This time, May and her team battled in the afternoon, against two members of the elite 4 of Sinnoh and Unova, Flint and Shauntal and another trainer she didn't know. The arena was full of spectators so excited that May almost couldn't hear herself giving commands to her Blaziken. Several times, the moves of Shauntal's Chandelure surprised Lisia, Wally and her, as the writer whispered her attacks so quietly that it was impossible to anticipate them. Fortunately, Flint was much more predictable. His battle tactics seemed to be something like "the best defence is offense" because while his Infernape was very powerful, he was also easy to hit, and by focusing all their moves on him, May, Lisia, and Wally eventually eliminated him first. Shauntal took more time, but with one little damage after another, May and Wally managed to make her Pokemon faint after it had beaten Lisia's Altaria.
"May's team wins this battle and will go on to the third round of the PML. Congratulation to them!"
Thunderous applause rang out as May embraced her Blaziken. Phew... They had won and could finally get away from the noise. Recalling her Pokemon, she hurried to join Hau and Brendan who were waiting for them near the entrance of the arena, the latter congratulating her by patting her on the shoulder.
"You're the best, May! I knew your guys would win!"
"You'd better do as well as us during tomorrow's battle," she joked.
"Don't worry. Watching you battle like that has filled me with energy, I'm ready to destroy everything with my Scepticle!" Brendan assured her.
She laughed, knowing that it wasn't easy for her best friend to be a spectator of his own team. He was doing good.
"May... I'm sorry... Ali and I really didn't last long..." Lisia apologized, looking sheepish, as she joined them with Wally. I must say that facing trainers of an elite 4... I was kind of scared..."
"You did your best Lisia... and we won, so don't worry about it. You should also go heal Altaria at the Pokemon center."
These words seemed to lift the young coordinator's spirit and she forced herself to smile:
"You're right, I'll heal Ali and then we'll both go training, to learn from the mistakes we made today."
"That's what I want to hear," May agreed.
Not far from them, their opponents were busy healing their fainted Pokemons too.
"Oh Flint… Your flame can't have been snuffed out that easily." May heard Shauntal say.
"But I'm done for… Burned right down to cinders…" Flint sighed, running his hand through his curly hair.
Noticing that May was watching them, he gave them a disappointed smile.
"Thank you to you three. This experience has given me so much to be inspired about! I feel like I could turn it into a spectacular novel." Shauntal thanked them, regaining quickly her optimism.
"I guess it's not as easy to succeed in the PML as I thought. We did have a burning-hot battle thanks to you, though, Shauntal." Flint said.
"Oh, Flint…" Shauntal seemed thoughtful. "Um, May? Can I ask you a favor? Would you be willing to let Flint join your team?"
May raised her eyebrows, not expecting such a direct request.
"Huh? What're you talking about, Shauntal?" Flint was as surprise as her.
"Flint, you and Infernape have a fire within you. Your flame burns brightly and you have the potential to burn even brighter still! It's time to use that flame to shine a light on May and her team."
"But what about you?"
"Well, I'm an author as well as a Pokemon trainer. Sometimes it's better for me to take a step back and observe the bigger picture. So May, what do you think? Will you let Flint join your team?"
Shauntal didn't really leave her any choice since May couldn't see herself refusing after all those nice speeches. But anyway, a second fire-type sync pair could be useful in future battles, especially if their new teammate was a member of an elite 4. Obviously, welcoming Flint in their team was also beneficial for May and her friends.
"Of course," she finally replied. "Come battle with us, Flint."
"All right, thank you May. You can count on me!"
"Hey, what's going on here?" Brendan asked as he joined them with Wally and Hau, "What are you up to with our opponents, May?
He gave her a suspicious look that was probably just for teasing.
"Flint is no longer an opponent, Brendan," May explained. "He's joining our team!"
"Oh really? So cool! I hope you'll like it here, man."
"An elite 4 from Sinnoh, right?" Hau asked.
