Part XLVII: The Third Rival

"Go change and join the others in their seats for the final, I'm sure they've saved one for you." Misty said with a smile at Ash after May had returned to the waiting room and they had congratulated her on her victory over Iris. "There should be enough time for you to do so before the final starts."

"You sure?" Ash asked as May patiently waited giving the couple a moment. "I don't mind staying and watching from here if there isn't time."

"Yeah there's a break before the final and I think its best if May and I prepare alone." Misty said with a smile. "Iris has gone to get changed, so has everyone else after a loss, this just feels right."

"Alright will do." Ash said knowing that Misty was right, he did need to get out of his suit and this way he could watch the final between his girlfriend and one of his best friends in the stadium with all his other friends. "Good luck, it will be a great match."

"Thanks, love you." Misty said before giving Ash a prolonged but still chaste kiss that she knew May wasn't looking at.

"Love you too." Ash said with a smile after the kiss ended before he left the waiting room leaving Misty and May together but not before sending some parting words to May. "Good luck to you as well May, I can't wait to watch the match."

"Thanks Ash." May called with a small smile and slight blush as Ash left.

"Sorry about that." Misty said though it was a little hollow as she knew she'd made the kiss linger longer than was absolutely necessary because of what she and May had to talk about. "I didn't mean to get carried away like that."

"No worries Misty." May said with a small shake of her head as she looked at Misty again, she had been unable to watch Misty kiss Ash as it was still painful for her watch her crush and one of her closest friends kiss in front of her. "He's your boyfriend and you are about to be in the final of the Wallace Cup again so it is understandable you would want that moment. Sorry to be a burden on it by awkwardly third-wheeling it."

"True he is my boyfriend but you wish it was you that was kissing Ash not me, don't you?" Misty said, no accusation in her voice to make it clear that she wasn't upset with May for her feelings. "Not me am I right?"

May blue eyes went wide as she met Misty's blue ones. Misty knew, she knew. Her friend had realized that May had a crush, alright she was in love with, Misty's boyfriend. May had thought that she had kept her feelings in check, that she had not given her secret away to Misty. Even when they had played never have I ever, Dawn had been there to help her and prevent it from getting out as well. Well that and Georgia had distracted everyone by wondering why Iris didn't have a crush on Ash or Cilan.

However, as May looked at Misty she knew that she had just confirmed Misty's suspicions regarding her feelings for Ash but also that Misty wasn't upset with her for having them. Dawn had told her this would happen one day bur May had hoped it wouldn't. Clearly Dawn had been right and now was the time to deal with this.

"How'd you figure it out?" May said with a sigh conceding defeat and addressing how she felt with Misty for hopefully the only time. "I, I thought I was good at hiding them."

"You probably are, certainly better than others, but you are also my friend so I was blinded by that as well." Misty said as she approached May but kept a respectful distance. "You also kept them pretty well buried unlike Dawn who doesn't hide them at all or Angie who I noticed getting upset at Ash's party after I kissed him. That was why I didn't see it at first. Plus, you know, the whole fact that you'd had a boyfriend in the past threw me off for a bit."

"Ha well yeah that may be the case but even before Drew I liked Ash though that crush waxed and waned while I was traveling with Ash." May said with a dry chuckle. "I thought that I liked Drew and if I am honest I did before we got together but he changed and we ended when he crossed a line I couldn't forgive. After that, well after the Wallace Cup last year and how you were gushing over Ash, my own former feelings for him came flooding back and I realized that I did indeed have a big crush on Ash."

"Oh." Misty said remembering how she'd been almost a year ago when she and May had been in the last Wallace Cup together, right after her trip to Unova and the realization of how deep her feelings for Ash were. "I was pretty bad back then wasn't I?"

"You have no idea." May said with a kind smile at Misty. "You were, and still are, head over heels in love with him. Back then you had just realized it, I could tell that much, so naturally you couldn't contain yourself. It helped that we both know Ash from traveling with him but yeah it was obvious you were into him and that rekindled my own feelings."

"Well I had just seen him in Unova and the feelings had returned with a vengeance." Misty said weakly, it wasn't a great excuse but it was the best she had. "You certainly hid it better than I did."

"I am more reserved than you are." May pointed out. "Plus, at Ash's party, Dawn took me away before you could realize how upset I was. She listened to me talk about my own feelings for Ash, my history with Drew, and held me while I cried at my loss. She helped me get enough control to avoid the full reason why I was upset while also telling me of her own pain at losing Ash to you."

"I remember seeing you with Dawn." Misty said recalling the party. "You showed up when I was dealing with Kenny and Dawn explained that she'd taken you away to clear your head. I probably should have figured it out it was more than just bad memories but I was so glad to see you and you had a believable cover story to so I didn't question it."

