Brendan and Wally were right, the former champion had indeed been placed as the main striker. Before the battle, Steven had prepared for May one of his usual speeches, courteous but meaningless, which he already gave her often when he used to be a champion; saying that he was happy to battle against them, that it was an honor to face his successor, blah blah blah… so May had to concentrate on keeping a straight face and not spitting all the bitterness that was rising in her chest.
But now that the battle had begun, she was using all those negative feelings as an energy to defeat him. If a few minutes ago, she still didn't care about this friendly battle, now she wanted to win at all costs and make him swallow all his fine words once and for all!
"Blaziken, Blaze kick!" she exclaimed with a quick wave of her hand.
His Pokemon obeyed, colliding with Steven's Metagross with a brutal blow. Steven did nothing to attack her back for the moment, preferring to strengthen his Pokemon's attack a little more with each new round. May guessed that when he would reach the max level, he could easily overpower her fire Pokemon, so she had to weaken Metagross as much as possible while Brendan and Wally took on the task of increasing the defence of their entire team.
"Use Blaze kick again!"
"Don't worry, Stevie, I'll protect our team!" Wallace promised to his left.
"Scepticle, aim for Milotic, Leaf Storm!" Brendan reacted immediately.
"Hahaa, you can always try, my dear. Man lives by hope, as they say." The gym leader laughed.
May glanced at her sync stone. The harder they battle now, the sooner she could use it. Before Steven, it would be better for her.
"Wally, can you raise our defense even more?"
"Yes May!"
"Come on Blaz, we have to gain more power!"
Her Pokemon struck again, a quicker blow than the previous one. It was one of the talents of her Blaziken: the longer the battle lasted, the faster he got. Steven's Metagross groaned at the raptor's new attack, but his trainer kept a quiet (and exasperating) smile that made May guess that he didn't feel in danger for now. And he was right; she wouldn't go anywhere like this. Their main chance to win was to use the power of her sync stone first, and for that, they had to get rid of Wallace and Lisia.
"Okay, Wally, we change the plan. Don't worry about me and give your all on Altaria," she whispered to make sure Lisia wouldn't hear her. "Brendan, same for you. With one less trainer, we'll have the advantage."
It wasn't very nice to go after her new roommate like this, but in a Pokemon battle, all bonds of affection were put on hold.
"Understood. Gallade, Focus Blast!"
"Scepticle, Leaf Storm!"
"Altaria!" Lisia cried, realizing that both attacks were aimed at her. "Uh… don't be afraid, fight back!"
"What? Aren't you ashamed to go after my beloved niece? Milotic, lend her a hand!"
Unfortunately, it was already too late for Lisia's Altaria, who took both attacks head-on, and her wings began flapping superficially in the air until the Pokemon crashed to the ground.
"Ali no! Oh no, no, no, no, no!… I'm sorry…" Lisia said, rushing towards her, panicked.
"Metagross, Iron Head." Steven ordered, unfazed, taking advantage of the distraction caused by Altaria's defeat to finally launch an attack.
"Blaziken, avoi…"
But May realized a little too late that she wasn't the target of the steel Pokemon. Wally's Gallade didn't have time to avoid it, being sent crashing into the wall of the nearest house.
"Damn! Gallade, are you ok?!"
May swore under her breath all the bad words she knew. Steven was as tough and merciless as she remembered. His year of travel hadn't made him lose his training level.
"It's time for revenge, Milotic," Wallace announced quietly.
As Gallade struggled to get on his feet, a violent wave of water knocked him to the ground. This time May knew it was over for Wally and his partner. She looked at her sync stone then at Steven's one. It was now that everything was going to be played out.
"Dire Hit +, Scepticle…" Brendan said, as if reading her mind.
"Come on Milotic, focus on Blaziken now."
It was only a matter of seconds for her Blaziken to increase his power. But Steven was already grasping his sync stone to bring it to his lips.
"In your dreams," she muttered, touching her mega-bracelet. "Blaziken, Mega-evolution!"