"That's right," The young man replied. "In case you didn't catch my name, I'm Flint and I'm specialized in burning-hot battles! I'm looking forward to teaming up with you!"
"Me too!" Brendan answered.
Well, their new teammate had regained his energy as well. May only hoped that he would be willing to listen to her during training, as the young man seemed very enthusiastic but also impulsive, a trait she often found in fire-type trainers, but which she didn't feel she possessed herself, strangely enough.
After their battle, May, Brendan, Wally and their new teammates went to the park near the Pokemon arena to sit on the grass. Many sync pairs were also there and enjoying the late afternoon. In less than an hour, the arena's screens would reveal the names of their next opponents. This was how the tournament was like: no sooner had they recovered from their battle that they had to be ready for the next one. And the more they would progress, the more they'll have to face powerful teams. May wondered if she would be able to keep it up. At the league, thanks to the elite 4, the few battles she had were so far apart in time that she always had plenty of time to get in shape. She didn't know how much stamina she really had, how many battles she could won week after week against other powerful trainers...
"Well, I think Infernape is feeling better now. Since he's a fire Pokemon, he can handle the burns pretty well."
"Are you sure you don't want to take him to the Pokemon center, though?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, I'll go later, so nurse Joy can check on him... but I want to stay until we learn who our next opponents are... I'm really looking forward to showing you what my Pokemon and I can do, you know? I lost today but I'm sure I can still be useful for future battles, especially if I join forces with your Blaziken, May. I love battling with other Fire-type Pokemons, it's the best type in the world!
"Well, that's your opinion," Hau laughed. "I think Electric-type Pokemons are the most amazing."
"Haha, sure, not everyone agrees with me... I tend to get a little carried away when I'm excited."
"Yeah, we've noticed that," Brendan said with a knowing look.
Since they had been waiting, May and her friends had been able to get to know Flint better. The young man must have been around her age, he had a younger brother, Buck, still running for the PML and like May, he didn't seem to take his title too seriously. Unlike the members of the Hoenn elite 4, whom she couldn't really relate to because they all seemed so much more experienced and confident than her, Flint seemed to be a simple, approachable young man.
"My brother's doing great with his friends so far. I would be ashamed if he found out I got beaten only in the second round..." Flint grumbled. "But thanks to you, I won't have to tell him."
"I can see why you're relieved," Brendan replied. "My father would remind me for the rest of my life if I got eliminated before him. Ever since I beat him at his gym a few years ago, he sees me as a rival. That's cool but it makes him even more challenging with me, I always have to prove to him that my victory wasn't just luck… and that's exhausting sometimes."
"Me too, I have to prove my strength to my parents all the time and not only in Pokemon trainings. If I don't, they'll start overprotecting me again, and I wouldn't want to be in that situation again," Wally said grimly.
"It's funny," Hau said. "We all have someone we're afraid to disappoint. For me, it's my grandfather. I know he has great hopes for me."
"No, not everyone. May, for example, you don't have to worry about that anymore," Brendan smiled. "You're the champion now, everyone knows how powerful you are..."
"I guess you're right..."
May didn't really want to talk about it. It's true that unlike her friends, there was no one around her to whom she felt obliged to prove her worth... but at the same time, she felt that the whole world was constantly watching her. She would disappoint everyone the day she lost a battle.
Was her place enviable? In Brendan's eyes, surely. Because he didn't know what being the best trainer in the region really meant. May too, would never finish proving that she deserved her title, and the day she would have to give it up, some would see it as proof that she had never been up to the task...
"Ah... I think the next battles have been revealed..." Wally noticed, cutting the conversation short.
Indeed, all around them, many trainers had stood up to run towards the arena, while others came out of it, looking worried or excited. Some were shouting with joy, obviously confident about their future opponents, while others were grimacing, and complaining about their bad luck.
"If you want, I can go and check for you..." Brendan proposed.
"Don't bother, guys..." A familiar voice said. "We've just come from the arena, and we already know who you're going to battle."