"Dawn's idea to not tell the full truth though I agreed with it." May said. "She was a great help with me as she knew what I was going through. I probably would have caused a scene otherwise."

"I'm still amazed that Dawn helped you out." Misty said shaking her head. "It's always seems so out of character for her to help others given our history, especially when it comes to feelings for Ash and potential rivals for him."

"True but unlike you, I have a good relationship with Dawn that didn't start with me being introduced to her as the boy she loves girlfriend." May pointed out. "That and she did everything for Ash rather than just for me. She didn't want our feelings to ruin the day for Ash so she made sure I was ready to face the party."

"Ah that explains it." Misty said understanding now, it had been about Ash as much as it had been about May so Dawn had helped out so that the party wasn't awkward. "Well she did a good job; it wasn't until the next day that I begin to have suspicions regarding how you truly felt about Ash when we hung out. It wasn't enough to consider it seriously and you were heading to Kalos so no need to question anything but that is what began to make me think that you might like Ash as more than just a friend."

"I take it I did something after you got here that made you realize." May said and Misty nodded. "What was it?"

"Mostly it was a lot of little things when we were all having dinner and catching up the night Ash and I got in that put together showed the full picture." Misty said thinking back on the night. "Blushes whenever Ash complement you, how your attention was more on Ash then me, the thought behind his gift, etc. it all added up in the end. Then you spoke about how you and your new friend Serena knew Ash and admired him and I realized that the way you had said it was just as I had said it to you and I knew. Well I had high suspicions at least, I confirmed it later."

"Oh sorry about that." May said nervously, she had been bad that night if she was being honest. "So what confirmed it?"

"Don't be sorry, after I realized you liked Ash I understood." Misty said dismissively. "After that things were just easier to notice now that I was looking for them. Plus you admitted to having a crush on someone competing in the Wallace Cup during never have I ever and given that the only two options were Ash, who you had travel with for 2 years, or Cilan who you had only met once before. Even Ash could have figured that out, well probably."

"So you've known since then." May said realizing how obvious she had probably been as Misty nodded at her words. "Why wait until now?"

"Because I needed the right moment to confront you on it." Misty said and May's eyes widened and Misty knew she needed to clarify her statement. "Not so much confront, that sounds too harsh, more get it out in the open so that it is no longer unsaid between, just to be safe."

"Oh I see." May said with a sigh of relief, confront sounded like something Dawn would probably do if her anger got the better of her. "Yeah it is for the best to get all this out. It was always painful keeping it from you but I didn't want to ruin our friendship because I couldn't control my feelings. Now that I can be open about it and know that you know and don't seem to hold it against me I can at least feel like there is nothing between us."

"I agree and while I won't hold this against you or let it ruin our friendship, there is one question I want an answer to." Misty said, agreeing with May that just because she liked Ash it shouldn't ruin their friendship. "Regarding Ash and your feelings for him that is."

"I guess I owe you that much." May said with a nod. "What is it?" I'll answer any question you have."

"What was the event?" Misty asked.

"The Sea Temple." May said knowing exactly what Misty was asking about. "That was the moment where I knew that the small little initial crush I had on Ash when we started our journey in Hoenn wasn't long dead as I had thought it was but had set in deep and chosen that moment to explode in my chest. That was when I realized just how important Ash was to me and just how great he was as a person."

"Sea Temple?" Misty asked confused. "I take it that that was a classic Ash adventure involving potential death, great heroism, self-sacrifice, stupidity, and a legendary Pokémon or two. If the first one, I will have to get annoyed at him earlier but he deserves that."

"All of that and more." May confirmed with a smile at Misty's accurate assumption of one of the more interesting adventures she'd had with Ash. "It was when we were in Kanto during his challenge of the Battle Frontier and my attempt to enter the Grand Festival there. We had run into some traveling sea tribe people that had a Manaphy egg given to them by a Pokémon Ranger. The egg hatched in my hands and because I was the first person it saw, Manaphy thought I was its mom so we had to get it to the Sea Temple while some pirate nutcase tried to use it to take the power of the Temple himself."

"And Ash almost died in the process." Misty said knowing her boyfriend way too well. "He always seems to try to die whenever he's in one of those adventures."

"Yes but it was more than that." May said thinking back on it. "The pirate had taken the Sea Crown and the Temple was flooding. Ash found the last piece and needed to put it in the crown to save the Temple. Rather than risk me, Manaphy and Pikachu as well, Ash did it himself. He locked us in an escape pod so that Pikachu and I could breath and returned the piece."

"So how'd he almost drown." Misty asked. "I'm presuming that that was what he almost died of that time."

"You would be correct." May said with a sigh at Ash's brave stupidity. "The Crown was under water and he had to dive to it and almost drowned as it was too deep. I could tell he was going to die so I sent my feelings to him because it was in that moment that I realized that I still had them for him. I think, because of Manaphy's abilities, I gave him the strength to recover and restore the crown."

