Sorry about the long wait since the last chapter. The thing is; before I upload a chapter, I re-read it one last time, and then upload it. Lately, I just couldn't bring myself to read or write anything, thus, it's been over a month and a half since I last uploaded a chapter, and much more since I wrote anything. As such; I'm sorry.
I'll try to upload more regularly in the future, but I won't make any promises. It will depend on my mood to read and write, especially since I don't want to run out of Hoenn chapters, before I finish writing the Sinnoh Region. Considering that I only have about four chapters of Sinnoh written so far... yeah, this is going to get dragged out a lot.
Now, on to the next chapter.
Oh, and read the note at the end of the chapter. It's important.
XXX
With the three gym badges safely in their badge cases, Ash and Serena, along with May, left the Dewford Island a day after Max and Professor Birch left, and headed toward the Slateport City.
As it has become something common, Ash, Serena and May are traveling on the back of Ash's Lapras, instead by some boat or ship or ferry, which would cost. Not that they have a problem with money, but there is no need to spend unless necessary, and traveling with Lapras can be more fun instead of the normal travel.
"Hey Ash," May called Ash, who looked at her. "Remind me, where your next gym battle is? Because I know it's not in Slateport as they don't have a gym there."
"It's in Mauville City," Ash said. "To get there, we have to pass through Slateport City first, which is why we are heading there."
"Oh, ok." May said.
"I read in a guide book that there is a Pokemon contest which will be held in the Slateport City in about two weeks," Serena said. "Are any of you interested in looking that up?"
Ash shrugged. "I'm not really interesting in Pokemon Contests," he said. "But we can stay there and watch it if the two of you want to."
"I think we can see what happens when we get there," May suggested. "The Slateport City is quite big and there are some other interesting things to see, so it might be better to check them out and not the Pokemon Contests, since none of us are interested in competing."
"I can agree to that." Serena said, while Ash shrugged, as he was fine any way the two girls decided.
They continued to make a small talk for the next hour, until they noticed that there is a storm coming as the sky was slowly getting covered by dark thunder clouds.
"And this is one of the reasons why traveling like this might not be safe," Ash said. "It's actually a miracle we never run into a storm while traveling across the sea with Lapras."
"What are we going to do if the storm starts," May asked, more than a little scared? "There is still several hours of traveling to reach Slateport City."
"Hey Lapras, can you hurry up a little bit," Ash asked his Pokemon, who nodded, and suddenly started to swim much faster. "At this speed, we should be in Slateport City in about an hour and a half."
"Good," Serena said. "Let's just hope the storm doesn't start until then."
XXX
Unfortunately, Serena's hopes were shattered 15 minutes later when a heavy rain started to fall, and drenched all three of them to the bone.
Fortunately, the luck smiled on them just five minutes after the rain started, when Serena seemed to have spotted something in the distance. "Is that a ship?" She asked while pointing at the shadow she can see though the heavy rain.
Ash and May looked at where Serena is pointing at, and saw that there really is a ship in the distance, but it's not moving. "It must be abandoned," Ash said, and told his Lapras to head there. "I don't see any other reason for it to be there."
"Let's go and check it out," Serena suggested. "It will also allow us to get away from this storm."
Soon the group of three trainers were next to the abandoned ship, and after Ash returned his Lapras in her Poke Ball, they climbed up the ropes which were hanging from the side of the ship.
It took them a minute to do that, and when they were up on the deck, they started to look around. "This ship is really big," May commented.
"Yeah, and it looks like it's been here for a long time judging by its state." Serena added.
"Hey, come check this out!" Ash called the two girls from the side of the deck, and they came running.
"Wow, there is another boat there," may said.
"I wonder who else is here," Serena wondered.
"Better question would be, are they here to get away from the storm, or for something else?" Ash said. May and Serena had to agree that is a good question.
"Let's go inside and see," Serena suggested, and went toward the door leading to the inside of the ship, while Ash and May followed her.
