March 27th (In an open meadow, Johto)
(May's POV)
"Heads up!" Zapdos shouted.
I immediately became alert and felt the charge of energy particles race towards me. I stuck my pointer and middle fingers out to catch the incoming energy to have it go through my body to my other arm before pointing it at the sky releasing the charge of lightning.
I then looked at Zapdos and he nodded in approval, "Well done May, you were able to master the element of lightning quite quickly. Your time with me is done. Tomorrow you will begin your training with Celebi in the Ilex Forest."
He then flew away and I walked back to camp to find Drew, Paul, Leaf, and Ash, "How was training?" Leaf asked as I reverted my outfit back to normal from what I wore to channel my power for lightning.
"It went really well, I'm done with training actually. Tomorrow, I start training under Celebi," I said as Drew handed me a cup of water.
I sensed Leaf's aura pulse in excitement, "Really, you get to train under Celebi?" she asked excitedly.
I nodded causing her to squeal excitedly, "Do you seriously need to squeal?" Paul muttered.
I sensed Leaf look him as her aura pulsed with annoyance. Suddenly, Dawn, Gary, and Misty teleported next to us.
"Hey you guys, how was school?" Drew asked.
Dawn groaned, "Miserable, besides the stupid drama queens, we had to work incredibly hard to cover for you guys since Max's holograms can't touch anything without it showing you guys as ghosts."
"But it worked though?" I asked to clarify.
I saw Misty, Gary, and Dawn nod, "Thank goodness we planned this last night."
(Flash Back to Last Night)
I walked back to camp from training with Articuno as I felt a small drip of blood fall down my face as I reverted back to normal.
"What the heck happened to you?" Drew asked concerned as I sat down in front of the fire.
"This is curtesy of Articuno," I huffed as I sensed Drew sit next to me and tend to my head. "He pecked me saying that was a reward after finishing my training."
"So you already mastered air?" Dawn asked.
I nodded, "To the extent of learning the basics and manipulating it a little. Tomorrow I'm training with Zapdos. Thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere, I'll just stay here for training."
"That's good to hear that you don't have to move for training. You've now finished half your training right?" Misty asked.
I nodded again, "Speaking of time, do you guys know what day it is?"
"It's Sunday, why do you ask?" Gary asked confused.
"Uh…today is the last day of spring break. You guys have classes tomorrow and you can't miss anymore school for this year," I pointed out.
This caused everyone to groan, "Crap, do we really have to go back?" Dawn whined.
"Troublesome, we can't miss anymore school and can you stop complaining about it already," Paul grunted.
"This stinks, none of us want to leave because we want to stick around, but we have to go back unless we want to face getting held back a grade," Leaf complained.
"Speaking of consequences and school, I kinda made a deal with Steven that I would leave the school if I didn't finish my training a week after spring break," I said nervously as Drew finished patching up my head.
"WHAT!" everyone shouted.
"May, why in the world would you make a bargain like that?" Drew asked upset.
"I didn't have much of a choice," I said angrily. "I'm already pushing the school's attendance policy. I had to offer something that would allow Steven to give me some time."
"You should have privileges to allow you to not have to bargain like that," Dawn argued.
I shook my head, "I don't want that Dawn. I want to be treated as a normal person, no special privileges or any crap like that. That's why I came with a disguise in the first place. Anyways, you guys better leave in a little bit if you want some down time before school tomorrow."
I saw Dawn shake her head vigorously, "We aren't leaving you alone. Who knows if you might get into trouble."
I sighed, "Then we need to come up with a plan then."
"Hmm…..maybe a few of us can go back and the rest stay here," Leaf suggested.
"That's sounds like a plan, but who goes back and how do we make it look like the ones who aren't there are there?" Misty asked.
"I wonder….." I said out loud in thought.
"You wonder what?" Drew asked.
"While I was doing contests for the Hoenn region for a second time, Max created an animated hologram of me, the holoMay. He said that I should use it when I needed to be in two places at once. It acts exactly like me and could mimic me perfectly except it can't touch anything, press anything, or hold anything. I never used it though because I never needed to," I explained.