"Oh Ash that is so him." Misty said with a smile though she would still scold him on this when she had the chance. "That would certainly do it. Hard to not have at least a crush on him after that."

"Yup that was the moment for me." May said with a fond smile at the memory, even if at the time she was terrified Ash would die. "However, after the Kanto Grand Festival, I came to the realization that I needed to set off on my own to truly find my own style as a coordinator and trainer. It was during that time, shortly after our first Wallace Cup together, that I gave into my feelings for Drew and started dating him but all that did was mask the ones for Ash. I had planned on inviting him to Kalos and telling him how I felt there but, well, you beat me to that."

"It was Iris who's responsible for this, not me." Misty admitted. "I was going to tell Ash how I felt when I saw him and hope he reciprocated but she'd already forced him to realize his own feelings for me. I owe her everything for getting through to Ash, something I thought wasn't possible."

"Yeah still can't believe that someone managed that impossible feat." May said with a chuckle that Misty joined in on. "So what was it for you? The event I mean."

"The event that planted the seed of my own feelings for Ash was when we were in Alamos Town and Ash saved me from falling to my death during a battle between Dialga and Palkia." Misty said smiling fondly at the terrifying memory. "They are the deities of time and space, two very powerful, ancient, legendary Pokémon that have ties to Sinnoh of all regions. We needed to get to the top of the tower to play a song to calm their warring hearts and Ash saved me multiple times along the way I didn't realize until a lot later but that was the event caused my feelings."

"I see, that does sound like Ash." May said before getting a little more serious. "Misty, are you really sure that this is ok with you? I mean, I do have a crush on your boyfriend and that's putting it lightly as I'm sure it is deeper than a mere crush. I know that it will not go away anytime soon."

"So long as you don't act on it we're good." Misty said simply. "I fell in love with Ash as well, and I don't doubt that you love him as well, so I know what you've been through. Dawn is also in the same boat as us and there's bound to be more so I can't hold it against you."

"Of course not, I would never do that to you two." May said quickly shaking her head. "I respect you, Ash and the friendship we all have together too much to ruin it. I have accepted defeat to you in this department and will do my best to move on. Part of my heart will always belong to Ash but there is room for another one day, I think."

"I know and I trust you May, I just needed to talk to you so that we could make sure that this was all out in the open between us." Misty said smiling at her friend. "After dealing with Dawn as the first rival for Ash, my jealousy and insecurities have been easy to trigger. That girl was the wrong rival to meet first as Ash's girlfriend."

"Yeah she probably was." May said in agreement. "Dawn's anger management isn't known to be great. You're right though, we had to discuss this. I didn't realize how much I needed it until now."

"Oh there is a little more to this than just getting it all out in the open." Misty said with a grin at May. "Dawn taught me one good thing that I intend to keep with all my rivals for Ash."

"What?" May asked both curious and a little worried.

"That I need to assert my dominance over my rivals to make it clear who the alpha female is when it comes to Ash." Misty said still grinning widely. "I did it with Dawn and Angie, it's your turn now May. Ash is not except from this either. He just had to deal with Zoey, I know you know about her feelings for me, which were a surprise to say the least, and he will have to deal with Kenny and Conway later."

"I see, Dawn did warn me that this would happen." May said straightening her shoulders at Misty's challenge, Dawn was right, if Misty was going to prove that she was worthy of Ash then she was going to have to earn that in battle with a rival for him like herself. "I accept your challenge Misty. I will not make it easy on you though. Now I have more than just the Aqua Ribbon to battle for with you, I have to prevent you from asserting your dominance over me."

"I don't expect it especially because it will be the upcoming final where I intend to prove myself." Misty said and May nodded understanding that it was both convenient and important enough for this purpose. "It will be like with Dawn, an important battle that I will win."

"Why like Dawn?" May asked confused. "How was your dominance over her similar to this?"

"You know Dawn and I had a battle back when we met right, one that I won." Misty said and May nodded, she had heard of it. "Do you know what that battle was?"

"No." May admitted, while she knew of the battle she didn't know the details of it. "Dawn wasn't forthcoming with details other than that it wasn't her best day."

Rather than answer May, Misty went reached up to her pendant that was visible for May to see. May knew that it had been a gift from Ash, a really nice one at that that May couldn't help be jealous of, but that was it. Misty clicked a small button on the side that May hadn't noticed before and it swung upon revealing that it was a locket. However, inside it was not a picture as May would have expected but a small blue badge in the shape of a drop of water.