As soon as Serena opened the door, she came face to face with another guy with a bluish hair, who looked like he is in his early twenties.
"And who might you be," Serena asked?
"Me," the guy said slightly surprised to see anyone else on the Abandoned Ship. "My name is Tommy. But who are you guys?"
Serena moved forward to get away from the rain. Ash and May get in right after and Ash closed the door. "I'm Serena," Serena introduced herself, and then pointed at Ash and May. "And these are Ash and May."
"Oh, well it's a pleasure to meet you all," Tommy said. "But… what are you doing here?"
"We were on the way to Slateport City, but got caught in the storm," Ash said. "It was a miracle that we found this ship to get away from the rain and waves.
"But, what about you? Why are you here?"
"Oh, I came here to investigate this ship," Tommy said, getting raised eyebrows from Ash, Serena and May.
"What's its story," May asked? "It looks like it's been abandoned here for a while."
"The ship is known as the Forsaken Ship," Tommy said. "After it crushed here, the passengers all made it out safely, but the coast guard just left it here, so I came to check it out and see if it can be moved or not."
"That's an interesting, if a bit sad story," May said, and Tommy smiled before he said.
"You know, I was actually one of the passengers the night this ship crushed. Somehow in the middle of the evacuation, I lost track of my Marshtomp. So I was hoping that, with some luck, Marshtomp made it back to the ship, and is still here. That's another reason I'm here."
"Marshtop," May said with raised eyebrows. "Isn't that Mudkip's evolved state?"
"Yes, it is," Ash said and looked at Tommy. "Well, any luck?"
"No, nothing so far," Tommy sighed. "But I didn't come here that long ago, and this ship is really big, so there is still a lot of ground to cover and rooms to check."
"Well, I guess we can help you," Serena said. "We have to stay here until the storm passes, so we can at least do something with the time."
"I agree," May said. "But first we need to have our cloths dried up, or we might get sick."
"You can use some of the room's here in this hall," Tommy said. "They are all empty, and there is enough space to dry your cloths."
"Good, then let's do this," Ash said. "I'll go to that room on the right, and the two of you can go to the room across from it. Use your fire Pokemon to help with drying, otherwise, this will take a while."
Serena and May nodded, and then went to one room, while Ash went to the other. Tommy ended up with Ash, as he might as well wait for them since they already offered to help him search for his Marshtop.
XXX
It took about half an hour for Ash, Serena and May to dry their cloths with the help of their fire type Pokemon, and were now again in the hallway of the abandoned ship, along with Tommy.
"I suggest we split up, as we will cover more ground that way," Ash said.
"Ok," Serena agreed and then asked. "But who will go with who?"
"I'll go alone," Ash said, and Tommy added he will also go alone, which left Serena and May to go together.
"We will meet back here in about an hour," Ash said. "That should be enough to search most of the ship, and if by then we don't find anything, I doubt we will at all."
Tommy, May and Serena nodded, and then they all went in three different directions on the inside of the former cruise ship and now abandoned ship.
Serena and May's side
May and Serena were going down the hallway, searching for Tommy's Marshtomp.
As they were going toward a door down the hallway to check the room, they heard a noise coming from the door and stopped in their tracks. "What's that?" May asked, while on guard.
Serena held her hand on one of her Poke Balls, just in case, and said. "I don't know. But I'm sure we are about to see."
As soon as she said that, the door opened, and out came a Marill and two Azurill, jumping on their tails. Seeing the three small and cute Pokemon, made the two girls relax. "It's just Marill and Azurill," Serena said with a breath of relief. "I wonder what they are doing here, though," She wondered and then looked at May before she asked. "Do you want to catch them? They can be useful in the future and quite strong if you train them well."
"All three of them," May questioned as the three small water types were jumping toward them?
"Why not," Serena said. "You can give one to Max if you want to."
"What about you," May asked? "Don't you want to catch one?"
"I already have Azumarill, so I'm fine." Serena said.