"That might be the solution we are looking for, does Max have holograms of us?" Ash asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he did, it's amazing what he creates in his spare time," I said. "Now who is staying and who is going to school and keeping an eye on the holograms?"
"What about those who've already have observed their legendaries?" Misty suggested.
"Seems fair to me," Drew agreed.
"You would say that because you want to stay with May. Well, I don't want to leave, you can't make me," Dawn pouted.
"Seriously Troublesome, how old are you?" Paul grunted.
"I'll go on a four hour shopping spree with you and not complain if you go," I offered with a smirk.
"Done," she said shortly.
"May, how could you?! You signed your death wish!" Leaf gasped.
"No, my death wish was signed when I became the Guardian of Arceus. Anyways, that's beside the point. Will you be able to cover everyone who won't be there?" I asked Gary, Dawn, and Misty.
They nodded before Misty groaned, "No we can't, no one can watch Leaf, Drew, or Paul, first period or Paul and Leaf fifth period."
"Ugh, how do we do that, it's impossible for anyone to cover that," Leaf agreed.
"Hmm…..Gardevoir, can you bring Max here?" I asked.
She nodded and soon she returned with Max, "May!" he shouted happily as he attacked with a hug.
I laughed, "It's good to see you too, we're in a bit of a bind and we're wondering if you could help us out."
"What's the bind?" he asked.
I soon explained the situation, "Yea, I got holographic animations of everyone," he said causing me to roll my eyes.
"Why am I not surprised," I said flatly.
"As for having someone cover someone cover as someone else, I think I got the right gadget," he said with a proud grin as he made Gardevoir disappear for a short period to come back with a ring.
He put it on and turned the top gem to then turn into me causing everyone to look shocked. He turned the gem again to turn into Drew, then everyone else one by one.
"So that'll help a lot, but who gets to play who?" Misty asked.
"I could go as Leaf for first and fifth period," Dawn volunteered.
"Just don't embarrass me," Leaf begged.
Dawn then smirked, "Hmm….convince me not to," she teased.
Leaf then dug out a thick novel and held it above Dawn's head, "I'm convinced," Dawn squeaked.
"Good, so Dawn's covering for me, but we need someone to cover Paul or Drew," Leaf said thoughtfully as she put her heavy novel away.
I then turned to Max, "You said that you've always wanted to go to school for a day," I suddenly said causing the wheels to turn in Max's head.
"I don't know if that'll work," Max finally said.
"It will, you're smart enough. I'm pretty sure you know how we all act by now and it's only for two class periods," I pointed out.
"You're gonna have to convince me first?" he said slyly.
"What are you wanting?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.
"For you to play two hours of video games with me," Max said with a grin causing my eyes to widen.
"Are you kidding me, no way. Every time I played with you, you always cheated your pants off and you take the fun out of it," I argued.
"Take it or leave it," Max said sternly.
"June 21st, 2012, 10:23 PM, someone hacked their way into the top secret gaming research facility….," I started to say causing Max to look scared.
"Fine, one hour with me only using half of my cheat codes," he grumbled causing me to smile proudly.
"Good, guess then it's settled," I said firmly.
(Back to the Present)
"It was still difficult though, I can't believe I had to take history twice. Ugh, the lecture was one of the worst today," Dawn whined.
We rolled our eyes at Dawn's dramatic acts, "Anyways, how was training?" Misty asked.
"Good, I mastered lightning today and I train with Celebi in the Ilex Forest tomorrow," I summed up.
"That's good, guess that means Ashy-boy gets to come back to school tomorrow. That'll make things easier for Max, he had to leave right after sixth period because the Petalburg Pokemon Center got an overflow of pokemon," Gary explained.
Suddenly I was hit with a headache and a bad feeling. I could see that Gardevoir, Lucario, and Pikachu felt it too.
"What's wrong May?" Drew asked concerned as everyone noticed us clutching our heads.
"Please help me, my forest burns," the voice said tiredly.
Suddenly I was struck by a vision of Celebi lying on the ground covered in burn marks as a forest was on fire. The vision then showed a shrine, it was Celebi's shrine in the forest I'm supposed to train at, was burning.
I gasped as the vision ended and I came back into reality sitting there taking it all in, "May, what happened?" Drew asked.