A rainbow halo enveloped May and her Pokemon as it metamorphosed with a deafening cry.
She didn't need to tell him what to do, once he had adopted his new form, Blaziken swooped down on Steven's Metagross, unleashing their sync move on them. The steel monster was sent several meters back, but it wasn't enough to knock him out.
"Well done May," Steven said sweetly, looking genuinely proud of her, before kissing his own sync stone.
"Shit…" Brendan swore next to her.
"Metagross, my friend, use Meteor Mash."
Once Metagross's strength was increased by the Mega Evolution, he sent his attack. May's Blaziken let out a cry of pain that must have been proportional to the amount of damage the steel Pokemon had just inflicted on him. Brendan's Scepticle imited him, indicating May that he should also had been hit. She didn't see that coming.
"What?! How did he do that? How can he touch us at the same time?!" The young man asked, alarmed.
May didn't answer, too busy checking that her own Pokemon was holding up.
"May! My Scepticle won't last long! So I'm going to give it my all on Wallace," Brendan slipped in, quickly coming to his senses. "You take care of Steven."
"Yeah… I'll try…"
As always with the battles against Steven Stone, it was going to be a close victory.
"Blaziken, don't be discouraged. We are the strongest, you know that."
"Scepticle, use Leaf Storm again!"
"Metagross, Meteor Mash."
"Milotic, get rid of this Scepticle once and for all, thank you very much."
Fortunately, Brendan's attack was faster than Wallace's, and this time Milotic couldn't overcome it. However, the young trainer didn't have time to enjoy his victory when Metagross' attack fell on him. May already knew what that meant, this time she wasn't going to get distracted. It was between Steven and her now, and she was going to show him who was the best.
"Blaziken," she simply said.
"Okay, fair game, Brendan. We're both offsides now," Wallace said, perhaps to distract May, as he came to comfort his injured Pokemon. "You battled well, honey. Get into your Poke Ball now."
"May, don't let him win! You got this!" Brendan encouraged her, ignoring his opponent.
"Steven, I cordially remind you that you are on the verge of taking your revenge."
The former champion launched his next attack, not playing attention to their words. Fortunately Blaziken had acquired so much speed now that he managed to avoid it, Metagross on the other hand didn't escape his Blaze Kick. May crossed her fingers, she knew that if the iron monster touched her Pokemon again, it would probably be over for her.
"Metagross…"
As she knew her Pokemon better than anyone, May guessed that Blaziken had put all his strength into this last attack. She smiled at the unalterable will of her partner. They wouldn't have any regret. Steven's Metagross fell to the ground, losing its power to levitate. Even if it was a narrow knockout, it counted as a real win.
Despite herself, May let her joy explode and rushed to her Blaziken to hug him. Her honour was safe, all the pressure she felt during the battle was suddenly gone.
Wally and Brendan joined her to congratulate her:
"Bravo May! The champion of Hoenn has shown us all that she's made of fire… because you have a Pokemon fire, ha ha… get it?" Brendan joked, very proud of his pun.
May rolled her eyes, then cast a discreet glance at her opponent. Steven had knelt beside his Metagross and was stroking its smooth steel surface. He sighed softly and looked up at her, as if he had felt her gaze on him.
"Well… How powerful, May. You've only been here a day and you've already mastered the power of the sync stone with such ease?..." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "No, I shouldn't be surprised. I should have expected that coming from you."
Then, he gave her an afflicted smile. She didn't care about his compliments. He continued to talk to her as if nothing had happened between them, as if she was back in her journey through Hoenn and Steven was still this kind, experienced trainer that she met here and there, always encouraging her to get stronger. But so many things had happened since those days; she was the Hoenn champion now and he wasn't anymore. He had abandoned her, and they hadn't seen each other in a year. He wasn't allowed to talk to her as if they were in good terms.
May looked away, gritting her teeth. Wallace and Lisia then came to congratulate their friends with their familiar exuberance. Her reaction had gone unnoticed in their eyes but she hoped that Steven had sensed her coldness.