May nodded, and pulled out one of her Poke Balls, before she released her Sableye. Sableye came out from the Poke Ball, and stood right in front of Marill and two Azurill. The Azurill were scared and tried to hide behind Marill, who was standing tall and glaring at Sableye.
"Let's catch ourselves some new friends, Sableye," May said, and Sableye nodded, before May said her first move. "Use Scratch!"
Sableye's nails glowed, and enlarged, before he jumped at Marill to scratch her, but Marill managed to jumped away and dodge. Lucky for them, the two Azurill jumped backwards as well, so they were not caught by Sableye's attack because of Marill's dodge.
Marill then fired a Water Gun from her mouth, and straight at Sableye, but May told him to dodge, which he did.
They didn't expect Marill to follow immediately after with Aqua Tail, which made the ball on her tail glow light blue, and then she swung the tail, and hit Sableye straight across the cheek, sending him flying away.
"Damn... that was a good one," May said, and then looked at her Sableye. "You ok, Sableye?"
Sableye stood back up and nodded, before he stood ready to continue. "Use Confuse Ray." May said.
Sableye's eyes glowed red as he glared at Marill, and the next moment, Marill's eyes also glowed red, before she went still.
"Good, now finish her off with Shadow Ball!" May said, and Sableye formed a black and purple energy ball with black static around it. He then fired the ball at the confused Marill, who didn't dodge, and was hit by the ball, causing an explosion, which covered Marill and two Azurill in smoke.
A minute later, Marill was seen lying on the floor with swirls in her eyes, indicating she was done for.
With Marill defeated and Azurill too young and inexperienced to do anything, May pulled out three Poke Balls and caught all three of them with little trouble. The Poke Balls did shrank and lock up, though, as May already has six Pokemon with her.
May then thanked her Sableye for a nice battle, and returned him back to his Poke Ball.
"Nice work, May," Serena said with a smile, making May smile back at her.
"Thanks', Serena." May said, before the two continued to search the ship.
Ash's side
While May and Serena were searching the ship together, Ash was going through another hallway, searching alone.
It didn't take him long to find something, though it wasn't what he was looking for, or even expecting to see. It was another human, and this time it was a girl.
"Hello." Ash said to a girl in front of him. She looks around two years older than him and a little over 5 feet tall. Has a Mocha tan skin, purple eyes, dark green hair tied in a ponytail, which goes to her mid back. She also has purple painted nails and a mole below her right eye. She is wearing shin-high black boots, knee-length denim skirt, brown pokebelt, dark-purple shirt, brown leather jacket, black fingerless gloves, dark-blue choker with the symbol of poison types, purple gem earrings, Pokegear on her left wrist & a dark purple hair tie.
Ash looked at the girl for a few moments, and couldn't help but notice she is quite beautiful, and has a well-developed boobs, which he knows because of the bulge on her chest area. He is not an expert in the field, but if he has to guess, she is probably a C-Cup, and the best thing is… she still has few years to develop even more.
"Hello." The girl said back at Ash. She was looking at him with narrowed eyes, as Ash looks familiar and she is trying to figure out from where.
Seeing that she is not a big talker, Ash asked. "Who are you? And what are you doing here."
She looked at him for a few moments, before she finally said. "My name is Venus Finile Haxord. I'm 15-years-old, and from Akala Island." She stopped there and didn't say what she is doing there.
Ash rose his eyebrow at her introduction and then said. "Ok. If we are going to introduce ourselves by our full names, then my name is Alexander Ashton Ketchum, but you can just call me Ash, as everyone else does… even my parents. I'm 13 and a half years old, and I come from Pallet Town."
After she heard his name, it finally dawned on Venus from where she knew him. She has watched his battles in the Silver Conference and saw him win the whole thing. She has also heard that before the Silver Conference, Ash won Indigo League and Orange League, and is considered to be one of the best trainers in the world, and definitely THE best young trainer in the world. Young trainers are the ones below 15 years of age.
"I know of you," Venus suddenly said. "I saw you on the Silver Conference. You really are one great trainer, I'll give you that."