"It's Celebi, Ilex forest is in flames and Celebi is lying on the ground unconscious covered in burns," I said quickly before standing up. "We have to help out."
I then felt my hand being grabbed, "May, you can't go rushing off to fight a forest fire. You won't be able to see the flames and you can't see by walking, the ground will be burned or hot," Drew chastised me.
"I can't sit here and let a forest burn down, Celebi spoke to me saying he needs my help. Drew, I have an obligation to help especially if it's the legendary who's supposed to train me," I argued. "Gardevoir, teleport home and grab Wartortle and Dragonair."
She nodded teleported away, "Well if you're going, we're coming with ya. You can't fight a fire by yourself," Drew said firmly.
I nodded as Gardevoir came back, "Alright Gardevoir, teleport us to the fire."
She nodded and after we arrived, I felt the immediate temperature difference, "Oh my Mew," Leaf gasped.
I couldn't see anything, but from the heat I felt, this fire was big, "I summon the power of Arceus for the element of water."
I felt my outfit change, "May, you can't take this fire on by yourself, it's impossible," Misty said surprised.
"I know that, we need a strategy," I said frustrated before a light bulb appeared over my head. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Drew asked.
"We need to have our pokemon use Rain Dance, then I'll manipulate it and add some power when I fly on Dragonair," I explained.
"Then we'll continue to handle the smaller flames down here," Misty finished.
"Exactly," I called as I climbed onto Dragonair with Wartortle in my lap. "Good luck."
As I flew to the sky, I heard everyone call out their pokemon and Misty and Gary ordered Gyarados and Blastoise to use Rain Dance.
Then the skies started to become cloudy and rain started to fall, "Dragonair, Wartortle use Rain Dance," I ordered.
They nodded and did as I asked while I added my waterbending abilities to help make Rain Dance more powerful. Soon a torrent of rain flew down on the fire helping to douse it slightly making it easier for everyone to get closer to it.
"Dragonair, take me to an untouched spot in the middle," I ordered.
She then flew down and the heat around us increased, "Dragonair, stay in the sky and keep doing Rain Dance from time to time to help keep the rain going. Wartortle, start using Water Gun."
They chirped their names and did as I asked. I then turned to the fire and started to concentrate. I started to focus on the rain and then summoned the water into a huge surf attack. The attack hit the fire hard causing it to go down.
For the next few hours, we stopped the fire, but were exhausted, burned, and soaked from it. We currently made camp on the outskirts of the forest and it was still pouring buckets.
"Great *achoo* does this mean I've caught a cold again," Leaf complained.
"I think we…we..*achoo* all have colds," Misty said tiredly.
"You guys find shelter," I said tiredly. "I need to look for any injured pokemon and Celebi."
"May, Celebi probably went back in time or to the future to heal meaning he won't be here," Drew called as I started to walk into the burned trees.
"He would still be around for my training, I have to find him," I called as I ran into the forest with everyone shouting my name.
For the next hour, I walked throughout the burned forest using my aura to locate any injured or lost pokemon and thankfully, there were none.
I felt my feet getting ripped apart by the burnt wood and burned from any remaining hidden embers. I sneezed. Great, now I will get an infection in my feet along with a cold.
I continued to walk until I felt the presence of a small aura under some burnt tree trunks. I quickly ran over there tripping on branches and my feet burning in pain as I ran causing tears to appear in my eyes.
After I got to the pile of trunks, I started moving them and breaking them apart with ice blades til I saw a sick and burnt Celebi. It broke my heart, the poor pokemon looked terrible.
"Blaziken, Lucario, Gardevoir, where are you?" I asked telepathically trying to keep my voice as calm as I could while I gently picked up Celebi and knelt on the ground as tears began to fall. I felt so much pain, it hurt more than anything, especially in my feet.
"May, thank goodness. We're still on the outskirts of the forest, everyone has a cold including us pokemon," Gardevoir said tiredly. "I was able to teleport everyone out of here, but I'm too sick to teleport again and the pokemon refused to leave. Blaziken is the worst out of us pokemon since he's a fire type. Now where are you, I sense you're in great pain."