May turned to face a blonde-haired boy and a young woman with a cap who were smiling mysteriously at them.
"Barry, Dawn! Long time no see!" Brendan greeted them. "Are you still competing?"
"Yeah," the young man said as they sat down among them. "And so is Calem and Serena's team."
"That's great. I hope we all make it as far as possible."
"It's looking pretty good for us, anyway. Our next battle will be against some trainers from Unova, Rosa and Bianca, they seem to be about the same level as us."
"Well, what about us?" Flint asked impatiently. "Tell us who our future opponents are going to be?"
"I hope it's not a team with a champion," Hau exclaimed.
"No, indeed, it's not a champion," Dawn agreed. "But you're close... try to guess!"
"I don't' know, the team of an elite 4?"
"Yes, there is a member of an elite 4. From which region do you think?"
"Oh, come on, you're no fun keeping the suspense alive like that!"
"All right, I'll tell you then," Dawn said. "You'll be up against Lorelei, of the Kanto elite 4, and Clair, Lance's cousin."
"Lance's cousin?! Oh no! I heard she's even more rabid than him!"
"Wait, you're going up against Lance's cousin? Oh dear, Brendy, you're out of luck!"
Flannery approached them, she was accompanied by Roxanne and unlike her usual dynamic self, the Fire-type trainer looked quite depressed.
"Ooh don't tell me you lost your battle?" Dawn deduced.
"Yeah… Even Roxanne's Nosepass couldn't do anything against Lorelei. Her ice moves definitely smothered my Torkoal's flame."
"Okay, so it seems Lorelei is as unbeatable as Lance's cousin..." Hau sighed. "We're in trouble, May."
"Hey guys, don't lose your motivation like that! I'm an elite 4 too and I considered myself as very strong, yet you still beat me... but Flannery, I feel sorry for you anyway."
"Oh it's alright, we'll get over it, right Roxanne? It's just hard right now."
"Brawly was so gutted about losing… I was sad for him," Roxanne added, concerned. "But he quickly found a place for himself in the team of Bruno and Marshal's. They're all Fighting-type trainers, so they're banking on that to win now."
"Hum... what if that's the best tactic after all? Teaming up by type to always have the advantage against our opponents?" Brendan thought.
"That would mean we have to change Pokemon for each new battle?" May wondered. "We can't do that, I trained my Blaziken for weeks specially for the PML, much more than my other Pokemons…"
Despite herself, May was stressed. Knowing that the two gym leaders had lost to their future opponent worried her. She didn't know Lorelei and Clair at all, so she had no idea whether or not their team had the potential to beat them.
"I don't want to say goodbye to my Gallade either. It's my best Pokemon," Wally said.
"No, you don't understand, I never said we should change Pokemons. I was going to suggest that we try to recruit some new sync pairs so that we have multiple trainers with Pokemons of the same type."
"Oh new sync pairs like... a Fire-type ally, for example?" Flannery asked with an innocent little smile, crossing her arms. "Well, I guess you're not too interested in one that just lost today..."
"No… I mean yes!" May smiled. "You're welcome among us, Flannery. I'm not going to turn away a teammate from Hoenn. With you and Flint, we can already form a fire trio and the plant-type Pokemons won't stand any chance against us." She joked.
At that, Flannery laughed.
"Yeah, it would be great if you join our team," Flint said. "We could train together."
"As for you, Roxanne, if you're willing to try your luck again against Lorelei tomorrow, a Rock-type Pokemon wouldn't be out of place," Brendan assured. "Right May?"
May tried to hide her annoyance and gave him a fake smile. She wasn't too excited about the idea of Roxanne joining their team, she had no chemistry with the scholar. But with a bit of luck, she would prefer to devote herself to her encyclopaedias and pile of rocks and refuse their proposal.
"Thank you for your offer. I'm always motivated when it comes to overcoming my own failures," Roxanne replied to May's disappointment, stretching her lips into a modest smile.