"Well thanks for the compliment," Ash said with a smile. "But you didn't tell me why you are here."
"Oh, well, I was on my way to Dewford Island when I found this ship, so I decided to explore it and see what's it got," Venus said. "I thought that with any luck, I might find some Poison Type Pokemon."
Ash rise his eyebrows at this. "Why Poison Types?" He asked.
"Poison Type Pokemon are my favorite," Venus said with a smile, while she put her hand on the symbol which was on her choker. "All but one of my Pokemon are either full Poison Types or at least part poison. I hope to one day become Maiden of Poison Types."
Ash nodded his head in approval. "That an interesting goal," he said. "And I hope you achieve it one day."
Venus smiled at his words, and thanked him. Then she asked. "But what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was on the way to Slateport City with some friends, when we got caught in the storm," Ash said. "It was a miracle that we found this ship and were able to board it to get away from the storm.
"When we entered the ship, we run into this guy who is searching for his Pokemon he lost years ago, so we decided to help him to pass the time until the storm passes."
Venus raised her eyebrow. "I didn't know there is someone else here," she said.
"He came here by a boat," Ash said. "So if you didn't see him, it means he came after you."
"Hm, that's possible," Venus said. "I have been here for a few hours now."
"How did you come here," Ash asked. "I didn't see another boat."
"Oh, ever since I caught Skarmory, I have been traveling with him," Venus said with a smile.
"So, Skarmory is the Pokemon you said that you have and is not Poison Type," Ash said, and Venus nodded.
"Yes," she said. "I caught him because Poison Type have a big disadvantage against Steel Types so I needed a Steel Type to help me train them. Also, with Skarmory I can just fly from place to place and not travel by foot. That way I don't have to be afraid of being late anywhere and can always be in a place where I can sleep in a bad and not camp out. It also helps with training as I can spend more time in one place instead of going all over the place and only train for an hour or two each day."
Ash was impressed by her planning, and he told her that, which made her smile. After that, Ash asked her to join him in searching the ship, and later he will introduce her to his friends. Venus agreed, so they went down the hall and continued to search the abandoned ship.
XXX
Just as the hour since they split-up has passed, Ash, Serena and May reunited back in the same hallway from where they split-up in the first place. Along with Ash, came Venus.
"Hey Ash, who is this?" May asked after she saw Ash and Venus walk toward her and Serena.
"This is Venus Haxord," Ash said. "I run into her while searching the ship. She is here to explore this place for anything interesting."
Serena and May then introduced themselves to Venus, and made a small talk about their travels, and Venus talked a little about Alola since Serena and May were interested. Serena and May completely forgot about Tommy, who still hasn't returned and is 15 minutes late.
Who knows when the two would have noticed if Ash did interrupted their conversation and said how Tommy is late.
"Do you think something happened to him," Serena asked, a little concerned. "Can't you tell with your powers?"
May and Venus were confused but also interested in what powers Serena was talking about, though May assumed it's probably Ash's Aura powers.
"I can sense him, and he seems fine," Ash said. "But it still makes me wonder why the hold up. He knows we agreed to meet here in an hour."
"Maybe we should go and look for him." May suggested, and the others agreed, so they all followed Ash, who knew where to go to look for Tommy.
XXX
It took 10 minutes for Ash and the others to find Tommy at the lowest level of the ship, which was partly under the water, which forms a pool and an entrance to the sea below it.
What really surprised them the most, was that Tommy was talking with a Swampert, which is the evolved form of Marshtomp.
"Tommy," Ash called and drew Tommy's and Swampert's attention. Swampert growled at the group when he saw them, but Tommy managed to calm him down. "What's going on?"
"Hey guys," Tommy said. "Sorry for being late, but after I found Swampert I ended up losing track of time."
"Is that Swampert your Marshtomp," May asked, and Tommy nodded, while patting his Swampert on the head, making his Pokemon smile at him.