I let out a small sob, "My feet are cut up terribly along with being burned and bruised. I can't take another step and Celebi is terribly injured," I said quietly. "Find shelter and stay there, I'll find shelter myself. Also keep watch over Blaziken."
I then focused on Celebi again, I need to get out of the pouring rain. I feared moving again, but I had no choice. I saw a hollowed out log a couple yards away. I have to get there, to protect myself and Celebi *achoo*.
I cried as I ran/tripped/crawled to the log. Thankfully, it wasn't burned too terribly and I crawled inside. I then focused my attention on trying to heal Celebi as much as I could. I waterbent some of the falling rain to come inside and started to heal Celebi's burns and scratches. I already felt weak, but my determination and willpower made up for the loss of my energy. I have to heal Celebi, I just have to.
After I did as much as I could, I lay inside the trunk with tears running down my face. My feet felt jagged and I felt feverish from the cold and possible infection from my feet. I looked at Celebi as he slept peacefully healed from his wounds only to suffer a small cold, I smiled gently as I pet it's head.
Suddenly I felt a strange aura present and it caused my face to light up in surprise as I recognized it, "Roserade?!" I called out in shock.
"Rose roserade?" she cried excitedly as she raced to where I was hidden and attacked me with a hug. (May, thank goodness.)
"What in the world are you doing out here, you're soaking wet?" I cried.
"Rose roserade rose roserade rade rose rose rade," she said while shivering. (When Gardevoir tried to teleport me with everyone else, I got teleported somewhere in the forest instead and have been walking for a while trying to find shelter.
"Drew must be worried sick about you," I cried as I waterbent most of the water off her trying to warm her up since she looked tired and ill. I then tried to switch powers to fire only to be frightened because I couldn't.
I then decided to revert to normal because I felt weak from loss of power. If I stayed in my water form, I would have used up all my life force and I was already on the edge as it was. I reverted back to feel that my normal clothes felt about as ripped, torn, and scorched as if I wore this while I attacked the fire.
"Rose roserade rose?" she asked concerned. (May, are you okay?)
"I don't know, I tried to switch powers but couldn't. I think I used up too much of my life force," I said faintly as I sneezed. "I also have too many injuries so I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
I then felt a spaz of pain from my feet making me to cry in pain causing Roserade to look at them in shock, "Rose roserade rose!" she cried. (May, your feet!)
I didn't say anything as I just started to cry, she then hugged me again as I continued to do so, Drew…please….help me.
(Drew's POV-a few hours before)
I watched May as she ran into the burnt forest, we shouted for her to come back but she didn't stop, "That girl is going to kill herself trying to save every single pokemon/person," Misty muttered before sneezing.
We then returned our pokemon, but Roserade, Lucario, Gardevoir, and Blaziken refused to be returned, "We need to get out of here and find shelter," Gary called tiredly.
The bad news was that there wasn't any place to take cover. Suddenly, we were teleported and found ourselves at the Pokemon Center and saw Max at the front desk along with Lizzy.
"What the hell happened to you?" Lizzy cried as we were collapsed on the ground. "Did you seriously fight your way through hell or something?!"
"Something like that," I said with a weak chuckle.
"It looks like you fought a fire, wait…..did you take on that huge fire in Ilex Forest?" Max asked suspiciously.
I nodded, "You morons, what made you think you could take on a forest fire that huge!" Max shouted.
"You're sister was contacted by Celebi to help because it was too weak to fight off the fire itself so as May would, she charged in," Gary said tiredly.
"Where is May, why isn't she her?" Lizzy asked concerned as she collected our pokemon to have Nurse Joy heal.
I frowned, "We don't know, she raced off into the burnt forest to find Celebi," I said quietly.
"Dang it May," Max seethed in frustration as he helped us into chairs where Nurse Joy walked in.
"Well, it seems you all have small colds and burns. Nothing Heal Bell and few healing salves can't fix," she said firmly.
It took a few hours, but soon we were bandaged up and our cold symptoms lessened, "You're pokemon will be just fine," Nurse Joy said cheerfully.
Max looked concerned along with Lizzy, "Drew, where's Gardevoir, Lucario, and Blaziken, they aren't here."
"Roserade isn't here either," Lizzy commented in concern causing me to panic.