"Well, now that we lost, I can congratulate you all on your battle, Wallace smiled. May, this Mega evolution of yours, coupled with the sync move was spectacular. With that, you would easily reach the first place in a Pokemon contest."
"Yes, May, you were so amazing! It gave me a taste of what it'll be like to battle alongside you," Lisia added.
"I found that you were doing quite good, too," May answered. "You will make a very good tech."
"Oh thank you May! This means a lot coming from you."
"Alright," Wallace stopped the conversation. "If my schedule is right, the winning team, which is you, will have to face the winning team between the trio of Drake, Glacia and Wattson, and the trio of Phoebe, Sydney and Norman… Yes my friends, it's time for the final!"
It turned out that the finalists of the mini tournament was the team of Drake, Glacia and Wattson. So after having to face her predecessor, May found herself facing her two most powerful colleagues and an experienced gym leader. Even if it was the final, the champion felt the exhaustion of her previous battles. She found it hard to think straight, and from the few strategic errors that Brendan and Wally made, she guessed that her friends were as tired as she was.
Suddenly May and her team found themselves overwhelmed by their new opponents, maybe she had already put all her strength into her battle against Steven. With the impression of being immersed in a bad dream, she saw her Blaziken crumble on the ground in the face of the ultimate attack of Drake's Salamence. May stood petrified for a moment, unable to realize that one of her worst fears had just come true: she, the actual champion, had just lost a Pokemon battle in front of the entire Hoenn league.
"Blaziken fainted! May's team has no more Pokemon able to battle. The team of Drake, Glacia and Wattson wins this battle." Wallace announced, struggling to hide his surprise.
Mixed applause echoed around them as May threw herself on her exhausted Blaziken, tears in her eyes.
"Forgive me," she whispered to him. "We're barely arrived in Pasio that we're already defeated. But it's all my fault! You did your best, as always."
"May," she heard Glacia's serene voice behind her. "Don't be too disappointed, you battled very well. Your team has a huge potential if you and your friends learn to cooperate better together."
"You've beaten us!... I don't see where the potential is if it's that huge..." May muttered, turning to Glacia, forcing herself to put on a good face.
"Believe me, I know what I'm saying, I haven't been a member of the elite 4 for so many years for nothing. This loss shouldn't upset you. Drake, Wattson and I have known each other for so long, the three of us had already battled together several times and we understand each other almost instinctively... We had that advantage over you."
Glacia must have guessed long ago that the new champion's greatest weakness was her lack of self-confidence. The more May doubted her talents and her legitimacy, the more she struggled to show her full potential during battles. However, at her level, she could not afford to battle only halfway. Glacia's encouragements were carefully chosen for the specific purpose of remotivating her.
"But the PML is only a few weeks away…" May insisted.
"Which means the three of you still have a few more weeks to practice seriously. So that next time you beat us. Alright?"
It was useless to discuss in front of her, her mentor didn't accept opinions diverging from hers.
"Alright..." May replied flatly.
She recalled Blaziken in her Poke Ball before joining her two disappointed friends on one of the benches in the village square.
"We had already given everything against Wallace and Steven's team, so here we go," Brendan summed up.
"Yeah, three battles that intense are a lot for just one day. Maybe we weren't ready enough…" Wally thought.
May nodded. She was grateful that her friends didn't hold it against her. That they didn't point out that she, the supposedly unbeatable champion of Hoenn, hadn't been able to make them win. In a simple, unimportant, tournament, moreover.
It was late afternoon, most of the tournament participants had already scattered around the village. May hadn't seen Steven leave after the end of the final, he had vanished without warning as he was so good at doing so, but this time she was rather grateful. She was already embarrassed enough that he had seen her fail like all the others, no need for him to pour salt into the wound by coming to talk to her...
"Wow, that was so impressive!" May heard Lisia's enthusiastic voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts.
The young woman rushed towards them, skipping slightly, her Altaria following her.
"Congratulations again, you three. I really don't know if I deserve to team up with you."