"Yeah, he is," Tommy said. "He ended up evolving while here on the ship. I didn't recognize him at first, and we ended up battling, but I recognized the way he fights since we trained a lot together, and then I told him who I am, which calmed him down."
"Well, we are happy for you," Serena said with a smile, while the others nodded.
That's when Tommy saw Venus, and asked about her.
"I run into her while searching for Swampert," Ash said. "Apparently, she came here before you did. She was hoping to find some poison type Pokemon."
"Really," Tommy questioned. "So, were you lucky?"
"I guess so," Venus said. "I mean, I only caught a Spinarak which is Bug/Poison Type, but that still better than nothing."
"It is better than nothing," Tommy agreed, and then they all started walking back to the deck, as the storm seems to have passed since they can no longer hear the sounds of wind and rain. "So, what do you all plan to do now?"
"I guess we will continue on our way to Slateport City," Ash said, and Serena and May agreed with him.
"I'll head to Dewford Island as that's where I was going in the first place," Venus said, and Tommy raised his eyebrows.
"Well, I'm also heading to Dewford Island, so I can give you a ride if you want," he said, and then asked. "How did you even get here anyway, as I doubt you drove here with a boat as you are too young?"
"I flew here with Skarmory," Venus got raised eyebrows from everyone but Ash at her reply. "I'm flying from place to place with Skarmory ever since I caught him. Besides, there are also some other people around the world, who do that, so it's nothing strange really."
The others agreed to that, and a minute later, they all walked through the entrance to the deck, only to see that the storm was really over, and that the clouds have started to clear, so the sun was shining on them.
"Great, the storm really is over, so we can go now," Ash said, and then looked at Venus and Tommy. "Hope I see you again one day."
"I'm sure we will see each other again since I will be competing in the Ever Grande Conference," Venus said with a smile, which Ash returned.
"Well then, I hope you are ready to fight me," Ash said with a smirk. "And you better be ready, since I won't go easy on you."
Venus scowled at him and then smirked. "Neither will I… A. A. Ketchum."
This confused everyone and made them wonder why she called him that. Ash, on the other hand, looked at Venus annoyed, before he just shook his head.
And with that, they all said their goodbyes to each other, and while Tommy and Venus left for Dewford Island, Ash called out his Lapras, and he, Serena and May went toward Slateport City.
As the gang was going toward the Slateport City , while riding on Lapras's back, Ash asked Serena and May how they did on the ship, as he hasn't asked them before.
"I actually did very well," May said with a big smile. "We run into a several Water Type Pokemon while going around the ship, and I caught all of them."
"Oho, and which ones did you get," Ash asked, while having a small smile on his face, as he was happy for May?
"I caught Golduck, Marill, two Azurill, and Wooper." May said proudly, showing Ash the five shrunken Poke Balls. "Though I have to send them to Professor Birch's Lab since I can't keep them all with me."
"You can do that when we get to Slateport City," Ash said. "But why did you catch Marill AND two Azurill? You do know that Azurill evolves into Marill, right."
"Yeah, I know," May said. "But they were all together and they seem to be family, so I thought about catching them all so they can stay together instead of separating them. I can also give one Azurill to Max, and he can train it."
Ash nodded. "That's a good idea," he then looked at Serena and asked. "What about you, Serena?"
"I didn't catch any Pokemon," Serena said. "But, I was lucky enough to find a box in one of the rooms, and inside of the box there was a set of six Luxury Ball's as well as a Water Stone."
"Damn, that was some good luck the two of you had," Ash commented. "I didn't find, shit." May and Serena laughed at Ash, and he pouted a little at their laughing.
They finally arrived at Slateport City not long after that, and have settled in the Pokemon Center where they rented rooms for an indefinite time, as they are not sure how long they will stay there.
After they booked their rooms, May sent all of her new Pokemon at Professor Birch's lab, and left her other Pokemon to Nurse Joy to check them up. Serena and Ash also left theirs, and then they decided to spend that day resting, and to give their Pokemon one day of rest before they do some training and exploration of the Slateport City the next day.
