More updates! We're getting closer to being caught up!
The main page is now at twenty-three. So...yeah.
The group made their way back to the Pokemon Center in the dark, although the night was already more than half gone at that point. This time, Ash's sleep was free of any strange dreams, unlike the last time he had slept there.
Late the following morning, due to all four of them sleeping in, they checked themselves out of the Center and went to find Spenser. Once they met up with him, he told them that he had talked to Brandon and Scott earlier that morning, and they had decided to temporarily shut down the entire Battle Frontier until the Palace was back up and running, claiming that it would cause too many problems if the Spirits Symbol was unobtainable to trainers who didn't already have it.
After hearing this, the group bade Spenser farewell and made for the docks by the beach once again. They all had to buy new tickets once down there, having already used up their old set going to and from the island the first time.
Once the line of fellow ticket-buyers had moved up sufficiently, it was their turn, starting with Brock. He approached the ticket booth, and instantly noticed the black-haired girl behind the counter. Grinning in an almost creepy manner, he shoved his fist through the receptacle, filled with money.
"Uh..." The girl started softly as she noticed the wad of cash, peering around the area to see if Brock was paying for anyone else.
"Just one, please." Brock said smoothly. "And I added a little something extra, in case you wanted to come along for the ride as well, gorgeous - "
"I don't think you can afford that kind of ticket." Max said dryly, dragging his older friend by the ear toward the loading area.
"Hehe..." Ash chuckled nervously, stepping up to the ticket booth. Pulling out a significantly smaller sum of money than Brock, he stuck his hand through the window. "One, please."
After he received his ticket, he stepped forward, aiming to go and join Max and Brock. However, he stopped when he noticed May struggling with her fanny pack. He turned around and saw her frantically searching through the various pockets, no doubt for the money to pay for hers and Max's tickets.
"Uh...just one second..." May said nervously, smiling sweetly at the ticket girl as she hastily rummaged through her pack, only to come up with nothing. "Oh no...did I really spend it all...?"
Ash watched for another second before stepping forward, back in front of the ticket booth. "Uh, excuse me. I actually needed two more tickets, if that's okay."
The clerk nodded to him as he produced a little more money from his backpack and handed it to her.
"Sure, no problem. I'd expect you to buy your girlfriend one, but it's pretty sweet to get one for her little brother, too." The clerk responded, smiling cheerfully at the two of them as Ash retracted his hand.
"Wh-what?" Ash and May responded in unison, blushes creeping up on both of their faces. "N-no, we're just friends..."
"Is that so?" The girl responded, her face falling slightly. "You could've fooled me. You two look perfect together."
"Uh..." They muttered, once again in unison, glancing at each other. "Yeah...well, uh...thanks." Ash finished, rather lamely, holding up the three tickets in his hand rather feebly before turning and walking away from the booth, with May not far behind him.
"Piika." Pikachu mumbled sadly, shaking his head at his human partner.
Ash ignored him, staring intently at the ground as he continued toward Max and Brock. May hung a few feet behind him, staring just as intently at the back of his head.
Much later, the four found themselves relaxing in various positions across the boat, similar to their first trip on the ferry. Due to it being later in the evening, there weren't many girls out on the sundeck for Brock to flirt with, so he was instead forced to retire to their cabin, hunting through his guidebook in an attempt to find something to occupy their time after May's Contest until the Battle Frontier was reopened.
Max had previously been running around the ship with Pikachu, but now he had also sent himself to their cabin, exhausted, aiming to go down early for the night.
Ash, on the other hand, had taken to simply lying back in a reclining beach-style chair and resting. Not actually sleeping, but instead taking the time to relax and think through the events that had transpired in Fuchsia City.
"If the Battle Frontier's closed down for a while..." Ash thought to himself, staring at the dark night sky above him. "I wonder what we're going to do..." He blinked, raising his head slightly to glance across the deck at May, who was standing on the edge of the deck, hands on the railing, staring up at the sky. "Well, the Kanto Contests sure haven't stopped. We could always just keep going around with May for a while..."
"Pika!" Pikachu chimed enthusiastically, dashing across the floor next to Ash's chair.