"Of course you do, Lisia," May replied, then to the surprised looks of the two boys, she remembered that she hadn't said anything to them yet:
"Um… Actually Lisia would like to join our team. She didn't find one yet... so is that okay with you two?"
"Of course," Wally said.
"Ah, Lisia? In our team?! Yeah, of course we agree!" Brendan exclaimed. "Can we deny anything to a star like her?!"
"Oh, I see my reputation as a coordinator preceded me," Lisia laughed as she sat down next to the young man.
"Yeah... We've never had the opportunity to get to know each other that much, but I still know how famous you are. As soon as there's a Pokemon contest in preparation, we only talk about you in Hoenn."
"Pfff, no, you're exaggerating!" She replied, erasing his words with a sharp wave of her hand.
"Are you going to battle with your Altaria?" Wally asked shyly, pointing to the Pokemon with his finger.
"Of course, Ali is my ally in all circumstances. Her and me will train hard over the next few days not to be the burden of the team."
"Stop Lisia, there won't be any burden in our team. In addition to being too cute, your Altaria defends herself very well on the terrain, we saw that earlier!"
Altaria cried with pride as Lisia thanked Brendan. Knowing her best friend well, May couldn't help but smile. He wasn't usually so generous with compliments around people.
The coordinator told her the same thing she had said earlier to May; that her uncle was helping her train but that she was happy to find a team with young people of her age. It was more fun and motivating.
"And your uncle, who will he team up with?" Wally asked him.
"Hmm, I'm not sure but…Steven, I guess…and I think he wanted to recruit Drake too."
"Ha, they'll be tough if the three of them get together. Do you know any other official teams? Just to put a little pressure on ourselves?"
Obviously, Wally took the competition seriously. May then told him what she knew, that Glacia was probably going to team up with friends who were specialized in ice-type Pokemons.
"I heard my uncle say that Phoebe had teamed up with Agatha and Acerola, other ghost-type specialists. And Sydney refused to join his team because he had already teamed up with some musical buddies."
"Ghost-type specialists?!" Brendan got stuck in the first part of Lisia's words. "Shit! Phoebe is already freaking me out with her zombie Pokemons so if there's three like her now… I hope we don't have to face them," Brendan grimaced.
"Oh, are you scared of ghost-type Pokemons? That's so cute," Lisia teased him gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"It's funny though, isn't it, who allies with whom?" May interjected thoughtfully. "Some choose their friends, others look for the strongest possible teammates, or others decide to find trainers with Pokemons of the same type as them..."
Wallace and Steven, for example, had surely chosen each other out of friendship, but they would also surely be very powerful together. As for Drake, the most experienced member of the elite 4, he was no joke. So their choice of team also seemed strategical; they were aiming for victory, obviously. May, on the other hand, had clearly chosen friendship above everything else, despite her status as a champion. Yet a part of her also wanted to do everything to win.
"And you Lisia, what did you choose us for? Friendship or competition?" Brendan wondered.
"Both… Well, honestly for friendship first."
"I think trainers come together first by affinity," Wally said. "Because it is cohesion that comes with power in a battle with multiple trainers. Putting the three best trainers together doesn't necessarily make them stronger than the other teams if they don't learn to cooperate first."
"Yes, that's exactly it..." May agreed.
And that was their challenge: to learn to combine their strength all four to not lose as they had done earlier. May would not accept this failure a second time, she had a title to honour and the whole league of Hoenn would be watching her performances during the PML. Even if the young champion had difficulty accepting her defeat today against her colleagues from the elite 4, she was above all happy and relieved to have beaten Steven a second time, because it was proof that she still deserved her title. Or at least, more than him.
It hadn't been a good victory. May had used all her grudge to win and she knew it was bad fuel. Besides, that Steven reacted so positively to his own defeat didn't help her feel better. It was so unfair; it should have been up to him to feel like this: confused, guilty, a little ashamed… but obviously the former champion didn't realize the harm he had done to her. He probably wouldn't even have understood if May had tried to explain it to him. That was perhaps what had hurt her the most today: measuring Steven's level of detachment from her.
She had the confirmation again that she just didn't matter to him.