XXX
"Taillow, use Air Slash!" May told her Pokemon. Right now, it's the day after the gang arrived in Slateport City, and after taking yesterday off to rest, right now, May is in the secluded part of the beach and in the middle of the sparing match against Ash. While the two were in the middle of the battle, Serena is standing to the side and watching them.
Taillow started flapping her wings, releasing multiple light blue glowing saw disc-like energy blades from her wings at Ash's Taillow.
"Taillow, Double Team!" Ash countered and his Taillow glowed before he created five more copies of himself, which were then hit by the Air Slash's and dispersed, while the real one was not hit. "Now use Wing Attack!"
Taillow's wings glowed white and he flew at May's Taillow to hit her, but May countered with Quick Attack.
Both Taillow's crushed into each other, and were sent flying backwards from the force of the crush, but while Ash's Taillow, who was physically more powerful and received less damage from the clash, managed to stop himself from crushing into the ground, May's was not that good, and was sent into the sand.
"Come on, Taillow," May cheered for her Pokemon! "You can do it!" Her Taillow managed to get up, and flew back into the air, but was visibly winded and tired. May then told her Pokemon to use Air Slash, again, and then follow it up with Wing Attack.
Ash was ready, though and went for the finishing move. "Taillow, finish her off with Aerial Ace!"
While May's Taillow sent more air slashes at Ash's Taillow, Ash's Pokemon flew at his opponent and flipped in the air, then he became engulfed in streaks of white light and flew at May's Taillow, while dodging air slashes. Just when he was close very close, he disappeared before he appeared again right in front of May's Taillow and hit her, sending her crushing into the ground again. This time, it was for good, as May's bird Pokemon, passed out.
"Ahh, damn it," May whined as her Pokemon was defeated which means she has lost. She then looked at Ash, and saw he has a large smirk on his face, making her angry. "I will defeat you one of these days, Ash Ketchum. I promise you that!"
"Oho, want to make a bet?" Ash asked while his smirk widened.
May and Serena, who approached them, looked at Ash confused and interested, but then May asked. "What kind of a bet?"
Ash smile widened even more if it was possible. "How about this," Ash asked, and then explained the bet? "If you defeat me in any way by the end of our journey, and by that I mean regardless if it's a full battle or one-on-one battle… they you can ask of me whatever you want, and I will try to fulfill your wish," May's and Serena's eyes widened. "But, if you don't, then I get to ask of you anything I want."
Now May is a very smart girl even though she is just 10 years old, and knew that if she gets Ash to give her or do for her whatever she wants, is a great thing as she can ask for anything, and she also knew that this is something she will never again get the chance if she lets it slip now and refuses. But on the other hand, she is confused by what he would ask of her, when suddenly she remembered that Ash has multiple girlfriends, which means that he could potentially ask her to become one of them.
She didn't know what to think about that. On one hand, Ash is a gorgeous looking guy, great trainer with a big future, and is supper rich. Basically he is a perfect guy. On the other hand, she is just 10 years old, while he is over three years older than her, which means she is still young compared to him and his other girlfriends. On top of that, she doesn't want to be forced into a relationship, and wants to be able to choose.
She was just about to refuse, but then she thought about it again, and decided to agree, just to see what will happen in the end. Besides, even if she loses the bet, and Ash does ask her what she thinks he will ask, it doesn't mean that it will be forever, as, again, they were young and a lot can happen in the coming years.
"Ok, Ash," May said. "You've got a deal." The two shock their hands with smirks on their faces, while Serena sighed.
They were interrupted by a green haired boy who was approaching them from behind. "Please don't tell me you are here to enter the Pokemon Contest when you don't even know the rules." The boy said, making Ash and Serena narrow their eyes, while May bristled.
"Who the hell are you," May asked feeling angry at being insulted? "And what makes you even think I'm here for the Pokemon Contest?"
The boy looked at May and rose his eyebrows at her second question, and he then asked about it, completely skipping the first one. "Are you not here for the Contest?"