"What, I thought she was here when we got here," I said concerned. "Did Gardevoir misteleport her?"
"It is possible if Gardevoir is weak and sick," Max informed me.
"Drew…..please…help me."
I froze in shock, it sounded like May as if she were crying and in pain.
"Drew, what's wrong?" Dawn asked concerned.
"May," I said quietly.
(May's POV)
After I thought of Drew, I felt like fainting. I just didn't have the strength anymore and the pain was unbearable. Roserade tried to use Aromatherapy, but I stopped her, "Save your energy, you're too sick to waste it on me," I strained to say.
"Rose roserade…." she argued. (But May….)
"But nothing, I won't die from this. I need to fulfill my destiny and I have a defense healing mechanism that heals me so I don't die before I fulfill my purpose," I said quietly before I shouted in pain as I felt the infection go into my lower legs.
I felt Roserade's aura pang with sadness as she watched me in pain.
I suddenly then sensed a bunch of auras I didn't recognized and one that seemed familiar but I was too feverish to think straight, "You men check over there. You check in that area, Celebi should be around here somewhere cause that fire should have flushed it out."
Then it struck me, it was Tabitha from Team Magma, Maxie's main henchman. That creep, what does he want with Celebi?
"Well, what do we have here," I heard as I turned my head to look at the guy's aura. Suddenly, my aura sight shut down and my tears came back. Damn it, I'm losing my life force fast.
I was then dragged out by my hair causing pain to roar through my scalp making me scream in pain, "Let me go you creeps," I shouted as loudly as I could.
I then felt a slap across my face causing me to cry in pain, "Shut up missy, you're not in a position to scream. Now we'll take Celebi, but first, my boss wants me to put a bullet in your head."
I was then thrown to the side and landed on my feet causing me to wail in pain, "May," I heard everyone cry.
I heard the click of the hammer being pulled back on the gun, I braced myself for the bullet, but it never came, "ROSERADE!" she cried in pain.
"ROSERADE!" Drew and I screamed.
"Stupid pokemon," Tabitha muttered as I heard someone run to Roserade.
"Roserade," Drew cried before turning to Tabitha. "YOU MONSTER!"
"It's just a pokemon," Tabitha said bored before I heard the gun go off again making my heart stop. I heard a thud and Drew groan painfully.
I was hit with shock, pain, and rage like never before. Like an evil force ate my rage and was consuming me.
"You….you BASTARD!" I roared as I felt a huge rush of adrenalin and power. "PREPARE TO SUFFER THE WRATH OF ARCEUS, SUFFER THE FURY OF HOLY JUDGEMENT!"
I felt myself rise along with a sheet of metal in appeared in my hands. I rose the plate to the sky and felt a ball of energy take off. Then I felt objects shoot down from the sky and I heard cries in pain causing me to laugh like a maniac.
"DIE YOU BASTARDS…..DIE!" I shouted in joy as I heard their pain.
While all of this was happening, I felt like I was consumed by rage and pure evil. I felt evil pulse through me and I felt myself drift into the dark.
"May," I heard a familiar voice say softly.
"Drew," I said quietly.
"Follow my voice," he called gently.
I floated towards his voice which directed me to a doorway of light. I stepped inside and found myself in a beautiful rose garden under a bright blue sky. I then looked down and noticed I was wearing a rose red sleeveless ball gown with sheer material covering the dress, roses on the right side of my waist and a rose on the single thin strap on left side.
"May," I heard the voice I've grown to love say softly.
I looked up to see Drew standing perfectly healthy a couple of feet away, dressed handsomely in a black tux and with a green tie that matched his eyes along with a rose in his front pocket.
"Drew," I said softly before I ran into his open arms and cried.
"It's okay May, I'm right here," he said softly as he kissed the top of my head before he took my chin causing me to look at him and kissed me softly.
"You look beautiful May," he said softly as he took a rose from a nearby bush and placed it in my hair before we walked to bench that was nearby.
"You're not so bad yourself," I said quietly with a gently smile as we sat down before I looked around. "Drew, do you know where we are?"
I turned back to Drew to see him smirk and flick his hair fringe, "What is this? I actually know something that you don't, must be the end of the world," he teased.