"Hey, buddy." Ash replied happily, shifting his gaze to face Pikachu. "Where'd Max go?"
"Pika, pika-chu." Pikachu explained, clasping his hands together near the side of his head and closing his eyes as he leaned against them.
"He went to sleep already?" Ash replied skeptically. "That's weird."
He leaned back into his chair, folding his hands behind his head and leaning his head against his clasped hands. He continued to watch the sky for a while, idly scanning the blank slate of black for any activity.
Suddenly, a brilliant streak of white ignited in the sea of black, shooting across the plane like a bullet, leaving a short-lived trail of glimmering sparkles in its wake.
"Huh?" Ash exclaimed, his eyes widening as he shot up out of his chair. "Hey, Pikachu! Did you see that?"
"Pika!" Pikachu replied, nodding excitedly.
"A shooting star...cool! That means I get to make a wish, right?"
"Pika." Pikachu nodded in response.
"Hmm..." Ash said slowly, putting a hand to his chin as he considered his options. "I could wish for the Battle Frontier to reopen soon...or for that Nate guy to never come back. Or maybe for Spenser to get back on his feet soon..." He pondered. "Or...maybe..."
He shot his gaze across the deck, back to May, whose gaze still appeared to be locked on the sky. "I wonder if May saw the star, too..."
He continued staring at her, thinking back to the things they'd been told the last few days...
Lily's question in the Battle Palace's catacombs. "What, are you two, like, a couple or something?"
The ticket clerk's comment at the Fuchsia Docks. "You could've fooled me. You two look perfect together."
Even Pikachu's weird conclusion about him 'liking' May. "Pika, pika!"
And then, his dream about Oscar and Andy actually losing to them back in Hoenn. "Wow. It seems like your love is stronger than we predicted...you even spoke together!"
He glanced down at Pikachu, who nodded back at him in a serious manner. Hardening his expression, he glanced at May one final time before shooting his gaze back to the sky and quietly making his wish.
"Wow...I can't believe the Battle Frontier shut down..." May whispered to herself quietly, her eyes passively scanning the empty black sky above her. "I wonder what Ash is going to do now..."
A strange feeling of unease crept into her stomach as she realized that Pallet Town wasn't all that far from where they were now. "Maybe he'll want to stay at home for a while and relax..." She mumbled softly, her gaze falling slightly as she unwillingly gripped the railing tighter. "That'd probably be nice, he doesn't much of a chance to stay at home...but why does that make me feel...?"
Her train of thought was interrupted by a glistening white streak shooting across the sky in front of her, drawing her attention back up. She stared at it breathlessly as it slowly faded away, leaving behind a faint white trail as it did so.
"A - a shooting star!" May thought excitedly. Before she could start thinking of possible wishes, however, her mind was taken back to the last time she'd wished on a star...
"Back when Max found Jirachi...that was when I bought my Wish Maker." She thought, her thoughts drifting back to the week they'd spent with the Wish Pokemon. "I was supposed to fold down one of the seven flaps each night that the Millennium Comet was in the sky...but then I forgot to fold down the seventh flap." She continued, slightly embarrassed at herself for making a mistake like that. "I...I do remember what I wished for, though..."
She turned around, briefly glancing behind her at Ash, who appeared to be deep in thought about something. She vaguely noticed that Pikachu had emerged from the ship's halls, but her attention was mainly focused on the boy beside the small Mouse Pokemon.
She bowed her head, smiling softly to herself as she turned back around. "Yeah. I remember it. But I messed up with the Wish Maker..." She shifted her gaze back up into the sky, retaining her smile. "L-Let's try to get it right this time."
The night air was still and silent, as both Ash and May made their wishes at the same moment.
"I wish...that she'll be with me forever."
"I wish...that he'll stay with me, no matter what happens..."
Although neither one of them realized it, they had both spoken their wishes aloud. Pikachu watched Ash curiously as he said it, as if confirming the suspicions he'd had for the past few days about his human friend.
However, unknown to either of them, at that moment, somewhere lost in the Earth's surface, inside of a small hibernation crystal...
Jirachi twitched in his sleep.
Please R&R!