May scowled. "No, I'm not," she said. "I'm a trainer not a coordinator. I've never even been interested in Pokemon Contests."
"Is that right," the boy asked? "Well then, my bad. But still regardless if you are fighting like a trainer or a coordinator, your battling was still not very good, was it? You got beaten easily."
May wanted to get angry and lash out at the kid, but held herself back, as she thought that that's what he was trying to do. To make her angry. "I haven't been trainer for too long," May said. "So it's natural that I'm no match for Ash who is an experienced trainer."
"Yes, I guess you are right there," the boy said, and then looked at Ash and Serena. "I mean, it must be really hard to defeat someone who has lost few matches since he started his journey. Isn't that right, Ash Ketchum?"
Ash rose his eyebrows at the kid. "I think May did really good," Ash said, not bothered by the kid knowing who he is since many people recognize him these days. "As a trainer who has been on her journey for relatively small amount of time and with no previous training, she is proving every day that she has a great future as a Pokemon Trainer." May and Serena smiled at Ash after they heard him praise May.
"If you say so," Drew shrugged. "But anyway, my name is Drew, and it was a pleasure to meet a great trainer like you, Ash. The same goes for you as well, Serena. I have watched your matches on the Silver Conference and I must say I'm impressed," he then looked at May. "As for you. If you are really as good as Ash says you are, I guess you will confirm that at the upcoming Ever Grande Conference."
May looked at Drew, and said. "I won't be competing in this year's Ever Grande Conference," she got a surprised look from Drew at that answer. "For now, I'm only traveling and will compete in the future, as I really don't see any reason to rush things up."
Drew was very surprised by May, as she is proving with her answers and her refusal to lash out at him for insulting her, that she is mature despite her being very young. "I'm impressed," Drew said. "You are showing maturity beyond your age, and I'm almost happy for you. I guess I would be even happier if you were competing in the Contests as you might have been a worthy challenge."
May shrugged. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that will not happen," she said. "As I said, I have no interest in Contests, and I doubt I ever will. But, I think I will stay here until after the competition to watch it, so I can see what you've got, and are you really as good as you act… or are you simply that arrogant."
Serena and Ash smirked at May's words to Drew, while Drew simply looked at May, before he smirked and turned around to leave. "You will see very soon that I don't talk big, and that I can actually back-up what I'm saying." Drew then left.
Ash, May and Serena decided to continue their training for a while longer after that, before they do some sightseeing around Slateport City.
XXX
Since they decided to watch the Pokemon Contest, even though none of them was really interested in it, Ash, Serena and May had to spend two weeks in Slateport City.
Of course, they didn't just sit around and did nothing. They spent most of that time training, and occasionally they would go to explore the Slateport City, since this is the first time any of them have visited it, including May, who even though was from the Hoenn Region, has never been in Slateport City.
When it comes to training, just like in Dewford Island, Ash and Serena mostly trained together, while May trained by herself, with occasional help and pointer from two more experienced trainers, as well as occasional sparring match between all three of them.
May has even switched and trained her new water type Pokémon, (minus one Azurill, which she sent to Max). Of all her Pokemon, during the two weeks of training, none have actually evolved, which made May a little put-of, as she hoped that at least, one will evolve. She calmed down and let it go after Ash told her that just evolution won't make Pokemon strong and that if Pokemon evolves too fast, then they might not be able to learn some moves they can only do in their lesser forms.
Serena has spent a lot of time training her Pokemon, but not just those she recently caught since she came in Hoenn, but also few of those she caught in Johto, mainly her two Tyrogue which still haven't evolved. The others she brought to train were Noibat, Starly and Seadra. Of them all, only Starly evolved on her own, while Serena gave to her Seadra a Dragon Scale, when she was satisfied with the power her Seadra has, as well as the move set she has. None of her newer Pokemon have evolved.
