAT! I rushed out of the room to the TV to find Misty as shocked as I was. So this was May's big secret, she was practicing to compete.
"I'm interested to see how this performance goes. It must have taken a lot of practice and therapy to get over her accident two years ago. Let's see how far she's come," the other announcer said.
"Leaf, get in here!" I hollered.
"Why do I…..," she then stopped as she say May. "Wait….she's competing!"
"What's with all the yelling?" Gary asked as the guys stepped out of their rooms.
"May's competing in the gymnastics competition," Leaf said quickly as she sat on the couch with Misty.
"So far May is in second place with getting 15.012 in vault and 15.735 in uneven bars. She is .821 points away from winning this if she places well on the balance beam and the floor exercise."
Watching May on the balance beam was nerve-racking. She started out well, but then when she did a 180 turn split, she slipped and fell off the bar before getting back up and finished the routine.
"That routine was good, a few balance checks and that one fall, but the connections for the most part and the dismount were perfect. We'll have to see what the judges think Stanley," Mindy said.
I watched May as she walked to a lady who put an arm over her shoulder as they walked to the chairs on the edge of the arena. She then stood waiting for her score.
May then put her head down in dejection, "A 13.665, that now bumps her to third place with a total of 44.412 behind Haley Hartwood with 46.201 and Jordan Marsh with 45.340. If she wants to win, she's gonna have to score high on the floor exercise.
May then sat down waiting for her turn on the floor exercise. Finally after fifteen minutes, she was the last to finish up.
She walked from where the chairs were to the mat, "Even though Hailey fell on the last tumbling pass and wound up with a low score, she still holds that lead and May has to do a very high scored performance if she wants to grab the medal," Mindy commented.
"I have no doubt we are about to see the best May has to offer," Stanley announced.
May did incredibly well. She was fluid in all her movements, did a lot of tough tumbling passes, stayed in bounds, and stuck the landings. The best part was that she was smiling the whole time and looked like she was having the time of her life. May took a deep breath to finish the last bit and then raced forward doing from a front flip to a round off to a back hand spring to a triple twist sticking the landing and then did a few fluid movements and froze with a smile on her face.
"A front flip to a triple twist and she nailed it, I think that's the best performance on floor we've seen today!" Mindy said excitedly as May walked off to hug the lady from before.
"I'm with you on that Mindy and now it's up to the judges," Stanley commented.
May put on white sports pants and a sapphire blue jacket as she and the lady stood waiting looking up for about thirty seconds and then broke into a smile as she hugged the lady again.
"A 15.6, that's the highest score for the floor exercise today, but is it enough for May to surpass Haley and get the medal," Stanley announced.
Everyone was looking at the score board, "And it looks like it's a tie at 60.012 points for both Haley and May," Stanley said surprised.
"According to rules for tie breaking, the best total of the execution scores will determine the winner," Mindy said firmly.
Come on May! The rest of us were on the edges of our seats. Paul wasn't, but I could tell that he was as nerve-racked as we were.
May then broke into a smile and cover her mouth and nose with her hands as she bent forward, "May Maple has won the medal," Stanley announced causing the girls I to scream while standing up and hugging each other before jumping and screaming excitedly.
(May's POV)
I can't believe I won, I actually won. I hugged Jenny like crazy before I walked up to the judges and they awarded me the medal.
"Congratulations on winning today's competition, we wish you luck as you continue your journey for the preliminaries at the World Gymnastics Competition," a judge said as I looked at the medal that was hanging around my neck.
"Thank you," I said politely before walking back to Jenny who hugged me again.
"Congrats May, you did incredibly well especially for only training for this in little over a month and a half," she said with a smile.
I nodded in agreement, "I still have a lot to work on, especially the balance beam."
"I know and we'll work on it. Right now, you should pack up and tell your brother and friends. I suspected you never told them what you were doing," she teased.
"I just wanted to be able to focus on the competition without having to feel peer pressure from people. But now that I'm used to the feeling again, I'm sure I'll have fans supporting behind me," I said with a smile.
"I'm sure you will. Oh, practice for ballet and gymnastics is cancelled so you have the whole weekend to relax, but I expect to see you at 5:00 on Monday morning," Jenny said sternly.
"Don't worry, I'll be there. I better change and get back, see you Monday," I called before heading to the locker room to shower and changed into the clothes I wore earlier.
I put everything away in my bag and clicked on my pokeball belt before I called out Gardevoir to have her teleport me back to my room. Once there, I returned her, put my bag on my bed, and stepped into the hallway to listen in.
"I can't believe May won, do you think she's been gone all the time because of practice?" Dawn wondered.
I stepped out and leaned against the wall, "How else are you supposed to win something if you don't practice," I playfully retorted with a smirk causing everyone to turn around and look at me.
"May!" Dawn shouted as she tackled me in a hug along with the rest of the girls.
"Congrats on your win! You were awesome, for the part of the competition that we saw anyways," Misty complimented.
"Thanks, it was nerve racking, but fun," I said with a smile as Drew kissed me in congratulations and gave me a rose.
"We should celebrate with fro-yo," Dawn said excitedly.
"I'm up for that," I said with a smile.
Soon we were sitting outside at the best frozen yogurt place called the Blue Piplup and I was explaining what had happened in the past month.
Suddenly Max was calling me on my poketch, "Hey Max, what's up?"
"Before I explain, I congratulate you on your win and I knew you wanted to go back into gymnastics," he said in a I-told-you-so tone.
I rolled my eyes, "Thanks Max so what's the sitch?"
"There's a herd of Ariados attacking Azelea Town," Max quickly explained.
"Got a ride for me?" I asked.
"Should be right above ya," he said.
"Thanks," I said as I noticed a helicopter and ended the call.
"But we just got here and you barely touched your fro-yo," Dawn complained.
"Sorry Dawn, but fro-yo for me is gonna have to wait, I'll see ya guys later," I called as I shot the grappling gun from my poketch at the helicopter and slid up. Back to business as usual.