I normally would have smacked him and complained of him ruining the moment, but with what happened a few moments ago, the comment struck me hard and I felt tears appear again as I began to cry.
"Please don't cry May," Drew said softly as he took my face in his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away my tears before kissing me again.
"I can't help it," I said quietly as tears continued to fall. "Drew, you were shot."
Drew didn't say anything as he took me in his arms allowing me to cry until I was able to compose myself.
"Drew, where did you take the bullet?" I asked as I looked at him.
He looked away from me looking pained, "I was shot near the heart," he said in whisper before looking at me with soft eyes. "But I think watching you hurt in your rage and fury hurts me more than anything."
I looked down, "I can't help it Drew. I snapped and saw pitch black. I used almost all of my life force causing my powers and aura to shut down and pain was shooting through my feet constantly. My heart stopped when I heard that gun go off. I felt like my heart was ripped out when I heard you fall to the ground and groan in pain. I never thought my heart would hurt that much. Then I was enraged like I never was before. I needed to make them suffer revenge, to suffer the pain that I felt."
I then gasped, "Oh my Mew, I wanted to kill them, to commit murder, Oh my Mew…"
"May," Drew called taking ahold of my shoulders to snap my attention to him, "Listen to me, you haven't murdered anyone, don't think the worst. Right now, I know you haven't killed anyone and you won't, but you are hurting them so that they are within an inch of losing their life."
I immediately stood up and walked a few steps away hugging myself, "My worst fear has come to pass, I'm using my power to…."
"Stop it May!" Drew yelled angrily as he walked up next to me taking my face so I had to look at him. "It's not you that is using your power, it's the darkness inside you. Your rage and anger has fed the shadows enough to take control and wreak havoc. You can take control May, you have to fight."
I was shocked by his statement as Drew sighed and move his hands to my upper arms causing me to place my hands on his chest, "After I was shot and l was lying on the ground, I watched as pain went through your face. You looked more angry and heartbroken than I've ever seen you in my entire life. You then had a black aura surrounding you and you rose up to the sky holding a metal plate. You then summoned Judgment and it started to rain black energy on everyone before I passed out."
Drew paused before he continued, "As I saw pitch black, I then heard a voice in my head saying that he was Arceus. He said that the darkness inside you took over and was now controlling you. He then granted a burst in psychic energy to help restore my aura to establish a connection to yours. I'm guessing this is a neutral zone for the both of us when our auras met subconsciously."
I smiled softly, "That makes sense, roses seem to be our thing."
Drew smiled back before I kissed him. After a while, we broke out of it still holding each other with our foreheads touching, "We should head back," Drew said softly.
I sighed, "I guess you're right, I'll win and I'll use my healing mechanism to save you and Roserade, I promise."
Drew kissed me again before he let me go and took a few steps back, "I know you will. I love you May and I'll be waiting."
He then turned into a bunch of petals and the petals scattered in the wind to cover me gently.
I then closed my eyes, "Thank you for believing me Drew. I love you too and I will save you and Roserade."
I felt myself leave the garden for pitch black, time to take control.
I took all my love for Drew and shot it into the darkness causing a huge burst of light and slowly felt myself take back control. The flow of energy stopped and I felt like I was falling. A second later, I felt a huge burst of pain as I hit the ground. I then felt myself rise like I did when I was in the hospital a few weeks ago. I looked at myself to see that I looked like hell while hearing gasps and turned to look at them.
I smiled softly, "It's okay, you guys, round up the idiots I almost killed and have PHPA deal with them. I'll heal Drew and Roserade."
They didn't move causing me to sigh so I shot a stream of aura at them to give them the energy to start moving. After they teleported out of here with the bad guys, I walked over to Roserade who was lying in blood and sensed a small bit of aura meaning she was still alive. I checked her over to discover she was very lucky. The bullet passed through her middle entirely without damaging any bones or major organs. I immediately went to work and patched her up along with healing her small cold.
Then I walked over to Drew who looked deathly pale and it made my heart break again. I checked Drew over to see where the bullet was and pulled it out before healing the damaged tissue. He'll be left with a small scar after all of this. Once I sensed his vital signs were almost back to normal, I kissed him gently to help wake him up before I walked back to my body and saw black.