And finally, Ash. He has trained the most, as usual, and as usual, his Pokemon didn't seem to be in a hurry to evolve, so none of them did in the end. Of course, because of the training from hell he puts his Pokemon through, Ash's Pokemon have went even more ahead from Serena's and May's, which was proved in the last few sparing matches, when Ash's Pokemon won easier than before.
Besides training, the three trainers also explored Slateport City, and it was during one of the exploration when they went to the Slateport Market. While there, they went all over the place, and each got something for themselves in the end.
All three of them restocked on potions and healer sprays for their Pokemon, and made sure to buy enough to last them a while.
Besides that, Serena and May went and sold the Big Pearls they found in the Granite Cave, and have made themselves a nice spending cash of 20 000 Poke Dollars, which they split in half. On top of that, Serena also decided to sell the 6 Luxury Balls she found on the Abandoned Ship, as she was fine with normal Poke Balls, and the Luxury Balls are worth a lot, as she was able to make another 6000 Poke Dollars.
Ash was the luckiest of the three, though, as he has went to the shop which sells evolution stones and items. There, among the fishes... a whale, in the shape of Alakazite. Now while it is true that he needs it so his Alakazam can Mega Evolve, Ash had a feeling that his Alakazam will Mega Evolve one day on his own, just like Lucario and Pidgeot did. So, he bought it, and decided to keep it with him, and if one day he finds someone he thinks would make a good use of it, he will give it to that person. Of course, buying the Mega Stone has cost him 40 000 Poke Dollars, which is a lot, and is one of the reasons no one has bought it so far, the other being that regular trainers just didn't know what it was.
XXX
Just like in many cases during his travels so far, something bad had to happen again, and this time the bad thing was when Team Magma broke into Oceanic Museum at the same time when Ash, Serena and May found themselves there. They were after the volcanic rock found at the bottom of the ocean. In the end, the villains were able to escape, and even though Ash was able to stop them from stealing the whole rock, Team Magma still managed to escape with half of it.
Ash apologized for his failure to Captain Stern, the curator of the Museum, but the man told him it was ok, and that the half which Ash saved is enough for his research. This didn't really calm down Ash too much, as he was still angry at himself, but he would get over it eventually, especially when one day, he manages to bring the end to Teams Aqua and Magma.
XXX
On the day when the contest was finally to be held, Ash, Serena and May were in the crowd, watching, and even though it seemed interesting to them, that interest only goes so far that they can watch the show but not participate.
In the end, they did saw that Drew was not just all talk and that he is actually quite good in Pokemon Contests. Unfortunately for the green haired kid, he has lost the final match against his opponent, Robert.
With the contest over, and not wanting to spend any more time in Slateport City since it is unnecessary, Ash gave a call to Steven to inform him that they are leaving the Slateport City the next day, and should be in Mauville very soon.
In the end, they agreed to meet at the Pokemon Center in Mauville City, where, whoever gets there first, will wait for the other group or person.
XXX
About Venus Haxord. She is an OC character, but is not mine. One of the readers of this story, Bloody Rogue dragon deity king, sent me a message back at the beginning of February 2020, and shared the idea for this character, who was, apparently, created by his little sister, who is a fan of my story, so I decided to include Venus in the story. She came up with the name, the nickname the clothing the look, and type of Pokemon Venus will use, her dream and goal in life. Pretty much everything, so nothing about Venus is mine. Maybe, just MAYBE, I'll add something new to her in the future, but the chances for that are small as I'm ok with what I have to work with.
Anyway, I had this character for over a year now, but I only included her in the story now since back then I already had half of Johto finished and didn't want to change too much of my plans, but now in Hoenn I can include her and give her some screen time.
Now, don't expect too much of Venus as she will only appear few more times in Hoenn, as for later, I will see in the future. Also, don't expect her to become another of Ash's girlfriends as that will not happen. She might become involved with some other male character from the story, though. But that's all in the future. We will see what happens.
One other thing. For those who are complaining that Norman didn't cheat on Caroline in the anime. I know that. But this isn't the anime. This is my story, and here, Norman did cheat on her.