May gasped at it. It was clearly a gym badge that a gym leader awarded to a successful challenger and from its design, it was clearly the badge of a water type gym. They both knew someone who ran a water type gym, someone who just so happened to be in love with Ash and known for her volcanic temper. Misty had never seen the badge that Dawn gave winners, well maybe at Ash's house in Pallet Town but she hadn't known to look for it, but there was no doubt that the badge in Misty's locket was that of the Cerulean Gym.

"You challenged Dawn to a gym battle didn't you." May said as Misty closed the locket to keep one of her most precious possessions, her Cascade Badge, safe. "That was the battle you two had where you beat her."

"Correct." Misty said with a nod. "I challenged her to a gym battle because it was the only way to shut her up. It was highly destructive, I almost brought the roof down, literally, but in the end I won and Dawn gave me the badge without regret or anger because I had earned it. When Ash gave me this locket I knew that it was the perfect place to remember my first rival and what I will do to defend my man. My third Aqua Ribbon will join it as a trophy and reminder that I put another rival in her place by asserting dominance over her."

"Bring it Misty." May said grinning at the challenge, Misty was getting cocky and May knew what this was all about so she wasn't going to let Misty win it. "This time that ribbon is mine. I will not let you win it again and unlike the last two times, I will not lose to you for a third straight year in a row."

"We shall see." Misty said pleased to see that May was getting into it the rivalry. "Because this is about more than the ribbon to me."

"Oh I know, same." May said. "Prepare yourself, I will come at you with everything I got."

"Ten minutes ladies, best to take your places now." An attendant said butting in to their conversating by poking her head into the room. "The final will be starting soon and Vivian wants it to begin on time."

"Thanks." May and Misty said together as the attendant left and looked at one another again knowing that soon they would be face to face on the battlefield.

"Misty there is one request I have for after this, no matter who wins the Aqua Ribbon." May said a little nervous at her request. "I hope that our friendship allows you to grant it but I respect it if you aren't comfortable with it."

"What?" Misty asked curious. "I am certain that it will be something I can agree too May."

"Well it's about Ash." May said her nerves creeping into her voice. "I, I need to admit to him that I have a crush on him before we part ways again. I think it is best for me and my own healing to do so."

"I agree." Misty said knowing that May was right, she did need to do that as it was only fair to Ash to let him know and it would help May in the long run. "It is for the best and will at least inform Ash of how you feel about him."

"I, er, also want to do it alone." May said, that got Misty's attention, now she knew why may had been nervous to ask her. "I have to do this before we leave for Kanto and Kalos respectively. This is something I need to do and while I will accept it if you have to be there for it, it would be best for me to do it alone."

"I see." Misty said and sighed knowing that May had a point and she should trust that her friend had no bad intentions with her request. "I can agree to that. After this, before we leave, if you have the courage to do so, I will not interfere with you talking to Ash alone and confessing your feelings to him. I trust you May. If this was Dawn I would be hesitant even if I would allow it because of their close friendship but not you."

"Thanks Misty." May said with a sigh of relief. "I need this. However, right now we need to get our game faces on. It is time for our third Wallace Cup final."

"That it is." Misty said with a grin. "And right now that is all that matters."

"Agreed." May said as she held out her hand to Misty. "And Misty, thanks, for all of this. It was needed even if it wasn't easy to talk about."

"No need to worry May." Misty said taking May's hand and shaking it before pulling her in for a hug that startled May slightly but she got over it and embraced her friend for a moment before they broke apart. "Now let's go out there and put on a show. This is our final after all, the world is expecting our best."

May grinned and nodded as they left the room and then split off to head over to their respective backstage areas as they waited to emerge for the final. May was surprised that she was happy despite the painful talk with Misty. Sure she still loved Ash and always would but now that Misty knew about her feelings she didn't need to hide them anymore and could properly move on rather than let them fester.

There was nothing between the girls despite both liking the same man so they could now avoid any awkwardness between them. May was both dreading and looking forward to her talk with Ash but first she had to beat Misty. This time she was not going to lose the Aqua Ribbon, especially not when Misty had challenged her to a match of dominance.

For her part Misty smiled as she reached her spot and got ready to face May in battle once more. She had confronted May about her feelings, they had talked civilly like mature women should, and she had yet to destroy any property or hurt Piplup which was a plus. It was everything her meeting with Dawn had not been.

The one similarity with her first interaction with Dawn was that Misty was now going to once again put a rival in her place and assert her dominance over another female interested in Ash. The fact that winning would also mean her third Aqua Ribbon and third ribbon of the season for the Kanto circuit didn't hurt in the slightest. If anything it gave her even more motivation to get out there and beat May on live TV.

As Vivian got the crowd to quiet down in preparation for the final Misty got onto the zone. Once again it was time. Once again Misty would compete for the Aqua Ribbon and once again Misty would defeat a rival. The Wallace Cup final was finally upon them.